70 
Some of the Agricultural Lessons o/"18G8. 
to sow both with white mustard, giving the latter piece 2 cwts. 
of guano per acre. I also manured, steam-ploughed, and planted 
with rape 13 acres of wheat stubble ; this latter 46 acres being 
in addition to the ordinary area of green-crops. I had on the 6th 
of August, waiting for rain, 
33 Acres of Mustard, 
50 Acres of Rape, 
50 Acres of Turnips, 
The rain came, and from the healthy state of the land after the 
excessive drought — the clay-land more especially — the growth of 
all was very luxuriant. By the middle of September the mustard 
required more sheep to eat it than I had ; and I gave two of my 
neighbours as much as they would send sheep and hurdles for. 
By the middle of October the rape was ready, and will carry the 
lambs nearly to Christmas ; and the turnips, if not destroyed by 
frost — and young turnips, protected by luxuriant tops, are not 
often destroyed — will serve the remainder of the winter ; the little 
lot of mangolds, pulped and economically used, holding on till 
the early cabbages are ready. 
" You will perhaps ask how, with only 5 acres of cabbages, 
more than 1000 sheep were maintained from July to the middle 
of September. The draft ewes were sold early in September ; 
the store ewes and theaves lay upon the bare and burnt-up seeds, 
a poor grass-hill, and the corn stubbles, and lived upon wheat- 
chaff, bran, and cotton-cake, costing not quite 3c?. per head per 
week. The ewe-lambs were put upon a meadow which had been 
mown ; it was entirely burnt up, and they were kept on clover- 
chaff, bran, malt-dust, cotton cake, and linseed cake. The ram 
and wether lambs went to the cabbages, getting only half the 
usual allowance and a mixture of dry food, as the ewe-lambs. 
In a month, however, we could see that the cabbages would 
suffice for all the lambs until the mustard was ready, and the 
ewe-lambs also were then put to them. By this time we had 
learnt— and this is a lesson we shall continue to act upon — that 
the lambs were doing better on a smaller quantity of cabbages 
and more dry food than they formerly did with as much cabbages 
as they could eat. 
"As it was important, with a view to the next wheat-crop, 
that all the mustard and the rape where mangolds should have 
been, should be eaten off in good time, we kept store ewes and 
the lambs on those fields till finished. All is now (Nov. 11th) 
ploughed, and part planted with wheat. 
"The ewes are now upon the grass land, and only the lambs 
(520) upon rape. At first we lost several (not uncommon upon 
young rape) so we bled the whole lot and reduced their allowance 
