Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

8 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

GTGRITTTLTTTRAL.

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GTGRITTTLTTTRAL. A meeting of the Herefordshire Agricultural Society was held at Hereford, ou the 2nd inst., to consider a proposal for amalga- mating the Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire Societies, and holding the shows in rotation at Hereford Wor- cester, and Gloucester. The matter was very fully discussed Mr Dowdeswell, M.P. for West Worcestershire, joining in the discussion. The general opinion seemed to be that the amalga- mation and the triennial shows, after the fashion of the trienmal music meetings, would be desirable; and, finally, the meeting was adjourned, so that the opinions of the general body of the members might be fully ascertained. The Gloucestershire and Worcestershire Societies will severally be shortly applied to upon the question. Mr Dowdeswell promised to bring ft before the Worcestershire Society. The Earl of Delawarr has just issued to his tenants a "me- morandum respecting game," which is neither indulgent nor severe, but a curious mixture of both. His lordship's tenants are in future to have permission to course hares on their own farms, and to destroy rabbits by netting and ferreting, but not by trapping (out of respect to the foxes), all the year round. Rabbits may be shot from the beginning of November to the end of February, after which time it is expected that no gun will be discharged by any farmer. All woods and spinnies are to be kept in the hands of the proprietor, and must be entered by no one but the keepers and woodmen. Winged game must on no ac- count be touched by any tenant, as the proprietor reserves this for himself and his friends;" and, finally, "tenants are re- quested not to keep small dogs, which are continually traversing the hedgerows during the nestmg season." A WORD FOR THE TOMTITS.—It is difficult, perhaps unwise, J to express an opinion as to the particular design in the economy of nature w hicn decrees that one animal shall either prey on or be preyed on by another. But two conclusions are inevitable first, that the tomtits now so abundant in our cider counties' must inevitably perish we-e it not for the oak galls and the hosts of apple grubs which have spun up in the crevices of the bark, and which these active birds are hunting for during everv moment of our short winter days; and secondly, that without the assistance of the tomtits the apple crop would be entirelv destroyed by this irrepressible insect. Many a proprietor of garden or orchard in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Devon- shire will contend that the tomtits must be killed because they peck holes in the apples and pears just above the insertion of the stalk-a. fact that cannot be denied, an act which cannot be defended; the blue-headed tomtit in particular, if he have any conscience at all, must plead guilty to its commission: but gen- tlemen will find that exactly in the same ratio as they diminish the number of their tomtits so do they increase that of their worm-eaten windfalls. To myself there Is no sight more pleasing thana little bluecap searching every crack and cranny inthf trunk of an apple tree for the cocoons of the apple grub; his ex- cessive, his indomitable industry, the sharpness of lis sight the knowing manner m which he turns his head on one Ide'the better to peer into the crevices, the drollery of his attitudes, in- finitely surpassing those of gymnast or acrobat, and his merrv although perhaps unmusical note-all commend him to my affection, and indeed to my protection where I can possibly extend it; but almost every apple grower of my acquaintance prefers worm-eaten apples to blue-headed tomtits and I find it impossible to overcome this preference. Edward Newman," in the Field. ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND A monthly council was held on the 1st instant: present, amongst several others, Earl of Powis, Sir W. W. Wynn, &-c. The Rev. W. B. Garnett Botfield, of Shiffnal, and Mr Griffith H. Owen, of Ymwlch, Tremadoc, were elected members. i" During the course of the proceedings it was moved by Mr D. R. Davies, seconded by kMr Jacob Wilson, and carried unani- mously, that Sir Watkin W. Wynn be elected steward of live stock. Letters were received from the authorities of Shrews- bury, Stafford, and Wolverhampton, announcing their intention of inviting the society to hold its country meeting for 1871 at their respective towns; and the secretary was instructed to forward the usual documents to the mayors of the competing localities." Mr Jacob Wilson gave notice that at the next monthly council he would move-" That the committee for the recommendation of judges be appointed at the March council that this committee shall sit in April, and that the absolute appointment of judges shall take place at the May council." HAYWOOD FARM, CHESWARDINE, SALOP. COVERED FOLDYARDS. The isometrical view here given [the Field" gives a woodcut of Haywood Farm homestead] represents a farmhouse and home- stead recently erected on the estate of Charles Donaldson Hud- son, Esq., at Cheswardine, near Market Drayton, Salop. The lands constituting the farm upon which these buildings have been erected comprised 250 acres, of which 125 acres are pasture and 125 acres arable. The grass land is chiefly applied to the feeding of cows devoted to cheesemaking. The greater portion of the farm has been drained by the General Land Drainage and Improvement Company. Provision is made for the milking of thirty cows, and for the rearing of a proportionate number of young stock of different ages and the general arrangement is so contrived that additional buildings and yards may be attached at the eastern end should the yield of the land, and the capability of maintaining stock in greater number than at present, be proved by experience. With a view to economy of labour in the preparation and supply of food, the straw and roots are housed and cut in a division of the back range so as to command with facility the sheds in which the stock will be fed, as well as any extension to the eastward which may hereafter be made. The principal feature in the above arrangement is the existence of a small covered yard for the folding of young stock. This may be duplicated by covering the corresponding space on the eastern side of the cow house. The establishment of covered yards in the cheese-making districts of the north-western coun- ties of England is likely to intrease, as Viscount Combermere, Mr Ormsby Gore, M.P., Mr Godsal, of Iscoed, and several other influential landowners, have erected or are intending to adopt them. The special merits of the covered yard system consist, first, in the protection it affords to growing stock during the winter, by which they are preserved from thp extremes of wet and cold next, in making the little straw which is grown in dauy districts go much further, both as fodder and litter: and lastly, in protecting the manure from impoverishment by rain after it has been made by the animals in the yard. These ad- vantages will commend themselves to cheese-making farmers especially, as they naturally desire to bring their heifers to maturity, and thereby into profit, as early as they can, and it is well known that^ warmth materially helps food in developing both growth and fat. At present the young stock of both Cheshire and Shropshire are too much exposed to the weather when turned into the fields during the winter months. When obliged to purchase straw for either fodder or litter, the dairy fanner pays as much as 40s. a ton and more for it, to see it quickly wasted and lost in the foldyard by the excessive wetness which prevails. The same remark applies to manure: its fertil- ising particles, in the absence of covering, are washed away into the village ponds and neighbouring brooks, not only to the re- duced value of the manure, but to the injury of both human beings and cattle using the water for drinking and other pur- poses. In covered yards no rain descends upon the litter, and JI?ere's» therefore, no escape of liquid. A high authority in Cheshire says that for young and feeding stock covered yards are indispensable, and no farm buildings for rearing and feeding should be put up otherwise and he further states that ten loads of manure from under cover is quite equal to twenty from the old-fashioned open mixens." Two important considerations, however, should prevail wherever covered yards are adopted- namely, plenty of ventilation and fredom from draughts The buildings at Cheswardine were erected for Mr Donaldson Hudson from the designs of Messrs Bailey Denton, Son, and North, of Whitehall-place, London.-From the Field.

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LECTURE "BY MR D. DAVIES AT…

THE NEW SHERIFFS.

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