AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1834, 14 January 1887, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

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(By Our English' Agkicvi/tural Corkbsi'QXDENT.) London, November 19. An enormous quantity of rain has fallen during the last fortnight, quite stopping wheat sowing and hiudering all' farm work. Probably about two-thirds of the area of land intended for wheat had been sown-, before the wet weather set in all over -the" country ; for, although in the North and West of England and in Scotland, there was a great deal of rain previous to the last fortnight, : there was comparatively little in the Eastern and Southeastern countries, where the^ largest areas , of 1 vyheafc are grown. Whether the rest of the wheat crop will be sown at all this autumn is now doubtful, as winter may set.in severely on any day after this time, and the land is so trodden that a great deal of it will not work till after frost has acted on it. . , > ' % "UP CORN, DOWN HORN." • ' The dull and rainy weather has helped up the price of wheat and kept down the value of cattle aud meat. Gradually wheatis improving in price , the average for last week, having been 31s per quarter of 4801b as compared with 29s 8d four weeks previously. There is plenty of room up* wards, and if there were more time before Christmas there might be a substantial rise ; but, comparatively, trade is always restricted to its narrowest limits in tbo closing weeks of the year, and this is very much against a satisfactory advance until after New Year's Day. The meat markets are more depressed than ever, and cannot improve while the weather is warm and damp. Cheese has improved in value. At Macclesfield cheese fair one lot sold at 60s per cwt, 47s to 52s being the ruling prices. At Nantwich good Cheshire was quoted at 55s to 655, and medium at 45s to 555. Butter, too, has gone* up, as it always does at this time of the year. Choice hops are firm at £5 to £6 per cwt, on account of scarcity, but common qualities are a drug in the market, being sold as low as £1 per cwt — a ruinous price— not paying for picking, ..drying, ; and marketing. Some planters are talking* of grubbing up 'some of their hop land.- , - r NEW CBEAM SEPARATORS. Since mentioning the improvements in dairy machinery in my last letter I have been to see the new turbine and hand-power separators at work on the premises of- the Dairy Supply Company, by whom .they are sold, .and 1 was much pleased with what I saw. The, turbine separator is worked without engine or intermediate motion, and it can' therefore be stowed in a very small space. , The one at work, the first one received in this country, separates 60gal of milk per hour.' It is the invention of Dr de Laval, of Stockholm, as are also the handpower separators now 1 referred to — not the one mentioned in connection with the dairy show, of which I know very little.'.' The turbine separator was worked by a 4-horse power boiler, though a 2-horse power would have -.done -the work. 1 A jet of steam is carried to a ,turbine at the base of the separator, and that sets 'a vertical spindle and the cylinder in motion. The machine works steadily and welV 6500 revolutions per minute,

aad does its work perfectly, so far as. I could see. The P^ 08 °* *k e wparator it» £45, and the new ones that are on their way will separate 90gal instead of 60gal per honr, the price being the tame. A 2-horse power boiler costs £28, a 4-horse power £40. .Thus a separator and boiler may be had for £73, unless a larger boiler than a 2-horse power is preferred. This is a great reduction on the cost of the separator, engine and boiler, and intermediate. But I expect that the hand-power separators will take up the running for use in all but large dairies, though of course a boiler is so useful in a dairy that many have it already, and they will of course prefer to have a small turbine separator. There were two handpower machines, one separating 25gal per hour (price, £19), and the other doing 35gal (price, £24). One man can turn either, and the larger one is a littte *^ c easier of the two to work, as it is constructed differently, the cylinder being horizontal instead of vertical, as usual. Forty tarns per minnteof the crank gets up a speed of 6500 revolutions in the cylinder. I tried turning for some time and found it easy work, though I >m not in training. It is much easier than turnlag & turnip cutter, though of course one has to keep on steadily at it without stopping, which no doubt brings out the perspiration in less than an hour. Still I was surprised to find how easy the turning was. "It is the pace that kills," and 40 turns per minute is not a rapid pace. I have mentioned prices to show that the cream separator, the most valuable dairy invention of modern times, is now brought within the reach of even small dairy farmers. If a man has half-a-dozen cows in milk, a separator would save its coat in a year in, the extra cream it obtains and the greater value of the separated milk— • at least where the latter can be sold by retail. AQEICULTDKAL IMPORTS. The following table shows the quantities of the principal agricultural imports for the 10 months ended October 31, compared with those of the correspondiug periods of the two previous years:— PRINCIPAL AGRICULTURAL IMPORTS— TBS MONTHS E.VDXNG OCTOIIKR 31.

During the first two. months of the cereal year, ended on October 31, we received wheat and flour equal to 2,988,494qrs of wheat,' as compared with • 3,113,075qrs of wheat in the same period of the previous, cereal year, and with .3,267,559qrs 'in 1884. The falling off in imports of cattle, noticed on previous occasions, continues, and so does the decrease in beef imports; whereas sheep and mutton keep on coming in increasing quantities. The increase in mutton is chiefly from New Zealand and Australia (not enumerated separately in the Board of Trade Returns), the figures being 332,235cwt. for the last 10 months, against 297,39-Ocwfc in the corresponding period of 1885, and 281,074 in that of 1884. The increase in sheep is very large, most of it being credited to Holland, from which country during the period under review we received 393,564 sheep and lambs, as compared with 197,964 in the same period of 1885. Canada sent in 68,902 against 36,791 last year ; but the United States supplied us with only 5289, not much more than a fifth of the number sent in the 10 months of 1884. CATTLE PRICES. The following statement of average prices realised at the sales held in the North of Scotland during the present year and the previous four years will give some idea of the state of the cattle trade :—

The drop in the value of polled cattle is remarkable. There was a great rage for the breed, especially for export to America during 1882, 1883, and 1884, but that has fallen off, and the result is seen in the figures. It gives a great impetus to breeding this class of cattle, as may be seen from the increase, in the number sold, and the market was glutted when the American demand fell off.

TUE SMITHFIELD SHOW.

• Although the prizes offered for competition at the Smithfield Cattle Show, to be opened on December 6, amount to no less than £3466, the number of cattle and bheep entered is less than usual. Cattle number 231 against 293 in- 1885, 381 in 1884, and 214 in 1883; sheep (pens), 175 against 190, 207, and 191 in the three previous years. Entries of pigs show an increase, being 85 as compared with 60, 67, and 74. A committee of the club, appointed to consider the desirability of offering prizes for carcasses of cattle exhibited, have recommended prizes of £25, ils, £10, and £5 for the best carcass of steers not over three years old, and the same for heifers. This is a good beginning, but it is not to take place till 1887.

' . . A STAtLION SHOW. • Desiring to encourage the breeding of hunters and other halfbred horses, the Royal Agricultural Society has offered five prizes of £200 each for the best thoroughbred horses suitable for the purpose, to travel in the counties of Nothumberland, Durham, Cumberland, and Westmoreland (the district 6f next summer's Royal Show;, during the coming breeding season The show of stallions is to be held at Newcastle on January 25.

ENCOURAGEMENT OK INVENTION' IN IMPLEMENTS, &C. After neglecting to encourage new inventions and improvements in agricultural machinery and implements for several years, except to a very small extent, the Royal Agricultural Society has at last been roused by the, criticisms of the press on the subject and for the Newcastle show, to be held next July, prfees of £200 for the best agricultural locomotiTe on the compound principle, and £100 for a mngle-cylinder engine of like charaoter are offered ; also, £JO for the beet elevator for silage stacks, £25 for the

best apparatngfor pressing the stacks, £25 for the* best potato-planting machine, and two prizes of £20 for potato-raising machines, one of them not to exceed £5 in price.

FOOD ALLOW ANCKS FOIt HOE6KS.

Some useful information as to the quantities I of food necessary for different classes of horses I is given in Fleming's " Practical Horse Keeper," J just published by Oassell and Co., London. For the largest size draught horse, doing hard work for several hours a day, the ration per day re- j commended are 181b hay, a small proportion of straw chaff with 181b oats, and lib or 21b of beans or 'peas. However nutritious ' the food may be it is said that less than 291b per day will : not suffice to maintain the organs of the animal in healty action. Another' ration tried success- i with cart horses is 51b beans or peas, 21b oats, 131b oatmeal, and linseed, 211b bran, 1061b hay, 3lb roots and grass. The latter is a more fanciful and troublesome ration to give than the former. A large company give 161b hay, 101b oats, 51b beans, 41b maize, and 21b bran; the hay being all chaffed, the grain crushed, and the two mixed. For smaller horses doing hard work in short spells, such as omnibus and tramcar horses, a smaller allowance of food is given. The following are the allowances per day of some of the principal tramway companies, though they vary according to the market prices of the various commodities named : —

I must confess my ignorance of what " marshlam" given by the Edinburgh company is. for hunters the ration depends on size and amount of work. For large horses of about 16 bands, doing two days' hunting per week, a fair daily allowance is 161b good oats, and 10lb hay ; better still, 141b oats, 21b split beans, aud 101b hay. For smaller hunters the corn may be diminished by 21b. From 21b to 31b of carrota may be given at intervals with advantage. For carriage horsts doing light' work, 101b oats '(or 81b of/ oats, arid 21b beans) and hay; ponies and undersized horses of course getting less. It is a good plan, to vary the diet occasionally, as by giving a bran' or lin&eed mash once or twice a week, It must neyer'be forgotten that a certain bulk of food is essential, as digestion does, not go on healthily unless there is sufficient to distend the stomach in a normal manner. ' FEEDING EXPERIMENTS AT WOBCRN. In the new number of the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, Dr Voelcker givesa report of the feeding experiments carried on at Woburn, on behalf of the society in, 1884-5 and 1885-6, in order to test silage against roots and hay iv fattening cattle. In the former year eight two-year-old shorthorns were divided into two lots, each getting the same quantities of decorticated cotton cake (31b/ and maize meal (31b) per head per day, while onelothad 351beachof grass silage of poor quality, and the other lot 501b swedes and 91b of hay. The roots and chaff given to the sheep are not reckoned in the cost of increased live weight, but only the extra food for comparative purposes. Of this extra ,food Alb of each sort per head was given daily at first, and |lb to finish. The quantities of roots and hay and silage respectively given were regulated as closely as possible in proportion to the relative percentage of dry matter, woody fibre, and nitrogen. The animals fed on swedes and hay chaff showed an average daily gain per head in live weight of 2|lb, while those which nad silage gained only ljlb per day. When mangolds were given instead of swedes, the result was still more in iv favour of the roots, the daily gain for 60 days being days 2Jlb each for the root-fed (swedes first and maugolds afterwards) bullocks, and 11121b for thosa which had silage. After that the experiment was reversed, the animals which had been fed on roots getting silage, aud the versa. In this experiment mangolds and clover hay were tried against clover silage, and the daily gain was 2 1 5lb to the credit of the former and only Alb to that of the latter. In the following year the silage was made from a superior quality of grass to that used before, and the results were an average daily gain of 21b soz per head during 113 days in the bullocks fed on roots and hay chaff, aud 21b loz in those fed on sour silage. Two bullocks fed for 54 days on roots and hay chaff gained lib 12),0z daily per head, and two receiving sweet silage lib 7oz. Oat silage, on the other hand, produced a daily gain of 2lb, against l£lb for roots and straw chaff ; and iv a second trial with the same foods the figures in the same order were 2 3'7lb and 1 3'7lb. Some experiments in feeding sheep at Woburn on various kinds of food, in addition to turnips and hay, showed the following results : — wheat, daily gain 790z, cost Id per lb of live-weight increase; linseed cake, "'loz, at l*39d perlb; linseed and cotton cake, 6 Boz, at 138 d per lb ; crushed oats and' split beans, 6 2oz, at I,66'per, lb ; and crushed oats and bailey meal, 61oz, at 139 d per lb. The sheep fed on wheat, which, proved the most economical food, did better when it was given whole than when it; was ground.

THE E.A.S. JOURNAL.

The other articles in the Journal, besides reports in connection with the Norwich show and other , official items, are on fixe Lung Parasities of Cattle and Sheep, by the late Dr Spencer Cobbold ; the Winter of 1885-6, by H. F. Moore ; Abortion in Cows, by C. J. B. Johnson, L.R.0.P.; and some notes on the Cultivation of Tobacco in the North-west of Europe, by Mr Jenkins, secretary of the society. ' Dr Johnson's article is the result of an inquiry into several cases of abortion among cows in the neighbourhood of Kirkby Overblow, Yorkshire. The evidence citeiVis strongly iv favour of ergot being the most common cause of abortion. Dr Johnson does not believe in infection ' as ji 1 cause of the complaint.' Mr Jenkin's article" will be very attractive to those who are interested in the attempts to grow tobacco in Ingl^cd. *

ii I 5 5 jj 3« - o o 3 U. ■5 g E 5 lb Maize 13 Oats Beans 1 Peas l Hay euftff 7 Straw do 3 lb Maize 7 Oats 3 Peas 3 Hay 12 Straw 1 lb Maize 12 Oats 3 Beans 1 Bran 1 Hay 11 lb Maize 7 Data 7 Beans 1 Hay 11 Straw 3 lb Maize 6 Oats 10 Beans t Chaff 32 Totals 28 26 28 29 I I % HI m I a I . 3 "I 3 .a a K3 ta lb O.its 8 Maize 4 Beans 4 Hay 14 Marshlnm '2 3 1 a lb Maize 14 Oats 3 Hay 12 Bran } lb; Maize 12 Beans 4j Oufchay 14 Brim l! ißeans ) | oats >15 iMaize J ,Hay '15 lb Oats (5 Maize 11 Hay 8£ Straw 1 Hran j i totals 31 3u| 32 I 20k

1884. 1885. 1886. Qrs. Qra. Qre. Wheat ... 9,572.879 12,2 5,086 9,227,070 Flour as wheat ... 3,592,376 3,812,536 3,497,977 Mai as wheat ... 13,165,255 16,057,602 12,725,047 No. No. No. Oxen and 8u115 ... 280,535 251,835 216,340 Dowb ... 55,514 42,239 39,627 Calves ... ' 50,532 42.497 32,550 Sheep aud Lambs 840,455 656,500 902,83(5 Plga ... 25,025 15,8*7 20,566 Cwfc. Cwt. Cwt.. Beef, fresh ... 723,895 754,830 685,697 Ditto, salt ... 17.V-H 198,ti00 1(52,112 Mutton, fresb ... 399;2:>fi 48J.301 530 61" Pork, fresh ... ::n,1t52 47,715 55,497 Ditto, salt ... 230,579 270,227 239,139 Bacon ... 2,251,869 2,811,053 2,71n,270 Kams ... 535,683 742,971 7U9.488 Meat unenumeiated 14,215 23,295 33,596 Ditto, preservea... 373,468 148,909 33(5,757 Butter •••lo(W(t(Miii l AW 1,329,728 Butterino ... f - U0B ' WJ) \ «J80,505 ff1»7,115 Uheese ... 1,658,032 1.566,324 1,479,461 Hops ... 186,874 187,823 101,839 Potatoes ... 2,302,125 2,035,697 2,478,165

lr. .BS2J :88l| i 83 51 1886 j Breed. fl Shorthorns ... Polled Shotthorns ... Polled Shorthorns ... Polled Shorthorns ... Polled Shorthorns ... Polled No. sol( 311 481 242 762 773 720 885 776 740 Id > ) I. i Average Price, & s. d. 2tj « 10 62 18 6 SJO « 2 43 8 0 27 17 0 31) 12 11 21 10 8 25 14 1 22 19 9 25 17 -t5