( viii* ) 
lEssagS anJj ^^fportS—PRIZES FOR 1855.— All Prizes of the 
Royal Agricultural Society of England are open to general com- 
petition. Competitors will be expected to consider and discuss the 
heads enumerated. 
I. FARMING or BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 
Fifty Sovereigns will be given for the best Report on the Farming 
of Buckinghamshire. 
1. Geological divisions. 
2. Agricultural divisions of soil. 
3. Ordinary course of cropping. 
4. Best method of improving heavy clays. 
5. Changes, if any, which have taken place since the Itcport of the ReT. 
St. John Priest iu 1810. 
6. Changes still required. 
II. FARMING OF WARWICKSHIRE. 
Fifty Sovereigns will be given for the best Report on the Farming 
of Warwickshire. 
1. Geological divisions. 
2. Agricultural divisions of soil. 
3. Ordinary course of cropping. 
4. Best method of improving heavy clays. 
5. Changes, if any, which have taken place since the Eeport of Adam 
Murray in 1813. 
6. Changes still required. 
m. FERTILITY AND BARRENNESS OF SOILS. 
Forty Sovereigns will be given for the best Essay on the causes of 
Fertility and Barrenness in Soils so far as observation and 
science have hitherto enabled them to be ascertained. 
1. Mechanical distinctions of soils, as cohesiveness or porousness, coarse- 
ness or fineness of granulation, <Src. 
2. Chemical distinctions, with general account of the result of analyses 
hitherto made. 
3. Effect of depth of soil on vegetation. 
4. Warmth or coldness of soils. 
5. Suitableness of difl'erent soils to different crops. 
6. Necessity, or otherwise, for the presence of vegetable matter in soils. 
IV. ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 
Twenty Sovereigns will be given for the best Essay on Art 
ficial Manures and the principles of their application. 
Classes of Manukes. 
1. Manures mainly nitrogenous. 
2. Manures mainly phosphatic. 
3. Manures mainly alkaline. 
4. Manures mainly carbonaceous 
5. Mixed manures. 
Some 
