JOUUhUL  OP  mnTtOVLWM  AND  OOffAGP  GAtlMNPn. 
July  16, 1896. 
t^72 
county  shows,  scarcely  inferior,  and  then  a  host  of  small  local 
affairs  that  really  are  most  praiseworthy  in  their  efforts  to 
follow  the  line  of  their  larger  and  more  aristocratic  neighbours. 
That  these  exhibitions  of  stock,  machinery,  and  produce  have 
done  good  work  in  the  past  no  one  doubts,  but  there  is  a  feeling 
abroad  as  to  whether  these  exhibitions  (like  many  other  good 
things)  are  not  in  danger  of  being  rather  overdone,  and  thus 
defeating  the  very  object  they  had  in  view. 
As  far  as  we  see  it,  the  object  of  these  shows  is  to  assist  the 
agriculturist  by  putting  before  him  models  of  the  beat  possible 
stock,  with  a  view  to  showing  him  to  wbat  high  excellence 
animals  may  attain,  and  suitably  rewarding  the  successful 
exhibitor.  In  the  implement  classes  there  is  opportunity  for  the 
isolated  farmer  to  see  and  personally  examine  new  labour  saving 
contrivances,  polite  assistants  are  most  ready  and  willing  to 
'clear  up  all  difficult  points,  and  they  are  also  even  read’er  and 
more  willing  to  effect  a  sale  They  are  so  persuasive,  so 
pleasant,  and  so  sure  they  have  the  very  thing  of  all  others  you 
need 
We  believe,  but  are  not  absolutely  sure,  that  the  “Royal” 
is  the  only  society  that  offers  prizes  for  the  best  cultivated 
farms.  Of  the  great  benefit  of  this  we  have  our  doubts.  The 
prize  is,  say  £100 ;  in  most  cases  that  £100  and  much  more  have 
been  spent  in  putting  the  finishing  touches  that  appeal  so 
strongly  to  the  eye  of  the  judges,  and  which  make  such  a  telling 
paragraph  in  the  report  Far  be  it  from  us  to  depreciate  all 
these  little  elegancies,  but  from  a  practical  point  of  view  do 
they  pay  ? 
If  farms  could  be  entered  for  competition,  and  judged  without 
extra  prepai-ation,  we  should  fancy  the  tables  would  often  be 
turned,  and  the  man  who  was  a  steady  plodder  without  any 
fancy  about  himself  or  his  farm  would  most  1  kely  be  before  that 
man  who  made  a  great  rush  and  spent  money  lavishly  some 
months  before  the  judges  came  on  their  tour  of  inspection. 
Perhaps  this  sounds  heretical,  and  perhaps  we  are  too  eager  to  sit 
in  judgment  on  our  betters.  We  have  often  wondered  where  all 
the  prize  money  comes  from,  and  whether  some  of  it  might  not 
suitably  be  diverted  to  other  channels  more  immediately  beneficial 
to  the  farming  I  interest. 
We  have  been  much  struck  by  the  result  of  the  dairy  tests  at 
the  ‘‘  Royal.”  A  cow  in  full  milk  is  a  very  delicate  article  to  deal 
with,  and  the  journey,  more  or  less  jolting  from  her  far  distamt 
home  to  Leicester,  must  be  very  upsetting.  No  adequate  time  is 
given  her  for  settling  down,  and  all  the  conditions  the  show 
week  are  against  her  making  the  best  of  herself.  There  is  such 
a  noticeable  difference  in  the  per-centage  of  fat  between  evening 
and  morning  milkings,  4'9  per  cent  at  the  evening’s  milking  as 
against  2  5  per  cent,  in  the  morning’s  milkings  This  seems  to 
point  to  the  milking  times  being  too  near  together  to  make  the 
test  of  real  value  ;  twelve  hours  should  elapse  between  the 
milkings. 
There  is  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  a  good  deal  of  stock 
got  up  for  exhibition  is  made  too  fat  for  all  practical  breeding 
or  working  purposes.  The  most  successful  breeding  animals  are 
those  in  a  normal  condition,  and  we  question  whether  much  good 
food  is  not  wasted  constan  ly  in  endeavouring  to  force  up 
animals  beyond  Nature’s  lim  ts.  Nat'  re  has  her  laws,  and  she 
punishes  very  severely  any  infract  on  of  them. 
The  animals  that  suffer  most  from  hi -h  feeding  are  young 
draught  horses.  Who  does  not  know  of  cases  without  number 
of  fever  in  the  feet  and  a  general  foundering,  the  result  of  this 
excessive  preparation  for  shows  ?  A  canny  Scot  at  a  local  show 
speechma'ang  caused  no  little  amusement  by  remarking  that 
possibly  when  he  was  a  sheep  exhibitor  he  spoilt  a  few  sheep  in 
order  to  win  prizes,  but  then,  as  an  offset,  he  leai'ned  a  valuable 
lesson  on  sheep  management,  and  he  learned  another  lesson 
equally  valuable,  and  that  was  to  keep  his  temper  whether  he 
won  or  lost. 
There  is  one  crying  evil  about  these  shows.  A  man  makes  a 
certain  class  of  animal  a  speciality,  and  gets  himself  a  name  and 
goes  about  from  show  to  show  really  “pot  hunting,”  sweeping 
all  before  him  and  allowing  the  local  man  “no  place,  no  part.” 
Judges  have  to  be  vei’y  brave  to  reverse  a  popular  decision,  and 
very  strong  and  self-reliant  on  their  own  judgment.  We 
were  glad  to  see  only  the  other  day  at  a  county  show  a 
Royal  decision  reversed,  and  it  showed  the  judges  had  the 
cjurage  of  their  opinions. 
The  small  local  shows  afford  the  greatest  pleasure,  and  we 
hope  benefit,  to  the  working  classes,  especially  if  there  is  a 
section  for  cottagers.  They  have  neither  time  nor  money  to 
go  far  from  home,  ani  therefore  what  a  business  they  make 
of  the  show  day.  How  keenly  they  criticise  all  and  every 
animal  on  the  ground,  and  how  elated  they  are  if  “maester” 
should  get  a  “  ribbin.”  The  best  working  men  are  those  who 
aspire  to  be  small  occupiers  ;  their  interest  is  real  and  deep, 
and},their  judgment  taken  as  a  whole  is  wonderfully  sound. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Another  fine  week,  and  the  weather  has  again  become  showery  in 
places.  We  suppose  the  weather  cannot  be  made  to  suit  everyone,  but 
surely  it  has  lately  been  almost  perfect.  There  has  been  plenty  of 
sunshine  for  those  who  would  make  hay,  and  it  is  their  own  fault  if 
it  has  not  been  made.  We  hear  glowing  accounts  of  the  success  of  the 
new  swathe  turner  which  attracted  so  much  attention  at  Leicester.  A 
practical  farmer  of  our  acquaintance  bought  one  at  the  show,  and, 
having  tried  it,  speaks  of  it  in  most  enthusiastic  terms  ;  he  says  it  will 
do  as  much  work  as  twelve  men.  There  should  be  a  great  sale  for  it  in 
Lancashire  and  other  great  haymaking  counties. 
The  report  of  the  judges  of  Potato  planters  at  the  Royal  Agricul¬ 
tural  Society’s  trials  held  near  Leicester  in  the  spring  has  been  issued. 
The  report  is  fairly  satisfactory,  but  the  judges  say  that  none  of  the 
planters  did  their  work  perfectly.  A  friend  who  was  there  endorses 
this,  and  tersely  remarks  tbaft  the  machines  will  be  very  useful  when 
women  are  extinct.  We  hope,  however,  that  they  may  come  into 
general  use  before  then.  But  planting  is  such  a  simple  and  inexpensive 
operation  as  compared  with  lifting,  that  we  must  own  to  looking  forward 
with  much  greater  interest  to  the  approaching  trials  of  Potato  raisers. 
The  opinion  of  an  experienced  farm  foreman  is  that  it  is  already  too 
easy  to  plant  Potatoes  ;  they  are  soon  planted,  but  the  getting  them 
out  again  in  large  quantities  and  during  a  limited  period  of  time,  with 
the  weather  not  always  favourable,  is  a  very  different  matter. 
Swedes  are  not  growing  as  they  should,  but  common  Turnips  are 
doing  fairly  well.  We  have  heard  of  several  resowings  of  yellows 
where  Swedes  have  failed.  With  Mangolds  still  backward  the  outlook 
for  roots  is  not  very  bright. 
Weeds  grow  whether  Turnips  do  or  not,  and  the  second  hoeing  or 
cleaning  is  this  year  taking  more  time  than  we  had  expected  ;  but  it  is 
geuerally  the  case  when  Turnips  grow  slowly.  The  horses  are  having  a 
lazy  time  of  it,  a  little  horse-hoeing  in  turn  being  the  only  employment 
of  the  older  ones.  The  young  ones  are  turned  away  without  shoes  into 
the  best  and  coolest  pasture  available,  and  they  will  not  be  required 
until  the  corn  is  cut  and  ready  for  carting. 
MKTEOROLOGIIOAL  OBSERVATIONS, 
Oamdkn  Squarh,  Lonuon. 
Lat.  61°  32' 40"  N. :  Loag.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  HI  teet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
Rain, 
1896. 
July. 
1  Barometer 
at  3S°,and 
1  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperatur> 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inohs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Incha. 
Sunday  — 
6 
30'165 
63  6 
64-i 
N.W. 
63-0 
77-1 
64-2 
117-4 
45-8 
Monday  . , 
6 
30-1' 8 
67-1 
601 
S.W. 
64-0 
84-2 
65-2 
123-9 
48-6 
— 
Tuesday  . . 
7 
29-926 
72-9 
62-2 
N. 
65-2 
85-4 
68-8 
126-7 
47-9 
0-010 
Wednesday 
8 
29-884 
70-9 
64-7 
S.W. 
65-7 
83-8 
69-1 
122-8 
61-9 
— 
Thursday . . 
9 
29-9  i3 
73-3 
63-4 
S. 
65-9 
83-3 
61-7 
130-9 
5'-l 
— 
Friday  . . 
10 
30-029 
66-9 
61-8 
S.W. 
67-1 
77-6 
60-9 
124-7 
65-0 
— 
Saturday  . . 
11 
30-286 
65  3 
57-2 
N. 
66-S 
76-0 
51-1 
107-1 
45  4 
— 
30-054 
68-6 
60-0 
65  3 
81-1 
57-0 
121-8 
49-8 
0-010 
BEMARKS. 
6th.— Sunny  and  pleasant  throughout. 
Cth,— Bright  and  hot  all  day. 
7th.— Cloudy  and  close,  with  occasional  sunshine  and  frequent  spots  of  rain  after 
4  P.M. 
8th.— Fine,  but  hazy  and  cloudy  at  times  in  morning;  generally  overcast  afternoon 
and  evening. 
t)th.— Fine  and  sunny  with  pleasant  breeze. 
10th.— fiyercast  morning;  bright  sun  all  afternoon, 
lllh.— Bright  sunshine  throughout. 
Another  fine,  dry,  hot  week ;  no  thunderstorms.— Q.  J,  SYMONS. 
