BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1915, 3 August 1888, Page 7

BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

(By Our English Agricultuhal Con-

RESPONDENT.)

London, June 16. BRIGHTENED CROP PROSPECTS.

A beautiful change has been wrought in the the appearance of the crops by the warm and showery weather which has prevailed during the last fortnight. At the end of May crops were alarmingly backward, and were beginning to suffer seriously from drought ; but now bounteous rains have fallen in all parts of the kingdom, and the heat of summer has enabled them to make rapid headway. If this favourable weather should continue till- the end of the month, vegetation will have made up for lost time. The wheats are thin in places, but generally very healthy and vigorous. It is quite possible, therefore, that we may have an average yield of wheat, if not a crop above average. But we shall need forcing weather through June, and a hot July to ensure such a result. Spring corn, though still backward, is growing very fast. Barley and oats are both very thick on the ground, and if they can only make sufficient progress towards maturity before the time for ripening comes, they may produce abundantly. It is seldom that so complete a change in crop pro&pects takes plase as that I have now under notice. Beaus cannot make up for extremely late planting and stunting during the spring; but pease promise well. Even the hay crop, which threatened to be a very light one, will be pretty well up to the average, at any rute in the late districts, where there is time for the effect of the recent rains to show. In the early districts haymaking ha* begun. The root crops have been saved by the rains from threatened destruction; potatoes are greatly improved; and hopH, which had a bad start, are nowjjrapidly climbing up the poles.

MARKETS.

The wheat market is very dull, the bright weather having affected it, although the prospects are for a wheat crop in Europo atid America very much below average. Tho Jontj report of the American Department of Agriculture represents the total area of the crop as only 36,000,000 acres, against 37,400,000 last year, while the condition of the winter wheat is only 73*3 per cent, of a full crop. Circutnstances are similar to those of 1881, when the total wheat crop in thp. United States was only 383,280,000 bushels, the average yield being only 10"l bushels. But the area was then 37,709,020 acres, and the same yield this year on 36,000,000 acres would givfc less than 364,000,000 bushels* as compared with 456,000,000 bushela last year. Then the visible supply is Jess than that of the two last years by 16,000,000 btashels. So the, outlook iH really for 108,000,000 bushels less, than last year's crop, which would allow of verylittle margin for export. Of course these figures are purely, conjectural, .being based oa present appearances. There may be a great improvement in the crops, just as there may be a further deterioration. At the best the new crop and reserves of old stocks together must be many millions of bushels less than last year's total, and less than the totnl for any recent year. The meat market also is dull. New Zealand mutton sold in the metropolitan; market on Monday at 2s lOd to 3s pr«r 81b, thct best English and Scotch being quoted at, 5s to 5s 6d, and middling at 4s to 4s Bd. The difference between New Zealand and middling mutton is too great, and much greater than it would be if the arrangements for distribution were satisfactory. Even inferior English sold afe 2s 8d to 3s Bd, and New Zealand mutton is greatly superior to that, in spita of the freeaiug. Cheese has fallen a little in value. At Nantwich June fair official quotations were : — Best Cheshire, 60s to 65s per cwt ; good Cheshire, 55s to 60s ; medium, 48s to 50s. This represents ao average reduction of 5s per cwt upon the prices quoted at the May fair ; but then nearly all tha cheese last week was new, whereas in May moat of it was old and well ripened. Old American is almost all sold at 50s, and good new is worth 465. Dutch sells at 40s to 44s for Giuda and 48s to 52s for Edouin. These are good prioes after all. A great surprise is a tremendous advance in butter. Danish, at 112s per cwt;, is 20s higher than it was a few weeks back, and Irish is as high as 94s for the very best mild in pickling, and higher for fresh. Aylesbury sells at 9s to lla per dozen pounds. Thursday's report of the Colonial wool sales is as follows :— The arrivals of new wools for ensuing third series of sales are considered satisfactory. Up to date the fol-. lowing quantities had been landed : — New South Wales, 73,266 bales ; Queensland, 10,815 ; 'Victoria, 44,840 ; South Australia, 18,833 ; Wesfe Australia, 6945 ; Tasmania, 8537; New Sgealand, 109,609 Eastern Cape Province, 23,403 j Western Cape, 2856 ; Port Natal, 12,039 ; total, 308,143; There is an average demand, and prices for the best classes are firmly maintained.

A CURE FOB SOARING SOUSES. One o? the most important veterinary discoveries of modern times, announced by Dr Fleming,thehead of the Army Veterinary Department, is that of a cure for the distressing com? plaint known as " roaring " in horses. ■ Com* menting on the morbid condition which induces " roaring," and renders about 6 per cent, of troop horses unfit for military service, Dr Fleming sayß: «' Attempts are now being made to abolish this cause of inefficiency by an operation on the larynx whioh I have introduced, and which I have reason to hope will be saceessful."

Referring to this interesting announcemount Mr F. Raymond, F.R.C.S., of the Royal Artillery Horse Infirmary, writes as follows :-~ Dr Fleming, C.8., principal veterinay surgeon of the army, who for some years has made a special study of the morbid conditions which give rise to the impediment in -breathing that causes such distress and noise, has devised an operation on the larynx for the removal of the obstruction. Under his direction,. I have recently operated upon twa army hordes which were to have been qasV for-

" roaring," and I am happy to say that although comparatively few days have elapsed, "the roaring" in one case has disappeared, and in the other is most; decidedly relieved, if not altogether abolished. The healing process is still going on, and doubtless as the tumefaction from the operation subsides further improvement in the latter instance will ', ensue. The great advantage of Fleming's method is that the animal suffers no pain, being chloroformed ; nor does it experience any immediate subsequent inconvenience in eating, drinking, orb reathing. Mycases were watered and fed in the usual way as soon as they recovered from the narcotic; so that even if the operation chanced to be unsuccessful (and all operations fail at times) the animal is not damaged, and is left no worse than before: The scar which remains is very small, and not noticeable. In conclusion, I venture to predict that Fleming's method of laryngotomy appears likely to take a position amongst the most useful and safest in veterinary. Since this letter was written to the Times the second troop horse has been pronounced cured, and returned to the troop. The horse was galloped about on Woolwich Common for a very long time without making any noise in his breathing, or exhibiting any distress. As the subject has attracted a good deal of attention, Dr Fleming has given to a correspondent of the Times a description of the the operation. Briefly speaking, it consists in making a small opening in front of the larynx, and removing, by excision, the parts which, owing to the paralysis of one of the dilator muscles of the opening of the larynx (the glottal opening), obstruct the inspiration of air. The operation is performed under chloroform. Dr Fleming writes :—": — " I saw one of the horses so operated on two days ago. The wound was quite healed, and though the animal was galloped at a fast pace for some time, he made no noise. If cantered for a short distance before the operation the noise was very great and the distress so severe that he fell almost asphyxiated. Now, only a fortnight after, he is fit for duty." Besides these two horses, another vary bad case has been operated on ; but the result has not yet been tested. THE BATH AND WEST SHOW. This important meeting has just been held at Newport, in Monmouthshire, and has passed off well. Horses are always weak at the shows of this society, but cattle were well up to the mark, and so were sheep in point of quality. There was a very large show of implements and machinery, but novelties, as usual, are reserved for the Royal Agricultural Society's show, to be held this year (in July) at Nottingham. The most interesting feature of the show, in my opinion, was the large and well-managed working dairy, in which lectures and demonstrations of butter and cheese making were given daily. There were two butter-making contests — the first for females only, and the second for both sexes. All gallant men will rejoice to learn that •the males were nowhere in the contest with the 4< neat-handed Phyllises." As the results of the contests are interesting to dairy farmers and their better halves and daughters and dairymaids all the world over, I transcribe them here : —

There were 20 competitors in this-contest. Miss Moss is from Eath, Mrs Lear from Exeter, Miss Hassell from Bath, and Mrs Holmes from Kent. In the second competition most of those engaged in the first again tried their skill, being joined by four males. The following were the chief awards : —

In each contest a Sweedish dairymaid competed, but not the same in both. One was commended and the other given«an extra prize ; but neither stood a chance with our experts, because both used their hands in making up the butter, and otherwise displeased the judges. A useful trial of the different systems of creamraising was held on the last day of the show. Seven systems are entered for trial, viz: — (1) The Devonshire; (2) the shallow-pans; <3) the Victoria separator ; (4) • the Jersey creamer ; (5) the Schwartz system ; (6) the Canadian ; creamer; (7) the Dorset creamer. The Devonshire is the well-known scalding system, and the shallow-pan system needs no description, as it is the oldest and commonest of all plans. The Victoria centrifugal separator is a good deal like a Laval. Its peculiar features were described in these columns by me when it was introduced at the last London Dairy Show. It is manufactured by Watson and Laidlaw, of Glasgow, the English agents and exhibitors being JPreeth and Pocock, of London. The Jersey creamer, which is manufactured by Thyss, Lockyer, and Co., is now well known, having met with very considerable appreciation among dairy farmers. It has been fully described in these columns. Tha principle of it is that of mixing cream in jacketed pans containing hot water, if necessary, to raise the temperature of the milk first, and cold water afterwards to cause a sudden fall of temperature, and make the cream rise rapidly. It is only in winter that hot water is put in first. In summer col i water (50deg to 55Hpg Fahr.) is put in at nncf> The Schwartz systcin has been now for •ju-ne .!?:-. ni'Kn.i :be public. The \Caiwliau «.r.v. wr in hk. liv ri'i"n.Ju - tz, 3 ■-!ct-p -orli.ic; .it 'U ', i"n is !>i-{, } \ un°u in tli- Donvnicn. Ir i '» en d:-"> l'-ii'-lv exhibited in bhii country. All --in Fc- 'h <ml Piicuck nvo the agents by whom it is, exhibited. The Dorset creamer, made and exhibited by Messrs Pond and Son, is similar in principle to the Jersey creamer, of which, indeed, it claims to have priority.

Each of the competitors was served with 14gal of milk ou Wednesday of last week. In one case — that of the Victoria cream separator, which was worked by steam-power — the cream w#s separated at once, but in all the others it stood till 8 o'clock next evening, and was then removed. From that time to the following Monday it was kept under lock and key in water surrounded by ice, and when taken out again was churned for the bestowal of certificates of merit. The test produced the following results :— Weight of Bnfcter.

It is strange that the Devonshire system should be so far down, in the list as to weight of butter, because it is usually supposed to give a high percentage of weight.

THERMOMETERS IN BUTTER-MAKING,

At a local butter-making competition held at Ipswich in connection with the recent Dairy

Conference, not one of the competitors used a thermometer. One of the judges asked a Suffolk competitor at what temperature of cream she |churned, and she replied : MUs Suffolk farmers don't use them things. We looks to see which way the wind blows before we churns." No wonder they make bad butter" Suffolk. Nearly all the local dairymen use their hand too, in making up the butter, and all but one in the contest churned till the butter was in a lump, instead of taking it out when in granules. It is extraordinary how slowly the simple art of making butter will extend in some parts of the country.

RED POLLED CATTLE.

At the recent Dairy Conference the red polled cattle of Suffolk and Norfolk naturally attracted a good deal of attention, and in the course of the excursions made by the visitors to places of interest three or four herds of this breed were seen. By far the largest and best was that of Mr Garrett Taylor, of Whitlingham, near Norwich. Although a good many of the cattle from this herd have lately been sold, there are now 173, 90 of which are in milk. They are a magnificent lot of cattle. Although good dairy animals, those of this breed have a good aptitude for fattening when no longer required for milking. Some of the milking records of the Whitlingham herd, as entered in the "Red Poll Herd Book," are very good. One gave 7644 pints in a year, another 7476, a third 7426, a fourth 6703, a fifth 6629, and so on.

A SUSSEX DAIRY FACTORY.

The other day I visited Lord Hampden's dairy factory at Glynde, Sussex, and was much pleased with what I saw and learned. Lord Hampden, when Mr Brand, was for many years Speaker of the House of Commons, and after he gave up that post, he retired to his ancestral estate, and devoted a good deal of his time to the welfare of his tenants, labourers, and the farmers of the district. At one time he offered his labourers a share in the profits of his farm if they would co-operate in working it ; but they apparently did not believe in the profits of farming. At anyrate the project fell through. Now he has established a dairy factory for the advantage of his tenants and the other farmers around his estate. He makes butter on the most approved plan, and sells cream and milk as well. He gives 7d a gallon for shorthorn milk, and 8d for Jersey milk in summer, and 9d for both in winter. This is par imperial gallon, and it is a good price, as many farmers get only 6d in London in summer, and have to pajr carriage out of that price. The butter was selling at Is 6d per lb till the end of March, Is 4d till beginning of June, and Is 2d now — wholesale. Four Danish separators are used, and the separated milk is sent for sale in the towns near by, 3d per gallon at the factory being the net price realised for nearly all. The butter is made excellent, and there is no difficulty in getting a market any quantity of it at the comparatively high prices named above. Lord Hampden himself keeps a herd of shorthorns and another of Jerseys.

A NEW AGHICULURAL TEXT BOOK.

Professor Wrightson, Principal of the Downton College of Agriculture, and one of the lecturers at the agricultural classes at South Kensington, has just published a new book entitled " The Principles of Agricultural Practice." The book, which is a very useful one, is published by Chapman and Hall, London.

DAIRY EDUCATION.

Parliament has voted £5000 for the assistance of dairy schools or other schools in which dairying is one of the branches of instruction. How the money is to be applied has not yet been determined. The amount is so small that it will

go a very little way among the schools likely to apply for it.

A DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The promised Government bill for organising a Department of Agriculture, headed by a Minister of Agriculture, has not yet been presented ; but the Ministry declare that it is to be carried through if possible during the present session. At present we have a mere apology for a Department of Agriculture, entitled the Agricultural Department of the Privy Council.

TWO IMPORTANT BILLS.

The County Government Bill is making slow progress through the committee stage, scarcely any important alterations having yet been made in it beyond the dropping of the clauses relating to the control of licenses for public houses, and compensation for those to be closed. The proposal of compensation created so much opposition that the clauses had to be dropped in order to give a chance of carrying the rest of the bill this session. Another important measure, the Railway Bill, is making more rapid progress under the Grand Committee on Trade. After it has been put into shape by the committee it will have to be brought before the House of Commons again.

PLEURO-PNEUMONIA.

The extent to which pleuro-pneumonia still prevails in this country may be seen from the report just presented to the Royal Agricultural Society by Professor Brown, chief of the veterinary department, as follows: — "During the first eight weeks of the present quarter there have been 80 fresh outbreaks of this disease reported in Great Britain, of which 47 were in England and 33 in Scotland. This shows a slight increase in England as compared with the corresponding period of last year, but a very marked decrease in Scotland, where the disease was unusually prevalent last. The returns published in the London Gazette show that, during the eight weeks above referred to, 307 cattle were attacked with pleuro-pneumonia in Great Britain, Of these 196 were in England and 111 in Scotland, 298 were killed and nine died. In addition to this, 1745 healthy cattle, which had been in association with the diseased, were slaughtered on the infected premises, or removed elsewhere for slaughter." The Government had begun to stamp out the disease by slaughtering all affected animals and all that have been in contact with them, but lately efforts have slackened because of the outcry of a few practitioners and their converts who believe in inoculation, tried and found wanting as that supposed preventive has long been. The only safe means of dealing with this serious disease, and the cheapest in the long run, is that of unflinching slaughter. Holland has cleaned itself of the disease by that means, and no country has succeeded by any other method.

SWINE PEVEE.

Of this disease, which also needs stamping out by wholesale slaughter, Professor Brown says : — " This disease is again increasing in this country. During the eight weeks ending May 26 there were 1082 fresh outbreaks reported, a greater number than was reported in the whole of the preceding three months. The number of swine attacked during the past two months has been 5680, of which|294s were killed, 1983 died, while only 305 recovered, and 563 diseased swine remained alive at the date of the last published returns."

1. The Victoria Cream Separator 2. Jersey Creamer 3. Dorset Creamer 4. Shallow Pan 6. Devonshire 6. Canadian Creamer 7. Schwartz System lb. oz. ... 4 V.i ... 4 la ... 4 \2 ... 4 9 ... 3 J5 ... 3 14 ..." 3 19

Temperature of churning. deg. Ist, Bliss Keel ... 58 2nd, Mies A. Williams 58 3rd, Mrs Lear ... 59 4th,MissHEHasscll 58 T?niial ( Miss MoBS - 58 HsKfl^MfßßDavey...H sKf l^MfßßDavey... 57 ° m (Mrßoulton 59 Time taken in churning. h. m. 0 54 0 59 0 48 0 53 0 47 1 0 1 4 Weight ot butter. Ib. oz. 5 9i 5 8£ 5 13* 5 12i 5 13£ 5 11| 5 9^

Temperature ' at which churned. deg. .sfc. Miss Mobs ... 58 lad, Mrs Lear ... 60 trd, Miss Hassell ... 57 Ith, Mrs Holmes ... 59 3qualf Mrs Ford ... 58 6th \MißsJoneß... 58 Time taken in churning, h. m. 1 16 11 1 14 0 56 1 11 1 10 Weight Of butter. "Ib. oz. 6 8J 6 3f , 6 7i 6 13 6 8& 7 lj