The Farm Prize Competitions. 223 



The farm is just 100 acres in extent, 42 acres being plough 

 land. This is cropped on the four-course rotation, and no 

 catch cropping is practised in the district. The soil is a 

 medium loam overlying gravel and clay, and it is in a high 

 state of fertility. The cropping this year was : — 



7 acres roots, &:c. 

 15 ,, oats 

 10 „ seeds 

 10 ,, wheat 



42 



Sometimes the seeds are left down for two years. 



Heavy dressings of farmyard manure are applied to the 

 root crops and seeds, together with a few hundredweights of 

 kainit and steamed bones. The .Judges remarked that all the 

 crops were a credit to the management ; the wheat and oat 

 crops were very heavy, and a field of clover and rye-grass hay 

 was also particularly good. 



The grass land varies a good deal ; the higher lying land is 

 only of middling quality, though it has been improved under 

 Mr. Jackson's management, which includes regular dressing 

 with slag. The lower meadows are very rich grass, and 

 include 12 acres of water meadows. These are grazed up to 

 June 1, after which they are laid in for hay and mown during 

 July ; they can be irrigated as required, and produce great 

 crops of grass and hay. 



With regard to live stock, Mr. Jackson's object is the pro- 

 duction of milk, all of which is sent to the Farmers' and 

 Cleveland Dairies Co., Uttoxeter, for conversion into cheese. 

 Railway carriage is paid by the factory, and the prices received 

 under a yearly contract are Id. per gallon for the summer 

 six months, and ^d. per gallon for the winter six months. 

 The herd of about thirty Shorthorn cows in-milk or in-calf 

 are a very beautiful and quite an exceptional lot. They are 

 very uniform, practically all of them home-bred, and they 

 reflect the greatest credit upon their owner. Many of them 

 are winners at local shows. Amongst other successes, first and 

 championships have been secured at the Staffordshire Show, 

 and at the Shropshire and West Midland in several years. 

 Only the best heifers from the best cows are retained, and 

 these, and the calves, were fully up to the standard of their 

 mothers. The bull in use at the present time is a roan of 

 beautiful quality from Westmoreland, and bred for milk, but 

 ineligible for the herd-book through his mother. Milk records 

 are not kept, but the average yield per cow last year reached 

 the high figure of 842 gallons, and realised 29^. 8s. 10c?. per 

 head. 



