Report on the Farm-Prize Competition of 1872, 293 
when under 3 years old, 33/. 10.*. The young stock, rising 
2 years old, are all wintered in the fold-yards, and are fed on 
whole roots and barley straw up to February : afterwards a 
little rough hay, if it can be spared, is given in place of the 
straw. Oat straw, as used on the first-prize farm, would 
be useful at this time, but, from some cause, as yet unex- 
plained, oats cannot be advantageously grown at Slough. Be- 
sides home-bred cattle Mr. Parsons purchases, every autumn, 
as many additional feeding and store beasts as he considers that 
he requires, and either fattens them, or sells them off in the spring 
to large graziers. 
Sheep. — Sheep on this farm, besides being numerous, are a very 
superior lot, and the management of them is highly creditable. 
They are pure Cotswolds, f.nd great care is exercised in selecting 
the ewe-stock, as also in the purchase of rams. The flocks of 
Messrs. Handy, Gillett, Hewer, and other famous breeders in 
Gloucestershire, furnish Mr. Parsons with rams of the right stamp, 
and the results justify the payment of high prices in order to 
secure a heavy fleece, aptitude to fatten, sound constitution, 
large size, light offal, and pure breed. Before going to ram, 
the youngest of the ewes, and the best of the theaves (shear- 
lings), say 100 of the former and 60 of the latter, are put, for 
two or three weeks, upon the clover eddishes. About the 25th 
of September they are divided into three lots, and carefully 
sorted according to wool, size, and outline. A ram, suited to 
the ewes given him, or, we ought to say, calculated, by means of 
his good points, to correct any defects they exhibit, is then 
placed with each lot, and by this method the flock is main- 
tained pure, and remarkably uniform. Of the 161 ewes kept 
for stores last autumn only 1 died during the whole winter, 
S were barren, and the remaining 157 had following them, on 
the 1st of May, 212 lambs. When 5 or 6 weeks old the ram 
iambs are castrated, the shepherd himself performing the ope- 
ration, and generally without any loss. About the middle of 
June the whole are weaned, dipped, and run on the clovers, 
getting a little linseed cake, say ;^ to ^ a lb. each daily, 
until they go to turnips. Immediately before corn harvest, the 
whole of the sheep, including both lambs and ewes, are dipped, 
and this for the most part puts them safely through the busy 
season, preventing the attacks of fly and destroying parasites. 
Between the 20th and the end of September the lambs are put 
upon common white, and afterwards upon yellow turnips, cut, 
with a liberal allowance of unchopped clover hay. When they 
have become accustomed to this change of food, 60 or 65 of the 
best ewe lambs are taken out for stock purposes, and are deprived 
of the cake diet, but are, in other respects, fed like their neigh- 
