590 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  26,  1901. 
says  as  to  the  beneficent  influence  Royal  patronage  has  had 
on  all  subjects  agricultural. 
Irish  Hunters/  by  T.  S.  Smith,  would  be  nice  in  a  pam¬ 
phlet  to  itself.  It  is  not  only  most  instructive,  but  amusing, 
and  he  highly  condemns  those  hunters  with  a  cross  of  com¬ 
mon,  heavy  type  blood.  It  used  to  be  said,  in  a  county 
where  we  hunted,  that  in  a  fast  thing  such  a  horse,  after 
the  first  field  or  two,  began  to  inquire  who  his  father  was ! 
We  also  agree  that  such  horses  as  two-year-olds  are  good  to 
sell ;  they  fill  the  eye,  and  many  carry  well  those  ardent 
sportsmen  who  prefer  the  safety  of  the  roads  and  eschew 
fences.  “  Saleable  Horses  ”  (Vero  Shaw)  resolves  itself  into 
this  :  The  best  of  its  class,  and  if  anyone  will  tell  us  what 
to  do  with  the  inevitable  “  misfit  ”  we  shall  be  glad  to  hear 
from  them.  N.B.— There  is  not  often  a  “misfit”  among 
Shires — there  is  always  a  job  for  him ! 
Now,  then,  for  Hackneys.  Some  farmers  have  got  the 
knack  of  breeding  these  to  a  useful  profit,  but  these  men 
stand  out  head  and  shoulders  above  their  fellows.  The  best 
sires,  so  far,  have  come  from  the  farm.  Ponies  (says  Mr. 
Hill)  have  got  an  impetus  from  the  increase  of  the  game 
polo ;  in  fact,  the  polo  pony  is  a  distinct  type,  but,  as  far  as 
we  can  read  between  lines,  the  authorities  don’t  yet  quite 
agree  as  to  the  surest  way  to  breed  a  good  polo  pony.  There 
has  been  a  good  bit  said  about  “  remounts,”  and  Lord  Arthur 
Cecil  is  trying  to  utilise  the  New  Forest  pony  for  this  pur¬ 
pose.  We  have  never  heard  before  of  the  little  Shetland 
being  used  in  the  business  of  bottle  and  cask  delivery,  but 
Mr.  Duncan  assures  us  he  has  nothing  else,  and  that  three 
Shetlands  can  be  kept  at  the  cost  of  one  horse.  We  know 
ourselves  from  experience  what  an  immense  quantity  of 
work  a  pony  will  get  through  without  being  “  sick  or  sorry.” 
No  horse  is  of  any  use  without  good  feet.  Begin  at  the 
bottom.  It  is  all  very  well  the  good  display  a  hunter  may 
make  at  the  summer  shows.  We  judge  of  him  by  his  per¬ 
formances  in  a  long  run  over  a  stiff  country. 
Mr.  Sheldon  is  very  amusing  over  his  cow  paper.  Poor 
old  cow !  how  she  has  been  maligned  ;  such  a  weight  of 
offences  laid  on  her  broad  back  •  and  she  remains  placid 
through  it  all.  Mr.  Sheldon  expresses  his  opinion  that  the 
dairy  cow  has  improved  immensely  during  the  past  century. 
“  Gradually  the  average  cow  is  getting  nearer  to  what  the 
best  used  to  be  in  yield  and  quality  of  milk.”  This  is  a 
hopeful  sign,  and  we  need  not  be  so  put  about  re  Mr. 
Hanbury  and  his  standard.  Shorthorns  (says  Mr.  Thornton) 
have  been  satisfactory  this  year,  notwithstanding  the  stop¬ 
page  of  South  American  trade.  Animals  have  been  sent  to 
Russia — some  to  Siberia,  where  already  good  stock  is  being 
raised.  Germany,  too,  wants  Shorthorn  bulls,  and  we  hear 
Mr.  Dudding’s  Victor  went  to  Schleswig-Holstein  for  450 
guineas.  He  is  intended  for  the  use  of  a  village  club  or 
association. 
Some  bulls  and  heifers  have  gone  to  Australia,  others  to 
New  Zealand,  two  to  Japan,  and  one  bull  to  Siam,  with 
twenty-five  to  South  Africa.  Bates  and  Booth  are  getting 
well  disseminated.  We  wonder  what  the  originals  would 
say  if  they  could  come  to  life  again.  What  would  the 
Collings  brothers  think?  Hereford  breeders  have  reason  for 
satisfaction.  There  have  been  many  triumphs  in  the  prize 
ring,  sales  have  totalled  up  well,  and  the  export  trade  has 
been  most  satisfactory.  These  animals,  against  which  the 
i~rr§ei\^ne  Por^s  were  closed,  have  found  a  home  in  the 
U.S.A.  One  fact  about  Herefords  we  learn  for  the  first 
time,  and  it  is  that  as  a  breed  they  are  entirely  free  from 
tuberculosis.  That  is  a  good  point  in  their  favour. 
Devons  have  had  a  quiet  year,  and  the  one  remarkable 
mature  was  the  good  sale  at  Capton,  Williton,  when  Mr. 
Bowerman’s  herd  was  brought  to  the  hammer.  Many  of 
this  herd  went  to  South  Africa.  Time  and  space  fail  to 
mention  the  salient  features  of  other  noted  breeds.  We  must 
go  on  to  the  sheep.  There  are  two  unfortunate  factors  at 
work.  W ool  has  been  almost  unsaleable,  and  the  foreign 
ports  were  closed  against  us.  These  two  things  spell  heavy 
loss  to  sheep  breeders.  When  work  will  get  up  no  man 
living  knows.  We  hope  that  next  year  the  export  trade 
may  be  as  brisk  as  ever.  We  must  not  import  disease  from 
Canada,  and  it  would  be  very  easily  done.  We  have  been 
etear  ‘Foot-and-mouth”  since  April,  so  we  may  reason¬ 
ably  hope  we  are  done  with  it  for  the  present. 
tt  I*  ,aPPear.s.we  send  sheep  to  Argentina,  Canada,  Germany, 
U.S.A.,  Chili,  Uruguay,  France,  Russia,  Australia,  Cape 
Colony,  and  New  Zealand,  so  we  have  a  big  market.  We  do 
not  like  to  think  of  this  autumn’s  ram  sales  ;  the  price  list 
is  not  pleasant  reading.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  anyone 
who  is  interested  in  Leicester  sheep  will  find  the  principal 
prizewinners  hail  from  the  E.R.  Yorks.  There  they  are 
grown  and  “  done  ”  in  perfection.  The  Leicester  goes  to 
France,  as  that  cross  is  found  so  to  improve  the  native  sheep. 
No  sensational  prices  for  Lincolns  this  year — all  very 
quiet.  We  have  only  just  glanced  at  the  sheep.  There  is 
a  pig  article,  one  on  poultry-keeping,  on  spaniels  at  work, 
and  the  last,  by  Mr.  Edward  Brown,  on  the  laying  qualities 
of  fowls.  There  is  a  mass  of  useful  information,  lists  of  fairs, 
societies,  and  the  like,  with  a  breeding  directory.  There 
is  something  for  everybody,  and  the  something  is  very  good. 
We  commend  the  volume  to  our  readers  most  confidently. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
The  great  majority  of  farmers  must  be  very  thankful  that  they 
have  their  winter  work  so  well  in  hand,  for  this  is  the  second 
successive  week  that  the  results  have  been  almost  nil.  The  tem¬ 
pests  of  wind,  snow,  and  rain  have  not  only  effectually  prevented 
all  work  on  the  land,  but  left  it  in  such  a  state  of  flooded  sodden¬ 
ness  that  some  time  must  elapse  before  we  can  get  ploughs  again 
to  work. 
We  are  still  sending  Potatoes  to  New  York,  but  get  on  slowly 
with  the  sorting,  there  being  so  many  blank  days.  Even  with 
every  device  in  the  way  of  shelter,  women  could  not  be  expected 
to  kneel  at  Potato  sorting  in  the  open  in  such  weather  as  we  have 
just  experienced. 
As  we  expected,  there  has  been  a  brisk  trade  for  good  Christ¬ 
mas  beef,  but  the  sheep  trade  has  been  bad.  An  instance  of  the 
wisdom  and  profit  of  early  maturity  was  provided  the  other  day 
by  a  farmer  making  57s.  6d.  of  some  cross  bred  hoggs,  4s.  per 
head  more  than  the  highest  priced  wethers  in  the  same  market. 
Old  ewes  in  fair  condition  w-ere  sold  at  the  same  place  for  less 
than  40s.  If  these  ewes  had  been  fed  up  they  might  have  made 
45s.  in  February ;  but  the  cake  bill  would  have  conferred 
more  benefit  on  the  tallow  chandler  than  on  the  meat  buyer.  It 
is  more  than  ever  plain  that  the  cake  must  be  given  to  the  young 
growing  animals,  for  it  is  their  flesh  which  sells  best  in  the  market. 
Breeding  ewes  must  be  well  treated  from  now  until  they 
lamb.  The  earlier  period  did  not  matter  so  much ;  an  ewe  will 
stand  a  good  deal  of  rough  treatment  in  autumn,  but  if  she  is  to 
produce  one  or  tw'o  good  lambs  and  nourish  them  quickly  into  sale¬ 
able  condition,  she  must  be  well  fed  now,  and  have  some  meat  on 
her  back  when  she  lambs  down. 
We  feed  our  hens  well,  but  they  do  not  lay,  and  eggs  are  2d. 
each.  All  kinds  of  table  poultry  have  been  very  dear  this  Christ¬ 
mas,  but  especially  ducks,  which  have  been  fetching  8s.  to  9s.  per 
couple  in  the  country.  What  must  the  price  be  in  the  towns? 
Fat  pigs  are  making  up  to  8s.  per  141b,  and  there  is  no  supply 
at  the  price.  This  is  the  result  of  a  failure  of  the  American  pro¬ 
duct.  Will  the  same  thing  happen  some  day  as  regards  Wheat? 
A  farmer  who  has  a  few  old  hams  left  tells  us  that  a  traveller 
offered  Is.  Id.  per  lb  for  them  to  sell  again.  The  retail  price  here 
must  have  reached  Is.  6d.  Townspeople  who  have  to  pay  such 
prices  will  think  farmers  are  coining  money.  It  is  natural  they 
should  think  so. 
- - <•*•* - 
Agricultural  Education  in  America. 
This  is  the  title  of  it  16-page  pamphlet  by  Prof.  John  H. 
Wilson,  of  St.  Andrew’s  University,  Scotland,  who  made  a  tour 
in  America  last  year.  The  text  is  based  upon  this  tour  across  the 
States  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  It  is  a  concise  summary  of 
the  existing  conditions. 
A  Champion  Crop  of  Roots. 
At  the  Scottish  National  Show  held  recently,  Captain  Stirling, 
of  Keir,  won  first  prize  in  the  open  class  for  Swedes  with  a 
superb  sample  of  Messrs.  Laing  and  Mather’s  Springvood  Purple- 
Tops.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  noted  that,  in  the  recent 
field  Turnip  competition  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Stirling¬ 
shire  Agricultural  Society,,  and  open  to  the  counties  of  Stirling, 
Dumbarton,  Kinross,  /West  Perthshire,  and  West  Forfarshire, 
there  were  fifty-six  entries,  and  Captain  Stirling  won  first  for 
Swedes,  first  for  Yellows,  and  the  champion  prize  for  best  crop. 
This  champion  crop,  reports  the  “  N.B.  Agriculturist,”  was 
manured  with  30  tons  farmyard  manure,  2cwt  bonemeal,  and 
8cwt  supers.  One  acre  of  the  champion  crop,  after  being  topped 
and  tailed,  were  weighed  over  the  M ‘Jan net  weigh-bridge,  and 
they  scaled  42  tons  3cwt.  The  crop  was  very  sound  and  free  from 
canker,  and  the  judges  affirmed  that  they  had  not  seen  so  sound 
a  crop  for  many  a  day.  The  Swedes  w-ere  Springwood  Purple- 
Tops,  together  with  3  acres  of  Teviotdale  Green-Tops,  and  the 
Yellow-s  were  Messrs.  Laing  and  Mather’s  Tv-eedsiide  Aberdeen 
Yellows.  These  facts,  together  with  the  first  prize  won  by  the 
Iveir  Highland  Steer  at  Smithfield  this  w-eek,  will  serve  to  show 
that,  although  Captain  Stirling  is  still  at  the  head  of  his 
battalion  in  South  Africa,  his  estate  affairs  are  being  wrell  looked 
after  in  his  absence. 
