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MR. FRANK LLOYD'S HORSE SALES.

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! MAEKETS.

DAROWEIR.

PENEGOES.

LLANGADFAN.

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AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

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AGRICULTURAL NOTES. CROPS AND LIVE STOCK. The drought in effect continues. Last week's rains were too local in their distribution and too brief in their duration to effect any permanent change in the weather, and as the week approached its close the droughty conditions strongly reasserted themselves. In a few districts the rain was of the torrential type, but in scarcely any was it sufficient to make any substantial addition to the rapidly- diminishing stores of underground water, whilst some unfortunate localities received no rain at all. Such rain as fell was refreshing alike to man and beast, and sheep in particular appeared to enjoy the first wetting they have bad since they lost their fleeces. To some extent also the lain laid the choking dust upon country roads where the water- cart is unknown, and it washed the hedgerow- from the white coating that had been accumulat- ing for weeks. So much the rain did, but it is doubtful if anything more can be added to its credit. Most farms continue to present the un- mistakable signs of persistent drought, both in the arable fields and upon the grass lands. The rains have stirred the seeds that have for so long been lying in dry seed-beds, but the surface-weeds claim first share of the scanty supply of moisture, and the young braird of the root crops must perish unless further rain should speedily fall. The cruciferous crops, moreover, are persecuted by "fly," and the young mangel leaves are turning brown where they are infested with anthomyia. Vetches have gone down under the combined influence of heat and drought. The crop is green only at top, the underlying haulm having lost its colour and fallen in a dense mat on the ground, so that sheep now being hurdled on the crop are deriving- far less benefit than they should have done. Wheat is almost the only crop that looks promising, and it is now enjoying favourable flowering period. It is to be feared that some of the lat6r sown barleys will utterly fail; they are at present miserably stunted, much smitten with rust, and already harbouring thrips and other insect pests. Field peas, again, are a crop of which very little hope is entertained. The early haymaking was in places interrupted by rain last week, though not seriously. Hay was never got in shorter time, and considerable breadths have been mown in many counties of England, though the stacks are but pygmy representatives of what they should have been. Here and there, however, a good sainfoin rick may be seen. These stacks of early-made hay should be treasured like bits of old gold, for in face of the present outlook they are likely next winter to prove invaluable to those who possess them. With the certainty of an extremely deficient home hay crop the imports of hILV into this country are likely again to increase. For the first five months of this year our imports have amounted to 39,012 tons, as compared with 37 185 tons in the equivalent period of last year, The ploughman's work has become exceedingly labourious on account of the hardness of tin baked soil, and the ploughshares in some districts have been wearing out at the rate of one or two a day. The signs that 1896 is an insect year are daily becoming more numerous. Hazel in hedgerows and coppies has its leaves torn into shreads by the ravages of a tortrix larva similar to that which Hofnlintes the oak. and there are but few crops in 'field or garden that are not unduly infested with "blight." Meanwhile the advancing summer is indicated by the appearance of the flowers of the purple corn-cockle and the corn blu bottle, whilst- the dropwort is the latest attraction on the scantily clad downs. The cornel and the privet are con- tributing their share to the hedgerow blossom, and the spindle tree is already ripening its fruit. SUMMER FORAGE CROPS. When it is difficult to get ordinary crops to grow for forage, and pastures are bare, it is a good time to prepare to secure a supply of something which though unusual may be obtainable It might be well to sow sorghum, maize, and millet, all of which woud be useful, and can be got in a season such as the present promises to be. These can be used as green food, and sorghum and millet are found, where they can be raised, superior to maize for this purpose. Maize is frequently grown in Eng- land for soiling, as well as silage purposes, but not so widely as it might be with advantage and con- venience to stockkeepers. Where this is attempted the seed should be soaked in water for twenty or twenty-four hours before sowing, which operation should be performed when they have been thoroughly drained. According to Wolff's figures taking 100 as representing the feeding value of green maize, sorghum will come out at 155; green maize contians an average of 83 per cent of water, and millet 75. If a trial is made to get one or I other of these crops, an application of from three- quarters to one hundredweight of nitrate of soda per acre should be applied at the time of seeding. The seed should be drilled, to permit of ease in cleaning the crop and keeping the soil open, which is a great help in hot and dry weather. WORK TO BE DONE. There is, this month, mangold and turnip sowing to be done, and many farmers will find it desirable to sow a second time, or to replace to mangold with swedes. With such weather as we have bad, it has been useless to drill, but where it is done the drill should follow closely behind the plough, in order to obtain the advantage of all the moisture there is in the soil. Now that cloudy skies have been about us, farmers will be tempted to sow, and they will doubtless be acting wisley in risking it under the present circumstances. Those who have a decent plant of maegold will be busy singling, an operation which should be succeeded by a nitrogenous topdressing, in order to drive the plant on rapidily, and out of the danger from the attack of the fly. Transplanting, of such crops as cabbage and kohl rabi, must be done this month, though it will not be of much use if the days continue hot and dry. Nevertheless, if winter food is to be secured, it will have to be done, and the farmer must keep his eye on the weather probabilities in order to secure any advantage that may accure from a break, however slight, in the dry period. As a great deal of labour can be saved by the use of the horse instead of the hand hoe, the transplanting should be done regularly to allow the passage of this implement without destroying the crop. THE BUTTER TEST OF COWS. The churn is said, and trnly, to be the best test of a dairy cow. A farmer who has a herd which gives a plentiful mess of milk and a correspond- ingly liberal yield of butter is satisfied with his stock. When, on the other hand, milk is short in measure, and the butter is only a meagre quantity, be is n")t only dissatisfied and gaining no profit, but he may be assured that something is wrong in his strain of animals. They are not to the dairy born, and should be got rid of as quickly as possible, and their places taken by those who come from a pail-filling type A test made last week of English- bred Jersey cows brougl t out some good work. An eight-year-old cow, Clemence II, belonging to Lord Rothschild, gave in two milkings 471b. 12oz. of milk, or over 2* gallons per milking. This is not an extraordinary quantity for cows of some breeds, such as the Holstein, but it would be good for a Shorthorn, and is really excellent for the Jersey. The butter yield from this quantity of milk was 21b. 14^oz., the ratio of milk to butter being, 16.34Ibs. Such a performance highly deserved the gold medal which was awarded to the owner of the cow by the English Jersey Cattle Society. Lord Rothschild bad another cow in the competition which gave 451b. 5oz. of milk, from which 2]b. Ilioz. of butter was made, and received a silver medal. CATTLE DISEASE. It may be interesting to See, now that Parlia- ment has before it the Bill dealing with the slaughter of foreign cattle at the ports of de- barkation, how the country stands with respect to animal diseases. The efforts which have been made to extirpate them have been more or less successful in foot-and-mouth disease, glanders, and rabies, but not in pleuro-pneumonia, anthrax', and swine fever. Taking the five months just 'com- pleted this year, and comparing them with a like period in 1895, we get the following results as to the number of animals attacked, or exposed to infection, by the various diseases .— TOTAL FOR 22 WEEKS IN 1896. 1895. 1894. 1893. Anthrax 404. 513 520 450 Foot-and-mouth disease. 30 Glanders (inc. farcy) 546 679. 640 1,009 Pleuro-pneumonia 192 43 158 324 Rabies 317 378 80. 37 Swine fever 36,227 .18,763 .29,336 .4,880 Last week there were eight animals attacked by anthrax, neither of them in Lancashire. This county, however, had one case of glandars out of 20 reported in England, and 212 animals attacked by. or exposed to, swine fever out of a total of 2,648. There was no instance of rabies out of 13 reported.

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