7-4 
Report on the Farm Prize Competition 
beliind, beaten clay floors in front, and brick at the back. Tlie 
mangers are also of brick, sloping from the four sides to the 
centre, and there are ventilators through the walls in front of 
each animal. Next there is a loose box, with room for three 
cows ; then a four-stalled stable, and a mixing-house, with 
a granaxy above. On the opposite side is a cow-house, with ac- 
commodation for sixteen animals ; then a small compartment for 
two, convertible into a loose box or a calving shed, and a thiz'd 
house for eight head of cattle. All the premises, including the 
cow-houses, are lighted with gas, brought from Nottingham, 
which the tenant regards as a great convenience. On the 
occasion of our visits the buildings presented unmistakable 
signs of being kept in excellent order. All the buildings, doors, 
and gates had been recently painted at the joint expense of 
landlord and tenant. This was, with one exception, the only 
instance which came under the notice of the Judges in which 
the landlord gave assistance in such work, and it manifested the 
good feeling which exists in this case. 
The farm was thoroughly well cultivated, not a bit of couch- 
grass visible, fences clean, neat, and in admirable order, with 
a general aspect of careful attention to every detail. The 
stock was good, and large in number for the size of the farm, 
and a special feature was the gi'eat profit derived from that 
bi'anch, the hondjide character of which the Judges were allowed 
the most ample opportunities of verifying. Accounts are kept 
in a style of careful accuracy that might be imitated with advan- 
tage by many a large farmer. The subject of farm-booking, 
indeed, cannot fail to impress itself upon the minds of those who 
undertake the adjudication of prizes on conditions the foremost of 
which is "the management with a view to profit." In many 
cases the difficulty of a decision was necessarily increased by the 
inadequacy of the data available for forming an opinion on this 
important point. It would not be too much to say that in some 
instances the competitors had probably never before known 
their own financial position so clearly as they did under the 
pressure imposed by the Society's conditions for some accurate 
statements respecting it. It is unnecessary to say that the 
Judges, in pursuance of their duty, satisfied themselves upon this 
point in every case ; but it may certainly be said that they found 
it much easier to do so on some farms than on others. In Mr. 
Shelton's case their difficulty was minimised. The pity is that 
it should be at all exceptional. The casual way in which the 
accounts of agricultural undertakings, involving perhaps some 
thousands of pounds per annum, are kept would be inconceiv- 
able if it were not so common. A sound system of book-keeping 
