108 
JOURNAL  OE  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Fobruafy  4,  1897. 
are  fond  of  good  living,  though  behindhand  in  the  art  of  making 
that  good  living  at  little  coat.  To  begin  with  egga.  Where  do 
they  come  from,  and  what  i*  their  reapective  value  ? 
Russia  . 
...  15 
per  cent.  ... 
...  53.2*1. 
per  100. 
5) 
Denmark . 
...  12* 
»  ... 
...  63.  81. 
Germany . 
...  19 
n 
...  53.41. 
a 
Belgium  . 
...  16* 
fi 
...  63.2*1. 
>> 
France  . 
...  30* 
jt 
...  7s.  7*d. 
»! 
Canada  . 
...  4* 
ff 
...  5s.  lfl. 
If 
Other  countries 
...  2* 
it 
...  63.  4|i. 
Canadian  egga  come  4000  milea,  and  thoae  Russian  egg8  from 
the  Volga  district  have  to  travel  1000  mile*  before  being  shipped 
from  one  of  the  Baltic  porta.  Great  aa  is  our  import  of  French 
eg8s>  yet  it  is  over  £250,000  lesa  than  it  waa  a  few  years  ago, 
although  they  are  gradually  recovering  their  lost  ground.  Russian 
poultry  and  game  importa  are  increasing  enormously.  In  1894 
the  value  was  £43,289,  in  1895  £85,697,  and  in  1896  it  rose  to 
£143,584.  Belgium  and  other  countries  are  increasing  their 
supplies,  but  the  French  *upplies  were  much  less,  to  the  extent 
of  £59,000  as  against  1895,  and  £20,000  as  against  1894. 
At  Newhaven  and  Southampton  were  landed  for  our  Christmas 
market  2458  and  238  tons  respectively  of  poultry  from  Normandy 
and  Britanv.  .  The*e  weights  would  represent  about  600,000  birds. 
As  to  our  own  statistics  we  have  no  reliable  information.  There 
has  been  a  movement  in  the  right  direction,  but  poultry  keeping 
in  England  is  still  in  its  infancy.  Thia  last  has  not  been  a  good 
year  for  the  poultry  man,  the  excessive  drought  in  the  earlier 
months  caused  a  great  lack  of  natural  food,  and  the  heat  was  most 
trying  to  young  poultry,  especially  to  ducks.  In  our  own  case  thd 
field  where  we  usually  put  our  freshly  hatched  chickens  was  as  bare 
and  brown  as  the  high  road,  and  we  had  materially  to  increase  the 
quantity  of  hand  food  to  make  up  for  deficiencies. 
Birds  did  not  grow  well, and  then  came  along,  wet,  cold  autumn, 
and  the  egg  record  has  proved  a  bad  one.  There  is  one  little  fact 
to  which  attention  cannot  be  drawn  too  often — the  existence  of  so 
many  aged  hens.  Hens  over  three  years  old  are  useless  save  for 
the  broth  pot,  but  hen  wives  seem  very  reluctant  to  part  with  these 
old  birds,  and  thus  give  more  room  to  profitable  stock.  Our 
experience  is  that  after  moulting  hens  can  readily  be  sold  for  3s. 
per  couple,  and  even  if  less  has  to  be  taken  they  must  at  all  risks  be 
got  rid  of. 
We  also  see  on  many  establiihments  what  we  can  only  designate 
as  mongrel  stock.  If  the  owner  would  make  up  his  or  her  mind  as 
to  whether  eggs  or  fat  fowls  were  to  be  grown  and  arrange 
accordingly  much  better  results  would  be  obtained. 
We  do  not  care  to  grow  more  fowls  than  will  lupply  us  with 
young  pullet*  and  a  few  cockerels  for  table  purposes,  as  we  find 
the  egg  trade  the  best  paying,  sending  them  off  to  a  large 
manufacturing  centre. 
Of  course  the  best-laid  schemes  often  go  amiss,  and  we  find  to 
our  chagrin  that  more  cockerels  are  hatched  than  pullets.  A 
fattening  establishment  has  been  started  in  our  neighbourhood,  and 
if  the  fowls  are  bred  on  certain  lines — i  e  ,  Indian  Game-Dorking, 
the  manager  is  always  a  ready  buyer.  We  see  these  establishments 
are  on  the  increase,  and  must  be  of  material  benefit  to  the 
ordinary  farmer.  He  has  no  appliances  for  perfecting  the  finished 
article,  and  it  will  pay  him  better  to  sell  off  his  stock  when  youDg. 
We  have  seen  much  good  result  from  a  course  of  intelligent 
poultry  lectures  ;  but,  alas  !  some  of  the  lecturers  have  missed  their 
vocation,  and  do  more  harm  than  good.  As  we  said  before,  we  are 
still,  as  a  nation,  very  ignorant  on  thi*  subject  of  poultry,  but  we 
are  showing  ouraelves  willing  to  learn,  and  that  is  a  step  in  the 
right  direction. 
We  are  glad  to  see  the  railways  are  doing  their  best  to  bring 
the  producer  and  consumer  more  into  touch  by  lowering  the  rates ; 
but  strange  though  it  may  appear,  there  are  still  va*t  districts 
thit  the  railways  do  not  touch,  and  in  these  districts,  owing  to 
the  difficulty  of  transport  (save  by  carriers'  carts  once  a  week), 
p  oultry  produce  is  very  cheap. 
In  two  such  districts,  personally  known  to  us,  there  is  more 
than  a  talk  of  light  railways  ;  if  they  become  a  reality  they 
will  do  much  to  developing  industries  hitherto  dormant. 
We  think  the  labourer  and  artisan  (that  is,  in  the  rural  districts) 
are  not  quite  awake  to  the  possibilities  that  lie  at  their  door.  If 
each  did  his  utmost  in  poultry  raising  a  nice  sum  might  be  added 
to  the  weekly  income,  and  the  foreigner  get  less  of  our  hard  earned 
Cd>sl} 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Mildness  has  suddenly  changed  to  snowstorm  and  blizzard,  and  we 
are  beginning  to  speculate  as  to  damage  to  roots  still  in  the  ground,  and 
are  even  fearful  as  to  the  safety  of  those  in  the  pits.  The  extreme  wet 
has  saturated  the  Potato  pies  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  more  than 
likely  that  the  severe  frost,  accompanied  as  it  has  been  by  a  driving 
wind,  has  penetrated  to  the  tubers,  and  we  expect  to  hear  of  a  good  deal 
of  frost  damage.  Ploughing  is  now  quite  impossible,  and  if  there  is  no 
carting  of  manure  or  refuse  left  on  hand  the  horses  must  perforce  have  a 
rest. 
The  breeding  flock  now  requires  special  and  urgent  attention. 
Frozen  Turnips,  or  grass  covered  with  several  inches  of  snow,  and,  there¬ 
fore,  not  easily  accessible,  are  not  enough  in  themselves  for  sheep  with 
more  than  one  life  to  provide  for.  Ewes,  we  think,  require  dry  and 
nutritious  food  in  any  weather  during  pregnancy,  but  especially  so  in  a 
period  of  frost  and  snow.  Malt  culms  are  an  excellent  food  for  lambing 
ewes,  and  they  leave  a  considerable  residual  value  in  the  manure.  Dried 
grains  are  also  very  valuable  ;  both  these  foods  contain  very  little  water, 
and  are,  therefore,  particularly  useful  when  natural  foods  are  so  watery 
and  cold.  If  the  flock  owner  is  fortunate  enough  to  possess  a  good 
supply  of  hay  or  seeds  he  will  need  no  artificials,  only  a  good  hayrack  or 
two  to  economise  his  fodder.  Cattle  are  now  all  in  the  yards.  They 
are  doing  well,  but  bedding  is  scarce  and  must  be  economised,  so  we 
cannot  make  them  quite  so  comfortable  as  we  should  like.  An  increased 
allowance  of  cake  has  been  found  necessary  ;  it  will  be  discontinued 
when  milder  weather  comes. 
This  is  a  good  opportunity  to  make  up  arrears  in  the  way  of  scotching 
or  plashing  hedges,  and  making  up  gaps.  The  fields  of  young  seeds 
require  special  attention  as  regards  gaps.  It  is  a  nuisance  to  have  these 
things  to  attend  to  when  the  day  for  stocking  arrives.  A  rail  and  a  few 
long  pales  make  the  best  stopgap,  and  they  do  not  interfere  with  the 
after-growth  of  the  hedge.  Pales  should  be  at  least  4  feet  long,  better 
still  4  feet  6  inches.  They  should  be  driven  well  into  the  ground,  and 
the  rail  securely  nailed  to  them  9  inches  from  the  top.  Ordinary  forged 
nails  are  the  best,  as  they  clench  well,  which  wire  nails  do  not. 
OUR  LETTER  BOX. 
Poor  Soil  and  Seat  Means  of  Cropping  ( Faithful ). — 1,  If 
there  is  a  good  plant  of  grass,  why  waste  seed  in  renovating?  Top- 
dressings,  as  advised  in  our  previous  reply,  would  pay  better,  and  be 
more  certain,  as  the  young  seeds  might  all  perish  amongst  the  grass. 
2,  The  sooner  kainit  is  applied  the  better.  Sow  it  broadcast  at  once. 
The  rain  when  it  comes  will  wash  it  in.  As  regards  planting  fruit,  your 
soil  seems  more  likely  to  grow  Plums  than  Apples  or  bush  fruit, 
though  possibly  free-growing  Apples  would  answer,  and  we  know  of 
excellent  crops  of  Strawberries  being  grown  in  very  sandy  soil.  But 
observe  how  fruit  trees  fare  on  similar  land  in  the  neighbourhood ;  also, 
the  condition  of  hedges  and  forest  trees  will  be  a  guide  as  to  the  prospects 
of  success  in  fruit  growing.  You  must  have  absolute  security  of  tenure 
before  planting  fruit.  Greens  might  do  planted  between  the  rows  of 
second  early  Potatoes,  but  the  later  kinds  would  smother  them.  The 
best  artificials  for  Lucerne  are  superphosphate  of  lime  and  kainit,  3  cwt. 
of  each, 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden  Square,  London. 
Lat .  51°  J2'40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/ 0"  W.:  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
3 
*3 
1897. 
January. 
|  Barometer 
at  32°, and 
|  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday  ..  24 
29-939 
28‘1 
27-0 
N. 
35-0 
3>-0 
23-6 
63-1 
16-6 
0-010 
Monday  ..  25 
29-589 
34-9 
331 
W. 
34-9 
41-0 
28-2 
69-0 
24  3 
0-020 
Tuesday  . .  26 
29-74# 
28-7 
28-7 
W. 
34-8 
36-1 
260 
66-7 
21-5 
— 
Wednesday  27 
29-883 
27-3 
27-2 
w. 
34-2 
40-0 
23*o 
63-1 
19-6 
— 
Thursday . .  28 
30-123 
32-7 
32-2 
w. 
34-1 
38-4 
27-1 
5»-l 
22-8 
— 
Friday  ..  29 
29-980 
33-0 
32*8 
N. 
34-1 
38-9 
29-0 
65T 
23-0 
0-091 
Saturday..  80 
29-309 
37-0 
36-8 
E. 
34-0 
37-9 
32-9 
38-9 
30-1 
0-048 
29-798 
31-7 
31-1 
34-4 
38*2 
27  2 
60-7 
22-6 
0-109 
REMAKES. 
24th.— Bright  and  aunny  throughout. 
26th.— Bine  early  and  at  9  a.M.  ;  snow  at  intervals  ;  dark  and  overcast  night. 
2#th.— Fair  early  :  sun  at  8  A.M  ,  and  bright  and  sunny  throughout ;  fine  bright  night. 
27th. — bright  and  sunny  throughout;  dull  and  overcast  about  5  P.M. ;  fine  night. 
28th.— Fair  early  ;  faint  sun  in  morning  ;  overcast  and  dull  in  afternoon  ;  fine  night. 
29th.— Fair  early ;  overcast  at  9  A.M.,  bright  at  11  A.M.  and  throughout ;  overcast 
evening,  with  rain  about  10  P.M. 
30th.— Rain  from  6  to  9  A.M.,  overcast  after;  rain  at  l  P.M.,  and  dull  afternoon  and 
night. 
Another  cold  week,  but  not  so  oold  as  the  previous  one ;  bright  warm  sun  on  several 
days.— G.  J.  SYMONS. 
