( XVlii ) 
ESSAYS AND REPORTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 
^niesi for 1844. 
PRIZE ESSAYS. 
I. Water-meadows and Upland Pastures. 
Twenty Sovereigns, or a Piece of Plate of that value, will be given 
for the best Account of the Comparative Value of Water-meadows and 
Uplands generally for Cattle, Sheep, and Horses, but especially for 
Milch Cows. 
Competitors will be required to state the following particulars in 
reference to the trials instituted for the purpose of obtaining practical 
results on this subject : — 
1. The nature of the soil and its state of drainage to be described; and 
equal portions of upland and water meadow to be ^^elected. 
2. Equal numbers of cows of the same a<;e and breed (not less than 
four in number) to be separately fed in pairs, on each dilferent 
kind of }i;rass, and to be changed once from one kind of grass to 
the other ; and the quantity, as well as the quality, of the milk 
from such cows to be ascertained by the lactometer. 
3. If made into hay, the quantity of each sort produced on the land, 
and the quantity, as well as quality, of the milk which has been 
produced, to be ascertained in a similar manner. 
4. The value of spring food and grass, whether in rowen or pasture. 
5. The same conditions to be applicable to the feeding of sheep-stock; 
stating the numbers which the same (juantity of each land has 
separately maintained during a certain period ; and whether or not 
subject to the rot by the (looding. 
6. In regard to irrigating the land : the primary cost, wlielher of catch- 
water or flow-meadow, of its formaiion, and the annual expense of 
management, including the repair of sluices ; together with the 
former and present rent or value. 
Competitors are also requested to state, as far as their observation 
may have extended, the comparative value of the grasses of water- 
meadows and uplands, when cut into hay, and consumed as fodder. 
II. Influence of Climate. 
Twenty Sovereigns, or a Piece of Plate of that value, will be given 
for the best Essay on the Influence of Climate upon Cultivation within 
the limits of Great Britain and Ireland. 
There being good reason to suppose that the discordant practices of 
farming in different districts may be partly attributed to the influence of 
climate, competitors fur this prize must endeavour to describe those 
practices, and to trace them to the variation of climate. 
