BEDINGIIAM, DITCHING HAM & THE FARMS 15 



1896, Nos. 15 and 16 were also laid down respectively ; but, fearing 

 to put all our eggs into one basket, my steward. Hood, and I 

 agreed to very largely modify the j)roportion of deep-rooted herbs. 

 Last spring also the narrow two and a half acres marked No. 10 

 was laid down, as I desired to connect pasture No. 7 with the 

 eight-acre far meadow, No. 11, so as to form a continuous belt of 

 grass at this end of the farm. As this two acres (No. 10) is very 

 good land, none of the herbs were sown with the grass seeds. 



Now for the results so far as they have gone. Of the three 

 heavy-land pieces, that which received the full dose of deep- 

 rooted herbs (No. 19) looks far the best, although of course it must 

 be remembered that it is older than No. 15 by one year, and than 

 No. 16 by two years. Last summer, however, it threw up an 

 abundant supply of herbage, on which, eked out with some cake, 

 seven yearling steers and in-calf heifers lived for several months, 

 although the season was exceptionally dry and distressing to 

 pastures, especially to young pastures. No. 15, on the contrary, did 

 not look or do very grandly, although it was laid down clean and 

 drained, and its soil is no worse than that of No. 19. It was set 

 for hay, but the grass seemed so short and poor that we deter- 

 mined to let it stand until the seeds were almost ripe, and then to 

 feed it instead. This was done ; with the result that the field is 

 now a mat of tiny seedlings, sprung from the seeds knocked out 

 by the cattle as they fed. Off No. 16 we took a crop of hay, as 

 it is usual to do in the first year of a pasture ; but, owing to the 

 drought, it gave a poor return. 



The general result of the experiment, it may interest Mr. 

 Elliot to learn, should he ever chance to read of it, up to the 

 present is strikingly in favour of his system ; so much so, that 

 I intend to lay down field No. 2 1 this spring exactly on the same 

 principle. There is, however, one drawback which should be 

 mentioned. These herbs — or perhaps it is only the chicory, the 

 most valuable of them for this particular purpose of aeration, 

 because, as I am told, the most deep-rooted throw up tall and 

 unsightly heads, which cattle feed round and sometimes refuse, 



