Farm-Prize Competition^ 1880. 
523 
meadow land lies close upon these banks, but a steep bluff or 
rounded knoll, of considerable height, divides these two low- 
Ijing fields and forms an attractive feature in the scenery. A 
small plantation at its summit, placed there for shelter, is an 
additional ornament to this pretty little mount. I may as well 
mention here that this pasture, 30 acres in extent, has been 
much improved by Mr. Atkinson. It had not been ploughed 
for forty years, but cattle did not care for it, so Mr. Atkinson 
broke it up, took crops — (1) oats ; (2) swedes ; (3) oats again — 
and laid it down carefully and limed it, and it is now a good 
sweet pasture. Mill-flat-field, was also treated in an exactly 
similar manner, and much improved. 
The meadow called Dodrush meadow, on the Sprint, is 
beautifully sheltered by a high bank planted with firs, iScc, 
and in stormy weather in summer the cows are sent down here, 
where they find abundant " lewth " (to use a Dorsetshire ex- 
pression). 
The arable land lies mostly north of the homestead and away 
from the river. It is of an undulating chaiacter, though not 
particularly steep in any portions, and is divided into fields 
averaging about 13 acres. 
Mr. Atkinson holds this farm on a yearly tenancy, and has 
occupied it about 15 years. He is allowed to farm much as he 
likes, but sells no straw nor hay. The only corn crop produced 
is oats, and the whole crop is consumed upon the farm. 
System of Cropping. — The country being a pastoral one, and 
more suited for grass than corn, the seeds are kept down 
longer than the ordinary period of two years common in Cum- 
berland and Westmoreland. Here they are generally grazed for 
at least four years, and sometimes, if the grasses look good, for a 
much longer time. In other respects the course of cropping is 
much the same as I have described in my report of the other 
farms, viz., (1) oats ; (2) roots, entirely swedes ; (3) oats ; 
(4, 5, 6, 7, &c.) seeds. 
The result of this very light cropping is seen in magnificent 
crops of roots. I think I may say that of all the good crops of 
swedes we inspected in February, Mr. Atkinson's was the best. 
They were preserved by throwing two rows together and cover- 
ing all but the tops with a plough, and were kept perfectly sound 
the whole winter by this method. The regularity and size of 
the bulbs was most remarkable, and the climate of this valley 
must be wonderfully adapted for the growth of turnips, to pro- 
duce such a crop in a season which was marked by the failure of 
the root crop over the greater part of England. 
Manure. — The swedes are grown entirely without farmyard- 
