Report on the Farm-Prize Competition, 1878. 
29 
Woodcot Farm, Owlpen, Dursley, in the County of Gloucester, 
the property of Thomas Anthony Stoughton, Esq., is occupied 
bj Mr. Henry Howell, and contains, according to his certifi- 
cate, 77 acres of arable and 124 acres of pasture land ; in all 
211 acres. The tenancy is a yearly one, with a Lady-day entry. 
There are no cottages on the farm, and the labourers have to 
walk at least IJ mile to get to their work. This farm is in a 
very elevated position, and the land is poor in quality, and very 
much out of condition. ]\lr. Howell, during the three years he 
has held the farm, has evidently done his best to put matters 
right, and must have spent a considerable sum for so small a 
farm in doing so. 
In reference to the competition in Class 3, we were highly 
pleased to find so large and so good an entry, and hardly know 
how to express our admiration of the continuous and hard- 
working energy shown by these farmers and their wives, or our 
gratification at the proofs of the same in the very large returns 
from dairy produce and animal food. The percentage of arable 
land on this class of farms is small, and as only about half of 
this is devoted to the growth of cereals, the produce of straw for 
litter for the cattle is very small. Notwithstanding this, and 
the large number of cattle and pigs kept, the sweetness and 
cleanliness of the cow-sheds, piggeries, and yards, and the con- 
dition of the animals, we found to be, in almost all cases, all that 
could be desired. Some arable farmers with their cattle up to 
their necks in straw, and this valuable article uncared for and 
wasted, might learn a useful lesson on this point, and, indeed, 
on many others, from these West of England dairy-farmers. 
As. the majority of the farms in this class were worthy of 
prizes, we found some difficulty in selecting only two to receive 
them. The great merit shown by the competitors induced 
us to ask for extra prizes to be placed at our disposal, and we 
are glad to record that the Council of the Royal Agricultural 
Society on our recommendation gave two extra prizes in this 
class. Success in cheese and dairy farms appears to us to 
consist mainly in a good selection of cows with good milking 
qualities, either purchased young or bred on the farm ; feeding 
them well, getting every drop of milk from them night and 
morning ; this, and the sale of the produce, being the work of 
the master. The manufacturing of the milk into a product fit 
for market is the work of the mistress. These duties, simple in 
themselves, require skill and unremitting attention to be carried 
to a successful and profitable issue. 
Agricultural implement - makers and mechanics have not 
helped dairy-farmers much — bass brooms and shovels, liquid- 
