566 Report on the Farm-Prize Competition of I'm:. 



now not distinctly observable, and only to be traced by means 

 of the occasional boulders in the soil. The portion beyond the 

 Oxford clay limit, and within that called the Lower Green sand 

 has a light, loose, and very porous sand, containing many pieces 

 of thin ironstone, which gives the ochreous colour to the soil. 

 The chief portion of the parish of Lidlington is on an outlier of 

 this yellow sand. 



The farms of Mr. Charles Howard, at Biddenham, Bromham, 

 and Bedford, are chiefly on the valley gravel (Post-pliocene) 

 above described. In some parts the Oxford clay, as well as the 

 Boulder-clay, has been completely eroded by the ancient river, 

 and the deposited gravel lies on the Cornbrash rock, being itself 

 covered with Alluvium of variable depth and richness. 



Report on the Faem Prize Competition. 



The prize which we were asked to award has been generally 

 given by resident landowners and the Royal Agricultural Society 

 for the best managed farm in a considerable area of the district 

 in which the show has been held. This year the competition 

 was confined to the county of Bedford alone, such having been 

 the Avish of Lord Charles Russell, who liberally offered the First 

 Prize. 



The conditions under which the farms were entered were, 

 that the competition be limited to tenant-farmers paying bona 

 fide rent for not less than three-fourths of the land in their 

 occupation, the whole of which must be entered on the cer- 

 tificate. 



The Judges were especially instructed to consider — 



1st. General management with a view to profit. 



2nd. Goodness and suitability of live stock, especially for 

 breeding purposes. 



3rd. Productiveness of crops. 



4th. Management of grass land. 



5th. State of gates, fences, roads, &c. ; general neatness. 



6th. Book-keeping. 



Subject to these conditions, the twelve farms tabulated on 

 p. 568 were entered for competition. 



The farms may be divided into two districts, — the Bedford 

 and the Woburn ; 7 being within a 10-mile radius of Bedford, 

 and 5 within a 6-mile radius of Woburn. Considering the size 

 of the county and knowing it to contain so many good farmers, 

 we were very much surprised at the small number of entries, for 

 although the area we passed through was not a large one, we 

 did not, with one or two exceptions, see any that we could call 

 bad farming, and the greater part was above the average. 



