206 The Farm Prize Competitions. 



Grazing or Dairy -Farms. 

 Class I. — 150 acres or over. 



There were thii'teen entries in this class, twelve of them 

 being from Shropshire and one from Staffordshire. The Judges 

 awarded the first prize to Mr. William Everall, of Forton, 

 Montford Bridge, Salop. The farm lies very conveniently just 

 off the Shrewsbury and Oswestry main road, about six miles 

 from the former town and fifteen miles from the lattei-, but 

 Mr. Everall has also some accommodation land nearer to 

 Shrewsbury held in connection with another enterprise. 



The farm lies practically in a bend of the river Severn, in 

 one of the most fertile districts of England ; it is about 408 

 acres in extent, 278 acres being permanent pasture. The soil 

 varies from gravel and sand on a gravel sub-soil in the upper 

 part, to a stronger soil, loam overlying clay, nearer to the river. 

 The farm lies well for working, and a high road which inter- 

 sects the arable land is a great convenience in carting to and 

 from the homestead. The farm-house is pleasantly situated 

 and commodious, with the farm buildings to the rear. These 

 are for the most part old and badly planned, but they have been 

 adapted in a wonderful way, by the skill and application of the 

 tenant, to serve his purposes. The horse-mixen has been turned 

 into a covered shed, and cattle are fattened in it over the horse 

 litter. Not only does this lead to an economy of straw, but a 

 part of the equipment, which becomes, during winter, nothing 

 more nor less than a filthy pond on so many holdings, is turned 

 to profitable account. To save time and labour in feeding a 

 tramway has been put down, communicating from the food- 

 stores and mixing floors with the various livestock sheds, but 

 perhaps the most notable improvement by the tenant is the 

 installation of the electric light. A dynamo, &c., has been fixed 

 up in a corner of the barn, run by an oil engine, and the 

 current is used for lighting the stables, cowsheds, food-stores, 

 and so forth, as well as for the farm-house. The plant is in the 

 charge of one of Mr. Everall's farm hands, who learned how to 

 run- it after a few days' instruction from the firm who installed 

 it. It typifies at once the vigorous management of the tenant, 

 willing to go to a considerable ovitlay to bring every department 

 of his enterprise to the maximum of efficiency, the readiness 

 with which the farm labourer, given the opportunity, can 

 qualify himself for highly responsible work and consequently 

 for higher wages, and lastly, but by no means least, the 

 admirable sense of security and confidence which must exist on 

 an estate where a tenant will bear the expense of a work of such 

 magnitude upon the security of a yearly agreement. 



