224 The Farm Prize Competitions. 



Mr. Jackson keeps the cows regularly groomed ; in fact, 

 everything about his management of them shows the care and 

 forethought brought to bear upon the business. 



A few pigs are bred and fed, and occasionally some sheep 

 are bought in. 



Mr. Jackson, assisted by Mrs. Jackson and their two sons, 

 are responsible for nearly all the work of the place, very little 

 outside labour being employed. The Judges remarked that, 

 taking the farm as a whole, it stood out like an oasis in a desert, 

 the crops and stock being so much superior to those in the 

 immediate vicinity. 



Second prize went to Mr. Peter Crow, of TrysuU Manor 

 Farm, Wolverhampton, for a very different holding, but one 

 which also impressed the visitor with the vigorous management 

 behind it. It lies a mile or two to the west of the Wolver- 

 hampton-Stourbridge road, almost within sight and sound of 

 some of the busiest places in industrial England, for a half- 

 circle described with a ten mile radius eastward from Trysull 

 would include such places as Wolverhampton, Willenhall, 

 Darlaston, Bilston, Wednesbury, Tipton, Dudley, Brierley Hill, 

 Stourbridge, &c. In these circumstances, it is natural to find 

 that the character of the farming is entirely determined by the 

 markets, and the way in which Mr. Crow, who came into the 

 district from the east of Scotland, has laid himself out to cater 

 for them is worthy both of praise and of imitation. The farm is 

 about 120 acres in extent, of which 100 acres are arable. This 

 is cropped on a three-course system ; clover and rye-grass, 

 half-grazed and half-mown, is taken first ; this is followed in 

 the second year with potatoes and mangolds, and as fast as the 

 potatoes are dug (and they are all up by the first week in July) 

 the ground is ridged again and sown with tarnips and swedes ; 

 the swedes are drawn off for the cows, and the turnips are 

 folded with sheep. In the third year, barley, wheat and oats 

 are grown, with the clover seeds drilled amongst them. 



On a visit early in July, the potatoes were being dug and 

 sold in one pai't of the field to costermongers for ready money, 

 whilst the remainder of the field was being ploughed for white, 

 turnips, Mr. Crow being of the opinion that the haulm is asl 

 good as a dressing of manure. There was nothing to indicatej 

 that potatoes were being taken too often, and in places where! 

 the local demand is so great, it is a question if this well-known! 

 East of Scotland custom of taking potatoes once in three yearsj 

 might not profitably be extended. All the potato digging ig 

 done by hand to prevent bruising of the skins, but in other 

 respects the implements in use were of the labour-saving,] 

 up-to-date order. The oats were very fine, and it should be 

 remarked that the tenant was conducting some variety trialsJ 



