The Young Farmers' Club

Dove, Woodpigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Raven, Hooded Crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Magpie, Chough, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Mistle Thrush, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Wheatear, Stonechat, Redstart, Robin, Willow Warbler, Chiff, chaff, Dunnock, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Pied and White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Great Grey Shrike, Starling, Greenfinch, Linnet, Chaffinch, Yellow Hammer, Reed Bunting, House Sparrow and Tree Sparrow (86 species).

D.E.H.

Leader: MR. K. G. COULTHARD. Chairman: M. C. M. ANYAN. Vice-Chairman: J. R. COLES. Secretary: J. H. ORmrstoN. Treasurer: J. R. ROWBOTTOM.

Committee Members: D. E. ROWBOTTOM, M. P. CROSSLEY.

The first meeting of the term consisted of a talk on "General Aspects of Forestry" given by Mr. Marshall, of the Forestry Commission. He started his talk by outlining the locality and origin of forests, stating that the largest in Yorkshire is at Allerston--4between Pickering and Scarborough. The talk was followed by some very interesting slides showing different species of trees and the variety of work done by the Forestry Commission.

At the second meeting of the term we heard a talk on "Calf Rearing and Beef Cattle" given by Mr. Atkinson from B.O.C.M. at Selby. He dealt with calf rearing first, saying that there are three main methods: single suckling, multiple suckling and bucket feeding. The latter is most popular as it is cheaper because the calves are reared on milk from buckets, being weaned at four or five weeks old. He discussed many problems in calf rearing and pointed out the three main diseases. He dealt with beef cattle, saying that the housewife now wants a lean, tender joint, and he explained the necessary requirements for a beast to produce what is wanted. He outlined the main methods of rearing beef cattle—the eighteen month system and "broiler cattle", saying that he thought the meat of the latter was not nearly so tasty. Broiler cattle, he said, are fed ad lib for twelve months and then slaughtered.

The final meeting of the term was a talk on "Cattle Judging" given by Mr. Abbey, a well-known Friesian cattle breeder and judge. He showed what great value agricultural shows are, stating that they are of great influence in better breeding. He brought with him a model of a cow which a committee, he being one of them, felt was just about the perfect animal. He used the model to go from head to tail, pointing out every conceivable good point that a cow should have, expressing the view that a good cow should always have a pleasant, alert look; if not there must be something wrong. He ended his talk by describing how he judges, comparing his methods with those of the Canadian and Dutch judges. J.R.C.