582 Somersetshire Farm-Prize Competition, 1875. 
grass had not been mown, a definite comparison could not be 
drawn. 
One plot was top-dressed with 50s. worth of Proctor and 
Ryland's grass-manure. Another with 50s. worth of mixture 
recommended by Mr. Thompson in his essay on the ' Manage- 
ment of Grass Land;' and another with 1 cwt. of nitrate of 
soda, 2 cwt. of kainit, and 4 cwt. bone superphosphate. 
The fields adjoining the bottom brook are usually kept for 
hay ; but it is not an invariable custom to mow the same land 
annually. Top-dressing with soil and lime is to some extent 
resorted to, but irrigation is the principal resource relied upon 
for sustaining and improving the condition of the grass. A 
large outlay has been made by the tenant in levelling and other- 
wise preparing the meadows for irrigation. 
Arable Land. — The arable land is, generally speaking, very 
heavy. It is cultivated much on a four-course system, but 
without adhering rigidly to the rotation. The rotation some- 
times runs — 
Roots, Wheat, I ^1121'"^ Wheat. 
Barley is not often sown, and does not seem to do well on this 
soil. This season, as in many other places, the drought of last 
summer had here caused a deviation from the usual mode of 
procedure. The young seeds having partly failed, a portion 
of the old leys had been left down, and barley sown after wheat. 
Trifolium incarnatum and vetches are sown on about a third of 
the stubbles, and followed with common turnips, put in about 
the middle of July. 
Man(jolds.-—Y e\\o\f Globe are grown, and, as is also the case 
with the other roots, are sown on the flat. The drill is arranged 
to place the rows 22 inches and 18 inches apart alternately, 
the object being to facilitate hoeing with a triple-footed horse- 
hoe, the horse being made when performing that work to walk 
up the wide drill. 6 cwt. of bone superphosphate per acre 
is applied for all roots, and in addition farmyard-manure is 
ploughed-in for the mangold crop. 
Wheat. — The White thick-set Essex variety of wheat is grown, 
and it is Mr. Davis's custom to top-dress it in the spring with 
1 cwt. of nitrate of soda and 2 cwt. of salt per acre. 
Acreage under respective crops this year : — 
Wheat 50 acres. 
Barley 10 „ 
Beans 5 „ 
First year's seeds . . 19 „ 
Second year's seeds . . 26 „ 
