20G 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
time  yet,  despite  the  new  invention.  Kemounts,  too,  are  always  in 
request  for  our  soldiers,  and  should  a  war  break  out  horses  might  soon 
reach  famine  prices.  As  long  as  England  exists  the  sport  of  king's 
and  commoners  alike  will  demand  good  horses,  and  plenty  of  them. 
This  open  season  particularly  impresses  an  observer  with  the  fact 
that  a  very  brisk  trade  may  be  done  by  the  fortunate  possessor  of  a 
few  sound  horses.  Here  we  are  in  February,  only  one  week’s  rest 
all  the  season,  horses  fairly  “  dished  ”  all  round,  such  dilBculty 
in  getting  a  sound  mount,  and  such  racing  and  chasing  if  it  is  known 
anyone  has  a  horse  on  sale  ;  and  the  class  of  people  who  need  them 
are  both  able  and  willing  to  give  a  long  price. 
“  In  all  work  there  is  profit,”  and  if  with  the  profit  you  can 
combine  a  little  pleasure  so  much  the  better,  and  in  the  “  making  ” 
of  a  hunter  you  get  the  chance  of  many  a  nice  little  day  after 
hounds.  In  breeding  hunters  the  first  consideration  is  yourself. 
However  pretty  and  good  a  thing  is,  if  it  will  not  meet  a  market  it  is 
of  no  use  to  you.  Find  out  what  is  wanted,  and  -breed  to  order. 
The  majority  of  customers  expect  to  have  the  eye  filled,  and  to  get 
plenty  for  their  money,  and  so  to  cater  for  these  “gents”  you  may 
safely  dispense  with  much  blood.  Have  some  good  cart  mares,  not 
big  enough  or  fashionable  enough  to  breed  “  Shires,”  mate  them  with 
a  till  iroughbred  horse,  sound  all  round,  standing  about  15'3,  of  proper 
a^ii  n  and  substance.  It  is  said  a  good  horse  cannot  be  a  bad 
colour,  but  there  always  will  exist  a  prejudice  about  colour,  and  so 
the  sire  should  for  choice  be  brown  or  bay  with  black  legs.  In  all 
probability  the  fee  will  not  exceed  £2  28.  per  mare — most  owners, 
however,  make  material  reduction  in  case  of  numbers. 
The  mares  should  be  gently  worked  up  to  the  day  of  foaling. 
-Avoid  potato  leading  in  autumn,  and  manure  filling  in  very  soft 
weather,  also  see  that  the  waggoners  are  not  ruffians  either  in  or 
out  of  the  stable.  After  foaling  keep  the  mares  up  for  ten  days  or 
rather  more.  Then  begin  light  work  again.  The  foals  are  better  left  at 
home  in  boxes ;  they  get  a  bit  of  corn,  and  are  safer  from  accidents. 
When  weaning  time  comes,  submit  each  foal  to  a  searching 
scrutiny,  and  at  any  price  get  rid  of  such  as  may  show  signs  of  bog 
spavin,  ring  bone,  crooked  legs,  or  curby  hocks. 
When  three  years  old  any  colt  that  looks  like  harness  can  easily 
find  a  market  (unbroken)  at  prices  ranging  from  £40  to  £80.  The 
£80  ones  will  be  even  movers,  of  good  colour,  15'3  to  16  hands  high. 
The  question  may  be  asked.  Why  sell  them  unbroken  ?  In  the 
first  place  no  great  buyer  of  carriage  horses  will  ever  look  at  a 
horse  that  has  gone  through  any  form  of  discipline  except  in  the 
hands  of  his  own  breaker.  A  bad  fault  or  two  takes  so  much 
eradicating  that  the  game  is  not  worth  the  candle.  Breaking  is  a 
heaven-horn  gift.  Secondly,  in  breaking  a  young  horse,  a  certain 
amiuntof  risk  must  be  run,  and  rather  than  spoil  the  whole  thing 
for  the  sake  of  a  few  extra  pounds,  let  someone  else  take  the  chance. 
'fhe  less  attractive  colts  and  some  of  the  fillies  find  a  market  as 
soldiers’  mounts,  or,  maybe,  go  to  horse  some  of  the  innumerable 
provision  carts  that  over-run  the  country.  Others  find  a  sphere  on 
the  firm  where  a  light  horse  is  of  the  greatest  service ;  he  steps 
awa}'  and  gets  over  the  ground  in  a  manner  truly  surprising,  and 
is  ready  at  a  pinch  to  take  master  to  market  or  missus  to  a  tea 
party. 
When  rising  4,  the  pick  of  the  bunch  should  be  regularly'  ridden 
round  the  farm  all  the  winter,  and  allowed  to  see  hounds  as  often  as 
practicable.  Do  not  knock  them  about.  Remember,  now  is  the  time 
when  you  are  spending  that  extra  2d.  per  week  for  manners.  No  one 
likes  an  ill-mannered,  fretful  horse.  Put  them  at  small  places,  and  never 
let  them  refuse.  Let  your  watchword  be,  “  Eternal  patience.”  Be 
content  with  short  days,  and  in  beeping  your  own  temper  you  make 
theirs.  There  are  plenty  of  knowing  men  always  on  the  out-look; 
they  want  them  for  show  purposes,  and,  eventually,  they  get  into  the 
hands  of  rich  buyers,  who  do  not  grudge  to  give  £200  to  £400.  Per¬ 
sonal  recollection  points  to  fifteen  or  twenty  animals  that  have  ful¬ 
filled  these  conditions  out  of  cart  mares  by  thoroughbred  horses.  We 
can  remember  one  mare  in  the  long  ago,  bred  on  these  lines,  who,  with 
her  foals,  cleared  every  board,  and  that  year  after  }ear. 
These  horses  just  suit  the  average  hunting  man — he  thinks  he  is 
getting  plenty  of  bone  and  muscle  for  his  money — they  are  easy  to 
ride,  and  not  too  keen.  They  never  look  so  well  as  they  do  at  four 
years  old,  and  even  if  it  is  by  accident  a  case  of  “  bellows  to  mend,” 
they  are  cheap  in  the  shafts  at  from  £40  to  £60. 
A  man  may  be  a  good  breeder  of  hunters  but  not  a  good  man  to 
hounds ;  therefore,  in  that  case  he  cannot  expect  to  make  so  much  as 
a  man  who  with  a  good  seat  and  superb  hands  would  almost  sell  a 
donkey.  If  he  is  known  as  a  reliable  man,  he  need  never  have  a  hor.^e 
hang  long,  but  he  cannot  expect  to  make  the  fancy  prices  that  tiie  latter 
man  may,  and  can,  command. 
We  do  not  argue  for  a  moment  that  horses  of  this  type  are  ideal 
hunters,  but  they  are  selling  ones,  and  that  is  the  great  point  we  are 
looking  at.  The  longer  the  pedigree  the  greater  the  risk.  First-rate 
hunters  must  have  at  least  six  or  seven  distinct  crosses,  or  be  absolutely 
out  and  out  thoroughbred.  IMares  of  this  class  are  bad  to  find,  and 
almost  beyond  the  purse  of  the  ordinary  farmer,  and  it  will  only  be  by 
very  good  luck  that  three  brood  mares  will  provide  the  owner  with 
two  saleable  four-year-olds  every  season. 
Blood  horses,  too,  take  much  more  training  than  the  commoner 
ones,  and  are  not  at  their  best  till  six  or  seven  years  old.  This  means 
too  long  a  wait  before  there  are  any  returns,  and  few  farmers  can  give 
so  much  credit. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
With  March  winds  come  dry  seed  beds,  and  given  a  properly 
pulverised  soil,  the  sooner  spring  corn  is  in  the  better.  In  nine  cases  out 
of  ten,  or  even  nineteen  out  of  twenty,  it  is  the  early  sown  seed  that  makes 
the  heaviest  bulk  and  the  best  sample.  But  let  it  be  understood  that 
when  we  say  a  “  well  prepared  seed  bed  ”  we  mean  it.  No  sodden 
stiff  land  will  do  ;  a  free  fine  mould,  like  a  bit  of  real  good  garden, 
and  this  is  generally  attainable  the  second  week  in  March. 
Keep  the  land  ploughed  up  close  to  the  sheep  ;  there  is  nothing  like 
being  “  lorrad  ”  with  work,  and  besides,  the  sheep  manure  does  more  good 
to  the  land  by  being  well  “  happed  ”  up. 
If  Wheats  incline  to  be  thick,  nothing  beats  a  good  harrowing,  that  is 
if  the  state  of  the  land  allow  of  it  being  worked.  Harrowing  is  like 
pruning  Roses  or  thinning  Grapes — it  is  hardly  possible  to  overdo  it.  It  is 
the  natural  habit  of  Wheat  to  branch,  and  a  harrowing  permits  freer  access 
of  air  and  sunshine. 
The  lambing  shepherd  is  much  in  evidence  just  now,  and  a  good  man 
finds  his  work  no  sinecure.  There  are  always  ewes  whose  supply  of  milk 
is  deficient,  and  lambs  soon  succumb  to  cold,  stormy  weather  unless  they 
have  a  well  filled  stomach.  A  good  cow  is  of  infinite  help  to  a  shepherd, 
and  he  must  be  prepared  to  supplement  with  a  sucking-bottle  the  maternal 
supply. 
A  generous  diet  for  weakly  ewes  and  ewes  with  pairs  is  advisable. 
In  very  rough  weather  all  will  be  the  better  for  a  few  extras,  say  a 
mixture  of  oats,  cotton  cake,  and  malt  culms.  We  hear  people  talk  of 
‘‘  luck  ’’  in  lambing  ;  well,  the  “  luck,”  good  or  ill,  is  the  result  of  judicious 
or  injudicious  management.  We  do  not  believe  in  “luck.”  We  make  our 
own. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  .51°  32'  40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8’  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  tee',. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
Rain 
1899. 
February 
and 
March. 
Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
Sea  Level 
Hygrometer 
- 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
inchs 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
inchs. 
Sunday  .... 
26  30-399 
32-0 
31-1 
N.E. 
38-0 
43-8 
■25-2 
64-3 
22-8 
— 
Monday  .... 
■27  30-.5‘27 
30-4 
-29-9 
N.E. 
30-9 
42-9 
24-9 
65-7 
22‘2 
— 
Tuesday  .... 
28  ,30-718 
27-4 
-27-4 
Calm. 
36-3 
46-1 
-25-3 
69-1 
23-7 
— 
Wednesday 
1  30-074 
35-9 
32-4 
W. 
ot)*i 
53-2 
27-3 
69-8 
24-9 
— 
Thursday  . . 
■2  30 -.507 
34-2 
32-8 
s.w. 
36-0 
49-4 
30-3 
83-1 
20-4 
— 
Friday  _ _ _ 
3  30-231 
30-1 
35-0 
,s.w. 
50-6 
29-9 
72-8 
26-9 
— 
Saturday.... 
4  -29-878 
35-9 
34-9 
w. 
37-0 
49-2 
31-2 
83-8 
■27-1 
0-010 
30-419 
33-1 
31-9 
36-7 
47-9 
27-7 
72-7 
24-9 
0-010 
REMARKS. 
■2tjth. — Almost  cloudle.ss  tlivouglioiit. 
27th.— Sunny,  but  generally  rather  hazy,  and  fog  at  night. 
28th. — Fog  all  morning,  bright  sun  in  afternoon,  clear  night. 
1st.— Cloudy  morning,  .sunny  afternoon  with  halo,  much  milder. 
2nd.— Bright  sunshine  throughout. 
3rd.— Fog  nearly  all  morning,  bright  afternoon. 
4th. — Overcast  till  10.1,5  A.il.,  then  generally  sunny  morning,  spots  of  r.ain  at 
1.15  P.M.,  and  sliower  about  3.00  P.M.,  then  snn  again. 
.4  crild,  dry  week,  generally  sunny,  with  clear  frosty  nights.  Barometer  ver 
higli  on  the  28th.— G.  J.  SYMoX.s. 
