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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  9,  1900. 
the  prime  cost  of  the  cow.  To  make  £20,  which  we  should  fix  as  the 
minimum  amount  to  be  realised  from  any  cow  worth  keeping  in  milk, 
685  gallons  per  annum  at  7d.  are  required.  Is  it  viry  far  from  the 
mark?  Would  large  milk  producers  putting  their  produce  on  rail  at 
wholesale  prices  be  satisfied  with  anything  less  as  an  average  return 
from  each  cow  ?  We  think  not,  and  if  one  cow  is  a  good  one,  pro¬ 
ducing  much  more  than  the  specified  amount  but  making  up  the 
deficiency  of  another  which  is  not  worthy  of  house  room,  why  keep  the 
latter  to  devour  the  profit  of  the  other  ?  No  sensible  farmer  would  do 
such  a  thing  knowingly,  but  unfortunately  many  are  careless  and 
indifferent  about  their  dairy  cows,  especially  when  the  revenue  there¬ 
from  goes  into  the  coffers  of  the  missus,  and  unless  the  latter  be  of  an 
energetic  and  investigating  mind  as  well  as  a  successful  agitator,  they 
will  go  on  milking  useless  cows  as  long  as  they  will  keep  healthy, 
which  in  case  of  heavy  fleshed  poor  milkers  may  be  a  very  lengthy 
period. 
When,  however,  the  farmer  has  discovered  which  of  his  cows  are 
not  paying  him,  and  has  discarded  them,  how  is  he  to  fill  their  places 
with  such  as  will  pay  ?  He  will  generally  find  great  difficulty  in 
doing  so,  for  good  rows  are  scarce  and  always  command  a  ready  sale. 
That  there  is  money  to  be  made  by  breeding  cattle  of  first-class 
milking  strains  we  are  quite  convinced,  and  we  think  something 
further  might  be  done  either  by  the  Government,  or  failing  it  by  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Society,  to  encourage  and  develop  the  breeding  of 
such  animals.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Shorthorn,  especially  the 
Bates  tribes,  contains  some  of  the  finest  strains  of  milkers  we  possess, 
and  if  farmers  of  means  were  sufficiently  encouraged  by  the  offering 
of  further  and  larger  prizes  for  dairy  cows  at  the  principal  shows,  the 
evolution  of  the  dairy  cow  into  something  more  akin  i,o  perfection  would 
be  carried  out  as  quickly  as  the  perfecting  of  the  great  breeds  of  sheep 
have  hern  by  the  W  ebbs,  Mansell’s,  and  Dudding’s.  Of  course  prizes 
for  cows  are  offered  now,  such  as  those  for  butter  tests  at  the  Dairy 
Show,  but  we  think  enough  is  not  done,  and  that  farmers  generally 
would  improve  their  dairy  cattle  if  their  attention  were  drawn  to  the 
need  for  it  by  the  offering  of  generous  prizes  for  dairy  stock.  What 
we  shou'd  like  to  see  would  be  the  formation  or  evolution  of  a  new 
milking  breed  with,  in  due  time,  a  herd  book,  the  qualification  to  be 
milking  capacity,  not  appearance. 
Work  on  tlje  Home  Farm. 
We  have  had  sufficient  rain  to  keep  the  root  crops  growing  well. 
The  InrnipB  we  mentioned  before,  as  being  singled  on  the  nineteenth 
day  after  sowing,  are  now,  the  fortieth  day,  being  looked  over  for 
weeds  and  doub'es  ;  they  are  quite  big  enough  for  the  work  to  be 
done  well,  for  although  drilled  26  inches  wide,  the  plants  nearly  meet 
m  the  rows.  We  have  never  seen  cereal  crops  ripen  off  so  quickly 
88  they  aie  doing  this  season.  The  feiiod  between  flowering  and  full 
maturity  has  been  curtailed  by  at  least  a  week,  and  in  a  few  cases 
even  more.  This  hurrying  up  must  have  been  brought  about  by  the 
severe  thunderetorms,  which  have  repeatedly  culminated  from  the 
intense  heat.  Hot  w-  ather  has  always  a  quicker  maturing  effect  when 
accompanied  by  a  sufficiency  of  rain. 
Crops  look  very  bright  in  the  straw  and  healthy,  and  we  should  not 
advocate  haste  in  cutting  Barley.  The  rapid  ripening  w’ill  reduce  the 
■weight  of  the  grains  quite  sufficiently,  and  the  samples  will  be  rather 
thin  and  light.  The  crop  should  be  allowed  to  mature  as  much  as 
possible.  A  good  deal  of  Barley  has  been  cut  rather  green  during  the 
last  two  seasons,  and  maltsters  have  been  giumb  ing  about  it.  They 
prefer  Barley  naturally  ripened,  as  it  makes  better  malt. 
Seveial  fields  of  Oats  and  one  or  two  of  Barley  are  already  cut  in 
this  parish.  All  have  cut  up  lighter  than  they  bad  been  expected  to  do, 
find  stackyards  will  not  make  a  very  fiill  show  in  September.  String, 
binders  are  almost  universal  ;  we  have  seen  no  other  at  work  yet, 
neither  have  we  seen  a  harvest  hand  seeking  work,  so  it  is  fortunate 
binders.  The  crops  all  stand  up  well,  aud  present  no 
■difficulties  to  the  m'jchines.  The  fat  stock  markets  are  now  much 
fuller,  and  for  the  first  time  since  March  are  the  butchers  having  a 
turn.  Some  beautiful  heifers  only  made  6cl.  per  pound  this  week, 
which  is  not  very  encouraging  to  tlie  giazifr,  lut  we  hope  the  consumer 
will  get  a  share  of  the  reduction.  Sheep  will  no  doubt  continue  at  a 
fair  price,  for  the  durnip  prospect  is  decidedly  pood,  and  there  is  plenty 
of  keeping  of  other  kinds  until  Turnips  are  ready. 
The  Potatoes  which  weie  sprayed,  and  which  we  really  thought 
must  have  suffered  damage  frrm  the  rough  treatment  they  received, 
have  quite  recovered  their  original  promising  appearance,  and  look 
wonderfully  well.  The  later  planted  fields  are  also  now  looking  quite 
as  satisfactory  as  we  can  wish.  Will  the  London  buyers  be  as  satis¬ 
factory  in  their  biddings  when  they  come  down  in  September  ? 
Cabbage  seed  for  autumn  planting  must  be  sown  at  once.  There  is 
no  better  kind  than  a  good  strain  of  Enfield  Market,  to  be  ready  for  the 
lambs  when  wanted  next  July.  Drumhead  is  hardly  forward  enough, 
but  will  come  in  late  in  Aupnst  and  for  September  use.  It  grows  a 
much  heavier  crop  when  well  hearted,  and  a  good  practice  would  be  to 
plant  an  equal  breadth  of  each, 
■ - - 
Xong:  Rows  Save  Xabo ar. — An  exchange  well  illustrates  the 
importance  of  long  rows  by  telling  of  a  Western  farmer  who  had 
ploughed  land  100  rods  wide  and  a  half-mile  long.  He  made  three 
fields,  each  33  rods  wide  and  160  rods  lonp.  When  planted  in  corn  he 
found  that  his  man  could  cultivate  it  the  long  way  of  the  row  in  three 
days,  while  if  going  the  other  way  there  was  four  days’  work.  Just  one 
day  extra  was  spent  in- turning  around  at  the  end  three  times  as  often. 
English  Cultivation. — People  who  like  to  air  their  views  about 
agriculture  being  an  entirely  spent  force  in  this  country — a  thing  of 
the  past,  as  they  sapiently  term  it — should  study  statistics  a  little  more. 
Next  to  Holland  and  Belgium,  the  yield  per  acre  of  Wheat,  Barley, 
and  Oats  is  still  greater  in  this  country  than  in  any  other  in  the  world. 
As  regards  Wheat  alone,  we  are  beaten  by  only  one  country — Denmark ; 
in  Barley  and  Oats  we  are  beaten  by  both  Holland  and  Belgium.  The 
quality  of  our  cattle,  too,  is  better  than  that  of  any  other  country, 
and  we  still  produce  more  meat  per  acre  than  any  rival.  These 
figures  are  Mr.  Turnbull’s  carefully  compiled  ones.  When  we  are 
inclined  to  be  very  despondent  about  agriculture  it  may  be  well  to 
glance  at  such  safe  statistics. 
Ayrshire  Potato  Crop. — Most  of  the  shore  fields  are  now  entirely 
cleared,  and  buyers  are  working  more  inland.  The  recent  great 
heat  and  unbroken  sunshine  have  greatly  ripened  the  crop  and 
improved  the  quality,  which  is  now  really  good.  Buyers  and  farmers 
appear  to  be  well  satisfied  with  the  season’s  results.  The  crop  has  lifted 
well.  Markets  have  kept  up,  and  prices  are  maintained.  The  business 
with  bujers  will  now  be  with  Maincrops.  Girvan  is  not  only  the  chief 
district  for  early  Potato  growing,  but  is  likely  to  become,  says  a  con¬ 
temporary,  a  leading  centre  for  the  sale  of  stock  and  other  farm  pro¬ 
duce.  The  Ayrshire  Auction  Company,  Ltd  ,  had  several  successful  sales 
of  sheep,  cattle,  and  poultry  at  Girvan  in  October  and  November  of  last 
year.  The  sales  were  conducted  in  the  manse  glebe  in  the  open,  which 
in  wet  weather  was  against  the  appearance  of  the  stock  and  comfort 
of  the  buyers.  The  Company  has  now  erected  a  large  mart  for  the 
sales  in  a  field  near  the  old  railway  station.  It  is  anticipated  that  the 
mart  will  soon  be  opened  for  business. 
Watering  Places. — There  is  need  of  concerted  action  or  a  State 
law,  says  an  American  contemporary,  for  providing  suitable  watering 
places  for  horses  along  the  much  travelled  roads.  In  the  olden  times 
the  roadmakers,  when  the  road  crossed  a  brook  or  ran  along  the  edge  of 
a  pond,  left/  places  where  one  could  drive  in  to  water  the  horse,  and 
perhaps  swell  the  felloes  of  the  wheels  if  the  tyres  were  loose  ;  but  now 
the  brooks  are  bridged  over  to  the  width  of  the  read,  and  the  ponds 
fenced  at  the  roadside  to  keep  animals  out,  because  the  water  supply 
for  some  town  or  village  is  taken  from  it,  and  it  must  be  kept  pure. 
This  is  all  right  when  the  town  has  provided  public  watering  places 
where  man  and  beast  can  quench  their  thirot,  but  when  economy 
prevails  to  such  an  extent  that  these  are  not  put  up,  and  one  may  drive 
on  a  ranch  travelled  road  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles  without  a  chance  for 
the  horse  to  wash  the  dust  out  of  his  mouth,  it  is  time  that  provision 
were  made,  even  if  we  returned  to  the  village  pump  and  watering 
trough.  They  were  very  well  where  no  brooks  were  available,  but  the 
pump  sometimes  would  not  work  well,  and  sometimes  the  driver  would 
not  work  the  pump  handle,  and  the  poor  horse  got  lukewarm  and  filthy 
water,  or  none  at  all,  unless  the  driver  wanted  a  drink  himself. 
Oat  Smut. — The  loss  from  smut  in  the  Oat  crop  is  said  to  be  or  to 
have  been  some  18,000,000  dols.  per  year  in  the  United  States. 
Estimates  made  in  Kansas  placed  the  loss  for  that  State  alone  at 
1,382,328  dole,  in  1888,  at  850,554  dols.  in  .1889,  and  911,299  dols.  in 
1890.  In  Indiana  in  1889  it  was  estimated  at  797,526  dols.,  and  in 
1890  at  690,352  dols.  In  Michigan  in  1891  it  was  estimated  at 
800,000  dols.,  and  in  1892  at  1,000,000  dols.  While  these  estimates  are 
approximate,  they  are  likely  to  be  less  rather  than  above  the  actual 
injury.  They  represent  the  percentage  of  crop  damaged,  but  there  is 
another  way  in  which  future  crops  are  reduced  by  it.  Seed  from  afield 
where  there  is  much  smut  results  in  more  smutty  grain  the  next  year, 
and  if  the  crop  is  sown  again  on  the  same  field,  the  smut  will  appear 
even  when  clean  seed  is  used.  By  the  use  of  1  lb.  of  formalin  in 
50  gallons  of  water,  the  formalin  costing  60  to  75  cents  a  pound,  and 
simply  sprinkling  the  seed,  mixing  until  all  are  moistened  and  sowing 
seed  on  clean  land,  this  trouble  may  be  prevented.  One  gallon  of  water  is 
enough  to  moisten  a  bushel  of  Oats,  so  that  the  cost  of  treatment  need  not 
exceed  a  cent,  and  a  half  a  bushel.  If  the  seed  is  to  be  drilled  in,  it 
should  be  spread  and  dried,  Lut  this  is  not  necessary  when  it  is  to  be 
sown  broadcast. —  (“  American  Cuh.ivator.”) 
