548 
The Farm Prize Oor/ljpetition 0/ 1891. 
potatoes are grown, of higli quality, and much liked in the 
London markets. Such immense sums are spent in manure, 
both natural and artificial, and so great are the pains taken in 
the working of this land, that market-gardening would be a 
more appropriate term than farming. 
The large growers plant as many as 300 to 400 acres, some 
of them having their land absolutely clean, besides producing 
such crops of wheat and clover after the potatoes as can scarcely 
be equalled in any other district. Had the best of these holdings 
been entered, they would have certainly come to the fore in the 
competition. 
The greater portion of this land has been artificially warped 
by turning the muddy tidal waters of the Trent or Ouse upon 
the land. In some cases many feet of alluvium are deposited 
in the course of two or three years, the usual time taken for this 
operation. 
Contrary to what a stranger would expect, large floods 
coming down from the upper reaches of the rivers only tend to 
dilute the water, and reduce the quantity of warp, which is 
deposited much more freely in dry summers. 
The Judges found, even on their first visit of inspection, that 
many pieces of land had been sown down to grass, generally on 
the stronger farms, or on the heavier portion of them, but in only 
a few instances had any attempt been made to use proper mixtures 
of grass seeds. In reply to queries on this matter, the answer 
usually was that one or two quarters of Penistone hay-seed had 
been sown, with perhaps 7 or 8 lb. of mixed clover. The term 
Penistone hay-seed in Yorkshire means the sweeping up of the 
seeds from the bottom of hay barns, &c., and it is but fair to say 
that it was at least a debatable point whether these or the 
advertised prescriptions resulted in the best permanent pasture. 
Very good swedes were noticed on several of the farms, one 
hundred grown by Mr. Hutchinson weighing about 9i cwt. 
In a few cases on the Prize Farms great judgment was 
shoAvn in the selection of manures containing the elements due 
to each variety of crop, the very requisite analysis also being 
often obtained to check the value of the bulk on arrival. 
In many instances the Judges feared that much money had 
been needlessly thrown away, by the misapplication of most 
expensive fertilisers, and by their purchase under the vague 
term of "Special" or some similar description, without the 
least guarantee being given or asked as to their probable ingre- 
dients, or their suitability for the crop. 
Two little-known manures were met with, and were in each 
case used in very large quantities ; they were strange to the 
