386 
The Winter of 1885-86. 
Major F. L. Dashwood, Kirklington, Oxfordshire : 
" 1. In Mid Oxon. Soil, stonebrash. Climate, dry. It is called a light 
soil, but requires care in workina, as if it were strong land. 
" 2. Summer of 1885, dry. Short cut of hay, but got well. Corn crops, 
plenty of straw but not a good yield. The autumn was fair fur cultivation. 
A long frost in winter and changeable weather made it bad for the sheep on 
roots. The spring was late. 
"3. Mangolds very good. The early planted swedes good, but catch-crops, 
after vetches, &c., of turnips a complete lailure. One fine crop of turnips was 
entirely destroyed by the drought. 
"4. Mangolds and swedes pulped, and mixed with straw-chaff, and a fair 
allowance of corn and cake. 
"5. The changeable weather in winter and early spring injured the winter 
vetches. 
"6. No. 
" 7. None, except for ewes in lambing. 
" 9. Partly owing to the bad trade in the towns, where reside our great 
consumers. The forced sale of half-fattened animals also reduced the price. 
The animals were sold, as there was no food, owing to the partial failure in 
root crops. 
" 10. The chief lesson I learnt was that, when most farmers bad been and 
were suffering from want of food for the sheep, owing to the failure of the 
turnip-crop for early feeding, I found on visiting Mr. Russell's farm, in Kent, 
October 12th, 1885, very fine crops of kale: a crop of 3 feet high was being 
cut off with a bill-hook, and carted to the ewes, which were penned at night 
on clover-bank. By cutting off instead of feeding off, I understood Mr. Russell 
to grow two or three crops off the same stem instead of one only. The crop 
is thus more profitable." 
Mr. John Tread well, Upper Winchendon, Aylesbury, Bucks: 
" 1. The situation is on a hill, sloping into the valleys all around. The 
soil is a dirty stonebrash, varying to deeji loam and clay. Conditions very 
variable. 
" 2. The summer of 18S5 was most peculiar. We had good ' plants ' of 
corn and mangolds, with a rapid growth, then cold checks ; then a dry spell, 
and afterwards showery growing weather. We had, thus, fair crops of hay 
and corn, well got (except beans, which were a total failure), a light crop of 
mangolds, and scarcely any other roots. 
" 3. The root crops suffered from the drought, and then a blight seemed to 
lake them, so that swedes and turnips scarcely came to anything ; whilst 
mangolds were small in size, conscquentlj' about two-thirds of an {iverage 
crop. Thousand-headed kale seemed to stand the season as well as anything. 
" 4. Mangolds being the chief root-crop grown upon my farm, we reduced 
the quantity usually given to the dairy cows, and gave more meal. We gave 
more clover-chaff to the tegs, and they did not eat so many mangolds, and 
the ewe tegs more particularly had to rough it, by getting a little kale, and 
clover and straw-chaff, with a small quantity of roots later on in the spring. 
The ewes are always wintered in the grass fields. 
"o. Our green cr()i)s did not suffer through the winter being so severe, 
other than being rather later to begin with, liye being very good, and vetches 
too, when ready. 
" 0. None whatever. 
" 7. Nothing provided, other than natural shelter. 
" 9. The low prices of mutton were caused iu a great measure by the 
forced sales of slieep iu the autumn and early winter through the shortness 
