FARM NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11685, 21 June 1901, Page 7

FARM NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

i ;. .' our. ENGLISH AOKICCLTtTEAI. COBBESrOSi DEXT.] II.ui.SHAM, May 10. IMPROVED PROSPECTS. Al-TKR three weeks of dry weather, with long <1.-<3'S of alino-t constant sunshine, a splendid rainfall set in three days ago, doing an incalculable amount of good. As the dry weather followed a period of great rainfail, the -.own fields became hard and capped, and this condition of tho soil, with harsh wind by .lay and a low temperature by night, prevented tii" crops from making seasonable progress, including tho wheats, pastures, sown eioveis and grasses, and various other forage crops, the small urea of barley and oats sown early, potatoes, and all other kinds of garden vegetables. .Mangold seed, again, had no chance of germination in the dry so-! where it bad been put- in, while most of it had been rescived for -.owing after rain, as \va., the case al.-,o with seed for early swedes. Ail this has been -dieted by the bountiful rains, though we now need warm weather to ensure (ho full benefit of the downfall. A gof -1 hay crop is 11011 as-sun.-d, as well as full plant- of late spring corn, mangold., and early .swede-, though tho latter, of course, will be liable to destruction by tho " fly," unless we have showery weather until they a r e out of danger. Practically nil the spring crops, including potatoes, had been put in before the rainy period began, ?<> that farm work, though' much of ii was very late, is now in a normal state of advancement for the time of year, (doe of the worst of misfortunes is that which has occurred to urowers of early potatoes in Cornwall. Stilly Isle*, and the Channel Hands alike. Scveie fro-ts in the last week of March cut the tops off completely, and, although tops have grown the crops have been put b*cls and greatly weakened. Tho show for fruit is magnificent, no frosts having occurred since the trees and bushes generally came into bloom, about a month later than Usual fortunately. In low situations, a frost that occurred on April 29 was severe enough to injure to some extent the plums, cherries, and early pears that were in blossom: but the damage was experienced only in limited districts. In my own, for instance, no frost a few feet above the ground level has occurred since tho plums came into bloom. Cherries and pears are row in their full beauty, and apples are coining out. Push fruits, are full of young fruit, just set, end strawberries will probably be all right now that they have been supplied with the moisture for the lack of which they had begun to suffer. In Hie gardens a complete transformation scene has 'neon exhibited in a few rainy days, cops that looked starved and almost lifeless at the beginning of the week being now ?tailed in vigorous growth. Five slock are doing well on the pastures, now full of sweet young grass. THE OUTDOOR TOMATO CROP. This is a somewhat risky crop in our climate, as it does not ripen much more than half its fruit in a wet and cold summer, and under such circumstances it is liable to the same diseases that attack potatoes. But in most of the last ten seasons tho summer has boon dry and sunny, and the crop has done well. When it yields to the full extent, and the fruit ripens, the outdoor tomato crop is one of the most profitable of any that ate grown, very low though prices are when tho bulk of it is in the marker. Last season prices got down to 2d per pound for tho best and Id for seconds st the end of September, with carriage to market and salesman's commission of 10 per cent, to come off, reviving somewhat later on, as the outdoor crop was finished early in October. Rut even at 2d per pound tomatoes pay well when a full crop is grown, say, 8 tons per acre, which a grower informed mo that he grow and marketed in a recent season. At an average of 2d per pound the crop came to £149 6s per acre, and there was a profit of fully £100 per acre. Tho chief expense of growing the crop is that of labour, as it is necessary to stake and tie tho plants, and to thin them frequently, pinching out all side shoots. Picking and packing, too, occupy a great deal of time, and something considerable must be allowed for raising the plants in our climate. Tho slakes also cost a good deal, but- can be made to last for two or three seasons. About 8000 stakes per acre are required, if tho plants are set in rows three feet apart, and Ift 9in apart in each row, while the cost is at lea.st 12s per thousand. The seed is usually sown in heated glasshouses in the first week of March, tho seedlings, when largo enough, being pinched out singly in small pots, those known here a.s "sixties" (60 to a "cast"). They are kept in the hothouses till the risk of very severe frost is pa.st, and then (about the cud of A.pril) are placed in oast frames to be hardened oft", as they grow too spindly if kept long in their small pots, close together, in the hothouses. In the last week of May thoy are planted out, staking ami tying being a subsequent operation. As already intimated, they are trained in single stems, and it is a good plan to stop them when they have set four trusses of fruit, as these are quite a-s many as there is a fair chance of ripening. In one case a nurseryman grew ten acres of outdoor tomatoes, and he spent £00 on bamboo canes as stakes. He did so well with his crop that he declared lie would prow 20 acres in the following season. In the United Slates, and probably in some of our colonies, the crop is grown in a much more rough-and-ready way than that which has just been described. In the States, for example, whore the summer heat is greater than it is here, the seed is sown later, and without artificial heat, and the plants are set out when quite small, not being staked or trimmed. Willi us it would be useless to attempt to raise the plants otherwise than in hot-houses or hotbeds, as they would not fruit early enough to ripen a quarter of the crop. THE MIRK STANDARD QUESTION. Fast week the milk standard, as proposed by the Departmental Committee of the Board of Agriculture, v:tts discussed at Council meetings of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Central and Associated Chambers of Agriculture, and the British Dairy Farmer*' A.■■: • -iation. The proposed standard is 12 per cent, of total solids, or, if milk mi being tested does not yield so much, it is to h«' required to contain .5.25 per cent, of fat and 3.50 tier cent, of other solids: otherwise it. is to "lie suspected of having had separated milk or wafer added to it, until the contrary is proved. The Council of the Royal Agricultural Society simply declared by resolution that the proposed standard was too high: thi! Council of the Chambers recommended 11.75 per cent, of total solids, including 3 per cent, of fat: and the Council of the British Dairy Farmers' Association declared that, no legal standard other than oiie of absolute purity would be satisfactory, This last verdict is all very well from ono point of view, for, as pointed out in a recent letter, a high standard would tend to the prosecution of many innocent men, while a low one would encourage adulteration, leading milk-sellers to dilute good milk down to the legal standard. But then, there must bo a standard or standards for analysts or magistrates to lake as the, basis or bases of then decisions, and it is clearly hotter to have one legal standard which everyone will know of than to have analysts to fix their own standard, or possibly differing standards. At present the authorities at Somerset House take 3 per cent, of fat as the minimum of genuine milk, (hough there is no fixed legal slandaid. The question is certainly an awkward one. Wo want a fixed standard, as already explained, and we need a fairly high one, to check the mixing of separated milk with whole ind!--, which reduces the price all round, ■■• ide i deceiving consumers. Yet, if wo have such a, standard, many farmers will bo liable to bo prosecuted for adulterating their milk when it is perfectly pure. This they will be particularly liable to in the case of the morning milking, which is commonly done sixteen hours after the previous afternoon milking, whereas there aro only eight hour; between the two milkings doe,, on i\:c same day. This arrangement is nocossar" to meet the re. qnirenumts of the love milk trade, and tieconsequence is thai the morning's milk is much poorer, because so much greater in quantity, than the milk taken in the afternoon. Still, in my opinion, farmers who sell pure whole milk should run {he risk of II prosecution for the sake of checking the abuse alluded to above. If liner would prove that their milk war, delivered at, its destination as it was drawn from the cow (hey would not bo convicted, but would leave the Co-til as the saving is "without a flaw in (heir character." Besides, (hoy really ought, In b-r-.l up their milk to at lead. 0.25 per con', of ft.!.