The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1878-03-26 00:00:00

itgritultural Etna.

THE FRENCH HARVEST.

The ravages of the phylloxera are becoming MOTO
and more sari ma and extrusive in ',rano°. Added to
the devastations of this insect, comes the apprehension
of a bad harvest in the Smth generally. N ewn from
the Mediterranean departments announce. that an
ex raordinery drought is imperilling all agricultural
prospects. The crops, especially Use wheat, are to a
extent spoilt., and the foliate of the orange,
great
on, and olive trees is shrivelled up.

VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.
It has long been a matter for regret, that, as a
writer io the Sporting Gaz•Ut last year put it, "In a
country like Engtautl, which is so prowl of its horses
and horerren, and which the volunteer movement in
all other branches of military service haa developed
Into each a permanent success, that there should not
have been some more vitorous effort made to establish
an effective body of volunteer cavalry." It was there
also pointed out that "the materials for formint such
a body are already to hand, and boil in quality
and quantity there I. nothing wanting. Every
hunting country in the kingdom could furnish a troop
or two of light cavalry, which for the peculiar duties
icerceeelgteohe important
getPrert plwLeduld he
sopein
the bolder and more skilful home.
whichar
eTi.r eb.ny.
There
render light
bh.f.at
men in the country gentlemen and
fwmeee who ride to boon Is. Moreover, they are not
merely .lacing horsemen, they are men .1 intelligence,
and be the very training of the bunting field taught to
exercise self reliance and resolution at critical
momenta." And that this was no fancy picture the
history of the recently defunct let Huta Mounted
Rifles during the 18 rears of its exi.tence cleerly
show. Some 20 years tato Bo 1859 or 1859) when the
volunteer movement was in its infancy, the present
Sir Thomas eland, hen 0,1. Acland—wrote
I • work entitled Horse mat Gera in which bra 'vomited
the forint. ion of regimentn of mounted rtfl io the
various busting districts .4 the c witry. An active
and hard working dirsciple arose in the pees .n of
Colonel Bower, who in 1859 offered his service awl
those of 42 companion to the Queen, as a volunteer
regiment of mounted rifles. These c insisted of ,
" private gentlemen uoi substantial fanner.," all
hunting men. Tne procrese of We regiment—unique I
as it is in the history of the volunteer movement—was
watched with great interest until last year, when the
story .4 the disband/et. ut .4 the regiment was told in
the Volunteer. .`errio Gazette as f 'Bows :—" The
Hampshire Mounted iliffes, baffled in all their
attempts to keep themselves together, have deterniitied
to cease a struggle wl,ich must be u-eless, and to
request the authorities to accept their ruitnati
The last troop uf the Devonshire men did the flume
thing some time since. So now, when the whole of
Europe is In a state of agitation. when the most
onietent correspondents from the seat of war are
week hy week telling us how edluable troops trained
on the mounted r fie principle are showing themselves
to be in the field, our War Office is, in oiler to carry
out an absurd rule, c dolly breaking up the only real
model of the new arm we have left in England—e
model which in t me of war would assuredly h .ve
regained at least ite former strength." We give this
114 .1. e in nh th it our crirrespotamta may see that
the indifference of fermsra is insufficent, or at any rate
ha. not re.pontoble. for the official opposition.
The fault lies with the War Office, or at any rata it
appears to do no.
"A farmer of Berkshire," not the one of the song,
has just been fined 1.10 and £2 To. 31. costs, for sending
ml k to London adulterated with 20 per cent. of
I water. The magiot ate said it •ould never do for
Londoner, to be unposed upon in that way by young
men from the country. Very good, but cannot the
compliment be returned? I !ounty analysts appsdnte-1,
and some .4 the 1.00, lon gentlemen who favour country
folks with all sorts of beastly abominations under the
comprehended ilesig•iation of • goods," have a
sitoilarly rife-live curb, placed upon them by county
magistrates?
AGRICULTURAL REPORT TOR HAMPSHIRE.
The weather since Christmas has, upon the whole, been
favourable for the wheat plant, and although much of the
land was seeded tinder (securable circumstances, yet the
progress of the young plant has lately been good, more
especially upon the hill farms and light soil*. Mitch of
the heavy land and clay sills show a partial plant, and
some fields are being tilled and re-sowed to barley. and as
the weather is now favourable iii, well to re-sow the land
with barley where the wheat plant is unpromising.
because, after land is well prepared and msmured fon
wheat, the barley is sore to he atoll crop, and probably of
better quality for malting than when sown after roots fed ,
off hy wieep.
. .

--Tn,e-er-ason for Lent corn is now favourable, and in mottt
instances the int land I. being seeded with • g rid pr opect
for •cr do 0 ati and barley mixed are Ulan 111 ore
rated than Formerly, and particularly now it is found that
we have machinery which will 'Ambit, the barley (bun
the oats. This is very encouraging to growers for the
drege or mixed crop, for odd, 'ugh our experience tells us
that we can realise six or ebait bushel, more per acre
than of oats alone, yet until the put few rears it era, not
understood that the barley could be entirely sepaated
from the oats. It is, however, now the practice on some
farms, awl as the barley Ls rare to be a coot sample when
grown with the oats, the separation has paid well for
doing, and we know some heat-clam malting has been
sold realising the top price.
The barley is also being sown with the land generally in
good condition : unfortunately when it is sown after roots
fed off on the mixed soils, it often produces a thin sample ;
It Is, however, recommended by site of the most expert.
eticed imitate that when the land ion good condition the
seed may be drilled at 11 inches between the rows, with •
greater surety of obtaining • tualung sample.
Be ins and peas balm been generally got in well, and the
prac ice is increasing of mixing the beans and peas
together, because it is found that both crop, seldom suffer
from blight in the same mown, and after the hoeing is
o minieted the remst spread across from row to row and
effectually keep down the weeds.
The large crop of hay mown hot year, together with the
mild, open winter, has kept that article very low in price.
We are now also promised by present appearances another
great hay crop, for we have never seen the geld grimes,
clovers, and fodder crops of event kind looking forwarder
or better than they do now. This has no doubt had its
effect upon the price of stock generally, but especially
with respect to store sheep and dairy cows, which are no
high in price as we hare known them for • long Period.
The price of mutton and beef is also high, and the con-
sumers at. now Paring the penalty for the Government
allowing diatoms to be imported into the country; and
they should consider that the farmers are not bound to
awl them in meat unless it is their interest in so Ooing;
and if the consumers imagine that importation of lire
stock without restrictions are in their interest they will be
mistaken.

Both sheep and horned cattle have decreased In numbers
dorms emend yearn and this is accounted fur by the
farmers having been afraid ti embark their capital in
stock breeding, owing t•. the prevalence of both 'pleura
pneumonia and "Louisa! mouth " disease ;at the same
time there is • great revolution g dog In the affairs of
agriculture, twins, to the erten is,' um of art. ficial
manures, but the chief revolutionary agent is " N tn. to
of Soda. There is a change of cropping and manuring
quietly going on which is displacing lirge numbers of
breeding flocks of sheep on the Hill Farms, awl as moon
a. mq iin.ted proprietors feel that they Gan with safety
let their lands to men of capital and remove the restric-
tions on cropping, the diniinuilon of our sheep will be
reduced tuna extant which no foreign guppy of meat CAA
replace, accept at a bleier value than the preeent. It Is
satisfacsiry to know that the late Ismbins season of the
Hampshire Down docks is now neariy c.oncluded, and with
an over average fall of health) lamb,
JOUL/11 BLUNDILL,
Lend 4,pin; Southampton.
March 21st, 1878.