BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1900, 3 July 1890, Page 7

BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

(Fbom Otm English Agricultural CORRESPONDENT.) London, May 19. OROP PROSPBOTS. Since my laßt letter w&b written spring sowing has been conoluded under the most favourable conditions, including the sowing of mangels and swedes. In a few diatriota of tbe coast of England the heavy Boils worked rather badly ; but the weather einoe Bowing time has been bo favourable to tbe growth of the young orop that it is now looking well nearly everywhere. Besides, throughout the greater part of Great Britain— in fact in all but a few diatricta— the land worked remarkably well. Out of a very large number of farm reports published this week I have seen only three or four which are even partially unsatisfactory. The wheats have greatly improved in appearance since the middle of April, and are now generally thick and strong, and quite forward enough for the time of year. Barley, oata, beans, peas, clovers, vetches, and grasses have also grown well, while mangelß have come up nicely, and swedes have been sown in most parts of the country in a favourable seed-bed, with plenty of moisture to bring them up quickly. In Bhort, the period of May iB quite exceptionally hopeful, and farmers are in better spirits than they have enjoyed for many a long day. The lambing and calving seasons have both turned out well, while feed is so plentiful, and the prospects of future supplies are ao well assured, that the pricea'of aheep, lambs, and lean cattle may be expeoted to keep up to the existing high rates. .

THE FRIOE OP WHEAT.

Wheat of good quality haa risen about 8a a quarter since the second week of April, when an upward start was given to priceß by the April report of the American Department ot Agriculture, which gave a very unfavourable account of tbe condition of tho winter wheat orop. The May report of the department puts the oondition at only 80 per pent, of a full crop condition, aa oompared with 81 in April, Besides, large areas of the orop have been ploughed up— aa muoh aa 50 and oven 75 per cent, in, patta of some of |th.o principal winter

wheat Stateß, and 15 to 30 per cent, qmto commonly. How the spring crop w»H turn out remains to be seen } but some of It waa put in late, and drought baa followed the sowing season in parts of the porth-weat. If it had not beon that the cropa in nearly every country m Europe were reported to be in a flourishing oondition, prices must have gone up with & run, as the new orop in India is a small one, and rGßerveß atooks of wheat will be extremely Bmall in the world, as a whole, at the end of the current cereal year. With reßpect to Rusaia, the '.accounts of the condition of the wheat crop are conflicting. In South Rusaia there bad been some damage done by drought, as well as by frost j but rain has recently fallen, and proap3otß have improved. In Nortn Ruasia the outlook ia leaa favourable. A FALL IN WHBAT PBIOBS. By way of Bet- off to the improvement in the wheat trade, we have dull markets for fat stook and meat. Thia ib attributed to having imports from America and Auatralanian ; but there will probably be an improvement when the bulk of the winter-fed cattle haa been auposed of. Of oourae oattle and Bheep are not affected at present by the fall in fat'atook ana meat. Feed ia ao plentiful that farmers are not forced to sell, unlesß they want money badly, and the home supplies have already been checked by the dulnesß of trade. AGRICULTURAL IMPORTS. We have now to hand the official aoconnt of imports of grain and flour for the eight months of the cereal year ending with April, shown below in comparison with quantities for the corresponding periods of the two preoeding years :— Eight Months' Grain and Flour Imports.

While wheat haa oome to us in Bmaller quantities than those of last year flour has greatly gained ground, though it has not quite re* covered the ground lost after 1887-8. The other principal agricultural imports are given for the first four months of the calendar years :~ Other Principal Aqrioulturai Imports. Four Months.

W001... ... 322,645,655 324,908,385 328,074,286 The great increases in imports of oattle, fresh beef, and mutton are the moat remarkable features of this table. The quantity of mutton from New Zealand and Australia (not separately enumerated) waa 301,3410wt in the last four months, or oompared with 219,802 in the corresponding period of 1889, and 176,419 m that of 1888. From the Argentine Republic we received 129,216cwt in the first four months of 1890, against 145,649 and 90,930 in the two previous periods. EELWORMS. Very little has been heard of these destructive paste until within the last few yeats. There are several varieties, the most destructive in this country, aB its name denotes, being the tylencbus devastatrix, which is now believed to be the cause of " clover sickness," tulip root in oats, and other crop ailments, Rye, onions, potatoes, mangelß, and other crops ate attacked by this or some other description of eelworm. A circular ißßued by our Board of Agriculture gives a long extraot from a paper by Dr Neal, issued by the American Department of Agriculture, giving an account of a speoiea ot eelworm whioh causes root knot disease in cabbages, turnips, raddishes, cucumbers, melona, and other plants, and several trees. The misohief is most extensive in tbe Southern Statea, the worm flourishing in a warm and moist olimate. Dr Neal says it cannot stand cold and bad winters, and tbe soil frozen 6in to lOin deep (a pretty " large order ") is nearly free from tbe eelworm, EXPEBIMENTS ON WHEAT, BABLEY, AND MANGELS. The reßult of tbe recent experiments carried out at Saxmundbam, Suffolk, during the last eight years by Mr Edward Paokard, jun., have been sent to me. The soil is poor, and the crops were not heavy ; but it ia to bo borne in mind that they were grown continuously on the Bame land for seven yearß out of the eight. Mr Packard's plan was to test tho reßultß of what he terms a complete manure against none at all, and also againßt Mb mixture rendered incomplete by the abstraction of one or other of its inerredienta. His complete manure for wheat and barley waß comprised of 331b of lime per acre, 22£lb of magnesia, 751b of potash, 471b of phosphoric aoid, and 40lb of nitrogen (equal to 2cwt of sulphate of ammonia). Where no manure was applied the average yield of wheat during the Beven years waa 21 bushels If peeks an acre : where the complete manure was applied the yield was 30£ bushels ; where lime only waa omitted from tbe complete mixture 29 bushels IeBB one-quarter peck ; where potash was omitted 29 bushels three quarter peok; where nitrogen was omitted, 26 buahela 1J peck : whera phoaphorio acid was omitted, 26 bushels ± peok; and where magnesia was omitted, .30 buehela 1£ peok. It will be seen that about nine bushels an acre were gained by_ using the complete manure, aB compared with the produce of the unmanured plot ; but thia waß not enough to pay. The omission of lime reduced the yield by nearly two buahela an acre, and there waa a much greater reduction where nitrogen or phosphoric acid waa omitted. On tho other hand, the withdrawal of magnesia made no difference worth mentioning. The average results of seven years' barley cropping were 24£ bushels on the unmanured plot, 41 where the complete manure waß used, 36$ where phosphoric acid wab omitted from the complete mixture, 34| where nitrogen waa left out, nearly 38J where no potash was applied, 37| without lime, and 37 where magnesia was omitted. Every one of the ingredients, then, appears to have been necessary to the production of a full barley crop on the Saxmundbam land ; but probably they would not have been all required in the ordinary case of rotation cropping. For mangela the complete manure was made up aB follows :— Ninety-six pounds of nitrogen, 3221b of potash, 511b of phosphoric acid, 361b of lime, 81lb of soda, 86!b of magnesia, 122J1b of sulphuric aoid, and 921b of chlorine. The average produce of Beven years on. the unmanured plot waa 34,0541b, and on

that to whioh the oomplete manure was applied it was 48,9351b, or more than double. When nitrogen was omitted from the complete mixture, the yield was brought down to 36,7541b, and when phosphoric acid was left out the produce was 34,6701b, while the omission of magnesia caused a loss of 34221b, and that of lime or potash a loss of about 15001b. The chlorine and ssoda were suppliod in common salt, and its omission had but little effect, because the land was near the sea. As a rule, salt is an oxoollent manure for mangels. TWO GBEAT SHOWS. The arrangements for the Royal and the Bath and West ahowß are complete. The latter will bo held first, opening at Boohester on June 5, and dosing on the 10th. There will be a working dairy in addition to the live atock and implements, at whioh lectures and demonstrations will be given daily, and buttermaking competitions will take place. The Royal Agricultural Society's show will be opened at Plymouth on Juno 23, and will be on its usual comprehensive scale. In 1891, when the Royal show will be held at Plymouth, there will be a competitive trial of threshing machines, with prizes of £100, £50, and £25. EXPERIMENTS ON GRASS LANDS. The results of three years' experiments on permanent pasture, carried out by the Manchester, [Liverpool, and North Lancashire Agricultural Society, have been issued. In one series of experiments manures were applied to the several plots in 1887 and 1888, and in the other they were applied in 1887 only, no manure being put on in either case in 18S9, The manures used in 1887 were these :— Plot A.— 4§cwt of kainifc per acre, costing, with labour, 15s. Plofcß.— 2§owt of sulphate of ammonia, costing 33s 6(1 per acre. Plot 0.— 15 tons of farmyard manure, costing 97b Gd. Plot D. -Unmanured. Plot 15. -4 tons of lime, costing 61s. Plot P.— Bowt of bone manure, coating 455. Plot G-.— 2 torn of lime, costing 34s 4d. In 1888, plots A, B, 0, E, F, and G had a dressing of 2cwt of phosphate and lewt of Bulphate of ammonia per aore, The cost of this is not given. The following table shows the results, so far as the weight of hay obtained is concerned :—

The plots Al, 81, &c, were manured as above in 1887 only, and they gave the following results :—

The Bulphate of ammonia paid best ; but thiß stimulating manure deteriorates the quality of permanent pasture by foroing the growth of coarse grasses. BELIEF TO BATEPAYEBS. The proposals of the Budget Bill for the relief of local ratepayers, referred to a month ago, have been jeopardised by the inclusion of apian of extinguishing the licences of redundant publio houses and compensating the publicans', embodied in the Local Taxation Bill. The Temperance party have been, and are, up in arms against the compensation, and they have done their best to defeat the bill, which, however, Jwas read a second time on Thursday. The relief takes the form of local allocation of an additional duty on spirits and part of the beer duty. There will be a hard fight in oommittee ; but probably the measure will be passed. THE PLEUBO-PNEUMONIA BILL, This measure, which empowers the Board of Agrioulture to suppress pleuro-pneumonia, taking the work out of the hands of the local authorities, and to pay compensation for slaughtered beaßta out of imperial funds, waa got through committee, except for certain clauses wbioh depend upon the acceptance of the Budget proposals. THE TITHE BILL. There is no absolute certainty as to the fate of this measure, whioh is very strongly opposed, and is to be left over till after the Whitsuntide holidays. It iB believed that either this bill or the Irish Land Purchase Bill will have to be dropped, as there will not be time to paBS both without inflicting upon members of Parliament the nuisance of an autumn session, THE DAISY CONFERENCE. Arrangements for the dairy conference and excursions to be held by the British Dairy Farmers' Association from the 10th to the 13th of June, inclusive, in Yorkshire and Durham have been completed. The chief interest will centre in the cheese-dairy system of the districts to be visited, and a great number of dairy farms and dairies will bo inspected by visitors. Only three papers will be read, which will be forwarded with my next letter, aB well aa some account of the proceedings. Some very good cheese is made in the districts around Ripon and Darliugton, and it will be interesting to study the syatem. The last excursion to be taken by the visitors will be to the famous Warlaby shorthorn herd, the property of the exeoutors of the late Mr T. 0. Booth. A FBEETBADE DEMONSTRATION. Mr Gladstone spoke on Monday last on the occasion of the presentation of an address of congratulation to Mr T. B. Potter, chairman of the Oobden Club. He alluded to the triumph of Freetrade in their country, and to the struggle of 25 years which preceded it. But he admitted that very little progress bad been madej in other countries, while some have become more Protectionist than ever, mclud ing certain British colonies. One of his agricultural references was to a prediction made when the Corn Laws were advocated— long before Freetrade was agreed to. It was predicted that if British farmers were protected by duties on 1 foreign corn they would raise suohvaat quantities that Great Britain would become a great corn exporting country. Inetoad, we had famine prices for wheat occasionally, and periods of Bovere depression among farmers, and all but universal pauporism among labourers. Mr Gladstone has great hopeß o£ America becoming a Freetrada country, and Dr Lyon Playfair, who knows the country well, endoreed the views of the veteran statesman. It is true that the new American Tantt Bill will be prohibitive to many foreign pro duots, if it should be oarried ; but for that very reason Dr Playfair behoves it will deal a death-blow to Protection in the United Sfcatea, aa it wiU raise the prices of workmen b

tools and of nearly everything else that they or farmers have to buy. But Mr Rusk, Secretary of Agrioulture for the United States, writing on agricultural depression, deolares that if the farmers were protected by prohibitive duties on foreign agricultural products, they could grow 240 to 250 million dollars' worth of those imported last year. If he and his colleagues enlist the support of the millions of farmers by oarrying his j views into effect, it may be a long time before Freetrade makes much headway in America.

Weight of hay per aore in 1889. Average weight of hay per aore for three years, 1887-88-89. Total increase overunmanured plot In three years. .1 II II >1 :i 'i n owt. qr. lb 21 0 14 19 0 0 24 2 0 23 0 0 26 0 0 24 0 0 26 2 0 owt. qr. lb. 21 1 3 29 0 0 26 2 12 24 3 6 27 1 27 27 0 12 27 0 10 owt. qr. lb. 12 2 10 5 118 ' 8 0 7 6 3 18 6 3 12

Weight of hay per acre in 1889. Average weight of hay per aore for three years i 1887-88-89. Total Increase over unmanured plot In three years. 55 ewb. qr. lb. 20 0 0 26 2 0 30 0 C 26 2 0 32 0 14 30 2 0 31 3 6 owt. qr. lb. 27 1 0 35 0 0 30 1 22 25 3 16 30 3 13 31 3 20 30 1 22 cwt. qr. lb. 4 0 8 27 1 8 13 2 18 14 0 19 18 0 12 13 2 18

10-W-O. lOio-u. Qr. Wheat ... 6,953,359 Flour, aa wheat 3,581.275 Total, as wheat 10,534,634 Barley ... 3,690,206 Oats... ... 3,690,895 Pea«... ... 486,759 Beans ... 423,923 Maize ... 3,403,066 Qr. 9.42i,156 2,722,569 12,144,705 4,000,959 3,5*4,282 292,936 534,813 4,496,649 Qr. 8,136,231 3,366,04! 11,602,27< 3,160,071 3,991,001 272,68! 515,60! 5,845,031

1000. JOO». joins. Cattle ... Sheep... Pigs Beef, fresh Beef, salt ... Mutton ... Fork, fresh ... Fork, Bait Bacon ... Hams... Meat, preserved... Meat, unenumerated ... Butter ... Margarine ... Cheese ... Hops ... ... Potatoes ... No. 95,655 259,892 1,472 Gwt. 263,699 74.347 301.481 01,687 85,238 920,924 222,760 149,990 27,347 565,648 420,370 321,613 45,633 321,071 No. 121,243 219,841 9.852 Cyvrt. 380,208 90,791 432,949 78,932 114,276 1,280,a50 270,959 193,463 45,501 653,877 457,276 310,242 44,418 189,309 No. 169,860 34.385 2,456 Dwfc, 502,001 80,40] 593,43t 20,423 113,438 1,435,881 365,408 183,952 44,054 692,522 387.7U 365,571 47,?11 90,460 lb. lb.