396 
The Winter of 1885-86. 
upon which I first tried a similar mixture in 1878-79 ; they had no other 
food from October to April, and did very well. Sheep intended for the 
butcher would require oilcake or corn in addition, as on roots." 
Mr. A. R. Hudson, Wick House, Pershore, Worcestershire : 
" 1. In the Vale of Evesham, about a mile from Pershore, the soil is partly 
stiff clay, partly strong loam, and partly light sand. The climate here, owing 
to its being a vale, is generally favourable for vegetation, the only drawback 
being that our fruit suffers sometimes from spring frosts when accompanied by 
heavy mist or fog. 
" 2. I had very good crops all round, excepting oats and beans, for which 
the summer was too dry. My root-crop (mangolds, swedes, and turnips) was 
a fair average, — the swedes, planted early in July, being extra fine. My 
cabbages (large Drumhead) were a remarkably fine crop. I secxured in good 
order the grass- and clover-hay from upwards of 120 acres of mostly water 
meadows, and hence I was well prepared to meet the stock requirements for 
a prolonged winter." 
Mr. Thomas Duckham, Baysham Court, Ross, Herefordshire : 
" 1. The soil is a sandy loam on the Old Eed Sandstone formation, and 
suffers severely from protracted drought. There was a deficient rainfall 
during the autumn and winter of 1884-5, followed by a cold dry spring, 
greatly retarding vegetation. 
"2. Only a few weeks of really summer weather, followed by cold 
ungenial weather, with great variations of temperature throughout the 
autumn months. This seriously checked the growth of root-crops, aftennath, 
clovers, and all other green crops. The grub of the daddy longlegs was most 
destructive amongst the root-crops. 
" 3. A most disastrous deficiency of moisture in the soil checked the 
growth, and rendered them an easy prey to the grubs and other insect life. 
" 4. Although my roots were far below my average, yet they were better 
than the average crops of the district. I forced on my wethers, and sent 
them to the butcher two months earlier than usual; and by the exercise 
of a rigid economy of roots with the cattle, and supplementing the use of 
roots with boiled linseed thrown hot over the cavings instead of pulped 
roots, I managed fairly well to carry through the winter a heavy breeding 
stock of cattle. I may here remark that I have great care taken of the 
cavings from all kinds of com, never separating the chaff from them, but 
using them with pulped roots, or when (as during the past winter) I am 
short of roots, then boiling linseed and using it as described. Unfortunately, 
I had some very hard decorticated cotton-cake, containing large quantities of 
lumps of coagulated oil. The use of it after being merely crushed" caused 
the loss of a very valuable young bull. I soaked the remainder, and after 
soaking it twenty-four hours I boiled it, and used it instead of linseed over 
the cavings. 
" 5. An extra quantity of linseed-cake for cattle, and spring grazing all the 
pastures with sheep. 
"6. No. 
" 7. I have a convenient permanent lambing-fold. The past winter was an 
exceptional one, but I did not sufl'er any loss of sheep. I have a considerable 
acreage of pasture orchard, which provides some shelter. 
" 9. The low prices for both store and fat stock during the past year were 
the natural result of the increase of our flocks and herds, and the large number 
of animals that remained in Ireland, in consequence of the restrictive regu- 
lations in Great Britain enforced as a safeguard against the introduction of 
