44 



According to Mr. Lawrence the following is the rotation most in use in the 

 district : First year, roots (turnips or mangolds) ; second year, oats ; third 

 year, seeds (consisting usually of red clover, alsike clover, rye grass, cocksfoot, 

 and timothy). The seeds are cut once for hay, aftermath grazed ; fourth 

 year and sometimes fifth year, grazing ; fifth or sixth year, lea oats. 



This represents, therefore, a five or six years' rotation according as the sown 

 grasses are grazed one or two years in succession. The bulk of the manuring 

 is placed at the head of the rotation to the root crop. 



Mr. Lawrence stated to me that after many years' experiments they had 

 found the following dressing of purely artificial manures to be the most profit- 

 able for the turnip crop : Icwt. of nitrate of soda, 2cwts. of kainite, and 5cwts. 

 of superphosphate to the acre, representing a total cost of 29s. 6d. to the 

 acre. The usual practice of the district, however, consisted in the use of 

 12 tons of farmyard manure and about quarter of the dressing of artificials 

 indicated above. 



On July 19th I set out for Scotland, where I remained until August 9th. 

 Unfortunately it rained almost continuously throughout my stay, and of 

 field work I was able to do very little. 



THE DUMFRIES SHOW. 



On July 21st I attended the Dumfries Show of the Highland Agricultural 

 Society. I was unfortunately compelled to examine and admire the exhibits 

 from the shelter of my umbrella, with my feet for the most time in a quagmire. 

 Long use of this delightful weather enables the natives to accept the position 

 with philosophy. I am conscious, however, that it may have served to 

 prejudice me somewhat against the exhibition as a whole. Whatever the 

 case may have been, my general impression was that the Dumfries Show, 

 both in point of numbers, variety, and general excellence of exhibits, fell 

 far short of the Liverpool Show of the Royal Agricultural Society. 



After going through the magnificent exhibition of Shorthorns at Liverpool, 

 I was disappointed with this exhibit, particularly as I had been led to expect 

 great things of the Scotch Shorthorns. I did not see a single animal that 

 stood out, except perhaps a young bull that took first for bulls calved in 

 1909, and appeared to me very promising. I have no fault to find with 

 the Aberdeen- Angus exhibits ; as a whole they were excellent, and for the 

 most part in the pink of condition. First and champion bull, 3J years old, 

 was a magnificent specimen of the breed. I was also highly impressed with 

 some of the heifers that were not, however, very high up in the prize list. 

 There were 43 Aberdeen-Angus exhibits. Some of the Aberdeen-Angus 

 cows had ruddy, if not red, calves at foot. 



The Galloways were represented by 57 entries, and constituted a very 

 creditable exhibition. This breed, which is smaller than the preceding 



