252 
Report on the Farm-Prize Competition, 1870. 
the towns of Reading, Wantage, Lechlade, Stow-on-the-Wold, 
Banbury, Backingham, Aylesbury, Great Marlow, and back to 
Reading. Having communicated his wishes and intentions to 
the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society, they at once 
undertook to nominate the Judges and to settle the conditions of 
competition, and also agreed to offer a second prize of 50?. 
for the second best-managed farm among those which should 
compete. 
These preliminaries having been airanged, my colleagues (Mr. 
W. Torr, of Aylesby Manor, near Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire, 
and Mr. T. Gibbons, of Burnfoot-on-Esk, Longtown, Cumber- 
land) and myself were requested by the Council to undertake the 
inspection of the 21 competing farms, and to award the prizes 
under the following conditions : — 
1. " General management with a view to profit." 
2. " Productiveness of crops." 
3. " Goodness and suitability of live stock." 
4. " Management of grass-land." 
5. " State of gates, fences, roads, and general neatness." 
We commenced our first inspection on the 9th of May, and 
concluded our second survey on the 14th of July. 
The spring of 1870 has been a peculiarly trying one — cold, 
dry, and ungenial throughout April and May — followed by ex- 
treme drought and heat in June and July; and this has had 
much influence upon many of the farms in the interval between 
our two visits. The reports from the North of England, and from 
some parts of the Eastern counties, speak of abundant rain during 
the month of June, and, although this occurred too late in many 
cases to produce a good hay-crop, it has immensely improved all 
the late sown barley, and all but secured a full plant of swedes 
and turnips. 
Within the district, however, in which the competing farms 
are situated, little or no rain fell for many weeks, and it was 
quite lamentable to see on many of the farms how crops, which 
promised well in May, were completely burnt up and almost ruined 
for want of moisture in July. I feel it necessary to lay some 
stress upon this peculiarity of the season, inasmuch as it will be 
seen from the description of some of the farms noticed below, 
that high farming and high condition have told this year in a 
remarkable degree. 
I have observed in almost every instance in which high 
farming has prevailed for a series of years, and thus good con- 
dition of the land been obtained, that the effect of adverse seasons 
has been to a great extent counteracted. 
