552 
The Berkshire Farm Prize Competition, 1882. 
of so large a number as that reared and kept on the farm, were 
points greatly in Mr. Adams' favour. 
The general excellence of the crops and the indomitable 
energy and skill displayed in the conduct of such a large under- 
taking and in developing its resources, clearly pointed to 
Mr. Adams as deserving of high recognition : we therefore 
unanimously awarded him the Second Prize of 50/. 
Extra Prize, Class 1. 
Mr. Jenhin Davies, Wichcroft Farm, Englejield, Reading. 
Richard Benyon, Esq., of Englefield House, is the owner of 
this farm, which is distant 5^ miles west of Reading, consists of 
219 acres of arable, and 104 of grass-land, and extends for 
two miles by the roadside leading from Newbury to Pang- 
bourne. Part of the land is bounded on the east by " Dead 
Man's Lane," where Prince Rupert fell upon the retiring army 
under Essex, the day after the first Battle of Newbury, and 
inflicted fearful slaughter. 
The nature of the soil is light, with a subsoil of gravel. 
The tenancy is a yearly one, with the Agricultural Holdings 
Act barred by the landlord. 
Mr. Davies adopts the following system of cropping: — 
1. Wheat. 
2. Barley, and occasionally part rye. 
3. One-fourth rye and three-fourths winter-tares, all used green, 
with part being cut for horses and cattle, the remainder fed off 
sheep, then sown with swedes and turnips. 
4. Oats and grass-seeds sown. 
5. Grass-seeds, first crop cut for hay, and afterwards fed. 
6. Grass-seeds, second year, treated as before. 
7. Barley. 
8. Two-thirds mangolds, including an acre of potatoes ; one- 
third peas ; then mustard, folded off ; and afterwards dunged 
for wheat. 
When straw is likely to run short, part of No. 2 is sown with 
rye for a crop, the straw from which can be made available for 
thatching the other corn. 
Oats are sown after roots, as Mr. Davies finds the grass-seeds 
make barley difficult to harvest, and oats suffer much less from 
standing longer in the field after being cut. Grass is left down 
a second year because it is a cheap crop, and the land is im- 
proved by the extra folding. Barley is grown for the seventh 
crop, without grass seeds, and is then readily harvested in ordi- 
nary seasons. 
