628 Report on the Farm-Prize Competition of 1886. 
In May the following head of cattle were on the farm : — 
Cows, in-calf or in-milk . . . . 17 
Calves under one year 22 
Heifers under two years . . . . 7 
Bullocks under two years . . . . 25 
Bullocks, fatting 8 
Heifers, fatting , 4 
Bulls 2 
Total 85 
Sheep. — A breeding flock of 100 half-bred ewes are kept, and 
crossed with Oxford Down rams,' the produce being fattened and 
sold at thirteen and fourteen months old. At our first inspection 
the ewes were on the farm, but we did not see them on our 
subsequent visits. Mr. Durrant, like several other of the com- 
petitors, occupies another farm besides this entry, and they 
were probably there. Besides those bred on the farm, other 
sheep are bought, varying in number according to the prospects 
of keep, — lambs for the layers in summer, and shearlings 
generally for roots on the strong land in winter. 
In November we saw on the farm — 
Hoggets 180 
Shearlings 90 
Ewes 100 
Total 370 
In May the only sheep we saw were 570 fat and fatting 
hoggets, several of which INIr. Durrant stated he had recently 
purchased. He cakes more or less nearly all the year round, as 
the heavy cake bill already mentioned indicates. 
Horses. — Sixteen cart-horses are employed in the work of the 
farm, and we also saw a very good Shire-bred cart stallion, with 
points featuring the Clydesdale, which one of the Judges 
fancied so much, that at our May visit a bargain was struck, 
and he was transferred to the banks of the Tweed. 
Mr. Durrant's horses are turned into the yards at night, and 
he holds the opinion that they have fewer ailments when so 
treated, than they would if always kept in the stable. 
Nearly all the grass-land is grazed, one field only usually 
mown. The most of it is only moderate in quality ; the best 
piece — 20 acres — is used for the animals most forward for 
market, which are caked on it. 
Arabic Land. — The soil as to one part is a heavy loam, on a 
marly clay subsoil, which required draining, and therefore has 
