384 
The Winter of 1885-86. 
particular — were almost a total failure. The autumn of 1885 and the winter 
of 1885-86 were very wet and bad ; the seeding was a long and difficult work, 
and much of the com was sown late and under disadvantageous circum- 
stances. The spring of 1886 was also exceptionally bad and very late. We 
suffered greatly from frosts, wet, and cold winds. 
"3. Yery bad. Mangolds were not half a crop, and turnips of all kinds 
were an almost total failure. 
" 4. We could not provide succulent food ; our hay, made in the summer 
of 1885, was exceptionally good, which was a great help to us ; but beyond 
this the cattle and sheep were chiefly fed upon cake and corn (either purchased, 
or grown on the holdings), Sec, &c., thereby putting the agriculturist to a 
heavy extra expense. 
" 5. Yes. We had still to depend chiefly on the stores in the granary. 
" 6. Yes, a little. I should say generally that it proved an assistance, 
combined with hay, or cake and corn. 
" 7. Only to a very slight extent. I consider that more shelter would prove 
advantageous. In the winters of 1880 and 1881, I provided a large flock of 
sheep with extensive shelters in the coldest part of Staffordshire, with very 
good results. 
" 9. My opinion is that the abnormally low prices of beef and mutton were 
greatly occasioned by : (1) Large forced sales of half-fattened animals, ou 
account of the great failure of root crops : (2) Large forced sales of half-fattened 
stock, occasioned by the want of monej" to meet current payments, experienced 
by so many of the needy farmers. 
" 10. That we were almost entirely dependent upon our fodder crops for 
the support of our stock. 
" If similar seasons recur, I would advise the English farmer (especially on 
occupations that consist chiefly of arable lands) to give more attention and 
more breadth of land to the cultivation of tares, lucerne, rye, &c., &c., and to 
make some portion of such crops into silage." 
No. 2 Division. 
Mr. Joseph Paget, Stuffjn Wood Hall, Mansfield, Notts: 
" 1. On the confines of the counties of Derby and Nottinghamshire. The 
soil is rather strong to very strong, and varies in thickness from a few inches 
to three or four feet. The rock below is of magnesian limestone. The elevation 
varies, probably, between the limits of 350 and 400 feet above the sea-level. 
" 3. lu 1885, for the first season for many years, my mangold-wurzel was 
entirely free from grub. The plant was good in one field, which had been 
manured and ploughed the j^revious autumn, but a good deal was wanting in 
the other, which had been ploughed in spring, and had to be filled up with 
swedes. The average yield of the first field was fairly good. The early-sown 
turnips, both swedes and common, were remarkably good, there scarcely being 
a plant missing. The later sown were much injured by the fly, and neither 
came up nor grew well, because the land could not be prepared till the spring. 
" 4. Had abundance of roots, and purchased sheep to consume them. We 
.supplemented roots by cut oat-straw, i lb. ground Indian corn, and J lb. cake 
per diem. 
" 5. Had sufficient roots to keep our stock till the green crops came in ; the 
spring green crops were late. 
"6. No experience. 
" 9. Mainly so caused till the spring, when, roots being generally exhausted 
and a large proportion of the fat or half-fat stock killed, the prices of well- 
fed cattle and sheep were decidedly higher. 
