300 Farm Prize Competition^ 1911. 



fed to the bullocks are surprising to any one unacquainted with 

 East Anglian methods. The roots are sliced, sometimes by hand, 

 and placed in large open wooden trays in the middle of the 

 cattle yards which are generally open in the centre and covered 

 in round the sides, where are the mangers for the cake and 

 chaff or other dry food. As much as 3 bushels of roots 

 are given to a bullock in a day, and it is one man's job to cut 

 for and tend to thirty bullocks. The roots, after being sliced, 

 are put into bushel skips, which are set out in rows and piled up 

 one above the other in the root house ready for use. They are 

 refilled as soon as empty, thus keeping a supply always at hand. 

 Load upon load of straw is put into the yards to keep the cattle 

 warm and clean, and to be broken down into manure, there 

 being plenty of straw available, and no market for it in the 

 outlying districts. Nor is there much waste of space, the cattle 

 being closely herded ; in one instance thirty polled cattle were 

 seen in a yard 45 ft. by 50 ft. These animals were entirely 

 attended to by one man, and they did him credit. It was 

 noticed that the roots fed to cattle were not always clean, 

 and besides the disappointment of seeing good food spoiled 

 in this way, this want of attention is productive of very dirty 

 trays in the yards. The custom seemed to be to run a few 

 pigs in the cattle yard to eat up waste and anything else 

 available. 



Notwithstanding that Irish cattle for grazing are so great 

 a feature in Norfolk, one naturally expected to see a fair 

 number of the breed of cattle which take their name from these 

 two counties, namely, the Norfolk and Suffolk Red Polls, 

 now registered as " Red Polls," but curiously enough very 

 few of these most useful dual-purpose cattle were to be seen 

 on the farms visited ; those seen were chiefly steers or heifers 

 grazing, which not only get fat quickly, but are much sought 

 after by butchers and always command top beef price. Norfolk 

 and Suffolk, however, still possess many noted herds of this 

 breed, while several herds are also distributed about different 

 parts of the country. 



The sheep seen were mainly crossbred : Suffolk crossed 

 with Cotswold, or Lincoln crossed with Suffolk, or else of the 

 pure Suffolk type ; and they play an important part in the 

 manuring of the land by consuming the turnips and having 

 cake and corn at the same time. 



The swede crop is frequently divided in varying proportions 

 between the sheep flock and the cattle in the yards. Where no 

 sheep are kept, all the roots are drawn off the land for bullock 

 feeding. Where the land is eminently suitable for sheep and 

 their fertilising influence, then most of the roots are left to be 

 consumed where grown. Frequently, when it is intended to 



