Farm  Prize  Competition,  1909. 
273 
remaining  20  acres  being  in  sainfoin,  which  is  cnt  for  hay  and 
continues  for  some  six  or  seven  years.  The  area  under  the 
various  crops  on  the  392  acres  of  arable  land  in  1909  was  as 
follows  : — Wheat,  82  acres  ; barley,  70  acres  ; oats,  '32  acres  ; 
root  crops,  101  acres ; “ catch  crops,”  42  acres  ; clover 
“ seeds,”  42  acres  ; sainfoin,  20  acres  ; lucerne,  3 acres.  The 
clover  “ seeds  ” mixture  which  is  sown  under  half  of  the 
barley  or  oat  crop  consists  of  10  lb.  broad  red  clover,  4 lb. 
alsike  clover,  and  \ bushel  of  Italian  rye-grass  per  acre.  This 
yields  about  25  to  30  cwt.  of  hay. 
The  second  growth  of  clover  is  fed  off  with  sheep,  but 
occasionally  10  acres  are  saved  for  seed.  In  the  following 
spring  the  clover  ley  is  manured  with  sixteen  to  twenty 
loads  per  acre  of  farmyard  dung,  which  is  ploughed  in  for 
the  turnip  crop.  The  turnip  crop  also  receives  3 cwt.  per 
acre  of  superphosphate.  The  roots  are  folded  on  by  sheep 
receiving  cake  and  corn.  Wheat  follows  the  turnip  crop,  and 
is  not  especially*-  manured.  Meantime  the  other  half  of  the 
barley  and  oat  land  which  had  not  been  undersown  with  seeds 
has  been  cropped  with  6 acres  of  rye,  16  acres  Italian  rye- 
grass, and  20  acres  winter  vetches.  Pitted  swedes  and  man- 
golds are  hauled  out  over  the  rye,  and  Italian  rye-grass  when 
being  fed  off,  to  the  extent  of  five  loads  of  each  per  acre. 
Afterwards,  all  the  ground  which  had  been  in  rye,  Italian  rye- 
grass and  vetches,  as  soon  as  fed  off,  is  put  into  swedes. 
Wheat  is  followed  by  barley  or  oats,  and  here  again  no  manure 
is  necessary,  as  after  such  folding  by  stock  as  is  practised  on 
this  farm,  any  application  of  forcing  manures  would  probably 
only  mean  “ lodged  ” crops.  The  state  of  the  land  under  this 
form  of  cropping  was  seen  to  be  perfectly  clean  and  full  of  con- 
dition. Average  yields  of  the  corn  crops  are,  per  acre  ; wheat, 
5 to  6 quarters  ; barley,  5 to  5^  quarters  ; oats,  7 to  8 quarters. 
Lucerne  is  grown,  and  yields  heavy  crops  of  green  fodder 
for  the  horses,  and  remains  down  for  a considerable  period, 
lasting  as  long  as  nine  years  in  some  instances. 
As  has  already  been  stated,  most  of  the  manuring  of  this 
farm  is  done,  and  done  well,  through  the  stock,  but  in  the  case 
of  the  root  crops  grown  for  the  folding  of  stock,  manure  has  of 
course  to  be  given.  Thus  turnip  crops  are  manured  with 
fifteen  to  twenty  loads  of  dung  and  3 cwt.  superphosphate  per 
acre,  the  “ swedes  ” receiving  in  addition  4 cwt.  per  acre  of 
special  “ Swede  ” fertiliser.  The  mangold  crop  gets  twenty 
loads  of  dung,  and  either  4 cwt.  guano  or  4 cwt.  “ mangold  ” 
manure  per  acre,  also  5 cwt.  of  salt  and  1 cwt.  nitrate  of  soda 
per  acre,  given  in  two  dressings.  All  turnip  and  swede  seed  is 
steeped  in  paraffin,  to  guard  against  an  attack  of  the  turnip 
“ fly,”  a method  in  which  Mr.  Waters  has  great  faith. 
VOL.  70. 
T 
