434 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  7,  1901. 
is  too  small  to  make  itself  felt,  whereas  Swedes  and  Turnips, 
though  not  so  bad  as  in  1899,  are  below  an  average,  apart 
from  the  absolute  failure  of  some  districts  from  drought, 
'mese  barren  fields — many  of  them  of  great  extent — must 
exert  considerable  influence  on  the  average  of  the  country, 
and  this  leads  us  to  warn  our  readers  that  cattle  and  sheep 
foods  are  likely  to  increase  in  value  as  soon  as  farmers 
generally  realise  the  true  condition  of  affairs.  There  is  one 
trait  which  is  a  personal  characteristic  of  every  farmer,  and 
perhaps  we  might  say  of  almost  everyone  else,  i.e., 
prophesying  that  of  which  we  desire  the  fulfilment.  At  the 
present  time  cakes  are:  decidedly  dear,  and  the  farmers  say 
they  will  be  cheaper — must  be  cheaper.  But  will  that  make 
them  so  ?  The  farmers  would  rather  pay  less  for  them  ;  but 
though  the  wish  may  be  father  to  the  thought,  its  influence 
may  be  very  small  wlieft  a  forced  purchase  has  to  be 
concluded. 
The  situation  may  be  easily  understood  if  the  week’s 
markets  for  feeding  stuffs  are  closely  studied.  Prices  rarely 
come  under  other  influences  than  those  of  supply  and 
demand.  This  week  first-class  linseed  cakes  are  quite  worth 
£8  10s.  per  ton  and  cotton  £5,  with  a  very  firm  tendency. 
Clover  is  quoted  up  to  £5  15s.  and  hay  £5  5s.,  whilst  straw 
is  worth  70s.  to  85s.  per  ton.  It  is  not  a  very  cheerful  pro¬ 
spect  for  the  man  whose  farm  is  heavily  stocked  with  hungry 
mouths  beyond  its  capacity.  That  prices  of  cattle  foods  will 
rise  sooner  than  fall  we  do  not  doubt,  and  wise  are  those 
men  who  have  made  contracts  for  the  winter  supply  of  cake. 
Dried  grains  are  quoted  £5  10s.  at  Burton,  which  with 
carriage  would  mean  £6  or  thereabouts.  Malt  culms  are 
cheaper  at  £4  15s.,  and  are  in  our  opinion  the  cheapest 
available  food  except  home-grown  Barley  and  Wheat.  Good 
sound  grain  of  each  kind  is  now  being  sold  at  about  8^d.  per 
stone,  which  is  £5  13s.  4d.  per  ton,  a  lower  price  than  that 
of  dried  grains  and  very  little  more  than  cotton  cake. 
No  doubt  many  fai’mers,  resenting  the  enhanced  price  of 
cakes,  will  consume  a  portion  of  their  own  grain.  We  know 
that  some  are  already  doing  so.  If  their  land  be  in  good 
condition  and  the  tenure  certain,  the  substitution  of  meal 
for  cake  just  during  one  season  may  pay  the  cattle  feeder 
without  hurting  the  land  to  any  extent,  but  we  should  not 
advise  anyone  to  make  a  practice  of  doing  so. 
We  know  of  one  or  two  who  do  ;  but  they  have  but  a 
small  proportion  of  arable  land,  and  graze  large  quantities 
of  catiie  throughout  the  winter,  the  animals  living  chiefly 
on  grass,  with  the  addition  of  a  little  cut  hay  damped,  with 
meal  mixed  amongst  it.  This  is  altogether  a  different  thing 
to  consuming  all  the  corn  grown  on  a  mixed  farm,  which  we 
have  heard  some  advocate.  We  know  several  who  tried  it  a 
few  years  ago  when  Wheat  was  down  below  20s.,  but  they 
all  concluded  not  to  do  so  again,  except  to  a  limited  extent. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  a  certain  quantity  of  barleymeal  is 
essential  to  success  in  the  finishing  of  nrime  Christmas  beef, 
or,  in  fact,  of  any  beasts  which  are  properly  done.  There 
is  strictly  a  limit  to  the  cake-consuming  capacity  of  all 
animals,  and  as  regards  the  paying  return  from  the  cake,  the 
lucrative  point  is  much  more  quickly  reached  than  many 
would  believe.  There  are  few  bullocks  which  will  pay  for 
more  than  101b  of  cake  per  diem,  but  4lb  or  5lb  of  meal  in 
addition  often  pays  well.  Sufficient  attention  is  not  given 
to  the  likes  and  dislikes  of  animals.  Thirty  or  forty  bullocks, 
perhaps,  may  be  all  fed  from  one  mixture  of  food.  Eighty  per 
cent,  of  them  may  do  as  well  as  can  be  wished,  whilst  the 
others  do  not  feed  up  and  make  unsatisfactory  progress.  The 
clever  feeder  will  not  rest  until  he  finds  out  what  they  will 
relish  ;  but  too  many  would  simply  class  them  as  bad  doers, 
and  sell  them  half  fat  to  someone  else  after  they  have  for 
months  been  giving  a  poor  return  for  food  which  was  un¬ 
suitable  to  their  organisations.  Bullocks  are  beautiful 
pieces  of  machinery ;  but  they  are  not  all  exactly  alike,  and 
must  only  be  treated  as  machines  within  certain  limitations. 
We  know  what  a  change  of  pasture  very  often  will  do  for 
both  cattle  and  sheep. 
Well  1  If  we  find  a  certain  percentage  of  our  animals 
making  poor  headway,  and  taking  less  food  than  they 
should,  we  must  not  blame  them  straightaway,  but 
endeavour  to  make  the  conditions  more  suitable  for  them. 
These  so-called  bad  doers  should  be  drawn  out  and  housed 
separately  or  in  pairs,  changes  of  food  being  made  until  that 
is  found  which  they  eat  ud  well,  finding  it  the  most  to  their 
liking.  Some  cattle  will  eat  almost  anything,  and  are 
always  in  good  condition.  Occasionally,  but  not  often,  the 
water  supply  may  be  such  as  does  not  suit  some  animals. 
In  other  cases  the  use  of  badly  got  hay  or  straw,  cut  up  and 
mixed  with  other  foods,  is  responsible  for  slow  progress  on 
the  part  of  the  more  delicate  members  of  the  herd.  All 
these  points  the  clever,  intelligent  feeder  will  easily  dis¬ 
cover,  and,  instead  of  selling  off  such  animals  in  disgust, 
surprise  his  neighbours  by  having  no  culls.  In  cattle¬ 
feeding,  as  in  everything  else,  two  things  are  required — 
energy,  and  brains  to  direct  it. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
Yesterday  we  witnessed  what  we  considered  a  triumph  of 
skill  in  the  way  of  agricultural  labour.  A  neighbour’s  field  of 
seeds  had  been  steam  ploughed  and  dragged  in  a  somewhat  per¬ 
functory  manner,  and  a  man  with  a  ridging  plough,  three  horses, 
and  a  boy  to  lead  them,  was  engaged  in  making  very  straight 
and  good  ridges  across  the  ploughing.  The  plough  was  a  good 
one,  the  horses  were  good,  and  the  man  appeared  to  us  to  be  a 
Hercules.  The  land  had  been  ploughed  lOin  deep,  and  left  almost 
as  rough  as  was  possible,  and  the  work  was  almost  like  ridging 
amongst  rocks  on  the  seashore.  We  can  give  that  man  a  cha¬ 
racter  when  he  wants  one.  He  remarked  on  the  mildness  of  the 
weather ;  it  made  us  hot  to  see  him. 
The  August  sown  Cabbages  are  growing  into  fine  plants,  and 
it  is  time  that  a  portion  was  planted  out.  The  manure  is  now 
being  spread  ready  for  ploughing  in.  The  supply  is  rather 
limited  or  we  should  have  liked  to  give  a  better  allowance  than 
twelve  loads  per  acre.  Sixteen  may  to  some  appear  extravagant, 
but  the  Cabbage  is  one  of  the  crops  which  pay  for  high  tillage. 
The  manure  merchant  will  get  an  extra  order  in  February.  The 
manure  must  be  rich  in  nitrogen,  and  it  must  be  applied  early  in 
the  spring.  The  ewe  flock  is  on  new  seeds,  other  food  being 
scarce.  The  young  Clover  looked  fairly  promising  when  the  sheep 
went  on,  but  a  very  few  days’  grazing  have  made  the  pasture  look 
very  bare.  It  is  a  painful  fact  that  much  of  the  young  Clover 
perished  from  drought,  and  the  growing  plants  are  anything  but 
an  adequate  covering  to  the  ground.  Some  farmers  have  been 
sowing  Rye  grass  to  fill  up  the  gaps.  Trefoil  is  a  good  thing  for 
filling  up,  as  it  easily  takes  root,  and  is  hardy.  It  is  very  good 
as  a  restorer  of  fertility,  as  its  roots  store  a  large  amount  of 
nitrogen ;  but  it  is  the  worst  of  the  Clover  tribe  as  a  sheep  food 
simply.  Men  are  still  very  scarce.  We  hear  that  trade  is  bad  in 
the  towns,  but  there  must  be  sufficient  employment  for  our 
errant  prodigals,  as  they  do  not  return  to  us. 
- - «••** - 
CHESHIRE  POTATO  LIFTING.— Mr.  William  Marsland, 
farmer,  Baguley  Hall,  was  last  week  summoned  at  Sale  by  John 
M‘Gerry  and  two  other  Irish  labourers  for  small  balances  of 
account  for  Potato  getting.  Mr.  Newman,  solicitor  for  the 
defence,  admitted  the  facts,  but  said  the  matter  was  a  serious  one 
for  Cheshire  farmers,  and  if  the  defendant’s  contention  were 
allowed — that  they  could  go  away  before  Potato-getting  was  over 
— business  could  not  be  carried  on.  It  was  very  much  easier  to 
get  Potatoes  in  September  than  at  the  present  time,  and  the  com¬ 
plainant’s  content  .on  that  they  could  leave  before  all  the  Potatoes 
were  got  was  an  untenable  one.  Several  witnesses  were  called 
on  both  sides  showing  the  custom  prevalent ;  but  the  Bench,  while 
sympathising  with  Mr.  Marsland,  thought  the  contract  was  not 
sufficiently  defined,  and  made  an  order  in  each  case. 
MR.  LEWIS  WRIGHT  OF  BRISTOL.— The  name  of  Mr. 
Lewis  Wright  is  known  all  over  the  world  through  his  writings 
upon  poultry,  and  more  especially  by  reason  of  his  monumental 
work,  “  The  Book  of  Poultry  ”  which,  first  issued  nearly  thirty 
years  ago,  has  done  more  to  advance  the  scientific  breeding  of 
poultry  and  spread  fowl  culture  than  any  other  publication.  He 
was  a  valued  contributor  to  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  when 
that  paper  was  the  chief  journal  dealing  with  poultry.  In 
addition  to  writing  “  The  Book  of  Poultry,”  many  other  works 
have  appeared  from  his  pen,  notably  “  The  Practical  Poultry 
Keeper”  and  “The  Brahma  Fowl.”  Further,  he  edited  “The 
Book  of  Pigeons,”  and  within  the  last  few  months  has  edited 
“  The  Poultry  Club’s  Standard,”  just  issued  by  that  body.  Until 
recently  Mr.  Wright  has  resided  in  London,  but  has  now  re¬ 
turned  to  Bristol,  his  native  city.  It  has  been  felt  that  some 
acknowledgment  should  be  made  of  his  life’s  work,  more  especially 
as  “  The  New  Book  of  Poultry  ”  is  fast  approaching  completion,  a 
work  which  shows  the  same  keen  observation  and  wide  experience 
which  gave  the  first  edition  of  that  work  so  vast  an  influence. 
Recently  a  private  meeting  was  held,  at  which  it  was  resolved  to 
present  an  address  to  Mr.  Wright  at  a  complimentary  dinner  in 
December  next.  A  committee  has  been  formed  to  make  the 
necessary  arrangements.  All  who  desire  to  share  in  this  tribute 
of  respect  and  esteem  for  Mr.  Lewis  Wright  (1)  by  subscribing  to 
the  address — quite  small  subscriptions  are  expected,  the  name 
being  the  chief  thing — and  (2)  by  attending  the  dinner  to  be  held 
in  his  honour,  are  requested  to  communicate  with  the  secretary. 
— Edward  Brown,  Secretary,  12,  Hanover  Square,  London,  W. 
