24 
JOURXAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  4,  1895. 
bacon,  bams,  butter,  cheese,  lard.  Hops,  and  wool,  is  58.  per 
ton.  On  the  same  railway  there  is  a  rate  of  Ss.  6d.  per  ton 
for  hay  from  Micheldever  to  London,  a  distance  of  561  miles  ; 
from  Alton,  45  miles,  the  rate  for  Hops  is  15s.,  or  IGs.  per 
ton  more  than  is  charged  for  carrying  foreign  Hops  31  miles 
farther.  This  appears  to  be  bad  enough,  but  still  worse  seems 
the  rate  of  17s.  lid.  per  ton  for  bacon  and  hams  from  South¬ 
ampton  Town  Station,  which  is  about  the  same  distance  from 
London  as  the  docks  from  whence  the  same  class  of  produce 
is  carried  for  53.  per  ton. 
As  a  simple  statement  of  facts,  made  for  a  special  object, 
without  a  word  of  explanation,  as  is  so  frequently  the  case, 
the  case  against  the  railway  company  is  certainly  a  strong  one, 
and  the  grievance  of  the  farmers  real  enough.  Yet,  under  the 
test  of  such  an  inquiry  as  was  made  recently  by  the  Railway 
Commissioners,  it  was  found  that  imported  produce  yields  a 
greater  profit  per  truck  per  mile  than  home  produce  does, 
the  reason  for  this  being  the  different  conditions  under  which 
the  traffic  is  carried  on.  The  rates  from  the  docks  are  for 
truck  loads — we  might  almost  have  said  train  loads,  train  after 
train  being  loaded  and  dispatched  with  marvellous  celerity 
straight  through  to  London. 
For  intermediate  stations  frequent  stoppages,  doubtful 
quantities  which  may  be  anything,  from  a  few  hundredweights 
to  a  few  tons,  and  uncertain  supply,  all  have  to  be  taken  into 
account.  Even  the  difference  in  packing  tells,  as  for  example 
in  hay,  tons  of  imported  hay  only  requiring  the  same  space  as 
2i  tons  of  English  hay,  and  in  Hops  the  square  foreign  bales  pack- 
ing  much  more  closely  than  the  round  English  “  pockets.”  In  the 
test  for  quantity  it  was  shown  that  from  the  fourteen  stations 
which  were  said  in  this  instance  to  be  affected  by  preferential 
rates,  the  total  traffic  to  London  of  bacon,  hams,  butter,  cheese, 
lard,  and  wool,  in  twenty  months,  was  only  12  tons  4  cwt,  or 
less  than  1  cwt.  per  station  per  month.  The  quantity  of  those 
articles  received  at  those  stations  direct  from  London  during 
the  same  time  was  mjre  than  2000  tons. 
Well  has  it  been  asked,  where  is  the  farmers’  grievance  in 
this  case  ?  Here  are  six  articles  of  farm  produce,  five  of  them 
in  daily  use  in  almost  every  household,  of  which  the  farmers  do 
not  produce  a  tithe  of  what  is  used.  It  is  idle  to  talk  of  over¬ 
production  under  the  light  of  such  evidence.  If  it  were  possible 
for  consumers,  or  for  the  matter  of  that,  the  shopkeepers  who 
cater  for  them,  to  obtain  home-raised  or  home  made  produce  in 
their  own  districts,  produce  at  least  equal  in  quality  to  any  other 
on  the  market,  it  is  not  likely  that  they  would  incur  the  expense 
of  carriage  by  rail. 
Before  this  can  become  possible  there  must  be  a  radical 
change  in  farm  management.  Instead  of  following  the  mere 
routine  of  growing  corn  and  raising  stock,  farm  practice  must 
be  adapted  to  local  or  market  requirements.  Farming  to 
profit  must  be  the  guiding  principle,  and  the  produce  must  be 
a  profitable  marketable  commodity.  If  home-grown  corn  and 
fodder  cannot  be  sold  at  a  profit,  surely  they  can  be  con¬ 
sumed  so  as  to  produce  something  in  ever-growing  daily 
demand.  Milk,  butter,  cheese,  beef,  mutton,  porx,  lard,  eggs, 
poultry,  bacon,  veal,  hams.  Surely  the  list  is  long  enough  ! 
Every  one  of  this  dozen  of  articles  of  food  in  common 
use  can  be  and  should  be  forthcoming  in  prime  condition  from 
a  farm  run  on  keen  business  lines.  It  may  be  that  a  third,  a 
fourth,  or  any  given  part  of  the  whole  might  answer  best.  That 
is  very  posable,  because  the  buyer,  whether  merchant  or 
provision  dealer,  must  before  all  things  have  a  steady,  full, 
unbroken  supply,  combined  with  high  quality.  Only  guarantee 
this  at  a  fair  price  and  you  have  him.  Business!  Business  !  is 
ever  his  cry.  Only  convince  him  that  it  is  to  his  interest  to 
come  to  you  in  the  way  of  business,  and  he  will  come  fast 
enough.  Be  it  your  business  to  supply  the  goods  he  orders 
with  promptitude;  never  keep  him  waiting;  never  send  an 
inferior  article.  That  is  the  way  to  build  up  trade,  and  to  keep 
it  going  briskly. 
As  to  the  matter  of  railway  rates,  surely  that  is  simple 
enough.  The  British  farmer  has  only  to  consign  produce  by 
the  truckload  to  the  railway  companies,  and  he  will  be  placed 
upon  an  equitable  footing  with  the  importers  of  foreign  pro¬ 
duce,  or  rather  he  will  pay  no  more  than  they  do.  What  the 
railway  companies  want  are  truck,  or  at  least,  half-truck  loads. 
It  is  the  small  parcels  that  consume  time,  labour,  money. 
We  hear  no  complaints  of  oppressive  rates  from  the  great 
pou’try  district  of  Sussex.  The  North-Western  Railway  Com¬ 
pany  finds  it  worth  while  running  special  goods  trains  daily 
now  from  Swanley  and  other  stations  near  the  Kent  Strawberry 
farms.  We  have  even  heard  it  said  by  one  of  the  Strawberry 
farmers  that  it  often  answers  best — i.e.,  is  more  profitable  to 
consign  Strawberries  to  Manchester  rather  than  to  London. 
Yet  it  is  the  proud  boast  of  the  Manchester  consumer  that  he 
is  supplied  better  and  cheaper  than  the  Londoner. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  drought  grows  in  intensity,  and  the  resources  of  many  a  farmer 
are  tried  severely  to  keep  live  slock  going  well.  We  have  seen  much 
overstocked  pariture  positively  bare  of  herbage.  Without  plenty  of  rain 
soon  the  mistake  of  buying  poor  cattle  will  press  more  and  more  on 
the  unfortunate  purchasers  of  such  stock.  Many  a  lot  of  them  have  we 
had  offered  us  in  the  last  two  or  three  months,  but  we  would  have  none 
of  them.  We  admit  that  under  certain  conditions  a  place  might  be 
found  for  some  of  them,  but  the  conditions  are  so  exceptional  and  so 
apart  from  ordinary  farming  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  them  now. 
Good  farming  has  to  do  with  beasts  well  wintered,  turned  out  to 
grass  this  spring  in  fresh  fleshy  condition,  so  that  one  can  make  a 
sufficiently  reliable  calculation  as  to  when  they  will  be  ready  for  the 
butcher.  There  is  nothing  vague  about  such  practice ;  it  is  working 
with  a  purpose  and  plan,  and  it  generally  leads  to  profit. 
As  usual,  we  have  brought  some  promising  heifers  into  our  dairy  cow 
herd  to  fill  vacancies  caused  by  barren  and  worn-out  cows.  Such 
vacancies  are  of  constant  occurrence  in  all  herds,  and  we  always  have  a 
certain  number  of  heifers  to  select  from  every  spring.  If  all  are  not 
wanted  they  always  sell  readily  ;  this  season  they  have  sold  excep¬ 
tionally  well.  But  we  never  sell  too  freely,  even  with  so  good  a  market. 
It  requires  two  heifers  to  fill  the  place  of  a  really  good  cow,  so  that  mere 
numbers  can  hardly  be  taken  into  account,  and  there  must  always  be  a 
sufficiently  liberal  margin  to  insure  a  full  supply  of  dairy  produce  for 
the  household. 
Our  calculations  in  this  and  in  all  produce  of  the  home  farm  for 
home  consumption  are  based  on  possible  requirements,  which  must  be 
well  covered.  In  no  other  way  can  they  be  safe,  and  no  rule  other  than 
this  can  be  laid  down  for  general  guidance,  as  the  habits  of  the  family, 
the  numbers  of  the  household,  and  every  possible  contingency  must  be 
taken  into  account.  He  certainly  is  the  best  home  farmer  who  doea 
this  best,  pays  due  heed  to  economy,  and  makes  the  farm  “  pay.” 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden  Squabb,  London. 
Lat.Sl®  32' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
Bain, 
1896. 
June. 
1  Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
1  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  . . 
23 
30-412 
68-6 
62-5 
N. 
62-0 
83-9 
65-7 
135-3 
50-3 
... 
Monday  . . 
24 
30-445 
69-0 
62-6 
N. 
63-9 
77-7 
60-2 
121-2 
53-0 
Tuesday  . . 
25 
30-417 
63  4  . 
52-9 
N. 
63-1 
80-3 
48-4 
124-6 
42-0 
_ 
Wednesday 
26 
30176 
66-0 
69-7 
N. 
64-1 
82-3 
52-6 
114-1 
48-0 
- - 
Thursday ., 
27 
29-957 
69-7 
55-7 
W. 
64  2 
78-1 
57-5 
120-7 
50-2 
— 
Friday  .. 
28 
2.P94-2 
67-1 
57*3 
w. 
64-1 
75-7 
52-2 
119-1 
44-4 
0-020 
Saturday  . . 
29 
29-722 
65-1 
59-» 
w. 
64  1 
70-9 
57-9 
103-1 
56  1 
— 
30-153 
67-0 
58-7 
63-6 
78-4 
54-9 
119-7 
49-1 
0-020 
REMARKS. 
2"rd.— Bright  early ;  cloudy  at  times  in  day,  but  generally  sunny  and  close. 
24th.— Generally  overcast,  with  spots  of  rain  about  11  A.M.,  but  sun  at  times  in 
afternoon. 
25th. — Almost  cloudless  throughout. 
26th.— Slight  fog  early,  and  generally  overcast  and  hazy  till  about  4  P.M. ;  d  stant 
thunder  from  2.30  to  3.30  P.M. ;  clear  evening. 
27th. — Bright  early;  overcast  morning;  frequent  sunshine  in  afternoon;  fine  clear 
evening. 
28th. — Bright  early  ;  generally  cloudy  after  10  A.ir.  ;  and  spots  of  rain  between 
10.30  and  11  a.m.  ;  s  ight  showers  at  4  P.M.,  and  in  evening  and  night. 
29th.— Overcast,  with  occasional  gleams  of  sun;  spots  of  rain  in  evening. 
A  fine  warm  week,  with  very  little  rain.  The  ninth  consecutive  week  with  less 
than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  of  rain.— G.  J.  SYMONS. 
