June  26,  1890. 
Si)2  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  Atfb  GORTAGE  GARDENER 
cattle  and  a  few  black  Welsh  cattle.  There  is  little  trade  for 
milk,  the  initial  difficulty  of  finding  good  dairy  maids,  and  the 
difficulty  of  disposing  of  dairy  produce  being  responsible. 
Small  holdings  being  the  rule  the  butter  is  made  in  small 
quantities ;  it  is  collected  from  the  farms  by  higglers,  packed 
carelessly,  badly  marketed,  and  the  result  is  a  poor  price, 
the  tub  butter  being  particularly  unsatisfactory.  The  dairy 
classes  have  been  of  great  benefit,  but,  alas !  the  school  is  now 
closed. 
Mr.  Wilson  spoke  of  a  creamery  in  Carmarthenshire  where 
the  price  of  the  milk  was  regulated  in  accordance  with  the 
butter  fat.  Professor  Long  advocated  the  blending  system  for 
North  Wales  as  being  preferable  to  the  creamery  system.  He 
urged  renewed  attention  to  cows  especially  bred  for  dairy  work, 
and  also  advocated  more  home-grown  foods  instead  of  the 
outlay  for  bought  feeding  stuffs  Mr.  Laird  of  Edinburgh 
advocated  more  care  in  the  housing  of  cows.  No  coddling,  but 
comfort,  and  suggested  Cabbages  as  an  excellent  article  in  the 
dietary  of  the  milk  cow. 
One  member  advocated  the  increased  use  of  Kerry  cattle  for 
their  hardiness  and  great  milk  productiveness.  He  urged  in 
their  favour  that  five  can  be  kept  on  what  would  sustain  only 
three  Shorthorns.  There  must  be  some  reason  in  that. 
The  paper  read  at  Denbigh,  by  Mr.  O.  Callaghan,  was  on 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  butter  factories  and 
creameries  on  the  co-operative  principle  In  the  co  operative 
system  the  advantage  was,  that  it  secured  to  the  farmer  what¬ 
ever  profits  were  earned  by  the  concern,  the  disadvantages 
depended  on  the  managing  committee.  He  spoke  of  the 
butter  blending  as  carried  on  in  Normandy  To  a  central 
factory  the  various  farmers  send  their  butter  ;  it  is  graded  and 
classed  according  to  its  merits,  mixed  and  re-worked,  and 
turned  out  of  uniform  colour,  texture,  and  saltness. 
Now,  the  great  advantage  here  is  that  a  couple  of  journeys 
a  week  take  much  less  doing  than  daily  cream  delivery ;  but 
then  again  there  must  be  at  each  farm  a  capable  dairy  woman, 
proper  apparatus,  and  suitable  buildings  with  a  good  water 
supply. 
Milk  taken  to  the  creamery  receives  the  best  attention  from 
first  to  last,  but  then  there  is  the  labour  of  the  two  daily 
journeys. 
Mr.  O.  Callaghan  goes  on  to  say  the  English  co  operative 
factory  should  be  able  to  deal  with  milk  either  for  consumption, 
pure  and  simple,  or  for  manufacture  into  cream,  butter  or 
cheese. 
Professor  Long  contends  that  it  is  a  great  disadvantage  to 
pay  creamery  companies  for  work  which  might  be  done  privately 
by  the  farmer  and  his  family.  That  is  all  right  if  the  members 
of  that  family  will  allow  themselves  to  be  properly  taught. 
Has  the  Professor  ever  tried  to  get  up  a  class  for  technical 
instruction  in  dairy  work,  where  there  was  nothing  to  pay  ? 
We  have,  and  found  it  a  dismal  failure. 
Mr.  Nuttall  cannot  see  his  way  to  a  living  out  of  butter 
making.  Stilton  cheese  is  his  sheet  anchor. 
One  of  the  local  farmers  says  he  can  get  good  butter 
(evidently  he  has  a  good  wife),  but  his  difficulty  is  the  marketing. 
Will  light  rai  ways  help  him  ? 
Time  would  fail  to  tell  of  all  the  pleasant  places  seen,  and 
kind  people  who  so  freely  entertained;  but  one  word  must  be 
given  to  tne  Flintshire  and  Denbigh  Dairy  School  at  Lleweni, 
under  Mis3  Roberts  and  Professor  Winter.  The  good  cellars 
of  an  old  mansion  are  just  the  thing  for  the  purpose.  All 
modern  appliances  are  in  use,  thirty  six  cows  are  kept  for  the 
dairy,  and  the  pupils  are  instructed  in  scientific  butter  making, 
the  various  forms  of  cheese,  such  as  Stilton,  Cheshire,  with 
other  approved  foreign  varieties. 
The  school  term  is  for  six  months ;  for  the  first  three  months 
a  travelling  dairy  school  is  out  in  the  two  counties,  and  the 
thirty-six  head  pupils  receive  a  six-weeks  tuition  at  Lleweni 
free,  and  also  free  board  and  lodging. 
The  successful  out  of  the  thirty  six  can  further  attend 
lectures  at  Bangor.  These  good  gentlemen  touched  also  on 
poultry  keeping  for  profit,  a  paper  which  we  may  consider  at 
a  later  date. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Work  on  a  farm  seem3  to  be  never  ending.  A  fine  autumn  may  be 
followed  by  an  open  winter  and  a  dry  spring.  Work  may  have  never 
been  so  forward,  and  a  fortnight’s  ease  for  men  and  horses  may  appear  a 
certain  prospect ;  but  just  as  certainly  will  more  little  items  of  work, 
small  in  themselves  but  large  in  the  aggregate,  turn  up  to  fill  every 
vacant  day. 
Of  course,  the  labourer  gets  his  day  off  whether  work  be  slack  or 
otherwise,  and  the  foreman  chooses  a  suitable  opportunity  for  a  couple 
of  days'  visit  to  his  friends,  and,  if  he  be  a  good  man,  right  well  does  he 
earn  his  holiday. 
The  labourer  has  regular  work  found  him  for  a  regular  wage.  He 
comes  to  work  at  six  if  sound  in  health,  with  no  anxiety  ;  the  weather 
makes  little  difference  to  him,  and  he  returns  home  at  5.30  without  a 
care  to  harass  him. 
Not  so  the  foreman.  On  a  large  farm  the  management  of  the  labour 
and  carrying  out  of  the  master’s  plans  devolve  upon  him.  He  has  to 
make  the  square  pegs  fit  the  square  holes,  arrange  the  work  of  the  horses 
to  the  best  advantage,  and  must  be  ready  (in  the  event  of  a  thunder¬ 
storm,  for  instance)  to  whip  up  his  pack  and  start  on  a  new  line  at  a 
few  minutes’  notice. 
If  an  accident  should  happen  he  has  to  be  the  first  man  there  to  do 
his  best  to  minimise  the  consequences.  His  evenings  are  generally  spent 
quietly  mapping  out  the  work  of  the  next  few  days.  The  weather  may 
appear  settled,  and  everything  plain  sailing;  he  retires  to  rest,  and  looks 
out  at  4  a.m.  to  find  a  pouring  wet  morning,  and  all  his  plans  have  to 
be  recast. 
A  good  foreman  should  be  competent  to  control  the  details  of  the 
labour  without  continually  running  to  his  employer.  The  latter  has 
anxieties  enough  nowadays  in  the  cultivation  of  his  farm  so  that  there 
shall  be  a  reasonable  prospect  of  a  profit,  and  what  with  the  difficulty  of 
realising  his  produce  and  stock  to  good  advantage,  and  of  minimising  or 
preventing  losses  of  the  said  stock,  he  has  his  hands  quite  full  enough 
without  having  to  see  that  Bill  Smith  does  not  yoke  his  gear  horse  to  the 
shaft  horse’s  bridle.  We  have  seen  such  a  thing  done.  The  master  will 
have  losses  that  he  personally  cannot  prevent  or  his  men  either.  Then, 
again,  there  may  be  such  blunders  as  when  Tom,  the  waggoner,  comes 
to  inform  his  employer  in  the  most  casual  way,  “  Blossom’s  deead,  Sir.” 
“  What  1  How?”  ‘‘  Aye.  she  slipped  into  dyke  ageean  bridge.  I  yoked 
Smiler  to  her  heead  an’  pulled  her  oot,  but  she’s  deead.”  It  is  found  to 
be  a  dry  dyke,  and  Blossom  only  suffering  from  a  broken  neck.  Tom  has 
an  opportunity  of  visiting  his  relations,  and  returns  no  more  to  the 
society  of  Smiler,  but  the  master  gets  nothing  for  Blossom  but  the  value 
of  the  skin. 
Hoeing  is  finished  everywhere  except  as  to  the  Turnips,  and  they 
will  soon  be  ready  for  striking  out  and  singling.  Flies  have  done  a 
little  damage,  but  nothing  material,  and  after  the  recent  rains  there 
should  be  an  abundant  crop  of  roots. 
The  rain  may  have  hindered  haymaking  slightly,  but  it  has  not  been 
continuous  enough  to  be  serious.  Wheat  has  flowered  well  ;  spring  corn 
has  much  improved,  and  will  bulk  fairly  ;  pastures  growing  fast. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden  Squarb,  London. 
Lat.61°  32' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
a 
l 
1896. 
June. 
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. 
leg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday  .. 
14 
30-093 
62-8 
60  5 
E. 
63-3 
80-4 
58-2 
120-4 
51-9 
— 
Monday  .. 
15 
29-962 
67-7 
62-0 
N. 
64-3 
85-1 
57-2 
135-9 
52-1 
— 
Tuesday  . . 
16 
29-764 
74-3 
65-9 
W. 
66-0 
84-4 
61-1 
125-9 
55-2 
— 
Wednesday 
17 
29-711 
67-9 
60T 
s. 
66-8 
71-0 
60-4 
114-3 
54-2 
0-059 
Thursday .. 
18 
30-054 
65-6 
57-1 
N. 
64-2 
7s-7 
50-9 
122-0 
43-S 
— 
Friday  .. 
19 
30-237 
64-8 
56-2 
N. 
64-9 
75-9 
562 
129-3 
51-0 
— 
Saturday  . . 
20 
30-247 
66-3 
55-2 
s.w. 
65-0 
78  8 
52-1 
116-4 
44  2 
— 
30-010 
67-1 
596 
64-9 
77-8 
56-6 
123-5 
50-3 
0-059 
REMARKS. 
14th.— Overcast  till  about  10.30  A.M.,  sunny  and  hot  after. 
1 5th. — Bright  and  hot,  but  breezy. 
1 6th. — Sunny  and  hot,  but  rather  hazy  and  cloudy  at  times. 
17th.— Sunny  early  ;  overcast  day,  with  spots  of  rain  about  11  A.M  and  showers  at 
2  P.M.  and  5.30  P.M, ;  clear  night. 
18th.-  Sunny  almost  throughout,  with  pleasant  breeze. 
19th.— Bright  sunny  morning,  frequently  cloudy  after  noon. 
20th. — Bright  sun  early ;  generally  overcast  from  10  a.m.  to  2  P.M.,  and  frequently 
sunny  after. 
A  dry,  hot  week.  Temperature  6°  above  the  average.— G.  J.  SYMONS, 
