Oxford Democrat., 1921-10-04
Welsh Farmers.

Welsh Farmers.
Wales Is one of the most interesting
countries In the British Empire. It con
slsts of twelve counties, and is Of about
the area Of New Jersey. In spite Of iti
small size and rugged character Il plays
an important part In the destiny OF Brit.
ain, and has ever been I'd the fore from
the time Caraotaous opposed the Romans
until It's most noted son, David Lloyd
George, put his hand to the wheel OF the
British ship Of state.
Wales is country of extremes, from
rugged barren mountains to fertile dslep,
aud from regions that are almost DESC
late to populous centers surrounding
some of the most important coal fields In
the world. The scenery OF Wales 10 mag
ni6cent. As oonseq quence there 10 q
large tourist traffic, but the the tourists,
though surfeited with massive noun
tains and pleasant sea beaches and their
attendant attractions, see little of real
Welsh agriculture.
The Welsh people are inqulsitive, bul
rather retioent regarding their own af-
fairs, and as about sixty per cent of the
people can speak Welsh, and persist In
doing 1t even when they can use English,
the path Of the student is not easy. His
main facts have to be obtained by OBJ
servation. Perhaps the most loquacious
region of Wales is around Cricceth, the
birthplace of the Welsh Wizard, and
every Jones, Evans, Williams, and Rob
erts in the Community must tell you just
how closely he Is related to the British
spellbinder.
A very large proportion of Wales is
bleak mountain. OF its four and three
quarter million acres of land, only three
quarters of million are under cultiva-
tion while two million are mountain and
heath land, and the remaining two mill.
ion acres are pasture.
The heatbs and mountains are. used
largely for the raising of sheep while
drovss of Welsh ponies also run in Ger
tain sections. Much of this land is COM
mon, and the ponies Of several owners
will run together though they generally
know the roads from the hills down to
the farmsteads of their respective own
ers. Where there are 40 many small
farms 1t frequently happens, however,
that the farms are located at some con.
siderable distance from the land to which
they have common rights. In such cases
the stock will often be allowed 10 run
on the common during the
summer and brought down to the home
farm in winter.
Sheep are found in nearly all sections
of Wales. Many of the down breeds are
found on the lower land, and some of
them are used for crossing purposes in
the hills, but the main proportion of the
aOcks is made up Of animals of the ma
tive breeds. .
In the Welsh valleys farms OF good
sizs are to be found, and many of these
are given over to beef farming though q
fair proportion Of them also produce
milk. On the mountain sides, no wever,
are to be found innumersbls small farms
varying in size from small "crofts" OF
three or four acres up to large desmenes
of thirty or forty acres. Most of those
small farms do some dairyipg. 1t is
wonder how the tenants on many of these
farms exist. Their fields are hardly large
enough to turn team In, and are sur
rounded with stone fences. They do .
little cropping, but their main winter
forage is bay. The hay growing on the
consists mainly of short wiry
grasses which could not be cut low
enough with mower, even II the tensnt
,ould afford one, so all of the crop is cut
with the old fashioned eight or nine foot
,cythe. common in Britain fifty to one
hundred years ago. They do not even
use a sandstone or emery to sharpen
heir scythes, but every man has his
'straik" attached to his scyths. The
'straik" is rectangular piece Of wood
dipped In grease and then in sand, and
good "straik" is thing to be cherished.
Methods on the larger farms In the val
eys are somewhat more progressive and
It is no uncommon sight, when winding
np one of the roads into the hills, to see
men with scythes and "strsiks" above
you, and grain binder working In the
valley below, IS the hay and grain hsr-
vests frequently overlap.
The milk produced In Wales comes
largely from Welsh cattle and Short
horns though the British-Friesian has
obtained quite satisfactory foothold In
the pripcipality. The typical cattle of
Wales are the Welsh Blacks. They form
the back bone of the country's dairy in
dustry-though . stronger backbo 10
much to be desired. They are OF ancient
origin, but whether or not they are de-
scended from Tonllwyd, tone of the
three chief COWS of the Isle of Britain,
We cannot say. At one time two distinct
breeds of Welsh Blacks were recognized
the North and the South, but now they
have been smalgamated. Differences
bet VI cen the cattle In the North and South
are still evident though they are disap-
pearing. The South Welsh branch was
shaggy coated, slow maturing, and re-
ported to be an excellent dairy breed
while the northern group were shorter,
animals with silky coats. In
addition to these, White Welsh cattle,
closely related to the Wild Whites of
are to be found, but they are
rapidly becoming extinct. There are
also few Welsh cattle that are black
with white belts though their origin is
not definitely known.