798 
The Farm Prize Competition of 1890. 
more extraordinary in view of the large proportion of sheep and 
other stock maintained on the farm, as shown in the following 
Table :— 
Messrs. Hill's Devon England 
farm 
Cattle per 100 acres . . 16G6 20 47 17-41 
Sheep „ „ 128-68 69-74 63-34 
Cattle and sheep „ „ . \ mm m2 g 4 
(reckoning 3 sheep = 1 cow) . f 
It was not in growth and quantity of herbage only that 
Mr. Hill's grass crops excelled, but in quality also, for clovers 
and rye-grasses of all kinds were abundant, and seemed to 
retain their hold for long periods. Indeed so kindly does the 
land take to grass, that sundry fields which were laid down with 
a mixture for one or two years only, were allowed to continue 
longer, and one field in particular, in which seeds were sown for 
a catch-crop only in 1888, Mr. Hill has not yet had the heart to 
break up. The seeds in this case were sown with a corn crop to 
provide early spring feed for ewes and lambs, and to be ploughed 
up and planted with turnips in the same year. This is a com- 
mon practice with Mr. Hill, as he finds it provides him with 
early keep for his flock, and the land can be got ready in ample 
time for swedes or common turnips, which are not usually sown 
in the district until after Midsummer. 
Much of the abundance of the clovers is due to the free use 
of lime and bones. The former is applied chiefly to lea just 
before breaking, and at the rate of eight to nine hogsheads per 
acre. This costs 2s. 9d. per hogshead at the kiln, which is three 
miles distant, and is estimated to last seven years. A cart holds 
two hogsheads. Bones are used for root crops in conjunction 
with artificial compounds, and applied at the rate of 2\ cwt. 
each of \ inch bones, dissolved bones, and mineral superphosphate. 
Occasionally some nitrate of soda and kainit are added. 
The old pastures were likewise very full of grass, and showed 
that they had been equally well attended to. The herbage was 
very rich and full of clover. No cows could wish for'' more 
luxuriant grazing ground, nor need any greater stimulant for 
the production of milk, than Mr. Hill's were rejoicing in on the 
high ground just above the house. 
The cattle kept number about 60. Of these about 18 are cows 
in milk, and the remainder are their produce of various ages. Ail 
calves are reared, and the heifers are bred from and take the places 
of the older cows as they come into profit. The steers are fed 
off at three years of age. Thus every head of cow stock has 
been reared on the farm. It is hardly necessary to say that 
they are all " South Hammers," and that tho dairy cows show 
