58 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
Januajy  1  1890. 
regards  quality  or  colour.  It  is  only  by  getting  hold  of  the  cream,  or 
rather  of  the  [milk  in  the  raw  state,  and  treating  it  in  factories  or 
rather  creameries  that  this  desideratum  is  arrived  at.  In  fact  it  might 
be  classed  as  machine  made  butter  ;  the  milk  is  all  mixed,  the  cream 
separated,  and  each  pound  and  pat  as  like  its  brother  as  peas  out  of 
one  pod. 
Several  questions  suggest  themselves  to  the  thoughtful  mind. 
The  first  is  naturally  the  commercial  one.  Given  the  butter,  what 
about  the  market?  We  answer  with  confidence.  If  Danish  butter 
be  so  in  demand,  solely  and  wholly  on  account  of  its  uniform 
character,  why  should  not  English-made  butter  meet  the  same 
demand  ?  Mind,  we  must  lay  ourselves  out  to  in  the  first  place 
tempt  our  customers,  and  by  fair  charges  and  a  good  article  insure 
their  adherence.  The  public  like  straightforward  dealing,  and  the 
public  once  caught  must  be  kept. 
Of  course,  there  is  the  question  of  the  necess.iry  funds  for 
establishing  the  creameries,  but  poor  as  Ireland  is  she  has  solved 
that  riddle — co-operation  does  it.  Lord  Zetland,  spe.aking  the  other 
day,  thus  touches  on  the  subject.  Previous  to  and  in  1839  there 
was  but  one  creamery  in  Ireland,  with  thirty  members.  In  1891 
another  was  opened,  and  in  1898  there  were  no  less  than  seventy- 
two  co-operative  working  creameries,  and  fifty-one  more  in  course 
of  building.  Of  the  number  of  members  we  can  gaiTi  no  exact 
report,  but  these  figures  speak  for  themselves ;  and  these  creameries 
exist  in  poor,  down-trodden  Ireland — Ireland  which  is  said  to  be 
always  a  day  behind  the  fair.  Surely  in  rich,  progressive  England 
the  thing  might  be  worked.  A  Colonel  Godson  established  one  in 
the  Kipon  neighbourhood,  which  has  been  most  successful,  and  two 
more  have  since  been  started  quite  near. 
There  has  always  been  the  question  of  the  price  to  be  paid  for 
the  farmer’s  milk,  and  the  difficulty  of  transport  from  the  farm  to 
the  creamery.  Of  course,  if  the  concern  were  taken  up  by  the 
farmers  themselves,  they  being  the  chief  shareholders,  the  difficulty 
of  milk  price  would  vanish  into  thin  air;  and  we  do  not  at  all  see 
why,  if  farmers  can  “run”  seed-crushing  and  manure  manufactories 
for  ■  the  benefit  of  themselves,  why  they  should  fail  to  make  a 
creamery  go.  As  to  the  milk  carriage,  we  should  suppose  the 
factory  placed  in  a  populous  cow  district,  and  could  not  some 
system  of  collection  be  worked  ?  We  fail  to  see  why  each  indi¬ 
vidual  farmer  should  cart  his  own  few  gallons  when  a  general 
carrier  might  meet  the  wants  of  the  case.  This  is  only  a  crude 
suggestion,  but  one  we  think  quite  practicable. 
There  is  another  point  to  notice  in  connection  with  the  price  paid 
per  gallon  for  milk.  As  milk  varies  so  greatly,  and  the  causes  are 
difficult  of  control,  should  not  the  per-centage  of  butter  fat  form  the 
basis  of  equitable  payment  r  We  think  it  would  only  be  fair  and 
reasonable. 
Then,  again,  we  suppose  those  dairies  which  supply  the  milk 
would  come  under  notice  of  the  sanitary  inspector.  He  is  a  most 
necessary  official ;  and  might  we  suggest  that  a  few  “surprise”  visits 
paid,  say  at  morning  milking  time,  might  result  in  sundry  divers 
reforms  ?  We  have  heard  of  dirty  milkers  and  dirtier  surroundings  ; 
things  are  put  into  ship-shape  by  noon,  and  a  casual  visitor  may  never 
guess  at  half  the  abuses  that  exist. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Mild  and  unnatural  is  the  weather  at  the  present  time.  Much  as  rain 
'-3  wanted  for  the  water  suppl}’,  frost  is  absolutely  essential  it  this  year’s 
Barley  is  to  have  a  fair  chance.  We  have  been  ploughing  with  a  wet 
surface  for  want  of  something  better  to  do,  and  w.thout  frost  to  muke 
the  land  friable  spring  will  find  us  with  a  poor  seed  bed. 
A  field  of  seeds  is  now  being  ploughed  for  Oats.  The  best  use  has 
been  made  of  the  old  pasture  for  the  sheep,  and  now  we  are  turning 
down  the  sod  6  inches.  This  is  deeper  than  we  plough  for  Wheat ;  but 
on  fairly  dry  soil  we  find  that  Oats  do  better  on  deepish  ploughing, 
perhaps  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  get  a  deeper  roothold  and  stand  dry 
weather  better. 
The  next  work  will  be  crossing  fallows,  and  although  it  may  seem 
rather  early  to  begin  we  must  take  seasons  as  they  come,  and  do  the  work 
when  it  is  ready  and  ignore  the  ca’endar.  At  any  rate  little  mistake  can 
be  made,  for  should  the  hoped-for  frost  make  its  appearance  the  land  w  ill 
be  laid  more  open  to  its  influence,  and  should  the  weather  keep  open  and 
dry  the  drag  and  harrow  may  soon  be  at  work. 
Wheat  as  a  rule  looks  well,  but  some  pieces  are  giving  signs  of  grub 
by  turning  slightly  yellow,  and  we  find  a  patchy  appearance  of  thinness  ; 
on  walking  over  these  patches  we  notice  a  hollowness,  and  the  feet  sink  in 
at  every  other  step.  The  chief  remedy  is  rolling,  and  the  rolling  must  be 
done  as  soon  as  possible.  It  is  seldom  possible  to  roll  so  early  in  the 
season,  but  if  the  roller  be  kept  ready  in  the  field,  and  horses  are  working 
at  ploughing  or  other  work  over  the  fence,  many  opportunities  may  be 
found  for  rolling  for  part  of  a  day,  if  not  for  the  whole  of  it.  Wo  have 
often  remarked  to  ourselves,  when  crossing  Wheat  in  early  February 
about  eleven  or  twelve  o'clock,  “  Dear  me  !  why,  we  might  have  rolled 
to-day.”  Tne  prompt  use  of  the  roller  is  a  very  important  factor  in  the 
successful  growth  of  Wheat  on  light  land. 
We  are  interested  in  the  duel  in  a  contemporary  between  tw’o  well- 
known  authorities  as  to  the  value  and  capabilities  of  poor  land.  We 
agree  with  the  ex-M.P.  of  long  experienoe  that  there  is  land  not  worth 
cultivating,  and  we  believe  that  the  learned  professor  has  yet  to  learn 
what  poor  land  really  is. 
VINTON’S  AGRICULTURAL  ALMANAC,  1899.’»= 
A  CAPITAL  sixpennyworth,  worth  the  money  for  the  sake  of  the 
portrait  of  that  good  old  English  gentleman,  Lord  Coventry,  President 
of  Royal  Agricultural  Society  for  this  year.  There  is  also  a  good  like¬ 
ness  of  Lord  Londonderry,  Chairman  of  Central  Chamber  of  Agriculture. 
The  two  papers  that  strike  us  most  are  contributed  by  Sir  W.  Gilbey 
(“Table  Poultry”),  and  one  by  Primrose  Maconnell  on  “Feeding  and 
Watering  Cows  but  it  is  almost  invidious  to  single  out  any  special  writer 
when  all  are  so  good.  When  the  reader  sees  the  names  of  such  men  as 
Prof.  Wrightson,  Mr.  W.  E.  Bear,  Mr.  Soulby,  Mr.  T.  Hill,  Dr.  Bowman, 
and  others,  he  may  be  sure  he  will  meet  with  subjects  of  great  interest 
to  him  as  a  farmer,  carefully  treated  and  put  in  an  interesting  form. 
OUR  LETTER  BOX. 
Feeding  Cows  (Coteman). — For  bran,  substitute  beanmeal ;  use  Man-- 
gold  now  you  are  allowed  to  do  so,  but  add  a  little  Carrot  if  you  cat*' 
procure  it.  As  hay  forms  a  large  portion  of  the  food,  see  that  the  cows 
have  plenty  of  chilled  water,  or  at  any  rate  the  chance  of  it,  four  times  o 
day.  Do  not  turn  the  cows  out. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Squaeb,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32’  40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
d 
‘3 
1899. 
January. 
Barometer : 
at  32°,  and 
;  Sea  Level 
Hygrometer 
1 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot 
Shade  Tern, 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
inchs. 
cleg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
inchs. 
Sunday  .... 
8 
29-782 
49-6 
47-7 
S. 
43-0 
52-9 
44-8 
59-3 
40-0 
— 
Mondav  .... 
9 
29-012 
46-9 
45-3 
S. 
43-1 
51-9 
44-9 
66-2 
39-1 
0-010 
Tuesday  .... 
10 
-29-312 
49-3- 
46-7 
s. 
43-3 
51-0 
46-6 
55-2 
41-1 
0-107 
Wednesday 
11 
29-5(35 
36-9 
36-1 
s.w. 
43-0 
49-1 
36-6 
49-6 
31-1 
0-232 
Thursday  . . 
12 
'29-336 
49-1 
48-5 
s.w. 
41-9 
54-3 
36-9 
68-9 
30-9 
0-40S 
Friday . 
13 
,29-8-21 
43-1 
40-3 
s.w. 
42-1 
52-2 
40-3 
52-8 
34-1 
0-417 
Saturday. . . . 
14 
'29-934 
37-9 
37  -3 
s.w. 
42-1 
45-9 
36-6 
68-0 
-29-2 
— 
-29-623 
44-7 
43-1 
42*6 
51-0 
41-0 
60-0 
35-1 
1-174 
REMARKS. 
Sth. — Fair  day,  with  sun  at  times. 
9th. — Mild,  sunny,  and  springlike. 
10th. — High  wind  and  slight  rain  in  small  hours  ;  a  little  sun  between  8  and 
11  A.M.  ;  heavy  showers  with  hail  at  11,  noon,  and  10.80  p.m.  ;  bright  sun/ 
from  1.30  P.M.'  to  sunset. 
11th. — Fine  and  generally  sunny  in  morning,  then  overcast ;  slight  rain  at  0.55  p.m.,, 
and  heavy  rain  from  3.45  to  4.15  p.m. 
12th. — Rainy  early  ;  dull  and  damp  generally,  but  gleams  of  sun  about  11  A.M.  ; 
heavy  rain  from  1.30  to  4  p.m.  ;  clear  night. 
13th.— Clear  early,  cloudy  by  9  A.M.  ;  inces.sant  rain  from  10.45  A.M.  to  6  P.M.,  clear 
night. 
14th.— Fine  and  sunny  all  day  ;  clear  night. 
A  very  warm  week  for  its  date,  no  frost  in  the  air,  and  much  rain  and  wind^ 
— G.  J.  Symons. 
*  9,  New  Bridge  Street,  Ludgate  Circus. 
