508 
Eeport on the Farm Prize Competition in 
strengthening properties, so that a new use for barley malt has 
been created, and it is steadily increasing. Hitherto a large 
proportion of the malt extracts sold in this country have been 
of foreign origin, chiefly American and German ; but recently 
large works equipped with machinery and plant of the latest 
and most approved type have been erected at Mistley in close 
proximity to the maltings of my firm, and the manufacture of 
extract is now being carried on there by the " Standard Malt 
Extract Company " from English malt of the. finest quality, and 
therefore under conditions which ought to render its product 
equal if not superior to anything of the kind at present in the 
market. 
This paper has already extended to greater length than I 
purposed at the outset, and it only remains for me to summarise 
the conclusions to which my remarks have tended, viz., 1. That 
the Repeal of the Malt Tax opened the door to foreign competi- 
tion in malting barley more widely than ever before. 2. That 
maltsters and brewers are rapidly adapting their appliances and 
practices to the changed conditions thus created. 3. That 
English farmers can still grow barley to a profit, but to accom- 
plish this it is essential that they should pay due attention to 
the selection of seed, that they should employ only the most 
approved methods of cultivation, and that they should exercise 
great care in regard to harvesting, thrashing, dressing, and 
storing the grain. 
It is not in any spirit of captious criticism that I have 
written, but my mind has been solely influenced by the desire 
to stimulate our growers to improve the quality of barley. By 
so doing they would increase the money return from the land, 
and at the same time confer a decided benefit on the brewing 
trade of the kingdom. 
XXVII. — Report on the Farm Prize Competition in Nottingham- 
shire and Lincolnshire in 1888; Class 1. By Fbederick I. 
Cooke, Flitcham Abbey, King's Lynn. 
It has been customary of recent years for the Local Committees 
appointed to make preparations for the annual country meetings 
of the Royal Agricultural Society to offer prizes for the best 
managed farms within a certain radius of the town where the 
Show is to be held. This example was followed by the Notting- 
ham Local Committee, who offered, in connection with the 
meeting of 1888, prizes amounting ija all to SCO guineas for the 
