262 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
^rarch  19,  1903. 
about  the  same  as  here.  As  a  rule,  too.  he  is  a  saver.  In 
Germany  the  wages  may  be  6d.  per  diem,  or  it  may  be 
Is.  8d.  (we  have  no  day  lads  here  who  would  look  at  6d.), 
and  it  may  well  be  imagined  that  the  German  cannot  have 
much  to  spend  on  meat.  The  Danish  harvest  wages  is  not 
what  we  should  call  lavish  ;  twelve  or  thiideen  hours  for  the 
handsome  sum  of  Is.  6d.,  and  his  victuals  and  a  drink  of 
cheap  spirits.  Our  charwomen  would  scorn  the  long  hours. 
They  like  to  come  at  eight  and  leave  at  five,  with  at  least 
three  squai-e  meals,  and  have  beer  and  tea  ad  lib.  The 
Belgian  gets  Is.  5d.,  but  here  the  spending  power  of  the 
money  is  less  than  with  us.  Clothes  are  very  dear,  and  the 
food  is  of  necessity  coarse  and  scanty. 
In  Switzerland  the  wages  range  from  Is.  3d.  to  2s.  for  a 
long  day  of  thii-teen  hours.  What  about  the  unemployed 
during  the  winter  %  We  hear  nothing,  and  at  2s.  there  can¬ 
not  be  much  to  lay  by  in  store  for  winter.  We  believe, 
however,  the  Swiss  peasant  is  master  of  various  handicrafts, 
which  enable  him  to  tide  over  the  slack  time.  An  English¬ 
man  prefers  leaning  against  or  over  a  wall  when  he  is  out 
of  a  job.  The  Swedish  labourer  seems  to  come  off  best  with 
Is.  lid.,  although  there  are  times  when  he  only  gets  Is. 
Still,  food  is  cheap,  and  Is.  goes  much  farther  there  than 
here.  The  Dutch  board  with  the  master,  and  presumably 
get  well  fed.  The  money  value  of  their  wages  is  9d. 
The  Russian  labourer  gets,  when  he  is  at  the  top  of  the 
tree,  only  Is.  ;  but  that  Is.  Avill  purchase  twice  as  much  as 
it  would  here,  and  the  Russian  is  not  accustomed  to  great 
luxuries.  We  come  back  to  the  conclusion  that,  after  all, 
Hodge  has  not  such  a  very  bad  time  of  it.  If  he  will  work, 
there  is  plenty  for  him.  He  can  pick  and  choose,  and  a 
good  man  has  no  need  to  remain  a  laboiu-er  till  the  end  of 
his  days.  There  are  always  openings  and  chances  by  which 
he  may  better  himself,  and  that  without  crowding  the 
already  over-full  towns. 
To  turn  to  another  subject,  we  see  the  prize  sheet  is  now 
issued  for  the  forthcoming  Royal  Show,  the  first  to  be  held 
on  the  permanent  site  near  London.  The  total  value  of 
prizes  offered,  inclusive  of  champion  prizes,  medals,  cups, 
and  class  prizes,  is  £7,940,  of  which  £1,313  is  contributed 
by  various  breed  societies.  The  money  is  allotted  thus  : 
horses,  £1,980  ;  cattle,  £2,904  ;  sheep,  £1,591  ;  pigs,  £495  ; 
poultry.  £249,  &c.  We  think  that  £50  for  the  four  classes 
for  butter  making  competitors  is  little  enough,  unless  we 
have  read  the  advertisement  wrongly,  and  there  is  £50  to 
be  competed  for  in  each  of  the  four  classes.  Considering 
what  a  burning  question  that  of  good  butter  is.  all  encou¬ 
ragement  should  be  given  to  strivers  after  knowledge.  We 
wonder  how  general  entries  will  be  affected  %  Will  the  far 
distant  provinces  send  up  their  stock  with  alacrity!  Cer¬ 
tainly  railway  facilities  are  good.  London  is  more  easily 
reached  than  anv  other  city  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Per¬ 
sonally,  we  liked  the  localised  Royal ;  we  liked  to  see  great 
agricultural  neighbourhoods,  and  to  enlarge  our  experience. 
However.  w"e  shall  follow'  with  interest  the  fortunes  of  this 
new  venture.  We  think  the  classes  for  jumping  wall  be 
popular  (at  least,  with  the  spectators).  There  is  an  element 
of  risk  and  chance  w'hich  is  always  pleasing  to  the  multi¬ 
tude  ;  indeed,  we  must  plead  guilty  to  this  inducement. 
ij  hope  the  prizes  wall  not  all  b©  annexed  by  some 
old  ^  crocks  ’  who,  having  got  the  knack  of  cleverly  over¬ 
coming  obstacles,  travel  from  show'  to  show'  as  mere  pot¬ 
hunters. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
Since  our  last  we  have  been  favoured  with  heavy  rain.s  and 
though  it  may  be  much  needed  for  the  water  supply  we  can  do 
wathout  It  when  we  are  sowing  Barley.  At  any  rate,  a  stop  has 
again  been  put  to  all  sowing  operations.  Following  the  heavy 
ram  this  morning  we  have  a  white  frost,  and  the  heat  of  the  sun 
^1  , ^1  ®^'Hace  of  the  soil  so  sticky  that  any  interference 
Avith  it  would  convert  it  into  birdlime.  We  must  possess  our 
souls  ill  patience,  and  turn  to  other  eiiqiloyment  until  the  land 
has  time  to  dry. 
Somehow'  there  seems  to  be  a  hitch  about  the  seasons  nowa¬ 
days.  Ihe  sun  rises  quite  punctually  according  to  the  almanac 
and  sets  ditto  ;  then  why  don’t  we  have  Christmas  at  Chri.stmas' 
and  not  about  the  end  of  March  ?  Why  do  we  have  a  dry  February 
and  then  a  wet  March,  without  even  a  pinch  of  du.st,  much  less  a 
peck.  All  tho.se  early  birds  wdio  took  time  by  the  forelock  and 
drilled  wdien  the  land  was  in  condition  are  now'  higlily  pleased 
with  themselves.  We  have  always  contended  that  after  February  1 
the  best  time  to  sow  spring  corn  was  only  a  matter  of  oppor¬ 
tunity,  and  early  sowing  this  year  appears  likely  to  be  successful. 
The  w'eather  may  alter  and  the  later  sowings  be  as  good;  but  a 
bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  two  in  the  bush.  We  have  pretty 
nearly  cleared  the  yards  of  manure,  and  hav'e  been  bringing  in 
the  supplies  of  pho«phatc,s  for  Turnips  and  mixed  manures  for 
Potatoes.  The  trade  for  Potatoes  goes  from  bad  to  worse,  and 
tlie  slump  is  affecting  seed  as  w’ell  a.s  ware.  Plenty  of  seed  is  on 
the  market  now  at  40s.  per  ton,  sO'  in  all  probability  there  w'ill  be 
a  diminished  acreage.  Farmers  always  give  up  growing  Potatoes 
when  they  are  cheap  and  begin  again  when  they  are  dear. 
Farming  matters  are  not  very  bright  generally,  but  an  excep¬ 
tion  must  be  made  as  regards  sheep.  Not  only  is  mutton  dear, 
and  likefy  to  remain  so,  but  the  lambing  season  has  so  far  been 
remarkably  succes.siful.  There  is  a  fair,  and  in  some  cases  a  good, 
fall  of  lambs,  and  the  general  health  of  both  ewes  and  lambs  is 
something  remarkable.  Mortality  is  singularly  low.  Rather  a 
large  number  of  mares  have  aborted  this  .season,  but  the  result 
of  inquiry  shows  that  a  larger  number  than  usual  are  in  foal. 
In  view  of  an  excellent  demand  for  horses  this  is  satisfactory. 
Farming  in  Canada. 
A  meeting  of  the  Clumberland  and  Westmoreland  Chamber  of 
Agriculture  wa.s  recently  held  in  C’arlisle,  when  an  address  was 
given  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Metcalfe,  of  Westbouriie,  Canada,  a  native  of 
Cumberland,  upon  the  advantages  offered  by  the  Dominion,  and 
especially  by  Manitoba,  as  a  place  of  settlement  for  young  farmers 
with  small  means.  Mr.  Timmswood,  of  Rosebank.  pre.sided,  and 
among  the  large  audience  present  was  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson.  Mr. 
Metcalfe  said  that  a  j'oung  man  w'hO'  wished  to  make  a  .start  as  a 
farmer  in  Manitoba  might  do  so  upon  a  capital  of  £1,000  if  he 
wished  to  have  a  farm  of  160  acres  ready  for  cultivation,  or  of 
a  thou.sand  dollars  if  he  were  prepared  to  break  up  land  of  that 
extent,  fence  it,  and  live  out  of  what  it  yielded.  The  taxes  of  a 
farmer  of  160  acres  would  amount  to  about  £4  a  year,  w'hich 
would  include  his  share  -to  the  municipal  debenture  debt,  the 
Municipal  Coninii.ssioners’  fund,  the  fund  for  public  improve¬ 
ments,  and  to  the  school  tax.  The  school  tax  comprised  all  that 
he  would  have  to  pay  for  the  education  of  his  children  up  to  the 
time  they  entered  the  University,  and  the  system  of  education 
was  purely  national,  there  being  nothing  of  a  sectarian  nature 
about  it.  The  marketing  facilities  in  Manitoba  w'ere  good,  no 
farmer  being  more  than  about  fifteen  miles  from  a  railway.  Rail¬ 
ways,  tpo,  were  being  rapidly  increased,  and  in  the  course  of  time 
the  opportunities  which  w'ould  exist  for  enabling  the  fanner  to  get 
his  produce  sent  to  the  market  would  be  very  numerous  indeed. 
Fuel  in  the  shape  of  w  ood  was  plentiful,  and  there  were  immense 
beds  of  coal  in  the  counti'y.  Dwelling-houses  might  be  built  at  a 
cost  varying  from  a  small  sum  to  £140  for  a  frame-house,  and 
farm  buildings  could  be  erected  at  an  expense  in  proportion.  A 
number  of  questions  were  put  to  Mr.  Metcalfe,  who  at  the  close, 
on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Savage,  seconded  by  Mr.  Watt,  wa.s  cor¬ 
dially  thanked. 
Co-operative  Dairying  in  Craven,  Yorks. 
Two  years  ago  a  scheme  of  combination  among  Craven  tenant 
farmers,  on  lines  different  from  anything  previously  attempted 
in  the  district,  was  inaugurated.  The  general  idea  was  co-opera¬ 
tion  for  tlie  purchasing  of  food  stuffs,  a  guarantee  that  the  quality 
asked  for  was  obtained,  and  the  saving  of  the  profits  of  the 
middleman.  Commencing  w'ith  thirtj'-eight  members,  the  ranks 
were  sw'elled  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  to  seventy-two,  and 
during  the  twelve  months  ended  with  December  last  there  was  a 
further  increase  of  forty-three  members.  At  the  annual  dinner, 
recently  held  at  the  Black  Horse  Hotel,  Skipton,  and  pre.sided 
over  by  Mr.  M.  Apicotts  Wilson,  of  Kshton  House,  some  interest¬ 
ing  information  was  given  by  Mr.  Claude  Thompson,  stew'ard  to 
Captain  Roundell’s  Gledstone  estates,  respecting  a  dairy  factory 
experiment  that  has  been  made  at  Marton.  Mr.  Thompson  .saicl 
the  dairy  factory  was  commenced  in  September,  1900,  and  the 
result  of  the  first  financial  half-year  was  a  loss  of  £159.  Profiting 
by  the  first  mistakes,  the  management  made  .several  alterations, 
and  the  result  of  the  workings  of  1901  was  a  lo.s's  of  £79.  In  1902. 
how'ever,  the  concern  turned  the  corner,  and  made  a  net  profit 
of  £239.  In  1901  they  used  128,970  gallons  of  milk,  and  in  1902 
the  amount  was  £142,322  gallons,  an  increase  of  about  13,000 
gallons  of  milk  from  the  same  number  of  farmers.  It  wa.s  the 
intention  of  Captain  Roundell,  added  the  .speaker,  to  turn  the 
concern  over  to  the  farmers  on  his  estate  as  a  purely  co-operative 
one,  and  thus  let  the  tenants  not  only  receive  a  fixed  price  for 
their  milk,  winter  and  summer,  but  receive  profits  in  the  way  of 
dividend.  It  worked  out  that  the  farmers  on  the  Gledstone 
estate  had  been  receiving  nearly  9d.  per  gallon  for  their  milk  all 
the  year  round.  There  was  plenty  of  room  for  others  to  establish 
dairj'  factories,  for  so  far  as  the  dairy  factory  at  Marton  was  con¬ 
cerned  they  could  sell  three  or  four  times  the  products  if  they  had 
them.  They  were  now'  turning  out  about  7001b  of  butter  per 
week,  and  between  80  and  90  o-alioiis  of  cream,  and  could  double 
it  at  once  if  they  had  the  material. 
