420 
Farm Reports. 
Gates. — The gates are all alike, at Aylesby, Riby, and Roth- 
well. The pattern was designed and the mode of construction 
planned by Mr. Torr thirty years ago. At the Warwick meet- 
ing in 1859 Mr. Torr exhibited one of his gates to compete for 
the prize offered by the Local Committee for the best farm-gate, 
which he duly won, and the prize-gate itself may still be seen 
at Riby, looking very little the worse for wear after ten years' 
service. The gates are hung on oak-posts, and the fence is pro- 
tected on each side by about 4 feet of paling ; both posts and 
paling are tarred, but the gate is painted straw-colour, a new 
coat being given every year. Most of the gates are 10 feet wide, 
but where no large instruments pass through them they have of 
late years been reduced to 8 feet, and are then made to answer 
the purpose of handgates. They are all made on the farm. 
As a really good farm-gate, combining strength and durability 
with cheapness and neatness, is by no means commonly seen, pro- 
bably the following description and illustration will be thought 
worth the space they occupy. 
Fig. 2.— Warwick Prize Farm-gate, designed by Jlr. William Torr. 
The gate has six bars at unequal distances, from 4^ inches 
apart below, to 7 inches between the two top ones. It is 
strengthened by a diagonal support-bar on one side of the bars, 
and by two upright ones on the other. 
The bars are inserted into the heads Avithout any tenoning, and 
the support-bars are bolted together and to the gate bars, as seen 
in the figure. There are three fixed points, on the security 
and strength of which depends the durability of the gate ; these 
are where the top bar enters the heel, and where the diagonal 
support-bar is fixed to those two. The upright support-bars are 
of less consequence, being used chiefly to diminish the flexibility, 
and increase the rigidity, of the gate in a vertical direction. 
The gate is ornamented by a flat cap, of the same size and 
thickness as a bar, but with the corners planed off, being 
placed flatwise upon the top bar. It is of some little use as a 
