JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  November  21,  1901. 
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fellow  employe  he  himself  is  the  greatest  sufferer,  and  if 
he  is  kept  in  ignorance  of  what  is  going  on  he  is  badly 
treated. 
“Onward”  objects  to  the  promotion  of  office  clerks  to 
■agents’  positions,  but  agents,  like  gardeners,  must  go 
through  a  period  of  training  before  they  are  fitted  to  take 
full  control,  and  the  head  of  an  estate  office  must  be  better 
qualified  for  his  position  when  he  has  passed  through  the 
routine  of  it.  We  know  most  capable  agents  who  have  risen 
from  clerks’  positions,  and  also  one  of  the  same  description 
who  would  be  very  likely  to  act  in  the  way  complained  of. 
It  is  not  so  much  the  training  as  the  character  of  the  man 
himself.  Tact  is  the  great  thing,  and,  valuable  as  it  is  in 
every  walk  of  life,  it  is  a  quality  indispensable  to  the 
making  of  a  successful  agent — a  man  who  has  to  please, 
do  business  with,  or  control  the  varied  specimens  of 
humanity  on  a  great  estate,  from  my  lord  or  my  lady  to  the 
humblest  workman  upon  it.  Gardeners  are  not  the  only 
people  who  have  grievances  against  agents,  and  cases 
readily  recur  to  us  where  want  of  tact,  and  practically  little 
else,  has  brought  the  relations  between  a  landlord  and  his 
tenants  into  such  a  strained  condition  that  a  change  in  the 
agency  has  been  the  only  means  of  restoring  a  better  feel¬ 
ing.  Bad  breeding  has  much  to  answer  for,  and  it  rarely 
occurs  that  a  gentleman  makes  an  unpopular  agent  if  he 
possesses  the  requisite  business  capacity  to  make  a  capable 
one. 
.  Where  the  agent  is  a  man  of  conspicuous  ability  there 
is  seldom  any  friction  anywhere,  as,  apart  from  the  tact 
with  which  he  is  plentifully  endowed,  his  very  power  so 
impresses  and  dominates  everyone  around  him  that  no  one 
dreams  of  questioning  his  authority.  On  large  farms  the 
shepherd  is  often  placed  in  a  position  which  he  considers  to 
be  a  sole  charge,  and  quite  independent  of  the  foreman. 
There  is,  however,  very  often  great  friction  between  the 
two,  and  in  a  struggle  to  a  finish  it  is  seldom  that  victory 
does  not  rest  with  the  foreman.  There  is  considerable 
analogy  between  such  cases  and  those  we  have  been  dis¬ 
cussing.  Agent  and  head  gardener  can  hardly  be  entirely 
independent  of  each  other ;  but  if  the  conduct  of  the  former 
is  such  as  to  engender  distrust  and  suspicion  it  is  not  sur¬ 
prising  that  the  gardener  should  come  to  despise  him  and 
ignore  his  authoi’ity. 
The  agent,  if  he  minds  his  business,  will  find  plenty  of 
employment  without  interfering  with  the  gardens  ;  and  the 
gardener,  if  interfered  with,  will  do  well  to  go  straight  to 
headquarters  and  have  it  out  at  once.  We  remember  an 
old  story,  or  rhyme,  which  this  subject  has  recalled,  about 
a  man  meeting  a  bishop  on  a  common,  and  being  asked  by 
his  lordship  if  he  ever  said  his  prayers.  The  rhyme  runs — 
Well !  No,  I  can’t  say  as  I  do  ; 
But,  Do  you  know  liow  besoms  is  made,  sir  P 
Well  !  No,  I  can’t  say  that  I  do. 
Then,  Every  one  to  his  trade,  sir  ! 
Work  oa  the  Home  Farm. 
It  has  been  in  many  ways  a  wonderful  autumn,  and  the  farmer 
who  grumbles  about  the  weather  will  certainly  not  do  so  on  the 
score  of  its  hindrance  to  farm  work.  Everything  is  sown ;  fallows 
have  been  cleaned,  and  are  now  being  ploughed ;  Potatoes  are 
all  stored,  as  also  are  Mangolds,  and  except  for  Swede  storing. 
Turnip  carting,  and  grain  delivery  there  will  be  a  restful  time 
for  the  horses  on  many  farms.  Not  on  all,  however;  for  the 
occupier  of  a  300  acre  holding  close  by,  on  being  asked  how  he 
would  keep  his  horses  exercis«d,  replied  that  the  delivery  of  Corn 
and  Potatoes  to  the  station  four  miles  away  would  occupy  three 
wa§gons  five  days  per  week  until  May  1.  Except  the  ploughing 
of  Turnip  land  lie  will  require  no  horses  for  purposes  of  cultiva¬ 
tion  until  March,  as  he  has  got  everything  worked  up  through  a 
liberal  use  of  steam. 
We  have  had  a  tremendous  rain,  and  water  is  standing  in 
deep  pools  in  the  hollows,  especially  so  in  the  portion  of  Turnip 
fields  recently  eaten  off  and  not  yet  ploughed.  The  farmer  who 
seeks  to  grow  an  even  sample  of  Barley,  and  who  takes  every 
care  as  to  the  regular  disposal  of  his  Turnip  and  cake  troughs, 
may  have  all  his  efforts  wasted  if  the  land  has  not  been  ploughed 
previous  to  a  deluge  like  this,  for  the  surface  being  trodden  hard 
and  level  like  a  floor  the  rain  does  not  penetrate  readily,  but 
■accumulates  in  the  hollows  and  furrows,  carrying  with  it  much 
of  the  fertilising  matter  left  by  the  sheep,  and  causing  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  too  much  straw  in  some  places  and  too  little  in  others. 
It  is  not  always  possible  to  keep  the  plough  at  work  close  up  to 
the  Turnip  fold,  but  every  effort  should  be  made  to  do  so. 
The  Turnip  folds  are  very  dirty.  We  always  endeavour  to 
•consume  the  strong  land  roots  first,  whilst  the  conditions  are 
-good  for  the  lair ;  but  we  are  caught  napping  this  time,  and  the 
sheep  have  to  go  on  grass  for  a  day  or  two.  There  will  be  no 
harm  done  if  the  weather  will  but  allow  us  to  finish  consuming 
the  field.  The  root  supply  is  dwindling  more  quickly  than  is  de¬ 
sirable,  and  full  use  will  have  to  be  made  of  all  available  pasture. 
The  sheep  are  very  healthy,  and  doing  well  considering  the  fact 
that  the  roots  are  of  rather  poor  quality.  Losses  amongst  sheep 
have  been  exceedingly  small.  This  must  greatly  influence  both 
the  farmer’s  pocket  and  the  national  supply. 
Pork  is  very  dear,  as  high  as  7s.  6d.  per  141b.  Fat  pigs, 
especially  large  ones,  are  almost  unobtainable.  Suckers  are 
more  plentiful  than  they  were,  but  keep  their  price  in  sympathy 
with  pork.  It  is  a  very  mean  little  pig  which  will  not  fetch  20s. 
If  there  were  only  more  live  pigs  in  the  country  the  farmers 
could  soon  alter  the  price  of  pork,  for  sound  Potatoes  are  only 
making  40s.  per  ton,  and  offals  are  plentiful  at  20s.  ;  whilst 
barleymeal  of  good  quality  is  only  lOd.  per  stone,  and  second 
quality  9d.  Good  sharps  are  worth  about  9RL,  and  are  the 
cheapest  form  of  meal  in  our  opinion. 
- 4.#0 - 
A  Land  of  Sugar  and  Milk, 
The  northern  coastal  districts  of  New  South  Wales, 
watered  by  the  Richmond,  Tweed,  Clarence,  and  other 
x’ivers,  are  among  the  most  fertile  and  picturesque  in  the 
Australian  Commonwealth,  and  are  continually  attracting 
the  attention  of  agriculturists  in  all  parts  of  the  island-con¬ 
tinent,  although  situated  out  of  the  beaten  tourist  track. 
But,  says  a  recent  visitor,  representing  a  leading  Melbourne 
paper,  phenomenal  as  the  rate  of  agricultural  progress  has 
been  in  the  past,  it  is  evident,  even  to  a  casual  visitor,  that 
only  a  fringe  of  the  land  available  and  suitable  for  milking 
cattle  has  yet  been  touched,  or  brought  into  condition  for 
grazing  stock  upon.  Up  till  recently  the  cleared  patches  on 
the  northern  rivers  were  devoted  to  sugar-growing,  the  cane 
being  purchased  by  a  wealthy  Sydney  company,  having 
immense  crushing  mills  in  the  vicinity.  On  an  area  of  ten 
acres  the  sugar-planters  could  earn  a  comfortable  living — 
some  made  fortunes  in  the  early  days — but  severer  competi¬ 
tion,  and  the  introduction  of  beet  sugar,  have  lately  caused 
the  cane  growers  on  the  Richmond  to  turn  their  attention  to 
dairying.  “  The  sugar-growers,”  we  are  told,  “  own'  small 
farms,  as  a  rule,  from  five  to  fifty  acres,  perhaps,  and 
generally  this  area  is  ample  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  The 
high  lands  on  the  Richmond  grow  sugar-cane  to  perfection, 
equally  as  well  as  the  flats,  but  on  hilly  ground  the  harvesting 
of  the  crops  is  more  expensive.  The  farmers  on  some  of 
the  uplands  have,  therefore,  abandoned  sugar-growing  for 
dairying.  On  the  river  flats,  which  are  liable  to  flooding, 
the  sugar  crop  is  by  far  the  safest,  and  safer  than  cattle. 
The  swamp  lands  in  general  are  only  suitable  for  the  cane- 
grower. 
“  The  dairymen  chiefly  work  on  the  high  ground,  but  the 
whole  of  the  land  is  fertile,  from  the  river  to  the  mountain- 
top,  and  it  only  requires  to  be  cleared  to  make  it  valuable 
for  dairying  purposes.  The  milk  is  richer  on  the  hills  than 
that  produced  on  the  river  flats,  and  it  is  also  a  fact  that  the 
cattle  ai’e  healthier.”  In  the  Lismore  district  there  are 
creameries  and  butter  factories  in  every  direction,  several 
on  a  most  extensive  scale.  Each  of  these  latter  is  supplied 
with  about  half-a-dozen  cream-separating  stations,  and  the 
aggregate  output  of  butter  on  the  Richmond  alone  is  some¬ 
thing  enormous.  The  annual  output  from  the  New  South 
Wales  Creamery  and  Butter  Company  at  Lismore  is  over 
1,000  tons,  and  nearly  as  much  is  made  at  another  establish¬ 
ment.  Each  ton  of  butter  is  worth  about  £80  to  the  pro¬ 
ducer,  so  that  the  two  companies  mentioned  must  be  paying 
upwards  of  £160,000  per  annum  to  the  farmers  on  the  river. 
The  majority  of  the  milking  herds  are  small,  varying  from 
ten  to  twenty-five  cows,  although  a  few  number  about  100 
head ;  so  that  the  money  is  widely  distributed  in  the  Lis¬ 
more  and  Tweed  districts.  There  are  about  90,000  head  of 
cattle,  and  it  is  estimated  that  fully  two-thirds  of  these  are 
milking  stock.  Most  of  the  dairy  herds  were  originally 
formed  from  station-bred  stock,  but  a  number  of  well-bred 
sires  of  the  Ayrshire  and  Jersey  breed  have  lately  been  in¬ 
troduced  with  good  effect,  while  choice  cows  have  also  been 
secured  from  the  south  coast  at  various  times.  Some  of  the 
best  cows  have  shown  a  yield  at  the  rate  of  26lb  of  butter 
per  week,  and  such  animals  on  the  Richmond  fetch  from 
£30  to  £40.  One  was  recently  sold  for  £51,  and  twentv  cows 
are  common.  The  business  arrangements  between  the 
butter  factories  and  the  farmers  are  based  on  the  co-opera¬ 
tive  principle,  although  varying  in  detail. 
