The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1880-06-01 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR HAMPSHIRE.

We feel great pleasure in furnishing our agricu tural
report for the present, as coniared with the same period
of last year, for the weather during the spring up to the
present time has been quite cheering, and giving us the
Idea that the compensation due for the several past on-
toward seasons is now about to be accorded to u.' and
let us hope that the present year may not only be fruit-
ful and compensating to the agricultural interest, but that
it may prove the first of a cycle of favourable seasons, in
which all classes of society may experience both pleasure
and advantage.
The seed tune for wheat was rather difficult, the late-
ness of the harvest last year having greatly Interfered with
the cultivation, for on the heavy lands fellows could not
he made, and those fields of roots intended for wheat,
after being fed by sheep, were, owing to the heavy rains,
left in poor condition for receiving the seed. These and
other circumstances consequent upon the disastrous season
of 1879 caused the quantity of land laid out for the wheat
crop to be very short, and the frost setting in rather early
prevented much land being seeded before Christmaa ; at
every interval of open weather, however, advantage was
taken, and much land sown with wheat during January
and Feburary. In consequence the wheat plant is very
deficient, and in many cases being so thin upon the
ground an unusual area has been ploughed and re-sown with
Lent corn . we mu.t therefore report the extent of land
under wheat to be less than we have known for many
years. The appearance of the wheat crop has, however,
wonderfully improved during the mouth of May, and
many fields which were looking like (allows, being so thin
of plant, have now put on • deep green appearance, and in
consequence of the plant having tillered so much t ere is
promise of • full crop if the season as no v established
should be carried out, and genial weather should prevail
at blooming time.
The weather has, however, been too hard and dry for
the Lent corn, except on the best learns early sown, in
which case the crop; both of barley, oats, and dredge, look
extremely well, but in all cases where late sown, and the
soil Ugly, these crops will suffer as they always do when
the weather proves propitious for the wheat crop, for in
refer, Mg beak to former seasons, whenever we had a great
wheat crop it generally proved disastrous to the Lent
corn.

--i3;ans and peas are looking fairly well up to the present
time, except the winter beans, as also the winter oats.
which are a great failure. It is too much, however, to
hope for a full crop of beans and peas if the weather con-
tinues dry and favourable for • wheat crop.
Nearly all kinds or fodder crops have proved a failure,
more or less; whether we speak of rye, trifolium, or
winter vetches, they have proved certainly the greatest
failure for producing spring food and fodder for sheep
or cattle that we can recollect for many years. In rouse.
queuee the cloven and field grasses usually saved for hay
have been nearly all consumed by sheep upon many of
the hill farms where large flocks of breeding ewes are
kept, and therefore the area of land to be MORD for hay
will be greatly diminished throughout the county. The
prospect upon those fields of clover, ec , intended for hay
is very poor, even upon the vale farms, for the effect of
the dry and harsh winds at day, with frosts at night, have
paralysed the growth of all the grasses, even the crops of
sainfoin will not be good generally, for although the one
year-old plant shows a fair average growth, yet the
crops where hay last year was taken are so injured by the
damaged crop lying so long upon the land that the
prospect is poor, indeed, for the present season.
We have now a more pleasant teak before us in
describing the cultivation for root crops, en, because the
weather throughout the spring has been favourable for
cleaning the land of couch and weeds, with scarcely a
day's hindrance to the h.rse-labour on the farm, and this
is certainly fortunate, for the accumul .tion of couch
upon land of every soil, and in every district of the
county, is without precedent in our recollection. The
only fear is now that the season may continue so dry that
it may be very difficult to get • pant of roots, with the
1 exception of mangold, for this crop, if well manured and
sown early, will be likely to produce a full crop; on the
other hand, where seed was put in late, it has not yet
come up with regularity, and great care will be required
In putting in the swede and early turnip seed, to keep the
laud rolled down close to Preserve the precious moisture.
for although we cannot be sure, yet we may get a season
as dry throughout as last year was the reverse.
The fail of lambs thja year has been a fair average, but
in many cases rather severe loose of lambs have occurred,
probably to some extant induced by the shortness of keep,
and severe easterly winds. Farmers in our county have
not suffered much from the fluke or COSilb• in the sheep, ,
probably from is beteg a well-understood fact by Hemp-
shire men that the feeding of water-meadows after
Midsummer is always likely to produce fluke in the sheep
We have, however, to report some rather serious caw
upon farms where there are no water-meadows, and even
where the sheep have never been coathed in previous
yews. The dry weather prevailing hea prevented sheep
suffering from the foot rot and epidemic lameness, as
they have done for several ran ma; there Is, however.
no hope of entire freedom from it in any sort of sheep.
for it will be sure to show itself when the seasons are
; favourable in future, as it has done in the past.
Mutton and beef are selling very high, and are likely to
do so for • considerable time. owing to the losses both of
sheep and cattle by the nuke, the former especially ;
otherwise the health of cattle Is good in the county, only;
a few cases of pleuro-paeumonia in cattle and , typhoid
fever in pigs having occurred.
Joanne BLONDKLL, land agent, kr.
Southampton, YU

--
Sir Charles Legard, Bert, Passed his examination in
the London Court of Bankruptcy. His unsecured
debts MOM. bo 244,500 swine nothing. He was
prominent shinisoldfn in a Yorkshire' Oetwerwselve
newspaper,