BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1874, 21 October 1887, Page 7

BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

(By Our English Agricultural Correspondent.) London, August 26. Last week the long drought was for the first time thoroughly broken in all parts of tho United Kingdom. There had been good local downfalls previously, and notably in the first week of July; but in many districts there had bi:en no rain worth mentioning until the -lfch of June. Since the rain the weather has been fine, and harvest is more than three-fourths finished, the corn having been secured in excellent condition. The root crops and pastures have been greatly benefited by the rain, and very little harm — in fact, less harm than good — has been done to grain crops lying out when the rain came. The prospects of the hop crop have also been improved, though only tin; latu suits will be materially affected by it. TLune will be a rather small yield of hops of fine quality if the weather remains fine. Probably the yield will be from 300,(J0O to 350,000 cwb. My previous estimates of the general conditions of the corn crops remain unaltered, and they may be compared with other estimates mentioned below. Potatoes are not turning out well, there being a general complaint of. deficiency and smallness of tubers. It is very strange that, with magnificent tops, there should be a lack in the production of tubers in a hot and dry season. Possibly the vigour of the plant has been exhausted in sending roots down deep to search for water to keep tha tops alive. Fairs, Sales, and Markets; At the cattle and sheep fairs, sales, nud' markets recently held prices have been, lower th.HU (■:;<•}' wi-v" List y"ar, chii (ly Ikchupj 1 of t.b« shcrinofs of lcc< p had boeu t-t-lliny better till thu diuiif/hl, une<l up ttie grass and the clovprs. But'o a"i! olif »>.<?»• still hpII at ad-» vaucing prices, and no wonrinr, sm tha produce 1 hah lioen imicfi ilcuruu.-fd b^ tho failure ot grubs. It is (Miniated that the Cheshire dairy farmers will make ?-0 per ce.pfc. less cheese than usual. The raius, it is to be hoped, will help to raise the price ot stock. Mtal sells badly, and it is a wonder how shippers of frozen mutton oan keep on sendiug it to sell here at less than 4.1 a pound on thu aveiaj;e. As for the cord trade, it is quite gonp to the bad. The average for wht j at Jn'it w<"pk was only 33s a quarter, white that tor onts was but 16s 4d, and that fotf barley 23s lid. Tlie Agricultural Returns. The Usual preliminary summary of the agri J cultuml returns of Grcit Britain for 1887 baa been issued by tho Agricultural department, showing thb crop jtuicagei aud fche numbers of live stock, except horses, for the last three years, as below :—: — AntKAffX OF TjAN'O H RItKAT Bim'AlX UNDER

Total Ki'Mßtu of Livf. Stock in Gkeat Bkitakt IX ISa-J, ibSd, 18b7 RESPECTIVELY.

The wheat area, as anticipated, wna a Utbl* larger thnn that of lass year, when it was snialfcr than ifc would otherwise have been on account of a wet seed tima. The increase is 31,457 acres; but, as compared with the area in 1885, thero is a falliug-off of 160,956 acres. The decrease of 155,960 acres under barley is to bo accounted for partly by the very small returns obtained for that grain last year, e-jw»epfc by the few who had fine malting samples. Oats increased by 6393 acres, and potatoes by 5681 acres. As to hops, the decrease of 6621 acres, or 94 per cent., was expected* as last year'sprices were so ruinously low that many plantations were grubbed up daring the autamn sad winter. The decrease, of 205,412' in cattle, after three years of increase, is disappointing, and th> | increase of 438,050 sheep and lambs is scarcely las g<ea,t as might have been expected; Pfgs have been paying vreU lately, and probably the

increase will bo much larger next "year. The returns for Ireland are not yet out. Tlie Probable Yield of Crops. The Agricultural Gazette has just published • estimates of the crops collected from all the English counties. These, reduced to percentages, are as follow : — 1887. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Brans. Peas. Over Average... 02-3 4'B 22 — 2 - 5 Average ... -11-3 41 "0 17*0 130 60 0 Under Average &-L 51*2 808 87 0 375 100 100 100 100 100 Thie is a miserable result for every grain crop but wheat, and it fully confirms the estimates I have given in previous letters. The figures, except as to peas, are strikingly similar to those for 1868, the latest year of drought anything like that experienced this season. The percentages of 1868 are given for comparison :—: — 1868. Wheat. Barley, outs. Beans. Peas. Over Average ... (51 3 1 0 'M Average ... 32 27 19 5 8 Under Average ... 7 70 80 95 58 100 100 lUU 100 100 These returns do not indicate how much over or under average any crop is, and it is impossible to give even approximate estimates of the yield of barley and oats, as these crops vary so enormously. Wheat, I still believe, will not exceed 30 bushels per acre for the United Kingdom. That is two bushels above the ordinary average, and it would give us a total crop of about 9,600,000 quarters, from which we may deduct 1,000,000 for seed and other uses on farms. As wheat is cheap, a good deal will be used for stock — possibly a great deal more than i.-j allowed above. Auyhow we are not likely t<> i have more than 8,000,000 quarters for flour, and ' as our consumption in a year is reckoned at 26,000.000 to 27,000,000 quarters, we shall need to import 18,000,000 or 19,000,000 quarters. We shall probably get what we require at a low price, because, although the American and Indian crops are both below average, it is now reported that, there is a good crop in Russia and other European countries, except Italy. All iiave more than an average of produce, and few of them will lined to import much wheat or flour. A Notable Invention. Messrs Symons Brothers, who I believe live at Dublin, have brought out a now protection for hay and corn iv wet seasons, called the " Hay and Grain Cock Weather Shield." U is iv shape like an inverted saucer, only corrugated so as to allow of the access of air for yen Dilation to prevent moulding. The material is wood-pulp, and the shields are moulded when the material is iv a plastic condition. They are afterwards immersed in a chemical solution to make them waterproof. A shield is 4tt in diameter and has a spread of 55in, that size being sufficient to shoot the water oil the largest haycock. These coverings are very light, and can be packed one inside another for storing, when not in use, in a small space. They are said to be very cheap ; but Ido not know the price. They have been tried iv Ireland iv wet weather with very satisfactory results, according to the Dublin Farmers' Gazette. No doubt any inquiry as to price forwarded to that journal would be sent on to th 6 manufacturers. Export of Clydesdale Horses. Clydesdales are being exported to the United States and Canada on a more extensive scale than ever before. Nearly 60 pedigree animals ',vere sent the other day iv one vessel and 10 in another, and there have been numerous other shipments. Several of the prize-taking horses of fck» prespnt season have been sent away. Oleveland horses are also in demand for America. Agricultural Legislation. The session is nearly at an end, and, after all, a few imjwrtant bills affecting agriculture have bnen passed, though at one time it was feared that they had no chance of being carried through, ko persistent was the squabbling over Irish affairs. The Irish Land Bill is, of course, thtt most important of the measures carried. After it had been made more liberal in the Commons than it was when it left the Lords, who first disowned it, the bill went back to the Upper House, and was to some extent made mor« conservative again. The Irish members and their supporters, the Gladstonian Liberals, objected very strongly to an insertion by the Lords of a proviso that in reducing judicial rents paid a few years ago, before prices fell, the reduction should be in proportion to the fall in prices sirice the rents were fixed. Nov, this was all that was asked in the first instance, and it is necessary if we are to avoid the revaluation of thousands of holdings. The only plea for a reduction was the fall in prices ; yet the Irishmen in the House of Commons are so exacting that they made a great fuss when the proviso was inserted, and declared that the bill had lost half its value. For my own part, I know from personal inquiry and infection that rc-r.ts in vast numbers of cases are still much too high; bnt then the new bill was never supposed to be more than a temporary measure of relief. It will not settle the Irish Land Question. To effect that object there must be, in the first place, a reapporlionment of the land, as there are thousands of tenants who cannot get a living off their wretched holdings if they pay no rent at all. Another amendment, introduced by thf Lords, which gave great offence, was one limitiug concessions in relation to town parks < uccomodation land close to towns) to towns of 2000 inhabitants or less. However, the Governjnent would not give way, and the amendments s?uro confirmed. The Margarine Bill has become law, as has also the bill requiring the authorities in markets and fairs to provide facilities for weighing live stock. The Government Allotments Bill has not yet been finally disposed of. It has been much improved in detail, and it will enable local authorities to buy laud, compulsorily where necessary, to provide allotments for working men in urban and rural districts alike. Government Grants for Agricultural Improvement. It is satisfactory to state that the Government, with the consent of hor Majesty, have decided to appropriate the £30UO a-year hitherto devoted to the Queen's Plates at race meetings to the improvement of horse breeding in Great Britain, with an addition of £2000 to make the (total £5000. The same amount is to be given %&r improving the breeding of horoes and cattle ■iv Jr-eland. A grant of £2000 is also to be made tfco the Ulster Dairy School, and a committee is to be appointed to consider the question of making grants to agricultural and dairy schools in Great Britain. The Food Crop of the World. JVIr W. J. Harris, the principal of one of the most extensive firms of corn merchants in London, has contributed an elaborate estimate of the food crop of the world to the Colonies and India. The aggregate wheat surplus of exporting countries he puts at 34,500,000qr5, and the requirements of importing countries at 28,000,000qr5, leaving a balance of 6,500.000qrs not required. Under such circumstances, he is of opinion that wheat will be lower in price than it has been for 150 years, and that, as other crops than wheat in this country are more or less below average, the year 1887-8 will probably' be long remembered as the one in which oar farming losses came to a climax. To keep up

our usual home supply of fat meat, Mr Harris estimates that an extra importation of food equivalent to 12,000,000qrs of barley will be' needed to make up for deficiency in the produce of hay, straw, roots, and oats. In criticising Mr Harris' figures, Beerbohra makes considerable deductions from the items making up the surplus of exporting countries and additions on the opposite side of the account, the result beiDg a net surplus of 1,250,000qr5, which is barely sufficient to replenish the exhausted stocks of the world. Here there is a difference of 5,250,000qr5 ; but then 'Mr Harris goes on to ask for Protection, so he may be suspected of having unconsciously exaggerated his case. Cattle Disease. A second edition of a very valuable work, " Disease of the Ox," by J. H. Steel, M.R O.V.S , published by Longmans, Green, and C0., 0f London, has just been issued. It is a book which should be in every cattlekef.per's library, for although it is intended chiefly for veterinary practitioners and students, it is written in Hiu-h a lucid style that any fairly cthic&tpd man who knows much about cattle may understand ib. Tlie first edition catne out in 1881, since which time a great deal of light has been thrown upon certain diseases. The author notices specially the discovery of the fungi, actinomyses, the cause of the disease known as actinomycosis, as having cleared up points doubtful when the first edition was used. The determination of the distinct nature of black leg, the general acceptance of Pasteur's anthrax vaccination, and the introduction of intertracheal injection in the treatment of husk, and the general theory of micro - organism in blood diseases have rendered alterations and additions to the work necessary. A stockke«per may learn from the book a great deal as to the treatment and diet of animals affected with disease, and as to the be.->t means of prevention ; also, as to the treatment of wounds a 0(1 the management of cows during parturition. Numerous well - executed plates explain much that would be difficult to understand fully without thorn. For veterinary piactitioners and students the work as a text- book is invaluable.

Wheat. Barky. ' Oat a. .BSf)i 2.478.318 2.357.316 2,5" 10,490 .8815 j 2,'J tt o,^jf) 2.211, 1i$ 1 , :j,i»bl .590 BR7I 2,317.:i>"-2 2,0.5,V01 3,087.!W» Potatoes Hopa, M 8.731 553,961 r-59,tj)8 71,327 70,12 V W.SW

Sheep and Lambs. Cattle. ; 1 Sheep. l.aiubs. Total. ! I tvM)7,9dl, 16,.V<7.fX)7 9,997,0 S 2«,5.'U,635 ! 8.»54»'.,K33 1G,170. ( .M< fI.3M.7K> 2o 520,718 I 6,44^,2711 16.118.5JD £>813.5H>.' 25.953,768 Pigs. B5 &7 2, 103,380 2,221,475 2,299,34 i