470 Report upon the Liverpool Prize-Farm Competition 
grown after beans, the beans grown after grass. The usual 
practice is to take oats after the grass, then beans to follow the 
oats ; but this system has been reversed with wonderful success. 
Of course, this system can only be practised on land which is 
thoroughly clean. The mixture of clover-seed with rye-grass 
used by Mrs. Birch, per acre, was, red clover, 7 lbs. ; alsike, 
4 lbs. ; rib-grass, 1 lb. ; white clover, 2 lbs. ; 15 lbs. in all, with 
^ bushel of perennial and the same of Italian rye-grass. 
The rotation on this farm is, 1st, roots ; 2nd, wheat or barley ; 
3rd, barley or oats ; 4th, seeds ; which lie two years, sometimes 
three. The Judges were much struck with the high cultivation 
of this farm ; and it did not require a very practised eye to see 
that it had been for a long time under the best management. Th.3 
fields did not wear the look of having put on a holiday attire 
for a single year, but told a tale of the culture of years. During 
the occupancy of Mrs. Birch and her late husband, 30 lineal 
miles of drains have been laid down, with open tiles on slate 
soles, the landlord paying half of the expense of the materials. 
In 1848 the late Mr. Birch was awarded a premium for laying 
19 miles of drains, and also gained a premium for eradicating 
4866 yards of old fences, and in destroying, at his own expense, 
the old fences, clearing waste land and fdling up pits. He thus 
obtained 8 acres of land which is cultivated, and planted 3188 
yards of young hedges. How pleasing would it be to this 
pioneer of agriculture could he now see the results of his labour. 
They tell of the honesty of the soil, which in time will always 
repay judicious outlay ; and they also bear testimony to a 
system of hereditary tenure most honourable to the Sefton 
estate ; and, above all, how gratifying to Mrs. Birch to occupy 
the proud position she now holds, and to reap the reward 
of the enterprise and skill of her late husband, while she sees 
the fruits of them continue to improve under the management 
of her son ! 
Stand Farm, near Croxteth Park, 6 miles S.E. of Liverpool, 
which obtained the second place in this class, and was awarded 
a Gold Medal by the Local Committee, is the property of Lord 
Sefton, and is occupied by Mr. John Wright, under yearly 
tenure. 
This farm is a much more difficult one to manage than 
Netherton. There is a much greater variety of soil, some being 
very light and some very heavy. The subsoil is clay and rock. 
The farm adjoins Lord Sefton's residence, Croxteth Hall. It 
is not my province here to touch upon the game question, that 
being a matter of arrangement between landlord and tenant ; 
but some of the fields suffered to some extent from their proximity 
to the game preserves. The woods which surround these fields 
