Farm Prize Competition, 1911. 301 



fold the swedes on the land with sheep, the manuring for the 

 crop takes the form of artificial manures, and where they are 

 to be drawn off the land for bullock feeding, farmyard manure 

 is given in good quantity to maintain the fertilit3^ Following 

 the famous Norfolk custom, barley, or sometimes oats, is grown 

 after the swedes, and may receive a little special manure, but 

 this is not generally necessary. The barley is undersown with 

 small seeds for hay or grazing, the "seeds'' mixture generally 

 consisting of rye-grass and clover. If grown for hay, Italian 

 rye-grass is generally used, but Pacey's perennial rye-grass is 

 more favoured for the following wheat crop, as the Italian is 

 said to draw the land and to " run to twitch," this last obviously 

 being a reflection on the purity of the seed. Wheat follows 

 the seeds and completes the famous four course which is the 

 guiding principle of all our rotations, and is here only broken 

 to admit of occasional green crops for the sheep, or catch crops, 

 such as the growing of white clover in the wheat, and sainfoin 

 or trifolium for hay or folding. 



At the time of the last visit of inspection roots and corn 

 looked well, and were not greatly suffering from drought, but 

 rain was wanted, and the subsequent very dry weather must 

 have been seriously felt. It would be a rare and pleasant 

 experience to find a district comparatively free from twitch, 

 and it is to be regretted that Norfolk and Sufifolk show 

 their full share of this insidious pest. This fact is worth 

 noting when taken in conjunction with another all too fre- 

 quently seen, namely, the utter disregard for the cleanliness 

 of headlands, which must eventually become seed-beds for 

 filth. 



Perhaps it is to the credit of Farm Prize Competitions that 

 some efforts to remedy dirty fields and foul headlands were 

 noticeable. Outfalls had been cleared, hedges trimmed, gates 

 and fences put in order, buildings repaired, and spouts cleaned 

 out, although a little of this latter task was left for the Judges, 

 had they been so inclined. There are buildings of all kinds to 

 be found in the two counties, good, bad, and indifferent, but 

 some very good. Rents generally are most reasonable ; rates 

 are not high ; labour is good and reliable ; so that, taken all 

 round, the agriculturists of these two beautiful counties have 

 much upon which to congratulate themselves, not the least 

 being the generous sporting landlords for which East Anglia 

 is noted. 



We will now proceed to a brief description of the com- 

 petition and of some of the winning farms. The following 

 prizes were offered by the Norwich Local Committee for the 

 best-managed farms, chiefly arable, in the counties of Norfolk 

 and Suffolk : — 



