46 Farming of Cambridgeshire. 
lambs in the spring, to eat with turnips and mangold carted on to 
the sides of the field in the autumn, and clumped ready for the 
spring. 
I feel bound, injustice to an agricultural implement-maker of 
this neighbourhood, to state that he has succeeded in making an 
a})paratus for dropping bones and other light composts with tur- 
nips, and which is easily applicable to any common compost- 
drill. It was invented by that intelligent and clever agricultural 
implement-maker, R. Maynard, of Whitlesford. Several pieces 
of turnips were dropped with it last year and the preceding one : 
I dropped with it this season and the last about 60 acres, and am 
bound to speak well of it. The compost is dropped regularly at 
14 inches from heap to heap ; a prong or fork covers up the 
bones. &c., a light coulter with the seed follows, and a small 
parcel of seeds are deposited over the drop or heap of bones ; 
thus having a few moulds between the bones and seed, the turnips 
are not dropped opposite to each other, but diagonally. 
The liberal prize of twenty guineas offered by the excellent 
president of the Saffron -Walden Agricultural Society (Lord 
Braybrooke) was this year awarded to a piece of swedes dropped 
with Maynard's drop-drill ; and the successful competitor had to 
contend against seven of the best turnip-farmers of the district. 
Several of our farmers last year tried charcoal broken for turnips, 
but not with sufficient success to induce them to continue the 
practice. 
The sort of sheep generally kept a few years ago were the 
white-faced long-wools ; but downs, or short-wools, have increased 
considerably of late years, and are now generally kept. Probably 
their increase is owing in a great degree to our having in this 
county one of the first and most justly celebrated breeders of 
Southdown sheep in existence, Mr. Jonas Webb, to whom this 
county, and the country at large, are so much indebted for the 
spirited manner in which he has improved the breed of this 
trulv valuable stock of sheep; and the extraordinary high average 
price for which he has for so many years contmued to let such 
large numbers, is strong evidence of the estimation in which his 
blood is held by the best breeders of Southdowns and the public 
in general. 
I have been credibly informed, that not a very great many years 
ago broken-mouthed wether sheep have been actually purchased 
for fattening ; but now the lambs are put to high feed early, are 
wintered with corn and cake on the rape and turnips, and are 
made quite fatal the age of 14 to 16 months; weighing more per 
quarter, I will answer for it, than the old broken-mouthed wether 
did when made as fat as the system then pursued would do. On 
most farms a flock of breeding ewes is kept, the wether lambs 
