The Past Agricultural Year. 
217 
mc clurinfj the subsequent winter. A selection from these 
reports, generally abridged with occasional editorial comment, is, 
1 think, the form in which their subject can be best laid before 
the reader of the 'Journal.' In the first place 1 give unabridged 
the reports which I have received from Mr. C. Randell and 
Mr. C. Whitehead, Members of the Council. 
Chadbuky, near Evesham, the farm occupied by Mr. 
Randell, was described by himself ten years ago (' Journal ' 
of the Society, vol. v., S. S.) — in connection then with the 
Agricultural Lessons of a Drought. It consists of 490 acres, 
about 90 of which are in pasture and meadow, the remainder 
arable, being, as to 100 acres of it, " gravelly soil, fair turnip 
land ; 180 acres of heavy clay land, of fair quality ; and 
120 acres of very poor clay." Mr. Randell's statement is as 
follows : — 
" First, as to the long ivinter — The effect of this has been 
partially to destroy the wheat plant upon clay land, especially 
on the north sides of the ridges, and where sown upon land 
which had been fallowed, or I should rather say which had been 
rendered hollow by more than one ploughing : for fallowing clay 
land last year was impracticable, except during the one month 
of good weather for haymaking, when only steam-cultivating 
farmers could take advantage of it. Where these failures 
occurred wheat has been replanted, but, considering the length 
and severity of the winter, this has not been necessary to so great 
an extent as was expected, owing to the absence of wind which, 
when accompanying hard frost, is always destructive. Winter 
beans were generally killed, and spring beans or peas were 
planted in their stead. Vetches, too, suffered from the frost. 
Another crop, cabbages, suffered greatly : few fields escaped 
partial or total destruction ; where they did escape without 
material injury it would appear to have been owing to high 
condition having given such vigour to the plants as enabled 
them to withstand the action of frost. On this farm a 
field of rather light land was heavily manured after harvest 
from a covered yard, and had one ton of soot per acre har- 
rowed in ; the cabbage plants, strong ones, from seed sown in 
July, were set out early in October. When sufficiently rooted, 
4 cwt. per acre of guano were applied, and they were horse- and 
hand-hoed ; this saved them, in spite of frost, and the crop — 
16 acres — was sold at a high price instead of being consumed 
by sheep. Another field, 13 acres of clay land, was planted 
after the former one, with no manure except the soot ; the frost 
destroyed fully two-thirds of the cabbages, and the whole piece 
was drilled across with seed of the thousand-headed cabbage 
in March. The weather continued cold ; the seed was long in 
