474 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  14  1895. 
AN  EXTRAORDINARY  HOME  FARM. 
“Bowes  House”  farm  of  609  acres,  and  “  Over  the  Hill” 
farm  of  150  acres,  farmed  together  as  one  home  farm  for  the 
Earl  of  Durham,  form  a  remarkable  example  of  successful 
high  farming,  and  afford  such  valuable  lessons  in  farm  manage¬ 
ment  that  we  devote  an  article  to  a  brief  account  of  it  taken 
from  a  description  of  Northumberland  and  Durham  farms 
that  were  brought  into  competition  for  the  Royal  Agricultural 
Society’s  prizes  in  1887. 
Only  eight  years  ago,  be  it  remembered,  when  the  agricul¬ 
tural  depression  was  at  its  worst,  and  successful  farming  was 
coming — nay,  had  come — to  be  regarded  as  an  impossibility. 
But  then  that  was  by  the  extreme  men,  who  always  take 
extreme  views,  do  not  believe  in  the  possibility  of  changing 
with  the  times.  Born  and  bred  to  corn  farming  they  pinned 
their  faith  to  it,  and  could  not,  or  rather  did  not,  change.  Yet 
everything  pointed  to  mixed  farming  as  the  only  safe  course 
to  adopt,  involving  no  really  radical  change,  only  a  curtailment 
of  the  corn  area,  an  extension  of  pasture  temporary  and 
permanent,  of  other  fodder  and  root  crops,  and  a  considerable 
inc^ease  of  live  stock.  It  is  to  an  example  of  such  mixed 
farming  that  we  now  call  attention. 
Of  the  759  acres  of  the  combined  farms  277^  were  in 
pasture,  6dh  Clover,  172|  meadow,  108  Wheat,  62|  Oats, 
lOi  Potatoes,  79  Turnips,  8  Mangolds,  7  Tares,  and  5  stack 
yards  and  occupation  roads.  The  live  stock  consisted  of 
fourteen  farm  horses,  three  breeding  mares,  two  fillies,  sixty 
fatting  bullocks  and  heifers,  seventy  six  store  beists,  thirty- 
three  store  beasts  under  two  years  old,  170  wethers  and 
breeding  ewes,  285  lambs,  thirty  rams,  315  gimmers,  104  mule 
sheep,  twenty  pigs,  thirty-seven  ponies— total,  1149.  Truly  an 
admirable  arrangement,  which  under  the  light  of  the  subsequent 
eight  years  more  of  hard  times  could  only  be  modified  to 
advantage  by  a  reduction  of  the  Wheat  area,  an  extension 
of  that  under  Oats,  and  a  considerable  addition  to  the  ewe 
flock.  The  ponies  are  the  only  extraordinary  local  feature* 
their  presence  being  explained  by  the  requirement  of  such 
stock  for  Lord  Durham’s  coal  pits. 
About  3200  loads  of  manure  are  annually  made,  and  150 
purchased,  which  is  chiefly  applied  to  the  Turnip  crop,  and  to 
about  20  acres  of  old  grass  cut  for  hay ;  33}  tons  of  chemical 
manure  are  also  used  in  Turnip  cultivation  at  a  cost  of  31s  6d. 
per  acre,  consisting  of  2  cwt.  of  raw  bones,  2  cwt.  superphos¬ 
phate,  1  cwt.  guano,  and  2  cwt.  dissolved  bones ;  to  the  old 
grass  and  seeds  17  tons  superphosphate,  7  tons  salt,  3^  tons 
nitrate  of  soda,  and  2^  tons  of  superphosphate ;  this  costs 
148  per  acre  About  100  loads  of  gas  lime  are  also  used  on 
the  old  grass  land  at  the  rate  of  8  to  10  tons  per  acre. 
The  cattle  and  sheep  are  all  well  fattened  and  the  cake  and 
corn  bills  amount  to  nearly  £1200  annually.  It  is  the  practice 
to  hold  an  auction  sale  of  fat  stock  at  Christmas  and  Midsummer 
every  yeai*.  In  1887  at  the  Midsummer  sale  fifty-eight  fat  steers 
and  heifers  made  £1459  5s.,  an  average  of  £25  each,  and  145 
wethers  averaged  53s.  3d.  each,  sixty-five  gimmers  60s.,  twenty-five 
fat  lambs  46s.  3d.,  and  seven  fat  ewes  59s.  each.  We  give  these 
detailedpricesasbeingbothinterestingandinstructive.  Since  1887 
prices  have  fluctuated,  but  the  lesson  of  experience  here  is,  certainly 
stick  to  the  flock  for  every  good  reason.  Even  when  sheep  were 
down  in  value  they  always  were  profitable  if  turned  to  full  account 
by  folding.  Sustained  fertility  of  soil  and  correct  flock  manage¬ 
ment  are  coincident,  and  cannot  be  separated  with  impunity. 
The  December  sale  of  that  year  realised  £3634  15s.  for  140  fat 
cattle,  and  £1652  16s  for  626  sheep,  some  being  brought  to  the 
sale  from  other  land  in  hand.  The  report  well  says  that  the 
extent  of  these  sales,  which  had  then  been  in  existence  for 
thirty-seven  years,  and  the  sums  realised  justify  the  outlay  on 
the  land  cultivated,  and  prove  more  than  ordinary  skill  on  the 
part  of  the  manager  in  feeding  so  large  and  such  varied  stock. 
Another  factor  to  the  success  of  the  sales  is  the  excellence  of 
the  stock,  and  the  good  faith  which  exists  between  buyers 
and  salesmen. 
There  is  admirable  provision  of  shelter  for  cattle,  and  an 
excellent  lambing  yard  The  workmen  are  capable,  intelligent 
men  taking  a  personal  interest  in  their  work,  and  the  whole 
thing— manager,  workmen,  stock  and  crop  combine  to  form  an 
admirable  example  of  such  farm  management  as  is  calculated 
to  meet  the  times.  With  farms  so  equipped,  so  managed,  there 
would  be  no  migration  of  labourers  to  towns,  and,  we  venture 
to  add,  no  further  talk  of  farming  being  a  dying  industry.  The 
one  difficulty  to  so  stocking  farms  is  a  lack  of  capital,  among 
tenant  farmers  at  any  rate, 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
In  this  last  month  of  autumn  cold  and  wet  often  do  much  harm  to 
cattle  —  harm  that  is  not  perceptible  to  the  casual  observer.  The 
thickening  coats  tend  to  mislead,  and  to  induce  a  belief  that  improve¬ 
ment  continues  when  there  is  a  positive  loss  of  condition.  Abundance 
of  herbage  on  pasture  now  does  not  mean  anything  like  a  proportionate 
quantity  of  nutritious  food.  The  grass  if  rank  is  growing  more  dis¬ 
coloured  daily,  is  becoming  poorer  in  quality,  and  just  when  cattle 
require  more  and  better  food  they  are  kept  out  on  what  is  really  inferior 
food,  and  suffer  accordingly.  It  is  good  management  during  the  present 
month  that  prevents  the  commencement  of  poverty  of  condition,  and 
insures  store  cattle  going  out  of  the  yards  next  spring  so  fresh  and 
kindly  in  condition  as  to  derive  full  advantage  of  the  nutritious  herbage 
of  early  summer. 
We  are  finishing  a  small  number  of  fatting  beasts  for  Christmas,  as 
they  came  off  the  pasture  so  forward  in  condition  as  to  make  it  worth 
while  tying  them  up  for  a  couple  of  months.  Really  prime  beasts  are 
always  in  demand — always  go  well  at  market,  better  still  if  sold  at  the 
farm.  It  is  the  half  finished  beasts  on  which  graziers  lose  so  heavily 
always,  but  especially  in'  autumn.  If  only  they  could  be  kept  on  and 
fed  to  maturity  they  must  prove  more  profitable.  Keep  this  well  in 
mind  now,  and  all  winter  let  it  be  an  incentive  to  giving  store  cattle 
close  attention,  so  that  by  causing  a  gradual  improvement  from  the 
present  time  till  they  are  turned  out  again  they  may  go  off  the  pasture 
direct  to  the  butcher,  or  only  require  a  short  time  to  finish  them  in  the 
autumn. 
Such  management  proves  profitable,  because  it  is  well  timed,  and  the 
beasts  are  kept  going  steadily  on  to  that  early  maturity  which  is  so  easy  and 
so  certain  if  only  we  breed  welt,  feed  well,  shelter  well,  and  then  crown 
our  work  by  selling  well.  We  repeat,  really  prime  beasts  are  always  in 
demand.  The  want  of  them  is  now  felt  on  the  markets,  as  it  has  so 
often  been,  and  the  quotations  mainly  for  inferior  beef  are  not  reliable 
as  an  indication  of  tue  present  value  of  prime  beef.  That  is  practically 
very  scarce  as  a  home  supply,  the  foreign  article  continues  more 
plentiful. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSSRTATIONS. 
Oamden  Squarb,  London. 
Lat.51°  32' 40"  N. ;  Loag.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
a 
*3  * 
PS 
1895. 
November. 
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. 
Inch  s. 
Sunday  . .  3 
30-002 
42-8 
41-2 
N. 
43-0 
49-7 
33-2 
53-8 
28-0 
0-U25 
Monday  . .  4 
29-778 
47-6 
47-2 
N. 
43-9 
51-9 
42-6 
54-1 
41-9 
0-286 
Tuesday  . .  5 
29-538 
46-1 
45-8 
N.E. 
45-0 
58-8 
40- i 
63-2 
34-7 
0-144 
Wednesday  6 
29-570 
55-6 
51-2 
W. 
46-7 
60-0 
46-2 
77-1 
46-2 
0-159 
Thursday . ,  7 
29-889 
51-6 
50-9 
N-. 
47-8 
60-0 
50-9 
62-8 
46-9 
0-202 
Friday  . .  8 
29-978 
52  7 
51-2 
E. 
490 
57-2 
51-4 
57-7 
48-9 
t-351 
Saturday  .,  9 
29-687 
52-0 
50-9 
W. 
49  9 
56-0 
51-2 
82-8 
60-3 
— 
29-777 
49-8 
48-3 
46-5 
56-2 
45-1 
64-5 
42-4 
1-166 
REMARKS. 
3rd. — Overcast  morning  ;  a  little  rain  in  afternoon  and  evening. 
4th. — Dull  and  damp  early  ;  incessant  rain  from  10.30  A.M.  to  6  P.M.,  and  generally  more 
or  less  foggy,  and  very  dark  at  times. 
5th.— Rainy  from  7  A.M.  to  9  A.M. ;  dull  day,  damp  in  morning;  rain  again  from  6  P.M. 
to  10  P.M.,  gale  at  night. 
6th. — Bright  sunshine  in  morning;  generally  cloudy  after  noon. 
7th. — Almost  incessant  rain  or  drizzle  until  2  P.M.  and  after  5  P.M.,  overcast  between. 
8th. — Almost  incessant  rain  till  2  P.M.  and  drizzle  after. 
9th. — Rain  from  4  A.M.  to  8  A.M.,  bright  sunshine  from  10  A.M. 
Another  oscillation  of  temperature,  that  of  this  week  having  been  considerably 
above  the  average. — G.  J.  SymoNS. 
