524 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  22,  18J>9. 
was  the  best  Barley  and  mutton  in  the  vvorld  there  would  still  be  a 
trade  for  those  two  commodities,  and  that  men  who  embarked  in  that 
branch  of  agriculture  were  sure  of  a  living. 
The  Barley  has  not  deteriorated,  neither  has  the  mutton  become 
lean  and  stringy.  It  is  the  mania  for  the  cheap  and  nasty  that 
appears  to  have  seized  the  majority. 
By  the  slow  workings  of  time  alterations  have  taken  place  in  many 
manufactures.  The  great  firms  absorb  the  Avork;  the  lesser  firms  go 
to  the  wall  or  are  amalgamated  in  the  greater.  These  firms  become 
companies  with  shareholders,  and  shareholders  look  for  dividends 
(large  if  possible),  so  it  becomes  essential  that  every  detail  be  worked 
with  the  greatest  economy,  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  purchaser,  but 
for  the  swelling  of  the  dividends. 
The  purchaser’s  interest  is  not  consulted,  and  so  we  find  that  these 
great  brewery  companies  are  employing  substitutes  for  the  sweet 
wholesome  malt  grown  on  English  farms,  and  taking  in  its  place  all 
manner  of  foreign  grain  that  we  cannot  produce,  and  filling  the  alien’s 
pocket  with  our  gold. 
If  this  beer  were  as  good  as  the  old-fashioned  “  nut  brown  ”  ot  our 
fathers  we  might  not  grumble  much,  and  especially  if  it  were  retailed 
at  a  correspondingly  low  rate ;  but  when  we’find  that  we  have  still  to 
pay  3d.  per  pint  for  a  very  inferior  article — a  drink  that  increases 
instead  of  assuaging  our  thirst ;  a  drink  that  is  positively  injurious  to 
our  health — Ave  think  we  have  a  just  cause  of  serious  complaint. 
What  is  sauce  for  the  goose  ought  to  be  sauce  for  the  gander ;  yet  a 
grocer  is  bound  to  declare  if  his  coffee  be  pure  Mocha  or  a  mixture  of 
chicory — in  fact,  all  food  purveyors  are  subjected  to  severe  pains  and 
penalties  for  adulteration,  and  yet  the  brewer  goes  on  his  wav 
unmolested  and  unchecked. 
Have  our  readers  any  idea  at  all  as  to  the  quantity  of  materials 
other  than  malt  noAv  used  in  the  production  of  beer  ?  We  think 
not.  What  will  they  say  when  we  tell  them  that  sugar,  raAv 
grain,  Eice,  and  Maize  used  by  breAAmrs  is  equal  to  12,500,000 
bushels  of  Barley  malt  ?  To  produce  this  Barley  we  should  need 
400,000  acres  of  land,  and  we  should  bring  into  Barley  cultivation 
on  the  four-course  system  1,600,000  acres.  This  Avould  go  a  long 
way  to  resuscitate  English  agriculture  ;  and  why  should  not  Ave  have 
this  money  and  Avork  in  our  hands  instead  of  paying  it  over  to  the 
producers  of  sugar.  Rice,  and  INIaize  ?  Why,  indeed  ?  It  is  the  old 
story  the  haste  to  be  rich.  The  brewing  brotherhood  are  very 
strong,  and  practically  have  the  poAver,  both  in  and  out  of  Parliament, 
to  do  exactly  as  they  like;  they  grow  rich,  they  get  the  monopoly. 
TAventy-five  years  ago  a  36-gallon  of  beer  cost  24s.  to  produce — 
that  included  the  malt  tax;  to-day  the  same  36-gallon  can  be 
^ncocted  for  12s.  6d.  Less  Hops  are  used  (a  valuable  bitter). 
Barley  substitutes,  the  beer  is  weaker,  and  the  retail  price  continues 
the  same — and  the  breweries  pay  big  dividends. 
From  403.  per  quarter,  in  four  years  Barley  has  dropped  to 
-3s.  3d.,  and  where  the  decline  will  stop  no  one  knows.  As  land 
goes  out  of  cultivation,  the  large  farmers  either  break  or  retire  on  a 
remnant  of  their  means,  the  landlord  retrenches  on  every  hand,  and 
the  labourer  goes  to  sAvell  the  already  immense  population  of  our 
tOAvns. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Another  week  of  bright  sunshine  has  done  wonders  for  the  grain 
wops.  Wheat  now  looks  wonderfully  well  and  will  soon  be  in  ear. 
Ihere  may  and  should  be  quite  an  average  crop  of  grain,  but  there  will 
not  be  as  much  straw  as  there  was  last  year.  Barleys  have  improved, 
but  still  are  not  very  satisfactory.  A  few  genial  showers  would  do  much 
good,  and  in  addition  to  encouraging  the  Barley  would  refresh  the 
Clours,  which  are  still  too  young  to  stand  a  long  spell  of  drought. 
Turnips  put  in  early  look  really  well,  the  next  sowing  are  only  just 
peeping,  but  appear  to  be  coming  well.  We  hear  complaints  from  strong 
land  districts  that  Turnips  cannot  be  got  in  at  all.  The  land  has  baked  as 
ard  as  a  bricky  after  the  soddening  influences  of  the  heavy  rains  in  May. 
buch  required  taking  in  hand  a.  id  getting  ready  at  one  exact  time 
during  the  drying  process,  perhaps  during  only  one  day  would  it  be  in 
the  proper  condition  to  work  down  in  anything  like  form,  so  that  a 
fairer  with  a  large  acreage  of  such  like  land,  and  only  an  ordinary  force 
ot  horses  cannot  be  blamed  if  he  has  not  taken  advantage  of  such  a  very 
fleeting  opportunity.  How  to  get  the  work  of  the  farm  done  at  all  seems 
to  be  the  problem  of  the  future. 
reports  from  the  North  that  farm  servants  were  never  so 
dimcult  to  engage  at  the  May  day  hirings,  and  scores  of  those  who  were 
declined  to  fulfil  their  engagements,  and  have  had  to  appear  in 
the  police  court  to  answer  for  their  delinquency  ;  in  some  cases  the  only 
pma  being  that  they  had  let  themselves  too  cheaply,  and  had  afterwards 
obtained  better  terms. 
5\  e  are  sowing  sulphate  of  ammonia  on  the  Potatoes,  2  cwt.  per  acre, 
and  earthing  the  Potatoes  up  as  they  become  high  enough.  Care  has  to 
be  taken  only  to  sow  the  sulphate  when  the  haulm  is  absolutely  dry, 
otherwise  much  damage  may  be  done.  The  haulm  must  be  really  dry  to 
the  touch,  even  a  slight  dew  would  hold  the  manure  on  the  leaves  and 
cause  damage  as  serious  as  that  from  a  sharp  frost. 
Mangolds  are  growing  well,  and  it  is  a  capital  time  for  cleaning  them. 
The  first  top-dressing,  in  the  shape  of  1  cwt.  of  nitrate  of  soda,  should  be 
sown  at  once  after  the  plants  are  thoroughly  cleared  of  weeds.  Do  not 
wait  for  the  singling  process,  top-dress  now  and  thin  out  after,  then  the 
manure  will  be  ready  to  carry  the  plants  on  after  their  check. 
HEREFORDSHIRE  AND  WORCESTERSHIRE 
AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 
Ox  the  occasion  of  the  meeting  of  this  Society  at  Stourbridge  last 
week  Lieutenant-Colonel  Webb  and  Mr.  Edward  Webb  entertained  a 
large  and  influential  company  to  dinner  in  the  Town  Hall,  Colonel 
W.  G.  Webb  presiding.  Lord  Cobham,  in  speaking  on  agricultural 
depression,  observed  the  great  shows,  such  as  the  Royal,  the  Bath  and 
West  of  England,  the  Smithfield,  and  the  Birmingham  and  others,  did 
much  good  to  agriculture  in  their  way  and  in  a  manner  which  they  in 
their  society  could  not  attempt  to  imitate.  In  them  they  had  very  rich 
men  who  showed  beasts  which  had  been  brought  to  the  utmost  pitch  of 
perfection,  regardless  of  the  profit  upon  the  traLsaction.  They  were  rich 
men  spurred  on  by  the  rivalry  ot  other  rich  men,  and  they  served  a 
useful  purpose  in  showing  them  to  what  perfection  the  stock  of  the 
country  could  be  brought  to  under  judicious  management;  but  profit  did 
not  come  into  the  matter,  and  even  those  larger  shows  he  wished  that 
more  encouragement  could  be  given  to  the  production  of  stock  and  crops 
upon  purely  economical  and  commercial  principles.  The  time  had  long 
past  when  it  was  thought  that  the  fool  of  the  family  might  be  put  to- 
agriculture,  for  farming  now  had  become  more  scientific  and  more 
business-like  occupation,  Mr.  Haskew,  in  reviewing  local  progress,  said 
coming  to  their  more  immediate  manufacturers  he  should  not  omit  the 
marvellous  growth  and  prosperity  of  their  neighbours,  whose  name  was 
world-wide,  that  of  Messrs.  Edward  Webb  &  Sons,  the  royal  seed  growers^ 
Their  name  was  known  net  only  in  the  civilised,  but  also  with  the  more 
uncivilised  portions  of  the  world. 
Colonel  Webb,  in  replying,  said  they  had  heard  some  able  speeches 
that  evening  upon  agriculture,  and  he  perfectly  agreed  with  a  good 
many,  but  there  were  some  which  required  the  earnest  consideration  of 
agriculturists,  not  only  in  Herefordshire  and  Worcestershire,  but  in  other 
counties  as  well.  More  attention  might  be  given  to  many  things,  he 
thought,  and  especially  to  fruit  growing,  which  had  not  been  mentioned 
that  evening.  There  was  a  great  field  lor  fruit  growing  if  Worcestershire 
and  Herefordshire  would  rnly  take  it  up.  He  touched  upon  the  advance 
of  science  in  growing  crops,  especially  Hops,  so  much  so  that  now  they 
could  almost  always  insure  a  crop,  and  passed  on  to  another  brancE 
which  had  been  forgotten — that  ot  poultry  rearing.  It  might  be  said  it 
was  only  a  minor  matter,  but  he  reminded  them  it  was  the  “mickle  that 
made  the  muckle,”  and  it  behoved  th  m,  as  agiiculturists,  to  pay  attention 
to  the  minor  details,  for  the  next  few  jears  which  they  would  have  to 
face  would  be  trying  ones. 
Mr.  Edward  Webb  also  thanked  them  all  for  the  very  kind  manner  in 
which  they  had  drunk  the  health  of  his  brother  and  himself.  As  chair¬ 
man  of  the  local  committee  his  work  from  the  first  to  the  last  had  been  a 
labour  of  love.  The  town  welcomed  the  show  with  the  greatest  possible 
pleasure,  and  wished  it  every  success.  He  hoped  what  his  brother  had 
said  as  to  agriculture  would  live  in  the  future  with  them.  They  had 
to-day  low  prices  ter  Wheat  and  many  other  grains,  but  they  had  had 
reductions  in  rents,  which,  he  trusted,  together  with  good  seasons,  would 
bring  about  better  prospects  in  the  future. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32'  40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8’  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
o 
•a 
per 
1899. 
June. 
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  . . . . 
11 
30-274 
55-2 
51-5 
N. 
62-1 
68-4 
49-5 
106-3 
45-9 
— 
Monday  . . . . 
12 
30-169 
63-1 
58-1 
N.E. 
61-0 
80-5 
48-9 
127  -0 
43-6 
— 
Tuesday  . . . . 
13 
.30-115 
57  -0 
60-9 
N. 
62-2 
65-6 
53-1 
112-9 
47-2 
— 
AVednesday 
14 
30-092 
51-2 
46-5 
N. 
60  9 
65-1 
43-1 
103-8 
38-4 
Thursday  . 
15 
30-146 
Cl -6 
52-9 
N. 
58-9 
76-1 
42-3 
119  6 
37-0 
— 
Friday . 
16 
30-084 
64-7 
55-1 
E. 
61-1 
80-2 
46-3 
122-2 
42-1 
— 
Saturday.. . 
17 
30-06. 
65-1 
56-1 
N. 
62-8 
79  -3 
48-1 
119-2 
45-1 
— 
30-13t 
59-7 
53-0 
61-4 
73-6 
47-3 
115-9 
42-8 
— 
llth.— Overcast  early  ;  sunshine  from  10  a.m. 
12th. — Much  haze  in  morning  ;  clear,  but  cloudy  at  times,  in  afternoon. 
13th.— Overca.st  early  ;  occasional  sun  after  10  a.m. 
llth. — Overca.st  inornine;.  a  little  sun  after  1  r.M.,  and  bright  evening. 
loth.— Bright  sunshine  all  day:  bright  night. 
16th. — Almost  cloudless  throughout. 
17th. — Bright  sunshine  all  day  ;  clear  night. 
The  third  rainless  week,  rather  overcast ;  temperature  near  the  average  ;  daily 
range  large.  No  fell  between  May  24th  and  J  une  17th — twenty-four  consecutive 
days.— U.  J.  Symon'S. 
