434 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 22, l.m 
YOUNG FARM STOCK. 
Yery tempting indeed is the price of all young stock just 
MOW, yet to all who are inclined to yield to it and sell, we say Don’t, 
if you have room and food enough for them. Far better is it to 
have stock growing into money than to dispose of it as store calves, 
lambs, or pigs, and to have the money lying idle at the bank. By 
all means let us strive for a quick turn over and speedy realisation 
of profit upon expenditure, but do let us take care to realise in the 
best way, and not to spoil results by undue haste. There was a 
time, and that not long ago, when we had to turn to the muck heap 
for anything like a profit upon cattle, and the result was very 
doubtful indeed when the price of Wheat fell, and the urgent need 
for economy led to inquiry into the real value of farmyard manure. 
At best it is a costly article, and cattle should never be kept on a 
farm solely for the muck. 
If every spring a careful selection were made of the best 
animals for the home stock, and inferior ones got rid of as early as 
they were in marketable condition, the growing superiority of our 
farm stock would be accelerated, and the general superiority of 
British stock would then bring purchasers in greater numbers from 
abroad. Is it not selection w'hich has given its golden superiority to 
the Hollywell pigs, to the Elsenham horses, the leading breeds of 
sheep,and Shorthorn cattle everywhere? It has given us heavier 
fleeces and better quality of wool; it has enriched the milk and 
almost doubled the quantity of it in our best dairy herds ; it has 
given wonderfully increased power of rapid flesh formation and 
frame development to cattle, sheep, and pigs ; in horses it has led 
to an admirable combination of symmetry, endurance, speedy 
strength, and lightness, and even in poultry we owe to it better 
table birds as well as improvement in egg production. 
This great work of improvement in farm stock has brought 
with it obligations which cannot be ignored. The hardiness of 
wild cattle has vanished from our flocks and herds, and an ever 
increasing amount of care and attention is requisite to shield them 
from harm by exposure to cold and wet, as well as from contagious 
■disease and parasitic insects. Not yet has the value of warmth and 
shelter obtained anything at all approaching the recognition it 
merits and is bound to have eventually. Every year there are 
losses of valuable animals from exposure which might easily have 
been avoided, and the value of the lost animals would have gone 
far towards the much wanted provision of extra shelter both at 
farm homesteads and in pasture enclosures. 
Amidst all the very great improvement which comes perforce 
of progress there remains much to be done by individuals solely in 
their own interests. Only a few days ago we saw a lot of yearling 
cattle at market that had unmistakeably had to rough it all last 
winter. Evidently they never had been fat or even plump with 
calf flesh, for they were gaunt, coarse, and stunted in growth, and 
altogether so low in condition that it would require many weeks of 
good grazing to bring them up to a respectable condition of plump¬ 
ness. Such poor lean stock must be sold at a low price either to a 
■dealer or to a farmer short of stock, and a shrewd man may see his 
way to some slight amount of profit upon them after a summer’s 
run upon rough pasture. Very different is the case of well-bred, 
well-managed calves ; they are never suffered to fall off in con¬ 
dition. With a long well shaped body, “ broad over the loins,” a 
full eye, and deep chest they have frames which under judicious 
management expand quickly, and are ripe for the butchers as 
fat bullocks—not tallow bags, but just that happy mean of plump¬ 
ness which affords useful joints with as little waste as may be in 
about half the time required by an ill-bred coarse animal. 
Pray mark the term of judicious management, for it is very 
possible to kill young stock with kindness—-overfeeding inducing 
a plethoric habit, which often ends in apoplexy both among calves 
and lambs. At many a farm where corn has given place to 
pasture, barns are turned to account for rearing stock, and even 
where they are required for corn for some time after harvest, they 
may be turned to account now for steer calves, which may never 
go out on pasture at all, but remain in some such shelter untried by 
exposure to cold and wet, or heat and insects. Heifers for the 
herd go into our favourite lodges, with yards and paddocks 
adjoining, and are kept up in fair healthy condition, as we like 
sufficient development before breeding to ensure a good calf. 
More particular details of the feeding and management of young 
stock must be reserved for another paper. In this our aim has 
been to give a timely reminder of the importance of careful selec¬ 
tion both for breeding and store stock. Breeding before purchase 
say we, and though many a homestead may be deficient in con¬ 
venient buildings or shelter for rearing young stock, very much 
may be done by those who are apt and willing to manage with any 
rough and ready means that may enable them to help themselves. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
The plant of early sown Mangold and Swedes is now well up, and 
the horse hoes have been kept going between the rows. We use patent 
expansion hoes, and take care that they are set so as not to work so near 
the plant as to cause harm. Hand-hoeing wid follow at once, and by 
the time the hoes have been through the field the plant will be ready 
for singling, for growth is brisk in this genial May weather. Recent 
showers have brought on the first crop of Swedes, Cabbage, and Kale 
out of harm’s way from fly, and with such a warm moist seed bed 
germination will be brisk with the main crops now being sown. 
Preparation for root sowing is an easy matter enough on land which 
has been under really good cultivation for several years. The difficulty 
and extra expense are with the farms which fell in hand last 
Michaelmas, much of the land being in a sadly imperfect state of 
cultivation, and we are taking full advantage of this favourab’e 
weather for as thorough a clearance of couch grass as we can. Where 
the beds of this pest have laid thoroughly hold of the soil, plough, 
roller, duck foot barrow, and hand fork all play an important part. If 
possible the couch is burnt on the spot in small fires, but if the weather 
becomes at all unsettled it is altogether best to collect and cart off the 
weeds at once. On light land or mixed soil all this is possible now, and 
with a free use of manure useful crops of roots may be had this season, 
which, if folded with sheep, will bring the land into fair condition for 
any other crop subsequently. With heavy land the process of reclama¬ 
tion is necessarily slower, and it may be necessary to resort to a summer 
fallow in order to clean it thoroughly. In whatever way this is done we 
must be careful that the interval between the use of plough or culti¬ 
vator is long enough for the full exposure of weeds to the sun. With 
attention to this point there may be as much stirring of the soil as 
possible, and where such soil is in a crude or sour state a dressing of 
lime fresh from the kiln may prove highly beneficial if applied after 
the land is as clean as it is possible to make it in a single season. We 
shall not be able to eradicate all the perennial weeds, but we may 
undoubtedly do much towards so desirable an end if only we continue 
to have the powerful aid of fair weather. Instead of a hindrance an 
occasional shower is really an aid to soften clods which no implement 
will crush when hardened by air and sunshine. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 82' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitule, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 Air. 
IN TUB DAT. 
1890. 
■iSigj: 
Hfgrome- 
a . 
Shade Tern- 
Badiation 
Rain 
ter. 
"Z c: 
Sg 
perature. 
Temperature. 
May. 
la 
On 
W c8 
Dry. 
Wet. 
5o 
H 
Max.l Min. 
SUll. 
grass 
Sunday. 
11 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
29.447 
51.8 
49.8 
N.W. 
50.4 
61.9 
4H.7 
102.8 
47.0 
O.U 
Monday. 
12 
29.602 
58.8 
53.7 
.N.e. 
50.9 
67.7 
47.6 
103.1 
41.9 
— 
ITtesday .... 
13 
29.577 
53.4 
51.0 
N. 
51.6 
66.7 
50.1 
113.9 
42.1 
_ 
Wednesday., 
14 
29.847 
58.1 
47.1 
52.4 
63.8 
47.8 
114.0 
42.7 
Thursday.... 
15 
30.114 
54.8 
48.9 
s. 
52.9 
63.2 
44.5 
107.2 
37.8 
— 
!■ riday . 
16 
29.916 
60.7 
52.4 
S.E. 
52.9 
70.1 
44.8 
113.9 
86.9 
0.^84 
Saturday .... 
17 
29.699 
54.9 
50.4 
8. 
50.9 
64.1 
60.9 
113.9 
48.0 
0.018 
29.747 
55.8 
50.5 
1 51.7 
65.4 
47.8 
109.8 
42.3 
0.219 
REMARKS. 
11th.—Generally bright and fine, wifh occasional sharp showers. 
12th.—Gloomy and oppressive in the morning, grddually clearing towards noon, and 
warm hazy afternoon, with occasional cioad. 
13th.—Occasionally cloudy In the morning, then line and bright. 
11th.—Mild and bright throughout. 
15th.—Fine and generally bright, but the sky c ouded over once or twice. 
16th.—Bright mild day, halo in afternoon; cloudy iu evening, with slight showers of 
rain m night. 
17th —Generally cloudy till 11 A.M., then bright sunshine. 
A generally fine week, with temperature rather above the average.—O. J. SYMONd. 
