204 PLANT PRODUCTS 



or 1 68 gallons of milk. Both of these estimates are on the 

 modest side. There is plenty of land which, in the past, 

 has been under bad management and considered of very 

 indifferent quality, which to-day, after several years of 

 good management, has been brought up to the standard of 

 producing 5 qiiarters of grain, or 2 tons of hay. Mr. A. D. 

 Hall also shows that, on the average, the arable land of the 

 ordinary farm is producing three times as much cattle food 

 as the permanent grass. 



Mr. T. H. Middleton considers that on grazing land 

 the live weight increase per acre varies from 320 lbs. on 

 exceptional pasture, down to as little as 50 lbs. on very poor 

 grass. That is, good land : bad land :: 6 : i. At Cockle 

 Park, the plot grazed by sheep, where no improvement of 

 any sort has been carried out, produces only 22 lbs. live 

 weight increase per acre per annum (1906-15) in the form 

 of mutton, although by stocking the land with cattle and 

 sheep, the general experience at Cockle Park has been that 

 the mixture of stock produces almost double the amount 

 of meat that stocking with sheep alone will do. By treat- 

 ment with basic slag, this same land has been raised to the 

 production of 130 lbs. of live weight increase per acre per 

 annum, with sheep only, or 194 lbs. live-weight increase 

 per acre per annum (1906-15) with mixed cattle and sheep. 

 That is, good management : bad management 1:9:1. It 

 is, therefore, often found that the very same land may 

 show greater variations than those of Mr. Middleton's 

 Minimum and Maximum, according to management. There 

 is not any reason whatever for supposing that the improve- 

 ment obtained at Cockle Park might not have been made both 

 quicker and larger if considerations of financial caution had 

 not been necessary. Nor is there any reason for supposing 

 that Cockle Park is exceptional. 



In many districts the prevailing weather introduces 

 many risks in corn-growing, but these districts" will often 

 grow large quantities of green food, which can produce 

 greater amounts of milk or beef. There are very large 

 areas, in almost all parts of the country, where there is 



