.552 The Elliot System of Farming. [nov., 



cocksfoot in varying quantities at the time of seeding, the 

 practice being to employ a heavier seeding where the fields 

 are more distant and are intended to lie down longer in grass, 

 while a lighter seeding of cocksfoot is used for those that 

 are to be only three or four years in grass. 



"On the ' in' fields (those of better nature and nearer the 

 homestead) a five or six years' course is followed, generally 

 1. Oats. 2. Roots. 3. Barley or Oats. 4. Grass for two to 

 three years, then the grass ploughed up. 



"On the 'out' fields (those more distant and less able to 

 carry corn crops) the usual practice is to put into turnips (out 

 of grass) then take oats, next turnips again, and then lay down 

 to grass in a corn crop, and leave the grass down for some 

 years. We saw instances of both of these plans. Both root 

 and corn crops were decidedly good. 



"Particularly interesting was 'Bank Field,' the soil of 

 which has been examined chemically each year since the 

 field was laid down to grass, in 1900, with Mr. Elliot's 

 mixture. It remained in grass from 1900 to 1909, when it 

 was ploughed up and put in roots (1910). The barley crop 

 of this present year (191 1) was an excellent one, and the grass 

 seeding in the barley showed quite a good plant as well. 



" In ' Little Countridge ' field, turnips taken out of grass 

 were a good level crop, and will be followed by oats. The 

 same applies to the adjoining field ' Harewells.' 



"On the ' Island ' field, sown down to grass in 1910, there 

 was a luxuriant ' take ' of grass and, though the area was only 

 3 J- acres, it had kept this season 25 half-bred tups. 



"A field of 14 acres, called 'Chapel Croft,' had been laid 

 down in 1909 in an oat crop. In 19 10 a good hay crop was 

 taken, and now (191 1) it was being fed with sheep, and ivas 

 carrying three ewes with twin lambs to the acre. 



"A fine crop of oats was to be seen in ' Little Haugh,' this 

 being the first crop after the ploughing up of the grass. 



" ' Front Field ' — laid down to grass in 1906 — was" still quite 

 good, and the present tenant intends leaving it down longer. 



"In ' Big Haugh ' — laid down in 1904 and still in grass— 

 an experiment had been made in applying farmyard manure 

 to the field — one-half being dunged in 1910 and the other half 

 in the present year. In this same field was, at one corner, a 



