632 Abstract Report of Agricultural Discussions; 
to seeds, which are folded off. Two plans may be followed, either to 
keep the ewes in close quarters, having a lamb-pen a-head, and shift- 
ing often twice a day, or else to let them lie back on the ground they 
have already cleared. The first plan is best for the keep in dry 
weather, but does not do so well for the ewes which have a better 
lodging when allowed more range. Still, by the first plan, land is 
evenly fed off and manured. Lambs must never lie back, as the young 
shoot of clover and ryegrass is sure to produce scour from its unripe 
state. Mangolds cut up in troughs for the ewes at this time will be 
very good food. The seeds should be mown, if possible, after being 
fed, even should the crop be light. This is more especially desirable 
when we have mixed seeds, clover, ryegrass, and hop trefoil. The sheep 
do not thrive nearly so well when feeding a second time over. The 
clover often disappears to a gi-eat extent, especially if it has been fed 
very hard. Mowing sweetens the surface, and the next time, if it be re- 
served for the lambs, the bite is good, and they do well. There is a 
difficulty with the seeds on much land. Clover will not grow every 
fourth year. Too much ryegrass, especially Italian, is injurious to 
the wheat crop, and is not always good food, being inclined to rank- 
ness on good soils. 
Mr. Ridley's System. 
The system practised by Mr. J. Ridley, of Damersham, Salisbury, 
on his light-land farm situated on the upper chalk, is worthy of notice. 
He farms strictly on the four-course shift, and sows broad clover 
alone only once in 12 years ; for the other layers he substitutes 16 lbs. 
of hop trefoil and 8 lbs. of white Dutch. The latter are principally, 
if not entirely, fed ; the very different habit of growth of the two 
plants is favoiu-able, as the trefoil affords an early feed, and the white 
Dutch is just in flower for feeding the second time. I am informed 
that his lambs are very superior to any in the neighbourhood. The 
cost of such a crop, about 10s. an acre, contrasts favom'ably with that 
of winter vetches, although the latter is an extra crop, which may be 
followed by good roots. I should have feared that such a large quan- 
tity of white clover would have scoured the lambs. A careful system 
of close feeding would be the best thing to prevent this. In our own. 
case we have found lambs thrive better on vetches than on seeds, 
and I have for some years weaned on vetches, leaving the ewc« on 
seeds, though some woiild think this objectionable. The customary 
practice is to leave the lambs where they -are, and remove the ewes, 
or, as in Wiltshire, leave both, merely separated by a double line of 
hm'dles. 
If by the use of straw, cither pulped or long, we can increase our 
winter keep in anything like the proportion I have named, wo shall 
want both seeds and vetches to carry us along through the spring and 
smnmer. 
Weaning and Dipping. 
Early weaning will be found generally desirable, say in the second 
or third week of May. Lambs that drop in February will then do 
