Somersetshire Farm-Prize Competition, 1875. 585 
The soil is of two distinct descriptions : — 
1st. The alluvial deposit of the marshland. 
2nd. A strong loam of a retentive character upon the new 
red marl on the higher part of the farm above the marshy 
deposits. 
The tenancy of the rented portion is a yearly occupation from 
Michaelmas to Michaelmas, but 50 acres of the occupation are the 
property of Mr. Hembrow. The house is a fine old ecclesiastic 
I edifice, partially surrounded by an ancient moat. The thatched 
buildings are by no means commodious. The drainage from 
^ the yards runs into the moat, and is carried thence by means of 
a ditch to a meadow beyond. 
Grass Land. — Most of the pastures are in the marshes, where 
the alluvial deposit is some 6 feet in depth. The water is not 
perfectly removed, otherwise this grass land would rank in the 
first order of pasturage. As it is, it will feed, and it carries, 
large quantities of stock of all descriptions in the summer 
months. It is never manured, and its capacity has not been 
found to decline from constant grazing and mowing. A goodly 
proportion of hay is secured from it from year to year, and it 
proves a useful auxiliary to the upper part of the farm in every 
way. The pasturage round the house is good, but quite different 
in its nature from the marshes. No rule exists as to always 
mowing the same fields. 
Arable Land. — The arable land is chiefly confined to the 
higher parts of the farm. It is a strong red soil of a retentive 
character. The subsoil is clay with occasional veins of gravel. 
* A seven-course rotation is adopted — 
Roots, Wheat, 
Barley, Beans, 
Seeds, Wheat, 
Seeds, 
The clovers are sometimes left only one year, when a larger 
proportion of cereal and leguminous crops is taken. 
I The farmyard-manure is applied for wheat and beans, and 
the latter are planted 20 inches apart for horse-hoeing and 
thorough cleaning. Nothing but broad clover is sown for 
seeds, and they are always mown once, and not infrequently let 
up again and harvested for clover seed. 
The acreage in roots is small, from 7 to 10 acres. It is 
divided into four sections. The stubbles are fallowed and left 
I bare on two of them for mangolds and early swedes ; one is 
devoted to the growth of a couple of acres of trifolium, and the 
other enables a small breadth of vetches to be secured. Common 
turnips follow trifolium and vetches, and are sown on the flat 
VOL. XI.— S. S. 2 Q 
