Report on the Farm-Prize Competition, 1870. 2o7 
years been much questioned, not only in West Norfolk, where 
it first originated, or at all events is very generally adopted, but 
also in many other parts of the kingdom. I by no means think 
it desirable that the system of farming, or the exact rotation of 
crops, should be set forth in the lease or agreement ; and I am 
decidedly of opinion that every farmer who has capital and 
brains, should be allowed to make use of both in any way that 
will give him the highest return for his money, provided that 
he fulfils the one important condition, which must never be dis- 
regarded, of good crops and perfectly clean cultivation. 
The advocates of the four-course rotation will find at Ardley 
that system carried out strictly, and in the best manner. The 
results speak for themselves. In a peculiar season, which has 
tried to the utmost the thin dry and arid soils upon the stone- 
brash formation, this farm shows us, on the whole, better crops 
of corn and roots, according to the land, than any of the com- 
peting farms. It is worthy of note that, although the lease of 
the Ardley Farm allows the utmost license as regards cropping 
during the first seventeen years of the term, no departure has 
been hitherto made from the four-course rotation, the tenant 
believing it to be the best adapted for the soil and district. 
Mrs. Millington's crops clearly prove the fact to which I 
have previously alluded, viz. that land in high condition is 
more capable of resisting the effect of bad seasons than when it 
is impoverished by overcropping, or out of condition for want 
of that fertilising system which can alone restore the elements of 
productiveness. This state, however, cannot be attained by 
sudden or spasmodic efforts ; and nothing but a series of years 
of high farming can produce such crops as those which Mrs. 
MilUngton's farm this year exhibits. Mr. Mason's prize has not 
been obtained by hasty preparation, but the well deserved honour 
which has been awarded to the tenant of the Ash Grove Farm, 
has been won by years of clean cultivation and high feeding. 
The annual amount of Mrs. Millington's cake bill, 1200/., is the 
great secret of her success. I believe that high feeding of the 
stock to be the best and safest expenditure that a farmer can 
make at all times, and in all seasons. The animals are benefited, 
the land is enriched, and good crops are secured. 
The Judges were asked to point out a farm which most nearly 
fulfils the condition of one that is managed in the best possible 
manner — in short, to define good farming. This they can do, and 
they point to Mrs. Millington's as an extremely good example of 
a well managed farm under the four-course system : but they 
cannot say more. It may be, and probably is, the best system 
which could be adopted for the land to which it is applied, but 
to say that the four-course system is the one that ought to be 
