182 
■tOTJUNAL  OF  HORTICULTURF  AMD  COTTAGE  GARDEMER. 
February  24,  189^. 
COWS  AND  THEIR  CARE. 
It  seems  a  wonderful  thing  that  a  few  gallons  of  milk  require 
such  an  immense  machine  as  a  cow  for  their  production  ;  but  so  it  is. 
The  great  unwieldy  mass  of  flesh  on  four  legs  that  requires  much  foo  1 
and  care  is  our  only  vehicle  for  the  produce  of  one  of  our  most 
valuable  articles  of  food. 
The  milk  of  smaller  animals,  though  at  times  used  for  domestic 
consumption,  can  never  fill  the  place  of  cow’s  milk.  There  is  first  the 
smaller  qiiantit}*,  but  the  great  fault  lies  in  the  generally  curious 
flavour  of  other  milks — flavours  that  require  much  time  and  a  hearty 
good  will  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  public  taste.  As  a  rule,  it  is  the 
true  sign  of  a  disordered  stomach  or  system  when  fresh  milk  proves 
unpalatable — the  food  is  so  natural,  so  easily  assimilated,  that  it  is 
found  in  every  menu  in  some  form  or  other.  Happy  those  who  have 
the  chance  of  a  full  sup]>ly  daily  !  We  mean  plenty  to  drink  (if  liked), 
plenty  for  puddings,  and  plenty  to  dilute  the  tea  and  coffee  cups.  It 
is  a  great  wonder  to  us  that  milk  and  its  side  adjuncts  are  not  dearer. 
Except  those  well  acquainted  with  animal  life,  few  can  conceive 
the  immense  quantities  of  food  required  to  produce  the  framing  milk. 
As  we  said  before,  the  cow  has  a  great  bulk,  and  that  bulk  is  not 
sustained  on  air.  Watch  a  cow  out  at  grass,  except  during  the  heat 
of  the  day,  and  certainly  during  the  night,  she  is  honestly  and  steadily 
at  work — munch,  munch.  Of  course  people  will  say  the  rent  of  grass 
land  is  not  heavy,  but  she  passes  a  great  deal  of  her  time  in  close 
quarters,  when  all  food  and  water  has  to  be  separately  served  ;  what 
about  rations  then  ?  Indeed,  even  during  the  summer  months  the 
wise  farmer  supplements  the  grass  by  giving  some  more  concentrated 
food  while  she  is  tied  up  fur  milking.  It  is  only  for  about  three  months 
that  a  high  milking  average  is  maintained,  then  the  quantity  steadily 
diminishes  till  it  is  es«ential  that  she  should  have  a  resting  time 
before  the  next  calf  appears. 
^  There  has  been  much  discussion  lately  as  to  sanitary  cow  houses ; 
this  quite  as  much  in  the  interest  of  the  cow  as  the  milk  consumer. 
Where  poor,  wretched  cows  are  tied  up  year  in  year  out  there  is  the 
greatest  need  of  supervision  ;  but  at  present  we  seem  to  be  running  a 
good  chance  of  being  too  sanitary.  We  are  just  off  to  the  other 
extremity,  and  stand  a  great  chance  of  killing  cows  by  too  much  fresh 
air  as  we  have  hitherto  done  by  allowing  the  evils  of  overcrowding. 
To  keep  up  a  good  sup])ly  of  milk  warmth  is  as  essential  as  food,  and 
huge  draughty  cow  houses  will  probably  induce  some  dire  luncf  dis¬ 
orders,  as  well  as  materially  lessen  the  milk  supply. 
We  do  pot  want  to  be  mistaken.  By  all  means  have  plenty  of 
light  and  air,  but  no  draughts.  Some  local  authorities  are  in.<^i.ting 
on  800  cubic  feet  for  each  cow.  Now  we  should  hardly  think  this 
necessary;  indeed,  so  great  an  authority  as  Primrose  McConnell 
considers  that  600,  or  even  400,  cubic  feet  is  a  very  g'ood  allowance 
per  cow.  It  would  be  a  serious  addition  to  a  cowkeeper’s  expenses  if 
he  had  to  put  down  .some  form  of  heating  apparatus  to- rectify  the  too 
great  flow  of  fresh  air  in  his  cow  houses. 
Much  has  been  written  and  said  re  the  cleanliness  of  cows.  When 
at  large  there  is  little  to  complain  of  ;  it  is  those  tied-up  which  get 
themselves  into  such  messes,  and  we  find  few  cow  standings  properly 
adjusted.  The  British  wor:^man  is  a  bit  pig-headed.  He  cannot  sec, 
or  will  not  see,  why  a  standing  should  be  made  to  slope  towards  the 
gutter.  The  slope  need  not  be  very  great,  indeed  it  is  better  not  so. 
An  inch  is  quite  enough,  but  the  gutter  behind  must  be  at  leasr, 
7  or  8  inches  deep.  Some  breeds  of  cow's,  too,  appear  of  a  clear.er 
nature  than  others.  The  great,  heavy,  blundering  Shorthorn  appears 
to  get  herself  in  Uie  way  of  dirt  more  easily  than  the  smarter,  trimmer 
matron.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  cleanliness  necessary  in  relation  to 
the  milking  vessels,  and  the  state  of  the  milkers.  It  has  been  proved 
over  and  over  again  that  a  cow  pays  for  grooming. 
We  have  heard  much  about  the  aggravating  attacks  of  the  warble 
fly.  Well,  this  pest,  as  we  have  siid  in  ])revious  articles,  is  quite 
under  our  control.  'I'he  n  cans  are  so  simple,  the  remedies  at  hand, 
that  it  is  only  sheer  idleness  that  allows  our  cattle  to  be  thus  tor¬ 
mented.  Many  remedies  are  suggested,  but  the  simfdest  are  the  best, 
and  a  decoction  of  a  well-known  sheep  dip  applied  at  frequent  intervals 
will  not  orily  stop  the  ravages  of  the  warble  fly,  but  will  kill  any 
other  vermin  that  may  be  found  on  the  skin. 
A  herdsman  interested  in  his  charge  will  ahvays  find  time  for  a 
little  extra  grooming  without  the  master  being  constantly  on  the  loc  k 
out,  but  a  word  of  praise  has  a  wonderfully  stimulating  effect.  We  all 
like  to  see  our  efforts  appreciated,  and  a  good  understanding  between 
master  and  man  tends  much  to  the  well-being  of  the  stock. 
WOEK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  see  in  the  papers  reports  of  slight  frosts  in  some  parts,  but  with  us 
it  has  been  extremely  mild,  so  that  every  time  we  pass  the  Turnips  we 
see  a  difference  in  the  height  of  the  tops.  Some  are  2  feet  high  now,  and 
unless  checked  they  will  ere  long  show  signs  of  flowering.  The  Swedes, 
too,  are  beginning  to  run  to  seed,  and  will  lose  much  of  their  quality. 
Daily  papers  report  a  touch  of  winter  in  Southern  Russia,  so 
perhaps  we  may  have  a  check  yet. 
Some  Wheats  would  nearly  cover  a  hare,  and  fears  are  expressed  that 
they  are  too  forward.  We  hear  of  fanners  being  advised  to  eat  their 
Wheat  off  with  sheep  folded  closely  on  the  land.  This  may  do  very 
well  on  good  land  very  high  in  condition,  but  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  would  have  to  be  very  special  indeed  to  induce  us  to  put  such  an 
idea  into  practice. 
We  should  prefer  to  give  the  Wheat  a  thorough  harrowdng  ;  a  good 
knocking  about  will  keep  it  back,  and  if  half  of  it  be  pulled  up  no  harm 
will  be  done,  for  it  will  soon  fill  up  again.  We  knew  of  a  case  where  so 
much  young  Wheat  was  pulled  up  with  harrowing  that  it  had  to  be 
heaped  and  carted  off',  but  the  crop  was  the  best  the  farmer  ever  grew. 
Referring  again  to  the  Turnips,  we  are  shown  how  necessary  it  is  to 
store  in  autumn  the  roots  required  for  consumption  after  January. 
Weather  makes  little  difference,  and  the  expense  is  always  returned  with 
good  interest.  If  the  mild  weather  should  continue  and  Swedes  go  on 
running,  the  tops  had  better  be  cut  off  w'ilh  a  Turnip  hook  a  couple  of 
inches  above  the  bulb.  This  will  check  them  until  they  form  a  fresh  top. 
Lambing  is  now  becoming  general,  and  we  would  remind  our  readers 
that  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  lambing  fold  and  pens  is  the  chief 
essential  to  a  fortunate  and  successful  lambing  period.  If  a  new  pitch  for 
the  fold  cannot  be  had  every  year,  then  the  old  site  must  be  well  cleansed 
and  disinfected  before  use.  When  lambing  is  half  over,  the  bedding 
should  all  be  cleared  away  and  new  brought,  the  ground  and  fencing  being 
well  watered  with  disinfectant.  All  dead  lambs  and  decaying  matter 
should  be  buried  at  once,  and  not  left  on  the  pen  roof,  as  we  have  so  often 
seen. 
The  ewes  must  not  be  kept  in  the  pens  any  longer  than  absolutely 
necessary.  As  soon  as  the  lambs  can  and  will  follow  them  they  are 
better  in  the  open  air. 
NATIONAL  POULTRY  TEST. 
Many  of  your  readers  may  be  interested  to  know  that  some  150 
landowners,  tenant  farmers,  and  others  have  signified  their  intention  to 
take  part  in  the  above  test  scheme ;  and  as  these  are  widely'  distributed 
over  Great  Britain,  we  may  reasonably  hope,  twelve  months  hence,  to  be 
able  to  determine  as  to  whether  egg  producing  can,  or  cannot,  be  made 
a  profitable  branch  of  our  agricultural  induslry.^ — K.  B.  Baghot-de-la- 
Bere. 
[We  publish  the  above  information.  The  “  test”  referred  appears  on 
page  630,  in  our  issue  of  30th  December,  1897.  On  page  47,  13th 
January,  1898,  the  scheme  was  commented  on  by  a  writer  who  has  tested 
the  (|uestion  of  egg  production  on  his  own  farm.  Many  trials  of  a  similar 
nature  to  that  proposed  by  Mr.  Baghot-de-la-Bere  have  been  made  from 
time  to  time  during  the  past  forty  years.  Though  a  few  of  these  were 
promising  at  the  first,  they  did  not  by  any  means  subsequently  equal  the 
anticipations  of  their  promoters,  and  it  may  be  suspected  that  the  figures 
which  may  be  produced  from  the  results  of  one  or  two  years’  experience 
will  be  inadequte  for  fully  and  fairly  representing  the  profit  and  loss  of 
egg  production  in  one  acre  wired-in  grass  runs.] 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32'  40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W. :  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
lx  THE  Day. 
1898. 
•ometer 
2°,  and 
1,  Level 
Hygrometer 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp 
of  soil 
at 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Rain. 
Februaiy. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
1  foot 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
Sunday  ....  13 
Monday  ....  14 
Tuesday  ....  15 
Wednesday  16 
Thursday  . .  17 
Friday .  18 
Siturday....  19 
inehs 
30-112 
deg. 
46-3 
deg. 
46-1 
S.W. 
deg. 
42-8 
deg. 
47-2 
deg. 
44-6 
deg. 
71-4 
deg. 
42-0 
inchs. 
0-029 
30  "209 
42-6 
41-1 
W. 
42-0 
51-6 
38-1 
73-2 
32-2 
_ 
30-262 
48-1 
45-6 
S.  W. 
4-2-0 
54-1 
41  -9 
70-3 
34-9 
_ 
30-131 
44-7 
41-2 
W. 
43-6 
53-9 
42-1 
92-1 
37-0 
— 
30-184 
42-0 
38-9 
W. 
43-0 
47-9 
40-1 
72-6 
34-4 
0-089 
-29-835 
39-4 
38-9 
N.K. 
42-9 
40-8 
38-7 
50-6 
38-6 
0-151 
-29-953 
'ti 
30-4 
N.W. 
40-9 
43-1 
-29-6 
71-3 
25-3 
0-010 
30-098 
42-4 
40-3 
42-5 
48-4 
39-3 
71-6 
34-9 
0-279 
13tli. — Almost  continuous  rain  from  C  a.m.  to  noon;  sunny  afternoon,  and  fine 
night. 
14th. — Fine  anil  bright  early,  but  not  much  bright  sun  after  11  a.m. 
15th.— -Overcast  morning  ;  a  little  sun  in  afternoon  ;  line  night, 
loth. — Bright  sunshine  almost  throughout. 
17th. — Overcast,  with  occasional  spots  of  rain  early  and  in  evening  ;  fair  day,  with 
intervals  of  sunshine. 
18th.— Dull,  damp,  and  rainy  from  midnight  to  2  P.M.,  and  very  wet  snow  till 
3.30  P.M.,  then  clearing,  and  bright  night. 
19th. — Almost  cloudless  early  ;  bright  sun  all  morning  ;  cloudy  at  times  in 
afternoon. 
The  tine  weather  with  high  barometer  continued  till  towards  the  end  of  the 
week,  but  temperature  and  pressure  fell  towards  the  close,  and  the  weather 
became  unsettled. — G.  J.  SYMOh'S. 
