318 Report on the Farm-Prize Cmnpetition, 1871. 
with a scarifier tlrawn by two horses, the tines entering the soil 
about 6 inches deep ; the ridges are afterwards split, and thus a 
deep and thoroughly pulverised seed-bed is prepared for the 
roots. One-third of the turnips are consumed on the land ; the 
remainder, as well as the mangolds, are carted to the homestead. 
The practice of thick-seeding for cereals is upheld : barley is sown 
at the rate of 3^ bushels, wheat 3 bushels, to the acre ; the reason 
given is, that good land, highly cultivated, requires more seed, 
in order that the straw may be short and less flaggy, the produce, 
in consequence, being more certain. No variation in the mixture 
of artificial grasses is required, as clovers can be depended upon. 
The mixture commonly used consists of 3 lbs. of cow-grass, 
3 lbs, of red, 3 lbs. of white, 1 lb. of trefoil, and 2 pecks of 
Italian rye-grass to the acre, the latter being occasionally drilled 
with the barley. The foldyard manure is invariably applied 
direct from the yards on the young seeds, as soon as possible 
after the barley-crop has been harvested : a practice which we 
consider highly scientific, inasmuch as the clover roots, which 
form so essential a source of food for the following wheat crop, are 
greatly increased, and at the same time the sheep keep is much 
improved. Occasionally (both to check slug and to strengthen 
the straw) 3 tons of lime, at a cost of 10s. per ton, are applied to 
the clover-ley previous to ploughing for wheat. 
From 70 to 80 beasts, chiefly purchased, are fed annually : 
half on grass without cake, and the remainder, which come in 
the autumn (after running on the pastures till November), are tied 
up and fed with sliced turnips ad lihituvi, chopped hay and 
straAv, and artificial food, varying from 1 lb. of cake and 4 lbs. 
of barley-meal up to January ; from that time to May, 2 lbs. of 
cake and 5 lbs. of meal — not a high diet, and as a consequence 
the process is slow. Probably the production of a very rich 
description of manure is not requisite on account of the unusual 
fertility of the soil. 
A breeding flock of 150 Shropshire-down ewes is kept; the 
produce, together with from 80 to 100 purchased shearlings, are 
fed-off, the management being liberal, but offering no special 
feature deserving notice. The bill for artificial manures and 
feeding-stuffs is under 500?. Six horses work the farm, and are 
of a very superior character; Indian corn and bran, with cut 
hay and straw, form their food during the winter and working 
seasons, in summer they are turned out to grass. 
The corn-crops, from their luxuriance, are so frequently laid 
and twisted, that Mr. Brewster doubts the practical use of ma- 
chinery. He movvs and ties his wheat at a cost of from 85. to 
lis. per acre. The barley is mown outswathe, at 3s. per acre, 
and carried loose. The whole of the harvest work is done by 
Mr. Brewster's regular hands, who are employed during the 
