214 Farm Prize Competition, 1908. 
conditions, which admitted of every item of farm manage- 
ment being thoroughly investigated. After having carefully 
considered the various points which had come to their notice 
during the tours of inspection, the Judges made the following 
awards, which were announced at the General Meeting of 
Members held in the Showyard at Newcastle : — 
Class I. — First Prize of 60 1 . and 15/. Cup to John W. Dryden. 
Second prize of 30/. to James Ord. Third Prize of 15/. to William 
A. Weightman. 
Class II. — First Prize of 35/. and 10/. Cup to George Harrison. 
Second Prize of 25/. to Fenwick Wilson. Third Prize of 10/. to Robert 
H. Dryden. Very Highly Commended, John M. Hall. 
Cla^S III. — First Prize of 50/. to Malcolm Nicol. Second Prize of 
25/. to John Reay. Third Prize of 10/. to Robert J. Ebdon. 
It will have been observed that all the first prizes went to 
Durham, the seconds to Northumberland, and the thirds to 
Durham. It is probable that, in Class 1, the rule restricting 
the area of competing farms to 600 acres had a detrimental 
effect upon the true representation of Northumberland 
farming. The following table (taken from the Agricultural 
Returns for 1908) summarises the number of agricultural 
holdings of various sizes in the two counties, and the 
figures show clearly that large holdings preponderate in 
Northumberland : — 
Number of Agricultural Holdings. 
Northumberland 
Durham 
Above 1 and not exceeding 5 acres 
902 
1,176 
ji ^ n 
„ 50 ,, 
2,149 
3,079 
„ 60 
„ 300 „ 
1,989 
2,331 
„ 300 acres 
. 
731 
150 
Total 
5,771 
6,736 
It has been said that large estates and large farms are 
usually found associated, and perhaps it might be added that 
some of the best and most economical farming is found on 
these large farms where there is full scope for the proportionate 
reduction of labour, general expenditure, and economical man- 
agement, particularly where sheep-farming is included, as is 
extensively the case in Northumberland. It is a significant fact, 
as showing the limitation of the present Competition, that the 
Judges visited seven farms before seeing a sheep. This report 
is necessarily limited to the farms winning the premier 
positions. The following figures show the difference between 
the areas under various crops in the Counties of Northum- 
berland and Durham in 1888. 
Northumberland. 
Under the total of crops and grass there are in the county 
10,514 acres less than were accounted for in 1888. There are 
