292 
Farm  Prize  Competition,  1909. 
is  worked  as  soon  after  harvest  as  practicable,  and  receives  a 
dressing  of  12  tons  per  acre  of  farmyard  manure  in  the 
spring.  Webb’s  Lion  Intermediate  is  the  variety  most  favoured 
here.  After  the  mangold  crop  is  “ singled,”  a top-dressing  of 
1 cwt.  per  acre  of  nitrate  of  soda  is  applied.  The  “ hoeing  ” 
and  “ singling  ” of  mangold  is  done  by  day  work.  Mr.  Brooke 
likes  the  mangold  left  pretty  thick  on  the  ground.  They  are 
“ cut  out  ” with  a 6-inch  hoe  and  very  carefully  “ singled  ” — 
hence  the  preference  for  day  work.  The  mangold  crop  is 
mainly  used  for  feeding  cattle,  but  should  there  be  a surplus 
it  is  carted  into  heaps  on  the  arable  land,  so  that  the  land  may 
be  dressed  by  sheep  consuming  these  roots. 
Peas. — The  land  for  this  crop  is  worked  after  harvest  and 
dressed  with  farmyard  manure,  at  the  rate  of  12  tons  per  acre, 
during  the  autumn  if  possible.  Harrison’s  Early  Eclipse  peas 
are  planted,  as  soon  as  it  is  possible  to  do  it,  well  in  January. 
As  soon  as  the  peas  are  up  the  horse-hoe  is  kept  going  to 
keep  them  free  from  weeds,  and  a last  hoeing  is  given  by  hand 
close  to  the  rows.  When  just  beginning  to  blossom  the  peas 
are  “ laid  ” or  “ moulded.”  That  is  to  say,  the  peas  are  laid 
over  to  the  south  and  mould  put  on  to  keep  them  so  laid. 
They  are  sown  to  be  picked  green  in  June.  The  crop  is  sold 
by  auction  as  it  stands,  and  an  average  crop  will  realise  121. 
per  acre,  leaving  the  haulm,  which  is  made  into  hay.  The 
picking  is  done  by  the  purchasers’  men  at  M.  per  pot. 
The  Judges  were  much  impressed  with  the  good  crop  of  peas 
which  were  just  going  to  be  sold  by  auction  at  the  time  of  the 
second  visit.  They  are  sold  at  the  field  and  generally  bought 
by  Birmingham  customers.  The  first  thing  the  purchaser  does 
is  to  employ  men  to  look  after  birds  and  go  over  the  field 
“ topping  ” the  peas,  that  is,  beating  the  tops  of  the  peas  with 
sticks  so  that  the  crop  shall  come  uniformly  together,  and  thus 
have  no  late  pods. 
Turnips. — This  crop  sometimes  follows  peas  in  the  same 
year,  but  difficulty  has  been  experienced  owing  to  “ Finger-and- 
Toe.”  The  pea  crop  ground  is  ploughed  and  drilled  with 
turnips  during  the  first  week  in  August.  The  Green  Globe 
variety  is  grown.  Swedes  are  not  grown. 
This  crop  supplies  the  requirements  of  the  cattle  and  sheep 
until,  say  January,  when  the  mangold  come  in.  This  year 
after  the  peas  had  been  removed  ground  lime  was  put  on  for 
the  turnip  crop.  The  intention  was  to  apply  10  cwt.  per  acre 
with  a distributor  set  to  sow  that  amount.  The  quantity  distri- 
buted, however,  was  only  8 cwt.  per  acre,  so  the  field  was 
crossed  again  to  use  up  the  lime.  In  this  way  3 acres  of 
the  ground  received  16  cwt.  per  acre,  and  the  turnips  were 
much  better  on  this  portion,  and  on  the  whole  were  the  best 
