Management of a Suburban Farm. 
327 
Father a different opinion as to our production of corn ; but with 
respect to our stock, he comes to the somewhat startling; con- 
clusion that sheep have actually diminished in number; a dimi- 
nution which the Irish returns unfortunately confirm, both as to 
cattle and sheep, as far as that country is concerned. 
The existence of these doubts, and the consciousness that great 
changes in agriculture are in silent operation, of which we cannot 
measure the extent, tend to make us desire trustworthy, and 
therefore systematic, information on such questions as we have 
here suggested, which are of so much interest alike to the con- 
sumer and producer. 
XV. — ■ The Management of a Suburban Farm. By J. Bligh 
MONCK. 
Prize Essay* 
Many persons who are led by the social and other advantages of 
town life to give it the preference, nevertheless acknowledge the 
superior beauty, healthiness, and other attractions of the country. 
The bright corn fields, the orderly array of luxuriant " bracts," 
the cheery faces of the rural population, the readiness with which 
a bountiful nature perfects the work of the husbandman, hold out 
to them a very tempting prospect. But what if the enjoyments 
of either way of life can be combined by the occupation of a 
farm close to a town ! What position can be so desirable, pre- 
senting such ready opportunities for selling on the spot the more 
bulky and perishable articles of your production, and again of 
procuring close at hand the refuse which your customers are 
anxious to be rid of? 
As I find many practical farmers hold this opinion, and the 
generous offer of a prize for the best description of suburban 
farming, almost implies that some special management is essential 
to success near towns, I venture to offer the result of twenty- 
five years' experience on a gravelly soil liable to burn, in the 
immediate vicinity of a borough of upwards of 20,000 inha- 
bitants. I shall have to consider the advantages attendant on 
such a situation with its accompanying drawbacks, that I may 
assist owners and occupiers of land under the like circumstances, 
in turning the one to the best account, and in making light of 
the other. 
But first it will be well for me to explain what I mean by a 
farm, and by farming profitably. It is well known that in the 
* This Prize was placed_at the disposal of the Societ}' hy Sir Compton Dom- 
ville, Hart. 
