216 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  29, 1896. 
It  was  the  sight  of  soire  ‘  kneeler”  lambs  that  induced  us 
to  remind  our  readers  that  with  the  autumn  sheep  fairs  comes 
the  beginning  of  another  twelve  months  of  flock  management, 
and  to  inquire  if  it  is  possible  to  improve  in  our  flock  manage¬ 
ment,  or  to  turn  it  to  better  account  in  any  way.  With  prices 
so  high  and  markets  so  firm  there  is  li!jely  to  be  a  very  general 
enlargement  of  ewe  flocks.  Home-bred  sheep  will  increase  in 
numbers,  notwithstanding  the  ever-growing  importation  of 
foreign  mutton,  and  the  farmer  who  breeds  and  feeds  for  early 
maturity,  who  has  a  sound  flock,  and  takes  care  to  keep  it  so, 
will  find  it  more  profitable  than  it  ever  can  be  without  such 
care.  Surely  the  steady  and  sure  profit  on  sheep  ought  to 
prove  an  incentive  to  improvement,  or  at  any  rate  to  really 
sound  management.  Yet  foot  rot  continues  rampant  in  many  a 
flock,  no  special  attempt  being  made  to  eradicate  it,  or  even  to 
keep  it  well  under,  and  there  are  districts  where  sheep-fold¬ 
ing  to  enrich  land  is  quite  unknown.  It  would  really  seem 
as  though  there  it  was  settled  by  common  consent.  “  We  like 
to  have  a  few  sheep  on  the  land,  but  while  the  cows  keep  us 
going  so  well,  why  should  we  bother  about  sheep  folds,  early 
maturity,  or  special  breeding  in  any  way  ?  ”  Well,  we  would 
force  no  man’s  hand ;  but  we  cannot  be  in  sympathy  with  slip¬ 
shod  practice,  and  are  certainly  bound  to  point  to  better  things. 
For  the  large  flockmaster,  with  his  thousands  out  on  the  South 
Downs  or  the  Border  Fells,  folding  has  its  use  equally  with 
the  small  grazier  or  mixed  farmer.  In  East  Anglia  folding  is 
better  done  than  elsewhere,  because  the  flock  plays  such  an 
important  part  on  the  large  arable  corn  farms.  During  the 
present  agricultural  depression  it  has  always  been  understood  in 
Suffolk  that  so  long  as  a  farmer  could  keep  up  his  flock  he  could 
hold  on  and  battle  with  hard  times,  but  if  he  came  to  parting 
with  it  he  was  a  doomed  man.  Without  a  flock,  how  was  sustained 
fertility  possible  ?  The  land  must  soon  become  exhausted,  corn 
crops  must  suffer,  bulk  and  weight  would  both  decline,  grinding 
corn  only  would  be  forthcoming,  and  failure  would  be  certain. 
Breeding  for  early  folding,  as  well  as  for  early  lambs  and 
hoggets,  is  splendidly  done  on  many  a  Suffolk  farm,  whether  the 
flock  is  of  the  admirable  local  Black-faced  breed,  or  is  a  good 
cross  with  Hampshire  Down  tups.  Both  are  good,  the  cross¬ 
bred  animal  being  perhaps  a  little  more  hardy  than  pure  Suffolk. 
Much  depends  on  selection  of  both  parents,  but  the  matter 
is  very  simple;  if  the  parents  are  fine  healthy  animals  the 
lambs  will  have  sturdy  compact  frames,  and  will  answer.  Pro¬ 
vision  for  ewes  and  lambs  next  spring  is  being  made  now  by  root 
crops.  Cabbages,  Kale,  and  Rye.  Lamb  tups  a’’e  selected,  and 
are  put  with  the  ewes  by  about  the  last  week  in  August.  That  is 
the  general  practice.  On  some  farms  the  tups  are  in  use  by  the 
middle  of  the  month.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  calculation,  of  ways 
and  means.  The  period  of  gestation  is  twenty-one  weeks,  and 
if  we  would  have  really  fine  lambs  by  June  lambing  should  be 
about  over  by  the  end  of  January,  which  means  there  must  be 
an  ample  provision  of  dry  food  in  case  of  a  recurrence  such 
severe  weather  as  prevailed  last  February.  It  is  well  to 
remember  that  lambs  did  well  all  through  the  ten  weeks  of  snow 
and  frost,  cold  dry  weather  doing  them  no  harm.  It  is  cold  and 
wet  that  proves  fatal  to  so  many  of  them. 
On  dairy  farms  the  lambing  might  just  as  well  be  early  if 
only  enough  land  were  kept  under  the  plough  for  the  cultiva¬ 
tion  of  the  necessary  corn,  root,  and  green  crops.  The  Essex 
scheme  of  temporary  pasture,  with  a  six  or  eight-years  shift, 
lends  itself  to  such  a  purpose  much  better  than  where  the  land 
is  in  permanent  pasture.  Take,  for  example,  a  300  acre  farm 
under  a  six-years  shift,  50  acres  would  come  for  ploughing  every 
year  in  rotation.  Here,  again,  there  must  be  calculation,  a  well 
thought-out  system,  thorough  cultivation  of  the  grass  land  Then 
there  is  no  reason,  if  a  proper  mixture  of  seed  is  used  for  the 
pasture,  why  it  should  not  remain  dovin  for  the  longer  period  of 
eight  years.  There  would  then  be  only  about  37  acres  for  the 
annual  ploughing  and  cropping,  and  the  question  to  answer 
would  be.  Wilt  37  acres  afford  enough  Oats,  Rye,  roots,  Kale, 
some  Green  Maize  and  if  possible  a  few  acres  of  Peas  ?  Jn  such 
a  calculation  there  must  be  a  little  latitude,  precision  is  im¬ 
possible,  and  we  have  to  consider  the  requirements  of  the  whole  of 
the  farm  live  stock  as  well  as  the  flock.  This  means  doing  well 
by  the  land,  and  well  by  the  flock.  It  leaves  nothing  to  chance, 
pays  only  sufficient  heed  to  bad  seasons  to  guard  against  them 
to  the  utmost  by  making  all  possible  provision  for  emergencies 
of  food,  shelter,  and  healthy  live  stock  to  turn  it  to  full  account. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Though  the  corn  harvest  has  been  somewhat  delayed  by  occasional 
heavy  storms,  the  dry  and  very  hot  weather  has  been  favourable  to 
carting  very  much  of  the  corn  in  good  condition.  As  usual,  we  have 
had  two  large  barns  at  the  home  farm  filled  with  corn  for  thrashing  by 
hand  at  midwinter.  There  is  no  material  addition  to  the  cost  for  doing 
this  work,  and  it  is  unquestionably  a  great  boon  to  the  men,  giving 
them  something  to  look  forward  to  in  the  winter  when  they  are  either 
turned  off  or  are  kept  on  the  verge  of  starvation  at  many  a  farm.  A 
little  consideration  to  provide  work  for  them  heartens  the  men  and  does 
good  all  round,  especially  in  keeping  reliable  men  at  hand  who  can  turn 
their  hands  to  anything  and  everything  on  the  farm. 
See  to  thatching  and  trimming  corn  stacks,  taking  care  in  building 
to  keep  the  middle  well  up,  and  to  top  up  at  a  good  height  and  acute  angle 
so  as  to  throw  off  rain  well.  Clip  the  sides  of  Barley  stacks  closely,  it 
prevents  waste,  and  the  mixing  of  stained  grain  with  that  of  good  colour 
when  the  corn  is  thrashed.  Move  portable  poultry  houses  to  have  the 
fowls  clear  up  all  fallen  or  littered  corn,  and  allow  no  waste  or  slovenly 
work  about  the  farm. 
The  folding  on  poor  pasture  of  over-age  ewes  drafted  from  the  flock 
may  begin  now  ;  use  one  hurdle  per  sheep,  moving  the  folds  forward  at 
intervals  of  twenty-four  hours.  We  sometimes  purchase  a  few  score 
such  sheep  for  this  purpose,  but  good  ones  are  exceptionally  dear  now, 
ranging  in  price  from  333.  up  to  418.  If  any  are  purchased  it  is  well  to 
have  them  in  tolerably  good  condition.  There  are  plenty  now  at  fairs, 
and  auction  sales  that  are  in  wretched  plight  owing  to  the  lambs  having 
been  kept  with  them  long  after  they  ought  to  have  been  weaned.  We 
saw  some  on  a  border  farm  in  July  that  were  positively  larger  than  the 
wretched  ewes  still  suckling  them.  If  early  lambs  are  required  be 
prompt  to  procure  tups,  if  that  is  not  done  already.  Really  good 
Hampshire  Down  lamb  tups  range  in  price  from  5  guineas  up  to 
22  guineas.  From  6  guineas  to  7  guineas  is  about  oar  usual  price  for 
really  useful  animals.  At  the  great  sheep  fair  at  Britford  40,000  were 
penned,  full-mouthed  ewes  selling  readily  at  from  423.  to  47s.,  two- 
tooth  ewes  393.  6d.  to  453,,  ewe  lambs  25b.  to  39s.,  good  wether  lambs 
403.  6d.  to  493.  At  such  prices  sheep  farming  continues  profitable,  and 
is  a  ray  of  light  pointing,  we  hope,  to  a  brighter  future  for  farmers. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OB8E  BVATIONS. 
Oamden  Squabb,  London. 
Lat.51°  32'  40"  N. :  Long.  0“  8'  0"  W.:  Altitude  ill  feet 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
a 
3 
1895. 
August. 
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  . . 
18 
30T64 
68-1 
61-7 
N.E. 
Cl-4 
77-9 
54-0 
117-6 
46-4 
— 
Monday  . . 
19 
30-08 
67  0 
600 
N. 
61-8 
80-0 
50-4 
121-0 
45-9 
_ 
Tuesday  . . 
20 
30-125 
66-2 
61-9 
W. 
62-9 
75-2 
59-1 
118-9 
54-7 
— 
W  ednesday 
21 
30  096 
65  4 
610 
s. 
63-4 
81-3 
56-1 
123-8 
50  0 
0-049 
Thursday . . 
22 
-29-897 
67-6 
65-9 
N. 
64-3 
81-2 
63-2 
122-1 
59-8 
0-393 
Friday 
23 
29-902 
67-6 
62-9 
s. 
64"8 
74-9 
59-2 
119-9 
60-2 
- - 
Saturday  . . 
24 
29-981 
62-6 
55-7 
x.w. 
63-8 
70-1 
54-9 
118-3 
50-7 
— 
30-035 
66-4 
61-3 
63-2 
77-2 
56-7 
120-2 
52  5 
0-442 
18th, — Bright  sunshine  almost  throughout. 
lath. — Bright  and  hot  throughout,  and  fine  evening  and  night 
20th. — Overcast,  with  occasional  gleams  of  sun  in  morning,  sunny  afternoon. 
2l8t.— Warm  and  sunny  throughout. 
22nd.— Thunder,  lightning  and  showers  from  7.45  to  9.30,  misty  and  damp  till  11  30. 
then  alternate  sunshine  and  cloud  and  a  heavy  thunderstorm  in  evening  with 
0-34  of  rain  in  fifteen  minutes. 
23rd.— Slight  shower  early,  bright  sun  almost  all  day. 
24th.—  Generally  sunny  and  pleasant. 
A  fino  warm  week,  very  much  like  that  ending  June  29th,  except  that  (probably 
owing  to  there  being  more  vapour  in  the  air)  we  have  this  week  had  a  very  fine 
thunderstorm.— G.  J,  Symons. 
