( ) 
lEssayS anir IKeportS.— PRIZES FOR 1863.— AU Prizes of the 
Royal Agriciiltural Society of England are open to general com- 
petition. Competitors will be expected to consider and discuss the 
heads enmnerated. 
I. AGRICULTURE OF STArFORD SHIRE. 
Fifty Sovereigns will be given for the best Report on the 
Agriculture of Staffordshire. 
The principal geological and physical features of the county should be 
described ; the nature of the Soil and character of the Farming in its 
different districts or natural divisions ; its Live Stock ; Implements ; 
recent changes of Farm Management ; Improvements lately intro- 
duced and still required ; remarkable or characteristic Farms ; the 
influences exercised by neighbouring mines and factories on the 
cropping of the soil, the value of land, the rate of prices and wages, 
and on the demand for timber, and consequently on the profitable 
management of woods and plantations. 
n. BREEDING OF HUNTERS AND ROADSTERS, 
T\^NTY-FivE Sovereigns will be given for an approved Essay on 
the Breeding of Hunters and Roadsters. 
ni. RESULTS OF STEAM CULTIVATION. 
Twenty-five Sovereigns will be given for the best Essay on the 
Results of Steam Cultivation. 
The following points must be considered : — 
1. The Percolation of Water: 
Whether a more rapid escape of surface water on strong soils has 
been observed. 
2. Texture of the soil : 
Whether a deeper and more perfect tilth has been obtained. 
3. Crops: 
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