296 
Farm  Prize  Competition,  1909. 
the  fifth  crop  of  the  rotation  being  determined  by  the  nature 
of  the  field.  Vetches  are  sown  during  autumn  on  the  ground 
which  is  coming  in  for  roots.  They  are  cut  “ green  ” for  the 
horses,  and  followed  by  roots.  After  an  early  harvest  mustard 
is  sown  on  the  stubbles  whenever  possible. 
The  acreage  under  various  crops  this  year  was  : wheat, 
23  acres  ; barley,  13  acres  ; oats,  19  acres  ; vetches,  3 acres ; 
mangold,  5 acres  ; roots,  12  acres  ; potatoes,  2 acres  ; seeds, 
10  acres. 
For  roots  each  year  the  land  is  subsoiled  to  a depth  of  from 
11  to  13  in.  An  ordinary  digging-plough  takes  the  first  8 in., 
and  a swing-plough  with  the  mould-board  removed  stirs 
another  4 or  5 in.  in  depth  under  the  furrow  made  by  the 
digging-plough.  This  has  been  found  to  be  an  excellent 
means  of  getting  rid  of  thistles,  and  while  moving  the  ground 
deeply  does  not  bring  any  raw  soil  to  the  surface. 
All  land  intended  for  roots  receives  from  18  to  20  tons  per 
acre  of  raw  farmyard  manure  ; that  is,  manure  drawn  straight 
from  the  cattle-sheds.  Mangolds,  at  time  of  planting,  receive 
from  6 to  8 cwt.  per  acre  of  artificial  manure,  a usual  dressing 
being  2 cwt.  kainit,  2 cwt.  superphosphate,  and  4 cwt.  dissolved 
bones.  The  mangolds  are  planted  on  ridges  22  in.  apart,  and 
are  left  thickly  in  the  rows  when  the  singling  is  done.  It  is 
considered  that  mangold  will  do  well  much  closer  together 
than  swedes,  and  left  in  this  closer  order  they  produce  a much 
better  crop  than  when  left  wide  apart  to  grow  excessively  large. 
After  hoeing,  the  mangold  are  top-dressed  with  3 cwt.  of  salt 
and  1 cwt.  nitrate  of  soda  per  acre,  and  this  dressing  is 
repeated  about  a month  later.  The  salt  has  a most  marked 
effect  and  pays  well  for  its  use.  This  year  the  mangold  crop 
averaged  almost  50  tons  per  acre.  Yellow  Globe  forms  the 
main  crop,  but  a few  Golden  Tankards  are  always  grown  for 
the  sheep. 
In  the  case  of  swedes,  superphosphate  is  mainly  relied 
upon  to  help  produce  a good  crop,  supplemented  by  small 
quantities  of  kainit  and  dissolved  bones.  The  “ Superlative  ” 
variety  does  excellently  on  this  land,  both  as  regards  quantity 
and  quality.  The  land  varies  very  much,  every  field  having 
two  distinct  types  of  soil.  Owing  to  the  configuration  of 
the  tillage  fields,  heavy  rains  and  thunderstorms  prove  very 
disastrous,  washing  away  the  soil.  Three  times  in  six  years 
of  the  present  tenancy  the  swede  crop  has  been  badly  washed 
and  the  fields  damaged. 
Oats  follow  the  roots  and  are  not  especially  manured. 
Seeds  are  undersown  with  the  oat  crop,  for  mowing  one 
year — 16  lb.  red  cow  grass  clover  and  3 lb.  Italian  rye-grass 
per  acre.  The  clovers  are  always  mown  twice,  the  second 
