Farm  Prize  Competition,  1909. 
285 
cattle.  The  mowing  grass  is  dressed  with  8 tons  per  acre  of 
farmyard  manure  every  fifth  year,  and  on  the  heavy  land  basic 
slag  at  6 cwt.  per  acre  is  applied  in  January  every  fifth  year. 
Horses. — Four  cart  horses  and  two  nags  (one  of  the  latter 
for  the  milk  trade)  are  kept.  The  cart  horses  are  of  the  Shire 
type,  bought  in  at  three  years  old  and  sold  at  five  or  six 
years  old.  This  “ dealing  ” in  horses  explains  the  keeping  of 
more  horses  than  are  really  required  for  the  land,  and  the 
desire  not  to  overwork  them  meanwhile.  The  horse  ration 
consists  of  hay,  straw,  chafF,  and  crushed  oats. 
Cattle. — A very  useful  lot  of  forty  Shorthorn  dairy  cows 
are  kept.  The  milk  is  sent  to  London  and  averages  Id.  per 
gallon,  except  a surplus  in  May  and  June  which  is  made  into 
Single  Gloucester  or  Cheddar  Loaf  cheese.  About  sixteen 
calves  are  weaned  yearly,  the  steers  being  sold  at  one  and 
a half  to  two  years  old  and  the  heifers  brought  into  the  dairy 
herd  at  two  and  a half  to  three  years  old.  Weaned  calves  are 
given  linseed  cake  up  to  1 lb.  per  head  per  day  until  one 
year  old.  The  heifers  are  usually  put  to  the  bull  at  from  one 
year  and  eight  months  to  two  years  and  three  months  old  so 
as  to  have  some  coming  into  the  dairy  herd  in  the  autumn 
and  in  spring  and  early  summer. 
During  the  summer  months  when  lying  out  at  grass  the 
dairy  cows  get  no  artificial  food,  but  after  Michaelmas  the 
newly  calved  and  best  milking  ones  receive  per  head  2 lb. 
of  soya  bean  cake  and  2 lb.  of  cotton  cake  daily.  During 
the  winter  months  the  ration  per  cow  per  day  is  45  lb.  pulped 
mangold,  16  lb.  hay  and  straw  chaff  (equal  parts),  and  5 lb. 
crushed  oats  or  maize,  served  at  7.30  a.m.  and  5.30  p.m.  At 
midday  4 lb.  per  head  cotton  cake,  and  hay  at  12.30  p.m., 
and  a little  more  at  8 p.m. 
From  Lady  Day  to  Michaelmas  milking  takes  place  at  5.30 
a.m.  and  4.30  p.m.  ; during  the  winter  half-year  at  6 a.m.  and 
4 p.m.  The  cows  were  a good  sort,  kept  in  good  condition,  and 
looked  like  yielding  a lot  of  milk. 
Sheep. — Twenty  Radnor  ewes  are  bought  each  year  in 
August  or  September  and  put  with  a Hampshire  Down  ram. 
Usually  thirty  lambs  are  reared.  The  sheep  are  on  the  grass 
land  only,  and  as  they  have  a big  run,  both  lambs  and  ewes 
usually  get  fat  without  any  artificial  feed.  Mr.  Hill  does  not 
believe  in  keeping  many  sheep,  his  experience  being  that  they 
rob  the  dairy  cows  and  spoil  the  hay  crop. 
Pigs. — 1^0  sows  are  kept.  A few  pigs  are  bought  in  from 
time  to  time  and  fed  on  maize  and  barley  meal  for  bacon. 
Orchard. — The  best  fruit  is  picked  and  sold,  and  the  small 
made  into  cider  for  home  use  chiefly,  but  occasionally  some  is 
sold  at  from  10(i.  to  Is.  per  gallon. 
