Derby Prize-Farm Competition, 1881. 495 
The milk is sold to a London Dairy Company, of which 
Mr. Stretton is one of the two chief proprietors. Thus he j^ets 
the large profit of the London retailer as well as that of the 
producer, and he is to be congratulated on the successful 
working out of the theory that the producer should sell to the 
consumer. 
The price obtained from the Company is Is. IQd. per bam 
gallon (17 pints) from October to April, and Is. Id. from April 
to October, the sender paying '2d. per " barn " carriage. The 
milk is cooled in Lawrence's refrigerator, and sent morning and 
evening from Barton and Walton station by the Midland 
Railway Company. 
When milk is abundant in May and June some cheese and 
butter are made. The average amount received per annum for 
cheese in the last three years was 220/., and for butter 128/. 
For milk it is much larger, being an average of 1218/. In the 
past year 28 cows cast their calves, this was of course a serious- 
loss. In looking for the probable cause some ergot was found 
in the pastures, and might be responsible for some of the 
mischief, but it must be injurious to in-calf cows to have to 
labour through the wet heavy yards as they have to do all 
winter to get from the inconvenient cow-sheds to the poor 
drinking accommodation outside. Improvement here is greatly 
needed. There were 51 cows in milk in December in the 
wretched wet yards and miserable cowsheds which are to be 
found on this holding ; no competitor, and we hope no farmer 
<m this side the Irish Channel, is so badly off for farm buildings- 
as Mr. Stretton ; it is impossible to make the best of fodder, 
cattle, or manure with such primitive appliances as are here 
provided by the landowner for his excellent tenant. 
At the subsequent inspections a larger number of cows were 
in milk, and their condition was greatly improved ; Mr. Stretton 
explained that in the autumn they looked worse than usual, 
because their food had been destroyed. A large breadth. 
(88 acres) of most excellent aftermath was turned into, and 
within three days the swollen Trent rolled over the whole, and 
in December we saw it lying prone and useless in the meadows.. 
There were in December but 4 waggon-loads of good hay, all 
the other had been sanded and spoiled by water. The labour 
bill and the cost of the cattle's keep must have been greatly 
increased by these disastrous floods. 
Sheep. — There is here an excellent flock of sheep, not fancy 
sheep, but real rent-payers. They are of the Shropshire breed, 
and of excellent quality ; most of them have been bred on 
the farm, well-bred sires having been used ; the four rams 
we saw were from the flocks of Clare, Bradburn, Graham, 
