Next in order of the organic portions of plants is nitrogen-one of the most important organic constituents of vegetable matter. It constitutes about four-fifths of atmospheric air. Animals cannot live in it alone, yet they cannot be matured without it. Plants die in it, yet it is necessary to their growth. Reference has already been made to its use to dilute the oxygen of the air, so as to render it palatable and life-giving. Its existence has been known since 1772, and it was recognized as a constituent of the atmosphere in 1775. It does not support combustion, but extinguishes all burning bodies immersed in it. It is not inflammable. It is generally supposed that plants get no nitrogen from the air. Johnston says, "Spring and rain waters absorb it, as they do oxygen, from the atmospheric air, and bear it in solution to the roots, by which it is not unlikely that it may be conveyed directly into the circulation of the plants." But plants are mainly fed by nitrogen through some of its compounds. Ammonia is one. It is composed of nitrogen and hydrogen. Seventeen pounds of ammonia contain about fourteen pounds of nitrogen and three pounds of hydrogen. It is important to the growth of the plant-one of the most important compounds. It is common-every farmer has to do with it and daily witnesses its effects, is made aware of its presence by his senses, yet scarcely heeds its value, and often regards it as a very noxious vapour which ought not to exist. But it does exist in the atmosphere everywhere where animal or vegetable matter is decaying. It is about three-fifths as heavy as atmospheric air. Our readers will recognize it as spirits of hartshorn, and it is sometimes called alkaline air, or volatile alkali. It is colourless, does not support combustion, and is inflammable. Here is another wonder for you, reader-a combination of two colourless and tasteless gases and without smell, in the proportion of 14 and 3 produces another gas that has pungent smell and a very perceptible taste. And is it not more wonderful, that it should exist, and enter so largely into all the successes and reverses of the farmer's operations, become part of his stock-in-trade, and yet create no inquiry into its properties, no curiosity as to its use or value? It is escaping yonder from that manure heap, from the liquid steaming excrements of your cattle. Here again you witness the value of absorbents to mix with animal manures. Charcoal or muck absorbs largely and should be largely used. Water absorbs ammonia over 700 and nearly 800 times its bulk of it, and is made the medium to transfer the ammonia of the atmosphere to the growing plants. Ammonia is powerful in its effect upon the plant. It promotes its luxuriance and growth. It is mainly and perhaps wholly taken up by the roots of the plant from the soil, not being inhaled by the breathing leaf as is

carbonic acid.

Liebig says, "The effect of an artificial supply of ammonia as a source of nitrogen is to accelerate the growth and development of plants." And he attaches great importance to this fact, and argues that it should be taken into account in gardening -especially in kitchen gardening, and as much as

possible in agriculture on a large scale, when the time occupied in the growth of plants is of importance, as it is most certainly in our latitudes. Indeed it is the most valuable fertilizer contained in farm-yard manure, and it exists to a greater extent in the liquid part than in the solid excrement. And yet farmers-the great majority of themprovide no means for conveying this important fertilizer to the plant.

We

The stable manure may be thrown out under the eaves of the stable, and into the street, with no absorbing mixture. The eaves of the stable have no fixtures to convey the water into a cistern for the use of the stock, but the dripping flood inundates the manure heap, and leaches away into the street ditch, to be turned perhaps by a shrewd neighbour, if one happens to live lower down a de clivity, into his own fields by a furrow or five minutes' use of the spade, and irrigates his fields, furnishing his crops with a wealth of nutriment and stimulant-the gold of your manure. have seen it done. We are not imagining anything. The same principle applied to commerce would ruin every man who indulged in it. Suppose the merchant should throw gold into the street, and depend upon the silver or currency received for profits, and to replace and replenish his stock; what would be thought of him? Does a farmer know these facts-know he is losing the best of his resources for the replenishment of his farm, and still neglect to take measures to retain them? Cannot afford to provide against this waste? If God had not blessed us with a land unrivalled in fertility, and had not provided in nature compensation for the consumption of plants, man, if left alone, would soon impoverish himself, and the earth would become barren and unfruitful.

Ammonia does not enter the plant by inhalation (if we may use the term) through the leaves. It is a gas, but there are few plants that do not require it to knock for admittance at the roots, and in company (solution) with water; and here again we must urge your attention to the saving the liquid manure of your stock, so full of nitrogen for the plant. It has been suggested to leave the stable floor open, with a muck-bed under it, to receive the leakage. Another plan is, to have a close floor, and litter the stable behind the stock with muck, sawdust, or tanbark-charcoal. And here we wish to say one word upon the use of muck as an absorbent. Ignorant once of the philosophy of composting, we helped a man, then considered more progressive than his neighbours, to clean out a swamp of its muck deposit-a purely vegetable substance. It was thrown around an orchard at once-at the roots of each tree. It had

its effect, it is true; the trees grew marvellously. But, if instead of depositing it thus to "save handling," it had been hauled to the large shed in the barn-yard, and then mixed with the stable manure, which was evaporating, and leaching under the eaves on the south side of the barn, we would have saved enough by the operation to have paid the expenses and produced more wonderful effects still. Why? Because that muck was pure and (almost) unadulterated carbon-the best of

absorbents, and that is why we urge composting with it; it saves for the use of the plant the ammonia in the manure mixed with it. Attend then to this matter, and save the liquid portion of the manure in your yards and stables.

Deep ploughing has to do with the production of ammonia. It enables the roots of plants to penetrate and fill the subsoil with vegetable matter, which, by its decay in the confined atmosphere, where the access of the oxygen of the air is not easy, gives rise to the production of ammonia. When thus formed, it is chemically prepared, and enters the roots of the bearing plant to assist its growth. We said, the ammonia of the atmosphere is absorbed by rain, dews, &c., and returned to the roots; hence, the necessity of rain and dews-the latter particularly, where vegetation is rankest and growing most rapidly, requiring continual supplies of nitrogen. Who can estimate the value of a heavy body of snow during four months of the year succeeding a fruitful season? Here is matter for inquiry and reflection, fellow farmer. How wonderfully accurate is the action of God's great laws of compensation-of supply and demand!

We have hitherto been talking of the organic parts of plants-those parts that burn away, of which nothing visible remains after combustion. Those parts which remain in the form of ashes are called the inorganic-are derived by the plant from the earth, and when the plant is decayed become earth again-were obtained from the soil, and have become soil again by combustion. The inorganic parts of plants are in small proportion to the organic, and yet they are numerically greater.

Let the reader remember that carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen are the four kinds of matter comprising the greater and organic portions of plants; and yet the inorganic portion, though smaller, consists of nine or ten different parts. We are now to consider these. We may learn something new, and digressions will be in order if we find it for the interest of the reader to extend our science to its practical application. It involves the manure question at every point, and here we may discover, possibly, whether the rich and socalled exhaustless (!) virgin soil of the prairies, will need to be prostituted by the application of the foul stuff called barn-yard manure.

Burn a plant, a mass of weeds, a stack of wheat or other straw, reader, and how little of it is left! this you have noticed. How small in proportion to the bulk consumed, and the bulk of ashes that remain! This is the inorganic part; very seldom amounts to twelve or fifteen per cent. of the weight of the vegetable substance burned. If it be straw you have burned, the weight of the ashes will seldom exceed four or five per cent. of the weight of the straw consumed. Yet this part of the plant is as important as any other, comes from the soil and must exist in the soil, so that the plant may take up the proportions required in its structurein its growth.

Burn a ton of straw, weigh the ashes, and you, who return nothing to your fields in the shape of manure, estimate the amount of inorganic matter you take from your farm annually, saying nothing of the ashes, or inorganic part of the grain the

straw yields. How long can you continue to crop your land without impoverishing it, by this noreturn process? We want you to have time to ponder upon the figures you may make, by calcu lating that five per cent. of every ton of wheatstraw you take from your farm is actually taken from the soil, and must be supplied in some manner, and if you are not supplying it, you are growing poorer. Let the figures tell you how fast you are growing poorer. When you have aroused yourself from the stupor of insensibility, you will be in fit mood to search into the character of these several inorganic parts of plants; for it is not regarded by moderns as "stealing trash" to steal our purse.

Having sufficiently pondered on the amount of inorganic matter taken from the soil in every ton of straw, and which must be replaced or the soil is constantly impoverished, let us inquire what are these inorganic parts? Potash is an alkali-one of the four alkalies found in the ashes of plants. It is found in most plants. Fill a barrel with wood ashes, and leach with water-the ley contains the potash of the ashes. The pearlash of commerce is only potash and carbonic acid, a union of the two produced by the exposure of the former to the air, and if the quantity of carbonic acid is increased, saleratus is the result.

Many of our readers, perhaps, have had experience in the manufacture of pearlash. In early days, when the heavy forests of the North and East were being cleared, it was no unusual thing for the settler to turn a penny by the rustic manufacture of this alkali into an article of commerce. We have not unfrequently found it in the large open fire-places of the borderers, and secured it for the good dame's use, by using the "poker" among the ashes.

Plants, trees, and animals require potash in their construction. Hence it must be found in the soil, and supplied if cropping has diminished the supply.

The importance of this supply in the soil will be seen when the reader understands that every acre of wheat absorbs over thirty-two pounds of potash from the soil, barley over sixty-eight pounds, red clover over one hundred and forty-four pounds, and other common crops in different proportions. How is it to be supplied? Remember this is only one of the inorganic parts that you exhaust in this quantity from each acre of soil grown in wheat, barley, clover, &c., annually. Is it not a great exhausting process? Is there no necessity for supplying this food, of ploughing deeper, of manuring more? If your soil is wanting lime, ashes may be substituted. But this supply of inorganic matter in some form must not be withheld from your farm. It is a great study to learn how to economically supply it-of great importance you should learn. Potash may be used on sandy soils with good effect, and is a valuable application as a top-dressing for young plants, for insects do not like it.

Soda is another alkali found in the ashes of

plants, and is not unlike potash in its office in the construction of the plant. Common salt contains it; hence the application of this thistle-killer-salt

-to the soil furnishes soda for the plant, and is often the best application that can be made; this, however, is a disputed question. In passing, we wish to say that brine is a great vermin antidote, and if carefully applied to the soil and to the compost heap will do quite as much good as harm. Caustic soda, produced by boiling the common carbonate of soda with quicklime, is dangerous to the vegetable. Common salt and lime mixed together and used in composting is very valuable as a supply of soda, for the plant is thus obtained.

Lime. The reader may perhaps consider himself posed in reference to this alkali. But its importance to the plant is oftener under than over estimated, and it is often blindly applied, and often not applied at all when it should be. It sweetens the soil, decomposes vegetable matter, and as a sulphate is a good absorbent of the different gases. But the importance of this inorganic part of the plant to the agriculturist must be the subject of another chapter.

Phosphoric acid, although combining with any of the alkalies, is most important when compounded with lime. It is composed of phosphorus and oxygen. The white smoke of a match when it is ignited is phosphoric acid, created by the union of the phosphorus on the end of the match with the oxygen of the atmosphere. Its importance will be understood when we tell you it forms nearly onehalf of the ashes of wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat, barley, peas, beans, &c., and enters largely in the perfection of vegetables and animals; and yet it is found in limited quantities in most soils, particularly those where cultivation has not been remunerativewhere the whole system has been to get all possible, and pay nothing to the soil for its harvests.

This acid does not exist in nature in a free state, and hence, isolated, does not affect vegetation; but as we have said, it unites with the alkalies and forms phosphates, which are essential to the growth of the plant, without which, perfection in the development of grains and roots cannot be obtained. It is solid and colourless, soluble in water, sour, corrodes and destroys animal and vegetable substances. It is found in combination in all plants, hence its necessity to them as an article of food; and yet it must be diluted or mixed, hence the double importance of the different alkalies as fertilizers.

The intelligent, thoughtful reader will not wonder at the constant diminution of fertility in cultivatedaye, skinned soils. What debts would some farmers have to pay, if the earth were to make the demand to each one, Pay that thou owest," in the shape of inorganic matter taken from their farms, and never

returned! It is estimated that in every hundred bushels of wheat sold, there are removed permanently from the soil on which it grew, sixty pounds of phosphoric acid! and that for each cow kept on a pasture throughout the summer, there are carried off in veal, butter, and cheese, not less than fifty pounds of phosphate of lime, of which perhaps nearly or quite one-fourth is phosphoric acid.

Warring says well, "This would be one thousand pounds for twenty cows; and it shows clearly why old dairy pastures become so exhausted of this substance, that they will no longer produce those nutritious gases which are favourable to butter and cheese making." We may as well quote the next paragraph, and endorse it, viz.: "That this removal of the most valuable constituent of the soil has been the cause of more exhaustion of farms, and more emigration in search of fertile districts, than any other single effect of injudicious farming, is a fact which multiplied instances most clearly prove."

He instances the once world-renowned wheatproducing Genesee Valley. It is well known that its fame as a wheat country does not belong to the present. And yet how many of the Western farmers, or Eastern either, can tell to-day what phosphoric acid is, or that such matter exists? They have as little idea of it, its importance to the soil, its character, and how it is found, as they have of the size of brain of the inhabitants of the planet Saturn; and how willing to let their children grow up in the same sort of ignorance, and with the same indifference to what grows, and what causes it to grow! They want them to read, write, and cipher-it was the schooling they had, and they get along!

O fellow farmer, insist upon that boy and girl of yours knowing something of this earth, beside its shape, diameter, and circumference, and who circumnavigated it. Require that the teacher should at least know something of plants this summer; be capable of teaching your child the beauties, peculiarities, and office of plants and flowers-in short, insist he must know something of botany. But we have left the acid, though we may have exhibited some acidity; if so, we cannot help it, for we feel very much like scolding at the indifference manifest to these important departments of education.

Phosphoric acid is indispensable then; it must exist in some form in the land. If you want intelligent animals, they must be fed with plants containing phosphoric acid, for phosphorus is contained in and is necessary to the health of the brain. We have said enough perhaps to set you thinking, to prove the importance of this acid in agriculture. In combination with alkalies we shall have more to say of it hereafter. -Emery's Journal of Agriculture.

The farmers of this country have become so much accustomed to the use of guano, superphosphate of lime, and other light manures, that they would find themselves in a difficult position for a time if they were called upon to do without them. There is nothing, however, at present to indicate

that they will be brought into such a position. These manures are offered in great abundance. The stores of Peruvian guano in this country are double what they were last year; and great efforts have been made by importers and manufacturers to insure abundant supplies of phosphatic manures.

But the price of these auxiliary manures is now so high in comparison with the value of farm produce, that farmers are dubious about applying them as freely as in bygone seasons.

The question as to the profitable application of guano at its present price, as a top-dressing for the cereal crops, does not admit of a general answer. It depends on the condition of the land, and other circumstances. On rich land the extra manure may cause the crop to fall down, if the season be wet; and the quality of the grain may be depreciated without the quantity being increased: but in the case of land that is well cleansed and in a middling state of fertility, we believe that it may still be applied with a fair chance of profit. Four additional bushels of wheat or eight of oats may reasonably be expected from each cwt. of guano. This quantity of grain, with the fodder, may be worth from twenty to twenty-five shillings; and as the top-dressing, including labour, does not cost more than fifteen shillings, the profit looks respectable on paper. It seems high enough to cover the climatic uncertainties, which the farmer is taught by experience not to overlook in his calculations. And the additional quantities of grain and fodder do not show the entire profit that results from the use of the guano. În the upland districts, two cwt. of guano per acre will make the oat crop eight or ten days earlier, and this may lead to a better harvested, as well as a better filled and more productive crop. There is another marked advantage in the more vigorous growth of ryegrass and clover among wheat or oats which have been top-dressed. On heavy land a free-growing clover plant may soon get beyond the risk of serious injury by slugs, when a weakly plant would be destroyed.

There have been loud complaints against the Peruvian government and their agents, because they have drawn up the price of guano to the highest rate at which they can command a sale. These complaints can be of no avail, and it is futile to indulge in them. The Peruvian government have virtually a monopoly; and in exacting the highest price which they can freely obtain, they are merely doing what other people would do in similar circumstances. If the price of grain continue to have a downward tendency the price of guano must be lowered also, as the point may soon be reached at which there can be little chance of profit to the farmer from using it. But it is lost labour to assail the monopolists, as some people do, by advising farmers to abstain from purchasing guano, as long as they expect to derive profit from its use.

One good result has followed the high price of Peruvian guano. A stimulus has been given to the manufacture of portable manures, and the attention of many intelligent farmers has been directed to experimental investigations as to their value compared with guano. The manures that are manufactured for top-dressing the cereal crops are mainly nitrogenous and phosphatic compounds. When these elements are awanting-as in the case of the Economical Manure, analyzed by Dr. Anderson-the compound is simply worthless. Mr. Townsend, Glasgow, Mr. Weir, Ayr, and other

respectable manufacturers, sell by a guaranteed analysis; and we think that farmers would act wisely in giving their corn manures a trial.

A very considerable quantity of superphosphate of lime was used in Ayrshire last season as a topdressing for wheat and oats, and as far as we can learn the results have been satisfactory. It is right to remember, however, that the high temperature of the summer of 1857 was very much in favour of superphosphate. The experience of a cold, moist season would be less favourable,

Mr. Richmond made some interesting experi ments last year, on the farm of Burnton, near Dalrymple, for the purpose of testing the value of superphosphate as a corn manure, when combined with nitrogenous manures in various proportions, The manures were carefully weighed and mixed, and sown each on a single ridge to a certain number of yards from the end. The crop dressed with each manure could thus be easily compared with the crop on the remainder of the same ridge which got no top-dressing whatever. An equal money value was applied to each of the lots. The manures were harrowed in with the seed about the end of February. In making the experiments, Mr. Richmond merely intended to examine the crop carefully during its growth, and to form an opinion from observation. If experiments are to be followed to the barn floor, and brought to the final test of weight and measure, they are not worthy of much reliance unless they have been made on a pretty large scale, and the work, from first to last, has been conducted with care and precision. But to the practised eye of the observant farmer, a small experiment may be valuable if he have the opportunity of seeing the crop during its growth.

Mr. Richmond's experiments seemed to point unmistakably to the propriety of putting a considerable proportion of phosphate into manures for wheat. The crops at Burnton, as at Craigie, refuse to admit to the Rothamsted axiom-“Ammonia for corn, phosphorus for turnips." It is plain enough that in Ayrshire both crops are benefited by both manures.

In the experiments at Burnton, equal weights of sulphate of ammonia and superphosphate gave a better crop than two parts sulphate and one part superphosphate, while both lots were decidedly superior to sulphate alone or superphosphate alone. Peruvian guano alone gave a good crop; but equal weights of guano and superphosphate were about as good, and two parts guano and one part superphosphate were superior to either. Again, equal weights of muriate of ammonia and superphosphate were appreciably superior to two parts of muriate and one part of superphosphate, and both were very much superior to muriate alone or superphosphate alone. The lot dressed with equal weights of muriate aud superphosphate was the best of the whole. Equal weights of sulphate and superphosphate gave the second best, and two parts guano and one part superphosphate the third best crop. When we made our inspection and took notes in August, these lots, at the termination of the topdressing, stood up like the step of a stair above the wheat that had not been top-dressed. The wheat

dressed with superphosphate alone had less straw than any of the lots which were dressed with ammoniacal manure, but it was obviously more growthy than the wheat alongside, which got no top-dressing; and it was firmer of the straw and earlier than any of the lots. The experiments were made on a thin heavy soil, which might have been thought favourable for ammoniacal manures. The turnip crop of the previous year was grown on farm-yard manure and superphosphate of lime. These experiments show that an equal money value of sulphate or muriate of ammonia and superphosphate of lime, gave a better return last year than Peruvian guano, as top-dressing for wheat. They also indicate that muriate of ammonia was the cheapest source of ammonia to the farmer. But it is perfectly possible that similar experiments may give different results this season, as the summer may not be so favourable as the last for superphosphate. Such experiments should be more frequently made. When observation during the period of growth is afterwards either corrected or strengthened by weighing and measuring in the barn, the experiments of course are more satisfactory; but a very considerable amount of labour is required to do this as it ought to be done. An opportunity, however, of observing the crop during the season of growth may sometimes convey useful lessons to the farmer; and a little attention may enable anyone to make a few simple experiments for this purpose.-Ayr Advertiser.

THE NEGLECT OF AGRICULTURE THE FORERUNNER OF NATIONAL DECAY. SIR, We read of the neglect of agriculture being the downfall of the Roman Empire. When Julius Cæsar conquered all the then-known world, he made every country, as he conquered it, pay a tribute in corn instead of gold and silver; which soon ruined the Roman farmers, by having their markets glutted with corn the produce of other countries instead of their own.

It is plain, corn grown in England is doubly advantageous, because it is produced by English labour instead of foreign labour. The Mark-lane Express is doing wonders by opening the eyes of the foreign farmers, by showing them weekly the wonderful improvements in our agricultural implements. Of course common sense says that a vast deal of our agricultura] machinery will find its way into all parts of the globe to cultivate their land with, which will cause our English markets to be glutted with foreign corn produced by foreign labour. It is expedient to give the British farmer a tenant-right (alias equity or justice between landlord and tenant), or the foreigners with our English-made implements in husbandry upon their maiden lands-the foreigners, who pay light rents and taxes, in a few years will bring the English farmers to the same position as that in which the Roman farmers were. No country can be great that is poor in agriculture. Upon estimating the value of the stock and crops in England, it will be found that ours is the richest country, per acre, on the face of the earth.

SAMUEL ARNSBY.

Mill Field, Peterborough, April 8.

STOCKBRIDGE ANNUAL SHEEP AND CATTLE SHOW.

The premiums given this year were nearly double as compared with former years, and, as a natural consequence, the competition was more keen. The stock exhibited, particularly of sheep, was of that usual good quality which distinguishes the flocks and homesteads of Hampshire and Wiltshire. The principal exhibitors were the Right Hon. the Earl of Portsmouth; Mr. Moore, Littlecott; Mr. Bennett, Chilmark; Mr. Pain, of Houghton, exhibited a pen of teg rams as extra stock, Edney, Whitchurch; Mr. Olding, Amesbury, and others. Mr. which was highly commended by the judges; a pen of ram

lambs, eleven weeks old, shown by Mr. Moore, of Littlecott,

were also much admired.

For the best Hampshire Down Ram, a silver cup, value 31. Ss. -Mr. Bennett, Chilmark.

For the best Hampshire Down four-tooth Ram, a silver cup, value 81. 3s.-The Earl of Portsmouth.

For the best Hampshire Down Teg Ram, a silver cup, value 51. 5s-Mr. French, Longstock.

For the second best ditto, a prize of 17.-Mr. Edney, Whitchurch.

For the best Ram of any kind, breed, or age, the criterion of merit to be the possession of general qualities necessary to form the most useful and profitable sheep, a prize of 21.-Mr. John Moore, Littlecott.

For the best Hampshire Down four-tooth Ram, a prize of 21.Mr. Olding, Amesbury.

For the best Hampshire Down Teg Ram, a silver cup, value 51. 58-Mr. F. Baily, Candover.

For the second best ditto, a prize of 11.-Mr. Olding, Amesbury.

For the best Hampshire Down Ewe Tegs, bred by the exhibitor, in the proportion of 2 to every 100 Ewes kept and put to tup in the preceding year, to be kept with the flock up to the day of exhibition, a silver cup, value 31. 3s.-Mr. Bennett, Chilmark. For the best Hampshire Down Ewes in milk, in the proportion of 2 to every 100 Ewes kept and put to tup in the preceding year, to be kept with the flock up to the day of exhibition, a silver cup, value 31. 3s.-Mr. Lywood, Houghton.

For the best Hampshire Down Ram Lambs, in the proportion of 1 Lamb to every 100 Ewes kept and put to tup in the preceding year, bred by the exhibitor, a silver cup, value 81. 88.-The Earl of Portsmouth.

Mr. Edney's Ram Lambs in this class highly commended. For the best Ram of any age, the exhibitor not saving more than 10 ram lambs, a silver cup (given by Thos. Baring, Esq.), value 31. 3s.-Mr. Chamberlayne, Up-Somborne.

For the second best ditto, a prize (given by T. Baring, Esq.) of 21.-Mr. Ayles, Michaelmarsh.

For the ten best Hampshire Down Ewe Tegs, bred by the exhibitor, to have been kept with the flock up to the day of exhibition, the exhibitor not saving more than ten ram lambs, a silver cup (given by Mr. John Day), value 51, 5s.-Mr. Elderfield, Houghton.

For the ten best Hampshire Down Ewes, in milk, to be kept with the flock up to the day of exhibition, the exhibitor not saving more than ten ram lambs, a prize of 21. 2s.—Mr. French, Longstock.

For the best Cow, in milk, a cream jug (given by Mr. John Day), value 31. 38.-Mr. Foster, Kingsomborne.

For the second best ditto, a prize (given by Mr. Day) of 21.— Mr. W. Pothecary, Wallop.

For the best Heifer, in milk, not exceeding three years old, a prize of 21.-Mr. Flower, Longstock.

For the best Bull, a prize of 21.-Mr. C. Fielder, Sparsholt. For the best fat Calf, under 12 weeks old, bred by the exhibitor, a prize of 11.-Mr. C. Fielder, Sparsholt.

For the best Boar, a prize of 21.-The Earl of Portsmouth. For the second best ditto, a prize of 11.-The Earl of Portsmouth. For the best Breeding Sow, a prize of 21.-The Earl of Portsmouth.

For the second best ditto, a prize of 11.-The Earl of Portsmouth. For the best Cart Stallion, prize of 21.-Mr. Ayles, Michaelmarsh. For the best Cart Mare, in work, prize of 3!.-The Earl of Uxbridge.

For the second best ditto, a prize of 11.-Mr. French, Longstock.

For the best Cart Colt or Filly, foaled since the year 1854, bred by exhibitor, a prize (given by Thos, Baring, Esq.) of 21. 28.Mr. T. Attwood, Stockbridge.