BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1935, 26 March 1891, Page 7

BRITISH AGRICULTURE.

(Fbom Oub English Agbicultueal Cobbe6PONDENT.) London, January 24. THE COLDEST WINTKK ON BKCOBD. Since meteorological records were systematically kept in this country no period equally severe and prolonged with that of the present winter has been known, The official record of Greenwich Observatory shows that daring a period of 48 days beginning on the 25th November there were 24 daya on which the thermometer did not rise to freezing point ; while it fell to 12deg on one night, to 13.4 on another, to 16.7 on a third, and to less than 19 on several nights. The lowest records for November and Deaember were below the minimum for either month for the last 50 years. A lower temperature than the minimum for the present January has been known on three occasions during the half-century. Since the end of the 48 daya referred to we had a continuance of very severe weather up to yesterday, and altogether, with three brief interludes of thaw, lasting only two or three days each, the arofcio weather has extended over 60 days. Apparently the period is at an end now, as a regular tbaw seems to have set in ; but we get frost at night, and may have a return of severe weather any day. Reports from farmers in many counties express fears of injury to the wheat and autumn-Bown crops. The late- sown wheats in many places have not yet appeared above ground, though it is about 10 weeks since the latest of them were put in. Under such circumstances a full plantgis pretty well hopeless, and even tha early wheats have suffered more or less it ib believed. But as the weather has beep extremely dry, the injury may prove

I lead serious than it ii supposed to be, and plants of Wheat, though thin, may be sufficient to stand as a tale. No certainty upon thi» 'point can be felt at present, however. Swede* left in the fields for sheep feed are certainly injured in quality, and will probably rot quiokly after a thaw sets in. Cabbages have been quite spoilt. Live stock have stood the cold weather well, because it has been dry ; but always the casualties of the lambing season are iHore or less inoreated when severe weather prevails, unless the greatest care is taken to Bhelter the young lamb 3 and their mothers, ana the shepherd is unremitting in his attentions. The Dorset eweß finished lambing in December, and the Hampshire Downs are now following on, whllo the season will be begun in moßt parts of the country by the end of the present month.

MABKETS. The wheat market has improved slightly since Christmas, but priceß are still low, 38s per quarter being the top price for English and New Zealand white wheat, and 42a forDuluth, while last week's average for the whole country Was only 32s 9d. The trade for fat cattle and sheep ia drooping, but the dead meat market on Monday was firm at the low prices recently current. New Zealand mutton is quoted at 2s to 2a 9d per 81b, Australian at 2a 4d to 2s 6d, River Plate at 2s to 2» 2d, inferior English at 23 Bd, and prime English at 4s 41 to 4? lid. Winter prices* and very high oneß, still prevail for butter, good English fresh being 15s per dozen pounds wholesale, and the best Cork butter 132s per owt. Oheese, too, meets a brisk demand at 36a to 80s per cwt for Cheshire, and 56s to 74a for Cheddar. The wool trade, after a long period of dulness, ia a trifle brisker, but not yet sufficiently bo to raise prices.

AGBIOULTUBAL IMPORTS AND BXPOBTS. From the following table, compiled for the Board of Trade returns, it wiU be Been that our imports of agricultural produce, similar to that grown in this country, with maize added, because it is used extensively instead of native grain, were on a very extensive scale, many of them being above the quantities of any previous year 1 —

* Quantities not given. Twenty-seven out of the fifty-two articles comprised in tbiß list oame in greater quantity in 1890 than in 1889, and 25 show an inorease on the quantities of 1888. Maize iB the only grain whiob beats the record ; but cattle, fresn beef, mutton, hams, preserved meat, butter, cheese, eggs, rabbite, and lard also oame on a more extensive soale than ever before. Wool reaohed the maximum in 1889 : but in considering this item the exports should be taken into account, as we re-export more than half the wool we import. The exports of agricultural products similar to those produced in this country :— Tbbeb Ybaks' AamawrnxL Bxpobts.

Wool ... 338,927.660 363,435,417 340,501.800 The value of all the items enumerated aboves are as follows : — 1888. 1889. 1890. £ £ £ Value of Imports 142,365,979 153,446.302 153,934.143 Value of exports 19,765,318 21,386.672 21,165,949 Value of net imports ... 132,600.661 132,059,630 135,768,194 With respsot to wool, the estimated home dip, quantities imported and exported, and balance retained are shown thus :—

The increase in our agricultural imports dur ing the last 20 years has been, enormons. In;

70 the cost of foreign and oolonial live stock for food was £4,655,043, and in 1890 it was £11,216,333 ; for dead meat of all kinds the amounts were £3.336,577 and £20,622,824 ; for dairy produce, £10,068,108 and 4318,657,813 ; for eggs, £1,102,080 and £3,420,802. In spite of the great reduction in the value of grain and flour, the cost of all kinds ha 3 risen from £14,522 507 in 1870 to £53,044,507 in 1890. These are the values of gross exports ; but the exports of all kinds of agricultural commodities were much smaller 20 years ago than they are now, and the increase on the net imports would be even greater than that of the gross imports. The value of all our exports of animal food, includ ■ ing dairy products and eggs, was under three millions sterling in 1890,

DOWNTQN COLLEGE OF AGBIOULTUBE BUBNT.

A [sad misfortune has happened to Professor Wrigbtson, principal and part'proprietor of the College of Agriculture at Downton, near Salisbury, the main building having been destroyed by fire. The laboratories and class rooms e3capad, so that work is to be resumed at once ; but the students will have to be lodged in different houses near by. They were absent when the fire oocurred.

THB " BLOCK TEST " OF THE SMITHFIELD SHOW.

Although the council of the Smitbfield Club will not follow the advice of those who urge tbgm to have a*' blook test " of the cattle and tjneep exhibited at the London Cattle Show, we are not'altogether without information as to the carcasses of animals exhibited. Through the enterprise of the proprietors of the Live Stock Journal, 74 of the cattle and a number of the sheep and lambs exhibited at the recent show bave been followed to the shops of the butohers who purchased them, and details as to carcasß weight and condition of meat ha\o been obtained. Theße are given fully in the isßues of January 9 and 16, Only six of the cattle under two years of age were traced, and the highest percentage of carcass to live weight, among them was 67.04, recorded for Mr Clement Stepbenson's first prize Aberdeen AngusJ Twenty-four of those over two and under three years of age were followed, and it was found that four of them gave over 70 per cent, of carcass, the highest being 71.86, attained by Mr Oridlau's shorthorn, which gained-the cup given for the best male animal in the cattle classes at tho London show,- and the championship at Norwich. In the older class the greatest carcass weight was 73.72 per cent, of tha live weight, and this is' the top figure for the 74 beasts. Among 21 pens of lambs traced the highest percentage of carcass to live weight was 66.67, given by Mr Toop's half brads, ans. next was 64 8, given by a pen of Hampshire Downs -exhibited by Sir Edward Hulse,' Out of 22 pens of wethers the highest percentage was 74 91, recorded for the Mar-. quis of Bristol's firßt-prize pen, and this was the maximum among the sheep. For ewes the top pejeen^ago was 69 86, given by Mr W, Boa's firat-pme pen of Linoolns.

AGBICDITDBAL EDUCATION.

Apparently the current year is to "see the greatest' strides made in providing means for agricultural education in this country ever yet accomplished. The county councils nearly all over the land are considering schemes for establishing agricultural and dairy schools or agricultural divisions in existing -sohools. They have money which they can use for the' purpose; placed at their disposal by Parliament last session, and most of them are disposed to use 'the funds in the direction indicated, though there is no compulsion. The chief obstaole to good work lies in the- division of opinion as to the best way to set about it. Unfortunately, moat of the men who ought to be the best guides— professors of agrioulture and agricultural journalists— are advocates of half measures. They insist that no land is necessary in connection with our agricultural school, though at the same time they declare that practice is nearly everything, and theory comparatively unimportant. It is strange that they fail to see that agricultural education to be as .thoroughly effective as it might be must combine practical experiment and demonstration with scientific theory. In all foreign countries and British colonies in which agricultural instruction has made much headway, farms in connection with schools have been deemed essential, and it is strange indeed if all are wrong. I do not believe in combining farm labour with education in a school or college. An agricultural student is not a farm apprentice. Tho business and praotice of farming are best learned on an ordinary farm, and after sohool life is over. But some land — not a large farm — is necessary for the purpose of giving object lessons in agricultural science. SCOTCH BAM SALKS. A comparison of the average prices realised at the Scotch ram 6ales of last year with those obtained in previous years, as given in the Farming World,- shows how high the values of sheep have been : —

Of course these are not such high averages aa are obtained at some of the crack sales of Shropshirea, Hampshire Down?, or other breeds, as they represent the general run of Scotch ram prices without picking out the highest. It will ba seen, however, that the average for 1890 was the highest for any year of the nix beginning With 1885. IBISH AGBIOULTUBAL STATISTICS. On Saturday 'last the second instalment of the agricultural statistics of Ireland for 1890 waß issued. The following abstract shows the average, produce, and yield per acre of the orops : —

5 Wheat and barley come out above average, but not equal to the yields of 1889 ; oats, turnips, mangels, and flax above both ; rye and potatoes below both ; rotation bay above average, but below the yield of 1889 ; and permanent grass h&y above Ibe former and equal to the latter. In total produce the mo3t important differences between the crops of 1890 and average crops aro dpficisnciai of 1,158,508 torn of potatoes, and 347,059v5Wfc of oats, and surpluses of 406,091 tons of bay of all kinds, 571.208 tons of turnips, and 187,851cwt of barley,

COMING EVENTS. Next month the combined show of thoroughbred stallions, competing for the premiums of £200 offered by the Royal Commission on Horse-breeding and the Royal Agricultural Sooiety, will be held in London. On May 19 a four days' conference and excursions will be opened in Jersey by tbe British Dairy Farmers' Association. Next June the Bath and West of England Sooiety will hold its show at Bath, and tbe Royal will have its Summer meeting at Doncaater.

LAND PBICES IN GBEAT DBITAIN.

An interesting abstract of all the sales of landed estates reported in the Estates Gazette during the past year is given in the current issue of that journal. The average prioe of the aggregate area of 74 591 acres in England was £45 an acre ; for 4663 acres in Wales it was £31 ; and for 7040 acres in Scotland it was £36. The land was mainly agricultural ; but the average value, especially in England, was raised by the sale of residential property and estates for building. The range of county average prices in England was from £18 in Wiltshire to £280 in Middlesex. As instances of satisfactory prices realised for agricultural estates, it may be mentioned that one of 4500 acres sold for £100,000, and another of 766 acres for £31,500. In most countieß, however, some farms sold at very low prices. In Wiltshire several small farms, 489 acres in all, averaged only £9 an acre ; in Herts one farm sold at £8 ; in Hampshire prices ran down to £5 10s ; in Kent, Essex, and Devon to £7 j in Norfolk to £9 ; and in Susbox and Gloucestershire to £12. In almost all counties more or less land was sold at pi ices far below any dreamt of 10 years ago. Still it is remarkable that, after many years of depression, the oounty averages are aa high as they are shown to be. There is no doubt tbat the land and farm markets are looking np. Many estates that could not be sold in 1889 found buyers in 1890, and farms were let much more readily at the reduced rents ourrent of late. Farmers bave more heart than they had a few years back, partly beoause they have,had two gbod or fair harvests, and partly beoause rents and other expenses have been so greatly reduced that it ib not so hard to make ends meet as it was. Stock-breeding, too, has paid remarkably well during ths last two years.

THBKK XKABS' AGBIOUSTVBIL JMPOBTS. Froduoti. 1888. 1880. 1890. Qrg. Qr». Qrs. Vheat ... 13,206,523 13.523,601 13 978,657 flour as wheat ... 5,203,930 4,532,830 4,853,334 Xotal at wheat ... 18,410.453 18,046.431 18 831,991 terley ... 5,957,700 4,876,462 4.670,000 tats ... ... 6,813,613 5,817,840 4,628,068 teas ... ... 538,000 375,325 409,443 leans... ... 702,367 836 610 - 780,480 lake... ... 6.913,328 8,447.381 10,135,494 iiinseed ... 2,6*2.027 2,272.019 1,932.035 tape ... ... 279,615 458,918 230,547 Owt. Owt. Cwfc. Hover and grass need ... 334.432 298,314 379,589 Mlseed cakes ... 259,573 296,296 280.616 flax and tow ... 1,833,650 1,783,189 1,800,469 10pt ... ... 215,927 200,690 ' 188.028 'otatoes ... , 2,384,144 1,864,610 1,940,100 Bushels. Bushel*. Bushels. )nions ... 3,479,418 3,862,751 8.871,195 Lpples ... 8,831,946 3,617,997 2,574,957 I'ruit, unenumerated ... 3,039.100 2,189.508 8,584,668 No. No. So. lattle ... 377,088 555,221 642,593 iheep... ... 956,210 678,068 358.455 »3kb ... ... 24,509 25,324 " 4,038 lorses ... 11,505 13,859 19,404 Owt. Owt. Owt. Jeef, fresh ... 837,444 1,379,511 1,854,698 31tto, salt ... 226,536 264,621 • 274,729 Iftutton ... 989,085 1,226,669 1,656,419 ?ork, fresh ... 242,778 116,846 45^95 Ditto, salt ... 241,891 269.587 254,857 Jaoon ... 2,854.536 3,498,144 8,790,670 lams... ... 728.305 977,608 1,209,446 Heat preserved ... 542,599 " 642,857 ' 734,811 ditto, unenumerated ... 56,781 -90,982 103,881 labbita ... 100.872 123,774 . 143.641 tatter ... 1,689,314 1,927,489 2.027,717 tfarcarine ... 1,138,174 1,240,760 1,079,998 ]heese ... 1,917,541 1,900.545 2,144,"74 ... ... 883,469 1,193,831 1,273,238 Mlowandatea-^ imm IM3fio6 j |38 5,517 Xidet ... 1,161,430 1,222,408 11,040,043 Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Mttles ... 2,847,591 3,337,443 2,988,100 V 001... ... 635,936,244 696,396,186 630.236,298 *gg«, gt h'ndred 9,320,617 9,416,639 10.59L246 £ £ £ h Poultry and game ... 403.197 472.688 . 497,868 h Vegetables, unenumerated ... 621,771 ,623,789 773,590

Produots. 1888. 1889. 1890. No. No. No. Jrltiihand Irish— Horses ... 13,880 14,260 12,02 a £ £ £ Other animals 191,863 188,637 171.474 Meat, &O. „. 1,030,767 876,703 946.600 Owt. Owt. Owfe. Butter ... 25,719 25,191 24,335 Cheese ... 12,796 12,85 a 12,216 Hops ... 8.289 10,293 6,043 Lb. Lb. Lb. Wool ... 33,588,200 21,768,400 19,495,700 'oreign and colonial— Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Wheat ... 90.444 80,476 76,220 Flour as wheat 53.024 49,310 48,000 Linseed ... 146.427 243,011 96.175 Rape ... 29 474 64,177 45,483 Owt. Cwt. Owt. Hops ... 6,532 7,748 6,330 Bacon ... 148,664 260,353 411,698 Preserved meat 3-5,470 40.081 65,970 Butter ... 64.393 70.484 75.071 Margarine ... 20,457 31.105 21,197 Cheese ... 58,869 60,616 59,697 Lard ... 57,503 99.000 144,108 Hides ... 493,693 418,469 350,638 Tallow and stearine ... 315,653 SOI .311 532,474 Lib. Lb. Lb.

Tome clip mported Jxported detained 18HU. Lb. ... 133,772,200 ... 695.391.U56 829.168.383 ... 363,435,417 ... 465,733,069 XBYIV, Lb. 137.724,700 630,236,298 767,930,998' 340,501,800 487.459.198

fear. 18&0 IRB9 1888 1887 1886 1885 Number Sold. 12,914 10,039 13,581 10,356 10 031 10,637 Average Prioes. £ s d 5 12 0 5 11 1 4 16 1 5 3 U 4 5 7 4 17

I Ylelc lper j i. icre. Crops. Area in 1890. Produce. • 890 1889 I 110 yrs Avg, fheat >atß larley tere tye Stat.Aors 93,341 1,221,013 182,058 379 14,673 Cwt. 1,413,964 17,796312 3 057.257 6.120 169,130 Tons. 1,810,429 4.254.710 Owt. 15 3 14 6 16 8 13-5 11-6 Tne 2*3 144 ] Owt. 160 142 175 13-0 12 9 Tns. 3d 131 Owt. 14-8 13 6 15-5 13 8 11-8 Tn« 3-7 12 3 'otatoes 'urnlpa langels an c Beet (otatlon Hay 'erm'nt. Grass Hay 780,801 295,386 46,457 631,818 663,081 1,358,009 14-3 3-1 141 22 \ H-l 20 1,461,816 3,235,98 22 St. 33 4. 22 St. 273 20 St. 177 'lax I '96,896 I 20,201