Report on the Farm-Prize Competition of 1872. 299 
has advanced the terms to his men about a shilling per week 
since the beginning of the year. 
In addition to these prices two quarts per day of cider, 
or beer, is allowed throughout the year to each man, and half 
that quantity to the older boys. In hay and corn-harvest the 
above quantities are considerably increased ; the common 
plan being to give beer in the forenoon, and cider, which 
is considered stronger, in the afternoon. In task- work, too 
— such as mowing, turnip-hoeing, &c. — a certain allowance 
of " drink " per acre is served out as the work proceeds. 
Artificial Food and Manures. — The amount annually expended 
in extraneous manures and feeding stuflFs on this farm is by no 
means extravagant ; a more liberal outlay, especially in con- 
centrated food, might, we consider, be advantageously adopted. 
Last year only three tons of cake w ere purchased, and this, with 
the value of home-grown grain consumed, amounted to 127/. Is. 9<f. 
Artificial manure, consisting of variously styled bone-manures, 
prepared by the leading firms, cost, in 1871, 137/. 2s. 6d. 
Buildings, Fences, Gates. — A somewhat old-fashioned, vet 
comfortable and conveniently . placed dwelling-house, built of 
the limestone furnished by the district, answers well every 
requirement of the tenant. Out-buildings, except barn-room, 
which is very ample, are, as we previously hinted, somewhat 
deficient. Built of stone, and mostly slated or tiled, what 
there are seem well fitted up and healthy. If asked for, more 
would at once be built by the landlord ; but, with such a highly 
remunerative price as is obtainable foi straw, Mr. Parsons is 
indifferent in the matter. 
Fences are mostly well-kept and orderlv. Thev are com- 
monly slashed twice during the year ; the first trimming, usu- 
ally given during June, costing \0d., and the second, generally 
in September, %d. per 20 perches (6 vards to the perch). Cutting, 
laying, and casting an old fence costs about &d. per perch. 
Gates, made of wood, are in good condition. They are sup- 
plied by the landlord, and kept in repair and painted by the 
tenant, who also finds wooden posts. 
In concluding our description of the second-prize farm, we 
would observe that, while Mr. Parsons does not profess to be a 
model farmer, he is most methodical and painstaking in everv- 
thing he does. By dint only of the closest industrv, economical 
management, and assiduous attention to every detail of his 
farming operations, is he enabled both to pay a large rent and 
to live comfortably. His sheep-stock are both numerous and 
excellent, while his cattle are quite an average of the district. 
His grass-land is fairlv managed ; his com crops are clean and 
uniformly good ; his fallow-land well tilled, and, considering the 
