120 
tOtriiNAL  OF  HORTlVt^LTmF)  AKD  COTTAGE  GAREENER. 
CO-OPERATION. 
Can  it  be  applied  to  agriculture  with  success  ?  This  question 
opens  up  a  very  wide  field,  and  is  very  difficult  to  answer  satis¬ 
factorily  ;  but  if  we  had  to  do  so  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  we 
should  divide  the  matter  into  two  sections — produftion  and 
realisation,  and  reply  No  to  the  former,  and  Yes  to  the  latte*. 
We  were  reading  a  letter  in  an  agricultural  contemporary 
which  strongly  advocated  the  turning  of  large  estates  into  huge 
co  operative  farms ;  the  landlords  were  to  find  the  land,  the 
labourers  the  working  power,  a  skilled  scientific  agriculturist 
(a  youth  from  Cirencester,  probably)  the  brains,  assisted,  we 
suppose,  by  the  farmers  who  were  allowed  to  have  any,  and 
except  this  office  of  assistant  manager  the  tenant’s  only  privilege 
under  the  new  rkgime  was  to  be  to  find  the  necessary  capital. 
We  fancy  that  not  many  tenants  who  have  any  capital  left 
would  be  found  willing  to  embark  it  in  any  such  undertaking, 
and  at  the  outset  the  capital  require  1  would  not  be  forthcoming 
On  the  other  hand,  where  a  landowner  has  an  estate  throwa 
almost  entirely  on  his  hands  for  lack  of  tenants— «.e.,  where 
there  is  no  body  of  farmers  at  all  no  one  in  possession,  and 
therefore  no  one  to  displace  a  scheme  of  co-operation  between 
landowner,  labourer,  and  capitalist  might  be  of  service  in 
keeping  land  in  cultivation ;  but  difficult  as  it  is  at  the  present 
time  to  find  suitable  and  safe  inve  tment  for  loose  capital,  the 
very  name  of  farming  is  so  synonymous  w  th  rain  and  disaster 
that  we  doubt  whether  the  public  would  subscribe  the  capital  for 
such  a  scheme  Money  can  be  found  for  investment  on  the  land 
of  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  but  land  in  England  no  ! 
If  the  money  could  be  found  the  first  and  chief  requirement 
would  be  a  thoroughly  practical  man  as  manager.  No  cue  with 
less  than  twenty  years’  practical  experience  in  farm  management 
would  be  fitted  for  such  a  post,  and  valuable  as  science  may  be, 
experience  must  have  precedence.  We  should  think  that  if  the 
undertaking  were  a  large  ore,  with  a  man  of  mature  knowledge 
as  manager,  he  would  find  ample  employment  for  a  young 
scientist  as  assistant,  who  in  course  of  time,  if  a  capable  man, 
would  add  experience  to  scientific  knowledge,  and  become  able 
to  take  up  the  duties  of  manager  in  the  future 
The  advantage  of  co-operation  of  this  kind  would  be  the 
greatly  increased  interest  that  would  be  taken  by  the  work, 
men  in  the  success  of  the  crops  and  the  progress  of  the  stock, 
although  this  might  not  apply  so  universally  as  we  might  expect 
We  suppose  the  labourers  would  be  paid  a  moderate  rate  of 
wages,  with  the  addition  of  a  proportionate  interest  in  the 
surplus,  if  any,  which  might  be  found  to  exist  a. ter  a  moderate 
rent  and  moderate  interest  of  capital  had  been  provided  for. 
If  everything  were  done  to  the  best  advantage  little  more 
would  be  effected  than  keeping  the  laud  in  citltivation  and 
finding  employment  for  a  certain  number  of  persons,  but  if  the 
principle  of  co-operation  could  be  extended  to  the  realisation  of 
the  products  of  the  land  in  a  quicker  and  more  lucrative  manner 
much  greater  benefit  would  follow  Far  too  much  of  the  price 
paid  by  the  consumer  is  now  a'  propriated  by  the  middleman, 
and  no  scheme  of  co  operation  in  agriculture  will  be  complete 
without  its  stores  in  the  great  centres  of  population,  from  which 
the  food  produced  may  be  distributed  direct,  and  in  the  freshest 
and  best  possible  condition  to  the  mechanic  and  artisan,  collier 
and  general  worker  in  the  busy  hive  of  industry. 
Quick  and  easy  distr  bution  is  a  necessity  of  the  times  in 
which  we  live.  The  happy-go-lucky  system  of  the  railways  as 
regards  parcels  traffic  has  until  very  lately  been  a  disgrace  in 
Jaty  §0,  i65fl. 
these  days  of  cheap  postal  and  telegraphic  facilities,  and  unless 
the  reforms  recently  instituted  by  some  of  the  more  enterprising 
companies  become  general,  and  are  even  carried  further, 
CO  operation  in  distribution  will  be  forced  upon  farmers  as  a 
necessity  of  bare  existence. 
The  new  Agricultural  Supply  Association,  recently  inaugu¬ 
rated  by  Lord  Winchilsea  and  others,  may  be  looked  upon  as 
the  thin  end  of  the  wedge,  and  it  behoves  all  farmers  who  can 
do  so,  to  further  its  progress  as  much  as  possible,  for  much  may 
depend  on  its  success  or  failure. 
The  tenant  has  hitherto  been  the  manager  who  has  tried  to 
work  together  with  the  landowner  and  labourer  ;  but,  until  times 
grew  very  bad  he,  in  too  many  cases,  had  little  sympathy  and 
real  help  from  either  Things  are  now  on  a  very  different 
footing ;  the  landlord  is  quite  alive  to  the  necessity  of  co-operating 
with  his  tenant  in  the  common  interest  of  both,  and,  unless  we 
are  very  much  deceived,  it  will  be  found  shortly  that  the  man 
who  provides  the  muscle  has  come  to  a  similar  conclusion. 
Whether  carried  on  under  a  high  sounding  title,  with  limited  at 
the  end  of  it,  or  only  by  honest  John  Smith  as  of  old,  success 
or  failure  depends  on  the  capacity  for  growing  that  for  which 
there  is  a  demand,  and  in  seeing  that  some  other  Smith  does  not 
get  all  the  cream  whilst  leaving  only  skim  milk  for  honest  John. 
WOBK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Another  spell  of  heat  has  brought  us  to  the  brink  of  harvest,  and 
everywhere  we  hear  of  reapers  being  at  work.  Contrary  to  expectation, 
there  has  been  little  or  no  breathing  time  before  this  important,  and  in 
some  counties  even  yet,  in  spite  of  foreign  competition,  the  most 
important  and  critical  period  of  the  year.  Weeding  must  be  finished 
at  once. 
Thatching  the  Clover  and  haystacks  is  another  operation  which  must 
not  be  neglected.  After  they  have  got  over  the  heating  and  settling 
processes  the  sooner  they  are  thatched  the  better.  We  have  quite  dis¬ 
continued  the  use  of  tarred  string  for  thatching  purposes  ;  we  get  some 
very  useful  string  so  much  cheaper,  and  it  does  better  afterwards  for 
tying  corn  and  Potato  sacks.  Another  piece  of  work  that  is  well  done 
now,  or  it  must  be  done  in  September,  is  the  tarring  or  black  varnishing 
of  the  outdoor  woodwork  of  the  farm.  To  last  well  wood  should  be 
made  as  impervious  as  possible  to  wet  weather,  and  there  is  nothing 
much  better  to  make  it  so  than  common  tar. 
We  hear  of  weakm  sr  and  less  amongst  lambs.  It  is  a  bad  sign  when 
losses  come  so  early.  An  old  shepherd  remarked  a  day  or  two  ago  that 
he  had  never  had  his  lambs  look  worse,  and  it  was  certainly  not  for 
want  of  a  good  pasture.  Unfortunately  Mangolds  are  nearly  all  con¬ 
sumed  ;  the  heat  has  teen  against  their  keeping  well  in  the  pies,  and 
many  have  rotted  from  heating.  A  good  breadth  of  ripe  Cabbage  will 
now  be  invaluable  for  the  lambs. 
Pastures  are  failing,  and  so  are  the  milking  capacities  of  the  cows. 
Where  possible  help  must  be  given  from  the  second  crop  of  Clover  or 
late  Tares,  and  the  water  supply  must  have  careful  attention. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdbn  Squakb,  London. 
Lat.  61°  32'  40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  S'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  thk  Day. 
& 
1896. 
July. 
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 
Qra^is. 
Inchs. 
leg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday 
19 
30-228 
68-J 
61-6 
N. 
644 
85-2 
59-0 
124-7 
52-2 
— 
Monday  .. 
20 
30-068 
74-3 
63  2 
s. 
65-8 
86-0 
60-1 
133-0 
53-9 
— 
Tuesday  . . 
21 
29-877 
74-7 
62-6 
N. 
66-3 
87  9 
56-6 
130-4 
50-0 
— 
Wednesday 
22 
29-977 
62-9 
56-1 
N.W. 
67'2 
72-2 
66-7 
122-3 
52-9 
— 
Thursday . . 
23 
30-067 
64-3 
55-8 
S.W. 
66-9 
74-2 
48-7 
123-9 
41-9 
— 
Friday 
24 
29-960 
66-2 
68-9 
W. 
65-4 
80-2 
55-0 
126-8 
47-9 
— 
Saturday  . . 
26 
29-817 
73  5 
6-1-0 
S  E, 
66-9 
78-7 
671 
117-4 
49-0 
— 
29-999 
69-1 
60-0 
65  8 
80-6 
66-2 
125-4 
49-7 
— 
REMABKS. 
19th.— Cloudy  morning  ;  sunny  afternoon,  cloudy  again  in  evening. 
20th.— Bright  and  warm  morning  ;  frequently  cloudy  in  afternoon. 
2l3t. — Warm  and  generally  sunny,  but  cloudy  at  times  in  afternoon. 
22nd.— Overcast  morning  ;  occasional  sunshine  in  afternoon  ;  bright  evening  and  night. 
23rd.— Sunny  early ;  much  cloud  during  the  day,  but  generally  sunny  again  after 
3  P.M. 
24th.-  Genf  rally  overcast  till  3  P.M.,  butoccasional  sunshine,  and  generally  bright  after. 
26th.— Generally  overcast,  with  occasional  spots  of  rain,  but  some  bright  sunshine  in 
afternoon. 
Another  hot  week,  with  no  measurable  rain ;  grass  much  scorched.— Q.  J.  SYllOHS, 
