CHAPTER II. 



FARM EQUIPMENT. 



Horse power. Live Stock. North Chavford Farm. A Midland Dairy 

 Farm. Hill Country Farm. North Country Farm. North Lincoln- 

 shire Arable Farm. "Worcestershire Farm. General Conclusions. 



THE equipment of the farm depends on the work 

 Involved in its cultivation, and on the quantity of food for 

 consumption by live stock which it annually produces. The 

 former of these conditions hinges on the character of the 

 soil and its cultivation, the latter mainly on its fertility. 

 When land is wholly arable a team of horses may be 

 required for every 60 acres ; and whether that team be a pair 

 or three or even four horses depends on whether the land be 

 light or heavy. Where there is any considerable area of 

 pasture on the farm, or when, in the crop rotation, the 

 land remains more than one year in clover, the cost of 

 labour is of course diminished. As regards the provision of 

 live stock for the consumption of the home produce and pur- 

 chased food, that, too, depends on soil and management. 

 Whether sheep or cattle be the prevalent stock depends on 

 the character of the soil, the former being better adapted to 

 the lighter and dryer soils, the latter to farms where there 

 is much straw grown for consumption and bedding in yards, 

 and much grazing ground to be depastured during summer. 

 The number of horses required upon a farm was amply 

 illustrated in a paper on Horse Power published in the 

 nineteenth volume of the English Agricultural Society's 

 Journal. And we quote some of the examples there given, 



