40 
Report on the Farm Prize Competition 
wheat area, which had diminished previous to 1881, and was 
then 22,537 acres, has become still more circumscribed, and in 
1887 there were only 1G,787 acres, though there was a rise to 
20,207 in the year following. The cultivation of oats had 
extended previous to 1881, when the crop covered 26,927 acres ; 
in 1887 there were 28,794 acres, showing another, though not a 
large, increase ; but in 1888 there was a decrease of 1,393 acres. 
Of barley, beans, and peas there has been a large reduction. 
Green crops covered 21,829 acres in 1887 — an increase of 
865 since 1881, but 2,739 less than in 1871 ; in 1888, there 
was a decrease of 160 acres. Turnips and swedes have in- 
creased since 1871 ; mangold shows little change; but there is 
a decrease in potatoes, cabbage, kohl rabi, and rape, and likewise 
in vetches. 
Some land in recent years has been laid down in permanent 
pasture ; not much, if any, is laid down without a grain-crop. 
The course usually adopted is to have the land well drained 
where necessary, to clean it thoroughly, manure it well, and 
then sow the seeds with wheat or barley, the grain-crop not 
too thick. Grass- seeds are usually bought from well-known 
seed establishments, and farmers, as a rule, now leave it in a 
great measure to the various seedsmen to select suitable grasses 
for their soils. 
Ensilage has, during the past three years, attracted some 
attention ; but comparatively few farmers in Derbyshire believe 
there is any profit derived from making it, except in very wet 
seasons, and it has been hitherto made chiefly, if not exclusively, 
by the landlords. The various modes of making ensilage 
are watched with interest by the tenants. The Agricultural 
Returns would appear to indicate that the making of ensilage is 
decreasing. In 1887 the number of silos in Derbyshire was 
65, with an average capacity of 2,771 cubic feet ; in 1888 they 
numbered only 60, with 2,811 cubic feet average capacity. 
The number of persons proposing to make ensilage in stacks 
was returned as 40 in 1887, but only 30 in the year following. 
It is scarcely needful to point out that the apparent decrease in 
the making of ensilage during 1888 is illusory. It is notorious 
that the number of silage stacks made during the past sum- 
mer in all parts of the country was, owing to the difficulty 
of saving the hay crop, very considerably larger than in any 
previous year. There is no doubt that this general tendency 
was apparent in Derbyshire as well as in other counties. The 
reason, of course, why this increased silage-making is not shown 
in the Agricultural Returns is that the statistics are collected 
at the beginning of June, at which date comparatively few 
