144 
■tOURNAL  Op  HORTTOUtTTtRp  AND  tOTTAGB  OARDUB’SH. 
Angiifib  0,  lfi8< 
he  stands,  and  has  a  quiet,  peaceful  winter.  The  other  prefers 
to  await  spring  prices,  and  face  all  casualties.  We  have  kn'jwn 
these  two  men  for  many  years,  and  we  think  we  know  which  of 
the  two  has  the  happier  mind.  Cooked  Potatoes  for  stock  look 
funny  at  the  end  of  July  ;  their  cash  value  last  October  would 
have  looked  more  acceptable.  It  is  just  the  same  with  the  clip  of 
wool.  A  neighbour  refused  32s.  last  autumn;  his  wife  says  his 
temper  has  not  yet  recovered  its  normal  tone. 
Last  year’s  harvest  was  got,  as  a  whole,  under  favourable 
climatic  circumstances ;  even  in  the  far  North  there  was  the 
glorious  weather  of  September  for  the  garnering  of  the  latest 
crops  If  the  harvest  weather  was  all  that  could  be  desired,  alas  ! 
the  outcome  of  the  threshing  day  was  not  so  satisfactory. 
Taking  the  average  of  the  last  ten  years,  we  find  the  Wheat 
crop  of  1895  was  3  bushels  below  the  average  except  in  Lincoln 
shire  and  Norfoltr,  where  the  yield  was  normal.  Beds  and  Cam¬ 
bridge  were  5  or  6  bushels  short,  and  Essex  was  nearly  as  bad 
Berks  was  8  below,  and  Oxfordshire  7  ;  Hants,  Surrey,  and 
Sussex  exceeded  6,  and  Wiltshire,  Gloucester,  and  Hereford 
were  from  6  to  7  on  the  wrong  side.  To  account  for  the  low 
average  we  must  consider  the  undue  severity  of  the  winter  of 
1895,  and  also  a  good  deal  of  damage  was  done  by  the  heavy 
rams  just  before  harvest,  which  laid  so  much  of  the  best 
Wheat. 
Taking  the  crop  all  round  the  quality  was  fa  r ;  straw,  as  a 
rule,  short,  with  some  few  exceptions.  Now  as  to  price,  was 
there  any  compensation  there  to  mate  up  for  the  short 
quantity  ?  This  is  what  we  find  in  the  agricultural  returns. 
During  the  year  1895  the  price  of  English  Wheat  per  quarter 
was  only  3d,  higher  than  the  remarkably  low  average  of  1894, 
23s.  Id.  per  quarter!  For  125  years  the  average  has  been 
quoted,  and  1894  and  1895  are  in  the  unenviable  posi  ion  of 
being  the  lowest  on  record  I 
Barley  comes  out  at  2  bushels  below  the  average  taken  as 
a  whole ;  but,  alas !  Oxfordshire  tells  of  an  8-bushel  deficiency. 
Bedford,  Cambridge,  Essex  complain  of  from  4  to  5 ;  Middlesex, 
Berks,  Northampton,  Gloucester,  Hereford,  and  Surrey  are 
5  below.  But  to  set  against  this  nearly  every  county  in  N.  and 
N.W.  division  showed  an  over-average  crop.  Lincolnshire  had 
a  bushel  to  the  good  ;  Norfolk  was  normal 
Spring  drought  affected  the  regularity  of  ripening,  and  rain 
in  harvest  spoilt  some  that  should  have  been  first-rate  malting 
samples  Again,  some  few  report  this  the  best  crop  of  the 
season.  The  price  here  was  21s.  lid.  per  quarter,  only  Id. 
higher  than  ’n  1822.  Oats  were  in  England  2  bushels  short  in 
Wales  one  short;  but  the  Scotch  crop  was  an  average  price 
here,  148.  6d  per  quarter.  There  is  no  record  of  anyth  ng  so 
low  since  1779.  Potatoes  were  the  most  successful  feature  of 
the  season,  and  there  was  no  indication  of  serious  disease  As 
to  prices  (except  for  the  very  pick  of  the  markets)  the  less  said 
the  better  Only  on  Sunday  we  saw  a  huge  pie  still  intact  There 
has  been  a  tremendous  loss  for  the  grower ;  but,  nothing 
daunted,  the  Potato  man  has  planted  again,  and  his  motto  is, 
‘  Hope  on  ;  hope  ever  !  ” 
Turnips  were  slightly  under  the  average  in  England  and 
Scotland  Wales  over  an  average  northwards.  The  Mangold 
crop,  as  a  whole,  was  good  ;  in  tbe  South  there  was  a  reduction 
on  the  average.  Clover  hay  was  4  per  cent  short,  except  in 
Norfolk,  Lincolnshire,  and  Hampshire  and  Essex,  where  it  was 
considerably  over. 
To  get  at  the  price  of  beef  and  mutton  the  easiest  plan  seems 
to  quote  the  Metropol  tan  Cattle  Market. 
Year. 
Cattle  per  st.  of  8  lbs. 
Sheep  p^r  et.  of  8  Iba, 
s.  d. 
fl  H. 
s.  rl. 
a.  d. 
1870  ... 
.  3  7 
to 
6  6  .... 
.  3  7 
to  6  9 
1875 
.  3  10 
to 
6  2  .... 
to  6  11 
1880  .. 
.  4  3 
10 
5  11  .... 
to  6  10 
1885  .. 
.  3  10 
to 
5  3  .... 
.  4  1 
to  6  8 
1890  .. 
.  2  4 
to 
4  10  .... 
-  ...  4  6 
to  G  3 
1895  .. 
.  2  8 
to 
4  G  .... 
.  3  11 
to  5  11 
Wool  is  a  trifle  better  than  it  was  before  the  rush  of  the  last 
year,  but  there  is  nothing  very  gaudy  in  25s.  6d.  Horses  have 
gone  down  in  value  all  round,  save  the  best  heavy  horses  for 
town  work  and  tip  top  hunters  for  rich  nobility  and  gentry. 
We  had  a  fine  hot  dry  back  end,  and  in  some  parts  most 
severe  mortali  y  amongst  lambs  —  a  mortality  the  cause  of 
which  was  so  obscure  as  to  call  for  investigation  by  Professor 
Brown  In  October  we  had  a  touch  of  sharp  weather,  the  only 
real  bit  of  winter  during  the  season.  An  open  winter,  with 
abundant  rains  in  early  spring,  looked  like  a  year  of  promise, 
promise  only  to  be  blighted  by  a  severe  drought  beginning  in 
April — a  drought  that  has  been  mitigated  a  little  in  parts  by 
welcome  thunder  showers  Harvest  finds  us  with  bare  pastures 
and  root  crops  not  altogether  satisfactory. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Harvest  as  far  north  as  Yorkshire  is  in  full  swing,  but  showery,  and 
even  wet,  weather  is  not  allowing  rapid  progress  to  be  made.  Wheat  is 
cutting  up  well,  and  stooks  are  numerous.  Barley  also  is  fair,  but  even 
the  earliest  Oats  are  disappointing  when  cut,  so  it  is  to  be  feared  the 
later  plots  which  suffered  so  much  more  from  the  drought  will  cut  a 
sorry  figure. 
It  is  possible  to  make  a  crop  look  much  heavier  than  it  is  by  making 
very  small  sheaves,  and  making  these  again  into  small  stooks  ;  except  in 
very  wet,  broken  weather  we  do  not  believe  in  small  sheaves.  If  really 
dry  when  tied  up  it  is  better  to  make  big  bundles  erf  both  Wheat  and 
Barley,  and  there  is  certainly  a  great  advantage  in  making  long  stooks. 
Of  course  they  should  be  made  with  the  enis  pointing  north  and  soatb. 
The  north  end  after  rain  is  always  the  slowest  in  drying,  and  the  two 
north  sheaves  often  have  to  be  left  to  be  picked  up  afterwards.  As  this 
extra  dampness  never  extends  beyond  the  end  sheaves  it  follows  that 
the  longer  the  stook  the  smaller  percentage  of  damp  there  will  be. 
Oats,  which  require  so  much  more  time  to  weather,  may  be  tied  up  too 
big,  but  the  stooks  again  can  hardly  be  too  long.  How  often  we  hear  of 
Oats  spoiled  by  heating  in  stack.  This  should  never  be,  for  they  take 
very  little  harm  from  bad  weather  in  the  field.  If  Oats  were  always 
left  out  three  weeks  after  cutting,  and  made  into  narrow  stacks  not 
exceeding  9  feet  wide  at  the  ground,  very  few  heated  samples  would  be 
heard  of. 
It  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped  that  fine  weather  may  be  had  for  the 
remainder  of  the  harvest  season.  There  is  not  only  'he  carrying  of  tbe 
grain  in  good  condition,  but  the  difference  between  sodden  and  dry  soil 
for  the  reaper  to  travel  over  is  very  great,  and  now  that  such  a  large 
prop  )rtion  is  cut  by  horse  power  it  is  most  important  to  have  a  firm  road 
for  the  reaping  machines  ;  they  never  work  so  well  when  everything  is 
soft,  and  the  difference  in  the  draught  only  the  poor  hones  can  tell. 
The  moisture  is  flushing  the  pastures,  and  lambs,  which  hitherto  have 
been  doing  well,  will  have  to  be  carefully  watched.  We  already  hear  of 
slight  losses,  and  complaints  of  lambs  having  gone  back  in  condition  as 
well  as  appearance.  Now  is  the  time  for  liberal  allowance  of  lamb  food 
and  as  much  change  and  variety  of  natural  food  as  possible.  If  not 
already  weaned,  they  should  be  taken  off  at  once,  and  dipped  if  they 
have  not  been  subjected  to  that  process.  There  is  always  a  suspicion 
that  lamb  diseases  are  more  or  less  of  an  infectious  nature,  and  dipping 
is  not  costly,  and  does  no  barm  if  it  does  no  good. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdbx  Squabb,  London. 
Lat .  61°  32'  40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  a.m;. 
In  the  Day. 
1896 
July  and 
August. 
1  Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
1  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Bain. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Wind. 
Mas. 
Min. 
In 
Ban. 
On 
Oraas. 
Stmday  ..  26 
Inchs. 
29’757 
leg. 
6f4 
deg. 
62-3 
S  W. 
deg. 
66-2 
deg 
76-9 
deg 
60-3 
deg. 
1  8-8 
deg 
59-8 
Inch  8. 
0-487 
Monday  . .  27 
29-984 
t2-2 
85-0 
N.W. 
64-9 
71-0 
52-0 
119-3 
47-9 
_ 
Tuesday  ..  28 
30-183 
60-6 
62-2 
N. 
63-7 
73-8 
48-1 
116-0 
41-9 
Wednesday  29 
29-970 
83-3 
S7-1 
N. 
63-9 
75-9 
47-7 
121-9 
43-0 
0-028 
Thursday..  30 
29-816 
63-1 
60-1 
S.W. 
61-3 
72'6 
68-8 
97-4 
57-6 
0-302 
Friday  . ,  31 
29-900 
61-8 
60-0 
N. 
64-1 
75-2 
58’4 
132-9 
57-3 
— 
Saturday  . .  1 
29-987 
63  2 
66-9 
N. 
63-1 
75-8 
47-2 
123-9 
44-1 
— 
29-942 
63-4 
67-6 
64*3 
74-3 
63-2 
115-7 
49-1 
0-817 
REMARKS. 
26th.— Overcast  morning  ;  heavy  rain  with  lightning  and  tbnnder  from  8  p.m.  to 
6  P.M.,  and  a  shower  at  8.46  p.m. 
27th.— Bright  early,' and  occasional  sunshine  during  the  day,  but  generally  cloudy. 
28ih.— Generally  sunny,  but  cloudy  at  times  in  afternoon. 
2»ih.— Much  cloud,  threatening  at  times  and  spots  of  rain  at  1.40  P.M.,  but  frequent 
bright  sunshine. 
30th. — Rain  in  small  hours,  and  overcast  all  day. 
31st.— Heavy  rain  between  2  a.m.  and  3  A.M.,  and  raining  till  8  A.M.;  overcast 
morning,  sunny  afternoon. 
Ist. — Overcast  early,  clearing  gradually,  and  bright  sunshine  in  afternoon. 
Decidedly  cooler  ;  in  fact,  temperature  near  the  average,  and  rainfall  slightly 
I  above  it,— G.  J.  SXMONS, 
