BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1855, 10 June 1887, Page 7

BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

(By Oufi English AgbioultOTUsS/ Cob-

respondent )

London, April 20*.. ,

THE SEASOJf AND THE CROPS.

At last we have a beautiful changs in the weather, the wind having got oat of the cold eastern quarter in which it Irad been, with only two or three brief respites, for .more than a month. , Since Monday temperature has been seasonably: high, and the, staa. haS shone brightly. If anch -weather continues, with a shower now and then, vegetation' Will advance by leaps and bounds from its present; extremely backward condition. Up to the beginning of this week- the wheats, feeding crops, and grass were nearly as backward as they were in January, while spring corn scarcely showed above ground ,' but we may now expect to see an almost magical transformation in the face of the ■ country. Should we be blessed wiih a genial May, all kinds of agricultural produce may be as forward by the end of the month as in an average season. In all probability we shall have good fruit crops, as the chief danger of loss, that arising from late frosts occurring? when trees and bushes are in bloom, or when the young fruit has just been formed, will be avoided this year by the extraordinary lateness of development, M,angels may now be sown to advantage, the land having been previously too cold to afford the seed a fair chance of germinating. In some districts a good deal of damage has been done to crops by TVireworm, which has had a long period for attack, as the corn could not grow away from the pest. Still, at the moment, farm prospects are decidedly hopeful. We need rain, however, to push the feeding crops on, as stock-keepers are sadly at a loss for succulent food for their flocks and herds,

ALL FOR IRELAND.

The Parliament of the United Kingdom exists for little else than the airing of Irish grievances and the exercise of Irish powers of squabbling. For year* past England and Scotland have been quite neglected, and this year it is worse than ever. The chances of passing even one of the useful bills now before Parliament, such as the Tithe Bill, the Railway Bill, and the Spurious Butter Bill are but small, and last evening a motion ifor providing better means of agricultural education was not deemed interesting enough to keep a quorum of members in the House of Commons.

SPUMOUS BUTTER.

If we do not legislate to prevent the fradulent sale of butterine as butter, this country will soon become the receptacle fer all the greasy refuse of Europe, as other countries will not allow it to be palmed ofE on the people as butter. A striking proof of this is given by the Grocers' Gazette. A law has recently been passed in France requiring all packages containing any butter substitute or mixture of oleomargarine with butter shall be marked with the name, graisse allmentaire. This, says the journal named, has led to the discovery that a large proportion of the " guarranteed " Frenph butter is really butterine. That is no " <ii scovery " to some of us, as anyone who knows pure butter when he tastes it can tell that most of the imported butter, so called, is made quite as much from the bullock as from the cow. However, a great deal of the stuff formerly sold as butter has now to be branded with the name mentioned above; but it appears that in the case of butterine exported to this country the words " guaranteed pure butter" are also marked on the < packages, and the French brand is obliterated when the material has arrived on our shores. One of the southern railway companies has fixed a charge for defacing the objectionable French brand, and others aMcw the importers to deface it while the goods are in course of transit.

HORSE BHUKDING.

Lord Ribblesdale is greeting up a case to put before the Government in favour of an annual grant of £5000 for the encouragement of horse breeding, and has sent out a series of questions to 400 of the leading authorities on the subject, with a view to ascertaining how the money, if it can be obtained, may be most usefully applied. One journal recommends that £1000 should be given to each of the National Agricultural Societies of England, Scotland, and Ireland, £2000 to the Hunters' Improvement Society, to be used for encouraging the production of half bred horses, such as are required for the army. It appears that the French Government spends £269,720 a year on horse breeding, the Government of Austria over £80,000, that of Hungary £116,500, and that of Prussia about £80,000.

(To be continued.)