514 Report on the Wanoichshire Farm-Prize Competition, 1876. 
of February to the end of March, from 6 to 8 pecks per acre 
being the usual seeding. Hallett's Pedigree is the favourite 
kind ; and at the proper time the land is seeded down with 
clovers. In 1875, which we have had occasion to refer to as so 
disastrous a year on the generality of farms, Mr. Lane was 
fortunate enough to secure a crop of barley which yielded, on 
the average, 52 bushels, and produced 12Z. 7s. per acre. 
Seeds. — 10 lbs. of red clover, 2 lbs. of white Dutch, 1 lb. of 
alsike, and 1 gallon of perennial rye-grass, is the mixture 
usually sown, and apparently with much success. The crops 
of seeds were this season so universally good in plant, that on 
the different farms we visited it was somewhat difficult to select 
the finest ; but in Mr. Lane's case we possess evidence of a crop 
grown last year, which can only be described as astonishing. 
To secure, in one of the rainiest summers ever remembered, 
two cuttings of clover in such fine condition that the hay should 
be worth 30/. per acre in the market, is a feat, we think, not 
often accomplished. Yet this was actually done at Broom 
Court in 1875 ! On our first visit to his farm in November, 
Mr. Lane called our attention to four ricks of clover standing 
in his yard, which were the produce of 17 acres of land from 
two cuttings. These ricks he estimated at about 80 tons ; and 
a rough measurement convinced us that, at any rate, he had 
not very greatly exaggerated their contents. Having informed 
us that the clover was carried in such fine condition that it 
was available for sale, and that he would probably so dispose 
of it, it occurred, shortly afterwards, to the writer of this Report, 
that it would be wise to ascertain, as accurately as possible, 
the actual quantity and value of these ricks. With this view, 
Mr. Holtom, one of the Judges, who lives at no great distance 
from Broom Court, undertook to make a careful measurement 
of the ricks, and we were thus able to form (in connection with 
the information afforded us by Mr. Lane) an approximate 
estimate of their worth. 
At the May inspection nearly the whole of the four ricks had 
been disposed of, and we satisfied ourselves that about 72 tons 
of clover had been cut from 17 acres, and that a considerable 
quantity had been sold to go to Birmingham at the high price 
of 11. 10s. per ton, the purchaser paying railway charges. The 
total value of the crop was estimated at 504/. One of the ricks 
remaining in cut (a fresh consignment having been ordered 
away), the Judges had an opportunity of examining the quality 
of the hay, and found it green in colour, full of leaf, " nosey," 
and altogether most excellent in condition. It was evident that 
it must have been handled with much care and judgment, and it 
reflected the greatest credit upon those responsible for its manage- 
