The Farm Prize Competition of 1890. 
779 
"A host of competitors might enter, but only as many could win 
prizes as there were prizes to be competed for. whilst the un- 
successful ones would be impatient of defeat ! " 
Another cause (and one which probably had a practical and 
deterrent effect) was the condition that " one half the farm must be 
arable," and a doubt as to what the word " arable here iacluded. 
Throughout the two counties there is a large extent of land which 
has of late been either laid down to permanent grass, or which, 
originally laid down for a rotation, has gone to grass so well that 
it has been allowed to remain " green side up." In some of these 
cases the landlords or previous occupiers had provided the seeds, 
but in others the present tenants had done so. In the former, 
the land had, of course, passed from the category of arable to 
that of pasture ; but in the latter the tenant might claim the 
right to plough up the land at will, and so be entitled to class 
it as " arable." Be this as it may, the fact remains that some of 
the most fertile districts, notably that of Tavistock and Milton 
Abbot, where it is claimed lies some of the best grazing land in 
the kingdom, were unrepresented. So equal, also, are the pro- 
portions of pasture and arable upon many farms, that the inclu- 
sion of orchards amongst the former turned the scale against 
their occupiers' right to enter. 
But limited as the competition undoubtedly was, it was not 
without its special features of interest, because of the diverse 
circumstances of situation, and the various methods adopted by 
the competitors to develop the capabilities of their several farms. 
Some had all the advantages of situation which proximity to a 
large town or seaside resort could confer, whilst others laboured 
under the disadvantage of being distant ten or twelve miles from 
the nearest market or railway station. Again, some farms had 
inherent capabilities for the production of certain special crops, 
such as apples for cider, strawberries and other fruit for early 
and distant markets, green forage crops for sale in adjacent 
towns, and so on ; and all these capabilities were being turned 
to the most profitable account. Further, there was the large 
capitalist spending his money freely, but judiciously, in the cul- 
tivation and manuring of his land — putting plenty in and getting 
plenty out — whilst the farmer of moderate means, living comfort- 
ably, but not extravagantly, was devoting all his energies in 
efforts to make his farm pay, despite the times or the lack of 
special advantages of either soil or situation. Finally, there was 
the working man, plodding successfully against the difficulties 
attaching to all small agricultural holdings, and eking out the 
profits from his land by extraneous carting, or other work obtain- 
able in the district. 
