Report on Spring-soxcn Wheats in 1873. 113 



18. OsMiNGTON Farm, neae Weymouth. 



(About 800 acres : 340 Arable, and 460 Meadow and Pasture.) 



.77/6 Soil varies. Some of the arable is very strong clay, some strong loam 

 vv'ith clay subsoil, some flint with chalk subsoil. 



The climate is mild, adjoining the sea-coast facing Weymouth Bay. 



Tlie System of Cropping on the strong arable lands is as follows : — Wheat 

 is taken after vetches fed off with sheep (followed by a summer fallow), if 

 the land is clean the wheat is sown down to grass and clover, which generally 

 remain two years — the first year cut for hay, the second year fed with sheep. 

 Then follows a dressing of farmyard-manure, and summer fallow again fur 

 wheat. Sometimes a crop of beans is taken after wheat ; then vetches and 

 summer fallow prepare for wheat again. The lighter soils are farmed on the 

 4-field system : — turnips, barley, grass, and wheat. 



The quantity of wheat sown per year on an average is about 100 acres ; 

 about 70 in autumn, and 30 in spring. 



The autumn of 1872 was the worst season for strong lands that I have 

 known since 1852. I was able to sow only about 18 acres of wheat early in 

 November, although the land was ridged up ready for sowing ; but, after 

 the rain set in there was no cessation, and I could not venture on the land 

 imtil about the 14th of February, when I was fortunate enough to sow about 

 60 acres of Eed Nursery wheat, and on the 27th of March I sowed about 

 20 acres of Eed Chaff April wheat, from seed purchased of Messrs. Kaynbird 

 and Co., of Basingstoke. 



The sort of wheat sown in autumn was Eed Lammas, bought of Messrs. 

 Eaynbird, which I think is a good productive sort. It has a good ear, 

 and grows stiff in the straw, and, although such a bad season, it produced 

 42 bushels per acre. 



The Eed Nursery sown about the 14th February did not yield well, only 

 about 22 bushels per acre. I have grown the same sort on the same lands 

 many times, and growTi more than 10 sacks per acre ; but the straw this year 

 was thin and short, with small ears. 



The Eed Chaff April wheat sown on the 27th March yielded very well, rather 

 over 37 bushels per acre. I began cutting it the same day as the wheat sown 

 on November 13th, the straw was thick on the land, and very bright, and 

 the weight of the wheat was 64 lbs. per bushel. 



The autumn wheat was after clover — the second growth, fed off with sheep 

 and a dressing of farmyard-manure. The Nursery wheat was after vetches 

 fed off with sheep, which had 1 lb. of cake per day each, half cotton-cake, 

 half linseed, and then a summer fallow ; and some was after clover with a 

 dressing of farmyard-manure. The April wheat was after turnips fed off with 

 sheep, each having 1 lb. of cake per day, half cotton, half linseed. 



The harvest of 1873 was quite a fortnight later in this district than the 

 average of seasons: it became general about the 11th of August. I have 

 many times sown Nursery wheat the first week in March, and begun cutting 

 it the first week in August, and it has yielded more than 10 sacks per acre ; but 

 this year it has yielded only about half the quantity, although sown much 

 earlier. Many farms in this neighbourhood will not average more than 4 

 sacks per acre. It has been the worst season for strong land farms since 1860. 

 The quality of the wheat is very good ; but there is not enough of it. Some of 

 the very late sown wheats were not worth cutting, being affected with rust. I 

 think the Eed Chaff April wheat is the best sort to sow late in the spring. 

 T have sown the White Chaff April wheat, but it is much more liable to blight. 

 1 have always found the Eed Chaff to answer well if sown on good land. 



I should not recommend, as a rule, to sow winter wheat in spring. The 



VOL. X. — S. S. I 



