524 
The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 
The food comprises meal of various kinds soaked in whey. 
The troughs and feeding shoots of Staffordshire ware are clean, 
convenient, and economical of food. 
A small flock of well-bred Shropshire sheep and their fol- 
lowers are kept as accessory to the dairy, which is the great 
business of the farm. In January we found 38 ewes and 28 ewe- 
lambs, the latter having been served. The character of these 
sheep was very good. They were on grass, getting ^ a lb. of 
cake. There were also 35 tup-lambs (from which the best had 
been sold in the autumn for breeding purposes) intended for the 
butcher, which we found folded on the turnip-field and gnawing 
the roots, and getting the extraordinary allowance of 1^ lbs. of 
cake and peas with hay. This was the only weak feature of the 
management. It must be false economy to make lambs that are 
shedding their teeth gnaw swedes ; either they would not do so 
well, or they might do better with less food if the roots were 
cut. When this was pointed out, !Mr. Nunnerley at once 
recognised the force of our objection, and altered his practice, 
with decided advantage to his sheep. At our second visit we 
found 61 ewes and 74 lambs. Twenty of the shearlings had 
proved in lamb, and jMr. Nunnerley was in favour of the 
innovation, which, with his liberal treatment, will no doubt 
answer. Not only is there a decided gain in having production 
fowarded a year, but it is probable that the young ewes will do 
better the second year. Besides a good pasture, mangolds were 
supplied, and IJ lbs. of artificial food per ewe, consisting of a 
mixture of linseed-cake, undecorticated cotton-cake, Indian corn, 
and rice-meal. This liberal supply was slightly increased as the 
lambs commenced to eat. Considering the large allowance of 
artificial food, the lambs were not so big or so forward as might 
have been expected, and Mr. Nunnerley thinks that oats instead 
of Indian corn would have done the lambs better, which we 
should think probable. 
The 60 acres of arable land are farmed mainly on a four- 
course shift, and the maximum produce of which the land is 
capable by good cultivation and high manuring obtained. 
The following are the yield of various crops per acre : — 
1882. 1883. 
Wheat 28 bu. of 75 lbs. = 35 bn. of 60 lbs. 
Barley 30 bu. of 70 lbs. = 37 J bu. of 56 lbs. 
Oats 45 bu. of 50 lbs. = 53f bu. of 42 lbs. 
Potatoes 9 tons. 
Mangolds 22 tons. 
Swedes 20 tons. 
Green Globes 19 tons. 
Wheat 35 bu. of 75 lbs. = 43f bu. of 60 lbs. 
Barley 30 bu. of 70 lbs. = 37 J bu. of 56 lbs. 
None grown. 
Potatoes 11 tons. 
Mangolds 28 tons.) 
Swedes 20 tons. 
Green Globes 22 tons. 
The seeds, from Messrs. James Dickson and Sons, of Chester, 
generally remain down for one year only. The usual mixture 
