524 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  6,  1900. 
The  Winter  Egg, 
■Or  rather,  perhaps  we  may  say  the  lack  of  it.  Each  season 
brings  its  own  particular  crop  of  topics,  and  the  topics  are  thre-hed 
out  year  after  year  with  admirable  regularity.  We  wish  we  could  say 
with  admirable  result;  but,  oh  !  so  often  the  result  is  nil.  We  try  to 
do  the  impossible.  Every  now  and  then  some  prophet  arises  and  tells 
of  the  great  things  he  achieves ;  the  prophet  and  his  work  pass,  and  we 
are  little  if  any  better.  We  have  got  into  the  way  of  expecting  the 
lower  creation  to  minister  to  our  wants  in  season  and  out  of  season, 
and  we  feel  aggrieved  if  we  cannot  get  every  little  luxury  just  when 
we  want  it.  By  “  we,”  please  understand  the  general  middle-class 
public — the  people  of  moderate  means,  not  the  wealthy,  who  of  course 
can  get  every  delicacy  in  and  out  of  season. 
'ibis  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  advisabil  ty  of  indulgence  in 
high  living,  but  we  must  say  that  every  year  adds  to  the  ranks  of 
those  who  expect  to  live  far  more  bounti  ully  than  did  ever  their 
forbears.  Now,  stop  !  we  hear  voices  in  the  distance,  “  But  eggs  are 
a  real  necessity ;  they  should  not  be  classed  as  luxuries.”  Wait  a 
minute.  We  quite  agree  that  they  are  a  splendid  food,  and  one 
without  which  the  housekeeper  is  at  a  sad  loss;  but  the  season  of 
plentiful  eggs  is  spring  and  early  summer,  that  everyone  will  allow. 
We  have  not  arrived  at  cheap  lamb  at  Christmas,  nor  should  we 
look  for  new  Peas  and  Potatoes  in  January.  True,  they  are  to  be 
got,  but  only  by  those  who  have  large  means.  There  is  no  outcry 
about  such  things;  we  (the  general  public)  are  content  to  enjoy  them 
in  their  season  ;  but  we  do  seem  to  expect  impossibilities  of  our  hens. 
We  suppose  a  hen  in  a  state  of  nature  would  only  lay  a  very  few 
— sufficient  for  reproductive  purposes.  We  have  so  got  her  into 
our  way  ot  thinking  that  she  will  do  far  more  for  us  ;  she  gives  us  a 
good  return  for  the  shelter  and  food  we  provide.  But  being  after  all 
only  a  hen,  not  an  egg  machine,  she  must  have  a  close  time,  and  we 
grudge  her  that  close  time.  We  cinnot  ourselves  see  how  it  will  ever 
be  possible  to  have  cheap  eggs  (iresh)  during  the  late  autumn  and 
winter  months.  We  do  not  say  the  supply  cannot  be  increased,  we 
think  it  can,  and  that  materially  ;  but  still  we  shall  never  have  a 
popular  price  at  this  time  ot  year.  ^Ve  have  read  recipe  after  recipe 
(and  tried  some)  for  the  preservation  of  eggs  when  cheap  and  plentiful, 
and  though  witti  care  some  of  the  recipes  work  out  well,  still  the  eggs 
can  hardly  be  classed  as  fresh,  though  sound.  They  may  be  good  lor 
cooking  jaurposes,  but  they  are  unsatisfactory  boiled. 
It  was  only  the  other  day  that  we  came  across  the  “  Journal  of 
Agriculture”  for  Western  Australia,  and  among  other  useful  and 
valuable  facts  we  found  a  note  on  the  cold  storage  of  eggs.  Now 
this  seems  to  be  something  that  we  want  here  in  the  old  country. 
It  is  heartbreaking  work  to  sell  beautiful  fresh  eggs,  as  we  have  often 
done,  at  eighteen  and  twenty  for  Is.;  but  if,  as  the  writer  says,  this 
cold  storage  aoswers  well  in  Perth,  W.A.,  we  cannot  see  why  it  should 
not  answer  heie.  The  refrigerating  works  are  run  by  Government, 
and  the  charges  made  are  very  small. 
It  must  be  thoroughly  understood  that  eggs  not  perfectly  fresh,  or 
eggs  packed  in  musty  ca>es,  will  not,  even  in  a  refrigerator,  come  out 
ia  good  condition.  It  will  not  do  to  gather  eggs  haphazard,  pack  them 
anyhow,  and  send  any  time.  The  sconer  they  are  sent  off  the  better, 
and  eggs  for  this  purpose  are  better  infertile.  We  are  not  aiming  at 
fraud,  and  eggs  so  treated  must  be  labelled  and  sold  as  refrigerated. 
We  have  the  Irozen  meat,  and  divers  other  things ;  why  not  use 
cold  as  egg  ]>reservative  ?  We  know  the  arguments  about  the  delicacy 
of  the  eggs ;  but  out  of  every  hunnred  sold  what  ]  ercentage  is 
perfectly  fresh  ?  What  percentage  has  been  exposed  to  undesirable 
conditions  ?  We  must  be  asked  something  easier.  We  only  know 
this,  that  in  an  ordinary  country  market  we  should  get  rich  if  we 
could  have  a  farthing  for  every  egg  soil  that  was  over  six  days  old. 
We  were  very  much  struck  the  other  day  by  a  letter  from  Mr.  E. 
Brown,  the  poultry  expert.  He  is  a  man  always  on  the  alert  to  see 
and  hear  things  appertaining  to  his  particular  branch,  and  of  him  (in 
a  poultry  sense),  as  it  was  ot  a  noted  Oxford  professor,  what  he  does 
not  know  is  not  worth  knowing.  It  has  come  to  his  knowledge  that 
the  winter  egg  market  is  a  great  deal  demoralised.  The  producer  has 
got  a  little  way  of  “  holding,”  and  he  will  hold  from  September  till 
]irices  are  high  in  late  November  or  early  December.  This  is  nut  nice 
news  for  the  consumer,  who  is  payii  g  what  ought  to  be  fresh  egg 
jirice.  The  shopkeeper  is  haidly  to  blame,  and  we  suppose  it  would 
be  difficult  to  awaken  in  the  producer  any  feeling  of  remorse. 
There  are  forms  of  adulteration,  too,  going  on.  It  seems  hardly 
possible  to  adulterate  an  egg,  but  an  egg  box  can  be  manipulated. 
Foreign  eggs  into  Irish  boxes,  French  eggs  transferred  into  English 
hampers,  Irish  eggs  lie  cheek  by  jowl  with  Canadians,  and  the  Dane 
does  not  disdain  a  Russian.  This  is  almost  as  bad  as  the  wooden 
nutmegs  of  the  Dutch. 
Every  poultry  breeder  may  have  winter  eggs,  but  ho  will  not 
achieve  this  desirable  end  unless  he  takes  to  newer  systems.  It  will 
not  do  to  have  a  yard  stocke  1  with  old  favourite  hens.  We  must  look 
1o  the  lising  generation,  and  the  pullets  of  March  should  now  be 
entering  on  their  duties,  the  chief  of  which  is  egg  laying  ;  but  even 
the  jiullets  of  March  will  not  lay  unless  suitably  treated.  We  go 
over  old  ground  we  know.  There  must  be  the  hot  breakfast,  meal  of 
some  sort  (bar  maize) ;  household  scraps,  green  garden  stuff  mid-day ; 
and  good  sound  grain  for  bedtime.  The  grain  must  be  varied,  and 
only  miize  given  in  the  bitterest  weather.  A  bone  is  a  dainty,  and 
serves  also  to  prevent  ennui.  Without  exercise  fowD  never  do  so  well, 
without  the  daily  bath  of  dust,  without  the  comfortable  airy  perch.  The 
more  run  they  can  have  the  better,  and  a  fine  thing  ia  a  good  fat  worm. 
Not  only  is  it  “  meat,”  but  it  contains  a  certain  amount  of  grit.  And 
that  brings  us  to  another  point.  Without  teeth  all  meit  is  useles'^. 
Grit,  grit,  grit.  The  natural  grit  is  soon  exhausted,  flint  chips, 
broken  china,  broken  crockery. 
The  second  item  is,  we  fear,  generally  to  be  found  in  every 
household.  It  is  not  lost  that  a  friend  gets,  and  so  that  cherished  cup 
or  plate  may  be  useful  even  in  death  if  carefully  broken  up  into  small 
pieces  and  given  to  the  fowls.  For  fear  of  one’s  eyes  during  the 
breaking  process  a  bee  veil  is  a  fine  thing,  and  a  flat  iron  is  a  capital 
tool.  Anything  sharp  and  plenty  of  it.  Do  not  fear  the  fowls  will  not 
take  it.  Get  it  rea'dy,  and  you  will  soon  see  how  eagerly  it  is  picked 
up.  It  is  quite  as  possible  to  overfeed  as  to  underfeed.  Fat  is  not 
needed,  only  a  good  healthy  condition.  And  it  is  also  a  fact  that  a 
great  deal  of  corn  is  given  birds  that  is  not  worthy  of  the  name. 
Rubbish  is  never  cheap.  Better  keep  fewer  fo  a  Is  and  do  them  well  as 
many  and  neglect  them. 
Work  on  tlie  Home  Farm. 
Wheat  is  coming  up  very  slowly,  though  frost  has  been  so  con¬ 
spicuous  by  its  absence,  and  everything  apparently  favourable  to  rapid 
germination.  We  imagine  that  the  soil  is  really  colder  than  we 
supposed,  as  the  seed  sown  was  quite  up  to  the  average  in  germinating 
qualities.  It  will  be  advisable  that  drilling  be  suspended  until  February. 
Seed  put  in  now  will  have  little  chance  of  making  much  headway  until 
the  days  begin  to  lengthen  again,  and  for  very  light  soils,  especially 
where  rabbits  are  a  source  of  trouble,  February  sowings  have  a  distinct 
advantage. 
Ploughing  goes  well,  but  the  land  has  not  dried  much,  and  carts 
loaded  with  Turnips  and  Swedes  cut  deeply  into  the  soil.  The  land 
from  which  Swedes  have  been  drawn  must  be  ploughed  at  once  if  it 
can  be  done  in  a  workmanlike  manner.  The  tops  if  ploughed  in  will  be 
as  valuable  as  manure  as  they  would  have  been  as  a  bite  for  the  ewes, 
and  we  can  spare  the  bit  of  keeping  this  year. 
Beef  markets  keep  very  firm,  as  supplies  are  coming  in  sparingly. 
Farmers  are  in  a  very  different  position  this  year  to  that  they 
were  in  last,  and  having  plenty  of  roots  are  inclined  to  keep  their 
cattle  well  up  to  Christmas.  We  do  not  think  it  is  because  they  are 
backward,  but  there  may  be  something  in  the  idea  that  good  feeding 
cittle  are  scarce,  especially  strong  old  beasts,  and  we  fancy  that 
butchers  who  like  to  kill  cattle  of  the  show  type  for  Christmas  will 
have  to  pay  well  for  them.  Cakes  at  any  rate  keep  their  price  well,  so 
the  farmer  is  justified  in  holding  for  a  profitable  return. 
Users  of  basic  slag  will  be  well  advised  to  be  getting  it  applied  to 
the  land  at  once,  and  for  two  good  reasons.  First,  it  will  be  much 
more  likely  to  benefit  next  year’s  crop  if  sown  now  ;  second,  the  work 
may  now  conveniently  be  done.  The  slag  may  be  sown  with  a  broad¬ 
cast  drill  or  by  hand,  or  it  may  be  drilled  with  an  ordinary  drill  with 
i  he  coulters  up.  We  may  here  remark  that  basic  slag  may  be  sown  by 
hand  without  injurious  effect  to  the  sower  if  it  be  well  damped.  An 
ordinary  watering  can  with  a  fine  rose  is  all  that  is  required,  and  the 
slag  must  be  watered,  turned,  and  watered  again  until  it  is  wet  enough 
to  sow  without  hanging  in  the  air,  to  the  injury  of  the  sower.  Where 
fclag  is  to  be  used  for  grass  by  all  means  put  it  on  now.  If  Cabbages 
have  been  planted  this  autumn  and  hares  are  numerous,  a  good  dressing 
of  soot,  say  5  or  6  cwt.  per  acre,  will  do  much  to  protect  the  young 
plants,  and  will  return  its  full  value  as  a  manure.  Soot  is  not  a 
manure  which  is  strongly  recommended  by  scientists,  but  it  is  highly 
valued  by  many  practical  farmers.  Care  must  be  taken  to  get  good 
domestic  soot,  as  that  from  mill  chimneys  is  often  of  very  little  value, 
having  a  considerable  proportion  of  brickdust  and  other  rubbish  in  its 
composition. 
. - - 
The  Wheat  Crop  of  Queensland. — It  is  estimated  in  Queensland 
that  the  Wheat  crop  in  the  Darling  Downs  district  will  beat  all  records. 
In  some  instances  the  yield  has  reached  52  bushels  per  acre. 
