Somersetshire Farm-Prize Competition, 1875. 561 
double couples are allowed 1 lb. of mixed cake per bead per 
diem till the Iambs are weaned, and hay is given in wet weather. 
I After lambing they get about equal quantities of mangolds and 
turnips or swedes, the former being hauled on the pastures. The 
Upper Park (77 acres) is drawn on September 10th, and pre- 
served for ewes and lambs, the ewes being hurdled in, and the 
lambs running forward on the young grass through lamb- 
hurdles. The flock is clipped about the end of May, and 
fleeces avei-age for ewes 5 J lbs. and lambs 2f lbs. About 100 
hoggs or off-ewes are bought-in in April, and fed off in the course 
of the summer after shearing. The Dorsets are thought to be 
hardy, are good nurses, and well adapted for close folding. 
Fences, Roads, and General Neatness. — The turnpike-road 
intersects the arable part of the farm, and the park-drive runs 
a long distance through the grass land, so that very little is 
necessary on Mr. Hosegood's part in keeping up roads. The 
fences are principally quick, and neatly banked up ; they are 
closely trimmed along the turnpike-road and between the arable 
fields, but, being badly formed, have a tendency to be open at the 
bottom. The hedges in the lower meadows are rough. The 
general neatness of every portion of the farm is unexception- 
able. 
Manures, Sfc. — Seven years' average of manures per annum : 
Salt, 20/. ; lime, 20/. ; soot, 20Z. . . = 60/. 
Superphosphate of lime . | 108/ 
Nitrate of soda . . . > • • • 
Food. — Seven years' average of food purchased is equal to 
502/. 13s. per annum., beginning with 400/., and increasing to 
: 750/. a-vear. The relative cheapness of the different descriptions 
of corn ffuides Mr. Hoseerood in his selection and method of 
mixing, but he prefers a combination of maize, beans, barley, 
cotton- and oil-cake, bran and lentils, and peas. This year 
600 bushels of home-grown wheat and foreign barley have been 
consumed. 
Cottages, Labour, and Wages. — There are 10 cottages let with 
the farm, and they are all entirely under Mr. Hocegood's control, 
which he considers necessary to enable him, in any way suc- 
cessfully, to carry out such a system of husbandry as he pursues. 
They are principally neatly thatched, and are better than the 
average of the county. Most of them contain five rooms, and 
I they have good gardens. The rents are Is. per week. Wages 
: are a good deal supplemented by perquisites, both on this farm 
f and throughout the district. Mr. Hosegood advocates payment 
■ in coin instead of giving cider, and has proposed in its place 
an additional payment of Is. 6c?. per week, but up to the present 
