558 Abstract Report of Agricultural Discussions. 



animals had a poor, weakly, and imlicaltliy look ; and his experience 

 was that the system was not satisfactory, either as regarded the 

 produce of wool or the growth of the sheep. In conclusion, ho would 

 remark that IMr. Torr's lecture was a very suggestive one, from which 

 a great deal might be learnt. 



Sir George Jenkinson would like to know why Mr. Frere did not 

 recommend straw manure for clay land. His experience was that, 

 although you might possibly gi'ow — he had done so himself — as 

 good a croj) of mangold with artificial manures, such as superphos- 

 j)hates and guano mixed in proper quantities, yet on very stiff clay 

 straw manure opened out the clay and tended to make it more friable 

 in future years. Straw manure opened the pores, so to speak, more 

 tlian artificial manures, especially if the crop were fed oft* on the clay. 

 He held a very strong oiiinion against the advisability of feeding 

 off grass with sheep on strong land, believing that, by trampling 

 down, the animals caused great loss. That brought him to another 

 ({ucstion. He would ask Mr. Dent what kind of grass land it was, on 

 which he had observed that lambs did not winter well ? For if 

 Mr. Dent's principle applied universally, and if his own experience 

 and that of others who farmed clay land were to be relied upon, 

 it followed that they could not keep lambs anywhere. His (Sir 

 G. Jenkinson's) experience in keeping lambs on clay land last winter 

 was, that in feeding off" his root croj^s he lost a tremendous jjroportion. 

 Lord Ducie's steward told him that his own exj)erience was similar, 

 and said that he regarded it as nothing less than madness to attempt 

 to keep lambs on clay lands dm-ing such a winter as the last. It 

 seemed, therefore, he rej)eated, that they could not keep lambs any- 

 Avhere. 



Mr. Dent : Yes, you can keep them in yards. 



Sir G. Jenkinson : There, again, they come to the question of 

 straw, including the sale of straw ; and he considered that if tenants 

 were allowed to sell straw, the means of keeping winter stock in 

 the yard were thereby diminished. He would ask Mr. Dent to state 

 what evil he had found to arise from wintering lambs on dry grass 

 land, giving them corn and chaff? His experience, though he did not 

 wish to put it against Mr. Dent's, was that that was the best way of 

 wintering lambs. He had tried it in yards, he had tried it on the 

 ploughed land, and the result of his experience, which came through 

 his pocket, was that the safest way of wintering sheep was to winter 

 them on dry grass lands, with chaff and corn, not giving the ewes any 

 roots at all till after the yeaning time. ; 



Mr. Wells said he had lately changed his farm. Five or six years 

 ago he lived in Kent : he now had a farm in Huntingdonshire, and 

 nothing was clearer to his mind than that in some districts it was 

 not jjossible to have a breeding flock, while in others it answered. 

 In Kent he kept a breeding flock in opposition to the opinions of 

 his bailiff, but the result was not satisfactory. He now thought ho 

 could see his way to the carrying out the cxjieriment of keeping 

 a br(^eding flock successfully. His neighbours kept excellent flocks 

 of large Lincoln sheep, and he hoped to do the same. He mentioned 



