These subjects could be pursued under cover, but there was besides the field work, which had a more practical sound; model farms to be visited; steam-engines to be seen at work; lectures to be listened to on the spot; deep-drainage operations, a new drill, or a new sheaf-binder to be looked at.

Then there were the experimental plots--something like the little _parterres_ seen at the edge of lawns.
One plot was sown without manure, another was sown with manure, a third had a different kind of manure.

The dozen mangolds grown in one patch were pulled up and carefully weighed.

The grains of wheat in an ear standing in an adjacent patch were counted and recorded.

As these plots were about a yard wide, and could be kept clean, no matter what the weather; and as a wheelbarrow load of clay, or chalk, or sand thrown down would alter the geological formation, the results obtained from them were certainly instructive, and would be very useful as a guide to the cultivation of a thousand acres.