569 
'The Farm Prize Competition of 1892. 
Horses . — Seven working horses are kept. These looked a 
hardy, useful lot of farmer’s horses. 
Cattle . — The cattle consisted, at our January visit, of fifty- 
five head, half of which were bred on the farm ; eleven heifers 
were being fed inboxes on 10 lb. of Bibby’s cake, one gallon bean 
meal, one bushel of swedes, and hay ad lib., and were quite ready 
for the butcher. They were a beautiful lot of animals. Six 
cows, nearly pure Shorthorns, are milked for the purpose of 
making butter. The remainder were being kept in a healthy 
“ going on ” condition for being turned on to the grass in the 
spring. These were having about 6 lb. of linseed cake per day 
on the grass at our second visit. They had not done so well 
as we expected, and a good many of them were lacking in 
quality. 
Sheep . — At our first visit the sheep numbered 114. Forty- 
nine cross-bred shearling Shropshires were being fed on cut 
turnips, with f lb. of linseed and Bibby’s cake mixed per day. 
These were quite ready for the butcher, and were sold before our 
second visit. Fifty-five cross-bred tegs were on the grass, and 
were having ^ lb. of mixed cake per day. At our second visit we 
found 340 tegs which had just been shorn ; they were feeding on 
the different grasses, and getting about | lb. of Bibby’s cake. One 
lot of eighty were having cut mangel on the grass, and 1 lb. of 
cake and beans mixed. The whole of these were a very fine lot 
of cross-bred sheep ; they had been bought well, and looked like 
making a fair return. No sheep are bred on the place. This 
was formerly done, but the loss was so great that it had to be 
given up, and it is now found better and more profitable to graze 
sheep than to breed them. 
Pigs. — Twenty-five to thirty pigs are generally kept. These 
are bought in at from 11. to 30s. each, and fatted out. They 
are mostly of the Large White breed. Mr. Hawkes has gained 
several prizes for fat pigs at the local Christmas shows. 
The corn crops on this farm on our June visit were looking 
exceedingly well, with the exception of a field of wheat on the 
stronger land, which had lost plant in places, but it was of good 
colour, and very strong in the straw. Altogether, the crops 
generally were looking well, and like coming to a large yield. 
Mr. Hawkes, when he first came to Bearley Grange, used a 
great deal of Birmingham refuse, but has now discarded it, 
being a strong believer in well made muck. 
The Wheat, which is the principal corn crop grown on this 
farm, with the exception of the field mentioned above, was a 
good plant, and looking remarkably well. 
Very little Barley is gi’own. One field of nearly 9 acres, 
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