220 SYSTEM OF FARMING. 



ber round them, whose dimensions nre imder eig-ht acres, are 

 seldom or ever worth a farmer's cultivation. I see much 

 poor open dowTi land in profitable cultivation, and larg'e dis- 

 tricts of enclosed land of far better quality, ruinons to the 

 occupiers ; and I have not a doubt that to the difference in 

 the size of the fields this may be principall}^, if not entirely, 

 traced. 



Agricultural Gazette, Sept. 12, 1846. 



Art LIU.— on HIS OWN SYSTEM OF FARMING. 



By the Rev. A. Huxtable. 



[Sturminster Agricultural Society.] 



The following" statement of the year's experience was made, 

 at the late annual meeting- of this society, by the Rev. A. 

 Huxtable, who, after some preliminary remarks, said : — As 

 so many farmers, nearly three hundred, have visited my 

 farms during- the last year, it will not be considered egotistic 

 if I presume to lay before you the principle upon which these 

 farms are carried on. I will beg-in with the arrangement I 

 have made for my cattle by placing- them on boards. These 

 are now, after many experiments, fashioned thus : A space 

 of 4 feet in width is allowed to each beast ; the boards are 

 g-rooved behind to prevent their slipping-, and a fall of half 

 an inch secures the rapid flowing- away of the liquid^ whilst a 

 boy with a scraper constantly takes away the solid manure; 

 the beasts thus kept are g-enerally cleaner than those on 

 straw. The benefits are : 1. That I am no long-er limited in 

 the quantity of stock I keep by the amount of straw g-rown 

 — I want every lock of straw for nobler purposes ; in summer 

 to lay between the layers of g'reen hay, vetches, clover, (fee, 

 when salted, in which state I employ it to cut into chaff with 

 alternate layers of turnip-tops. Now, with respect to these, 

 I assert that they are worth more for the ])roduction of milk, 

 when g-iven in due moderation, than the same weig-ht of tur- 

 nips. The objection to their use, in the case of dairy cows, 

 is the offensive taste which these, far more so than the tur- 

 nips themselves, communicate to the milk. Saltpetre will 



