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AGRICULTURE

discharged by an elevator and hauled away to be used in feeding stock. The ears of corn snapped off fall between a pair of husking rolls, which strip off the husks, the latter being carried off with the shredded stalks. The ears of corn are then fed to a corn sheller, which rolls and rubs them between toothed disks until the kernels are detached, and they are then passed through cleaning devices in order to separate them from the chaff. In Fig. 45 is shown a threshing machine for separating wheat and other small grain from their straw. The grain is fed between a rotating toothed cylinder and a toothed concave, by which means the straw is thoroughly beaten and the grain shaken from its husk. The straw then passes over shaking screens which shake down the grain, the latter being thoroughly cleaned by a blast of air passing upward through the screens. The straw is finally blown out through the stacking pipe on to the stack. In conclusion, it may be said that the improvements in

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agricultural machinery in the last few years have made possible the opening up of vast tracts of the world’s farming lands which would otherwise have remained

Fig. 45.—Threshing machine. unproductive for years to come, on account of the scarcity of labour, and have enabled agricultural operations to be carried out upon such a scale as greatly to reduce the cost of food to all the world. (f. c. s.)

AGrBICULTURE. /. The United Kingdom. General Survey: 1875-1900 The Acreage of Crops. The Produce of Crops Live Stock .... Imports of Live Animals and Meat Sale of Cattle by Live Weight. Early Maturity. The Breeds of Live Stock. Breed Societies .... Maintenance of Health of Live Stock 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

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Contents.

Page The Diseases of Animals. . .197 The Trade in Live Stock between Ireland and Great Britain. . .198 Exports of Animals from the United Kingdom . . . . .199 Crops and Cropping .... 199 The Feeding of Animals, and the Manorial Value of Different Foods. 203 Unexhausted Manure Value of Cattle Foods ...... 206 Implements and Machinery . .208

II. The United States Farming Statistics Wheat-farming. Cotton .... Cotton Seed Rice. Flax and Hemp. Tobacco .... Agricultural Education Agricultural Department.

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List of Plates.1 12. Kerry Bull, Kerry Cow, Jersey Bull, Jersey Cow. Hackney Stallion, Hackney Mare. Pol6 Pony Stallion, Shetland Pony Stallion, Yorkshire Coach 13. Cotswold Ram, Oxford Down Ram. 14. Shropshire Ram, Lincoln Ram, Hampshire Down Ram, SouthHorse, Cleveland Bay Stallion. down Ram. Shire Stallion, Shire Mare and Foal. Clydesdale Stallion, Clvdesdale Filly, Suffolk Stallion, Red 15. Herd wick Ram, Kentish or Romney Marsh Ram. Polled Bull. “ ', 16. Border Leicester Ram, Wensleydale Ram, Leicester Ram, Suffolk Wether. Guernsey Cow, Guernsey Bull. Galloway Bull, Longhorn Bull, Sussex Bull, Welsh Bull. 17. Welsh Mountain Ram, Welsh Mountain Ewes. 18. Cheviot Ram, Dorset Horned Ram, Devon Longwool Ram, Shorthorn Cow, Shorthorn Bull. Hereford Cow, Hereford Bull, Devon Cow, Devon Bull. Blackfaced Mountain Ram. Red Polled Bull, South Devon Bull. 19. Roscommon Ewes, Middle White Boar. Highland Bull, Ayrshire Cow, Aberdeen-Angus Bull, Aberdeen- 20. Large White Boar, Small White Sow, Tamworth Sow, BerkAngus Cow. shire Boar. Dexter Bull, Dexter Cow. General Survey, 1875-1900.

THE time which has elapsed since the article Agriculture was published in the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica has been a fateful period for the greatest British industry. The hopeful views that were expressed at the conclusion of that article have not been realized. The great future that seemed then to await the application of steam power to the tillage of the soil has proved illusory. The clay soils of England, the latent fertility of which was to be brought into play in a fashion that should mightily augment the home-grown supplies of food, remain almost as intractable as ever, and the extent of land devoted to the cultivation of corn crops, instead of expanding, hag diminished in a degree to which there is no 1 These portraits are not intended to convey any idea of the relative sizes of the different animals. In plate 14, for example, the Hampshire Down Ram, though represented by a smaller picture, is a decidedly bigger animal than the Southdown Ram portrayed in the same plate.

recorded parallel. Farmers of long experience commonly look back to 1874 as the last of the really good years, and consider that the palmy days of British agriculture began to dwindle at about that time. The shadow of the approaching depression had already fallen upon the land before the year 1875 had run its course, and the outlook became ominous as the decade of the ’seventies neared its close. One memorable feature was associated with 1877 in that this was the last year in which the dreaded cattle plague (rinderpest) made its appearance in England. There has been no record of it in the British isles since that year, and it is hoped that it has been banished for ever. The same year, 1877, Avas the last also in which the annual average price of English wheat exceeded 50s. per imperial quarter. The average Avas 56s. 9d. that year, but it has never since been within 10s. of this level. With declining prices for farm produce came that year of unhappy memory, 1879, when persistent rains and an almost sunless summer ruined the crops, and reduced many farmers to a state of destitution. Much of the grain was never