... was celebrated in the little Sussex village of Elsted on the evening of July 30. Members of the West Sussex Y.F.C., led by the Rector, walked to a cornfield, where the simple ceremony of blessing the loaf and the first sheaf of corn took place. The scene, with the farm wagon in the foreground, the ripe wheatfield, the South Downs glorious in the sunshine, and the eager young people joining in ...

... THE Suffolk Sheep Society held a success ful two-dav Show and Sale at Ipswich on August 2 and 3, the second day being devoted to rams, when some 200 animals appeared in the ring. Ram lambs are in request by flock-owners, who have to look ahead in making their selection of breeding stock. There was some spirited bidding for good lambs from well-known flocks. The judges were MajoJC Norman ...

... oung Farmers in Berks PEWSEY VALE Y.F.C. were recently invited to visit the Stype Estate, near Hungerford, Berks, built up from an original 550 acres into a total component of 3250 acres; of the whole, 1200 acres are now under cultivation or are being grazed. The additional land consisted of 60 derelict holdings, and the whole place was overrun by vermin. It was cleared of gorse, bramble and ...

... The report issued by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, notes on which appear elsewhere in this issue, takes an unusually broad and comprehensive view of the needs of British agriculture. Its insistence on the fact that we should take care to foster the production of those foods which can be obtained from elsewhere only with difficulty, etc., is plain sense, which everybody can ...

... THE recent debates, in both Houses, on India -were reported in part in the last issue of Sport and Country by our Parlia mentary Correspondent. There are great hopes that the agricultural problem, the essence of which is to meet the needs of the ever-growing population (the annual increase is about 5,000,000 per annum), will be imaginatively tackled by the two Govern ments. Pictures on this ...

... TNDIA Command's Military Farms Department claims to run the biggest dairy farm in the world. There is in Lahore one farm of 90.000 acres on which graze 10,000 buffaloes. On it stands the factory, which turns out 3000 tins of milk daily, most of which goes to British and native troops on the Burma front. The buffalo population of India (of which the M.F.D. controls only a fraction) consists of ...

... How PuDDies Change By A. Croxton Smith Any inexperienced person looking at the bull pups illustrated on this page to-day might be excused for question ing if they were pure bred, so different are they from the finished product of maturity. We are all familiar with the wonderful head so characteristic of the breed with its wide, flat skull, its deep chops, the nose receding almost between the ...

... THE pictures show a field of oats in Kent where the crop is now being cut. Winter barley and oats have matured early in this exceptional season and, with the greatly increased acreage of cereals in 1944, it is necessary to stagger the harvest work as much as possible and so use all available labour to the best advantage. The oat crop shown is a variety known as S. 172, and was produced at the ...

... The Salisbury Sheep Fair A Good Entry of Hampshire Downs THIS meeting is the great event of the year for members of the Hampshire Down Sheep Breeders' Association, and for all who are interested in the breed. The Hampshire it popular on the mixed Down and arable farms, and its early lambing period is a characteristic valued by the many Down breeders. This year the entries were stated to be ...

... genial weather arrive, work the soil down to a fairly fine and level bed. The light consolidation which the soil receives during this final preparation will generally produce the right degree of firmness. In the case of heavy land, care must be taken to avoid a solidly compacted surface, for while onions like firm ground, the delicate young roots cannot penetrate solid masses of heavily ...

... By Lt.-Cdr. B. J. Hurren THE temptation to go crystal-gazing over air transportation of farm produce is almost irresistible. Every other man in the street is convinced that the Air Age is round the corner-- that everyone will soon be flying-- that the aeroplane will solve the formidable problems of future economics. Against these superficially rosy views, air experts shake their heads. The ...

... Continued from p. 77J dressed on the farm is often superior to grain threshed from the stack, but the initial cost of a complete drying installation is a very considerable item. The most serious problem to be faced at present is that of storage. This season it is expected that there will be some 2500 com bines in action, and they will deal with about 5 per cent, of the total grain harvest. ...