332 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



than that three horses to every 100 acres could be 

 more profitably employed than two, and therefore 

 he should second Mr. WiUiams's proposition. 



The President said that, as he was obliged to 

 leave by train, he would simply say that he in- 

 finitely preferred driving his work to his work 

 driving him, and would rather have extra horses 

 kicking their heels Jn the straw-yard than to be at 

 a loss for them when he wanted them, and when it 

 would pay best to have the work done. He was 

 inclined to go even farther than Mr. Williams, and 

 to say that they could not do with less than four 

 horses to every 100 acres. 



Mr. T. G. Gibbons, of Whitehill, having been 

 called on, remarked that Mr. Coggins considered 

 that two horses were sufficient for every 100 acres, 

 while Mr. Williams and Mr. Watson thought three 

 were required, and the President advocated four. 

 He (Mr. Gibbons) thought that with twelve hoi-ses 

 400 acres could be cultivated in a husbandlike 

 manner, and he would rather have a extra horse 

 or two in the straw-yard, so as to have them ready 

 for their work, than defer his work for the want of 

 horses. Modern farming required autumn cultiva- 

 tion, and, with a surplus stock of horses, one 

 ploughing in the autumn was oftentimes a greater 

 benefit to the farmer than two or three ploughings 

 later in the season. There were many operations 

 which required to be done, but which they could 

 not do where there were only two horses to 100 

 acres, and he agreed with Mr. Watson that two 

 horses were required for odd purposes alone on a 

 farm of 400 acres. 



Mr. Lane, of Whitehill Farm, was of opinion 

 that they could not do with less than three horses 

 to every 100 acres. 



The Vice-Presidknt, being called on, said, he 

 thought that the subject was one upon which they 

 must leave an open verdict, as he could not see 

 how they could arrive at any definite conclusion. 

 At the same time, he was more in favour of four 



horses to every 100 acres than to two, and as to 

 feeding horses on mangolds and swedes, he disap- 

 proved of it, and considered that the best food for 

 horses was dry food. 



Mr. Williams, of Northcourt, explained that, 

 when he spoke of three horses to every 100 acres, 

 he meant three horses in good condition and kept 

 up to the standard, and unless they were so they 

 would not do the work. They could not drive two 

 horses with reins to advantage, for it was an injury 

 to the land, inasmuch as it destroyed its nice pul- 

 verized character, and, therefore, it was essential 

 that they should be driven out of the furrows. 



Mr. Coggins replied and said, he expected a 

 better discussion as to the amount of work which 

 could be performed by horse labour in a day. The 

 general work on a farm of 100 acres could be done 

 by two horses, but the first condition was, they 

 must be good horses, not worn-out ones, but capa- 

 ble of working 10 hours a day, as was the case in 

 the north of England. A question had been raised 

 whether on an ordinary stock farm land for sheep 

 they should plough with two horses. Nearly all 

 their ploughing was now done in autumn, but he 

 maintained that it was not wrong in the winter 

 season to plough in the furrows, nor would any 

 harm be done by pair-horse ploughing in early 

 barley land, or on bean land got up early and kept 

 up well with sheep. He had allowed more days 

 for non-employment of horses on account of 

 weather than the meteorologicaltables would justify, 

 and, therefore, that allowed ample time for carting 

 their corn to the field. He recommended the 

 keeping of an extra horse if it were found necessary, 

 and he believed that the others would be more 

 than sufficient to do the work of the farm, provided 

 the buildings were properly arranged and well 

 situated. 



Mr. Williams's proposition was put to the 

 vote and carried, and after a vote of thanks to Mr. 

 Coggins for his paper the Club broke up. 



THE STRATHORD PLOUGHING MATCH. 



The excitement over the great National Ploughing 

 Matches at Warwick and Edinburgh will not easily die 

 out. The altogether-uuexpected triumph of the 

 Hornsbys at the one, and the high favour of the 

 Howards at the other, are events well impressed upon 

 our memories. The wordy warfare that followed, the 

 impracticable combination against the Prize System, the 

 show-upof the Agricultural Engineers' Association, and 

 such like civilities, all tended to keep the thing alive. 

 Strangely enough, however, they did little or nothing to 

 injure the honest repute of the implements themselves. 

 Divested of all collateral compliment or recrimination, 

 the position of Hornsby's ploughs at Warwick was felt 

 to have been fairly gained. Tested on its real merits, 

 never could there have been a greater victoi y than that 

 of Howard at Edinburgh, in the face of Scotch judges, 

 Scotch ploughs, and Scotch prejudices. There is some- 

 thing, indeed, rather manly and telling in thus riding 

 forth as it were like the kiiight-errant of old, to do 

 battle in a strange country ; and a Champion under such 

 circumstances is sure of our best sympathies. Mr. 



Howard is everywhere met with congratulations and — 

 orders. 



But "the Trade," as it is termed, clearly got a little 

 jealous of all this. They did not profess to understand 

 that they could haveuone in for honours at Edinburgh, 

 although they threatened that, at the first opportunity, 

 they most assuredly would. Ot course the No-prize 

 confederation at once became the by- word that it was 

 very evident from the first it must. The Howards had 

 already been in competition over the Border, so there 

 was nothing to stop them. Mr. Hornsby had bodily 

 withdrawn from the Combination Society, and had 

 pretty well made up his mind that nothing again 

 should keep him out of the fight. The Ransomes, to 

 be sure, were amongst the oldest opponents of com- 

 petitive examination, and there was no saying how 

 they might still hold out against the temptations of a 

 honorarium. However, opportunity is seldom long 

 wanting to those who are anxious for it. The Duke 

 of Atholl's two years of office as President of the 

 Highland Society have done wonders, and we really be* 



