508 
Report of the Judges on the 
Me. Richard Finney's Faem. 
Highly Commended — Class I. 
Hemington is ;i pretty village lying sheltered in a little valley 
between Kegworth and Castle Donington. At the latter place, 
and at Melbourne, near to it, many hands are engaged in 
market-gardening ; among other crops acres of quick (white- 
thorn) and cabbage-plants, chiefly Drumhead, are yearly raised. 
The populous villages of Sawley and Long Eaton are also within 
a few miles. The women of these villages rarely work on the 
farms, as they can earn more at home ; and we saw them gathered 
about the doors, "seaming" hose, "clipping" or "mending" 
lace, — work that they get from neighbouring factories. Children 
are also employed "beading" and "seaming" at home, and 
many go daily to the factories. A small stream, which is not 
polluted with sewage, runs by the side of the road through the 
village, and adds to the pleasantness of the place. On a rising 
ground is an old ruined church, which looks as if it had never 
been completed, and in the village are well-built modern public 
schools. Castle Donington station is only about half a mile 
away, but it cannot be reached by road under 2 miles' drive. 
This is so great an inconvenience, especially for those who 
twice daily send milk to the station, that a public road is about 
to be made across a field in the occupation of Mr. Finney, 
which will give the needed accommodation. 
Mr. Finney's house is 9 miles from Derby, but some of his 
farm may be much nearer, as it is quite 4 miles from end to 
end, reaching from the Trent, by Sawley Bridge, in Derby- 
shire, to the hills east of Castle Donington, in Leicestershire. 
The farm is in several detached lots, which increases the diffi- 
culty of personal superintendence. There are 180 acres of 
arable land and 240 acres of grass ; moderately light to heavy, 
lying mostly on a gravel or clay subsoil. Part of it is owned 
by Sir J. H. Crewe, of Calke Abbey, on which Mr. Finney 
entered in 1866; and part belongs to N. C. Curzon, Esq., 
Lockington Hall, Derby. Of this Mr. Finney became tenant 
in 1877. The land nearest to the Trent, both arable and 
pasture, was repeatedly flooded during last winter. Some 
damage was done to the wheat, and much to the grass-land ; for 
on this farm, as on all we inspected, grass-land had greatly 
deteriorated within the last three or four years. Nearly all the 
finer grasses are gone, and until they are again present the 
land will not, unassisted, keep so much stock, neither will it 
make so much milk or meat as it did before the wet seasons. 
