16 
JOURNAL  OP  HOR^ICULTeRP  AKD  GOTTAGE  GARDEEER. 
j'uiy  1,  189?. 
properties  of  one  farm  may  be  vastly  superior  ;  secondly,  one  man 
may  be  a  better  judge  of  milking  stock  ;  in  a  third  the  milk  itself, 
though  possibly  poorer  in  quality,  may  be  better  prepared  for 
market.  Now,  till  the  quality  is  uniform  there  could  be  no 
possibility  of  agreement  in  any  way. 
Just  the  same  with  the  butter.  Made  in  small  qaantities  it  is 
sure  to  be  very  different  in  quality  and  texture,  and  in  exceptional 
seasons  of  drought,  such  as  1893-95,  the  supply  is  most  irregular. 
As  long  as  trade  is  good  there  is  a  great  demand  for  milk  in  the 
large  towns — in  fact,  the  great  proportion  of  our  cows  are 
supplying  the  milk  trade  alone,  and  we  must  import  butter  and 
cheese.  Then  comes  a  time  of  trade  depression,  milk  is  thrown  on 
the  farmer’s  hands,  and  must,  being  a  most  perishable  article,  be 
turned  at  once  into  marketable  goods. 
If  this  surplus  of  milk  could  be  manufactured  at  a  creamery 
into  a  uniform  article  it  would  be  good  and  easily  saleable,  though 
possibly  inferior  to  what  is  made  in  first-class  dairies  that  have  all 
the  modern  appliances.  The  cost  of  a  creamery  is  large,  and  it 
could  not  be  maintained  on  a  small  scale  at  all,  and  unlesi  the 
farmers  can  be  satisfied  with  the  price  allowed  for  the  milk  the 
thing  would  be  a  failure. 
Now,  the  much-vaunted  Danish  factories  allow  3|d.  per  gallon, 
with  skim  milk  returned,  the  average  price  of  butter  being  8^d.  per 
lb.  Now,  this  would  not  satisfy  the  Englishman,  for  at  the 
Sudbury  creamery  the  prices  have  been  G-d.  per  gallon,  and  this 
has  not  proved  remunerative  to  the  producer.  It  is  not  that  he 
grasps  at  an  enormous  profit ;  he  only  asks  for  just  a  living  margint 
and  this  he  does  not  get.  Taking  an  average  cow,  which  wil^ 
supply  500  gallons  per  annum,  at  3^d.  per  gallon,  or  5d.  per  day, 
how  can  that  cow  be  fed  and  tended  for  that  amount  ?  We  cannot 
do  it  in  England. 
Our  Swedish  Minister,  Hon.  Hugh  Gough,  mentions  a  dairy  in 
Sweden  where  twenty-five  farmers  work  2807  acres  of  land.  They 
produce  182,819  gallons  of  milk  per  annum,  or  64  gallons  to  the 
acre  ;  this  at  41.  per  gallon  would  realise  £1  Is.  4d.  per  acre,  and 
out  of  this  comes  rent,  taxes,  working  expenses,  and  farmer’g 
profit  I 
How  is  it  done  ?  We  cannot  do  it  here.  We  are  indebted  to 
an  excellent  article  of  Lord  Vernon’s  in  ‘‘  Nineteenth  Century  ’’ 
of  February  for  these  facts  and  figures,  and  we  will  quote  him 
further,  re  Derbyshire.  He  speaks  of  sixty-two  farms  in  that 
county  with  a  total  acreage  of  4561  acres,  3988  of  which  are  grass > 
the  remaining  573  acres  arable.  This  farm  or  farms  carry  1020 
cows,  which  supplied  545,120  gallons  of  milk  per  annum.  This  is 
equal  to  121  gallons  per  acre,  or  double  the  quantity  on  the  same 
area  in  Sweden. 
Now,  then,  as  to  expenses.  Imperial  and  local  taxation  rates, 
2s.  in  £  ;  land  tax.  Is.  per  acre  ;  income  tax,  6d.  ;  and  tithe  charge 
of  33  6d.  per  acre  would  amount  to  £1716.  We  find  no  mention 
of  taxation  in  Denmark  or  Sweden,  but  we  may  fairly  conclude 
these  charges  will  hardly  equal  ours,  with  our  costly  machinery  of 
county  and  district  supervision. 
Theii  comes  the  labour  bill.  In  oar  dairy  districts  the  wage  is 
about  15s.  per  week  with  house  and  garden,  18s.  without ;  and 
each  man  can  do  ten  cows,  so  the  labour  bill  for  1020  cows  would 
be  something  like  £91 — 16 j.  per  week,  or  £4732  per  annum.  Now 
in  Denmark  men  from  fifteen  to  thirty  years  of  age  are  content 
with  £10  to  £14  per  annum,  with  board  and  lodging  ;  older 
married  men  earn  from  lOd.  to  28.  per  day  according  to  time  of 
year,  with  food  found.  Therefore  th-i  wages  would  average 
10s.  6i.  per  weok,  or  the  sum  total  of  £2782  per  annum,  as  against 
the  English  £4732. 
As  regards  their  living  it  is  comfortable  according  to  Conti¬ 
nental  ideas.  Are  those  ideas  English  ?  We  fancy  not.  The 
English  farmer’s  average  price  for  milk  does  not  exceed  6J.  per 
gallon  ;  the  consumer  pays  at  least  one  and  half  times  as  much.  If 
the  producer  and  consumer  could  be  brought  into  nearer  touch  the 
consumer  would  get  his  milk  cheaper,  and  probably  would  take 
more  of  it.  If  railways  could  see  their  way  to  lessening  the 
carriage  of  feeding  stuffs  more  cows  could  be  kept,  more  hands 
employed,  and  more  land  cultivated. 
Where  the  holdings  are  small  factories  for  butter  and  cheese 
would  be  very  desirable.  The  raw  material  (milk)  would  be  made 
up  to  the  best  advantage  with  the  best  possible  “  plant,”  and  under 
the  best  possible  supervision.  Everything  would  be  scrupulously 
clean,  and  every  new  invention  (labour  saving)  would  be  taken  up 
and  adapted  at  once.  The  farmer  would  then  be  free  to  give  his 
lime  fully  to  the  best  management  of  his  stock,  would  sell  his  milk 
direct  to  the  factory,  have  no  bad  debts,  and  uniformity  in  price 
all  the  year  round. 
Where  the  majority  of  holdings  are  large,  as  is  the  case  gene¬ 
rally  in  England,  there  has  not  been  much  inducement  to  provide 
factories,  each  farmer  preferring  to  do  all  his  own  work,  and  with 
his  greater  capital  he  has  been  able  to  do  it  fairly  well. 
WOEK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Turnip  drilling  is  nearly  complete.  Mangolds  and  early  Turnips  are 
growing  fast,  and  require  constant  attention  with  both  hand  and  horse 
hoe.  We  have  nearly  finished  cleaning  the  Potatoes,  and  are  now 
sowing  the  top-dressing  and  earthing  up  immediately.  We  are  -using 
3  cwt.  of  superphosphate,  and  2  cwt.  of  sulphate  of  ammonia,  sown  by 
band  separately. 
Wheats  are  growing  very  well,  they  have  had  just  the  rain  they 
want,  and  this  heat  is  exactly  the  thing  to  suit  them  now  ;  the  ear  is 
just  leaving  the  blade,  and  promises  to  be  strong.  Everything  points  to 
a  good  Wheat  crop  where  the  plant  is  good,  unfortunately  a  good  plant 
is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule. 
Hay,  or  rather  Clover,  making  is  now  becoming  general,  many  pieces 
being  cut  and  the  subdued  rattle  of  the  m)wer  being  often  heard.  The 
Jubilee  perhaps  spurred  farmers  on  to  get  their  Clover  before  the  22nd. 
We  fear  that  crops  cut  now  must  be  light,  the  recent  rains  having  not 
had  time  to  effect  much  improvement  in  weight.  How  little  we  hear 
of  ensilage  nowadays,  a  dry  summer  suitable  for  bay-making  appears 
to  have  driven  it  out  of  mind  as  well  as  out  of  sight. 
Roots  being  all  sown,  and  bay  carting  the  only  serious  horse  labour 
between  now  and  harvest,  we  can  give  our  horses,  or  at  least  a  portion 
of  them,  a  six-weeks  run  and  res'.  As  grass  is  beneficial  to  the  system 
of  any  animal,  so  also  to  a  horse  is  great  benefit  to  be  derived  from  it, 
particularly  if  a  good  rest  from  both  bard  corn  and  hard  work  can  be 
allowed.  There  is  not  only  the  saving  of  the  corn  to  be  considered,  but 
an  abstinence  from  corn,  always  more  or  less  heating,  is  most  beneficial 
in  cooling  the  system. 
It  is  a  good  plan  to  turn  carthorses  right  away  on  as  low  lying  cool  a 
pasture  as  is  available,  and  let  them  stay  there  until  they  are  required 
for  the  leading  of  the  corn. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OB8B  SVAnONd 
OxuDBN  SqtTABa,  London. 
Lat.H^MMO"  N.:  Long.  0°  8/0"  W.;  Altitude  111  teet 
Datb. 
9  A.M. 
In  thb  Day. 
1  Rain. 
1897. 
June. 
Barometer 
at  32°, and 
Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Dlreo- 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperaturt- 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grasd 
Inohs. 
leg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg 
deg 
deg. 
Inohs 
Sunday  ...  13 
30-161 
75-0 
65-2 
N.B. 
61-4 
83-8 
54-8 
1-25-6 
SO-2 
Monday  ....  14 
t9-998 
70-0 
62-9 
N.W. 
63-4 
74-4 
58-0 
123-8 
52-8 
— 
Tuesday  ....  15 
30-263 
64-2 
53-9 
W. 
6-2-9 
74-0 
51-1 
120-9 
46-1 
Wednesday  18 
29'766 
59-2 
54  9 
S.W. 
62  3 
86-7 
55  6 
U8-1 
61-1 
0-031 
Thursday  ..17 
-29-904 
56-1 
47-8 
N.W. 
60-2 
66-3 
44-7 
121-9 
39  9 
0-274 
Friday  ....  18 
29-499 
60-8 
57-9 
S.W. 
6)-2 
65-0 
48-9 
108-8 
47-7 
0-057 
Saturday  ..19 
29-994 
54-4 
47-7 
N.W. 
57-2 
63  8 
45-8 
114-1 
40-8 
0-2  j6 
29-935 
828 
55-5 
61-1 
70  3 
61-3 
119  0 
46-9 
0-668 
Sunday  ....  20 
89  705 
57  8 
52  8 
S.W. 
6S-0 
62-6 
49-1 
100-9 
48-0 
Monday  ....  21 
30-109 
62-2 
57-0 
W. 
57-2 
75-1 
47-9 
124-7 
4S-4 
— 
Tuesday  ....  22 
30-246 
65-6 
bO-9 
S.W. 
60  6 
7(.-d 
61-2 
119-7 
55-2 
— 
Wednesday  23 
30-115 
74-1 
82-6 
E. 
62  6 
84-1 
58-1 
127-4 
52  6 
— 
Thursday  ..  24 
29  901 
79  6 
70-1 
S.W. 
64  4 
87  8 
68-8 
125-8 
53-2 
0-255 
Friday  ....  25 
30-058 
57  6 
66-7 
N.K, 
63-9 
63-7 
551 
72-0 
6b-2 
0-01 1 
Saturday  . .  26 
30-069 
59-8 
57-8 
N.B. 
61-6 
74-0 
54-7 
116-4 
65-2 
— 
30-029 
65-2 
69-7 
1  61-2 
76-1 
56-0 
112-4 
61-8 
0-266 
REMARKS. 
ISth.— A  perfect  sammer  day. 
14th.— Overcast  early ;  frequent  sun.  tempered  by  cloud  and  breeze,  after  9  a.m. 
16th. — Fine  and  pleasant,  but  frequently  cloudy. 
16th. — High  wind  all  day  ;  showers  at  times  till  11  A.H.,  bright  sunshine  after. 
17th. — Generally  sunny,  with  fresh  breeze,  but  cloudy  intervals;  overcast  night,  with 
slight  showers, 
18th.— Steady  rain  from  1.3)  to  6  A.U. ;  generally  overcast  and  windy,  with  short,  sharp 
showers. 
19th. — Generally  overcast,  but  occasional  sun  ;  rain  at  8.30  P.M.  to  midnight. 
Much  cooler  at  the  end  of  the  week  than  at  the  beginning,  so  that  on  the  whole  it 
was  one  of  average  temperature. 
20th.— Generally  overcast,  with  some  sun  at  times. 
2  let. — Alternate  cloud  and  sunshine,  hot  at  times. 
22Dd.— Overcast  till  11  am.,  generally  sunny  after ;  solar  halo  at  5  P.M. 
23rd. — Hot  and  line,  but  rather  hazy  and  close  in  morning. 
24th.-01oudy  ant  close  parly;  slight  shower  of  large  drops  at  9.30  A.M,,  and  brighter 
after  ;  sadden  squall  at  2.6  P.M.,  and  thunderstorm  from  3  to  6.16  p.M. 
S6th. — Overcast  tnroughout ;  drizzle  in  evening. 
26th.— Drizzle  early,  and  overcast  till  11  A.M.;  generally  sunny  from  noon. 
A  fine  warm  week,  with  about  the  average  rainfall.— G,  J.  STMONS, 
