Seicage Farm Competition, 1879. 
25 
preparing tlic land for potatoes, an ina;c'nious skim-coulter is used, attaclicd to 
the plough, bv the aid ot which the rye-grass turf is completely turned over 
and buried. Trior to the planting of the potatoes the land receives a dressing 
of fronr 3 to ! cwt. jicr acre of superphosphate of lime. The potatoes are 
all planted on ridges, these ridges being 2Ci inches apart, and the plants I'J 
inches distant from each other on the ridges. The varieties of jiotatoes best 
suited for sewage cultivation are found to be those imported by Mr. Blackburn 
direct IVom America. Disease has never troubletl this crop much, but all 
sorts of English potatoes produce too much haulm. The American potatoes 
grow with little top and answer much better than English seed. About 
12 cwt. of seed potatoes are planted to the acre, and the usual yield is about 
twelve-fold. Several varieties of jwtatoes are grown so as to come into the 
market in succession. This crop is usually sold on the ground. The potatoes 
are not irrigated with sewage dm'ing the period of growth, but depend lor their 
fertilising matter upon the decay of the grass roots, and upon the previous 
supply ot sewage applied to the land ; also to the solid matter which has been 
a^jplied and plouglied into the land, to the phosphate dressing, and to the 
suble-litter brought on to the farm. 
llhubarh. — The rhubarb is grown from plants placed at a distance of 3 feet 
apart, the ground having been deeply trenched and well-manured with stable- 
manure previous to receiving the plants. The crop is grown for three years, 
when the selected roots are re-divided. The crop receives liquid sewage 
during the period of its growth, and is sold for market up to the 1st of June, 
alter which period it is cultivated for wine manufacture. At the end of 
August the pulling of the crop ceases. In the winter the crop is protected by 
a slight covering of stable-litter. 
General Remarks. — Until recently a large number of cows 
were kept on the farm by a sub-tenant. During the past year, 
however, only one cow was kept, to which reference has already 
been made. Four horses are kept for the purposes of cultivation 
• — two Clydesdale and two English horses. Experiments upon 
the cultivation of mangolds on this farm show that the soil is 
not capable of producing anything like the weight of mangolds 
grown on other sewage farms ; and on this account, and in con- 
sequence of the small sum realised for them, the cultivation of 
this crop has been abandoned. The long spell of wet weather 
last summer had a most damaging effect upon the yield of 
potatoes on this farm. The heavy rain on the 28th of May 
last, and the continuous rains throughout the season, flooded 
a large portion of the farm, and here and there several acres 
of potatoes were actually killed by it. The superabundance 
of moisture appeared to have entirely destroyed the fertility 
imparted by the sewage, and although the land was fairly tilled 
and kept free from root-weeds, in all the low spots the annuals 
were to be seen. Mr. Blackburn reported that since this farm 
has been under sewage, although every year a large quantity of 
potatoes has been grown, there has not been, on an average, 
more than one sack of diseased potatoes each year. Whether 
this result is due to the special variety of potatoes cultivated, to 
the application of the sewage, or to the use of gas-lime, with 
