544 Somersetshire Farm-Prize Competition, 1875. 
Soil. — The bottom portion of the farm is a red loamy soil of a 
very retentive character, the upper part being much lighter in 
nature, and more of hill-pasture character. The subsoil of the 
lower farm is chiefly clay, but occasionally seams of gravel are 
found intersecting it. 
Climate. — The climate is variable, and the rainfall excessive. 
The INIendips are extremely steep on the Oubley side, and the 
flat district below the farm is consequently much exposed to 
floods in the winter and in wet seasons. 
Tenure.- — The tenure is from year to year, commencing, for 
the most part, at Michaelmas, and terminable by a six months' 
notice to quit. A portion of the land, however, not originally 
taken with the holding, is held on the same terms from Christmas 
to Christmas, and ^another small section recently occupied, from, 
Lady Day to Lady Day. The agreement admits of no tenant- 
right, but the payment of land and property-tax by the tenant 
is made a sine qua non. The local customs are much the same 
as on jNIr. Gibbons's farm. 
House and Buildings. — The house and dairy premises are 
justly described in Mr. Little's accompanying Report, and may 
be characterised as being as bad as it is possible to conceive. 
The buildings are also totally inadequate for the holding. 
They are stone erections, partly thatched and partly tiled, 
inconveniently arranged, and insufficient to give house room 
for the dairy cows and pigs. There is a small stable ; cow- 
ties for about half the cows kept ; a chaff-room fitted with a 
chaff-cutter and a pulper, worked by one-horse-power machinery ; 
a cow-house converted into a piggery, over which is a meaL 
store-room ; an outhouse for preparing food for the pigs, into- 
which the whey is pumped from the dairy by means of a force- 
pump ; a carthouse, and a cider-room. The stackyard is at 
the back of the buildings, and has been extended and levelled 
at considerable expense by the tenant. The walled garden 
is behind the house, and the neatly stacked wood-piles and 
the orchard extend still further to the rear. The orchard pro- 
duces on an average some 50 hogsheads of cider yearly. The 
overflow of the yards is conveyed across an occupation road by 
means of open wooden troughs into the meadow at the back of 
the buildings. 
The farm is much scattered, and the fields are irregular, and 
in many instances detached. 
Grass Land. — The grass land is not naturally very fertile ; 
but the appearance of the pastures has been considerably im- 
proved by the removal of superfluous fences and irregularities, 
and the filling up of unnecessary ditches. Some under-drainage 
has also been done, the landlord charging a moderate interest on 
