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ALBERT R. MANN
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OF
AGRICULTURE AND HoME ECONOMICS

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OUTLINE MAP OF ENGLAND,

Shewing the distinction between the Corn and Grazing counties ; and the line of division
between high and low Wages.

All to the East of the black line, running from North to South, may be regarded as the chief Corn Districts of
England; the average rental per acre of the cultivated land of which is 30 per cent. less than that of the counties to the
‘West of the same line, which are thé principal Grazing, Green Crop, and Dairy districts.

* The dotted line, running from East to West, shows the line of Wages; the average of the counties to the North of that
line being 37 per cent. higher than those to the South of it.

 

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See pages 480. 512, 514. and 516.
ENGLISH

AGRICULTURE

1850-41,

BY JAMES CAIRD, ESQ.

THE “ TIMES’ ” COMMISSIONER.

* Books will not teach farming, but if they describe the practices of the best farmers they will
make men think, and show where to learn it.”—-Pu, Pusey.

LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS.
1852,
THIS VOLUME
Is DEDICATED,

WITH RESPECT AND ESTEEM,

TO

JOHN WALTER, ESQ, MP.

BY WHOSE PUBLIC SPIRIT

THE INQUIRY WHICH IT EMBODIES

WAS UNDERTAKEN.
PREFACE.

In the beginning of 1850, the low prices of agricultural
produce and the serious complaints of farmers and land-
lords, indicated the necessity of some inquiry into the
actual state of agriculture in the principal counties of
England. In order to ascertain the extent and true
cause of the distress, this inquiry was originated by
“THe Times.” Having been invited to undertake a
task so extensive and at that time so difficult on ac-
count of the excited state of the agricultural mind — I
ventured to consult the late Sir Robert Peel, whether
such an inquiry, conducted in the fair and temperate
spirit which was desired, might not be beneficial to
those connected with land, and to the tenant farmers in
particular, in whose prosperity I knew that both his
feelings and his interests were deeply engaged. With
the concurrence of his literary Executors, I am enabled
to lay before the Public the following letter from that
lamented statesman :—

“ Drayton Manor, Fazeley,
“ January 6. 1850.
“ Dear SIR,
“‘T am inclined to advise the acceptance of the
offer conveyed in the inclosed.

“There is so little intercommunion between agricul-
a4
viii PREFACE.

turists in different parts of the country, and such a
general unwillingness on the part of ordinary farmers
to travel beyond the bounds of their own parish — that.
much good might, I think, be done by presenting to them
in an attractive form, the observations of practical men
on the different systems of farming, and the different
usages which prevail in various parts of the country.

“You will find immense tracts of good land in
certain counties (Lancashire and Cheshire for example),
with good roads, good markets, and a moist climate,
that remain pretty nearly in a state of nature, un-
drained, badly fenced, and wretchedly farmed.

‘Nothing has hitherto been effectual in awakening
the proprietors to a sense of their own interest. I
cannot help thinking that a dispassionate and temperate
contrast between the productiveness of their properties
and that of others in less favoured positions, and the
conclusive proof that might be exhibited that protection
had in their cases not stimulated improvement, but
had probably been the parent of neglect, might re-
concile them to the withdrawal of it, and induce them
to look out for more certain aid in ‘ good farming under
liberal covenants.’

“The main consideration is the character and qualifi-
cations of those with whom you would be associated.

‘““T presume the character and the interests of the
paper are so deeply concerned, as to insure every at-
tention to this important matter.

“Faithfully yours,

‘“Rosert Pgrsr,
‘“ James Carp, Esq.”
PREFACE. 1x

In the first part of the inquiry I was associated with
Mr. J. C. M‘Donald, of the Inner Temple, whose literary
abilities contributed much to the success of the Letters.
The latter part I conducted alone ; and the whole having
been re-written by me, I am now solely responsible for
the opinions they contain.

With the view of rendering these Letters permanently
useful, not merely as exhibiting the state of Agriculture
throughout England, of which, since Arthur Young’s
Tours, upwards of eighty years ago, they afford the
only general account, I was careful to note good ex-
amples of farming in the several counties, and have
described them in minute detail, for the information of
farmers in the same and other counties. Many eminent
practical men have already acknowledged the benefit
they have received, by combining with their own the
practice, in some particular department, of good farmers
in other counties, thus brought under their notice. I
have also sometimes noticed objectionable practices in
order to reprobate them. A copious index has been added,
which renders the work a book of reference for the
best systems of agriculture at present practised in the
various counties in England. The arrangements be-
tween landlords and their tenants have also been fully
discussed; and the condition of the labourer has ob-
tained a due share of attention.

To the liberality of “Tue Timms” I feel deeply
grateful, for the ample means placed at my disposal for
conducting this inquiry, and for the perfect freedom
with which I was permitted to express my opinions,
irrespective of their political bearing.
x PREFACE,

As the object was to obtain facts, and the field so
extensive, it was thought that the clearest and most
methodical description of English agriculture would be
got by a separate examination of each county. The
Southern counties were first examined,—then the
Eastern and Midland counties, —next the Western and
Northern, — and last Derbyshire and Northampton, and
some of the corn-growing counties near the metropolis
which had not been previously visited.

All the matter contained in these Letters was ob-
tained by personal inquiry and inspection, principally
by walking or riding carefully over individual farms,
in different districts of each county, accompanied by the
farmers,—by traversing estates with the landlord or
his agent, —and by seeking access to the best and most
trustworthy sources of local information.

Two points call for special remark here, which are
the cause of much national loss to Agriculture, — the
general absence of Leases throughout England, and
the immense mass of fertilizing matter which runs to
waste from all the large towns of the Kingdom. To
the first of these I have endeavoured to draw attention
in the following Letters, and the second has likewise
been noticed. The general adoption of the one, and the
preservation and application of the other as manure,
would cause a great addition to the annual produce of
England.

The concluding Letters bring into one view the
general results of the investigation.

Baldoon, Wigtown,
January, 1852.
CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

Vale of Aylesbury. — Proportion of Pasturage to Tillage —- Mode of
Drainage——Farm Buildings, their Deficiency — Tenure — Rent — Size
of Farms—Various Kinds of Stock and Mode of Management— Butter
Dairies — Hay — Loss by fattening Cattle — Imperfect Management of
Manure— Labourers and their Wages —Tillage—Rents, Rates, and
Drainage of Arable Lands — Course of Crops and their Management —
Stock — Field Roads - - - - Pagel

LETTER II.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE — continued.

Chalk Districts. — Extent of Farms—TInsufficient Buildings — Rate of
Rent — Poor and other Rates—— Management of Arable Land — Severe
“Course of Crops— More Land ploughed on account of low Prices —
Management of Stock and Manure — Implements — Average Produce
of Crops and Stock — Wages— “ Paying Prices ”—- Neatness of Farm
Houses - - - - - - 12

LETTER IIi.

OXFORDSHIRE.

South-Eastern District.— Great Variety of Soils—Extent of Farms—
Low Estimation of cold Clay Soils— Rent — Rates — Doubtful Benefit
of dividing Surplus unemployed Labour among Rate-Payers— Wages
— Course of Crops— Farmers’ Reasons for.employing Five Horses in a
Plough — Injurious Effect of this on the Subsoil —Excellent Manage-
ment of Turnip Farms detailed — Advantage of cutting Turnips to the
Sheep— Early Lamb Breeding and Management—Sheep Feeding —
Quantity fed— Management of Cattle defective — Horses — Pigs —
Farm Buildings - - - - - 17
Xi CONTENTS,

LETTER IV.
OXFORDSHIRE — continued.

Western District. — Nature of Land— Blenheim — Different Management
by the same Tenant under different Landlords— Farmers conscious of
bad Farming — Their Excuse — Average Crops and Stock— Wages —
Neatness of Farm Houses— Want of practical Knowledge by Land-
lords and Agents— Farmers’ Opinion of their Prospects — Injurious
Effect of Law of Distraint in enabling Landlord to encourage unfair

Competition — Duty on Foreign Cattle— Allotments to Labourers
Page 24

LETTER V.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

Cotswolds. — Climate and Nature of Soil— Rent —Custom of County —
Rates— Wages—-Course of Crops—System of Burning the Land —
Repeated at regular Intervals for a long Period with Advantage — Be-
nefit of artificial Manures— Cotswold Sheep and Cattle— Agricultural
College at Cirencester—Course of Education— The College Farm 31

*

LETTER VI.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE — continued. .

Vale of Gloucester.— Numerous Hedgerows very injurious to the Farmers
— Difference of Character of Landlords of little Value if unaccom-
panied by the Power of making Improvements — Rent — Defective
Accommodation and consequent Mismanagement of Cows in Winter —

« Starving System, as regards both Stock and Land — Improvements sug-
gested — Wages — Course of Crops — Difference between Vale and
Cotswold Farmers in Intelligence and Enterprise— Security for Tenant’s
Capital - - - - - - - 40

LETTER VII.
DEVONSHIRE.

Soil and Climate — Progress of Agriculture of late Years chiefly due to
the Tenants, of whom there are two Classes — Life Leases, being su-
perseded by short Terms — Rent — Variety of Occupations which De-
mand the Devonshire Farmer’s Attention — Farm Buildings, Ancient
and Modern — Course of Crops — Hedgerow Timber, Instance of its
injurious Effects —Oxen used in Plough — Produce of Crops — Im-
provements suggested — Dairy Management — Other Stock — Water
Meadows — Orchards Wages —Clay Land— Prices and Rents 48
CONTENTS. xiii

LETTER VIII.

DORSETSHIRE.

Contrast with Devon—Character of Soil—Value of Dairy Produce —
Tenure—-Corn Rents — Little Expenditure required to be made by
Landlord — Management of Arable Land detailed — Singular Custom of
“* Working” the Sheep— System of Farming, though apparently causing
frequent Repetition of Manure, really not enriching —Chalking — Its
Expense—Water Meadows—-Sheep— Mortality at Lambing Time attri-
buted to the “ Working ” System—Suggestions - Page 57

LETTER IX.

DORSETSHIRE — continued.

Mr. Huxtable’s Farms.— Distribution of Liquid Manure by Pipes— Hill
Farm — Yield of Crops— Buildings — Machinery — Preparation of
Food for Cattle—Pig Feeding — Accommodation of Cattle — Sheep
House — Pig House — Calving House — Liquid Manure Tank — Re-
sults — Condition of Dorsetshire Labourers — Clothing Club — Com-
plaint of Low Prices - - - - - 65

LETTER X.

WILTSHIRE.

Northern and Western Districts. — Appearance of Country — Defective
Buildings and Drainage — Size and Rent of Farms — Heavy Rates —
Injurious Effect on Labourers of ‘“‘ Close” Parishes— Pressure of High-
way Rates — Neglect of Landlords — Miserable Accommodation for
Stock — Dairy Management — Arable Land — Primitive Barn Imple-
ments - - - - = - 74

LETTER XI.

WILTSHIRE — continued.

Salisbury Plain. — Nature of Soil— Conversion of Pasture to Arable
encouraged by Commutation of Tithe— Consequent Increase of Rent
— Change from Sheep to Corn Farming — Large Farms — Mode of
Management—Task-Work—Consumption of Bought Food and Manure
— Farm Buildings — Machinery little used for Fear of displacing La-
bour — Low Wages — Diet of Labourer insufficient — Subdivision of
very large Farms believed to be inevitable—— Farmers’ Opinions and
Prospects - - - - - - - 79
Xlv CONTENTS.

LETTER XII
HAMPSHIRE.

General Description — Size of Farms— Defective Drainage— Land might
be profitably reclaimed from Sea — Farm Buildings very insufficient —
Water-Meadows — Rent and Produce near Southampton — Details of
Management — Rent and Produce of Chalk District — Management of
Sheep — and of Pigs — Suggestions for farther developing Capabilities
of Soil and Position — Proposal to have Slaughter-Houses near Railway
Stations for supplying London with Fresh Meat Wages — High Rate
of Cottage Rents — Farmers’ Complaints - - Page 88

LETTER XIII.

NORTH HANTS. — BERKSHIRE.

Stratfieldsaye — Duke of Wellington as a Landlord — Rent and Rates
— System of Agricultural Management. Berkshire. — Division of
Soils — Want of Capital by Farmers — Sir John Conroy’s Farming —
Draining and Trenching the Foundation of his Success — Process of
Improvement — Management of early Lambs —- Corn Crops — Farm
Garden — Buildings — Machinery and Implements — Pig Manage-
ment — Thin Seeding, Wide Drilling, and frequent Horse Hoeing —
Labourers - - : - - - - 97

 

LETTER XVI

BERKSHIRE.

Northern Division. — Farm of Mr. Pusey, m.p. — Land always under
Crop — Details of Management— Sheep Stock fed on Rape Cake and
Barley in Addition to Green Food — Expensive Mode of Feeding Oxen
— Water Meadows — Cause of Failure the First Year — Extraordinary
Fertility afterwards — Letter from Mr. Pusey — Benefits of his Ex-
ample — Wages and Cottage Rents — Rent and Produce — Vale of the
Isis — Fertile District near Wantage — Chalk District round Isley
well cultivated — Inconveniences of “Common Field ”’— Tenure —
Farmers’ Opinions — Improvements at Bearwood - » - 107

LETTER XV.

SURREY.

Description of County — Backward State of Agriculture — Tenure —
“ Custom” of the County — Said to promote Fraud among the Farmers
— Numerous Body of Land-Valuers unfavourable to mutual Confidence
between Landlord and Tenant — State of Agriculture near Guildford
— Valley of the Wey —-Albury — Prejudices of Farmers near Reigate
CONTENTS. XV

—Excellent Management of a Butter-Dairy — Weald Farming, meagre
Results— Primitive Barn Implement — Suggestions for Improvement
— Extent and Rent of Farms— Want of Intelligence among Farmers
— Wages — Influence of Railways in lessening Pressure of Rates —
Effect of Tenant Right in depressing Rents - - Page 117

LETTER XVI.
SUSSEX.

Description — Weald Farming — Hop Culture and its Risks — Farming
on the Downs — Old-fashioned clumsy Implements — Instance of great
Waste of Power — Average Produce of Corn — The South Down Sheep
— Arable and Dairy Farm near Brighton — Profitable on Account of
Two-thirds of Produce being from Stock — Extent of Farms — Wages
— Cottage Rents— Tenant Right discourages Competition for Farms
— Enables a Farmer to borrow on the Security of his ‘« Valuation” —
Leads to Trickery and Fraud - - - - - 126

LETTER XVII.
ESSEX.

Vicinity to the Metropolis has not had the Effect of making its Agriculture
prosperous — Variety of Soils — Chiefly Clay — Landlords heavily
Mortgaged, and their Estates consequently injudiciously managed —
Drainage by Mole Plough — and with Stubble— Farm Buildings in-
ferior and very combustible — Tenure — Rent — Depreciation of an
Estate in Value — Cottage Rents — “ Custom” — Farming in the
Roothings — Burning of Soil with Stubble— Mr. Hutley’s Farm at
Witham — Management of Crops and Stock — Yard Feeding of Sheep
— Large Returns from Pig Feeding — Mr. Mechi’s Farm — Mode of
Management — Proximity to the Metropolis not taken full Advantage
of by Farmers - - - - - - 133

LETTER XVIII.
ESSEX — SUFFOLK.

Mr. Fisher Hobb's Breed of Essex Pigs — Excellence of his other Stock
and Management. Suffolk. — Arthur Young — His Suggestions
though much sneered at by “ practical” Men of his Day have since
been generally adopted — Swedes and Mangold introduced by him —
Agriculture greatly indebted to him for its Progress— Unconcern of
Landlords in the Improvement of their Estates — Injurious Preserva-
tion of Game — Farmers with borrowed Capital not expected to keep
their Position — Relative Value of Wages and Food — Agricultural
Implement Manufactories— Messrs. Ransome’s — Messrs. Garrett's —
Implements sent Abroad - - - - - 143

 
xvi CONTENTS.

LETTER XIX.

SUFFOLK.

Description of Soils — Size of Farms, and Tenure — Inadequate Build-
ings — Want of Permanency in Drainage — Excellent Management of
heavy Land detailed — Course of Crops, and their Management —
Stock Management very inferior to Crop—Cost of Food double the
Value of the Meat—-Comparison between purchased Manure and Food
—Extensive Farms and good Management of Mr. Capon of Denning-
ton— Vigour of newly broken-up Land— Absurd compulsory Clause in
Leases of Light Lands — Management too Sparing— Field Barns —
Mode of conducting Harvest Work — Soot a Protection from Game —
Light Land Farming on the Duke of Grafton’s Estate - Page 151

LETTER XX.
NORFOLK.

Native Breeds of Stock superseded — Variety of Soils and Appearance of
Country — Mr. Coke’s Improvements — Encouraged Tenants of Capital
by giving Leases, and good Residences and Buildings —+ Established
Annual Meetings at Holkham for discussing and examining Agricultural
Operations — Immensely increased Productiveness that ensued — Farm-
ing at Holkham Park — Benefit of applying Nitrate of Soda and Salt to
Wheat — Mr. Hudson’s Farm at Castleacre-— Management detailed —
Increase of Stock and Corn — Saving of Waste by the use of Railways
in transporting Fat Stock to Market — Farms of Mr. Overman at
Weasenham, and at Burnham Sutton — Spring Hoeing of Corn Crops
reckoned injurious —Four-course Rotation expanding, and Crops in-
creasing in Productivenesss — Mr. Blyth’s Farm — Chicory Cultivation
— Eastern Division — Great Extent of Marshes still to be improved —
Messrs, Heaths’ Grazing Farms — Condition of Labourers — Advan-
tage of enlarging Settlement proved - - 162

LETTER XXI.

THE FEN COUNTRY.

Extent of Fen Country — Early and Progressive Improvements — Two
Kinds of Fen Land—“ Black” the most fertile and yemunerative and
the lowest rented — Management of Sheep — and Cattle— Details of
Fen Farming — Advantage and Expense of claying Black Land —
Course of Husbandry on Duke of Bedford’s Estate at Thorney —
Average Crops—Rent and Rates—Condition of Labourers — Details
of Farming in the Clay District of the Fens — Drainage defective —
Average Crops — Use of Cake and Guano — Result of an Application.
for a, Reduction of Rent - - = 177
CONTENTS. xvii

LETTER XXII.
LINCOLNSHIRE.

Great variety of Soils — Description of the Country —Opened up by
Network of Railways—Want of Drainage—Great Improvement ef-
fected by the Application of Clay Marl to Sand — Management of Clay
Soils inferior to Essex and Suffolk — Rent dependent on the Landlord
— Details of Farm Management on the Wolds— Inferior to that of
West Norfolk—-Chalk a Cure for Anbury in Turnips— Details of
Farming on Lincoln Heath — Advantage of bringing up broken cal-
careous Rock by deep ploughing—Rent— Process, and Expense of
“Warping” on the Humber and Trent - - Page 185

LETTER XXIII.

LINCOLNSHIRE — continued.

Rapidity of Improvement in Lincolnshire — Simultaneous Increase of
Rent and Tenant’s Profit — Liberal minded Landlords— Compensation
for unexhausted Improvements described — Expense of Arbitration,
and Evidence of Claims requisite — Claims increasing in Extent —
Landlords find it necessary to limit and define them — Farmers not
more liberal in Outlay or more hopeful than in Districts where no Tenant
Right exists — Lord Yarborough’s Estates — Mr. Chaplin as a Resident
Landlord — Labourer’s Wages — Cottage Rents high— Great Distances
which Labourers are compelled to walk or ride on Donkeys to their
Work, from scarcity of Cottage Accommodation - 193

LETTER XXIV.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

Change from Agricultural to Manufacturing Districts — The “ Dukery ”
— Competition for Farms not unduly encouraged — Duke of Portland’s
Arrangement with his ‘Tenants —One of the earliest Promoters of
Agricultural Improvement — Farm Buildings — Tenant Right — Ne-
cessity for limiting it — Particulars not specified in Bill of Valuation —
Proportion of entering Tenant’s Capital absorbed by the Payment of
Valuations — Size of Farms — Rent — Condition of Labourers — Di-
minution of Cottages - - - - 198

LETTER XXV.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE — continued.

Different Kinds of Land in the County — Details of Management of a
Light Land Farm near Worksop — Peculiar and Profitable Mode of
growing Potatoes — Rent — Clumber — Welbeck — Clipstone Farming

a
XVill CONTENTS.

and famous Water Meadows described —— Sherwood Forest — Defective
Management of Clay Soils — Exception to this — Mr. Parkinson's
Farm at Leyfields— Rent and Preduce of Land near Nottingham —
Mr. Paget's Farm — Use of ‘‘ Shoddy”’ as Manure— Increasing Wheat
Crops— Large Returns from Dairy - - - Page 203

LETTER XXVI.
LEICESTERSHIRE.

Different Qualities of Soil— High-rented County — Large Proportion in
Grass — Management of a mixed Arable and Pasture Farm — Lime used
to kill the Slug — Produce per Acre— Management of Light Land Farm
— No artificial Manure used— Size of Farms—Necessity of Supervision
in Drainage — Management of Dairy Farms — Subdivision of Property
— Insecurity of Tenure — Isolation of Landlords — Want of good Un-
derstanding between them and their Tenants — Men of Business make
good Landlords - - - - - - 213

LETTER XXVII.
WARWICKSHIRE.

Letting Value of various Soils—Removal of Hedgerow Timber—Tenure—
Advantage of Resident Landlords— Condition of Labourer — Improving
Farmers— Certain Loss in farming Strong Land with inadequate Capital
— Old-fashioned Farmer who ploughs little, more successful — Course
of Crops, Management, and Produce of strong Land— Defective Drainage
—Management of lighter Soils—— Liberal Application of Manures —
Management and Produce of Stock — Milkmen in Birmingham —
Remissness of Farmers of surrounding Country in not taking up this
Business — Waste of Manure - - - - - 221

LETTER XXVIII.

STAFFORDSHIRE.

Extent and Division of Soils — Marling in some Parts discontinued —
Mineral and Manufacturing Wealth— Proprietors and Tenants—
Arrangements made, or contemplated, to meet Reduction in Prices —
Tenure — Tenants do not desire Leases-—Small Farmers on cold Clays

very poor — Buildings generally good — Condition of the Labourers —
Lord Hatherton’s Experiment - - - 229

LETTER XXIX.

STAFFORDSHIRE — continued.

Climate and Elevation of Country — Mr. Hartshorne’s Far

Pigs — Manufacture of concentrated Milk — Mr, ies aoe

ewis’s Farm —
CONTENTS. xix

Manufacture of Superphosphate of Lime for Manure — Lord Hatherton’s
Improvements at Teddesley — Skilful Application of Drainage Water —
Expense and Profit of this Improvement — Details of Management of
large Arable Farms — Increasing Crops — Effective agricultural Imple-
ments— Cannock Chase, its Capabilities undeveloped - Page 233

LETTER XXX.

TAMWORTH.

Drayton Manor — Situation and Soil of Sir Robert Peel's Estates — Posi-
tion of the Tenantry — Arrangements contemplated in consequence of
Free-Trade in Corn — Agricultural Management of the Estate — Mis-
application of Horse Power — Labourers well employed - - 244

LETTER XXXI

CHESHIRE.

Naturally adapted to Grass Farming — The Farmer’s Wife the most im-
portant Person in a Cheshire Dairy Farm — Competition among a
numerous Class of frugal and industrious Farmers has given the Land-
lord a larger Share of the annual Produce than is to be met with elsewhere
— Description of the County —Small Proportion in Tillage — and that
not well farmed — Produce of Crops— Arrangement of the Dairy Pas-
tures — Meadows — Tile Drainage — The Marquis of Westminster’s
System — Application of Bone Manure to Pastures— Its Results —
Number of Cows kept on various Qualities of Land — Rent — Process of
Cheese making — Produce — Mr. Littledale’s Farm — Culture of early
Potatoes - - - - - - - 252

LETTER XXXII.

LANCASHIRE.

Southern Division. — General Description — Great Occasion and local
Facilities for Improvement — Lord Derby’s Arrangement with his
‘Tenants — Lord Sefton’s Estate — Improvements in Township of Speke
—Slow Progress on cold Clay Soils — Excellent Management of Mr.
Longton’s Farm — Frequent Manuring and remunerative Crops — Other
similar Examples — Soil and Climate favourable to Grass and Green
Crops — Mr. Neilson’s Farm — Early Crops near Ormskirk and on the
Banks of the Mersey — High Rent of Grass Land in the upper District
of County — Rotation of Crops must be regulated by Circumstances —
Rent and Rates - - - - - 263
XX CONTENTS.

LETTER XXXIII.
LANCASHIRE — continued.

Extensive and improveable Moss Lands — Mode of Improvement — Marl
found injurious to Potato Crop— Mr. Wilson Ffrance’s System and
its Profits —— Near Towns all Produce sold and Manure purchased —
Great Facilities, yet slow Progress of Moss Reclamation. — Description
of North Lancashire. — The Fylde — Evil of long Leases renewable by
Fines—Mr. Clifton’s Estate— Course of Crops and Condition on which
Green Crops and Straw are permitted to be sold — Rent of Sand Land
—Size of Farms, and System of Farming in Fylde— Great Competition
for Farms— Mr. Garnett’s Improvements— Benefits of Bones on high-
lying Pasture Lands — Comparative Prices, Rents, Wages, &c. in 1770
and 1850 — Condition of Labourers — Agricultural Societies Page 274

LETTER XXXIV.
YORKSHIRE.

West Riding. — Woollen and Worsted Manufactures — Weaver- F armers —
— General Taste for Agriculture among Manufacturers of the West
Riding — Milk Farmers — This District little affected by the Price of
Corn—Mr. Stansfield’s Farm at Esholt—- Management and Productive-
ness of Italian Rye Grass Rent — Wharfdale— Value of a Cow’s
Produce — Rent and Rates — Harewood — Condition of Labourers —
Leeds — Wakefield — Farming at Chevet Grange — Details of Manage-
ment of Crops and Stock — Labourers’ Wages — Variety of Crops near
Doncaster, Pontefract, and Goole— Tenure and Tenant Right— Turnip
Crops poor and little valued = - - - - - 286

LETTER XXXV.
YORKSIIRE — continued.

Potato Country round Goole— Messrs, Wells’ Farms—Process of Warping
— Stiff Clay thus covered with “gentle” Land — Course of Crops —
Fallows almost superseded — Buildings, and Management of Stock —
—— Economy of Steam Power — Heavy Application of Manure — Guano
has lessened the Cost of growing Potatoes — Comfort of the People on
Lord Beverley’s Estate—— Rent, Rates, and Farmers’ Capital — Holder-
ness — Soil and Course of Crops — Agricultural Management — Sunk
Island — Rent, Rates, and Wages — Want of Drainage and Buildings
in Holderness — Patrington-— Mr, Marshall’s Improvements — Flax
Mill - - - _ - 297
CONTENTS. xxl

LETTER XXXVI.

YORKSHIRE — continued.

Flax Culture most suitable to a District of low Wages —Growth of Sugar
Beet—The Yorkshire Wolds—Picturesque Appearance — Size of Farms
— Advantages possessed by Wold Farmers — Greater Competition here
for large than small Farms — Details of agricultural Management on
lower Wolds — and on higher Wolds — Different Yield of the two, and
Difference in Quality of Produce — Gradual and progressive Changes of
System of Cropping — Howdenshire — Necessity for Drainage of cold
Clays — Culture and Products of the Sand Land— Competition for Farms
may exist during a Time of low Prices — Condition of the Labourers —
Table of Prices and Wages in 1791, 1811 and 1850 - Page 308

 

LETTER XXXVII.
YORKSHIRE — continued.

Costs of Cultivation, and Produce, on eight Farms in Yorkshire and Lin-
coln. — The North Riding described. — The great Degree of Attention
and Skill necessary to successful Breeding of Stock — The Messrs. Booth
— Farming at Bainesse—The Practice and Advantage of Autumn fal-
lowing — Feeding of Stock — Produce of Crops —-Proportion of Swedes
to other Turnips too small — The Vale of Cleveland injured by being
broken ‘up from Grass — Government Drainage Loan — ‘enant Right in
the West Riding — Does not produce superior Farming — Indistinct
Character of the Awards of Valuators - = - - 319

LETTER XXXVIII.

DURHAM.

Rapid increase of Population — Appearance of the Country —Great Capital
invested in Coal Mines— Slow Progress of agricultural, as compared
with mining Enterprise — Courses of Crops — Denton Farm —Two-
crop and Fallow System detailed — Reduction of Rent not so effectual
here as an Increase of Crops—_Expense of Drainage—Coast-side Farm
— Excellent and productive Management — Produce of Crops — Stock
— Advantages of the System - - - - - 330

LETTER XXXIX.
DURHAM— continued.

Impossibility of the Two-crop and Fallow System paying with present
Prices— An Increase of Produce the only Remedy — Lord Londonderry’s
Proposals — Their Efficacy exemplified — Cheap Feeding Sheds —. Lord
Durham’s Estate— Lord Ravensworth’s — Vicinity of Newcastle —

: a3
XX CONTENTS.

Large Home Demand for agricultural Produce — Advantage of preparing
Food for Horses — The Mode of Preparation and Mixture of Food
__ Breeds of Cattle — Duke of Cleveland’s Estate — Hereditary
Tenants = - - - Page 339

LETTER XL.

CUMBERLAND,

Eastern District. — Humidity of Climate — Grass Farming therefore most
remunerative — Sir James Graham’s Estate — Consolidation of good
Land into large Farms — Encouragement of good Tenants — Great
Improvement of the Estate—To which the Tenants largely contributed
—Tenure—System and Expense of Drainage — Woodland — Rent —
Course of Crops — Mr. Birrel’s Farm — Pig Feeding — Practice of
“sowing out” without a Crop much approved — Lord Mansfield’s
Arrangements with his Tenants— Industry of the Cumberland Farmers
and their Families = - - - - - - 350

LETTER XLI.

CUMBERLAND — continued.

*

West Cumberland. — An importing Country — “ Statesmen’ — Gradually
being bought out— Size of Farms— Lord Lonsdale’s Estate—No Leases,
yet perfect Confidence — Humidity of Climate— Requires more frequent
Drainage and larger Pipes — Tile Works — Growth of Swedes — Mr.
Turner's Farm near Witehaven — His Plan of “ sowing out” without a
Crop — Yield of corn Crops— Hay — Live Stock — Excellent Manage-
ment of Milch Cows —Contrasted with that of Gloucestershire.— Short-
horns introduced by Mr. Curwen — Covered Dung House and Corn
Ricks at Gilgarron—Prospercus State of Labourers—Rent of Land 359

LETTER XLII.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

Rent of Land on Tyneside— General Description of the County. —
Southern Division. — Much Clay Land indifferently farmed — Deprecia-
tion in Value of this Kind of Soil — Arrangements made by the Land-
lords in consequence of Fall in Price of Corn — Mode of letting Land—
Farm Management on Duke of Portland’s Estate — System on heavy
Lands — Increase of Value by Drainage — Experimental Trials of
Feeding at Howick Grange — Advantage of House Feedino in Summer
— Mr. Scott’s Farm at Beal — Advantage of giving Cake to Cattle on
Grass — Best Mode of Drainage — Doubtful Benefit of levelling down
oid crooked Ridges = - 7 3 ee 369
CONTENTS. XXiil

LETTER XLIII.
NORTHUMBERLAND — continued.

Farming on Tilside—— Mr. Thomson, of Paston — Rotation and Produce
of Crops —— Management of Sheep — Their Prices and that of Wool —
Feeding of Cattle— Rent, Rates, and Labour— Linseed given to Horses
with advantage— The Farm of Wark— Wandon — Advantage of more
liberal Expenditure in Manure— Ruinous Consequences of undue
Encouragement of Competition for Farms— Farmers’ Capital — Redue-
tion of Rent—— Condition of Labourer — Cottage Accommodation
requires Improvement — Contrast between the Villages of Ford and
Wark — Discreditable State of the latter - - Page 379

LETTER XLIV.
DERBYSHIRE.

Matlock Bath — North Derbyshire. — Chiefly in Grass — Farming at
Birchills— Expensive Mode of storing Swedes— Produce of Crops and
Stock — Yard and Shed for feeding Sheep — Advantage of this System
—Horse Labour — Farm Laboure:s— Their Wages and abundant Food
— Rent and Rates — Mr. Thornhill'’s Farm — Great Increase of Stock
aud Crops — Costly Improvements — Succession of Crops — Second
Cutting of Clover in August places secondary Land on a Par with the
best — Management and Produce of Crops— and Stock — Profitable
Results—Mr. Cavendish’s Farm at Ashford — Public Privilege to search
for Minerals — Agreements on Duke of Devonshire’s Estate — Frame
Stocking Knitters the only Class of poor People in the Locality - 391

LETTER XLy.
DERBYSHIRE — RUTLAND.

Chatsworth — Edensot — Duke of Devonshire’s Mode of letting Part of his
Park to the Labourers and Tenants — Duke of Rutland’s Revaluation
— Cause of Rents not falling with Price of Wheat Game Damages
— Buildings erected by Landlord — Rent of Land — Barbarous Succes-
sion of Crops— Economical Mode of feeding Dairy Stock — Cultivation
of Field Cabbage at Duffield — Successful Top Dressing for poor
Pasture — Drains too shallow — Wages, Rates, and Rent — Derbyshire
and Northumberland compared. Rutland — Land near Stamford,
which Arthur Young complained of as unenclosed, remains so still —
Prices in 1778 and 1851 —Burleigh— Despondence of Farmers— De-
structive Effects of Game— Improvement forced by low Prices —
Revaluation may be unjust to a good Farmer - - - 401

 
XXIV CONTENTS.

LETTER XLVI.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE,

Light Land Farming at Wittering — Management of Stock — Mode of
feeding Horses —Wages — Farming Capital— Very deficient — Farming
therefore inferior — Good Management at Wansford — Wages — Dif-
ference between Rents of Cottages under the Duke of Bedford and the
small Owners in Villages — Geological Character of the County —
Grazing Farms—Proportions of Arable and Grass Land — Good Farming
the Exception — Landlords embarrassed, and many employ unskilful
Agents—TInequality of Rents— Too great Eagerness on part of ‘l'enants
to take Farms beyond their Capital — Course of Crops on light and
heavy Land — Mustard ploughed in green as a Preparation for Barley —
Mr. Shaw’s Farm at Cotton End — Use of Salt as Manure — Wages —
Changes of Tenants — General Lowering of Rent - Page 411

 

LETTER XLVII.
NORTOAMPTONSHIRE — continued.

Farming at Overstone — Drainage — Use of Broken Stones above Pipes
recommended by Mr. Beasley — Trenching— Its Cost — Removal and
Renewal of Fences — Subdivision of Farm — Course of Crops —
Turnips, Barley, Seeds, Wheat, Management of each described — Use
of Salt as Manure to Wheat — Mr. Beasley’s Reasons for not sowing
thin — Arrangement of the Buildings — Feeding of Cattle and Sheep
— Their Produce — Increase of Stock kept on the Farm — Cost of
Labour — Materials for making Manure — Lengthened Period which
Mr. Beasley’s High-bred Stock take to arrive at Maturity — Estates of
Lord Spencer, Mr. Lloyd and Lord Overstone— Their Arrangements
give them the Advantage of a Choice of good Tenants — Tenure —
Improved Cottages — Sir C. Knightley’s Estate - - 421

LETTER XLVIII.
BEDFORDSHIRE.

Woburn— Duke of Bedford’s Mode of letting Farms— Drainage, Fences,
and Buildings made at Landlord’s Expense — Comfortable Accommoda-
tion of Labourers — Their Cottages held directly from the Duke —
Cost of erecting Cottages — Rent — Schools for Labourers’ Children
— Workshops at Woburn — Experiments in feeding Cattle — Cost of
Farm Buildings — Principles which regulate the Connection between
Landlord, Tenant, and Labourer on this Estate — Worthy of general |
Imitation - - - sos 435 ;
CONTENTS. XXV.

LETTER XLIX.
BEDFORDSHIRE — continued.

Farming at Lidlington — Management of the various Crops — Value of ..
Winter Beans— Clay Land — Mangold —Comparative Value of
Leicester and South-Down Breeds of Sheep — Management of Sheep
— of Oxer — Cooked Food economical — Feeding of Horses — Farm
Buildings and Machinery — Economy of Steam Power —Cost of
Thrashing — Consumption of Coals —Comparison between Short-horns
and Devons — Profit on Galloways — Grass Land injured by Drainage
— Different Management and Expense of Sand and Chalk Soils —
Land as it becomes rich is better fitted for Wheat than Barley — Value
of the new Crops— Necessity of leaving a Tenant free to adapt his
Management to Changes of Circumstances — Compensation for reduced
Prices — Rent — Rates and Wages — Cardingdon to Southhill — Straw
for Plaiting at Dunstable - - - - Page 443

LETTER L.
HERTFORDSHIRE — MIDDLESEX,

Description of the County — Rent and Rates — Course of Crops — Size of
Farms— Wages— Farming at Lawrence End—Top Dressing for Grass
Land — Practice of ‘ inoculating” Grass Land — Profits on Fat Cattle
and Management — of Sheep — Expenditure in Manure, Food, and on
Labour — Rothamstead Park — Mr. Lawes’ valuable Experiments —
Successive Wheat Crops — Ammonia the essential Requisite as Manure
for Wheat — The Advantages of its Application limited by Climate —
New Plan of farming Clay Soils suggested — Value of other Manures —
Shed Feeding of Sheep — Plan of doing so on the Turnip Field — Farm
Horses. Middlesex. — Growth of Italian Rye Grass at Mr. Dicken-
son’s Farm — Value of Liquid Manure — Extraordinary Produce —
Want of Drainage near London - - 7 - 455

 

LETTER LI.
CAMBRIDGE — HUNTINGDON.

Cambridgeshire — Incendiary Fires — Inducing, with other Circumstances,
great Depondence among Farmers — No Expense too great to put this
down — Low Rate of Wages — Mr. Jonas Webb’s celebrated Flock of
South-Downs. Huntingdonshire. — Rent and Rates — Farming at
Woodhurst a rational System of managing Clay Land — Feeding of
Sheep and Cattle— Necessity for Drainage on the Clay Lands— Farmers’
Prospects — They demand Reduction of Rents — Labcurers’ Wages —
Want of Sympathy between Landlords and Farmers, and between
Farmers and Lahourers ~ - = - 467

 
XXV1 CONTENTS.

LETTER LII.
CONCLUSIONS.

Results of this Enquiry as compared with those of Arthur Young in
1770 — Increase of Rent, Produce, Wages, and Prices—No Increase
in Price of Corn, while Stock and its Produce have doubled in Value
—The Rent of Land capriciously fixed — Evils of Under-letting and
Over-letting — Difficult to hit the just Mean — Three remarkable Ex-
amples of the various Modes of Letting — Value of Land not now so
much dependent on Proximity to the Metropolis as in 1770—Shown
(by a comparative Table) to be chiefly influenced by the kind of Pro-
duce it yields — and by the Size of Farms — The Corn Counties being
lower Rented than the Mixed Husbandry and Grazing Counties — The
kind of Produce in greatest Demand— Examples showing the Tendency
to an increasing Consumption of Articles, the Produce of Grass and
Green Crops — Results of this on the Value of Land — The Direction
in which Agricultural Enterprise will in future be Remunerative—This
Change will not Diminish the Supply of Food, or of Labour © Page 473

LETTER LIII.
THE LANDLORD.

The Means by which Farmers may Increase their Crops at less com-
parative Cost — Home Competition on unequal Terms— The Road
against the Railway — Drainage, Hedgerows, and inadequate Buildings
— State of the latter generally discreditable— Impossible that Mat-
ters in this respect could be so bad if Landlords had been practically
acquainted with the Management of Land— Great Advantage to a
Landowner of a Knowledge of his Business —— The Qualifications of an
Agent or Steward — Immense Loss occasioned by their Incompetence
—Sale of Encumbered Estates recommended — Cheap Transfer of
Land — would Increase the Value of Property —and Facilitate the
Borrowing of Money on Land — Might be obtained by a System of
Registration, the Transfer being made by short Endorsements on an
authenticated Extract from the Register - - - 488

LETTER LIV.
THE FARMER.

Extraordinary Difference in the Art of Agriculture as practised in different
Counties, and occasionally on neighbouring Farms— The most Primi-
tive, as compared by Cost and Produce, also the most Expensive System
— Something to be learned everywhere — The Rotation of Crops ex-
panding witheRequirements of denser Population, and increasing Facili-
CONTENTS. XXvii

ties of Transport, and new Sources of Manure — The great Principle of
Rotations — Necessity for the Farmer to keep this before him, and for
the Landlord to do nothing which obstructs his Progress — Security for
the Farmers’ Capital May be obtained either by Lease or “ Tenant
Right”— Results of Tenant Right in the Counties where it is re-
cognised — Produces Fraud — Perpetuates obsolete Practices — Is in-
definite in Extent — Unjust to the Landlord — Disliked in some Coun-
ties by the best Tenants—and does not ensure good Farming— Leases
with liberal Covenants therefore considered greatly preferable Page 498

LETTER LV.
THE LABOURER.

Disparity of Wages in England — Table showing the Average Amount in
the various Counties — Influence of Proximity to Manufacturing and
Commercial Enterprise — Adds 37 per Cent. to the Rate of Wages as
compared with the Southern Counties — Increase of Wages since 1'770
—in the North 66 per Cent. —in the South 14 per Cent. —Wages in
the North sufficient for comfortable Subsistence, in the South often in-
sufficient for healthy Sustenance — Table showing the Pressure of Poor
Relief in the various Counties — Where Rate-payers divide among
themselves the surpius Labour, superior Skill ou the part of the Farmer
or the Labourer is discouraged—Hardship to the Labourer of “ Close”
Parishes — Contrast between Northern and Southern Counties in Wages
and Poor Rates — High Wages and Low Poor Rates, and Low Wages
and High Poor Rates almost invariable— Alteration in the Law of
Settlement required — Decrease in the Price of Provisions very different
from a Resort to a lower Species of Food — Any Circumstances which
would lead to such a Resort deprecated — Cottage Rents — Wages not
dependent on prices of Agricultural Produce—No Class more interested
in the continued Progress of Manufacturing and Mercantile Industry

510

LETTER LVI.
CONCLUSION.

Want of Agricultural Statistics — Rental of England — Estimated Annua
Produce of Corn— Average Produce per Acre— Fluctuation of Produce
according to Season — Great Influence of a cold Summer in diminishing
the Yield — Advantage of correct Statistical Information both to the
State, and the Agricultural Interest — Necessity for a Readjustment
of Rents — and in some Cases of the Tithe Rent-Charge — Education
the most powerful Aid to Agricultural Progress — Summary of the
public Measures recommended — The Prospects of Agriculture — Great
Body of intelligent and wealthy Farmers, and Scientific and Practical
Writers engaged in its Advancement - - - - 520
ie

ENGLISH AGRICULTURE

IN

1850—51l.

LETTER I.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

Vae or AYLESBURY — PROPORTION OF PASTURAGE TO TILLAGE — MODE
OF DRAINAGE — FARM BUILDINGS, THEIR DEFICIENCY — TENURE — RENT
— SIZE OF FARMS — VARIOUS KINDS OF STOCK AND MODE OF MANAGE-
MENT —- BUTTER DAIRIES — HAY — LOSS BY FATTENING CATTLE —
IMPERFECT MANAGEMENT OF MANURE— LABOURERS AND THEIR WAGES
— TILLAGE — RENTS, RATES, AND DRAINAGE OF ARABLE LANDS — COURSE
OF CROPS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT — STOCK — FIELD ROADS.

AYLeEsBury, Jan. 21. 1850,

Tue soil, in the Vale of Aylesbury, is a strong clay loam,
varying in depth from two feet to a few inches, of rich earth,
generally incumbent on stiff clay. The vale is celebrated for
the excellence of its pastures, for which it is better adapted
by nature than for tillage. In three parishes which we visited,
the proportion of tillage to pasture was very small, there being,
in the first only 8 acres in 2000 under the plough, in the second
90 acres in 900, and in the third no tillage whatever. It is a
country of rich pastures, laid out in large fields, devoted to the
feeding of stock and to dairy farming, and therefore affording
only limited employment to a scanty population, There is still
B
2 DRAINAGE — BUILDINGS — TENURES. (Bucks.

great room for improvement by drainage, though the grass lands,
especially those of prime quality, have generally been drained
by wedge or wood drains. These, though not so durable as
tiles, are found very beneficial ; and as the tenant has hitherto
been left in this district to make nearly all permanent improve-
ments at his own cost, he looks to cheapness as much as to
permanence. In some cases the landlord provides the tiles, the
tenant agreeing to put them into the ground; but there has
been little intercourse between landlord and tenant, and the
latter is left pretty much to himself in matters of improvement,
The tillage lands (where drained at all) are usually drained
with tiles.

The farm buildings are. very inadequate, and generally con-
structed of rough timber, covered with thatch. They have
evidently grown up by successive additions, as the necessities of
the occupier dictated, without much regard to shape or situation,
proximity to each other, or economy of space; and are often inter-
mingled in confusion with stacks of hay and beans. One farm of
600 acres, all under grass, for which the tenant paid 15002. a year
of rent and tithe, was extremely deficient in this respect; and
though the tenant had expended 200/. in making his house habit-
able on taking possession, his landlord refused to make any outlay _
in providing accommodation for his stock. On the whole, the
tenantry of this grazing district have had little co-operation or
enlightened sympathy from their landlords.

The tenures are principally from year to year, and such
tenures are preferred by the farmers to leases. One farmer
told us that his father and he had occupied the same farm for
upwards of seventy years, and though during that time they
had an indulgent landlord, large improvements in drainage, a
rent not increased for thirty years, and a considerable capital
invested in the soil, they had made nothing more than a re-
spectable living by the business.

The rent of land ranges from 10s. an acre, for the
lowest quality of undrained clay lands under tillage, to 50s.’
Bucxs.] GRAZING AND DAIRY FARMING. 3

for prime old grazing lands. The amount of poor rates,
though not much complained of, appeared high considering the
small population. ‘Tithes were in some instances paid by the
landlord, though generally by the tenant. The farms vary in
extent from 300 to 600 acres. Many of the farmers are
wealthy; but others, we were told, have never had any capital
of their own, having purchased their stock with borrowed
money, for which, being without good security to offer, they
pay exorbitant interest.

The grass farms in the Vale of Aylesbury are stocked one
third with ewes, and two thirds with dairy and fattening cattle.
The quality of the soil on each farm determines the precise ap-
portionment of stock; the best land being chiefly devoted to
fattening cattle and sheep, the secondary and the worst to dairy
purposes. Qn all the grass farms here the practice with regard
to sheep is to purchase ewes early in autumn, which drop their
lambs in January, and, after the lambs are disposed of in the
London market, are fattened and sold during the summer.
The stock is thus changed every year. The ewes are fed on
the pastures summer and winter, getting, occasionally, corn in
troughs in severe winter weather, and about the time of lamb-
ing. They receive no turnips during the winter; but the
practice of farmers differs in regard to the summer food of the
sheep, being regulated by the extent of their tillage land.
Where fallow is made, the land is previously sown with winter
vetches, on which the sheep are folded in the early part of
summer, thus securing an excellent bite for the sheep, and at
the same time giving a dressing of manure to the land. The
lambs are sent to the London market as soon as they are ready.
The prices which one of the most intelligent farmers whom
we met considers remunerative, are — 32s. for lambs; 2s. advance
in the difference between the selling and buying price of the
ewes; and 4s. each ewe for wool. Below these rates he thinks
the farmer will not be paid. It must be remarked that very many
of the ewes have twin Jambs. ‘The present rates for ewes and

BQ
4 FEEDING COWS — BUTTER DAIRIES — PRICES. (Bucks,

lambs are about 25 per cent. under the above. Wool main-
tains its price. The ewes kept are principally of the South-
down breed.

Dairy farming is the most important branch of rural industry
in this neighbourhood. The farmers do not breed the stock,
but buy young cows, and sell them as soon as they begin to fail
as milkers. The entire produce is converted into butter, which
is sent up to the London market during the season, an
agent in London being commissioned to sell it. The cows are
fed on the fine pastures of this district during the summer, and
tied up in sheds for five or six months during the winter, where
they are regularly supplied with hay. No green food, wurzel,
carrots, or turnips are grown on the farms, or given to the stock,
but some good feeders supply them with a portion of oil-cake in
addition to the hay. The hay is of the finest quality. In some
farms the cows go loose during the winter in open yards, with
sheds to retire under. They are in all cases attended to by men,
who feed, clean, and milk them. One farmer employs twelve
men to tend a herd of 100 cows during the winter season.

The milk, when carried to the dairy, is poured into large
oblong shallow wooden vessels, lined with lead. Twelve hours
afterwards the cream is skimmed off; in twelve hours more it is
again skimmed ; and the same process is repeated a third time.
In the warm weather of summer this suffices; but during winter
a fourth, and sometimes a fifth, skimming is necessary before the
careful dairymaid is satisfied that she has succeeded in extracting
the whole of the cream. The milk is then drawn off into a
pipe, by which it is conducted to a tank out of doors, close to
the feeding-troughs of the pigs. The cream is churned by
horse-power. We did not meet with an instance in which the
temperature of the dairy was regulated by artificial means.

The price of butter in this district for the last ten years was
read to us from the book of one of the farmers whom we visited.
From 1839 to 1847, in the month of January in each year, there
Bucss.] HAY — MANAGEMENT OF STOCK. 5

appeared scarcely any variation, beginning at 15d. to 16d., and
ending with 16d. per pound. In 1847 it fell as low as 13d.; in
1848 it rose to 17d.; and now it has fallen to 14d. per pound.
Dairy farming is said by all parties to be the only department
of their-business which leaves them a profit at present.

A farmer holding 300 acres of grass land mows about 100
acres annually. Part of this receives a top-dressing of dung
during the previous winter. The produce varies from ten cwt.
to two tons per acre, and the cost of making and stacking the
crop is about 15s. an acre. The good farmers consume the
whole of their hay on their own farms. But a very small
portion is sent from this quarter to the London market, and
that said to be hay of inferior quality, produced on the poorest
land, and parted with by the neediest farmers. There was a
good deal said with reference to the quality of London hay,
most of our informants stating to us that no really good hay
ever was sent up to London, and that it was almost impossible to
distinguish the difference betwixt good and inferior hay, without
being informed of the quality of the land on which it had been
grown. This had reference to natural upland or meadow hay,
not the hay of artificial grasses or clover.

Where cattle are fattened, they are purchased in autumn,
receive hay, and in some cases oil-cake, in yards during
the winter, and are fed fat on the best grazing land during
summer. It will thus be seen that the farmer of grass lands
in this quarter changes his stock of sheep and fattening cattle
every year, and his dairy cows when they cease to yield a profit-
able return. The fall in the price of butcher meat has there-
fore very seriously affected him for the season, as it has in some
cases nearly extinguished his usual profits on fattening cattle, and
greatly reduced them on sheep. ‘The produce of three acres of
good grass land, summer and winter, is reckoned necessary for
the keep of one cow. A milch cow consumes much more than
the produce of one acre of hay during the winter

B 3
6 DEEP TILLAGE-— ARTIFICIAL MANURES. [Bucxs.

The management of the tillage land on these farms forms
quite a subordinate branch of their system. The crops usually
grown are wheat and beans alternately, one ficld being set aside
for the purpose of tillage, and kept constantly under the plough,
The very small proportion under crop enables the farmer to
manure it heavily, and accordingly the crops he produces are
good, five quarters of wheat and as many of beans being the
common yield. One farmer told us that he had profited by a
lesson he got from witnessing the effects of deep tillage on one
of the labourers’ allotments in his neighbourhood. In conse-
quence of this, he instructed his ploughman to go eight inches
deep, instead of five, which is the usual depth turned up here in
preparing for beans; and though, to the dismay of the plough-
man, one or two inches of fresh clay were turned up to the
surface, the bean crop, notwithstanding a dry summer, proved
excellent, while most of those on the surrounding farms were a
failure.

The construction of the farm buildings is everywhere defec-
tive in arrangements for accumulating or saving manure. To
this most important point no attention is paid, the solid manure
lying about the yards, and the liquid draining itself off to the
watering pond or nearest open ditch. The use of bones or
guano seems scarcely known, and their value as a manure for the
grass lands appears not to have been discovered. One farmer
said it might pay a man with a lease to use such purchased
manures, but not otherwise. There can be no doubt that great
benefit would arise from the application of bones and guano to
the lands intended for hay, the produce of which might by such
means be greatly increased. If to this were added the con-
sumption of cheap feeding stuffs by the ewes, they could be
kept from roaming over the whole of the pastures in the months
of spring, by which the growth of the grass is often so much
retarded as not to afford a full bite to the dairy stock before the
beginning of June.

The number of labourers employed on these grazing farms
Bucxs.] LABOURERS’ WAGES — ARABLE FARMING. 7

exceeded what we should have anticipated, from ten to fourteen
people being engaged on farms of from 300 to 400 acres, with
not more than fifty acres of tillage. In all the parishes in
which we were, there were no labourers out of employment, if
we except a few under-drainers, whose work has been for the
present stopped by frost. The rate of wages is from 9s. to
10s. a week, with breakfast and ale on Sundays to the men em-
ployed with the dairy cattle. Wages have not fallen more than
1s. a week from the average, though they are 2s. to 3s. a week
lower than they were during the high prices of 1847.

The country extending from Aylesbury to Wendover and the
Chiltern Hills being chiefly in tillage, we had there an oppor-
tunity of examining the methods of husbandry pursued on the
arable lands of Buckinghamshire. The men who have capital to
embark, carefully shun the wet and inferior clay farms, which thus
fall into the hands of a poorer and less intelligent class of farmers.
Such farms, too, are small, and being very expensive and un-
profitable, their occupiers make a scanty and thankless living by
them. But in the district we now refer to, the character of the
soil is favourable to tillage, there being combined a considerable
variety of soils, and the land altogether seems of fair quality for
the purposes of cultivation. It is obviously much in want of
drainage, and the farm buildings, which are of rough wood
and thatch, are all of the most primitive description, and
very inadequate to the requirements of modern farming. These
matters are not much thought of by the landlords of this dis-
trict, who, if they get their rents, leave nearly everything else
to be arranged by the tenant as it best suits himself, and chiefly
at his own expense. ‘The proprietors and tenants seem, never-
theless, to be on good terms with each other.

The land is generally held from year to year, the farmer being
sometimes bound to certain modes of cultivation, and sometimes
left to his own discretion on this point. The average rent may

be stated at 30s. an acre. The poor rates, though heavy in
a4
8 RENT OF LAND — RATES— DRAINAGE. [Bucxs,

Wendover parish, are light in others adjoining, which is caused
by the labourers being sent in from the close parishes, in which,
the whole property being in the hands of one or two landlords,
no additional cottages are allowed to be erected; and so the
work people are driven to reside in the town, the ratepayers
of which are heavily and unfairly mulcted for the labour of
another parish, which thus goes almost free. Farms which
come into the market are readily taken again at former rents.

For drainage, tiles or pipes are seldom used: the material
most in use for filling the drains is “ rag” or lumps of hard chalk,
about the size of paving stones, which are carted three or four
miles for this purpose. When the expense of cartage is taken
into account, this substance must be nearly as costly as pipes, and
as the chalk by degrees melts or crumbles away, it cannot be
nearly so lasting as pipes. Where the operation is performed in
the best manner here practised, a drain is opened between each
“land,” the distance apart being from twenty-four to thirty feet,
and the depth of the drain about two feet. The blocks of “rag”
are then laid to the depth of fully a foot, a little straw is strewed
over, and as much as possible of the noxious substratum which
had been thrown out in digging the drain is packed carefully
over the straw, the surface soil being then replaced in its former
position. The more general plan however is, to put in a few
drains where they appear to be required, cutting to a depth of
fifteen or eighteen inches, and filling up to the bottom of the
plough furrow with wood or hedge trimmings. These are said to
last for many years. Wet spots here and there throughout a field
are so treated, but it is not thought necessary to go regularly
over the whole field in the same way. Nothing is believed to
be more injurious than any admixture of the substratum with
the surface staple of the soil. Of course subsoil ploughing or
trenching are carefully abstained from, and the benefit of deep
disintegration as accessory to drainage is accordingly lost.

The course of cropping followed does not seem to be very
definite. Some landlords do not interfere with their tenants,
Bucs. ] COURSE OF CROPS AND MANAGEMENT. 9

but allow them to pursue whatever system they find most ad-
vantageous. Others prescribe a certain course, which is termed
“three crops and a fallow.” It begins with bare fallow, then
wheat, next beans, pease and clover, and last wheat or barley.
This may be considered the standard, from which there are few
deviations. The fallow is found the best and surest preparation
for wheat, for which it is usually dunged. After the wheat is re-
moved the land is ploughed and planted with winter beans. The
beans are put in in rows with a dibble, at the rate of three to
three and a half bushels an acre, for which the workman is paid
1s. 6d. a bushel, or 4s. 6d. to 5s. 6d. an acre. In epring and
summer the beans are hand-hoed with a broad hoe twice or three
times, the price paid for each hoeing varying from 3s. 6d. to
4s, 6d. an acre, according to the clean or foul state of the land,
After the beans are removed the land is sown with wheat, which,
if it escape the ravages of the slug, generally proves a good crop.
To destroy the slugs quicklime is used by the best farmers,
and is scattered thinly over the surface at the rate of from one
to two quarters an acre. Where it is not thought advisable to
sow wheat after beans, the land lies untouched during the winter,
and is ploughed and sown with barley in spring. Part of the
division allotted to beans (an acre or two on a farm of 200 acres)
is sown with turnips, which are evidently not considered of much
value on this kind of soil. No mangold or other root crop is
cultivated, and scarcely a rood of potatoes. On one farm this
crop is proscribed by conditions of tenure, the tenant being al-
lowed to grow only half an acre on his farm—a privilege which he
does not make use of. No artificial manure, bones, or guano are
used, and scarcely any purchased feeding stuffs. The farms are
laid out in fine open fields, varying from eight or ten up to
thirty acres in extent. They are inclosed with good thorn
fences, and suffer little injury from excess of wood.

The crop of wheat of the present year (crop 1849) is very
deficient in yield, turning out little more than sixteen or twenty
bushels an acre on land of excellent quality. Barley is also a
19 NUMBER OF LABOURERS EMPLOYED. [Bucxs,

short crop, but beans a very full one. The low price and the
deficient yield are the cause of the present complaints: twenty-
eight bushels of wheat, thirty-two of barley, and the same of
beans, are reckoned fair average crops.

In working the land it is found necessary to use two different
descriptions of plough; one an old-fashioned wooden plough for
winter, and the other a more modern iron-wheel plough for sum-
mer. The wheel plough comes into use “ with the cuckoo,” the
ground being so soft in winter that the wheels will not then
work, The depth of furrow turned up is from four and a half
to five inches; the latter depth not being exceeded for fear of
bringing up the dreaded subsoil. The surface did not appear of
a peculiarly stiff nature ; in fact, rather the contrary, having in
many cases a large admixture of flints. Yet in winter there are
seldom fewer than four horses in a plough, and three roods are
reckoned a fair day’s work. In summer three horses .are used,
and an acre is turned over in a day. The number of labourers
employed varies a little. On one farm, with 120 acres under
tillage, there are eight men and a boy, two ploughs, and seven
work horses, in regular employment throughout the year, and
these may be reckoned as nearly the proportions for the arable
land round Wendover.

The quantity of stock kept on these arable farms is quite in-
considerable. Three or four cows, and their produce, with a few
scores of sheep in summer, comprise the whole for a farm of 150
acres. The farm buildings enclose a large court, into which the
straw as it is thrashed is thrown out of the barn, and the cattle,
aided by ten or twelve excellent pigs, eat and tread it into
manure. The watering pond usually forms the lowest part of
the yard, and of course receives all the drainings of the dung.
The crops are thrashed out with the flail.

Many of the farms are intersected by public roads, and are
thereby well supplied with means of access to the different fields.
But where they are not on the line of road the farmers suffer
great inconvenience from the want of proper farm roads. The
Bucxs. ] WANT OF FIELD ROADS. Il

consequence is that in harvest they are obliged to stack
their crops in the corner of the field where they are grown,
waiting for dry frosty winter weather to carry them home. On
one farm which we examined the roads had become impassable,
and the carters had therefore been obliged to turn into an ad-
joining wheat field, along the headland of which the heavy wag-
gons had done much injury to the young wheat plant. If a
different system of husbandry, involving a greater extent of
root crops, were adopted, the want of good roads of access would
be found still more injurious than at present.
LETTER II.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE — continued.

Cratx Disrricrs. — EXTENT OF FARMS — INSUFFICIENT BUILDINGS ~
RATE OF RENT — POOR AND OTHER RATES — MANAGEMENT OF ARABLE
LAND — SEVERE COURSE OF CROPS—MORE LAND PLOUGHED ON ACCOUNT
OF LOW PRICES — MANAGEMENT OF STOCK AND MANURE — IMPLEMENTS
— AVERAGE PRODUCE OF CROPS AND STOCK — WAGES — “ PAYING
PRICES’ — NEATNESS OF FARM HOUSES.

Hien Wrcomss, Jan. 24. 1850.

THE southern and eastern portions of the county of Bucking-
ham lie principally on the chalk, and the mode of husbandry
differs considerably from that we have already described. The
farms vary in extent from 100 to 200 and 300 acres, some of the
tenants holding on lease, and some from year to year. The
landlords do not interest themselves much in the permanent im-
provement of their farms, although as drainage on these soils is
not much required, the necessity for outlay on their part is limited
to the improvement of farm buildings. These, however, are neither
substantial nor convenient, being generally old wood and thatch
buildings, very unsuitable for the requirements of modern hus-
bandry.

The rent varies from 15s. to 30s. an acre. The productive
qualities of the soil are spoken of very slightingly, and consider-
able dissatisfaction is felt by the farmers on account of the land-
lords having made little or no reduction of rent in consideration
of the present low prices. Poor and other rates are unusually high,
in one case as much as 8s. 6d. an acre, caused in this case partly

by great mismanagement in the affairs of the union a year or
two ago.
Bucxs.] CHALK DISTRICT — ROTATION OF CROPS. 13

There appeared to be a very uniform system of management
adopted on the chalk districts of Bucks. The fields are not en-
cumbered with too numerous hedgerows. Stock farming is
adopted only as a means of forcing corn crops, from the latter
of which the farmer has hitherto looked for his remuneration.
By raising green crops and feeding them on the land with sheep,
he is enabled to draw from the soil crops of wheat, barley, and
oats, which without this enriching preparation, it would not pro-
duce. His chief attention is therefore directed to the culture of
green crops for consumption on the land, as the foundation of his
after success. The rotation followed is termed “a five-field
course,” commencing with (1) turnips, followed by (2) barley,
which is sown out with (3) “seeds” (the first crop of which is mown
and the second eaten on the ground); after the seeds the land is
dunged, then ploughed, and sown with (4) wheat, and this again
is followed by (5) oats, which form the last crop of the course.
There are thus three corn crops and two green crops every five
years, and it is obvious that on thin chalk land this system can-
not be successfully continued without a liberal expenditure in
artificial food or manure. The land should, therefore, be twice
dunged in the course—first for the turnip, and second for the wheat
crop; and, in addition to this, the best farmers give a large quan-
tity of corn or cake to the sheep while feeding on the turnips. If,
besides this, ample doses of artificial manures are used for the
turnip crop, the farmer finds his land improving, under what
might otherwise be thought a severe system of cropping. The
fields had in many places, however, rather an exhausted appear-
ance, very few of them being sown to grass, and those seldom
showing any signs of verdure or fertility. This was more
apparent from the contrast presented by the rich green colour
of a field here and there throughout the district on which the
effect of more generous management at once displayed itself.
We were sorry to learn that, on account of the low prices
of corn, many of the occupiers had discontinued all ex-
penditure, both in artificial manures and feeding stuffs; that
14 INCREASED EXTENT OF CORN — LOW PRICES. [Bucas,

their system formerly was to purchase the sheep stock they re-
quired by the sale of their corn crop; but, so much more of that
was now necessary to be sold for the payment of rent and labour,
that a smaller balance was left for investment, and a scantier
flock of course made to suffice. Corn being the only thing the
farmer of these soils can at present raise from them to convert
into cash, we were informed that he is induced to plough up
a larger proportion of land than formerly, thus extending his
corn crops and diminishing the green or manure-making crops.
It is said that necessity is driving many of the farmers to this,
and that next year the chalk lands will have a larger average in
corn than was ever known before. It appears an anomalous
state of matters that the farmers should sow more corn with
diminishing prices; but if the fact be so, it is a ruinous system
on these thin lands, and shows more plainly than the loudest
complaints the necessities to which many have been reduced by
the sudden transition of prices. They say—‘ We are quite
conscious that nothing but increased expenditure in artificial food
and manures can enable us to maintain a larger sheep stock, and
increase the yield of our corn crops; but meantime our landlords
show us little sympathy, our capital is gone, and we have not the
means of making the necessary outlay.”

In all this district, some thirty miles distant from London, no
vegetable produce or roots, early or late potatoes, are grown
for sale by any one who considers himself entitled to rank as a
good farmer.

The sheep stock kept are chiefly Southdowns, changed every
year, though some tenants are turning their attention to breed-
ing the stock they require, having found that the Hampshire
breeder and the London butcher hitherto divided the whole pro-
fits of the animal, fattened at the expense of the Bucks
farmer. Very few cattle are kept, and these seem to be fed,
in the large yard which occupies the centre of the home-
stead, chiefly on straw, which is thus, with the help of the horses
Bucxs.] PRODUCE OF CROPS AND STOCK — WAGES. 15

and a few pigs, converted into a species of dung. The super-
fluous liquid is suffered to run off into the nearest ditch or stream,
no provision being made for saving it in any of the farm build-
ings which came under our notice. The implements in use are
waggons and two-horse carts, cumbrous wheel ploughs, and the
flail for thrashing.

The average produce of crops on the better class of chalk
lands was stated to us at twenty to twenty-four bushels of
wheat, thirty-two to forty of barley, and thirty-six to forty-
eight of oats per acre. The number of sheep kept on a 200
acre farm, during winter and part of summer, is about 300.

Turnips are generally sown broadcast. One field of Swedes
which we walked over, and which was one of the best we saw,
would not exceed ten tons an acre. The bulbs were small and
far apart, and, by the superiority of a portion running through
the centre of the field, it was plain that if the whole field had
been equally well treated, the crop might have been doubled.
Labourers’ wages have fallen 1s. since last year, and are now
8s. a week.

The complaints of low prices among the Buckinghamshire
farmers are very general, and they put little faith in any remedy
except higher prices. On the grass lands a reduction of rent
might meet the present depreciation in the value of their pro-
duce, but on the tillage lands they think rent affords too small
a margin for any beneficial relief. “ Paying prices” they defined
as meaning, with reference to wheat, from 56s. to 64s. a quarter.
Elow these were to be got was the difficulty ;— for very few of
the farmers entertained any hope of a return to protective
duties; indeed, one of them, strongly opposed to free trade
principles, said that the labouring classes were now so well
educated, and read so many tracts and newspapers, that they
would rise in a body to prevent it.

The advantages of railway communication are not much
appreciated in Buckinghamshire, from the fact that it formerly
16 NEATNESS OF FARM HOUSES. [Bucas,

enjoyed a comparative monopoly in the supply of the metropolis
with various articles of produce which are now sent from much-
more distant localities by the aid of the railways.

The neatness and general appearance of the farm-houses are
very creditable to the taste of the farmers. A good situation
appears to have been chosen in nearly every case, and that is
turned to the best account by laying out the gardens and ground
in front with ornamental plants and walks.
17

LETTER III.

OXFORDSHIRE.

Souru-Eastern District.— GREAT VARIETY OF SOILS — EXTENT OF
FARMS — LOW ESTIMATION OF COLD CLAY SOILS— RENT — RATES —
DOUBTFUL BENEFIT OF DIVIDING SURPLUS UNEMPLOYED LABOUR AMONG
RATE-PAYERS —- WAGES — COURSE OF CROPS— FARMERS REASONS FOR
EMPLOYING FIVE HORSES IN A PLOUGH —INJURIOUS EFFECT OF THIS ON
THE SUBSOIL — EXCELLENT MANAGEMENT OF TURNIP FARMS DETAILED —
ADVANTAGE OF CUTTING TURNIPS TO THE SHEEP — EARLY LAMB BREED-
ING AND MANAGEMENT. — SHEEP FEEDING—QUANTITY FED — MANAGEMENT
OF CATTLE DEFECTIVE — HORSES— PIGS -——- FARM BUILDINGS.

Oxrorp, Jan. 26.

Passing from High Wycombe over an elevated range of chalk
country, we descended into the rich vales of the south-eastern
portion of Oxfordshire. The fields are here of large size, and
not surrounded injuriously with numerous hedges, or with much
hedgerow timber. The great variety of soil in this county,
lying as it does on substrata of chalk, greensand, Oxford clay,
upper and lower oolite, and the lias formations, each succeeding
the other from the south-eastern to the north-western boundaries
of the county, exercises much influence on the character of
farming. The same farm, and sometimes the same field, often
requires a different treatment as to drainage and cultivation, so
rapidly does the character of the surface vary.

The south-eastern district seems very fertile. It is said
by the farmers to be easily wrought, quick in vegetation,
and readily converted to any system of management. The
farms are from 200 and 300 to 600 acres in extent, the larger
proportion under tillage. They are generally held from year to
year, leases being the exception. Where drainage is required,
the landlord gives the tiles, the tenant the labour. Hitherto,

c
18 RENT ——~ POOR RATES — WAGES. [Oxrorr,

however, the tenant has been left to make nearly all permanent
improvements at his own cost. The cold clay lands are greatly
in need of drainage, and as they have gone quite out of request
among the farmers, owing to the expense of working them, and
the low value of their produce, their owners must either exert
themselves now for their improvement, or find them thrown on
their hands in despair. One farmer, who held a portion of clay
in conjunction with stock land, estimated the difference in value
at 25s. an acre in favour of the latter.

The rent of sound green crop land over this district varies
from 30s. to 2J. an acre, tithe free. In many parishes there is
no tithe charge, and where it exists it is not heavy. The rates
also are moderate, but the amount of poor rate is not always a
safe indication of the weight of that burden on the farmer. In
many parishes the farmers by agreement divide the surplus
labour of the parish among them, to prevent the rates being
swelled by the expense of supporting the unemployed. In so
far they are benefited by getting something for their money.
But it may be doubted whether such an arrangement is com-
patible with that economical subdivision of labour which ought
to prevail on a well regulated farm, or whether a greater loss is
not sustained by the example of unwilling labourers operating
on the regular strength of a farm, than all the benefit received
from their assistance. One farmer of 500 acres told us that he
gave employment to twenty-six men and seven boys, which were
seven men more than he required to do the work of his farm.
Another had so many hands thrown upon him by this arrange-
ment that he resorted to spade husbandry as the most profitable
mode in which he could employ them. The addition of seven
men on a farm of 500 acres is equivalent to an increase of
nearly 6s. an acre of rent, and that is a very heavy charge to
be laid exclusively on the tenant.

Wages have fallen very little in this part of the county, 9s.
a week being the general rate. A few have reduced to 8s., but
even with that, we were told by an experienced bailiff, the
Oxrorp.] EFFECT OF PLOUGHING WITH FIVE HORSES. 19

labourer can purchase more food than when he was receiving
11s. and 12s. a week during the time of high prices.

On the better class of clay farms in the southern part of
Oxfordshire the mode of management adopted is precisely the
same as has been already described to be the practice on similar
land in Buckinghamshire, viz., “three crops and a fallow.”

It is proper to state the reasons which the farmers give for using
five horses in a plough during the winter season. First, they
allege the stiffness of the clay and the consequent heavy draught,
second, that they find their horses stand the work much longer
when not too hard pressed ; third, that part of the team consists
of young horses, which are thus exercised, and assist in the
labour without injury to themselves; and as to their being
yoked in line a-head of each other, instead of two a-breast, it is
so arranged to prevent the injury which would otherwise be
done to the soft surface-soil by the feet of the “land” horse.
In wet undrained land, the injury done in this way would, no
doubt, be very considerable; and even when this heavy land is
drained, the trampling of horses is hurtful in wet weather.
But if we suppose a person, who was entirely ignorant of the
operation of ploughing and its effects, looking at these five large
horses as they follow each other in a straight line in the bottom
of the newly turned furrow, and carefully watching the close
succession in which their twenty heavy iron-shod feet beat into
the waxy subsoil, he would conclude that the operation intended
was to render that subsoil impervious, and that the turning over
the furrow was merely a subsidiary process. And when one
considers that the bottom of every furrow in the field is sub-
jected to the same repeated pressure, he sees at once a reason
for this soil being easily wet in winter, and suffering readily
from drought in summer. If the soil is really of such a charac-
ter that five horses are necessary to plough it, and if, to save
the surface, it is requisite to sacrifice the subsoil, it becomes a
question whether the spade and manual labour would not be

found at once cheaper and infinitely more effectual.
c2
20 MANAGEMENT OF TURNIP FARMS. {Oxrorp,

On the poorest description of clay, oats are taken after a
bare fallow -instead of wheat; and in favourable seasons, when
the land has been well manured, the yield amounts to sixty-
four bushels per acre.

The management of the fine turnip farms of this county forms
a marked contrast to anything we have yet met with in our
tour. The nature of the soil which we have already described,
admits of a very perfect cultivation, and the level open character
of the fields, and the large extent of each enclosure, are very
favourable to the exertions of their highly intelligent occupiers.
The system pursued is the four-course, worked with great in-
dustry and skill in the following manner : —

1. Wheat, drilled. — As soon as the crop is reaped the land is
ploughed, and one division sown with rye, another with vetches, and
another with hop trefoil, all of which are eaten off by sheep in suc-
cession the following spring. As each portion is cleared, it is ploughed
and prepared for —

2. Turnips. — These are eaten on the ground by sheep, and thé
land ploughed and prepared for barley. Part of this division is sown
with peas early in spring, which are drilled in rows twenty inches
apart, and, when hoed the second time, white turnip seed is sown
between the rows of peas, and covered by the hoe. As soon as the
peas are reaped the white turnips are hoed, and being by this time
well forward they prove a fair crop, and are eaten on the ground by
sheep ; after which the whole division is sown with

3. Barley. — The half of this is laid out with clover, the other half,
as soon as the barley is removed, is planted with winter beans, thus
forming the fourth crop of the course, viz. : —

4. Clover and Beans.— The clover is once mown and the second
crop eaten off with sheep, after which it is ploughed, and, along with
the part in beans, is sown with wheat, which begins the course again.

By diligently following out this course the land is never suf-
fered to lie idle. As soon as one crop is removed another takes
its place, and, even before the pease crop is reaped, that which
is to succeed it has been sown. The nature of the soil is ad-
mirably adapted for this constant succession, its dry friable
Oxrorp. ] CUTTING TURNIPS FOR SHEEP. 21

texture favouring the extirpation jof weeds, which yield at once
to the skilfully applied labour of the farmer. The rye, vetches,
and late turnips are grown during the winter months, and de-
rive much of their sustenance from the damp atmosphere at that
season ; and, being“all consumed by sheep on the ground, more
is returned to the soil than was taken from it, especially if the
sheep are at the same time fed with corn. The droppings of
the sheep and their treading of the land give it that richness and
solidity which, on these warm soils, are eminently favourable to
successful grain crops. The crops, both white and green, are
sown in rows, and carefully and frequently stirred and hoed,
manual labour being lavishly expended to insure perfect cul-
tivation.

The advantage of employing labour is proved by the more
rapid progress of the sheep when fed on cut turnips, placed
for them in troughs, as compared with the old practice of suffer-
ing the sheep to gnaw the turnip on the dirty ground. A very
skilful farmer told us that he had ascertained by trial that the
same sheep would make equal progress fed on turnips so cut and
prepared, without the addition of corn, as they would with corn
when the turnips were not so prepared.

On the large farms, machinery is employed for thrashing the
wheat crop, but barley is thrashed by the flail, both to give em~
ployment to the labourers, and because the machines in use cut
the grain too short, and thus injure it for the maltster. The
average crops of wheat are twenty-eight to thirty-two bushels ;
and of barley, forty to forty-eight bushels an acre.

Next to the cultivation of the land, the chief attention of the
farmer is devoted to the management of the sheep stock, the
most remunerative part of which is the breeding of early lambs
for the London and Oxford markets. In the beginning of
January, the ewes, which are of the South Down breed, drop
their lambs, having been previously placed in a dry well-littered
yard, surrounded with warm sheds, cheaply constructed with

hurdles, and roofed with loose straw. Here the ewes are sup-
c3
22 EARLY LAMBS — SHEEP FEEDING. [Oxrorp

plied with cut turnips in boxes, clover hay, and ground beans.
The lambs learn to eat the beans, of which they are allowed to
take what they like, and do consume sometimes as much asa
pint a-day. With this high feeding they are soon fit for the
market, being ready to be disposed of at Easter and the month
following, and then bringing, on an average, 30s. each. The
lambs thus early removed, the ewes are soon made fat, and are
of course much easier kept on the pastures than if they were
suckling their lambs. Some farmers have a second flock of
ewes, which drop their lambs a month or six weeks later. They
are wintered in a straw-yard, getting no food but bean or pease-
straw until they lamb, when a few cut turnips and clover hay
are added. This flock is pastured, and fatten their lambs
during the summer, without receiving any corn. The store-
sheep are purchased when required, all that are bred being sold
fat as lambs. °

The manner in which the store-sheep are fed depends al-
together on the taste and means of the farmer. If he wishes
to have his farm in the best condition, he supplies the
whole flock daily with beans, in addition to their other food —
rye, vetches, clover, or turnips, as it happens. If this is too
expensive a system to pursue throughout, he reserves the beans
for the feeding pen, into which the best sheep are draughted
weekly to supply the place of those which are sent off fat,
weekly, to London. In this pen the whole flock is finished
with corn, each sheep being in it a month or so, and receiving
a pint to a quart of beans daily. But if the farmer's lease is
coming to a close no corn whatever is supplied, as in this county
there is no compensation to the tenant for unexhausted improve-
ments. And, of course, where the farmer has not even the
security of a lease, this system of good farming cannot be en-
tered on with safety at all.

The quantity of sheep fed on a farm varies with the amount
of artificial food supplied to the flock. On one farm which we
visited, as many as 3000 sheep and lambs had been sent fat to
Oxrorp.] MODE OF FATTENING CATTLE. 23

London in the course of a season. A farm of 500 acres passing
off 1000 sheep in a year, or two sheep to the acre all round, is
considered very fair management. The value of sheep has been
much depreciated, and severe loss was sustained by the large
holder who bought dear and was obliged to sell cheap. He will
notlose as much now, as his last purchase was in the same
proportion less with his sales. The value of wool has increased
=—what brought only 18s. two years ago is now (1850) fetch-
ing 26s.

The management of cattle is not attended with any thing like
the same skill displayed in the feeding of sheep. The usual
plan is to have a few running loose in the farm-yard, where they
live on straw, few or no turnips, and sometimes a little hay.
Nor does the same careful economy guide the operations of those
who feed cattle; on one farm, otherwise conducted with very
great skill and practical knowledge, we found a lot of large
cattle being stall-fed on bean and barley meal and hay, without
any turnips or other green food. ach animal is supplied with
18lbs. of meal daily, mixed with hay-chaff, and costs the feeder
‘10s. a-week. This obviously cannot pay, especially with a low
rate of prices. Indeed, there would be something wrong if it
did, for it can scarcely be right to expend as much on the food
of a fattening ox as would well suffice a labourer and his family.
The farm horses are in some cases kept in stables; in others they
are put from their stables, loose, into the yard every night.
Considerable numbers of pigs are kept on most farms. They
roam about the straw~yard, picking up what they can get, and
are fed on meal besides.

The farm buildings on the larger farms comprise two or three
extensive barns, stables for the horses, cow-house, and a large
straw-yard in the centre with shelter sheds. ‘The farmers do
not complain of want of accommodation, as their system of
sheep-feeding is chiefly conducted out of doors, and does not,
of course, demand a great extent of farm buildings.

c4
24

LETTER IV.

OXFORDSHIRE — continued.

Western DIsSTRICT.—NATURE OF LAND—BLENHEIM—DIFFERENT MANAGE*
MENT BY THE SAME TENANT UNDER DIFFERENT LANDLORDS — FARMERS
CONSCIOUS OF BAD FARMING, THEIR EXCUSE—- AVERAGE CROPS AND
STOCK — WAGES——NEATNESS OF FARM HOUSES—- WANT OF PRACTICAL
KNOWLEDGE BY LANDLORDS AND AGENTS— FARMERS’ OPINIONS OF THEIR
PROSPECTS -— INJURIOUS EFFECT OF LAW OF DISTRAINT IN ENABLING
LANDLORD TO ENCOURAGE UNFAIR COMPETITION — DUTY ON FOREIGN
CATTLE — ALLOTMENTS TO LABOURERS.

Srow-on-THE-Wo1p, Jan. 29.

From Oxford by Woodstock and Chipping Norton towards
the border of Gloucestershire, we pass over the lower oolite
formation, the soil upon which is generally thin and light good
stock and barley land, but subject to blight from drought and
other causes. The farm buildings, in this country of walling
stone, are substantially constructed, though very imperfect in
extent and arrangement. Interspersed with the hedgerows are
occasional lines of stone wall, which become more frequent as
we proceed westward.

The first estate of great magnitude through which we pass
is that of the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim. From various
causes very many of the farms on this great estate are being
surrendered to the Duke, who now holds under his immediate
management somewhat more than 5000 acres of his own land.
When his Grace succeeded to the property about ten years ago,
the rents were very low, the land being generally underlet.
From low rents, with probably indolent farming, the change
appears to have been too sudden, andin consequence of an
addition of a third being placed on the rental without the con-
comitant outlays to which landlords must generally submit for
Oxrorp. | ADVANTAGE OF SECURITY TO A TENANT. 25

the accommodation of larger stock and the manufacture of
heavier crops, many of the farmers left the estate, and those who
remained, in very numerous cases, permitted their land to fall
into a bad state of cultivation. Hard pushed by the times,
with higher rents and lower prices, the little capital that re-
mained has been rapidly diminishing, the Duke declines to make
any abatement, and as soon as a farm is so completely reduced
as to be untenable, it reverts to the landlord. The country ex-
hibits a poverty-stricken and neglected look, and there is no con-
fidence of a friendly or even feudal character between landlord
and tenant. This is much to be regretted, as the farms are
many of them very desirable in point of extent and quality,
varying from 600 to 700 and 900 acres, and well adapted for
green crop and stock farming.

The greater part of this district is a turnip and barley soil,
and the course of cropping generally adopted is the four-field or
Norfolk system. It is carried out with more or less energy,
according to the security which the tenant feels that he shall reap
the profit of his own exertions. For instance, a tenant who holds
extensively under different landlords told us that from one of
these he had no lease, and paid a very high rent; he therefore
spent nothing in purchased food or manures, as he might be
obliged to go at any time, if his landlord took a fancy to the
farm, and he must in that case leave his improvements behind
him. His high rent also prevented expenditure, for he might
wish to leave the farm as soon as he could get a better, and he
was therefore on his guard against outlay which he could not
take with him. On another estate the same man has a farm,
at a moderate rent, with a lease, and this year he expended on it
1002 in purchased manures, and 200/. in purchased food. On
the first farm he is losing money; on the second he thinks, with
prices a little better, he might do well enough.

Great part of the land which forms the subject of this letter
is let on yearly tenure. Farming is not, on the whole, carried on
with any degree of spirit ; and of this the farmers are themselves
26 DISLIKE TO DEEP PLOUGHING — CROPS. [Oxrorp.

quite conscious. ‘“ We are not farming,” one of them said to
us, “ We know that we are not farming; we are only taking
out of the land what we can get from it at the least cost, as
we don’t know how long we may remain in possession, and
have no security for what we might be disposed to invest in
improved cultivation.” Purchased manures and food, especially
the latter, are highly approved, and must be of peculiar service
on this thin, dry soil, but they are very scantily used. Lime
has not been tried, as it is supposed that the natural limestone
in the soil supplies all the calcareous matter necessary. We
have, however, seen important benefit derived from the appli-
cation of burnt lime on soils even more calcareous than this.
Very little draining is said to be requisite, as the soil is thin
and the subsoil porous; though, from the soapy nature of the
land in wet weather, in ploughing the turnip lands for barley it
is necessary to yoke the horses in line, in order to avoid the
injury which the treading of the “near” horse, when yoked
abreast, would otherwise do to the soft land.

The farmers have a strong dislike to deep ploughing, as
a matter of principle. Light ploughing, they say, is easier
to the horses, keeps the manure near the surface, where
it is at once within reach of the crop, and does not injure
the active soil by any admixture with the barren, hungry
subsoil. We did not hear of an instance where deep tillage
had been tried, followed up by ample manuring and cultiva~
tion, and had failed; and we may therefore venture to say
that the farmers have no experience to warrant them in pre-
ferring their own practice to another which they have never
tried. We cannot help thinking that a deeper stirring of the
soil would materially lessen the injurious effects of drought
in summer, to which the land is said to be subject.

The average produce of wheat for several miles round Wood-
stock was stated to us at twenty bushels, and barley forty bushels
an acre. Turnips were a light poor crop. The number of sheep
kept on a farm is little more than one to an acre, or about 600
Oxrorp,] STOCK — WAGES—— LANDLORDS AND AGENTS. 27

sheep on a 600-acre farm. The breed is a cross with the long-
woolled sheep, as the lambs are kept for stock, and a good
fleece is therefore a profitable consideration. Good year-old
sheep will be sent off fat in a few weeks, being previously
shorn. They are worth 30s. each, and the fleece 7s. or 8s.
more. Cattle form here, as in other parts of the county, quite
a secondary consideration. A few are kept in the straw-yard to
trample down the straw, but they get little green food, and very
seldom any corn or artificial food. The straw is wastefully
consumed, and there are few proper buildings to admit of a
different practice. As much as possible of the labour of the
farm is done by taskwork, at which threshers earn 11s. a-week ;
carters and ploughmen receive 10s. to 11s. a-week, but, if present
prices continue, the farmers say they must lower their rate of
wages.

As to the house accommodation and comforts of the farmers
in Oxfordshire, they appear to be at least equal, if not superior,
to what we saw in Buckinghamshire. The same neatness and
order characterise them internally, and the fronts of the houses
are, in the majority of cases, so arranged as to command an
agreeable prospect. They are generally so placed as to be in
proximity to, and in full view of, the farm-yard, so that every-
thing that goes on there may be under the immediate eye of the
owner. The farm-house has attached to it a good-sized garden,
in which vegetables for the consumption of the family are
grown. It is also not unusual to see a piece of orchard-ground
close at hand, the fruit of which is disposed of in the London
markets.

As a general rule, the landlords of this county interest them-
selves very little in agriculture. Few of them are practically
acquainted with, or engaged in, farming. And what is equally
unfortunate, as regards the improvement of the soil, and the
welfare of the different classes engaged in its cultivation, they
have not yet seen the necessity of making amends for their own
defective knowledge by the appointment of agents better qua-
28 FARMERS’ OPINIONS OF PRESENT CRISIS. [OxForD.

lified than themselves. In the majority of cases the agents or
stewards are lawyers, who, without practical knowledge of the
business of farming, and in the endeavour to secure the land~
lord’s apparent interests, bind down the tenant with conditions
most injurious to him from their stringency, and with no cor-
responding benefit to the landlord.

The opinions prevalent among the farmers in regard to their
own prospects, and the means by which they hope to get over
their present difficulties, are very various. On one point they
were all agreed, viz. that free trade had done every body good
except themselves; for, ifthe landlord’s rent remained the same,
he was a gainer by cheap food, and if the labourer’s wages were the
same he was also a gainer, both at the expense and to the ex-
clusive loss of the farmer. As the readiest means of retrieve-
ment, many spoke of measures by which the free use of capital
as a safe investment by the farmer might be encouraged. The
most judicious with whom we conversed readily admitted that
much might be done by improved cultivation, and that there
was great room for such improvement. “ But,” said one of
them to us, and he was a strong Protectionist, “if a farm is to
be let, and one man with 30002. and another with 300/. bid for
it, the right of distress possessed by the landlord makes him safe
to pit the latter against the former, and the consequence is either
that the first man takes the farm at a higher rent than it is
worth, and thereby injures himself, or that the second man gets
it at a rent which he has recklessly offered; he struggles on
with inadequate stock for a few years, taking all he can out of
the land; his rent falls into arrear, everything is seized to pay
it, all other creditors (who have most probably advanced much
of the means for carrying on the farm) are cheated, and the
poor man himself is a beggar. Now, suppose I go into the
market with my wheat; one man may offer me 14J. a load,
which I reluctantly refuse, because I know he has no capital,
and am content to take 102 from a man who has capital ; why
‘should my landlord have the privilege of forcing me to pay
Oxrorp. | DUTY ON FOREIGN CATTLE. 29

AOs. an acre for his Jand, because a man who has scarcely any
thing to lose offers that sum, when, if no such privilege existed,
he would be obliged to satisfy himself with 30s.? If we are to
have free trade, let us also have no unfair privileges.” Such
were the views we heard repeatedly expressed on this ques-
tion in Oxfordshire.

We did not find that any very serious hope was enter-
tained, even by the strongest Protectionists, that Parlia-
ment would restore the duties on corn, but a prohibitory duty
on cattle and foreign provisions they looked to as a reasonable
claim, and put in this light: — That a fair case had been made
out for the bulk of the people to insure them untaxed bread ;
but butcher’s meat, being more of the nature of a luxury, was
chiefly consumed by the classes above the labourers, and who
could afford to pay for it; that the reduced price both of corn
and cattle at the same time was a heavier blow than the farmers
could bear unaided; that an encouragement of cattle and sheep-
feeding was the surest means of improving the land, and that
the facilities under the new Corn Bill of importing cheap kinds
of corn for feeding stock would tend rapidly to increase the
home supply. For these reasons many of the farmers in Oxford-
shire seek a restrictive duty on foreign cattle and provisions for
a few years, so that they may have time to adjust their affairs
to the new order of things.

Allotments for labourers are let at rents varying from 2/. to
31, and as much as 4/. per acre. The farmers all complained of
them as injurious to the steady industry of the labourer, and a
heavy tax on themselves. The labourer’s half-acre allotment,
they said, was dug and tilled in the morning and evening —
before and after the day’s work. It was, therefore, in part, an
exhaustion of that physical energy which a full day’s work
required, and by so much a positive loss to the farmer. In
almost every case, too, the allotments were let at extravagant
rents, generally at least double the average of the surrounding
land; in fact, they were in many cases given on bad land,
30 OBJECTIONS TO ALLOTMENT SYSTEM. [Oxroxp,

which to a farmer was nearly worthless. As the labourer must
pay his rent before he reaps his crop, he is frequently obliged
to borrow it from his master in advance of his wages, and this
leads to jealousy and bad feeling between master and servant.
A piece of garden-ground in the neighbourhood of their
cottages would be much more beneficial to the labourer, as he
could then, without fatigue, raise such potherbs as were re-
quisite for his table, and most farmers would willingly give a
portion of their green-crop land in which to plant his potatoes
at a much more moderate rate than the rent of the allotment

ground.
31

LETTER V.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

CorswoLps. — CLIMATE AND NATURE OF SsOIL— RENT — CUSTOM OF
COUNTRY — RATES —- WAGES — COURSE OF CROPS—SYSTEM OF BURNING
THE LAND — REPEATED AT REGULAR INTERVALS FOR A LONG PERIOD
WITH ADVANTAGE — BENEFIT OF ARTIFICIAL MANURES — COTSWOLD
SHEEP AND CATTLE—AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AT CIRENCESTER—COURSE
OF EDUCATION — THE COLLEGE FARM.

Guoucrster, Jan. 31.

From Stow-on-the-Wold westward towards the Severn, and
south-west towards Cirencester, extends an elevated tract of
undulating country possessing a distinctive character as an agri-
cultural district, and known as the Cotswold Hills. The greater
part of this district has a considerable elevation above the sea,
in some places as much as 600 or 700 feet, which delays the
harvest about a fortnight beyond the period in the surrounding
low grounds. The appearance of the country is a series of
level plains, falling at intervals into gentle valleys, through
which the natural drainage of the adjoining lands is carried off:
With a cool climate the Cotswolds have a light soil, not very
productive naturally, but capable of easy cultivation, and, under
a generous system of farming, likely to remunerate the skill
and capital invested in it. At no very remote period the
greater part of this district was devoted to the pasturing of
sheep, a peculiar and very superior breed of which takes its
name from the locality. The grass-lands have now been nearly
all brought under the plough, the richer pastures in some of the
valleys being the only portions left untilled. The fields are
large, and are inclosed either by hedgerows or dry stone walls.
In the valleys they are smaller, and the hedgerows encumbered
32 RENT — ENTRY TO FARMS — RATES. [GuoucEsTER.

with wood; but as the land is used for pasturage or meadow,
the inconvenience is less felt than on arable land, especially as
the shelter of the hedgerows is found in this elevated district
beneficial to stock.

The rent of land on the Cotswolds ranges between 10s. and
25s. an acre, the average being from 16s. to 18s., tithe free.
Many of the most wealthy of the farmers hold their lands on
lease, but the tenures are chiefly from year to year. Particular
rules are prescribed by the landlords as to the system of culti-
vation, but they are neither adhered to nor strictly enforced.
When a tenant enters to a farm the proprietor is understood to
put his buildings and fences in good repair, but every thing else
must be done by the tenant. Drainage, except where a
bed of clay intervenes, is not needed. There is no custom
of compensation to outgoing tenants for any thing except “acts
of husbandry,” which include the expense of ploughings by the
farmer for the benefit of his successor, and of carting and sup-
plying the manure. The value of the manure itself is regarded
as the property of the land, so that the outgoing tenant, having
no interest in accumulating it during the last year of his lease,
leaves the farm sometimes badly provided in this respect. The
incoming tenant having very little to pay for “acts of hus-
bandry,” men of small capital may venture to take farms for
which their means would be otherwise inadequate.

Rates of all kinds are moderate, and in few instances exceed
2s. in the pound, and much of the land is exempt from tithe.
All the labourers of the district, female as well as male, find em-
ployment on the farms, the best workers making by piece-work
from 10s. to 11s. a week, though the common rate for day
labourers does not exceed 6s. and 7s., and women only 6d. a day.
It is somewhat remarkable that labour should be so low priced
in a district where there is no surplus population, where the rates
are unusually light, and the rent moderate. There is said to be
no want of capital among the Cotswold tenants, and farms, except
those of a stiff unkindly nature, are much in request.
GLovcssTER. ] CROPS — PARING AND BURNING. 33

The fields on the Cotswold farms present an unbroken
surface, with no impediment of any kind to husbandry. The
farms, consequently, are large, and the operations conducted
on an extensive scale. The rotations followed vary with the
quality of the soil, the best parts being managed under the al-
ternate system of corn and cattle crops; the inferior in a five,
Six, or seven years’ course, as appears most advisable to the
farmer. The five years’ course is simply an extension of the
four course, by permitting the grass to continue two years before
being ploughed. The six years’ embraces the same crops as the
preceding, with the addition of a crop of oats after the wheat
crop. ‘The seven years’ appeared to be — 1. turnips; 2. barley ;
3. clover; 4. wheat; 5. oats; 6. and 7. saintfoin. This, we
were informed, is the prevalent mode of cropping followed on
the Cotswolds, and as it has some peculiar features, we shall
shortly describe it. In the seven years the land gives three corn
crops, and four green or cattle crops.

The great feature of the management is the burning of the
land. Beginning with the turnip crop, the preparatory process
is to pare and burn the surface, in which is the tough sward
of the two years’ saintfoin. ‘This process is commenced early
in the spring, and is done by men with a breast plough.
With this they pare off the turf, and then collect it into heaps
and burn it. 16s. an acre is usually the cost of the paring and
burning, which is done by taskwork. This process, besides pro-
viding an immense store of ashes for manure, likewise prepares
the soil for being worked down and completely pulverised for the
reception of the turnip seed. When that is accomplished, the
land is covered with the burnt ashes, and the seed is sown either
broadcast or in ridges. The ashes secure a fair crop, which is
eaten on the ground by sheep, after which the land is sown with
barley and clover seed.

The barley being removed, the clover is either mown or pas-
tured, — usually the former, —and the land is then ploughed
up for wheat. The wheat is followed, after proper tilth, by

D
34 INSTANCE OF ITS ADVANTAGES. [GroucesTER,

actop of oats, with which is sown the seed of the saintfoin.
This is pastured for two consecutive years by the sheep stock,
and completes the course, though a field of saintfoin occa-
sionally remains unbroken for eight or ten years.

Before the introduction of guano and bones, this system de-
pended altogether on the burning of the soil at the commence-
ment of each course. The ashes thereby afforded secured the
turnip crop, which being consumed on the ground, enriched it
for the succeeding crops. A stranger to the character of the soil
would not easily believe that such a course could be long con-
tinued without the aid of other manures, and might be apt to
think that in process of time not only the organic matter but the
thin soil itself would gradually be burnt away altogether. But
we must not too hastily conclude that such is the effect. The
best farmers on the Wold are the men who burn most exten-
sively. On a 700 acre farm we were assured by its, occupier
that he every year burnt from 60 to 100 acres of land in pre-
paration for turnips, and seldom failed to have a fair crop. One
field over which we walked had been broken up from its natural
state exactly fifty years ago; it was then pared and burnt, and
so started the first crop of turnips, which supported the other
crops of the course. The same process had since, within the
knowledge of our informant, been seven times repeated. No
manure of any other kind had ever been applied, except such as
arose from the consumption of its own produce on the ground,
and the crops in each succeeding rotation had shown no sign of
decreasing, the last having been an excellent crop of wheat. The
soil which lies on the lower oolite formation is very thin, but as
it is not more so than when first broken up, its depth must have
been maintained by the ploughman, perhaps imperceptibly,
bringing up some fresh subsoil after each burning. The value
of the ashes as manure are undoubtedly enhanced by the effect
of fire on the natural limestone of the soil.

The practical reader will see of how much benefit to the Cots-
wold farmer was the introduction of portable manures and cheap
GLovcesTER.] ARTIFICIAL MANURES— COTSWOLD SHEEP. 35

feeding stuffs. These he uses in too limited a degree — eight
bushels of bones and two cwt. of guano per acre, being a common
application to the turnip crop in addition to ashes. Whendung
is used, four bushels of bones and one ewt. of guano are deemed
a sufficient additional supply. In the use of these manures the
farmers of the Cotswolds are not decreasing their expenditure,
for we learnt from a corn merchant who supplies them with
guano and other similar substances that their orders this season
had not fallen off from what they were last year. The in-
creased produce which a liberal application of manure is sure to
leave from the same extent of soil is cheaply purchased by the
first cost, as the rent, the labour, and the other farm expenses
remain nearly the same whatever the acreable produce may be.
The present average crops of wheat are twenty bushels, and of
barley thirty-two bushels an acre. The acreable produce of
both might be considerably increased, and not only so, but
a liberal expenditure in manure and feeding stuffs would
enable the farmer to take these crops at shorter intervals, and,
consequently, in increased breadths, from his farm every year.
The Cotswold breed of sheep is the principal description of
live stock. A breeding flock is kept on each farm, the produce
of which is sold as “ teggs,” or year old sheep, and generally
bring, with their wool, from 37s. to 40s. It is reckoned a very
poor farm indeed where one sheep to the acre all round cannot
be kept. Very few cattle are fed; but we met with a new
branch of cattle management here — viz., the rearing of heifer
calves. These are bought from the dairy farmers of Bucks, they
are reared on the Cotswolds till three years old, and then sold to
the Wiltshire dairy farmers for milch cows. The regular cattle
stock of a 700 acre farm, which we visited, consisted of twenty-
four calves bought every year, kept on for the next two years,
and sold out in the third to the dairyman at prices varying from
112 to 152. The management in the case here mentioned was
the most methodical we met with, and this leads us to infer that

cattle do not form a very important item in the profits of Cots-
p2
36 COLLEGE OF CIRENCESTER. [GroucesrEr.

wold farming. The stock were all tied up in open sheds, thus ex-
posed to the wind, without the power of changing their position.
Their provender was a mixture of hay and straw cut into chaff by
a machine driven by horse power. Machines are also used for
thrashing wheat, but barley is thrashed with the flail. Twenty
men are regularly employed on the farm above mentioned, be-
sides women for light work. Seven of these men are breast
ploughers, whose business during spring and the early part of
summer is the paring and burning of the land in preparation for
turnips; during the rest of the year they are employed in drain-
ing and other necessary operations.

While in the Cotswold district, we visited the Agricultural
College of Cirencester, which is the only institution of its kind
in England. It is a very handsome structure, in the Gothic,
style of architecture, situated about a mile and a half from
Cirencester, and adjoining the park and woods of Earl Bathurst.
The principal front, 190 feet long, has a south aspect, and com-
mands an extensive view over North Wiltshire. The buildings
include a large dining-hall, library, museum, lecture theatre,
laboratories, class-rooms, a chapel, and dormitories for about
200 students. The course of education extends over six ses-
sions, of which there are two in each year. The first and second
sessions are chiefly devoted to instruction in practical agriculture,
which is given on the farm, and familiarises the student with
the manual operations of husbandry, the use of the best agri-
cultural implements, and the most approved systems of manage-
ment in the different departments of the farm. A laboratory,
conducted on Liebig’s system, is appropriated to chymical
manipulation and analysis. Botany, geology, and zoology are
each made the subjects of practical instruction. Levelling,
surveying, and the measurement of land are also attended to;
and to the advantages of actual practice are superadded the
lectures of the professors on every branch of science connected
with, or calculated to throw light upon, the cultivation of the
soil,
GLoucestER. ] THE COLLEGE FARM. 37

The college was originally founded in order to furnish a sound
education in scientific agriculture for the sons of tenant farmers ;
but that class do not appear to have availed themselves of the
advantages thus held out to them, nor was it altogether adapted
for them; and the sixty students at present entered on the books
(1850) are all the sons of solicitors, clergymen, officers, or landed
proprietors. Most of them intend to engage themselves in the
cultivation of the soil, either as owners or occupiers; and among
them are a class of students who may yet prove very valuable
to the community, as an educated and competent body of land
agents and stewards, conversant with the details of agriculture.

The college farm extends to 700 acres, nearly all of which are
under the plough. ‘Three different rotations are adopted, both
to suit variations in the soil, and to exhibit different practices in
operation for the instruction of the students. The four and five
courses are carried out on all the lighter lands of the farm, which
comprise by much the larger portion of it. A three-field course
is followed on the heavy land, viz. turnips, beans, wheat. The
turnip crop is an early kind, sown early, for the purpose of
being consumed on the ground by sheep before the month of
November, as after the rains of that month the ground becomes
too soft for sheep feeding. Beans are planted after the turnips,
and wheat after the beans. We had not an opportunity of
examining the farm minutely, but observed that the fields were
large, the hedges narrow, and no land wasted at their roots ;
that the ploughs were drawn by two horses abreast; that the
horses were in high spirit and condition, and turned over with
ease a furrow three inches deeper than we saw five horses in
line doing, in a different part of the Cotswolds, on soil of a
similar character. We remarked that when the furrow was
turned over (in preparation for wheat after carrots), the foot of
the “ near” horse left no injurious effect on the deep dry soil, and
that depth had been gained by the use .of the subsoil plough.
Good roads, intersecting the farm, admit the use of the handy

one-horse cart; the corn is sown in rows by the drill, and is
ns
38 FARM BUILDINGS— STOCK. [GuovceEsTER.

hoed cheaply and effectively by Garret’s horse hoe; drains are
made where required, and useless fences grubbed out and con-
verted into useful land. The turnip crop we thought rather a
light one; the manure used for it was twenty carts of dung and
3 ewt. of salt. We should certainly have preferred 3 ewt. of
guano, and would have added ten bushels of bones besides, in the
belief that the superiority of the crop would have amply com-
pensated the additional cost of the manure.

The arrangement of the farm buildings is commodious, and
comprises sheds for all the implements of husbandry ; workshops
for the repair of these implements, and for the shoeing of the
farm-horses; stores for portable manures; a steam engine for
thrashing the crop, grinding the feeding stuffs, bruising copro-
lites, guano, or bones, and driving the chaff-cutter ; and, finally,
the waste steam is turned into vats to cook a mess of chaff and
meal for the live stock. The horses have each a loose box, the
cattle are partly fed in boxes and partly in stalls, a tramway
being laid from the turnip-house along the feeding-house to faci-
litate the feeder in bringing in the food, and afterwards carrying
out the dung. Sheep are fed in covered pens; they stand on
sparred boards, and require no litter. But it may be remarked
with regard to this mode of feeding, that they are easily dis-
turbed by the approach of any one; and slipping about the
boards, they want that quiet docility which marks the fattening
animal. Lord Bathurst has his sheep tied up by the neck, like
stalled cattle, and in this position they soon become perfectly
quiet, and improve rapidly in condition. Sheds and yards for
pigs are provided, of which a very large stock is bred and fed on
the college farm. The system pursued on the farm is to breed
and fatten every animal which it supports, and a slaughter-house
is provided, in which the last process in the conversion of
vegetable into animal food is completed. The offal is thus kept
on the farm, and any portion of the meat which is not required by
the college establishment is sent to market. Besides the cattle
and pigs kept in the buildings, a large flock of sheep are fed on the
GLoucEstER.] EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM REORGANISED 39

turnip-fields. The farm is held on a lease for forty-seven years,
at a rent varying from 20s. to 28s. an acre. There is no tithe,
and the rates are moderate. A machine is placed at the entrance
of the farm buildings, on which all the farm produce is weighed
as it is brought in for consumption; and the progress of experi-
mental cattle is ascertained at any period by putting them on
the scales. A record is kept of weights, and, if the system is
followed out as it might be, very valuable results may be ex-
pected. A well digested system of farm accounts is also kept,
and so arranged that it may with facility be applied to the
ordinary receipts and expenditure of any other farm.

The Royal Agricultural College has hitherto been looked
upon with suspicion by the farmers of the Cotswold Hills — a
circumstance probably due in some degree to prejudice, but
largely, also, to a persuasion that the college farming does not
pay. It is not difficult to understand how farming, for the
double purpose of instruction and scientific experiment, leads
to expense which, in the ordinary practice of individuals for
remuneration, may be avoided. The whole educational system
has lately been reorganised, and placed upon a basis more ex-
tensive, and therefore likely to be more beneficial, than it was
at the period of our visit.

' The College, though patronised by Royalty, is not a Govern-
ment institution, but originated in the enterprise of a body of
agricultural improvers, who, in the face of many discourage-
ments and much loss of capital, continue on public grounds to
support it. The assistance of Government, in extending similar
institutions in various parts of the country, could not be given
to any other educational purpose of greater public importance.
40

LETTER VI.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE — continued.

VALE OF GLOUCESTER — NUMEROUS HEDGEROWS VERY INJURIOUS TO THE
FARMERS — DIFFERENCE OF CHARACTER OF LANDLORDS OF LITTLE VALUE
IF UNACCOMPANIED BY THE POWER OF MAKING IMPROVEMENTS — RENT —
DEFECTIVE ACCOMMODATION AND CONSEQUENT MISMANAGEMENT OF COWS IN
WINTER — STARVING SYSTEM, AS REGARDS BOTH STOCK AND LAND—
IMPROVEMENTS SUGGESTED — WAGES — COURSE OF CROPS — DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN VALE AND COTSWOLD FARMERS IN INTELLIGENCE AND ENTER-
PRISE — SECURITY FOR TENANT'S CAPITAL.

Berke ey, Feb. 1850.

THE Vale of Gloucester extends in a south-westerly direction
from Tewkesbury, on the borders of Worcestershire, to Thorn-
bury, in the western division of Gloucestershire. It is a district
of rich pastures, with a few fields of ploughed Jand here and
there dotted through it. Even at this season, when the trees
are leafless, it presents a densely wooded aspect, caused by the
numerous hedgerows subdividing the small fields of pasture .
Jand, and which, in the luxuriant foliage of summer, must over-
shadow the surface, and draw from the soil much of that nutri-
ment which the fields would otherwise yield to the farmer’s
stock. To give an idea of the extent in which the farmer’s
fields are here encumbered by hedgerow timber, it may be men-
tioned that 3500. worth of timber was sold from the superfluous
fences surrounding and subdividing Earl Ducie’s model farm at
Whitfield, only 260 acres in extent. Besides the evil of hedgerow
timber, a condition is introduced into the agreements between
landlord and tenant, by which the latter is bound not to prune
his hedges oftener than once in seven years. The hedges in this
sheltered vale are thus permitted to grow to a great size, becom-
ing a harbour for game, which, from the small extent of the
GLovcEsTER. ] EFFECTS OF. FREQUENT HEDGEROWS. 41

land under tillage, are the more destructive to the crops of
the farmer. For this reason many landlords will not permit
the fences tobe touched, thus adding to the evil, as with
such small and inconvenient fields the farmer, however anxious
to improve, is shut up to the old systems of management. Be-
sides occupying space, these wide banks, covered with juicy
vegetation, abstract from the land much of its natural strength,
and of the manure which the farmer has added to it. On all
sides the farmer suffers: he pays rent for space occupied by
his landlord’s trees ; he provides harbour for his landlord’s game,
which, in return, feed upon his crops; if he attempts to plough
out inferior pasture, his crop becomes an additional feeding-
ground for the game; whilst the small fields and crooked fences
prevent all efforts at economy of labour, and compel him either
to restrict his cultivation or to execute it negligently and un-
profitably.

The reader will not be surprised to learn that farming is here
in a very stationary position, and that even under landlords
differing in character the tenants preserve a remarkable same-
ness of no progress. There are two noblemen in the Vale, the
one the founder of the model farm of Whitfield, a distinguished
short-horn breeder, and an advocate for improved farming; the
other a great preserver of game, and said to interest himself
little in agricultural progress. The tenantry of both are much
upon a level as regards improvement, both adopting the same
system which has prevailed unchanged for many years. Both
landlords are owners of settled estates, and though the first
encourages improvement by precept and example, he cannot
afford that participation in its cost without which a tenant from
year to year is not justified in incurring large outlay. The
tenants of the second are thus scarcely in a worse position than
those of the first, and their agricultural practice and skill are
nearly equal.

The rent of land in the Vale of Gloucester is about 30s. an
acre, and rates and tithe 10s. more. The best quality lets as
42 RENT —DAIRY-FARMING IN THE VALE. [GuoucestER.

high as 50s, inclusive of all rates. The farms are generally held
from year to year.

The Vale is celebrated for its dairy farming, which might
be described with perfect accuracy by an extract from the
County Report to the Board of Agriculture made nearly
forty years ago. Taken as a whole, it has undergone no
change in its details, though very possibly the increased lux-
uriance of the hedgerows, and the continual abstraction of
cheese and butter without any corresponding return of phos-
phates to the land, may have led to a perceptible decrease in its
annual produce. Water stagnates in the soil, the industry of
the farmer is paralysed, the energy of the labourer deadened,
—nothing seems to thrive but the gigantic trees, whose roots
in the smaller fields cover nearly their whole substratum like a
network.

A brief outline of the appearance of a Gloucestershire. dairy
farm may serve to show the present state of the art in that
district. January is not the month most favourable for view-
ing the operations of a dairy, but the management of the
cows at this season is of much influence on their yield after-
wards. An inconvenient road conducted us to the entrance
gate of a dilapidated farm-yard, one side of which was occu-
pied by a huge barn and waggon-shed, and the other by the
farm-house, dairy, and piggeries. The farm-yard was divided
by a wall, and two lots of milch cows were accommodated in
the separate divisions. On one side of the first division was a
temporary shed, covered with bushes and straw. Beneath this
shed there was a comparatively dry lair for the stock; the yard
itself was wet, dirty, and uncomfortable. The other yard was
exactly the counterpart of this, except that it wanted even
the shelter shed. In these two yards are confined the dairy
stock of the farm during the winter months; they are sup-
plied with hay in antique square hay-racks, ingeniously cap-
ped over, to protect the hay, with a thatched roof, very much
resembling the pictures of Robinson Crusoe’s hat. In each
GuoucrsterR.] MANAGEMENT OF COWS DURING WINTER. 43

yard two of these are placed, round which the shivering ani-
mals station themselves as soon as the feeder gives them their
diurnal ration, and there they patiently ruminate the scanty con-
tents. A dripping rain fell as we looked at them, from which
their heads were sheltered by the thatched roof of the hay-rack,
only to have it poured in a heavier stream on their necks and
shoulders. In the other yard, the cows had finished their
provender, and showed their dissatisfaction with its meagre
character by butting each other round the rack. The largest
and greediest having finished her own share, immediately dis-
lodges her neighbour, while she in her turn repeats the blow on
the next; and so the chase begins, the cows digging their horns
into each other’s sides, and discontentedly pursuing one another
through the wet and miry yard. — Getting over an inner gate,
we came upon the piggeries, where a dozen well-fed and warmly
housed pigs showed by their sleek round sides the benefits of
food and shelter. Inquiring of the farmer whether he thought
his cows would not be bettered by equally comfortable accom-
modation, he said they would, but his landlord did not give that
accommodation, and he had no security by which at his own
cost he could safely make the outlay. — Leaving the yard, we
passed into the fields, sinking at every step in the sour wet
grass lands. Here little heaps of dung, the exhausted relics of
the hay from which the cows derive their only support in winter,
were being scattered thinly over the ground, to aid in the pro-
duction of another crop of hay. But we need not continue the
picture farther. The management of the dairy itself did not
come under our observation, as nothing is done in it at this
season; but it is said to be conducted with great care, clean-
liness, and attention.

It is well known that much benefit has attended the applica-
tion of bones as manure to dairy farms in Cheshire, and this
benefit is accounted for by their replacing the annual abstrac-
tion of phosphates in the cheese sold off the farm. Bones are
not yet used to any extent in this district. The advantages of
44 IMPROVEMENTS SUGGESTED. [GuovcesTER.

drainage scem to be very little appreciated, the great bulk of the
dairy farms of the county, even those which most require it,
being inadequately drained. Some instances were pointed out
to us where this operation had been executed with great ad-
vantage, and which showed how much might be done by a
liberal outlay for this object. In these cases the landlord sup-
plied the tiles, and the tenant was at the expense of opening the
drains. No winter food, except hay, is provided for the stock,
roots being deemed injurious to them. Under this manage-
ment, even in the famed Vale of Gloucester, we were not sur-
_prised to learn that the annual produce of a dairy cow, on the
average, does not exceed 34 cwt. of cheese, and that fully
three acres of land are required for the annual support of each
cow.

Can no improvement be made on this system? We know
there can. Let the land be thoroughly drained, so that the
manure the farmer puts on it may not be wasted; let the too
numerous trees and hedgerows be removed, which at present
rob the pastures, and whose roots (if the trees are left) would
penetrate and obstruct the drains; let the farmer have suitable
accommodation provided in which he may economically feed
and shelter his stock ; and then encourage him by security of
tenure to increase the productiveness of his farm. From the
half of the land formerly devoted to hay, the same quantity
will be got by the application of purchased manures; the other
half will then produce him cabbages, kohl rabi, and mangold
wurzel, which may be given to his stock in winter without in-
juriously affecting the taste of the milk. He will thus be
enabled to continue his sales of butter at the time when it is
scarcest and sells best. Manure of a richer quality, and in
greatly additional quantity, will be accumulated, its applica-
tion will improve the productiveness of the well-drained land,
and both the annual produce of each animal will be more valu-
able, and the number which the land supports will also be ma-
terially increased. Every one will be benefited by the change :
GLoucrsteR.] VALUE OF DAIRY PRODUCE— WAGES. 45

the landlord, in the increased capital invested by the tenant,
will have better security for the regular payment of his rent;
the tenant, in the increased produce, will have a better return
for his capital; and the labourer, in increased employment, a
better market for his labour.

The fall in the value of Gloucester dairy produce has been
very considerable; a cow, which yielded cheese and butter
worth 92. last year, producing not more than 62 10s. this year
to the farmer. As he has nothing else to recompense him, and
cannot, without the co-operation of his landlord, adopt any
system by which to increase his produce, he must of necessity
suffer severely from the fall in prices. He employs very little
labour, and that paid for at a low rate. There is not, therefore,
any mode of managing land in which rent forms a more im-
portant item in the cost of production than in dairy farming.

The wages paid to labourers in the Vale have fallen 1s, since
last year, 7s. and 8s. being now the average weekly wages of
a man; 6s. is sometimes paid; but, as we were significantly
informed, 6s. worth of work only is given in such cases.

Many of the dairy farmers of the Vale have a small portion of
tillage land attached to their farms. This is commonly culti-
vated in a three-field course, viz., fallow or roots, beans,
wheat; or a “ four-field,” viz., fallow or roots, barley, beans or
clover, wheat. The average crops of wheat vary from twenty-
four to twenty-eight bushels; barley, forty bushels; and beans,
twenty to thirty bushels per acre.

It is worthy of remark, that the farmers on the Cotswolds
seemed to be a superior class of men to those holding land in the
Vale. Their farms are larger, and they are men of greater
capital ; but it appears somewhat anomalous that the better soil,
with the better climate, and paying the higher rent and the
higher rate of wages, should be held by the less intelligent class
of men, and under the more backward mode of managemeut,
while the worse soil, with a cold climate and a low rent, is pos-
sessed by men of intelligence and energy, and cultivated with
46 VALE AND COTSWOLD FARMERS. [GroucesTER.

considerable skill. The small size of the Vale farms places
them within the reach of a greater number of competitors than
the large arable holdings on the Cotswolds, and they accordingly
bring a higher relative rent, while the “convertible ” character of
the hill lands calls forth a greater exercise of skill, than the
monotonous routine of an old-fashioned dairy farm. It may be
mentioned that in both districts model farms have been esta-
blished — that of Whitfield in the Vale, and the College-farm
of Cirencester on the Wolds. Whitfield example-farm has
exercised a beneficial influence on the national agriculture; and
though it does not admit of being copied literally in its own
neighbourhood, on account of the dairy character of the district
and the numerous obstacles to arable farming, yet there can be
no doubt that by degrees many hints will be taken by the sur-
rounding farmers, whose prejudices will yield to the satisfactory
evidence of success.
Before closing our notice of Gloucestershire, we shall state the
opinions most prevalent among the farmers themselves as to the
best mode of remedying their present distress. If prices con-
tinue permanently low, the dairy farmers look to a reduction of
rent as their only remedy. All parties seem to think that rents
have been run up too high by over-competition, and that the
landlord must either, by expending capital in improvements,
give his tenant a better article for his money, or content him-
self with less rent for the article he gives. Repayment for un-
exhausted improvements was strongly urged as the foundation
of a better system of husbandry, in which the tenant was said to
have as much right to be secured by act of parliament as the
landlord has in the possession of his land. The effect of this
was expected to limit the competition for farms, by the neces-
sity it imposes of a larger capital on the part of the entering
tenant, while it would encourage a liberal expenditure by the
man of capital, and thus in a great measure supersede the want
of means on the part of the landlord himself, or his want of
GuoucesteER. ] SECURITY FOR TENANT'S CAPITAL. 47

interest in consequence of possessing, as in many cases, only a life
tenancy in his estate. The effect of this increased investment
of tenants’ capital in cultivation, amounting probably to not less
than two years’ rent, would, it was thought, afford as much se-
curity to the landlord for the payment of his rent as if the same
sum had been previously lodged in his hands.
48

LETTER VIL

DEVONSHIRE.

SOIL AND CLIMATE — PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE OF LATE YEARS, CHIEFLY
DUE TO THE TENANTS, OF WHOM THERE ARE TWO CLASSES — LIFE
LEASES, BEING SUPERSEDED BY SHORT TERMS — RENT — VARIETY OF
OCCUPATIONS WHICH DEMAND THE DEVONSHIRE FARMER'S ATTENTION —
FARM BUILDINGS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.— COURSE OF CROPS. — HEDGE-
ROW TIMBER, INSTANCE OF ITS INJURIOUS EFFECTS—-OXEN USED IN PLOUGH
— PRODUCE OF CROPS — IMPROVEMENTS SUGGESTED — DAIRY MANAGE-
MENT — OTHER STOCK — WATER MEADOWS — ORCHARDS — WAGES — CLAY
LAND — PRICES AND RENTS.

Exeter, Feb. 5. 1850.

THE surface of Devonshire is of an undulating character.
In the lower part of the county, hill and vale succeed each
other in constant variety of outline, clothed with rich verdure
waving gently under the influence of genial breezes, while the
higher district slopes up into bare smooth wastes, dotted over
with huge blocks of granite, and swept by the humid blasts
of the Atlantic. With such various soil and climate, the
Devonshire farmer, according to his locality, practices nearly
every branch of agriculture. Dairy, tillage, orchards, irrigated
meadows, the breeding and feeding of stock, and the reclama-
tion of waste land, each engage his attention. And though, in
every district of the county, the cumbersome and unskilful
practices which rendered Devonshire farming a by-word in the
estimation of the great corn farmers of the eastern counties are.
still too frequently to be met with, yet, of late years especially,
the practice of agriculture has made great progress in this
county.

That progress is not ascribed by the tenants in any consider-
able degree to encouragement from their landlords. Till within
Devon. ] TWO CLASSES OF FARMERS 49

the last two years they, with few exceptions, are said to have
done almost nothing towards the permanent improvement of
their estates, though they have not been slow to avail them-
selves of every increase which the tenant’s capital and skill, as
well as the general progress of the country, have added to the
value of their farms. From these circumstances the rent of
land in the better parts of the county has increased one third
within the last twenty years, excessive competition having been
encouraged by the system of letting farms by private tender.
And hitherto the landlord not only extracted by this means a
full rent, but also grew his crops of timber in ae farmer’s hedge-
rows and at the farmer’s expense.

There are two classes of farmers in the county, one consisting
of men with small holdings, little elevated above the condition
of the labourer, the other of educated agriculturists holding
large farms, into which they have introduced improved methods
of husbandry. By them draining has been introduced, and the
levelling of hedgerows and enlargement of arable fields; the
system of irrigated meadows has been extended, and the appli-
cation of artificial manures practised. The improvement of the
breed of Devon cattle, now one of the most shapely, graceful, and
profitable breeds in Great Britain, has been by them brought to
its present high state of perfection, — the names of Mr. George
Turner of Barton, and the Messrs. Quartly of Molland, holding
in that branch the most eminent position. To the exertions of
this class is due much of the progress which the county has of
late years made in agricultural improvement, the small farmers
profiting by the example which their richer and more intelli-
gent neighbours set before them. That this has been rapid we
may show by mentioning that in one parish in North Devon
there are now 800 acres of green crop raised, where, only eight
years ago, there were not more than 80.

Circumstances have, however, in a considerable degree, pre-
vented landlords from undertaking improvements which would
have raised the value of their estates. Life leases were formerly

E
50 LIFE LEASES REPLACED BY SHORT TERMS. [Desvon.

very common, having been granted by landlords of settled
estates as a mode of raising money partly at the expense of
their successors. These were given at very low, or almost
nominal rents, the tenant paying a fine or sum in hand equi-
valent to about eighteen years’ purchase of the real value of the
property. To raise this sum, the tenant was generally obliged
to borrow from others on terms exorbitant in proportion to the
uncertainty of the security, leaving himself without capital ade-
quate to the management or improvement of his farm, and there-
fore incapable of developing its resources. During the life of
the tenant the landlord of course had no interest in encouraging
improvement, and, as many farms in Devonshire are still held
on such unexpired leases, the evil effects of the system may be
seen in the wretched management of such estates, and the
poverty of their tenants. Life leases are now replaced as they
fall out by leases of seven to ten years, for large farms, and of
six years for small. Improved management has followed this
change, and though the farmers consider a term of seven or ten
years too short, they prefer that to the yearly tenures so com-
mon in other parts of England.

The rent of land appears high as compared with that of other
counties in which the same competition is not encouraged,
though the mildness and salubrity of the climate may render
soil apparently of equal quality more productive to the farmer
of this county. Within a circle of three miles round the city
of Exeter, on a fine deep soil, well adapted for the growth of
corn and green crops, rents vary from 30s. to 50s. an acre, ex-
clusive of accommodation land, the local rates or “ outgoings”
amounting to about one third more. The poor rate varies ex-
ceedingly in amount, according as the labouring. population
happen to be conveniently situated for employment.

The Devonshire tenant being at once a dairy farmer, a breeder
or feeder of cattle, of sheep, and of pigs, and a grower of corn
and of cider, this variety of occupation, arising naturally from
the character of the climate and soil of the county, ag already
Devon.] SIZE OF FARMS— DILAPIDATED BUILDINGS. 51

described, has given to him a tone of intelligence and activity
which one looks for in vain in a district like the Vale of Glou-
cester, where a monotonous routine narrows the intellect of the
dairyman, Farms generally. are of moderate, or even of small
size, and, although individual farmers may hold 600 or 700 acres
in several separate farms, the great majority run from 50 or 60
to 200 or 250 acres. Farm buildings are very often found col-
lected in a village, the housing of four adjoining farms being
placed at their point of junction, which, of course, must also be
the extremity of each. In an earlier age of the country this
arrangement may have been necessary from motives of self-
defence or the pleasure of society, but now it is attended with
inconvenience, and must increase the cost of production by waste
of power in the cartage of produce. The buildings are of every
variety of character, from the antique and dilapidated to the
more modern and convenient form. On badly managed estates
the farmer is frequently bound by covenant to uphold in repair
the most rickety old mud and wooden houses ata cost to himself
of as much as ten per cent. on the rental of a small farm; and
we were assured by one respectable farmer, on the Bicton estate,
that often in a windy night he got up and looked out with dread,
lest his live stock should be destroyed by the whole fabric being
blown down on them. Having ourselves inspected these build-
ings, we were at no loss to account for the apprehensions of the
tenant. Accommodation of any proper kind for the accumula-
tion and preservation of manure is in such cases out of the
question, though where there is plenty of straw the cattle
seemed warm and comfortable.

The better class of buildings are generally in the form of a
square, close all round, and entered on the south side through
a large arched door under the granary. Immediately opposite
is the barn, cider-cellar, &c., which usually occupy one side
of the square, having the rick yard behind. Two sides are
for the accommodation of cattle, the back walls being built close

up to the eaves; the front is in two stories, supported on strong
E2
52 SOIL—COURSE OF .CROPS-—SMALL FIELDS. [DrEvon.

posts of timber, open from the ground to the eaves, the lower
story occupied by cattle, the upper kept as a store for their pro-
vender. The cows are usually kept in loose boxes; the fatten-
ing cattle are tied by the neck. The fourth side of the square
embraces the farm stable and waggon shed.

The soil, as already mentioned, is of very various character,
good turnip and barley lands being intermixed with wet, stiff,
unkindly soil, generally very imperfectly drained. Tracts of
fine green crop land, of deep friable texture, are met with in con-
tinuous succession, and there the cultivator reaps the best returns.
The alternate system of husbandry is followed, varied by
allowing the land to rest one or more years in grass, as may be
thought best by the farmer. The four or five field course would
be an inappropriate term to use in this county, the number of
hedgerows and fields on each farm being so great, that a forty or
fifty field course would more truly designate its husbandry. To
give an idea of this, we may mention one case related to us by
the tenant of a farm of 160 acres, from which seven miles of
hedgerows were removed, and, on the ground being measured, it
was found that thirteen acres of land were gained by their re-
moval. Nor is that farm by any means bereft of its hedgerows,
the fields still being on the average not more than ten acres in
size. Where the ground is exclusively kept in pasture, the
shade and shelter afforded by the trees may in some degree com-
pensate for the injury they do. But where the land is not
adapted to continuous pasture, and is therefore let by the land-
lord for tillage, there can hardly be anything more injurious to
the tenant than this multiplication of fields and hedgerow timber.
Every operation of husbandry is impeded, a constant shifting of
implements from field to field occasions waste of time, and does
positive damage to the implements and the fields through which
they are passed, while the corn in harvest is frequently injured by
the difficulty, in this comparatively moist climate, of getting it
aired in these small close fields. But the direct injury sustained
by the crops being robbed of their food by the hedgerow timber is
Devon.] INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF HEDGEROWS — CROPS. 53

most strongly shown in a turnip-field. ‘Look at these thieves,”
said a farmer to us, pointing to three stately elms ; “I warrant
there is not a root as large as an apple within many yards of
them.” On measuring the ground, we found that for forty feet
out into the field from the hedgerow opposite these three elm
trees the crop was quite diminutive, while immediately beyond
their influence the size of the turnips was quadrupled. An idea
of the positive injury thus inflicted on the tenant may be guessed
at, when we mention further, that forty feet extended across
about a fifth of the field, from the opposite side of which another
line of trees spread their voracious roots. From one hedgerow
pointed out to us, extending along one side of a five-acre field,
sixty large elm trees were cut last season, and there still re-
mained a superfluity. Till within the last two years very few
landlords would listen to any complaint on this head (some are
loth to do so still); but the value of the timber has fallen so
much, and the tone of the farmer has become so stern, from the
pressure of low prices, that less difficulty is now felt in getting
leave to remove superfluous hedgerows. Their existence may be
considered rather a fortunate circumstance at present, inasmuch
as the value of the timber, and the amount of land gained in
their removal, will amply compensate the expense, while the
employment afforded in the operation will take up any super-
fluity of labour.

There is nothing particular to detail in the management of the
arable land, which, however, is well and deeply tilled, not very
heavily manured, but managed, on the whole, where the tenants
have sufficient capital, with much sagacity and skill. Two-horse
ploughs are universal, and light carts'and waggons. Oxen are
occasionally used in the plough, two young and two old ones
being yoked together. They are fed very cheaply, and will
plough an acre a day. Sixteen to twenty-four bushels of wheat
may be reckoned an average produce for South Devon, and
thirty-two bushels of barley. Stubble turnips are occasionally

taken, but the general practice is a bare winter fallow in pre-
ES
54 CLIMATE NOT TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF. [Devon.

paration for a root crop. In many districts of South Devon
the soil and climate seem admirably adapted for crops of early
potatoes, to be followed by turnips; but we did not hear of
this as in any degree a systematic practice. The mildness and
moisture of the climate would also indicate the advantage of
taking crops of rye, winter vetches, &c., for spring food, but the
attention of the farmer does not appear to have been much
directed to this, very possibly on account of the irrigated
meadows having hitherto afforded such food in sufficient abund-
ance. Nor does it seem that early lambs form much an object
with the farmer, though it might be expected that such towns
as Plymouth, Exeter, Torquay, Dawlish, and other watering-
places on the coast, occupied by rather a wealthy class of resi-
dents, would have afforded a good market for such delicacies.
Devonshire is justly celebrated for dairy management, the
perfect cleanliness and freshness of the dairies we examined
forming a marked contrast to what we saw in some other coun-
ties. Where the best butter is made, the cows are fed in winter
on fine meadow hay, seldom any roots. They are turned out
daily for an hour or two, generally to the orchard, where the
trees afford them shelter; their dung benefits the trees, and
they are kept off the pastures, which would be injured by their
feet in wet weather. Cabbage is seldom given for the winter
food of the cows; Mangold occasionally is. Dairies are
frequently let by the farmer to a dairyman, who pays for the
use of the cow, which is fed at the farmer’s expense, and
managed by the dairyman. A sufficient supply of grass and
hay is provided, and with this the common rent paid by the
dairyman for each cow is 9/. a-year, having fallen 12, since
last year. Fresh butter and clouted cream are the products of
a Devonshire dairy. Fatting cattle are supplied with 4 or
5 lbs. of cake daily, in addition to cut turnips. Sheep are bred
and fed on most farms, the young sheep being sold fat when a
year old. They are occasionally supplied with cake when
feeding on turnips. The lambing ewes are placed on the
Devon.] DAIRY MANAGEMENT—WATER MEADOWS—CIDER. 55

watered meadows. Pigs are fed on every farm, and are well
managed.

The value of watered meadows is highly appreciated by the
Devonshire farmers, advantage being taken of every little stream
to increase the produce of the land. The warmth of the nu-
merous valleys in this county is highly favourable to rapid
growth, and the declivity of their sides affords a cheap and
most convenient means of laying on the water. The expense
of cutting the gutters where the land is suited for “catch
meadow” may be about 2/. per acre, and the annual cost of
keeping open the watercourses and laying on the water about
5s. an acre. The increased produce is fully 100 per cent., but
this depends mainly on the quality of the water applied, which
is found to vary extremely. Its value is believed to depend
partly on the warmth it affords to the soil over which it passes,
and partly on the deposit it at the same time makes.

The cider orchard is another source of income to the Devon-
shire farmer, the value of which has decreased nearly a half within
the last few years. An orchard produces ten to fifteen hogs-
heads an acre of cider, the selling price of which at present is 25s.
to 30s. a hogshead, and the cost of preparing it 3s.to5s. As
much as 150 hogsheads are produced on some farms, the half of
which is consumed by the farm labourers. On one extensive
farm we were assured that 100 hogsheads of cider were annually
drunk by the labourers, the consumption averaging three-and-a-
half hogsheads per man! The wages of the labourer vary from
7s. to 8s. and 9s. a-week, with three pints to two quarts of
cider daily, the men bringing in every morning their wooden
bottle to receive their day’s allowance. Taskwork is much
encouraged, and under it better wages are earned. Little or no
reduction has been made on the labourer’s wages. Women are
not employed at outdoor work.

In many parts of the county, where the land is reckoned too
stiff for profitable green crops, it is necessary to have a bare

summer fallow. That is usually made after grass, the land
gE 4
56 SUMMER FALLOWS— PRICES AND RENTS. [Dzvon.

being well ploughed early in winter, and four or five times
turned over during the following summer, after which a dressing
of lime is applied and the wheat sown. The produce does not
average more than sixteen to twenty bushels. This is followed
by oats, which are usually a good crop, probably fifty bushels
an acre. With the oats the land is sown out to pasture.

In Devonshire we found among farmers an unanimous ex-
pression of opinion that prices must rise or rents be reduced.
It was stated that many of the farmers were putting all the
land they could under the plough for corn crops, and discon-
tinuing the use of purchased manures, in order to get as much
as possible out of their farms at the least expense, previous to
giving up possession. This, however, was not the case where
abatements were given, and it was generally admitted that if a
fair deduction of rent was made, tenants in most cases would be
able to withstand the present pressure. A general reduction of
rents is, in point of fact, the great object which they are all
now striving to accomplish. We found produce rents strongly
advocated, several gentlemen giving it as their opinion that the
relief afforded thereby would in most cases be sufficient to
enable the farmers of Devon, who had sufficient capital and
skill, to meet the times.
57

LETTER VIII.

DORSETSHIRE.

CONTRAST WITH DEVON—CHARACTER OF SOIL— VALUE OF DAIRY PRO-
DUCE — TENURE— CORN RENTS -——TITTLE EXPENDITURE REQUIRED TO
BE MADE BY LANDLORD — MANAGEMENT OF ARABLE LAND DETAILED —
SINGULAR CUSTOM OF “ WORKING” THE SHEEP — SYSTEM OF FARMING,
THOUGH APPARENTLY CAUSING FREQUENT REPETITION OF MANURE, REALLY
NOT ENRICHING —CHALKING—ITS EXPENSE— WATER MEADOWS —
SHEEP — MORTALITY AT LAMBING TIME ATTRIBUTED TO THE “ WORKING”
SYSTEM — SUGGESTIONS.

Dorcurster, Feb. 8. 1850.

Procerpine eastward from Devonshire along the south
coast, the change is rapidly made from the warm wooded valleys
of that genial county to the breezy open downs and bare
uplands of Dorset. The small inclosures, the green fields, the
numerous hedgerows, the frequent village, and the narrow
lanes, give place to a bare and undulating outline, where great
breadths of various crops are separated from each other by an ideal
line, running out at their highest points to the lofty downs still
untouched by the plough. The white flinty roads, marked here
and there by lines of cutting into the chalk substratum, can be
distinguished for miles, now dipping into a little valley bare of
trees, but clothed with the verdure produced by irrigation, then
winding over the long ascent of the smooth down, and again
descending on the rich, bare, open country which surrounds
Dorchester.

The contrast between the two counties is very great. In-
stead of tall and stately timber trees we find extensive copse-
woods, which serve the doubly useful purpose of furnishing the
farmer with hurdles for his stock, and the labourer with fuel.
The hedgerows, where they exist at all, are cultivated for their
58 RENT— TENURES—CORN RENTS. [Dorser..

septennial crop of hurdles and fire-wood, for at intervals of
seven years they yield a new crop. The farms are very exten-
sive, as may be seen by the large intervening space between
each homestead. The soil is thin, the subjacent chalk fre-
quently showing itself on the surface. Beds of gravel and clay
are of frequent occurrence, but generally the soil in the central
parts of Dorset does not appear to have much natural fertility.
The rents, including rates and tithe, average from 16s. to 20s.
an acre, regulated in some measure by the extent of down
pasture attached to an arable farm. That quantity varies
from one half to one third of the whole farm, and in recent
years has been decreasing, the downs, which yielded inferior
grass gradually undergoing a process of conversion into ara-
ble; and the dairy stock, which was then combined with
sheep, now giving place to sheep altogether. This change is
limited to the large holders of land, the smaller farmers of the
vales continuing to combine dairy with arable farming. The
produce of the dairies being chiefly made into butter, the
Dorsetshire dairyman is suffering from the recent depression
less severely than the cheese-producing farmer of Gloucester,
the depreciation in the value of a cow’s produce having been
stated to us in the latter case as from 92. to 6/. 10s., while here
it has fallen only from 102. to 91.

The farms are chiefly held on yearly agreements, though
leases from seven and ten to twenty-one years are not un-
common. Many of the largest and best farms are held under
lease, and though there is at present no anxiety on the part of
the tenants for long tenures, they generally express themselves
favourable to them, and attribute much of the improved agri-
culture of their district to the security thereby given to men of
capital and skill. On the estate of Lord Orford the farms are
let on lease at corn rents, regulated every half year by the
market price at Dorchester for the preceding six months, of so
many bushels of wheat and barley. This mode of adjusting the
question of rent has given great satisfaction to the tenants, but
the example has not been followed by any other proprietors in:
Dorset. ] MANAGEMENT OF ARABLE FARMS. 59

the county. A temporary deduction of rent had been very
generally given. Though some of the principal farmers are
men of property independent of their farms, yet too many have
been tempted to embark in holdings far too extensive for their
capital, and as low prices have crippled their means, they are
unable to continue that generous treatment without which these
hungry soils cannot be profitably cultivated. Drainage being
unnecessary, and, owing to the present system of management,
extensive housing for cattle not being deemed requisite, the
landlords of this district are not called on for any heavy expen-
diture; and the tenant, though bound by his agreement to a
certain routine of cropping, is not much interfered with by his
landlord. There is, therefore, a good understanding between
the two classes in this county.

The chief characteristics of the farming of Dorset are the
breeding of sheep, and the folding of them to enrich the ground
for the production of corn. Its thin chalk lands yield naturally
a very scanty herbage, but when tilled and well manured, the
alternate crops being eaten on the ground by sheep, they bring
good returns to the cultivator. The tillage farms, as has been
already mentioned, are extensive, and most of them include a
range of down or sheep-walk, which is not permitted to be
ploughed without the consent of the landlord. On this the ewes
are fed during the day in summer, and driven to the arable
grounds, where they are folded, without food, at night; thus
carrying to the arable lands, and enriching them with the
fertilising droppings derived from the grass. The points
chiefly considered are the production of wheat and barley, and
to promote these the breeding and management of sheep, and
the other operations of the farm, are subordinate. The maxim
is, the greater the number of sheep the greater the quantity of
corn; so that the course of cropping, though uniform in prin-
ciple, is varied in detail, according to the greater or less extent
of permanent grass or down land which a farm contains. Thus,
a farm consisting one half of down land and one half of ara-
ble, is farmed on the four-field system ; while another, with only
60 “ WORKING” THE SHEEP. [Dorser.

one third of down land and two thirds of arable may be farmed
on the five-field rotation, both systems being thus made to afford
nearly an equal proportion of grass land for the feeding of
sheep. Each method is carried out much in the same way, only
the “seeds” are left a year longer unploughed in the five-field
than the four. Beginning with the wheat crop, the land, after
the second crop of clover has been eaten by sheep, is dunged from
the farm-yard and then ploughed, pressed with the furrow presser,
and sown, the wheat seed falling into the hollows made by the
presser, where it is covered by the harrows. The more common
plan, however, where the furrow presser is not used, is to harrow
the ground after it is ploughed, and drill in the seed with the
Suffolk drill. To give it that degree of solidity which on chalk
lands is found advantageous (and which is accomplished on a
similar soil in the Wolds of Yorkshire by the use of Cambridge’s
or Crosskill’s rollers), 700 or 800 sheep are driven backwards
and forwards over the field, the shepherd beginning at five o’clock
in the morning, and keeping the sheep on the ground three
hours, by which time they are found to have gone sufficiently
over about ten acres. This is repeated day after day till the
whole is accomplished. When the wheat crop is removed,
one half of the ground is ploughed and sown, part with rye,
and part with winter vetches for spring food. The other
half is manured during the winter by the flock of sheep being
brought from the land on which they feed during the day and
folded there at night. This part is in the ensuing spring pre-
pared for swedes, which are sown in June, and is followed by
the sowing of white turnips on that portion on which the rye
and vetches have just been eaten off. A few of the swedes and
turnips are taken to the farm-yard for consumption by the cattle,
and the rest are fed off by the sheep. This is followed by bar-
ley, one half of which is sown with clover seeds. The barley,
when ripe, is mown with the scythe, and carried and stacked
without being tied in sheaves. After the crop is removed, the
half of the land which was not sown with seeds, is harrowed
Dorset. | SYSTEM NOT AN ENRICHING ONE. 61

with a heavy drag, and part of it sown with scarlet trefoil and
part with rye. The first crop of clover is usually cut, the second
eaten off, as also the rye and trefoil. After the rye, which is
first consumed, the land is sown either with mustard to be
ploughed in for manure, or with rape to be eaten off. It is then
ploughed for wheat, which again commences the course. When
the five-field course is adopted, the clover is pastured the second
year; or a portion of the land is dunged and ploughed in spring,
and sown with pease, which are followed by wheat, as before.

During this course the ground is repeatedly manured. First,
the clover is fed off and dunged for wheat ; secondly, the wheat
land is trodden by sheep after being sown; thirdly, the wheat
stubble, after being ploughed, is folded over by sheep, and the
rye and winter vetches are eaten on the ground as a preparation
for the turnip crop. The swedes are manured with ashes and
artificial manures, and the greater proportion of the whole turnip
crop is afterwards fed off in preparation for barley. When
pease are sown the land is previously “ muchled,” that is, straw
is carted out and spread over the ground, the whole of which is
then folded with sheep, and the straw and manure ploughed in
together to enrich it for the pease. This constant manuring
might be expected to force good corn crops, yet the average
produce per acre of wheat is said not to exceed twenty to
twenty-two bushels, and of barley thirty-two bushels. An ex-
planation of this may, doubtless, be found in the fact that the
sheep are a breeding stock, never very highly fed, and that year
after year the land produces and parts with a crop of wheat,
barley, lambs, aged ewes, and wool, for which the moderate
quantity of purchased manures brought back to the farm is cer-
tainly not an equivalent. The folding of the sheep on the ara-
ble from the pasture and down land no doubt enriches the
former at the expense of the latter, but does not in any degree,
on the whole, make good what is thus annually abstracted.

Tt is usual to chalk the land once in twenty years, the sour
description of soil being that to which it is found most advan-
62 CHALKING— MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. [Dorser.

tageous to apply it. The chalk is dug out of pits in the field to
which it is applied, and it is laid on sometimes with barrows,
but more cheaply with the aid of donkeys. The first method
costs 40s. an acre, the last 35s., where hired donkeys are used ;
20s. to 25s. where the donkeys are the property of the farmer.
The chalk is laid on in large lumps, which soon break down by
the action of frost and exposure to the weather. Chalk is occa-
sionally burnt and applied as lime, in which state it is preferred
by many farmers, notwithstanding the additional cost of the
burning.

The hollows or valleys in most of the large farms are occupied
by water meadows, which seem to be carefully managed, and
furnish very useful early food for the ewes and lambs, and hay
for them in winter.

The sheep generally kept are South-downs, which have, in
most instances, superseded the old Dorset breed. The ewes are
now dropping their lambs, and are driven every night into a
warm littered yard with sheds all round, where they are care-
fully watched and tended. As they lamb they are drawn with
their lambs into the sheds, and separated from the rest of the
flock. Next morning they are put into a well-sheltered pasture,
where they are supplied with swedes on the ground. In a few
weeks, they will be placed in the fold on swedes, when the
lambs are strong, and afterwards onrye and vetches. The lambs
are weaned in May, and shorn when six months old. The
“ pur” or wether lambs are sold in autumn, as also the four-
year-old ewes. The number of lambs annually reared from the
flock of ewes varies exceedingly, but scarcely ever averages a
lamb for each ewe. From a flock of 700 ewes shown to us, the
shepherd had on one occasion gained the prize of his district for
rearing 670 lambs; but this was regarded as quite uncommon,
500 to 550 being reckoned a good produce.

The losses by death, both of ewe and lamb, in lambing are in
some years very great, the owner of the flock above mentioned
having assured us that in one season he lost as many as 300,
Dorset. ] MORTALITY IN “WORKING” THE FLOCK. 63

stating at the same time that he was unable to account for this.
We think that the daily driving of the ewes while in lamb from
the feeding ground to the fold and back again—often a mile or
more each way, the close and crowded state in which they are
nightly confined, the perambulation of the wheat fields, and the
other peripatetic uses to which they are applied in Dor-
set, very reasonably account for the mortality and scanty
produce described. Previous to the introduction of guano
and bones, and more recently of cheap feeding stuffs for stock,
the practice of folding enabled the farmer to produce fair crops
of corn on land which could not then have been otherwise kept
in tillage with advantage. The high value of the corn made
the care of the flock a minor consideration. Free trade has
changed these relative values, and there can be no doubt that
the sons of the men who introduced the practice of folding will
soon adapt their management with equal skill to the different
position in which they are now placed. The increased use of
artificial manures and bought food, the general introduction of
the turnip cutter, a greater economy of straw, and its conversion
into rich dung, will gradually change the present system of
breeding sheep into that of feeding out their produce also,
thereby increasing the annual return from stock, and, by the con-
sumption of better food, adding fertility tothe corn land. Fold-
ing as a system will probably be superseded by attention being
devoted to the feeding of the flock as the principal object, the
enriching of the land following as a matter of course, but not
forming, as heretofore, an object paramount even to the welfare
of the stock. It may then be found that to enrich the soil by
wasting the substance and injuring the constitution of the sheep

in driving them to and fro, and confining them in a crowded
- fold, is a more expensive and less effectual plan than the direct
application of those manures and food which science and com-~
merce have placed within the reach of the modern farmer.

Nor is this the only mode of increasing his returns which the
Dorsetshire arable farmer fortunately has still to fall back upon.
64 MODE OF USING STRAW AS MANURE. [Dorser.

On these thin chalk lands we were surprised to find that, in order
to consume their straw, the farmers carried it out and spread
it over the soil, where, after the sheep had been folded upon it, it
is left exposed to the weather for weeks or months before
being ploughed in. Its economical consumption by cattle in
stalls, with the aid of roots and cake or corn, will no doubt ere
long be found by the farmer a much more profitable mode of
converting it into a source of gain to himself and of fertility to
the soil.
65

LETTER IX.

DORSETSHIRE —- continued.

Mr. Huxrasre’s Farms.— DISTRIBUTION OF LIQUID MANURE BY PIPES —
HILL FARM—YIELD OF CROPS — BUILDINGS — MACHINERY — PREPARA-
TION OF FOOD FOR CATTLE— PIG FEEDING — ACCOMMODATION OF CAT-
TLE— SHEEP HOUSE — PIG HOUSE— CALVING HOUSE—LIQUID MANURE
TANK — RESULTS — CONDITION OF DORSETSHIRE LABOURER — CLOTHING
CLUB — COMPLAINT OF LOW PRICES,

Swarressury, Feb. 1850.

AN account of the agriculture of Dorset would be very in-
complete without some description of the farms of Mr. Huxtable.
This gentleman, the rector of Sutton Waldron, by his pamphlet
on Present Prices, has raised such a storm of reprobation among
the farmers of the several districts through which we passed,
that we were anxious on every account to examine his system, and
obtain accurate information for forming a correct judgment upon
it. It may be necessary to premise that Mr. Huxtable is a self-
taught farmer, and that in carrying out his plans he has intrusted
them to the direction of the people he found on the land, without
calling to his assistance the aid of a skilled bailiff’ The outdoor
work, therefore, wants that finish which a tasteful farmer likes
to see in the management of his land.

The West Farm, about a mile from Sutton Waldron,
is the first on which Mr. Huxtable commenced his improve-
ments. It is very various in quality, but chiefly a rather
wet and tenacious soil, now drained, and all superfluous
hedgerows and timber removed from it. This is strictly a
breeding farm, keeping a stock of milch cows, the calves
of which, when reared, are removed to the Hill Farm to be
fattened. There is nothing peculiar about the management

F
66 LIQUID MANURE DISTRIBUTED BY PIPES. ([Donser.

of the stock here which will not be detailed in the description of
the Hill Farm, so that it is only necessary to call attention to
the plan adopted by Mr. Huxtable for the cheap distribution of
liquid manure over the different divisions of this farm. The
whole liquid is carefully collected in a series of tanks, from the
lowest of which it is discharged as required, by a force-pump,
into pipes, which carry it to the several fields in succession. The
pipes are of well-burnt clay, an inch thick, their joints secured
with cement. They cost 7d. a yard, and, inclusive of an up-
right discharge column every 200 yards, will not exceed 12. an
acre. The pipes and columns are now laid down for the accom-
modation of 60 acres of the West Farm. When it is requisite
to apply the liquid to any portion of these 60 acres, the force-
pump is set to work, and a stop put on at the discharge column
nearest the place to be watered. A hose is then attached to the
column and carried into a tub placed on a light, broad-wheeled
water-cart, which, as soon as filled, is drawn off, and another of
the same kind put in its place. The first is then emptied by a
man with a bucket, who scatters its contents over the land. By
the time he has emptied the first tub the second is full, and he
repeats the same process with its contents, and so on, the man at
the forcing-pump being thus enabled to deliver a continuous
stream of manure at the distance of many hundred yards. We
think no apology necessary for occupying some space in describ-
ing this process; for the application of manure in a liquid form,
fitted for immediate absorption by growing plants, is a matter of
the highest importance to the farmer. The time may come
when all manures will be first prepared in the dissolving tank,
and then carried, in a liquid form, without waste or expense,
and applied without injury to the surface at any stage in the
growth of the plant which may be deemed advisable.

The Hill Farm is the most interesting, for here Mr. Huxtable
has most elaborately carried his science into practice.” A few
years ago this was an open chalk down; it is bare and barren,
high and windy, rising abruptly from the adjoining vale to an
Dorset. ] MR. HUXTABLE’S HILL FARM — CROPS. ~ 67

elevation of 500 feet. Its cultivation was undertaken chiefly
with the object of increasing the field of employment in the
parish ; and not only hag that object been accomplished, but
problems, having an important bearing on our national agricul-
ture, are here in course of being solved. The farm consists of
280 acres of land, all of which bear every year alternate crops
of corn and cattle food. The corn crops are wheat and barley,
the former of which will average this year thirty-six bushels an
acre; the green crops comprise white and yellow turnips, swedes
and mangold, the latter of which especially was a heavy crop ;
and also rye, vetches, clover, and Italian rye grass, though the
last is not in great favour on this farm. Implements of every
kind for economising and perfecting labour are in requisition —
cultivators, scarifiers, clodcrushers (the most approved of which
is the smooth-ringed, as not being so liable to choke in damp
weather), seed-drills, dibbling machines, and liquid-manure-and-
seed drill.

At this season the operations on the land are not so in-
teresting as those going on in the buildings—the meat and
manure factory of the farm. These comprise an extensive range,
not altogether on the most convenient plan, as additions and
alterations are constantly being made when more room is re-
quired, and when experience and observation suggest a better
arrangement. They are constructed, however, with a strict eye
to economy, both of expense and labour; and there is not a nook
about them which the critical eye will discover as either unne-
cessary or very inconyeniently situated. The whole stock of the
farm, except the breeding ewes, are kept constantly housed
night and day, summer and winter, and no particle of their food
or manure is suffered to be wasted.

Beginning our description with the steam-engine: it thrashes
and winnows the corn, cuts the thrashed straw into chaff, turns
the stones for grinding the cattle-food into meal, and by a
separate belt, when requisite, works a bone-crusher, in which,

also, the hard American oilcake is broken down. Over the
F2
68 PREPARATION OF FOOD FOR CATTLE. [Dorser.

furnace is a drying-loft, where beans or damp corn are pre-
pared for the better action of the millstones, by the waste heat
of the engine fire. The strawchaff is carried to the root-house,
where, by Moody’s machine, turnips, mangold, &c., may be des-
eribed as ground down rather than cut, and the roots and chaff
are then mixed together in the proportion, by measure, of one
bushel of the former to two of the latter. The cut straw sticks
to the juicy fresh-cut roots, the whole exudation of which it ab-
sorbs. This mixture forms the staple winter food of the cattle
and sheep, cake and corn being added in such proportions as are
deemed necessary. The cut straw is not, even in this state,
thought so soluble as it should be, and a large steaming-chest is
being erected, in which the steam from the engine-boiler will be
employed in preparing every substance used as food to afford its
entire nutritive powers to the animal. The mess so prepared will
consist of cut straw-chaff, ground roots, meal, oilcake or bran, and
crushed furze; for Mr. Huxtable turns nature to account in all
her productions, and the scrubby furze, which is, except in Wales,
generally looked on as a nuisance, is here enlisted into the
service of adding to the nation’s food. After due inquiry, he
satisfied himself that, properly used, this is a most nutritious
substance. It becomes, therefore, an object of careful cultiva-
tion, and when crushed and steamed in conjunction with other
materials, adds a flavour to the whole which, besides its nutritive
qualities, makes an extremely palatable mess for any animal to
which it is given. Some people, no doubt, will say that steam-
ing reduces the bulk of the roots, and is, therefore, a wasteful
plan: but in the process as here carried on, nothing is wasted ;
the bulk which leaves the turnip, swells and melts the chaff, and,
carried into the paunch of the animal in this state, cannot pro-
duce that chilling effect which a mass of roots, containing 90 per
cent. of cold water, must necessarily cause. Such is the winter
food of the cattle and sheep.

Pigs are treated differently. They are kept as a manure
factory, from which a given expenditure in meal will be returned,
Dorset.}] PIG FEEDING — HOUSE FEEDING OF CATTLE. 69

with the cost of attendance, in the increased value of the animals,
and all the manure they leave be clear gain. When this is
reduced to a certainty, our supply of the richest manure will be
limited only by the means at our command for purchasing pigs
and corn; and it is right to mention that, at the present prices
of both, a handsome profit was this year made by Mr. Huxtable
over and above the manure. The pig food is therefore all pur-
chased exclusively on their account, partly in the market, and
partly from the inferior corn of the farm. Cheap Egyptian
beans, lentils, and barley are ground into meal, the proportion
of beans being increased in cold weather, and barley in warm
weather, as being then respectively most suitable to the consti-
tution of the animal. The requisite quantity is steeped over
night in cold water, to render it more palatable and soluble, but
undergoes no other preparation.

Having described the machinery for the preparation of the
crops and the management of food, we shall now proceed to the
buildings in which the different kinds of live stock are accom-
modated. The average stock of cattle kept is thirty milch cows
and their calves, the whole of which are constantly housed,
the younger being promoted from stall to stall as their elders
depart under the butcher’s charge. From 90 to 100 head are
thus regularly kept on the farm. The cattle are all tied up in
stalls, occupying three parallel rows, have plenty of light and
air, and exhibit, notwithstanding constant confinement, the
greatest liveliness and contentment. To economise as much as
possible every particle of straw, they are all placed on sparred
boards raised six inches above the water-tight floor; by this
arrangement the straw is kept dry, and fully half the usual sup-
ply of litter is saved. The liquid is collected in an under-
ground drain, whence it passes off to the tank. The cattle-
house is very cheaply constructed, the walls being of wattled
furze, which admits air without producing a draught, and the
roof is thatched with straw, as being not only more economical

in first cost, but far better adapted than a slate or tile roof to
F 3
70 THATCH— SHEEP HOUSE — PIG HOUSE. [Dorser.

insure an equable temperature, being warm in winter and cool
in summer. This point is well worth consideration, as we were
assured that under one part of the buildings which is slated,
the stock are much annoyed in warm weather by flies, while
they scarcely ever make their appearance under that portion
which is covered with thatch.

The sheep-house comes next under observation. It is a light,
cheap, thatched building, with a walk up the centre, and a
double row of sheep, standing on sparred boards, and tied up by
the neck, quietly feeding on either side. Mr. Huxtable first
tried his sheep in small pens on boards, but they never became
so quiet and docile as they do after being tied up for a day
or two. The progress of the sheep is tested at intervals of
a fortnight or more by placing them on the weighing machine ;
and it has been observed that, from some unexplained cause,
they at certain periods seem to make little progress as compared
with others. When this is noticed, the house is carefully
washed with chloride of lime, which seems to have an invigo-
rating effect on the animals. They are found to thrive and
fatten rapidly under this system of house feeding. The solid
manure_is removed daily, and the liquid passes off by a covered
drain. No litter whatever is required by the sheep.

The accommodation for pigs next demands attention. Two
methods are adopted, the one most approved being a long low
thatched building, with a walk up the centre, and divided into
compartments on each side. The pigs all stand on sparred
boards, beneath which the ground is shaped like the letter V,
for the collection of manure. The solid portion is removed at
convenience, the liquid passing off by a drain to the tank.
Eighty or ninety pigs are kept on the farm, and seemed in a state
of perfect contentment with their quarters.

It is unnecessary to describe the root-houses and farm stable,
but, crossing the road, we enter a building isolated from the
rest, and divided into loose boxes, to which the milch cows are re-
moyed when about to calve. This house is also used as a quarantine,
Dorset. ] LIQUID MANURE TANK — RESULTS. 71

in which are kept fora few weeks any animals that are purchased,
and which must first pass through this ordeal before being ad-
mitted to free pratique in the rest of the furm buildings. A little
way further down is the establishment for the collection and
preparation of manure. It comprises two extensive water-tight
tanks for liquid, and a house in two compartments for the dif-
ferent kinds of solid manure. Here every element that is not
carried off in the substance of the cattle, the sheep, and the pigs,
is carefully preserved, to be again in due time restored to the
soil, and the slender stream which constantly runs into the liquid
manure tank is directed into a box filled with gypsum, through
which it is passed, in order to fix the ammonia, described by Mr.
Huxtable as “the spirit-like essence of the farm, ever longing
and struggling to fly off into boundless air.” It would occupy
too much space to detail all the other processes going on on
this farm, the dissolving of bones, the extraction of ammonia
from rags, the conversion of earth by fire into an absorbent of
liquid manure, —all these must be examined to be thoroughly
appreciated.

The practical farmer will ask, — Does all this pay? For crop
1847 Mr. Huxtable’s books show a balance in his favour. For
crop 1848 he was a loser of 26/2. 9s. 8d. after paying rent and all
expenses, inclusive of interest of capital; but that arose, not
from a deficiency of crop, but from the ruinous harvest which so
seriously damaged the quality of all corn crops in the south of
England that year. For crop 1849 a very profitable return is
expected.

Neither of Mr. Huxtable’s farms, as will be observed from our
description, enjoys any advantage of soil or climate. The Hill
Farm is in both respects inferior to the average of the arable
farms of this county. We have thought it necessary to enter
into these particulars, in order to satisfy the public that Mr.
Huxtable is no mere theorist, and we strongly advise such as
doubt his conclusions to visit his farm before they condemn them
as impossible. They may there acquire a knowledge of import-

r4
72 CONDITION OF LABOURERS — WAGES. {Dorser.

ant facts in their business, elicited by a truly philosophic mind,
guided by quick perception of detail and energetic action, and
applied to the good purpose of increasing the food of the people
and enlarging the field for their employment.

The condition of the Dorsetshire labourer has passed into a
proverb, not altogether just, as compared with the counties ad-
joining. The large farmers are anxious to vindicate themselves
from the imputation of underpaying their labourers. Exceptional
cases, they affirmed, had been taken as examples of the whole,
and from these they had been unfairly believed to be heartless
grinders of the poor. The labour books we examined showed
that on the large farms the usual rate of wages for a labourer is
8s. a week, a piece of potato ground, fuel, beer in harvest time,
with extra wages, and in some cases the principal servants have
a house rent free. The fuel is brushwood and turf, which each
labourer prepares for use himself, and which the farmer’s horses
carry home for him. The allowance of beer is a gallon
daily for each man, which is usually consumed in the follow-
ing manner:—a quart to breakfast at ten o’clock, a pint at
half-past eleven for luncheon, a quart during dinner between
one and two o’clock, a pint at four, with something to eat
at five, and the rest when the work is finished. Ona large farm
the consumption of beer occasions a cost’ of 70J. or 807. for malt
ina year. The supply commences with hay harvest, and ends
when the corn crop is secured. Women are paid 6d. a day, and
boys 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. a week. On the smaller farms, where the
tenants are poorer, and the population in proportion to the means
of employment denser, the weekly wages are as low as 7s., and
even 6s.; and we were told that even that small sum was in
many cases paid partly in inferior wheat, charged at a price
which the farmer could not realise in the market. Low as the
rate of wages is, it has not fallen in the same proportion as the
price of provisions, and the Dorsetshire labourer is therefore at
present more content with his circumstances than he was in times
when the farmers enjoyed a prosperity in which he did not par-
ticipate.
Dorszr.] CLOTHING CLUB — LOW PRICES. 73

A clothing club, which has been established in the district of
country round Blandford, has been of much benefit to the
labourers, and promoted good feeling between them and their
employers. It is supported by the joint contributions of the
labourers and their employers, the subscription being ld. per
week for each member of a family, a labourer with two children
subscribing 3d. weekly, and his master an equal sum. At the
end of the year the labourer gets clothing for his family to the
amount of their united subscription, such as he chooses to select.
For this purpose 30002 are said to be collected annually in this
locality.

The farmers of Dorset complain very bitterly of the present
low prices, and see no relief except in a return to protection.
Being seldom disturbed by their landlords in the possession of
their farms, and paying moderate rents, they expect little benefit
from matters which in other counties are frequent topics of dis-
cussion, such as compensation for unexhausted improvements, a
readjustment of the burdens on land, produce rents, and security
of tenure. The only saving they think possible is in a reduc-
tion of wages; but from that source there can in the end be no
gain, as no labour is more unprofitable than that which is
underpaid. Very possibly a great saving might be effected by
a better application of labour, and a more economical distribu-
tion of it.
LETTER X.

WILTSHIRE.

NortHern anp WEsTERN DistTRICTS.— APPEARANCE OF COUNTRY —
DEFECTIVE BUILDINGS AND DRAINAGE — SIZE AND RENT OF FARMS —
HEAVY RATES —INJURIOUS EFFECT ON LABOURERS OF “CLOSE” PARISHES —
PRESSURE OF HIGHWAY RATES — NEGLECT OF LANDLORDS — MISERABLE
ACCOMMODATION FOR STOCK —— DAIRY MANAGEMENT — ARABLE LAND —
PRIMITIVE BARN IMPLEMENTS.

Devizss, Feb. 1850.

In viewing the agriculture of Wiltshire, it will be most conve-
nient to examine it in those natural divisions which have given a
peculiar character to the modes of husbandry adopted. The
north-west division of the county, with its fertile vales and rich
pastures, presents a marked contrast to the chalk downs which
occupy the south-eastern and larger portion of the county,
stretching from its southern boundary through Salisbury Plain
to the vicinity of Devizes. In the former, dairy farming and
grazing are the pursuits of the husbandman; in the latter, tillage
and sheep farming.

The northern and western districts, which we shall first en-
deavour to describe, have all the rich and luxuriant appearance
for which English rural scenery is celebrated. Green fields,
with lofty hedgerow trees, winding roads which lead ever and
anon over modest bridges spanning the devious streams that
drain the country to the Avon, succeed each other for miles
along its fertile valley. To the critical eye the green fields are
often seen to be wet and undrained, and the luxuriant hedgerows
more numerous than useful, though not so injuriously so as in the
dairy districts of either Devon or Gloucester. Commodious
farm buildings are seldom to be seen, but the want of them is
Wurts.] DRAINAGE — SIZE OF FARMS — RATES. 75

everywhere discernible in the poached pasture fields, and the
young cattle huddled behind the hedges for shelter from the
February blasts.

The farmers are very sensible of these defects, and are be-
ginning to clear out useless fences, and to adopt a more per-
manent mode of drainage than the wedge or turf. Tileries have
been introduced, and pipes supplied by the landlord; but, as
the tenant is usually left to put them into the ground, at
his own discretion and cost, the work is not efficiently done.
This is a work which requires the skill that is learned by prac-
tice, and every landlord would find it to his advantage to have it
done under the supervision of a practised drainer, in order
that so costly an improvement may be attended with its full
advantages.

The farms vary in size from 60 to 250 acres, held from year
to year by men who, on the smaller and more numerous class of
farms, manage, by the help of their families, to dispense with
hired labour. The rent of land ranges from 30s. to 60s. per
acre, with the “ outgoings” or local burdens in addition, which
in this part of the country are seldom less than 10s., and in some
cases as much as 20s. per acre.

There is much complaint among the farmers of the severity
of the rates, which a variety of causes has produced. The
village inhabitants of these districts are principally a decayed
manufacturing population, among whom handloom weaving and
pillow-lace working still keep a languid existence. A man
who is a weaver himself, or descended from weavers, is not held
in much estimation as a farm labourer; and in this grazing
district, where the demand for labour is not great, the land
must bear the burden of a population not required for its cul-
tivation, —those manufactures on which they formerly subsisted
having ceased to afford them support. The surplus labour is
not divided among the farmers by mutual agreement, as is
common in other districts, where the tenants are men of capital.
The fear of this pressure, aided by the present law of settle-
76 CLOSE PARISHES — HIGHWAY RATES. [Wiurs.

ment, has induced large proprietors to diminish the cottages on
their estates, and thus the burden is increased on those open
parishes to which the population is driven. In the union of
Melksham some of the parishes have no paupers, having cast
their labourers off upon their unfortunate neighbours, where
property being more divided and cheap, cottages are run up on
speculation, and the new comers are welcomed by a certain
class whose property is thereby enhanced, to the heavy loss of
the ratepayers. The tyranny practised on the poor labourer
when he falls into arrear to his new landlord, is great. This
man, often the keeper of a huckster shop where the labourer
gets his various wants supplied, charges every article he sells
at exorbitant prices, from which there is no appeal, as, if the la-
bourer leaves his residence, he cannot get another.

The highway rates are another serious cause of complaint.
An unusual number of turnpike trusts have been created; and
the money having been recklessly expended, and without system,
the country is covered with toll-gates, not so much to raise
funds for keeping the roads in repair, as for the purpose of pay-
ing the interest of former debts. From Melksham to Bradford
and back by Troubridge, a distance of only thirteen miles, the
traveller must pay his way through seven gates! The parish of
Broughton Gifford is closed in on every side by gates, and yet,
notwithstanding the number of toll-gates throughout this divi-
sion of Wiltshire, the tolls collected hardly pay the mortgagees’
interest, and the farmers are called upon for heavy highway
rates over and above to keep the roadsin repair. The enhanced
expense of transit in an inland district, caused by this gross
mismanagement, is a very serious hindrance to agricultural im-
provement, and the great landlords are much to blame for
having permitted such an abuse to grow up without challenge.
If the expenditure of the money had been under the control of
those who paid it, the result would have been very different.

But in the relations of landlord and tenant in this part of
Wiltshire, matters are permitted to take their own course. The
Witts.] INADEQUATE BUILDINGS — DAIRY STOCK. U7

law says the tenant shall pay his rent and all rates; and the
landlord takes his rent, and gives himself little further concern
about the matter. Fields are undrained; farms inadequately
housed ; the tenant complains; his landlord tells him that he
has not raised his rent in good times, and will not lower it for
a temporary depression. There is no progress, and no encou-
ragement given by the landlord to a tenant so disposed. To
this there are several exceptions, but these exceptions only
illustrate the rule.

The farm-yards have a few shelter sheds of the most rickety
description, and never ample enough to accommodate all the
stock of the farm. Convenient arrangement has not been at-
tempted ; a rough wood and thatch shed being run up now and
then, as the necessities of the tenant most required. The dairy
cows are kept during the winter in open yards, wading often to
the knees in filth, there being no straw to spare for litter.
Here they stand shivering at the old-fashioned racks where
their scanty provender is supplied. The young cattle, having
no sheds provided for them, are wintered in the fields. Manure
is looked upon as a troublesome nuisance, there being no means
taken to preserve it, and much of it is accordingly washed off
by the winter rains into the nearest ditch or watercourse. Such
is the general rule, though on some estates a great improvement
is now taking place in the farm buildings.

The dairy farmers in the richest parts of the county do not
breed their own stock, but buy heifers in-calf from the Cots-
wolds and at Swindon fair, which they keep as milkers for four
years, and then sell them fat if possible. The price of such
stock used to be 17/. or 18/., and when sold lean 122. or 1312,
but it has lately fallen 15 to 20 per cent. from these rates. Of
good grass land, two and a half acres are reckoned sufficient to
support a cow throughout the year; and to give an idea of the
quantity of stock actually kept, we found a milking stock
of forty cows on a dairy farm of 120 acres. The cheese
made in this part of Wiltshire is of very superior quality,
78 VALUE OF PRODUCE — ARABLE LAND. [Wiurs.

and brings the highest price. It is sold as “ Double Glouces-
ter,” though really Wilts cheese. Each cow yields from 33 cwt.
to 4 cwt. of cheese in the year, and 11b. of whey butter per
week, which is at present worth 7d. per lb. In the winter
skim-milk cheese is made, and the best quality of butter, now
selling at 1ld.to 1s. The best cheese sells at 50s. a cwt., which
is a fall of from 10s. to 15s. on the prices of 1849. The dairies are
exceedingly clean and well managed, and do much credit to the
industry and skill of the farmers’ wives, to whom exclusively
this important department is entrusted. Full-milk cheese
begins to be made soon after the calving season, which is the
end of March and beginning of April.

The richest grazings in the vales and along the rivers’ banks
are stocked with fattening cattle, to the management of which
the principal farmers devote their attention.—On the arable land,
where the soil is strong enough, roots and wheat are taken alter-
nately ; while on lighter soil, clover, wheat, and barley or oats are
taken in succession. As the extent of crop on any one farm is not
considerable, it is common for the farmers to hire drills and
thrashing machines, which parties keep travelling about the
country for this purpose. The thrashing machines are driven
by hand, and employ four men and a boy, who think it a good
day’s work to thrash out six sacks or twenty-four bushels of
wheat! A fanning or dressing machine, which we saw at
work on a considerable farm, was quite a curiosity, and
evinces, as much as any thing else, the very primitive state of
husbandry in this district. It was simply a series of spars
nailed at each end to circular pieces of wood, and thus forming
an open cylinder. To each spar a deep fringe of sacking was
attached, and the apparatus being turned round by a man at
each end, got up a breeze of wind, in which a third riddled the
corn, and so separated it from the chaff! The same primitive
implement is still used in some parts of Surrey.
79

LETTER XI.

WILTSHIRE — continued.

Sauispury Puan. —NATURE OF SOIL— CONVERSION OF PASTURE TO ARABLE
ENCOURAGED BY COMMUTATION OF TITHE — CONSEQUENT INCREASE OF
RENT — CHANGE FROM SHEEP TO CORN FARMING — LARGE FARMS -—~
MODE OF MANAGEMENT — TASK-WORK— CONSUMPTION OF BOUGHT FOOD
AND MANURE—FARM BUILDINGS — MACHINERY LITTLE USED FOR FEAR OF
DISPLACING LABOUR — LOW WAGES —DIET OF LABOURER INSUFFICIENT —
SUBDIVISION OF VERY LARGE FARMS BELIEVED TO BE INEVITABLE—
FARMERS’ OPINIONS AND PROSPECTS.

SarisBury, Feb. 1850.

SoutH Wiltshire includes the extensive district stretching
from Salisbury to within a few miles of Devizes, called Salis-
bury Plain. This is a somewhat elevated expanse of chalk
downs, of an undulating character. When seen from a dis-
tance, it appears a vast uninhabited tract, with slightly swelling
slopes; but as the traveller passes through it he discovers that
it breaks down into numerous valleys, nestling among the green
meadows of which are the farm-houses and labourers’ cottages,
the parish church, and sometimes the well-wooded park and
mansion of the lord of the surrounding manor. These are the
sheltered spots of the district, for along the open downs the
cutting blasts of winter meet nothing to intercept their severity.
Here and there on the horizon a strip or clump of fir trees may
be seen, but the face of the country is bare and unsheltered,
with no fence dividing field from field, and no prominent land-
mark to guide the traveller, who must trust to the finger posts
of the different roads which intersect the country.

The soil is of various character, all on a chalk substratum.
On the hills it is mixed with flints; the sides of the hills are a
chalky loam, the flatter parts a flinty loam, and the bottom
of the valleys which drain the district consists of the débris of
80 COMMUTATION OF TITHES. [Wirs.

the adjoining downs. It is a thin, dry soil, well adapted for the
system of folding sheep, and hitherto kept in cultivation by a
diligent prosecution of that system.

The greater proportion of this extensive tract has been
brought under tillage since the passing of the act for the
commutation of tithes. The fertility of the most of it is arti-
ficial, the result of capital and labour skilfully applied; and, as
the country is not fenced, requires no draining, and the sheep-
folding involves no expenditure in buildings, it appears that the
increased produce derived from the land is almost wholly the
result of the tenant’s exertions. The commutation of tithes was,
therefore, a great boon to the landlords, as their tenants then be-
came desirous to plough up the -down-lands, and obtained per-
mission. to do so on the condition that they should pay an
increased rent. In this way down-lands not worth more in their
natural state than 3s. 6d. or 5s. an acre were at once raised to
15s. or more, and that without any outlay on the part of the
landlord. The land was held in very large farms by men of
capital, whose chief dependence was on their sheep stock, and
who, occupying wide tracts as sheepwalks, became gradually very
extensive tillage farmers, willing to pay an increased rent for the
right of converting downs into arable, so long as they were en-
couraged to do so by a high price of corn. This change. of
system involved a greatly increased outlay of capital, for it is
obvious that a man with sufficient means to stock and carry on a
sheepwalk of 2000 acres would find that very inadequate for an
arable farm of the same extent. It is to be feared that many were
tempted by high prices to embark a large amount of borrowed
capital, in the full expectation that those prices would be per-
manent, and the pressure upon such farmers at present is very
severe, as the landlord has abated only 10 per cent. of his greatly
increased rent, and the lender of money is very possibly pressing
the borrower, in the fear that his capital as well as the tenant’s
may soon be absorbed.

The size of arable farms on Salisbury Plain varies from 800
Wits J LARGE FARMS. 81

up to 5000 acres, cultivated fields being often two or three
miles distant from the homestead. A portion of this on most
farms consists of unbroken downs, till now undergoing an
annual diminution. The extent of the operations here may be
indicated by the fact, that one farmer has 800 acres in wheat
annually, and that 400 or 500 acres of corn, and 200 or 300
acres of turnips, on one farm, are not uncommon. The returns
are calculated on the gross; little items, which engage the
anxious attention of the small farmer, being here thrown over~
board altogether. The farmers, in fact, who generally hold on
lease, are a superior class of men, renting the sporting of the
manor as well as the land, and in many cases occupying the
manor-house, and holding that position which, from the non-
residence of the owner, devolves upon them.

The sheepfold and artificial manures are looked upon as the
mainstay of the Wiltshire-down farmer. The system of hus-
bandry pursued is precisely similar to that already described by
us as practised in Dorsetshire. When the downs are first broken
up, the land is invariably pared and burnt, and then sown with
wheat. Barley is usually taken after the wheat, and this is
followed by turnips, eaten on the ground, and succeeded by
wheat. The first three or four crops on the fresh land were
very remunerative, and formed a great temptation to the
farmer; but the soil is soon exhausted, and requires expen-
sive management afterwards. It then falls into the usual
four or five field course; a piece being laid out annually in
sainfoin, to rest for several years before being again broken
up. ‘The sheepfold is shifted daily until the whole space
required to be covered is gone over. To economise labour,
much of the land is “ raftered,” or half-ploughed, one furrow
being turned over on an equal space of ground, the two surfaces
of which are thus partially rotted together. Turnips and other
green crops are consumed where they grow, which saves the
labour of taking home the crop and fetching back the manure.
The sheep, as in Dorset, are made the manure-carriers for any

G
82 CROPS —TASK-WORK. [Wuts.

portion of the land on which it is thought desirable to apply it.
Much of the corn crop is stacked in the distant fields, as it
would be almost impossible to carry it home so far with the
despatch which is requisite in harvest operations. In many
cases it is thrashed where stacked, a travelling steam thrashing-
machine being hired for the purpose. The straw is then carried
out, and spread over the grass lands from which the clover-hay
had been cut the previous year. Only a very small proportion
of the root crop is carried home for consumption by cattle, the
number of which on these large farms is quite inconsiderable.
According to the quality of the land, and the amount of
artificial manure and food expended on it, the corn crops vary
in yield from twenty to twenty-eight bushels of wheat, and
forty bushels of barley, per acre. Wheat is sown from
October till the end of December; spring-sowing being dis-
approved of, as on these high lands a late crop is very subject
to blight in harvest. The dry cold March winds, which
sweep over the unsheltered downs, often inflict serious injury
on the young wheat plant. Barley is sown in March and
April, grass seeds being sown at the same time, and clover seeds
in the month of May. If sown earlier, they would vegetate
too rapidly, and starve the barley crop. Swedes give the best
crop when sown in the end of May, and white turnips succeed
winter vetches and rye, as soon as the ground can be got ready
in July. Wheat harvest begins, generally, in the second week of
August. It is reaped chiefly by strangers from the more popu-
lous districts in North Wilts, by task-work, the price varying,
according to season and crop, from 7s. 6d. to 10s. an acre. Bar-
ley is mown by the regular labourers of the farm. The turnip
crop is hoed by men at task-work—strangers who migrate into
the district every season, and work late and early, that they
may earn good wages. They are paid from 7s. to 8s. an acre,
besides beer; and expert hands can make 3s. to 4s. a-day at this
rate, beginning work, of their own accord, at three o’clock in
the morning, resting during the mid-day heat, and after resuming
Wiits.] ARTIFICIAL MANURE AND FOOD — SHEEP. 83

labour in the afternoon, continuing till eight o’clock in the
evening.

The artificial manure most in favour for the turnip crop is
superphosphate of lime, which some farmers prepare for them-
selves by mixing the bones and sulphuric acid on their own farms.
Three ewt. of superphosphate is reckoned a sufficient applica-
tion for the turnip crop. It is usually drilled in along with the
seed, the same machine sowing both. Guano does not appear
to be much used on the downs. On farms of such great extent,
the sum expended on artificial manures and oil-cake is neces-
sarily large, though greatly contracted within the last two
years. On a farm of 2000 acres the sum at one time expended
on these substances reached 1100/. in one year; it has now fallen
off about a half, the farmer fearing that a continued low range
of prices, with no corresponding abatement of rent, will oblige
him to leave the farm; and there being no custom here to pay
an outgoing tenant for unexhausted improvements, he has of
course no interest in maintaining the condition of the land for
the benefit of his successor. The land is chalked once in twenty
years.

The management of the sheep stock is much the same as that
of Dorset, this being also a breeding country. The South Down
is the favourite breed, and much attention is paid to the im-
provement of the flock. Ona farm of 2000 acres of average
jand which we visited, 1400 ewes are kept, from which 1000 or
1200 lambs are reared, several hundred lambs being annually
lost, and many ewes at lambing time. The quantity of cattle
at present kept on this farm may be about thirty or forty in the
straw-yards, and ten fatted oxen, with a few milch-cows for the
use of the farm. There are also eighteen working oxen and
twenty-two farm horses. About 500 acres of corn are grown
annually, and 250 acres of turnips.

The farm-buildings comprise a stable for the horses, and, at
a different part of the farm, loose boxes for the working oxen,

an engine-house, one enormous barn, and two smaller ones, a
G2
84 BUILDINGS — INADEQUATE WAGES. ([Winrs.

couple of sheds with yards, and a waggon-house. The steam-
engine is used to drive a small thrashing-machine, which merely
beats out the corn without separating it from the chaff. It is
also employed in cutting chaff and bruising corn for the stock
of the farm. The wheat only is thrashed by the machine, barley
‘being thrashed by the flail, partly to give increased employment,
and partly because the maltsters prefer it hand-thrashed. It is
then winnowed by hand-fanners, and the awns are knocked off
in another hand-machine, worked by two men. But this neces-
sity, which the Poor Law imposes, of giving employment, is a
heavy tax on the farmer, as the whole of these processes could be
quite as effectually performed at one operation by a good thrash-
ing-machine, and certainly at one-half the cost. The buildings,
being generally thatched and the walls of timber, are very ex-
pensive to keep in repair.

The wages of labour are lower on Salisbury Plain than in
Dorsetshire, and lower than in the dairy and arable districts of
North Wilts. An explanation of this may partly be found in
‘the fact, that the command of wages is altogether under the
control of the large farmers, some of whom employ the whole
labour of a parish. Six shillings a-week was the amount
given for ordinary labourers by the most extensive farmer in
South Wilts, who holds nearly 5000 acres of land, great part
of which is his own property; 7s., however, is the more com-
mon rate, and out of that the labourer has to pay 1s. a-week
for the rent of his cottage. If prices continue low, it is said
that even these wages must bereduced. Where a man’s family
can earn something at out-door work, this pittance is eked out
a little, but in cases where there is a numerous young family,
great pinching must be endured. We were curious to know
how the money was economised, and heard from a labourer the
following account of a day’s diet. After doing up his horses
he takes breakfast, which is made of flour with a little butter,
and water “from the tea-kettle” poured over it. He takes
with him to the field a piece of bread and (if he has not a young
Wits.) ILL PAID LABOUR THE MOST COSTLY. 85,

family, and can afford it) cheese to eat at mid-day. He returns
home in the afternoon to a few potatoes, and possibly a little
bacon, though only those who are better off can afford this.
The supper very commonly consists of bread and water. The
appearance of the labourers showed, as might be expected from
such meagre diet, a want of that vigour and activity which
mark the well-fed ploughmen of the northern and midland
counties. Beer is given by the master in hay-time and harvest.
Some farmers allow ground for planting potatoes to their la-
bourers, and carry ‘home their fuel — which, on the downs,
where there is no wood, is a very expensive article in a labourer’s
family.

Both farmers and labourers suffer in this locality from the
present over-supply of labour. The farmer is compelled to
employ more men than his present mode of operations require,
and, to save himself, he pays them a lower rate of wages than is
sufficient to give that amount of physical power which is neces-
sary for the performance of a fair day’s work. His labour is,
therefore, really more costly than where sufficient wages are
paid ; and, accordingly, in all cases where task-work is done, the
rates are higher here than in other counties in which the ge-
neral condition of the Jabourer is better. We founda prevalent
desire for emigration among the labourers themselves, as their
only mode of benefitting those who go and those who remain
behind.

A subdivision of the large farms on the downs would
tend to increase the demand for labour, and, with a low
range of prices, such a subdivision appears inevitable. These
thin lands cannot be kept in cultivation except by a liberal
expenditure of capital and the utmost economy in the con-
sumption of the produce; and this is scarcely compatible with
a holding of 2000 acres under one management. Very few
men, even if they possessed it, would risk a capital adequate
for the thorough development of such a farm; and where men

of this class are to be found, they would probably get a better
6 3
86 FARMERS’ OPINIONS AND PROSPECTS. [Witts.

return by dividing their land into four or five farms of 400 acres
each, with separate bailiffs vieing with each other in the care of
the land under their charge, and answerable separately to the
capitalist farmer, who would superintend and direct the whole.
In the dairy and grazing districts the wages are from 7s. to 8s.
a-week.

The opinions expressed by the farmers as to what is requisite
to bedone under present circumstances, and with future prospects,
were of a much more practical character than those we heard in
Dorsetshire. In the dairy districts the farmers ask for drainage
and better house accommodation, relief from the unequal pressure
of poor-rates caused by the present law of settlement, and the
consequent obligation to employ the whole labourers of a parish
whether their Jabour is needed or not. The income-tax is also
much complained of, being arbitrarily exacted even when the far-
mer is actually losing money. This is thought an act of great
injustice ; and it is not easy to see why the farmers alone should
be subjected to an arbitrary assessment, as it is not more difficult
for them to strike a balance every year in their accounts than it
is for a merchant.* Indeed the necessity for doing so would
introduce a business-like accuracy of accounts which could not
fail to be beneficial to the farmer himself.

On the corn farms a reduction of rent is considered indis-
pensable, or a conversion of money into produce-rents. The
idea of a return to protection appears to be abandoned; and,
in the dairy district especially, it is readily conceded that
free-trade has much less seriously affected the farmers than
their brethren in the corn districts, though they think it
right, nevertheless, as one man said to us, to “ bear their share in
the general grumbling.” With the large corn farmers, however,
the suffering is very serious, and much individual loss is unavoid-

* This has been amended by the legislature since this letter was published,
and a farmer who can shew that he has not cleared 1502. will now be
exempted from assessinent.
Wits] POSITION OF LANDLORDS. 87

able before matters readjust themselves. Their claims on the
justice of their landlords are of the strongest kind. As the
landlords, in the manner already explained, without any outlay,
obtained a large increase to their rental, and by so doing had
in some degree become partners in the scheme of extensive corn
farming, they, when through unforeseen causes it becomes un-
successful, cannot honourably withdraw without bearing the
same share in the loss as they drew from the profits of the ad-
venture. A deduction of ten per cent. has in the meantime
been generally allowed.
88

LETTER XII.

HAMPSHIRE.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION— SIZE OF FARMS-~DEFECTIVE DRAINAGE—LAND
MIGHT BE PROFITABLY RECLAIMED FROM SEA—FARM BUILDINGS, VERY
INSUFFICIENT — WATER-MEADOWS —-RENT AND PRODUCE NEAR SOUTH-
AMPTON—DETAILS OF MANAGEMENT—RENT AND PRODUCE OF CHALK
DISTRICT — MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP-—AND OF PIGS —SUGGESTIONS FOR
FARTHER DEVELOPING CAPABILITIES OF SOIL AND POSITION-——PROPOSAL TO
HAVE SLAUGHTER-HOUSES NEAR RAILWAY STATIONS FOR SUPPLYING LONDON
WITH FRESH MEAT— WAGES — HIGH RATE OF COTTAGE RENTS— FARMERS’
COMPLAINTS,

*
Bastnestoxe, Feb. 1850.

In the short space of a single letter it is difficult to enter into

a description of all the varieties of soil which a county possesses ;

and for general purposes the leading characteristics are all that

it is requisite to describe. Hampshire may thus be divided into
two districts,—the southern, in which a soil, varying in depth,
rests upon beds of clay and gravel; and the central and northern,
occupied by the chalk formation to near the borders of Berkshire,
where a tract of woodland country, with the clay and gravel
substrata of the southern district, again presents itself. In the
south and north the country is well wooded, the woodland
scenery of the New Forest, which occupies nearly the whole of
the south-west corner of the county, remaining to this day a spe-
cimen of wild sylvan beauty. The central parts of the county
exhibit the bare landscape common to the chalk districts, the
trees being scanty and of stunted growth, the arable-lands in
large fields frequently unenclosed, and the wide refreshing streams
which drain the lower country being exchanged for meagre
Hants.] DRAINAGE—-EMBANKMENTS — BUILDINGS. 89

rivulets, which very imperfectly supply the wants of the in-
habitants.

In the chalk districts the farms range in extent from 500 to
1000, 2000, and even 3000 acres, while in South and North
Tampshire they are from 200 to 500 acres. In both divisions
they are commonly held on yearly tenures. On the clay soils,
where drainage is required, it is usual for the landlord to supply
the tiles, and the tenant to put them into the ground. In
very many cases, however, the landlord leaves the tenant to do all
or nothing, as he thinks best; and much of the country, where
nothing but drainage is required to render the soil abundantly
fruitful, is accordingly either very imperfectly drained or not
drained at all. The low grounds lying along the banks of the
principal streams in South Hants are very liable to injury from
sudden floods, which, falling on the extensive chalk uplands,
collect with great velocity, and in their course to the sea overflow
their channels, and injure the meadows and fields which they
overspread.

Along the coast there are numerous inlets of the sea, which
at low water present a wide expanse of mud, poisoning the air
with noxious exhalations, and which, from the land-locked nature
of such creeks, might be very profitably embanked and reclaimed
for cultivation.

The farm-buildings consist of a huge barn, and a few sheds and
yards; the barn and sheds being constructed of wood and thatch.
The barn is generally large enough to contain a stack of 300
bushels of wheat, which is about the usual size of stacks on the
larger class of farms. The sheds and cow-houses are very in-
adequate in extent, and entirely without plan or convenience for
the economy either of labour or food. The tenants are bound
to keep them in repair, however expensive it may be to do so.
In every respect, the present state of the farm-buildings in
Hampshire is unsatisfactory: insufficient in point of accom-
modation, placed here and there more by random than on any
90 WATER-MEADOWS. . [Hanrs.

definite principle, constructed of materials so frail as to be in
constant need of repair, they show that the landlords have given
little attention to the wants of their tenants, and that their
agents have failed to perform a most important part of their
duties, when these duties are rightly understood.

The agriculture of that part of South Hants including the
area drained by the rivers Test and Itchen, which fall into the
Southampton Water, is of a varied character. Much of the
land adjoining these streams is in water-meadow, the greater or
less proportion of meadow attached to each arable farm giving
the distinctive character to the mode of husbandry pursued on
it. Formerly these water-meadows were very valuable, as they
enabled the farmer to rear the earliest lambs for the London
market, and then yielded him a crop of hay. The use of arti-
ficial food for rearing stock in less early counties has deprived
the Hampshire farmer of the monopoly of the lamb-market, while
the introduction of railways, and the cessation of coaching and
posting, have greatly curtailed his market for hay. Farming is,
therefore, somewhat in a transition state here, some of the
holders of land turning their attention more to the dairy, some
to a mixed system of dairy and feeding, but all, more or less, to
the feeding of sheep in winter and the rearing of early lambs.
In many instances the water-meadows are not now made the
object of so much careful attention as formerly ; and their very
scanty produce (in some cases little more than a ton of hay per
acre) indicates that the meadow is either ill managed, or not well
adapted for the purpose, and that in such cases it might be
turned to more profitable account by being drained and con-
verted to arable-land.

The soil of many of the meadows is a peat and peaty loam,
while the adjoining land is a rich loam, of variable depth, with
a few flints in it, lying on a bed of gravel. The depth of the
soil varies from a few inches to several feet, and generally it is
all naturally drained by the substratum of gravel. The farms
Hayts.] . EXTENT OF FARMS —RENT—PRODUCE. 91

are divided into large. fields by convenient hedges, with a few
trees here and there, which add to the beauty of the landscape,
without doing any material injury to the farmer.

Strong clay land is occasionally met with, and farming there
is very backward, little having yet been done in drainage, though
that is now beginning to be attended to. The rising ground is
of a more sandy character, well adapted to sheep-feeding, while
some of it is good green crop land, but on a “burning gravel,”
and subject to serious injury by a dry hot summer.

The farms vary in size from 100 to 450 acres, 300 being the
average extent. The rent ranges from 20s. to 40s. an acre,
according to quality of soil and locality, and the rates and tithes
are about a fourth more. Fine fertile dry loam, close to the line
of railway, and within afew miles of Southampton, costs the
farmer, for rent, tithe, and all rates, from 2/. 2s. to 21. 12s. an acre.
The average produce of such land is 34 to 36 bushels of wheat,
and 40 bushels of barley, per acre. Clay-land in the same locality
costs the farmer 26s. to 28s. an acre for rent, tithe, and rates.

The four-field system is recognised as the custom of the
country, and is generally followed. But where land is let on
lease, the farmer is sometimes allowed great latitude, no restric-
tion being made except for the last two years. In such a case,
he usually takes wheat after a portion of his root crop, as well as
after his “seeds,” substituting it for barley where the ground is
early cleared by sheep, or where their treading in wet weather
causes the land to turn up “ unkindly ” for barley. Occasionally,
when the summer proves too dry for the small seed of the swede
to vegetate, the land is bare fallowed, and sown with wheat in
autumn, the wheat in such cases being followed by barley.
The “seeds” are usually covered with farm-yard dung during
the winter, or early in spring; and this insures a good crop of
hay, besides enriching the Jand for the succeeding crop of wheat.
Immediately after the first crop of hay is cut from the more
clayey description of land, the ground is ploughed, well dragged,
92 MANURES — CHALK LANDS. [Hanrs.

then again ploughed in autumn; and after being reduced by the
drag and harrows, the wheat seed is sown with the drill. Where
the land is suitable, however, a second crop of clover is taken,
and the wheat sown on one furrow. Early in November is
reckoned the best time for sowing wheat, spring-sown crops being
somewhat precarious, though occasionally very successful.

Artificial manures are never applied as a top-dressing for any
corn crops. In the vale of the Itchen the swedes are the best
crops of that kind we have yet seen in any of the southern
counties, but they want that regularity of size which is the
‘sure test of a heavy crop. Two ewt. of superphosphate per acre
is the common application to this crop, some adding a few
bushels of rough bones, and occasionally a few loads of rotted
dung. A heavier application of manure would, in our opinion,
be found in the end a more economical practice, as rent, rates,
and labour are nearly the same in amount per acre, whether the
crop is good or bad; and an increase of 6 or 8 tons of swedes is
therefore cheaply purchased by an extra expenditure of 20s. on
artificial manure.

On the chalk-lands from Winchester to Basingstoke the mode
of farming is very much like what we have already described as
practised on similar soil in other counties, only that the quality
of the land being generally somewhat better, and the face of the
country rather warmer here, the acreable produce is greater,
and the style of farming more generous. The rent varies from
10s., 15s., 20s., to 30s. an acre, the rates and tithes adding about
a third more. The country surrounding Basingstoke is a fine
fertile tract of dry arable-land, of no great depth, but laid out in
large well-fenced fields, suited for the growth of all descriptions
of crops, intersected by excellent roads, and having the conve-
nience of a railway-station within a couple of hours of London.
For this the average rent per acre, including tithes and rates,
does not exceed 30s., the average produce being 34 bushels of
wheat and 40 of barley per acre, though 40 of wheat, and 50 or
Hants. ] SHEEP MANAGEMENT — PIGS. 93

60 of barley, are occasionally reached in favourable seasons.
The loss sustained here by the cold summer and wet harvest
of 1848, which rendered the scanty crop nearly unsaleable by
the injury done to it before it could be carried, is telling
heavily on the farmer now. ‘The four-field course is the rule
of the chalk district, to which there are partial exceptions.
Sheep-feeding is the sheet-anchor of the farmers, and it is
carried on in a better or worse style, according to the means at
their disposal. A few use cake and corn extensively, in addition
to rootsand green food, both summer and winter; but the great
proportion of occupiers cannot afford to do so, and continue to
feed their flocks on the green crops produced by the land, without
aiding them even by the use of the turnip-cutter. A sheep to
the acre all round, or 500 sheep on a 500-acre farm, are con-
sidered to insure good farming. Very few beasts are kept;
indeed, there is seldom anything in the yards but the milch-cows
for the use of the farm establishment, the work-horses, and a few
pigs. Only a small proportion of the turnip crop, therefore, is
drawn for consumption in the yards, the farmer depending
chiefly on his sheep stock for manure and profit. The sheep are
managed differently on different farms, some keeping them for
rearing fat lambs, others for wethers. In many cases the shep-
herd has a hut beside the fold, which is moved about with it, and
in which he sleeps at night, ready to turn out and give assistance
should occasion require. The bells on the necks of a few sheep
in the flock give him notice when anything disturbs them.
Pig-feeding we found in favour with some farmers, as being
at present the best paying stock. One farmer we visited has
from 40 to 50 breeding sows, which he keeps in a very cheaply
fitted-up yard and sheds, feeding them on swedes alone till they
are nearly about to litter. They are then placed in separate
pigsties, and supplied with more generous food. The progeny
are kept till worth about 20s. each, when they are sold. A
young sow pig can be bought for the same price as a ewe; the
94 SUGGESTIONS. (Hants.

ewe produces only one lamb in the year, while the sow brings on
an average two litters of seven or eight in each, or 14 to 16 pigs
annually. Hence our informant considers the sow by much the
more profitable investment for his money.

The soil, climate, and situation of Hampshire afford several
sources of emolument to the farmer, of which he does not appear
to have yet fully availed himself. The populous towns on the
south coast, Portsmouth, Gosport, and Southampton, are excel-
lent markets for the consumption of his vegetable as well as
animal produce; yet we found that, in the article of potatoes,
these ports are chiefly supplied from the coast of France. Con-
sidering the abundance of manure to be obtained from these
towns, and the fitness of much of the soil for potatoes, we think
the farmers very remiss in letting this trade out of their hands.
The earliest crops in England might be produced here, which
could be off the ground in ample time to be followed by a turnip
crop the same season. The northern part of the county could
in like manner, with the aid of the railway, send supplies to the
London market; but, as the same sources of manure are not
within reach of this division, the farmer would probably find it
to his advantage to house-feed stock extensively for the purpose
of increasing his dung-heaps. This might be united with the
introduction of dairying, by which to send daily supplies of milk
and butter to the London market. And from these sources, viz.,
the culture of edible vegetables, and the sale of milk and butter,
we have a strong impression that the difference in the price of
his corn would be amply made good to the farmer.

There is another branch of industry which the convenience of
railway accommodation and the movement for sanitary reform,
are likely to introduce in this and other counties at a moderate
distance from the large consuming towns of the kingdom. The
rapid transit now afforded has put an end to the necessity which
formerly existed, of sending cattle up to town, to be driven
through the crowded thoroughfares, to the inconvenience and
Hants. ] WAGES— COTTAGE RENTS. 95

danger of the passengers, and afterwards slaughtered, to the pol-
lution of the atmosphere, and the absolute waste of one of the
most valuable sources of reproductiveness. Should Smithfield
be abolished, the farmer’s market might be brought nearer his
own door, if the carcass butchers would remove their establish-
ments to convenient points on the different lines of railway, to
which cattle could be driven without unnecessary cruelty, and
whence the meat might be delivered in London with nearly as
much despatch, and certainly in a more wholesome state than
from the city slaughter-houses; while the blood and other offen-
sive matter, instead of going to waste, would be carefully
retained for the benefit of the soil.

The rate of wages for labour in Hampshire is at present from
8s. to 9s. and 10s. per week, the higher scale prevailing in the
southern districts and the lower on the chalk-lands. Task-work
is extensively resorted to by the farmers, and, on the whole, the
labourer is better paid than in the adjoining counties. In many
cases, however, he is not better off or more comfortable on that
account than elsewhere, having to pay an increased rent for his
dwelling-house, from the scarcity of cottage accommodation. This
scarcity arises from the effect of the law of settlement, which has
induced the landlords in some parishes to pull down, whenever
they had the opportunity of doing so, all buildings that were
likely to afford a harbour for the poor. The consequence has
been that the labouring-classes in Hampshire have had their fa-
milies crowded together, to the great detriment of their morals.
The rent of cottages, which in many of the surrounding counties
does not exceed 3/. per annum, here rises to 52. and 61., and in
some cases even to 10/. a year.

The farmers complain greatly of the injury they allege them-
selves to have sustained by free-trade, but they do not seem to
have any strong hope that protection will be restored to them.
Leases, produce-rents, compensation for unexhausted improve-
ments, reductions of rent, the abolition of the law of distress, are
96 WANT OF CAPITAL. [Hanrs.

severally looked upon as measures which would contribute to
relieve them. But effectual aid, they conceive, can only be
rendered by higher prices. They are unwilling to admit that
their mode of farming can be profitably altered for the better ;
and, even if it could, there is said to be a general want of ca-
pital with which to effect improvements. Some farms had been
given up in despair to the landlords, and remained unoccupied,
while others had been relet at diminished rents; but the number
of these was not considerable.
97

LETTER XIII.

NORTH HANTS.— BERKSHIRE.

STRATFIELDSAYE — DUKE OF WELLINGTON AS A LANDLORD — RENT AND
RATES—SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT. Berxsuire.— DIVI-
SION OF sOILS—WANT OF CAPITAL BY FARMERS — SIR JOHN CONROY’S
FARMING—DRAINAGE AND TRENCHING THE FOUNDATION OF HIS SUCCESS
— PROCESS OF IMPROVEMENT — MANAGEMENT OF EARLY LAMBS — CORN
CROPS — FARM GARDEN — BUILDINGS — MACHINERY AND IMPLEMENTS —
PIG MANAGEMENT-—— THIN SEEDING, WIDE DRILLING, AND FREQUENT HORSE
HOEING — LABOURERS.

 

Reapina, March, 1850.

STRATFIELDSAYE, the gift of the country to the Duke of
Wellington, lies on the northern border of Hampshire, near
the line of railway from Reading to Basingstoke. The estate is
chiefly a strong retentive clay, naturally wet, and requiring very
delicate management to render it productive. Drainage, which
is the foundation of all improvement on this description of soil,
is being carried on very extensively at the Duke’s expense.
Chalking, which is second only in its importance to drainage,
has hitherto been difficult to accomplish, from the great expense
of carting for several miles so heavy a material, 20 tons being
the usual quantity applied to each acre. The opening of the
railway has facilitated this improvement, the article being now
carried from the edge of the railway cutting, and conveyed to
various points on the line, at less than half the former cost of
cartage. His Grace takes the principal share in the expense of
this improvement also, chalking the lands of some of his ten-
ants at his own cost. The farm-buildings moreover present a
striking contrast to the general style of accommodation provided
by the landlords of Hampshire for their tenants. In this branch,
the Duke has been at an immense outlay, substituting, when-
ever an opportunity arose, substantial buildings of brick and slate
H
98 “THE DUKE” AS A LANDLORD. [SrrarFIELpsaye.

for the wretched old wood and thatch hovels common in the
country. The farm-houses have also been renewed or rebuilt.
and the labourers’ cottages have equally shared the benefit of
his Grace’s improvements. The cottages have been fitted up so
as to afford comfortable accommodation for their occupiers, and
are held directly from himself, that there may be no exaction in
the matter of rent. To each cottage about a quarter of an
acre of garden ground is attached, and for the cottage and
garden the labourer pays 1s. a week.

The mansion, which was formerly the seat of Lord Rivers, is
of moderate size, and in rather a low situation, but the park
which surrounds it is extensive and well wooded. The stream
which flows through the grounds and the extent of woodland
scenery make it very picturesque. But the stubborn nature of
the soil renders this estate, as an agricultural property, expensive
to improve. For many years his Grace has laid out on its
improvement nearly the whole amount of its rental. The same
liberal expenditure on a kindly soil would have been tenfold more
productive, but the true spirit of a benevolent landlord is the
more strikingly displayed on a field where there can be so little
return for it. It is delightful to his countrymen, among all
classes of whom his Grace is, and ever will be, distinguished, as
emphatically “The Duke,” to find that in the more private
capacity of a landlord his duties are performed with the same
wisdom, attention, and unswerving faithfulness, which have
rendered his public character so exalted.

The rent of land on the Stratfieldsaye estate is about 20s.
an acre, tithes about 7s., and poor and other rates 2s. 6d. to
3s. 6d. It is strictly corn land, wheat and beans being the
chief produce. The system of cultivation pursued is to plough
up the clover lea, after the second crop is consumed in autumn,
that the furrow may be exposed to the pulverising effects of
the frosts and thaws of winter; after which it receives a clean
summer fallow, being repeatedly ploughed and harrowed until it
is brought into fine condition, when it is sown with wheat in
Brrxs.] CLAY LAND MANAGEMENT. 99

October. After the wheat is reaped, the land lies untouched
during the winter, and as soon as it is dry enough in spring, a
heavy dose of dung is spread upon it, which is immediately
ploughed in, and the ground planted with beans; the beans are
dibbled in by women, who are employed by task-work, and who
set the seed in rows, marked by a garden-line. During the
summer the land is carefully hoed between the rows, and after
the bean crop has been removed it is ploughed and sown with
wheat. After wheat follows barley, a portion of which is laid
down with clover, the rest being reserved to be sown in the fol-
lowing spring with peas, of which an excellent variety, called
the “ Victoria marrowfat,” is in great favour, selling at 40s.
a-quarter. The average produce of wheat is from 26 to 30
bushels per acre. From the nature of the land it is found very
injurious to work it when wet, and a great number of horses are
therefore kept to push forward the work in favourable weather,
a farm of 300 acres having as many as 16 work-horses upon it.
The only other stock consists of a few milch cows, some colts,
and a number of pigs, which go loose in the yards. Stall-feed-
ing is little practised, and when tried has been found very un-
profitable: but this is not surprising, as fattening oxen are
fed on cake and other substances, costing 10s. 6d. a-week for
each animal.

On leaving Stratfieldsaye we enter BERKSHIRE, which, from
its extent and variety of soil, exhibits many modes of agricul-
tural management. Along the Isis, in the vale of White Horse,
and on the banks of the Kennet, dairy farming predominates.
On the richer pastures sloping to the Thames, the fattening of
stock is practised. The range of chalk hills, which, entering the
county from Oxfordshire, crosses it in a westerly direction, are
employed in the rearing and feeding of sheep, combined with corn
farming. The mixed soils of clay, gravel, and sand, in the
district to the south of Reading, are chiefly under tillage, as is
the rich tract of corn land to the east of Wantage, w se is an

eminently fruitful and fertile country.
H 2
100 TURNIP CROP LIGHTLY APPRECIATED. [Berzs.

On the stronger lands, where sheep are unsuitable, from the
impossibility of folding them on the ground, pigs are fed in
yards, in great numbers, on account both of the value of their
manure, and of the profits arising from the excellence of the
breed.

On soils suitable for turnip culture and sheep, it is no infre-
quent practice in the eastern parts of Berks for one farmer to
give his turnip crop to another without any charge, on condition
that the crop is to be consumed by sheep on the ground where
it is grown. This practice infers a want of capital on the part
of the farmer, who could turn his crop to. much better account
by putting his own stock upon it, and thus keep to himself the
profit, without which his wealthier neighbour would not buy
stock for such a purpose. But it also shows that the value of
the crop is little appreciated, when within thirty miles of London
it is ever turned to so unprofitable an account. *

In farm buildings, roads, and drainage, the eastern part of
Berks is generally very deficient. To this there are many
exceptions, and the most instructive of these merit a full de-
scription.

The farm of Sir Joun Conroy, at Arborfield Hall, about
four miles to the south-east of Reading, consists of various soils,
but principally fair stock land, not very deep, some of which lies
on a retentive substratum of clay, and some on an open gravel.
Four years ago (for Sir John is a farmer of only four years’
standing) the whole of the arable farm, comprising about 320
acres, exclusive of the park surrounding the mansion, was divided
into numerous small fields by high wooded banks, every one of
which has been removed, the soil in them being scattered over
the adjoining land, while a sufficient number of the best trees
were left to give variety and charm to the landscape. Every
acre of the land was then drained with inch pipes laid four feet
deep, the drains being 15 feet apart in the stiffer lands, and 30
feet apart in those which were of a drier character. Further
experience leads Sir John to think that a greater distance would
have sufficed on the latter, much of which is of a kind which
Berks. ] SIR JOHN CONROY’S FARM. 101

most farmers would consider a waste of money to drain at all;
and probably nothing could better convince them of the incor-
rectness of such an opinion than a peep into what Sir John calls
“the bigot’s hole,” a square box, in which at a depth of between
four and five feet, two main pipes are to be seen constantly
pouring out the drainage of 40 acres of this description of soil.
Immediately following the drainers, the whole farm was trenched
by forks to a depth of 22 inches; the surface being carefully
retained uppermost by being thrown forward to cover the pre-
viously trenched portion of subsoil. The cost of both operations,
drainage and trenching, was nearly 122. an acre; so that, if a
great improvement has been effected, it must not be overlooked
that it has been done by a large outlay of capital. Farm roads
were at the same time made, which serve the double purpose of
accommodating the different fields, and of separating the one
from the other. Commodious farm buildings were also erected.
The land is managed strictly on the four-course system; every
modern improvement which is applicable to this system, and
has been previously proved to be profitable, being adopted.
The swedes, of which we saw an excellent crop, are manured
with yard dung of the richest kind, and 4 ewt. of superphos-
phate to the acre. A portion is drawn for consumption in the
stalls, and the rest are eaten on the ground by sheep; that
part which in March is still to be eaten, having been laid in
heaps, and covered with a little earth to shield them from the
changes of weather, and to prevent them exhausting them-
selves and injuring the ground, by running to seed.

The sheep are a Southdown ewe stock, crossed with a short-
woolled Leicester, the produce being a half-bred lamb which
grows and fattens very rapidly. At the end of the fold, next
the untouched turnips, spaces are left through which the lambs
only can pass out and in, and here boxes are placed containing
an unlimited supply of bruised beans, peas, and oilcake, of
which they partake liberally, besides nibbling at the green

turnip tops, and at the turnips also as their mouths get strong.
H3
102 EARLY LAMBS. CORN CROPS. (Berks.

They are ready for the London market by Good Friday, or as
soon after that as possible; and the ewes are immediately after-
wards put on the best feeding, to fit them for the market with
the utmost despatch, the great object being to turn the capital
over in the shortest possible time in which a profit can be
secured. Anew stock is again purchased at the first favourable
opportunity after the old has been disposed of.

As the turnips are consumed, the land is ploughed and sown
with barley, drilled in rows six inches apart, by Garrett’s drill;
two bushels of seed having been last year used to the acre,
though, considering the high condition of the land, and its per-
fect drainage, that quantity is thought too much, and one
bushel and a half is to be tried this season. The produce last
year was seven quarters an acre. The barley is followed by
clover and seeds, part of which is fed and part mown. After
the second crop is fed or mown the ground is ploughed (Howard’s
Bedford two-horse plough being in all cases used, and much ap-
proved), and then rolled by Crosskill’s cloderusher. The ground
is, next harrowed, and one bushel of wheat per acre drilled in, in
rows 124 inches apart, and nothing can exceed the regularity
and beauty of the plant at this moment. But those who may
wish to imitate Sir John in the economical use of seed must
not forget the important adjuncts of that system already de-
scribed, —the perfect drainage and disintegration of surface and
subsoil, the subsequent manuring of the turnip crop, the corn
and cake fed sheep, and the final consolidation of the furrows, by
all of which, as far as possible, security is taken that nearly every
grain sown shall vegetate. As soon as necessary in spring the
crop is hoed by Garrett’s horse-hoe, two of which are used on
this farm, and with them 20 acres a day can be got over. Sir
John thinks very highly of this implement, not more from the
speed and economy, than from the efficiency with which it does
its work. The wheat crop last year averaged six quarters an
acre, and was of very superior quality.

Adjoining the farm buildings is the farm garden, a plot of
Berks. ] FARM AND EXPERIMENTAL GARDEN. 103

6 acres, where vegetables, such as cabbages, mangold, potatoes,
&c., are cultivated, chiefly by manual labour, for the consump-
tion of the house-fed stock and pigs; and where experiments
are tried with various seeds, to discover the most valuable kinds
of corn for cultivation. Near this is a pump, communicating
with the liquid manure tank, from which, by a hose attached to
the pump, the surrounding land, to the extent of 20 acres, can
be watered. The hose has been in use for the last two years
without being much worn out. It is manufactured by Paterson
of Manchester, and costs 5d. a foot.

A new space, as large as the original rickyard, has been
cleared in order to afford room for the increasing bulk of the
crops. — Resting on the outer wall of the rickyard is a light
thatched sheepshed, with well-littered yards, into which the
ewes are brought for shelter to drop their lambs, and where
they remain for a few days till the lambs are strong enough to
follow them to the turnip-fold. When the whole of the ewes
have lambed, the hurdles enclosing the yard are removed, the
solid dung is carted out, and the land beneath is then dug and
planted with potatoes, for which it is sufficiently manured by the
liquid which has penetrated it. The shed of course remains for
use in the same way in subsequent years.

Next the rickyard is the barn, the whole machinery of which
is driven by a 10-horse steam-engine, the cost of working which
is 2d. an hour for labour and 10d. for coals, or 1s. an hour
altogether. A covered gallery extends along the back of the
barn, through the length of which the driving-shaft of the
engine passes, with pullies and belts at intervals for attaching
the power to the several machines as they are wanted. In this
gallery Sir John proposes to erect steaming chests, should he
adopt the plan of giving his stock cooked food. The thrashing
machine is an inferior one*, but it is fitted with an excellent shaker
by Garrett, the double motion of which at once separates the

* This machine has since been replaced by a very efficient one from the

manufactory of Messrs. Garrett.
Hu 4
104 MACHINES AND BUILDINGS. (Berks.

grain from the straw and causes it to fall lengthways from the
machine. It is then passed to a straw-cutter by which it is cut
as required, either into 4-inch lengths for litter, in which state
all the litter of the farm is used, or into 3-inch lengths for food,
a hopper from each side of the machine carrying the respective
kinds into separate compartments of the building beneath, A
corn and cake bruiser and turnip-cutter are all attached, when
requisite, to the shaft of the steam-engine. Immediately op-
posite to the barn door is a high, open shed, in which straw is
stored dry.

One side of the square is the implement shed, in which every
implement not in use is kept under cover; and it is proper to
mention here that Sir J. Conroy has disposed of all his waggons,
and adopted Crosskill’s one-horse carts, having fully persuaded
himself, after trial of both, that there is no comparison in point of
economy of labour between the two, this being a level part of the
country, with good roads through the farm. The more intricate
machines are kept under lock, the house being provided with
shelves on which the different parts of the machines not required
for the particular work in hand, are carefully arranged. Ad-
joining this is a carpenter’s shop, and, at another part of the
buildings, a smithy.

The farm stable has at one end of it a harness room, well
lighted, where all the cart and plough harness is kept, and which
is cleaned every Saturday afternoon. Water is supplied by
pipes to the stable and harness room, and indeed to every part
of the farm buildings. The fattening oxen are kept in loose
boxes under cover, with a passage before them for the con-
venience of the feeder. Each box is supplied with water, all
soft water, which Sir John rightly considers of much importance
to the thriving condition of his stock. The centre compartment, of
the building is occupied as a store for preparing the food, cutting
turnips, mixing meal, cake, &c.— the “kitchen,” ag it is termed.

The next yard is the great feature of the in-door manage-
ment—the pig establishment—upon which great attention is
bestowed. It should have been mentioned before that the only
Berks. | PIG MANAGEMENT. THIN SEEDING. 105

things sold off this farm are live stock and wheat, everything
else, including the barley, being consumed on it. Of course,
when a fine malting sample of barley is produced it is sold, and
an equivalent quantity of feeding barley bought to replace it.
Besides this Sir John buys a large quantity of cheap grain and
oilcake for his stock. He endeavours to fatten, every year, as
many hogs as he has acres, and has therefore always on the farm
between 300 and 400, 80 of which are in the fattening pens to
be finished. The only food they receive is barleymeal and
water, a “ kitchen ” being conveniently placed for each pig-yard,
with a trough sunk in the ground into which the requisite
quantity of meal is put among water, in the evening, for the
morning’s feed, and the trough again filled in the morning for
the evening’s meal. Each pig is calculated to consume about
ten bushels of barley in the course of feeding. The 80 fattening

pigs are kept in three yards, with a shed, all well littered with
cut straw.*

* Since our visit in 1850, Sir John Conroy has steadily persevered in his
course of agricultural improvement. To deep drainage and trenching, he
attributes the foundation of all his after success. He has now covered in
his two farm yards, one of which is 2500 square feet, the manure pit below,
and a sparred floor above, 7 feet from the heap, in which 300 sheep are
fattened at a time. The other covered yard is a rectangle of 1100 square
feet, in which 100 pigs are fattened in a chamber aloft, with a sparred floor.
The manure falls through the open boards upon cut straw chaff, which is
laid in every morning, and is ready to plough in when wanted. The first
building cost 80/., the second 45/., and by their aid the stock are fattened
quicker and with less food than before, and the manure is preserved from the
injurious action of the air, and sun, or rain. Besides other stock, 500 pigs are
fattened annually, and their manure, mixed with ashes, is very valuable. Ad-
ditional experience has also enabled him to feed cattle quicker and better.
He can now turn out in six. months oxen as fat as he at first took a year to do.

He is more than ever convinced of the advantage of thin seeding and
wide drilling. Of wheat he sows 3 pecks, and never above 4; of barley
1 bushel; and of’ oats 2 pecks to the acre,— and all are drilled in at 13
inches apart; vetches for soiling are drilled at the same distance, and at the
rate of 1 bushel an acre; beans 1 bushel an acre, and 2 feet apart in the
rows; mangold and swedes in rows 31 inches apart. This wide drilling
admits the horse hoes of all sorts to be constantly working among the grow-
ing crops as long as possible. The produce realised from this management
106 LABOURERS. [BERKS

There are many other interesting points of detail which we
have not space to enumerate. The houses are all spouted to
carry off rainwater, and every particle of liquid, as it escapes
from the feeding-houses, is secured in drains and carried to the
tank. An eating-room, with benches and a table, is provided
for the people to eat their midday meal. Here there is a fire
for cooking, and a washhand basin in the corner, with water laid
on, which is regularly used at night after work is over. The
same orderly precision which regulates all the departments of
the farm is. pre-eminently displayed in the management of the
farm servants. They are engaged by the week, the present
rate of wages being 10s. They are paid every Saturday in
small silver, so that they may have no necessity to go for change
to the public house. A serious fault is never passed over (about
which rule, however, we desire to express no opinion) ; no abusive
language or high words are permitted to be used to any person
engaged on the farm; and, should any misconduct occur, or any
serious neglect of duty, the offender receives with his pay on
Saturday a notice that his further services are dispensed with.
All extra time is paid for, and every man made to feel that,
while the exact performance of his duty is required, he is at the
same time treated with perfect fairness. We can testify to the
intelligent appearance of the men, and the cheerful esprit with
which they seemed to be animated.

Such is the style of farming adopted by a gentleman bred in
the camp and the Court—a farmer of four years’ practice, but
of many years’ observation ; who, notwithstanding all the outlay
he has made, finds the business remunerative. "We have been
thus minute in our description in the hope that other country
gentlemen, now compelled by necessity to look strictly to their
own business, may be tempted to take a lesson from Sir John
Conroy, and to learn from him how much healthful excitement is
to be obtained by personal attention to the business of farming.

may challenge comparison with that of any other system practised on similar
soil in this country. : i mains
107

LETTER XIV.

BERKSHIRE.

Nortuern Division.— FARM OF MR. PUSEY M.P.— LAND ALWAYS UNDER
CROP—DETAILS OF MANAGEMENT— SHEEP STOCK FED ON RAPE CAKE AND
BARLEY IN ADDITION TO GREEN FOOD— EXPENSIVE MODE OF FEEDING
OXEN — WATER MEADOWS — CAUSE OF FAILURE THE FIRST YEAR —EX-
TRAORDINARY FERTILITY AFTERWARDS — LETTER FROM MR. PUSEY —
BENEFITS OF HIS EXAMPLE — WAGES AND COTTAGE RENTS.— RENT AND
PRODUCE — VALE OF THE ISIS —FERTILE DISTRICT NEAR WANTAGE —
CHALK DISTRICT ROUND ILSLEY WELL CULTIVATED—INCONVENIENCES OF
“COMMON FIELD ” — TENURE — FARMEES OPINIONS — IMPROVEMENTS AT
BEARWOOD.

Pusry Furze, Berxs, March, 1850.

In the north-western division of the county, between four and
five miles north of the Farringdon-road station on the Great
Western Railway, is situated the estate of Mr. Pusry, M. P.
for Berks. The prominent position held by this gentleman in
our agricultural literature, and the many aids he has given by
his writings to the general diffusion of enlightened agricultural
practice, determined us not to pass through Berkshire without
examining the system of farming followed by him. The outline
of the country, and the soil of which it is composed, are emi-
nently favourable to economical and remunerative farming.
Large open level fields, sufficiently sheltered by lofty timber to
break the rigours of winter and to afford a shade from the heats
of summer, offer a refreshing landscape to the eye of the
practical farmer. No rocks or stones obstruct the operations of
his implements, but a fine dry easy-working soil presents to him
a field on which his skill, capital, and enterprise may be em-
barked with every reasonable hope of success.

There are several varieties of soil on Mr. Pusey’s farm, which
contains between 300 and 400 acres, part of it being stone-brash,
108 MR. PUSEY’S FARM. [Berxs.

part fine loam, and part an inferior and somewhat moory soil,
mingled with peat. The first two are excellent corn and turnip
land, the last is being chiefly devoted to water meadow. The
breeding and feeding of sheep is the point on which everything
else on this farm is made to hinge, and large quantities of arti-
ficial food are bought in order to increase the capacity of the
farm for sheep, of which there has been for the last year a very
large stock kept. Corn crops, consisting of wheat, barley,
and oats, are taken alternately with green crops, which are con-
sumed on the ground. Noclover or seeds are sown, as the water
meadows, which will be afterwards described, supply all the
summer food that is considered requisite.

As soon as the corn is removed, the stubble and a thin surface
are turned over by Glover’s skim plough, with which implement
(said to be a most efficient one) two horses can go over two acres
aday. This is well knocked about by the harrows, and white
turnips are then drilled in, on the flat, with 2 to 3 ewt. of super-
phosphate. Another part is sown with winter vetches and other
spring feed. These are eaten on the ground, and followed in
May and June by swedes and mangold, the former of which are
also caten on the ground, the latter drawn home for consumption
in the yards. The swedes are manured with 3 cwt. of super-
phosphate per acre, and sometimes yard dung also, in which case
they are sown on ridges, in which the manure has been previously
laid and covered ; and this mode of mixed manuring, with dung
and superphosphate, invariably brings the best crop. As the
swedes are eaten off, the land is either lightly ploughed, and the
wheat, barley, or oats, as may be, drilled in with Hornsby’s drill,
drawn by four horses, and covered by one stroke of the har-
rows, or it is breast-ploughed by men, about one inch in depth,
at a cost of 5s. per acre, and the seed then drilled in and covered
as before.. This last is considered the best operation, as offering
the firmest and surest seed bed for the wheat. For barley and
oats the land is lightly ploughed. All the corn crops are sown
in rows, and hoed by Garrett’s horse-hoe. The land, being in
Berks. | FATTENING OF SHEEP AND CATTLE. 109

constant tillage and highly manured, is very clean and free from
weeds.

The sheep stock kept on the farm averages 800 in number,
the half of which are breeding ewes. During winter they are
folded regularly over the rape, turnips, and swedes, the ewes
getting no other food except hay-chaff. The “tegs” receive a
little rape-cake and barley besides, the quantity being gradually
increased to three-quarters of a pound of the former and a pint of
the latter daily to each, for six weeks or two months before they
are sent off fat to London. Rape-cake is given by Mr. Pusey,
as he has found it as good an article for feeding as oil-cake, and
much less expensive. As soon as the “tegs” are ready they
are shorn before being sent to market. When the winter food
is consumed, the sheep are folded on the water meadows, on
which the whole stock is kept for five months in summer.

Twenty to twenty-four oxen are purchased annually, more
for the purpose of making the straw into manure than anything
else. They are kept in a yard with an open shed, in which
each is tied up to a stake to be fed three times a day, being
loosed again as soon as they finish their bait. That consists at
present of 7b. of oil-cake and a peck of barley-meal mixed with
hay-chaff for each animal, and cannot cost less than 10s. a week
exclusive of attendance. They get no roots or green food what-
ever, but are allowed to wallow among straw. At the bottom
of the yard the stream for irrigating the meadows passes through,
supplying water to the cattle, and carrying off the liquid of the
yard to enrich the meadows.

These water meadows form the great feature of Mr. Pusey’s
management. He introduced the system two or three years ago
from Devonshire, having entered into a contract, for laying out
an experimental portion, with an experienced irrigator from that
county. The whole cost of levelling the ground, making the
gutters, and the further charge for carriers to bring the water
from the brook to the meadow, was 52. 10s. an acre. The first
year the experiment proved a total failure; in one case the
110 WATER MEADOWS. [Brrxs.

ground seemed positively injured, but this arose from the water
having extirpated the moss which-previously overspread the
meadow. It was suggested that the failure arose from the
poverty and low condition of the land; and it was noticed that
on a portion where some burnt ashes had been spread, the action
of the water had produced a luxuriant growth. Next spring,
therefore, the whole meadow got a dressing of burnt peat ashes.
The water now had its full effect, and so great was the growth
produced, that one meadow, 20 acres in extent, was fed four
times with a flock of sheep during the summer, the water being
let on immediately after the fold was removed, thus washing
down to the roots of the grass the whole enriching substance,
before there was time for it to be lost by evaporation in the
heat of the sun. This meadow afforded keep to a flock of 400
sheep for five months of summer; and Mr. Pusey states that
a smaller one, of two acres, yielded keep for 73 sheep, or 36
sheep on one acre, for five months. But we are bound to say
that some of the neighbouring farmers allege that the sheep
were kept, not fed, and that it was marvellous to them how
Mr. Pusey had managed to keep so many sheep, even alive, on
this small space during the whole summer.* So well satisfied is

* With reference to this, Mr. Pusey sent the following letter to the Editor
of “ The Times :”

i

To the Editor of “ The Times.”

“ Sir,—I beg permission to advert to a single point in your Commissioner’s
account of my farm; but in so doing I ought first to say that nothing can
be more fair than that report, and, indeed, it surprised me that he should be
able to collect so accurate a statement during my absence, which I regret
the more as it prevented me from making his acquaintance.

“ The point, however, is simply a rumour, which he felt bound to allude
to, that on a field of two acres which.had supported, in consequence of irri-
gation, 86 sheep per acre for five months, or rather had supported. sheep at
that rate, the sheep were ‘ kept alive, but not fed,’

“This rumour, I beg to assure you, is utterly without foundation. The
sheep left the field, after each time of eating it off, in thriving condition.
The whole of my last year’s lambs will at the end of seven days have left the
farm for Smithfield to be sold, though but a year old, as mutton, and are
this year unusually fat. Your readers, who like myself remember that, in
Bengs.] EXTRAORDINARY INCREASE BY IRRIGATION. lll

Mr. Pusey himself with the results of irrigation that he is ex-
tending his meadows on his own farm, and, it is said, intends to
lay one out for each of his tenants where the necessary supply of
water can be found. On his own farm he has no other summer
keep, as he now dispenses altogether with laying any part of his
arable farm into clover or seeds. As this experiment has proved
so successful in one of the drier counties of England, it may be
useful to mention that a detailed account of the whole, by Mr.
Pusey, is to be found in the 24th number of the Journal of the
Royal Agricultural Society.

The benefit which Mr. Pusey does to the district around him,

their youth, butchers were required to furnish five-year old mutton, may not
like this rapid production ; but it is required by the increase of our popula-
tion. It clearly cannot be accomplished without plenty of food. My flock
of ewes also were never at any former lambing season in better order than
now, after being kept on these catch-meadows. The rumour therefore is
one of those by which men endeavour to account for things which exceed
their powers of belief, and appearing to them fabulous or mythical, seem to
require arational explanation. Your Commissioner was quite right to men-
tion it, but the sceptics would do well to inquire whether irrigation does not
at least double the yield of grass-land.

“T should hardly have troubled you on this matter if it had been merely
agricultural, but have done so because I should be sorry to be thought a
hard flockmaster.

“Tt has always been an agreeable thought to me that the improvement of
farming tends greatly to increase the comfort of all the animals usually
found on a farm. Under the old system there was, and still is where it
lingers, a great deal of unreflecting cruelty. The sheep, when kept for wool
only, is even yet, on some of our moorlands, left to his fate in the winter, and
not uncommonly dies of starvation.

“ By the improved system the farmer is taught to keep his animals in a
thriving state steadily from their birth. Even horses, though not meant to
be eaten, should not be stinted of food. Railway contractors hardly mea-
sure their horses’ oats, and two well-fed horses can do as much work or
more, for the same provender, which on the old system enabled three horses
barely to crawl.

“‘ We have now learnt that, for our own interest, every animal on a farm
should live well, and that a hard stockmaster is a bad farmer.

“ With sincere respect for your Commissioner’s ability and fairness,

“T remain, Sir, yours faithfully, ;
“Pusey, March 29.” « Puri Pusry.
112 WAGES. COTTAGE ALLOTMENTS. [ Berks.

by introducing new agricultural implements, is readily recognized
by the farmers, who profit by adopting those which he finds
successful, while they, of course, avoid his failures, Hornsby’s
drill, Garrett’s horse-hoe, Glover’s skim plough are the most ef-
ficient of these. The great increase of sheep stock now kept
on the farm, and the larger annual produce in corn, are readily
admitted by the farmers, who say, however, that they are
gained at a greater cost of artificial food and manure than they
are worth. This we think is very unlikely; but it might be
worth Mr. Pusey’s consideration so to systematize his manage-
ment (which, hitherto, has necessarily been irregular from being
in some degree experimental) as that it would be readily under-
stood by his neighbours; and we would add that he should not
be content with a mode of feeding oxen which must entail loss,
besides a great waste of straw, when there can be no doubt that
a judicious mixture of roots with the more expensive food, corn
and cake, given to house-fed cattle, might be adopted with a
profitable result, and a much more economical consumption of
straw. With the improved farming now carried on, we were
informed that Mr. Pusey has quadrupled the sheep stock and
doubled the corn annually maintained and produced, as com-
pared with those of the tenant who previously occupied the
farm.

Labourers are here paid 8s. a week, working nine hours a
day. Cottage rents are 1s. a week, and each labourer has an
allotment of a quarter of an acre of excellent land adjoining his
cottage let to him at the rate of 40s. an acre, which the land
would readily bring from a renting farmer. The soil is so easily
wrought that three, and occasionally four, pairs of horses and a
yoke of oxen are found sufficient for Mr. Pusey’s farm of between
300 and 400 acres, but the usual depth of furrow in ploughing
does not exceed three inches, and nearly the whole green crops
are consumed on the ground where they grow. Horses are fed
on hay and two bushels of oats a week to each.

The surrounding country is very much of the same description
Berks. ] VALE OF THE ISIS. 113

of land as that occupied by Mr. Pusey. The rent and rates
amount on an average to 30s. an acre. The four-course hus-
bandry is the rule of the district, and in many instances it is
carried out with much skill and spirit. The details are very
similar to those described by us as practised in the southern
division of Oxfordshire, though we think the farming on the
whole is not so good as in that part of the country. In many
instances turnips are not cut for the sheep, nor is the system of
winter green crops so diligently pursued. Twenty-eight to thirty
bushels of wheat an acre may be reckoned an average crop.

Towards the Vale of the Isis the land becomes very stiff and
worthless, “too strong for cultivation, and too weak to carry
crops,” being the terms in which it was spoken of to us. Ad~-
joining this tract is a deep sandy loam and a light sand, and
each farm generally contains a proportion of all, so that the bad
is kept going with the good. This variety of soil likewise gives
rise to a mixed system, the farmers having a portion under dairy,
as well as sheep and corn. The fall in prices has, therefore,
not so much affected them, the dairy and the sheep stock still
continuing to bring in regular returns. — Farms are never let by
tender. Poor-rates are said to have increased in some parishes
from 2s. 6d. (a few years ago) to 4s. per pound. Labourers’
wages are from 7s. to 8s. a week, and cottage rents 2/. 10s. to
31. Twelve horses are requisite for the cultivation of a 400-acre
arable farm, managed in the four-field course. Chalk is not used
in this part of the county, as the distance is considered too great
to fetch it. Turnips are frequently destroyed in winter by rapid
changes from frost to thaw; and it is somewhat singular that the
warmest parts of the county suffer more from this than the more
exposed—the northern side of the Wantage hills, for instance,
where the frost is more intense, but, by its aspect, protected
from the sudden alternations produced by the rays of the sun,
suffering less than the southern and warmer slopes of the same
range. Excellent Southdown sheep and Berkshire pigs are bred
in this part of the county.
114 CORN DISTRICT NEAR WANTAGE. [Berxs.

Eastward from Wantage is a tract of very fertile corn and
bean land, not too strong for swedes and other green crops.
Corn and leguminous crops here follow each other in succession ;
very little stock is kept, the farmer’s sole dependence having
hitherto been on corn. The country is open, there are no fences
along the public roads, and none dividing the different kinds of
crop. Rent in some cases reaches 40s. an acre, while the tithe,
which is greatly complained of, is as high as 12s. and 15s. an
acre, and the poor and other rates about 5s. per pound more.
The land seemed to be cleanly, but not richly farmed. The
farmers are busy sowing peas; a variety called the blue pea, said
to be excellent for boiling, being sown at the rate of four
bushels an acre. They are put in by a one-horse drill, in rows
about a foot apart, the machine (which has been long in use in
the county) acting like a light plough with a seed-box fixed to
it, the seed falling into the rut just as it is made, and being
covered by the crumbling mould which falls in of itself upon it.
The depression in the price of corn tells very severely in a high-
rented district like this, which is altogether dependent on corn.

Southwards of this tract, we get on the chalk downs round
Ilsley, which are of superior quality. Labourers’ wages were
here lowered last week from 8s. to 7s. Cottage rents are 1s.
to 1s. 3d. a week.

The land is cultivated on the four-course system, with some
variations peculiar to this place, barley being taken after clover
lea, and wheat following turnips and rape, which are eaten off
early. About a tenth part of the land is kept under sainfoin, in
which it remains for four years, being each year cut for hay, of
which it gives an excellent crop. A farmer having 40 acres of
sainfoin, sows out 10 acres and breaks up 10 acres annually.
This goes regularly over the whole farm, the sainfoin not re-
turning on the same field for considerable intervals, and when
its turn comes round the field receives a rest of four years from
the routine of cultivation. It is then ploughed up in spring and
sown with oats on one furrow, the crop of which is generally
Berks. ] INCONVENIENCE OF “COMMON FIELD.” 115

excellent, as much as 80 bushels an acre not being uncommon.
The average yield of wheat on the better class of down land
here is 30 bushels, and of barley 40 to 48 bushels an acre. On
a farm of 380 acres a stock of 300 ewes is kept, and their
produce fattened off, the farm maintaining about 700 sheep
during the year. This is very much greater than we found
common on the down lands of Dorset or Wilts. But here all
the beans and peas, and part of the barley, grown on the farm
are “spent” in feeding the stock. Artificial manure is not used
to a great extent. ‘The rent, tithe, and rates are about 30s. an
acre.

In one parish here the land is “ common field,” one farmer’s
fields being intermixed with those of another, and thus producing
great inconvenience and expense in management. One conse-
quence to which this leads is, that a man who farms much
better than his neighbour, expending more capital and getting
his land into higher condition, reasonably objects to what would
otherwise be a most desirable improvement, an enclosure and
new distribution of the land, as he must suffer in being com-
pelled to take what is out of condition in lieu of that which he
has at so much cost put into condition. The rector of the parish,
in the case referred to, has between 50 and 60 acres of land,
which he cultivates on his own account, scattered in 50 different
places among the fields of his parishioners, through any of which
he has of course right of access !

Farms in Berkshire are generally held from year to year.
The farm buildings are old and insufficient, though there are,
of course, many exceptions. Some farmers have abundance
of capital; but it is too common here, as in other parts of the
country, for farmers to take farms too large for the means at
their disposal. Compensation for unexhausted improvements, it
was urged, would tend to prevent this, by the greater capital in
hand which an entering tenant would then be obliged to be
possessed of. And the fact that the landlord would be liable,

in the first instance, for this claim, would, it was thought,
12
116 IMPROVEMENTS IN PROGRESS. (Berks.

prevent him giving a tenant notice to quit, except on grave
necessity. The want of such right is felt as a great bar to the
free investment of tenant’s capital, and the full cultivation of
the soil. The arbitrary exaction of the income-tax is another
grievance much dwelt upon. Corn rents are advocated by some.
Two years’ notice, with compensation for unexhausted improve-
ments, are regarded by others as a better tenure than a lease.
The malt-tax was not much complained of. There can be no
doubt that in many parts of this county farmers are diminishing
their expenditure, and that the small country tradesmen are now
suffering on that account.

Labourers on the whole are considered to be better off than
before. The rate of wages in Berkshire contrasted favourably
with some other counties we have lately been in, while the rent
of cottages is moderate. In many parts of the county the exe-
cution of drainage and other permanent improvements afford
employment. On the estate of Mr. Walter, of Bearwood, which
we visited, an extensive system of drainage was going on, and
very substantial farm-buildings were being erected. In the
erection of farm-buildings we may remark that it is important
they should not be executed on a scale more expensive than is
requisite for the purpose in view, as in that case the interest of
the outlay becomes a permanent dead weight which can never be
remunerative. And we think it also injudicious to erect costly
buildings (as we have seen instances in this county) for the use
of farmers who are unable, from want of capital or want of
skill, to turn them to a profitable account.
117

LETTER XV.

SURREY.

DESCRIPTION OF COUNTY — BACKWARD STATE OF AGRICULTURE — TENURE —
“cusTOM” OF THE COUNTY—SAID TO PROMOTE FRAUD AMONG THE
FARMERS— NUMEROUS BODY OF LAND-VALUERS UNFAVOURABLE TO MUTUAL
CONFIDENCE BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT—STATE OF AGRICULTURE
NEAR GUILDFORD — VALLEY OF THE WEY — ALBURY — PREJUDICES OF
FARMERS NEAR REIGATE — EXCELLENT MANAGEMENT OF A BUTTER-DAIRY
— WEALD FARMING, MEAGRE RESULTS — PRIMITIVE BARN IMPLEMENT —
— SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT — EXTENT AND RENT OF FARMS —
WANT OF INTELLIGENCE AMONG FARMERS— WAGES —INFLUENCE OF RAIL-
WAYS IN LESSENING PRESSURE OF RATES—EFFECT OF TENANT RIGHT
IN DEPRESSING RENTS.

Reicatr, March, 1850.

SuRREY, described by Cobbett as on the “sunny side of
London,” is one of the warmest and driest counties in England.
With many varieties of soil, and immediate contiguity to London,
and with every facility which railway or road can offer, the
farmers of this county possess advantages of no common kind.
Excepting the Weald, the face of the county presents a pleasing
variety of surface. In the vales, the deep lanes and lofty
hedgerow trees remind one of Devonshire; the bare uplands of
the chalk hills recall the open downs of Dorset; while the rich
woodlands match those of Berks or Hampshire. From Guildford
to Dorking we pass along a picturesque road, hills rising on
either hand wooded along their summits, and with frequent
hedgerows dividing their sunny slopes; large sombre yew trees
in great numbers interspersed through the fields giving a peculiar
aspect to the scene.

The soils include clay, loam, chalk and heath. The Weald
of Surrey, occupying the whole of the flat district on the southern

boundary of the county, and forming part of the extensive
13
118 BACKWARD STATE OF AGRICULTURE. (Surgery.

Wealden tract which stretches over the adjoining counties of
Sussex and Kent, is a cold retentive clay on a clay subsoil. To
the north of this is a district of sandy loam, on the green-sand
formation, with blowing sands. on the hill tops. The chalk hills
stretch from east to west through the centre of the county, with
a breadth of some miles on the Kentish side, gradually dimi-
nishing towards Hampshire. Approaching the Thames the soil
is sandy, with loam and clay intermixed. The north-western
corner to Bagshot is a moorish soil, with a considerable extent
of barren heath.

Near the points of junction of these different tracts, the soil
varies so considerably that, on the same farm and in contiguous
fields, the systems of management are very different. In the
immediate neighbourhood of Guildford there are clay, chalk,
moor, and sandy soils, some very superior and some very in-
different in quality. However various the soil, its cultivation
exhibits too great uniformity in one respect —the absence of en-
terprise. Throughout the county, neglect and mismanagement
are apparent; and the general features of its agriculture betray
a low scale of intelligence and a small amount of capital and
industry. The denizen of the metropolis, if in quest of rural
scenery untouched by the hand of modern improvement, need
not journey for it to the remote parts of the kingdom. An hour
and a half’s ride from London will set him down at the Gompsal
station of the Reigate and Guildford Railway, where a short
half-hour’s walk will exhibit to him a state of rural management
as completely neglected as he is likely to meet with in the re-
motest parts of theisland. He will there see undrained marshes,
ill-kept roads, untrimmed hedges, rickety farm buildings, shabby-
looking cows of various breeds, dirty cottages— nothing indeed
exhibiting care or attention, except covered drains from the
farmyards, which ostentatiously discharge the richest part of
the manure into the open ditches by the wayside.

The relations subsisting between landlord and tenant will be
found to explain, in some degree, the backward state of agri~
Surrey.] TENDENCY OF “ CUSTOM” TO PRODUCE FRAUD. 119

culture in Surrey, Farms are principally held on yearly tenures,
though leases of 7 to 14 years’ duration are not uncommon.
The landlords are not the parties who object to leases, but the
tenants, from the “custom” of the county presently to be
described, have a practical security of possession not inferior to
a lease. This custom is somewhat of the nature of “com
pensation for unexhausted improvements,” with this difference,
that it embraces also large payments for imaginary improvements
and alleged operations, which, even if they had ever been per-
formed, would be more injurious than beneficial. Under this
custom the outgoing tenant receives from his successor the
amount of a valuation, which includes “ dressings and half
dressings of dung and lime, and sheep foldings, the expense
of ploughings and fallows, including the rent and taxes of the
fallows, half fallows and lays, the value of ‘seeds,’ the under-
woods down to the stem, hay and straw at a feeding price,” and
other items greater or less in proportion to the expertness of the
out-going tenant’s appraiser. This practice is described before
the Parliamentary Committee of 1848 by Mr. Robert Clutton, an
experienced land agent in Surrey, as “ promoting an extensive
system of fraud and falsehood among the farmers.” He says
“Where manure has been put on at a distance of time, it is ex-
ceedingly difficult to check the quantity or quality of the dressings ;
and we find that very false returns are made of it, both in respect to
quantity and quality. Outgoing tenants ‘work up to a quitting,’ —that
is, they work out the farm, and put in inferior manure, in order to
receive payment for it as if it were of good quality. Having been so
imposed upon in starting, they feel justified in playing the same
tricks upon quitting. ‘There is not much difficulty in ascertaining
the value of the manure while it is in the yard, but there is a great
deal of difficulty in ascertaining its value after it has been carried out
and mixed with the soil. Even when no crop has been taken this is
the case; and the difficulty is increased, of course, with half-dressings.
A disposition has arisen among the tenantry to lessen their payments
in this respect by getting their landlord to buy up their dressings and
half-dressings. I have found that appraisers are appointed by farmers

to go over their farms and tell them how to make a high valuation,
14
120 VALUERS AND APPRAISERS TOO NUMEROUS. ([Surrey.

and this has been found practically to limit the choice of tenants and
to lock up their capital. The tendency in Surrey has been to lower
the rent of farms, as compared with other parts of England, and to
have the same money paid for bad as for good farming.”

These objections, it will be observed, apply more to the
manner in which the custom is exercised, than to the justice of
the principle of compensation for unexhausted improvements.
The information we received confirms this evidence, and the
demoralising influence of such a practice on the conduct of the
farmers, in their relations with their landlords and each other, is
just what might be naturally expected. In every little town in
the county, the brass plates on the doors which are brightest and
most numerous, are those of the land-valuers and appraisers; the
rapid increase of which class is deprecated by the most intelli-
gent farmers as equally injurious to the owner and occupier.
With a business which can thrive only by promoting constant
changes from farm to farm, which encourages an involvement of
claims, having a tendency from their embarrassing character to
destroy confidence between landlord and tenant, preying upon
the capital of the entering farmer, and rendering it necessary
for the landlord in self-defence to commit his interests to their
charge, they interpose injuriously between the landlord and his
tenants, and close the door against that individual responsibility
and personal communication which a proprietor can never
neglect without injury to his estate.

The neighbourhood of Guildford supplies various examples
of husbandry. ‘The clay lands on the hill-sides, in many cases,
still undergo the process of naked fallow, tile drainage not yet
having been so extensively adopted as its importance on such
soils rénders necessary. On the chalk lands the usual husbandry
described in other counties is here adopted; but, as the farms
seldom exceed 500 acres, and generally run from 200 to 300,
more care and minute attention to details secure better returns.
Oilcake is used for feeding the stock to some extent, and ar-
tificial manures for increasing the green crops; so that the
Surrey. ] VALLEY OF THE WEY—ALBURY. 121

returns of wheat may be reckoned on the average at nearly 28
bushels, and of barley 40 bushels, while the average of sheep
stock is 1} per acre.

On the sides of the valley sloping to the Wey, the operations
of the farmer are much impeded by small enclosures and hedge-
row timber, though on all sides indications are here afforded
that landlords are now giving way on this point. Generally
speaking, these sloping fields are greatly injured by water, and
there did not appear to be much drainage going on. The style
of agriculture is, therefore, very defective, when the quality of
the soil and the conveniences of the situation are taken into
account. Along the Wey the land is a deep sandy loam, much
of it in pasture, but much also under tillage. The foul appear-
ance of many of the winter fallows, the paltry green crops, and
the old-fashioned plans of ploughing so generally adhered to,
indicate a very backward state of husbandry ; while the neglected
state of the farm-roads and farm-buildings is in perfect keeping
with the implements and the stock. Draining, generally too
shallow, is here followed to some extent on most farms; but
very seldom does there seem to be proper accommodation pro-
vided for the milch cows or their produce.

At Albury we turned into the farmyard of Mr. Drummond,
M. P., of whose agricultural improvements we had heard at
Guildford. The buildings are constructed somewhat on Mr.
Huxtable’s plan, all the animals being stall-fed and placed upon
boards. Covered houses for dung, and tanks for storing the
liquid, are provided. The houses were in good order, and the
animals seemed to be very healthy and thriving, but we should
fear that in the heat of summer the houses, which present an
enormous surface of dull black roofing, would be unwholesomely
warm. We would venture to suggest to Mr. Drummond that
he should try the effects of a thin lining of thatch straw (which
Mr. Huxtable finds the best equalizer of temperature), or evena
good outside coating of whitewash, which would reflect, instead
of absorbing,-the pierciug rays of the Surrey sun. The soil here
122 PREJUDICES OF HABIT—-BUTTER DAIRY. [Suraey,

is a light sand, wearing probably its best aspect at this season,
as it must be very subject to injury by drought in summer.

In the neighbourhood of Reigate, along the valley, the land
is of a friable texture, fairly cultivated in some instances, but
not, in any one that came under our observation, with that
energy and skill which are to be met with in districts of the
country which have very few of the advantages enjoyed by
this. Four and five horses are frequently used in a plough.
The plough itself is of very antiquated construction. As illus-
trating the prejudices of some of the farmers, we were told of
an instance in which a farmer coming here from a “two-horse
country,” introduced the two-horse plough, continued to use it
for 30 years, turning over on an average an acre a day; and
yet his neighbours on both sides of him, at the end of that long
probation, still insist that it is impossible to plough land with
only two horses! The course of husbandry followed, where any
is adhered to, is the four field; but we were assured on very
competent authority — that of an intelligent farmer long resident
in the district—that the ordinary farmers have no plan, but
usually decide as to the next crop of a particular field according
to the opinion of one or two neighbours, at their weekly con-
sultations in the alehouse on market-days! The stock kept on
the different farms varies with the character of each, some
rearing early lambs for the London market, some keeping also
a few cattle, and some dairying.

On one farm we found a butter dairy of 40 cows, from which
the farmer derived a larger and less fluctuating return than
from any other branch of his business. In this case, however,
the cows are not suffered to stand exposed among filth and wet
in an open yard, as is usual in this county, the farmer having,
in default of his landlord making the fair and necessary outlay,
built substantial cow-houses at his own cost. In these the cows
are fed in stalls, each animal receiving, besides hay, three fourths
of a bushel of brewers’ grains and a supply of mangold daily;
and it may be instructive to the dairy farmers of the south-
Surrey.] WEALD FARMING — MEAGRE RESULTS. 123

western counties, who despair of producing a marketable article
with such feeding, to know that the butter produced on this
farm is supplied by contract to one of the first hotels in Brighton
and to another in London, the tastes of the frequenters of
which are likely to be sufficiently fastidious. The contract
price is 1s. 4d. per pound in winter, and ls. 2d. in summer.
That portion of the Weald which we have examined in Surrey
is for the most part a stiff wet clay, becoming at intervals more
loamy and friable, and rising in some instances to good stock and
green crop farms. Being naturally very difficult to manage pro-
fitably, it has for a series of years been gradually deteriorating
under the present management, and while it yields scarcely a
subsistence to the cultivator, it affords a scanty rent to the owner
and a niggard supply of work to the labourer. The system of
cultivation is begun by a bare summer fallow, the ground being
as carefully managed as its undrained state admits, and then
dunged with such manure as the farm produces, and limed, if the
farmer can afford the expense. The wheat is then sown, the
field being ploughed in “lands,” so as to admit the horses in
drawing the harrows to pass up the open furrows without tramp-
ling the rest of the land. The crop reaped after this preparation
varies from 12 to 20 bushels an acre. Four or five crops then
follow, according to the taste of the cultivator, whose study
is how to get from the soil, at the least expense, the different
qualities it may have imbibed or accumulated during the year
of bare fallow. When it is clearly ascertained that these are
thoroughly exhausted, the land is again bare fallowed. Scarcely
any stock worth mentioning is kept on these farms. The im-
plements used are of the rudest kind; the barn implements in an
especial degree, the use of the common barn winnowing machine
being frequently unknown. Its place is supplied by sacks nailed
to four horizontal spars, which are fixed ona pivot at both ends,
and when turned briskly round get up a breeze of wind, in which
the corn is riddled by hand, and the chaff blown away !—Under
such a system it is quite impossible that this land can long
124 SUGGESTIONS-——WANT OF INTELLIGENCE. [Surrey.

continue in cultivation. The first improvement necessary is
thorough drainage, and after that is accomplished we should ex-
pect much assistance in the further development of its resources
by the facilities of communication afforded by the several lines of
railway which traverse it. We should anticipate great benefit
to the texture of the soil by heavy applications of chalk, which
might be brought along the line from the nearest chalk cuttings,
and if the railway companies would co-operate with the farmer,
it might be worth his while to bring down from London large
quantities of the cheapest manure, —coal ashes and street sweep-
ings, to be laid on in heavy doses, in the hope that by this ma-
nagement the soil might gradually be rendered friable, and
suitable for the production of green crops as well as corn. This
no doubt contemplates much outlay of capital; but when regard
is had to the impossibility of things going on as they are at pre-
sent, and to the advantages this tract enjoys in being little more
than an hour distant from London, we have no doubt the expe-
riment, in good hands, would prove successful. This soil, if dry,
and if its texture can be altered so as to admit of being kept clean
under constant tillage, possesses a strength and depth of staple
which could not be easily exhausted.

The farms are from 50 to 200 acres in extent, and are let
at from 5s. to 15s. an acre, of rent, to a class of men whose
families, though they may shift from farm to farm, have been
located in the district for many generations. In intelligence
and education, they are extremely deficient; many of them, as
we were told, being scarcely able to sign their own names.
The efforts of their landlords, some of whom are anxious to
promote drainage and other fundamental improvements, are
greatly frustrated by the prejudices of such a class of tenantry.
Not a few of them are now two years in arrear of rent, and all
are every day becoming less able to meet those increased outlays
by which alone larger crops can be produced, and diminished
prices compensated.

Labourers’ wages in Surrey are from 9s. to 10s. Taskwork
Surrey.} LOW RENT, EFFECT OF TENANT RIGHT. 125

is very common, and 12s. a-week is often earned. Cottage rents
are high, varying from Is. 6d. to 3s. and 3s. 6d. a-week, with
very little garden ground. The cottages on farms are some-
times held by the labourers direct from the landlord, in others,
they go with the farm. Beer is generally given in hay and
harvest-time, but there is no rule on the subject. Many farmers
are reverting to the custom of keeping the farm servants more in
the farmhouse, the low price of corn and meat rendering this the
cheapest plan they can now adopt. Besides the facilities which
they afford, the railways, by sharing the burden, have exercised a
very beneficial influence on the “rates” of the parishes through
which they pass. Poor-rates and highway-rates in some parishes
are, from this cause, extremely moderate.

The chief complaint among the farmers themselves, apart from
that of low prices, was the heavy burden of the tithe. The un-
fair character of some of the payments claimed by the out-going
tenant from his successor, which have already been referred to,
was also mentioned as a heavy tax on a farmer’s capital. One
fact arising from this “tenant right” in Surrey is that there is
less competition for farms and a more moderate scale of rent
than we have met with in other counties; but we are bound to
add that these advantages have not contributed to better culti-
vation, as we should have anticipated. Incapable of appreciat-
ing the advantages of their proximity to the best market in the
world, within a distance varying from 10 to 30 miles of London,
with railway accommodation if they choose, with a soil and
climate adapted for the production of the earliest vegetables of
every kind for the use of the table, the great body of the Surrey
farmers follow a system suited to farms 500 miles distant from
the metropolis, where it is necessary to convert every thing the
land produces into the least bulky form for cheap transit, so that
the produce of two acres of wheat may be condensed into a ton
weight, and the whole green crop of the farm be packed up and
borne to market, after being digested, in the living bodies of the
sheep stock.
126

LETTER XVI.

SUSSEX.

DESCRIPTION -—- WEALD FARMING — HOP CULTURE AND ITS RISKS —FARM-
ING ON THE DOWNS — OLD-FASHIONED CLUMSY IMPLEMENTS — INSTANCE
OF GREAT WASTE OF POWER— AVERAGE PRODUCE OF CORN — THE
SOUTH DOWN SHEEP — ARABLE AND DAIRY FARM NEAR BRIGHTON —
PROFITABLE ON ACCOUNT OF TWO THIRDS OF PRODUCE BEING FROM
STOCK — EXTENT OF FARMS— WAGES — COTTAGE RENTS—TENANT RIGHT
DISCOURAGES COMPETITION FOR FARMS, ENABLES A FARMER TO BOR-
ROW ON THE SECURITY OF HIS “ VALUATION” —LEADS TO TRICKERY
AND FRAUD.

Lewes, Sussex, March, 1850.

THE county of Sussex possesses soils of chalk, clay, sand, loam,
and gravel. From Beachy Head, on the English Channel,
the chalk hills, called the South Downs, stretch westward past
Brighton, touching Arundel, through the county to Hampshire,
the elevated parts with a south-western aspect being exposed
to the injurious influence of very boisterous winds. Along the
whole northern boundary of the chalk, a strip of green-sand
intervenes between it and the clays and sands of the Weald,
which comprise the largest portion of the county. An extensive
tract of marsh land extends along the coast towards its boundary
with Kent. In the western part along the coast, the climate is
mild; and as the roads throughout the county are good, and the
convenience of railway accommodation very general, the agricul-
tural management might be expected to be fully developed.
The husbandry of the Weald district is very similar to that
of Surrey, the farms being small, the land ill-drained, half
cultivated, and inadequately stocked; while the face of the
country is too much occupied by wood, and cut up by over-
grown hedgerows. The farmers as a class are unskilful and
Sussex.] UNCERTAIN RETURNS FROM HOP FARMING. 127

prejudiced in their methods of cultivation, and usually hold
their farms on yearly tenures.

In the eastern districts of the county between 10,000 and
12,000 acres are annually employed in the cultivation of hops
This plant requires the richest soil of the farm, and receives
nearly all the manure produced, robbing the corn and root crops
of the share which rightly belongs to them. The farmer’s at-
tention is concentrated on his hop garden, and the rest of his
farm receives very little of his regard, and hardly any of his
capital. The operation of the excise duties gives the business
a gambling character. A favourable season with a large yield
of hops is disastrous to the farmer, as the market value of
the article falls, while the duty swells in proportion to the
bulky character of the crop: when the crop is a short one the
farmer prospers, as the price of the hops rises, and the total
amount of duty declines. There is thus a constant succession
of chances, extraordinary profits being sometimes realised, which
tempt men to farther adventures, and withdraw them from that
steady persevering industry without which agriculture cannot
be profitably carried on. The uncertainty of prices and crops,
and the peculiar bearing of the duty, are such that very few of
the hop farmers are enriched by it; while many are ruined, and
still more kept on the verge of bankruptcy. It is very probable,
therefore, that if the cultivation of hops were to cease, it would
in the end be no loss to the Sussex farmer, as his richest land
would then be released for the growth of crops of a less hazardous
kind, and the rest of his farm receive its fair share of manure
and cultivation.

On the Sussex Downs the cultivation of the soil and the
management of stock differ in some points from what we have
hitherto met with in the chalk country. On the better lands
the four-field course is adopted, and this is extended to a five or
even a six field (being laid one to two years to “ rest”), where
the land becomes thinner and less valuable. Very old-fashioned
clumsy ploughs are used, made of wood, with a bit of flat wood
128 ANrIQUATED IMPLEMENTS — WASTE OF POWER. [Sussex-

for a mould-board, which is shifted from side to side at each
turning; the beam, a thick, strong, straight piece of wood, set
on to the head of the plough at an angle of 45 degrees, and borne
up in front in a very solid and substantial manner on a pair of
wheels from two and a-half to three feet in diameter. This
implement is drawn by three or four horses, or six bullocks.
Within a couple of miles of Brighton these ploughs may be
seen in use every day; and we saw in that neighbourhood a
working team, which, for waste of opportunity, of power, and
of time, could probably not be matched in any other county in
the united kingdom. At the end of a ploughed field were a lot
of bullocks, all crowded together, but which we presently
perceived were in the yoke, and being turned round. Slowly
the crowd separated, each team wheeling about; and steadily
advancing up the hill came 18 heavy bullocks, two and two
abreast (six oxen in each plough), drawing three ploughs fol-
lowing each other, one man guiding each plough, while another,
armed with a long pliable stick, like a fishing-rod, kept the team
under his charge at their duty. The furrow was of an ordinary
depth, and the land by no means very steep or heavy to cultivate.
On the next farm to this we found that a well-managed dairy
cow produced upwards of 20/. a-year, the milk being sold in
Brighton, one of the best markets in England; and here, with
the command of the same market, on precisely similar soil, was
the keep of six oxen lavishly expended on an operation which
could have been infinitely more cheaply executed by one man
and two good horses.

Oats are grown extensively, the soil being found better suited
for them than barley. The wheat chiefly cultivated is a brown
species, less in value by 6d. a bushel than white wheat, but a
third more prolific: 26 bushels an acre may be reckoned an
average produce.

Sheep flocks are the principal dependence of the Down farmer;
and on a farm of 1,000 acres, part sheep-walk and part arable,
800 ewes are considered a fair stock to be kept. They are all
Sussex.] SHEEP — DAIRY MANAGEMENT. 129

of the pure South Down breed, this being the county where
that celebrated stock originated. Breeding flocks are kept on
the downs, the lambs being sold every year, in August and
September, to be fed in richer parts of the country. For this
purpose many go to West Sussex, the price of lambs averaging
17s. each. Old ewes are sold for early lambing in warmer
districts; the price last year was 28s. A lamb reared for each
ewe is reckoned a good produce, and not often realised. The
wool yielded by each sheep averages 3lb. Folding is regularly
practised, much in the same way as in Dorset and Wilts, the
‘sheep being “ worked” harder in some seasons than in others.
We cannot reconcile this system of “ working” the sheep (such
is the phrase) with that economy of food and full development
of the substance of the sheep which, in other districts, is re-
garded as necessary to profitable returns. If manual labour
was scarce and dear, and the price of mutton extremely cheap,
there might be some wisdom in the plan.

In the immediate neighbourhood of Brighton we visited a
farm 450 acres in extent, comprising 300 acres arable, 50 meadow,
and 100 down. ‘This farm keeps a stock of 40 milch cows and
400 ewes. The arable is managed in the four-field course,
wheat and oats being grown alternately with green crops and
grass. Very little barley and no potatoes are grown on the
farm. The buildings contain comfortable stalls for the milch
cows, well ventilated, and provided with the necessary means of
economizing food and manure. The stock are kept in excellent
order, and yield great returns. The cows are house-fed during
the winter on carrots, mangold, swedes, and grain. They are
housed during the night in summer, and tethered (!) by the head
on the grass-land during the day, both to make them consume
the grass more regularly, and because there are no fences. This
is not without inconvenience, as may be easily supposed when
one thinks of 40 milch cows tethered within short distances of
each other, under a burning sun, without the shade of a tree,
and tormented by flies! On a farm where the other opera-

K
130 EXTENT OF FARMS NEAR BRIGHTON. (Sussex.

tions are conducted with so much prudence and skill we are at
a loss to account for such anomalous management. The sheep
are folded and “worked” in the usual manner. Two horses
are found sufficient for a plough; and their draught would pro-
bably be much lessened by the substitution of a light improved
wheel-plough for the cumbrous machine of the country, already
described. Much care and attention is paid to the economy and
accumulation of manure. It has been proved by measurement
on this farm, that, the litter included, each milch cow leaves a
cubic yard of dung a week in winter, and the half of that
quantity insummer. The liquid is carefully collected in a tank,
and pumped regularly over the heap to moisten and enrich it.

Great accuracy and attention are carried into the different
operations on this farm, all of which are checked by a system of
bookkeeping, which shows at once the loss or gain attending any
particular practice. For last year the books show a very hand-
some return to the tenant, after payment of rent, labour, and
all charges. We observed that two-thirds of the gross returns
were the produce of dairy stock, sheep, and green crops, the
remaining third arising from the sale of corn; and these pro-
portions tally very closely with other instances of profitable
farming which have fallen under our notice. The rent, rates,
and taxes of this farm amount to 6002., which, considering its
proximity to an excellent market, seems moderate enough. It
is situated at an elevation varying from 150 to 400 feet above
the sea, level.

The farms within a circle of some miles round Brighton are
extensive, ranging from 400 to 2,000 acres and upwards. [La-
bourers’ wages vary from 9s. to 12s. a week, and there is no
lack of employment. On some estates cottage rents are ls. a
week, but in villages, where cottages are run up cheaply by
speculators, 2s., 3s., and as much as 4s. is exacted.

The “custom” of the county with regard to the payments by
incoming to outgoing tenants, on the Weald, and generally in
East Sussex, is very much the same as that we described in our
SussEx.] TENANT RIGHT. 131

letter from Surrey. The “inventory ” consists of manures, and
half-manures, rent, taxes, ploughings, and harrowings on land
fallowed for wheat, the expense of any green crop left for the
incoming tenant, the growth of underwood in the hedges, the
value of old lays, &c. The “ manures” mean those from which no
crop has been raised; “ half-manures” are those from which one
crop has been produced. Lime is calculated in the same way.
Tt is almost impossible to value with accuracy the half-manures,
either as to the quantity applied or the quality, the only evi-
dence to be had being that of an interested party. Old lays
are such as have remained in grass over one year, and which
by custom the tenant might have ploughed and cropped with
wheat. A year’s rent of such lays is the usual allowance if the
land is in fair condition, or less, according to its condition. The
allowance for underwood is for the value of the growth
to the stem; and where the fences are very wide this is a
considerable item. In the hop districts underwood land, pro-
perly managed, yields large returns for hop-poles,—in many
cases larger than the land under cultivation. The incoming
tenant, in paying for the different articles of this “inven-
tory,” must, on an extensive farm, sink a large amount of
capital, probably, on an average, not much under 21. an acre,
and on hop farms considerably more. The effect of this has
been to limit the competition for farms, and to produce a mode-
rate rate of rental. It also enables the tenant, if necessary, to
borrow money, which is readily lent to him on the security of
his “ valuations;” and these, in fact, are very frequently mort-
gaged. But the system has serious drawbacks. It obliges an
incoming tenant to sink a large portion of his capital at the
commencement, and in that way cripples him of much that
would be required in carrying on the cultivation of his farm.
It encourages trickery and deceit, a man who has been taken
advantage of at his entry thinking himself quite justified in
retaliating on his successor. Indeed, some men are such adepts

at this that they find it profitable to change from farm to farm,
K 2
132 FRAUDS OF THE SYSTEM. [Sussex.

their profit arising from the difference they receive when they
go out above what they paid at their entering. The subject is
of such importance, that we quote two cases in illustration,
supplied by Lord Liverpool, in a letter published in the Sussex
Advertiser, on the 15th of January last : —

“ Some years ago,” writes his Lordship, “I had a farm on my hands,
in East Sussex, for one or two years. The quality of the land not
being very good, I had some difficulty in procuring a tenant. At
length one appeared, but as his purse was not very full, I allowed the
inventory to lie; that is, in other words, he did not pay it. He only
remained one year—namely, from Michaelmas to Michaelmas, used
the farm extremely ill, but contrived to swell his outgoing inventory
by every trick, in which he was an adept; and upon his leaving the
farm received a difference upon the inventory of above 1002. In
another case of a tenant leaving upon this estate, the valuers met long
after Michaelmas; the wheat seedings had taken place, and the manure
having been previously carried out, spread, and ploughed in, no trace
or record remained to guide the valuersas to the quantities of manure,
except what the outgoing tenant and his people chose to tell them.
The outgoing tenant was asked the quantities. He said he had put
100 loads of manure to the acre. This was such an astounding un-
truth, that the valuers looked aghast, but, as the outgoing tenant had
quarrelled with his waggoner, the latter showed the valuers a ‘ chalk’
account which had been made of cartloads taken out of the yard,
whereby the 100 loads an acre were reduced to 25.”

While the system leads, in some cases, to such roguery, we
cannot say that it appears to produce good farming, the cultiva-
tion of the Weald, where it exists in greatest force, being far
inferior to that of West Sussex, where the payments are con-
fined to acts of husbandry and the value of the hay and straw.
We draw no conclusion from this, however, at this stage of our
survey, against the principle of payment for unexhausted im-

provements though it shows the necessity for caution in dealing
with the subject.
133

LETTER XVII.

ESSEX.

VICINITY TO THE METROPOLIS HAS NOT HAD THE EFFECT OF MAKING ITs
AGRICULTURE PROSPEROUS—VARIETY OF SOILS —- CHIEFLY CLAY—LAND-
LORDS HEAVILY MORTGAGED, AND THEIR ESTATES CONSEQUENTLY INJU-
DICIOUSLY MANAGED — DRAINAGE BY MOLE PLOUGH— AND WITH STUBBLE
— FARM BUILDINGS INFERIOR AND VERY COMBUSTIBLE — TENURE—RENT
—DEPRECIATION OF AN ESTATE IN VALUE—-WAGES—COTTAGE RENTS —
“CUSTOM” — FARMING IN THE ROOTHINGS —~ BURNING OF SOIL WITH
STUBBLE — MR. HUTLEY’S FARM AT WITHAM— MANAGEMENT OF CROPS
AND STOCK—YARD FEEDING OF SHEEP — LARGE RETURNS FROM PIG
FEEDING — MR. MECHI'S FARM— MODE OF MANAGEMENT — PROXIMITY TO
THE METROPOLIS NOT TAKEN FULL ADVANTAGE OF BY FARMERS,

Coxcusster, April, 1850.

THE position of the county of Essex, almost touching London,
and constantly traversed by the best farmers of Suffolk and
Norfolk on their way to the metropolis, has exposed it to much
agricultural criticism. With every facility which railways,
roads, and navigable rivers can supply for the disposal of pro-
duce and fetching back manure, this county might be expected
to be eminently well cultivated, the landlords wealthy, the
farmers prosperous, and the labourers fully employed. ‘This is
far from being the case however, and there must be some
peculiar causes at work to produce results so different from
what might have been anticipated.

The soil is principally clay, varying from the coldest and most
stubborn quality, toa marly loam. There are also turnip soils
on the chalk, on the north-western side of the county, and on the
gravels which in different tracts are intermixed with the clays.
To the north-west of Chelmsford, is the district called the Rooth-
ings, which is a marly clay. On the banks of the Chelmer, the
Stour, and the Colne, are tracts of gravelly soil, chalky clay, sand,

K 3
134 EMBARRASSED LANDLORDS. [Esszx.

andloam. The Dengie Hundred on the east, is a specimen of the
heavy clays of Essex, that stubborn and unprofitable descriptior
of soil which, from the expensive nature of its cultivation, leave:
a smaller free return to the farmer than any other kind of land
in England,

In a county where this heavy soil predominates, it must be
evident that great exertions are necessary to render its cultiva-
tion profitable. The landlords of Essex generally, however, do
not co-operate with their tenants in carrying out permanent
improvements. With few exceptions, they have shown com-
plete indifference to agricultural enterprise, neither laying out
capital themselves, nor offering such security as would induce
their tenants to do so. They impose restrictive and ill-con-
sidered covenants even on their most intelligent tenants, and
preserve their hedgerow timber with the utmost rigour. The
“root ditches,” by which the farmer in some parts of the county
cuts off the connection between the hedgerows and his fields, to
prevent them from robbing his corn crops of their nutriment, are
not allowed to be made on certain estates. An explanation of
all this suicidal and unaccountable mismanagement, may be
found in the fact, that the landed property in the county is in-
cumbered with mortgage debts and other liabilities to the extent
of half its value, while the proprietors are nevertheless extremely
tenacious of the influence which their position gives them over
their tenants, and are afraid to entrust them with such security
of tenure as might diminish that influence. These mortgages
and embarrassments naturally throw the landlords into the
hands of solicitors, who, having themselves no practical know-
ledge of the subject, send down land valuers from London to fix
the amount of rent to be charged. But that intelligent super-
vision, which the personal knowledge of either the proprietor or
a duly qualified resident agent should give, is in such cases
wholly wanting; and a tenantry who are encouraged neither by
sympathy nor example, and who are positively obstructed in
their voluntary efforts for improvement, soon lose the spir% of
Essex. | DRAINAGE — BUILDING — TENURE. 135

enterprise by which alone the difficulties of clay-land cultivation
can be overcome.

In the heavy clay district tile drainage is not approved of.
The land is there laid into narrow stetches, with water furrows
to carry off the surface water. On soils adapted for it the
mole plough is used to a depth of 16 inches below the plough
furrow of 6 inches, thus making a drain 22 inches in depth,
with much advantage, at very moderate cost. On the lighter
clays, drains are made by the tenant 22 inches in depth and 32
feet apart, where he thinks the outlay will repay itself in a few
years. These drains are filled with “haulm” (stubble), and the
subsoil, being a stiff clay, forms an arch which remains open
after the haulm has decayed. This temporary mode of drainage
is resorted to because in very few instances does the landlord
contribute one farthing to the permanent improvement of his
land. Such drains are therefore made on the more friable clays,
as may be expected to last a short tenure; and on the heavy
clays, where nothing but a thorough and more expensive system
would produce any effect, the work is left undone altogether.

The farm buildings are usually of wood and thatch, old, and
in warm weather as dry as tinder; the yards are plentifully
littered with straw; the hay and oorn stacks close at hand; and
the whole pile has such a combustible appearance, that one
cannot wonder at frequent cases of incendiarism. Lord Petre
and some other proprietors have begun to erect more substantial
and commodious accommodation for their tenants; but the
common practice in the county is for the proprietor to give the
wood, very frequently grown at his tenant’s cost, and for the
farmer to erect the buildings and provide the thatch at his own
expense.

The holdings are generally from year to year, especially where
the farms are small and the tenants a less enlightened class.
Leases when granted are from 7 to 14 and sometimes 21 years.
The main improvement on the stiff clays of the south-eastern

part of the county is made by marling or chalking, the chalk being
x 4
136 RENT — WAGES. [Essex.

brought across the Thames from the Kentish coast, at an ex-
pense of 47. to 52. an acre. But this outlay cannot be safely -
incurred by a farmer holding on a yearly tenure, and if a lease
is denied to him the due cultivation of the land is frustrated.

‘The rent of land in the north-eastern part of the county
varies from 20s. to 30s. per acre; in the Roothings 15s. to 20s.,
poor rates being about 3s. 6d., and tithe from 5s. to 6s. an acre.
On the stiff clays the rent may be stated at from 10s. to 15s. an
acre. A farm of 400 acres of good strong land, with good
buildings, and residence, and within four miles of a railway
station, one hour from London, a good corn-land farm, was lately
let at 13s. an acre; the rent charge, poor rates, &c., also payable
by the tenant, being 6s. 6d.; altogether 19s. 6d. an acre. This
farm was bought a few years ago for 9,0002., and the purchaser
becoming embarrassed, it was again sold last year for 6,500/.

Labourers’ wages are 8s. a week, and in some cases beer
besides, which is valued at 1s. more. Cottages are scarce, and
the rent is in consequence run up to 31, 41, and even 51. a
year.

The only payments customary between incoming and out-
going tenants are for acts of husbandry, which include the value
of dung, the rent of naked fallows, and the cost of tillage for
turnip sowing and hoeing.

Though the county, as already described, consists of various
soils, the system of agriculture followed on the heavy and lighter
lands respectively is pretty uniform. Corn farming is the dis-
tinguishing feature of the district, and long fallows and diligent
hoeing keep the land very clean and free from weeds. The
four-course system is generally adopted. Barley is sometimes
sown after wheat, when the land is in a rich state, and excellent
crops are got by this management. To illustrate the mode of
cultivation we shall take a farm of 200 acres near the Roothings
—a clay marl district, some miles west of Chelmsford. The soil
is on a gentle slope, by no means strong clay, mixed with small
stones and chalk, the fields large and in this case not incumbered
Essex.] FARMING IN THE ROOTHINGS. 137

with wood or wide hedgerows. The farm buildings are abundantly
commodious for the stock at present kept by the farmer. They
are erected by the landlord and kept in repair by the tenant,
who farms on a lease of 14 years. Where the tenant thinks it
necessary, he drains the land at his own expense, making the
drains 22 inches deep and about 32 feet apart, and filling them
with haulm (stubble). They are made in the division that is to
be fallowed.
The fallow is ploughed and harrowed as often during the
summer as the farmer thinks it necessary, never less than five
_or six, and occasionally as often as eight times. A portion of it
is burnt annually, and that which is in the most foul condition
is chosen for this operation ; indeed it is found advantageous to
sow rye grass occasionally with the preceding crop, in order to
get plenty of roots and organic matter to assist in the combustion
of the clay. Early in May the land to be burnt is ploughed
very light, well dragged about, and then gathered into heaps, a
quantity of haulm having been previously placed in the centre.
This is set on fire, and the earth packed round it, care being
taken not to let the fire burn through without putting on more
earth, while too heavy a quantity at a time must also be guarded
against, as that would extinguish the fire. The fires are kept
burning slowly night and day till the whole is reduced to ashes.
These are spread over the ground at the rate of 100 or 120
yards an acre, and at a cost in labour of from 20s. to 25s. The
effects of the burning are that, after it, the land dries sooner,
can be worked and sown earlier in spring, and that both the
quantity and quality of crops are improved, especially so of
barley and clover. Experienced farmers say that the oftener it
is burnt the more the soil is improved, and in many cases the
process is repeated every sixth year. It is most necessary that
the land should be well under-drained before being burnt.
Four or five acres of the division in fallow are sown with
swedes and mangold wurzel well manured. Half of this
division is sown in autumn with wheat (six pecks an acre),
138 YIELD OF CROPS. (Essex.

the other half early in spring with barley (four bushels an
acre); the barley taking the place of the wheat in the next
rotation. The barley land is sown with 14 lb. of red clover to
the acre, the greater portion of which is fed off and a small por-
tion mown for hay. The wheat is followed by beans, the land
being dunged and the seed dibbled in. The beans are not
horse-hoed, but kept remarkably clean with the hand-hoe.
They are hand-hoed by men at a cost of 3s. an acre for each
hoeing, and that is repeated five times in a season if necessary,
but never less than three times. The clover and beans are both
followed by wheat.

In the 200 acres there are thus annually —45 acres in long
fallow, 5 acres in roots, 75 in wheat, 25 in barley, 25 in
clover, 25 in beans. The “haulm” already mentioned is the
stubble which is mown and stacked up in long heaps after
harvest. The stubble for this purpose is left about two feet
long, the farmer arguing that the less bulky he can make his
crop in harvest, when wages are high, the better. In this way
a much greater number of bushels of grain are carried home in
the waggon, stored in the rick yard, and finally much more
easily passed through the thrashing machine. When the busy
harvest period is over, the haulm or stubble is cut with the
scythe, and carried to the field where the operations of burning
and draining are to be effected next season.

Under this management the crops average 28 bushels
of wheat, 40 of barley, and 32 bushels of beans. The whole
stock kept on this 200-acre farm, is 80 sheep in summer, 5 or
6 cows, and 12 or 14 straw-yard cattle. Eight work horses
do the horse work; three in a plough in winter, two in summer.
The rent is 20s. an acre; tythe and rent charge, 6s.; poor rate,
&c., 4s.; or about 30s. an acre altogether. There is no hay or
straw sold, and about a ton of guano is annually bought.

On the farm of Mr. W. Hutley, of Witham, we found a much
more enriching system adopted. By heavy applications of pur-
chased manures, and the conversion of all his straw into excellent
Essex. ] MR. HUTLEY’S FARM. 139

dung —by using his roots in conjunction with cake and corn,
for feeding his cattle, he keeps his land ina high state of fertility.
He drains his lighter land, at his own cost, with 2-inch pipes,
laid 32 inches deep and 32 feet apart. He thinks, with many
others in this county, that heavy land receives no benefit from
tile drainage. His fences are kept very narrow, and the land
ploughed close to their roots. On land which is not. too
heavy for roots he thinks it advisable to have a long fallow,
perhaps once in eight years, on the principle “that soil which
is generous to him should be treated gratefully in return.” A
crop of tares preceding a fallow “draws” the land, in his
opinion, to the extent of 20 bushels of barley an acre; that is,
he would expect 56 bushels an acre without a crop of tares, and
only 36 bushels when a crop of tares had been previously taken.
He manures highly for his mangold wurzel, the yellow globe
variety, using 30 loads of dung, 4 cwt. rape dust, and 2 ewt.
guano, per acre. The result is a yield of 35 tons an acre over
his whole crop, and that he is now selling at 15s. per ton on the
spot, to be sent to London, which is equal to 262 5s. an acre.
The green crop thus appears to be much more remunerative
than the corn crop when it can be disposed of on such advan-
tageous terms. 40 bushels of wheat per acre, and 56 bushels of
barley, are reckoned equivalent crops when the soil is in equally
favourable condition. Wheat is sown broadcast, after clover
and beans, at the rate of six pecks an acre; barley is drilled in
after a long fallow in spring. Mr. Hutley’s system is to have
one fourth of his farm in wheat, one fourth in fallow and roots,
one fourth in barley, and one fourth in clover, trefoil, and beans.
By changing the latter every rotation red clover is repeated
only once in 12 years, and a plant seldom or never fails.

In the management of stock Mr. Hutley’s practice is to turn
his horses into a large open yard in front of the stable after they
have had their bait of corn, and here they remain out night
and day, when not.in the yoke, summer and winter. He is
never troubled with grease or other ailments among his horses. .
140 SHEEP AND PIG FEEDING. (Essex.

His sheep are fed partly in the field and partly in yards. The
couples are fed in the field on roots. 300 teggs are kept in two
adjoining yards, 150 in each — one provided with shelter sheds,
the other quite open. Both yards are well littered with straw,
and in these the sheep have been kept during the winter. They
receive roots, cut chaff, and 200]b. oil cake daily among the
300. They are now being sold out at an increased price,
between carcase and wool, of 18s. to 20s. for 30 weeks’ keep;
thus leaving the cost of the cake (about 9s. a head), a large
quantity of rich manure, and 4d. a week for the roots and
chaff.

The feeding of pigs is carried on to a great extent by
Mr. Hutley. He breeds none, but buys pigs at about 18s.,
and feeds them five weeks, when they are ready for the London
market. They are fed on meal of different kinds, and some-
times on boiled Indian corn. The money realised, including
prime cost, from the pig stock for one year has reached more
than 2,0002., and seldom falls below 1,200/. or 1,5002. As this
sum goes to pay for the corn consumed by the pigs, it shows
how much Mr. Hutley is every year adding to the fertility of
his farms. Oxen are fed on meal and chaff; few are kept, as
they are not, with this management, found to be a paying stock.
Mr. Hutley attributes his success in farming to a liberal appli-
cation of capital to the land, both by drainage, chalking, arti-
ficial manures, and, above all, by keeping a large stock and
employing sufficient labour. To do this he has been en-
couraged by a moderate rent and entire confidence in his land-
lord.

At Tiptree-hall we examined the well known and much
discussed farming operations of Mr. Mechi. The regularity
and luxuriant appearance of the wheat crop on the fields next
the public road led us to anticipate an instructive visit, and we
were not disappointed. It is of course quite unnecessary to
enter into any history of the farm, as Mr. Mechi himself has
already made that public. We shall, therefore, confine our-
Essex.] MR. MECHI’S FARM. 141

selves to a short description of some interesting matters of
detail. The farm is 170 acres in extent, principally a strong
soil, with a very impervious clay subsoil. It adjoins Tiptree-
heath, which is naturally very barren. By drainage, ample
manuring, and liberal expenditure, the whole farm is kept in
constant tillage, one-half of it every year under wheat, the
other half in clover, Italian rye grass, tares, and roots. The
wheat is drilled on steiches, about 7 feet wide; it is twice
horse-hoed. Beans, pease, and tares are also sown by the drill.
Red clover is sown on the same land once in eight years, and
never misses a plant, 12lb. seed being allowed to the acre.
The Italian rye grass, though thin on the ground, is the most
forward spring feed we have seen this season. Having walked
over every field on Mr. Mechi’s farm, we have no hesitation in
saying that for clean cultivation and healthy appearance of
wheat and other crops, it is equal to any, and superior to most,
farms we have met with in this county.

In the management and accommodation for stock Mr. Mechi
is yet experimenting. The stock regularly kept on the farm are
150 sheep, 200 pigs, young and old, 24 fatting bullocks and
cows. Besides roots, 10 sacks of meal are used daily in feeding
them. 700 to 1,000 quarters of corn are bought annually for
this purpose. All the animals are kept on boards to economise
the straw, and, with the exception of some of the pigs, they
looked clean and comfortable. Mr. Mechi considers it proved
that pork at 6d. a pound will pay for barley at 36s. a quarter,
and at 4d. a pound for barley at 24s., over and above the manure.
Two bullocks are placed in each box, 10 square feet of space
being allowed to each. The boards on which they stand are
3 inches broad, with 2-inch interstices. For calves 14-inch
interstices, and for sheep 14, are found best. One man feeds
200 pigs, mixing and carrying them food. They are fed thrice
aday. A 6-horse steam-engine is employed in thrashing the
crop, cutting chaff, grinding meal, bruising linseed, hoisting
sacks, &c. In short, no expenditure is spared by Mr. Mechi;
142 UNDEVELOPED - RESOURCES. [Essex.

and whether it has on the whole been profitable to himself or
not, there can be no doubt whatever that his example has in
many points been instructive to the agricultural community.

In concluding our observations on Essex, we may point to
the fact that hitherto the chief dependence of the farmer has
been on his corn crops, cattle being kept for manure, but not
generally as a source of profit. Considering the proximity of
this county to London, and the consumption of milk which
might ensue if the enormous population of the metropolis could
obtain a supply of good milk on moderate terms, we are of
opinion that farmers would find it very advantageous to turn
their attention to this source of profit. Intersected as the
county is by railways, there is nothing in the distance to
prevent daily supplies being sent to London, and milk is a
commodity in which we are not likely to have much foreign
competition. To obtain a supply of this on the clay farms, we
should expect a system of house-feeding on clover and tares in
summer, and on mangold wurzel, cabbage, &c. in winter, the
most economical, while it would also provide an advantageous
means of converting into fertilizing matter the “ haulm” which is
now looked upon almost as a nuisance by many Essex farmers.
143

LETTER XVIII.

ESSEX.— SUFFOLK.

MR. FISHER HOBB’S BREED OF ESSEX PIGS —- EXCELLENCE OF HIS OTHER STOCK
AND MANAGEMENT. SUFFOLK. -— ARTHUR YOUNG — HIS SUGGESTIONS
THOUGH MUCH SNEERED AT BY ‘‘ PRACTICAL” MEN OF HIS DAY HAVE
SINCE BEEN GENERALLY ADOPTED — SWEDES AND MANGOLD INTRODUCED
BY HIM— AGRICULTURE GREATLY INDEBTED TO HIM FOR ITS PROGRESS
— UNCONCERN OF LANDLORDS IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF THEIR ESTATES
— INJURIOUS PRESERVATION OF GAME — FARMERS WITH BORROWED
CAPITAL NOT EXPECTED TO KEEP THEIR POSITION — RELATIVE VALUE
OF WAGES AND FOOD— AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT MANUFACTORIES —
MESSRS. RANSOME’S — MESSRS. GARRETT’S — IMPLEMENTS SENT ABROAD.

 

SaxmunpHam, Surrorx, April.

From Colchester, in Essex, eastwards towards the sea, stretches
a tract of well farmed land. We may especially notice that held
by the Messrs. Ward, of Great Bentley, whose cleanly cultivated
fields and admirable stock of every description are sure to claim
the attention of the observant traveller.

From Colchester in the opposite direction, and nearly on the
borders of Suffolk, is Boxtead-lodge, the residence of Mr. Fisher
Hobbs, a distinguished stock breeder. His improved breed of
Essex pigs is well known at all the great agricultural shows.
They are perfectly black, rather small size, and of somewhat
delicate appearance, peculiar for early maturity and fineness of
flesh. They are superior to any other breed as “jointers” of
50lb. weight or so, for the London market, which weight they
make at about three months old. When kept to a greater age
they feed well, making, with good management, a score, or 20]b.,
weight a month; a ten months’ pig usually weighing 10 score.
The breed, being kept perfectly pure by Mr. Hobbs, is in much
demand for crossing. With the Berkshire it makes an excellent
cross, keeping its properties of early maturity with increased
size. All the perfect animals are retained by Mr. Hobbs for
144 ARTHUR YOUNG’S PROJECTS. (Essex.

breeders, They are sent to many parts of the United Kingdom
and abroad, and are so much in demand that 10 guineas each is
commonly realised. One litter of 12, which we saw, Mr. Hobbs
expects to sell before the end of the year for 1002 Besides
pigs, Mr. Hobbs keeps a very pure breed of Leicester sheep,
Hereford cattle, and Suffolk horses. His agricultural manage-
ment is also deserving of notice. Having lately succeeded to
the estate he now occupies, he is actively engaged in its im-
provement, levelling down unnecessary fences and abrupt emi-
nences, clearing the land of superfluous timber without sacrificing
its natural beauty, grubbing out useless underwood, forming ir-
rigated meadows, opening up better roads of access to the
different parts of his farms, and by a better style of cultivation
adding fertility to his fields, and affording constant employment
to his labourers. The residence of such men as Mr. Hobbs, Mr.
Mechi, Mr. Hutley, Mr. Baker, and the Messrs. Ward, in dif-
ferent parts of the county, must give a great stimulus to the
development of the agricultural resources of Essex.

Crossing the river Stour we enter the county of SUFFOLK,
passing through a fine undulating country to Ipswich. This
county possesses a peculiar interest to the agriculturist, as
having been for many years the residence of Arthur Young.
We had the good fortune to meet with Mr, Biddell, of Playford,
himself an extensive farmer, who was acquainted with Arthur
Young, and had frequently conversed with him on agricultural
subjects. His ideas are represented to have been much in ad-
vance of the period in which he lived, and, though they were
ridiculed by the great body of the “ practical” men of his day,
our informant has lived to see most of his recommendations
carried into practice, and considers the county indebted to him
for much of the progress that has been made in the cultivation
of its soil and the economical application of labour. Swedish
turnips were early introduced by him, but not generally culti-
vated for 20 years afterwards. When mangold wurzel was first
introduced by him into this county its value was so little under-
Surrouk. | APATHY OF THE LANDLORDS. 145

stood that for some years the leaves only were given to the stock,
and the roots thrown away as worthless. It was at length no-
ticed that the hogs seemed to eat with great relish the despised
roots cast out on the dunghill, and this led to the general cul-
tivation of a plant of inestimable value to the heavy lands of
this county, and now indispensable to their profitable occupation.
The accurate agricultural surveys of every county in the king-
dom, set on foot by Young, as secretary of the Board of Agri-
culture, gave a great stimulus to improved practice throughout
England by affording data for comparing the practices of dif-
ferent soils and districts, and in that improvement the county of
Suffolk largely participated.

The relations subsisting between landlord and tenant are
canvassed by the tenants of Suffolk with a degree of earnest-
ness which we have not met with in any other county. They
complain that, until within the last two or three years, their
landlords gave themselves very little concern about the wel-
fare of the tenants, or the management of their estates;
that expenditure on drainage or farm buildings was hardly
ever made by the proprietor; and that their intercourse with
the tenants, and the supervision of their estates, was in many
cases carried on through the medium of solicitors and others
not practically acquainted with the management of landed
property. There has been no leading man in the county, for a
long series of years, to infuse into it a spirit of agricultural
improvement, as the Earl of Leicester did for Norfolk, or the
Yarborough family for Lincoln. The repeal of the corn laws
and the fall in prices have at last compelled attention to a
business which has been far too long neglected, and the landlords
of Suffolk now begin to appreciate their true position. The
larger proprietors in general are believed to be sufficiently un-
incumbered to undertake their share of the permanent improve-
ments which must be made; and some of the smaller landlords,
whose necessities have obliged them to provide for their families
by such heavy incumbrances as to render them unable to make

L
146 FARMERS WITH BORROWED CAPITAL. [Surroix.

the requisite outlay, will be obliged to part with the estates which
they can no longer hold with advantage. Though farms are not
let by tender, the farmers complain that their landlords take ad-
vantage of every kind of competition, to increase the rent beyond
the valuation which may have been made by competent parties
for the owners’ private information. The injurious operation of
the present law of distress is also complained of, and likewise the
unnecessarily restrictive clauses as to the course of cropping
generally introduced into the leases. “

The preservation of game on some estates is carried to an
enormously injurious extent. In one parish the tenants have
subscribed among themselves 302, 40/., and 50/. each, making
altogether a rent of 2002 a-year, to take the game from the
landlord on lease, and thus keep it within bounds. Nor is the
mischief confined to the actual depredations of game; for
hedgerows are preserved to harbour it, and constant heartburn-
ings between landlord and tenant are the result. The abundance
of game entices the labourer to become a poacher when employ-
ment is slack, and so leads to the demoralization of the lower
classes.

Under circumstances hitherto so discouraging, the position of
the Suffolk farmer has been gradually reduced; and in the
opinion of persons well qualified from local knowledge to judge,
it is thought that a continuance of low prices will bring ruin on
those who have been farming with borrowed capital. And
there are many such; for it has been common for a young man
beginning business to increase the capital at his command by
borrowing from relatives, or from a neighbour of substance who
has confidence in the ability and integrity of the party to whom
he lends. Though few failures have yet taken place, it must
not be concluded that the farmer’s complaints are louder than
necessity warrants. A farmer may manage, by curtailing his
expenses, diminishing his stock, and living very frugally, to
stave off actual failure for a considerable period; but when he
goes at last, his ruin is complete. Unlike a tradesman, he has
Surroix. ] RELATIVE VALUE OF WAGES. 147

no wholesale manufacturer to set him up on credit a second
time. The landlord’s preferential claim secures the safety of the
rent, and the whole loss falls on the friends and relatives, who
have no inducement to run the same risk again. To such
parties it is of course unnecessary to talk of better farming and
larger produce, as a compensation for reduced prices; and we can
only regret that they were ever tempted to enter on a business
for which they had not adequate capital.

With regard to the wages of labourers, they have in many
instances been reduced 1s. to 2s. a-week;—7s. and 8s. a-
week are now the average wages of the county, and cottage
rents being high—from 3/. to 5i. per annum—the balance left
to the labourer is sufficiently small. Yet the reduction in the
price of what he has to buy is nearly equivalent to the fall in
wages. We were informed by a labourer, that for himself and
his wife, without children, the following articles of weekly con-
sumption cost respectively at present, and formerly when wages
were higher and corn dearer, these several sums : —

Ss. d. s. d.
1 stone of flour - - - 110 - - 2 6
db. of butter = - - - 06 - - 0 8
llb. of cheese + - - 0 7 - - 0 103
ldoz. of tea. - - - O 44 - - 0 6
4lb. of sugar - - - O@2 - - O 23

38 6 -° = 4 9
Rent of cottage - - - 20 - - 20

5 6 - - 6 9
Weekly wages - - - 8 0 - - 10 0
Balance for sundries - - 26 - - 8 8

If cottage rents had fallen in the same proportion as the other
items, the present rate of wages would be fully equivalent to the
former; but that has not been the case. And it is but fair to the
farmers to say that, though they are quite conscious in many

cases that well-paid labour is the cheapest, and that it would be
L2
148 IMPLEMENT MANUFACTORIES. [Surrorn.

‘better for them to have fewer labourers, and those better fed,
they are precluded from adopting this course by the necessity
imposed on them of maintaining, either in the workhouse or out
of it, all the able-bodied labourers of the parish. In most cases,
as the land is at present managed, the supply of labour is redun-
dant. During harvest and at task work considerably higher
wages are earned.

Before entering on a description of the agriculture of Suffolk,
‘which we reserve for our next letter, we think it may be
interesting to give a brief description of that which forms so
‘prominent a feature in Suffolk —the manufacture of agricultural
implements. The names of Ransome, Garrett, and Smith of
Peasenhall, are familiar to agriculturists throughout the kingdom ;
and the general adoption of their improved implements has
given a character of neatness to the cultivation of the land,
which it may be feared has in many cases been accepted as
a substitute instead of a help to that enriching system of farming
which is required by the lighter and more hungry soils of this
country. Messrs. Ransome and May, of Ipswich, who unite
implement-making with mechanical. engineering, possess an esta~
blishment there which is one of the most extensive and well
arranged of the kind in the kingdom, covering 10 acres of
ground, and employing 800 to 1,000 men, nearly one-half of
whom are constantly engaged in the department of agricultural
implements. “The highest engineering skill and abundant
capital are applied to the perfecting and cheapening of our
simplest farming machines; and the degree of finish which is
given to every article, either in wood or iron, is equal to what
is usually found only in the most costly descriptions of iron and
wood work. It would be quite out of place to enter here into
any detailed description of the different processes carried on in
this extensive and most orderly establishment, but one or two
points may be adverted to. Upwards of 300 distinct varieties
‘of the plough are manufactured here, each of which is in greater
or less demand. Each pattern has its distinguishing mark, and
Surrotx.] MESSRS, RANSOME’S AND MESSRS. GARRETT’S. 149

all the different parts of the plough can, by reference to that
mark, be at any time supplied by the manufacturer. By the
simple process of case-hardening the ploughshare on the under
side, a sharp, thin edge is maintained by the wear of the upper
and softer part in its work. Scarifiers, harrows, thrashing
machines, clod crushers, horse rakes, iron rick stands, are a few
of the great variety of implements made by Messrs. Ransome
and May, who, besides, carry on an immense business in the
manufacture of railway chairs and trenails. The latter manu-
facture involves an amount of ingenuity in the process by which
it is prepared, little, if at all, inferior to the celebrated block
machinery at Portsmouth.

The works of Messrs. Garrett are situated at Leiston, near
Saxmundham, and give employment to between 300 and 400
men. This establishment is, in the strict sense of the word, an
agricultural implement manufactory, and from it have been
produced the description of drill and horse-hoe which are now
held in such great estimation. Portable steam engines and
thrashing machines are also manufactured largely by Messrs.
Garrett. They pay great attention to the quality of the work
turned out by them, and make it their study to adapt their
implements to the requirements of agriculture as it exists around
them. Guided by this principle, they have endeavoured to
render the machinery for farm purposes portable, instead of
being fixed and permanent. On large holdings their steam
engine and thrashing machine can be readily put into use at
any point which may be considered convenient; and, should the
farmer wish it, they can be rendered stationary. The difference
of price and efficiency between fixed and locomotive farm
machinery is certainly in favour of the former.

Both Messrs. Ransome and Messrs. Garrett are at present
extensively engaged in supplying orders for the other corn-
growing countries of Europe, and they state that the imple-
ments sent out by them are less for use than to serve as models

for the general introduction of similar implements. Had it not
Lu 3
150 IMPLEMENTS SENT ABROAD. (Surro.x.

been for this foreign demand, their trade would have been con-
siderably depressed, as it is at present not up to the average of
more prosperous times, even with that addition, and with the
fact which at both establishments we heard repeatedly stated,
that farmers are every day becoming more and more alive to
the facilities which mechanical science affords for economizing
labour. Messrs. Ransome are at present completing a very
perfect thrashing machine for a Polish nobleman, an annual.
grower of 10,000 quarters of wheat, who, when recently in this
country, assured those gentlemen that free trade with England
would be of no use to him unless we could afford to pay 40s. a
quarter for his wheat at Dantzic.
151

LETTER XIX.
SUFFOLK.

DESCRIPTION OF SOILS—SIZE OF FARMS, AND TENURE—INADEQUATE BUILD-
INGS— WANT OF PERMANENCY IN DRAINAGE — EXCELLENT MANAGEMENT
OF HEAVY LAND DETAILED— COURSE OF CROPS, AND THEIR MANAGEMENT
— STOCK MANAGEMENT VERY INFERIOR TO CROP—COST OF FOOD DOUBLE
THE VALUE OF THE MEAT — COMPARISON BETWEEN PURCHASED MANURE
AND FOOD — EXTENSIVE FARMS AND GOOD MANAGEMENT OF MR. CAPON
OF DENNINGTON — VIGOUR OF NEWLY BROKEN UP LAND — ABSURD COM-~
PULSORY CLAUSE IN LEASES OF LIGHT LANDS — MANAGEMENT TOO
SPARING — FIELD BARNS—MODE OF CONDUCTING HARVEST WORK— SOOT
A PROTECTION FROM GAME— LIGHT LAND FARMING ON THE DUKE OF
GRAFTON’S ESTATE.

Stow-Marget, April.

THERE are three distinct varieties of soil, which give to the agri-
culture of Suffolk its leading characteristics. Along the eastern
coast lies a narrow tract of sandy land mixed with shells and
other marine deposits, interspersed with salt marshes, in some
places so light as not to be worth 5s. an acre, and in others a useful
free soil fetching a rent of 28s. From this tract the coprolites
used in the manufacture of superphosphate of lime are chiefly
obtained. The central and south-western districts are occupied
by the prevailing soil of the county, a strong loam on a subsoil,
of clay marl, and, towards the course of the rivers, a rich friable
loam. On the north-west is a light sand on a substratum, at
greater or less depth, of chalk, which, in the time of Arthur
Young, was rabbit warren, or very worthless sheep-walk, but
has since been to a great extent brought into cultivation.

The lighter soils on the eastern and western side of the county
are held, in conjunction with portions of fen and moor land,

by large farmers, generally men of capital, who have leases of
u4
152 INSUFFICIENT BUILDINGS. — BUSH DRAINAGE. [Surrork.

from 7 and 8 to 14 years. On the heavy lands the farms seldom
exceed 300 acres, and are sometimes not more than 100 or
50 acres in extent. They are held chiefly from year to year
by men of little capital, and who are suffering severely from the
pressure of the times. Farm buildings throughout Suffolk, being
erected by the tenant, principally at his own expense, are made
in a very unsubstantial manner, the side walls being of wood,
the roof thatched, and the whole requiring constant repair, and
being a fruitful source of inconvenience and waste. The cattle
sheds, the barns, and in fact all the premises, are deficient in
economical arrangement. Some of the more modern buildings
are constructed of clay dried in blocks, but not burnt, which is
found to make a very cheap and durable wall.

The chief characteristic of Suffolk agriculture is the success
with which heavy land farming is carried on. ‘The strong land
of the county, already referred to, is not a continuous tract, as it
is everywhere interspersed with fields of a more friable texture,
which are found very valuable when held along with a clay land
farm. The clay land forms not a flat, but a gently undulating
country, affording ready means for drainage. The soil contains
generally a considerable admixture of gritty sand and some
pebbles; while in the subsoil in many cases are found beds of
chalky marl, which, after exposure to the air, are applied with
much advantage to the surface. Drainage is of course the
primary improvement on this description of land, and it is effected
in the cheapest manner, as in scarcely any instance has the land-
lord hitherto contributed any portion of the outlay. Drains,
two feet deep and 15 feet apart, filled with bushes, are giving
place to drains three feet deep and 24 feet apart, still filled
with the same material. The cost of the operation in labourers’
wages is under 30s. an acre, and the benefits are expected to
last for a 14 years’ lease. At the beginning of a new lease the
land is gone over again, the direction of the drains being now
made to cross the old drains obliquely, and thus to bleed such
as still remain open. As a long fallow is regarded as a routine
SuFFoLK.] CLEAN MANAGEMENT OF HEAVY LAND. 153

operation twice or thrice in the course of a short lease, so is
draining looked upon as a matter of regular recurrence once
every 14 or 16 years. There can be little doubt that, if exe-
cuted in a careful manner with tiles, the work would be made
complete, and this constant draft on the tenant’s capital rendered
unnecessary. or main drains, pipes are generally used at
present ; and in all cases where it is found desirable that the
work should be permanent, pipes or tiles are used throughout,
and the drains cut from three to four feet in depth.

Next to under drainage, the great principle of the Suffolk
heavy land farmer is to keep his surface soil dry and clean.
For this purpose it is ploughed into “stetches” about 8 feet 2
inches in width, the furrows between each “stetch” acting in
heavy rains like gutters, and being used in every operation,
either in sowing the seed or after the seed is in the ground, as
a trackway for the horses, which are thus never permitted to
trample or injure the tender soil. The different implements
used are all constructed of a size to suit this width of “stetch.”
The drill covers the whole space, the horses walking in the two
furrows on either side of the “stetch;” the harrows are of the
same width and drawn in the same way. The roller is fre-
quently made in two halves to adapt itself to the curvature of
the “stetch,” and the shafts are placed so that the’ horses walk
in the furrows. The gateways in the different fields are eight
feet and a half in width, to suit the size of the implements.
These “ stetches” are found to answer well by giving a dry bed
for the plant during the winter, and especially by preventing
the injurious treading of horses on a soil so susceptible of injury.
The space occupied by the furrows, or trackway, is little more
than what is left betwixt each row of corn, and doubtless acts
beneficially in admitting air more freely through the crop.

The course prescribed on all the heavy lands is the four-field.
Beginning with the wheat crop, this is usually sown on one
furrow after clover or roots. The “stetches” are simply re-
versed, and after being harrowed, seed at the rate of five or six
154 EXCELLENT MANAGEMENT OF CROPS. [Surroxx.

pecks an acre is drilled in along the “stetches,” in rows of about
nine inches apart, and 10 rows on the stetch. The seed is sown
during the months of October and November. As early in
spring as the land is in suitable condition, the crop is either
horse or hand hoed, the expense of the latter being about 2s. 3d.
an acre. Nothing can exceed the delicacy and precision of
Garrett’s horse-hoe, which is looked upon by the farmers of
this county as an implement indispensable to clean cultivation.
After being hoed, the roller is usually passed over the wheat,
and in many instances both operations are repeated a second
time. Should any root weed still exist, the whole ground is
carefully gone over by children, and every weed picked off. By
this management scarcely anything is left in the ground except
the wheat. When the wheat is reaped, the ground is all gone
over by men with forks, and any patches of twitch carefully
taken out. Itis afterwards worked about with the scarifier and
harrows, the clods being gathered together and burnt.” The
land is then ploughed up in “ stetches” for the winter. Early
in spring, that portion on which roots are to be taken is ploughed
into ridges 32 inches in width, or three on each stetch, and
dung applied at the rate of 15 loads an acre. The ridge is then
split over the dung, and mangold wurzel seed drilled in on the
top of it. Some farmers prefer drilling it on the flat, and in
this case the dung is usually applied in the autumn, and the
seed drilled in spring, three or four rows on the stetch. In
either way the land works well, as the soil which has been
exposed to the ameliorating effects of winter is kept on the
surface, and no time is lost in preparing the land in spring.
For swedes the same system is followed. By the terms of
agreement a portion must be wrought in naked fallow, and that
receives during the summer the usual course of ploughings, is
laid up in stetches for the winter, and sown with barley the
following spring. The whole of this division, after roots and
fallow, should, in strict terms of lease, be sown with barley ; but
wheat is very frequently substituted after the root crops. Barley
SUFFOLK. ] UNREMUNERATIVE STOCK FARMING. 155

is drilled in on the stetch in spring, and the ground is then
sown with a peck of red clover seed per acre. In some cases
this is covered slightly by having the ground hand-raked, which
is done for about 7d. an acre. One half of this division is
usually sown with clover; the other, after the corn crop being
removed, is prepared for beans in the same manner as already
described for roots. Every crop is repeatedly horse and hand
hoed, and the soil kept remarkably clean. Thirty-two bushels
an acre of wheat, 44 of barley, 36 of beans, may be reckoned
average crops on the better description of heavy lands, where
the details just mentioned are carefully pursued.

The management of stock is not attended with anything like
the same success as the corn crops; and this department is felt
by the farmers as not only barren of profit itself, but also as
trenching heavily on the returns of the other. The land being
chiefly under the plough, the stock of cattle kept is usually
purchased in autumn, to be fed during the winter, and sold off in
spring. They are put into large yards supplied abundantly with
straw, and with 14 1b. to 18 Ib. a day of corn and cake each, and
one to two bushels of mangold wurzel. As few of the farmers
breed their own stock, they usually comprise many varieties —
Polled Galloway Scots, Shorthorns, Irish cattle, &c.; and as
the breeders of the best description of cattle in their native
districts are now, by the extension of green crops and facilities
of rapid communication, becoming the feeders also, it follows
that the worst specimens of each breed now find their way to
the feeding counties. The quality of the polled Scots now sent
to Norwich, the great market of the Eastern counties, is quite
inferior to what it used to be, and nothing pays worse than a
bad animal of this breed. Beginning with bad animals of their
several kinds, the Suffolk farmers grudge no expense in trying
to make them fat. Each bullock costs for its food not less than
40s. a month, and as the returns for the last two seasons have
not probably exceeded 20s. in the increased value of the animal,
there is an apparent loss of 6/. on each animal for the winter's
156 PURCHASED MANURE AND FOOD COMPARED. [Surrorx.

keep. The farmer looks to the manure to make good his loss;
but a little consideration will show that this is a most expensive
mode of making manure. On a farm of 350 acres we shall
suppose a stock of 40 cattle to be fed during six months of
winter. At present prices, and with the usual mode of feeding,
these lay a charge of 240/. on the manure. These 40 cattle make
about 1000 yards of manure; but at least one-fourth of this
must be deducted for the value and bulk of straw. We have
thus 750 yards of dung, costing 240/, or nearly 6s. 6d. a yard.
This applied at the rate of 15 yards to an acre will manure 50
acres of land. But if the same sum were expended on guano,
superphosphate, and rape cake, at the present prices of these
articles, 120 acres of land could be annually manured at the rate
of 2 cwt. per acre of each of these substances, or 6 cwt. altogether,
with the certainty, in our opinion, of a much heavier crop from
each acre than would be yielded by the application of 15 yards
of manure. By the adoption of this plan it would be unnecessary
to tread down the straw in yards merely for the purpose of
getting it converted into dung, as the greater amount of green
crops would admit of a double stock of cattle, and would afford to
these a supply of much less expensive food. This, however, leads
to a large question, which, as it involves a change in the stock-
farming altogether, we have not at present space to enter upon.

On the farms of Mr. Capon, of Dennington, who holds up-
wards of 5,000 acres of land, 2,000 of which are of the heavy land
already described, we found some variations in the management
adopted. On one farm, which is his own property, he is trying
whether he cannot on the heavy land grow crops every year,
without any naked fallows or root crops, which are at present
found so unremunerative. The course he follows here is to
have (1) a bean crop, followed by (2) wheat and (3) barley,
which is sown with (4) clover, and followed by (5) wheat and
(6) barley. Every crop is most carefully horse and hand hoed,
all being drilled, and the land is kept quite clean. The practice
has not been long enough followed to be accepted as proof of its
Surrotx.] FERTILITY OF OLD LAND WHEN BROKEN UP. 157

correctness ; but this much has been ascertained, that, by care-
fully horse and hand hoeing every crop, weeds are extirpated,
and the yield of each of the grain crops has been quite equal,
and of barley generally superior, to what is got under the regular
four-course. For the work of his different farms Mr. Capon
keeps a stock of about 120 horses. T'wo-horse ploughs are
universal on both light and heavy land, and the land is ploughed,
when necessary, with a deep strong furrow. The whole manage-
ment of this extensive holding is conducted with great neatness
and skill. The bill for oil-cake, &c., for feeding, sometimes ex-
ceeds 12002. in a year, and an equal sum is expended on artificial
manures.

Much of the heavy land has been broken up from pasture
within recent years. The native vigour of the soil in such cases
is very great, and it is usual to take several crops of wheat in
succession without any manure. The mode adopted in breaking
up the land at first. is to pare and burn it, at a cost of about 25s.
an acre. If this can be done early enough in the season a crop
of oats is taken. If too late for oats, the land is sown with rape
and fed off. Wheat is then taken in succession—four or five
times —and great crops are reaped. On the farm of Mr. Bond,
‘of Earl Soham (which is very neatly and well managed), the
second wheat crop yielded 40 bushels an acre, weighing 69 lb.
per bushel. On this farm, besides the usual careful management
of all the corn crops, the clovers are gone over by children early
in spring, and every weed picked out by hand.

In the cultivation of the lighter soils of the county, the usual
details of the four-course system are followed out with a pecu-
liarity in the preparation of fallows for green crops, which has
arisen from an absurd clause in the leases and the mode of pay-
ments between incoming and outgoing tenants. Farmers are
required to plough their winter fallows five times, no matter
how light the land may be, even though it should be a blowing
sand; and, where covenants are strictly enforced, this unneces-
sary expense must be incurred. But the hardship is peculiarly
158 ABSURD COMPULSORY CLAUSE IN LEASES. [Surrox.

great to an incoming tenant, who must pay his predecessor for
each of these operations, though they are in most cases rather
injurious than otherwise. The year’s rent and rates are likewise
charged, so that the entry to a large light soil farm is a very
expensive matter, the whole amounting to a charge of about 5/.
an acre on the fallow division. Now, if this were an absolutely
necessary expense, we should have less to say against it; but on
the farm of Mr. Bond at Wickham-Market, we found that his
light land is only ploughed once in preparation for roots; which
ploughing is delayed till spring. The land turns up finely
pulverised ; it is perfectly wrought, and produces crops which
contrast favourably with those of any farm managed according
to the usual prescription. We had an opportunity of ascertain-
ing the opinions on this point of several of the most intelligent
light land farmers in the county, and found them unanimous in
their condemnation of the compulsory five-furrow system.

Manure is used rather sparingly on the light land farms, and
very moderate green crops are grown. So little is the turnip
crop valued, that in many places it is sold for consumption by
sheep at 1/. to 27. an acre, and sometimes even less. On farms
where breeding stocks of sheep are kept, it is thought that
turnips which have been manured with guano or other forcing
manure are injurious to the ewes, and accordingly, to guard
against this danger, the turnip crop on such farms is sown
without any manure. It is not easy to understand the rationale
of this, but it may be, perhaps, owing to the more succulent
nature of the root and its stronger growth in spring, purging
poorly fed stock, and causing them to “ warp” their lambs. On
a farm managed on this plan, we found the tenant complaining
of meagre crops; but it is difficult to see how they could be
otherwise. A light sandy soil, turnips with no manure, eaten
off by a breeding flock of ewes, are not the most favourable
preparations for remunerative corn crops.

In the arrangement of farm buildings the occupier of a large
farm prefers having several barns and feeding sheds at different
SUFFOLK. ] SOOT A PROTECTION FROM GAME. 159

points of his farm to having them all placed in one centra
position near his own house, and more immediately under
his eye. He argues that a great saving of cartage ensues
from this practice, as the corn crops are stacked at a barn near
where they have been reaped, the roots are carried to a yard at
no great distance, and the manure from both is returned to the
land without heavy cartage. To suit this arrangement of
buildings, portable thrashing machines, whether of steam or
horse power, are preferred to fixed machines.

The mode of conducting harvest work is somewhat peculiar.
It is usually done by task work. All the labourers are joined
in the engagement, and the earnings divided among them.
7s. an acre for cutting and securing the crop of wheat,
barley, and beans, is paid by some farmers. This usually in-
cludes, also, the hoeing of the late turnip crop twice, which is
done in the mornings or in weather not suitable for corn
harvest. For this sum the people cut the crop, pitch it into
the carts, and build it in the rick yard. ‘The carters are paid
separately, and the thatching is done separately by task work.
At this rate of payment the labourers occasionally earn ll. a
week, but work hard for it.

Soot is used pretty extensively as manure, especially on
farms much overrun with game. It is believed to protect the
crop in a considerable degree, by rendering it distasteful to the
game. On asking a farmer the present price, he said it was
rather scarce this season in his neighbourhood, on account of a
large demand from his landlord, who requires it for application
to a farm overrun by game, which has been lately thrown on his
hands.

The farm carts seem very cumbrous and heavy, and might
with much advantage have some of the skill, which is so con-
spicuous in the drills and horse-hoes, applied to their con-
struction. Ploughs are generally of wood, with the wearing
parts of iron, and almost universally with only one handle, and
a cross pin by which to guide.

Near Euston Park, a few miles south of Thetford, we visited
160 LIGHT LAND MANAGEMENT. [Surroik.

an extensive light land farm on the Duke of Grafton’s estate,
which may be taken as an instance of management common to
both Suffolk and Norfolk. It is about 1700 acres in extent,
one half being under the plough, and the other half unbroken
heath and pasture. In many respects it resembles the Down
farms of the southern counties, saintfoin being grown regularly
as a hay crop, and the system of folding the sheep on the cul-
tivated land at night, and driving them a mile or two to the
pastures during the day, being steadily carried out. 800 acres
are managed on the four-course system. For turnips the
ground is dressed with artificial manures, the dung being
reserved for the wheat crop. 62 cwt. of rape dust, or 2 cwt. of
guano, or 16 bushels of bones, are reckoned equivalents, and
one or other of these substances is applied to the turnip crop.
Tt is sown in ridges 27 inches apart. The greater portion is
consumed on the ground by sheep, and part carried home to the
farm-yard. To secure the roots from frost, four rows from each
side are thrown into a central row, and covered with earth by
the plough. They are easily picked out when required. Two
classes of sheep stock are fed with turnips, —first, a lot of 500
fattening sheep, which receive cake and beans daily, besides
having their turnips cut and placed in boxes; and, second, the
breeding stock of the farm, 900 ewes in number, which are
folded on the turnips at night, and driven to the heath during
the day. When the turnips are consumed, the land is sown
with barley and seeds. A small portion is sown annually with
saintfoin at the rate of 33 bushels an acre. The seeds are
partly mown and partly folded over and fed. They are then
manured with a compost of dung and earth. The earth, which
is turf cut from the heath, full of vegetable mould, is carted on
to the seeds during the winter, when the teams are not other-
wise occupied, and laid in heaps conveniently placed for future
distribution. Dung is afterwards mixed with it in equal bulk,
and the compost is laid on the land as a manure for the wheat
at the rate of 20 loads an acre. The layers are thus dunged as
Surrotk. | FEEDING OF CATTLE AND HORSES. 161

far as the compost goes, and what remains is folded by the sheep,
fed on cake also.

The quantity of stock kept on this farm is 900 ewes con-
stantly, besides 500 fattening sheep in winter, and 40 bullocks in
the yards. The bullocks are fed loose in open courts with warm
sheds. They are each receiving daily, at present, 7lb. of cake,
three quarters of a peck of meal, one bushel of cut mangold-
wurzel, and saintfoin hay. The horses are worked eight hours
a-day in summer, in one yoking, leaving the stables at 6 o’clock
in the morning, and returning home about half-past 2. In
winter they start as soon as there is light and stop at half-past
2. When they return to the stable, one man.takes charge of
his team of six horses, cleaning and feeding them, which is
reckoned his sufficient occupation for the rest of the day; and,
as more than two horses are seldom used in a plough, the other
two men, now disengaged, are employed, after they have dined,
at any other work about the farm till 6 o’clock. Such is the
routine management of a well-conducted light land farm on the
borders of Suffolk and Norfolk.

On the Duke of Grafton’s estate the rent of labourers’ cot-
tages is charged very moderately, —1s. a week, down to 20s. a
year, being the rule in the villages which are the property of the
Duke. In others it rises to 3/7. or 42. a year. Labourers have
in many cases to go a long way to their work, on account of the
scarcity of cottages on the large farms. On the farm just men-
tioned there are two labourers regularly employed, who walk
every day from Thetford and back, 9 miles,—or 54 miles a week.
162

LETTER XX.

NORFOLK.

NATIVE BREEDS OF STOCK SUPERSEDED -— VARIETY OF SOILS AND APPEAR-
ANCE OF COUNTRY — MR. COKE’S IMPROVEMENTS — ENCOURAGED TENANTS
OF CAPITAL BY GIVING LEASES, AND GOOD RESIDENCES AND BUILDINGS —
ESTABLISHED ANNUAL MEETINGS AT HOLKHAM FOR DISCUSSING AND
EXAMINING AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS — IMMENSELY INCREASED PRO-
DUCTIVENESS THAT ENSUED— FARMING AT HOLKHAM PARK — BENEFIT
OF APPLYING NITRATE OF sODA AND SALT TO WHEAT — MR. HUDSON'S
FARM AT CASTLE ACRE — MANAGEMENT DETAILED — INCREASE OF STOCK
AND CORN — SAVING OF WASTE BY THE USE OF RAILWAYS IN TRANS-
PORTING FAT STOCK TO MARKET — FARMS OF MR. OVERMAN AT WEASEN-
HAM, AND AT BURNHAM SUTTON-— SPRING HOEING OF CORN CROPS
RECKONED INJURIOUS — FOUR-COURSE ROTATION EXPANDING, AND CROPS
INCREASING IN PRODUCTIVENESS—MR. BLYTH'S FARM — CHICORY CULTI-
VATION — EASTERN DIVISION — GREAT EXTENT OF MARSHES STILL TO BE
IMPROVED — MESSRS. HEATHS’ GRAZING FARMS — CONDITION OF LABOURERS
— ADVANTAGE OF ENLARGING SETTLEMENT PROVED.

Norwics, April, 1850.

THE high agricultural reputation of Norfolk does not arise
from the superior quality of its native breeds of stock, but from
its early development of the system of alternate husbandry.
The native breeds, indeed, are nearly superseded by superior
breeds from other counties, the restless Norfolk sheep having
been supplanted by the Southdown, the “ Norfolks” or home-
bred cattle by Short Horns and Polled Scots, and the abo-
riginal breed of pigs by the Berkshire, or improved Essex. The
trotting hackneys, for which the county was celebrated fifty
years ago, are almost extinct, and the dairy system which then
prevailed has nearly disappeared. But the graziers of Norfolk
are justly celebrated for bringing to perfection the best breeds
of other counties; while the systematic management and im-
proved cultivation, which have been produced by the capital
and enterprise of the large farmers of West Norfolk, are not
surpassed in any district of England.
Norrotk.] SOIL AND ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 163

The geographical position of the county, as the nearest land
to Holland and Belgium, and hence at one time the point
of intercourse between these countries and England, is said to
have given it the first start in agricultural improvement. But
this was at an early period; and the present pre-eminence of the
county in improved husbandry is due alone to the celebrated
Coke of Norfolk, the late Earl of Leicester. It will be in-
structive to trace the progress of his enlightened system of
improvement ; and in order to do so, we must shortly describe
the physical character of the county.

The southern boundary is traversed by the rivers Brandon and
Waveney, which may be seen near Lophamford, flowing slowly
to the right and left of the road—-the one westward till it gains
the Ouse, with which it falls into the Wash, at Lynn; the other
eastward to the sea at Yarmouth. The course of these rivers is
almost entirely through low peat or fenny marshes, which thus
separate the dry land of Norfolk from the adjoining counties.
The Yare, the Bure, and their tributaries, in their sluggish course
towards the sea, form extensive marshes in the flat country, some
of which are very valuable grazing grounds, and some unwhole-
some flats. In the south-west part of the county is an exten-
sive tract of the same description. Between this and Norwich
there is much light drifting sand. To the north and north-east
of Norwich is a fertile sandy loam, with a pleasant undulating
and wooded country ; and to the south of the city, there is stiff
cold clay, wet, and difficult to drain. The district chiefly cele-
brated for its agricultural improvement lies on the western side
of the county, on the chalk, between Swaffham and Holkham.
The general appearance of the country is flat, and unpicturesque
to the eye of, the tourist, though the experienced agriculturist
will find much to admire in the large, open, well-cultivated fields,
divided from each other by straight lines of closely-trimmed
thorn hedges, and tilled with garden-like precision and clean-
liness. This, however, is not the universal characteristic of
Norfolk husbandry; for perhaps no other county presents greater

M 2
164 MR. COKE’S IMPROVEMENTS [Norrotg.

contrasts between the best and the worst farming. The climate
is dry, and cold east winds prevail during part of the winter
and spring.

In 1776, Mr. Coke came into possession of his estate. He was
then a young man, passionately fond of field sports, and taking
no peculiar interest in agricultural improvements. The tenants
of part of the land which now forms Holkham Park declined
to continue at 5s. an acre, which was then the average rent
of the whole estate. It fell into Mr. Coke’s hands, and made
him a farmer. Entering into this new business with the same
energy which distinguished him as a sportsman, he soon dis-
covered latent properties in his land, which amply repaid his at-
tention. But he also found that to develope these thoroughly
required the expenditure of considerable capital, and a degree of
personal supervision which the owner of a large estate could not
possibly bestow. No man with considerable capital would be
willing to lay it out freely, unless he had the prospect both of
good returns, and the security of such lengthened tenure as
would fully reimburse him for his adventure. Knowing this
perfectly, Mr. Coke determined to get men, if he could, to take
into their own hands that improvement of his farms which he
could not accomplish himself; for it is through an enlightened
tenantry, that large estates can be permanently and most pro-
fitably improved. As opportunities arose, he offered his farms to
men of capital and intelligence, under long leases, on liberal terms,
content to part with the control of his land for a time, if he could
thereby secure its improvement. He expended large sums in
erecting substantial farm buildings, and suitable residences for a
superior class of tenantry. Feeling the importance of having a
competent steward to superintend his estate, and to assist him
in its improvement, he secured from one of the best farmed dis-
tricts of Scotland the services of Mr. Blakie, whose name is still
held in affectionate remembrance. But it was not enough that
he should bring his tenantry to the standard of the day —they
must be prepared to advance with the general progress; and this
they were enabled to do by the annual meeting at Holkham,
Norroxx.] AT HOLKHAM. 165

where leading practical men from the surrounding country, and
from distant counties, were invited by Mr. Coke to inspect his
improvements, and to discuss their merits with him and his
tenants. The intercourse thus produced among leading agricul-
turists, at the Holkham sheep-shearing, was highly beneficial to
the estate. The old mode of cropping as long as the land would
yield anything without outlay, was soon changed into a system
by which stock was kept more extensively, and a more equal
proportion observed between corn and stack. Light lands
thus became fitted for wheat growing. To give firmness to the
light soil, it was top-dressed with clay marl, a stratum of which
was fortunately found, at various depths beneath the surface,
throughout nearly the whole district. Nature having done her
part, art was called to the assistance of the farmer ;—rape cake,
as an artificial manure, having been successfully applied for the
wheat crops. Clover and artificial grasses were introduced, and,
with the increased means of feeding, an improved stock of cattle
and sheep were maintained. Thus the Devon cattle and South-
down sheep were brought into the district, the latter of which
has now generally superseded all others, and the former partially
so. The four-course, or Norfolk system of husbandry, was then
founded, and the advantage of keeping a large stock, to enrich the
land for corn crops, was established. After fifty years of un-
deviating attention to his duties, as the landlord of a great estate,
Mr. Coke might truly boast that he had converted West Norfolk
from a rye to a wheat growing district. From 5s. an aere his
rents rose to 20s. and 25s.; and his tenants became prosperous
and wealthy. In that period as much as 400,000/. is said to have
been expended by him in farm buildings and other permanent
improvements; and this liberality drew from his tenants an
equal spirit of enterprise. It is calculated that they expended
for artificial food and manures, in the same time, not less than
half a million, to their own great advantage, as well as that of
the estate. The influence of these improvements rapidly ex-
tended to other districts, cases for 21 years being now common:

Mm S
166 FARMING AT HOLKHAM. [Norrorx,

over Norfolk, and the leading principles of the cultivation
adopted on the Holkham estate having spread into all the best
farmed counties of England. The wisdom of the course taken
by Mr. Coke is shown not only in such results, but in the con-
tinued progress of improvement; for here there is no standing
still, no belief that perfection in farming has been attained,
though probably few farmers in England have more right to
rest content with the point they have reached, than the best of
Lord Leicester’s tenants, as will be subsequently seen. And
ample though the expenditure in erection of farm buildings
was, the accommodation for stock is now, with still heavier
crops, found far from sufficient; and the outlay by the present
earl, in repairs and additions, on the estate was not much under
10,0002. for last year.

To convey an idea of the present state of farming in West
Norfolk, where it is carried out in the best style, we shall give a
brief account, of some of the farms we examined.

Holkham Park, the seat of Lord Leicester, is situated within
a mile or two of the sea, on the north coast of the county. The
home farm, which is now managed by Mr. Keary, is within the
park, and extends to 1,800 acres, 1,300 of which are under til-
lage, and 500 in pasture. The farm buildings are in three dif-
ferent situations, for the convenience of carting the corn in, and
the manure out. They are commodious and well arranged
for the object in view—viz., the storing in large barns of a con-
siderable portion of the crop, and the accommodation of cattle,
in yards and sheds, littered with abundance of straw. A herd
of pure Devons are kept on the farm, many of which are very
fine specimens of the breed. Their aptitude to fatten on a
somewhat scanty supply of food is very remarkable. A stock of
40 cows is kept, and their produce reared and fattened. They
do not yield much milk, but it is of rich quality. The usual
stock of cattle on the farm is 250 head, inclusive of 20 working
bullocks. The sheep stock numbers about 2,500—700 of which
are pure Southdown ewes. About 150 pigs are also kept—a
cross between the Neapolitan and the Suffolk, combining the
Norroxk.] CROPS — RENT — LABOUR. 167

fineness of flesh and fattening properties of the former, with the
hardiness of constitution and fecundity of the latter. 32 farm
horses and 20 working bullocks are the working stock of the
farm, the bullocks working in pairs, but changed at each yoking,
a fresh pair being taken in the afternoon; four bullocks thus do
the work of two horses, in either plough or harrow.

‘The farm is managed in the usual four-course rotation.
Mangold wurzel, of which the red globe variety is preferred, is
cultivated on 27-inch ridges, in which ten 3-horse loads of dung,
and 20s. worth of artificial manures per acre have been de-
posited. For swedes 7 to 8 loads of dung, and 15s. worth of
artificial manure, are applied. White turnips are sown, on the
flat, in rows 18 inches apart, 30s. worth of artificial manure being
drilled in beneath them. The manures chiefly used are guano
and Lawe’s superphosphate. In the other operations of the
course the usual details of good farming are practised. The
whole of the young wheats, 280 acres in extent, have a top-
dressing applied to them, in spring, of 6 stones of nitrate of soda,
mixed with 16 stones of salt, to the acre. This quantity is
applied, in equal moieties, at intervals of three weeks or a month,
beginning early in March, and ending about the 20th of April.
It has been found in practice better to apply it so, than to
lay it all on at once. The cost at present is 15s. an acre; and
the increase of crop not less than 6 bushels an acre.* Spalding’s
red wheat is the only variety sown. The rent charged against
the farm is 20s. an acre, the expenditure in artificial manures
and food is as much more, and the labour amounts to 32s. an
acre on the land under tillage. ‘Labourers are paid 9s. a-week,
but earn 10s. 6d. on task work.

The farm of Mr. Hudson, of Castleacre, on Lord Leicester’s
estate, is between 1,400 and 1,500 acres in extent, held in two
adjoining occupations of nearly equal size. About 1,200 acres
are regularly under crop, and somewhat over 200 acres in pasture.

* See Note at end of volume, for description of experiment by Mr. Pusey

to test the practice here recommended.
mM 4
168 FARMING AT CASTLE ACRE. { NorFox;.

The four-course rotation is followed throughout, there being
annually 300 acres in wheat, 300 acres in barley, 3CO acres in
turnips, &c., and 300 acres in clover, and trefoil and white
clover alternately. No rye grass is sown with the clovers, as,
being a cereal, it is considered injurious to the following wheat
crop.

The principle adopted here is to manure for every crop. Thus,
for the wheat, eight 3-horse loads of dung are laid on the
clover after it is mown. This promotes a rapid growth of clover,
which is ploughed in for the wheat crop. Salt is sown over it
in spring to strengthen the straw. Turnips are manured partly
with dung and partly with artificial manures, 25s. an acre being
expended for this purpose in guano and Lawe’s superphosphate.
A large proportion of the turnips are consumed on the ground
by sheep, which are also cake-fed, and the soil is thus prepared
for barley. The land is covered with clay marl once ina lease
of 21 years. In the feeding of stock 10 tons a-week of oil cake
are consumed during the winter, in addition to the green crops
and herbage of the farm; Mr. Hudson never using less than 200
tons of cake in a year, and sometimes considerably more. Hach
bullock gets 10lb. of cake a day, besides roots; and each fatting
sheep on an average #lb., beginning with lb. and ending with
1lb. daily. The cattle are fed in open courts with sheds, well
littered with straw.

Thirty-six work horses, and 16 working bullocks, are required
for the operations of the farm. The bullocks work in pairs,
two in a plough, the same as the horses, and walk quite as
quickly, and in either plough or harrow, get over as much
ground as the horses. Each ploughman drives his own pair.
The farm horses are fed on sprouted barley, 12lb. each daily,
besides fodder. The barley is steeped 24 hours, then placed in
a heap on a floor, where it is turned once a day for five days, by.
which time it is ready for use. A new heap is steeped daily,
and one consumed, the first being laid at one end of the house,
and, being daily turned, arrives in due course at the other end;
where it is taken out. With this feeding, on this light land,
Norroix. ] ADVANTAGE OF RAILWAYS. ‘ 169

where the furrow seldom reaches six inches in depth, the horses
are maintained in good healthy condition. A small dairy of
Devon cows is kept, the produce of which is reared and fed.
The ewe flock is Southdown, the fat hoggets now (April) going off
to the London market. The sheep are at present being fed on
rye, sown after wheat for spring feed, and now affording a full bite.
Mr. Hudson does not sow tares, as he considers the tare very
exhausting to the land. The whole harvest work of the farm is
done by 32 mowers, each of whom is attended by one woman to
gather, and one to bind up the sheaf. In carrying the crop, the
stacks are always made in the field where they grew, and carted
home to the barn, as required, during winter and spring. The
only kind of wheat sown is Spalding’s Red, which is found by
much the most prolific hitherto tried in West Norfolk.

Twenty-seven years ago the stock annually kept on this farm
was 400 sheep and 30 bullocks; it now averages 2,500 sheep
and 150 bullocks. The wheat and barley crops then did not
exceed 221 bushels an acre; that average is now nearly doubled.
Every crop is drilled, and the land kept perfectly clean. The
roads and fences are all maintained in the best order; and the
beauty and regularity of all the crops now growing on the farm,
sufficiently attest the enterprise and skill of the farmer.

As exemplifying the saving of waste, in the transportation of
fat stock to the London market, by the introduction of railways,
Mr. Hudson mentioned to us a fact which may be interesting.
Formerly, when several days were occupied in driving to Lon-
don, a sheep was found on the average to have lost 7lb. weight
and 3lb. inside fat, and a bullock 28lb. These weights were
ascertained by a series of trials, average animals being killed and
weighed on the farm and compared with the weights of similar:
animals when slaughtered in London. ‘This difference of weight
was waste, entirely lost to everybody. © On the quantity of stock:
annually sent out by Mr. Hudson, this loss was equivalent in
value to upwards of 6002. a year; nearly the whole amount of
which now finds its way to the market, as the stock are put into
the trucks in the morning, and reach London in the afternoon,
170 SPRING HOEING SAID TO BE INJURIOUS. [Norroxz.

without fatigue. When it is considered over how great a quan-
tity of stock throughout the country a similar saving has been
effected, there can be no doubt that the increased weight so
saved has had a perceptible influence in increasing the general
supply of the market.

A few miles further north lies the farm of Mr. H. Overman,
at Weasenham. It is managed generally like other well cul-
tivated farms in the district, but is peculiar in having on it a
stock of Ayrshire dairy cows, the produce of which, in butter,
is sent to the London market. During the winter the cows are
fed on swedes and a little hay, and those which are giving milk
receive also three pounds of oi] cake daily, till the grass is for-
ward enough for turning them out to pasture. Mangold wurzel
is not given to the cows, as, though productive of milk, it is not
found to yield butter. The taste of the turnips is taken from
the butter by scalding the cream in a pan placed in a boiler of
hot water, and when the cream is hot, saltpetre (at the rate of
half an ounce to a gallon of cream) is dissolved in it, which is
found completely to neutralise the peculiar taste of the turnip.
Excellent butter is made by this management and feeding.

At Mr. Overman’s, of Burnham Sutton, another of Lord
Leicester’s tenants, the same system of high cultivation has:
long been successfully followed. In top-dressing his wheat,
Mr. Overman uses 1 cwt. nitrate of soda mixed with 2 ewt. of
common salt, applied in two dressings, as already described.
He has long given up horse or hand hoeing his wheat crops in
spring, from the conviction, founded on experience, that it is
injurious on light lands, by increasing the proportion of tail or
inferior wheat. This opinion we find is common among the
best light land farmers, and hoeing the wheat crop is nearly
discontinued in this part of the county. We were sorry that
we had not an opportunity of visiting Mr. Bloomfield, of Ware-
ham, and others of Lord Leicester’s tenants, equally noted for
the excellence of their farming.

The question of how far the four-course system of husbandry
Norroxx.] INCREASING CROPS. 171

continues applicable to the present circumstances of agriculture,
we heard frequently discussed by the most intelligent and ex-
perienced farmers in West Norfolk. We found but one opinion
on the point, and that was, that covenants are necessary to
bind bad farmers, not good ones;—and that, with our facilities
for obtaining artificial manures and food, a strict adherence to
the four-course system is no longer necessary or expedient.
Accordingly, in every case we met with, where a man farmed his
own property, or was not restricted by rigorous covenants, the
four-course was departed from. On this point we were favoured
with some valuable information by Mr. Blyth, of Sussex farm,
Burnham, whose style of cultivation and the high condition of
whose land may challenge comparison with any in the county.
For a number of years back he has been growing more and
more wheat, diminishing his barley, and taking an additional
corn crop in the course. His system now is as follows : —(1)
Clover, trefoil, or peas, (2) wheat, (3) oats, (4) turnips, (5)
wheat or barley. He manures for every crop where he thinks
it is required. On land where the turnips are fed off before
Christmas, the crop of barley was never found so good, by six or
eight bushels an acre, as on that which is fed off later, and on
that portion he now sows wheat.

To show the gradually increasing produce which follows a con-
stantly improving system of agriculture, we give the following
figures from the farm books of an equally competent authority : —

Bushels

an acre,
The average wheat crop for 7 years ending 1839 - 265
Ditto ditto » 1846 29
Ditto for 2 years ,, 1848 - 386
The average oat crop for 7 years ending 1839 - 54
Ditto ditto » 1846 - 57
Ditto for 2 years ,, 1848 - 68
The average barley crop for 7 years ending 1839 - 31
Ditto ditto » 1846 - 383

Ditto for 3 years ,, 1849 - 45
172 MR. BLYTH’S FARM— CHICORY. [Norrotg.

It will be observed, that in each case the increase of average has
been greatest since 1846. This may be in part accounted for
by the use of artificial manures, as a direct application to every
crop, having since that year become matter of system; and also
by the very rapid strides which our agriculture has made
within the last four years in the hands of all who had the means,
and who were not hampered by unwise restrictions from follow-
ing the obvious course of improvement. It is further important
to find that these increasing averages of wheat crops have taken
place simultaneously with more frequent calls on the land, there
having been on this farm, for the first period of seven years, an
annual average of 214 acres in wheat; for the second seven
years, 268 acres in wheat; for the last two years, 340 acres in
wheat.

On Sussex Farm, Mr. Blyth follows the same system of top-
dressing his wheat with nitrate of soda and salt, as has been
already described. He does not hand or horse hoe his wheat
crops in spring, but carefully rolls them; having found, by fre-
quent experiments, that where rolling is omitted, there will be
a large deficiency in harvest. He breeds and fattens his own
stock of cattle, and keeps a large flock of Southdown ewes,
crossed with the Hampshire down, which produces a much more
profitable sheep than the pure Southdown, but not one suitable
for prize gaining. Twenty-five lambs to the score is the average
yield, though that is frequently exceeded. Millers’ offal is given
to the lambs along with their green food. During winter, they
receive daily 2]b. to 11b. each of oats and peas crushed, while
feeding on turnips; and are now being sent off fat to London,
out of the wool, at 27s. to 28s. each. The wool is worth 7s.
more. On account of the low price of corn, Mr. Blyth has
been using it exclusively in the feeding of his stock this season.

Chicory is grown on a large scale on this farm, there having
been 50 acres under this crop last year. It is taken after wheat
instead of an oat crop, drilled in May with artificial manure,
and treated exactly like carrots. It is taken up in autumn in
Norrox. ] EMBANKMENT OF MARSHES. 173

quantities as it can be manufactured; for it is not injured by
frost, and receives no damage by being left in the ground. After
being washed, the roots are cut with a small guillotine machine,
and then kiln-dried; 12 to 15 tons, the produce of an acre,
drying to about one ton, in which state it is sent to London.
The price this year has ranged from 15/. to 231.a ton. Last
year it was not more than 102, and did not pay, as the manual
labour in the cultivation of the crop, and the expense of drying,
&c., amount to 51a ton. At the present price it pays well.

In the eastern division of the county, between Norwich and
the sea, lies a great extent of fine land. Along the hollows the
waters of the Bure and Yare find their way to the sea at
Yarmouth, passing many thousand acres of marsh land, of which
an immense extent is still unreclaimed. Windmills are chiefly
used for pumping out the water from those marshes which have
been embanked. After a marsh has been embanked and pumped
dry, the soft spongy soil consolidates, and subsides several feet
below the level of the river. Ditches are formed through it,
which convey the water to one point, where, by means either of
a steam-engine or a windmill, it is pumped over the bank into
the river. The whole cost of embanking, ditching, and erecting
a steam-engine, is said not to exceed 102. an acre in situations at
all favourable for the operation; and as at such an outlay a
worthless and unwholesome marsh may be converted into rich
grazing ground, it is surprising that so much of this yet remains
to be done, in a county so celebrated for its agricultural progress
as Norfolk. If the new Government drainage loan can be
applied to this purpose, probably it could not be laid out in a
more profitable manner.

At Horning, in this district, we visited the extensive grazing
and arable farms of the Messrs. Heath. On their marsh farm,
700 acres in extent, they keep during the summer 400 bullocks
and 700 sheep. Having large arable farms adjoining the marsh,
the stock is wintered on them and turned out to the marsh as
soon as the grass is ready, where part is fattened and sent direct
174 MESSRS, HEATHS’ GRAZING FARMS. [Norvoxs.

to Smithfield from the grass, and part is brought on to be finished
in the yards as prime fat for the Christmas show. The best
polled Galloway Scots are grazed here, as they have been by
the Messrs. Heath for a long period of years, but the quality
now sent to Norwich is reckoned very inferior to what it used
to be some years ago. They are, therefore, now going more
into Herefords and Welsh runts, both of which, in the order
just mentioned, they reckon superior for their purpose to any
other breed. Having land of very rich fattening quality, they
purchase animals which are nearly fat, to finish them; and their
great aim is to get stock of the best quality of its breed,
and to “ dwell on it,” as such is sure'to pay, and to pay most for
the last month of its keep. In the yards the cattle are not
treated so profusely to cake as in some other parts of the county,
a larger proportion of roots being given to them. Those, how-
ever, which are being prepared for the Baker-street shdw are
fed without stint. They are beautiful specimens of their several
breeds, Hereford and Galloway.*
- On their arable lands, which are of fine quality, dry and
friable, the Messrs. Heath do not restrict themselves to the
four-course, or even to an alternation of white and green crops.
They frequently take wheat after wheat, or oats after wheat, or:
barley after wheat; and find that by liberal treatment of the soil
they can do so without injury to it, and with manifest advantage
to themselves. In the Blofield Hundred, we found the same
practice followed by Mr. Tuck on his own property; and were
informed that in all cases where the land is farmed by its
owner, or where a rigid adherence to rotations is not enforced,
the four-course is scarcely ever adhered to. On the farms just
mentioned, the appearance of the soil and the crops indicated
clean cultivation and a high state of fertility.

The marsh lands of East Norfolk are of very various fertility.
For the first 8 or 10 weeks cattle thrive and swell out greatly

* Both specimens subsequently gained the highest prize of their class at

the Smithfield Club Show in 1850; the Hereford ox being reckoned the finest
fat ox ever exhibited.
Norrotx.} LABOURERS. 175

upon them, but after that they do not continue to progress in
the same way ; in fact, they seem to require a change of food.
This may, perhaps, arise from the nearly uniform character of
the natural marsh herbage, which in that respect differs from
the natural herbage of a rich meadow containing a great
variety of grasses, early and late, the one springing up as the
other begins to fade.

The average number of labourers employed at present on a
light land farm of 1,000 acres has been ascertained, by com-
parison of 10 different farms in West Norfolk, to be, —

 

 

 

‘| Men able to do | Men of inferior} Lads above 16 Boys under 16 Women
harvest work. ability. Years, Years. .
23.1 | 4.5 7.8 11 6.25

 

 

The wages of labourers in Norfolk are at present 8s. a week ; in
some places a reduction to 7s. is spoken of. A great proportion
of the work on farms, however, is done by task work or contract,
and the rate of wages, therefore, does not afford any correct es-
timate of the condition of the peasantry. Task work will gene-
rally bring larger pay to the labourer, but this is more doubtful
where the farmer resorts to contract. Hand hoeing, and other
light operations of husbandry, which can be carried on by
children, are sometimes paid for by contract,—a man en-
gaging to do what is required for so much, and employing all
the children he can collect, in gangs, to get through with it. The
evils of such a state of things are obvious. ‘The boys and girls,
thus brought together from considerable distances, frequently do
not return home at night, and sleep in stackyards or barns, or
wherever they can find shelter. Another point connected with
farm labour in Norfolk is the employment of women in the
fields, which some of the most intelligent agriculturists here
strongly condemn. ‘They contend that it has a most demoral-
ising effect, causing women thus employed to lose all feeling of
self-respect, rendering them bad housewives when married, and
unfit, from want of experience, to exercise that strict economy
in expenditure, and to provide those small fireside comforts
176 LAW OF SETTLEMENT EXTENDED. [Norrorx.

which are so necessary in a labourer’s wife. It is further said
to be very questionable whether, even with the low. wages paid
to them, they are employed remuneratively to the farmer, as
they are generally slow and indifferent workers. These ob-
jections apply to the regular employment of women in field
labour, not to their assistance in harvest time.

An association had been formed at Docking, which distributes
prizes, to the amount of 120/. annually, to successful competitors
in ploughing, stacking, mowing, and other operations of husban-
dry, for the purpose of encouraging expertness in the industrial —
processes of the labourer. Prizes are also awarded for good con-
duct, for knitting done by the labourer’s wife and children, and
for various other objects calculated to stimulate the mind of the
peasant, and to elevate the character of his employment.
Though the association has been only a few years in existence,
it has already been productive of much benefit, and of ari inter-
change of good feeling between employer and employed. An
attempt was made some time ago at Burnham to associate the
farmers and principal people of the locality with the labourers in
the formation of a benefit club, for the support of the latter in
sickness, and to defray their funeral expenses when they die.
The plan, however, failed, the labourers themselves refusing to
co-operate in such an object.

The law of settlement is felt by many of the Norfolk farmers
to press unfairly upon some parishes, both as respects the com-
fort of the poor and the inequality of the rates. To obviate
this, the Docking Union have, by private arrangement, extended
the settlement of their labourers to the whole Union, with very
beneficial results. The disputes between parishes have thus been
terminated, and the labourers of the Union are fully employed,
and at a rate of wages rather higher than those of the adjoining
districts. The listless indifference of the labourer, who trusted
to his parish to give him either labour or support, is being over-
come, as he is now at liberty to go to any parish in the Union
where his labour may be most in request.
177

LETTER XXI.
THE FEN COUNTRY.

Extent or Fen Country —EARLY AND PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENTS —
TWO KINDS OF FEN LAND — “BLACK” THE MOST FERTILE AND REMUNERA-
TIVE AND THE LOWEST RENTED — MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP — AND CATTLE
— DETAILS OF FEN FARMING — ADVANTAGE AND EXPENSE OF CLAYING
BLACK LAND — COURSE OF HUSBANDRY ON DUKE OF BEDFORD’S ESTATE AT
THORNEY — AVERAGE CROPS — RENT AND RATES — CONDITION OF LABOUR-
ERS — DETAILS OF FARMING IN THE CLAY DISTRICT OF THE FENS —
DRAINAGE DEFECTIVE — AVERAGE CROPS— USE OF CAKE AND GUANO —
RESULT OF AN APPLICATION FOR A REDUCTION OF RENT.

Boston, Lincoxinsuire, April 1850.

THIs extensive district, which drains into the Wash, comprises
portions of six counties, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Hunt-
ingdon, Northampton, and Lincoln. It is estimated to contain
680,000 acres, forming a continuous plain 70 miles long by 20
to 40 in breadth. From the background of these counties, five
large rivers find their way to the sea through this plain, — the
Ouse, the Nene, the Cam, the Witham, and the Welland.
Great works have been formed to keep the rivers to their
channels, that they may not again overflow and convert to a
marshy wilderness the fertile region rescued from them by the
enterprise and ingenuity of man. The works begun by the
Romans were after many centuries continued by the monks; the
elevated spots, still called the “ islands,” or “highlands,” which
appeared above the waters when this great plain was submerged
by the winter floods, having been occupied and cultivated by
them. In 1630 the reclamation of the fens became a matter of
systematic enterprise ; Francis, Earl of Bedford, with 13 gentle-
men adventurers, having then undertaken to drain the Bedford
Level, “on condition that they should have 95,000 acres for their
N
178 IMPROVEMENT OF FENS. [Fen

satisfaction.” During the Commonwealth the work was con-
tinued with such success, that in 1652 ‘about 4000 acres were
sown with coleseed, wheat, and other winter grain, besides feeding
innumerable quantities of sheep, cattle, and other stock, where
never had been any before.” This success caused the work of
improvement to be vigorously prosecuted till the reign of
Charles IT., when a corporation was established for the regulation
and continuance of the drainage works in the Bedford Level.
This system of general superintendence spread to other districts of
the vast plain, and in later times the skill of eminent engineers was
enlisted to aid the efforts of individual enterprise. The floods
from the surrounding country were cut off from overflowing the
fens, windmills were employed to pump out the accumulated
waters, and, last of all, powerful steam engines have been erected
at certain points to which the drainage of a district is conveyed,
and where it is pumped in vast quantities into the channel of
the great main drains or rivers. Mr. Clarke, to whose descrip-
tion of the fens in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society we are indebted for much information, estimated, in
1847, that 250 windmills and 40 to 50 steam engines were con-
stantly at work in pumping out the drainage. By improvements
in the outfall, it is found that many districts can be drained
naturally, in which wind or steam-power was formerly em-
ployed. The mud deposited in the Wash, with its drifting
banks, was continually closing up the outfall channels of the
rivers; but that is now receiving attention with much advantage
to the general drainage of the fens. It is believed that, by all
these means, 680,000 acres have been brought into cultivation
from being, as Dugdale describes it, —

«A region of wild and swampy country, partly cultivated and
‘partly overflowed, by which overflowings in the winter time,
‘«‘ when the ice is strong enough to hinder the passage of boats,
“and yet not able to bear a man, the inhabitants upon the hards
“and the banks within the fens can have no help of food nor
* gomfort for body or soul, nor supply of any necessity, save what
Coonrny.] TWO KINDS OF FEN LAND. 179

“those poor desolate places do afford. And what expectation of
“health can there be to the bodies of men where there is no
“element good? the air being for the most part cloudy, gross,
“and full of rotten harrs; the water putrid and muddy, yea, full
“of loathsome vermin; the earth spongy and boggy, and the fire
“noisome by the stink of smoking hassocks.”

The whole district is now traversed by excellent roads and
railways, and being mostly freed from the overflow of floods, the
further progress of improvement has no insurmountable obstacle
to contend with.

The fen land is of very various fertility. It may be divided
into that portion which is more inland, and consequently a fresh
water deposit, and that which lies nearer the sea and has in the
course of ages been formed by the reflux of the tide. The first
has usually a surface of black vegetable mould, varying from a
few inches to a foot or more in thickness, lying on a bed of
clay; the last is a strong silty loam of more or less thickness,
also incumbent on clay. The first, from its porous character,
does not generally require under drainage; the last cannot be
profitably cultivated without it. The first produces every
description of crop with the greatest luxuriance, being friable
and easy to till, and readily cleared of root weeds. The other
is generally too stiff for the profitable growth of green crops, is
easily injured by the trampling of horses, or the use of the
plough in wet weather, is much more dependent on the seasons
for the quality of its produce, and much more difficult to keep
clean and free from root weeds. Strangely enough, with all these
advantages it seems to bear the higher rent of the two, so that
it is not to be wondered that the farmers of the clay fens are
not so prosperous as their more fortunate neighbours on the
black land. .

On the dry lying lands of the fens,—that is, those more
elevated portions called “ Highlands” or Islands, —the land is
principally in grass, and that of very rich quality. It is grazed
by short-horn bullocks and Lincoln sheep. The bullocks are

n2
180 MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP AND CATTLE. [Fex

bought in lean at the autumn fairs, wintered in the straw yards
with cake, and turned out to these rich pastures in summer.
The Lincoln sheep is a mixture of the Leicester with the old
Lincoln, the produce being of larger size with less fat meat, and
somewhat, coarser wool than the Leicester. They are fattened
at 20 months old, or may in some cases be kept a month or two
more, when, after yielding a second fleece, they are sold fat and
have attained great weight. The fen farmers buy their stock of
sheep at the spring fairs, and are paying for hoggets in the wool,
at present (April 1850) 30s. each—an unusually low price.
These hoggets are put partly on the “seeds,” partly on the old
pastures. In autumn they are folded on cole or rape, receiving
also cake; and as soon as this is consumed, generally before
Christmas, the sheep are sent fat to market.

In the winter feeding of bullocks some farmers are substituting
cut straw, with meal, and boiled linseed poured over it, for oil-
cake; and in one case, when 900/. used to be expended in a large
holding in the purchase of cake, a better effect is said to be pro-
duced by 6002. expended on linseed and meal. At Thorney,
Mr. Whiting adopts an ingenious plan for preventing yard-fed
bullocks from annoying each other when feeding. The food is
all placed for them in a long manger under the shed, and when
each animal goes forward and puts his head into the manger
between upright spars, the feeder pulls a rope attached to a
simple contrivance, by which the whole of them are confined to
their places, and released again when they have consumed their
food.

The principal thing to be attended to in the management of
a fen farm on the black land, is to keep the outfalls and ditches
throughout the farm open. Some think that all the water
should be drained off from the ditches; others believe that in
dry summer weather the crops are much benefited by the
damp stratum which is maintained beneath the working soil,
by the presence of water. Practically, the water is kept in
the ditches at about two feet from the surface, thus serving
Counrry.] ADVANTAGE OF CLAYING “BLACK” LAND. 181

as a fence betwixt the fields, and affording water to the stock.
The land is so very level, that by arranging the sluices at the
main outlets of the farm, each man may keep such depth of
water as he chooses. The next process in fen farming
is to give solidity to the black vegetable surface mould, and
that is done by digging trenches into the clay, and throwing
it over the surface. A trench two feet deep and two feet wide
is made along the field, and the clay which is taken out of
it is laid four yards over the surface on either side of the trench.
The same process is repeated throughout the field, a new
trench being opened eight yards apart from the last. The cost
of this operation is about 35s. an acre, but it is a permanent
improvement, not requiring to be repeated during a lease.
It is usually done in the division to be fallowed, as the clay
has then time to work down among the soil before a crop is
sown on it.

The course of husbandry pursued is not very definite, most
farmers being permitted to farm as they think best, or at all
events according to the custom of the country; and as that
custom is by no means certain, the farmers have sufficient
latitude. The following is the system we found pursued on
a well managed farm on the Duke of Bedford’s Estate at
Thorney. The farm contains 600 acres, 200 of which are
“hichlands” in permanent pasture. The rest is good fen land,
cultivated as follows:—(1) fallow with roots or coleseed, (2)
oats, (3) wheat, (4) seeds, (5) wheat, (6) beans, (7) wheat.
The faliow is well wrought, pulverised and cleaned. It is
then manured with 8 or 10 loads of dung an acre, and a portion
planted with potatoes, carrots, mangold, and swedes. The
larger portion is reserved for coleseed, which, after the dung
has been applied and ploughed into the land, is drilled, with 16
bushels of bones mixed with ashes to the acre. This is
usually sown in June, and is ready for the sheep in autumn,
one acre affording keep for 8 or 10 large sheep, 12 weeks. The

other root crops having been taken up when ready, the whole
n3
182 CROPS — RENT — LABOURERS. [Fen

of the land is ploughed, and sown with oats early in spring,
as it is then in so rich a state that a wheat crop would run too
much to straw and be spoiled. The oats yield from 80 to 100
bushels an acre, and as much as 120 bushels have been got of
a black coarse variety. After the oat crop is removed, the
ground is ploughed, and sown with wheat, which is drilled and
carefully hoed in spring, wherever weeds make their appearance.
Clover seeds are sown among the wheat, in equal quantities
of red, white, and trefoil, for sheep pasture, and of red alone
where it is to be cut for hay. Next year the “seeds” are
pastured with hoggets, of which they carry from 7 to 8 an acre,
and a few beasts on the field besides. They are ploughed
up in October, and the land is again sown with wheat.
After the wheat is removed, a slight dressing of dung is
ploughed in, and the following spring the land is drilled with
beans. The beans are kept as clean as possible by horse and
hand hoeing; but being a dirty crop, it is necessary to plough
twice, and work the land well after them, in preparation for
the last crop of the course—wheat. There is not much
difference in the yield of the wheat in the various places it
takes in the rotation, 44 bushels an acre being reckoned a good
crop. The grass land, as already mentioned, is old pasture
land of rich fattening quality. The labour bill amounts to 30s.
an acre for the land under tillage. The farm is let tithe free,
—rent 30s. an acre, and poor rate 2s. 6d. a pound.

Labourers’ wages here are 9s. to 10s. a week, and their cot-
tage rents 31. to 41a year. The picturesque village of Thorney
(standing in the centre of the Duke of Bedford’s estate in this
quarter, 18,000 acres in extent, of rich and valuable land,) is
ornamented by a new street of labourers’ cottages, recently
completed by the Duke. They are very handsome, with many
conveniences, though the apartments are complained of as too
small. With good gardens attached to each, they are let at
very moderate rents. Not many of his Grace’s tenants here
hold on lease, though some families have been on their. farms
Country. ] CLAY FENS LESS REMUNERATIVE. 183

for generations; but the most perfect confidence is felt by
them in the high character of the House of Bedford. Their
rents, previous to the late fall in prices, may be reckoned
moderate.

As an example of the second description of fen land, we
shall take the Wildmoor Fen above Boston, which is a stiff
clay loam, incumbent on clay. On this soil it is necessary
to drain with pipes or tiles, and the outfall now is sufficient
to admit of this being done to a depth of three or four feet.
At this depth the drains are usually made 11 yards apart, a very
common arrangement between landlord and tenant being for
the former to supply the tiles, and the latter to put them in.
A vast amount of this kind of drainage yet remains to be done,
the difference in condition of a drained and undrained farm being
very perceptible to the traveller. Where draining has not
been done, the farmers are rapidly losing money; and even
where it has, this land is so entirely dependent on the prices of
grain, that the present depression is telling seriously on them.

The following four-course shift on a farm of 176 acres may
be taken as a specimen of the routine of one of the better
managed drained farms in the clay district: (1) fallow with
roots and coleseed, (2) wheat or oats, (3) clover and beans, (4)
wheat. More than half of the fallow is sown with coleseed,
to be eaten off, with cake, by sheep; the rest is sown partly
with mangold, partly with swedes and white turnips. Night
soil, got from Boston, and mixed with earth, is drilled in with
the seed of these different crops, at the rate of 10 loads an acre.
All the ground that can be early enough cleared of roots is
sown with wheat, and the rest in spring with oats, the clover
seed being sown at the same time on the half of the division.
The other half, after the crop is removed, is dressed with dung
and ploughed for beans, which are drilled early in spring.
After the clover has been eaten off about the end of August, the
land is ploughed and harrowed, and ploughed again, receiving,

as it were, a second fallow, when it is got into a fine friable
n4
184 PRODUCE AND RENT. (Fens.

state, and sown with wheat. Dung is either laid on previous to
the last ploughing, or is carted on to the ground during frost,
and laid over the young wheat, which is considered an excellent
plan. Some only plough the land once, but harrow it five times
(the horses walking in the furrows which divide the “lands” ),
and then drill in the wheat: 30 bushels of wheat and 50 bushels
of oats are reckoned average crops. The best farmers give cake
in their yards to the cattle, 5 tons per 100 acres being considered
a very liberal expenditure. Guano or other artificial manures
are but little used. Rents vary according to circumstances,
from 27s. to 40s. an acre.

The wheat crop on this description of land yielded very badly
last year. Unlike the dry light lands of the Eastern Counties,
which produced more than an average crop, these heavy soils
fell short of their usual growth nearly 8 bushels an acre. The
low price tells therefore very strongly here; and many of the
farmers are permitting necessary operations (such as the clean-
ing out of the main drains—so essential in this flat district)
to remain unperformed. No reduction of rent of any import-
ance has yet taken place; and in one instance, where a represen-
tation by a body of tenants was made to their landlord on this
subject, the only reply they received was a notice to quit to the
man whose name stood first in the list. Much of the land in
the clay fens is held by small proprietors, many of whom
are understood to have their estates heavily mortgaged.
185

LETTER XXII.

LINCOLN.

GREAT VARIETY OF SOILS — DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY — OPENED UP
BY NETWORK OF RAILWAYS— WANT OF DRAINAGE — GREAT IMPROVE-
MENT EFFECTED BY THE APPLICATION OF CLAY MARL TO sAND—
MANAGEMENT OF CLAY SOILS INFERIOR TO ESSEX AND SUFFOLK-—— RENT
DEPENDENT ON THE LANDLORD — DETAILS OF FARM MANAGEMENT ON THE
WOLDS —-INFERIOR TO THAT OF WEST NORFOLK — CHALK A CURE FOR
ANBURY IN TURNIPS——DETAILS OF FARMING ON LINCOLN HEATH —
ADVANTAGE OF BRINGING UP BROKEN CALCAREOUS ROCK BY DEEP PLOUGH-
ING — RENT — PROCESS, AND EXPENSE OF “WARPING” ON THE HUMBER
AND TRENT.

Lincoun, April 1850.

THE county of Lincoln presents many features of interest to
the agriculturist. It embraces a great variety of soils and
modes of cultivation, varying from the richest pastures to the
most sterile sands, and exhibiting on its various soils the treat-
ment which experience has taught in the management of stiff
clays, fens, warp-land, sands, wolds, and heath. In this county,
too, has chiefly risen into prominence that system of compen-
sation to the outgoing tenant for unexhausted improvements,
which is believed by many to have been the foundation of the
agricultural progress of Lincolnshire.

Entering the county from the south, an extensive district of
fen land is traversed, reaching up to the city of Lincoln, where,
on the summit of the hill, rise the towers of the stately cathedral.
At this higher level, some 150 feet above the vale, stretches a
tract of dry turnip land running north and south of the city
about 40 miles, and still known as Lincoln Heath. Nearly
parallel with this, but separated from it by the great central
vale of the county, lies the district called the Wolds; and be-
tween that and the sea extends a tract of richer and heavier
186 IMPROVEMENT OF SAND BY CLAYING. [Lixcoxn.

land. On the north-western boundary of the county, on both
banks of the Trent, is that low-lying tract of land on which the
peculiar process of warping is carried on. The fen lands we
have already described, and purpose now to enter into some
details of the present state of agriculture in the Wold and Heath
portions of the county, and then to give a very brief description
of the process of warping and its effects.

The system of husbandry general throughout the district is
the four or five course. This will no doubt come to be modified
by the change which railway accommodation will afford; this
county, which was formerly somewhat remote, being now
covered with a network of railways, giving ready access on
the one side to the seaports, and on the other to the great
central markets for supplying the dense population of the manu-
facturing districts with agricultural produce.

Taking the line of country traversed by the railway from
Lincoln northwards, by Market Raisen and Caistor, the land
is generally very insufficiently drained, and by no means well
managed. On the stiffer clays little seems to have been done for
removing the stagnant water; the grazing lands being much
covered with rushes, and the fallows, on the land in cultivation,
being foul and out of condition. Approaching Caistor, a large
extent of weak sandy soil is passed, on part of which a very
great improvement has been effected by claying. We were
favoured with some interesting information by the gentleman
who commenced the practice, Mr. Dixon, of Holton. Twenty-
two years ago, when he came into possession of the estate, there
were 500 acres of rabbit-warren, which the tenant refused to
hold at arent of 502, Mr. Dixon took it into his own hands, and
by covering it all with clay, and by under-draining, he now con-
siders the same land worth 16s. an aere, or 4001. a-year. The
expense of claying varied, according to the distance from which
the clay had to be carted. In some cases if was got in pits in
the field where it was applied; but in general it had to be
brought from spots at a higher level than the sandy tract.
Linco. ] EXPENSE OF OPERATION — DRAINAGE. 187

There, beneath the surface, beds of whitish marly clay, mixed
with chalk and flints, are found four or five feet in thickness.
These are opened out like a quarry, and the face is wrought
down by pick and shovel. It is then filled into carts, and con-
veyed to the sand-land, where it is laid on at the rate of 60
yards an acre. It is usually laid on land in preparation for
green crops, where, after being exposed some time to the action
of the weather, it breaks down and mixes with the sand. The
whole field is at the same time under-drained with tiles, the
cost of both operations averaging from 12/. to 14/. an acre.
After the field has been green cropped, and when the subsequent
barley crop has been removed, 30 yards more of clay are spread
over the seeds; the whole dose being thus 90 yards an acre, not
applied all at once, but in two separate applications. The effect
of this mixing of soils has been to convert a weak sand, unfit
for the production of any valuable crop, into light land of fair
quality, on which, by good farming, clover, wheat, turnips, and
barley, may be taken in regular succession. The quality of the
clay should not be overlooked, as it is highly calcareous, and is
probably not often to be found in proximity to tracts of sand.
A different description of clay, more unctuous, and of a black
ferruginous character, was tried by Mr. Dixon, but instead of
proving beneficial, it was very injurious. Beyond Mr. Dixon’s
estates, this tract of sandy land seems, with few exceptions, to be
badly managed.

The strong clays are by no means so well managed in Lincoln
as in Essex and Suffolk. In executing drainage it is common
for the landlord to supply tiles, and the tenant to put them in;
but a great deal yet remains to be done by both. The old form
of raised ridges is still maintained, from the difficulty expe-
rienced on this kind of land of levelling them down without
injury to the surface. The best soil on the top of the ridge,
when levelled into the hollow, exposes a barren subsoil, which
requires many years exposure to the air and to the influence
of manure before it becomes fertile. Where the land is well
188 RENT — MUCH DEPENDENT ON LANDLORD. [Lrncoxn.

drained and carefully tilled, it yields large crops. The usual
succession is clover, or seeds, wheat, turnips, barley, fallow,
wheat or oats sown down with seeds. It being common to
hold a quantity of grass land along with a clay land farm, the
farmer is enabled to keep a considerable stock, which, when
wintered in his yards on cake, converts his straw into valuable
manure. The rent of this description of soil, like that of all
others in this county, varies more according to the character of
the landlord than its intrinsic qualities. On Lord Yarborough’s
estate the clay farms, which are close to a line of railway, and
where the landlord gives tiles for drainage without any other
charge than that the tenant must put them into his land, the
rent varies from 18s. to 22s. an acre, tithe free, and the poor-
rate is very moderate.

Ascending from the clay lands to the Wolds, we enter on that
tract of country which, with the Heath, to be subsequently de-
scribed, has given celebrity to the farming of Lincolnshire. Jt
is situated on the chalk formation at about the same elevation
and of much the same character as the land round Holkham, in
Norfolk, but lower and less exposed than the Down farms
of the southern counties. This tract, extending to more than
200,000 acres, varies considerably in quality, being best where
it dips to the lower ground, and very light and sandy towards
its highest points of elevation. The rent of the best land rises
as high as 32s. an acre, though the average is 20s., tithe free, and
with very low poor-rates. The mode of culture is the four or
five course, the “seeds” remaining one or two years down.

On one of the better-managed farms on the Wolds the fol-
lowing is the routine of cultivation: — Beginning with the
turnip crop, the land, after being properly cleaned and wrought,
is sown with yellow and white turnips in succession, 1 cwt. of
guano and 4 bushels of dissolved bones per acre, mixed with
ashes, being drilled in before the seed. The crop is consumed
on the ground by sheep, which get no cake unless the turnip
crop proves very inferior. If the crop is good, part of it is
Lrxcorn.] WOLD FARMING. 189

drawn for consumption in the yards by cattle. It is succeeded
by barley, a small proportion being in some cases sown with
wheat. The barley is followed by clover and seeds, on which
the sheep are turned very early in spring, there being no other
provision made for them; and, as swedes are seldom or never
grown, the yellow and white turnips do not stand late in the
season. It is not usual to give cake to any of the sheep on the
“seeds,” except ewes with twin lambs. The seeds are ploughed
in autumn, after being dunged with yard manure, which many
farmers prefer applying the previous winter, that the seeds may
be benefited as well as the wheat. The wheat is then sown in
the usual manner. The strawyard cattle are seldom fed fat,
being principally stores, kept through the winter in fair con-
dition, on 4 Ib. per day of oil-cake, and sent down to the richer
grazing lands, which most Wold farmers hold in the low country,
to be fed during the summer. The sheep stock is Leicester or im-
proved Lincoln, a breeding flock being kept, and the produce
sold at two years old, seldom earlier. The result of this manage-
ment is an average crop of 26 to 28 bushels of wheat per acre,
and not much more of barley.

The reader who has perused our description of West Norfolk,
must be struck with the difference of management in the two
districts. The alleged impossibility of growing swedes ad-
vantageously here, will be at once referred to the very scanty
supply of manure applied to the turnip crop. We should not
expect a good crop of swedes, in any other district, with no more
enriching application than one ewt. of guano and four to eight
bushels of dissolved bones per acre. One farmer grew last year
a quantity of swedes for the first time (four or five acres in
upwards of 100 acres of soft turnips), and, having manured the
land with dung, in addition to the above quantities of artificial
manure, he succeeded in getting a good crop. This year he
intends to grow 20 acres. But one is surprised to hear that
in Lincolnshire this discovery has been now made for the
first time. Nor is the cultivation of the land attended to with
190 HEATH FARMING. [Lincoty.

anything like the same neatness and care which distinguish the
best farmers in West Norfolk. It is permitted to get foul, and
the same minute attention in the extirpation of weeds from the
corn and grass fields is not here observed. The land is chalked
as often as it appears to require it, perhaps once in 20 years;
the want of it being shown by the appearance of the disease in
turnips called “ fingers and toes,” for which chalking is a perfect
cure. Four horses are often used in a plough; but it is a two-
furrow plough, turning over at this season of the year three
acres a-day, and usually managed by one man without a driver.

Leaving the Wolds, and recrossing the central plain, we
arrive at the Heath farming. This is part of the great tract of
land on the lower oolite formation which commences at Bridport,
in Dorsetshire, and runs in an unbroken chain through Gloucester-
shire, Oxford, Northampton, Rutland, and into Lincolnshire. It
is a dry reddish turnip soil, varying from a few inches to a foot
or more in depth, lying on a porous calcareous rock. Here the
style of farming very much resembles that of the Wolds, except
that the crops are somewhat more generously treated. In feeding
turnips or seeds, however, cake is very seldom given to any of
the sheep stock, except ewes with twin lambs. Top dressings
for the corn crops are quite uncommon. A well managed farm
of 500 acres will winter 1,000 sheep on turnips. Swedes are
successfully grown here. The favourite breed of sheep is the
improved Lincoln, which clips from 7 lb. to 8 lb. of wool, and
weighs at two years old 30 lb. a quarter. This is a strong-
necked sheep, differing in that respect from the pure Leicester,
and producing more lean meat than that breed. In the yards
the cattle receive cake during the winter, some farmers feeding
them fat, others keeping them as stores. Half a ton of oilcake
per head is the largest quantity expended by the best farmers.
In sowing wheat after clover, the land after being ploughed is
first well harrowed; the seed is drilled, then covered by the
harrows. The land is then rolled and harrowed again after the
roller. On the better land wheat is usually sown after turnips
Liycoxn.] RENT—FARM BUILDINGS. 191

up to the beginning or middle of March, “Hunter’s white
wheat” being the variety found most productive. Hornsby’s
drop drill is much used for sowing the turnip seed and manure
together. Great benefit has been found by ploughing deep in
the heath land with a subsoil plough, thus bringing up broken
calcareous rock, and at once deepening and manuring the soil.
The wheat is built in lofty oblong stacks, containing 60 or 70
quarters; and a great deal of labour is expended in carrying
these up very high, and in thatching, and finishing them off
neatly. The rent is about 20s. an acre, no tithes, and rates
low. The better class of land near Lincoln lets at 30s. an acre;
but rent is scarcely thought a criterion of value, as some land-
lords let better land at 20s. than others at 40s.

The farm-buildings on the better class of farms in Lincoln-
shire are superior to most we have met with in the more
southerly counties. On the estate of Mr. Chaplin, of Blankney,
many very substantial and complete ranges of buildings have
been and are being erected.

A good idea of the process of warping may be got by sailing
up the Trent from the Humber to Gainsborough. The banks
of the river were constructed centuries ago, to protect the land
within them from the encroachments of the tide, or rather to ex-
clude the tide from the land, which was left dry at low water.
A great tract of country was thus laid comparatively dry, the
tide rising every day within the embankments several feet
higher than the cultivated land. The wisdom of one age thus
succeeded in restricting within bounds the muddy tidal waters
of the river. It was left to the greater wisdom of a succeeding
age to improve upon this arrangement, by admitting these
muddy waters to lay a fresh coat of rich silt on the exhausted
soils, and so to restore them to their original fertility. The
process began nearly a century ago, but has become more of a
system in recent times. Large sluices of stone, with strong
doors to be shut when it is wished to exclude the tide, may be
seen on both banks of the river, and, from these, great drains are
192 PROCESS OF “WARPING” LAND. [Linconn

carried miles inward through the low country to the point pre-
viously prepared by embankment, over which the muddy waters
are allowed to spread themselves. These main drains being
very costly, are constructed for the warping of large adjoining
districts, and openings are made at such points as are then
undergoing the operation. The mud is deposited, and the
waters return with the falling tide to the bed of the river.
Spring tides are preferred; and so great is the quantity of mud,
that from 10 to 15 acres have been known to be covered with
silt from 1 to 3 feet in thickness during one spring of 10 or 12
tides. Peat moss of the most sterile character has been by this
process covered with soil of the greatest fertility; and swamps
which, in the memory of our informant, were resorted to for
leeches, are now, by the effects of warping, converted into firm
and fertile fields. Near the mouth of the river the water
is muddiest, and the process can there be more easily accom-
plished, but sluices are seen for nearly 30 miles up the Trent,
so that even at that distance from the Humber the water has
not entirely lost its fertilizing particles of mud. The expense
of warping varies from 15/. to 212. an acre. After the new land
has been left for a year or two (in clover and seeds) it produces
great crops of wheat and potatoes.
193

LETTER XXIII.
LINCOLNSHIRE ~— continued.

RAPIDITY OF IMPROVEMENT IN LINCOLNSHIRE — SIMULTANEOUS INCREASE
OF RENT AND TENANT'S PROFIT — LIBERAL MINDED LANDLORDS — COM-
PENSATION FOR UNEXHAUSTED IMPROVEMENTS DESCRIBED — EXPENSE OF
ARBITRATION, AND EVIDENCE OF CLAIMS REQUISITE—CLAIMS INCREASING
IN EXTENT —LANDLORDS FIND IT NECESSARY TO LIMIT AND DEFINE THEM
—- FARMERS NOT MORE LIBERAL IN OUTLAY OR MORE HOPEFUL THAN IN
DISTRICTS WHERE NO TENANT RIGHT EXISTS — LORD YARBOROUGH’S
ESTATES—MR. CHAPLIN AS A RESIDENT LANDLORD — LABOURERS WAGES.
— COTTAGE RENTS HIGH—GREAT DISTANCES WHICH LABOURERS ARE COM-
PELLED TO WALK OR RIDE ON DONKEYS TO THEIR WORK FROM SCARCITY
OF COTTAGE ACCOMMODATION.

Gainsporoves, April, 1850.
THE agricultural reputation of Lincolnshire is due more to the
stride it has made in a given time, than to any real pre-eminence
above the best farmed counties. A hundred years ago it was
almost a terra incognita, its land boundaries impassable fens,
desolate heaths, and broad rivers, with no important sea-port,
and lying out of the track of the traveller. Till the reign of
George III. the county remained in a neglected state, the fee
simple of the now cultivated wolds and heaths worth little more
than their present annual rent: the fen districts an unwhole-
some reedy waste, prolific of ague and aquatic birds. Till
even a more recent period the improvement was slow. In the
parish of Limber, 60 years ago, four tenants renting 40090 acres
of land at 1252. each, or 2s. 6d. an acre, became bankrupts. The
same land is now yielding its owner upwards of 4000/. a year,
paid by prosperous tenants. Lincoln Heath, whose improve-
ment had begun in Arthur Young’s time, excited his astonish-
ment that farmers in prosperous circumstances could afford
to pay 10s, an acre for land which, a few years before, had
yielded nothing, or next to nothing, to its owner. For the
oO
194 TENANT RIGHT. [LincoLn.

same land they now pay double; and at Blankney several
housand acres were let as rabbit warrens in his time, at 2s. to
3s. 6d. an acre, for which Mr. Chaplin now receives 20s. ; the in-
creased rent being accompanied in both cases with the increasing
wealth of the tenants. The transition has therefore been very
rapid and striking, perhaps more so than in any other county
in England.

It was very fortunate that when the time for this transition
arrived, the leading landlords were liberal and enlightened men.
Among these may be named the late Earl of Yarborough and
Mr. Chaplin of Blankney. They saw the advantage of en-
couraging tenants to embark their capital freely ; and as leases
were not the fashion of the county, they gave them that security
for their invested capital, which is termed “tenant right,” or
compensation for unexhausted improvements.

Though this tenant-right may not be a strictly legal claim, it
is universally admitted in Lincolnshire, the landlord paying it
when a farm falls into his own hands, and refusing to accept a
tenant who declines to comply with the custom. It varies,
however, considerably in different parts of the county; and
appears to have enlarged in its obligations with the greater
development of agricultural improvement. In North Lincoln-
shire, the usual allowances claimed by the outgoing from the
incoming tenant, include draining, marling, chalking, claying,
lime, bones, guano, rape dust, and oil-cake. The following is
the scale on which these allowances are usually made: —

“When the landlord has found tiles, and the tenant has done the
labour, if done within twelve months before the end of the tenancy,
and no crop has been taken from land after the draining thereof is
completed, the whole cost is allowed. If one crop has been taken
from such land, three-fourths of the cost is allowed, and so on, dimi-
nishing the allowance by one-fourth for each crop taken; but this
allowance is made only when the work is well and properly done by
the tenant, to the satisfaction of the landlord or his agent, expressed
in writing. —For marling or chalking, if done within twelve months
before the end of the tena cy, the whole cost is allowed ; for that
Lincoun. ] MODE OF FIXING VALUATIONS. 195

done in the previous year, seven-eighths of the cost are allowed ; and
so on, diminishing the allowance by one-eighth for each year that
shall have elapsed since the marling or chalking.—For lime used
within twelve months before the end of the tenancy, if no crop has
been taken from the land limed in that year, the whole cost, including
labour, is allowed; if one crop has been taken from such land, four-
fifths of the cost are allowed; and so on, diminishing the allowance
by one-fifth for each crop taken from such land.—For claying on
light land a similar allowance to that for lime.—For bones used
within twelve months before the end of the tenancy two-thirds of the
cost are allowed, and for those used in the previous year one-third of
the cost. — For guano and rape dust used within twelve months before
the end of tenancy, for turnips or other green crop, two-thirds of the
cost are allowed. —For oil-cake, given to cattle and sheep, one-third
of the cost price of that so used within twelve months before the end
of tenancy, and one-sixth of the cost price of that so used in the
previous year is allowed.”

If the tenant is entitled to a waygoing crop, it is of course men-
tioned in the agreement, as are also payments for acts of hus-
bandry, such as the carting out of manure, or other labour, for the
sole benefit of the incoming tenant. The amount of these allow-
ances is settled by arbitration, the award being made in the gross
without particulars, that there may be no room for cavil. The ar-
biters and their umpire are generally farmers who are paid 2/. each
per day, the whole expense of an arbitration being from 302 to 50J.
The evidence of claims for manure purchased, and for cake, &c.,
consist of the dealers’ receipts for these articles, which are some-
times fraudulent, especially when the outgoing tenant has another
farm in his possession. On the whole, however, the system is
believed to have worked well; though the landlords are beginning
to find the claims of the outgoing tenants so serious, that, in order
to check their increase, they prefer embodying the claims in a
special agreement to trusting to the indefinite “custom” of the
county.

The Lincolnshire system, as at present in operation, has.

not led to the frauds practised in Surrey and Sussex; partly,
o 2
196 LIBERAL LANDLORDS. [Lancoun.

perhaps, because it has not been so long a period in use.
But an indefinite custom of this kind is liable to great abuse,
and it must possess advantages of no common kind to com-
pensate this risk. In a large district of country, where it is
most liberally observed, we did not find the farmers one
whit less desponding than in other places where they had
no such security; and they were limiting their outlays and
complaining of their landlords quite as much as in Essex
or Suffolk. The best farmers we had an opportunity of
visiting are still behind the agricultural proficiency of the
leading men of West Norfolk, whose capital is protected by.
a 12 years’ lease and a liberal landlord. And there is a vast
extent of land in Lincolnshire in a very backward state, and
where much has yet to be done by both landlord and tenant.
Nor do the farmers themselves attribute so much benefit to the
system of tenant-right; as compensation for unexhausted im-
provements, however valuable in itself, is in their opinion of less
importance to the progress of agriculture than moderate rents,
and the existence of perfect confidence between good landlords
and good tenants.

On the Earl of Yarborough’s estates farms are held by the
same families for generations. Besides continuing the liberal
treatment of his tenantry which distinguished his predecessors,
the present Earl has engaged in vast undertakings for developing
the resources of Lincolnshire, by means of railways and docks.

Mr. Chaplin of Blankney is generally regarded as the beau
ideal of a resident landlord. He spends his time and his income
on his estate, and devotes himself to its improvement and to the
welfare of all who reside on it. Though the owner of a large
estate, his practical knowledge of details enables him to dispense
with the interposition of an agent between himself and _ his
tenants. His farms are not only moderately let, but his per-
sonal acquaintance with the wants of his tenantry gains his
acquiescence in all permanent improvements. They dine with
him on the rent day; and as he always lives among them, they
Linco. ] CONDITION OF LABOURERS. 197

communicate freely with him on matters of mutual interest.
The labourers on his estate share in his solicitude, their com-
fortable cottages and gardens being let to them at moderate
rents. In every quality of a landlord, a magistrate, and a neigh-
bour, the influence of his example among the other landlords of
the county must be of the greatest advantage, while it has pro-
duced on his own estate the most perfect feeling of mutual con-
fidence and attachment.

Labourers’ wages in Lincolnshire are at present 10s. a week.
In some localities they pay very high rents for their cottages,
being swept out of close parishes which are under the control
of one or two large proprietors, and obliged to compete with
each other for the possession of the limited number of cottages
which speculators, naturally taking advantage of their neces-
sities, run up in open parishes for their accommodation. They
are thus in many cases compelled to live at a great distance from
their work, to which it is quite common for them to ride on
donkeys a distance of six or seven miles. The farmers, to save
the exhaustion of the men, willingly give the donkeys ac-
commodation. But this abuse of the rights of property is now
giving way; and landlords, feeling the impropriety of driving off
the labourers required for the cultivation of their estates, are
beginning to build good cottages, to be let at moderate rents to
well-conducted men. The system of boarding farm servants
in the farmer’s house is again coming more into practice, and is
likely to continue to do so if provisions are moderate in price.
Some board the servants with their bailiffs, but this plan is said
not to work well.
198

LETTER XXIV.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

CHANGE FROM AGRICULTURAL TO MANUFACTURING DISTRICTS —- THE
“ DUKERY.”— COMPETITION FOR FARMS NOT UNDULY ENCOURAGED— DUKE
OF PORTLAND'S ARRANGEMENT WITH HIS TENANTS— ONE OF THE EARLIEST
PROMOTERS OF AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT — FARM BUILDINGS — TENANT
RIGHT — NECESSITY FOR LIMITING IT—-PARTICULARS NOT SPECIFIED IN
BILL OF VALUATION— PROPORTION OF ENTERING TENANTS’ CAPITAL AB-
SORBED BY THE PAYMENT OF VALUATIONS.—SIZE OF FARMS.—RENT.—
CONDITION OF LABOURERS—DIMINUTION OF COTTAGES.

MansrFierp, May, 1850.

LEavInG the purely agricultural counties of the eastern coast,
we enter the midland districts, beginning with the county
of Nottingham. On the western verge of the county the coal
formation makes its appearance; and the busy scenes and sounds
of mining and manufacturing industry are now intermingled
with the older and less bustling processes of agricultural em-
ployment. In the counties we have already described, the oc-
cupations connected with the soil are superior in importance to
all others; but as we enter the manufacturing districts, the in-
terests of the country become more immediately subservient to
those of the town, and the producers of food find themselves
best remunerated when they adapt their management to the
varied wants of the great communities which are growing up
with such rapidity amongst them.

In the northern division of the county this influence is not
directly felt, on account of the unusual number of the nobility
who have made that picturesque part of the county their
residence. Near Worksop, the district called «the Dukery”
is occupied by the seats of the Dukes of Newcastle and Port-
land, and the Earl Manvers and Earl of Scarborough; Clumber
Norrs. ] DUKE OF PORTLAND’S ARRANGEMENTS. 199

Park, Welbeck Abbey, Thoresby Park, and Rufford Hall, being
all within the compass of a few miles. The land in the county
is chiefly in the hands of large proprietors, who possess great
influence, letting their farms from year to year at moderate
rents.

Some of the proprietors are very wealthy, while others are
heavily embarrassed. On the estates of the latter the rents are
usually higher than on those which are free, and drainage and
other permanent improvements proceed very slowly. Still, even
where the pressure on the landlord is understood to have been
very great, no unfair competition to raise the farmers’ rents has
been encouraged. It is thought that if no deduction of rent
can be made at present, the farmers must fall into arrear, and
that this will compel the sale of such encumbered properties.

The Duke of Portland has lately made an arrangement with
his tenants, to meet the change of circumstances caused by free
trade. For this purpose his Grace’s tenants were divided into
three classes, the high-rented, who are tenants of newly pur-
chased estates, the fairly-rented, and the under-rented, who
occupy the old hereditary property on the easiest terms. The
whole estates were to be revalued, and one half of the rents to
be commuted into a corn rent, taking 56s. a quarter as the basis.
This half is to fall with the average price of wheat, however low,
but is limited in its rise to 64s. per quarter. The effect of the
valuation was to lower the high-rented land 10 per cent, after
which the corn rent comes into play. The low-rented tenants
prefer to remain as they are without a new valuation. To the first
two classes the modified rent this year is equal to a reduction of
14 per cent, giving a benefit to the second class to that amount
only, and to the first class a total reduction from their original
rents of 24 per cent. The Duke’s rents are payable six months
after they become due. The tenants are said to be well satisfied
with these arrangements, and continue to farm with confidence.

But the Duke of Portland, besides treating his tenants in this

way, has for many years back been carrying on vast improve-
o 4
200 TENANT RIGHT. [Norre.

ments on his various estates. While he is one of the largest, he
is also one of the best landlords in the kingdom. Long before
Mr. Parkes, before even Mr. Smith of Deanston, he was an
energetic tile drainer, having the entire work done systematically,
and at his own cost, and then charging a moderate per centage
on the outlay.

Few of the other great proprietors of Nottinghamshire have
had the same means at their disposal, or the same taste for
agricultural improvement. Where they have assisted their
tenants in drainage, it has been by the landlord finding the
tiles, and the tenant the labour. But those who are encum-
bered, excuse themselves from making any outlay, on the ground
that their lands are low-rented, and as they ask no increased
rent, their tenants reap the sole benefit if they choose to make
the outlay. For the same reason farm buildings are imperfect
and incommodious; though in North Nottinghamshire they
are on the whole more substantial than is common in the eastern
counties.

In the northern division of the county there is a system of
tenant-right similar to that of Lincolnshire. It has been longer
in operation, however, and embraces a greater varicty of allow~ _
ances; and yet there is no uniformity established, different
estates, and sometimes even adjoining farms, having different
allowances. The custom is determined by the award of
allowances paid for at the preceding entry, for evidence of
which, the tenants carefully preserve the written awards be-
tween them and their predecessors. Where such award can-
not be had, the arbiters fix the allowances with as much equity
as they can from the custom of the estate or the neighbourhood.
Being themselves farmers, they examine each field, and weigh
such evidence as is laid before them in reference to its manage-
ment, and form their conclusions accordingly. The award is
settled by two payments at intervals of some months, so that
any accidental mistakes or deception may be rectified. The
new tenant having come into possession some months before
Notts.] PROPORTION OF CAPITAL ABSORBED BY IT. 201

the last payment is due, may become aware of any unfairness
on the part of his predecessor, if such there were, and speedily
reports it to his arbiter, who takes care to have the matter
adjusted before the final settlement. Formerly it was the cus-
tom for the outgoing and incoming tenant to adjust these
matters without the interference of the landlord; but on account
of the great increase in the use of artificial manures and food,
the allowances have been every year increasing, and for his
own protection the landlord finds it necessary to appoint a re-
presentative to guard him against excessive liabilities. The
awards are made, as in Lincolnshire, without specifying any of
the items of charge, the whole amount being set down in one
sum at the end. Some experienced valuers attempted to in-
troduce the particulars, but these were so much discussed, that
it was found better, or at all events more convenient, to revert to
the old plan. In North Nottinghamshire, buildings erected by
the tenant, if not claimed by the landlord as fixtures, are in-
cluded in the valuation.

It is calculated that about one half the capital requisite for
the occupation of a farm, is paid by the incoming to the out-
_ going tenant for these allowances, 3/. to 5/. an acre being the
variable amount of valuations of tenant-right in North Notting-
hamshire. In this district, farms are from 300 to 500 acres in
extent, good turnip and stock land, chiefly on the red sandstone
formation.

In the south-eastern parts of the county, strong loams and
tenacious clays prevail, and farms do not exceed 300 acres in
extent, the best tracts being the Trent bank land and the Vale
of Belvoir. Between Newark and Nottinghamshire, on the rich
lands, the rents rise as high as 65s. an acre, ranging from 35s.
upwards. On the coldér and stiffer lands the tenants suffer
most from the low prices of corn. These lands require drainage,
farm buildings, and a greater application of capital and energy ;
and as these are plants of slow growth in such localities, the
prospect to both landlord and tenant is far from hopeful.
202 CONDITION OF LABOURERS. | [Norrs.

The position of the labourer is comparatively good. Wages
are about 10s. a week, and cottage rents from 2. 10s. to 51. a
year. A higher rate is paid by some of the great landlords to
the numerous people employed on their parks, woods, and farms,
2s. to 4s. a week being given above the common rate of wages.
But the men have to walk considerable distances to their work.
Both the Duke of Newcastle and the Duke of Portland have
established garden allotments, near towns and villages, for the
accommodation of the inhabitants. They appear to be cultivated
with great care, and are much appreciated by the artizans and
tradesmen, as well as the labourers. The Duke of Newcastle
has about 2000 such allotments on his estates.

The rule among the large proprietors throughout the county
has been to diminish cottages, and to drive the labouring popu-
lation into villages and towns; thus obliging them to walk un-
necessary distances to their work, and exposing them to the
temptations of the beer-houses, and the greater expense of living
in towns, while the rate-payers of such towns are unjustly bur-
dened with the support of persons who have no claim upon them.

Game is not preserved to any very injurious extent, and does
not form matter of complaint by the farmers.
203

LET TER XXV.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE — continued.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF LAND IN THE COUNTY — DETAILS OF MANAGEMENT OF
A LIGHT LAND FARM NEAR WORKSOP'— PECULIAR AND PROFITABLE MODE
OF GROWING POTATOES — RENT — CLUMBER — WELBECK — CLIPSTONE FARM-~
ING AND FAMOUS WATER MEADOWS DESCRIBED—SHERWOOD FOREST—
DEFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF CLAY SOILS—EXCEPTION TO THIS—MR.
PARKINSON'S FARM AT LEYFIELDS—RENT AND PRODUCE OF LAND NEAR
NOTTINGHAM—MR, PAGET'S FARM—USE OF “SHODDY” AS MANURE—
INCREASING WHEAT CROPS — LARGE RETURNS FROM DAIRY.

Norrinenam, May, 1850.

Tue farming of the northern division of Nottinghamshire is in
many respects superior to that in the southern part of the county.
The land is of a lighter character, less expensive to till, and
better adapted for green crops and stock; while it happens to
be pitched at a considerably lower scale of rent. Much of the
land being of a light sandy nature, two corn crops in succes-
sion can seldom be taken with advantage; and to prevent this
the chief restriction is imposed on the farmer by his landlord,
who does not generally insist on the exact observance of a four
or five course, which are the common rotations followed in
the district.

On a well-managed farm, 500 acres in extent, within a short
distance of Worksop, the following details there practised may
be taken as an example :— The whole manure is applied to the
turnip crop, which comes every fourth year on the best, and
every fifth on the lighter part of the farm. Five cwt. rape-dust,
3 ewt. guano, and 10 loads of well rotted dung are all laid in
open drills, 28 inches wide, which are then covered by the
plough, and the seed sown. Swedes are sown in the middle of
204 FARMING NEAR WORKSOP. [Norrs.

May, and grown in the proportion to yellow and white turnips
of 70 acres of the former to 40 of the latter. The crop seldom
falls much short of 30 tons an acre. White turnips are sown
on all the inferior sandy land, on which the sheep are first
placed ; and the turnips being thus consumed early, the land is
prepared and sown with wheat. As many bushels an acre of
wheat, of good quality, can be got on this description of land as
of barley, for which it is not good enough. On the lightest
blowing sand rye is taken. A breeding flock of 400 Leicester
ewes is kept on this farm, the produce of which is fattened off
on it at a year old, generally before going to grass the second
spring. They each get half a pound of oilcake daily, along
with turnips, which are all taken up before the fold and given
to them cut, in boxes. Besides the sheep, 30 cattle are fattened
every winter, the heifers tied up in stalls, the bullocks fed loose
in courts. They receive 4b. of oilcake daily, and swedes.
The other crops are cultivated in the usual manner, except that
in breaking up the light inferior land which has been two years
in grass, instead of sowing it with oats, a different plan has been
adopted with success for the last year or two. It is broken up
in August, and well knocked about, and then sown with white
turnips, which are eaten off by sheep, and the land planted in
spring with potatoes, without manure. Good sound crops are
got, worth three times as much as the oat crop for which they
are substituted. The land is then fallowed for turnips in its
usual place in the course. Much of this farm is alight poor
sand, requiring a large expenditure in manures and cake to keep
it in a productive state. It is let at 30s. an acre, inclusive of
tithe, and with present prices it is said not to pay. The
average rent of similar land in the neighbourhood does not
exceed 20s. an acre.

. Passing through the Duke of Newcastle’s park at Clumber,
where his grace holds a very large and neatly-managed farm,
we proceeded through a finely-cultivated tract to Welbeck, the
residence. of the Duke of Portland. Going on some miles
Norts.] CLIPSTONE FARM. 205

farther through an undulating light land country, the great
feature of which is the extensive woods planted by the present
Duke, we reached Clipstone Park, remarkable for its water-
meadows, the most gigantic improvement of its kind in England.
These, extending to 400 acres, are held in conjunction with an
arable farm of upwards of 2,000 acres, and comprise together
one of the home farms of the Duke of Portland. The arable
land is chiefly a light sandy tract, formerly part of Sherwood
Forest, which could only be kept in cultivation by a large outlay
in manures, or an equivalent, such as is afforded by the produce
of the water-meadows. It is cultivated in a seven course, lying
four years in pasture, though during the two latter years the
pasture greatly deteriorates. Nearly 300 acres are each year
in turnips; and as a large stock of cattle and horses are kept
constantly in the yards, summer and winter, chiefly on the
produce of the meadows, sufficient manure is made to admit of
an application of 30 tons to each acre. No artificial manure is
purchased, but with this dressing of good dung, great crops of
turnips are grown, 40 tons an acre of swedes being reckoned
not uncommon. On some heavier land, where beans are
cultivated, we may mention that three rows are sown pretty
close to each other, with a wider interval at every third row to
admit the horse hoe. After the beans have flowered, men are
sent along these wider intervals with hooks, with which, taking
the three rows at a blow, they very speedily and cheaply shear
off the tops of the beans. This prevents the aphis from effecting
a lodgment; and is found to protect the crop from the total
destruction which, in some seasons, has overtaken it through the
devastating attacks of this insect.

The water-meadows extend about seven miles in length along
the sloping bank of a valley, through the bed of which runs the
little river Mann, its opposite bank for a considerable part of
the way rising abruptly from the stream, covered with woods,
some of recent, some of older date. The road winds along the
valley, and nothing can be more refreshing to the eye than the
206 WATER MEADOWS. (Norts.

constant succession of green meadows glistening with the trick-
ling water, or covered with flocks of ewes and lambs browsing
on the luxuriant herbage. Formerly this rich and beautiful
tract was a succession of barren hill sides, covered with gorse
and heath; the bottoms a swamp of rushes, the haunt of the
snipe and the wild duck. By catching the stream as it leaves
the town of Mansfield, charged with the whole sewerage of
the place, and confining its waters within a new bed at a higher
level along the hill sides, the means of irrigating this extensive
tract were obtained. The ground was then thoroughly under-
drained, cleared of inequalities, and laid out in the most perfect
manner for letting on and taking off the enriching waters.
These, after flowing over the surface of one side of the valley,
are received into a brook, from which, some miles farther down,
they are passed over meadows on the opposite side of the valley.
At all seasons of the year the waters are laid on the meadows
with the best effect. The flock of South-down ewes, beginning
to lamb in October, is immediately placed on the rich grass; at
Christmas the lambs are ready for the market, and continue to
be sent off during the early months of spring at the period when
they fetch the highest price. As one meadow is eaten bare, the
flock is transferred to another, the water being then laid on to
the first. When the clovers and pasture of the adjoining farm
are ready, the flock is removed to them, and the meadows shut
up for hay, or mown in succession for forage to the horses and
cattle which are kept in the farm-yards during the summer.
Two cuttings are yielded in the season, besides what remains to
be pastured with sheep and cattle in the autumn. The annual
value of the produce is estimated at from 102 to 122 an acre,
and the whole expenditure from first to last has exceeded
40,0002 This great and expensive agricultural improvement is
justly regarded as the pride of Nottinghamshire, unrivalled
as a work of art in irrigation, and in its cost worthy of the libe-
rality of a wise and patriotic nobleman,

Crossing the county from the town of Mansfield towards
Norrs.] COURSE OF CROPS. 207

Southwell we pass for some miles through an open heath, part
of the ancient forest of Sherwood, still unenclosed. It isa suc-
cession of undulating eminences, covered with short heath and
shorter grass, here and there some furze bushes, and occasionally
a stunted oak. Beyond this a tract of very light sandy land
has been enclosed from the forest, divided into small fields by
very thriving thorn hedges.

A few miles farther on we reach a district of clay soils, the
system on much of which has hitherto been two crops and a fal-
low. The land, which is imperfectly drained, undergoes a naked
summer fallow, on which wheat is sown, in the autumn, This
is followed by beans, sometimes drilled, sometimes broad cast,
but very frequently, as we were told, so foul at harvest,
that it is difficult to say whether the beans or the weeds are
the strongest. Very little stock is kept; and of course very
little manure is made, and that of inferior quality. Even here,
however, we found an instance of well-managed clay land,
some details of which we give, as they exhibit a rational me-
thod of dealing with this difficult kind of soil, which may pos-
sibly be instructive.

The farm of Mr. Parkinson, of Leyfields, on the estate of the
Earl of Scarborough, contains about 300 acres of clay land, 70
of which are in meadow and permanent pasture. The rest of
it is divided into 16 fields, as nearly of equal size as possible,
which are managed in two six courses and a four, thus,—(1)
turnips, (2) barley, (3) clover, (4) wheat; then (1) turnips, (2)
barley, (3) Italian rye grass and white clover pastured, (4) ditto,
(5) oats, (6) wheat ; then (1) turnips, (2) barley, (3) Italian rye,
grass, and white clover, cut for hay and feeding and then dunged,
(4) ditto pastured, (5) oats, (6) wheat. Of the 16 fields there
are thus, annually, three in turnips, five in clover and pasture,
three in wheat, three in barley, and two in oats. The farm was
first thoroughly drained with tiles, and then divided_by hedge~
rows into square fields of nearly equal size. Immediately after
the wheat is reaped, the ground is slightly stirred to encourage
208 WELL MANAGED CLAY LAND. (Norrs-

the vegetation of annual weeds, and in that state it is left till the
wheat sowing is completed. The dung of the previous winter,
which has been all kept for the purpose carefully covered with a
layer of earth, is then laid on the ground at the rate of 20 loads
an acre, and ploughed in. In this state the land remains un-
touched till the spring seed time is completed, when the first
favourable weather is seized for cross-ploughing. It must be
remarked that the soil is of that stiff clayey nature that the
utmost caution is necessary to prevent it being “poached,” or
becoming cloddy in spring, the whole success of the turnip
crop depending on this. It is, therefore, ploughed with two
horses in length, to prevent the tender surface soil being trodden.
After lying exposed for some time, it is again ploughed in a
contrary direction, the horses still walking in line; and if the
weather is favourable, and when the ground has become dry
enough to bear them, it is well harrowed, and, if necessary, rolled.
But great care is taken not to put the horses on the land to har-
row it until it has become dry below; as, however fine they
might make the surface with the harrow, they would do great
injury by fastening the ground beneath. This preparation is
usually sufficient, though occasionally a fourth furrow is given.
When this is accomplished, as early in May as possible, the land
is drawn into ridges 27 inches apart, on the top of which the
turnip seed is sown with a drill, which at the same time deposits
beneath it a layer of ashes, soaked in liquid, at the rate of 20
quarters an acre. The seed falling upon this moist bed springs
at once; and the chief difficulty in clay land, that of getting the
small seed of the turnip to vegetate, is thus completely obviated.
This is followed by a vigorous growth, the thread-like roots
penetrating through the now loose and tender land, and finding
in every part of it the nourishment which was laid on in the
shape of dung during the previous autumn. In the autumn the
turnips are taken up and removed for consumption in the yards,
dry weather or frost being chosen for taking them off the ground.
The barley is sown in spring, the same care in ploughing dry
Norrs.] MODE OF BURNING HEDGE BANKS. 209

being exercised. Clover and other seeds are sown in the usual
manner, red clover coming only once in 16 years, and never
missing a plant. The red clover is mown once or twice, as may
be necessary. One field of Italian rye grass and white clover is
pastured both first and second year, the other is cut for soiling
and hay the first year, and, after getting 10 loads an acre of
dung, is pastured the second year. Wheat is sown after red
clover, the land being ploughed deep by three horses, with a
plough provided with a broad skim, which shears off the entire
surface, turning it into the bottom of the previous furrow, where
it is covered up by the advancing plough. The ground is then
harrowed and the wheat seed sown by the drill. Where the
land has been down two years in grass it is ploughed in spring
with the same three-horse plough, and sown with oats. In au-
tumn it is again ploughed, and turns up very mellow, the roots
of the grasses now decayed being brought up again to afford
nourishment to the wheat, which is then drilled in the usual
manner. Under this mode of management the land is kept very
clean, and all the heavy operations are performed at the season
when least injury can be done to this tender soil. No artificial
manure whatever is purchased, and the crops average 20 to 30
tons of swedes, 40 bushels of wheat, 40 bushels of barley, and 64
bushels of oats per acre. No turnips but swedes are sown except
on the headlands, and a small portion on the ground where tares
for the horses had been grown.

The burnt ashes are prepared by digging up the corners of
fields, and close to the roots of the hedges where the plough
cannot work —the sods, full of vegetable matter, taken from
which, after being dried in the sun, are burnt in large heaps
with the trimmings of hedges to keep them on fire. By close
attention these heaps are burnt completely through, and the
ashes are then drenched with liquid from the manure tanks.
In this manner no waste ground is lost, and the hedge trimmings
are well worth the cost of keeping the hedges in order.

A flock of 200 Leicester ewes is kept on the farm, the produce

P
210 TRENT VALE. (Norts.

of which is sent off to another farm as soon as they are weaned.
About 50 cattle are fed fat during the winter, each receiving
Alb. of oil-cake daily, and swedes. A few cows and eight to ten
work horses are also kept on the farm. The whole liquid from
the feeding yards and houses is carefully caught and preserved in
tanks. Watering places for the stock are provided in every field
by a simple arrangement of the main drains, and several of the
meadows are irrigated in winter by a small stream which runs
along the bottom of the farm. The whole of these improvements
have been executed by the tenant at his own cost, though he has
no lease, and holds only from year to year; yet he would rather
be so than under a lease, his rent being fairly and moderately
charged,—such is the mutual confidence here subsisting between
landlord and tenant.

In the neighbourhood of Nottingham much of the land is in
pasture for supplying the town with dairy produce; and the ad-
vantage of water carriage for manure is enjoyed by the farmers
on both banks of the Trent. The best land here lets high, from
21. up to 42. an acre. Beyond the immediate influence of the
town the rents vary from 35s. to 45s. an acre, inclusive of tithe.
The land, being naturally rich, yields large crops; but the ma-
nagement generally cannot be commended either for neatness or
industry. On many estates there are no restrictions as to crop-
ping, and we had great difficulty in ascertaining what the usual
course of husbandry was. On one large farm which we visited
we found it common to take turnips, barley, seeds, wheat, oats,
wheat (manured). ‘The wheat was said to average 40 bushels
an acre, oats often 80 bushels, and barley when grown between
the two wheat crops, which it often is instead of oats, as much
as 65 bushels an acre. The whole of the work horses, 20
in number, are under the charge of one man, the waggoner,
who feeds them all himself, and has a number of boys at 8d.
a day to clean them and work them in the fields in plough
or harrows, under his eye, he taking one pair of the horses,

and
obliging the boys to go the same pace as himself. This is
Notts. ] MR. PAGET'S FARM. 211

certainly the most short-sighted economy we have yet met
with.

It is pleasant to turn from such management to that of Mr.
Paget, of Ruddington Grange, four miles south of Nottingham,
who here farms about 300 acres of his own property. This farm
was all closely tiledrained many years ago, and has been for a
considerable period in a high state of cultivation. <A large dairy
stock is kept for supplying Nottingham with milk, 50 acres of
old grass surrounding the house affording them pasture in sum-
mer, and several water meadows at the lower part of the farm
yielding hay for them in winter. The rest of the land is kept
in a constant succession of crops; a green and white crop always
alternating in the following manner:—turnips; wheat and
barley ; clover and Italian rye grass (10lb. red, 4b. white, and 1
peck Italian); wheat; mangold wurzel: wheat; beans; wheat.
Every green crop except the clover is manured heavily — the

Turnips receiving 20 loads of dung and 15 cwt. shoddy per acre.
Mangold ” 24 ” ” 20 ” ”
Beans i 10 ,, 53 6 7 ”

The swedes average 24 tons an acre, the mangold 30 to 33, and
better crops of wheat are always got after the latter than the
former, especially if the mangold leaves are ploughed in for ma~
nure. The average crops of corn are 46 bushels of wheat, 65 to
68 bushels of barley, and 42 bushels of beans. Shoddy, the refuse
woollen rags of the shoddy cloth manufacture, costs about 40s. a
ton. The corn crops are all drilled and repeatedly hoed by
Garret’s horse hoe, which Mr. Paget holds in high estimation.
Nor has he ever observed that spring hoeing has been injurious
to his wheat crop, as we found it complained of in some parts of
Norfolk and Lincoln. When he first began to take wheat so
repeatedly off his land, he was told by experienced neighbours
that it could not last long, and that his crops would year by
year become less productive. ‘The very contrary has been the

case, the crops becoming more luxuriant from the continued
P2
212 INCREASING PRODUCE. [Norrts.

supply of manure; but now corrected in their tendency to
produce too much straw by being top-dressed with 2 cwt. of salt,
which is sown broadcast over the wheat in spring. In 15 years
one field has borne eight crops of wheat, none of which has been
less than 53 quarters an acre, and one year the average was 7
quarters. Neither the quantity nor the quality of the produce
has in the slightest degree fallen off.

Fifty cattle are annually fattened on this farm, and 150
barren ewes, bought in August, are sent off fat in March. The
principal stock, however, is from 48 to 50 cows, that number
being kept always giving milk, by fattening those which are
dry, and substituting others fit for the dairy. In winter they
each receive 4lb. of oil-cake daily, besides roots, swedes early in
the season, and mangold in spring. As soon as the grass is
ready they are turned out to pasture, and then receive no other
food. ‘The whole produce in milk and butter is sent daily to
Nottingham, and realises 1,100. a year. :
213

LETTER XXVI.
LEICESTERSHIRE.

DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF SOIL—HIGH-RENTED COUNTY —LARGE PROPORTION
IN GRASS— MANAGEMENT OF A MIXED ARABLE AND PASTURE FARM— LIME
USED TO KILL THE SLUG-——PRODUCE PER ACRE— MANAGEMENT OF LIGHT
LAND FARM—NO ARTIFICIAL MANURE USED — SIZE OF FARMS— NECESSITY
OF SUPERVISION IN DRAINAGE — MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY FARMS — SUB~
DIVISION OF PROPERTY -—-INSECURITY OF TENURE—ISOLATION OF LAND=-
LORDS — WANT OF GOOD UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THEM AND THEIR
TENANTS — MEN OF BUSINESS MAKE GOOD LANDLORDS.

LetcestEr, May.

THE county of Leicester is nearly equally divided by the lias
and sandstone formations, the former occupying the greater
portion of the eastern, the latter the western side of the
county. The coal formation exists to a considerable extent on
the west, and the clay slate on Charnwood Forest. Nearly
two-thirds of the county are in permanent pasture, the greater
proportion of which is on the lias formation, the corn lands being
chiefly on the sandstone. The quality of the pasture varies con-
siderably, being richest on the low grounds along the banks of
the rivers, and there devoted to the fattening of stock, or for
meadows; while on the higher and colder land it is better
adapted to the dairy and the production of cheese.

From a variety of circumstances this county has long been one
of the highest rented in the kingdom. Its proximity to large
manufacturing towns, the facilities of communication it has long
possessed, first by canals and good roads, and more lately by
railways in all directions, and the number of men ot fortune at~

tracted to it during the hunting season, have contributed to en-
Pr 3
214 HIGH RENT OF LAND. [Lxrcester.

hance its value. The mode of farming and the quality of the
land have had their influence, for where land is good enough to
maintain its quality in old grass, there can be no doubt that under
that system the largest share of the produce goes to the landlord.
Labour costs little, the risks of season are less, the competition
for land generally greater, and, though the gross produce may
be diminished, the net return to the landlord is relatively high.
We have accordingly found the pressure of rent more com-
plained of in this county than in any we have yet visited: 30s.
an acre, exclusive of tithes and rates, may be reckoned as an
average rent for medium soils of the county, and we have found
farms let at 35s. an acre, inclusive of all rates, certainly not
superior in quality to many we have visited in counties nearer
the metropolis and let at 25s. an acre. The neighbourhood of
towns and manufacturing villages greatly enhances the value and
rent of land; 4/. and 5/. an acre being quite common for good
pasture land in such situations. And the fact that these are
most numerous on the western side of the county has contributed
to bring up the rent of that, though inferior in quality, to a par
with the eastern, which is naturally more fertile.

The appearance of the county is picturesque, in so far as green
fields, small enclosures, numerous hedgerows, and a succession
of gentle eminences can make it. It possesses no bold outline
of hills, and the streams which flow through it are more like
navigable canals than rivers. On the eastern side, from Melton
Mowbray to Lutterworth, you may ride for many miles through
grass lands, a great proportion of which are laid up in the old
high-backed, crooked ridges which our forefathers adopted for
drainage. On the western side the pasture is chiefly applied
to dairying, and most farms have a portion under crop, so
that arable here divides the country more with pasture. In
various parts of the county tracts of fertile light turnip land
are met with, on which the style of farming is generally su-
perior.

The grazing farms of the best class are frequently held in
Letcest=R. | ARABLE MANAGEMENT. 215

conjunction with arable farms, on which the stock are wintered,
and then turned out to be fattened on the grass Jands in summer.
The stronger land, which is under the plough, is difficult to
manage, and, being high rented, the farmer has little encourage-
ment to farm it with spirit. But where well managed, the land
is first tile-drained, a drain being made in every furrow in the
hollow of the old high-backed ridges. These are scarcely ever
altered in form, as the labour of lifting off the surface soil,
levelling down the subsoil, and replacing the surface, is too costly
an operation for a tenant, and it is here thought that by no other
means can the levelling of these ridges be safely accomplished.
In many instances, where it has been attempted by the plough,
the farmer has found it necessary to return to the old form.
These ridges are of two breadths, the one being exactly double
the other, the narrowest usually in the worst land, so that,
practically, no great mistake is made in running the drains up
every furrow.

Commencing with a fallow (for which on this stiff land
five horses are not unfrequently used in ploughing the winter
furrow), the land, after being dunged in spring, and wrought
as well as circumstances admit, is partly ridged up and
sown with swedes, and part sown with tares for the horses.
When these are removed in autumn, the land is ploughed and
left to the influence of the frost of winter. In spring it is drilled
with barley, which, after being hoed, is sown out with clover
and grass. The following year, it is pastured or cut for forage
and hay. About the end of September it is ploughed with a
plough provided with a skim-coulter, which cuts the surface
clean off, and throws it into the bottom of the furrow. The day
before each piece of land is ploughed, newly slaked lime is sown
over it, at the rate of 5 ewt. an acre, to kill the slug, for which this
dressing is founda specific cure. Three horses draw each plough,
and two ploughs are followed by a presser drawn by one horse,
which consolidates the furrow, and prevents that hollowness

which is often injurious to the wheat plant. The field is then left
rp 4
216 OF HEAVY AND LIGHT LAND. [LercesTER-

for a few weeks to mellow with the weather. About the end of
October the sharp edges of the furrows are harrowed down, and
the wheat-seed drilled in across the land, and covered by the
harrows. Under this management the stiff ground works down
fine, more like a fallow than a clover lea. The wheat is hand-
hoed in spring. After the crop is reaped the land is ploughed,
and the following spring it is sown with beans, which are dibbled
and hand-hoed during the summer. As soon as these are removed
from the ground it is ploughed, and again sown with wheat.
The land is manured only once in the course, on the fallow di-
vision, partly with farm dung, and partly with manure from the
towns or manufacturing villages. No guano or other artificial
manure is used. The crops are very moderate, —three to three
quarters and a half of wheat, and from two to four quarters of
beans per acre. On some of the stiff inferior dairy farms in the
western part of the county the wheat crop after a bare fallow
frequently yields no more than 10 to 15 bushels an acre.

On a farm of the better description of arable land, suitable for
all green crops, and sound enough to feed them off with sheep, we
found the following mode of husbandry practised, the farmer
being a large holder of land, of great experience, and believed to
have been successful. Beginning with swedes, and other turnips,
the land is prepared for them by the application of 15 tons of
dung, either farm-yard or good dung from the stables at Melton
Mowbray, for which 5s. to 6s. a ton is paid, though it has to be
afterwards carted several miles. The turnips are partly eaten
on the ground; and partly drawn for consumption in the yards.
The land is then sown with barley and grass, and clover seeds.
These are pastured, and the following spring the ground is
ploughed, and sown either with oats or barley, or dibbled
with beans, according to the quality of the land and the taste
of the farmer. Whatever the crop, as soon as it is removed
the ground is ploughed and sown with wheat. There are thus
three corn crops and two green crops every five years, the wheat
always following a corn crop. The land is dunged only once,
Leicester.]| SUPERVISION OF DRAINAGE OPERATIONS. 217

and bones, guano, or any other artificial manure is unknown, the
farmer boasting that he never used an ounce of such in his life!
His wheat crops average four quarters, and his barley five quar-
ters anacre. He pays 22 an acre of rent, no tithe, and the
poor-rates are moderate. On both the farms just described
about half of the land is in old grass. A few cows are kept for
dairying, the produce of which is reared and sold off the grass
land in the second or third summer. A flock of Leicester ewes
is also kept, the produce of which are fed in winter on turnips
and oil-cake, and made fat at a year old.

A great portion of the inferior grass land of the county is
devoted to cheese-making. Dairy farms vary in size from 100
to 500 acres in extent, some having a large portion under the
plough, and some little more than affords a few turnips for the
stock in winter, and a few acres of wheat to help in making up
the landlord’s rent. A considerable outlay has, in many in-
stances, been made in drainage, but from want of supervision on
the part of the landlords or their agents, that outlay has been
very inefficiently made.

Where landlords give their tenants tiles for drainage without
exercising any supervision as to the mode in which the work is
executed, the tenant, often from ignorance of the true principles
of drainage, puts them in too shallow. His immediate interest
prompts him to do so, as, having to pay the expense of cutting
the drains, he naturally does it in the least costly manner. In-
efficiently done at the first, the drains fail of their proper effect ;
and instances were mentioned to us in this county where a
tenant, getting the tiles gratis, laid a new drain immediately over
the top of the first, the defects of which he thus expected to
remedy! The original defect was want of depth, and this was
no cure. In despair the man resigned his farm, and his suc-
cessor, on commencing operations, discovered first one row of tiles,
and then a second beneath it. By going considerably deeper
than the lowest he has drained the field. But how much disap-
pointment and waste of capital might have been saved by the

 

 
218 DAIRY MANAGEMENT. [LEIcESTER.

exercise of an intelligent supervision by the landlord, at the first,
in the outlay of his own money.

Stilton cheese is produced in some parts of the county, and it
varies extremely in quality according to the skill with which it
is manufactured. But the kind chiefly made is Leicester, a full
milk cheese, somewhat flat in shape, and varying from 30]b. to
50lb. in weight. The average yield of a dairy on moderate land
may be reckoned at 3 ewt. to 34 ewt., and, on better land, up to
41 cwt. and even 5 cwt. of cheese per cow. The cows under
ordinary management are wintered very poorly, receiving straw,
sometimes a few turnips, and being turned out to poach and
trample the rough pastures. Sufficient accommodation for housing
them comfortably and for saving the manure is seldom provided
by the landlord. The tenants themselves differ very much in
their estimate of the advantages of manure as applied to grass
land for dairying. One farmer assured us that by top dressing
his old pastures with good dung he for three years rendered his
cheese nearly unsaleable. Others again, believing that any in-
jurious effects may be rectified by attention in the process of
cheese-making, are adopting the system of house feeding on ar-
tificial grasses in summer as well as constant housing during the
winter. By this plan they can keep from double to treble the
stock on the same ground, the increased quantity of produce
greatly overbalancing any slight deterioration of quality. Ac-
curate trials show that warmth and care in feeding exercise a
most important influence in the secretion of milk. A herd of
cows to which water is usually supplied by pipes and troughs
in the cowhouse were, from an obstruction in the pipes, turned
out twice a day to be watered. Their milk instantly decreased,
and in three days the falling off became very considerable.
The pipes were mended, the cows received water in the cow-
house without being exposed to cold, and the flow of milk re-
turned. In another case the person who had the principal charge
of the herd was obliged to leave home for a couple of days; the
cows were placed under the care of a youth, with strict charge
LEIcesTer. | UNCERTAINTY OF TENURE. 219

as to their feeding. This he neglected; the yield of milk im-
mediately declined, and during the rest of the season it never
could be restored to its previous quantity. Where cows are
housed and abundantly fed they should be milked three times
a-day; the milking in the middle of the day being found to
increase the secretion of milk very materially.

The land in Leicestershire is more subdivided than in Notts.
There are considerable estates, as those of the Duke of Rutland,
Lord Stamford, Earl Howe, Lord Maynard, and Mr. Packe.
But the majority are small landholders or yeomen with 50
to 500 acres, which they generally occupy themselves. On the
heavy soils the farms extend from 50 to 300 acres, and from
150 to 500 on the lighter. The tenants almost invariably hold
from year to year; and from the frequent changes of property,
in a county where it is so much subdivided, they have not great
confidence in the permanence of such a tenure. The land is, in
consequence, imperfectly cultivated, and improvements make
slow progress. Some run the risk of uncertain tenure rather
than the certain loss attending bad farming in times of low
prices. Others are compelled, it is said by high rents, to exert
themselves; but many take merely what the land with ordinary
cultivation will produce, having no motive to increase its pro-
ductiveness, as they have no assurance that they will reap the
fruits of their improvements.

It is not uncommon on large estates to find the proprietor
letting his land on apparently moderate terms, with the distinct
understanding that the rents are so fixed, in order that the
landlord may be exempted from all outlay for improvements.
But a tenant, with no better security than a yearly tenure, will
not make a permanent improvement, from which he may never
be benefited; and the consequence is that estates where this prin-
ciple is adopted are negligently farmed, undrained, and without

‘adequate farm-buildings. Though let nominally low, they are
really high rented, and neither landlord nor tenant thrives by
them. On such estates the tenant has often three rents to pay;
one in money, another in feeding the game, and a third for the
220 LANDLORD AND TENANT. [LEICcESTER.«

support of the hedgerow timber. which is allowed to overspread
his fields.

It is to be regretted that hitherto the large proportion of land-
lords in Liecestershire have given little attention to the im-
provement of their estates. The fashion seems to have been,
that all intercourse with their tenants should be through the
medium of agents, This has arisen in part from an indisposition
to business, and in part from pecuniary embarrassments, which
compel them to turn a deaf ear to all claims for outlay on im-
provements. If the agents are competent men, with adequate
powers, there may be no great injury done; but if their qualifi-
catigns are judged of chiefly by their power of screwing out the
rents, and shutting the door against all appeals for necessary
outlays, there can be no progress under such management. This
isolation is naturally productive of distrust on the part of the
tenant; and there is certainly less sympathy between, the two
classes of Landlord and Tenant in Leicestershire than in any
county we have yet visited. This may be in some degree
attributed to the spread of opinion from the adjoining manu-
facturing towns. The farmers discuss the law of distraint, as
a means of bolstering up the landlord’s rent unfairly by in-
ducing undue competition, and look for relief and encourage-
ment to a statutory act on the subject of compensation for
unexhausted improvements, by which they may lay out their
capital with confidence and security.

The best landlords in the county are said to be capitalists from
the towns, who, having purchased estates, manage them with the
same attention to principles and details as gained them success
in business. They drain their land thoroughly, remove useless
and injurious timber, erect suitable farm buildings, and then let
to good tenants on equitable terms. Nominally these rents are
high; but farms provided with every facility for good cultivation
-can far better afford to pay a good rent, than can a dilapidated
estate any rent, however apparently moderate,
221

LETTER XXVII.

WARWICKSHIRE.

LETTING VALUE OI VARIOUS SOILS: — REMOVAL OF HEDGEROW TIMBER -—
TENURE— ADVANTAGE OF RESIDENT LANDLORDS — CONDITION OF LABOURER
—— IMPROVING FARMERS — CERTAIN LOSS IN FARMING STRONG LAND WITH
INADEQUATE CAPITAL — OLD-FASHIONED FARMER WHO PLOUGHS LITTLE,
MORE SUCCESSFUL——-COURSE OF CROPS, MANAGEMENT, AND PRODUCE OF
STRONG LAND — DEFECTIVE DRAINAGE — MANAGEMENT OF LIGHTER SOILS
— LIBERAL APPLICATION OF MANURES — MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCE OF
STOCK — MILKMEN IN BIRMINGHAM — REMISSNESS OF FARMERS OF SUR-
ROUNDING COUNTRY IN NOT TAKING UP THIS BUSINESS —.WASTE OF MANURE.

BirMIncHam.

From Leicester we enter Warwickshire, with its pleasant
undulating surface of hill and dale, its old castles of ancient
renown, its classic streams, its birthplace of Shakspeare, and its
modern hives of industry.

The red, deep, sandy loam in the centre of the county,
especially from Stratford by Wallesbourne to Warwick and
Coventry, is the most valuable tract of soil, as it is equally
adapted to turnip and bean culture. It lets at from 35s. to
45s. an acre. A second description, of a more sandy character,
on a subsoil of limestone, marl, or sandstone, brings from 25s. to
35s. The stiff clays, of which there is a considerable breadth
in Warwickshire, are let in some cases as low as 15s. Though
these figures mark the value at which experienced land-valuers
rate the different classes of soils in the county, the real rent
is regulated more by the views of individual landlords than by
the intrinsic quality of the soil. The valuations of a preceding
generation are often the basis on which the rent is fixed; so
that the stiff wheat soils which were then most valuable con-
tinue to bear a rent quite disproportioned to their comparative
value now. Other soils, again, which were then little esteemed,
222 HEDGEROWS— TENURE. [Warwick

remain at a rent extremely moderate, now that their convert-
ible qualities have been brought fully into play.

The fields are, in many parts of the county, too small, and
much encumbered with hedgerow timber. So anxious are the
farmers to have this injury abated, that on one estate, where no
one could be got to buy the trees, the tenant purchased them
himself, taking the risk of loss in selling them afterwards, in
order that he might be relieved from the injury caused to his
fields. Landlords are believed to be aware of the evil, and dis-
posed to remove it; but they have great difficulty in getting
purchasers of trustworthy character, and are, besides, reluctant
to believe that their estates can be improved by the removal of
objects which add so much to their picturesque beauty.

Farms are generally let from year to year; tenants, on the
large estates especially, being seldom disturbed in their holdings;
and a good understanding exists between the owner and oc-
cupier of the soil. The tenants do not appear to desire leases :
some even say that they would have nothing to do with a
landlord from whom such a security was necessary. They re-
gard compensation for unexhausted improvements as a matter
in which the legislature might justly interpose. But men of
great experience and intelligence—such as Mr. Chapman, Lord
Leigh’s agent—do not expect that any measure generally be-
neficial could be enacted, and believe that such matters ought
to be settled by private agreement between landlord and tenant.
Farm buildings are, for the most part, inadequate; and on
estates which are heavily encumbered or neglected by their
owners, they have been suffered to fall into such decay that
they cannot be repaired.

The presence of a large body of resident landlords secures an
outward neatness and order in ‘the appearance of the roads,
fences, gates, and buildings, which is not to be found in any dis-
trict where the landlords are chiefly absentees, Though the
tenants have given up the idea of a return to Protection, and
are bent on a reduction of rent as the only compensation, in their

~
Warwick.] LABOURERS— AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 223

opinion, adequate to the change of prices, the landlords are slow
to believe this. Few reductions of rent have been made, or
appear to be contemplated. The complaints of injury from
game are not numerous.

The condition of the labourer in Warwickshire is tolerably
good. In the south the rate of wages is 8s. a week, or 7s. with
beer. Northward wages, rise to 9s. Cottage rents are very
moderate; and on some estates the landlords pay much atten-
tion to the well-being of the labourers. Lady Leigh takes
the cottages under her immediate care. In some parishes the
law of settlement is taken advantage of to drive out labourers,
who are thus obliged to reside two or three miles from their
work,

The state of agriculture in Warwickshire is said to have un-
dergone a very great improvement within the last 30 years.
Men are still living who remember to have seen potatoes sown
broadcast over the ground like corn, and then ploughed in;
but such management as that has long gone out of fashion.
The larger farmers are now, on many points, on a par with
their brethren in the best cultivated counties, though on others
they seem to a stranger to adhere with undue pertinacity to an-
tiquated customs. Even on the best farms no great exertion
has been made to get rid of the inconvenience of the old-
fashioned high crooked ridges; while four or five horses in line,
in plough, or harrow, are in too many instances still considered
indispensable.

A large proportion of the county, however, is held by men of
a different stamp. Here there is little change and not much
progress. Where the land is drained it is not done deep enough;
too much of it is kept under the plough in comparison with the
capital employed by the farmer in its cultivation ; and, though
there appears on the whole a sufficient number of horses for its
management, they are applied with such a waste of power that
the work falls behind, the best seed time is lost, or, if taken ad-
vantage of, the crops are sown before the soil has been duly
224 INADEQUATE CAPITAL. ' [Warwick.

prepared for their reception. The consequence is, that they are
more expensive to hoe, that operation is imperfectly done, and
every succeeding crop makes the operation more difficult. As
the crops diminish in strength the weeds increase, till at last the
produce bears but a small ratio to the expense of production.
Each step in the downward progress accelerates the evil, and in-
creases the difficulty of restoring the land to fertility, especially
on the stronger red marl soils of this county. In fallowing, a
portion is intended for turnips; there is not time to get it suffi-
ciently cleaned, so the turnips are sown broadcast; they cannot
be hoed and wrought to advantage, and yield a scanty crop; the
stock to be fed by them are half-starved, and their dung is of
little value. After the turnips, the ground is sown with barley
and grass seeds, in foul condition. The barley is a failing crop,
and the seeds, growing up among twitch, are neither plentiful
nor nutritious. At every point the farmer finds himself beaten ;
year by year his land becomes more expensive and ‘less pro-
ductive; to meet his landlord he contracts his labour ; his stock
gradually follows, and by-and-by his ruin is complete. Such is
too often the current of events with the man who occupies stiff
Jand with too little capital, and too much under the plough.
The careful old-fashioned farmer ploughs less, runs fewer risks,
and employing little labour, and paying a low rent, manages to
get on even in bad times. But such farming as his keeps no
pace with the increase of population, nor his intelligence and en-
terprise with the progress of events around him. On a farm of
this description we found the turnip crop managed thus:— A
little manure was scattered over the surface, the turnip-seed was
sown broadcast over the ground, which was then ploughed up
into raised ridges 27 inches apart, the farmer arguing that in this
form he had more surface on which to grow his crop, as you could
stick more pins into a round pincushion than a flat one!

The soils throughout the county are very much interspersed,
almost every farm containing a variety. There are no uniform
tracts of clay or of turnip and barley land, as in the eastern
Warwicx.] COURSE OF CROPS. 225

counties. Even in one field you pass from the finest turnip and
barley land into the stiffest red marl. Farms differ, however,
in the proportions they contain of heavy and light soils, some
having so large a proportion of the former as to be called strong
or heavy land farms, and others being principally turnip and
barley farms.

On the strong soils the course of crops taken by the best
farmers is as follows: —(1) wheat, (2) beans, manured, (3)
wheat, (4) fallow, with a few turnips, (5) wheat or barley, (6)
seeds. The corn crops are all drilled from seven to nine inches
apart. They are hoed and kept clean. The beans are usually
dibbled in each furrow, the land having been previously dunged.
They come up in rows, eight inches or so apart, and are gene-
rally twice hand-hoed. The dibbling by hand costs 5s. an acre,
and each hoeing about 2s. 6d. Winter beans are now sown to
a considerable extent, though they have not been long intro-
duced into this county. After the bean crop is removed, the
land is ploughed, and, if possible, well cleaned before the fol-
lowing crop of wheat is drilled in. After the wheat crop the
ground is fallowed, many of the best farmers believing that on
these strong soils an occasional naked fallow is indispensable.
Part of this division is sown with swedes, and in some cases
with mangold wurzel, that plant, though of recent introduction,
being much approved for such soils. The fallow and turnips
are followed by wheat or barley, with which the land is sown
down with clover and seeds. On land of this description, well
managed, and rented at 35s. an acre, 30 bushels of wheat, 32 to
40 bushels of barley, and 30 bushels of beans are reckoned fair
average crops. Thirty-six bushels of beans are considered a
very heavy crop.

Much of this land, as already mentioned, still lies in high
crooked ridges or lands, in draining which the mode generally
followed is to place a tile drain in every furrow, at about 18
inches beneath the surface of the furrow, and that is believed to
be about 3 feet below the uniform surface, if the ground were

Q
226 DEFECTIVE DRAINAGE. [Warwics.

alllevelled down. The effect of this kind of drainage is, that
the water falling on the adjoining steep-sided lands runs rapidly
over the surface to the furrow, where it is at once carried off
by the shallow drains. But it is evident that much of the
benefit of drainage is thereby lost. If the ground were level,
and the drains not less than 3 or 4 feet in depth, the water
falling upon it, instead of washing over the surface, would sink
into and permeate the subsoil, assisting, by its action, and that
of the air which follows it, in the processes of decomposition
and nutrition, and then slowly passing off by underground
channels to the drain.

On the lighter soils the course of crops is, (1) wheat, (2)
peas, followed by white turnips, (3) barley or spring wheat, (4)
turnips, (5) barley, (6) seeds. The corn crops are drilled and
hoed, peas being treated in the same way as a white crop.
White turnips are usually sown after the peas, which ripen
early; they are manured with guano, and eaten on the ground
by sheep. They are followed by spring wheat or barley, prin-
cipally the former. The land is again cleaned and wrought for
turnips, farm manure and guano together being applied by the
best farmers, and the turnips drilled on the flat. Part of the
crop is drawn for consumption in the yards, and part eaten on
the ground, with cake, by sheep. The field is then sown with
barley, and clover and grass seeds.

Much difficulty is sometimes experienced in getting a plant
of turnips in the hot scorching weather of June,-and this has
been in great measure obviated by the mode of preparation
adopted by one of the best farmers in this county, who dungs
his stubbles and then ploughs them in autumn. The ground is
never again ploughed, but is worked in spring by grubber,
scarifier, roller, and harrow; and, as the land is kept quite clean
in all crops by careful hoeing, there is not found to be any
necessity for spring ploughing. ‘The moisture thus remains in
the land, and the seed, when sown, comes up at once. The
general practice is to sow swedes about the middle of June,
Warwick. ] MANAGEMENT OF STOOK. 227

from a fear of mildew if sown earlier; yet, on inquiry, we
found that the heaviest crops had been got by sowing early in
May. Many farmers manure their turnip crops liberally, using
three ewt. of guano in addition to 15 or 20 tons of good dung
per acre, and four or five ewt. of guano for white turnips, with-
out dung. Two cwt. of guano is also occasionally applied to
the wheat crop in spring, as a top dressing, though in this form
it has not been found so productive of grain as of straw. Our
experience would lead us to expect better results by harrowing
the guano in with the seed at the time of sowing, in autumn or
spring.

The management and products of cattle and sheep form a
large part of the Warwickshire farmer’s business. One-half of
the county at least is under permanent pasture, and that on the
river sides, and towards the east, being the richest, is used for
fattening ; westwards from Kenilworth it is principally under
dairy management, cheese being the chief product. Near the
towns the farmers make butter, but, even in the vicinity of
one of the large manufacturing towns, we found the grass
lands stocked with young cattle and sheep, just as if such a
market for dairy produce had been 100 miles distant. The
arable farms have also a considerable proportion of grass
land, and most farmers keep a mixed stock of dairy cows, young
cattle, and Leicester sheep. A calf is reared from each cow,
and kept till turned out fat at three years old, or, if a cow calf,
till fit for the dairy, the rest of the produce being made into
cheese. On most farms a stock of Leicester ewes is kept, the
produce of which is sold fat at a year or 15 months old. Cheese
has declined very considerably in price ; but we found, on inquiry
at one of the principal butter merchants in Birmingham, that
his price for butter to the farmers in the neighbourhood, by
whom he is supplied, is precisely the same as it was last year,
being from 10}d. to Is. 03d. per lb., according to quality. The
same dairy varies in quality from 1d. to 13d. in a week.

The chief supply of milk for the manufacturing towns is
a2
228 MILKMEN IN BIRMINGHAM. [Warwick.

provided by the cow-feeders within the towns. Birmingham,
for instance, with a population of 200,000 inhabitants, contains
within it, as we were informed, about 1,000 cows, and upwards
of 200 milkmen, some of whom keep from four to seven cows
each, and others from fifteen to twenty. Nine-tenths of the
milkmen are of the former class: having little means they keep
their cows wretchedly, and make a very sorry living by the
trade. The others find it their interest to feed well, which they
do on hay, grains, bran, and swedes in winter, and turn their
cows out in summer to pasture on the aftermath, in hay fields
near the town. Milk sells at 3d. a quart, the largest con-
sumption being in winter, the supply of vegetables in summer
being found to limit the demand for milk at that season. Within
a circle of two or three miles round the town the farmers send
in milk for sale; but we were surprised to learn that scarcely
any milk comes in by the railway from a greater distance, as
it does for thirty miles round Liverpool and Manchester.
Surely there is some great remissness here in the farmers of
Warwickshire and the adjoining counties. The supply of so
large a population with milk and other dairy produce, and with
early potatoes and other vegetables suited for field culture, might,
we should imagine, furnish very profitable occupation for the
farmers along the different lines of railway leading into Bir-
mingham.

The care with which the cow-feeders preserve the solid
manure from their cow-houses, to sell to the farmers, forms a
striking contrast to the waste of the far more valuable substance
which is daily carried away in the sewage of the town, and com-
paratively lost. for it is a somewhat singular consequence of
improved sanitary arrangements, that the most valuable proper-
.ties of nightsoil are now washed away, and the ashes collected
in the dust-carts, thus deprived of these, have lost their chief
value as a manure.
229

LETTER XXVIII.

STAFFORDSHIRE.

EXTENT AND DIVISION OF SOILS — MARLING IN SOME PARTS DISCONTINUED —
MINERAL AND MANUFACTURING WEALTH — PROPRIETORS AND TENANTS —
ARRANGEMENTS MADE, OR CONTEMPLATED, TO MEET REDUCTION IN PRICES
-—— TENURE — TENANTS DO NOT DESIRE LEASES —~ SMALL FARMERS ON COLD
CLAYS VERY POOR— BUILDINGS GENERALLY GOOD — CONDITION OF THR
LABOURERS — LORD HATHERTON’S EXPERIMENT.

Srarrorp, May 1850.

THE county of Stafford contains an area of 780,000 acres, of
which about 150,000 are said to be occupied by roads, woods, and
wastes; of 630,000 remaining, the larger portion is under the
plough. Gravelly and sandy soils, varying in strength, but
generally well adapted for green crop husbandry, are most
prevalent ; but there is a considerable quantity of heavy land in
different parts of the county, and the proportion between the
two is estimated, by persons qualified to give an opinion, as
being two-thirds of the former to one-third of the latter.

The practice of marling, which 60 or 70 years ago was carried
to a great extent, is now almost abandoned. Arthur Young
makes repeated mention of it, in his tour through the county, as
a great improvement to light soils; but it appears to have been
carried to injurious excess, rendering light useful soils over
tenacious, and less valuable in the modern system of agriculture.

The mineral wealth and resources of Staffordshire are of
national importance. Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall,
Newcastle-under-Lyne, and many other towns of importance

contain large populations, which draw their supplies from the
Q3
230 DRAINAGE WELL UNDERSTOOD. [Srarrorp,

adjoining district. The Potteries yield employment to a popu-
lation of more than 80,000, and the annual produce of the
manufactures there is estimated by Mr. M‘Culloch at 1,700,000/,
Canals and railways give communication to both seas, and to all
parts of the country. The county is watered by broad streams
and rivers; the Trent, after traversing its centre, with its
tributary the Dove, dividing it from Derbyshire on the east,
while the Severn touches its south-western boundary. The
banks of all the rivers abound in rich pastures and irrigated
meadows, those in the Trent valley being liable to summer as
well as winter floods, The climate is rather cold and damp, the
high grounds arresting the moist vapours from the Irish Sea,

Much of the land in the county requires drainage to render
it fruitful, and the benefits of this improvement are fully ap-
preciated. The work is generally well done; the experience
acquired in the mining operations of the district having, proved
very valuable in this respect, The landlord usually supplies
tiles, and the tenant puts them in; and where a landlord is so
fortunate as to have a good class of tenants, he may do so in
this county with safety; as both tenants and labourers are very
skilful in dealing with water under ground,

The small size of fields, and prevalence of hedgerow timber,
is still much complained of in many parts of the county, es-
pecially in the neighbourhood of Trentham, But this evil is
expected to be gradually abated, as the more intelligent land-
lords and farmers are fully alive to the loss they occasion,

A considerable proportion of the soil is held by large pro-
prietors; the Earl of Lichfield, Lord Willoughby, Earl Talbot,
the Earl of Harrowby, Lord Bagot, Lord Hatherton, Sir Robert
Peel, the Marquis of Anglesea, and Lord Stafford being the
chief. There are a considerable number of the class of yeomen
proprietors also, cultivating their own land, Several of the
principal landlords have done much for the advancement of
agriculture, Lord Hatherton and the late Earl Talbot having
been enthusiastic farmers. There has been no encouragement
Staryorp.] LANDLORDS’ ARRANGEMENTS WITH TENANTS. 231]

given by the proprietors to excessive competition for land; and
the tenantry, sensible of the fair and liberal treatment which
they have received, speak of them with every feeling of respect.
Very many, however, are heavily embarrassed ; and the owners
of cold clays especially, where there is most necessity for a
reduction of rents, will be very hard pressed,

As yet few reductions have been made, though several are
now promised. Earl Talbot proposes to commute his rents,
one-half into a corn rent calculated on the basis of 60s. a
quarter for wheat; the other, which is to be a fixed money rent,
being reduced 124 per cent.; and the whole reduction being
estimated by the current rate of prices at about 25 per cent.
The Duke of Sutherland’s tenants have long had corn rents
determined by the average prices for the three preceding years ;
and though their farms are small, and principally of cold difficult
soil, they are making less complaint than others in the county,
Lord Hatherton’s estate is peculiarly circumstanced, and he has
announced no intention to make a reduction, In 1813 his
estate was valued, and let at 5 per cent, below the valuation.
In 1816, 15 per cent. was taken off the rents. In 1821, 10 per
cent, more was taken off, and in 1835 a further reduction of 10
per cent, was made; making altogether a reduction of 35 per
cent. below the letting, and 40 per cent. below the high
valuation of 1813. But rents are not exorbitant by any means,
the present average of arable land throughout the county being
from 26s. to 288. an acre. ‘Tithe, where it exists, is seldom
more than 5s. an acre, and the extent of titheable land is not
great. Poor rates also are moderate, the labourers being fully
employed,

The tenantry hold chiefly on yearly tenures, and prefer to do
so. Several of the large landlords are ready to give leases, but
the tenants do not desire them. They know that at each re-
newal of a lease their farms would be revalued, and the rent
increased; a course which is very seldom taken with ycarly

tenants. Great care is used by the best landlords in their
q4
232 CONDITION OF LABOURERS. [SraFFoRD.

choice of tenants, men being looked out for who will carry out
improvements vigorously. One landlord encourages his tenants
to travel to the best farmed districts for information, sometimes
paying their expenses himself to induce them to go. He finds
himself amply repaid in the improved cultivation which is in-
troduced on his estate, and in the good understanding which
exists between himself and his tenantry. There is, however, a
large class of tenants, with small holdings and little capital,
chiefly located on the stiff clay soils, who are said to be worse
off at present than the agricultural labourers.

Farm buildings are erected by the landlord, and many estates
are very well provided with substantial and suitable accommo-
dation of this kind. They are generally superior to any we
have yet met with in other parts of the country.

The labourers’ wages are from 9s. to 10s. a week, and at
task-work, which is much resorted to, they earn more. Cottage
rents are about 3/. 10s., with a good-sized garden. For many
years there has not been an able-bodied pauper in the Penkridge
union. Lord Hatherton is carrying out an interesting experi-
ment at Teddesley, for improving the industrial training of the
agricultural labourers, and superseding. the employment of
females in the field, except during harvest time. He has a
gang of about 30 boys, between the ages of 10 and 14, under
the charge of a steady labourer, who works with them, and
teaches them all the different kinds of light work on a farm, —
hand-weeding, hoeing corn and roots, haymaking, picking couch
or stones. They are paid 6d. a day each, and some, qualify
themselves by this systematic training for taking service with
the neighbouring farmers, who are glad to have such disciplined
lads. The 3s. carried home at the week’s end by each boy is a
very useful help to the labourer’s family; while the boy is
kept from idleness, and brought up to industrious habits. If
any plan could be devised by which his education in other
branches could at the same time be attended to, the system
would be followed with advantages of still greater importance.
233

LETTER XXIX.
STAFFORDSHIRE, continued.

CLIMATE AND ELEVATION OF COUNTRY — MR. HARTSHORNE'S FARM— GRAZING
OF PIGS — MANUFACTURE OF CONCENTRATED MILK — MR. LEWIS'S FARM
— MANUFACTURE OF SUPERFHOSPHATE OF LIME FOR MANURE — LORD
HATHERTON'’S IMPROVEMENTS AT TEDDESLEY —SKILFUL APPLICATION OF
DRAINAGE WATER — EKPENSE AND PROFIT OF THIS IMPROVEMENT -—
DETAILS OF MANAGEMENT OF LARGE ARABLE FARMS — INCREASING CROPS
— EFFECTIVE AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS — CANNOCK CHASE, ITS CAPA-
BILITIES UNDEVELOPED.

Starrorp, May 1850.

THE state of agriculture in Staffordshire is influenced by such a
variety of circumstances, that examples of every system pursued
in England may be found in this county. The soil, as already
mentioned, varies from a light blowing sand to the stiffest and
most obdurate clay; the altitude comprises the level low lying
lands along the beds of the principal rivers, and ascends by
degrees to an elevation of 700 feet at the highest point of
Cannock Chase, while the climate of course changes with the
altitude and exposure. The dense population in the “black”
or iron country around Wolverhampton on the one side, with
that of the Potteries on the other, offers a constant home
market for every kind of agricultural produce. We were
therefore prepared to find the farmers generally an active and
intelligent class, and, judging from those we met, we certainly
were not disappointed.

On Earl Talbot’s estate, after a brief glance at that fine old
English mansion, Ingestre Hall, we visited the farm of Mr.
Hartshorne, of Brancott. This gentleman, who holds largely
under Lord Talbot, has completely removed all straggling fences
234 CONCENTRATED MILK. [Srarrorp.

and laid his arable farm into four fields of about 100 acres each.
The land is a fine turnip and barley soil, and all has been drained
that required it. His system is the four-course, applying all
the dung of the farm, except what is needed for his mangold
wurzel, to the seeds, and using artificial manures for his turnip
crop. He has extensive farm buildings, which include feeding
houses, with a railway in front for wheeling in the food, a steam
engine for thrashing, &c., and extensive yards for feeding swine,
A tank is being constructed to collect the liquid manure, and a
field adjoining the tank is in course of preparation for being
sown to grass, for the purpose of being dressed with the liquid,
as each cutting is removed, for consumption, to the farm buildings.
A stock of 200 pigs is kept on this farm. They are cheaply fed
on roots in winter and on clover in summer, receiving little or
no meal until they are finally put up to fatten. They are driven
out every morning, and folded on the clover like sheep, return-
ing in the afternoon to the farm yard, where they remain during
the night well littered with straw. They eat the clover very
bare, and in the following wheat crop the benefits of the pig fold
are readily recognised by its superior luxuriance.

On the next farm to this we examined a process which has not
yet spread among the agricultural community — the manufacture
of concentrated milk. Mr. Moore, who has a license from the
patentee, has fitted up an apparatus by which he manufactures
annually the produce of about 30 cows, The milk, as it is
brought from the dairy, is placed on a long shallow copper pan
heated beneath by steam to a temperature of about 110 degrees,
A proportion of sugar is mixed with the milk, which is kept in
constant motion by persons who walk slowly round the pan,
stirring its contents with a flat piece of wood, This is con-
tinued for about four hours, during which the milk is reduced to
one-fourth its original bulk, the other three-fourths having been
carried off by evaporation. In this state of consistency it is
put into small tin cases, the covers of which are then soldered
on, and the cases and their contents are placed in a frame
Srarrorp.] MR. LEWIS’ FARM, 235

which is lowered into boiling water. In this they remain a
certain time, and after being taken out, hermetically sealed,
and duly labelled, the process is complete. The milk thus
prepared keeps for a lengthened period. It supplies fresh
milk every morning on board ship, and may be sent all over
the world in this portable form. The process seems very
simple, and might probably be adopted with advantage in
districts remote from markets. The expense and profits we
had not an opportunity of learning.

The farm of Mr, Lewis, of Groundslow, on the estate of the
Duke of Sutherland, near Trentham, offers a good example of
the four-course system of husbandry. Mr Lewis for some time
cultivated it under a five-course—that is, two years in grass,
but has been much more successful under the four-field. He
plants every year from 10 to 20 acres of potatoes, which he
finds a very paying erop. He sows mixed rye grass and
clovers with Italian rye grass, and never misses a plant. In
sowing his wheat he always harrows in with the seed two tons
an acre of newly slaked lime, which he finds conptetely to
prevent the attack of grub or wireworm, besides materially
benefiting the crop itself. Much of the land is of a light sandy
nature, but has been greatly improved by marling, many
thousand loads of marl having been carted to the farm by Mr.
Lewis. His thorn hedges are a perfect fence, and yet, being
kept with much care and neatness, occupy very little ground.
His farm is divided into two sets of four fields each, one of the
upper and lower divisions being every year in the same kind of
crop. His farm buildings are very commodious and handsome,
comprising a barn with water power and thrashing machinery,
feeding houses with passage in front, convenient root houses,
steaming house, stables, yards, &c. Part of Mr. Lewis’s farm,
now under excellent crops, was uninclosed common when he
commenced operations; and on the other side of the fence there
still remains a tract of 500 acres of land of precisely the same
character, entirely waste and unproductive.
236 MANUFACTURE OF SUPERPHOSFHATE. [SrTaFrorp.

Mr. Wood, a tenant of Lord Hatherton’s, near Penkridge,
conjoins with his business as a farmer the manufacture of super-
phosphate of lime. He purchases bones from collectors in
Wolverhampton and Lichfield. These he boils by placing
them in a perforated cylinder, which is then lowered into a great
cauldron of boiling water. After remaining there a sufficient
time they are hoisted up, the water draining off through the
holes in the cylinder, and laid out to dry. The fat which has
been boiled out of the bones is then skimmed off the surface of
the boiling water, and placed in barrels, in which it is sent to
the soap boilers. The bones yield about a twentieth of their
weight in fat, and that sells at about 252. a ton. After being
boiled, the bones are easily ground by the crushing mill; when
crushed they are carried to a large wooden trough, into which
10 bushels at a time are thrown. Upon these, previously
moistened with water, a carboy of sulphuric acid is emptied;
the mass is then well stirred about, and in 15 or 20 minutes
removed from the trough and thrown into a heap, where the
dissolving process slowly goes on. After a day or two the mix-
ture is passed through a set of small crushing rollers, by which
it is reduced to powder, and is then ready for sale. For the
convenience of the farmers, mixtures of guano and superphos-
phate are made up here in such proportions as may be desired:
2 ewt. of guano and 2 ewt. of superphosphate, mixed together,
are found an excellent application for the turnip crop.

Lord Hatherton’s estate at Teddesley, near Penkridge, affords
many examples of enlightened improvement, of which a brief
description cannot fail to be both interesting and instructive to
the agriculturist, whether landlord or tenant. That part of the
estate which is farmed by his Lordship embraces about 1,700
acres, 2 large proportion of which was originally part of Can-
nock Chase. It extends from the river Penk over the wooded
heights which bound the view eastward from the Penkridge
station on the London and North-Western Railway. Thirty
years ago, the whole of this tract was in a most neglected state,
Starrorp.] LORD HATHERTON’S IMPROVEMENTS. 237

great part of it a worthless waste, without roads, undrained, and
open and exposed to the wintry blasts which sweep over the
elevated grounds of the midland counties. It is now a rich and
fertile domain, carrying luxuriant crops of wheat and barley, the
upper parts ornamented with sheltering woods, the pastures
folded over with flocks of Southdown sheep, the extensive farm
buildings filled with cattle, while the lower slopes are covered
with verdure produced by irrigation. The skill which has been
shown in turning to advantage every provision of nature in each
step of progressive improvement is what is chiefly instructive
here. The water which soaked through the bogs and elevated
swamps, rendering them barren, is drained and collected into a.
reservoir. From this it is conveyed to the farm buildings,
which it supplies with water for the stock; it turns the ma-
chinery which manufactures the products of the farm, and then
glides off to enrich by irrigation a tract of meadows, 111 acres
in extent, the produce of which has been doubled by the process,
at an annual cost of 4s. 6d. an acre for attendance in laying on
the water.

The ease with which a constant supply of water for driving
machinery may be obtained, is well illustrated here. <A bog,
30 acres in extent, left unplanted in the middle of a plantation,
having been considered irreclaimable, was thoroughly drained.
Besides the surface water, some strong land springs were tapped,
and the whole conveyed by main drains to a reservoir a few acres
in extent, whence the water is carried underground about half
a mile to the farm buildings. ‘The drainage of this swamp, and
that of 140 or 150 acres more adjoining it, gives an ample sup-
ply of water for working machinery of 12-horse power every day
throughout the year; and, before the lands were drained, this
water was not only lost as a motive power, but did immense in-
jury by stagnating beneath the surface, and extending its chilling
effects to every portion of ground through which it slowly oozed
from its source. At the farm buildings to which the stream is
conveyed, a mill-wheel, 38 feet in diameter, is sunk into the solid
238 SKILFUL ADAPTATION OF (STAFFORD.

sandstone rock to such a depth, that the water discharges itself
into it “overshot.” The tail water is taken from the bottom of
the wheel by a tunnel driven through the solid rock for nearly
500 yards, whence it is conducted into channels for irrigation.
When the mill is stopped, the water between the reservoir and
the wheel, which would otherwise run to waste, is conveyed by
pipes to the different yards and buildings for the use of the
stock, from which any surplus finds its way to the meadows.
The purposes to which the water power is applied are these : —
It turns two pair of stones (one, as we saw it, grinding wheat,
the other pease); it grinds malt, works a circular saw, a lathe, a
chaff-cutter, and a thrashing machine. The whole of these can
be worked at the same time, though in practice that is seldom
necessary. It has been in operation for several years, working
every day and all day, summer and winter. Independent alto-
gether of the improvement of the land by drainage, and the
subsequent use of the water in irrigation, its direct value, as a
motive power, is estimated to exceed 500J. a year; and that was
obtained by a total expenditure of about 1,7007. In a mul-
titude of cases a similar power to this could be as easily got,
which at present is suffered to stagnate in the ground, or, if col-
lected in drains, then heedlessly allowed to run to waste; for
there were no unusual facilities on this estate for obtaining a
supply of water. All that is required is procured from the
drainage of about 200 acres of land. It is carried in earthen
pipes along a gentle declivity, and with very little leakage,
about 600 yards from the reservoir to the mill, and is then dis-
charged through a tunnel; the whole distance, from the re-
servoir to the outfall, being 1,200 yards, and the total fall
being about 50 feet. On this point we take the opinion of
Mr. Williams, civil engineer, page 26 of his Pamphlet, published
by Ridgway, On the Application of Drainage Water to Mill
Power : —

“ There is surely nothing here described which would lead a casual
observer to imagine that water power equal to 12 horses was to be
Srarrorp. ] DRAINAGE WATER. 239

found in such a situation. The estimate usually formed of the re-
quisites for the use of water as a motive power, is a large stream or
brook of water, having a considerable fall in its course; and the term
‘millstream ’ which is given to such currents, invariably conveys the
impression of a large body of water, flowing very rapidly down a
channel having considerable inclination; the only other idea which
seems to be associated with the driving of waterwheels is the nearly
vertical descent of a comparatively small body of water down the face
of some sharp declivity, and in cases of this kind large overshot
wheels are occasionally to be met with; but Iam not aware-of any
other instance where the water derived from the under-drainage of
the land, and that alone, has been converted to purposes so valuable,
and where so much ingenuity has been displayed in the adaptation of
means which to a superficial observer would appear totally inadequate
to the production of such important results. The merit of the plan
consists in its originality; there is nothing in the practical adoption
of the principle which suggests difficulty, and every one who examines
it on the spot naturally asks himself, why has not this been adopted
elsewhere ?”

The management of Lord Hatherton’s farm well merits de-
scription. Of the 1,700 acres to which it extends, about 700
are kept regularly under culture; the rest comprise the park,
the irrigated meadows, and some higher improved ground ad-
joining Cannock Chase, and too distant to be economically
managed in regular cultivation. The quality of the land is dry
green crop soil, with a considerable mixture of sand, in some
parts slightly peaty, and none of it of much natural fertility.
It is managed generally in the four-course rotation. 175 acres
are annually in Italian rye grass and clover, one-half of which
is cut two or three times, and carried home for consumption in
the farm buildings, the other half being folded over with sheep.
12 or 14 two-horse loads of dung are laid on the seeds in spring
as far as there is sufficient dung for the purpose. In autumn,
the land is ploughed with the Bedford two-wheel plough and
two horses abreast, and immediately pressed. At this operation
there are usually nine ploughs, followed by three pressers, and,
a seed-box being fixed on each presser, the seed wheat is dropped
240 TEDDESLEY FARM. ‘[ STAFFORD.

immediately behind the presser at the same time. arly in the
season wheat is sown at the rate of two bushels an acre, later
two and a half, a smaller quantity of seed having been found to
yield a larger proportion of light wheat. The land is harrowed,
and on that portion for which there was not dung applied in
spring, 4 cwt. of superphosphate are spread and harrowed in
between the first and second turn of the harrows. With this
force nine acres are ploughed, pressed, sowed, and harrowed
daily. A gang of boys follow the pressers, and pick up any
tufts of grass which remain on the surface, throwing them into
the next open furrow, where they are covered on the return of
the plough. The land, being kept clean, is seldom hoed in
spring. After wheat it is prepared in the usual manner for
turnips. In spring, when ploughed and well loosened by the
grubber, it is worked with a revolving harrow, of which there
are two kinds used here. The first has strong teeth, goes round
with a slow motion, and penetrates the ground to a considerable
depth. It is a heavy implement to draw, requiring the power
of four horses. It tears up the tufts of roots and weeds, exposing
them on the surface to the air and weather. In a day or two
the second revolving harrow follows. Being of lighter con-
struction, shorter teeth, and more rapid in its revolutions, it
seizes the tufts of weeds, thrashes the earth out of them, and
leaves them to be gathered together by light harrows, by which
they are readily removed from the ground. Swedes are sown
in the middle of May, as soon as the mangold sowing is com-
pleted, of which 25 acres are grown annually, and highly valued.
On thin soil the yellow globe is sown, on deep soil the long red
variety. Of the whole green crop, 175 acres in extent, 25 are
sown with mangold, 100 with swedes, and 50 with hybrid and
white turnips. For early swedes 10 to 12 loads of farm manure
per acre are laid in open ridges 27 inches apart, and over that is
sown broadcast, by hand, a mixture, consisting of 2 cwt. of
superphosphate, 2 cwt. of salt, and 12 bushels of wood ashes,
saturated with liquid from the tank. The land is then split
STAFFORD. | GRASS SEED SOWING MACHINE. 241

over the dung and this mixture, with a double mould board
plough, and the turnip seed drilled in on the top of it. For
common turnips the usual application is 2 cwt. guano, and 2
cwt. superphosphate (or 4 cwt. superphosphate without guano),
2 ewt. of salt, and 16 bushels of saturated ashes, all sown
broadcast, and covered in by the double plough, the seed being
then sown on the ridge ; 50 acres of swedes and the greater part
of the white turnips are eaten on the ground by sheep, with cake
and meal, the turnips being taken up before the sheep are ad-
mitted, and given to them in troughs, cut. The rest are drawn
for consumption in the feeding houses. After turnips, as much
of the land as possible is sown with wheat, all that is cleared
before the beginning of March being deemed in sufficient season.
Beyond that time, the remainder of the turnip land is sown with
barley, which is not so remunerative a crop as wheat; this land,
under the management it receives, yielding as many bushels of
wheat as of barley per acre. In the month of May, when the
wheat or barley is well up, clover and grass seeds are sown by
an ingenious contrivance, which is found to answer admirably.
On a common light wooden roller a box for seeds is fixed, a
spindle in which takes its motion from the axle of the roller.
The seeds drop before the roller, being protected from wind by
a light board in front, which reaches within a few inches of the
ground. A boy leads the horse, the sowing and rolling is com-
pleted at one operation, and no part is missed, as the rolled
ground shows distinctly where the seed has already been de-
livered.

A great deal of draining has been already done on this farm.
and over other parts of Lord Hatherton’s estate; and wherever
it is required, it is now being executed. Three-inch tiles and
half-soles are preferred; the drains are generally laid eight yards
apart and three feet deep. For under water, six to eight feet
in depth is gone to, if necessary. Subsoil ploughing, after
drainage, has been repeatedly tried, but discontinued as, on
experiment by weight of the crops produced where the land

R
242 MANAGEMENT OF STOCK. [Srarrorp.

was subsoiled and where it was not, no advantage was dis-
covered.

An interesting experiment was tried on one field of fair
quality, but of light staple, to ascertain whether wheat could
be taken alternately for a number of years in succession without
deteriorating in quality or produce. In the last fourteen years
seven wheat crops have been taken from this field, each year
showing progressive improvement, the seventh crop being one-
third more productive than the first. The best white wheat is
sown on this farm, and a frequent change of seed is found
advantageous. Lime is a particularly valuable application on
all land in high condition, and on newly broken-up land.

A fine herd of Hereford cows is kept in the park, the
produce of which are reared and fattened. There are always
on the farm about 200 head of cattle, 80 of which are in course
of being fattened. Two lots are fed in the year, the feeding
being carried on in loose boxes summer and winter. It has
been the custom here for some years back to house-feed cattle
during summer, and a decided preference is given to boxes over
stalls for that purpose. Besides green food (turnips, swedes,
mangold, or cut grass, according to the seasons), the feeding
cattle get oilcake or corn daily, beginning with 3 Ib. each,
and increasing to 6 or 7 lb., but never exceeding that quan-
tity. 14 pairs of horses are kept for the work of the farm and
plantations, and 14 working Devon bullocks are bought in
February every year, worked during the spring and summer at
the turnip land, assist in getting in the wheat, and are fattened
and sold to the butcher in the course of the winter. The sheep
stock comprises 2,000 head of Southdowns, the sale sheep of
which are fattened at two years old.

It is impossible, in the space at our disposal, to specify every
point of management on this farm deserving of notice. The
skill with which everything is conducted, the genius which
seized every natural advantage and changed it from an enemy
to a friend, is not more conspicuous in great principles than in
Srarrorp. ] CANNOCK CHASE. 243

minute detail. ‘The invention of the revolving harrow, the
furrow-presser, the machine for sowing and rolling seeds at
one operation, are all due to Mr. Bright, who, within the
eighteen years during which he has acted as Lord Hatherton’s
agent, has seen the whole stock kept on his Lordship’s home
farm more than doubled, and the acreable produce of each crop
increased in the same proportion. The means placed at his
disposal were ample, as Lord Hatherton’s practical knowledge
enabled him to appreciate the value of his agent’s plans; and
these have spread over the estate, on which the same liberal
encouragement is given to the tenantry.

Adjoining Lord Hatherton’s estate is Cannock Chase, still
containing 14,000 acres of uninclosed ground. One-half of
this is believed to be quite capable of profitable cultivation,
being chiefly dry turnip land on red sandstone. In the midst
of a populous county, within a few miles of Wolverhampton,
Walsall, and Lichfield, it seems strange that no effort should be
made for the improvement of a tract so extensive.
244

LETTER XXX.

TAMWORTH.

DRAYTON MANOR—SITUATION AND SOIL OF SIR ROBERT PEEL'S ESTATES —
POSITION OF THE TENANTRY— ARRANGEMENTS CONTEMPLATED IN CON-
SEQUENCE OF FREE TRADE IN CORN—AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT OF THE
ESTATE — MISAPPLICATION OF HORSE POWER—-LABOURERS WELL EMPLOYED.

May 1850.

BrrFore leaving Staffordshire, we visited the estates of Sir
Robert Peel, with the view of ascertaining in what manner one
-who occupied so distinguished a position as a statesman, and
who took so conspicuous a part in the establishment of the free
trade policy, interpreted practically the relations between land-
lord and tenant. The deplorable event which subsequently
deprived this country of its greatest statesman, will rather
enhance than diminish the interest with which any record of
the private, no less than the public, transactions of the late
Sir Robert Peel will be regarded by his countrymen. We,
therefore, deem no apology necessary for introducing now to
the public a description of Sir Robert Peel’s estates written
previous to his death.

Drayton Manor, the country residence of Sir Robert Peel, is
situated about two miles to the south-west of Tamworth.
It is a modern mansion of large extent, built on the site of
the ancient manor house, surmounted with towers, presenting a
varied and picturesque outline, combined with a uniformity of
architectural design. Placed on a rising ground, it looks
over a richly wooded English landscape, having ornamental
gardens in the foreground sloping down to the edge of a lake,
from the opposite side of which the green turf of the park
stretches away among the woods. With much natural beauty
is united all that the acknowledged taste of its owner could add
to it by art. From the Manor House the chief part of the
STarFrorp.] SIR ROBERT PEEL’S ESTATES. 245

estate extends westward, though there are detached properties
all round the neighbourhood as far as Shenstone, and Kingsbury
in Warwick, besides that at Blackburn in Lancashire. The
quality of the land is generally good. It is well situated for
markets, being within a distance of four to twelve miles of
Birmingham, in the neighbourhood of Tamworth and Lichfield,
and intersected by railways and canals. It comprises a large
extent of fine meadow on the banks of the Thame, a tributary
of the Trent, which carries in its waters the whole sewerage of
Birmingham, and occasionally deposits these with fertilising
effect on the flooded low grounds. The estate altogether is
very extensive and valuable. A great part of it has been
drained; Sir Robert having taken upon himself the whole
expense, and charged his tenants 4 per cent. interest on his
outlay. The work has been done in asystematio manner, chiefly
under the inspection of Mr. Parkes, entirely to the satisfaction
of the tenants.

The farms on the estate are held on yearly tenures, the tenants
having the utmost confidence in the security of their possession,
many farms having been for a long series of years in the same
family. The farm buildings are substantial, and kept by the
landlord in good repair; and any additional accommodation that
may be found necessary is made, the tenants paying a moderate
interest for the outlay. The tenants are bound to a regular
system of cropping, which is insisted upon only when there is
an apprehension that the farm is being improperly exhausted.
The custom of the county gives to outgoing tenants a modified
compensation for unexhausted improvements.

Public attention was naturally directed to the measures pro-
posed to be adopted by Sir Robert Peel for readjusting his
arrangements with his tenants in accordance with the alteration
in prices likely to follow the withdrawal of protective duties.
The probable necessity for such a readjustment he frankly
recognised in the letter addressed to his tenants on the 24th of

December 1849, in which he states his opinion that the recent
R3
246 PROPOSED ARRANGEMENTS WITH HIS TENANTS. [SraFrorp.

changes of the law will be “to maintain a range of low prices
in average seasons, and to prevent very high prices in seasons
of dearth ;” and because he believes that such will be their
effect, he looks upon these changes as irrevocable. Considering,
however, that some time must elapse before the precise effect of
free trade, in regulating the prices of agricultural produce, can
be definitely ascertained, he proposes to defer for a time that
general review of the relations between himself and his tenants
which he contemplates. When that is undertaken, it is to be
with reference to the special case of each farm, and to the
effects which the abolition of duties on many articles of import
used by the farmer, and the improved means of conveyance, may
-have had in diminishing the cost of production as well as the
price of produce. Fairly estimating these, he will make an
abatement of rent when satisfied there is a just claim, but does
not intend to make a general and indiscriminate abatement.
Meantime, after pointing out the home competition with which
the farmer, deficient in skill and capital, has to struggle against
his neighbour who is possessed of both, he sets apart 20 per cent.
of the current rent, to be expended in such immediate improve-
ments, on each farm, as will assist the farmer to meet that home
competition successfully. Besides this he offers to drain, where
still requisite, on the usual terms on the estate, as already
explained, and to consider favourably any proposals for addi-
tional buildings which the tenants may think necessary, they
paying a reasonable rate of interest on the outlay. Where
leases for more than one year exist — and such are very few in
number — he offers to release any tenant who may wish to
withdraw ; and if a lease for years is desired, he is prepared to
grant it on being satisfied of the skill and capital of the tenant
requiring it. Or he is willing to enter into a written agreement
securing the repayment of unexhausted improvements, if such
an agreement is preferred to a lease. Such is a brief outline of
the arrangements with his tenants which were contemplated by
the late Sir Robert Peel.
Srarrorp.] CONDITION OF THE PROPERTY. 247

Those of the tenants with whom we had an opportunity of
conversing, expressed their satisfaction with them, and their
entire confidence in the justice of their landlord when the time
for the final adjustment should arrive. The 20 per cent. for
the past half-year has been nearly all expended in manures,
bones, guano, lime, &c.; so that in effect it has been the same
with all good farmers as a return of money, inasmuch as they
would have voluntarily laid it out in the purchase of such
manure themselves; while in the case of bad farmers, if the
expenditure on manure is compulsory, it is for their own
advantage. The rents of Sir Robert Peel’s farms have never
been raised by competition, and by the tenants themselves they
are considered quite as moderate as those of any of the neigh-
bouring proprietors. Additions have been made in the shape of
interest. for money expended in draining, &c., but these the
tenants can better afford to pay than to be without. Active
improvements are going on in the different farms, and increased
exertions being made to develope still further the capabilities
of the soil. The taste and neatness of the farmhouses and
gardens indicate not only confidence in the permanence of their
tenure by the tenants, but a degree of worldly comfort to
which the tenants of a grasping or needy landlord are too often
strangers.

The mode of farming adopted on Sir Robert Peel’s estate is
much the same as that of the surrounding district, the light land
being generally managed in the four-course, and the heavy land
in the six. Part of the light land is often allowed to remain
two years in grass. The best farmers manure heavily, using
artificial manure for their turnip crops, and reserving the farm-
yard dung for spreading over their young seeds in autumn.
Three to four cwt. of guano, and 20 bushels of bones, per acre,
are considered a fair dressing for the turnip, excellent crops of
which are grown. The guano is sown broadcast, and the bones
and seed drilled in together on the flat. Part of the crop is

drawn for consumption in the yards, and part eaten on the
R4
248 ITS AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT. [Srarrorp.

ground by sheep, the best farmers giving cake at the same
time. A few acres of mangold wurzel are usually grown, to
be used when the Swedish turnips are done. J

The corn crops are sown by drill, and hand hoed in spring,
chiefly by task work. Beans and pease are likewise sown by
drill, and partly hand and partly horse hoed; 3s., 3s. 6d.,
and 4s an acre are paid for hand hoeing the corn crops.
Winter beans are being sown here with success, though they
are of recent introduction. So good a plant of wheat is
scarcely ever got after mixed rye grass seeds as after clover
root. We may mention a peculiarity in drilling wheat, which
we were told had been practised with great success on a neigh-
bouring estate. Instead of drilling in the usual way at nine
inches between the rows, two rows are put in four inches
apart, and then with an interval of 14 inches, thus getting
the same number of rows in the same space, but with alternate
intervals so wide as to admit of very effectual horse hoeing, the
smaller interval being cleaned with the hand hoe. A field
managed in this way last year, and otherwise in high condition,
yielded a very heavy crop of red wheat.

Wheat is reaped, not mown; it is usually done by task work,
and on account of the rate paid for it, from the scarcity of labour
in harvest, it often costs more than 14s. an acre for reaping and
binding. Barley and oats are usually mown and left in swathe till
ready to be carried to the rickyard, when they are forked into the
waggons loose like hay. Potatoes and other vegetables for sale
are usually prohibited to be grown by the terms of agreement,
though we should suppose such a condition would not now be
enforced, considering the facilities of transport to the large con-
suming towns possessed by this district, and the readiness with
which artificial or town manure can be obtained in return. Ithas
not hitherto been the custom on Sir Robert Peel’s estate to inter-
fere with the tenant in the details of his management, although
strict enough rules are prescribed by the printed agreement
drawn up some years ago for such of the tenants as desired to
StarrorD.] DRAINS STOPPED BY OCHREY DEPOSIT. 249

have one. The great majority of the tenantry prefer to be
without such agreement (and we think they are right, as we
apprehend it to be a very different thing from that written agree-
ment proposed to be given by the right honourable baronet in
his last letter), holding their farms without any writing what-
ever, and leaving all claims to be adjusted by the custom of
the country. On the light land of good quality white wheat is
usually grown; on the heavier land red Lammas, Spaldings,
and other varieties of red wheat are preferred.

In some places much inconvenience has been sustained from
the drains on the estate being choked up by an ochrey deposit.
One main drain pipe, twelve inches in bore, was nearly closed
by it, and had to be cleaned out by drawing a long iron wire,
with a bunch of straw tied to it, right up the pipe, for which
purpose it was necessary to sink openings every hundred yards
or so into thedrain. After the ochre is loosened by the rubbing
of the straw, the drain is flushed, and the deposit washes away.

The management of stock varies considerably ; some farmers
going chiefly into dairying, others part dairy and part feeding,
and all keeping more or less of a sheep stock. The long horn
cow, though still holding her place in individual cases, is giving
way, as a general rule, to the improved short horn; the earlier
maturity of the latter, and its greater aptitude to fatten, recom-
mending it to the pocket of the rent-paying farmer. Where cheese
is made, it is usual to commence making in the end of February
or beginning of March, and to continue till December. About
25lb. is the weight of cheese preferred, at which size they are
found less liable to crack than when larger, and to become
sooner ripe and fit for sale and carriage to the market. They
are usually sold in three lots — the first in August, the second in
October, and the third about the beginning of the following year.
Butter is made from the whey, which is afterwards given to the
pigs. Where the feeding of cattle is practised, a portion of the
cow stock is sometimes set aside for rearing the calves — two
being put to each cow, and turned out with the cow to the fields,
250 MISAPPLICATION OF HORSE POWER.  [Srarrorp.

After several months the calves are weaned, and a little dairy
produce is got from the cow.

The favourite breed of sheep is a cross between the Shrop-
shire black-faced hornless ram and Leicester ewe, the cross
being continued with a pure Shropshire ram. The produce is
a very hardy sheep, larger and with more wool than the
Hampshire Down, but with a considerable resemblance to that
breed — combining the superiority in quality of meat of the
Shropshire, with the earlier maturity of the Leicester. It is a
very active, shapely sheep, with good carcass and excellent
constitution. The wool of the cross breed is superior in quality
to that of the pure Leicester. Some farmers sell the hoggets
fat at twelve or fifteen months old, others feed them a second
year.

In working the land, the farmers almost uniformly yoke
their horses in line, both on heavy and light land. Three horses
in line are the minimum number for a single plough—four, five,
and even six being often seen where the land is stiff, or a
deeper furrow than ordinary is being taken. On very light
land we saw a team of five horses in line drawing a double
furrow plough, set with wheels to work without being guided
by a man, and turning over two acres a day. On light land
three horses are commonly used in a single furrow plough, the
driver walking alongside the horses, and never touching the
plough, except at the headlands in going out and entering to a
new furrow. Three horses in a set of not very heavy harrows,
on loose ground, with a driver in front, and a man behind to free
the harrows from weeds, is a common turnout. We have had
frequent opportunities of observing the teams yoked in this
fashion, most frequently five in line; and from the irregularity
of the draught, the leader sometimes pulling the whole row, or
pulling a lazy horse forward, or himself’ and his followers leaving
the whole work to be done by the horse next the plough, we
have no hesitation in saying that, on light land, an immense
waste of power is caused by this system. Nor do the farmers
Srarrorp. | CONDITION OF THE LABOURERS. 251

feed their horses well or keep them in good condition, it being
usual to see one strong horse next the plough, three very so-so
horses next in advance, and the leader, a strong horse, in front.
Even the strong horses have a dull hanging look, as if badly
fed, and out of condition.

The state of the labourers on Sir Robert Peel’s property is
very satisfactory. The rate of wages is from 9s. to 10s. a week
with beer, which is reckoned to be worth 1s. more. Cottage
rents vary from 30s. to 42, according to the accommodation, the
extent of garden ground, and the locality. Garden allotments
are let at 1s. per rood of 64 yards, in the country, and ls. 6d.
near Tamworth. The cottages are superior to the general
description of labourers’ cottages throughout the country, all
being kept in good repair at the landlord’s expense. Many
comfortable looking cottages which Sir Robert Peel deemed
insufficient in point of accommodation, are about to be taken down,
and rebuilt on a more commodious scale; and such as become old
and uncomfortable, are either thoroughly repaired or rebuilt, the
new rents being slightly increased to pay a moderate interest on
the outlay. The labourers are well employed, and are said never
at any former period, to have been in more comfortable circum-
stances than at present. Irish labourers are employed during
the summer at hoeing and other operations at a lower scale than
the English, but not to the displacement of the English. This
practice has existed for several years back over this and the
adjoining districts.
252

LETTER XXXI.
CHESHIRE.

NATURALLY ADAPTED TO GRASS FARMING — THE FARMER'S WIFE THE MOST IM-
PORTANT PERSON IN A CHESHIRE DAIRY FARM—COMPETITION AMONG A
NUMEROUS CLASS OF FRUGAL AND INDUSTRIOUS FARMERS HAS GIVEN THE
LANDLORD A LARGER SHARE OF THE ANNUAL PRODUCE THAN ISTO BE MET
WITH ELSEWHERE— DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY— SMALL PROPORTION IN
TILLAGE— AND THAT NOT WELL FARMED — PRODUCE OF CROPS — ARRANGE-
MENT OF THE DAIRY PASTURES —- MEADOWS —TILE DRAINAGE — THE
MARQUIS OF WESTMINSTER’S SYSTEM — APPLICATION OF BONE MANURE TO
PASTURES — ITS RESULTS —- NUMBER OF COWS KEPT ON VARIOUS QUALITIES
OF LAND — RENT — PROCESS OF CHEESE MAKING — PRODUCE — MR. LITTLE-
DALE’S FARM — CULTURE OF EARLY POTATOES.

CuzstEr, May 1860.

CHESHIRE has been long famous for its cheese; and that branch
of agricultural husbandry requiring much experience and mani-
pulative skill, has given a peculiarity of character to the farming,
and to the habits and management of the farmers. Dealing
with a strong tenacious soil, in a comparatively damp climate,
nature seems to have early pointed out to the farmers that their
produce would be most safely, and least expensively, got
under a system of grass farming. Much of the old grass land
was then formed into high round ridges, or “butts,” as they
are here termed, by which a natural drainage was effected; and
even at this day that form of ridge is adopted by many, in addi-
tion to tile drainage, where land is being laid down to perma-
nent pasture.

Dairy farming requiring much personal attention, the occu-
pations are generally small,— the farmer and his wife and
family, with one or two servants, doing all the work themselves.
We think we are not wrong in saying that the farmer’s wife in
Cheshire is the most important person in the establishment; the
cheese, which is either made by her, or under her directions,
forming the produce of two-thirds or three-fourths of the farm ;
Cuxsuirne.] INDUSTRY AND FRUGALITY OF FARMERS. 253

the remaining fraction of which comprises the business of the
farmer. The labours of a dairy farm being of daily recurrence,
and commenced by the different members of the family at an
early age, great skill is acquired by them in the art of cheese
making. To the management of the dairy, however, their
acquirements are limited. Improvements in agriculture have
made very slow progress in Cheshire; and the number of per-
sons brought up in their parents’ houses to dairy farming being
constantly on the increase, there has hitherto been much com-
petition for farms; not because it was a lucrative business, but
because it was the only business with which they were ac-
quainted. While, therefore, there has been little improvement
in the land, with an increasing number of farmers supporting
themselves upon it, the farmers, as a class, have not made
money. Their wives and families work harder than those in
most other counties, and content themselves with a very mode-
rate share of the luxuries of civilisation; and yet, with all their
hard work and frugal living, the farmers of Cheshire, when they
get their rents paid, have, on an average of years, a smaller
balance left to themselves than is thought absolutely requisite
elsewhere.

Where land is principally in grass, and pastured with a re-
gular dairy stock, there is not much difficulty in ascertaining
the annual produce with considerable precision. Two-thirds,
or more generally three-fourths, of the dairy farms are in pas-
ture exclusively; the remaining third or fourth being under
the plough. Farmers are usually bound to lay the whole of
their manure on the grass lands, purchasing what they may re-
quire for the arable. The annual produce is divided, and the rent
valued on this principle, — that the cheese from the grass land
should pay the rent; the rest of the dairy produce, and the corn
from the arable land, going to the tenant to pay labour, interest
of capital, and profit. Under this arrangement, it is very plain
that the landlord gets the lion’s share; and we do not hesitate
to say that, taking into account the quality of the land, and the
254 ASPECT OF THE COUNTY. [CuEsHtire.

industry and frugality of the tenants, we have not yet seen any
county in England where wet cold clay yields so much to the
landlord, and so small a proportion of the produce to the
tenant, as in Cheshire. It is a somewhat anomalous circum-
stance, that the less fertile parts of the county—the poor cold
clays for a circuit of some miles round Nantwich— are said to
produce the best quality of cheese.

The eastern side of the county, where it joins the Derbyshire
and Yorkshire hills, is of a rather mountainous character ; and
on the Shropshire side the face of the country is broken and
irregular. For five or six miles from Macclesfield, in a north-
western direction, it is the same; the surface being undulating
and picturesque, though much too thickly clothed with wood
for a cultivated district, which this neighbourhood is to a con-
siderable extent. Beyond this, to the westward, the remainder
of the county has the appearance of a great plain, nearly four-
fifths of the whole lying little more, on the average, than 100
feet above sea level. Drawing a line from Macclesfield by
Northwich, to the Mersey below Runcorn, the land to the east
and north may be described as the tillage division of the county ;
that on the south and west being chiefly devoted to dairying.
The last, which is the principal feature in the husbandry of the
county, we shall now describe; the former, being somewhat
exceptional and dependent on the proximity of large consuming
towns, may be more briefly treated.

Seldom more than a fourth, and frequently not more than a
sixth, of the land in a dairy farm is under tillage. Part of the
grass land is never broken up, the night pasture adjoining the
cow-houses being always preserved. Several of the other fields
are taken up in succession, one field being laid down to pasture,
and another broken up for a course of tillage. The farmers are
very apt to adhere too long, however, to the same piece of land;
partly from an aversion to break up old grass, and partly from
the difficulty of bringing the tough glebe on these wet clays into
a friable condition. For this reason, the landlord or his agent has
CuEsHIRE.] AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT DEFECTIVE. 255

frequently to interfere, in order to prevent the tenant working
the same field too long. The mode of management is then to
break up for oats, then fallow, followed by wheat, then oats ;
the same course being continued for a round or two, when the
field is laid again to pasture, by being sown with seeds from
the hayloft, and a small portion of clover. Such is the unim-
proving course on the stiff clays.

On the more friable lands, potatoes and turnips are substi-
tuted for the bare fallow; though, even on these, very little pro-
vision is made for the winter feeding of the dairy stock. Ona
farm of 150 acres, which we examined, 20 acres were in white
crop, and 6 in green; 3 of which were in potatoes for sale, and 3
in turnips for consumption on the farm, the stock on which was
40 cows, besides young animals. The land was foul, and un-
skilfully cultivated; and the farmer had no wish to break up
more, as he found the dairy the most lucrative branch of his busi-
ness. The fields, however, were small, and much injured by
hedgerows and timber, about which the landlords have hitherto
been very tenacious. Though the soil of that part of the
county we now refer to— between Macclesfield and Kuuts-
ford — is generally of a friable texture, well suited to cultiva-
tion, the shade of the trees prevents corn filling well; there
being plenty of straw, but neither wheat nor oats yield on the
barn floor anything like what they promised in the field. The
small fields and lofty hedgerows render it difficult to save the
crops in a wet season; and as the air is then sluggish, with
little wind, much loss from this cause is frequently sustained.
The produce per acre varies from 15 to 30 bushels of wheat,
and from 30 to 36 bushels of oats.

The management of the grass lands chiefly occupies the
dairy-farmer’s attention. In arranging the farm, it is usual, in
Cheshire, to provide a “night” and a “day” pasture; the
former, as already mentioned, contiguous to the cow-houses, the
latter more distant. These form the chief dependence of the
stock, and are seldom or never broken up for tillage. The rest of
256 TILE DRAINAGE, [Cursurre.

the grass land is kept for hay, and for the feeding of the horses
and young stock. The hay land should be dressed with dung
every second year, but that is not always done. On the banks
of the rivers and streams which intersect the county, there is a
great deal of mowing ground, which in many cases requires no
other dressing than what is left on it by the winter floods.
Such meadows, if they were not exposed to injury by summer
floods, would be invaluable to the dairy farmer; but as they
are not embanked, and in almost every case their course is ob-
structed by dam dykes for mills, the hay is occasionally swept
away entirely. These summer floods occur once in three years
on the average; and, even though the hay is not carried off, it
is frequently so much damaged, that the cattle which are
fed on it become diseased.

The benefits of tile-drainage on the dairy pastures of this
county were early appreciated; and a great deal has been done
on many estates. Little attention, however, was at first paid to
the manner in which the work was executed, the custom being
for the tenant to put in, as he chose, all the tiles the landlord
gave him. He who could “ bury” the greatest number of tiles,
accounted himself, and was generally accounted by his landlord,
the best tenant. His interest was obviously to put them in at
the least cost to himself; and moreover it was not then under-
stood that on level lands a considerable degree of skill was
requisite in laying off the drains; while that higher knowledge
of principles, so conclusively shown to be necessary by Mr.
Parkes, in his essay on the Influence of Water on the Tempera-
ture of Soils, was never thought of at all. Better ideas on the
subject are now becoming prevalent; and many landlords take
care not only that a certain number of tiles are “buried,”
but that they are laid in the manner likely to be most effectual
and permanent. The Marquis of Westminster may be named
as an instance of both practices. For some years back he had
given to his tenants at the rate of 1,000,000 tiles annually; not
only giving the tiles gratis, but also paying about a third of the
CuEsutire. | APPLICATION OF BONES TO PASTURES. 257

labour of putting them into the ground. Finding that, from
want of care and skill in executing the work, much of the
anticipated benefit was lost, the Marquis this last year has
taken the whole under his own direction, having had 200 men
at work during the winter, under a superintendent, who lays
off the drains and sees that the work is properly executed.
Next to tile drainage, of which a great deal yet remains to
be done in Cheshire, is the application of bone manure. The
wonderful effects produced on the dairy pastures by this sub-
stance are supposed to arise from the exhaustion which the soil
has undergone through the annual withdrawal from it of earthy
phosphates in the cheese.which for a long period of years has
been sold off the dairy farms. In the milk of each cow, in its
urine, and in the bones of each calf reared and sold off, Pro-
fessor Johnston estimates that a farm parts with as much
earthy phosphates as is contained in 56lb. of bone dust. It is
therefore quite reasonable to expect much benefit from a manure
which restores these phosphates to the soil. There may be
something also in the soil of Cheshire peculiarly favourable to
the action of bone manure, as in other dairy counties where the
same withdrawal of phosphates has been long going on, an equally
good effect, it is said, has not followed its application. So
certain is it here, that it is a recognised rule on some estates
that, by boning and draining four acres of land, an additional
produce will be got equivalent to the maintenance of one cow.
Tenants readily pay 7 per cent. to their landlords for an ex-
penditure in bone manure, and its effects are said to have raised
many a struggling hard-working farmer from poverty to com-
parative independence. On the stiff clay lands its action is
greatly promoted by tile drainage, and on such lands its benefits,
when applied to grass, are found greater than on those of more
friable texture, though on these, also, it is used with great
advantage. The quantity applied varies from one to two tons
an acre, ground to a coarse powder in the usual’manner. The
best time for laying on this manure is in autumn, early enough
8
258 MANAGEMENT OF COWS. [Cuesutre.

to admit of a fresh growth of grass to cover it before winter.
On “seeds” which are intended for permanent pasture, it should
be laid on after harvest. Its effect is to cover the ground
thickly with clover, trefoil, and succulent grasses, in lieu of the
thinly planted and very innutritious pink pointed grass which
previously occupied the soil. Some farmers told us that it had
doubled the produce, and improved the quality, of their cheese ;
and in no instance did we find that its application had injured
the quality of the cheese as we had heard in Leicestershire.
The bones chiefly used are purchased, after being boiled, from
the size manufacturers of Manchester. They are cheaper and
more easily ground into powder than unboiled bones, and their
effect, though deprived of the gelatine, is believed to be equally
good for dairy pastures. The benefit is supposed to last for ten,
fifteen, and twenty years; indeed, grass land which has received
a good dressing of bones will never completely revert to its
original sour state.

In the management of cows there is nothing peculiarly good.
They are poorly wintered on straw till after Christmas, when they
get a few turnips, two or three acres of an indifferent crop among

‘forty cows, and hay till March or April, when they drop their
calves. From that time till the grass is ready the best farmers
give them a little bruised oats or oilcake, which is discontinued
as soon as they are turned out to pasture. On that they remain
during summer night and day, being brought home morning and
evening to be milked. The number of cows kept on the dairy
farms of Cheshire may be accurately estimated from the follow-
ing particulars, kindly supplied to us. On thirty-six farms,
containing 6,600 acres, 2,200 of which were in tillage, and 4,400
in pasture and hay, a stock of 1,176 cows, besides the necessary
quantity of young cattle, is kept, in these proportions : —

Ist Class 600 acres, at 3 acres per cow, keeps 200 cows.
2d ys 800 ,, 33 ” » 226 ,,
8d =, +8,000_ =, 4 750

” 29 a
CHESHIRE. ] CHESHIRE CHEESE. 259

The rent of these farms averages from thirty-two to thirty-
three shillings an acre, the first class being of course above that,
and the third class below it. Besides the rent, the tenants pay
tithe, land tax, and poor rate.

It is unnecessary to give a detailed description of Cheshire
cheese-making. A few particulars must suffice. The process
is carried on during the day, the preceding evening’s milk being
mixed with the morning’s milk, so that it may be all “set” and
made into cheese by one instead of two operations. It is of
much consequence that the milkhouse be sweet and cool, as if
the evening’s milk is in the least degree sour, the next day’s
cheese will be sour. In cold weather it is necessary to warm a
portion of the evening's milk before mixing it, but in summer
the heat of the morning’s milk is generally sufficient to bring the
whole to the proper temperature for setting. Thermometers are
scarcely ever used, but the temperature at which the milk is
coagulated is believed to range between 75° and 85° Fahrenheit.
Before adding the evening’s milk a small part of the cream is
skimmed off for butter, the froth and bubbles being carefully
taken off, as the air they contain is supposed to be injurious.
From the morning’s milk in the cheese tub, the bubbles are also
carefully skimmed off and broken. In little more than an hour
the curd will be ready for “breaking,” which is effected by
passing the “curd breaker” very slowly through it. The whey
is then carefully taken off, and the curd placed in a basket in
which a coarse cheese cloth has been first laid. In this it is
pressed for the further extraction of whey. This process pro-
ceeds until the whey is sufficiently removed to admit of the
curd being salted. The quantity of salt is not very definite,
and is regulated by the taste of the dairymaid, though according
to Mr. White — whose detailed account of the process of cheese-
making, in Vol. VI. of the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal,
may be consulted with advantage — the average in a first-rate
dairy was found to be lb. of salt for 40lb. of dried cheese, or

about forty gallons of milk. After the salt has been completely
s2
260 YIELD OF BUTTER AND CHEESE. (CHEsHire.

intermixed with the finely broken curd, the curd is placed in the
cheese vat, which is put under a lever press, and iron skewers
are stuck through the holes in the vat, in which they remain a
few minutes, and are then withdrawn to allow the whey to run
off. Passing over the subsequent process till the cheese is
finally taken out of the press, it is then to be “dried.” A strong
canvass bandage, about two inches broad, “is wound tightly
round the cheese to keep it in shape and prevent cracking. In
this state it is placed in the drying-house or cheese room, where
it is daily turned and wiped with a cloth. The bandage is kept
on the cheese in many dairies till it is sold, being changed and a
fresh one put on when it is removed from the dairy to the
cheese loft. The cheese vary from 50lb. to 120lb. in size, the
largest size, if of the same quality, bringing the highest price.
Butter is made from the whey-cream, which is skimmed off as
the whey is slowly scalded. With this is frequently mixed the
portion of cream which has been taken off the evening’s milk ;
and where the management is good, the butter so produced
is of good quality, scarcely distinguishable from the best.
Besides the cheese, each cow yields from 15lb. to 201b. of butter
during the season. The yield of cheese is very various, being
dependent on the quality of the stock and the pasture, the
supply of winter food, and the skill of the dairyman. It
reaches from 24 cwt. per cow on the poorest, to 4 cwt. on the
better description of farms.

Quite a different system is followed by Mr. Littledale on his
well managed farm, near Seacombe, on the opposite shore of the
Mersey from Liverpool. His dairy stock, principally of the large
Yorkshire breed from the banks of the Tees, are constantly fed
in the house, summer and winter. The buildings which they
occupy are large and airy, with feeding passages in front of the
cattle, plenty of light, and the means of ample ventilation.
During the summer they are fed on cut clover, Italian rye-grass,
and vetches, receiving a feed four times a day at regular

intervals, and not too much at a time. In winter they have
Cursurre. ] MR. LITTLEDALE’S FARM. 261

brewery grains, turnips, and mangold, half and half of each,
with linseed, corn, &c., when the green food runs short. Their
fodder in winter is a mixture of hay and oat straw, cut and
steamed in a couple of steaming boxes which hold a ton each.
These are connected by a pipe with the boiler of the steam-
engine, the steam, as it issues from the pipe, being received
under a false bottom of the steaming box, of perforated cast-
iron, through which it diffuses itself among the cut mixture,
which is thereby cooked in less than an hour. Five tons a
week of this fodder are consumed during the winter, the horses
being likewise supplied with it. The extent of ground last
year which furnished food for the stock was as follows: — Six
acres of vetches, eighteen acres of Italian rye-grass, part of it
cut four times and all of it thrice, having been regularly
dressed with liquid manure (collected in tanks from the cow-
houses and stables), after each cutting, and twenty-five acres
Italian rye-grass cut once, after a hay crop had been pre-
viously taken. Thirty-five acres of swedes, part of which are
consumed by sheep, and twenty acres of yellow globe mangold,
supply the winter food. The stock consists of eighty-three
milch cows, and fifteen farm horses. The cows are milked
twice a day —4 a.m. and 33 P.M. The milk is chiefly disposed
of in the neighbourhood — that being the most profitable plan.
What remains is kept two days till it is soured, when it is
churned. A ten-horse steam engine thrashes, churns, bruises
grain, linseed, &c., grinds flour, and cooks fodder. The farm
as regards manure is nearly self-supporting, the constant house-
feeding affording a great supply. We regret that our space
does not admit of fuller details in describing many interesting
points in the management of this farm.

The demand afforded by the neighbourhood of large towns,
as already mentioned, has in some parts of this county led to
peculiarities of management. This is especially the case along
the Bridgewater Canal, from near Warrington by Altring-

ham, &c., and in some of the sandy tracts westward of Birken-
s 3
262 EARLY POTATOES. " [Cuesnree

head. On these lands it is common to take a double crop of
potatoes in the same year, the early crop being gathered by
the middle of June, and the late crop then planted. Some-
times cabbages to be sold in the following spring are planted
in November, after the second crop of potatoes, the land
being well manured for the cabbages, and then, after they are
taken off, trenched, and again planted with potatoes. The
canal affords a ready means of sending the crop to Manchester
and getting back manure. Carrots are also grown extensively
in the neighbourhood of Altringham.

Some of the small farmers in Wallasey, Morton, and Bidstone
grow early potatoes for the Liverpool market. The ash-leaf
kidney, previously sprouted three inches or so, is dibbled in
upon well dunged land in January, covered with about an inch
of soil. The ground is then covered with straw, fifteen to
eighteen inches in depth, which is taken off in fine days and
put back on at night. By these means early potatoes have
been got by the 12th of April. They then sell at 1s. 6d.
to 2s. and 2s. 6d. per lb., and the small farmers, who do not,
however, grow more than from a rood to an acre of this early
crop, find them very remunerative.
263

LETTER XXXIJ.
LANCASHIRE.

SOUTHERN DIVISION — GENERAL DESCRIPTION — GREAT OCCASION AND LOCAL
FACILITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT — LORD DERBY’S ARRANGEMENT WITH HIS
TENANTS — LORD SEFTON’S ESTATE —JMPROVEMENTS IN TOWNSHIP OF
SPEKE—SLOW PROGRESS ON COLD CLAY SOILS— EXCELLENT MANAGEMENT
OF MR. LONGTON’s FARM — FREQUENT MANURING AND REMUNERATIVE
CROPS — OTHER SIMILAR EXAMPLES — SOIL AND CLIMATE FAVOURABLE
TO GRASS AND GREEN CROPS— MR. NEILSON’S FARM — EARLY CROPS NEAR
ORMSKIRK AND ON THE BANKS OF THE MERSEY — HIGH RENT OF GRASS LAND
IN THE UPPER DISTRICT OF COUNTY——ROTATION OF CROPS MUST BE
REGULATED BY CIRCUMSTANCES — RENT AND RATES.

Wicean, Lancasuire, Oct. 26.

THE population and extent of Lancashire, as well as its peculiar
natural features, render it necessary to adopt a division into
North and South districts, in order to give such a consecutive
description of its agriculture as may be easily understood. For
convenience of reference we shall consider the Southern di-
vision as comprising all the country to the south of Preston
and the river Ribble; while the Northern division will be
held to embrace all the rest of the county to the north of
that river.

The southern division of the county, both from extent and
population, is by much the more important. Manchester,
Liverpool, Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn, Rochdale, Bury, and
many other populous towns are comprised in it. In mere
superficial extent it includes nearly two-thirds of the whole
county. Containing as it does the great coal-fields of Lanca-
shire, it has from that circumstance become the seat of the
cotton manufacture, which in its wonderful progress and im-
portance has of late years exercised so great an influence on the
character and legislation of the British empire.

The eastern side of the county is bounded by a range of
s 4
264 GENERAL DESCRIPTION. (LANCASHIRE,

hills dividing it from Yorkshire, composed of millstone grit,
the soil on which is generally thin and poor. The southern
and western sides extending along the Mersey from the east of
Warrington to Liverpool, and thence by Ormskirk to Preston,
rest on the new red sandstone; while the coal measures occupy
the whole central space. The outline aspect of the country
is not picturesque. On the western side next the sea it pre-
sents great flats of sand, over which sweep the cold vapours
and tempestuous winds of the Irish Channel, unbroken by any
mountainous ridge to intercept their severity. Further inland
the ground rises very gradually, the numerous straggling fences
and stunted hedgerow trees giving strongly marked signs of
the rigour of the blast, while large tracts of wet undrained
bogs add to the dreariness of the landscape. The coal fields
are now reached, and the evidences of a busy population every-
where present themselves. Tall chimnies vomiting forth smoke,
long rows of narrow brick houses, heaps of brick and lime
rubbish, mounds of refuse on the sites of abandoned collierics,
or great banks of coal where these are at work, present them-
selves on every side. As the traveller winds through some of
the valleys on the line of the East Lancashire Railway, espe-
cially in the district between Bury and Manchester, his eye
lights with pleasure on many spots where wood and water and
green pastures are picturesquely blended; but let him leave
this line and follow the cross coutitry. roads, many of which
are still paved streets, and a different aspect presents itself.
On either side he finds wide waste spaces, the receptacles of
all sorts of rubbish; in the neighbourhood of farmhouses, the-
site of the dungheap, the better parts of which in this moist
climate are washed into the adjoining ditches, which in their
turn supply water to the drinking pools for the dairy stock.
Through all this part of the country everything looks un-
finished; there seems a constant transition, a progress in which
agriculture alone appears to have hitherto but little par-
ticipated.
Lancasuinz.] LOCAL FACILITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT. 265

Within the last thirty years the population of South Lan-
cashire, three-fourths of whom are consumers, has been doubled,
yet the improvement of agriculture as a general rule has been
neglected, and good farming, of which there are many first-
rate examples, is still the exception. Possessing an “ insa-
tiable” market at their doors for everything a farm produces,
the very flowers in the farmer’s garden being convertible
into money, and having the advantage besides of inexhaustible
supplies of manure easily accessible from the numerous manu-:
facturing towns and villages everywhere scattered over the
country, there must have been unusual obstacles to counter-
balance such incentives to improvement. The climate and
the soil are both against the farmer, unless he has the means
and intelligence to turn both to the best account. Compared
with Middlesex the fall of rain throughout the year in Lan-
cashire is as 40 to 20, while two-thirds of the soil, in its natural
undrained state, is a strong clayey loam upon a subsoil
of clay, expensive to improve, and, when improved, requiring
much skill and capital to develope its capabilities. Unfortu-
nately the great proportion of the country is held by small
farmers who, however industrious, do not possess the “ntel-
ligence or capital requisite to meet the natural difficulties
referred to, while much of it being held on life leases, and
the great proportion of the rest on tenures from year to year,
there is wanting, also, that permanent interest in the land
which forms the chief motive to an improving farmer. On
land of this description improvement is expensive and the
returns comparatively slow, and the farmers of most means
and greatest intelligence accordingly decline to embark them
here so long as they can find land of an easier description open
to them. Nor have the landlords generally given any material
aid to their tenants. Reaping an easier harvest from the
mineral wealth under its surface, and from the sums paid to
them as compensation by the numerous companies whose
railways traverse the district, they could afford to leave the
266 LORD DERBY’S ESTATE. [Lanxcasuire.

farmer to struggle with his ungenial soil, seldom asking from
him any increase of rent, and therefore not deeming them-
selves called upon to afford him any assistance in its improve-
ment. So long as his scanty crops brought remunerative prices
this state of things continued undisturbed, but low prices
bring demands for reduced rents, or such outlays in permanent
improvements as will enable the farmer to meet the change
of times. These demands have in a few instances been met
directly by a reduction of rent, in others by permission to
remove useless hedge rows (hitherto held sacred), and to break
up more grass land, and in the great majority by a hearty co-
operation on the part of the landlord in executing drainage
and increasing the house accommodation for stock.

On the estates of the Earl of Derby, where a system of
enlightened and judicious improvement has been in progress for
many years, there has been no general reduction or abatement of
rent. Each case is treated on its own merits. When a tenant
asks an abatement, a new valuation at “ times’ prices,” by
impartial parties, is offered to him, on condition that the rent
shall be either reduced or raised according to that valuation; but
the alternative is seldom or never accepted, and the rent remains
as before. On this estate drainage has been carried on very
extensively, a corps of 70 to 100 men being regularly employed
under a superintendent who lays off the work and sees its per-
fect execution. .The farmer’s intervention is not employed, ex-
cept that he carts the tiles and pays five per cent. on the outlay.
This is understood to be the rule on the estate, though in many
cases small farmers receive the benefit of the improvement with-
outany charge. Very substantial and commodious farm buildings
are also being erected in several parts of these extensive estates;
beautiful Welsh slates, hewn at the quarries of the requisite
dimensions, being extensively used in the internal fittings, for
mangers, division stalls, &c.

On Lord Sefton’s estate, near Liverpool, the same judicious
improvements have been carried out— useless fences being
Lancasuire.] GREAT IMPROVEMENT AT SPEKE. 267

removed, and replaced by straight lines of trimly kept hedges ;
the fields enlarged, convenient roads of access provided, the farm
buildings made suitable for the occupation, and the farmer thus
placed in the most favourable position for making the best of
his capital and skill. In the township of Speke, eight miles
south of Liverpool, and on the estuary of the Mersey, the land-
lord, Mr. Richard Watt, has laid down a railway from the river
to the town for the convenience of his tenants, by which they
are enabled to transport the Liverpool manure from the barges
to the neighbourhood of their farms with great economy
and facility. Other improvements of a permanent character
have likewise been executed by the landlord, and, the soil
being favourable, there is probably no portion of the country in
which there is such a general system of good and remunerative
farming, or a more industrious, skilful, and successful set of
farmers.

The practice followed by the farmers on the undrained lands,
which comprise the larger proportion of South Lancashire,
differs very little from the description given of it seventy
years ago by Young. The land intended for summer fallow
seldom gets the first furrow till April or May, and after that
two or three separate furrows, followed by harrowing, are given
at such times as best suit the farmer, seldom with much reference
to what best suits the condition of the soil. The fallows are
thus badly executed, the work frequently done in moist weather,
and the seed sown at last under unfavourable circumstances.
The value of green crops has in many cases tempted the farmer
to forego even such a preparation of the soil, but where the land
is undrained clay it is very doubtful whether this management
is any improvement. Wheat follows the summer fallows or
green crop, then oats, which are sown with clover and grass
seeds, and mown for hay the two following years. “Some
crop as long as three seeds are returned after a fallow or fallow
crop, and then let it lie for pasture without sowing grass seeds.
These farmers are never troubled with fat stock or overflowed
268 SLOW PROGRESS ON COLD CLAY. ([Lancasnire,

with milk and butter.”* The produce of crops under such manage-
ment is necessarily scanty, and the returns from dairy stock fed
on pastures of such wretched quality cannot be remunerative.
Low prices are telling heavily on a farmer so circumstanced, and
each returning rent day cuts more deeply into the number of his
dairy cattle, the only convertible capital he possesses, and ren-
ders more hopeless any prospect of relief from his accumulating
embarrassments. There would be little benefit in lingering
longer on such instances as these, unfortunately too common on
the colder soils of South Lancashire, and we shall therefore turn
to the description of a farm of the better class, on which capital
and intelligence have been united with industry and persever-
ance and a ready adaptation to surrounding’ circumstances.

The farm of Mr. William Longton, at Rainhill, near Prescott,
between six and seven miles from Liverpool, contains 160 acres,
and, with the exception of about 50 acres, is held on aeyearly
tenure. The whole farm has within the last ten years been
drained at his own expense. The soil is partly a strong loam,
with clay subsoil, and part a sandy loam on a porous subsoil;
the surface gently undulated, and about 100 feet above sea level.
The main drains are laid with tiles and slate soles; the others
are made at intervals of 21 feet apart, and from 32 inches to
3 feet in depth. These are filled one foot with cinders, which
are got at the glass works at St. Helen’s, and cost 2s. a load —
one load sufficing for 80 lineal yards of a drain — and are found
very efficient and permanent, and not half so costly as tiles.
Mr. Longton’s system of farming is (1st) green crop, after grass,
(2d) wheat, (3d) barley, (4th) seeds, (5th) grass cut for hay,
(6th) grass again cut for hay or pasture, according to circum-
stances. He commences this rotation by ploughing or skimming
his grass land in autumn, with a very light furrow, in which
state it remains during the winter. As early in spring as the
weather suits, this furrow is cut to pieces by a sharp wheeled
roller being passed across it; it is then well harrowed and

* Rothwell’s Agricultural Report of Lancashire, 1850.
LANCASHIRE. | MR. LONGTON’S FARM. 269

torn to pieces; then ploughed with a deep furrow, which,
after the surface is thus broken, is easily reduced; and then
drawn into ridges 30 inches apart, into which are placed 20 tons
of the best town dung per acre; on this the potato is planted ;
it receives the usual careful cultivation during the summer, and
as soon as the crop is removed in autumn the land is ploughed
and drilled with wheat. This is sometimes, but not always,
followed by barley, though Mr. Longton is decidedly of opinion
that barley after wheat is the best management with which he
is acquainted. The barley is sown with a mixture of grass seeds
and clover, which in the autumn receive a dressing of 15 tons of
nightsoil per acre mixed with earth. The seeds are mown the
first year twice for hay, which is all sold. In autumn the ground
is again dressed with 15 tons of mixed manure, or with guano,
and cut once the following season for hay. The aftermath is
pastured. If the root appears good it is again dressed in autumn
with the same quantity of manure, and again cut for hay; if
otherwise, it is pastured. The returns from this management
have this year been as follow, viz. : —

1. Potatoes (a short crop), 220 measures of 90 lb. each, per
acre, selling at present at 2s. 6d. a measure.

2. Wheat, 40 (Liverpool) bushels, 70 lb. each, of white wheat
per acre, and upwards of 2 tons of straw, worth at present
21. per ton.

3. Barley, 60 bushels per acre.

4, Seeds, first cut 2 tons of hay per acre, second cut 14 ton,
selling at present at 52 per ton.

5. Grass ley, yielding 14 ton of hay, and excellent aftermath
for pasture.

6. Ditto.

To obtain these returns Mr. Longton purchases annually
800 tons of the best town manure, besides what is made on the
farm by the horses and dairy stock, and what is collected of
roadside scrapings, old banks, &c. His practice is to sell every-
thing his farm produces when it yields him a remunerative price,

.
270 PRODUCTIVE OF GREEN CROPS AND GRASS. [Lancasurre,

and to buy in return what is requisite to keep it in high condi-
tion. His farm horses are fed on steamed Egyptian beans and
hay, each horse when at constant work consuming about a
bushel of beans (costing 3s.) per week. The price of the best
manure, which used to be 8s. or 9s., is now only 5s. a ton; and
this difference is a considerable item where so large a quantity
is purchased.

There might be many examples given of farms in South
Lancashire equally or even more productive than this. Where
the soil is favourable and has been carefully drained, the yield of
green crops and grass may be stimulated to any extent by the
inexhaustible supplies of manure which Liverpool and the
manufacturing towns afford. Mr. Rothwell in his “ Report”
gives two instances of farms within six miles of Manchester —
the first 156 acres in extent, for which 2,000 tons of manure were
purchased; the second, 165 acres, for which 1,360*tons of
manure were purchased in one year; and in both cases with
amply remunerative results. The crops of Swedish turnips
produced in this county cannot be excelled in any part of the
kingdom — 40 tons an acre, in good seasons and under the best
management, being quite common. Such a crop may at this
moment be seen on the highly improved farm of Dr. Sillar,
of Rainford, though this year the season has not been very
favourable and the crop is in general much below an average.
The humidity of the climate is favourable to the culture of
green crops, the farmer has an ample command of manure, he
has markets on every side of him for their sale, and he who
has made the most use of these natural advantages has met
with the most success.

The farm of Mr. Neilson, of Halewood, exhibits several
points worthy of notice. A light tramway with waggons is
made use of for taking the turnip crop off the ground in moist
weather. The tramway is readily shifted, and the crop is
thrown into the waggons, which are then each pushed along by
a man, so that the entire crop may be removed from the
Lancasurne. | FORCING EARLY CROPS. 271

ground, which thus receives no injury from the feet of horses.
The tramway can be constructed for 1s. 4d. per yard, and
might be very advantageously introduced on all heavy farms
where it is found difficult to take off the turnip crop in moist
weather. A gang of men are at present employed on a con-
siderable field of Mr. Neilson’s in taking off the turnip crop,
which they draw from the ground, fill into the waggons, and
convey outside of the gate at the rate of 6s. an acre, shifting
the tramway at their own cost. At this work they earn 2s. 3d.
aday. A large stock of dairy cows is kept on this farm. They
are house-fed summer and winter, receiving in winter a mixture
of steamed straw, ground turnips, and 1 lb. per head of boiled
Egyptian bean meal poured over the mixture. Besides this
and a sufficient supply of turnips and fodder they receive 2 Ib.
of oilcake daily. A large stock of pigs, 200 in number, is kept
on this farm.

On the early, friable, loams in the neighbourhood of Ormskirk
and along the Mersey, two crops of potatoes are sometimes got
the same year. For the earliest crop the seed is prepared
about the beginning of the year, by being sprouted under cover,
and planted out into beds as soon as the weather admits. The
land is very heavily manured, and great care is taken to preserve
the young shoots unbroken. The second crop, the seed having
undergone the same preparation, is planted as soon as the first
is removed. But the more frequent custom is to transplant
swedes after the first crop of early potatoes, and very excellent
crops are occasionally obtained in this way.

The higher district of the country along its eastern boundary
is chiefly in grass, stocked with dairy cows, for the produce of
which the farmers find a ready market in the towns and villages
thickly scattered over its surface. or its quality and exposure
this land yields a high rent, 22 to 32 per acre being often paid.
Some of the oat crops of the few fields which are in crop are
still unsecured. (October 26th).

The rotation of crops adopted by the best farmers in South
272 ROTATIONS.— RENT AND RATES. [LancasHIre.

Lancashire will surprise those who have been accustomed to
consider any departure from the alternate system of corn and
green crops erroneous. Among many the golden rule of farm-
ing is that no two white crops shall follow in immediate
succession; but the successful practice of a contrary system in
this district may teach us how vain it is to prescribe the same
rules for totally different circumstances, the same husbandry
for the climate of the eastern side of the island with its 20
inches of rain per annum, as for the western side with its 40
inches of rain. The true test of any system is its continued
success, and the practice of the best farmers in this district, and
those whose farms are in the highest state of cultivation, pro-
ducing crops of all kinds which would astonish some of the
wisest sticklers for rotations, combine in attesting the advantage
in every point of view of taking a crop either of barley or oats,
immediately after the wheat crop. The four-course~ farmer
takes his crop in this succession—clover, wheat, turnips, barley.
The Lancashire farmer prefers it thus — grass, green crop,
wheat, oats, or barley; his two green crops following one
another, and his two white crops the same.

The rent of land, within six miles of Liverpool, ranges from
40s. to 41. per statute acre according to quality, condition, and
situation. Within the same distance of Manchester similar land
lets at the same rent. Beyond that distance the rent varies
from 20s. to 30s. per acre for the unimproved farms; but where
drainage, buildings, and other improvements have been effected
by the landlord, it ranges from 30s. to 40s. This is for land
suited to the culture of green crops and wheat, and from which
the whole produce may be sent to market. Besides the rent
the tenant has to pay the rates, which, including tithe, land-
tax, highway rate, poor rate, and church rate, will vary from
10s. to 12s. 6d. an acre. The rent of the cold clay soils is
much lower. Within the last 20 years on many of the larger
estates there has been little or no change in the rent. Farms
are seldom let by tender, and except when there is a change of
Lancasutre. ] INCREASING VALUE OF LAND. 273

tenancy the farmer is usually left undisturbed. For small
farms, however, there is great competition, and a prudent agent
finds it neceessary to guard himself against being misled by
reckless offerers. The highest offer is seldom or never accepted.
There are instances, however, of greatly increased rents, one of
which may be mentioned. In 1823 the rent of a certain farm
was 1507. It is still occupied by the same family, but has
twice changed owners, and at each change been re-valued.
The rent is now 4002; in the course of 27 years the farm has
been greatly improved, and we are assured by a very competent
judge that it is now better worth its present rent than it
was in 1823 at 1507. Farms vary in size from 20 to 200 acres,
the great majority are under 100 acres, and very few exceed
200 acres. There is no custom in the county which secures
to the tenant any compensation for unexhausted improvement.
The only right he has is this— that he sows the wheat crop
in October, quits the farm on the 2d of February, returns
to reap the wheat crop at his own expense, and is allowed
half the crop for his trouble. No other compensation can be
claimed except the price of the clover seeds which he sowed
with his last crop. The dung belongs to the farm.
274

LETTER XXXII.

LANCASHIRE, — continued.

EXTENSIVE AND IMPROVEABLE MOSS LANDS— MODE OF IMPROVEMENT —
MARL FOUND INJURIOUS TO POTATO CROP — MR. WILSON FFRANCE’S
SYSTEM AND ITS PROFITS — NEAR TOWNS ALL PRODUCE SOLD AND MANURE
PURCHASED — GREAT FACILITIES, YET SLOW PROGRESS OF MOSS RECLAMA-
TION — DESCRIPTION OF NORTH LANCASHIRE — THE FYLDE-—~ EVILS OF
LONG LEASES RENEWABLE BY FINES — MR. CLIFTON’S ESTATE — COURSE OF
CROPS AND CONDITION ON WHICH GREEN CROPS AND STRAW ARE PER-
MITTED TO BE SOLD — RENT OF SAND LAND — SIZE OF FARMS, AND SYSTEM
OF FARMING IN FYLDE — GREAT COMPETITION FOR FARMS — MR. GARNETT'S
IMPROVEMENTS — BENEFITS OF BONES ON BIGH-LYING PASTURE LANDS —
COMPARATIVE PRICES, RENTS, WAGES, ETC. IN 1770 anp 1850 — CONDITION
OF LABOURERS — AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.

Lancaster, Oct. ,1850.
Berore entering on a description of North Lancashire it will
be necessary to notice one point regarding the southern division
of the county for which there was not space in our last letter
—that is, the reclamation and cultivation of peat mosses, or
bogs, the management of which forms a feature in the husbandry
of both North and South Lancashire.

In both divisions of the county these mosses are very ex-
tensive. Chat Moss, which lies seven miles west of Manchester,
and is traversed by the railway to Liverpool, is about five miles
long and three miles broad, and is situated at an altitude of 100
feet above the level of the sea. Its surface is composed of a
long, coarse, sedgy grass and heath, beneath which there is a
depth in some places of 34 feet of moss, Under ordinary
circumstances we might expect that this dreary waste, demand-
ing considerable capital and great skill for its profitable reclama-
tion, would long remain untouched by the hand of improvement.
But, with a railway through its centre connecting two of the
most populous and important towns in the kingdom, and
surrounded on all sides by a dense manufacturing population,
Lancasuirz.] GREAT TRACTS OF IMPROVEABLE MOSS. 275

offering a ready market for every article of produce, and an
equally ready and almost inexhaustible supply of manure, the
wonder is, not that anything has been done, but that anything
still remains to do. The possibility of effecting remunerative
improvement is not a matter of doubt. ‘The thing has been
done with eminent success. Yet two-thirds of this great tract
still remain waste and unproductive.

There are other extensive tracts of moss in the southern
division of the county,— White Moss, near Middleton; Rain-
ford and Kirby Moss, between Knowsley and Ormskirk; Hal-
sall Moss, near Southport; Rufford Moss, &c.; and, as these
are in every instance either traversed by railways, or in the close
vicinity of canals, they possess facilities for improvement un-
known to many other districts of the country in which moss
land has been profitably cultivated. In the nothern division
of the county there are also extensive tracts of moss. The
most valuable of these are in the Fylde, to the north of the
Wyre, and are estimated by Mr. Garnett to extend to 20,000
acres altogether.

Besides the advantage of locality which the moss lands of
this county possess, they have generally, either beneath their
surface or in their immediate vicinity, beds of rich calcareous
marl, by the application of which, in conjunction with drainage,
they can be converted from worthless unwholesome wastes into
rich and productive lands. On Chat Moss the principal im-
provers have been the late Mr. Baines, of the Leeds Mercury,
Mr. Reed, Messrs. Evans & Co., Lord Ellesmere, and Colonel
Ross. The process of improvement may be briefly described.
Large open ditches are eut, into which the covered drains,
laid 10 yards apart, are run; but as great subsidence takes
place at the first drainage of moss lands, these covered drains
are not completed at first; sufficient time is allowed for the
land to consolidate, the drains are then cut to the requisite
depth, and in many cases laid with the top sod, dried by

exposure to the air, being pressed wedgelike into the drain,
r2
276. PROCESS AND PROFITS OF IMPROVEMENT. [Lancasuire.

where it leaves a hollow space for the water some six
inches in depth. The surface plants are then burnt off, and the
turf torn to pieces by ploughing and cross-ploughing. When
this has been sufficiently broken, the next great step in moss
improvement is begun by Jaying on the marl, which is most
easily effected by the use of a moveable railway. 100 to 150
tons of marl are laid on an acre. So soft is the moss at this
stage of operations, that it is frequently necessary for both men
and horses to have flat pieces of wood attached to their feet to
prevent them from sinking. The land is now fit for potatoes,
for which it receives a further heavy application of nightsoil
and ashes. Great crops are got, which, till within the last year
or two, were nearly exempt from disease. That is not now the
case, and seems to be owing to the presence of marl, as on
unmarled moss the potato crop continues to grow successfully.
A mixture of lime and salt has been tried by Mr. Evans,
which, besides being much less bulky than marl, is found very
effective in destroying the surface moss, and preparing it for
potatoes. Turnips, oats, and potatoes are found by experience
the most paying and certain crops, though, on some improved
mosses, the regular four-course rotation is adopted.

North of the Wyre, Mr. Wilson Ffrance, of Rawcliffe-hall,
is one of the most extensive and judicious moss improvers.
Of 736 acres allotted to him, 19 years ago, he has drained,
made roads, and marled the whole. Marling, with the assistance
of a moveable railway, costs him about 3/. an acre; drainage
(with peat turfs), 12. 6s. To this must be added the expense of
main drains, roads, and farm-buildings, which, on Mr. Ffrance’s
allotment, amounted altogether to between 9/. and 10/. an acre.
The produce of potatoes on this improved moss is very great,
and as soon asit is ready for being cropped, each portion is com-
peted for eagerly, and{lets at high rents. Some of it fetches
as much as 22 per acre, and the whole extent cannot be esti-
mated at less than 12 per acre, which, on an outlay of 7,000.
over 736 acres, is a return of rather more than 10 per cent.
Lancasuire.] GREAT FACILITIES, YET SLOW PROGRESS. 277

On some of the mosses in the manufacturing districts, the
whole produce is sold, and manure bought; no stock except
the working horses being kept on the land. Large crops of
swedes, common turnips, and mangold are grown, and oats
frequently yield 60 bushels or more per acre, besides a great
bulk of straw, which in such localities can be very profitably
converted into cash, and replaced much more cheaply by
manure.

Such is a very short sketch of the present condition of the
peat mosses of Tuancashire. Many interesting details may be
learned by a perusal of Mr. Garnett’s prize essay on the farming
of the county. Our purpose is rather to direct attention to
the fact of the existence of such comparatively unopened mines
of wealth, for such they are when regard is had to their locality.
The bogs of the west of Ireland have been and are being re-
claimed to advantage; but here, in the midst of the greatest
manufacturing wealth, and possessing the best markets in the
world, thousands of acres are still lying waste and unimproved.
If left to the native farmers, the reclamation will be slow, for,
as a class, they are individually possessed of little capital and
no great enterprise, and where allotments are made to them
they show no readiness to improve them.

Lancashire, north of the Ribble, differs in many important
respects from the southern division already described. The
populous manufacturing towns and villages disappear; and,
with the exception of the extensive and peculiar district called
the Fylde, the country is narrowed into a strip a few miles in
breadth, extending from the sea to the mountainous tract which
on the east divides it from Yorkshire. To the north, and dis-
joined from the rest of the county by Morecombe-bay, lies the
rich district of Furness. The coal measures are now left behind ;
red sandstone, millstone-grit, mountain limestone, and clay
slate, form the geological features of the district. The outline
is on the whole more picturesque, the fields and trees look

fresher and greener, though, except in valleys and sheltered
t3
278 EVILS OF LIFE LEASES WITH FINES. [Lancasatre.

glens or bays protected by bluff headlands, the stunted appear-
ance of the hedgerow trees, and their inclination from the west,
show the effects of the prevailing westerly sea winds. Near
the coast the land is managed chiefly in alternate husbandry ;
as it begins to rise towards the hills it is principally in grass,
held by small dairy farmers; and the hills are stocked with
blackfaced sheep.

The extensive district called the Fylde first demands our
attention. It embraces all that low alluvial district lying
westward of the Preston and Lancaster railway, and extending
to the coast. It is divided by the river Wyre, which falls into
the sea above Fleetwood, and is traversed by the Preston and
Fleetwood railway. Along the coast the climate is very mild,
and the towns of Lytham, Blackpool, and Fleetwood are much
resorted to, for sea-bathing, by the inhabitants of the manu-
facturing districts in the interior. Containing many varieties
of soil, from a blowing sand to a strong alluvial clay, it gives
scope to different systems of management, and, on the whole,
it is naturally a rich agricultural district, requiring only the
hand of enterprise and the judicious investment of capital for
its profitable cultivation. The Earl of Derby, Mr. Clifton of
Lytham, and Mr. Wilson F france, are the principal landowners.
Twenty years ago many parts of this district were nearly inac-
cessible, and even yet a stranger would find it difficult to get
through some parts of it but for the railway.

In 1831, on Lord Derby’s estate, extending to 12,000 acres
of land, in the neighbourhood of Preston, there was not a field
turnip grown; a few for table use might be seen in the farmers’
gardens. Up to that time the only tenure known on that ex-
tensive estate was by leases of three lives, with fines for renewal.
These fines varied, according to the extent and value of the
holding, from 1002. up to as much as 2,000, and the right of
property was maintained by a small annual payment, often not
more than 40s., for a considerable farm. In this way the pro-
prietor lost all immediate interest in the property, and the
Lancasuine.] DRAINAGE, AND ROTATION OF CROPS. 279

tenant, even if he had the requisite skill, had probably parted
with all the available capital he possessed in paying the fine.
Improvement there was none, and though Lord Derby has
granted no renewals since 1831, that very circumstance pre-
vents improvement, as the tenants feel that when their leases
run out they will be placed under a different tenure. On other
parts of the Fylde the same system prevailed, though not up to
so late a period; but a considerable portion of this extensive
district is still held on long leases, and many years must elapse
before the evil effects of the practice can entirely disappear.
Instances are known of tenants, through indolence and in-
activity, being reduced to poverty when their payments for rent
were merely nominal, and of the same men, on the same farms,
when compelled to exert themselves to pay a regular rent,
casting off their sloth, retrieving their circumstances, and be-
coming at last comparatively independent.

On the extensive estate of Mr. Clifton, of Lytham, very
large and vigorous improvements have been made. One large
open drain, emptying itself into the harbour of Lytham through
floodgates which exclude the tide at high-water, extends five or
six miles inland, and cost the proprietor 3,0002. It has laid
dry a great extent of flat country, from which there was formerly
no outlet for the water. Mr. Clifton has enlarged several of
his farms, and introduced upon different parts of his estate
farmers of capital, occupying 400 acres and upwards, on leases
of nineteen or twenty-one years. Their farms have been
drained at the joint expense of landlord and tenant, and hand-
some residences and farm buildings have been erected by the
landlord. ‘The rotation of crops prescribed on other parts of
this estate is, (1) oats, (2) green crop, (3) wheat or barley, and
three years in grass, —while a portion is likewise reserved for
permanent grass and meadow, as most of the farmers keep a
dairy stock. As there is occasionally a good demand and cor-

_responding prices for hay, straw, and turnips, the tenants are
r4
280 BACKWARD STATE OF THE FYLDE DISTRICT. [Lancasuian.

allowed to dispose of these, on condition that they bring upon
their farms the following quantities of manure :—

4 tons of manure, for 1 ton of hay sold:

3 ditto ditto of wheat straw sold:

21. per acre, in addition to manure already applied, on fields
whence turnips are sold.

On the sandy lands along the sea-coast on this estate great
improvements have been made by marling, a bank of which
is very frequently found in convenient proximity. These
sandy soils are now the most successful in potato culture, and,
being very inexpensive to work, are much sought after by
tenants. They let, according to quality, at 21s. to 30s. per
acre, and the better class of soils on this estate at 30s. to 36s.
per acre, inclusive of tithe.

The general class of farms in the Fylde are from 40 to 160
acres in extent. The fields are small, and the fences zigzag
about in all directions. In almost every field there is a marl-
pit, the application of which, in former times, was the only
improvement known to the farmers. It is still practised, but
‘not in the same wholesale manner as formerly. One of the
conditions of the holding was generally that the tenant was to
lay the whole dung of the farm upon his meadow ; consequently,
the little portion they did cultivate could not get any justice.
To this condition they were rigorously bound, many instances
being known of men being heavily fined for transgressing it.
The dairy forms their principal source of income, and in its
management they display much cleanliness and care. Their
arable is limited to a very small portion, from which it
is usual to take one or two oat crops, then a bare fallow,
followed by wheat; after which the land is either sown with
such hay~seeds as the farmer has, or left to grass itself over;
this course being justified on the principle that the old roots
had not by their husbandry been destroyed. Draining, to a
very limited extent, is carried on; dried peat being used as a
wedge to form the watercourse. Where well executed, these
LANCASHIRE. ] ADVANTAGE OF DRAINAGE. 281

‘peat drains are effective, and last many years. The contrast
betwixt drained and undrained land in the Fylde is very per-
ceptible. Crossing a fence which divides two fields of precisely
the same soil you may step from one not worth 10s. an acre
into another better worth 40s., the whole differeace being due
to drainage and improved management. In this flat country
there is sometimes much difficulty in getting an outfall for the
drainage; but, besides that material difficulty, there is an arti-
ficial obstruction at a place called Skippool, where the pro-
prietor of a small meal-mill has the power of damming up the
water to turn his mill, and in this way actually keeps up the
drainage and sets back the water over several hundred acres of
valuable land. It would appear that the neighbouring pro-
prietors and their tenants, who are injured by it, have no power
to compel the removal of this obstruction, and negotiations for
the p upose of buying up the privilege have hitherto failed.

After a clean bare fallow, the crop of wheat yields from twenty-
four to twenty-eight bushels an acre; thirty-six to forty of beans
are reckoned a full crop. From the level character of the
country it is exposed to severe cold winds. On Mr. Begbie’s
farm, boarded hurdles are erected to shelter his ewe flock, which
are kept for the supply of lambs to the coast villages, whence
there is an excellent and increasing demand during the sea-
bathing season. Two-thirds of the Fylde district are still un-
drained, and comparatively unimproved.

To the east of the Lancaster and Preston railway the country
is chiefly under grass, and let to dairy farmers. The farms are
generally held on seven-years’ leases, some on fourteen; they
extend from 40 to 180 or 200 acres, but may average about
80 acres. They are precisely of that character which most
encourages competition, being chiefly in grass, and believed to
require no great skill and not much capital in their manage-
ment. ‘ Railway men,” that is to say, men who have made a
little money by railway contracts, are anxious to retire to them,
and when a farm comes into the market there are often as many
282 LAND-COMPETITION TOO MUCH ENCOURAGED. [Lancasuine,

as twenty competitors for it, if a small farm, and three or four’
ifa large one. This competition is recklessly taken advantage
of to the utmost by most of the landlords of the district, little
regard being paid to the qualifications of the tenant, provided
he offers the highest rent. Many farms are at this moment
being let at an increase of 10 per cent. and upwards on the old
rent, without the landlord undertaking any of those permanent
improvements by which alone an increased rent, with lower
prices, can possibly be realised. It would be wrong to designate
such conduct by any other name than the most shortsighted
folly on the part of men whose position and information should
guard them from acquiescing in the over-sanguine anticipations
(if they really do look before them at all) of unskilful and inex-
perienced candidates.

Where such competition exists it can hardly be expected that
much abatement of rent should be made by the landlords. Ten
per cent. in one or two instances has been given back, and in
others a certain proportion has been allowed for drainage and
other improvements. On the estate of Mr. Garnett, of Quern-
more Park, a very judicious system is adopted. The landlord
drains for his tenant, and buys bones for top-dressing the grass
land, for both of which outlays he charges 5 per cent. The
bones are applied to the drained grass lands at the rate of one
ton per acre, costing 62; and their effect has in every respect
been as great as we found it in Cheshire, in all cases improving
the quality, and almost doubling the quantity of herbage. By
this means a dairy farmer is at once placed in a position in which
he may with success meet somewhat diminished prices. At
Bleasdale Tower, between 600 and 700 feet above the sea-level,
the effect of bones in improving grass land is very striking, A
wild and barren country is here being reclaimed for the use of
man. Farm buildings of the most substantial and convenient
character, and with all requisite shelter for this elevated district,
are being erected, and every encouragement to industry afforded,
and regard to the personal comfort of his tenants and their
Lancasuine.] COMPARATIVE VIEW — 1770 AND 1850. 283

families bestowed, by the liberality of the proprietor, Mr.
Garnett.

It may be interesting to compare the present rates of rent,
labour, and the value of produce with what they were in the
same locality in 1770. An exact comparison cannot be made,
as Arthur Young does not mention the exact situation of the
places he describes. Between Lancaster and Garstang a dairy
farm seems to have borne something like the following pro-
portions : —

In 1770. AND In 1850.

Rent, 21s. an acre. Rent, 41s. an acre.

Rates 3d. per pound. Rates, 3s. 9d. per pound,

Tithes compounded for. Tithes commuted, and included
in rent.

4-7ths of farm in grass. 4-5ths of farm in grass.

8-7ths arable. 1-5th arable.

Annual produce of a cow, 4/. Annual produce of a cow, 91.

Six horses in a plough, and do an Two, and sometimes three, horses

acre a day. in a plough.
First man’s wages, 9/. a-year, and First man’s wages, 15/. to 16/. a-
his board. year, and board.

Second man 5. a-year, and board. Second man, 10/.a-year, and board.

Dairymaid, 32. and board. Dairymaid, 7/. 10s., and board.

Bread (oat), 11 lb. for 1s. Bread, 4d. per 4 Ib. loaf, coarse
wheaten bread; 5d. per 4 Ib.,
best.

Cheese 3d. per Ib. Cheese, 5d. per Ib.

Butter 8d. per Ib. Butter 11d. to 1s. per Jb.

Beef, 23d. per lb. Beef, 5d. to 6d.

Mutton 24d. per lb, Mutton, 6d.

Labourer’s house-rent, 20s. Labourer’s house-rent, 50s. to 100s.

These prices suggest many reflections which it is unnecessary
at present to dwell upon, further than to point out that while
rent, rates, and wages of labour have more than doubled, the
value of the staple produce has increased in a like proportion,
and that oat-bread, which then formed the sole bread of the
people, is now much superseded, even in the country districts,
284 CONDITION OF LABOURERS. [Lancasuire.

by wheaten bread, at a price very little higher per pound in 1850
than that of oat-bread in 1770.

The wages of labour throughout Lancashire will be reckoned
high as compared with the southern counties. In South Lanca-
shire 12s. to 15s. a week is the usual rate for Englishmen, and
9s. a week for Irishmen. In that district native labour is so
scarce that the farmers declare they could not get on at all
without the aid of the Irish. Cottage-rents are from 32. to 51.
a year, according to accommodation, and those on the large
estates are always provided with a moderate piece of garden
ground. In some cases when labourers’ cottages fall into decay
they are not rebuilt, and the labourers are consequently driven
into the neighbouring towns. But from the denseness of the
population this is not attended with the inconvenience we have
sometimes witnessed, as in this county a labourer has seldom to
walk so much as two miles to his work. In the Fylde labourers’
wages are lower, 9s. and 10s. a week being common. To the
north and east of the Fylde wages are higher, 12s. and 14s. a
week being the present rate. Women are seldom employed in
the fields at hoeing or other light work, there being better pay-
ment for them in-doors at the factories. It is necessary, there-
fore, to employ men in this county in many operations for which
women or boys are found competent in other districts. And
this makes the manual labour on the turnip-crop nearly double
the cost in Lancashire, as compared with such counties. Fuel
is abundant and cheap.

A report of the agriculture of Lancashire would be incomplete
if it bore no testiniony to the influence which the two district
societies have had in promoting agricultural improvement. In
South Lancashire the Manchester and Liverpool Agricultural
Society, of which Mr. Henry White, of Warrington, is the
secretary, holds an annual meeting in different parts of the dis-
trict in turn, at which, besides the usual prizes for stock, com-
petition is also invited in the management of farms, including,
under separate heads, draining, subsoiling, irrigating, laying
Lancasuins. ] AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 285

down land to grass, marling, and green crops, besides rewards
to farm-labourers for good conduct and proficiency. Inspectors
are appointed by the society to examine the different farms and
crops entered for competition, and, besides the direct benefit of
that competition, the reports convey much useful instruction by
describing the best processes which come under the observation
of the inspectors. In the northern district the efforts of the
North Lancashire Society have been very successful in intro-
ducing improved breeds of stock, and in encouraging competi-
tion among both landlords and tenants.
286

-LETTER XXXIV.
YORKSHIRE.

W est Ripinc—woor.en AND WORSTED MANUFACTURES — WEAVER-FARMERS
— GENERAL TASTE FOR AGRICULTURE AMONG MANUFACTURERS OF THE West
Ripineg — MILK FARMERS — THIS DISTRICT LITTLE AFFECTED BY THE PRICE
OF CORN— MR, STANSFIELD’S FARM AT ESHOLT— MANAGEMENT AND PRO—
DUCTIVENESS OF ITALIAN RYE GRASS— RENT — WHARFDALE— VALUE OF A
cow’s PRODUCE—RENT AND RATES — HAREWOOD—CONDITION OF LABOURERS
— LEEDS — WAKEFIELD — FARMING AT CHEVET GRANGE— DETAILS OF MA~
NAGEMENT OF CROPS AND STOCK — LABOURERS’ WAGES — VARIETY OF CROPS
NEAR DONCASTER, PONTEFRACT, AND GOOLE—-TENURE AND TENANT RIGHT
—TURNIP CROPS POOR AND LITTLE VALUED.

Waxerietp, Nov. 1850.

Crossine from Lancaster to the west Riding by the new line
of the North-Western railway, the traveller is carried up the
picturesque valley of the Lune, whence, after passing through
a bleak high country, he begins to descend into the grassy
dales of the upland district of Yorkshire. Here in the sheltered
valleys of the mountain limestone the fields are completely
inclosed, and though for many miles scarcely a ploughed field
is to be seen, there is everywhere evidenced a skilful and
painstaking management of grass. The mixed breed of short-
horns, long-horns, Irish, and polled Galloways, which satisfy
the dairy farmers of Lancashire, now give place to the improved
short-horns, which with occasional exceptions are the distinctive
breed of this Riding. Around Settle the country is all in
grass, and continues so to Skipton, eastward of which a few
cultivated fields appear, but so small in proportion as to be
quite a subordinate feature in the landscape.

As we approach the coal district the factories become more
numerous. Entering it at Keighley, we pass through Bingley
and Shipley to Bradford and Leeds, still environed by small
fields of grass land, generally well drained and in good condition.
West Ruoinc.] WEAVER-FARMERS. 287

We are now in the coal district of Yorkshire, as much
distinguished for its woollen and worsted manufacture as Lanca-
shire for its cotton. With a population of about a million and
a quarter chiefly employed in trade, agriculture, in the most
densely inhabited parts of the West Riding, is of secondary
importance; and yet it differs from the cotton districts in this
—that all classes engaged in the woollen manufacture seem to
have a taste for the occupation of land. Besides those employed
in the large mills, there is a class called “ clothiers,” who hold a
considerable portion of the land within several miles of the
manufacturing towns; they have looms in their houses, and
unite the business of weavers and farmers. When trade is good
the farm is neglected; when trade is dull the weaver becomes a
more attentive farmer. His holding is generally under 20 acres,
and his chief stock consists of dairy cows, with a horse to convey
his manufactured goods and his milk to market. This union of
trades has been long in existence in this part of the country,
but it seldom leads to much success on the part of the weaver-
farmer himself, and the land he occupies is believed to be the
worst managed in the district. Being chiefly in grass, and not
permitted to be sublet or subdivided, it has not led to the same
evils which some years ago existed in the north of Ireland,
under: a much similar state of things, among the hand-loom
weavers of that country.

Ascending higher in the scale, successful tradesmen buy small
properties and cultivate them, while the capitalist manufacturer
is in many parts of the West Riding purchasing the estates and
taking the position of the old gentry of the country. Some
who do not purchase the land occupy large farms as tenants, and
into the management of these they carry the same business
habits and the same command of capital which gained them
success in trade. At Burley, in Wharfdale, Mr. Horsfall, a
wealthy manufacturer and landowner, spares neither time nor
personal exertion in increasing the produce of his land. By
irrigation he has improved his pasture land 50 per cent., and
288 FARMERS NOT DEPENDENT ON PRICE OF CORN. [West Ripinc.

finds, after trial, that by farming himself and attending to
details, he can make 7/. an acre from the produce of land, which
if let would not yield him more than from 32 to 4Z He thus
feels himself well compensated for his own trouble and the
capital he invests as a farmer.

In the neighbourhood of all the manufacturing towns the
system of husbandry is chiefly grass farming for the supply of
the towns with milk and butter. Besides the “clothiers,” there
are small milk farmers who carry on a lucrative business of this
kind; they give their whole attention to it, and, when their
stock is judiciously selected and well fed, they in many cases
make an average produce of 202. from each cow, after deducting
the loss occasioned by selling a cow whose milk has failed, to
replace her with one in full milk. Besides the manure collected
on their lands, they can purchase in the towns and villages any
quantity, at a cheap rate, for topdressing their meadows.

From what has been said, it will be easily seen that the ma-
nufacturing districts of the West Riding have an agriculture of
their own, as little influenced by the price of corn, or dependent
on it for success, as that of South Lancashire. Small farms are
the rule, but as we pass eastwards towards Wharfdale they in-
crease in size, and, at Esholt, the home farm of Mr. Stansfield,
M.P., under the management of Mr. White, presents several
features of interest. It is managed strictly on the four-course
system, but being highly manured and cultivated it is very
productive. A certain portion is kept under meadow, which is
irrigated, and with great advantage, as the water is enriched by
the drainage of a populous neighbourhood. To supply food for
the farm horses and other house-fed stock, a small field ad-
joining the farmyard, three acres in extent, has been kept for
the last nine years under Italian ryegrass. The produce of this
field is always cut and carried into the stables for consumption.
Last year it was cut six times, and after each cutting was
dressed with liquid manure from the tank in the farmyard.
One half of the field is broken up every second year for
Wesr Rinne. | ITALIAN RYE GRASS. 289

renewal, as the grass after the second year ceases to be pro-
ductive. The ground is ploughed in September, well torn to
pieces, and all root-weeds picked off and burnt, the ashes being
then scattered over the surface and ploughed in with a light
furrow; after which the seed (which is got from Dickinson of
London) is sown thick, at the rate of from four to. five bushels
an acre. Next season it is ready for cutting, and the small
field of three acres so managed yields the entire summer food of
six work horses and five bulls, besides supplying a fresh bite for
the cows twice a day when they are brought in to be milked.

The produce is thus applied solely to the stock of the farm,
but in the vicinity of the populous towns probably nothing
would pay a farmer better than to cultivate Italian rye grass on
a larger scale for sale. Its growth might be stimulated almost
to any extent by manure, and when given in a fresh and
succulent state it is eaten eagerly by all kinds of stock. Under
good management the successive cuttings in one year would
yield from thirty to forty tons an acre of green food, which, at
the common price for that article from dairy and horse keepers
in a manufacturing town, could not be less in value than 407.
to 502.

In the management of the arable land the following details
may be interesting : — Seeds are sown every fourth year in these
proportions per acre: l0lb. red clover, 10lb. white clover,
4lb. trefoil, and 4lb. rib grass, being 28lb. in all, and a full
plant is invariably got. From the middle of April till Septem-
ber two acres of seeds yield food for sixteen to twenty sheep,
and one beast. They are then ploughed, and after being
harrowed the land is sown in October with wheat. Wheat
yields from four to seven quarters an acre according to season,
the bulkiest crop not always proving the best on the barn floor.
Excellent crops of swedes are grown with superphosphate of
lime, which is highly approved of as a manure. The barley
crop averages eight quarters an acre, but it is not on the whole
so certain a crop as wheat. Labour here is very expensive, 14s.

U
290 WHARFDALE. [Wesr RIDING.

a week being the present rate for farm labourers. The harvest
could not be accomplished without the aid of the Irish, and
even with their assistance the expense of cutting a heavy crop
of wheat is as much as 16s. an acre, and other corn crops may
average 12s. an acre. Cow cabbage, or kohl rabi, is cultivated
both here and by Mr. Horsfall, of Burley, with advantage, It
is found to yield as much per acre as the Swede, and when
given to cows it does not affect the taste of their milk. Land lets
here at from 30s. to 50s. an acre, according to the quality and
situation, and as the farms are small there is great competition
for them; but that is not taken advantage of, as in north
Lancashire. The best man is invariably made choice of, and
he gets the farm at a fair valuation. There are few leases, the
holding being chiefly from year to year; but a good tenant is
never disturbed, and even a bad one is long borne with.
Proceeding down Wharfdale by Burley, Otley, and Arth-
ington, to Harewood, a rich country is passed through, a large
proportion of which is in grass, stocked, as at Farnley, with
fine herds of short horns and Leicester sheep. The arable
land does not indicate more than ordinary management, and
cannot yield so large a net produce to its occupier as the neigh-
bouring grass lands. On the sides of the valley near Otley and
the plains beyond it the farms are chiefly arable. They average
200 acres in extent, and are managed on the four-course system,,
No artificial manures are used for green crops, the farmer
depending solely on his farm for sources of reproduction. They
all keep dairies, the produce of which is made into butter, and
sold in the manufacturing towns. A cow’s produce is reckoned
to be worth 122 yearly. Rents vary from 10s. on the poorest
arable farms to 32, inclusive of tithe, for the best grazing land
on the banks of the river. Poor and highway rates amount to
1s. per pound in the country districts, and rise to 2s. 6d. and 5s.
near manufacturing villages, where sometimes as much as 10s.
per pound has been paid by the farmer for poor rates alone.
The farmers as a class are not possessed of much capital, and
Wesr Ripinc.] HAREWOOD — LEEDS— WAKEFIELD. 291

their cultivation does not bespeak great energy or skill. The
price of wheat to the farmers here at present is from 42s. to
46s. a quarter.

As we approach Harewood the cultivation improves, and a
fine tract of rich, well managed land is traversed. The farmers
are busily engaged with wheat sowing, for which in many
places the land, after being ploughed and harrowed, is prepared
by being “ribbed” with a light single-horse plough, which
produces much the same effect as the presser, the seeds falling
into the ruts made by the plough, where the roots take firm
hold, and come up in rows as when drilled. Farm labourers are
paid 12s. to 14s. a week, their cottage rents vary from 41. to
51 The landlords have made no abatement of rent, and any
farm that comes into the market is eagerly sought for.

In the neighbourhood of Leeds the land is well farmed,
whether occupied as arable, pasture, or market garden. On
the strong loams near Wakefield, heavy crops are grown by
good management in the market gardens here situated, and
which supply several of the thickly peopled districts of the
Riding. In other parts of the coal district the local value of
produce, and the facility of getting manure, have enabled the
farmer to grow a succession of crops, which, without these ad-
vantages, he could not continue long with benefit. The follow-
ing rotation is not uncommon in such localities :—1. turnips ;
2. wheat; 3 and 4. seeds, eaten on the ground; 5. wheat; 6. wheat
or barley, according to the nature of the soil. In some cases
wheat is taken every alternate year, and Mr. Charnock, in his
report of the West Riding, mentions an instance, on the banks
of the Calder, of wheat having been taken from the same
field for 30 years in succession, with only four exceptions — one of
these having been a bean crop, another barley, the third fallow,
and the fourth potatoes. The crops during the whole period
are said by him to have averaged 39 to 42 bushels per acre.

The farm occupied by Mr. Johnson of Chevet Grange, be-

tween Wakefield and Barnsley, may be taken as a favourable
v2
292 FARMING AT CHEVET GRANGE. [Wesr Rrpine.

sample of the arable farming of the lower district of the
West Riding. It contains 280 acres of sound good land, ca-
pable of growing good crops of wheat and barley, and dry.
enough for eating the turnips off with sheep. One-third of
the farm is, by the common rule of the district, kept in per--
manent grass and meadow; the other two-thirds— 180 acres
in extent—are managed in the four course rotation.. Pre-
vious to the seeds being ploughed up for wheat, the ground.
is sown with a few cwts. of salt, for the purpose of killing
snails. It is ploughed in October, and, after being harrowed,.
eight to ten pecks of seed are drilled at seven inches apart.
The seed is a mixture of Spalding’s red and Australian white, —
in the proportion of three of the former to one of the latter..
The two kinds ripen together, and the mixed sample sells con-
siderably better than if it had been all red, while the produce
is believed not to be diminished. It is not found necessary to
hand or horse hoe the wheat crop, as the land is never allowed:
to get foul. The average produce is five quarters an acre. The:
preparation of the land for the turnip crop is the next process,
and for. this the wheat stubble is ploughed, with three horses
abreast, a deep strong furrow, and the only very deep furrow
given in the course.

In spring the land is wrought to a sufficient degree of fineness
by repeated ploughings and harrowings, or “dressings,” as the
conjoint operation is termed here; after which six loads an acre
of manure from the farmyard are spread over it, and lightly
ploughed in. Lime is applied once in eight years at a cost of
36s. to 40s. an acre. The seed is then drilled on the flat, the
drill at the same time depositing a mixture of eight bushels of
bones and two ewt. of superphosphate per acre. The rows are
nineteen inches apart, and when the turnips are ready they are
hand hoed twice, and horse hoed. About one-fifteenth of the
crop is swedes, the rest white, and other soft turnips. Almost.
the whole is eaten on the ground by sheep, which are confined
by nets, and shifted from space to space as the crop is consumed.
West Ravine. ] FEEDING OF STOCK. 293

The sheep eat the turnips from the ground, the scooped-out
bottoms being afterwards “dragged” up to be eaten. Boxes
with cut straw chaff and a little salt are placed for the sheep to
eat, as this is found to keep them healthy, and they are not on
this farm put on the turnips until these have become ripe,
which is indicated by the leaves beginning to decay. When
put on at an earlier stage young sheep are apt to die, and are,
at all events, very subject to scour. The turnip crop is reckoned
to keep eight or ten young sheep per acre for twenty weeks.
In spring the land is ploughed and sown with barley, of which
six quarters are considered an average crop. Red clover is
sown on one-third of the land, mixed seeds on another, and the
other is left unsown, to be followed by a pulse crop (pease or
beans drilled at nineteen inches apart) in the following spring.
By this arrangement red clover comes only once in twelve
years. The seeds carry from three to five sheep an acre when
pastured. A part is cut for hay, and in autumn the course is
completed. Twenty to thirty beasts are wintered in the yards
on straw, and 4]b. each of oilcake daily. Hight work horses
are kept on this farm, the thrashing being done by horse power.
In winter they are fed on a mixture of oat and wheat straw,
and a small portion of clover hay, cut together into chaff. This
is placed in the horses’ manger, and then slightly damped with
water, after which about a quart of bean meal is strewed over
it, which, being well mixed by hand, adheres to the wet chaff,
and makes the whole a palatable and nutritious feed for the
farm horse. At night the horses are all turned loose into a yard,
where they are supplied with straw in racks. In summer they
are put on the old grass land.

A good many pigs are fed on Egyptian beans, which have
been previously steeped twelve hours in cold water, and then,
after having lain twenty-four hours longer, to soften and ger-
minate, are found an excellent and economical. grain for pig
feeding. The pigs receive as much as they can eat, and get

nothing else.
u3
294 CROPS NEAR DONCASTER AND PONTEFRACT. [West Rrpinc,

Four ploughmen and three extra men are required for the
labour of this farm, besides additional labour during harvest.
They are paid 14s., 13s., and 12s. a-week, according to ability.
The farm is very compact, and the different operations are car-
ried on with much neatness. The fields are divided by closely
trimmed and straight lines of hedges. The farm buildings com-
prise a huge barn, with stables for the horsés, and sheds and
open yards for the cattle. In the stackyard the crop is secured
in high long stacks, in the Lincolnshire fashion, — the largest
of which is estimated to contain not less than 1000 bushels of
wheat. Besides this farm, Mr. Johnson occupies other exten-
sive farms in the neighbourhood, managed on the same plan.

It is impossible, within the limits of a single letter, to in-
clude all the interesting details connected with the farming of
this part of the Riding. Near Doncaster the land is consider-
ably lighter, and there sheep husbandry is more exclusively
followed. In the neighbourhood of Pontefract licorice is culti-
vated, the roots of which are from two to three feet in length,
and require a great depth of soil for their successful culture.
The roots are the article of commerce. Flax, teazle, woad and
chicory are also largely cultivated on some of the alluvial soils
which most favour their growth. On the warp soils, near Goole
and Selby, potatoes are grown both for the London and local
markets, for either of which the navigable rivers present ready
access to the farmers. On the better class of these soils two
crops of potatoes are in some instances got in a year, while in
others they are grown alternately with oats or wheat; and where
the soil is particularly favourable, and the command of manure
sufficient, they are grown in succession year after year.

The prevailing breed of cattle throughout the West Riling is
the improved short-horn, of which there are several celebrated
herds in the district. The draught horses are light and active,
and excellent hunters are reared in the neighbourhood of Don-
caster, Wetherby, and Ripon. The pure Leicester sheep is
being superseded by a cross with the Shropshire ram and Lei-
Wesr Ripine. ] CAKE USED ON POOR LAND. 295

cester ewe, the produce of which yields a much better mixture
of fat and lean meat, and commands 1d. per lb. more in the
market. Some feed the hoggets fat at a year old by giving cake
with the turnips, and this is done where the land is naturally
poor and requires this high feeding to enrich it for the following
corn crop. Where the land is itself of superior quality, this
mode of feeding, it is said, would make it too rich for the corn
crop; and on such lands accordingly the hoggets are not fed fat
the first year, but after being grazed during the summer, they
are fattened on the turnips the second winter. The breed of
pigs is very superior.

On the southern and eastern sides of the West Riding, where
the large arable farms are situated, leases are not very common;
but the farmers are sufficiently protected by the system of
tenant-right, or compensation for unexhausted improvement,
which prevails. We shall more particularly refer to this when we
have seen its effects in other parts of the county. In many in-
stances temporary abatements of 10 per cent. have been made on
account of the low scale of prices, but no permanent arrangement
has yet been entered upon for the future. The better class of
tenants consider it unfair to press their landlords for a permanent
reduction until it shall be seen what the future range of prices
may be; and a good feeling exists between landlord and ten-
ant in this part of the Riding. The landlords are looked upon
as “steady” men, who have never shown any proneness to take
advantage of their tenants in times of competition. Corn-rents
have not been introduced, though many farmers express a wish
for them.

On the whole, the farming of the agricultural division of the
West Riding cannot claim a very prominent place. Eminent in-
dividual exceptions there are, but the great extent of imper-
fectly drained land, the foul stubbles, the very light, and, in
many cases, carelessly managed turnip-crops, show that much

yet remains to be done by both landlord and tenant. Of so
m4
296 LOW VALUE OF TURNIP CROP. [Wesr Ripe.
little value is the turnip-crop accounted, both intrinsically and
from the mode in which it is here consumed, that the selling
price at present is only from 40s. to 45s. an acre; and, taking
the district from Barnsley to Church Fenton, we should say
that for one field of swedes which averages 10 tons an acre,
there are five which do not reach half that amount.
297

LETTER XXXV.
YORKSHIRE.

POTATO COUNTRY ROUND GOOLE — MESSRS. WELLS’ FARMS— PROCESS OF WARP-
ING —STIFF CLAY THUS COVERED WITH “GENTLE” LAND— COURSE OF CROPS
-——FALLOWS ALMOST SUPERSEDED — BUILDINGS, AND MANAGEMENT OF STOCK
——- ECONOMY OF STEAM POWER— HEAVY APPLICATION OF MANURE — GUANO
HAS LESSENED THE COST OF GROWING POTATOES — COMFORT OF THE PEOPLE
ON LORD BEVERLEY’S ESTATE — RENT, RATES, AND FARMERS’ CAPITAL. —
HOLDERNESS.— SOIL AND COURSE OF CROPS — AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT
—~ SUNK ISLAND — RENT, RATES, WAGES —- WANT OF DRAINAGE AND BUILD-
INGS IN HOLDERNESS — PATRINGTON — MR. MARSHALL'S IMPROVEMENTS —
FLAX MILI.

Drirrietp, East Ripine, Dec. 1850.

BEFORE quitting the alluvial districts which lie along the tidal
rivers flowing into the Humber, it may be interesting to give a
brief sketch of the system of management adopted on one of the
best warp-land potato farms. Previous to the potato failure of
1846, the country round Goole (the greater portion of which is
embanked land, situated four feet under high-water level of
spring tides) sent annually to the London market about 30,000
tons of potatoes. Since 1846 the crops have greatly diminished,
not in extent, but in yield; yet the price with a short crop is
sufficiently tempting ; and the farmer is further encouraged to
persevere by the opening of the Goole and Pontefract Railway,
which gives him access to the markets of the manufacturing
districts of the West Riding and Lancashire, while he also pos-
sesses his former outlet to the east by sea to London. Fully
one-half the potatoes of the district now find their way to the
west.

The farms of the Messrs. Wells, of Booth Ferry and Airmyn
Pastures, are situated in the township of Airmyn, near the con-
fluence of the rivers Aire and Ouse, and about two miles west-
ward of Goole. Together they extend to 800 acres, and are
298 PROCESS OF WARPING. [Yorxsurez,

managed alike; but not being contiguous, we shall confine our
description to the Pastures Farm. Fifty years ago much of
this farm was under water, an excellent breeding place for
wild ducks, in pursuit of which several men in the village
earned their principal livelihood; the rest of it yielded cran-
berries and ling, and abundant crops of rushes. There are now
400 acres, all under crop, with the exception of from forty to
seventy acres, which are still in process of reclamation by warp-
ing. The details of that process were described at some length
in a former letter; and it is only necessary here to say that the
soil of this farm consists of an alluvial deposit, several feet in
thickness, gained by admitting the muddy tidal waters of the
river; and that the art is now so well understood that the expert
warp-farmer, by careful attention to the currents, can temper
his soil as he pleases. When the tide is first admitted, the
heavier particles, which are pure sand, are first deposited; the
second deposit is a mixture of sand and fine mud, which, from
its friable texture, forms the most valuable soil; while, lastly,
the pure mud subsides, containing the finest particles of all,
and forms a rich, but very tenacious and expensive soil to
manage. The great effort of the warp-farmer, therefore, is
to get the second or mixed deposit as equally’ over the whole
surface as he can, and to prevent the last from effecting a
lodgment. This he does by keeping-the water in constant
motion, as the last deposit takes place only when the water is
suffered to be still. On that portion of this farm which is at
present of a stiff, tenacious texture, it is Mr. Wells’s intention
to apply the warp until he gets the whole surface converted
into what is here appropriately termed “ gentle” Jand. Warp-
ing costs 102. an acre, the outlay being made by the landlord,
who receives 5 per cent. from the tenant; and as three years
are spent in the process (one year warping, one year drying and
consolidating, and one year growing the first crop), the landlord
foregoes one and a half year’s rent, and the tenant pays as
much. The first crop is generally seeds, hoed in by hand, as
Yorxsurne. | MR. WELLS'S FARM. 299

the mud at this time is too soft to admit of horse labour. These
are pastured one or two years; and the land is then drained
with tiles, not less than three feet in depth, if practicable, after
which it is in a proper state for the course of husbandry pursued
on the rest of the farm. As soon as all the farm has been made
gentle,” or suitable for green crops, one half of it will bear
crops for sale, and the other half crops for consumption on the
farm. There will then be annually 100 acres of potatoes and
100 acres of wheat for sale, and 200 acres of seeds, turnips,
rape, tares, swedes, and beans or peas to be eaten on the farm
by live stock. The system adopted at present is as follows: —

1. Potatoes, manured with 20 tons of manure,

2. Wheat, sown out with mixed seeds. 5‘

3. Seeds, part mown for green food, and part made into hay.

4. Seeds, top-dressed with 3 cwt. of guano per acre, part
mown and part depastured.

5. Potatoes, manured in the ridge with 7 cwt. of Peruvian
guano,

6. Wheat.

The variations: from this rule are these:—On the strong
land, where potatoes cannot be profitably grown, the seeds are
ploughed up after being mown the second year; and then, after
being ploughed five times, the land is drilled with wheat. When
the land gets foul, instead of a bare fallow, turnips or tares are
sown, which are followed by potatoes, two cleansing crops thus
following in succession. Bare fallows are very seldom resorted
to, even on the strongest land, the practice being to sow winter
tares on the wheat stubble, and to clean the land well after
they are mown in May and June, or to winter fallow the land,
and, after repeatedly ploughing and cleaning it in spring and
the early part of summer, to sow rape upon it, which is either
eaten on the ground with sheep and ploughed for wheat, or, after
being eaten down, left for acrop next summer, and the land then
prepared for wheat. The corn crops are sown with the drill,
and the potato and turnip crops grown on ridges twenty-eight
300 ECONOMY OF STEAM. [Yorusarn.

‘to thirty inches apart. Where the land is sufficiently clean,
a crop of turnips, the same season, follows the winter tares, and
both are succeeded by potatoes.

Commodious and well-arranged farm buildings have been
erected on this farm, in which the whole stock are housed under
cover, while there are two large yards, hollowed in the centre
for storing the manure, and into which all the stock are turned
for a few hours daily to exercise. Besides the work horses, ten
well-bred young horses, four of which are sold annually at the
great horse fair at Howden, are accommodated with sheds and
yards. Between fifty and sixty cows and bullocks are fed on
the farm, and a large stock of pigs, which receive barleymeal,
and refuse potatoes, steamed together. The barn is fitted with
a horse thrashing mill, and grinding and cutting machines for
bruising corn and linseed and chopping straw and hay. At
Booth Ferry, Mr. Wells has introduced a seven-horse power
‘steam engine for these purposes at an additional cost of 3002,
which, from its superior efficiency and economy, he finds, on
accurate computation, to yield him a profit, besides interest, of
20 per cent. on this original difference of cost, besides the ad-
vantage of being able to thrash any quantity to meet a favour-
able turn of the market, without at the same time stopping
necessary field operations. The cost of thrashing and dressing
corn by steam power at Booth Ferry averages 73d. per quarter;
by horse power on the other farm, 1s. 73d. per quarter.

About 1000 tons of manure are made on this farm; besides
which 2002 are expended in guano and other manure, and 2001.
in linseed cake for feeding. The introduction of guano has
greatly lessened the cost of the potato crop, the large applica-
tion of 7 cwt. an acre costing only 32 10s. against at least
double that sum formerly paid for town manure, besides the
manifest saving of labour in carrying on and spreading over the
land 7 cwt. of guano in comparison with 20 to 25 tons of
manure. ‘The crops of potatoes formerly grown on these rich
warp-lands were very remunerative. Since 1846 they have
Yorxsuzre. | EARL OF BEVERLEY’S ESTATE. 301

been extremely precarious, and it has been necessary to sub-
stitute an inferior white potato for the York red (so long a
favourite in the London market), on account of its greater
liability to disease; while only six tons an acre of whites are
now got where ten tons of reds used formerly to be reckoned an
average crop.

The township of Airmyn, containing 3,600 acres, principally
of warp-land, is the property of the Earl of Beverley, whose
liberality to his tenants, and considerate treatment of the
labouring class, merit remark. The conditions on which the
land is re-warped have been already mentioned, but Lord
Beverley likewise makes a large expenditure in the erection
of improved farm buildings for his tenants, in many cases
without remuneration, and supplies tiles for drainage, and posts,
rails, and quicks for fences. The farmers are allowed to kill
the game, and the timber on the estate is confined to planta-
tions, none being kept in the hedgerows at their expense. The
labourers who live in the village have each a house and garden,
and a “cow-gate,” which comprises one acre and a-half of the
best pasture land in the district, and adjoining the village, and
one acre and a-half of mowing-ground for winter food, at the
very moderate payment for house and “ cow-gate” of 71. a-year.
The owner, with the clergyman and farmers of the township,
have united with the labourers in establishing a “ cow club,”
the funds of which are employed in replacing any of the
labourers’ cows which may die by accident or disease. The
farmers live at moderate rents, they farm well, and give em-
ployment to all the labourers; the rates are kept low, and, by
the wise and judicious management sanctioned by the pro-
prietor, a bond of union and good feeling, such as is too seldom
met with, extends through all classes in this township. The
rent of land ranges from 30s. to 35s. an acre, the rates and
taxes 4s. 6d. an acre, and the capital required for its proper
cultivation is estimated at 112 an acre. A canal and railway,
and a navigable river, traverse the township, which afford ready
302 FARMING IN HOLDERNESS. [Easr Rivixe.

access both to the manufacturing districts in the interior and:
to the London market.

Crossing the Ouse at Booth Ferry we enter the East
Riding, the least of the three divisions of the county. Its
population is about 200,000, which is not quite a sixth of
the population of the West Riding. It is usually divided
into three districts, 1. Holderness, stretching from the sea-
coast to the eastern foot of the Wolds; 2. the Wolds, occupy-
ing the elevated chalk district in the centre; and, 3. How-
denshire and the Vale of York, extending from the west
side of the Wolds to the rivers Ouse and Derwent, on the
southern and western boundaries of the Riding. It is altogether
an agricultural district, there being no manufactures of great
importance carried on in it.

Beginning our narrative with Holderness, this is a low-lying
country, seldom rising higher than 50 feet above sea-leyel, and
many thousand acres of it formed by a deposit from the waters
of the Humber, and lying some feet below its level at spring
tides, from which it is protected by embankment. The greater
portion of the district, however, is gently undulating land, very
favourably situated for drainage, part light enough to grow
turnips as a regular crop, but the most of it in its undrained
state too strong for turnips, and still managed with bare fallows.
On the light land the usual four or five course system is prac-
tised. On a well-managed strong land farm of 400 acres we
found the course of cropping as follows : —(1) fallow, (2) wheat,
(3) seeds, (4) wheat, (5) oats, (6) beans. To avoid the total
loss occasioned by a dead fallow, winter tares are sown in suc~
cession on a portion of the land, which, after these are mown
off in June, is then repeatedly ploughed, dragged, and cleaned,
and prepared for being sown with wheat in October. Another
portion is winter fallowed, well wrought and cleaned in spring
and summer, and in the middle of August sown with mustard,
which is eaten off by the ewes in the end of October, and then
ploughed in for wheat. This is found an admirable preparation
East Rupinc. | ON SUNK ISLAND. 303

for wheat, besides affording useful feed at that season for the
ewes. Previous to ploughing up the clover root, 3 cwt. an
acre of salt is sown to kill the slug, and, after it is ploughed
and well harrowed, the land is completely pulverised and pre-
pared for the drill by the use of a “shim,” which cuts the
tough edges of the furrow and greatly facilitates the regular
action of the drill. The wheat after seeds is followed by oats,
which are always a good crop, and these are succeeded by
beans, which are more precarious, but form an excellent pre-
parative for the following fallow or green crops. A portion of
the fallow division is cropped with swedes and white turnips, and
these are followed by April wheat. The fallow division is
either manured with farmyard dung, or limed at the rate of four
tons an acre, at a cost of 32s. to 36s. Lime is found an essential
requisite in the clay soils of Holderness, and is repeated every
twelve or sixteen years. Tile-draining, where tried, has been
attended with the greatest benefit; yet not above one-third of
this farm is drained. The whole stock on the farm at present
is 8 cows, 20 to 30 wintering beasts kept in the yard to tread
down the straw, 108 ewes, 13 workhorses, and about 12 young
horses.

On Sunk Island, now containing within its. banks 4700 acres,
and connected with the main land by a bridge, the manage-
ment is usually — fallow, wheat, oats, beans. The wheat crop
is said to yield five to six quarters; oats, eight to twelve;
and beans, which are uncertain, two to five quarters an acre.
The rent may be 32s., and taxes 2s. to 4s. an acre more. The
stock is limited to a few cows for the use of the family and
servants, and a lot of wintering cattle to tread down the straw.
Labourers’ wages are from 10s. 6d. to 12s. a week.

On the warp soil between Hull and Patrington, rape for
seed is sometimes grown on the fallow division, in preparation
for which the land is well manured; and when the crop is
removed in the beginning of July, the land is ploughed and
prepared for wheat. The wheat is followed by drilled beans,
304 WANT OF DRAINAGS AND BUILDINGS. | East Ripinc<

well horse and hand hoed, after which a second wheat crop
succeeds.

This district, as at present cultivated, is altogether dependent
on the price of corn, the quantity of stock kept on each. farm.
forming comparatively quite an inconsiderable object. It. is
natural that the farmers should complain of present prices, yet
farms, when they are offered to be let, are still eagerly applied.
for. Some landlords have made temporary abatements, and
some assist their tenants with drainage; but this necessary
improvement, the foundation of all others, is still very far be-
hind, as two-thirds of Holderness are believed to be undrained,.
or very imperfectly drained. Drainage and increased accom-
modation for live stock appear to be the chief defects in the
farming of the district, drainage, which will render an addi-
tional expenditure of manure a profitable outlay ; and better
housing for stock, in which the increasing breadths of green
crops may be consumed with economy both of the substance
of the animal by shelter and warmth, of labour by convenient
arrangements to facilitate the operations of the feeder, and by
preventing waste of the roots and other expensive substances
employed in feeding. An extension of this system will of
course lead to larger home supplies of manure, and consequently
to heavier crops of all kinds ; and there can be little doubt that
the farmers of Holderness will be compelled, by a lower range
of prices of corn, to direct their attention more than they have
hitherto done to increasing their returns from live stock, whether
in beef, mutton, and wool, or in cheese and butter.

At Patrington the influence of capital and the energy of the
manufacturer have converted the quiet of a retired rural village
into a scene of bustling industry. Some three years ago
about 1000 acres of land here were purchased by Mr. W.
Marshall, of Leeds. He instantly began the work of im-
provement, and nearly the whole estate has already been
tile-drained, under the superintendence of Mr. Parkes. About
eighteen months ago the foundation of a new and extensive
East Rive. ] FARM MACHINERY. 305

suite of farm-buildings was laid. The whole is now com-
pleted, and occupied by stock, while the barn is flanked by
a goodly row of large wheat-stacks, the produce of the farm.
Straight lines of well-made roads lead to the different fields,
and give easy access for getting home the crops and taking
out the manure. A steam-engine of eight-horse power occupies
the centre of the barn, within whose capacious roof are fitted,
(by Crosskill, of Beverley), in different compartments, every
imaginable machine for converting the corn and vegetable
produce of the farm into food for the sustenance of man and
beast. The thrashing-machine thrashes and dresses the corn,
and then delivers it in the granary, where it is either stored
or passed to the grinding-loft, whence it descends to the lower
storey, after being ground into flour and dressed, and is there
received in sacks and packed aside ready for the baker. From
the end of the thrashing-machine the straw is carried by an
endless web to another loft, where it is passed through the
chaff-cutter, and reappears below as chaff. Other machines,
conveniently arranged, break beans and oats for the horses,
oilcake for the cattle, and linseed for mixing with the cut
chaff. The root-house is situated at one end of the under storey,
opening by large doors to the farm road, by which the roots are
brought in. Elevators, moved by the steam-engine, lift the tur-
nips rapidly up to a turnip-cutter, placed at such a height that
the cut turnips fall into a truck, whence they can be conveyed
on a railroad throughout the whole of the feeding-houses. A
different compartment contains the cooking apparatus, where,
by steam from the boiler, cooked food of various kinds is
prepared for the pigs and other farm stock. Underground is
a great arched tank, into which all the rain-water that falls
on the buildings is conveyed by spouts and pipes. From this
the engine feeds itself with water, and likewise pumps up
water to a tank on the highest part of the barn, whence it
supplies by pipes all the different divisions of the farm build~
x
306 BOX FEEDING. — FLAX MILLS. [Easr Rivne.

ings; and, in case of fire, could be readily turned to good
account. The engine pumps the liquid manure of the farm to
another tank (in rather too close contiguity to this), whence,
by applying a gutta-percha hose, the liquid may be dispersed
over the manure heap.

The cattle-houses are situated in parallel lines, at right
angles to the barn. Each animal has its comfortable box,
twelve feet by ten, with a supply of fresh water in one corner,
and a manger for its food in the other. Between every double
row of cattle a railway is placed, on which the trucks, with
their food, are easily pushed along. A covered manure-pit
receives the dung, when it is carried from the cattle, and
protects it from the influence of rain and weather. The
mode of cultivation to be hereafter adopted on the farm we
did not learn, as, in the absence of the manager, there was
no one to communicate such information; but, as the same
spirit and energy will no doubt be manifested in the field,
it will soon be necessary to pack the animals more closely
together in the cattle-houses, as the green crops of a farm
of this extent, if principally consumed at home, will suffice for
three times the number of animals for which accommodation
is now provided. By converting the boxes into stalls the room
at present occupied by one will suffice for three; and, as
all other arrangements may remain unchanged, the charge
for interest will then fall lighter on each.

At the entrance to the farm Mr. Arthur Marshall, of Leeds,
has erected extensive works for the rotting and scutching of
flax. In these he at present manufactures the crop of 300
acres, but the works are sufficient for 500. The farmers of
Holderness, however, do not seem to go very readily into flax
culture, and Mr. Marshall is therefore obliged to hire the land,
sow the seed, provide people to weed and pull the crop, and
the farmer then carts it to the works, where it is stacked
till required. Mr. Marshall pays 82. an acre for the use of the
East Rivine.] INCREASE OF EMPLOYMENT. 307

land, the farmer undergoing no risk of failure of crop, and
no outlay for seed or labour. The average yield of dressed
flax per acre is five hundredweight, at present worth 70s.
a hundredweight, besides two quarters of seed, worth 50s. a
quarter. The employment given in these works, and in the
extensive improvements at the farm, has raised the rate of
farm wages for men, women, and children, in the parish of
Patrington, from 12 to 15 per cent. above that of the surround-
ing district.
LETTER XXXVI.

YORKSHIRE — continued.

FLAX CULTURE MOST SUITABLE TO A DISTRICT OF LOW WAGES—GROWTH OF
SUGAR BEET-——-THE YORKSHIRE WOLDS — PICTURESQUE APPEARANCE —
SIZE OF FARMS — ADVANTAGES POSSESSED BY WOLD FARMERS — GREATER
COMPETITION HERE FOR LARGE THAN SMALL FARMS — DETAILS OF AGRI-
CULTURAL MANAGEMENT ON LOWER WOLDS —AND ON HIGHER WOLDS —
DIFFERENT YIELD OF THE TWO, AND DIFFERENCE IN QUALITY OF PRODUCE
—GRADUAL AND PROGRESSIVE CHANGES OF SYSTEM OF CROPPING —
HOWDENSHIRE—NECESSITY FOR DRAINAGE OF COLD CLAYS — CULTURE AND
PRODUCTS OF THE SAND LAND — COMPETITION FOR FARMS MAY EXIST
DURING A TIME OF LOW PRICES—CONDITION OF THE LABOURERS — TABLE
OF PRICES AND WAGES IN 1791, 1811 anv 1850.

Yors, Dec. 1850.

Waize on the subject of flax culture at Patrington,-it may be

well to advert to one or two points which are sometimes over-

looked by the advocates for its extension in England. An article,
of which the wages of labour in the first stage of its manufacture
form fully 60 per cent. of the whole value, must be mainly
dependent for profit on the scale of wages. The difference of
that scale between most parts of Ireland and the East Riding of

Yorkshire is not less than 150 per cent., and with such a dif-

ference the manufacturer in this district cannot afford to pay the

farmer for the raw material so remunerative a price as in Ireland.

Other articles of agricultural produce here are of considerably

more value per acre than in Ireland, and that likewise limits the

extension of flax culture, as the price offered by the manufac-
turer is not, when compared with the value of other crops,
sufficiently tempting. Flax is acknowledged by all who have
tried it to be an exhausting crop ; yet that of itself is not a good

objection to its culture, though it is an excellent reason for a

farmer declining to grow it unless he can obtain such a price as

will not only compensate him for the usual expenses of cul-
tivation, but will also enable him to restore to the soil that
Yorxsuire.] FLAX AND SUGAR BEET, 309

fertility which the flax crop has removed. So long as the
difference of wages gives the Irish manufacturer so great an
advantage over the manufacturer in the East Riding, the
extension of flax culture here is not likely to be very rapid.
But there are other counties in England whose soil is equally
well adapted for the growth of flax, and where the establish-
ment of flax works would be a great boon to the unemployed
labourers. In many parts of Essex and Suffolk, for instance,
where labourers’ wages do not exceed 1s. 2d. a-day, and where
the rates are at certain seasons heavily burdened for the support
of the unemployed labourer, the soil is well adapted to the
culture of flax. And it is very obvious that a lower range of
prices for corn will make this crop and others of a similar
character more worthy of the farmer’s attention. The farmer
was much better paid with wheat at 60s. a quarter than with
flax at 82. an acre; but if the future price of wheat shall range
between 40s. and 50s. he may find it his interest to grow flax.

The sugar beet is another article of culture, which is highly
deserving of notice. The growth of beet-root for sugar has
become of late years the most profitable crop of the farmers in
the north of France and Belgium. It has been tried both
in England and in Ireland with such a degree of success as
may undoubtedly lead to the establishment in this country also
of an important agricultural manufacture. On the heavier class
of soils in the Eastern counties rents are extremely low;
farmers are discouraged by the low price of corn, and are
making nothing by their business; labourers are irregularly
employed and at inadequate wages, and for that reason poor
rates are unusually heavy; and yet on such soils 14 tons of
beet to the acre are often grown without the application of
a particle of manure. In such circumstances it would be
well for the parties interested to inquire into the trust-
worthiness of the statements which have been put forth
on this subject, as they could establish a strong claim on the

Legislature for permission to manufacture freely the produce
x3
310 PLEASING APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. [Yoruspire

of their own fields now that they possess no exclusive privilege
over the produce of the foreigner.

Leaving Holderness, we entered the Yorkshire Wolds from
Driffield, crossing them by North Dalton to Pocklington. The
general aspect of the country is much more picturesque than
the Downs of the Southern counties or the Wolds of Lincoln-
shire. It presents a very uniform and gradually inclined plane,
joining the low ground on the south-east, and rising to its
greatest elevation on the north, about 800 feet above sea level,
whence it gradually falls southward to an altitude of about 500
feet. The country is all enclosed, generally by thorn hedges ;
and plantations, everywhere grouped over its surface, add beauty
to the outline, while they shelter the fields from the cutting
blasts of winter and spring. Green pasture fields are oc-
casionally intermixed with corn, or more frequently surround
the spacious and comfortable homestead. Large and, numerous
corn ricks give an air of warmth and plenty, whilst the turnip
fields, crowded with sheep, make up a cheerful and animated
picture. The large corn fields, 30 to 70 acres in extent, attest
by the evenness of the stubble the correct manner in which the
drill man does his part, and the neatly trimmed hedges and well
built ricks show that the labourer is expert, and that the
farmer likes to have his work well done. Tio horses abreast~
in the field are yoked to a light wheel plough, with which an
acre and a half can be as easily turned over, as one acre where
‘the plough, without wheels, is used. The horses walk at a
swift, active step, and in the pole-waggon, in which two are
yoked abreast as in a carriage, with the driver on his saddle as
postilion, the horses trot briskly along.

The farms are from 300 to 1,300 acres in extent, and the
farmers are probably the wealthiest men of their class in the
‘county. For this there are several reasons. In the first place,
the extent of their farms required that they should be cultivated
by men of capital, and these from their social position were
men of education and liberal mind, alive to the improvements
Wo.ps.] THE WOLD FARMER'S ADVANTAGES. 311

which recent times have produced, and with a command of
capital which enabled them to take advantage of those im-
provements. Next, though their farms are situated at a con-
siderable altitude, there is something in the calcareous nature
of chalk soils in all parts of the country which renders them
very “true” in their yield of wheat and barley, and very sound
for sheep and cattle. Then, besides corn, the Wold farmer
depends mainly on mutton and wool, and these two articles
command at present a higher relative price than any other
produce the farmer has to sell. Combined with these ad-
vantages, his land is light and easy to work; it is laid out in
large square fields still more to facilitate operations; it requires
little or no underdraining or ditching; and its bulkiest crops
are consumed on the ground where they grow, without any
expense in hauling home the turnips or carrying back the
manure. ‘The size of the farms has also limited the competition
for them, though it is somewhat peculiar to Wold farms that
among men of capital there is a greater competition for a farm
of 800 or 1,000 acres than for one of 300. This arises from the
fact that there are plenty of men of adequate capital to compete
for such farms; and as the same superintendence is requisite for
a small as a large farm, the large one, under equal circum-
stances, will be the more profitable. This competition, however,
does not lead to exorbitant rents, for there is an obvious dif-
ference in the results of a competition between men, all of
whom have capital and look for a fair return from it, and
that where a man of capital is pitted against a man of straw
who has everything to gain and nothing to lose by getting pos-
session of a farm.

The system of farming pursued on the Yorkshire Wolds is of
two kinds, — one practised on the lower range of Wolds, and
the other.on the higher level. On the lower Wolds the soil is
chiefly a light calcareous loam, from 5 to 10 inches in depth. A
farm of 500 acres, which we visited, rented at 20s. to 25s. an

acre, is managed in the following manner: —(1) seeds, (2)
x. A
312 AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT. [Yorxsuire

‘wheat, (3) white turnips or rape, (4) wheat, (5) swedes or hy-~
brid turnips, (6) oats, sown out with seeds. We begin with
“seeds,” which are eaten with sheep, from Midsummer till Sep-
tember, the sheep getting jlb. of cake daily. Hight double
horseloads of well made yard dung are then spread over
the ground, which is ploughed about four inches deep in Oc-
tober, and towards the end of the month drilled with red creep-
ing wheat. It is of much consequence that the land at this
stage should be thoroughly consolidated ; and that is effected by
using the presser before sowing the wheat, or by rolling the
land completely, after it is sown, with either Cambridge’s wheel
roller or Crosskill’s clodcrusher. If thought requisite, the
ground is again rolled in spring, but the crop receives no far-
ther cultivation till harvested. The stubble is then ploughed
6 inches in depth, in preparation for the next crop. In spring
the land is ploughed, harrowed, and cleaned, and towards the
end of June drilled with white turnips and rape; along with
which the turnips receive 12 bushels of dissolved bones, and
the rape 8 bushels per acre. The rape is eaten on the ground,
between Michaelmas and Martinmas, by sheep, which also
receive 3 lb. of cake daily. As the crop is consumed, the ground
is ploughed and sown with red wheat. After that the white
turnips form the food of the sheep till February, and on this
division white wheat is sown in February. The wheat stubble,
in preparation for swedes, receives a dressing of dung over the
greater part of it, and 12 bushels of bones in addition, when the
seed is sown in May. When the white turnips are finished,
the sheep, last of all, are put on the hybrids and swedes, and at
this stage they receive 3]b. of cake from Candlemas to the end
of April. The land as it is ready is ploughed, and sown most
frequently with oats, though barley is occasionally taken on a por=
tion. One half of this division is also sown with the following
mixture of seeds: 101b. red clover, 101b. white, 71b. trefoil, and
3lb. rib grass; the other half receives 141b. white clover, 14 1b.
trefoil, and 7b. rib grass per acre. Red clover is thus repeated
Woupa.] THE HIGHER WOLDS. 313

only once in 12 years. Ryegrass is never sown in either mix-
ture, as it is believed to produce or encourage twitch. Besides
the manure already mentioned, 80 to 100 acres of the wheat, on
the poorer land, are dressed in spring with 6 quarters of soot, or 2
ewt. of guano per acre. The yield under this management is 28
to 32 bushels of wheat, 48 to 64 bushels of oats, and 32 to 40
bushels of barley per acre. The produce of 200 Leicester ewes
kept on the farm is annually sold at 16 to 18 months old, aver-
aging 220 in number, and this year fetched from 40s. to 45s.
each. Four cows are kept for the use of the farm, and 15 beasts
are bought in autumn, and fed fat during the winter in the farm-
yard. ‘They consume on an average half an acre of turnips and
15 cwt. of oileake each. Some Wold farmers sell their sheep at
12 to 13 months old, carrying them on with cake during the
whole period. This season 28s. each was the price of such
‘stock, besides the yield of wool — 7b. each, at oe worth
1s. per lb.

On the higher Wolds the farms are larger on the average;
the rents range from 12s, to 20s. an acre, and the farming on
the whole is neither so good nor so profitable to the farmer.
The quality of the produce is inferior, oats being from 3lb. to
4lb. a bushel lighter, the sample of barley low priced, and the
extent of wheat in proportion to other crops more limited, while
in quality it is also inferior. The best farmers, from the
‘difficulty of growing red clover, now alternate the four-course
with the six, which begins with (1) oats after seeds, (2) turnips
or rape, (3) wheat, (4) swedes and hybrids, (5) barley, (6) seeds.
Manure is applied to the different green crops as has been
already detailed on the lower Wolds, but not in such liberal
quantity nor so often repeated. Wheat is seldom taken oftener
that once in the course. The yield may be 24 bushels of red
wheat, 36 bushels of barley, and 48 bushels of oats per acre.
The soil is often from 18 inches to 2 feet in depth, and fre-
quently with an admixture of clay. It is thus more expensive
to work than the light friable loams of the lower Wolds.
314 GRADUAL CHANGE OF ROTATION. [East Ripina.

Sixty or seventy years ago, when the Wolds began to be cul-
tivated, the system adopted by the farmer was a bare fallow,
followed by two corn crops; and when that had been repeated as
long as any thing would grow, the land was permitted to clothe
itself with such natural herbage as it produced, and left for a
few years to regain by “‘rest” the power of reproducing corn.
When turnips and seeds were introduced, this system was in
some degree departed from; and when, in addition to these, bone
manure became known, a regular course of husbandry developed
itself. The four-course then was considered the rule of good
farming ; but further experience has shown the impropriety of
binding a farmer to any continued course of cropping, however
excellent that course may for a certain period have proved.
In the Wolds of Yorkshire, as in the best farmed districts of
Norfolk, where indeed the four-course had its origin, all the
best farmers have been compelled to change. Red clover
refused to grow every fourth year; it was found precarious
even every eighth year, and can now be calculated on as a
certain crop only once in 12 years. Turnips were therefore
substituted for a portion of the seeds, and these in their turn
are found too frequently repeated on these light lands. To
obviate this new difficulty peas have been introduced, and the
‘turnip crop is thus repeated at greater intervals. At the same
time it has been found that the higher system of farming, now
within the reach of the man of capital, has enabled him to grow
wheat much more frequently than he formerly could do with
success; while on many of the Wold farms he finds that he can
not only grow as many bushels per acre of wheat as of barley,
but he can repeat the wheat crop in alternate years with less ex-
haustion to the land than if he followed his green crops with
wheat and barley alternately. In truth, each year’s experience
is adding to our knowledge, and extending the means at our
disposal for improving the culture of the soil; and the landlord
who continues to bind his tenant down to a prescribed routine
from which he must not under a penalty deviate, inflicts upon
East Ripinc.] NECESSITY FOR DRAINAGE OF WET CLAYS. 315

him a very serious injury, without any corresponding ad-
vantage.

The third district into which the East Riding is divided
comprises Howdenshire and the vale of York, extending from
the western side of the Wolds to the rivers Derwent and Ouse.
This country embraces a great variety of soil, from the rich
warp lands along the Ouse to stiff cold clays and thin moorish
sand. In some places there is much difficulty experienced in
obtaining the consent of adjoining proprietors for the deepening
of outfalls ; and at no great distance from Howden the drainage
of a considerable tract has to be carried several miles, which
could, with a better outfall, be got rid of by a much shorter
course, if any means existed by which owners could be made
to agree.

The cold infertile clays of this district are exceedingly un-
profitable. They are let at 12s. to 15s. and 20s. an acre,
but, being generally undrained, no good can be done in them
at any rent. The old system of two crops and a fallow
continues to be the common course; but the scanty produce
and the low price compel the farmer to restrict his labour, and
thus each year adds to the utter hopelessness of his condition.
Many farmers who have still something to lose are giving up
their farms, several have already emigrated, and the number
who remain on these undrained clays will soon be limited to those
who have no means to take a farm elsewhere. To meet the
difficulty some landlords are making abatements of rent, while
afew are beginning in earnest to drain the land. The owners
of this description of land have no chance of safety except in -
the vigorous adoption of this course. Where they have capital
of their own, they cannot make a better investment of it than
in laying these lands dry, and so giving their tenants some
chance of a living for themselves after they have paid their
rents; and where they have not capital, they should not for a
moment delay to avail themselves of the Government drainage
loan, as without drainage in one way or other their estates
316 CULTURE OF SAND LAND. [East Ripine.

will soon be valueless. When the land is drained, we should
advise that it be gradually laid to grass; under which, by
judicious top dressing of bones and other substances, it may
probably yield a better rent and less precarious return to the
tenant from dairy produce and stock than it is hereafter likely

to do under corn crops. .

The sand land is of various quality, — some of it very fertile
and highly remunerative, and much of it barren and waste. It
is generally situated at a low level, well sheltered, and capable
of great improvement. Near the rivers and lines of railway,
where manure can be readily procured, potatoes are grown on
this soil extensively, and more free from disease than on the
richer warp lands. Chicory is also cultivated to a considerable
extent. A very great proportion of the land is still undrained,
although where drainage has been judiciously executed, it has
been particularly beneficial. Enjoying many advantages of
position, and being light and inexpensive of management, the
sand lands of the East Riding exhibit in their culture a less
degree of spirit on the part of both owners and occupiers than
any other district of the county. There are many eminent ex-
ceptions, but by contrast they still more clearly prove the rule.
Small inconvenient inclosures, with much hedgerow timber, are
serious obstacles to good farming.

There is no want of competition for farms in the East Riding,
except on cold clays and springy undrained moor. Many,
however, on these two kinds of soil are being vacated. A de-
sirable farm in any other part of the Riding is at once applied
for, if from any chance it becomes vacant. Farms are never
let by tender, nor are the. landlords at all prone to raise their
rents by unduly taking advantage of competition. The best man
is chosen, and the rent named to him. Indeed, so great is the
confidence placed by the tenants in some landlords, that they
trust entirely to the latter to fix the rent. It must not, how-
ever, be concluded that farming, as at present conducted, and
with present prices, is a remunerative business, merely because
East Ripinc. | COMPETITION FOR TARMS. 317.

good farms still find tenants and old tenants continue to hold
their land. The low prices of stock, seed, and other articles
which an entering tenant must buy, enable him to invest his
capital with advantage; and the very same reasons influence a
tenant who at present holds land to continue with it, as he must
otherwise part with his stock and crop at a disadvantage. Corn
rents are unknown in the district, and leases equally so. The
farms are all held from year to year, and there is no wish on
the part of the tenants for any other arrangement. In practice
this scarcely ever leads to inconvenience; and in many cases
farming of the most spirited character may be-met with where
the tenant has no other security than his confidence in his
landlord. A rather notable instance occurred quite recently,
which shows that this security cannot always be depended on.
By the death of the proprietor of one of the most extensive and
valuable farms in the East Riding the estate changed owners.
The tenant, a wealthy man, who had occupied the farm for
upwards of half a century, and to whose good management. it
owed much of its increased value, did not find himself com-
fortable under the new arrangement, and resigned his farm.
It was immediately re-let to another farmer of capital and ex-
perience, at an advance of 350/. per annum.

The condition of the labourers throughout the East Riding is
very satisfactory. They are well employed, fairly paid, and
comfortably lodged. :

The following table shows the rate of wages and prices in this
district at three different periods: the first being taken from
Mr. Leatham’s Report in 1794, the second from Mr. Strickland’s
in 1811, and the third from our personal inquiry in 1850: —
318

COMPARATIVE PRICES.

[YorxsHIRE.

Rate oF WAGES AND PRICES IN THE East RIDING FOR THE
Years 1794, 1811, anp 1850.

 

1794.

1811.

1850.

 

Farm servant with board -
Day labourer without board,
average of year -

Thrashing wheat, per quarter

Reaping wheat, per acre
Wheat, per bushel
Barley, ditto
Oats, ditto -
Beans, ditto
Wool, per lb.
Beef, ditto -
Mutton, ditto
Butter, ditto
Milk, per quart

 

£10 to £13
2s.
28. 2d. to 3s. 4d.

6s. to 8s.
5s. 9d.
4s. lad.’
2s. 6d.
4s. 6d.

34d.
4d.
1s.

3d.

 

£20 to £26
8s. 8d,
5s. 6d. to 7s.

10s. to 11s. 6d.
9s. 6d.
8s. 9d.
2s. 9d.
4s. 9d.
10d.
Tid.
8d.
1s.
2d.

 

 

£14 to £16

2s.
hand 3s. 6d. |
horse 1s. 72d.
steam 73d.
7s. 6d.
5s. to 5s. 6d.
8s. 3d.
Qs.
3s. 9d. to 4s.
Le
5d,
5d. to 6d.
1s.
2d.

 

 

It does not appear that the high prices of 1811 compensated
the farmer for the increased cost of production; or, with wheat
at 9s. 6d. a bushel, that he was less distressed than at present.
Mr. Strickland says in 1811, —

“Tf means are not adopted to relieve the farmers, either by lower-
ing their taxes and the prices of labour, or by increasing the value
of their produce, by destroying monopolies and giving them an open
market, they must shortly be found unable to answer the demands
made upon them. The advance in the profits of agriculture has by
no means kept pace with the advance in its expenses; and farmers
had a better prospect of realising a competence seventeen years ago

than they have at present.”
319

LETTER XXXVI.

YORKSHIRE — continued.

COSTS OF CULTIVATION, AND PRODUCE, ON EIGHT FARMS IN YORKSHIRE AND
LINCOLN — THE NORTH RIDING DESCRIBED — THE GREAT DEGREE OF
ATTENTION AND SKILL NECESSARY TO SUCCESSFUL BREEDING OF sTOCK
—THE MESSRS. BOOTH — FARMING AT BAINESSE— THE PRACTICE AND
ADVANTAGE OF AUTUMN FALLOWING — FEEDING OF STOCK — PRODUCE OF
CROPS —— PROPORTION OF SWEDES TO OTHER TURNIPS TOO SMALL — THE
VALE OF CLEVELAND INJURED BY BEING BROKEN UP FROM GRASS —
GOVERNMENT DRAINAGE LOAN— TENANT RIGHT IN THE WEST RIDING —
DOES NOT PRODUCE SUPERIOR FARMING — INDISTINCT CHARACTER OF THE
AWARDS OF VALUATORS.

Norrgatuerton, Noy. 1850.

Tue different items which make up the costs of cultivation
are found to vary considerably, influenced partly by the nature
of soil and climate, partly by the system of husbandry pursued,
and chiefly by the greater or less command of capital and energy
possessed by the cultivator. It is difficult to ascertain with
precision the amount of these costs, and any trustworthy facts on
this point are, therefore, the more valuable. We have been
favoured with such information as has enabled us to compile the
following table, showing the sums which make up the cost of
cultivation, with the yield of corn per acre, in the after-
mentioned districts.—(See next page.)

The column of “total cost” does not include interest of
capital, insurance, or tenant’s profit; and under the head
yield” is included only the corn, as we had no sufficient
data by which to estimate accurately the annual produce of
stock, The table will, however, we trust, supply to practical
farmers and landowners many interesting data for comparison
and future reference, by which they may test their own expenses
COSTS OF CULTIVATION, AND YIELD.  [Yor«suire.

320

 

 

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Norta Rivinc.] DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 321

and produce, and ascertain in what respects they excel or fall
short of the examples here given. It is proper to explain that
the three first columns are averaged on the whole extent of each
farm, arable and grass; while the rest are charged on the
extent of arable land only. This is not strictly correct, but it ap-
peared the most just criterion we could adopt, as the comparative
extent of grass land on each farm was so exceedingly variable.
The figures may be relied on as a statement of facts as they
exist — not estimates of what might be, but what they at this
moment are.

The North Riding is bounded on the south by the East and
West Ridings, on the north by the river Tees, which separates
it from Durham, and is traversed by the York and Newcastle
Railway from York to the borders of the county near Darlington.
The central and northern portions of the riding, situated along
the valleys of the rivers, contain the greatest extent of valuable
land. To the eastward lie the Yorkshire moors, comprehending
an extent of 400,000 acres, and rising from 1,000 to 1,500 feet
above the sea level. On the west the country rises to the
highlands on the borders of Westmoreland, with rich valleys of
pasture land skirting the streams which drain that limestone
country and flow through the picturesque dales of the North
Riding. Much of the best land in the lower portion of the
district is kept in permanent pasture; and in the neighbourhood
of Northallerton, Catterick, and along the southern bank of the
Tees, are found the most celebrated herds of short horn cattle
which now exist in England. The opposite bank of the Tees,
which gave the name to the breed of Durham cattle, has lost its
_principal men,—the Collings, -—-and the best herds may now be
said to be confined to the south side of Teesdale. Men are still
to be found there who have been bred from their childhood to
study the peculiarities of form and symmetry which, combined
with early maturity and great weight, have given the improved
Short horn its celebrity. Seldom leaving home, often the first
to see their stock in the morning, and the last to visit them

Y
322 NAFIVE DISTRICT OF SHORT-HORNS. [NorrH Rivinc.

at night, making the health of each individual of the herd
a study, and enabled by constant attention, and particular
management, to encourage the development of such points as
they think requisite, while everything else on the farm is made
subordinate to the stock-— these men have acquired a fame
which is the result of such earnest application, and cannot long
be maintained without it. They succeed; and to all parts of the
United Kingdom is diffused, from the hands of not half a dozen
men in the North Riding, the blood which has improved, and
continues to improve, the native breeds of every district into
which it is introduced. Two, three, or four hundred pounds
for a bull is no uncommon price; and a cow of rare form and
breeding has been bought by a farmer for 300 guineas. Ireland
and Lincolnshire borrow for a season the best animals which
leave the district; and the Messrs. Booth have at this moment
bulls which bring them in 1002. a year each, and are, let to the
same parties at that rate for a succession of years. But these
prizes are only to the most successful; for many, tempted by.
these and similar rates, try the system without counting the
cost of patient study, constant application, and liberal outlay
by which such success has been achieved. It is not merely the
first outlay, however lavish, that will place the beginner in the
rank of a first-class breeder of Short horns. He must be pre-
pared to sacrifice every other consideration on his farm to their
welfare; and after he has collected his herd, and fed and
watched them with the utmost care, he must stand the risk and
uncertainty attending their management. If too fat, they cease
to breed, or they produce dead calves; if too lean, they lose
caste, and their produce sells at second rate prices. One of the
most experienced men in the district — himself an eminent
breeder and first-rate judge — informed us that one season 34
of his high-priced and high-bred cows missed having ‘calves ;
and so great are the risks attending this business, that it is every
year narrowing itself into fewer hands. Men of station and
wealth embark in it frequently as a hobby, and some, like the
‘Norra Rivine.] AUTUMN FALLOWING. 323

late Lord Spencer and the present Lord Ducie, are successful.
‘But such cases are exceptional.

The farm of Messrs. Outhwaite, of Bainesse, near Catterick,
may be taken as a very favourable specimen of agricultural
‘management in the North Riding. It is bounded on one side
by the river Swale, and its soil on the lower division is a good
friable turnip loam on a thirsty gravel, and on the higher side a
deeper and stronger soil, now found, after being thoroughly
drained, the most valuable land on the farm. It comprises 461
acres, eighty of which are permanent grass. The four-course,
extended into a six by introducing beans instead of a portion of
the seeds, is the system of farming adopted, with this peculiarity
— that oats or barley are taken on the elover leys, wheat and
barley after turnips. Wheat is also sown after beans and
potatoes, Spalding’s red being sown from October till the 20th
of November, beginning with seven pecks of seed and increasing
to nine. Early in spring, as the swedes are consumed, the land
is ploughed and drilled with Hunter’s white wheat; the sowing
of which continues till the middle of March, after which barley
is taken on such Jand as has not at that time been cleared of
the turnip crop. The oats and barley are also drilled in at
nine inches apart, and the whole of the corn crops on this
‘farm are repeatedly horsehoed in spring. Beansare sown
upon manured land with the drill, and are likewise well
horsehoed.

The great aim in the culture of the farm is the early pre-
paration of the land intended for the turnip crop; to this all
other work is postponed after the corn crops have been secured
in autumn. The stubbles are then stirred in one direction
-by Biddle’s “scarifier,” the sharp-pointed tines being used
in this operation, and the ground torn up to the depth of five
or six inches. After the field has been gone over once, the
-* scarifier” is fitted with the broad share tines, and made to
cross the former stirring at right angles, thus tearing the ground

to pieces, and disengaging the stubble and roots of weeds and
¥y 2
324 ITS ADVANTAGES. [Nort Rrpine.

twitch, which are drawn together on the surface by the harrows,
then gathered by the horse rake, and laid in a heap to be
carried home for littering the cattle yards. The land, now
thoroughly pulverised, is ploughed with a clean deep furrow,
and in that state is left exposed to the influence of the weather
till spring, when it receives one furrow more, and is found in
fine condition for vegetating the seed of the turnip crop. The
theory on which this early culture is recommended is, that
twitch, immediately after harvest, is comparatively weak, and
has not extended its roots far beneath the surface; but as soon
as the corn crop is removed, and the twitch so permitted to
grow without obstruction, it spreads rapidly along the surface,
and penetrates deeply beneath it; and every week that it is left
undisturbed renders its extirpation more difficult and expensive.
Tear it up early, and the seedlings are at once shaken out entire
from the tender soil; leave it to strike deeper root, and every
broken fibre that remains strikes afresh, and, gaining strength
‘throughout the winter and early spring, gives the farmer at
that busy season the expense of a second fallowing. The
advantage of this early preparation is attended with this further
benefit, that only one furrow is requisite in May, and, the ground
not being deprived of its moisture at that season, the turnip
seed is almost sure to vegetate at once. So successful have the
Messrs. Outhwaite found this management, that they are now
enabled to sow their entire extent of turnip land with swedes;
and the preparation of the soil, besides being so much more
early and effectual, is not nearly so expensive as under the
common system.

The swedes are sown on the ridge, twenty-eight to thirty
inches apart, eight loads of well-rotted farmyard dung and 14 ewt.
of guano per acre being previously applied and covered in on the
weakest land, on which the crop is afterwards eaten with sheep.
On the better land 14 tons of dung and 11 cwt. of guano per
acre are applied, the crop in this case being all drawn for con-
sumption by cattle. The sheep are penned upon the turnips,
Norra Rivixc.] FEEDING OF SHEEP AND CATTLE. 825

and receive 4lb. of oilcake each daily. In the beginning of
May, after being shorn, the most forward hoggets— being those
bred on the farm—are sent to market, and weigh 241b. per
quarter. The rest follow as they get ready, after being a month
or six weeks on clover. About one sheep per acre is wintered
on the farm, and seventy beasts, one lot after another, are
fattened in the yards and stalls. The oxen are fed in sheds and
yards loose, six or eight together; the heifers are tied up in
stalls. They all receive cut swedes daily, and for the last ten
weeks 7]b. to 8lb. each of oileake and bean meal mixed together.
1,400 to 1,500 bushels of beans and barley, the produce of the
farm, are annually consumed on it, the whole of the beans being
so applied, and all the barley which does not sell for malting.
Twelve work horses are kept, and they consume all the oats
produced. The wheat crop scarcely averages thirty-two bushels,
the oats sixty-four, and the barley forty-eight bushels an acre.
The tenants have no lease nor tenant right, and their rent and
tithe together amount to 1,200.

Such is a specimen of the best arable farming in the most
fertile district of the North Riding, the Messrs. Outhwaite
having taken a prize offered for the best managed farm within a
circle of twenty-five miles round Richmond. There are many
other farms in that district which may equal them in annual
yield; but none, that we saw, come near to them in their ex-
tensive culture of the swede—confessedly by far the most
valuable and nutritious of our turnip crops. The general pro-
portion of swedes to white and other soft turnips is quite
inconsiderable, and the scanty crops even of soft turnips, which
are everywhere to be seen in this district, do not bespeak very
liberal management. The quantity of manure applied is too
limited, but the land is considered high rented, and the land-
lords do not in many cases afford their tenants such sympathy
and aid as they think themselves justly entitled to with present
prices. In the neighbourhood of Catterick and Richmond,

several farms have in consequence been given up, the landlords
x¥ 3
326 THE VALE OF CLEVELAND. [Norra Rivne.

refusing to submit to any abatement ; and one nobleman is said
to have as many as eight or nine farms at present on his hands.
On other estates in the same neighbourhood there are no farms
vacated, the land having been moderately let, and the landlord,
(as in the case of the Duke of Northumberland at Stanwick,
where the rent of good land runs from 18s. to 36s. an acre,
tithe free), also draining the farms for his tenants at a charge
of 5s. an acre, and building them suitable accommodation for
their stock without making any charge for that outlay.

The vale of Cleveland, comprehending the low-lying district
which extends from the York moors to the river Tees, forms
the next prominent feature in the agriculture of the North
Riding. It is generally a cold strong clay, resting on the blue
lias, by far the greater portion of it undrained and badly
farmed. Formerly this district was celebrated for its cheese
and horses; but the latter are now scarcely to be met with as a
distinctive breed, the farmers having been tempted to part with
their brood mares at high prices, and the best stock having thus
in process of time been taken out of the country. Much of
the old grass land has been broken up to support the other-
wise failing rents of needy landlords, and as it was then
“called on” as long as it would carry anything, without being
either drained or manured, it is rapidly passing into the same
sterility as the other parts of the farm for whose rescue it was
broken up. The scanty stock thus yearly becomes diminished ;
there being little or no green crops cultivated, the hay and
straw consumed by half-fed cattle is converted into wretched
manure: the crops annually fall off in produce as well as price:
and the only kind of produce — milk and butter — that keeps
its price, is got in lesser quantity from an abridged extent of
grass land. The system of management generally followed
is what is here denominated “two crop and fallow,” a bare
summer fallow being given every third year, followed by wheat,
and that, after receiving a dressing of such manure as the farm-
yard produces, is succeeded by oats. To vary the crops, beans
Norra Rrvre. J FALLING OFF IN PRODUCE. 327

are sometimes taken on part of the land instead of oats; and
occasionally a portion of the oat crop is sown out with clover.
On some farms one half remains in permanent grass, and on
these the farmers are enabled to keep more stock and to work
their land at less cost comparatively. But generally the
quantity of stock is inconsiderable; and the quality as well as
the quantity of manure being inferior, from the deficiency of
winter food, the arable land is year after year becoming less
productive, and the tenants, as a matter of course, less able to
meet their engagements. Many farms are being given up, and
even with liberal abatements of rent it is impossible for the
tenants, under such circumstances, to go on. Like all cold wet
clays, there can be no chance here for either tenant or landlord
without effectual drainage. With that and some timely support
there is much to encourage an enterprising farmer. Milk sells
at 2d. a quart in the populous towns along the river and on the
coast, and the demand for dairy produce at remunerating prices
is constantly increasing. The farms are small, and the tenants
generally not an enterprising class, nor possessed of adequate
capital for the extent of land they occupy.

Many landlords in Cleveland are availing themselves of the
drainage loan, and within the next two years a very great
extent of drainage will be accomplished ; indeed, so much alive
are the proprietors of land in Yorkshire to the necessity of this
operation as the foundation of all other agricultural improve-
ments, that they have already applied for a greater aggregate
suin than has been allotted to this county, and each individual
is therefore restricted to a certain proportion of the sum for
which he has applied. The present ‘time is most favourable,
in every view, for proceeding with the work. The general
employment which it diffuses over an agricultural district
comes at a peculiarly appropriate time, when the farmer’s
necessities, in many cases, lead him to dismiss part of his
labourers. There is likewise a great reduction in the cost of

vipes for drainage, arising from the introduction of better
Pip Ze, g
¥ 4
328 DIMINISHED COST OF DRAINAGE.  [Norta Rivine

machines and greater skill in the workmanship. Two-inch
pipes, which very recently in this Riding cost 25s. per 1,000, can
now be supplied for 15s. Drains are made from 3 to 4 feet in
depth and from 18 to 36 feet apart, according to the nature of
the soil, and at an average expense altogether of from 31. to 42.
per acre. A very few years ago the same operation would
have cost double these sums. The Government loan is re-
payable in 22 annual instalments of 64 per cent., which repays
both principal and interest. A few landlords charge their
tenants 5 per cent. of this annual sum, and themselves pay 14.
Most frequently the tenant is bound to pay the whole, and, in
addition, to cart the tiles free of charge. And we are sorry to
say that more than one instance exists in Yorkshire, where the
landlord charges his tenant 74 per cent., thus putting into his
pocket 1 per cent. besides securing a permanently higher value
for his land by an outlay to which he does not contribute a
single farthing. This grasping conduct, so utterly at variance
with the intention of the Legislature, is quite unworthy the
character and position of a respectable landlord.

In our letter from the West Riding we referred to a custom,
existing in the southern part of it, of compensation to the out-
going tenant for certain acts of husbandry and unexhausted
improvements, or, as they are more briefly termed, “tenant
right.” In no other part of Yorkshire have we met with this
custom ; and we have not the slightest hesitation in saying, that
any dispassionate observer who will compare the state of farm-
ing in that part where it exists with the general average
farming of the Hast and North Ridings, where it never has
existed, will at once affirm that it has not produced a better
style of farming. On the contrary, the farming of the
southern division of the West Riding is not to be compared
in any single point with that of the wolds of the East Riding,
or the better farmed lands along the Ouse and Humber,
or in Holderness, or the North Riding. And we were assured
by an extensive farmer of much experience in the West Riding,
Norra Ripre.] ABUSES OF TENANT RIGHT. 329

who has himself had to pay this tenant right, and is therefore
familiar with its operation, that it leads to frauds of every kind,
—which in truth cease to be counted i frauds, inasmuch as the
party who suffered at his entry feels himself justified in retali-
ating on his successor. Instances have been known of toll-men
being bribed to sign for false quantities of manure as having
passed through their bar; and it is quite common to secure the
services of a valuator not according to his character for skill
and justice, but mainly in reference to his skill in getting up
and carrying through a “good” valuation. One absurdity of
the system is, that five “dressings,” or preparatory ploughings
and harrowings, are as a matter of rule charged against the last
turnip crop, though very possibly. two or three such dressings
at the utmost are all that a skilful farmer would himself
bestow. So sensible are the valuators of the haphazard nature
of their awards, that they, in rendering their account, specify
each item for which a charge is made; but, to prevent un-
necessary questions, they put down no sum opposite to that
item, contenting themselves with a single and lump sum for the
whole at the last. In what other branch of business would
such a blundering system be tolerated? The best farmers are
how desirous of having certain points restricted, and believe
that it would be a benefit to their class if the landlords would
purchase up and put an end to many of its vexatious exac-
tions. An entering tenant who has to pay down in cash a
considerable portion of his whole capital for a doubtful benefit,
the return from which he cannot reap till he himself quits
the farm, is greatly crippled in his means at the very outset;
and it is notorious that some farmers are become so expert in
the trade that they make a business of taking a farm for a few
years, and then quitting it with a high valuation. We repeat
that to whatever other consequences this custom may lead,
whether to landlord or tenant, it has not in the southern divi-
sion of the West Riding conduced to superior farming.

 
330

LETTER XXXVIIL.

DURHAM.

Rarip INCREASE OF POPULATION— APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY—GREAT
CAPITAL INVESTED IN COAL MINES —SLOW PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURAL, AS
COMPARED WITH MINING ENTERPRISE— COURSES OF CROPS— DENTON FARM
—TWO0O-CROP AND FALLOW SYSTEM DETAILED —. REDUCTION OF RENT NOT SO
EFFECTUAL HERE AS AN INCREASE OF CROPS—- EXPENSE OF DRAINAGE—
COAST-SIDE FARM — EXCELLENT AND PRODUCTITE MANAGEMENT — PRO-
DUCE OF CROPS—STOCK— ADVANTAGES OF THE SYSTEM.

Duruam, Dec. 1850.

THE county of Durham is not much more than half the area of
the North Riding of Yorkshire, while its population is a third more
numerous. In 1841 it exceeded 324,000, and, from the great
extension of the collieries since that time, there has no doub

been a rapid increase of population, the increase during the
preceding ten years having been 27 per cent.—with one excep-
tion the greatest in England. Its surface is of an irregular and
very hilly character, except along the north bank of the river
Tees, from which, widening towards the sea, a considerable
tract of rather level country extends. Its peculiar conformation
is favourable to picturesque beauty; and though to the railway
traveller its chief features may seem a succession of engine.
chimneys, lines of coal waggons, great fires of coal waste, and
numerous shabby tile-roofed villages —the roads through the
different valleys of the county skirt along streams, not always
limpid, but often shaded by venerable woods, encircling the
ancient feudal castles of the nobility, from the highest tower of
which they still display their banner. Raby, Wynyard, Lambton,
Lumley, Ravensworth Castles, and others, occupy sites of great
beauty, generally placed half-way up the hill, backed by wooded
Duraam. ] THE COAL FIELDS. 331

heights, and commanding a prospect of the cultivated valleys
beneath them.

The geological features of the county comprise the red sand-
stone on the north bank of the Tees, next the magnesian lime-
stone, extending from Darlington in an easterly direction to
Hartlepool, and thence north along the coast to Tynemouth.
Within this comparatively narrow strip lie the valuable coal
measures, which commence near Staindrop in Durham, and
extend northwards to the mouth of the river Coquet in North-
umberland. The whole western boundary of the coal measures
is formed by a tract of millstone grit; and beyond this lies the
mountain limestone, the green hills of which yield excellent
pasture for sheep. The larger proportion of the arable land of
the county is of a tenacious character, sometimes a thin infertile
clay, and nearer the banks of the rivers a deep strong loam.
Along the coast the soil is of a more friable nature, yielding
sound crops of excellent potatoes, turnips, and other vegetables,
which find a ready market in the neighbouring seaport towns.

Unlike Lancashire and the West Riding, the coal fields of
Durham have not led to the establishment of a great manufac-
turing population, the coal being wrought principally for export
to London, and to the east coast and continental ports. In this
business large capitals are employed, partly by speculators, but
principally by the great landowners themselves, whose incomes,
like those of Lords Londonderry and Durham, are chiefly
derived from coal. To give an idea of the capital employed
in this business, we may mention that Lord Londonderry, for
the convenience of his own trade, constructed the harbour of
Seaham at a cost little, if at all, short of 300,0002. and to this
harbour he has about forty miles of railroad leading from his
different collieries. The return from capital invested in working
coal has been so much more remunerative than land, that im-
provements on the latter have been comparatively neglected,
and the skill and enterprise so abundantly lavished below
ground form a very marked contrast with the absence of those
332 RELATIVE PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE AND MINES. [Durnam.

qualities and the evident defect of capital everywhere too con-
Spicuous on its surface. To show the different progress made
in the two departments within the last eighty years, we may
mention that the system of farming practised in 1770, viz,
“two crop and fallow,” as described by Arthur Young, with
a yield of sixteen bushels of wheat, and thirty each of oats and
barley per acre, is exactly the common practice of the present
day, with a yield rather diminished than increased. Let us
turn to the coal trade, and see its progress. For the coal waggon
roads then “ the track of the wheels was marked with pieces of
timber let into the road, for the wheels of the waggons to run
on, by which one horse is enabled to draw fifty or sixty bushels
of coals.” These roads led to the shipping ports, As in pro-
cess of years the trade increased, ‘‘ Keels” were employed, with
light draught of water, enabling them to penetrate many miles
up the tidal rivers to wharfs at no great distance from the
collieries, to which the wooden tracks (gradually superseded by
iron rails) conducted. The progress of business, and the discovery
of steam power have in their turn nearly done away with the
keels, and the consequent expense of transhipment; and thou-
sands of tons of coal are now more cheaply and expeditiously
taken from the mouth of the coal pits and laid in the holds of
sea-going vessels, than hundreds, or probably even tens of tons,
were slowly and laboriously dragged by horses along the wooden
tracks described by Arthur Young.

The four-course system of husbandry is common on the
friable soils on the northern side of Teesdale, though on many
farms of this description, owing to the indolence of the farmer,
a large proportion of the green crop division is managed with
bare fallow. The stiff land of the county, which, as already
mentioned, forms its greatest proportion, is managed on the
‘two crop and fallow ” system. The coast lands, and the farms
within the influence of such towns as Sunderland, Shields, and
Neweastle, are probably the best managed in the county. We
shall describe the practice on a farm in each of these various
Dornam] TURNIP. AND GRAZING FARM. 333

localities, in order to present to the reader, as concisely as pos-
sible, a view of the present state of farming in Durham. The
first and last examples are confessedly much in advance of the
average in their respective neighbourhoods.

The farm of Denton, some six miles west of Darlington, was
purchased by the Duke of Cleveland, two years ago, from the
late Mr. Culley. It has been occupied by the present tenants,
Messrs. Heslop, for the last fifteen years, and contains 490
acres of land—380 of which are under cultivation, and about
110 in grass, 80 acres of which are prime feeding land. The
four-course, lengthened to a six by introducing a pease crop,
on account of the uncertainty of red clover, is the system
adopted over the farm, a portion, which is strong land imper-
fectly drained, being annually in bare fallow. The Northumber-
land five-course has been abandoned, as the second year’s grass
was found greatly to encourage the growth of “twitch.” Two-
thirds of the turnip land are now sown with swedes, which
receive, in the ridge, ten tons of dung and two cwt. of guano
per acre. These are all drawn for consumption in the yards
and boxes. On the weakest land white turnips are sown, which
are eaten on the ground with sheep. Wheat follows the pease
stubble, the land receiving ten loads of dung per acre; it is
also sown after bare fallow, and after white turnips, and such
part of the swede land as is cleared early enough in the season.
Barley and oats are sown in spring after swedes and clover
ley. Wheat yields from 32 to 40 bushels, barley 40, and oats
about 60 bushels an acre. A changing stock of cattle and sheep
are kept on this farm, part of the cattle being bought in April,
and sold fat at Christmas; and a second lot, kept on till June
and July, are sold into the West Riding, where a good demand
at that time exists for the “ Feasts” which are then held in the
manufacturing districts. Four hundred half-bred Leicester and
Cheviot hoggets are bought at Stagshaw in April, fed on
“seeds” during the summer, and finished on white turnips in
autumn, whence they are sold in lots as they become ready.
‘Between wool and increase of carcase these sheep leave for
334 BOX FEEDING. [Dournam.

eight months’ keep 20s. each on an average. They receive no
cake or extra feeding.

The cattle are grazed in summer on the old grass lands,
and part fed in open sheds and courts, and part in loose boxes
in winter. In the latter the cattle are found to make de-
cidedly more progress, with less waste of food than in the
open yards and sheds. But the boxes, though very com-
modious, are extremely costly, 3002. having been spent in the
construction of boxes, with turnip and straw houses, for twenty
cattle. Water is provided by pipes for each animal, and in
future it is intended to occupy the boxes in summer as well as
winter with house-fed cattle. This farm was taken in 1835_
by the present tenants at 900/. a-year, wheat then selling at
‘4s. 6d. a bushel. In 1839 prices had risen, and the rent was
then increased to 1,100/. The farm is tithe free. On this
rental it was bought by the Duke of Cleveland two years ago;
and there are many farms on his Grace’s old estate in the
neighbourhood, of equally good quality, let for a third less
rent to hereditary tenants, who have hitherto raised their easy
rent with little exertion; but who, content with that, and
secure in their holdings, have made no endeavour to improve
their farms; and, while they have neither enriched themselves
nor their landlord, have done nothing to enlarge the field of
employment for an increasing population of labourers, nor con-
tributed any greater produce to the extended requirements of
the country.

The “two crop and fallow” system is that which prevails
over all the strong undrained land of the county ; and draining,
we regret to say, is still greatly neglected. The system is of
two kinds—either simply (1) fallow, (2) wheat, (3) oats, or of
that and the following improvement combined: (1) faliow,
(2) wheat, (3) clover. This combination gives (1) fallow,
(2) wheat, (3) oats, (4) fallow, (5) wheat, (6) clover; or one-
third of the farm bare fallow, one-third wheat, one-sixth oats,
and one-sixth clover. The land intended for fallow is seldom
ploughed before February, by which time the ameliorating
Duran] COLD CLAY FARMING. 335

effects of severe frost on this heavy soil must be lost, or nearly
so. After receiving the usual repeated ploughings and harrow-
ings during summer, the land is commonly limed, and then ridged
up in 10-feet mounds, well gathered and rounded, to carry off the
water. On this the wheat seed is sown broad-cast in autumn,
and receives no further attention till the following harvest.
During next autumn and winter, the manure from the farm-
yard, such as it is, is spread over the stubble and ploughed in.
In spring the land so prepared is sown with oats. The oat stub-
ble lies till February, when it is ploughed; and the same routine
of bare fallowing is pursued during the summer. The wheat crop
this time receives no manure; and, in spring, clover seeds are
sown with it, which next year are mown for hay. The clover
root is broken up in February, again to undergo a bare fallow.
No roots are cultivated, and no purchased manure or food made
use of. The farms are small in extent, the farmers hard-working
and industrious, but without means, and strongly prejudiced in
favour of their old ways, though these have yielded them no-
thing but ill-requited toil. They keep very little stock, which
being ill fed, the manure made on the farm is merely rotted
straw. The yield of their wheat crop may be from 12 to 20
bushels an acre,—15 béing a full average for the undrained
lands; and their oats from 20 to 30 bushels. But it is quite
obvious that even these meagre crops are likely, under a con-
tinuation of the same management, to become gradually lessened ;
for there is a constant abstraction from the soil without any cor-
responding return of manure. The rent of such land varies
from 10s. to 16s. an acre; and the tithe and rates may be
3s. 6d. an acre more. A simple calculation would show that
such crops cannot pay, even at considerably higher prices than
the present, and that here the difficulty is not one of rent,
but of produce. A shilling a bushel added to the price of
wheat would only increase the farmer’s returns 15s., whereas
an increase of produce from 15 bushels the present crop, to
25 bushels an acre, would make a gain to him of four
336 COAST SIDE FARM. [DurHam.

times that sum. It must therefore be a wise course for a ju-
dicious landlord to promote, as much as he can, the improved
culture of his estate; for he can have no hope of any balance
being left for rent until such an increase be attained. The first
step to this is thorough drainage; and, fortunately, clay can be
got in all places where it is most needed, and the cost of coal
for burning it for drainage pipes, in Durham, is a mere trifle.
We have seen instances in the county, where cold clay land, laid
up in high, crooked ridges, has been completely drained by the use
of two-inch pipes, placed from three and a half to four feet deep,
and the distance between each drain eight yards, the drains
being carried in parallel lines, quite irrespective of the ups and
downs of the old crooked ridges. The cost of this operation
over an extent of 2,600 acres, on one estate drained during the
last two years, has averaged 4/. 10s. an acre.

Our next example is one of the coast farms, where the ma-
nagement and results present a very remarkable contrast with «
the “two crop and fallow ” system just described. Seaham Hall
farm, near the harbour of Seaham, is occupied by Mr. At-
kinson, and extends, with the adjoining glebe-land, to 480 acres,
about 60 of which are in permanent grass. Part of it is still
undrained, a stiff strong soil, which in that state is managed
with bare fallow; but as soon as the drainage is effected, fallows
are dispensed with, and the regular system of the farm carried
out there as on the more friable soils. On one field of this
heavy land, which was only drained last spring, there is now
growing an excellent crop of swedes, estimated by the tenant
at 28 tons an acre. The rest of the farm, which is naturally
well adapted to green crops, or has been rendered so by
drainage, is managed in the following manner : — (1) clover,
(2) potatoes, (3) wheat, (4) turnips, (5) potatoes, (6) wheat,
sown out with “seeds.” The clover root is ploughed up in
autumn, cross-ploughed in spring, and, after being harrowed,
the land is drawn out into ridges, 28 to 30 inches apart, into
which from 16 to 22 loads of dung per acre are placed, and
Doruam.] DETAILS OF GOOD FARMING. 337

the potato seed planted. The land is wrought in the usual
manner during sumer, and the crop is raised and stored in
long narrow heaps, covered with straw, and a light coating
of earth to exclude frost. The potato crop is followed by
wheat, the ground being first ploughed, and the seed either
drilled in or sown broadcast in little ridges formed by the
single plough, in which it grows up very much in the same
manner as when drilled. The action of the single or ribbing
plough, with which one man and horse can go over an acre
and a half of ground per day, is believed to pulverise the soil
better, and secure for the seed a more genial bed than any
other preparation. The seed—red and white wheat, mixed
in equal proportions — is sown at the rate of six pecks an acre,
between the 20th of November and Christmas, the latter period
being the favourite time for wheat-sowing along the coast. One
and a half to two cwt. of guano is applied, and harrowed in with
the seed. The wheat crop is succeeded by turnips, for which
the land is prepared in the usual manner. Two-thirds of this
division are sown with swedes, one-third with white turnips for
early consumption; 12 to 15 loads of dung, 6} ewt. of guano,
and 10 bushels of dissolved bones (mixed with sawdust),
are all applied together to each acre of the turnip land. The
crop is drawn for consumption in the yards and stalls. The
next crop is potatoes, for which the land is very easily and
cheaply prepared after the turnip crop. But as a good crop
of turnips is supposed to exhaust the land more than clover,
the potato crop receives a somewhat heavier dose of dung after
turnips than after clover. In other respects the management
is the same. Wheat again follows the potato crop, receiving
the same dressing of guano as before; but the downy Essex
seed is now used, as it is found not to lodge, and is therefore
more favourable for the clover seeds which succeed it. The
mixture of “seeds” sown is 8lb. red clover, 2lb. white, and
two quarts of rye grass per acre. These are sown among the
growing wheat crop in spring, and mown the following year
Zz
338 FREQUENT APPLICATION OF MANURE. [DvurHan.

for hay. The average produce of wheat is from 32 to 40
bushels an acre; of potatoes, 5 to 6 tons since the disease ;
and of swedes, 28 to 35 tons an acre. The potatoes and
wheat are sold off the farm, the swedes and clover consumed
on it. Seventy head of cattle, 50 of which are fed fat, are
kept on the farm, and 300 sheep, principally half-bred hoggets.
The farm is managed with seven pairs of horses. The rent
and tithe amount to 650/., and the rates are 1s. per pound.

The leading features of this management are that four-
sixths, or two-thirds, of the land are in well manured green
crops, and two-sixths, or one-third, in white corn crop. The
successive green crops keep the land clean and friable, and
render the farm comparatively cheap, both in manual labour
and horse work; seven pairs of horses could not under other
circumstances accomplish satisfactorily the work of a farm
of this size. Then, not only are the green crops heavily
manured, but the intervening wheat crops also. In five out
of six years the soil receives an annual application of manure.
The farmer is thus enabled to grow the most valuable crops
— potatoes and wheat — for sale, and swedes and clover for
consumption. He can sell two-thirds of the annual produce
of his arable land without injuring the farm, because he
restores to it a full equivalent in manure. Comparing the
returns of this six-course with those of the “two crop and
fallow” system, there is a difference more than adequate to
meet the increased charges of higher rent, labour, and manure,.
and, when all these are deducted, a handsome balance remains
for interest and tenant’s profit; whereas the whole produce
under the latter system cannot, at present prices, pay the
expenses of cultivation, without leaving a farthing for rent
or tenant’s profit.
339

LETTER XXXIX.
DURHAM — continued.

IMPOSSIBILITY OF THE TWO CROP AND FALLOW SYSTEM PAYING WITH PRESENT
PRICES — AN INCREASE OF PRODUCE THE ONLY REMEDY — LORD LONDON-
DERRY’S PROPOSALS — THEIR EFFICACY EXEMPLIFIED — CHEAP FEEDING
SHEDS — LORD DURHAM'S ESTATE — LORD RAVENSWORTH'S — VICINITY OF
NEWCASTLE — LARGE HOME DEMAND FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE —
ADVANTAGE OF PREPARING FOOD FOR HORSES —THE MODE OF PREPARA-
TION AND MIXTURE OF FOOD BREEDS OF CATTLE—-DUKE OF CLEVELAND'S

’ ESTATE—HEREDITARY TENANTS.

Duruaw, Dec. 1850.
Tne usual system of cultivation practised by the clayland.
farmers of Durham is, as already mentioned, a “ three-course,”
viz.:—(1) fallow, (2) wheat, (3) one-half oats and one-half
clover. Nearly the whole of the fallow is managed as a dead
fallow, there being very little green crop cultivated. Occa-
sionally this rotation.is prolonged by pasturing the clover a
second year. ‘The live stock is quite inconsiderable. Three
cows and six young cattle to 100 acres may be about an
average stock for the clay farms. As this stock is badly win-
‘tered (21 acres of inferior turnips per 100 acres being the
average extent of the turnip crop), the home supply of manure
can be neither rich nor plentiful. To meet rent and the ex-
penses of cultivation, the farmer’s sole dependence is on his
wheat crop, a little also being received from that portion of the
hay crop which he sells off the farm. As a general rule no
manure, except lime, is purchased. That is laid upon the bare
fallow in preparation for wheat. The system is very exhausting;
a bare fallow, stimulated by lime, is sown with wheat, which
is followed by oats or hay. Lach return of this rotation further
reduces the soluble properties of the soil, as these are not re-
stored by the small quantity of inferior manure applied in

nearly the same proportion in which they are abstracted. The
a2
340 DIMINISHING PRODUCE. [DurHaMm.

same farm which thirty years ago averaged from 20 to 24
bushels of wheat, and 30 to 36 bushels of oats per acre, is now,
under this process, reduced to 14 bushels of wheat and 18 to 20
bushels of oats. One farmer assured us that his oats did not
last year average more than 10 bushels an acre.

Diminishing produce and lower prices are producing their
natural effect. The rents vary from 11s. to 16s. an acre; tithe
and rates 3s. Gd. an acre more. The evil here is not high rents,
but defective produce. If the farmer paid no rent, he could not
‘Comntitiue this system with present prices, and have a profit. In
a rotation of six years he has,—

Two crops of wheat, 14 bushels an acre each, 28 bushels,

at 5s, = - - - - - - 700
One crop of oats, 20 bushels, at 2s. 4d. - - - 26 8
One crop of hay, 14 ton, at 31. - - “ - 410 0
Two bare fallows - - - - 0 0 0

£13 16 8

His expenses, exclusive of rent, will be, —

Six years’ tithes and rates, at 3s. 6d anacre- £1 1 O
Bare fallow, viz. :—
Ploughing and harrowing, five
times, at 11s. - -£2 15 0
Lime, once in 12 years, propor-
tion for three years - - 010 0
Seed wheat, two bushels, at 5s.- 010 O
Harvest, inclusive of carting
and stacking - - - 014 0
Thrashing and marketing - 050
£414 0
This process, repeated twice - - -£9 8 O
Oat crop, seed, labour, and harvest expenses 22 0
Clover seed, and labour < a - 17 6
1318 6
Deficiency, besides rent - - 2 - 0110
Add rent, six years, at 15s. an acre - - 410 0

Total deficiency on six acres < = -£4 11 10
Dunnam. | LORD LONDONDERRY’S PROPOSALS. 341

An increase of price to the extent of 2s. 6d. a bushel on
his wheat, and 1s. 2d. on his oats, is necessary to make
good this deficiency, so that neither a reduction of rent, nor an
increase of 50 per cent. in the present prices, will make this
farmer’s business profitable. There is no remedy possible here
but a better system of farming and an increased produce.

To this point Lord Londonderry particularly directed the
attention of his tenantry, by a public letter addressed to them
in January last. After pointing out the inevitable consequences
of an adherence to the common system of two crops and a
fallow, he recommended a change, the main principle of which
was to get rid of successive corn crops, and to substitute green
crops for bare fallow. In order to accomplish this, he pro-
posed,— 1st, to drain the land in the best manner, charging
5 per cent. on the outlay; 2d, to improve the buildings and
foldyards, so that the stock might be kept under cover, and
their provender be economically consumed; 3d, to make liquid
manure tanks to receive the drainage of the houses and folds;
4th, to give his tenants, gratis, from one to two ewt. of guano,
or an equivalent of dissolved bones, to be applied, in addition
to the manure made upon the farm, to green crops; 5th, to
provide a supply of bones and guano for sale to the tenants at
cost price, and to erect a bone mill and apparatus for dissolving
bones; the use of which was to be given to such of the tenants
as chose to avail themselves of it.

Such measures as these, if zealously carried out, cannot fail to
be attended with the best permanent effects on the interests of
both tenant and landlord. We saw them in operation on the
farm of Barmston, on the river Wear, a strong poor clay, re-
duced by the system already described to such a state of sterility
that it was abandoned to the landlord as utterly hopeless. One
field of the last tenant’s pasture still remained to attest its con-
dition. On this there had been no stock during the whole
summer, as it was considered incapable of feeding anything to

advantage. The whole summer’s grass, therefore, was still
23
342 IMPROVED CULTURE OF CLAY LAND. [Duraan.

on the ground, and a very miserable, white, scanty, innutritious
herbage it seemed to be. Lord Londonderry has taken this farm
into his own management; and under the direction of Mr. Gibson,
his able agent, every field is being thoroughly tile-drained. The
drains are uniformly made in parallel lines, 8 yards apart, and
from 32 to 4 feet in depth, the soil being of nearly uniform
quality, and no regard is had to the old crooked lines of ridge
and furrow. The land is then ploughed as deeply as two
powerful horses can move it; and, after being wrought and
cleaned in spring, it receives 20 loads of ashes and 6 ewt. of
guano per acre, and is then sowed with swedes. ‘Lhe crop on
the ground after this management was not less than from 20 to
25 tons an acre. These are drawn for consumption in the build-
ings, and are followed by wheat, which is sown out with clover.
The wheat crop of this year yields 32 bushels an acre, on land
which three years ago had all the appearance of having been
reduced to a caput mortuum. By this change a heavy crop of
swedes is substituted for the equally expensive, but totally
unproductive, bare fallow; these are profitably consumed by
cattle, which leave a large supply of rich manure to increase the
productive powers of the soil: the one year’s wheat crop of
32 bushels is more valuable than the two wheat crops of the
former system ; in short, the ascending scale of fertility is begun,
aud the ruinous descending scale of exhaustion is abandoned.

A necessary supplement to the substitution of green crops
for bare fallow, on this description of soil, is increased house
accommodation, as turnips cannot be eaten on the ground on
these strong lands. The house accommodation at present is
inferior and inadequate. Where so much has to be done, it is
very important that some economical mode of construction be
adopted, for the expenditure recommended by most of our book
authorities would swamp a landlord altogether. Whilst we cer-
tainly should desire something of a more permanent character,
we subjoin the particulars of an estimate and specification drawn
up by Mr. Gibson, which may be useful to landlords, as cxhi-
Dornan. ] CHEAP FEEDING SHEDS. 343

biting a cheap method of affording increased accommodation to
their tenants. With care this may last a considerable number
of years, until a landlord is gradually able to get over his whole
estate with buildings of a more permanent and substantial
description. The system of stall-feeding is adopted as the
most economical in first cost, and believed to be equally pro-
fitable as compared with any other in the progress of the stock.
Close wooden sheds are proposed to be erected, 15 feet wide
inside, with a feeding passage in front, and a cleaning passage
behind the cattle. The sheds are to be made of home-sawn
wood, and roofed with the same, coated with coal tar. Inside
they are to be fitted in the usual manner, with stalls, mangers,
doors, &c. The whole may be so erected at a cost of 10s. per
head, where the timber is got free of expense on the estate. If
the value of the timber is added, the cost will be 30s. per head.
A shed 70 feet long, by 15 feet wide inside, affording accom-
modation for 20 cattle in stalls, 7 feet to each pair, will cost as
follows: —

£ os. d

3400 superficial feet 1 inch deal, at 12s. per 100 - -20 8 0
50 larch posts, at 8d. ~ - - - - 113 4
40 couple sides at 8d. - - - - - 16 8
20 baulks, at 10d. - - - - 016 8
170 feet wall plate, at 1d. - - - 014 2
170 feet runners, at 3d. - - - - - 07 1
2 barrels coal tar, at 5s., in Durham - - - 010 0
Nails - - - - - - 110 0
Workmanship —- - - - - - 214 0
£30 0 0

On Lord Durham’s estate an attempt has been made to in-
troduce the Northumberland, or five-course system, but the
tenants do not take to it kindly. The farms average 200 acres
in extent. During the last 10 years 14,0002. have been ex-
pended in drainage by the landlord, the tenants being charged
5 per cent. on the outlay. The average rent may be from 25s.

to 30s. an acre, and tithe 5s. to 6s. an acre. Lord Durham
z4
344 VICINITY OF NEWCASTLE. {[Duruam.

last. year allowed 20 per cent. of the rent to be expended in
drainage, buildings, and manure.

The four-course is the common system on Lord Ravensworth’s
estate, which extends some miles westward from Neweastle, on
the south bank of the Tyne. The land is generally of superior
quality, and is let at rents varying from 40s. to 31, and as much
as 4/, an acre, in the vicinity of the town. The landlord executes
drainage at a charge of 5 per cent. on his tenants. The farms
vary in extent from 50 to 200 acres; they are held from year
to year, but the same families continue in their farms for genera-
tions. The demand for milk in this populous neighbourhood is
good, a cow’s produce being reckoned to be worth 201. Other
articles of farm produce, such as potatoes and other vegetables,
are much in demand, and at remunerative prices. Manure in
any quantity can be purchased at a moderate rate, the best
quality costing 3s. 6d. per two-horse load, and a seéond quality
is delivered on the estate by railway at a cost, including car-
riage, of 3s. per double-horse load. Notwithstanding these ad-
vantages, the tenants are not in a very prosperous condition.
Some buy manure extensively, and use their opportunities with
spirit. The most improving tenants on the estate, and the men
of most enterprise, are said to be innkeepers and butchers from
Newcastle, who carry their business habits and intelligence into
the management of their farms. Contiguous farms of the same
quality and rent vary in their produce many bushels an acre,
according to the energy and command of capital possessed by
their occupants. Lord Ravensworth has been giving temporary
deductions to his tenants; but it is said that he now contem-
plates making a general permanent abatement of 12 to 15 per
cent.

Besides the population of the large towns in this county, —
Durem, Sunderland, Shields, Gateshead, and, on the other
side of the Tyne, Newcastle,— there are very numerous populous
villages scattered throughout the eastern side of the county, all
of which are occupied by well-paid colliers, good consumers of

 
Dunuam.] FOOD FOR IORSES. 345

produce, and convenient customers for the farmer. One exten-
sive coal owner pays about 10,0002 in wages monthly, the greater
part of which is spent in bread, meat, dairy produce, and beer,
all in one way or other the produce of the farmer, who has thus
every encouragement to exertion which good markets can give.
But, besides this demand, he has likewise a ready sale for hay,
large supplies of which are required by the numerous horses
employed above and below ground at the various collieries.

The horses employed at the collieries are of two classes — pit
and waggon horses; the first a small compact horse, for working
in the pits under ground; the other a larger and more powerful
horse, for drawing the heavy waggons on the surface. The
usual feeding given to these horses is three bushels of oats and
twelve stones of hay per week to each pit horse, and three and
a half bushels of oats and fourteen stones of hay to each
waggon horse. Lord Londonderry’s agent, Mr. Gibson, has
effected a very considerable saving by giving the horses their
food in a prepared state. The hay is cut into half-inch chaff,
oats and beans are crushed, and, in addition to this dry
mixture, a certain proportion of each, with linseed, is given
steamed for the evening meal. In this way two bushels of corn
and seven stones of hay per week are found sufficient for the
pit horses, and two and a half bushels of corn and eight stones
of hay for the waggon horses. We can testify to the good con-
dition and spirit of the horses in this establishment; and, as the
sane feeding is given to the farm horses on Lord Londonderry’s
farms, we think it may be useful to mention in detail the daily
allowance of the

PIT AND FARM HORS2S.

Dry feeding consists of cut hay and crushed oats and beans, all
mixed together : —
Hay for each horse per day - - 11tb.

Oats and beans - - - - 12
— 23ib.
346 BREEDS OF CATTLE. [Durnan,

PIT AND FARM HORSES — continued. 23lb.
Steamed feed : —
Hay = = = 7 -  $8lb.
Beans - - - : - 2
Linseed - - - 1-6
Total daily allowance - 29lb.

WAGGON HORSES.
Dry feeding :—
Hay - - - - - 12ib.

Oats and beans - - - 14
— 26)b.
Steamed feed : —
Hay - - - -  8ilb.
Beans - - - - 3
Linseed - - - - Wa 7
Total daily allowance - 33lb.

The saving effected by this simple change in an establishment
like Lord Londonderry’s, where 300 horses are constantly
employed in the collieries and farms, must be very great;
according to our reckoning, considerably more than 10002
a year.

The Durham breed, or improved short-horns, are, of course,
the prevalent cattle of the county. The north bank of the
Tees is not now, however, so famous for this breed as it was
once rendered by the celebrated Messrs. Collins: the Yorkshire
side of the river now bears the palm. Small West Highland
cattle are grazed in considerable numbers in the county. On
the extensive farms which Lord Durham holds in his own
management, a large number of 14-year Highland heifers are
bought at about 50s. each in autumn; they are crossed next
year with a short-horn bull; and the following year, after
suckling their calves, they are fattened and gold at about 72.
each. Another class — stots—are bought at the same age, and,
after being kept two years, are sold fat in November Kt Tron

102. to 112. each. The cross-bred calves, after being suckled by
Duruan. ] DUKE OF CLEVELAND’S ESTATE. 347

their dams, are put on good keep, and are turned out prime fat
at three years old, the oxen then averaging fifty to sixty stones
imperial, which, from the superior quality of the meat, sells at
the highest figure per stone. The heifers, though of equal
quality, are much smaller in size, and do not bring, within
some pounds, the price of the oxen. We had an opportunity,
at the great November cattle fair at Darlington, of seeing a
large collection of the cattle of the district, and, though there
were several superior lots, there were also too many of a descrip-
tion quite inferior to what might have been looked for in the
immediate neighbourhood of Teesdale.

The relations between landlords and tenants in this county
present some very instructive points. The Duke of Cleveland’s
estate in Durham comprehends the greater proportion of the
country from the borders of Cumberland along the north bank
of the Tees to within a few miles of Darlington. Within these
limits are included many varieties of soil and climate, from the
rich lowland arable farms at Denton and Pierce Bridge, to the
exposed mountain grazings in Teesdale Forest. This ex-
tensive estate was valued 50 years ago, and during the period
which has since elapsed the rent then fixed has undergone no
change. ‘here are no leases, but the tenants are hereditary,
the same families, in direct descent, occupying the same farms
for centuries. One of the best farmers on the estate has in his
possession a lease of the land he now occupies, granted to one
of his ancestors in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Though the
Duke has never allowed the:scale of his rents to be changed,
and admits no competition or interference with his hereditary
tenantry, he has not neglected the improvement of his estate.
He keeps a drainage bailiff to lay off and superintend the whole
drainage on his farms, whether executed by himself or the
tenant. He supplies tiles free of charge, the tenant being at
the cost of putting them into the ground; or, where stones are
the material used, he pays two-thirds of the whole cost. Tle
does not object to the removal of useless fences and hedgerow
348 HEREDITARY TENANTS [Dura

trees when they are shown to be injurious, and has encouraged
the enlargement of arable fields where it promotes economy of
labour. The cottages on the estate are generally held directly
from his Grace, who in that case keeps them in good repair.
The rents vary from 2s. to 22. a-year, with gardens in all cases ;
and new cottages of a more commodious description are let at
from 21. to 41. a-year. Allotments not exceeding a quarter of
an acre, and now being more limited, are let at from 32s. to
48s. an acre, all rates being paid by his Grace, and fences and
roads kept in good order at his expense.

The average size of the Duke’s arable farms may be about
150 acres; the largest on the estate does not exceed 500 acres.
When the rent was fixed the valuation was low, the rent of
very good arable and pasture land running from 15s. to 26s. an
acre tithe-free, and an inferior quality from 9s. to 15s. an acre.
To the latter is generally annexed a right of pasturage on the
adjoining moors, on which the Duke reserves the game, but
gives his tenants the use of the pasture for stock rent-free.
On this great estate, during the last 50 years, there have not
been a dozen changes of tenantry.

With so many favourable circumstances, one might have
reasonably expected that the Duke of Cleveland, from his fine
old feudal castle of Raby, would have looked down on a
contented and prosperous tenantry, disturbed by no complaint,
but gratified by a reciprocal endeavour on their part to improve
the estate, and render more fertile and remunerative to them-
selves the annual produce of their farms, in the entire benefit
and enjoyment of which they are so amply and ungrudgingly
secured. Truth constrains us to say that this is not so. Their
easy rents have been made during a period of comparatively
high prices with little exertion. The certainty they felt that no
additional rent would be exacted, and that the son would, as a
matter of GOUtse, succeed to his father on the same terms, led to
an indolent feeling of secuniiy. Lower prices have found them
even less prepared than their more highly-rented neighbours 3
Durnam. | AND UNCHANGING RENTS. 349

and the Duke, in declining to make abatements, is not more
exempt from complaint than other landlords who have not the
same excuse.

When we consider the circumstances under which this fixed
rental has been unchangeably continued during the last 50
years, we shall be better able to appreciate the propriety of the
arrangement. During that period the average price of wheat
rose as high as 119s. 6d., and fell as low as 39s, 4d. a quarter.
The population of the whole country has doubled, and that of
this particular county had, within the ten years preceding 1841,
made a more rapid increase than that of any other county in
England. The demand for all articles of consumption pro-
duced by the farmer, besides corn, must have kept pace with
the increase of the population. In the midst of this activity
and industry we find a great estate standing nearly still for half
a century, the landlord declining to avail himself of the natural
and legitimate benefits of his property, the farmer letting slip
the opportunities he possessed, the labourers increasing in
numbers, but finding from agriculture little or no increase of
employment, and the increasing population forced to seek from
abroad those supplies which the land in their own neighbourhood
has failed to yield in sufficient abundance. However much we
may admire the beneficence and liberality and unselfishness of
the Duke of Cleveland, we cannot acquiesce in the wisdom of
this arrangement. The principles by which the amount of rent
regulates itself according to the varying circumstances of a
country cannot, more than any of the natural laws, be laid aside
-with impunity. And though we should much more deprecate
the system of recklessly screwing a tenantry by inviting unfair
competition and adopting every means which the present state
of the law affords to unprincipled or heedless landlords for
unduly enhancing their rents, we yet deem it right to state the
circumstances of a case of a contrary character to show that the
real interest of all—landlords, tenants, labourers, and the public
—are injured by any practice which fails to keep pace with the
progressive improvements of the country.
350

LETTER XL.

CUMBERLAND.

Eastern District.—HUMIDITY OF CLIMATE— GRASS FARMING THEREFORE
MOST REMUNERATIVE — SIR JAMES GRAHAM'S ESTATE — CONSOLIDATION OF
GOOD LAND INTO LARGE FARMS — ENCOURAGEMENT OF GOOD TENANTS —
GREAT IMPROVEMENT OF THE ESTATE — TO WHICH THE TENANTS LARGELY
CONTRIBUTED — TENURE — SYSTEM AND EXPENSE OF DRAINAGE — WOOD-
LAND — RENT— COURSE OF CROPS — MR. BIRREL’S FARM — PIG FEEDING —
PRACTICE OF * SOWING OUT” WITHOUT A CROP MUCH APPROVED — LORD
MANSFIELD’S ARRANGEMENTS WITH HIS TENANTS — INDUSTRY OF THE
CUMBERLAND FARMERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

CaR.isie, Jan. 1851.

Tue lower lands of East Cumberland chiefly rest on the red

sandstone formation, and the upper district on mountain lime-

stone. In the plains along the banks of the rivers and streams

—the Eden, the Esk, the Irthing, the Caldew, and the Line—

the soil is generally a fertile alluvial loam; on the low-lying

ridges which divide the several plains, it varies from a strong
retentive soil to good friable turnip land; and near the Scottish
border, on the Sark and towards the Solway, there is an
annually-diminishing extent of unimproved bogs or peat moss.
The lands along the valleys are very liable to be flooded by
the sudden rise of the streams, after heavy rains in the moun-
tainous district on the eastern border of the county. The
quantity of rain which falls during the year in this county is, in
the most favoured parts, nearly twice as much as on land at the
same elevation on the east coast, while the greater frequency
of rainy days imparts a character of humidity to the atmosphere
much more beneficial to the growth of grass and green crops
than corn, This humidity of climate has given to those who
cultivate the soil with a wise desire to enlist nature on their
side, instead of vainly trying to supersede an influence which
may be modified but cannot be controlled, a preference for stock
CuMBERLAND.] PREFERENCE FOR GRASS FARMING. 351

over corn farming. By keeping this in view we shall be better
able to appreciate the value of the advice lately given by Sir
James Graham to the tenantry of Cumberland, to “ plough less
and graze more;” a corroboration of which is found in the
management adopted by all the best farmers we visited in this
county. The fuct that agricultural labourers here are not in
excess, as in some of the southern counties, removes of itself any
objection (if such is really well-founded) on the score of diminish-
ing employment; while all attempts which have been made to
introduce on a large scale the corn system of the east coast, how-
ever successful for a time, have in the end been found unremu-
nerative. A wet autumn has interfered with the proper season
for sowing the wheat crop; or if got in during a favourable time,
and after giving every promise of an abundant increase, the con-
tinued rains of a wet summer “lodge” the crop, and the farmer,
when he thrashes out his bulky stackyard, is greatly disappointed
in the quality and quantity of the yield. Mr. Curwen tried the
system forty years ago on a large scale, and failed; and though, for
the introduction of the best breed of short horns, and the spirit he
infused among all classes for agricultural improvement, his name
is still gratefully recollected, as a corn farmer his example has
not been followed. The future range of the price of corn is
likely still further to limit any desire for its more extended
cultivation in this county; and the fact that the men who have
really made money here have done so as breeders or feeders of
stock, has become so generally understood, that to the develop-
ment of that branch of their business the attention of the best
farmers is now chiefly directed. The farms, for example, of
Mr. Ferguson, of Harker Lodge, a considerable breadth of
which used to be kept in cultivation, are now being laid to grass
with such success that, on an extent of 700 acres, 3,000 hoggets
and 200 cattle are fed during the summer, the hoggets being
sent off to the market as they become fat, after yielding an in-
erease of 10s. per head, on the average, for their keep from the
end of April till November.
352 SIR JAMES GRAITAM’S ESTATE.‘ (East

Netherby, the estate of Sir James Graham, occupies’ the
north-western extremity of the county on the Scottish border,
and extends from the Solway for seven or eight miles up Esk-
dale. It includes in one compact and undivided property the
whole of the land between the lower part of the river Line and
Dumfriesshire, and comprises altogether nearly 30,000 acres of
land, between 2,000 and 3,000 acres of which are wood, much
of it fine old timber. Sir James succeeded to the estate up-
wards of thirty years ago; and since that time he has been
unintermittingly engaged in its improvement. Neither time
nor large expenditure have been spared, to make it—what it is
now confessed to be — the best-conditioned estate in Cumber-
land. Time and money alone could not have done this, had
not both been expended with judgment; and it may surprise
our readers to hear that a statesman who, during the greater
portion of that time, has occupied so conspicuous a,place in the
councils of the nation, is more minutely acquainted with the
details of arable farming and the general management of land
than many men of inferior capacity who devote their whole lives
to the business.

The leading feature in the management and improvement of
the Netherby estate has been the timely consolidation of the
good land into large farms, and the proper subdivision and
enclosure of the inferior lands. An idea may be formed of the
extent to which this principle has been acted on, and the con-
sequent diminution of an overgrown agricultural occupying
population, from the fact that the number of rent-paying tenants
holding land in 1820 was 340, and in 1850 only 165. Fine
farms of 300 and 400 acres, now occupied in one holding by an
enterprising tenant, were then held in seven or eight separate
possessions. ‘The demolition of useless clay buildings and super-
fluous hedges caused an immense saving of horse power; and,
as one great feature in the management seems to have been the
careful selection and encouragement of good tenants and the
unsparing weeding out of bad ones, Sir James was at every step
CumBeRLanp.] IMPROVEMENT AIDED BY GOOD TENANTS. 3053

assisted by his tenants in the further improvement of his pro-
perty. He had not to work single-handed against ignorance or
indifference, but enlisted*on his side both energy and capital.
In planting sheltering woods to enhance the value of his farms,
che was at the same time laying by an improving capital; and in
erecting new farm buildings, in draining, removing and replant-
ing fences, making open waterways and embankments, and con-
structing roads, he was assisted by his tenants, who contributed
in labour a large part of the cost. The buildings on the estate,
which were then chiefly of mud and thatch, have all been
replaced by substantial stone and slate. Year after year sees
a diminishing extent of moss, the landlord contributing the
material for drainage, and the tenant performing all the other
cost of the reclamation. During the currency of his lease he
enjoys the benefit of his industry, but at the close of it the
landlord participates in the increased value caused by the
improvement. In constructing new fences the same principle
is adopted, and the tenant is bound to maintain them constantly
in good order. This is strictly attended to, and the neatly
trimmed thorn fences along all the lines of road traversing this
extensive estate mark its boundaries on every side. Great
though the expenditure of the landlord has been, it could not
have effected so much without the aid of an enterprising and
industrious tenantry, wisely directed it is true, but still rendered
in addition to the rent.

The farms are all let on lease at money rents for a period of
fourteen years, free of all manner of tithes. The tenant enters
.on his farm at the term of Candlemas, and pays his rent at two
terms in the year — Whitsuntide and Lammas. He pays all
taxes, rates, and burdens, already imposed, or that may be
imposed, by law upon farmers during his term of possession.
The stipulations as to management are very stringent; but we
were assured that a good tenant is never interfered with.

With regard to drainage, the former custom on the estate was
for the landlord to furnish the tiles free of charge, and the tenant

AA
354 DRAINAGE— WOODLAND. [Easr

to put them in, This system was commenced many years ago,
but the drains were then made too shallow, and a great portion
is now being taken up and relaid at greater depth. Sir James
now executes all drainage at his own cost, the tenant perform-
ing carriage and paying 5 per cent. on the net outlay. Two-
inch pipes, with a flat side to lie on, are the size chiefly used;
they are thirteen inches in length when burned, and cost at the
kiln 16s. per 1,000 for all sizes as required (a due proportion of
large mains being furnished at the same price), the cost of coals,
inclusive of cartage, being 10s. per ton. The drains are made,
according to the nature of the soil, from three to four feet in
depth and seven to ten yards apart, and the highest charge for
interest to the tenant is 3s. 6d. per acre.

In the management of his woods, Sir James does not fail to
take advantage of a new outlet afforded by the increasing wants
of our manufacturers. We heard that he is at present in treaty
with a thread manufacturer of Manchester for the erection of a
steam-power mill at Longtown, at which the small wood of the
estate is to be cut into bobbins. This trade is already largely
established at Windermere, and supplies an excellent market
for the tops, boughs, and rubbish which used formerly to be
burnt to get them out of the way. For this purpose beech,
hazel, alder, birch, and ash coppice are all suitable, and are now
sold, wher2 the trade is fully established, at 1s. per cubic foot.
At a sale lately in that district a coppice of this description
brought 302. an acre, free of all expense of labour, to the owner
of the land, and in about fourteen years more the same coppice
will be again ready to cut. Such prices cannot, of course, be
looked for at first; but when the trade is fully organised, the
manufacturers compete with each other, and as higher rates
call further on their ingenuity, powder factories are established,
where all the wood under one inch in diameter, and which is,
therefore, unsuitable for the bobbin mill, is turned to profitable
account. Besides the direct benefit to an estate in affording a
good and accessible market for the small wood, a mill of this
Cumprrtanp.] RENT—ROTATION OF CROPS. 355

description employs fifty or sixty hands, and in process of time it
may lead to the manufacture of the thread as well as the bobbins.

There has been no abatement of rent on the estate, nor are
there many complaints. The prices of corn are low, and the
returns from cattle have not been remunerative; but Sir James
Graham’s tenants draw a large proportion of their annual re-
ceipts from the feeding of sheep and pigs, both of which have
been paying well. Considering the condition of the farms as
regards drainage, fences, and buildings, the rent appears to be
fairly charged, and the tenants have no doubt that Sir James
will not permit them alone to bear all the burden of unforeseen
low prices, should they continue. The present leases were
entered into in 1843. Rents vary considerably, according to the
quality of the soil ; from 20s. to 26s. an acre may be the average
for arable land, about a tenth of which is reclaimed moss. The
highest rent for a large farm of excellent land, completely
drained, fenced, and housed, is 36s. an acre, the tenant also
paying rates, the whole of which do not together exceed 1s. 6d.
per 12.

The usual course of husbandry adopted on the estate is the
five course, the land remaining two years in grass. A good
farmer who desires to change the system is at once permitted
to do so; and on land of superior quality it is understood that
the landlord would not object to such a tenant taking wheat
every alternate year if he found such a practice advantageous.

As an example of the mode of farming practised on the estate,
we may shortly describe that of Mr. Birrel, of Guards. He
occupies the extreme north-western boundary of England, the
land lying a few yards from the shop of the famous Gretna
blacksmith who binds for ever the runaway lovers who present
themselves at his forge. In extent the farm comprises 475 acres,
sixty being reclaimed moss, for which the landlord supplied the
tiles, and the tenant expended the rest of the cost of the
reclamation. ‘This was a condition of the lease, the landlord
providing tiles, and the tenant binding himself to reclaim a

aa 2
356 FARM MANAGEMENT. [East

certain number of acres annually. The farm is divided into
three natural divisions, (1) of moss, (2) weak land unsuitable
for wheat, and (3) good land fit for the growth of any kind of
crop. These are each subdivided into five fields, and, the
rotation being a five course, there is thus annually a field of each
quality of the farm bearing the same kind of crops — there being
three fields of oats, three of green crop, three of wheat, barley;
or oats, three of “seeds,” and three of pasture. This, with
steady management, insures as nearly an uniform result as can
be attained. The green food and fodder bear a pretty constant
proportion to the quantity of stock, and the amount of horse
and manual labour are regulated in the same manner.

The rotation begins with oats, which are sown broadcast on
one furrow, and yield twenty-seven bushels an acre on the in-
ferior land, to thirty-six and forty-eight on that of better quality.
The oats are followed by green crop, one third of which is
potatoes, one third white and yellow turnips, and one-third
swedes. The potatoes are manured with the best dung of the
farm, and yield from 63 to 73 tons an acre of the Prince
Regent variety, which is at present selling at 32. per ton. The
turnips and swedes receive about 20 tons of dung and 2 ecwt.
of guano per acre, all that have received dung being drawn
for consumption in the feeding houses. The turnips which are
to be eaten on the ground by sheep receive no dung, but have
3 cwt. of guano per acre. The swedes are all taken up in
December and stored for use in spring, as the farmers here are
quite sensible of the injury done both to the soil and the root
by leaving it in the ground during the winter and early part of
spring. Two-thirds of the land, after green crop, is sown with
oats, and one-third with wheat, the average yield of which is
thirty bushels an acre. Twenty fat cattle, reared on the farm,
are sent to market annually, and 300 Cheviot lambs are bought
in September, and, after being wintered on turnips, are sold fat
off the grass during the summer. They receive cake or corn from
the end of January till sold, and leave an average advance of
CumBeRLanp.] “ SOWING OUT” WITHOUT A CROP. 357

20s. each. Sixty pigs are bred and fattened annually on the
produce of the farm, and realize about 2002. They are bought
by dealers, who take them by railway to Leeds, Nottingham,
and other midland towns, whence a brisk demand has arisen,
accompanied by paying prices. Five pairs of horses, assisted
occasionally by two young ones, do all the horse work of the
farm. They are chiefly fed in the stable, except when during
the summer they are turned out nightly on a good pasture.

So little do the farmers wish to increase the extent of their
arable land, and so sensible are they of the great advantage of
laying their land to grass with a full plant of “seeds,” that
it is not uncommon to see them_of_their_own choice sowing.
~out their fields without a corn crop... This practice is attended
“with much success. On the fine farm of Mr. Gibbons, of
Burnfoot, a large extent of strong land is now being laid to
grass in this way. It is fallowed and thoroughly cleared of
weeds, and in the month of June or July, as soon as it can™
be got ready, it is sown with a mixture of grass, rape, and
clover seeds, in these proportions—5lb. perennial rye grass,
7lb. white clover, 7lb. cow grass or perennial red clover, and
3lb. or 4lb. of rape seed per acre. This is stocked with sheep
the same autumn, the 40-acre piece which we saw having yielded
upwards of eight weeks’ excellent keep for 380 sheep. It is
now a deep rich green, very refreshing to the eye at this season,
and will keep and feed a heavy stock of sheep during the coming
summer.

Bordering Sir James Graham on the Scottish side is the
estate of Lord Mansfield, who has lately concluded an arrange-
ment with his tenants, which is said to have given complete
satisfaction. The basis of that arrangement is, that the rent
during the last leases of fourteen years is converted into a grain
rent, at the average price of the county for these fourteen
years, and, that being ascertained, 10 per cent. is deducted, and
the balance, as a fixed money rent, becomes the future rent of
the farm. On these terms the whole of the tenants have

AA 3

 
358 INDUSTRY OF THE FARMERS, [East Cumperzanp.

willingly entered into new leases. By this arrangement an
improving tenant reserves to himself the whole benefit of his
improvements, whereas a new valuation taxes the improving
tenant unfairly, and lets the sluggard go free.

The tenants of East Cumberland are an industrious, hard-
working, and economical class of men. Their families are
brought up to industry, the young men working in the fields,
and the daughters assisting in the dairy and the house. The
in-doors work of a Cumberland farm house is a serious matter,
as all the farm servants, married and single, receive the whole of
their food in the farmer’s kitchen. They have bread, porridge,
and milk to breakfast — broth, meat, and bread to dinner— and
milk-porridge and bread to supper. Besides preparing all this,
the daughter of a substantial farmer or independent yeoman
may be seen on market-day at Carlisle selling her poultry and
dairy produce, while her father or brother is disposing of and
delivering his corn and potatoes.
359

LETTER XLI.

CUMBERLAND — continued.

West CUMBERLAND. — AN IMPORTING COUNTRY — “‘ STATESMEN ” — GRADU-
ALLY BEING BOUGHT OUT — SIZE OF FARMS — LORD LONSDALE’S FSTATE —
NO LEASES, YET PERFECT CONFIDENCE — HUMIDITY OF CLIMATE—REQUIRES
MORE FREQUENT DRAINAGE AND LARGER PIPES — TILE WORKS — GROWTH
OF SWEDES—— MR. TURNER’S FARM NEAR WHITEHAVEN — HIS PLAN OF
“ 30WING OUT” WITHOUT A CROP — YIELD OF CORN CROPS — HAY — LIVE
STOCK — EXCELLENT MANAGEMENT OF MILCH COWS— CONTRASTED WITH
THAT OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE — SHORT HORNS INTRODUCED BY MR. CURWEN
— COVERED DUNG HOUSE AND CORN RICKS AT GILGARRON — PROSPEROUS
STATE OF LABOURERS — RENT OF LAND.

WuitTEwAvEN, Jan. 1851.

THE western division of Cumberland presents a much greater
variety of soil and surface than the eastern. Its geological
features comprise granite, clay-slate, trap, limestone, red sand-
stone, and coal. On its eastern boundary it is shut in by the
lofty mountains of the lake district, from which it slopes in
undulating ridges of greater or less elevation to its western
boundary on the sea. With a sea-coast line of nearly fifty
miles in length, it possesses numerous shipping ports, the prin-
cipal trade of which is the export of coal. From Maryport to
some miles beyond Whitehaven, coal is raised close to the coast ;
and at Whitehaven one of the best seams is worked for a con-
siderable distance under the sea. The populous towns of
Whitehaven, Maryport, Workington, and others, along with the
mining population scattered throughout the district, consume
more agricultural produce than it yields, so that West Cumber-
land is an importing country.

A great change has been effected within the last half cen-
aad
360 “ STATESMEN.” [Wrst

tury by the inclosure of the commons, which before that time
comprised nearly half the lowland of the district. Another
peculiar feature of this division —not indeed confined to it, as it
extends over the rest of Cumberland and the adjoining county
of Westmoreland —is the gradually diminishing numbers of the
class called “‘statesmen,” or yeomen proprietors of small estates,
from 40 to 100 acres in extent. This class of men, formerly very
numerous, have been located on their patrimonial estates for
many generations. Their original possession is said by some to
have been granted to them on condition that they should be
ready to follow their lord, or the warden of the marshes, in re-
pelling the border forays. The young men of this-clavs are in
many instances zealous improvers, but the older generation are
strongly prejudiced in favour of old systems, and generally very
unwilling to advance with the progress around them. They
are comfortably housed, and, as a class, most industrious and
economical. But they cannot easily accumulate wealth, as the
eldest son gets the patrimonial estate, and the rest of the family
the savings, increased very generally by small annuities payable
out of the estate. These little properties are seldom subdivided,
but every year they are being absorbed into the larger ad-
joining estates, either by unavoidable sale arising from accu-
mulated embarrassments, or by the offer of a tempting price
which the “ statesman” thinks it imprudent to decline. In point
of general intelligence the “statesmen” are not superior to
farmers occupying the same extent of land, and are much in-
ferior in education and enterprise to the more considerable
farmers, though as regards real property they may be the
wealthier of the two. There are many known instances in
which “a statesman,” paying no rent, has become hopelessly
embarrassed, and a farmer succeeding to the occupation has
both paid a fair rent and made a profit.

The great proportion of the arable lands is held in farms of
from 50 to 150 acres in extent. Some farmers occupy from
200 to 300 acres, and a few as much as 400 acres, Many
hold on leases of 14 years or more; but the principal estate in
Comurrtann.] LORD LONSDALE’S ESTATE — CLIMATE. 361:

the district that of the Earl of Lonsdale, is chiefly let by
verbal contracts from year to year, without any stipulation
whatever as to the mode of farming. Notwithstanding the
absence of leases, the farmers on this estate are a very enter-
prising class; and as the most perfect confidence subsists be-
tween the Jandlord and tenant, the latter most liberally invests
his capital in the cultivation and permanent improvement of
his farm. When a farm, from any cause, falls into his Lord-
ship’s hands, a good young tenant is carefully sought out; and
as this has long been the practice of the estate, the farmers are
mostly selected men, vieing with each other in the management
of their farms. They have no tenant right or repayment for
unexhausted improvements, but they know that they are
dealing with a family which has always felt its own interest
identified with the prosperity of the tenantry.

The climate of West Cumberland is of a peculiarly moist
character, the rain guage showing an annual fall of from 47
inches of rain at Whitehaven to as much as 160 in some parts
of Borrowdale. As this falls upon a soil in many cases of
very impervious character, it may be readily conceived that
thorough drainage here is not only a necessary but a most
difficult operation. ‘There is so little uniformity in the nature
of the soil and subsoil, that many varieties are met with
in almost every field. Within the last twenty years an im-
mense extent of tile drainage has been made, great part of
which has proved comparatively of little effect, from having
been done too shallow. Eighteen to thirty inches was then
the usual depth, and many thousand roods of drains put in
at that depth are now being taken up and relaid at from three
to five feet deep, with the best effects. This greater depth was
introduced into the county about four yearsago by Mr. Parkes,
who was employed by Lord Lonsdale to superintend the
drainage of his estates. But Mr. Parkes, probably not suffici-
ently adverting to the difference in the quantity of rain-water
to be carried off by the drains in this county as compared with
some of the drier districts of England, adopted then a uniform
362 DRAINAGE AND TILE WORKS. (West

rule of small pipes and wide intervals apart. To use the
forcible language of Mr. Pusey,~—

“ How can a fixed rule be laid down for the depth or distance of
drains or the size of the pipes, when one county has 25 inches of rain,
and another has 50 inches, to be carried off by these drains? If a
man living in Oxfordshire said that inch pipes would drain his land
well, a voice from Cumberland might exclaim that it was absurd to
use less than 1} inch pipes, which he found far the best. Yet the
smaller pipe might be more competent to its duty in one place than
the larger one in the other.”

It never can be safe to act altogether in defiance of local experi-
ence until we have had time to mature our own; and, accordingly,
further experience has shown that very wide intervals and exces-
sive depth will not do for the soil of Cumberland. Four feet
deep and seven to ten yards apart are now the standard on Lord
Lonsdale’s estate, an additional drain having been in many fields
put in between the wide intervals which were at first unsuccess-
fully adopted. There are now established in this division of the
county twenty-seven drain-tile works, which are estimated by
Mr. Dickenson to have produced, since their establishment,
116,000,000 of draining tiles and pipes—a quantity sufficient
for the drainage of 58,000 acres of land at seven yards’ distance
betwixt each drain. A great deal, however, yet remains to be
done. We have not seen in any other district so great a num-
ber of wheat fields with water oozing down their open furrows.

The chief excellence in the farming of West Cumberland is
the successful management of the swedish turnip crop. For
this the soil and climate seems to be peculiarly suitable. Forty
tons an acre are said to be sometimes got, and twenty to thirty
tons are reckoned an average crop. The manure used is twenty
carts of good farm-yard manure, and two ewt. of guano, per acre.
This is put in ridges about thirty inches apart, on which, after
being closed in by the double plough, the seed is sown from the
30th of April till the 30th of May, the earlier the better. About
the middle or end of October the crop is taken out of the ground,
CumBERLanp.] MR. TURNER’S FARM. 363

and stored in long slightly-thatched narrow heaps for winter use.
The tops are usually ploughed into the ground as manure for the
wheat crop, which is then immediately sown.

Without further entering into a general statement, we may
detail the management of a particular farm, which will better
exhibit the peculiarities of system than any abstract description.
The farm of Moresby Hall, within three miles of Whitehaven,
on the estate of Lord Lonsdale, contains 340 acres of land, in
the occupation of Mr. Turner. He has no lease, no prescribed
rotation of crops, and is never interfered with by his landlord as
to the management he thinks it right to adopt. The lea is
broken up and sown with oats, which yield forty-five to forty-
eight bushels an acre. The oats are followed by swedes and
yellow turnips in about equal portions, the land receiving
twenty loads of good dung and two ecwt. of guano per acre.
The swedes yield from twenty to thirty tons, the yellow about
twenty-five tons an acre. The swedes are all stored early in
November, and the land then sown with wheat. On the high
land, not suitable for wheat, half the turnip crop is drawn, to be
consumed by sheep on the adjoining grass land in wet weather,
and the other half is fed off on the land during periods of dry
weather. This prevents the soil— which, though drained, is a
moist clay—from being “poached” by the trampling of the sheep.
The great object on this farm being to provide rich food for a
large head of stock, there follows a peculiarity in the management
at this stage, the benefits of which are daily becoming more
generally appreciated. Instead of taking a white corn crop after
the turnips, and laying it down with “seeds” in the usual fashion,
the land is laid to “seeds” without acrop. It is ploughed when
dry, well harrowed, and rendered smooth on the surface, and then
sown with the following mixture of grass, clover, and rape, two
ewt. of guano having been previously scattered over each acre,
and slightly covered by the harrows,— two pecks Italian rye
grass, two pecks perennial rye grass, 4 1b. rib grass, 51b. white
clover, and 3lb. rape. The seeds are covered by the roller, they
364 GRASS— CORN CROPS — HAY. [West

grow rapidly, and are ready to be stocked with sheep in July.
A ten-acre field of poor land, sown last April in this manner,
kept and fed 100 clipped hoggets from the 20th July to the
beginning of November. It is now (January) a rich deep green,
and will be early ready for a heavy stock during the present
season. This lies two years in pasture, and is then ploughed for
oats, which, from the high condition of the Jand, cannot fail to
be bulky and productive. The wheat on the better land yields
about thirty bushels an acre of the old English-white variety,
which, from having been long grown in the district, has become
acclimated, and is found to stand a moist season best. The
wheat is sown with the usual mixture of grasses, part of which
is mown and part depastured. Whatever has been mown is
uniformly ploughed up the next spring for oats, as it does not
afterwards yield good pasture, and the best farmers in this dis-
trict find it their interest to have nothing in pasture that cannot
keep a full and well-fed stock.

The management of hay next deserves attention. Mr. Turner
every year mows thirty-five acres of old land of fine quality,
the same fields being mown every year. One half of this is
top-dressed annually with twenty loads an acre of good manure,
which is laid on, either immediately after the hay is got, or in
the months of October and November —at all events while the
grass is growing. The aftermath yields an abundant pasture
for a large herd of short-horn cows. The crop of hay weighs
about 24 tons per acre. Great attention is paid to managing it
with the utmost expedition; and by the fourth day, if the
weather be favourable, it is carted to the hay barn, where it is
at once stored, as it is got, for winter use. The hay barn is a
large loft over the cowhouse, and contains the whole of the hay
given to the cows throughout the winter. Over the stable, for
the farm horses, is a similar large loft, in which their winter
supply of rye grass hay is stored in the same manner. The hay
secured in this manner is of the finest quality, and proves the
advantage of careful management.
Cumpertanp.] § WELL-MANAGED MILCH COWS. 365

During the summer this farm feeds 80 cattle, 40 of which
are large short-horn dairy cows, and 300 sheep. In winter it
keeps 40 cows, 20 cattle, and 150 sheep. The sheep are chiefly
Cheviot lambs, bought in September, which are fed, as already
noticed, during the winter, and, after being shorn, are sent off
to the fat market in summer and autumn as they become ready.
Between wool and carcase they leave an increase of 20s. to 25s,
each.

The dairy cows, 40 in number, are kept for supplying White-
haven with milk and butter. This number is regularly main-
tained in milk throughout the year; those which have become
dry being either fed off, or sent to another farm and more
moderate feeding, till they are ready again to take their place
among the milking stock. The best heifer calves are reared to
keep the stock good. The mode of feeding the cows is as
follows: — On the lst of November the winter management
begins. The cows are then kept constantly housed, except
being turned out, two or three at a time, for a few minutes
daily, to the drinking pond. They get turnips twice a day, two
‘stones’ weight at each time. They receive likewise a cooked
mixture of oats and tares, grown together for that purpose, and
cut by the chaff-cutter, then boiled with chaff, and given twice
a day, a bucketful to each cow at a time. The boiled mixture is
placed in a stone trough twelve hours, to become cool before being
‘given to the cows. They also receive a small handful of the
‘best old land hay four times a day, the forty cows consuming
‘nearly a ton each during the winter season. The hay is
conveniently let down through a trap-door from the hay barn
into the cow-house as it is needed. The cows receive a little oat
straw the last thing at night. By the lst of May they go to grass;
they are milked daily at five am., a portion of them again
at one p.m., and the whole of them at five pm. They are then
all turned out again to a pasture field near the house till nine,
when they are brought in and kept in the house all night.
‘They are thus protected from the chills of damp cold nights,
366 BREEDS OF CATTLE AND SHEEP. [Wxsr

and require no food till again turned out to their pastures after
being milked in the morning. The morning and mid-day milk
goes to Whitehaven for sale, the evening milk is made into
butter. Milk sells at 2d. per quart for new, and ld. for skim,
and butter from 9d. to 114d. per lb.

The annual produce of each cow is very considerable, and the
farmer finds it his interest to give his cows throughout the year
the best and most nutritious food. What a contrast does the
winter feeding of this stock present to the starving system ot
the dairy farmers of Gloucestershire, and how different the
quality and quantity of the rich manure produced as compared
with the little dried heaps of miserable droppings, which they
scatter sparingly over the land! The horse work is done on
this farm by four horses in winter and seven in summer.

The farm of Mr. Jefferson, of Preston Hows, is conducted
much in the same style, the grasses which he hag laid down
without a corn crop being of first-rate quality. The swedish
turnip crop on this farm in 1847 was found to weigh 40 tons
an acre.

The stock principally kept in the arable parts of West
Cumberland is the improved short-horns. These were first
introduced by the late Mr. Curwen, who spared no expense or
pains to get good blood. The produce of his stock still main-
tains its fame, and some of the best herds trace their descent
from his. In some quarters the polled Galloway is preferred,
and on the farm of Mr. Rigg, of Abbey Holm, very fine
specimens of that breed may be seen. The sheep are chiefly
bought at the lamb fairs on the Scottish border, and pure
Cheviot seem to be preferred to the half-bred Leicester and
Cheviot. A few flocks of well-bred Leicester ewes are to be
met with in different parts of the county.

The continued rains which at certain seasons fall in West
Cumberland are most injurious in their washing effects on
manure heaps exposed to their influence. Captain Walker, of
Gilgarron, has erected covered sheds over his dungheaps, and
CumBertann.] PROSPEROUS STATE OF LABOURERS. 367

constructed a capacious tank to receive all the drainage from
his feeding houses. This is pumped up and applied to the
manure heap, which it keeps moist, and prevents from too
rapidly heating or decomposing. It has been attended with the
best effect, the superiority of the manure so treated showing
itself to an inch when applied to the land. The sheds are
cheaply constructed of light wood, covered with M*‘Neill’s
patent felt. Sheds of the same description are erected in two
parallel rows, in which the whole of the corn is housed. The
platform on which the stack rests is raised sufficiently above
the ground to render it proof against vermin, while it also
admits circulation of air. The cost of one of these sheds,
capable of holding 700 or 800 shocks or stooks of wheat,
complete in every part, is 40/7. They are an excellent con-
trivance, and, in this moist situation (between 500 and 600 feet
above sea level), of peculiar utility. Wheat is grown at this
elevation at Gilgarron, of fair quality.

The condition of the agricultural labourer in West Cumber-
land is very satisfactory. For Englishmen employed as day
labourers the present rate is from 11s. to 15s. a week. Cottage
rents are from 2/. to 32. 3s. per annum. Fuel is every where
plentiful and cheap. The most common mode, however, of
paying and feeding farm servants, both married and single, is
by engaging them for the half-year, and giving them their food
in the farm-house. It is the same practice as that common in
East Cumberland. The best men have 8., and ordinary men
61. for the half-year; boys, 22 to 32; women, 2/. 10s. to 51.
and their victuals, which are abundant and good. Barley
bread, which formerly was chiefly used by the labouring
population, is gone out of use, as wheat bread is preferred, and
its price now brings it within the reach of all. The poor rates
throughout the district are generally exceedingly moderate.

As a class, the farmers of West Cumberland are plain, indus-
trious, and intelligent. Their sons and daughters are brought
up to habits of industry and economy. Agricultural com-
368 RENT NEAR WHITEHAVEN. [West CUMBERLAND; —

plaints are not much heard, and farms, when they come into
the market, are eagerly sought after. Their system of sheep-
feeding on turnips has not yet received all the aids which the
turnip-cutter and the cheapness of cake and corn have af-
forded to the Southern farmer. The stubbles are not always
so clean as they ought to be. So that while we gladly accord
to them in several points superior merit, we cannot acquiesce
in the claim, laid by more than i of them to us, that they
are the best farmers in England. thas Thy must la, if Hasacceunh ft

The rent of good arable land near Whitehaven is from 25s.
to 30s, an acre, the highest about 35s., all tithe free.
369

LETTER XLII.
NORTHUMBERLAND.

RENT OF LAND ON TYNESIDE—-GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY—
SOUTHERN DIVISION — MUCH CLAY LAND INDIFFERENTLY FARMED — DEPRE-
CIATION IN VALUE OF THIS KIND OF SOIL—-ARRANGEMENTS MADE BY THE
LANDLORDS IN CONSEQUENCE OF FALL IN PRICE OF CORN — MODE OF
LETTING LAND — FARM MANAGEMENT ON DUKE OF PORTLAND'S ESTATE —
SYSTEM ON HEAVY LANDS—INCREASE OF VALUE BY DRAINAGE — EXPERI-
MENTAL TRIALS OF FEEDING AT HOWICK GRANGE— ADVANTAGE OF HOUSE
FEEDING IN SUMMER — MR. SCOTT'S FARM AT BEAL-— ADVANTAGE OF GIVING
CAKE TO CATTLE ON GRASS— BEST MODE OF DRAINAGE — DOUBTFUL BENEFIT
OF LEVELLING DOWN OLD CROOKED RIDGES.

Morrery, Jan. 1851.

Entrrine Northumberland on the west by the railway from
Carlisle, we passed from Hexham to Newcastle, down the valley
of the Tyne, which is highly picturesque and fertile. A broad
sparkling river—now shut in by high banks clothed with
venerable woods, now confined to its channel by embankments
protecting rich arable holms, here peacefully gliding past the
graveyard and the parish church, there more impetuously
breaking over the rocky bed which forms the base of some old
feudal castle — mingles itself with the tide a few miles above
Newcastle, and then exchanges its picturesque character for that
of commercial bustle and activity. Along the river the land is
of excellent quality, let at from 40s. to 50s. an acre, and
principally under cultivation. The holms which, on the banks
of the Wharfe or the Tees, form the rich feeding lands of the
district, are here applied to the production of corn. Out of the
valley the country is on both sides of inferior quality, much of
the south side being worth little more than 7s. an acre, the land
cold and undrained, and the farming of a very ordinary de-
scription.
BB
370 UNREMUNERATIVE MANAGEMENT [NorTHUMBERLAND.

Between Newcastle and Morpeth the soil is generally a
strong clay. Northwards of Morpeth and to the west it is a
poor infertile clay. Along the seaboard and the line of railway
past Warkworth, Alnwick, Belford, and to the border of the
county, it consists of strong wheat land, more or less fertile,
but generally of superior quality. Between the Cheviot Hills
and the ridge which forms the eastern boundary of ‘Tillside
there stretches a tract of excellent turnip land, held in large
farms by intelligent cultivators, and where the five course, or
Northumberland system of farming finds its best ilzstration.
To the westward of this the country is high and unenclosed, and
stocked with Cheviot and half-bred sheep. The geological
features of the county comprise the coal measures, millstone
grit, mountain limestone, and greenstone.

The agriculture of the southern division of the county is
not at all superior to that we have described on,the cold
clay lands of Durham. The farms are many of them larger
in extent, but the land is chiefly undrained, and, being nearly
all under the plough and very indifferently stocked, it appears
to be in poor condition, and at present prices must be bearing
hard on the capital of the occupying tenants. Very many
farms have been surrendered to the landlords, who are now
becoming thoroughly impressed with the necessity in which
they stand, either to meet their tenants liberally by encouraging
drainage and affording them temporary relief, or to find their
whole estates abandoned to them in wretched condition. The
appearance of the farm horses, and the quality of the scanty
c k, sufficiently evidence the straits to which many of tke
smaller farmers have already been reduced; while the less
carefully prepared fallows and diminished accumulations of
manure afford no promise that the returns of next year will
better their circumstances. The reliance has been so wholly on
grain that any abatement of rent, which is unaccompanied by a
wise expenditure in improvement by drainage, so as to en-
courage the keeping of stock and the more certain action of
NorTHUMBERLAND. ] OF CLAY LANDS. 371

manure, will only postpone for a little the inevitable crisis. It
must surprise many who have hitherto been led to consider the
agriculture of Northumberland as a model for the rest of the
kingdom, to learn that a great portion of the county, extending
from near Newcastle on both sides of the railway as far north
as Warkworth, is as little drained and as badly farmed as any
district we have yet seen in England, and that the occupiers of
the small farms can only eke out a scanty subsistence by
careful parsimony, and by employing no labour except that of
themselves and their families.

The larger farms in the district of which we are now speak-
ing are better cultivated, but the farmers are even less hopeful.
In the best times they assert that thay never could calculate on
making a gross return from their farms equivalent to two rents,
and that now most of them can scarcely make even one. Many
of them occupy more than one farm, and, as the farms of this
class extend to from 400 to 700 acres each, it is not uncommon
to find one holding of 1,000 to 1,500 acres altogether. The
business they declare not to have been a good one ever since
the war, and, the management continuing much the same, it is
now worse than ever. A great reduction in the rent, we were
assured by one extensive farmer, would not adequately meet his
present difficulties. A case in illustration was mentioned to us
of a strong clay farm of good wheat land, 600 acres in extent,
the rent of which in 1825 was upwards of 8002. besides 1002.
more for tithe, but which, notwithstanding a large expenditure
by the landlord, would not at present bring much more from a
tenant than half the former rent. Such statements must be
ee on the whole they
show that the amount of rent has hitherto been out of all pro-
portion in excess of the gross produce as the farming is at
present conducted, and that the two must in future be made
more justly to approximate.

Nearly all the landlords in the district are now satisfied that
to keep this land in cultivation they must be ready to assist

BB 2
372 DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND’S ESTATE. (NorTHUMBERLAND.

their tenants with drainage and farm buildings. Many have
also given abatements of rent, and it is believed that those who
have hitherto declined to do so are accumulating arrears much
heavier in reality than the loss they would suffer by any
voluntary abatement. All the agents who have been authorised
to make abatements are ready to give you instances in which
arrears have been at once paid off, in consequence of this
liberality, and of the confidence which it has given to the
tenants to go on with such improvements as form the best
guarantee to the landlord for the maintenance of his future
rental. We may here describe the arrangements which the
leading landlords of the county are at present adopting.

The Duke of Northumberland, whose great estates in this
county are, with the exception of one or two farms, let on
holdings from year to year, offers a re-valuation to every tenant
who finds his farm too dear. This is made by two gentlemen in
the district of high character and competence, and is binding
on both landlord and tenant. If the latter, however, prefers to
quit the farm, he is permitted to do so. The valuators
assume a certain rate as the average price of wheat, and at
this rate all the new valuations are made, so that the different
farms may be placed on an equal footing, and the whole estate
be in a position for an uniform principle to be adopted here-
after in any further adjustment that may be necessary. The
result of these valuations has been a slight reduction of rent,
though in one or two instances there was an increase. The
Duke then makes a discretionary abatement, corresponding to
the difference between the real and assumed rate of prices, and
this has been 12 per cent. on the corn farms, and 8 per cont. on
the turnip and stock farms. His Grace likewise executes the
requisite drainage on his estates at a charge of 5 per cent, on
the outlay, supplying the pipes from his kilns at prime cost.
He expends what is necessary for the improvement of farm
buildings without any charge on the tenant. In an instance
where a lease and corn rent was desired by the tenant, the
NorTHUMBERLAND.] ARRANGEMENTS WITH TENANTS. 373

Duke acquiesced. He offered leases to any of his tenants who.
might desire them, but it is said that his offer was accepted by
only two farmers, —so highly does his Grace stand in the con-
fidence of the county.

The Duke of Portland has a considerable estate in the
county, much of it very poor land, but his liberality to his
tenantry is proverbial. His abatements here are said to be
equal to 30 per cent., and this on a rental confessed to be
moderate. He drains to any extent for 5 per cent.

Earl Grey has not made a general abatement, but he re-
lieves any tenant who wishes to quit his farm; and in a case
where a tenant occupied several’ very valuable farms on Lord
Grey’s estate he was relieved of-one which he desired to quit,
and permitted to retain the others, which were better worth the
money. Lord Grey executes any drainage that is required at a
charge of 6 per cent.

Lord Vernon drains for his tenants, paying for both tiles and
labour, free of all charge.

The Marquis of Waterford gives 20 per cent. of abatement,
and makes a large expenditure in farm buildings for his
tenants.

These instances may be taken as illustrating the manner in
which the landlords of Northumberland are meeting the present
crisis; though we regret to say, that on some estates of great
extent the proprietors are so embarrassed that they-plead their
inability to meet their tenants either in one way or another.

In the southern division of the county the practice, in letting
farms, has generally been by the agent naming the rent and
offering the farm to a tenant. On the turnip farms of the
North this has been the exception, the rule being to advertise for
tenders and encourage the utmost competition.

Some particulars as to the cultivation of individual farms will
best convey an idea of the agricultural practice of the different
districts of the county. On a turnip farm belonging to the

Duke of Portland, 400 acres in extent, the tenant grows sixty
BB 3
374 OF LIGHT AND HEAVY LAND. [NorrHUMBERLAND.

acres of turnips, twenty-five acres of which are swedes. He has
a considerable portion of old grass; and the rest of the farm
has been hitherto managed in a five-course. The tenant con-
templates extending this to a six or seven-course, by keeping his
land three or four years in grass. On this farm, which is su-
perior turnip land, and considered a model in its neighbourhood
of liberal management on the part of the tenant, four cattle are
fattened in winter; and about thirty-six are half-fed in winter,
and finished on the best grass in summer. A stock of eighty
Leicester ewes is kept, the produce of which, about 120 lambs
in number, are fattened on the farm. The best are ready as
soon as they are shorn, and last year were sold at 33s. each, ©
besides their wool, which fetched 7s. more. The rest are put
on young grass, and sent off as they become ready. Five pairs
of horses in winter, and six in summer, carry on the work of the
farm. Ten carts of strawyard dung and twelve bushels of bones
per acre, are applied to the turnip crop; but this is reckoned an
unusually liberal dose. The old grass land is occasionally cut
for hay, and seldom receives any manure. The stock are all fed
in open yards during winter.

The ordinary management of strong-land farms is the four-
course, occasionally extended by the introduction of beans.
Very few turnips are grown; and, as nothing else is tried on
the fallow division, nearly the whole of it is bare fallowed.
Twenty-four bushels of wheat may be reckoned the average
produce from the best land. One farm which we visited had
been increased 20 per cent. in its produce of wheat by pipe
drainage ; and the farmer declared himself satisfied that this was
a more valuable boon to him than a temporary abatement of
rent to the same amount. On this, as on very many farms
in the district, a steam engine is employed for thrashing the
corn crop; but it is not applied to crushing corn, cutting hay
or straw, steaming or cooking food, or, in fact, to any other pur-
pose than thrashing. No manure whatever is purchased, and
no cake, corn, or other feeding stuff.
NoRTHuMBERLAND.] ADVANTAGE OF SOILING CATTLE. 375

On the home farm at Howick, the Hon. Captain Grey has
been for some years back endeavouring to introduce many im-
proved practices which the experience of other counties has
sanctioned. By thoroughly draining, subsoiling, and heavily
manuring his land, he has greatly increased its produce both of
corn and green crops. The corn is all drilled and horse-hoed.
The root crops are taken from the ground, without injury to its
surface, by the use of Crosskill’s portable railway. The rails
are found very easy to shift; and the work goes on with great
expedition. The swedes are carried on the rails to the head-
land, where they are stored, till required, in long narrow heaps,
thatched with straw. A handsome cattle lodge has been erected
for the stall and box-feeding of cattle, but on a scale unneces-
sarily costly. The weight of the different kinds of food consumed
by the animals is registered; and their relative progress is ascer-
tained monthly by putting each animal on the weighing machine.

Experiments have been made to ascertain the respective
merits of stall and box-feeding. A trial lust season proved
the advantage of house feeding in summer, as compared with
grazing in the field. Two short-horned cattle, two and a half
years old, as nearly of the same quality and condition as possi-
ble, were weighed on June 14th, and each found to be 78 stone.
The one was turned out on good pasture; the other was put
into a loose box in the cattle lodge, where it received cut grass,
with the addition of 2 lb. of oilcake daily. The two cattle, with
others likewise experimented on, were weighed every month;
and, on October 22nd, the box-fed animal was found to have
gained twenty-six stones, and the pastured one only thirteen.
The saving in the consumption of food far more than compen-
sated the cost of oilcake and attendance, so that the increased
gain of weight, besides the accumulation of valuable manure,
formed a clear advantage in favour of the box-feeding and
soiling system. The other cattle submitted to the same experi-
ment showed the same result, though not in an equal proportion

of increase. The monthly weighings showed that, while the
BR4
376 FARMING AT BEAL. [NorTHUMBERLAND..

pasture was fresh and juicy, and the weather warm, the cattle
made most progress in the field. After the 27th of August, the
grass began to fail in quality ; and the pastured lot then fell back
greatly, while the box-fed lot continued to increase and improve.

An experim ent was tried, two years in succession, to ascertain
the advantage of putting ewes on rape at the end of September,
which clearly proved an increase of nearly 50 per cent. in the
produce of lambs as the result of this practice. Small highland
cattle, bought at the August Falkirk tryst, at from 22. 16s..
to 31. each, are found a very payingcelass of stock here. They are
turned out on rough pasture, where they feed during the winter,
getting but a very small allowance of turnips in snow or frost,
and therefore kept at a trifling cost; then placed during the
summer on better pasture, and sold off fat in October at 102. to
114. each.

The farm of Beal, on the line of railway between Belford.
and Berwick, is considered to be one of the best managed strong
land farms in Northumberland. It contains 1050 acres, 270 of
which are permanent pasture. The rest of it is managed on the
four-course system, varied by having a portion of the clover-
break in drilled beans, which removes the clover on that part to
a greater interval, and makes it a more certain plant. Where the
beans have been taken the land is left two years in pasture.
360 acres are annually in white crop — wheat, barley, and oats;
60 acres in beans; 120 acres in sown grasses; while 180 acres
are in bare fallow and turnips, 80 of which are swedes and 80.
white turnips. The average yield of wheat may be 30 bushels,
of oats (Hopetown or Angus) 44 bushels, of barley 40 bushels,
and of beans 30 bushels per acre. The whole of the fallow is
manured with dung, the swedes with 20 carts of dung and 2 ewt.
of guano per acre; and the beans are manured with dung, and

cultivated in raised ridges, 27 inches apart, like potatoes, and
repeatedly horse and hand-hoed, and kept clean.

The stock kept on this farm consists of 25 calves reared ; 60
cattle are fed in the yards and boxes during the winter, 40 of
NoRTHUMBERLAND.] CAKE GIVEN TO CATTLE ON GRASS. 377

which receive full feeding of swedes, with 4 lb. of oilcake and
Alb. of bean meal each, daily, for the last six weeks, and go out of
the yards fat ; 20 are half-fed in winter on turnips and swedes,
and are finished off on the best grass early in summer. By this
management, Mr. Scott, the tenant, finds he can advantageously
keep a larger number of cattle to break down his straw into
manure than if he were fully to fatten a smaller number on the
same quantity of turnips. When the cattle go to grass to be fed off
they receive 41b. of oilcake each daily, and with this addition to
their food the field can fatten off 20 cattle better than it can 14
without cake, while the land is yearly improving in consequence.
240 Leicester ewes are kept, and their produce, 320 hoggets,
are sold fat off the farm annually. The rest of the grass land is
pastured by a flying or shifting stock. The lease was entered
into in 1839, and the rent of the farm is 17002, tithe-free.

Mr. Scott has tile-drained 600 acres of the farm at his own
expense, the landlord having allowed him one acre of clay to
burn at his own risk, but with leave to sell to others as well as
to supply himself. At that time, 1839 to 1846, tileries were
less common than they are now, and Mr. Scott found tilemaking
a very profitable business; so much so, indeed, that the expense
of draining his farm was thereby materially lightened.

The cattle are principally kept in courts with sheds, one lot
being fed singly in boxes. Mr. Scott contemplates feeding a
portion of his stock in the yards during the summer on cut
grass, for the purpose of more perfectly converting his great
bulk of straw into good manure. At present the manure heaps
have to be turned twice or three times before they can be suffi-
ciently rotted. The farm is clean, and in high condition; but
the arrangement of the buildings, which are old, is very defective,
and must occasion considerable waste of labour to the tenant.

The best mode of drainage, and the propriety of levelling down
the old crooked ridges on the strong lands throughout this
county, have been frequently brought to our notice. The prac-
tical men all agree as to the advantage of having pipes or tiles
378 DRAINAGE AND RAISED RIDGES. [NorrauMBERLAND.

with a sufficient orifice to insure a circulation of air, as well as
to carry off water. Anything less than two inches they think
inadequate to this purpose. With regard to the depth of drains,
there is likewise considerable difference of opinion, the most ex-
perienced being agreed on the advantage of a depth, if possible,
of not less than 33 feet. In many cases in this county, however,
drains are still being put in with the old and expensive 3-inch
horseshoe tiles and soles, at 2 feet in depth and 15 feet apart, just
as if the experience gained during the last few years in all other
parts of the country had never been heard of here. Every farmer
we have spoken to on the subject strenuously disapproves the
ploughing down of the old crooked ridges. These were made ages
ago by our forefathers, for the purpose of effecting that which we
now more perfectly manage by under-drainage. But the system
has been so long continued that the subsoil, when cut across (as
was shown tous by Mr. Dand, of Field-house), presents.the same
curvature as the surface; and, in cases where the attempt to
plough down has been carried out, the result is said to have been,
that the top of the old ridge, being completely bared of good soil,
produces little or nothing, while the old furrow, by being ren-
dered too strong, gives a “lodged” and badly-filled crop. In a.
case in which the opinion of practical men is so unanimous, we
think it behoves others with less experience to be cautious.
Nor, indeed, after a field has been drained, is there any prac-
tical inconvenience worth mentioning in the shape of these
crooked ridges. Mr. Scott, of Beal, never ploughs his down, but
he drills his turnip crop across them; he draws off his land for
sowing his corn crops across them, for the convenience of cor-
rect seeding and reaping; and he ploughs his lea across them
for the same convenience. In working his green crop land he
again forms the old ridge, and maintains it in its ancient shape.

Labourers are everywhere fully employed and at good wages.
379

LETTER XLIII.

NORTHUMBERLAND, continued.

FARMING ON TILLSIDE — MR. THOMSON, OF PASTON-—— ROTATION AND PRODUCB
OF CROPS — MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP — THEIR PRICES AND THAT OF WOOL—
FEEDING OF CATTLE—RENT, RATES, AND LABOUR-——LINSEED GIVEN TO HORSES
WITH ADVANTAGE — THE FARM OF WARK —WANDON—ADVANTAGE OF MORE
LIBERAL EXPENDITURE IN MANURE — RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF UNDUE
ENCOURAGEMENT OF COMPETITION FOR FARMS——FARMERS’ CAPITAL—BE-
DUCTION OF RENT —CONDITION OF LABOURER — COTTAGE ACCOMMODATION
REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT — CONTRAST BETWEEN THE VILLAGES OF FORD
AND WARK — DISCREDITABLE STATE OF THE LATTER.

Wooterr Corrace, Jan. 1851.

In our last letter we gave some description of the strong-land
farming of Northumberland. The district from which we now
write is celebrated for its turnip farms, and for having originated
that system of husbandry now generally recognised as the North-
umberland, or five-course, viz. (1.) oats, (2.) turnips, (3.) wheat or
barley, (4.) grass, and (5.) grass. This system is particularly
favourably to an enlargement of farms. It affords a very regular
succession of crops, and, the land being a friable turnip soil, it
is well suited to sheep husbandry. It can be conducted with a
moderate capital, and, being simple in its details, it is easily
understood. Many of the farms along the base of the Cheviot
range of hills are well situated for holding a stock farm in con-
junction with the arable, on which a breeding stock can be
cheaply kept, and its produce fed on the richer land adjoining.
This is found a very safe kind of holding, as the sheep can be
managed with little more expense than the wages of a shepherd,
and they are brought down to the low grounds during severe
weather, and sent to the high land when it is found necessary to
relieve the pastures for a brief season.

_ The farm of Mr. Thomson, of Paston, affords a good illustra-
380 FARMING AT PASTON. [NorrHUMBERLAND.

tion of the Northumberland style of farming. It has been held
by the present tenant during a lease of twenty-one years, just
expired, and a lease for the same period has now been entered
into, exactly on the same terms as before, except that the land-
lord is to expend such sums as may be necessary for draining at
5 per cent., and that he is to make some small addition to the
buildings without charge.

In explanation of this we cannot do better than use the words

of the tenant himself: —

“T believe I stated to you that I had retaken my farm at the old
rent. Had I lived under a game preserving, grasping landlord, I
should not have done so in such times of depression, but have insisted
upon a considerable reduction of rent, or at once have quitted the
holding. My landlord is always ready to contribute his fair share
of any improvement required on the estate. If manufactures and
commerce flourish, agriculture must participate ; I therefore trust,
notwithstanding all that has been told us to the contrary, to hold my
head above water.”

It is proper to mention that, when this farm was taken 21
years ago, the general opinion of the county was that the rent.
was too high, and that the tenant could not long continue to
hold it without an abatement. The farm is 900 acres in extent,
500 acres of which are arable, and 400 acres hill and low
pasture. Part of the grass land is of rich old feeding quality,
but the most of it is green hill pasture. The arable is all dry’
turnip soil, some of it rather steep, and creeping too much up’
the hill-sides; the rest undulating and well sheltered. The
500 acres of arable land are divided into five equal portions as
nearly as may be, 100 acres each in extent, embracing several:
fields as nearly contiguous as the necessity for having an equal
distribution of the different qualities of land admits. Con-
tiguity facilitates operations by preventing the ‘shifting of
implements to distant points of the farm, as we have scen it
necessary to do in Devonshire, where a man may have 10 or
more little turnip fields scattered here and there about his farm,
NoRTHUMBERLAND.] ROTATION AND PRODUCE OF CROPS. 381

thus causing constant waste of time and labour in fetching the
implements and horses backwards and forwards from field to
field. 100 acres are in oats and beans, 100 in turnips, 100 in
wheat and barley, 100 in sown grasses, and 100 in second year’s
grass. Ten acres of the lea are sown with beans broadcast, 24
bushels per acre, which are carefully hand-hoed and kept quite
clean. They yield an average of 30 bushels an acre, and are
consumed by the stock on the farm, the straw being found very
useful as fodder for the horses. In the East. Riding we found
that the farmers consider bean straw injurious to the health of
horses, on account of the earth which adheres to the root, and
from which it is not easy entirely to detach it, but no injury of
that kind is here experiericed. The remainder of the lea, 90
acres in extent, is sown with sandy oats, three and a half
bushels an acre broadcast, and yields on an average 48 bushels
an acre. After the oat crop is removed in autumn, one-third of
the land is dunged on the stubble, with 10 tons of farmyard
manure an acre, which is then turned in with the winter
furrow. The rest of the stubble is ploughed at the same time.
In spring the ground which was dunged is prepared as early as
possible for swedes, to be sown in the month of May, in raised
ridges 27 inches apart, in which a mixture consisting of 14 cwt.
of guano and two bushels of dissolved bones have been pre-
viously applied. The rest of the turnip land is then prepared,
and, when ridged up, it receives 10 tons of farmyard manure
and the same quantity of guano and bones. On that part of
’ the farm which is too steep to be easily accessible, the turnips
are sown last, and, all the dung on the farm being by this time
applied to the other land, it receives 2 ewt. of guano and two
bushels of dissolved bones, and no dung. The turnips on this
part are all eaten off with sheep. One-third of the whole
turnip crop is swedes, one-third yellow bullock, and one-third
white globe. As soon as the earliest turnips are consumed or
removed from the ground the land is ploughed, and, if the
season admits, sown with wheat. The wheat is sown broadcast,
382 PRICES OF SHEEP AND WOOL. [NorTHUMBERLAND.

at the rate of two up to three bushels an acre, the latter quantity
being used as the season progresses. It is sown at any favour-
able time from the middle of October till the 1st of March.
The average produce is 30 bushels an acre. After the Ist of
March the turnip land is sown with barley as early as it can be
got ready, at the rate of three bushels an acre, and 36 to 40
bushels are reckoned an average yield. There are usually
80 acres of wheat and 20 acres of barley on the farm, the whole
of which is sown out with grass and clover seeds. Of the 100
acres of young grass, 25 are cut green for soiling and hay for
the farm horses and fat cattle; the rest is pastured, and the
following year it is all pastured with sheep and cattle.

The sheep stock consists of 400 Leicester ewes, which rear, on
an average, 540 lambs. The ewe stock is kept good by draught-
ing all that have thrice borne lambs, and replacing them by an
equal number of selected ewe hoggets. The lambs are fed the
first winter on turnips, and in spring the swedes are cut for
them as soon as their front teeth begin to fail. After they are
shorn, they are grazed till October, when they are sold. Mr.
Thomson, however, now intends to alter his system, as the taste
of the public for fat meat is quite changed, and he is persuaded
he will be better paid by selling his hoggets as soon as shorn,
and before they become so very fat as they have hitherto been
when kept six months longer. The selling prices of the sheep
stock of this farm for the last twelve years are as follows :—

Draught 18 Months old Wool, per stone

Ewes. Sheep. of 24]b.

s. d. s. d. Ss. d.
1838... 82 0 .. 87 0 .. 88 6
1889... 32 0 .. 89 0 1. 29 3
1840 ... 383 0 42 0 29 3
1841 ... 83 0 41 0 .. 24 0
1842 .. 30 0 .. 82 O 1... 28 6
1843... 26 0 ., 80 O ... 22 6
1844... 31 0 ... 87 0 1. 28 0
1845 .. 385 O 2. 42 O 4... 28 0
NorrHumBertand.] FEEDING OF CATTLE. RENT. 383

Draught 18 Months old Wool, per stone

Ewes. Sheep. of 241b.

s. d. s. de s. d.
1846 ... 86 0 .. 44 O 25 6
1847... 87 0 38 0 22 6
1848 ... 386 6 388 0 20 0
1849 ... 31 0 34 6 22 0
1850 ... 381 0 32 6 26 0

Twenty-five short-horned calves are reared on the farm and
sold off fat at three years old. The average price for the last
twenty years has been 201. a-head. They are fed during the
last winter in sheds and courts, four or five in each. Before
being put up they receive turnips on their pastures during
the month of September. They are then put into their
yards, and supplied with as many turnips as they can con-
sume. About Christmas they begin to receive cake and meal
in lieu of part of the turnips, 2 lb. of oilcake and 2 1b. of bean-
meal being mixed together and given to each animal, in two equal
portions, morning and afternoon. This quantity is gradually
increased to 4 1b. of cake and 41]b. of meal for a month or six
weeks before the animal is fat.

The farm is managed with sixteen work-horses. There are
seven ploughmen, two spadesmen, two shepherds, one byreman,
one steward, besides women for barn work and turnip-hoeing.
The farm is let tithe-free, and the rent is 1,1007. a year, payable
in money, without reference to the price of corn. The county
rates are 2d. and the poor rate 4d. per pound, but there is not
an idle or unemployed man in the district. Day labourers’
wages are from 9s. to 10s. a week. The ploughmen are paid in
corn and produce, the particulars of which will be afterwards
referred to.

In feeding the farm horses Mr. Thomson gives them half a
pound of boiled linseed every evening, mixed with their feed of
bruised oats, during the time that they receive straw for their
fodder in winter, and he has found this to benefit them greatly
both in health and condition.
384 THE FARM OF WARK. [NorTHUMBERLAND.

A brief consideration of this system will show that it is a
quiet, safe, and inexpensive one. The whole of the sales consist
of the produce of the farm exclusively. All the mutton, wool,
beef, and corn have been produced on it. The farmer does not
divide any of his profits with the breeder or cattle dealer. Ex-
cepting a few tons of cake and a moderate expenditure on guano
and bones, his payments are limited to his rent and the wages of
his day labourers, for the principal part of his labour (that of the
ploughmen, shepherds, and steward) is paid for chiefly in produce.

Along Tweedside are some of the finest turnip farms in the
kingdom. The farm of Wark, on the south bank of the Tweed,
opposite Coldstream, is 930 acres in extent, 800 of which are

“kept constantly in tillage, under the four-course rotation. The
rest is in permanent pasture. The greater part of the farm
consists of rich deep friable land, laid out in large level fields,
and capable of producing any description of crop in the greatest
perfection and abundance. It has been lately entered on, for a
nineteen years’ lease, by the present tenant, Mr. Dove, who is
carrying on improvements of every kind in the most spirited
manner. The deepest land receives nearly 9 tons an acre of
lime at a cost of 41. 4s., the effects of which are expected to last
during the lease. Two hundred acres of turnips are grown on
this farm annually, manured with eighteen cartloads of dung
and 2 to 3 cwt. of guano per acre; eighty acres of the
turnips are swedes, eighty white globe, and forty yellow. New
farm buildings have been erected, which cover 12 acres of
ground, and give accommodation in stalls, boxes, yards and
byres, to eighty cattle feeding fat, fifty half feeding, twenty-four
horses, besides cows, pigs, and poultry. The barn, granaries,
straw houses, cart sheds, and carpenter’s shop, occupy one side
of the building. The whole has been erected at a cost, exclusive
of cartage, not exceeding 2000/.; but everything, including
tradesmen’s wages, have this last scason been unusually low.
Thirty-six bushels of wheat and seventy-two bushels of oats are
reckoned on as the average produce of this farm. Besides the
NoRTHUMBERLAND. | PRODUCE — LABOUR. 385

cattle already mentioned, a very large stock of sheep are brought
down to the farm to be “finished ” from other farms held by Mr.
Dove, where they are reared. The rent is payable one-half in
money and one-half according to the annual price of corn, as
ascertained by the averages of the adjoining county of Roxburgh,
in which the crop is chiefly sold.

Mr. Maddison, of Wandon, occupies a farm of 500 acres
under the Duke of Northumberland. This farm was revalued
in 1847, when the rent was reduced about 10 per cent. It is
now regulated by the prices of corn. Besides reducing the rent,
the landlord expended 1,800/. in new buildings without any
charge, and executes what drainage is required at 5 per cent. The
buildings are compactly and judiciously arranged, box-feeding
having superseded sheds and yards, and a railway being laid
down to convey the corn from the stackyard to the barn. The
farm is managed on a five-course; and the average produce of
this and similar land may be stated at 30 bushels of wheat, 36 of
barley, and 44 to 48 bushels of oats per acre. Seven pairs
of work horses are required in summer and six pairs in winter.
Twelve men and ten women or boys are employed in winter,
with twenty additional hands for turnip work in summer, and
about thirty-five more for a month in harvest. The young
cattle receive 11b. of oilcake per day with their turnips during
winter, to prevent “ blackleg;” and the fattening cattle, besides
their turnips, receive 3lb. each of oilcake daily for three months
before they are considered ready for the fat market.

These instances explain the mode of farming adopted on the
turnip farms of Northumberland. It remains very much the
same as it has been during the last thirty years, guano being
now partially substituted for bones, which were then more ex-
tensively used. There is no general attempt made to increase
in any material degree the annual yield of the green crops by
larger application of manure. Box-feeding has been in one or
two instances tried with partial success, the most observant
farmers affirming that they are satisfied of its advantages over

cc
386 MORE MANURE REQUIRED. [NorTHUMBERLAND

the common system of yards and sheds, both in the progress of
the animal, the saving of food, and the superior quality of the
manure. The sheep are allowed to gnaw the turnip on the
ground, though most farmers use the turnip-cutter in spring,
when the front teeth of the young sheep are shed, and they
become unable to’ bite the root. On land of inferior quality
the hoggets are not hastened on by the assistance of corn and
cake, though that would materially increase the returns of the
succeeding corn crops. Far too great a proportion of the
comparatively innutritious white turnip is grown, — two-thirds
generally to one-third of swedes, though the vast superiority of
the latter in its feeding qualities is acknowledged by all ex-
perienced feeders of stock. An expenditure of 20s. or 30s. an
acre on artificial manures, in addition to what is generally
applied to the green crops in this district, would greatly
increase the crop, enable the farmer to keep largers stocks of
cattle and sheep, add largely to his dungheaps, and raise
altogether the character and produce of his farm. Walking
through a turnip field with a farmer, we came to a thin knoll,
on which the crop was as good as on the richer land beside it;
and he accounted for that by saying that he had applied to the
knoll a double quantity of guano. He had faith that the in-
creased application would double his crop on the worst part of
his land, and admitted, that, though he had not thought of it, a
still greater effect would have followed on the land which was
naturally of richer quality.

The evils attending the system of letting land by tender, and
encouraging competition to the utmost, are too instructively
exemplified in the northern division of this county, and espe-
cially in that fine tract of arable land extending for some miles
up and down the south side of the Tweed, near Cornhill. The
farms are all first class, both in regard to quality of soil and
extent. They are very desirably situated, and possess a soil
suitable for every crop, admirably adapted for turnip husbandry,
and at the same time deep and strong enough for wheat.
NorTHuMBERLAND.] OVER COMPETITION FOR FARMS. 387

Seven of these first-class farms, all contiguous, and the very
pick of the county, tell the following tale. The first, after
having been held seven years, was given up, offered to the
public by advertisement, and then relet at a reduction of about
20 per cent. The second, the tenant having become bankrupt,
has been let to a new tenant at a reduction of rent. The third
was given up by the tenant, and has been relet to another at a
reduction of about 22 per cent. The fourth, the tenant having
failed, was let to a new tenant at a reduction of 13 per cent.
The fifth, the tenant having also failed, has been relet to a new
man. The sixth has been relet at a reduction of 20 per cent.
The seventh has been given up, and is now offered at a
reduction of 20 per cent. These are melancholy facts, and
show beyond all question the disastrous results to which com-
petition, unduly encouraged by the landlord, must inevitably
lead. Tenants were invited to add farm to farm, with the
idea that a man holding one farm, on which he lived, could
afford a higher rent for another on which the expense of
housekeeping was saved. Men were thus induced to extend
their holdings far beyond their capital; but so long as the
landlord saw his rents increasing he found no fault with the
system, and perhaps gave himself no trouble to inquire into its
probable results. The bubble has burst at last, and he pays
dearly for his neglect, in having his farms thrown upon his
hands during a period of unprecedented depreciation. But the
loss falls still more irretrievably on the unfortunate tenant,
who, being compelled to vacate during a period of transition,
sacrifices from 30 to 40 per cent. of his capital, by being forced
to realise at any price. The rents of several of the farms now
referred to vary between 1,400. and 2,2002. a year. One
farmer paid for his various farms 7,700/ a year, 6,0001. of
which was to one proprietor.

The experience which has thus been gained during the last
four or five years is beginning to produce its natural fruit.

The landlords who bore most hardly on their tenants are now
cc2
388 REDUCTION OF RENT. [NorTHUMBERLAND.

carefully shunned, and find it difficult to get a good tenant for
their vacant farms. The agents who, with more wisdom and
prudence, selected their tenants for their qualifications of skill
and adequate capital, and then let their farms at a fair value,
have still plenty of applications when they have a farm to let.
Landlords now see the advantage of having resident tenants to
look minutely into every expenditure, and turn all things to
the best advantage; and they are pressing their business on
those agents whose prudence and foresight have retained for
their employers a solvent tenantry and a certain rental. The
encouragement of reckless competition has deceived both land-
lord and tenant, leading the one to anticipate a prosperity and
to maintain a style which it is difficult for him to abandon, and
leaving the other, after a brief period of apparent success, in
hopeless embarrassment.

Our information, from very competent sources, leads us to
say that, on the whole, farming has been a most unprofitable
business in this county for the last few years. The capital
considered requisite to carry on a farm is from 4/. to 51. an acre,
32. in many cases being nearer the reality. But want of in-
dustry and attention are worse qualities even than deficient
capital; and many who have started with most capital have
been least successful, chiefly through want of application.

Many considerable farms have recently been relet, nearly in
every case, at a reduction of from 12 to 15 per cent. At this
reduction, which is now readily conceded, desirable farms are
sought after with much more anxiety than they were last
year, principally by tenants changing from estates where no
encouragement or assistance is given by the landlord. Trades-
men and shopkeepers from the country towns, and other small
capitalists, are also in many cases going into farming as a busi-
ness. Strong clay land farms are here, as everywhere else,
completely gone out of favour; and a deduction on such is both
more required and more readily conceded.

The condition of the labourers in Northumberland, in so far’
NoRkTHUMBERLAND.] LABOURERS’ WAGES AND COTTAGES. 389

as regards wages and food, is much better than in most of the
southern counties. Their wages are paid chiefly in corn; and
they generally keep a cow. A hind or ploughman receives for
the year 42 bushels of oats, 24 bushels of barley, 12 bushels of
beans or peas, 3 bushels of wheat,—all of the best quality pro-
duced on the farm. He has a cow kept summer and winter;
one-sixth of an acre of potato ground, 12 lb. of wool, 42. in cash,
and a house and garden rent-free. He is bound to keep a girl
or strong boy to work on the farm, when required, at 1d. per
hour. The bailiff or head man receives from 2/. to 62. more.
When corn sold at high prices, prudent managers turned their
produce wages to good account; and there are several instances
in which hinds have been enabled to take farms, and are now,
by industry and intelligence, among the most successful and ex-
tensive farmers in the district.

But the state of the labourers’ cottages throughout Nor-
thumberland is, in the majority of vases, most discreditable to
the county. It will hardly be believed that the labourer’s cow
and his pig are still lodged, in too many cases, under the same
roof, and go out and in by the same door as himself and his
family, the cow house being divided only by a slight partition
wall from the single apartment which serves for kitchen, living
and sleeping room, for all the inmates. That great exertions are
being made by many of the landlords of the district to remedy
this state of matters, is true; and by none more than the Duke
of Northumberland, whose munificent outlay will soon provide
comfortable lodging for every labourer on his great estates.

The village of Ford, built by the Marquis of Waterford,
on a plan prepared by Mr. Stewart, of London, presents a
great contrast to the general character of Northumbrian vil-
lages. The cottages are placed singly and in groups, with
convenient outhouses and waterpipes, while at some distance
apart is a general cowhouse and barn. Lach cottage con-
tains two or four rooms, and, with a garden, is let, according

to size, at 32. to 42. which includes the use of the cowhouse,
cc 3
390 TWO VILLAGES CONTRASTED. [NorTHUMBERLAND,

and the privilege of turning a cow upon the adjoining common
reserved for that purpose by the landlord. At the upper part
of the village is a reservoir of water for the supply of the cot-
tages, and drinking-ponds for the cows, picturesquely laid out
with shrubs and walks, and green banks where, on a summer
evening, the labourer may stretch his weary limbs, and look
down over as sweet a landscape as can be desired. Let us de-
scribe another village-—that at Wark Castle, on the banks of
the “ Silver Tweed.” From the top of the lofty mound which
is now all that remains of that proud old border castle, the eye
rests with delight on the rich and fertile vale through which the
river winds in graceful sweeps, here shaded by groups of lofty
trees, there gliding slowly past far-stretching holms which every
returning harvest covers with golden corn. Beside us is the
village itself, the very picture of slovenliness and neglect.
Wretched houses piled here and there without order*—filth of
every kind scattered about or heaped up against the walls—
horses, cows, and pigs lodged under the same roof with their
owners, and entering by the same door—in many cases a pig-
stye beneath the only window of the dwelling — 300 people, 60
horses, and 50 cows, besides hosts of pigs and poultry —such is
the village of Wark, in Northumberland. We have been in
some of the most wretched villages in Ireland, betraying poverty
far greater than this, but nothing more abject in filth and un-
cleanliness.
391

LETTER XLIV.

DERBYSHIRE.

MATLOCK BATH—-NORTH DERBYSHIRE — CHIEFLY IN GRASS — FARMING AT
BIRCHILLS — EXPENSIVE MODE OF STORING SWEDES— PRODUCE OF CROPS
AND STOCK — YARD AND SHED FOR FEEDING SHEEP — ADVANTAGE OF
THIS SYSTEM— HORSE LABOUR—FARM LABOURERS — THEIR WAGES AND
ABUNDANT FOOD——RENT AND RATES—MR. THORNHILL’S FARM— GREAT
INCREASE OF STOCK AND CROPS — COSTLY IMPROVEMENTS — SUCCESSION
OF CROPS — SECOND CUTTING OF CLOVER IN AUGUST PLACES SECONDARY
LAND ON A PAR WITH THE BEST—MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCE OF CROPS
— AND STUCK— PROFITABLE RESULTS— MR. CAVENDISH'S FARM AT ASH-
FORD — PUBLIC PRIVILEGE TO SEARCH FOR MINERALS——- AGREEMENTS ON
DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE’S ESTATE— FRAME STOCKING KNITTERS THE ONLY
CLASS OF POOR PEOPLE IN THE LOCALITY.

Mattock, Feb. 1851.

On a wet and stormy winter night we arrived by railway at
Matlock, unable to get a glimpse of the country, the only
outline indication of which was the glimmering of window-
lights —some beneath us, some at the same level, and some far
above us. The morning opened with a crisp light frost, and
presented a scene from the esplanade in front of Mr. Greaves’s
hotel, contrasting pleasantly with the plains of the Vale of
York, which we had traversed on the preceding day. Deep in
the recess of a rocky valley lay the little village of Matlock
Bath, while dotted about the sunny face of the steep hill by
which it is shat in, at all various points of elevation, stood
villas of different architecture, prettily interspersed with trees
and little patches of green field or garden ground. In the
bottom of the valley flowed the swollen Derwent, brown with
winter floods, hemmed in on its opposite bank by lofty crags of
mountain limestone, every crevice of which and each bluff pro-
jecting eminence were clothed with wood. Entering the railway

cc 4
392 NORTH DERBYSHIRE. [DErBy

carriage, we were soon whirled through a tunnel about a mile
in length, whence we emerged on a more open country skirting
the stream of the Derwent. Along the river the fields are
chiefly in grass, forming the meadows which yield winter food
for the stock of the dairy farmers.

The southern and northern parts of Derbyshire are very
dissimilar ; the former being in many respects like the adjoining
parts of Leicester and Stafford,—the latter celebrated for the
beauty of its scenery, and its constant succession of hill and
valley. The back-bone of England commences on the moors
of North Derbyshire, whence a continuous range of mountain
stretches northwards by Yorkshire and the northern counties to
the Scottish border. The principal geological features of this
district are the grit and mountain limestone, the river Derwent
forming the boundary of each. On the grit the soil is earliest,
and vegetation springs rapidly. On the limestone the land is
richest, and its pasture stands out longest. The best feeding
pastures, and those which yield the highest rent to the land-
lord and the largest returns to the farmer, are found on the
latter. The High Peak is a region of bleak high moors, inter-
sected by deep valleys, where the native breed of white-faced
moor sheep are the only stock that the severity of the climate
admits. It is very subject to violent storms of wind and rain,
which, with the high elevation of the country, render it cold
and backward, and the vegetation more bulky than nutritious.

In the lower country, within the limits of profitable cultiva-
tion, the land is still very hilly, but it is cultivated to the tops
of the hills. Wheat, which is grown as high as 600 feet above
the level of the sea, does not, on the whole, succeed well. It is
generally thick chaffed, and does not yield in proportion to the
bulk of straw. Oats are more common and much more to be
depended on. ‘They are grown successfully at an elevation of
900 feet. Nine-tenths of the county are in grass. It is a dairy
and rearing district, the growth of corn being of quite inferior
consideration. The farmers of the lower hills rear, from their
Derny.] FARMING AT BIRCHILLS. 393

dairy stocks, short-horned cattle, which are sold to the graziers
of the low country to be fattened. The same practice is gene-
rally followed with Leicester sheep, which, after the first winter,
are passed off to the richer clover of the low country farmer.
In some places, however, the pastures are of very rich feeding
quality, and for the most part they are sweet and healthy for
stock.

Passing from a general description, we proceed to detail the
management of the farm of Birchills, on the Duke of Devon-
shire’s estate in the parish of Bakewell, and occupied by
My. Furniss. It is 300 acres in extent, 100 acres of which are
permanent pasture and meadow, and 200 acres tillage, the half
of which is annually in crop. The course of cropping is not
very clearly defined, the great object with Mr. Furniss, as with
all tenants of highly manured farms, being to grow as heavy
crops of the most valuable kinds as can be grown without the
risk of lodging. The fields are laid out in divisions of twelve or
thirteen acres each, the landlord paying the expense of new
fences, and the tenant doing the team work. Drains, where
requisite, are unskilfully made, only thirty inches in depth, and
still laid with the expensive three-inch tiles and soles ; all at the
Duke’s charge, except team work. On this outlay no interest
has yet been charged. The soil is a fine friable loam, with a
considerably undulating surface.

On breaking up from grass the first crop is usually oats,
sown on one furrow, and yielding an excellent crop, seventy-two
bushels to the acre, and weighing 42 Ib. to the bushel. The
next crop is swedes, for which the land receives the usual
autumn and spring cultivation. In the end of May it is drawn
into ridges, about twenty-eight inches apart, into which fifteen
tons of well-rotted dung and sixteen bushels of bones are applied
per acre, and the seed is then sown. This is uniformly a suc-
cessful crop, the average for the present year, as weighed on the
ground by impartial judges, being twenty-seven tons anacre. As
the winters are generally severe, the swede crop is taken up before
394° MANAGEMENT OF STOCK. [Dersy.

winter, and stored in little heaps in the field, containing about
one ton anda half in each, covered with straw and nine inches
of soil. In these the turnips remain protected from the weather,
or the depredation of game, till wanted. But the expense of this
operation seems very great, being not less than 15s. an acre for
lifting and pitting, besides cartage. The turnips are followed
by oats or barley, which are sown out with red clover or mixed
seeds, part of which are mown and part pastured. The “seeds”
are dressed with dung, the clover does not require it. The
clover stubble, or second year’s “ seeds,” as may be, is broken up,
and, after being ploughed, is pressed, and sown broadcast with
red lammas or Burwell wheat, eight to ten pecks to the acre.
The yield varies from thirty to thirty-six bushels. Instead of
swedes or turnips, rape is sometimes taken, sown in ridges at the
same distance, and manured with bones. The rape is eaten
off with sheep early in autumn, and the land is tlten sown
with wheat.

Seventy head of cattle, young and old, are kept on this farm.
They are all high bred short-horns. A milking stock of twelve
cows is kept, which, besides rearing twenty calves (the requisite
number of young calves being purchased in the neighbourhood
to make up this quantity), yield, in cheese and butter, about
8i. each. The calves are fed for the first fortnight with six quarts
a day of new milk (three quarts at a time); after that, with two
gallons a day of skimmed milk, with which half a pound of boiled
linseed is mixed. This is continued till the calves can help
themselves to other food. The sales annually consist of twenty
three-year olds, either fat oxen, or in-calf heifers, at an average
price of 102. to 122 each.

The sheep stock comprises 110 high-bred Leicester ewes, the
produce of which used to be sold at twenty months old, but, by
an improved method of winter feeding, are now ready for the
fat-market in little more than twelve months. In a sheltered
situation not far from the farm buildings, and so placed as to
admit of access on all sides to different pasture fields, a nicely
Dezsy. | SHED FEEDING OF SHEEP— WAGES. 395

contrived establishment for the winter feeding of sheep has been
erected. It comprises, in the centre, a house for turnips, with a
loft over for hay and cake or corn, and accommodation for the
shepherd in the lambing season. Behind this are two yards,
open in the centre, and shedded all round for shelter. A rack
for hay runs right round the shed, and under it a manger for the
cut turnips and cake. The yard is littered with straw or haulm.
Each yard opens into a pasture field, to which the sheep have
access for exercise. As soon as the pastures fail in autumn the
young sheep are put into these yards, and there receive the
whole of their food. They have cut swedes twice a day, 11b. of
oats each, and 431b. of cake each, for the last ten weeks, besides
hay in the rack. Both fleece and carcase are improved by this
management, food is, economised, and the stock are less subject
to casualties. The year-old sheep sell at 30s. each, besides their
wool, at present worth 6s. more. The ewes are lambed in one
of these yards.

Five horses and a riding nag do the horse-work of the farm.
The manual labour is performed by six men and a boy, four of
whom are boarded in the farm-house, and three are on weekly
wages. These average 10s. to 12s., without beer. The in-door
men have 102. to 12/., besides their food, which, as it is very sub-
stantial fare, we may detail for the instruction of some of the
large corn farmers in the Southern counties, whose poorly paid
labourers must often go to bed on a supper of bread and water.
For breakfast they have porridge, then bread and cheese. They
take with them to the field each man his pint of ale, and as much
bread and cheese as he likes. At one o’clock they have dinner,
which is either bacon, beef, or mutton, and pudding, with small
beer ad Libitum. At seven o’clock they have supper of milk por-
ridge, then bread and cheese. The men are stout and muscular,
and work hard. During harvest they have a quart of ale per day.

Since 1831 the stock kept on this farm has been much in-
creased, whilst at the same time a larger extent of land is now
under crop. The yield per acre has also greatly increased.
396 MR. THORNHILL’S FARM. (Dery.

The rent of the farm is 24s. an acre; poor and all other rates
1s. 6d. per pound.

On the home-farm of Mr. Thornhill, of Stanton, near Bake-
well, great improvements have been effected, and, as they:
illustrate the advantage of such improvements, and show how
much may yet be done by well-directed enterprise, to increase
the produce of our fields and give employment to labour,
we shall describe them somewhat in detail. The farm ex-
tends to 400 acres, 200 of which are grass and 200 arable;
Mr. Thornhill took it into his own hands in 1840. The
farm then kept 16 cows, producing 2} cwt. of cheese each.
About six young cattle and 50 to 60 sheep were sold off
the farm annually. Four farm horses were employed in work-
ing it; and, besides an annual produce of 60 quarters of oats,
there might be, once in three years or so, a field of five or
six acres of the best land in wheat, which, after a cleart summer
fallow, yielded 27 bushels’ an acre. Such was the whole
produce of the farm in stock and corn. It now maintains a
regular stock of 43 milch cows and their produce, 30 of which
are sold fat every year at three years old. Each cow, besides
rearing a calf, produces equal to 4 cwt. of new milk cheese.
200 sheep, old and young, are now kept on the farm, and
1602. worth of pigs were last year sold off it. The average
yield of wheat is now 40 bushels an acre, and of oats 60
bushels.

The land lies on the gritstone, and is all on a considerable
slope, the lowest part being 620 feet above sea level, from which
it rises over the top of the hill to an elevation of 900 feet. It
is well sheltered by plantations and good stone walls, and the
fields have been laid out in convenient enclosures. ‘The
soil is now dry and friable, and the field operations can be con-
ducted without impediment. To render it so a very large
expenditure has been incurred, the land having been full of
great blocks of stones, all of which have been removed, either
by being broken and placed in drains, or by being carried bodily
Dersy. ] ADVANTAGE OF SUPPLIES OF FORAGE. 397

from the field, or by being broken to pieces, and then covered
with trenched earth to a depth beyond the reach of the
plough. This latter operation is at present being carried into
effect on a corner of a field, for the purpose of making the fence
straight. The ground is literally paved with huge blocks of
gritstone, which are blown to pieces by gunpowder, or split by
wedges, and then, after being spread along the face of a trench,
are covered to a considerable depth by fine friable soil, got by
the workmen in great abundance under the bed of the different
massive blocks as they are removed. The cost of this operation
is 507. an acre, and can only be justified on the score of con-
venience in laying out the adjoining better land. But the
reclamation of the whole farm has been an expensive operation,
200 acres of it having cost 15/. an acre for drainage, trenching,
and fences.

The arable land is managed on the four-course system, with
this peculiarity, that on the upper land oats are the only corn
crop taken, and on the lower and richer land wheat only.
On the upper land the turnips and clover are both eaten on the
land, the sheep getting also cake or corn. On the lower land
the turnips are drawn for consumption in the stalls, and the
clover is cut for soiling or for hay. The general style of
management is as follows: —(1.) The “seeds,” which are a
mixture of 14 1b. of red clover and two pecks of Italian rye-grass
per acre, are watered with liquid manure from the tank in
April. The first cut is made into hay, and the ground is then
watered a second time with excellent effect. The second cut is
given to the horses, and to the cows when the grass on the
pastures begins to fail, in August, at which time the gritstone
land gives way, and the cows fall off in produce a half-ewt. of
cheese as compared with those fed on limestone land. The
cut grass more than counterbalances this natural defect of the
soil, the increase of produce in consequence of this additional
food being from a half-cwt. to one ewt. of cheese each. The
whole of this land is ploughed up for wheat in October, the
398 CROPS AND STOCK — RESULTS. (Densy.

worst of it being first dressed with ten tons of farmyard dung
per acre. The land is then sown with (2.) wheat, eight to
ten pecks of Spalding’s Prolific being drilled across it, in rows
of seven to eight inches apart. The wheat-crop is never hoed.
Last year the average yield was forty-eight bushels an acre.
When the crop has been harvested, the stubble is gone over
by men with forks, who fork out all the twich. This, after
being exposed to the weather, is gathered into heaps and mixed
with lime. The land is then ploughed and prepared in spring
for (3.) swedes, mangold, and yellow bullock turnips. The
swedes are sown in the end of May, twenty tons of dung being
previously spread in the ridges. The crop averages twenty
tons. It is in all cases drawn in autumn, and pitted. The
other green crops are treated in the same way. On the most
distant and elevated fields sixteen bushels of bones and one
cwt. of guano per acre are used without dung, which eannot be
conveniently taken so far; but the crop is there consumed on
the field by sheep, the turnips having been previously taken up
and pitted in little heaps, to preserve them from frost or other
injury. The turnips are taken out of the little pits as required,
and given, cut, to the sheep in troughs, with 3 1b. to 1 1b. of
cake each daily. The green crop is followed by wheat on the
best land, by oats on the inferior land.

The cattle being all fed in stalls, and the buildings spouted
to carry off rain-water, a large quantity of liquid manure is
collected in an underground tank, which is found most valuable
as an application to young grass.

The dairy produce chiefly consists of cheese, which weigh from
27 lb. to 30 1b. each. They are coloured, and salted by being
placed in brine in a trough for two days. The calves are fed for
the first fortnight on four quarts of new milk a day each, for the
second fortnight on six quarts, and after that on scalded whey and
1 lb. of oilcake, steeped over-night in boiling water and hay tea.

The accounts on this farm are kept minutely and accurately,
and for last year they show a charge, in addition to the old rent,
Dersy.] PRIVILEGE ON “ KING’S FIELD.” 399

of 7 per cent. interest on expenditure on buildings, 5 per cent.
on other permanent improvements, 10 per cent. on implements,
10 per cent. on live stock,— amounting altogether to a charge of
885/, against the farm for rent and interest of capital. After
deducting an abatement of 10 per cent. on the rent for “present
prices,” and adding the usual expenses of cultivation, the pro-
duce of the farm in stock and crop last year leaves a balance
over to the credit of the farm. Mr. Thornhill has, therefore,
the satisfaction of having furnished remunerative employment
to a large extent by his enterprise, besides ameliorating the
face of the country and engaging himself in an occupation most
useful to the neighbourhood, and which not only does not
interfere with, but adds zest and interest to the other occupa-
tions of a resident landlord.

On the farm of Ashford, occupied by the Hon. Mr.
Cavendish, M.P., and situated 600 feet above the sea, it has
been found necessary, on account of the rankness of the crops,
to adopt, a six-course, with two successive corn crops, as fol-
lows :— (1) clover, (2) oats, (3) wheat, (4) turnips, or mangold,
(5) potatoes, (6) winter barley. The winter barley is eaten
down in April or May by sheep, affording, at that time, very
useful feed, and is then left for a crop, which last year proved a
heavy one. The sheep, which are Shropshire Downs, are fed
during the winter in sheds and yards; the cattle are wintered
in stalls.

There is a privilege, in this part of the country, enjoyed by
the public, which very much interferes with the economy of an
arable farm. In the mineral districts, and on “ King’s field,”—
that is where the Sovereign is lord of the manor,—in the Duchy
of Lancaster, any one may enter where he likes, or whatever
crop may be in the particular field, and dig for ore without
paying damages to the owner or farmer of the land. He has a
right to keep the pit open for a certain time, and can extend
that time by occasional workings. There are some restrictions
connected with the exercise of this privilege, but not in any de-
400 PAYMENTS BY INCOMING TENANTS. (Dersy,

gree commensurate with the injury done to the surface where
the pits are opened in valuable tillage or grazing Jand.

There is no general custom of compensation to outgoing tenants
for manures or management; but on the Duke of Devonshire’s
estate a special agreement has been introduced, by which ten-
ants receive the following payments: —for labour and manure
on fallows the last year of lease; for lime, its value as for two
years on ploughed land, for seven on pasture; for purchased
manure, as for two years; for inch bones, four years; for bone-
dust, three years on tillage land, and double that time -on grass
land; the price of “ seeds;” the expense of paring and burning
for the turnip crop ; for drains, as for seven years; fences, seven
years; and anything further that, in the discretion of the
Duke’s agents, the tenant may have a just claim to. On a farm
of 268 acres, the payment made by an incoming to an outgoing
tenant, under this agreement, was summed up thus: — ‘;Amount
of tillages, including the above items, 5682. 1s. 10d.,” or rather
over 42s, an acre.

In Bakewell there are no poor but the frame stocking knitters,
who were established in their trade before power-looms were
invented. They still continue to work at a business to which
they were brought up, although it scarcely now affords them
maintenance.
401

LETTER XLY.

DERBYSHIRE — continued.

CHATSWORTH — EDENSOR— DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE’S MODE OF LETTING PART
OF HIS PARK TO THE LABOURERS AND TENANTS— DUKE OF RUTLAND’S
REVALUATION — CAUSE OF RENTS NOT FALLING WITH PRICE OF WHEAT
— GAME DAMAGES — BUILDINGS ERECTED BY LANDLORD — RENT OF LAND
— BARBAROUS SUCCESSION OF CROPS— ECONOMICAL MODE OF FEEDING
DAIRY STOCK — CULTIVATION OF FIELD CABBAGE AT DRIFFIELD — SUC-
CESSFUL TOP DRESSING FOR POOR PASTURE—DRAINS TOO SHALLOW—WAGES,
RATES, AND RENT — DERBYSHIRE AND NORTHUMBERLAND COMPARED. —
RuTLaND — LAND NEAR STAMFORD, WHICH ARTHUR YOUNG COMPLAINED
OF AS UNENCLOSED, REMAINS SO STILL — PRICES IN 1778 anp 1851
— BURLEIGH — DESPONDENCE OF FARMERS — DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF
GAME — IMPROVEMENT FORCED BY LOW PRICES — REVALUATION MAY BE
UNJUST TO A GOOD FARMER.

, Denrsy, Feb. 1851.

A DESCRIPTION of Chatsworth, the residence of the Duke of
Devonshire, does not fall within our province, though no one
ought to pass through that part of Derbyshire without spending
a few hours among its varied beauties, both natural and artificial.
It is a privilege which all are alike capable of enjoying; and itis a
trait in the Duke’s character worthy of being mentioned, that he
takes a particular pleasure in witnessing the gratified and happy
countenances of the wondering artisans and their families, who
are brought up in crowds from the “ black” country in Stafford-
shire by the excursion-trains, and are permitted to walk through
and inspect his superb apartments and ornate grounds.

But the village of Edensor which the Duke has erected within
the park for the accommodation of his labourers, and the arrange-
ments he has made for their comfort, may be briefly described.
It comprises the parish church, a commodious and elegant school,
and a considerable number of cottages, standing singly or in
groups, and all disposed in such a way as to produce the most

DD
402 DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE’S ESTATE. (Dery.

pleasing diversities of effect. They are constructed substantially
of white freestone, with variegated roofs, and interspersed with
pretty green slopes and shrubs; their pointed gables, Italian
towers, and snug picturesque little porches show that here the
labourer has both a comfortable and an elegant home. The park
itself is partly devoted to their comfort, the best of it being
reserved for the cows of the cottagers-and labourers on the estate.
The rates paid by the labourers for joisting a cow are from 50s.
to 55s., which are very moderate, and must add much to the
comfort of a labourer’s fireside.

Another part of the park, about 300 aeres in extent, is joisted
to the tenants, who are thereby enabled to ease their farms of
young stock in summer, and to reserve part of their grass for
hay. The rate charged to the farmers for year-olds is 25s.; for
two-year-olds, 35s.; for young horses, 50s. each ; and for a mare
and foal, 51. We are persuaded that this is a plan which might be
advantageously adopted on many large estates, and which would
afford, on moderate terms, very useful keep to the neighbguring
tenantry, and possibly with more direct advantage to the pro-
prietor than he, on the average, secures from speculating in the
grazing of cattle on his own account.

The principal proprietors in this part of the county are the
Dukes of Devonshire and Rutland. On neither estate have
there been any reductions of rent, but both are believed to be
moderately let. On the Duke of Rutland’s estate it has been
thought proper, on account of the complaints of the tenants, to
order a revaluation. That has not yet been completed ; but, so far
as it has gone, the farms are now revalued at the same rent, with
the average of wheat under 40s., as they bore eighteen years ago,
when the average was 65s. This is thought a wonderful result,
and only to be accounted for by supposing that at that time the
farms were greatly undervalued. The solution, in our opinion,
may be found, without casting any imputation on the skill or good
faith of the former valuators, by considering that, in a district
where nine tenths of the land are in grass, the price of wheat can-
Dersy. } DUKE OF RUTLAND’S ESTATE. 403

not truly regulate the value of the soil to the farmer. His main
dependence is on stock; and the price of meat of every kind,
and of dairy produce, wool, and vegetables, is as good as it was
then, while the demand for these articles is constantly increasing.
Not a farm on this extensive division of the Duke of Rutland’s
estates has been given up. If by any chance one becomes
vacant, there are many competitors for it, the Duke’s character
as a landlord standing very high with his tenantry. But not
only are there no farms vacant, but we were told, on most com-
petent authority, that at the rent audits there had not been
more than one defaulter for the last five years, and at the last
audit only one complaint of the times, among a tenantry num-
bering 1100, including village and cottage as well as farm
tenants.

The farms are generally small, being from 50 to 100 acres
in extent. Where drainage is required, the Duke pays half the
expenses, the tenant charging all team work as part of his share.
The stock being chiefly for dairy purposes and fed in stalls, the
liquid flowing from them is collected in tanks made at the land-
lord’s expense. In the neighbourhood of Rowsley the tenantry
used to suffer very serious loss by the strictness with which
game was preserved ; but the hares and rabbits have been greatly
reduced, and the winged game only is now preserved so strictly.
The damages paid by the Duke to the tenants last year for
the destruction of their crops by game were 6002 His Grace
makes no charge for repairs or additions to farm buildings,
looking upon this outlay as a landlord’s investment, which is as
requisite to enable the tenant to pay his rent as the possession
of the land itself. There are few changes of tenancies, but the
farms are periodically revalued. One case, of rather an instruc-
tive character, may be mentioned, where a man of slovenly
habits fell into arrear with his rent, and got behind in every
way. He was warned that he must either improve his habits
or leave the farm. We did improve, and has now paid off all

arrears, and has his farm better stocked than ever it was before.
ppo2
404 BARBAROUS ROTATION OF CROPS. (Dersy.

The rent of the best grass land may be stated at 21. per acre;
arable, 15s. to 30s. — all tithe free.

The eastern district of North Derbyshire is more of an arable
country. Great improvements have been and are being made
by Mr. Arkwright, of Sutton, on his extensive estates, which
we regretted that we had not an opportunity of visiting and
inspecting.

In the southern division of the county, near Duffield, the land
is chiefly in grass, the best of which lets from 40s. to 60s. an
acre. In preparation for hay, it is top-dressed with dung. The
hedges are neatly trimmed, but the fields are small, and encum-
bered with numerous hedge-row trees. The corn is sown broad-
cast. Some miles further to the north, the land, while under
crop, is not uncommonly cropped in this barbarous manner —
(1) oats, (2) wheat, (3) oats, (4) fallow, (5) wheat, (6) “seeds,” (7)
wheat. Good green crop land is fallowed when it beeomes too
foul to bear acrop. It is then limed, and cropped again. Many
farms have no turnips whatever; and the accommodation for
stock is generally defective. There are cases, however, of much
better management.

‘The following particulars of a farm in the parish or district
of Shottle may convey an idea of the system pursued. The
farm consists of 130 acres, between 30 and 40 of which are
under tillage. A portion is under meadow and old pasture,
and the rest in pasture in rotation with arable. Two succes-
sive crops of oats are taken when the land is broken up from
grass; then fallow, limed and dunged; then wheat sown out
with “seeds,” which remain in grass two years more. The
oats are said to average 32 bushels an acre — certainly a
very moderate crop, considering the quality of the land. There
are twenty-two. dairy cows kept on this farm, — short-horns or
crosses. They are housed during the winter, and get very few
turnips, but are kept in fresh condition by the following mixture
of food, in addition to their fodder of oat-straw : — The refuse
of the oat-straw in the cribs and any damaged or inferior hay
DERBY. ] FIELD CABBAGE — MANURE FOR GRASS. 405

are cut into chaff, over which is poured half’a peck of ground
linseed, which has been previously steeped twenty-four hours in
cold water. The mixture, which is damped a little, begins to
heat in twenty-four hours, and is then given to the cows once
a day with a handful of bruised oats, but the half-peck of linseed
mixture serves the whole stock three days. When the cows
calve, their daily allowance is doubled, with a few turnips besides.
This feeding is said to keep the dairy cows in good healthy
condition when not giving milk, and it certainly is not costly.
The dung on this farm is carefully managed, and mixed with
absorbent earth, and the whole liquid is collected in a tank,
whence it is pumped over the dungheap during the winter, and
taken out to the meadow in spring.

On the land farmed by Mr. Bell Crompton, of Duffield Hall,
a stock of Ayrshire dairy cows has heen successfully introduced.
Mr. Crompton finds them excellent “doers,” and more profitable
than any other stock on his land, considering the quantity and
quality of food they consume. The produce of these cows by a
short-horned bull are very fine animals. He grows the large
drum-head cabbage for feeding his cows, the young plants being
transplanted into the field in June, at one yard apart every way,
and manured with seven tons of dung per acre. ‘The plants are
laid in every third furrow, a forkfull of dung being placed on
each plant, which is then covered up by the next furrow. They
are taken up when most convenient in winter, the good cabbages
being carted off to a plot of ground near the feeding houses, and
there placed top downwards, each plant on the ground, where
they remain fresh till wanted. The bad plants are used at once
by the pigs and young stock, but none by the milch cows, as
they would affect the taste of the milk injuriously.

We may mention a top-dressing which has been used here
with great success on poor pasture. It consisted of 2 cwt. of
rape dust, 3 ewt. of superphosphate, and 1 cwt. of salt per acre,
mixed together and applied early in spring. Three ewt. of guano

tried beside it caused a more rapid growth of coarse grass, but
pp 3
406 RENT — RATES — WAGES. (DeErpy.

the former raised the thickest and most nutritious herbage,
especially so of clover. Mr. Crompton finds it a good plan to
mix his new-mown hay, when only one day cut, in layers with
oat or wheat straw. The juice and flavour of the hay make the
straw palatable to the stock, and the mixture is eaten eagerly
by the milch cows and young cattle in winter. The liquid
manure is here also carefully collected in tanks, and used with
much advantage as a top-dressing on grass.

There is still a great deal to be done by drainage in improving
the moister part of this district. The drains which are made
are too shallow, 2 to 2} feet being the general depth.

Labourers’ wages are from 10s. to 12s. a week ; cottage rents,
with gardens, from 3d. to 1s. 6d. per week; poor rates, 7d. in
the pound; and the rent of land about 28s. an acre.

Before ending the description of Derbyshire we may mention
the general impression made on us, and the contrasts afforded
with the county we had previously visited — Northumberland.
The situation and soil of the two counties are certainly very
different, but not more so than the state of agriculture. The
rate of rent, wages, and taxes of all kinds, in Derbyshire is
higher than in Northumberland. The farms are better cul-
tivated, and the farmers infinitely more prosperous and con-
tented. In Derbyshire the land is chiefly in grass, carefully
managed, and the small proportion of ploughed land receives
minute attention. The farms are small comparatively, being
from 100 to 300 acres, and the farmers superintend their own
business. They are not encouraged by their landlords to add
farm to farm without being provided with adequate capital.
They depend for their returns more on the produce of the
dairy, breeding, and sheep stock, than on corn. The low
country of Northumberland, again, is chiefly under the plough,
most of it undrained, the small farms held by men of insufficient
capital, the large ones by men who had capital, but who have
been tempted to dissipate it over far too great an extent of
land; the price of corn has failed them, and they have little
Rurianp.] PRICES IN 1770 AND 1851. 407

stock to fall back upon. They have overploughed and entangled
themselves with large undrained farms, the returns from which
will not pay the expenses of cultivation. Derbyshire is a
pleasant, picturesque county, in which landlords, tenants, and
labourers seem mutually content, where the pastures are well
managed, the ploughed lands neatly cultivated, and the stock
suitable to the soil and carefully tended.

Passing through Leicestershire, we traversed the small
county of Rutland, which seemed undulating and well wooded.
The grass land management appeared to be very good; the
turnips inferior. Close round Stamford much of the land is
still uninclosed, and held in little patches by farmers whose
fields are intermixed with each other. Eighty years ago Arthur
Young described it exactly as it is at present, adding then that
‘it is melancholy to think that, in an age wherein the benefits
of inclosing are so well understood, such tracts should remain
in such a comparatively unprofitable state.” And yet so they
remain to this day !

The following is a table of the prices in this neighbourhood in

1770. 1851.
Beef, per lb.,_ ... a. 3d, dite bid.
Mutton, per Jb. ... .. 3d. ane 5d.
Butter, per lb. ... w- 6d. ahs Is.
Pork, per lb. ... je a ie bd.
Milk, per quart... ist lees ae 2d.
Bread, per Ib. ... we 2d. ate lid.
Wheat, per quarter... 41s.4d. ... 40s.
Labourers’ wages per week 6s. wei 10s.
Women at weeding corn
and haymaking ace, ae vee &d. to 1s. a day
Boys whocan plough ... ... ea 5s. a week without food.
. 30s. on great estates, with
Cottage rents ... ie eee with an 1 rood of land; 80s. in
acre of land open villages, with small
garden.

Average produce of wheat
on good sandy loam
Rent per acre of farms 5s. to 7s. ... 20s. to 30s.
pp 4

}20 bushels... 28 bushels.
408 DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF GAME. [NorTHampron.

At Stamford we passed into Northamptonshire, obtaining a
glimpse of the Marquis of Exeter's finely wooded park and
mansion of Burleigh. This magnificent place, founded by
Queen Elizabeth’s lord treasurer, Cecil, with its grand old
trees and noble park, is just the place a foreigner should see
to give him an idea of the wealth of our English nobility.

The tenants on this estate are represented as being in the
most hopeless state of despondence on account of the present
low prices of agricultural produce; and, as they were com-
plaining vehemently, the Marquis offered to have the farms of
any who desired it revalued. Only one on this great estate
accepted the offer. There have been no farms of any conse-
quence yet given up, and for those which do come into the
market there are plenty of offerers, though men of capital are
become chary, and will only look at very desirable farms. The
estate is said to be low-rented. Small farmers, of whom there
are many, are suffering most severely, as they have not saved
anything in good times to fall back upon now. Some of them
are, indeed, greatly reduced; and we heard of one who had
applied to his parish for relief. Others have sold everything off
their farms, and some, we were told, had not even seed corn left
with which to sow their fields.

In a fine country, with a gently undulating surface and a soil
dry and easy of culture, laid into large fields moderately rented,
one is surprised to hear that there is so much complaint and so
much real suffering among the poorer class of farmers. It is
only in part accounted for by the devastation of game, which
on this and some other noblemen’s estates in North North-
amptonshire, is still most strictly preserved. On the 24th of
January last, seven guns, as we were told, on the Marquis’s
estate, killed 430 head of game, — a most immoderate quantity
at such a late period of the season. The fields are all stuck about
with bushes to prevent the poachers netting ; and the farmers
feel most severely the losses they sustain in order that their
landlord and his friends may not be deprived of their sport.
Nortuameton.] IMPROVEMENT FORCED BY LOW PRICES. 409

The strict preservation of game on this and some other estates
in the northern parts of the county, was described to us in the
bitterest terms, as “completely eating up the tenant farmer,
and against which no man can farm or live upon a farm.”
It is “the last ounce that breaks the camel’s back ;” and men
who might have made a manful struggle against blighted crops
and low prices, are overborne by a burden which they feel
to be needlessly inflicted, and of which they dare not openly
complain.

In consequence of the distress among the small farmers, many
of the labourers would have been thrown out of employment
had work not been found for them by the Marquis in stubbing
and clearing woodland, which will thus be reclaimed for culti-
vation. The improvement is expected to be amply remunerative
in the end; and it is one of the unlooked-for results of free
trade, which are to be met with in every part of the country,
that a landlord is compelled by circumstances, various in kind,
to improve the neglected portions of his estate, and which,
without such impelling cause, might have long lain unpro-
ductive. Every such improvement is not merely an addition
to the arable land of the kingdom, but it becomes also an
increased source of employment to the labourer.

The offer of a revaluation, which is made by many landlords
to their tenants, may be declined by the tenants, and yet be
no proof that they complain unjustly. On every large estate
there are tenants of various degrees of enterprise and skill; and
one farm, of the same soil naturally with another, may be
doubled in its productive qualities by the superior industry and
skill of its occupier. The want of these qualities may have
actually reduced the natural fertility of the other farm. Now,
these farms may have been originally valued to their respective
occupiers at the same rent, and a revaluation now would
increase the rent of the one, and diminish that of the other.
In the one case, the landlord would obtain a benefit from the
skill and capital of the tenant over and above the intrinsic value
410 REVALUATION MAY BE UNFAIR. [Norraampron.

of his land; in the other, he would be deprived of its fair value
on account of the mismanagement of the tenant. The tenant
of industry and skill, who had employed his capital to the
advantage of his neighbourhood, would be actually fined for
his enterprise ; while the indolent or incapable man, who had
benefited neither himself nor others, would obtain a premium
for his misconduct or negligence.

We may mention an offer which was made by one landlord
in this district to his tenants, in order to meet the difficulties
of the time. He proposed that an outlay of 30 per cent. on
the rental should be expended in cake, manure, and any other
beneficial object the tenant preferred, on condition that this
outlay should be borne equally by landlord and tenant. It
was equivalent to the offer of a reduction of 15 per cent. in the
rent, — with this important difference, that that reduction was
to be made the basis of future fertility. An outlay of 30 per
cent. could not fail to be attended with the best results, inasmuch
as the crops would be greatly increased and the groundwork be
laid for solid prosperity.
411

LETTER XLVI.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

LIGHT LAND FARMING AT WITTERING — MANAGEMENT OF STOCK — MODE
OF FEEDING HORSES — WAGES — FARMING CAPITAL — VERY DEFICIENT —
FARMING THEREFORE INFERIOR — GOOD MANAGEMENT AT WANSFORD —
WAGES -— DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RENTS OF COTTAGES UNDER THE DUKE
OF BEDFORD AND THE SMALL OWNERS IN VILLAGES — GEOLOGICAL CHA-
RACTER OF THE COUNTY — GRAZING FARMS — PROPORTIONS OF ARABLE
AND GRASS LAND — GOOD FARMING THE EXCEPTION — LANDLORDS EM-~
BARASSED, AND MANY EMPLOY UNSKILFUL AGENTS — INEQUALITY OF RENTS
—~TOO GREAT EAGERNESS ON PART OF TENANTS TO TAKE FARMS BEYOND
THEIR CAPITAL — COURSE OF CROPS ON LIGHT AND HEAVY LAND — MUS-
TARD PLOUGHED IN GREEN AS A PREPARATION FOR BARLEY — MR, SHAW’S
FARM AT COTTON END— USE OF SALT AS MANURE — WAGES — CHANGES
OF TENANTS — GENERAL LOWERING OF RENT.

Nortuampton, Feb. 1851.

THE farm of Mr. Sharpley, of Wittering, a few miles south of
Stamford, presents us with the details of good agricultural
management in North Northamptonshire. It contains 630 acres,
480 of which are arable and 150 in grass. The arable is managed
in a four-course rotation of 120 acres in each division.
Beginning with (1) wheat after seeds, the land is ploughed
and pressed, and sown from the middle of October to the middle
of November with three bushels an acre of Spalding’s red wheat,
scattered broadcast. It is rolled in spring with Crosskill’s clod-
crusher. The average produce is 28 bushels an acre. The
stubble is then ploughed in autumn in preparation for (2)
turnips, and in the following spring it is worked twice with
Finlayson’s harrow, which not only takes out the twitch better
than the plough, but is less expensive, and keeps the moisture
in the land, which the turning over by the plough in dry spring
weather entirely dries up. When the land is thus sufficiently
cleaned and prepared, the turnip seed is drilled on the flat, in
rows 16 inches apart, from the middle of June till the middle
412 FARMING OF LIGHT LAND. _ [NortHampron.

of July, with 10 bushels of bone-dust and 70 bushels of ashes
per acre. The ashes are burnt in spring from bottoms of hedge
banks, road sides, and any waste corners, and are found a most
valuable adjunct to the bones. ‘There are no swedes grown on
this farm, as they are believed to exhaust the land, are found
more difficult to grow, and are not considered better than com-
mon turnips for a breeding stock of ewes. There are two
varieties of turnips cultivated —the white, which are meant to
serve till Christmas; and the green top white, which are to
carry the stock on till the beginning of April. The crop pro-
duced by this management is equal to the keep of eight sheep
per acre, for twenty weeks. It is consumed on the ground by the
whole of the flock, in two divisions, — the hoggets first, and the
ewes following. Such sheep as are being fed fat go loose before
all. No cake is given, nor are any turnips cut. As soon as
each piece is eaten, the ground is ploughed about three inches
deep, and prepared for (3) barley, which is sown broadcast as
soon after the middle of March as possible. The seed is
“ scufiled” in with long-tined strong harrows. This crop yields
40 bushels an acre. It is followed by (4) seeds, 100 acres of
which are sown with 12 1b. of white clover, 2 1b. of trefoil, and
half a peck of rye-grass per acre, which is grazed with sheep
only, except that for a few weeks at first the young cattle are
also admitted to it. The remainder of this division, 20 acres
in extent, is sown with 14 1b. of red clover and half a peck of
rye-grass per acre, to be mown for the horses and for hay.
The red clover piece is changed at each return of the course,
and its recurrence on the same ground is in that way postponed
for several rotations. Forty acres of the grass land are mown
for hay also, the remainder being grazed.

The whole of the dung from the yards is carted out during
the winter, and laid in large heaps in each of the fields of
“seeds,” where, after being well rotted, it is applied before
ploughing for wheat in September. If it could be got rotted
in time, Mr. Sharpley would greatly prefer applying it on the
seeds in spring, that they might receive the first benefit, as the
Nortnampron. | MANAGEMENT OF STOCK. 413

additional feed eaten on the ground would equally prepare it
for wheat. But this is thought to require a year’s dung in
advance, which would necessitate the use of artificial manure
for a year on a scale more expensive than the farmers here are
yet accustomed to.

The stock on this farm consists of 400 Lincolnshire ewes,
which lamb in March, and rear about 400 lambs. The wedders
are sold at one year old (last year at 31s. each), the ewes are
kept for stock. Nine hundred sheep altogether are wintered.
Four hundred ewes and lambs and 100 young ewes are kept
during the summer.

Besides a few milch cows, there are every year about 18 or
20 heifers which have a calf and rear it. Twenty-six calves
are thus reared altogether. The steers are kept till three years
old, and sold in March or April to go to the rich grazing lands
to feed. ‘The average price last year was 132 The heifers,
after rearing a calf, come into the straw-yard to be wintered,
and they are sold in spring with the steers. During winter,
80 to 90 head of cattle altogether are kept in yards on this
farm. They never receive a turnip, as Mr. Sharpley thinks it
a waste of labour to draw home the turnips and take back the
manure: besides that, he finds the turnips to pay better by
sheep feeding, and as the cattle are kept only in a rearing state,
they can be carried on very well, and not expensively, with
straw and cake. They are managed in this fashion : — Duritg
summer they are grazed on the grass lands, and in winter are
put into separate straw-yards with sheds. The yearlings get
hay or clover chaff and 11]b. of cake each daily. The two-year-
olds get barley straw and 21b. of cake each daily, besides barley
and wheat chaff, of which they are very fond. The three-year
olds get two fodderings of straw, one of clover hay, and 3 lb. to
Alb. of cake daily. ‘They have all an abundant supply of water
in their yards, and look fresh and thriving.

When the cattle leave their yards for the grass, their places
are supplied by the work horses, twelve in number, which are
then taken from their stables, and during the summer receive
414 WAGES — FARMING CAPITAL. [NorTHampron,

their food in the cattle yards. The whole of the straw on the
farm is thus made into good dung. In the winter the horses
are put into a stable in which there are no division stalls; but
if any horse is inclined to be vicious, a bar of wood is hung
up between him and his neighbours. The winter food of the
horses consists of two parts oat-straw with the corn, and one
part clover hay, cut together, and given in the manger, as
much as they can eat without waste. The quantity of oats thus
consumed by each horse in the day, besides the straw and hay,
may be about 1231b. During the summer they receive green
clover and oats. The work of the farm horses is very light, as
the land is easy of tillage.

Eight men and two boys are regularly employed on the
farm, the men receiving 10s. a week, and the boys who can
plough, 5s.

This farm was entered to on the 25th of March, and the
first half-year’s rent is payable on the Ist of January there~
after, the second on the 1st of July. The whole implements
were bought two years ago, quite new, and, with the live stock,
cost the tenant 3,5002 Besides that sum, he had to pay for
labour before getting any of his crop turned into money. His
invested capital altogether amounted to 6/, an acre; but there is
here no draining, building, or permanent improvements which
the tenant has either to execute himself or to aid in doing; he
has just to stock and work an easy light land farm. It is
commonly thought, in this part of the country, that an arable
farm requires less capital than a grass farm, and many men
without adequate capital enter to arable land with the inten-
tion of trusting to cropping entirely. But an arable farm, if
fully stocked and fully farmed, cannot be carried on without a
good capital. Here there is said to be a great deficiency among
the farmers in that important matter, many having taken to
arable farming with the idea that ploughing and sowing, with
seed and labour, were the only requisites. The low range of
prices is compelling greater attention to business, and, as we
were significantly told, the fox-hunting farmers are becoming
Norruampron. | FARMING AT WANSFORD. 415

a gradually diminishing body. Industry, capital, and skill may,
it is conceded, still carry a man through with difficulty; a
deficiency in all these qualities must be fatal to him.

The only tenant right or compensation in this part of the
country, is that an outgoing tenant is allowed the whole of his
“bones” bill and the half of his “ cake ” bill for the last year of
his occupation ; but, in general practice, little or no artificial
food or manure is purchased. The dung of the few poorly
straw-fed cattle is used to raise the turnip crop. That is eaten
on the ground by sheep, and insures a fair crop of barley. But
there is no progress here, no addition to the powers of the soil
to compensate for their continued exhaustion, and consequently
there can be no increasing averages to make good the defi-
ciencies of price.

In the neighbourhood of Wansford we come on the Duke of
Bedford’s estate, where the well-managed farm of Mr. Perceval
at once arrests the notice of the traveller by its neatly trimmed
fences, well kept roads and cleanly cultivated fields. The
swedes are a fine crop. They are taken up in the beginning of
winter, and stored in little heaps covered with earth on the
field where they grow. When the sheep come over the ground,
a few hurdles are placed round each heap and the turnip cutter
inside, and the cut swedes are then served out to the sheep in
boxes. The crop is by this means protected from injury by
game, it is kept juicy till wanted, and it neither exhausts itself
nor “draws” the ground by shooting up a seed stem in a
mild winter or at the beginning of spring. Winter tares and
rye are sown in autumn, to be cut for the horses in spring and
summer ; and these are followed by white turnips, which are
eaten on the ground by sheep. The next farm, that of Mr.
Leeds, of Stebbington, is also very neatly farmed.

On this portion of his estate, the Duke of Bedford is draining
all the heavy and wet fields of such of his tenants as are unable
to do so themselves. In these cases he supplies and carts the
tiles, makes the drains, and finishes the whole free of all charge to
416 COTTAGE RENTS — GRAZING FARMS. [NorrHampron.

the tenant. The drains are made 4 feet deep, and 33 feet apart,
and are found very efficient on strong land.

All the labourers are employed; and the general rate of
wages is 9s.a week. No beer is given to the labourers. The
Duke’s cottages are let at very low rents; but others in the
village are extremely high,—as much as 3s. 6d. a week,—with
much less accommodation and a more limited extent of garden
ground than the more fortunate tenants under the Duke, who
pay Is. to 1s. 6d. a week.

‘. early the whole county of Northampton lies on the lower
oolite formation. The southern division is celebrated for its
grazing qualities. For ten miles round the town of Northampton,
one-third to one-fourth of the land is in grass. Grazing, which
was formerly the most profitable occupation of the Northampton-
shire farmer, is now interfered with by the mode of feeding adopted
on the arable farms, which, by the aid of artificial faod, corn,
and cake, turn out more fat stock than the purely grazing
farms. Some of the farms in this division are wholly arable;
but the most common proportions into which farms are divided
are two-thirds arable and one-third old grass. In winter the
cattle are generally turned out on the grass lands during the
day, and seldom receive any cake in the yards, as after such
treatment they are found to fall off when turned out in summer
to be fattened on the pastures, the cake not being then con-
tinued. The appearance of the country generally is well wooded
and picturesque, undulating, with a fine friable red soil, admir-
ably suited for green crops, corn, and grass.

Though there are many excellent farmers in the county, and
much improvement has taken place in its agriculture, good
farming is still the exception. For this there are several causes.
In regard to the landlords, in the first place, many of them have
no interest in their farms beyond the annual rent they receive,
know nothing of the management of land themselves, and do
not employ an agent who does. Some employ men of low
standing with a small salary, and in a dependent position,
Norraampron.] DEFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF PROPERTY. 417

butlers, gardeners, and sometimes gamekeepers, performing the
functions of land-agent. Lawyers are employed by some; but
they merely receive the rents. The duties of a competent
agent, embracing an inspection of the farms, a general intelli-
gent supervision of the property, with that confidential com-
munication with the landlord as to the measures best adapted
to promote the interests of both landlord and tenant, and the
suggestion of such improvements as may be made at the least
cost for the benefit of both, cannot, of course, by such agency
be contemplated. Many of the landlords are straitened for
capital, having their land heavily mortgaged or burdened with
annuities, and who would yet rather embarrass themselves more
by spending money in adding to their acres, than by improving
those they have, though their tenants, from deficient buildings
and want of drainage, are incapacitated from doing justice to
their farms. In many cases the arable land is much injured by
superfluous fences and hedge-row timber, the injurious quantity
of which may be seen right and left from the railway between
Blisworth and Rugby. The inequality of rents is also the
cause of some districts and estates being better farmed than
others. Many estates are let and have been rented for years at
20 and 25 per cent. higher than others. These are carefully es-
chewed by the best tenants; and any good farmer with capital,
who may have the misfortune to. be placed on such rack-rented
estates, is constantly looking out for a vacant farm under a
more liberal landlord, where he may expend his capital with
security.

A great obstacle to good farming is the system adopted by some
landlords, and those not the least popular among the tenants,
of letting their farms at low rents, with the understanding that
all improvements are to be made by the tenants. A good tenant
keeps things in good order, and very possibly improves his
farm; a bad tenant, most likely, deteriorates it. In the course
of years a stranger is sent to make a new valuation of the farms;
and he, of course, fixes the highest rent on the good farmer,

EE
418 COURSE OF CROPS VARIOUS. [NorrHamrton.

whose spirit of improvement is thereby effectually curbed for
the future.

On the part of the tenants the obstacles to good farming are
those too common to their class in other counties as well as
Northamptonshire— a headlong running after more land than
they have capital to manage, and the employment of insufficient
labour to work their farms.

On the light soils the four-course system of cropping is
practised by some farmers, especially for the purpose of cleaning
their farms, but the most general course on the red land is a
six-course, thus — (1) turnips, (2) barley, (3) clover mown, (4)
clover grazed, (5) wheat, (6) barley. Though some farms are
profitably managed under this course, they are never quite clean.
If the land is not perfectly clean when laid down to clover, the
two years’ grass allows the root weeds to gain strength and
strike deeper, and with two corn crops after the breaking-up of
the clover leys the land gets very foul. Where the land is left
only one year in clover, and if well farmed and thé wheat
stubbles cleaned before sowing the barley, the crops are ge-
nerally very good, and the land tolerably clean.

Where the substratum, instead of being red sandstone or sand,
is of a clayey nature, the eight-course is successfully practised ;
viz., turnips, barley, clover, wheat, turnips, barley, beans, wheat.
In some parts of the county the clay Jands are very ill-farmed
and imperfectly drained. On the eastern side, however, there
is some good clay farming where the land has been well
drained, and the following mode of management is adopted :—
Half the fallow is sown with vetches, the other half is a naked
fallow well worked through the summer, and as soon as the
vetches on the first half are folded off with sheep, the land is
ploughed up and the whole worked together. It is kept as
rough as possible, and soon after harvest, before the land gets
wet, it is manured. In that state it is left till the spring, when,
without again ploughing, the barley is drilled as early in the
season as the land is dry. Under this management heavier
NortHampron.] DALLINGTON — COTTON-END. 419

crops of barley are got on very strong clays than on the best
turnip soils, especially in a dry season. The barley is followed
by clover, which is mown, the clover ley is sown with wheat,
and the wheat is followed by beans. Some farmers take the
beans after the clover, and then wheat, which they find to
succeed best after beans, and less subject to grub and wireworm
than after clover.

On some very good and well-managed land within a mile or
two of Northampton, on the farm of Mr. West, of Dallington,
we saw a fine crop of swedes which had been drilled on the flat,
the dung having been previously ploughed in. When ridged
over freshly-applied dung, the crop, though bulkier, is said to
be more apt to decay. The course adopted here is seeds,
wheat, barley, turnips, barley. As soon as the wheat stubble is
ploughed the land is sown with mustard, which is ploughed in
green, as a preparation for barley, with much success.

Mr. Shaw, of Cotton-End, near Northampton, adopts the
four-course. His “seeds,” which are very early and fine, are
chiefly Italian rye grass, which is grazed the first year, dunged
in autumn, and after yielding two months’ keep to the sheep the
following spring, it is to be ploughed with a skim coulter
plough, and the Jand planted with potatoes. The swedes are
all taken up in November, and stored in heaps on the field
covered with earth, whence they are used as required, and
given to the sheep cut, in boxes, with 11b. of cake each, for the
last ten weeks before being sold fat. The wheat land after
being sown in autumn is dressed with 7 cwt. of salt. per acre,
which is found to have a very beneficial effect in destroying all
small weeds, and in strengthening and brightening the straw.
It renders loose land firm by glazing over the surface, and for
that reason probably would not be a suitable application on
strong or wet land. Being in the immediate neighbourhood of
Northampton, a town of 20,000 to 30,000 inhabitants, Mr.
Shaw kept a dairy stock on this farm, which he found very

profitable, as milk sells at 2d. per quart, and there is a constant
EE 2
420 WAGES — PROSPECTS. {NorrHaMPTon.

demand for it; but his stock was so much injured by pleuro-
pneumonia that he has for the present discontinued a dairy.
The rent of this farm, 300 acres in extent, is 45s. an acre, tithe
free; the land is of superior quality, and the situation very
advantageous.

The regular labourers on the farm are hired by the year, the
best receiving 12s. a week and a house rent free, others 11s.,
and the lowest 9s. The average rate of wages for the county
is 9s. a week: there are very few labourers unemployed, and
scarcely any able-bodied in the workhouses. As a class, it is
said, they were never better off, and yet there have been more
incendiary fires than in any former winter.

The farmers generally are very desponding, and there can be
little doubt than many of them have been losing money during
the last two years. Those of small capital originally may be
unable to recover the shock, as that can only be done by greater
exertions on the part of both landlord and tenant, and the means
of the latter are already gone. It is anticipated that there will
be many changes of tenants — those who have not capital and
industry being obliged to give up, and others who are quitting
one landlord to go to another under whom they expect better
conditions. The landlord who gives least encouragement and
assistance to his tenants in this crisis will suffer most severely at
last, as all good tenants will go to good landlords, and the
careless and indifferent must content themselves with just such
as they can get. The best farms of the best landlords will
probably maintain their value; the inferior farms and those of
cold clay must fall very considerably. In the latter there will
probably be a new basis of valuation altogether, more in
accordance with their relative value, which hitherto has been
rated too high. The greater expense of cultivation on clay as
compared with stock land will now bear much more heavily on
the balance left for rent than formerly, when the value of the
produce was relatively high. On the whole, there can be little
doubt that the first effect of all these changes will be a lowering
of rent to a greater or less extent throughout this county.
421

LETTER XLVI.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE — continued.

FARMING AT OVERSTONE — DRAINAGE — USE OF BROKEN STONES ABOVE PIPES
RECOMMENDED BY MR. BEASLEY —TRENCHING — ITS COST — REMOVAL AND
RENEWAL OF FENCES — SUBDIVISION OF FARM — COURSE OF CROPS —
TURNIPS, BARLEY, SEEDS, WHEAT, MANAGEMENT OF EACH DESCRIBED — USE
OF SALT AS MANURE TO WHEAT — MR. BEASLEY’S REASONS FOR NOT SOWING
THIN — ARRANGEMENT OF THE BUILDINGS —FEEDING OF CATTLE AND
SHEEP — THEIR PRODUCE— INCREASE OF STOCK KEPT ON THE FARM —
COST OF LABOUR — MATERIALS FOR MAKING MANURE — LENGTHENED
PERIOD WHICH MR. BEASLEY’S HIGH BRED STOCK TAKE TO ARRIVE AT
MATURITY—ESTATES OF LORD SPENCER, MR. LLOYD AND LORD OVERSTONE—
THEIR ARRANGEMENTS GIVE THEM THE ADVANTAGE OF A CHOICE OF GOOD
TENANTS — TENURE — IMPROVED COTTAGES — SIR C. KNIGHTLEY’S ESTATE.

Norruampton, Feb. 1851.
As a breeder of short-horned cattle and new Leicester sheep the
name of Mr. John Beasley, of Chapel Brampton, is well known
beyond the county he resides in. A detailed description of the
management of his farm at Overstone will, we are confident,
prove generally useful and instructive. It contains altogether
about 727 acres, 420 of which are arable, and 300 pasture.

Three-fourths of the whole are a “ convertible ” soil, a good red

loam upon a substratum of red sandstone, which is in parts very

near the surface. Some portions have a considerable admixture
of sand, and the soil there is consequently weaker. The re-
mainder of the farm is a strong soil lying on very stiff clay.

The whole of this portion of the farm, the clay-land, has been
underdrained. The drains are made in straight lines, seven
yards apart, without any regard to the old high-backed crooked
lands. They are dug to a depth of three to four feet, a pipe-
tile laid at the bottom, and over it broken stones about nine
inches in depth. The drains being very narrow at the bottom,
few stones are required, a cart-load sufficing for four chains in

length, and, as the stones are got on the farm from the red land,
EE 3
422 MR. BEASLEY’S FARM [NorTHameron.

the cost is not much increased. The whole expense amounts to
4/2. 10s. an acre. When the land is drained it is ploughed, har-
rowed, scuffled, and worked across the high-backed crooked
ridges, which are thus gradually levelled, and there is said to be
no perceptible difference between the crops on the ridges and
furrows. If the stones on the tiles answer no other purpose,
they assist the drainage in the first two or three year's; for the
water does not find its way very quickly to a depth of three or
four feet on strong clay soils, which, perhaps, have never before
been moved more than four inches. By degrees the clay soil
will crack to a considerable depth, when the air has been secured
an entrance, and that is materially assisted by the subsequent
processes of deep ploughing and subsoiling. If the draining is
made more efficient, by the addition of the stones, for the first
two or three years, the expense will be repaid, and the drain is
not so liable to accident by the breaking of a tile, or the stop-
ping up of one. Where the stones can be cheaply got, this
practice may be advisable; but the advantages it possesses are
not sufficient to justify any considerable outlay, as it has been
abundantly proved that tile-drains at this depth and distance
will, if properly constructed, effect perfect drainage. The
drainage is carried off by a brook, in which an increased fall has
been obtained by making it deeper, wider, and straight in its
course, and which has at the same time greatly improved the
drainage of the adjoining land. This land is now perfectly dry,
and can be worked at almost any season of the year. One field
was trenched or dug with spades to the depth of 14 inches. It
was first manured, the labourers digging in the manure, and
picking out any twitch or weeds as they went on. It was not
touched again until the end of April, when it was drilled
on the flat with mangold wurzel, and produced a good crop
where anything approaching to a good crop of vegetables had
never before been seen. The digging cost 22 per acre, and sup-
plied work at a time when it was very scarce. Some of the
men, by working hard, earned 10s. a week.
Norruampron.] AT OVERSTONE. 423

Over the whole of the arable land the old fences have been
taken up and new ones planted, and the fields made of the same
size, 21 acres each. Five of these fields, or 105 acres, are in the
same description of crop every year; three adjoining fields on
one side of the farm and two on the other. The same descrip-
tion of work is thus always being carried on at the same place
The hedges are kept very low and neatly trimmed, occupying
the smallest portion of land. There are no open ditches, tile-
drains supplying their place where necessary. The fields are all
square, being the same width at both ends, except where a public
road interferes, when the unequal side is put next to the road,
so that the field is ploughed square up to a small portion of the
last part. So perfectly square are these fields that the ridges for
the turnips, as well as the drills for the corn, are frequently
commenced in the middle of the field and finished on each side
up to the hedges, the last row running in a perfectly straight
line with the hedge. The old and bad trees have all been
grubbed up, the best oaks —and they are very fine— having been
left in the open fields with excellent effect.

The whole of the farm is managed on the four-course rotation
— turnips, barley, clover, wheat, 105 acres of each. On the
heavy land, now that it is drained, white turnips are grown, to
be eaten off early, and mangold and cabbage answer very well.
The general management begins with the wheat stubbles, which
are ploughed early in the autumn, six inches deep, with the com-
mon Scotch iron plough with two horses abreast. About one-
third, or as much as can be got through in a season, is subsoiled
with Grey’s subsoil-plough eight inches under the first furrow,
making in all fourteen inches. The horses attached to the com-
mon plough walk on the unploughed land so as not to trample
on the furrow which has been subsoiled. The land is left in this
state through the winter. In spring, when it is sufficiently dry,
a scuffler is drawn across the furrows, which, where the land
has been subsoiled, will work to the same depth it has been
ploughed. The land is then rolled and harrowed, and the twitch

EE 4
424 PREPARATION OF THE SOIL—-MANURE. [Nortuampton.

brought to the surface and picked off. The whole force of the
farm is applied to one field; and when the whole of the twitch,
brought to the surface, has been removed, the field is left for a
time. It is again ploughed, then scuffled, harrowed, and picked
as before; and this is repeated until it is perfectly clean. The
practice of autumn cleaning adopted by Mr. Outhwaite, of Bai-
nesse, and described in a former letter, might, we have no doubt,
be introduced here with great advantage, as such repeated turn-
ing over and exposure of a dry soil in the hot sunny weather of
April or May must sometimes render a plant precarious. When
the turnip-sowing commences, the land is ploughed into ridges
25 inches apart, and 20 loads of good rotten farmyard dung is .
placed in the ridges and covered up. The seed (2 lb. per acre)
is then drilled on them with Hornsby’s drill, with concave
rollers, made in the shape of an hour-glass, and which give a
good finish to the work. Part of the dung, which is made in the
autumn and early part of winter, is carted out upon the cleanest
wheat stubbles, and immediately spread and ploughed in. This
saves a great deal of labour at the turnip-sowing time, and expe-
dites the work.

The dung is never removed from the yards except to be
applied directly to the land. In the yards it is trampled very
firmly by an unusual number of cattle, the buildings are all
spouted, and drains are laid from all the yards and feeding-
houses to the liquid-tanks. The manure heaps are carefully
levelled on the top every day, and, if too dry, in the spring of
the year the liquid from the tanks is thrown over them. When
turnip-sowing commences, the top of the manure heap is laid
aside, and the rest carted away and at once put into the ground,
The top of the heaps and the spring-made manure are thrown
up and turned over to cause fermentation, so as to be sufficiently
decomposed for application to the turnip crop. No artificial
manure is used for turnips,—linseed cake, beans, and barley
being consumed by fattening cattle to a large extent, and the
farmyard dung being thus all of good quality.
Nortuampton.] WINTER VETCHES — TURNIP CROP. 425

About 20 acres of the wheat stubbles are sown in the autumn
with vetches, a slight dressing of dung being first applied. They
are drilled at the rate of three bushels to the acre, and the
young plants are watered with liquid manure in the winter and
spring. A small portion of these vetches are cut for the horses,
the remainder are fed off early with sheep, which are kept in
folds, the vetches being mown and put into cribs. The land is
then ploughed, and cleaned for turnips.

About two-thirds of the green crop land are sown with swedes,
the remainder with white turnips, mangold, cabbage, and pota-
toes. The first swedes are sown about the last week in May,
and the whole are completed by the beginning of July. Earlier
sowing is found to be attended with much greater risk of mil-
dew in autumn. The crops average upwards of 20 tons an acre,
and, when all eaten on the land, are found equal to the keep of
20 sheep an acre, for 20 weeks. They are hand-hoed three
times at a cost of 8s. per acre, and horse-hoed four times at a
cost of 4s., by which perfect cleanliness is attained, there not
being a weed or a particle of twitch to be seen in the autumn.
In November and the beginning of December the swedes are
pulled up, cleaned, thrown into conical heaps on the field, and
covered with soil, a light coating of stubble being previously
laid on. When the turnips are stacked without any straw
between them and the soil, they are found to be very dirty in
wet weather, and in that state they purge the sheep. This
operation costs 6s. per acre. Every third heap is carted off and
consumed in the fold-yards by cattle; the rest are eaten by
sheep on the ground, the turnips being cut with Gardner’s
turnip-cutter, and given in troughs. The whole of the sheep
have chopped hay or clover with their turnips, and the fattening
sheep cake or corn also. The hoggets and ewes have neither,
except some weak ones; but the sheep which have cake or corn
exchange pens regularly with those which have only turnips and
hay, that the land may be equally manured.
426 BARLEY —“SEEDS”—WHEAT. [NorrHampron.

In preparation for barley, the land, as the turnips are con-
sumed, is ploughed five inches deep. Barley-sowing commences
in the first week of March, and is finished about the 5th
of April. Three bushels and a half of chevalier barley are
drilled to the acre, and the average produce for the last eight
years has been 45 bushels 1 peck; the quality good, weighing
55 lb. per bushel, and fetching the highest market price.

The grass seeds sown with the barley consist of the following
mixture :—~ Two-fifths or three-fifths with 10 Ib. of red clover,
3 lb. of white clover, 3 lb. of trefoil, 1 peck of Italian rye grass,
and half a peck of common rye grass per acre. The remainder
is sown with 10]b. of white clover, and the same quantity of
trefoil and rye grass as above. Beans and peas have been tried,
in the place of clover, to produce a more varied course; but the
crops were light, the land being too dry for them, and the wheat
was much lighter than when sown upon the clover ley,* solidity
of soil being considered of the first importance to wheat on this
kind of land. Two of the five clover fields are mown for hay,
and three depastured with sheep and young calves. The sheep
are folded during the night.

For wheat, the ploughing of the clover ley begins about the
10th of September, and the wheat is generally all in by the
20th of October. The first sown is drilled at eight inches apart
with 21 bushels, the last with 3 bushels an acre of Valpin’s
red Spalding wheat, which is the only sort now grown on this
farm, haying been found most productive and of good quality, |
weighing 62 1b. per bushel. The average crop for the six years
preceding 1849 has been 34} bushels an acre. The crops of
1849 and 1850 are not yet thrashed, but are estimated at much
more. Immediately after the wheat is sown, the land is pressed
with Crosskill’s clod-crusher, and, if the weather admits, it is
again pressed in the same way in spring. Light ewt. of salt to
the acre is sown upon the wheat, 4 cwt. in autumn, and 4 ewt.
in spring. ‘This is found to give solidity to the land, while it
Norrgampron.] OBJECTION TO THIN SOWING. 427

checks the weeds, prevents mildew, blight, and rust, and im-
proves the quality and increases the produce of the crop. On
the clay soil portions of the farm the application of salt has been
discontinued, as it was found to keep the land too damp and
sad, and to give the wheat a starved and unhealthy appearance.
‘The wheat is always hoed between the rows, but Mr. Beasley
is of opinion that if the land could be kept perfectly clean
without hoeing it would be better, as the hoeing, by cutting the
small fibres, has a tendency to let the wheat fall.

We must make a short digression, to explain Mr. Beasley’s
reason for sowing so thickly on land in every way so well
prepared and in such high condition. He does it because, in his
opinion, corn ought not to be encouraged to tiller. If the plants
are sufficiently thick in spring, they at once send up the stalk;
but if the roots are thin, they send out lateral shoots, which strike
in the earth and produce new plants. The first plant is weakened
by having to produce auxiliary plants, and the plants of the second
growth do not come to maturity so early as the original or parent
plant. The quality of the crop is thus injured, as there are always
more light and defective corns in a thin-sown than in a thick-sown
crop; besides that there is less seed to meet the contingencies
of wireworm, grub, or very severe weather.

The accommodation of the stock and crop is provided for in a
set of farm buildings, which have been erected, at a moderate
cost, out of old materials, with the aid of larch timber,
and stone, procured on the estate. The buildings are on
a large scale, but compact, and in the centre of the Overstone
farm. They include a house for a steam-engine, which drives
thrashing machinery, millstones, saw-mill, and turnip-cutter.
The waste steam can be used for steaming food. The thrashing
and dressing of the corn, including coals and oil, costs 1s. 3d.
per quarter. The feeding-houses are 15 feet wide, with a
manger, rack, and water-trough at the head of the cattle. The
cattle are tied by the neck in pairs, in stalls 8 feet wide. They
428 MANAGEMENT AND FOOD [Norruampron,

are well littered and kept perfectly clean. The water is
supplied by a pipe from the well in the yard, and when one
trough is full it supplies the next, until all are full. The young
stock are kept loose in yards, with shelter sheds, and the
in-calf heifers and cows are kept in the yards where the manure
from the feeding-houses is emptied, which they compress by
treading.

The stock is of the improved short-horn breed, bred with
much care for many years, chiefly from the stock of the late
Earl Spencer, and crossed with bulls from Sir Charles Knightley
and other eminent breeders. About 35 cows and heifers are
kept for breeding, 40 calves being reared every year, a few of
the best that can be got being bought to make up this number.
The calves begin to fall in February, and continue till Mid-
summer. About six of these are sold for bulls by the time they
are a year old. For the first fortnight the calves have new
milk, for another fortnight half new and half skim; afterwards
skim milk, mixed with linseed porridge. They are turned out
into the young clover very early, returning to open sheds at
first for the night, where they receive bruised oats, or cake, as
soon as they will eat, and until they are able to gather a living
for themselves by grazing. The first winter the calves are kept
in four paddocks, in each of which there is an open shed, in
which they are fed with turnips and hay, and the youngest
with 2 lb. of cake a day in addition. In spring they are turned
out to grass with the ewes and lambs, and remain on the pas-
tures till Christmas, when they are brought into the fold-yard
to straw and turnips. They are kept in the same way for an-
other year, and, when nearly three years old, they are placed in
the feeding pastures, which are not very rich, and in autumn
on the aftermaths. In November they are tied up in their stalls
in the feeding-houses, when, after a short time, they are placed,
upon full feeding. They are then fed four times a day, and
their daily supply consists of
NortuHampron. ] OF CATTLE AND SHEEP. 429

s. d.

7 Ib. of linseed cake, at 3} farthings per lb. 06
1 gallon of beans ground into meal, at 32s. per

quarter, including grinding . 06

1 bushel of swedes, at 3d. (10s. per tot) « 03

8 lb. of hay, at 32. 10s. per ton .. 03

16

or 10s. 6d. per week for the last eight or ten weeks. In the
middle of February they and the fat sheep are sold by auction
on the farm. The average price last year was 22, 2s. 2d.,
including some old cows, which scarcely made 5d. per Ib.
At such a price it is very doubtful whether this mode of rearing
and feeding is profitable. Larlier maturity, we are convinced,
would pay better; and we have often seen cattle of inferior
breeding, and on no better land, made fat in half the time, —
certainly not the same weight, but fetching greatly more than
half the money.

We now come to the management of the sheep stock, which
are of the new Leicester breed, bred from the best flocks since
the days of Bakewell. The ewes, 350 in number, rear about
the same number of lambs, but being for the most part bad
nurses, the lambs are consequently small, and are taken
early from their dams and put upon clover or good pasture
until November, when they are: placed upon turnips during the
winter, as already described. In the spring the ewe hoggets
are put into a store pasture, and the wethers are grazed upon
yetches and clover. In the autumn the draught ewes and
theaves, and the whole of the wethers, are put to turnips, when
they receive a pint of beans or a pound of linseed cake per day
also, whichever is to be had cheapest. As many shearling
wethers are bought in summer as, besides those bred on the
farm, are required to consume the turnips. They are all treated
alike, and are sold fat in February, by auction. Last year the
average price was 46s. 7d. These sheep yield 6 Ib. of fine
long wool.
430 INCREASING STOCK — COST OF LABOUR. [Norutampton,

The whole stock on the farm in February 1838, was 77
cattle, 525 sheep, and 25 pigs. In February 1849, there
were 184 cattle, 879 sheep, and 33 pigs. The farm was then
520 acres in extent. Two hundred acres have since been added,
and in February, 1851, there were 202 cattle, 1017 sheep, and
70 pigs. Mr. Beasley intends to increase the sheep stock to
1300, and to diminish the number of cattle in the same pro-
portion.

The labour of the farm costs 19s. 6d. an acre for the whole,
or 28s. an acre for the arable, and 7s. for the pasture. The
labourers are receiving 9s.,10s., 1ls., and 12s, per week, ac-
cording to their ability, character, and the time they have
worked upon the farm. They have all been reduced 1s. per
week since last year. Much of the work is done as task-work.
With the exception of the strong land, the farm is light and
easy to manage, and the arrangement of the fields and buildings
greatly facilitates and economises labour.

A leading object on this farm has been to make as much good
manure as possible. To effect this, a very large stock is kept,
all of which are well fed, and a considerable quantity of artificial
food is consumed. Where the relative values of different kinds
of food do not greatly differ, feeding cattle will generally thrive
best upon a variety. One-third of all the turnips grown upon
the farm are consumed in the stalls and yards by cattle. These,
with 60 acres of meadow hay, 40 acres of clover, and the straw
from all the corn crops, make up the materials for the manu-
facture of manure. The quantity made has gradually increased,
and the crops are likewise increasing. The condition of the
farm is aided by the sheep being partly fed with artificial food.
It has been now brought to a point of cleanliness and condition
that the corn crops scarcely admit of increase. If the barley
crop is made much more luxuriant, the straw will be more pro-
ductive than the corn, and the quality will be apt to deteriorate.
It therefore becomes a question whether the four-course should
be continued, or whether, as we think, the farm has now reached
NorrHampron.] WANT OF EARLY MATURITY. 431

the point at which successive corn crops might be occasionally
taken with advantage.

The experienced reader cannot fail to remark the lengthened
period which this very high bred stock takes to arrive at ma-
turity. This is somewhat unusual, and appears to us the most
vulnerable point in Mr. Beasley’s management. The chief ex-
cellence of short-horns consists in their earlier maturity than
other breeds, for which we are willing to sacrifice in some
degree the quality of the meat; but if they are kept till four
years old, this advantage is lost, and we might as well feed
West Highlanders or Welsh runts, as these would get fat at
that age, and be of much primer quality. The high bred Lei-
cester sheep, too, have the failing of being bad nurses, and not
prolific. They do not appear to have any countervailing ad-
vantage, as with the same feeding and at the same age any of
our good crosses would give as much money. It would thus
appear that merely for feeding purposes it is unnecessary to
spend money on very highly bred stock, as Mr. Beasley, with
the best short-horn and the purest Leicester blood in England,
gets neither earlier maturity nor greater weights than many
farmers with stock of very inferior breeding.

We make no apology for occupying so much space with a
detailed description of Mr. Beasley’s farm. It comprises within
itself an instructive little treatise on agriculture, affording much
matter for reflection, and many points of comparison to the
skilful practical farmer.

The estates of Earl Spencer, Mr. Lloyd, and Lord Overstone
are managed by Mr. Beasley. For the last two years there has
not been a farthing of arrears on the whole of these extensive
estates, comprehending tenants from 1,0002 a year to the humble
cottager, and including 600 of the latter class. This is attributed
to the farms being moderately let, and to the erection by the
landlord of suitable buildings for lodging the cattle and saving
their manure, and to drainage. It is not that the farms are let
lower by the acre than other estates, but that they are let truly
432 MODE OF LETTING LAND. [NorTHAMPTON,

as farms, fitted by the landlord with those accommodations by
which a tenant is enabled to farm successfully. This liberality -
of the landlord is fully appreciated by the tenantry, and gives
the agent an immense advantage in the selection of tenants when
a farm becomes vacant. He has the choice of the best men;
and there can be no doubt that an estate can be most effectually
and economically improved through good tenants. The farms
are not advertised, and never let by tender; they are examined
by the agent, who fixes the rent, and selects his tenant. In
valuing a farm, Mr. Beasley assumes that all adequate accom-
modation will be provided by the landlord. No percentage,
therefore, is charged on any outlay by the landlord, either for
buildings or drainage. The land is valued at its intrinsic or
natural worth, with such ameliorations as the landlord ought to
make at his exclusive cost; and thus the rent of good and bad
farmers is raised alike. If the bad is thereby compelled to quit,
so much the better. The more common practice of valuing land
as it stands, without regard to the landlord’s outlays or the
tenant’s improvements, incréases the rent of the good farmer in
consequence of his own exertions, and lowers that of the neg-
ligent one as a reward for his neglect. Instances have often
occurred where farms of precisely similar character and rent
have been revalued, and one that had been well farmed was
raised 10s. an acre, while the other, which had been badly
farmed, was lowered 10s. an acre, the landlord in both cases
having dealt equally by both tenants in doing nothing for
either, but leaving each to follow his own plans. An abatement
of 10 per cent. has been made on the estates under Mr..
Beasley’s management for the present year, more as a mark of
sympathy on account of the deficient crop of last year than
as a permanent readjustment. The time for that is not yet
come.

The farms are all held from year to year; and there is no
desire on the part of the tenants for leases. The security under
such landlords is felt by the tenants as quite sufficient; and yet
Norraamurroxn.] IMPROVEMENT OF COTTAGES. 433

there have been many instances where a change of owner has
completely altered the confidence formerly subsisting between
‘tenant and landlord. On Earl Spencer's estate, however, good
landlords are believed by the tenantry to be hereditary. Some of
the farms on the estate have been held by the same family for
300 years; and the average period during which all the farms
on this estate have been held by the same families, exceeds
ninety years. Nor is there any written agreement or other
document to bind either landlord or tenant. The rent is entered
in the rental; and the tenant pays it punctually as-a matter of
course. Crop books are kept for every farm; and the agent
visits every field once a year. He interferes with the tenant’s
management as little as possible, and chiefly in the way of
advice. On each of these estates large sums have been ex-
pended on buildings, farmyards, and in better arranging the
farms. Draining-tiles are given almost without limit.

But the landlord’s expenditure is not confined to the require-
ments of his farms, the comfort of the labourers on these estates
has met with an equal share of attention. On Lord Spencer’s
estate, within a short period, seventy-four new and substantial
cottages have been erected, in groups of two, three, and five,
with a pump and kitchen common to five cottages, fitted up
with oven, copper, ironing-board, &c. To each cottage is at-
tached a rood of land, a pigstye, wood barn, &c. They are let
by the week at a yearly rent of 37. 10s., including land. The
average rent of cottages on these estates is under 22. There
are also many garden tenants, who have a rood of good land (in
all cases near their homes), and for which they pay 10s., the
landlord paying rates. Besides building new cottages, Lord
Spencer has put into order an immense number of old ones, and
is still continuing to build, but on a less expensive plan.

The tenants of bad land on Sir Charles Knightley’s estate,
besides getting their farms drained free of charge, have received
equal to 20 per cent. of abatement. In the neighbourhood
of Weedon, and to the south of it, two-thirds of the iand

FE
A434 WASTE OF HORSE POWER. [NorTHAMPTON.

is in grass of prime feeding quality; the other third is culti-
vated in a six-course, thus: seeds, wheat, beans, wheat, turnips,
barley. There being so large a proportion of the land in grass,
a heavy stock is kept on the different farms, fed in winter with
cake; and thus a great quantity of manure is made, by which
the arable land is kept in high condition, and yields abundant
crops.

Land of prime feeding quality in this part of the county is
let at 2. per acre, tithe free; and the rates are from 3s. to
4s. an acre. It is not uncommon to see five fat and powerful
horses yoked in line in a plough, turning over a barley-seed
furrow not more than four inches deep. Amid so much com-
plaint of distress, it is wonderful that such a heedless waste of
power is continued.
435

LETTER XLVIII.

BEDFORDSHIRE.

WOBURN—DUKE OF BEDFORD'S MODE OF LETTING FARMS—DRAINAGE, FENCES,
AND BUILDINGS MADE AT LANDLORD'S EXPENSE —COMFORTABLE ACCOM-
MODATION OF LABOURERS—THEIR COTTAGES HELD DIRECTLY FROM THE DUKE
—COST OF ERECTING COTTAGES—RENT—SCHOOLS FOR LABOURERS CHILDREN
— WORKSHOPS AT WOBURN — EXPERIMENTS IN FEEDING CATTLE — COST OF
FARM BUILDINGS — PRINCIPLES WHICH REGULATE THE CONNECTION BE-
TWEEN LANDLORD, TENANT, AND LABOURER ON THIS ESTATE —- WORTHY OF
GENERAL IMITATION.

Wosury, Feb., 1851.

Passing from Northampton to Bedfordshire, we proceeded to
the Park Farm at Woburn, the seat of the Duke of Bedford.
It was certainly with no feeling of idle curiosity that we endea-
voured to acquaint ourselves with the relations subsisting
between the head of the house of Russell and his numerous
tenantry and dependents. A nobleman of the highest rank,
the owner of one of the largest landed estates in the kingdom,
all situated in purely agricultural districts, and deriving no
direct aid from the neighbourhood of any of our hives of manu-
facturing industry, and yet the possessor of a name identified
with the progress of all our liberal institutions, —it could not
fail to be instructive to learn how this large properiy was
administered.

The farms are never advertised, or let by tender. When a
farm becomes vacant, it naturally forms the subject of conver-
sation at the market table, and parties wishing to take it make
application. The farm is then valued by the local agent, a
practical man, who estimates it as in perfect order in so far as
the landlord’s improvements are concerned. Anything that is
requisite to be done, either in regard to drainage, fences, or

FF?
436 DUKE OF BEDFORD’S ESTATES —TENANTRY. [BrEpForp.

buildings, is done by the landlord as a matter of course. The
Duke then selects his tenant from the various applicants, and
offers the farm to him at the rent fixed by the agent. It is
generally accepted at once, and by a picked man. All the
tenants have the option of, and are encouraged to, take leases
subject to fluctuation in the price of corn. One half of the
tenantry accepted leases of various duration—twelve, sixteen, and
some twenty years. Those who prefer a fixed rent have shorter
leases—seven or eight years, and then a readjustment of rent,
according to prices. The rental of the estate at present is
rather more than in 1834 and 1835, but a very large outlay has
been made in improvements to maintain it. In some cases these
improvements are equivalent to a reduction of 12 to 15 per cent.
There is no system of general temporary abatements. If a
complaint is made, the case is at once considered on its own
merits, and, if requisite, the rent is readjusted. At,the end of
every lease a readjustment takes place. A farm taken in 1843
at a fixed rent then calculated, with prices at 56s. as the basis,
is now being converted by adding the value of such improye-
ments as have since been made by the proprietor, and then
charging the rent on the basis of 40s. for the quarter of wheat.
The corn rent is in some cases all corn, in others part corn and
part money, varying with the character of the land, and the
proportion in which its produce is dependent on the prices of
corn. The basis for present (Spring) lettings is 40s. for the
quarter of wheat, regulated afterwards by taking the average of
the whole country for four years, each year taking off one year
and adding another. Game is not preserved, and hedgerow
timber injurious to the tenant is at once felled and removed.

A system of husbandry is prescribed to the tenantry, from
which they . not permitted to deviate except by consent of
the agent. On light land that system is the four- ;
strong land the same, with the mabeli fies of a. in Tew of :
portion of the clover, and such extent of dead fallow as may be
necessary. On new land, much of which has been broken up
Beprorp. ] LABOURERS’ COTTAGES. 437

in consequence of the Tithe Commutation Act, two white crops
are allowed at the commencement. The land is generally breast
ploughed, burned, and sown with cole-seed. This destroys wire-
worm. Oats are then taken, followed by wheat, then beans,
then wheat. The breaking up of inferior pasture has been a
great boon to the farmers, as they have had heavy crops from it
at little expense, and strong land carries good green crops after
first being broken up. The introduction of winter beans into the
rotation has been of immense benefit to the light land farmer, by
enabling him to alter his crops. They require to be planted in
September, if possible, and hence the difficulty of getting them
sufficiently early into the ground in the northern counties, and
consequently their greater uncertainty there.

The comfortable accommodation and welfare of the labourers,
is a consideration with the Duke of Bedford not less important
than equitable arrangements with his tenantry. Cottages are
built in numbers sufficient to suit the wants of the different
farms, with a due proportion for the mechanics also necessary.
The cottages are situated near the farms on which their occu-
pants are to be engaged. They are held directly from the
Duke, from week to week, so that both the labourer and the
farmer are kept in some degree of check. Thus an ill-con-
ducted labourer can be promptly dismissed from the estate,
while a trifling jealousy or pique on the part of the farmer is
not necessarily acquiesced in by the landlord. All the cottages
have two rooms on the ground floor, and two or three sleeping
apartments up stairs. They are fitted with kitchen range, and
copper, — and one fireplace up stairs, — outbuildings for wood,
ashes, and other conveniences, — and an oven common to each
block of cottages.

The cottages are built ina substantial manner, of various
designs, the situation being so chosen as, if possible, to combine
the advantages of a genial airy exposure with a plentiful supply
of water. Ornament is employed, but not further than is in
accordance with the character and objects of the buildings.

FFS
438 EDUCATION OF LABOURERS’ CHILDREN. [Beprorp,

While needless expense is thus avoided, the cottages are sub-
stantially constructed, so that they may not be subject to
frequent repair. The use of hollow brick will, it is expected,
not only cheapen the cost of construction, but add materially to
the dryness of the walls and to the healthy ventilation of the
house. Cottages built of hollow brick, with wall 9 inches
thick, cost 902. to 1002. each.

Field allotments, from an eighth to a quarter of an acre, are
provided close to each cottage, and in the case of villages, as near
at hand as they can be conveniently had. The rent is charged
at rates varying from 20s. to 40s. an acre, inclusive of rates.
The rent of cottages varies from 1s. to 1s. 6d. a week, according
to accommodation, and is paid half-yearly with great regularity.
It is believed to give a return of nearly 3 per cent. on the
outlay, exclusive of the value of the site.

But the education of the labourers’ children is not forgotten
while their bodily comfort is so amply cared for. Schools are
being built at the Duke’s expense, in central villages, for the
accommodation of two or three adjoining parishes, for the more
advanced scholars; and, in most parishes, infant schools are
established, at which the youngest children receive a little
instruction in the immediate neigbourhood of their own homes.
To all of these the Duke subscribes, and the children pay, so
that the schools are partly self-supporting, and the indepen-
dence of the parents is not compromised.

On an estate of such magnitude as that of the Duke of
Bedford, where the duties as well as the rights of property are
so fully recognised, there being constantly new sets of farm
buildings and cottages in progress, it has been found necessary
to erect a complete set of workshops for the construction of
every article required on the estate. In the yard at the Park
farm appropriated to this purpose, 100 workmen are constantly
employed, chiefly skilled mechanics, under the superintendence
of a resident engineer. This is conducted with all the method
of a private speculation, the workmen attending throughout the
Beprorp. ] WORKSHOPS AT WOBURN.

year, from 6 a.m. till half-past 5 p.m., with intervals of hal
hour for breakfast and one hour for dinner. The premises are
lighted, when necessary, with gas, and an equal temperature is
maintained by steam pipes in the different workshops. These
comprise a wood yard, with sawing sheds for cutting up into all
requisite sizes either foreign or home timber, the refuse of
which is split into faggots for the use of the Abbey. Next, a
foundry for all manner of castings; then a smithy; then an ex~
tensive carpenter’s shop; then a plumber, glazier, and painter’s
several apartments. A 25-horse power steam engine saws
the wood, blows the smithy fires, gives motion to the lathes in
the carpenter’s shop, and to planing and other machines, — while
the waste steam from the boiler dries the sawn wood in the
drying shed, warms the workshops, and heats an oven where
the men may cook their dinners. Every kind of work is done
on the premises, and fitted and put together before being
sent out. The windows, doors, and stairs of farm buildings and
cottages, being made of certain dimensions and of certain
uniform sizes, are constructed in sets more economically and
substantially than they could be by country tradesmen. Dur-
ing winter the different articles are prepared in-doors, and in
summer the carpenters and other workmen are sent to put them
up where they are required. Not the least interesting depart-
ment of this establishment is that where troughs for water,
slabs with the Ducal crest or cypher, and other ornamental
parts of architecture, are formed of concrete, possessing all the
hardness and durability of stone.

Adjoining these buildings are the extensive farm premises of
the Duke’s home farm. Here another powerful steam engine
gives motion to every variety of machinery used in working up
the crop on the farm. Many interesting experiments in the
feeding and management of cattle are here being carried on
the data and results being carefully registered for the instruc-
tion of the agricultural public and the Duke’s own tenantry.

Comparative trials are being made of the respective advantages
FR4
440 FATTENING OF CATTLE. [Brprorp.

of box and stall feeding, of the advantages or otherwise of feed-
ing with corn and linseed, as against oilcake, and of the effects
of certain chemical applications in fixing the ammonia in the
manure of the box-fed cattle. All the cattle in the feeding
houses were in the primest condition, so that a spectator could

form no opinion as to the merits of the different modes of

feeding; but it may be remarked that the box-fed cattle were
all under one roof, not exposed with an open side to the air, as
is frequently the case, but in every way as warm as those in
the stalls. The quality of the dung from the box-fed cattle
was said to have proved itself far superior to that from the
stall-fed, but on more minutely inquiring into this, we found
that the dung of the stall-fed cattle had been thrown into an
open yard and mixed with that of the lean cattle, and in this
state tried against the box-fed cattle manure taken directly
from the boxes. Such an experiment proved nothing, and it
just shows how guardedly we must watch every particular of
detail before accepting conclusions as fully proved.

The fattening cattle are being fed, one part with Slb. of
barley, beans, and linseed, and the other with 51b. of oilcake to
each animal, boiled and poured over 14]b. of cut clover hay and
45lb. of cut swedes in layers, in large boxes, which are covered
up and left for twenty-four hours, and the mixture is then given
in three feeds. The cattle get no other food, and no water.
The milch cows, when they calve, receive cut hay, and 1]b. of
oileake daily. On this they do extremely well till the grass is
ready, better than on mangold, and swedes are never given as
they taste in the milk. The year-olds receive cut hay, with 1]b.
of meal sprinkled over it, and 1 peck of cut swedes daily. A
very fine herd of Hereford stock is kept, and a first rate cross,
for quality of meat, is got from an Ayrshire cow by a Hereford
bull. We must not omit mention of the pig department, with
its ample and unusually elegant feeding-house, and the various
contrivances for cooking, and for conveying the food to the
animals without disturbing them.
Beprorp.] COST OF FARM BUILDINGS. 441

The liquid from the different cattle houses and yards is
conveyed to a covered tank, over which a wooden house is
erected, where ashes, night soil, wood ashes, and other dry
refuse are stored, and also the solid droppings from the feeding
stalls. The liquid is pumped over the ashes and the whole
turned and mixed together to dry, in which state the mixture is
drilled in as manure with the turnip seed.

The farm buildings throughout the estate are many of them
very extensive and new, but we cannot say that they appeared
to us to be designed with that regard to economy and arrange-
ment which would render them models for other estates. They
comprise extensive barn accommodation, stables, feeding stalls,
and large open yards, with sheds for young cattle. A farm let
at 25s. an acre, or 400 acres for 5002, costs five years’ rent
for all new outbuildings, including dwelling-house for the farmer.
A farm at 6002. will cost somewhat less in proportion, and one
at 4002. considerably more, so that farms of not less than 500
acres are found the most economical division for an estate. A
set of farm buildings is at present being erected for a small
farm in which the whole stock and manure are to be under
cover.

We have already referred to the business-like arrangements
which the Duke makes with his tenantry. The connection
subsisting between them is of an intelligent character, inasmuch
as a tenant receives his farm in fitting order for the employment
of his capital, neither cramped with insufficient accommodation
for his stock, nor wasting his means in undrained land. His
crops are not destroyed by game, nor injured by hedgerow
timber. He has the option of a lease and a corn rent. With
these advantages his rent is moderately charged, but proper
opportunities are taken for a readjustment, by which the land-
lord receives his fair share of the increased returns, partly the
result of his own expenditure, partly arising from the general
progress of agriculture, the increase of population, and the
accumulating wealth of the country. Tenants remain long on
442 A WISE LANDLORD. [Beprorp.

the estate, but a change i is made, without hesitation, when
_ believed to be necessary. pal

“© To improve the dwellings of the labouring class, and afford
them the means of greater cleanliness, health, and comfort in
their own homes, to extend education, and thus raise the social
and moral habits of those most valuable members of the com-
munity, are among the first duties, and ought to be among the
truest pleasures, of every landlord.” Such are the words of the
present Duke of Bedford, and truly is he carrying them into
practice. Recognising in their fullest extent the responsibilities of
his high position, he rests himself not on the possession of great
wealth or the pride of ancestry, but in the performance of those
duties which secure the confidence of his tenantry, and engage
the affectionate respect of the labourers. If we should venture
to say to other landlords, “ Go, and do thou likewise,” we may
be met with the reply, that they have not equal means at their
disposal. Yet the same circumstances which limit or extend
their property, limit also or extend the claims on their justice;
and great though the expenditure of the Duke may be, it is
governed by that prudent foresight and adherence to economical
principles which, while it provides for a fair return from the
investment, at the same time draws forth the intelligent energies
of those who share in the prosperity thereby created.

 

 
443

LETTER XLUIX.

BEDFORDSHIRE — continued.

FARMING AT LIDLINGTON — MANAGEMENT OF THE VARIOUS CROPS —VALUE OF
WINTER BEANS — CLAY LAND — MANGOLD — COMPARATIVE VALUE OF
LEICESTER AND SOUTHDOWN BREEDS OF SHEEP — MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP
—- OF OXEN — COOKED FOOD ECONOMICAL—-FEEDING OF HORSES — FARM
BUILDINGS AND MACHINERY — ECONOMY OF STEAM POWER-— COST OF
THRASHING —- CONSUMPTION OF COALS — COMPARISON BETWEEN SHORT
HORNS AND DEVONS — PROFIT ON GALLOWAYS— GRASS LAND INJURED BY
DRAINAGE — DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT AND EXPENSE OF SAND AND CHALK
SOILS — LAND AS IT BECOMES RICHER IS BETTER FITTED FOR WHEAT THAN
BARLEY—RELATIVE VALUE OF THE TWO CROPS—ADVANTAGE OF LEAVING A
TENANT FREE TO ADAPT HIS MANAGEMENT TO CHANGES OF CIRCUMSTANCE
-— COMPENSATION FOR REDUCE DPRICES — RENT — RATES AND WAGES —
CARDINGTON TO SOUTHHILL — STRAW FOR PLAITING AT DUNSTABLE.

Brprorp, Feb., 1851.

From Woburn, towards Bedford, by Lidlington, we pass

through a country of various geological character, including the

greensand and the clays of the middle and upper oolite forma-
tions, On the former the surface is much undulated, rising
into dry rounded ridges of considerable elevation, the soil some-
times a blowing sand, sometimes a fine loam, and generally good
land for turnip crops and sheep feeding. From these the road
drops suddenly, and by steep descents, into the level plains of
the clay districts stretching towards the Ouse and its tributaries,
where the mode of husbandry is regulated by the heavy
character of the land. At a point where the two districts of
country join, one sees in immediate contrast the modifications of
management dictated by experience, and at Lidlington we were
fortunate in meeting with a large farmer whose occupation
includes both the heavy soil of the plain, and the light turnip
soil hills of the greensand.

Mr. Thomas, of Lidlington, a tenant of the Duke of Bedford,
occupies a farm of 740 acres in extent, 240 of which are in
444 FARMING AT LIDLINGTON. [Brprorp.

grass, and 500 under the plough. Of the latter, 240 acres are
light land, and 260 acres clay or heavy land. The light land is
farmed on the four course, thus :—

1. Turnips—in preparation for which the land is ploughed
‘ and crossploughed before winter, stirred in spring with Finlay-
son’s harrow, and after being cleaned it is ploughed the last
furrow. The seed is then drilled on the flat, at 2 feet intervals,
with 3 cwt. to 4 cwt. of superphosphate, and, where the clover
leys have not been dunged, with dung also. Two-thirds of the
crop is consumed on the ground by sheep. These are stored
very cheaply by throwing six rows together from each side to
the centre, and covering them by a bout of the plough. When
wanted, they are taken up and given to the sheep, cut, in
troughs. Two-thirds of the turnip crop are swedes. White
turnips are grown after autumn-sown tares, as soon as these have
been taken off the ground, for early feed. .

2. Barley.—For this crop a good tilth is absolutely indis-
pensable, and must regulate both the time of sowing and the
quantity of seed. The sooner it can be got in after the new
year the better, provided the state of the soil and the weather
admit. With a fine tilth 2 bushels an acre are sufficient for
seed, and 3 bushels the most under any circumstances. It
is generally drilled, though, when it can be done, it succeeds
better by being sown broadcast and scuffled in. One-half of
this division is sown out with “seeds,” the other, after harvest,
with winter beans. The half of the “seeds” is sown with 14 lb.
red clover and 6 lb. trefoil per acre; the other half with 14]b.
white clover and 6 |b. rib grass. No rye grass is sown, as it has
been found to injure the succeeding wheat crop greatly.

3. “Seeds” and winter beans, half of this division in each
alternately. As much of the “seeds” is dunged in September
and October as there is dung for. For winter beans the. stubble
is dunged before being ploughed: they are sown in September
and first ten days of October, and are a very hardy and prolific
variety. In spring they stool or tiller in a remarkable manner,
Beprorp. | BEANS—-WHEAT — CLAY LAND. 445

so that it is necessary to be very cautious about the quantity of
seed sown. It should never exceed 1} bushels per acre, and
the rows should not be less than 24 inches apart. The yield is
good, 50 bushels an acre on sandy as well as light land, being
got quite successfully and regularly. The introduction of this °
crop into the four course rotation on light lands is considered
one of the most important improvements of the alternate system
of husbandry, both by postponing, and thereby rendering more
certain, the clover crop, and by the intrinsic value of the bean
crop itself. Cow grass, which used to be sown instead of red
clover, comes so much later in spring, that, having no compen-
sating value, it has been discontinued.

4, Wheat.— Spalding’s red wheat is the variety used, at the
rate of 2 bushels an acre on the clover leys. It is drilled by
the light Bedfordshire drill with wonderful accuracy, on hill
sides so steep that it is difficult even to walk on them. In
spring the wheat is generally hand-hoed. Mr. Thomas ex-
pressed a strong opinion against very thin sowing, into which
he had been several times beguiled to his loss.

The course of management on the clay land is prescribed by
the terms of lease, and is a six course, as follows: —1. Fallow,
with cole-seed or tares dunged; the bare fallow limed. 2.
Wheat sown on fallows with 14 bushel of seed, and top dressed
with 2 cwt. of guano in spring. 3. Clover. 4. Oats, the
stubble dunged for 5, Beans. 6. Wheat. Mr. Thomas has
little doubt that wheat might be taken every other year with
advantage, but he is restricted as above.

Deep loam recently broken up from pasture is found best for
the growth of the mangold, which does not succeed on the sand
land. It is drilled in at 2 feet intervals in the last week of April,
or first week of May, with 4 cwt. of superphospate per acre,
and if the land has long been in cultivation, with dung ploughed
in besides. The yellow globe is the variety most approved.

A flock of 500 ewes is kept on the farm—one-half Leicesters
and one-half Downs — both breeds being kept pure and distinct.
446 LEICESTER AND DOWN SHEEP COMPARED. [Bsprorp.

As Mr. Thomas has followed this practice for nearly twenty years
he has had an ample opportunity of studying their comparative
excellence. But so difficult does he find it to judge between
them that he is still undecided as to which has proved the most
advantageous flock. The male produce of the Leicester ewes is
sold of at fourteen months old, averaging 20lb. per quarter,
and producing about 7lb. of wool. The Downs, with similar
management, do not become fit for the butcher until eighteen
months old, when they are also sold, averaging, as the others,
about 201b. per quarter, and clipping about 41b. of wool. So
far this shows an average in favour of the Leicester, but a 10
stone (of 8]b.) Leicester is now making about 36s. and a Down
of the same weight 40s. The fleece is also worth a trifle more
per lb. From 250 Leicester ewes there are rarely more than
250 lambs raised, while the 250 Downs often rear 350 lambs.
The casualties, too, attending the Down flock are much less
than those which attach to the Leicester. Parturition is much
easier, and they rarely prove barren. From the fact that upon
rich grass land the Down sheep often becomes poor, while in the
same field the Leicester becomes extremely fat, it would seem
that each breed has its proper locality; and it may be that farms
possessing both descriptions of soil would be best stocked by
crossing the two breeds. The best shearlings which this county
produces are a cross between the Down ewe and the Costwold
ram, but it does not do to breed from this cross, the produce in
such trials haying proved very bad.

The shepherd is paid 1s. a head for every lamb alive and well
on the 1st of June, over and above the number of ewes put to
the ram at the previous Michaelmas. The lambs are wintered
in three flocks, two of which are fattening tegs, and one, ewe
tegs, to be drawn into the flock next year. The old ewes which
are culled out are immediately put on the best keep and
are sold as soon as fat, or as stores, but they are not put to
turnips, as they eat enormously and seldom pay for their food.
No vegetable will fatten an old ewe faster than cole-seed.— (We
BeEprorp. ] GRAZING OF SHEEP—AND CATTLE. 447

noticed a practice in Northamptonshire of nipping off the front
teeth of the old ewes and then turning them into the swedes to
eat the tops, on which, with half a pint of lentils daily, they
fatten quickly. The sheep appear to suffer little pain from
this operation, and the succulent leaves of the swede are thus
consumed while in their most nutritious state, the bulb being
left untouched.) In spring— April or May —Mr. Thomas pur-
chases all the tegs that are required to run on the old pastures
among the fattening oxen. Those of his own tegs which do not
go away fat from turnips are put on the best “seeds,” and
forced as much as possible on corn and cake. As they go off,
their places on the “seeds” are filled up by the purchased tegs
from the grazing pastures. Thus, towards Midsummer, the
grass fields are relieved of sheep, and the proper succession
of mutton is kept up for Smithfield. The Leicester tegs have
cake and corn during the winter, 3lb. of beans, and, towards the
end of the turnip season, 4lb. of oilcake also. The Downs, in
addition to cut swedes, receive clover chaff. There are no sub-
division fences on the sand land division of this farm, and the
sheep are therefore folded at all seasons, being placed in summer
on a new piece of clover daily, and shifted back during the night
on the piece they had the day before.

In the management of oxen the system followed by Mr.
Thomas is to purchase every spring or summer 80 good two-
year-old Devons, or short-horns, or three-year-old-Scots; to run
them upon inferior sward that summer; winter them well; graze
them on the best land the following year; and get them all off
fat from grass as early in autumn as possible. These details of
the management of sheep and cattle are founded on long expe-
rience and capable advice.

In the winter-feeding of cattle Mr. Thomas finds the following
mixture an excellent and economical substitute for turnips : —
for fifteen beasts, 5 lb. per head of bruised lentils and offal wheat
and barley are mixed up in equal portions, and put into 80
gallons of water, which is then boiled by steam for half-an-hour ;
448 HORSES —FARM BUILDINGS AND MACHINERY. [Bxprorp.

it is then taken out by buckets and poured over layers of chaff,
half hay and half oat straw; this stands for twenty-four hours
in a close box, when it is served out to the cattle once a day.
Besides this, they have straw fodder in the evening, but no
turnips or other food, and are kept in very fresh, good con-
dition. The cooking and steaming apparatus made by Stanley
of Peterborough is used on this farm, and at the Park farm at
Woburn, and other places we visited, and is very highly ap-
proved of.

The farm horses receive each a bushel of oats and a bushel
of beans (split) per week throughout the year. The stables
open into a yard with a covered shed, into which the horsés
are turned loose every night. There they receive lucerne or
tares in summer, and during the winter they have, with their
corn, iu the stable, cut chaff, half hay and half straw, and 14 Ib.
of hay each at night under the shed. They are very rarely
turned out to pasture in the fields.

The farm buildings, which have been erected within the last
few years, are extensive and commodious. They include feeding
houses for fattening cattle in stalls, which seems the mode gene-
rally preferred in this county, as having been found to make earlier
maturity with the same expenditure of food. Mr. Thomas, at his
own cost, has erected a very complete suite of barn machinery,
comprising a 6-horse steam engine; thrashing mill with hum-
melers, shakers, and dressing machinery; French burr stones for
grinding ; linseed crusher; and hay and straw cutter. This last
machine is by Ferrabee of Stroud, and is here preferred to that
of Cornes, which has been laid aside. The difficulty of sharpening
the latter is the only objection to it; but as that must be frequently
done on a large occupation where a great quantity of chaff is cut,
the time lost in unscrewing the knives and taking them off to be
sharpened is a serious objection, when brought into comparison
with the ingenious mode in which Ferrabee’s machine is sharpened.
By merely reversing the motion and applying a stick of emery
to the face of the knives, they are sharpened in a few minutes
Beprorp. ] PROFIT ON SHORT HORNS AND DEVONS. 449

and with very little delay. The cost of the engine and machinery
altogether has been about 5002, and will, no doubt, be con-
sidered by many very extravagant. Mr. Thomas finds it an
excellent investment, as it has effected a saving to him of 200/.
a year in labour, which, released from barn work, is now more
advantageously employed in other departments of his farm.
One ton of coals, costing 15s., keeps the engine in constant work
for three days, thrashing and dressing 200 bushels of wheat per
day, at a cost, including labour and every expense, of 8d. per
quarter. The same work, Mr. Thomas calculates, would cost
by horse-power 2s. 8d. per quarter, and by hand, 3s. 4d. to 4s.
The whole crop on this farm, last year, was thrashed by the use
of 26 tons of coals. ;

The advantage to the grazier of feeding the most profit-
able breed of cattle is a matter of much importance. He must
endeayour not only to stock his land with good cattle, but with
that particular description which, with the same consumption of
food, will leave him the largest profit. The following ex-
periment between short-horns and Devons was tried by Mr.
Thomas, to satisfy himself as to the respective merits of these
two favourite breeds : —

SsHort-Horns. Devons.

Purchased at Darlington,
Easter Monday fair, 1842, —
41 2-year-old steers,at £10 18 0

each.

1843, same fair, —

45 ditto, at - - £12 138 6

These two lots of beasts
were kept till the following
Christmas twelvemonths, and
made respectively 19/. and
211 Ils. leaving a difference
respectively of 8/. 2s. 8d. and
81. 17s. 6d., or an average in-
crease of 87. 10s.

Purchased at Aylesbury,
May 27. 1842, —

50 2-year-old Devons, at £8 0O

each.

1843, same market,—

45 ditto at - - - £8 10

These two lots were kept
until the following September
twelvemonths, and made, from
grass, respectively, 16/. 14s. 2d.
and 197. 12s., leaving a differ-
ence respectively of 82. 14s. 2d.
and 110. 2s., or an average in-
crease of 91. 18s.

GG
450 DRAINAGE SAID TO BE INJURIOUS. (Beprorp.

Both lots were fed the first winter on turnips and straw, and
grazed precisely alike; but the Devons, with three months’ less
keep, left the largest increase in value, and, considering also
the smaller amount of capital employed in their purchase, proved
themselves a good deal more profitable on Mr. Thomas’s farm
than the short-horns.

Mr. Thomas finds Galloway Scots a pleasant and gene-
rally profitable stock. His average advance for a year’s keep
for this breed of cattle, bought at Barnet on the 4th of Sep-
tember, and sold in the end of August, during the last fourteen
years, has been 71. a head. They are wintered on turnips and
straw, and kept in summer on the best grass land.

While speaking of the grass lands, we may mention that on
strong land here, which was apt to poach in wet weather, but
produced no rushes, tile drainage, at 18 feet distances and 3 feet
depth, proved injurious. The finer grasses disappeared and
gave place to hassocks of coarse bent, which the stock leave un-
touched. These Mr. Thomas proposes to get rid of by laying
cake on them which the cattle will eat, and at the same time,
perhaps, the coarse grass also. The best grazing lands of South
Leicestershire are said to have been much injured in the same
way by an injudicious application of the modern system of tile
drainage.

In the grazing of sandy land the clover should be allowed to
grow ankle deep, otherwise when ploughed for wheat it turns
up like a desert. In the chalk country, again, it is found most
advantageous to eat the clover very bare during summer, and
let it get up at last before being ploughed. On account of the
greater readiness: with which the sand laud runs to weed, and
partly, also, from an inferiority in the labourers, Mr. Thomas,
who some years ago farmed extensively in Hertfordshire, found
a difference in the expense of labour in favour of a chalk and
flint soil in that county of 10s. an acre, the chalk land of
Hertfordshire costing him 18s., and the sand land of Bedford-
shire 28s. an acre for labour, with the same system of manage-
Beprorp.] WHEAT OR BARLEY? 451

ment. We are inclined to attribute some portion of this
increased charge to the gradual and certain, though perhaps
imperceptible, increase of employment caused by the progress
of agricultural improvement, not the least important benefit
of which is that every addition to the annual average of our
crops increases the amount of labour necessary to manage and
manufacture them.

Another consequence of improved farming was here brought
under our notice, which further illustrates a principle of much
importance. That the produce per acre of barley does not
increase under high farming in the same proportion as the straw;
that, in fact, the crop runs to straw to the injury of the corn,
while, on the contrary, the wheat crop increases in yield with
higher cultivation. During the last fourteen years the wheat
crop on this farm has averaged 35 bushels an acre, and the
barley 42}—the former progressing, the latter stationary. The
respective average realised values of the two crops during the
same period has been, of

Wheat per acre - - - - £13 3 6
Of barley per acre - - - 8 6 0
Difference in favour of wheat per acre - £417 6

The experience of Mr. Thomas coincides with that of many
other eminent farmers whom we have visited, in this, that, on as
rouch of his turnip lan 1 as can be cleared in good season, nothing
but the terms of his agreement prevent him from realising this
difference of value, as he has no doubt that, with good farming,
wheat might be taken, on soils suitable for its cultivation, every
alternate year. This we state, not as any matter of complaint
against his landlord, to whom he has not applied for such a
change, but to show to landlords and agents how important it is
that they should be careful not to bind their tenants down to
rules of management which the progress of agricultural know-
ledge has rendered obsolete, and which, besides being the cause
of serious loss to the tenant, are positively injurious to the land-

GG 2
452 COMPENSATION FOR REDUCED PRICES. [Beprorp.

lord by preventing the full development of the capabilities of
his land. The science of agriculture is progressive; every year
is adding new facts to our knowledge, and opening up new
sources of fertility for our farms. A system founded on the
principle of making a farm self-supporting, might be a very pro-
per one when the price of purchased manure and the expense of
transporting it were greater than the value. of the additional
produce created by it. But the discovery of guano, the manu-
facture of artificial manures, the facilities of transport by
railway, and the vast increase of population, are completely
changing these relative values; and the landlord or the tenant
who remains blind to these changes, and fights against them,
must have a losing game in competing with his neighbour who
has the wisdom and prudence to turn them to his advantage.

The circumstances to which Mr, Thomas looks to compensate
him in some degree for the fall in the price of corn are, a
partial corn rent, the saving he has effected by the use of the
steam engine, which he calculates at 2007. a year, the partial
substitution of wheat for barley in the rotation, and the growth
of potatoes for the London market. For this crop the sand
land of the farm is well adapted, and its situation, close to a
railway station about 50 miles from London, gives it great
facility of transport.

The town of Bedford is surrounded by a fine, low,” rich
country. Towards Cardington the fields are open and the soil
of various quality. Strong, deep, friable land, suitable for the
production of all kinds of crops, is let at 36s. an acre; very
good, sharp land, level and easy of culture, at from 20s. to 30s.;
and level clay land as low as 18s., all tithe free. The rates
altogether are about 3s. a pound additional. The county rates
are increasing, on account of the police and other expenses, over
which the ratepayers have no control. Nor do they expect to
be much benefitted by Mr. Milner Gibson’s bill, if he adopts the
recommendation of Sir George Grey to restrict the choice of the
boards of guardians, who are to represent them at the county finan-
Beprorp.] CARDINGTON TO SOUTHHILL. 453

cial boards, to such only as are magistrates, the practical effect of
which would be, that the ratepaying farmers would have no real
representation, as a bond fide farmer, however otherwise eligible,
is seldom or never placed on the commission of the peace.

In this district the labourers’ wages vary from 8s., the
lowest, to 9s. and 10s. a week. The four-course system of cul-
tivation is beginning to be changed, by taking oats after wheat
in order to postpone the recurrence of turnips for a season.
Winter beans, as a change from clover, are also being adopted
in this part of the county. 40 bushels of barley and 25 of red
wheat are reckoned good average crops. No potatoes are
cultivated for sale, and very little dairy produce. A little cake
is purchased for the stock, but no artificial manure whatever to
be applied directly to the crops. On a farm of 400 acres the
number of cattle wintered were 4 feeding fat, and 30 young
cattle, getting 3lb. of cake, and some meal and millers’ offal
daily. The pure Leicester sheep ceasing to breed, are now
being crossed with great advantage by Southdown rams. Land
not of the strongest character is very commonly fallowed during
the summer, once in the course, and sown with barley in spring.
The horses, which are strong and good, are sometimes yoked
three in line, but generally two abreast. The crop is altogether
thrashed by hand; and, though the mowing of wheat is gaining
ground, reaping is more common, followed by the mowing of
the stubble.

On the estate of Mr. Whitbread, who, next to the Duke
of Bedford, is the largest landowner in the county, the farm
buildings are generally very old fashioned — wood and thatch.
Hedgerow timber is being cut down, but there has been
no reduction nor abatement of rents, as the farms are under-
stood to be moderately let. There are no leases on this estate,
but the tenants are not disturbed nor changed, and if a farm
is given up there are numerous competitors for it. In the
neighbourhood of Southhill, where there is a tract of very fine
country, we found spring wheat after turnips being substituted

eu 3
454 DUNSTABLE STRAW PLAIT. [Beprorp.

to a great extent for barley, on account of the low price of the
latter, and partly, also, on account of the value of the wheat
straw, for which there is a demand for plaiting at Dunstable.
The wheat is sown thick and broadcast, to improve the quality
of the straw for this purpose, and as suitable straw brings
from 62. to 824 a ton, it is as valuable by the acre as corn. In
some districts of the county this business is followed with much
advantage.
455

LETTER L.
HERTFORDSHIRE. — MIDDLESEX.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY — RENT AND RATES — COURSE OF CROPS —
SIZE OF FARMS — WAGES — FARMING AT LAWRENCE END — TOP DRESSING
FOR GRASS LAND — PRACTICE OF “INOCULATING” GRASS LAND — PROFITS
ON FAT CATTLE, AND MANAGEMENT — OF SHEEP — EXPENDITURE IN MA-
NURE, FOOD, AND ON LABOUR—ROTHAMSTEAD PARK — MR. LAWES’ VALU-
ABLE EXPERIMENTS — SUCCESSIVE WHEAT CROPS — AMMONIA THE ESSEN-
TIAL REQUISITE OF MANURE FOR WHEAT—THE ADVANTAGES OF ITS
APPLICATION LIMITED BY CLIMATE— NEW PLAN OF FARMING CLAY SOILS
SUGGESTED — VALUE OF OTHER MANURES — SHED FEEDING OF SHEEP —
PLAN OF DOING SO ON THE TURNIP FIELD-—- FARM HORSES — MIDDLESEX
GROWTH OF ITALIAN RYE GRASS AT MR. DICKENSON’S FARM —VALUE OF
LIQUID MANURE— EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCE—-WANT OF DRAINAGE NEAR
LONDON.

Hemxzt Hemesteap, Feb. 1851.

Entering Hertfordshire near Hitchin, we passed through a
picturesque country much resembling the quick succession of
hill and valley in South Devon, with the same winding narrow
lanes, shut in on either side by close and lofty hedgerows.
Nearly the whole county lies upon chalk, at greater or less
depth beneath the surface. On the Northern side the chalk
substratum chiefly influences the character of the soil, clay pre-
vails on the South and Essex borders, and rich, sandy loams are
found in the valleys along which the various rivers and streams
flow through the county.

Taking a line from Hitchin to Hemel Hempstead, the
average rent for a large district is 25s. an acre, tithe free, all
rates being covered by 3s. an acre at the utmost. The common
system of cultivation is the five-course — viz., turnips or fallow,
barley, clover, wheat, oats. Naked fallows are very much
adopted. The average extent of farms is 200 acres. Small

farmers holding from 50 to 100 acres are not doing well.
caf
456 FARMING AT LAWRENCE END. (Herts.

Some may manage just to keep going, but no more, while
many of them must go out of the business. As an example of
the common mode of husbandry in the district, we found that
on a farm of rather more than 200 acres, the whole stock was
six cows and 100 ewes. The calves are fattened, and the dairy
produce sold as butter. The lambs are either fattened, or sold
as stores at 16s: or 18s. each. About twenty pigs are fattened.
Six horses work the farm, three in line in a plough. Part of
the straw is sold at about. 12. a load, and soot purchased in lieu
of it. The wheat crop yields twenty-two bushels an acre, oats
twenty-four, and barley thirty-two. No cake, and very little,
if any, artificial manure is purchased. Labourers are paid 9s.
a-week. No land is given up by the tenants, and farms
continue to let readily.

The management adopted by Mr. Oakley, of Lawrence End,
is of a very different character. He holds in his own occupa-
tion two farms of about 400 acres each; 140 acres of the
home farm being grass. He tries to have wheat every second
year, instead of alternating with barley, as he finds it to pay
better. His average crops of wheat are now thirty-five bushels
an acre, having nearly doubled them within seven years, and
his barley forty bushels an acre, He very rarely takes oats
in succession to wheat, and only then when the land is in
high condition. Begining with the

1. Turnip crop.— On such part of the land after barley as
the clover has not taken well, white turnips are sown in April,
with 3 cwt. of Lawes’ superphosphate, to be eaten off in
August and September by sheep with corn, and to be followed
by wheat drilled in October. The main crop of swedes is sown
in May, the land having been previously manured with twelve
tons of dung, ploughed in, if possible, in February. About the
middle of May the seed is drilled on the flat with 2 cwt. of
Lawes’ superphosphate, mixed with eight bushels of ashes to
the acre. Green top turnips are sown in the middle of June,
to be eaten by the “couples” and ewe tegs. In the end of June,
a few acres of green top swedes are sown for feeding at the last
Herrs.] TOP DRESSING AND “INOCULATING ” GRASS LAND. 457

of the season, and that land (then too late for a corn crop) is
sown with white turnips or rape, to be followed in autumn by
wheat, which is found a good system.

2. Turnips are followed by wheat or barley, chiefly wheat,
which is sown at the rate of two bushels an acre. The
varieties sown are the golden goody —a red wheat, very pro-
ductive, but thin looking on the ground in winter — and red
straw white wheat. In spring a spring variety is sown till
February, but not later; after that barley is sown, or if the
land is much trodden and cloddy, it is sown with oats.

3. Seeds.— A mixture of 16]b. red clover, and 5b. of
trefoil, is sown for mowing, once in eight years; 16]b. of trefoil
alone, for grazing with fattening sheep. The couples are first
allowed to run over the trefoil without eating it down close,
and it is then regularly penned off with sheep, fed also on corn.
It is ploughed in October, and drilled with

4. Wheat.— The wheat is not hoed in spring, but any
thistles or other large weeds are picked out.

The grass land that is mowed for hay is dressed with 2 cwt.
of guano and twelve or fourteen bushels of ashes every year.
The increased produce of hay repays the manure, and the after-
grass is very superior. The ashes are made by burning hedge
sides and waste places.

The system called “inoculating” grass land, is practised here
very successfully. The object is to obtain at an early period
the natural grasses of an old pasture on newly laid out land,
and is managed thus: —A small plough is passed along an old
pasture, from which it throws out about three inches of turf
and leaves a little more, returning again with another strip
of turf, of the same breadth, until the requisite quantity is
obtained. A corn drill is then passed over the ground to
be inoculated, the coulters of which mark it off in rows at
eight inches apart. The sod is then cut into little pieces
and laid down in the rows, each piece about four inches apart,
by men who then tread it into the ground. This must be
done in damp weather in September or October. In spring
458 FEEDING OF CATTLE AND SHEEP. (Herrs.

the ground is rolled and a little Dutch clover is sown, after
which the whole is allowed to seed itself, and stock is put on iv
autumn. By this process a fine pasture is rapidly tormed, and
on that portion where the strips of turf had been cut out, the
ground soon covers itself from the adjoining rows of grass.

In the grazing of stock Mr. Oakley buys part Scots and part
Herefords, and changes twice a year, fattening off in each case.
In summer all the cattle receive half a peck each of split
Egyptian beans daily, given in boxes on the pastures or in an
adjoining yard. In winter they receive clover hay chaff, as
much as they will eat, a bushel of cut swedes daily, and 10 Ib.
of foreign oilcake each—that being the cheapest at present.
This management not only greatly enriches the pastures and
improves the quality of the foldyard manure, but enables
Mr. Oakley to realize about 142 for the year’s keep of each of
his cattle, or 71. a-head for each of the two lots. But his stock
are of the primest quality and sent direct to a west-end butcher,
who gives so much a stone (sending down the weight of the
animal when killed), and thus saving the salesman’s commission
and the risks of Smithfield.

A stock of 300 Leicester ewes is kept, which are crossed
with a Cotswold ram. The produce have more wool and less
fat than the pure Leicester. They rear, on an average, a lamb
to an ewe. The wethers are fattened off at a year old, bring-
ing, between mutton and wool, about 40s.; having constantly
received corn summer and winter, on the seeds and turnips.
When the lambs are weaned, in June, the stock ewes are put on
inferior pasture. The culled ewes are placed on “the seeds,”
and receive corn to fatten them with all expedition, then on white
turnips in August, and are ready for sale in September or
October. They are sold at four-years old. Never more than
100 of any age are kept in one pen at a time.

About 5002. are expended annually on this farm in purchased
food, beans, and oilcake, and about half that sum in artificial
manures, guano, and Lawes’ superphosphate. Labour costs
Heats. | ROTHAMSTEAD PARK. 459

25s. an acre, and 5s. an acre more is expended in stubbing
hedges, and other improvements not strictly farm work.

From Lawrence End we proceeded to Rothamstead Park, the
residence of Mr. Lawes, whose papers on agricultural chemistry
in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society have thrown
so much light on the rationale of farming. Other writers are
obliged to depend on experiments over the details of which they
have little control, and for the certainty of which they must
rely on the good faith of their informant; but Mr. Lawes
carries into practice under his own eye the researches which his
scientific attainments enable him to originate, and superintends
himself the accuracy of results on which he ventures to found
conclusions of importance. Any one conversant with the exact-
itude required in agricultural experiments, and the facility with
which attendants may make inadvertent blunders, or ready
assertions on matters which, the evidences being removed, can-
not be disproved, will at once estimate the value of such scientific
superintendence as that of Mr. Lawes. Laying down for him-
self a certain line of inquiry, he tests it under many various
circumstances, noting everything as he proceeds, waiting
patiently, week by week, month by month, year by year, till
his cumulative facts have laid a foundation so broad and strong
that his results may safely be relied on as a certainty. With
patience and perseverance, practice so combined with science
may in one man’s lifetime do much for agriculture. The facts
which are slowly accumulating will in due time be given to the
world, and while there cannot be a doubt that they will extend
the fame of their author, they will settle many disputed points
in agriculture on which the practical farmer now vainly asks for
a trustworthy guide.

On some very important points Mr. Lawes has arrived at
results in our opinion most interesting and instructive. No
branch of British agriculture has presented greater difficulties
in its consideration in connection with the prospect of a
considerably lower average of the price of corn than the ma-
460 MR. LAWES’ EXPERIMENTS. [Herrs.

nagement of clay soils. Increased breadths of green crop and
grass, with a larger head of stock, may help to compensate the
farmer of that description of convertible soil which is appropri-
ately termed in some counties “ stock” land; but this remedy
is not available, in anything like the same extent, to the farmer
of stiff clay. In the common course of husbandry, green crops
are got on such soils with so much expenditure of labour, that,
apart from other considerations, they scarcely repay the expense.
For fear of injuring the soil in autumn, they must either be
taken off the ground before they have arrived at maturity, or
left on it for dry frosty weather, when the season for sowing
wheat advantageously on such soils is past. The most. valuable
crop in the rotation is thus superseded, or imperfectly managed,
In the latter case the land becomes foul, each year adds to the
mischief, and the disappointed farmer has no remedy at last but
a long fallow. He has been disgusted with green’ crops, a
wheat crop once in four years with present prices does not pay,
and he reluctantly comes to the conclusion that if no other than
the ordinary alternate system can be devised, the cultivation
of stiff clays must be abandoned.

To this point, for the last ten years, Mr. Lawes has directed
a series of experiments. On a soil of heavy loam, on which
sheep cannot be fed on turnips, four, five, and six feet above
the chalk, and therefore uninfluenced by it, except in so far
as it is thereby naturally drained, ten crops of wheat have been
taken in succession, one portion always without any manure
whatever, and the rest with a variety of manures the effects of
which have been carefully observed. The seed is of the red
cluster variety, drilled uniformly in rows at eight inches apart,
and two bushels to the acre, hand-hoed twice in spring, and
kept perfectly free from weeds. When the crop is removed
the land is scarified with Bentall’s skimmer, all weeds are
removed, it is ploughed once, and the seed for the next crop
is then drilled in. During the ten years the land, in a natural
state, without manure, has produced a uniform average of

 
&
Herts. SUCCESSIVE WHEAT CROPS. 461

sixteen bushels of wheat an acre, with 100]b. of straw per
bushel of wheat, the actual quantity varying with the change
of seasons between fourteen and twenty bushels. The repeti-
tion of the crop has made no diminution or change in the
uniformity of the average, and the conclusion seems to be
established that if the land is kept clean and worked at proper
seasons, it is impossible to exhaust this soil below the power of
producing sixteen bushels of wheat every year.

But this natural produce may be doubled by the application
of certain manures. Of these Mr. Lawes’s experiments lead
him to conclude that ammonia is the essential requisite. His
conclusions are almost uniform, that no organic matter affects
the produce of wheat except in so far as it yields ammonia, and
that the whole of the organic matter of the corn crop is taken
from the atmosphere by the medium of ammonia. There is
a constant loss of ammonia going on by expiration, so that
a larger quantity must be supplied than is contained in the
crop. For practical purposes, 5lb. of ammonia is found to
produce a bushel of wheat, and the cheapest form of ammonia
at present being Peruvian guano, | cwt. of that substance may
be calculated to give four bushels of wheat. The natural
produce of sixteen bushels an acre may, therefore, be doubled
by the application of 4 cwt. of Peruvian guano.

To this, however, there is a limit— climate. Ammonia
gives growth, but it depends on climate whether that pro-
duce is straw or corn. Ina wet, cold summer, a heavy ap-
plication of ammonia produces an undue development of the
circulating condition of the plant, the crop is laid, and the
farmer’s hopes disappointed. Seven of corn to ten of straw
is usually the most productive crop, five to ten seldom yields
well. The prudent farmer will, therefore, regulate his appli-
cation of ammonia with a reference to the average character
of the climate in which his farm is situated.

Straw, the refuse of the corn crops, Mr. Lawes considers to
be of no value as an application for wheat, except for its
e
462 CORN REDUCES, NOT EXHAUSTS, FERTILITY. Herts,

ammonia, which can be more cheaply obtained otherwise. But
the turnip converts straw into food, and in this it is amazingly
aided by phosphates; hence one great benefit of growing
turnips on a farm. On heavy soils turnips are out of place, as
already shown in the ordinary system of farming; but with
the view of converting the refuse of the corn crops into food
they may be very usefully grown.

The practical conclusion at which we arrive is this, that in
the cultivation of a clay land farm, of similar quality of soil to
that of Mr. Lawes, there is no other restriction necessary than
to keep the land clean. That while it is very possible to re-
duce the land by weeds, it is impossible to exhaust it (to a certain
point it may be reduced) by cleanly cultivated corn crops.
That it is an ascertained fact. that wheat may be taken on soils
of this description, (provided they are manured) year after year
with no other limit than the necessity for cleaning the land, and
that may best be accomplished by an occasional green crop —
turnip or mangold, as best suits — at great intervals, the straw
being brought to the most rotten state, and applied in the
greatest possible quantity to insure a good crop, which will
clean the land well. If these conclusions are satisfactorily
proved, the present mode of cultivating heavy clays may be
greatly changed, and the owners and occupiers of such soils be
better compensated in their cultivation than they have of late
had reason to anticipate.

While below a certain point, Mr. Lawes has ascertained that
his soil cannot be exhausted by continued crops of wheat, he
has found that green crops, without manure, run out entirely,
and that, consequently, they exhaust the land of that which is
necessary to their growth to a far greater degree that the
wheat crop. On light soils the turnip comes beautifully into
the four-course rotation. It converts into food the refuse of
the corn crops, aided, as already mentioned, by the application
of superphosphate, which in the warmer parts of England, is a
certain manure for turnips. The consumptiou of the turnip on
Herre. | SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME. 463

the ground supplies the ammonia needed by the corn, and the
alternate crops thus work beneficially for each other.

Superphosphate of lime or dissolved bones, while a specific
for the turnip crop in the warmer and drier parts of Britain, is
not relatively so valuable in the North and West, where there
is sufficient moisture for guano. In such a climate, guano is
probably the cheaper manure for the turnip crop. For corn,
Mr. Lawes considers superphosphate valueless, as also bone
manure, except in so far as it supplies 5 per cent. of am-
monia ; though to us this appears doubtful, as we have grown
excellent wheat crops with no other application than bone
manure.

Beans Mr. Lawes finds to be best manured by alkalies.
But if land does not contain these alkalies, naturally, it will not
pay, at present prices, to supply them artificially. It is, there-
fore, better to grow wheat, as guano cannot be relied on as an
application to beans, while it is certain in its effect on wheat.
All cereals probably follow the same law.

Besides the elucidation of such general principles, Mr. Lawes
applies himself to specific points, especially in the feeding of
stock, and the influence of different kinds of food, both as regards
the animal and the quality of its manure. The results he has
arrived at, will no doubt in due time be given to the public,
and we shall only mention one or two points more connected
with this interesting place.

All the turnips are taken off the land by Crosskill’s railway,
which is found to prevent completely the injury which carting
in damp weather does to heavy land. The rails are used also
for removing manure from the feeding houses to the compost
heap. Wooden sheds with open raftered bottoms, large enough
to contain twelve sheep, are being made, with wheels, to push
forward on rails over the turnip crop, for the purpose of con-
suming it on this heavy land under cover. The ground will in
this way be saved from being trodden, the crop will be con-
sumed without the expense of drawing it off or bringing back
464 SHED FEEDING OF SHEEP — HORSES. [ Herre.

the manure, and the sheep will have the benefit of shelter and
a dry bed.

The shed-feeding of sheep is practised to a considerable
extent, and successfully. They are accommodated in a long
shed, open on one side for light and air. Along this open side
the mangers are placed for their food, which consists of 1 lb. of
oilcake and 1 1b. of hay chaff, with cut roots. The sheep stand
on an open platform of rafters, about three feet from the
ground, the manure falling through the interstices. The liquid
drains off toa tank. The solid is mixed with earth, and
dibbled in with mangold. Two pounds a-week of live weight, on
tegs, is deemed a good average increase under ordinary feeding.

The farm horses are fed entirely on Egyptian beans and
bran, 71b. of beans and 7 1b. of bran a day, mixed with cut hay,
for each horse. This food is considered equal in its effects to
the same money’s worth of oats, and the manure contains double
the amount of ammonia. Oats are, therefore, never given to the
horses.

Before leaving the subject of Mr. Lawes’s farm, we think it
necessary to guard our readers against any misapprehensions of
our meaning. However conclusive his experiments may be on
his own farm, we must not forget that they refer to a given soil
and climate. Other wheat soils may not be naturally so rich as
to enable the farmer to dispense with every manure for his
wheat crop except ammonia. But one important service he has
rendered by his experiments, in demolishing the notion so long
prevalent among land agents, that there was something so
peculiarly exhaustive about a wheat crop that it could only be
taken from the same land at considerable intervals and after the
interposition of less valuable cereals,—a notion which, now that
the farmer has the command of foreign manures, has done more
to prevent the due development of the capabilities of clay soils,
in a climate suitable for wheat, than can be easily estimated.

From Hertfordshire we proceeded to Willesden, in Middlesex,
MippiEsex.] MR. DICKENSON’S ITALIAN RYE GRASS. 465

to visit the farm of Mr. Dickenson, of Curzon Street, on account
of his celebrity as a grower of Italian ryegrass. This farm,
which is the property of All Souls’ College, is about 100 acres
in extent, very heavy clay, let at 32. an acre, the tenant paying
also tithe and rates, about 15s. an acre. It is in the vicinity
of London, being only three or four miles west of Regent’s
Park. Sixty acres are in meadow, and forty in tillage, all of
which is under Italian ryegrass.

The rapid growth of this grass, and the immense yield of
forage which it gives under proper management, made us
anxious to examine that of Mr. Dickenson. He sows four bushels
of seed per acre, never later than September. The crop becomes
thin the second year, and the ground is then ploughed up, well
cleaned, and again sown down with Italian ryegrass. Seven,
eight, and even nine cuttings are got in the course of the year,
the land being dressed after each cutting with 3,300 gallons of
liquid manure per acre. In the latter part of the season, owing
to the wet character of the clay subsoil, this dressing cannot be
applied without injury to the surface by the carts, and there-
fore nitrate of soda is substituted in warm weather, and guano
in cold. The demand for seed is so great that two crops are
sometimes taken in a season (though that is not recommended
in ordinary circumstances), the first crop yielding from four to
seven quarters an acre, the second about three quarters. In
order to ascertain how much hay could be got from Italian
ryegrass, the whole year’s crop of one field was made into hay,
and the produce of four cuttings on a field of 20 acres amounted
to 130 loads of 18 cwt. each, or nearly six tons of hay per acre.
After each cutting the land was dressed with nitrate of soda at
the rate of 14 to 2 cwt. per acre.

The fresh cuttings during winter, which are of course com-
paratively of light weight, are used by Mr. Dickenson for his
cows, ewes, and early lambs, and sick horses.

The other meadows are manured with horse-dung (from
Mr. Dickenson’s very extensive horse establishment in Curzon

HH
466 WANT OF DRAINAGE NEAR LONDON. [Mupiesex.

Street), which is spread thinly over the ground and left there till
the rains have washed the manure from the straw. The
manure sinks into and enriches the ground, and the dry straw
is raked up and sent back for further use in the stables.

The land in the neighbourhood of Willesden and towards
London is an extremely heavy clay, very wet, and undrained.
Mr. Dickenson’s farm is partially drained, about 20 inches deep,
by a mole plough. The tenants do not seem generally anxious
to have their land thoroughly underdrained, and yet it is so wet
that they cannot put stock on it after October. During an
open winter the fields have a pleasant*green appearance, looking
richer than they really are, their summer produce being only
from one and a half to two loads of hay per acre. The land is
chiefly used for growing hay for the London market, which is
made early in June, and the aftermath grazed with sheep and
cattle till October. Surely if any land in the world would pay
for drainage this would, within three or four miles of the
metropolis, and yet so wet that stock cannot be put upon it
without injury after October.
467

LETTER LI.
CAMBRIDGE—HUNTINGDON.

CaMBRIDGESHIRE. — INCENDIARY FIRES —- INDUCING, WITH OTHER CIRCUM-
STANCES, GREAT DESPONDENCE AMONG FARMERS — NO EXPENSE TOO GREAT
TO PUT THIS DOWN—LOW RATE OF WAGES—MR. JONAS WEBB’S CELEBRATED
FLOCK OF SOUTH DOWNS — HUNTINGDONSHIRE — RENT AND RATES —
FARMING AT WOODHURST, A RATIONAL SYSTEM OF MANAGING CLAY LAND
— FEEDING OF SHEEP AND CATTLE-— NECESSITY FOR DRAINAGE ON THE
CLAY LANDS — FARMERS’ PROSPECTS— THEY DEMAND REDUCTION OF RENTS
—LABOURERS WAGES —— WANT OF SYMPATHY BETWEEN LANDLORDS AND
FARMERS, AND BETWEEN FARMERS AND LABOURERS.

Hontinavon, Feb. 1851.

Passine through the southern division of Cambridgeshire, we
found the Jand a light turnip soil, laid out in large enclosures
and managed generally in the four-course rotation. The buildings
are chiefly wood and thatch, antique and inconvenient ; and, from
the combustible nature of their structure, both very tempting
and very subject to the fire of the incendiary.

These incendiary fires are said to be of almost nightly occur-
rence in this and the adjoining part of Huntingdonshire. Many
of the farmers live in constant apprehension of them, and, with
their families, are kept in a state of nervous excitement which
we had not expected to find in any English county. The corn
ricks are built in different parts of the fields, seldom contiguous,
so that if one should be fired the rest may have some chance
to escape. One farmer had his buildings three times burned,
and the Insurance Companies now decline to insure him. The
culprits generally escape detection, — the mischief may be so
quickly done, and without any trace by which to discover the
doer.

In any district of England in which we have yet been, we

have not heard the farmers speak in a tone of greater discourage~
HH 2
468 INCENDIARISM — WAGES. [CAMBRIDGESHIRE.

ment than here. Their wheat crop, last year, was of inferior
quality, the price unusually low, and, to add to this, their live
stock and crop are continually exposed to the match of the
prowling incendiary. Such a state of matters is unendurable,
and not a little discreditable to the police arrangements of the
district. To get rid of so great an evil we should consider the
rent of the county well expended in setting a watch on every
corn rick in it, if no less effectual means of prevention can be
adopted. To say that, in a district within fifty miles of London,
property is so insecure and even life in some degree of hazard,
is to tell us of a country in a semi-barbarous state. A man
might as well expose his life to the risk of a shot from a Tip-
perary assassin, as live, like a Cambridgeshire farmer, in constant
apprehension of incendiarism.

Whatever the cause, the evil itself must be put down. We.
were assured that no considerate or kindly treatment of his
labourers on the part of an individual farmer was any protection
to him. Fires break out indiscriminately among all, — the kindest
and most large hearted as often as the most selfish and narrow
minded. A few bad fellows in a district are believed to do all
the mischief, and bring discredit on the whole rural population,
The fact of its existence argues discontent among the labouring
class, for which the low rate of wages may in some degree
account, 7s. to 8s. a week being the current rate. Cottage rents
are from 2i. to as much, in some parishes, as 42 or 51, so
that a labourer on 7s, a week has little to spare for the neces-
saries of life after paying his landlord 1s. 6d. or 2s, out of it.
Labourers are fairly employed.

The agricultural management of Cambridgeshire is so ily
and fully described by Mr. Jonas of Tokletoa, in the seyenth
volume of the Royal Agricultural Society’s Journal, that we do
not think it necessary to enter upon it here in detail. The
manure applied to the green crops appeared scanty, and the
crops light, while, in the in-door work of the farm, the flail still
holds its place, and the economical aids of machinery have not
CaMBRIDGESHIRE. ] MR. JONAS WEBB’S SOUTH DOWNS. 469

been generally adopted, partly from the mistaken belief that
labour would thereby be thrown out of employment.

At Babraham we had the pleasure of inspecting Mr. Jonas
Webb’s celebrated flock of South Downs. For symmetry and
hardy constitution this flock has proved itself unequalled in Eng-
land ; and as the greatest attention is bestowed by Mr. Webb in
developing and preserving this hardiness of constitution, as well
as the qualities of weight and early maturity, his rams are sought
for from all parts of the country. Mr. Webb is likewise turning
his attention to the breeding of short-horns, some very superior
animals of which are at present in his possession, though we
have little doubt he will find this business attended with more
risk and less profit than he most deservedly reaps from his breed
of beautiful South Downs.

From Cambridge we passed, by St. Ives, into Huntingdon-
shire, which is a thinly-wooded county, and on its northern side
principally a fen district, nearly one-fourth of the whole county
being of that character. On the rivers Ouse and Nene are ex-
tensive meadows, subject to injury from floods, but very useful,
when held in conjunction with an arable farm in the interior, for
supplying the farmer with hay for his stock. Excepting the
fens, which we described in a former letter, the soil of the
greater part of the county is either a strong deep clay, more or
less mixed with loam, or a deep loamy gravel, lying on the
middle oolite formation. The rent varies according to the
quality and situation. Near Godmanchester, prime deep land,
the greater part of which is not too strong for turnips, and
which produces all other crops of fine quality, is let at 30s. an
acre tithe free, the rates being 3s. to 4s. an acre. The average
rent of good strong land favourably situated in other parts of
the county, may be stated at 25s. tithe free, and the rates from
1s. to 3s. a pound on the rack rent.

The farm of Mr. Ekyne, of Woodhurst, is a favourable
specimen of strong-land farming in Huntingdonshire. It ex-
tends to 200 acres, 30 of which are in grass, the rest under

HH 3
470 MANAGEMENT OF STRONG LAND. [Huntinepoy,

cultivation. It is all strong land lying on a heavy retentive
clay, and has been drained by placing a 3-feet drain in every old
furrow. The drain is dug 2 feet through the soil, and 1 foot
into the strong gault, and is laid with 13-inch pipes, which cost
at the kiln 13s. per 1000.

The land is managed in a six-course, thus: —(1) fallow,
which, after being wrought and cleaned, receives 12 bushels of
bone manure per acre, and is sown in July with mustard, a
small portion being reserved for tares. In autumn the mustard
is ploughed into the ground, and the land drilled with (2) red
wheat, sown at the rate of 2 bushels an acre, in rows 8 inches
apart. The wheat is once hand-hoed in spring, at a cost of
2s. to 3s. This crop yields from 32 to 36 bushels an acre. After
the wheat is removed the stubble is dunged in November, and
then ploughed in. As early in spring as the weather will
admit, the next crop, (3) beans, are drilled on the winter, furrow
in 22-inch rows, and 3 bushels of seed per acre. During the
season these are generally twice hand-hoed, besides weeding the
rows, at a cost of 6s. 6d. to 9s. per acre, by piece work. They
are not horse-hoed. The average produce is 28 bushels an acre.
The bean stubble is ploughed twice before winter; and in
spring the land is stirred across with a large harrow, and drilled
with the fourth crop, (4) barley. With the barley 18 Ib. of red
clover seed are sown. The average crop of barley is 50 bushels
an acre. (5) The “seeds” are manured with 8 to 10 tons of
dung, and are part mown for hay and forage, but chiefly con-
sumed on the ground by sheep, which receive also half a pint
each of pease or beans, daily. About-the middle of September
the land thus enriched is ploughed, and after lying exposed to
‘the action of the weather for about a month, the surface is har-
rowed and drilled with the last crop of the course, (6) wheat.

Between 40 and 50 cattle are fed fat during the winter in
stalls, each animal receiving, daily, 91b. of the best oil cake, and
34 1b. of bean and barley meal mixed, with cut hay ad libitum.
The produce of 40 acres of hay is brought to this farm every
Hontixcpon.] RATIONALE OF THE SYSTEM. 471

year from a meadow in the fen country. The feeding cattle
have no turnips or other green food. Nine horses are required
to work the farm, three and sometimes four in a plough, the
ploughing being now done two inches deeper in consequence of
drainage than formerly, and thus requiring more power.

A little consideration will show that this is a very rational
method of dealing with strong land. It is first thoroughly
cleaned by a spring and summer -fallow, then manured with
bones to ensure a good crop of mustard, which again is ploughed
down to enrich the land for the main crop, wheat. The land,
being by this preparation very clean, requires only one light
hand-hoeing in spring. The stubble is then dunged, and the
land ploughed in preparation for beans, which are sown in
spring on the winter furrow rendered friable by the natural
action of the weather. The beans are kept very clean by re-
peated hand-hoeing; and, when they are removed, the ground
is twice ploughed at the time of year when it is in a dry state,
and is thus both cleaned and pulverised, the growth of roct-
weeds being checked before they have time to gather strength.
In spring the land is merely stirred with a large heavy harrow,
in preparing for barley, the seed of which is thus sown in a
suitable bed for it, the pulverulent state of the soil being like-
wise very favourable for the small seeds of the clover which are
sown at the same time. Well rotted manure is, for the second
time in the course, laid on the young “ seeds” after the barley
crop has been removed, to encourage a heavy crop for eating off
with sheep, which, receiving corn also, are both profitably fed
and greatly enrich the land for the following wheat crop. No
turnips are grown on the farm, the soil being considered un-
suitable for that crop; but their place is supplied by the hay
which is brought from the fen country; and the cattle being
likewise fed on cake and corn, the whole of the straw is made
into good dung. The result of this management is, that the
land is kept very clean and in high condition; and the yield of

the different crops is very satisfactory.
HH 4
472 WANT OF SYMPATHY BETWEEN CLASSES. [Huntincpon.

But it is not possible to carry out this system with equal suc-
cess on land which has not been drained; and unfortunately that
is still the case with by far the larger portion of the strong lands
of Huntingdonshire. Let any unprejudiced man examine the
farm we have described and one of the undrained farms in the
same district, both possessing a soil naturally of the same
quality ; and let him compare the yield of the two farms in
corn and stock, and he will then be able to appreciate the loss
sustained by the latter from want of drainage, and the impossi-
bility of the tenant of such Jand competing with the other on
equal terms in the corn market. If landlords would give this
matter the grave consideration it deserves, they would see the
absolute necessity of carrying out this improvement without a
day’s delay.

Near Godmanchester and in the neighbourhood of Hunting-
don, the land is managed chiefly in the four-course rotation.
The farmers, though not complaining quite so loudly as those of

i Cambridgeshire, declare their inability to go on with the present
rents and prices. One-third of them, it is said, must give up
the business if prices do not improve; and the rest, who feel
that their only remedy, supposing low prices to continue, is in
increased production, declare that they will not lay out their
capital, unless the landlords reduce their rents 25 per cent.

Labourers’ wages in this county are from 8s. to 9s. a week;
and very few, except idle men whom nobody cares to have, are
out of employment. In some cases the farmers are employing
less than their usual number of people, on account of its having
been said last year, in the House of Commons, that there was
no agricultural distress, as labourers were everywhere fully
employed; and to prevent such an argument being used again,
they resolved to send some to the Union. That a farmer should
think himself compelled to resort to such a mode of proof only
shows how little real sympathy exists in the district between
landlord, tenant, and labourer. Cottage rents are from 22, 10s.
to 41 and 52
473

LETTER LII.
CONCLUSIONS.

RESULTS OF THIS INQUIRY AS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF ARTHUR YOUNG
In 1770.— INCREASE OF RENT, PRODUCE, WAGES, AND PRICES—NO
INCREASE IN PRICE OF CORN, WHILE STOCK AND ITS PRODUCE HAVE
DOUBLED IN VALUE-— THE RENT OF LAND CAPRICIOUSLY FIXED —
EVILS OF UNDER-LETTING AND OVER-LETTING — DIFFICULT TO HIT THE
JUST MEAN—THREE REMARKABLE EXAMPLES OF THE VARIOUS MODES
OF LETTING — VALUE OF LAND NOT NOW SO MUCH DEPENDENT ON
PROXIMITY TO THE METROPOLIS AS IN 1770 — SHOWN (BY A COMPARATIVE
TABLE) TO BE CHIEFLY INFLUENCED BY THE KIND OF PRODUCE IT
YIELDS — AND BY THE SIZE OF FARMS—THE CORN COUNTIES BEING LOWER
RENTED THAN THE MIXED HUSBANDRY AND GRAZING COUNTIES —THE KIND
OF PRODUCE IN GREATEST DEMAND—-EXAMPLES SHOWING THE TENDENCY
TO AN INCREASING CONSUMPTION OF ARTICLES THE PRODUCE OF GRASS
AND GREEN CROPS — RESULTS OF THIS ON THE VALUE OF LAND— THE
DIRECTION IN WHICH AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE WILL IN FUTURE BE
MOST REMUNERATIVE — THIS CHANGE WILL NOT DIMINISH THE SUPPLY
OF FOOD, — OR OF LABOUR.

Dec. 1851.

Havine now traversed thirty-two of the forty counties of
England, it is time that our mission should draw to a close; the
many facts already collected forming a sufficient basis for an
accurate estimate of the present condition of agriculture in this
country. Since Arthur Young’s tours in 1770, there has been
no similar inquiry; the Agricultural Reports of Counties col-
lected by the Board of Agriculture, and those at present in
the course of publication by the Royal Agricultural Society,
being the work of separate individuals—full of instructive
information, but wanting that link of combination and com-
parison which is obtained from the single point of view whence
one mind surveys, in succession, the various modes of husbandry
practised throughout England.

An interval of eighty years affords ample room for denoting
with precision the progress of agriculture. Young’s “ Tours”
oticlude with very specific data showing the actual state of
474 COMPARISON BETWEEN 1770 anv 1850.

rents, produce, prices, and wages in 1770, in the twenty-six
counties which he then examined. The information on which
his data are based, seems to have been the same as ours—
personal inquiry from the most trustworthy sources. As re-
gards rent and produce, it is obvious that, unless the same
farms had been spoken of, exactness of comparison is impossible.
The figures which we give are therefore not offered as perfectly
correct, but as the nearest approximation to correctness in our
power. Until Government shall take up the important ques-
tion of agricultural statistics, we must be content with such
broad results as it is in the power of individual inquiry to élicit,
conscious though we may be of the comparatively limited data
from which we are obliged to generalise.

Table showing the Rent of Cultivated Land per Acre, the Produce of ‘Wheat in
bushels, the Price of Provisions, the Wages of the agricultural Labourer, and
the Rent of Cottages, in 1770 and 1850, in Twenty-six of the English Gounties,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Price of Provisions,
Rent of Produce Labourers’ Cot
Cultivated Land| of Wheat Wages voltage
per Acre. per Acre. Bread. Meat. Bitter. per Week.
1770. | 1850. | 1770. | 1850. | 1770. | 1850. | 1770. | 1850. | 1770. | 1850. | 1770. | 1850. | 1770, | 1850.
ad.) 8. d. d- d. a. d. d. a a.[% do] sd] & ad] &
Northumberland | 12 6 | 20 0| 18 30 z J 5 5 10/6 0}150] 200] 6
Cumberland . 76) 25 0] 93 27 z 1 2 5 5k 10] 6 6/130} 200] 55
Durham .. . «| 210/17 0| 25 | 16 | 1 1 33 5 | 6 |1 0/6 6/110} 200
North Riding 126| 29 0} 21 | 20 | 1 1 3 5 | FR | 1 0] 6 6/110} 250
East Riding . -| 80| 22 6| 25 | 30 | 1 1 3h 5 | 5 11 017 6/120] 276
West Riding. 166) 40 0) 29 | 30 | 13 | 3 3h 5 | 6 |1 0/6 0} 140) 300
Lancashire - | 226] 42 o| 96 28 1 1 3 5 a 11/6 6] 136] 276
Cheshire . . .|160|30 0| 95 | 98 | 1 1 3 5 | 6 un} — | — | 276) 8
Nottingham . .| 130/32 0| 31 | 32 | 12 | 1 34 5 | 6 |1 0/9 0) 100/250),
Lincoln. . . «| 100] 30 0) 21 | 96 | 13 | 1 3} 5 | 6 11 0]7 0| 100) 200) 80
Stafford . . ./176| 30 0] 93 | 98 | 1 1 33 | 5 | 6 | 1 01/6 4) 96) 400) 70
Warwick . . .|176| 32 6 30 13 1 3 5 6 10/8 0} 86/350
Northampton .| 70 | 30 0 28 13 1 3h 5 6 10/6 6| 90/200] 8
Huntingdon . ./ 100] 26 6} 18 | 32 | 123 | 13 | 38 | 5 | 6 |1 0/7 5| 86] 300} 70
Norfolk. . . .|116| 95 6 32 | 12 | 33 5 | 6 |1 0/8 0] 861400] 8
Suffllk . . . .1136] 4 0 32 | 1 1 3 5 | 72 11 0/711| 70|400| 8
Bedford. . . .|120]25 0] 19 | 95 | 1 1 34 5/7 |1 0/7 8} 90) #00
Hertford . . .| 120] 92 6} 2 | 92 | 9 1 33 5 | 7 |1 2/7 6| 90) 46
Essex . . . «1136/26 0) 94 | 98 | 72 | 7 4 5 | 8 11 01/7 9| 80] 400| 80
Buckingham . .| 100] 96 0| 925 ] 1 4 5 7 12/8 0] 86|420| 4
Oxford. « - .|196 | 300} 26 | 95 | 1 1 33 5 | 7 11 2/7 0} 90)40
Berks . .« . .| 196] 300 30 | 1 1 3 5] 7 {12/7 6] 76] 500) 55
Surrey. . . .| 159] 18 6 29 ii 1 ai] 5 | 82 11 1/9 0| 96| 550] 10
Sussex . . « -/109]19 0} 22 | 92 | 18 | 1 4 5 | 7 {1 0|8 6] 106 | 600 | 100
Hampshire . .| 120/25 0} 20 | 30 | 12 | 1 3 5 | 6 |1 0/8 0} 90] 400| 10
Wilts... 12 0 | 25 0} 20 14 | 1 oz 5 | 6 |1 O}7 0} 70/900) 6
Dorset . . « «| 109] 20 0} 20 21 14 1 5 6 1016 9] 76|300
Gloucester. . 10 6 | 28 0} 20 23 13 1 3 5 | 6} 11/6 9| 70/90
Averages. . .| 13 4 |72610| 23 | 962] 13 | 12 | 33 5} 6 |1 0/7 38] 97) 540 ae
. [1s. 98.)
, per | per
week, week.

 
RELATIVE INCREASE OF PRICES. 475

In twenty-six counties the average rent of
arable land, in 1770, appears from Young’s s. d.

 

 

returns to have been ——-- = - 13 4 an acre.
For the same counties our returns in 1850-51

give an average of - - - 2610
Increase of rent in eighty years —- - 13 6 or 100 per cent.

Bushels.
In 1770 the average produce of wheat was - 23. an acre.
In 1850-51 in the same counties it was - 262 ,,
Increased produce of wheat per acre ~ 8% or 14 per cent.
s. d.

In 1770 the labourers’ wages averaged - 7 3 a week.

4n1850-51,inthesamecounties they averaged 9 7  ,,

Increase in wages of agricultural labourers - 2 4 or 34 per cent.

. Bread. Butter. Meat.
In 1770 the price of provisions was lid. Os. 6d. 34d. per lb.

In 1850-51 it was - ae 10 5 oy
s. d.
In 1770 the price of wool was - - 0 53 per Ib
In 1850-51 it was - - - 1,0 ss
In 1770 the rent of labourers’ cottages s. d.
in sixteen counties averaged - - 36 O a year.
In 1850-51, in the same counties - - 74 6 55

It thus appears that, in a period of 80 years, the average rent
of arable Jand has risen 100 per cent., the average produce of
wheat per acre has increased 14 per cent., the labourers’ wages
34 per cent., and his cottage rent 100 per cent. ; while the price
of bread, the great staple of the food of the English labourer, is
about the same as it was in 1770. The price of butter has in-
creased 100 per cent., meat about 70 per cent., and wool up-
wards of 100 per cent.

The increase of 14 per cent. on the average yield of wheat
per acre, does not indicate the total increased produce. The
extent of land in cultivation in 1770 was, without doubt,
476 WHY CORN FARMS HAVE DECLINED IN VALUE.

much less than it is now; and the produce given then was the
average of a higher quality of land, the best having of course
been earliest taken into cultivation. The increase of acreabie
corn produce has therefore been obtained by better farming,
notwithstanding the contrary influence arising from the em-
ployment of inferior soils. The increased breadth now under
wheat, with the higher average produce, bear, however, no
proportion to the increase of rent in the same period; and the
price of wheat now is much the same as it was then. We
must therefore look to the returns from stock to explain this
discrepancy.

While wheat has not increased in price, butter, meat, and wool
have nearly doubled in value. The quantity produced has also
greatly increased, the same land now carrying larger cows,
eattle which arrive at earlier maturity, and of greater size,
and sheep of better weight and quality, and yielding more
wool, On dairy farms, and on such as are adapted for
the rearing and feeding of stock, especially of sheep stock,
the value of the annual produce has kept pace with the increase
of rent. With the corn farms the case is very different. In
former times the strong clay lands were looked upon as the true
wheat soils of the country. They paid the highest rent, the
heaviest tithe, and employed the greatest number of labourers.
But modern improvements have entirely changed their position.
The extension of green crops, and the feeding of stock, have so
raised the productive quality of the light lands, that they now
produce corn at less cost than the clays, with the further im-
portant advantage, that the stock maintained on them yields a
large profit besides. In all parts of the country, accordingly, we
have found the farmers of strong clays suffering the most severely
under the recent depression of prices.

The rent of land is defined by Mr. M‘Culloch to be “the
result of the unequal returns of the capital successively
employed in agriculture.” But in practice we have found rent
to be a very capricious thing, often more regulated by the
RENT MUCH DEPENDENT ON LANDLORD. 477

character of the landlord or his agent, and the custom of the
neighbourhood, than by the value of the soil or the commodities
it produces. There is not a county in England where this is
not exemplified. On one estate we shall find land let at 20s.
per acre, and on the next, farms of the same quality and with
the same facilities of conveyance, let at 30s. With farmers of
equal skill and enterprise this difference of rent remains in
the pocket of the fortunate tenant who holds under an easy
landlord. But exertion is generally the child of necessity, and
the man who must pay 30s. is obliged to be industrious, while
his neighbour may be indolent, and, in that case, the difference
of rent is lost to all, because indolence leads to diminished pro-
duction. The active and industrious man employs more labour
to raise an increased produce, that he may be enabled to pay
his higher rent.

Whilst however we deprecate the under-letting of land, as
injurious to the landlord, and frequently in its consequences to
the public, we must guard against an error of the opposite
character, which is much more hurtful,—the over-letting of land.
When the rent of land is raised to such a point that the profits
of the farmer’s industry are absorbed by it, he loses the motive
for exertion, and, if a man of capital, he carries it on the first
opportunity to a farm where it can be more profitably employed.
In other cases he may struggle on, in hope of success, till his
capital is so seriously diminished that he has little to withdraw,

his farm all the while rapidly deteriorating in cultivation and
‘produce, till it is at length abandoned to the landlord.

It may be very difficult to hit the happy mean between those
extremes, and, if there was no extraneous element to influence
the result, that mean would probably be best regulated by sup-
ply and demand. But the preference over other creditors given
to the landlord, by the law of distraint, is sometimes used to
encourage competition between men of capital and skill and
men who have little of either, and the rent may thus be unfairly
raised, Competition in the open market, therefore, is not always,
478 THREE MODES OF LETTING COMPARED.

in the present state of the law, the fair measure of the value of
land to the tenant of capital.

Three remarkable examples of the different results produced
by the mode of letting land have been detailed in these letters.
In Oxfordshire we have found a great landlord, so injudiciously
requiring an increase of rent, that his best tenants have left, and
a large portion of the estate is being abandoned to him. We
have described the relations between another nobleman and his
tenants in Durham, where neither the rent is raised nor the
tenants changed, where the bulk of the land is confessed to be
underlet, and yet the tenants are not prosperous nor satisfied.
In these two cases we have the opposite extremes, producing in
the one case ruin and diminished produce, and in the other,
indolence and discontent. How nearly alike is the result of
conduct dictated by principles so different.

The third example is shown in Bedfordshire, where another
landlord, fully recognising his duty, puts his farms into a proper
state as regards the permanent improvements necessary for their
profitable occupation, and then lets them on lease to selected
tenants, at a fair rent, estimated by his agent, who is practically
acquainted with the value of land. Undue competition is thus
discouraged, while at the same time the landlord participates,
by gradually improving rents, in the increasing wealth of the
country. The tenants have their capital left free for the culti-
vation of the land, in the full benefit of which they have the
option of being secured by lease. A living sympathetic interest
is thus maintained between landlord and tenant, the result of
which is seen in improved farming, increased employment, and
a cordial understanding between a wise and considerate land-
lord and an intelligent and independent tenantry. On many
other estates mentioned in these Letters, the same principles
are followed by similar results.

The influence of proximity to large populations in enhancing
the rent of land, varies in different parts of the country. The
lowest rented counties in England are Surrey, Sussex, and
RENT AS INFLUENCED BY LOCALITY. 479

Durham, two of which may be said to be in the vicinity of the
metropolis, and the third has a large and well employed native
population. The highest rented counties are Lancashire and the
West Riding, many parts of which are continuous villages, and both
contain a large proportion of grass land. In 1770, distance from
the metropolis seems to have in a great measure regulated the
rent, which begins, according to Young, at 19s. 6d. in Berkshire,
and gradually falls to 7s. 6d. in Cumberland. But the means of
communication in his time are described by him as “execrable.”
“‘ Let me most seriously caution all travellers,” he says, “‘ who
may accidentally purpose to travel this terrible country, to avoid
it, They will here meet with ruts which I actually measured
four feet deep, and floating with mud, only from a wet summer.
I would advise no one to journey further north than Newcastle-
under-Lyne. Until better management is produced I would
advise all travellers to consider this country as sea, and as soon
think of driving into the ocean as venturing into such detest-
able roads.” Matters are changed now. We have railways
traversing every part of the country, steam vessels sailing from
almost every port, and generally good roads of accommodation
between every village and market town.

Rent, in so far as regulated by external circumstances, we shall
find depends now on other influences than proximity to or dis-
tance from the metropolis. To illustrate this, among other points,
we have prepared the following table, which divides the country
into two sections from north to south, with reference to climate,
the one embracing the eastern and south coast or corn side of
the island; the other the midland and western counties, where
the system of husbandry is more a mixture of corn, stock, and
dairy farming.

Table
480 : HIGHEST IN THE WEST.

Table* showing the Average Rent of Cultivated Land, the Produce ot
Wheat in bushels, and the Weekly Wages of the Labourer in 1850-1,
in the Midland and Western Counties, being the mixed corn and grass
districts; and in the East and South-Coast Counties, being the chief corn-

_ producing districts of England.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midland Per Acre. La- East and Per Acre. La-
and Western bourers’ South-Coast bourers’
Counties, Rent. ero ‘Wages. Counties. Rent. re ‘Wages.
s. d.|bush| 5. d. s. d.|bushj gs. a.
Cumberland | 25 0 | 27 | 13 © |Northumber-| 20 0 | 30] 11 0
Lancashire | 42 0] 28/13 6 land.
West Riding| 40 Q | 30 | 14 O | Durham...... 17 0/16/11 0
Cheshire ...| 30 O | 28 | 12 O]| North Riding] 29 0; 20/11 0
Derby ...... 26 0| 33] 11 0 | East Riding | 22 6 | 30/12 0
| Nottingham | 32 6 | 32] 10 0 | Lincoln ...... 30 0 | 26|10 0
Leicester ...| 35 0} 21] 9 6 | Norfolk ...... 25 6| 32] 8 6
Stafford ...... 30 0] 28| 9 6] Suffolk ...... 24 0|382/] 7 0
Warwick ...| 32 6| 30] 8 6 | Huntingdon | 26 6 | 32| 8 6
Northampton} 30 0} 28] 9 0 | Cambridge...) 28 0/32] 7 6
Bucks......... 26 0| 25! 8 6 | Bedford...... 25 0125! 9 O
Oxford ...... 380 0/25] 9 O | Hertford...... 22 6/22) 9 0
Gloucester...; 28 0| 23] 7 O | Essex......... 26 0; 28| 8 0
North Wilts | 35 0/| 28| 7 6] Surrey ......| 18 6 |22| 9 6
Devon ...... 380 0] 20] 8 6] Sussex ...... 19 0} 22/10 6
Berks ......... 30 0; 30 7 6
Hants........., 25 0} 30] 9 0
South Wilts | 17 6 | 24] 7 0
Dorset ...... 20 0|21|! 7 6
Averages ...| 31 5 | 27 | 10 O]| Averages ...| 23 8 | 263} 9 1
Average rent of cultivated land in all the counties - 275. 2d.
Average produce per acre of wheat - - - 263 bushels.
Average weekly wages of labourer = - - - 9s. 6d.

 

 

 

The great corn-growing counties of the east coast are thus
shown to yield an average rent of 23s. 8d., an acre; the more
mixed husbandry of the midland counties, and the grazing
green crop, and dairy districts of the west, 31s. 5d. This striking
difference, being not less than 30 per cent., is explained chiefly
by the different value of their staple produce, as already shown:
corn, the staple of the east coast, selling at the same price as it
did 80 years ago, while dairy produce, meat, and wool have

* See illustrative Map at beginning of volume.
RENT INFLUENCED BY SIZE OF FARMS, 481

nearly doubled in value. The difference in rent does not arise
from a greater fertility of soil, as may be seen by comparing
the produce of wheat. The corn counties, in so far as they
yield barley and feed or produce cattle and sheep, benefit by the
rise in price.*

Leases are the exception throughout England ; and though we
have found them more prevalent in the west, there has been no

sufficient uniformity to account in any degree for the difference
of rent.

But the size of farms has an undoubted influence on the rent.
In the dry climate of the counties on the east coast, the operations
of a corn farm can be carried on, with great precision and regu-
larity, on an extensive scale. In the chalk districts especially,
the fields are open and unencumbered with wood; the dry
nature of the land admits of sheep folding, and a large tract
may be conveniently managed under the superintendence of
one person. By this means the landlord’s outlay in buildings
and fences is much economised, and he finds it his interest to
encourage a class of large farmers, men of capital and education.

* The table is so far incomplete, that our information in regard to the
different “rates” payable by the tenant in addition to his rent, shows them
to be so variable that no accurate average could be given. Some farms were
tithe-free, and on others the landlords are now taking upon themselves the
payment of tithe. In some parishes the poor-rates were trifling, in others
exorbitant, and the same with highway rate and other county rates. ‘The
table at page 514 shows that the poor rates are, on the average, nearly equal
in their pressure in both sections of the country, the average poor relief of
the Midland and Western Counties being 1s. 93d., and of the East and
South Counties 1s. 10d. per pound. And on the whole, though the
tithe appears to be heaviest on the south and eastern counties, the rates,
in the aggregate, may be held to be nearly alike in both divisions of the
country, and will not affect the truth of the averages we have given. We
have a strong feeling that landlords would find it a good plan to take upon
themselves the payment of all rates except the poor-rate, letting their land,
as in Scotland, at a certain rent, free of all other rates. The landlords,
who, in effect, pay all the rates in diminished rent, would then have a direct
interest in controlling and economising the county expenditure, for which
they are both best qualified and have most time, and the tenants would know
the exact extent of their engagements, and not be obliged, as at present,
to reserve a wide margin for these uncertain liabilities.

it
482 AND THEIR STAPLE PRODUCE.

As we proceed westward, the country becomes more wooded,
and better adapted for pasturage; the enclosures are smaller,
the farms less extensive, and the farmers more numerous. Still
farther west, the moistness of the climate materially affects the
mode of cultivation,— unfavourable to corn crops, especially be-
fore the introduction of tile drainage, and favourable to grass.
The farms are of small extent, and held by a numerous class of
tenants, who live frugally, and, in many cases, assist, with their
families, in the labours of the farm. We have here all the
elements necessary to make a difference in the rate of rent.
The chief commodity of the western farmer is the produce of
his dairy, his cattle, and his flock. The large eastern farmer
looks principally to his wheat and barley. The landlord
of the western and midland counties possesses the two great
advantages of his soil being used for the production of the
most valuable of our agricultural commodities, whilst his farms,
from their size, are accessible to a larger body of competitors;
in short, are in greater demand than the corn farms of the east.
Our notes of the average extent of farms in the various counties,
give 430 acres for the corn farms of the east, and 220 acres for
the mixed farms of the midland and western district.

The geological nature of the country as affecting the character
of the soil itself for fertility or otherwise, has a considerable
influence on its intrinsic value. In all the lower-rented counties,
except the three northernmost, chalk is the prevailing charac-
teristic. -In the higher-rented counties, red sandstone is the
principal geological formation.

An attentive consideration of the above table will strike the
careful reader in several new points of view. That the large
capitalist farmer of the east coast, possessing the most cheaply
cultivated soil, and conducting his agricultural operations with
the most skill, should not only pay the lowest rent, but be the
loudest complainer under the recent depression of prices, is to
be accounted for by his greater dependence on the value of corn.
The moistness of the climate of the west, on the other hand,
KIND OF PRODUCE IN GREATEST DEMAND. 483

discouraged corn cultivation, and compelled a greater reliance
on stock. And, as the country becomes more prosperous, the
difference in the relative value of corn and stock will gradually
be increased.

Lhe production of vegetables and fresh meat, hay for forage,
and pasture for dairy cattle, which were formerly confined to
the neighbourhood of towns, will necessarily extend as the
towns become more numerous and more populous. The faci-
lities of communication must increase this tendency. Our in-
sular position, with a limited territory, and an increasingly dense
manufacturing population, is yearly extending the circle within
which the production of fresh food, animal, vegetable, and
forage, will be needed for the daily and weekly supply of the
inhabitants and their cattle; and which, both on account of its
bulk, and the necessity of having it fresh, cannot be brought
from distant countries. Fresh meat, milk, butter, vegetables,
and hay, are articles of this description. They can be produced
in no country so well as our own, both climate and soil being re-
markably suited to them. Wool has likewise increased in value
as much as any agricultural product; and there is a good pro-
spect of flax becoming an article in extensive demand, and
therefore worthy of the farmer’s attention. The manufacture
of sugar from beet-root may yet be found very profitable to the
English agriculturist, and ought not to be excluded from consi-
deration.* Now all these products require the employment of

* There are two important considerations with regard to the culture of
flax and sugar beet. The farmer may not only receive a remunerative price
for the fibre of the one and the saccharine matter of the other, but he retains
on his farm the seed of the flax, and the refuse of the sugar manufacture, to
feed his stock, and increase the quality and quantity of their manure. The
uses of linseed as food for cattle are well known in this country, and in
regard to the refuse of the beet-root manufacture, we may mention (on the
information of the Comte De Gourcy, who has devoted several years to the
personal investigation of continental agriculture) that very large stocks of
cattle are fed on the sugar farms, and that « machine has been lately in-
vented by a sugar manufacturer at Baden, which, like our thrashing machine,
can be introduced at about the same expense on individual farms, and by

112
484 EXAMPLES OF THIS.

considerable labour, yery minute care, skill, and attention, and
a larger acreable application of capital than is requisite for the.
production of corn. So various are the objects thus requiring
attention and economical arrangement, that a very large under-
taking, such as is now carried on by some of the wealthier
farmers of the eastern counties, could not, on this more elaborate
system, be profitably conducted under the single superintend-
ence of one person. This will inevitably lead to the gradual
diminution of the largest farms, and to the concentration of the
capital and attention of the farmer on a smaller space.

The individual experience of the agricultural class may be
appealed to in support of this opinion. The consumption of
bread in a farmer’s family is not half so large an item, in the
annual expenditure of his household, as butcher’s meat; and
milk and vegetables, if they were purchased in the market,
would cost him more than bread. If he looks back for thirty
years, he will find that this difference has been gradually
increasing. With the great mass of consumers, bread still
forms the chief article of consumption. But in the manu-
facturing districts where wages are good, the use of butcher's
meat and cheese is enormously on the increase; and even in
the agricultural districts the labourer does now occasionally:
indulge himself in a meat dinner, or season his dry bread with
a morsel of cheese. In a gentleman’s family consisting of him-
self, his wife, six children, and ten servants, the average ex-
penditure for each individual per annum, for articles of food
produced by the farmer, is 9/. 10s. for meat, butter, and
milk, and 14. 2. 4d. for bread. In a large public establishment
containing an average throughout the year of 646 male persons,
chiefly boys, the expenditure per head for meat, cheese, po-
tatoes, butter, and milk is 42, 10s. 6d., and for bread 21. ls. 6d.
The price of each article is charged in both cases at the

which the sugar can be extracted from the beet, and prepared for commerce,
at a price of 24d. a pound, after paying the cost of manufacture, and a re-
munerative value to the farmer for his beet.
AND RESULTS UPON VALUE OF LAND. 485

present average rates throughout England. The first example
shows an expenditure in articles the produce of grass and green
crops nearly nine times as great as in corn; and the second,
which may be regarded as more of an average example, also
shows an outlay 24 times greater on the former articles of
produce than the latter. Here we see not only the kind of
produce most in demand, but the direction in which household
expenditure increases when the means permit. It is rea-
sonable to conclude that the great mass of the consumers, as
their circumstances improve, will follow the same rule. And in
further illustration of this argument it may be mentioned that
the only species of corn which has risen materially in price since
1770 is barley, and that is accounted for by the increasing use
of beer, which is more a luxury than a necessary of life.

Every intelligent farmer ought to keep this steadily in view.
Let him produce as much as he can of the articles which have
shown ‘a gradual tendency to increase in value. The farms
which eighty years ago yielded 1002. in meat and wool, or in
butter, would now produce 200/., although neither the breed of
stock nor the capabilities of the land had been improved. Those
which yielded 1002 in wheat then, would yield no more now,
even if the productive power of the land had undergone no
diminution by a long course of exhaustion. The clays of
Durham and Cleveland, and the wealds of Surrey, Sussex, and
Kent are in this state of reduced fertility. The wheat they
produce brings the same price per bushel as it did eighty years
ago, but the quantity each acre yields is diminished. The
tenants of these and similar districts are the poorest of their
class in England, and the rent of the landlords has scarcely
increased. In Cheshire and Lancashire there are clays as stiff
and infertile; but even if they produced no more than they did
eighty years ago, their owners and tenants have increased in
wealth, inasmuch as that produce of cheese and butter, the staple
of their district, which then sold for 1002, is now worth 2001.

But the acreable produce itself has likewise increased; and this
113
486 EFFECTS OF GRASS AND GREEN CROPS

is a most important feature in the case, for a large stock of
well-fed animals every year adds fertility to the land on which
they are kept; while a constant succession of corn crops, not
yielding a corresponding return of manure, gradually diminishes
that natural fertility. The consequence of this, and likewise
an illustration of our argument, is that at present corn land in
the wealds of Surrey or Sussex may be hired at 15s. or bought
for 212 an acre, while grass land of much the same quality in
Cheshire lets at 30s. and sells at 452. an acre. Nay, even in
the same county, the contrast is more striking; for'in Surrey a
meadow lets at 37. an acre, while tillage land, originally of the
same quality, on the opposite side of the fence, shall scarcely
fetch 15s.

While we thus attempt to indicate the direction in which
experience seems to have shown that agricultural enterprise
will for the future be most remunerative, it is proper to advert
to the possible effects of such a change, on the supply of food,
and the demand for labour. If more land should thereby be
gradually laid to grass, or a greater extent be devoted to the
production of meat and vegetables, we should expect, as the
result of better cultivation, that there would be little or no
diminution in the annual produce of corn, inasmuch as the
smaller extent would yield a larger acreable return. But
although that increased return should be found insufficient to
compensate in quantity for the diminished breadth of corn
crops, no anxiety need thence be felt for the bread of the people.
Rest from corn-cropping is the best preparation for the future
growth of corn. And if an emergency should ever arise by
which, in consequence of war, we should be driven back on our
own resources, we would find that we had been laying up in
our rich grass fields, and well-manured green crop lands, a store
of fertility which might be called into action in a single season,
and which would yield ample crops of corn for consecutive
years, with little labour or expense.

Experience also shows that this change of husbandry would
ON SUPPLY OF FOOD AND LABOUR. 487

not prove injurious to the labourer. Green crops require more
manual labour than corn; and even an increase of grass com-
bined with green crops would probably not diminish the demand
for labour. It is in the strictly corn districts of the south and
east that the labourer’s condition is most depressed. The dairy
lands of North Wilts, the vale of Gloucester, and the vale of
Aylesbury afford better wages to the labourer than the corn
districts of the same counties, Salisbury Plain, the Cotswolds,
and the corn farms on the Chiltern hills.
488

LETTER LIII.

THE LANDLORD.

THE MEANS BY WHICH FARMERS MAY INCREASE THEIR CROPS AT LESS COM-
PARATIVE COST — HOME COMPETITION ON UNEQUAL TERMS — THE ROAD
AGAINST THE RAILWAY — DRAINAGE, HEDGEROWS, AND INADEQUATE
BUILDINGS — STATE OF THE LATTER GENERALLY DISCREDITABLE —IMPos-
SIBLE THAT MATTERS IN THIS RESPECT COULD BE SO BAD IF LANDLORDS
HAD BEEN PRACTICALLY ACQUAINTED WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF LAND—
GREAT ADVANTAGE TO A LANDOWNER OF A KNOWLEDGE OF HIS BUSINESS
—THE QUALIFICATIONS OF AN AGENT OR STEWARD — IMMENSE LOSS
OCCASIONED BY THEIR INCOMPETENCE — SALE OF ENCUMBERED ESTATES
RECOMMENDED — CHEAP TRANSFER OF LAND — WOULD INCREASE THE
VALUE OF PROPERTY—AND FACILITATE THE BORROWING OF MONEY ON
LAND —MIGHT BE OBTAINED BY A SYSTEM OF REGISTRATION, THE
TRANSFER BEING MADE BY SHORT ENDORSEMENTS ON AN AUTHENTICATED
EXTRACT FROM THE REGISTER.

Dee. 1851.
In our last letter we showed the advantage, both to the land-
lord who receives, and to the tenant who pays rent, of cul-
tivating as much as possible that description of produce which
has a tendency to increase in value in this country. We need
be under no apprehension of thereby unduly diminishing the
growth of corn, for the more stock an arable farm maintains,
the more productive will be its yield of corn. And if corn
should rise in price so considerably as to affect its comparative
value, it is an easy process to extend our growth of it. With
the present prices, and the knowledge of the fact that the rich
corn provinces of the continent are open to us, and are daily
becoming more accessible by the extension of railways and
steam navigation, there seems good reason to anticipate the
permanence of a low range of prices. The safe course for’ the
English agriculturist is to endeavour, by increasing his live
stock, to render himself less dependent on corn, while he at
DIFFERENT POSITION OF FARMERS. 489.

the same time enriches his farm by their manure, and is thus
enabled to grow heavier crops at less comparative cost.

Before this can be done with full advantage, wet land must
be thoroughly drained, unnecessary obstructions to economical
tillage should be removed, convenient farm-roads be pro-
vided for economising labour, and well arranged buildings
be constructed for accommodating the cattle, accumulating
the manure, and manufacturing the crop. Let any man
compare, as we have done, two farms in the same neigh-
bourhood, the one of which is neither better nor worse pro-
vided in these respects than the average of the country, and
the other with all these improvements effected and turned
to account. The tenant of the first uses nearly double the
quantity of seed which the second finds sufficient; for much
seed perishes in undrained land, and much is carried off by
the birds which harbour in straggling fences. Every operation
of tillage is more difficult, and of course more expensive ;
the crop is not so good in quality nor in quantity. He
has tried to grow turnips to feed stock, but the land was
insufficiently prepared, and the crop a comparative failure —
such as it is, it cannot be consumed where it grows, owing
to the wetness of the soil; and, while the land itself is cut
up, the horses are distressed in drawing it home through the
miry fields;~— there being no proper accommodation for the
cattle, the turnips are wastefully consumed, the animals do
not thrive, and the manure is imperfectly made and much
of it allowed to run to waste. The other farm has been drained
‘and trenched — the land turns up mellow and dry — it is easily
and thoroughly wrought at the proper season, and the turnip
seed sown — the air and rain permeate the soil and dissolve
the well made manure—the tender rootlets of the plant find
food, and flourish — the crop is heavy, and does not disappoint
the farmer. The land is so firm and dry that a portion of
the crop is left on it to be consumed by sheep — the sheep
thrive, and enrich the ground. The rest of the crop is carried
home easily on conyenient roads, and given to stock, housed
490 HOME COMPETITION.

in well arranged covered boxes, where warmth and shelter
economise the food, and the facilities of intercommunication
cheapen the cost of attendance. The stock of all kinds
thrive under this generous treatment; it is worth the
farmer’s while to study what is best for them; their food is
given at regular intervals, — roots, corn, and cake each in due
proportion; they fatten rapidly —and pay. The rich manure,
all of which has been safely preserved, is laid on the ground
without stint. The fields are fruitful, and the farmer prosperous.

Are the men who occupy these two farms competing with
each other on equal terms? Can the man who sows three
bushels of wheat and reaps twenty-four, sell it with a profit at
the same price as he who sows two and reaps forty? The man
who starves his scanty stock in winter, can he profit equally
with the other, whose well-fed and comfortably-lodged animals
leave plenty to enrich the land, and fill their owner’s ‘pocket ?
As well might the hand-loom compete with the power-loom,
the windmill with the steam-engine, or the stage-coach with
the railway.

What, then, is the actual state of England in regard to
these important improvements? Drainage in the counties
where it is needed has made considerable progress, the removal
of useless hedgerows is slowly extending, but farm-buildings
everywhere are generally defective. The inconvenient, ill-
arranged hovels, the rickety wood and thatch barns and
sheds, devoid of every known improvement for economising
labour, food, and manure, which are to be met with in every
county of England, and from which anything else is excep-
tional in the southern counties, are a reproach to the landlords
in the eyes of all skilful agriculturists who see them. One
can hardly believe that such a state of matters is permitted
to exist in an old and wealthy country. Buildings of such
a character that every gale of wind brings something down
which the farmer must repair, and of so combustible a nature
that among ill-disposed people he lives in continual dread
of midnight conflagration. With accommodation adapted. to
INCONVENIENT AND INADEQUATE BUILDINGS. 491

the requirements of a past century, the farmer is urged to do
his best to meet the necessities of the present. The economies
of arrangement and power which are absolutely necessary to
ensure profit amid the active competition of manufacturers,
are totally lost sight of here. And even the waste of raw
material, which would be ruinous in a cotton-mill, is continued

as a necessary evil, by the farmer, whose landlord provides”

him neither sufficient lodging for his stock, nor in that lodging,
such as it is, the power of economising food by warmth and
shelter.

We do not advocate expensive buildings, or urge upon land-
lords a heavy expenditure without a proportionate result. In
many parts of the country we have seen money squandered on
expensive and ill-contrived buildings, from which the tenant
reaped little advantage. But if the farmers of England are to
be exposed to universal competition, the landlords must give
them a fair chance. If they refuse to part with the control of
their property for the endurance of a lease, they must them-
selves make such permanent improvements as a tenant at will is
not justified in undertaking. The farmers of that part of the
continent nearest our shores have far better accommodation for
their stock, than the majority of English tenants. The sub-
stantial and capacious farmeries of Belgium, Holland, the north
of France and the Rhenish provinces, contrast most favour-
ably with the farm buildings common in most English counties.

But how can landlords afford such an expenditure as would
be required to improve their estates, and maintain and increase
their value? They must make themselves acquainted first with
what is absolutely requisite, and then with the best and most
economical mode of carrying that into effect. The funds
necessary must also be forthcoming, or the rent will fall toa
far greater extent than the annual amount of a sinking fund to
repay this outlay.

A work so necessary could not have been so long neglected,
if the great body of English landlords had been practically
acquainted with the management of land. In the beginning of
492 THE BUSINESS OF A- LANDOWNER.

this century and for twenty years afterwards, young men of
family very naturally and properly made the army their pro-
fession, and committed the management of their estates to
agents who, in those days of high prices, had little else to do
than to receive rents. But that time has passed, and we trust
the young men of the present generation will not be obliged to
make war their profession. War prices also are gone, and the
rude practice which flourished with wheat at 80s. a quarter, is
‘altogether ruinous with wheat at 40s. The tenant may be the
first to feel this change, but the landlord is the man on whom it
eventually falls. ‘Let him learn his profession—that of a land-
owner. He will soon discover the benefits of improvement and
‘therefore its necessity, the advantage of drainage, the evils of
numerous hedgerows, the destructiveness of game preserves, and
the economy to the farmer, and, by consequence, to himself, of
good roads and well arranged buildings. He will appreciate
the difference between an improving tenant and a sluggard, ‘and
will encourage the one, and get rid of the other. He will see
the advantage of promoting the investment of capital in culti~
vation, and the necessity therefore of giving his tenant the
security of a lease. He will perceive the hardship of stringent
covenants to a good tenant, and their inefficacy in preventing
deterioration by a bad one. And if his estate is so extensive
that his personal attention is required for public as well as
private objects, his knowledge will enable him to select an agent
properly qualified, whose advice he will himself be capable ot
estimating and controlling.

The present age is eminently practical. Every business in
the country requires previous application, in those who practise
it, to render it profitable. The labourer must perfect himself
by years of patient application in the peculiar department of
work in which he hopes to excel. The tradesman must serve
his apprenticeship,—the professional man must study and work
hard to obtain a knowledge of his business. The success or
failure of these men affects themselves only. But the landlord's
QUALIFICATIONS OF AN AGENT. 493

influence for good or evil extends to his tenants and labourers,
and in its general results regulates, in no unimportant degree,
the productiveness and welfare of the country. Yet of all
classes in the community he is the only one who receives no
special training. Our great universities offer him no peculiar
instruction to fit him for the important functions of his station.
He comes to it frequently without knowledge of its duties, and,
with a consciousness of his own inabilty to perform them, he
resigns all into the hands of his agent.

The selection of a properly qualified agent or steward is, on
every large estate, a matter of the utmost importance. Honesty
and uprightness are indispensable, capacity and personal ac-
tivity, with an inquiring and unprejudiced mind, sound judg-
ment, and decision of character, are all necessary. An agent
should be capable of choosing a class of tenantry who would aid
him in the improvement of his employer’s estates; he should be
able to consult with and advise them in the management of
their farms, pointing out resources which they may have over-
looked; he should study the proper subdivision of farms and
fences; the best arrangement of farm buildings and the most
economical mode of constructing them ; he should be competent
to decide on the fields that require drainage, so that, while neces-
sary improvements are not neglected, the money of his employer
may not be needlessly expended. The presence of such an
agent is visible at once in the general air of comfort, activity,
and progress which animates all classes connected with the
estate which he superintends. Some ‘landlords, whilst they
admire and envy the improvements effected by such a man, yet
fear to employ him on account of the expense which his opera-
tions entail in the first instance. Expense is a comparative
term. If all improvement is declined, there will of course be
little outlay. But the most bigoted are conscious that if rents
are to be maintained, their farms must afford the same facilities
to the farmer as those of their neighbours, and that progress
must be made. An experienced sensible agent, with the aid
494 LOSS BY AGENT’S INCOMPETENCE.

of a willing tenantry, will effect as much with 1002 as an
inexperienced or incompetent man can with 2001. And it is
not only in this way that he economises, but by timely and
wise encouragement he carries the tenantry forward in a course
of improvement, which enables them better to withstand the
pressure of low prices of corn, by adapting their management
to altered circumstances.

The loss unconsciously sustained by some of the large pro-
prietors of land in this country, from the incompetence of
agents, is quite inconceivable. We recollect having met
with a weakly old gentleman, a retired officer, who had the
management of a very extensive and valuable estate, in the
vicinity of a great town, which, within the last twenty years,
has increased immensely in population and wealth. Dairy
produce and vegetables are in great demand, and there is a
cheap and abundant supply of manure. The land, considering
its situation and advantages, and its quality, was moderately
let, and an active tenantry should have prospered amid circum-
stances in every way so favourable. It would have been
reasonable to expect that the rental would have been gradually
creeping up, where the increasing wants of a well-employed
population ought to have made itself so strongly felt. But
that was not so. The tenants were hereditary, and so was the
system. <A certain quantity of wheat paid the rent in former
times, and it ought to do so still. The supplies which were now
most renumerative were furnished by others, and the men who
had a market, at their door, for commodities which they and others
within the circuit of a few miles could alone supply, continued
to look almost exclusively to an article in the production of
which the whole country could compete with them. The result
is what under such management might be expected. The agent
felt himself bound to recommend a reduction of rent over the
whole estate some years ago, and was, at the time we saw him,
again prepared to advise a second reduction; both amounting
together to nearly 25 per cent. We have not a doubt that the
arrangements for the gradual improvement of the agricultural
SALE OF ENCUMBERED ESTATES. 495

management of the estate which a competent and able agent
would have adopted, might in this case not only have prevented
any reduction in the annual value of the property, but have
laid the foundation for its gradual increase, in the prosperity of
an active and intelligent tenantry.

But there is one great barrier to improvement, which
the present state of agriculture must force on the attention
of the legislature,—the great extent to which landed pro-
perty is incumbered. In every county where we found an
estate more than usually neglected, the reason assigned was the
inability of the proprietor to make improvements, on account
of his incumbrances. We have not data by which to
estimate with accuracy the proportion of land in each county in
this position, but our information satisfies us that it is much
greater than is generally supposed. Even where estates are not
hopelessly embarrassed, landlords are often pinched by debt,
which they could clear off if they were enabled to sell a portion,
or if that portion could be sold without the difficulties and
expense which must now be submitted to. If it were possible
to render the transfer of land nearly as cheap and easy as that
of stock in the funds, the value of English property would be
greatly increased. It would simplify every transaction, both
with landlord and tenant. Those only who could afford to
perform the duties of landlords would then find it prudent to
hold that position. Capitalists would be induced to purchase
unimproved properties, for the purpose of improving them and
selling at a profit, A neglected estate would thus become
a matter of choice to men of capital, and the progress of
improvement would be rapid beyond precedent. A measure
which would not only permit the sale of encumbered estates,
but facilitate and simplify the transfer of land, would be more
beneficial to the owners and occupiers of land, and to the
labourers, in this country, than any question connected with
agriculture that has yet engaged the attention of the legislature.

Nor is this matter of opinion or conjecture. We have the
496 CHEAP TRANSFER OF LAND.

experience of neighbouring countries to show that their system:
of registering real property, and the comparatively cheap cost
of transferring it, makes it the most eligible security, either
for purchase or loan. The security on which a banker in
Frankfort or Hamburg, as we learn from Mr. Stewart, ad-
vances money with the greatest facility, and at the lowest
rate of interest, is real property, whether houses or land.
In this country, on the contrary, Consols are the most available
security. The owner of real property, who is in need of tem-
porary assistance, finds himself embarrassed at every step. by
technical difficulties of title, and legal doubts, which compel him.
either to pay a high interest, or get, if he can, collateral:
security, or abandon the attempt altogether. These expensive
and sometimes inextricable doubts and difficulties, are the
cause of the market price of land in this country being lower
than on the continent, where from thirty to thirty-three years’
purchase is the common rate. Now, of all countries in the world,
this, with its immense and increasing manufacturing and com-
mercial population, its Limited territory, and its superabundance
of capital, is the place where land should rise in relative value
above all others. We have seen that the average rent of culti-
vated land in England has doubled within eighty years. The
prospect for another period is better, from the extraordinary
supplies of gold, and the increasing comfort and wealth of the
mass of the people. We see no reason to doubt that if the
transfer of land were simplified, its value might be increased by
five years’ purchase ; for persons seeking investment would look.
not merely to an immediate return, but to the certainty of a
prospective increase of value which land in this country affords,
A rise in value to this extent would free many an embarrassed
landlord from his difficulties; and would, at all events, enable
him to borrow money for the improvement of his estate on more
reasonable terms. And if many should be compelled to sell, the
permanence of our national institutions, and respect for the
rights of property, would be better ensured by admitting to the
REGISTRATION OF PROPERTY. 497

class of landowners sagacious and prudent men, the architects of
their own fortune, than by artificially maintaining families in a
position the duties of which they cannot perform.

In the transfer of land, it is necessary that the parcels be
clearly identified, and any special privileges or duties attached
to them intelligibly described. This, and some other public
objects, might be accomplished by opening a record in which
any proprietor should be entitled to have his land inserted under
due precautions. An authenticated extract from this record
might become the foundation of many successive transfers by
short endorsements, the title being completed by the entry of
these in the principal record. A system resembling this has
been described to us as having long been established with suc-
cess in an eastern country. And although the question may be
embarrassed with the technical refinements in which it has been
enveloped, it would seem to common sense that these are not
necessarily inherent in the subject. Apart from these, the
chief practical difficulty would be to devise a scheme of record
which would avoid repetition, and yet admit of easy reference.
It might be open to those proprietors who should choose to
avail themselves of its advantages, without being compulsory
upon others.
498

LETTER LIV.

THE FARMER.

EXTRAORDINARY DIFFERENCE IN THE ART OF AGRICULTURE AS PRACTISED
IN DIFFERENT COUNTIES, AND OCCASIONALLY ON NEIGHBOURING FARMS—
THE MOST PRIMITIVE, AS COMPARED BY COST AND PRODUCE, ALSO THE

; MOST EXPENSIVE SYSTEM — SOMETHING TO BE LEARNED EVERYWHERE —
THE ROTATION OF CROPS EXPANDING WITH REQUIREMENTS OF DENSER
POPULATION, AND INCREASING FACILITIES OF TRANSPORT, AND NEW
SOURCES OF MANURE — THE GREAT PRINCIPLE OF ROTATIONS — NECES-
SITY FOR THE FARMER TO KEEP THIS BEFORE HIM AND FOR THE LAND-
LORD TO DO NOTHING WHICH OBSTRUCTS HIS PROGRESS — SECURITY FOR
THE FARMER'S CAPITAL — MAY BE OBTAINED EITHER BY LEASE OR
“ TENANT-RIGHT” — RESULTS OF TENANT-RIGHT IN THE COUNTIES WHERE
IT IS RECOGNISED — PRODUCES FRAUD — PERPETUATES OBSOLETE PRAC-
TICES — IS INDEFINITE IN EXTENT— UNJUST TO THE LANDLORD — DISLIKED
IN SOME COUNTIES BY THE BEST TENANTS — AND DOES NOT ENSURE GOOD
FARMING — LEASES WITH LIBERAL COVENANTS THEREFORE CONSIDERED
GREATLY PREFERABLE.

Dec. 1851.
Tu position of the tenant-farmers of England next demands
our attention. To show the progress which has been made
in the art of agriculture in this country, it is not neces-
sary to go back to any authority of the last century for a de-
scription of the processes then adopted. Every county presents
contrasts abundantly instructive, the most antiquated and the
most modern systems being found side by side. The successful
practices of one farm, or one county, are unknown or unheeded
in the next. On one side of a hedge a plough with five horses
and two men, and on the other side of the same hedge, a plough
with two horses and one man, are doing precisely the same
amount of work. In adjoining fields may be seen a foul turnip
crop under ten tons an acre, and a luxuriant one above thirty.
On neighbouring farms of similar soil the wheat crop may vary
from twenty to forty bushels an acre, and most probably the
CONTRASTS, IN’ FARMING. 499

man who grows twenty pays not less than 9s. for thrashing
that quantity by hand, while the other thrashes his forty bushels
by steam for 3s. 6d.

In the preceding Letters the details of good farming are given
much more at length than instances of the reverse, as it was
from the first only that instruction could be drawn. This was
from no want of examples of antiquated farming; for if we
spent one day in examining Sir John Conroy’s farm at Arbor-
field, Mr. Hudson’s at Castleacre, Mr. Beasley’s at Overstone,
or Lord Hatherton’s at Teddesley, we were almost sure to be
wandering on the next through the mazes of frequent hedge-
rows, gazing at five horses elaborately doing the work of two,
manure suffered to go to waste, cattle insufficiently housed and
fed, land undrained and unproductive, and farmers complaining,
not without reason, of their want of success. One day we
learned the processes by which Mr. Huxtable economises labour,
manure, and food; and the next we saw in operation an anti-
quated fanning machine, precisely the same as Arthur Young
described it eighty years ago, and worthy of the days before the
Conquest; manure treated as a troublesome nuisance ; and cattle
wasting their substance and their food by being kept starving
in the open fields in winter. The same day on which we saw
the steam engine of Mr. Thomas of Lidlington in Bedford-
shire, with which he is enabled to thrash his wheat crop for
1d. a bushel, we found other farmers paying four or five times
as much for the same operation, not so well done by hand. On
one farm in Suffolk we have seen light land prepared for turnips
by skim ploughing, scarifying, and one deep furrow, at a cost
not exceeding 25s. an acre; and on another, of precisely the
same kind of soil, the farmer was compelled by covenant to give
his land four or five furrows, with repeated harrowing and
rolling, to effect the same object, at more than double the cost.

Nor are these small economies to be despised. On the two
corn crops of a four-course rotation, the different expense of
thrashing by hand and by steam will amount to 8s. an acre, which

KK 2
500 SOMETHING TO BE LEARNED EVERYWHERE.

being saved on the half of the ploughed land of the farm, is equi-
valent to 4s. an acre on the whole of it; and that is equal, in many
cases, to a reduction of 20 per cent. in the rent. The saving of
seed which Sir John Conroy has effected by having his land in
such a high state of cultivation, is, as compared with the average
quantity sown in similar districts of England, quite equal to a
saving of 10 per cent. on the common rent of corn lands. But
this is a saving of more limited application, inasmuch as a very
thin sown crop is later in ripening, and more subject to mildew,
and, unless accompanied by.the most careful and continued
hoeing, more favourable to weeds, besides being more easily
affected by casualties of season,—all which are serious objec-
tions in a moist or northern climate.

It would be only repeating what has been much better done
by Mr. Pusey, in the 26th number of the Royal Agricultural
Society’s Journal, if we were to draw into one view the,savings
which the modern farmer can effect, by the use of improved
machines, cheaper feeding stuffs and manures, and more econo-
mical and rational processes of husbandry. There is scarcely a
single county in which the agricultural reader of these Letters
will not find some practice better managed than his own, some
process by which he may increase his crops, or fatten his stock,
at less expense than it has hitherto cost him. Some counties are
much more advanced than others, and accordingly present more
numerous examples for instruction ; but the careful student will
find, in the description of every county, local practices which
long experience has brought to a high state of perfection. By
combining with his own what he learns of the best, and reject-
ing the practices of the worst, he may establish for himself a
system of agriculture, suited to his particular soil and climate,
founded on the experience of successful practical men. He will
find that the best farmers have not attained success by blind
adherence to a given rotation, but by a constant adaptation of
their plans to the growing wants of the country, taking advan-
tage of railway or steam-boat communications to cheapen the
ROTATION OF CROPS. 501

cost of transit to the best markets, and of portable manures cr
cattle food to replace the exhaustion caused by the increasing
abstraction of corn and stock from the farm.

The question, what is the best rotation of crops, is so
variously answered in these Letters that the reader may have
some difficulty in arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. The
Norfolk or four-course rotation is undoubtedly the one most
generally approved, but it is to its principle of alternate corn
and cattle crops, rather than to a strict adherence to its original
detail, that this approval is accorded. In many cases we have
inspected farms managed, on a strict four-course, to the highest
pitch which the land under that system would yield. Do what
he could, the farmer was unable to calculate with certainty on
the success of each crop in the course. The clover failed, or
the turnips were diseased. The barley was too heavy and did
not fill, or the wheat lost root and proved thin. Farm as high
as he could, his unvarying routine of crops had exhausted some-
thing from his light soil which the aids at his command did not
exactly replace. He drops the half of the clover from the
course and substitutes winter beans. This succeeds, and he is
tempted to try again. Mangold is taken instead of a portion
of his turnips, and white or yellow turnips are grown where
swedes were before. In the next round the position of these
crops is reversed. His green crops now flourish, and he. turns
his attention to the corn. He finds that, by enriching his land,
he improves the wheat crop, but endangers the barley. He
cannot grow heavy crops of roots without manure, and he
knows that to feed his sheep with profit he must hasten them
forward by the aid of corn and cake. The land must therefore
be enriched, and as with such high condition the barley might
be lost, he sows the ground with wheat. An excellent crop of
wheat reduces this condition sufficiently to admit of a safe and
productive barley crop, which costs him nothing for manure, and
very little for labour. But in this process of improvement the
four-course has disappeared, and heen replaced by a five, so

KK 3
502 EXPANDS WITH INCREASING REQUIREMENTS,

arranged that red clover, white clover and trefoil, winter beans,
and mangold, swedes, and turnips, are respectively repeated on
the same ground at no shorter intervals than 15 years. The
course then stands thus :—

1 3Clover, } White Clover and Trefoil, 4 Winter Beans.

2 Wheat.

8 4 Mangold, } Swedes, 4 Turnips.

4 Wheat.

5 Barley, in some cases sown after mustard, ploughed in green.

And that in the course of time will, without doubt, in its
turn, give place to another, under the guidance of further
experience. Near a large population, where there is a demand’
for vegetables, and a supply of street manure, the farmer may
find himself better paid by green crops than corn. Accordingly
we have found the most intelligent farmersin such situations
employ two-thirds of their land in growing green crops, and
one-third in corn. In the western counties the climate ex-
ercises a powerful influence, and the successful farmers of
Lancashire take two corn crops and two green crops alter-
nately. In short, the detail is every where varied by the
judicious agriculturist, to suit the necessities and advantages of
the particular locality, when he is permitted by his agreement,
and has sufficient skill, to pursue a rational system.

The reader will see that no one system or course of hus-
bandry is applicable to every situation. It was not because
the four-course was an alternation of corn and cattle crops,
that it succeeded, though that was itself a great improvement,
nor because it produced regularity of system, though that is
also of much importance. Nor was it owing to the mere
treading of the land by the feet of the sheep, though to that
much of the success of the system used to be attributed. It
was because it was a step in the right direction, one of those
gropings in the dark, by which the man of mere practice occa-~
sionally finds the best path. Pursuing it without the guide of
science, it soon began to fail, and lead him astray. There
AND ENLARGING RESOURCES. 503

was no virtue in the constant round of crops or regularity
of practice to compensate the increased exhaustion occasioned
by the sale of larger produce without an equivalent return
of manure. It was because it so far fulfilled the principle
of keeping the land pry, cLEAN, and nicu, that it was in any
degree successful.

On a full recognition of that principle rests our future agri-
cultural progress. The landlord and the farmer must both
recognise it in their dealings with each other, and with the
land. Crops which do not pay the farmer, do not suit his
purpose, and to restrict him to the growth of such is both
impolitic and absurd. His business is to grow the heaviest
crops of the most remunerative kind his soil can be made to
carry, and, within certain limits of climate which experience
has now defined, the better he farms, the more capable his
land becomes of growing the higher qualities of grain, of
supporting the most valuable breeds of stock, and of being
readily adapted to the growth of any kind of agricultural
produce, which railway facilities or increasing population may
render most remunerative. In this country the agricultural
improver cannot stand still. If he tries to do so, he will soon
fall into the list of obsolete men, being passed by eager com-
petitors, willing to seize the current of events and turn them
to their advantage. The four-course, or any other course
when it has served its time, must expand itself to meet the
increasing requirements of the day, by appropriating to itself
the simultaneously enlarging resources of modern science and
enterprise.

This naturally brings us to the statement of a question which
we have considered and discussed with intelligent practical
farmers in all parts of England,— security for the capital of the
farmer, whether under the designation of “ Compensation for
unexhausted Improvements,” or, more briefly, “ Tenant-right.”
The investment of a tenant’s capital in land seldom contem-
plates an immediate return. He does not anticipate that a

KK 4
504 SECURITY FOR TENANTS’ CAPITAL.

large expenditure in cleaning and enriching worn-out land will
be all repaid to him in the first crop. He lays the foundation
for a series of good crops, which in the aggregate he expects to
repay him with interest. If he drains, makes fences, or other
improvements of a more permanent character, a still longer
period is requisite to compensate him. But he must either be
secured in the possession of his farm for a certain period,
sufficiently long to enable him to receive the benefits of his
investment, or have some precise agreement under which he is
to be repaid, in fixed proportions, for his outlay, if his landlord
should see fit to resume possession of the farm. Without either
the one or the other, an improving tenant has no legal security for
the capital he invests in the cultivation of another person’s land.

Yet the great proportion of English farms are held on yearly
tenure, which may be terminated at any time by a six months’
notice on either side. It is a system preferred by the landlord,
as enabling him to retain a greater control over the land, and
acquiesced in by the tenants, in consideration of easy rents.
During a period of high prices, moderate rents could be paid
without the investment of much capital by the tenant. But low
prices and universal competition compel agricultural improve-
ment. We must either farm as well as our neighbours, or be
undersold by them. The investment of tenants’ capital, whether
in money, skill, or industry, is now therefore more than ever
necessary to success. It may be said, with perfect truth, that
great agricultural improvements have been made, and the most
entire confidence subsists between landlord and tenant under
this uncertain tenure. That tenants do, in many instances,
invest their capital largely, with no other security than their
landlord’s character, we most willingly testify; and the con-
fidence which subsists between the two classes in England
generally, is in the highest degree honourable to both. In no
country, perhaps, in the world, does the character of any class
of men for fair and generous dealing, stand higher than that of
the great body of English landlords. Yet there are exceptions,
BY LEASE RATHER THAN TENANT-RIGHT. 505

and these are unfortunately becoming more numerous. The
son does not always inherit the virtues of his father. Necessity
or education may make his views different. Family provisions
and allowances may leave him less to spend from the same
rental. The tenant too, mixing more with the world than he
used to do, or being educated at a more advanced period of
its progress, begins to dislike the dependence implied in this
relation. He knows that he must invest his capital more
freely than heretofore in the cultivation of his farm, and in
these days of change he feels that he is entitled to ask some
effective security for its repayment. That security he may
obtain, either by being guaranteed by lease in the possession of
his farm for such a number of years as will give time for his
invested capital to have full effect and be returned to him, or,
if the landlord declines to give a lease, by an agreement on a
certain basis for compensation for unexhausted improvements,
when either party wishes to terminate the connection. One
or other of these alternatives the improving farmer is fairly
entitled to expect, and for the reasons now to be given we most
strongly recommend the general adoption of leases, in preference
to tenant-right.

The only counties in which the custom of tenant-right is
fully recognised, are Surrey, Sussex, the Weald of Kent, Lin-
coln, North Notts, and part of the West Riding. In these
counties the custom has been so long in operation, as to have
become binding in law, and they afford us an opportunity of
judging whether the system has worked so well in practice as
to justify its extension to all the other counties of England.
In each of those counties, except the Weald of Kent, which
we apprehend to be much the same as the contiguous tract in
Surrey and Sussex, we minutely examined the state of agricul-
ture, and the relations subsisting between landlord and tenant,
as affected by this legalised custom, and our impression of each
in its place without reference to the other, was narrated in our
former Letters. In the Wealds of Surrey and Sussex, where the
606 TENANT-RIGHT IN PRACTICE

custom is most stringent, we found the state of agriculture ex-
tremely backward, the produce much below the average of
England, the tenants deeply embarrassed, and the landlords
receiving their low rents.irregularly ; in fact, no men connected
with the land thriving, except the appraisers, who were in
constant requisition to settle the disputed claims of outgoing
and entering tenants. We found both farmers and landlords
complaining that the system led to much fraud and chicanery,
and that an entering tenant was compelled by it to pay as
much for bad as for good farming; that intelligent farmers
were most desirous that their landlords should buy up the
tenant-right, and thus put an end to it, and landlords in many
cases were doing so. In Lincolnshire and North Notts we
found the great improvement of agriculture of late years attri-
buted to the system of compensation to outgoing tenants; yet,
on examining the state of agriculture itself, it seemed tosus, if
not inferior, certainly in no respect superior to the proficiency
of the same class of farmers in West Norfolk, whose capital is
not protected by any compensation agreements, but by a twenty-
one years’ lease. The indefiniteness of the “custom” was also
much complained of, and its constant liability to increase.
Frauds were beginning to creep into the system, and landlords,
for their own protection, were obliged to limit and define the
custom by special agreement. In the southern portion of the
West Riding, where tenant-right is very stringent, it is found
to lead to great fraud and abuse, there being instances of
“ smart” men, who make it their business to take a farm, hold
it for a year or two, and by “ working up to a quitting,” as
it is termed in Surrey, make a considerable profit by the differ-
ence which their ingenuity and that of their appraiser enables
them to demand when they leave, as compared with what they
paid at their entry. Obsolete practices are valued under this
system at their original cost, so that the plan of giving five
furrows to a light soil, in preparation for turnips, is perpetuated
and must be paid for, though, under the modern system, two’
DOES NOT ENSURE SUPERIOR FARMING. 507

furrows on such land at the proper season are known to be not
merely more economical, but really more beneficial.

The amount of these valuations varies between 3/. and 52. an
acre. A tenant entering to a farm is thus obliged to pay over
a large sum, to his predecessor, for operations in the direction
and execution of which he has had no voice. There can be no
doubt whatever that any man would prefer to spend his
money in making improvements according to his own judgment ;
but the advance of so much capital over and above the ordinary
stock of the farm, either requires tenants of more than the
means of ordinary farmers, or throws the land into the hands of
men who, having expended the larger portion of their ready
money in paying for their entry, are so hampered during their
tenancy as to be unable to do justice to their farms. It is also
obvious —for we are bound to look at the question as it affects
both parties — that such a system offers great facility for com-
bination by the tenants against their landlord. The owner of
say 4000 acres in such a district, might find it very difficult to
refuse the demands of his tenants, however unjust, if, during a
period of agricultural depression, they offered him the alternative
of getting his farms thrown on his hands, with a tenant-right to
be paid down, amounting to four or five years’ rental.

Without going further into the question, it must be plain that
it is not the interest of the landlords, if the decision is left with
them, to adopt this system. To legalise it by act of parliament,
so as to render its operation general over the kingdom, it would
be necessary to prove that it would promote the public welfare.
We have seen in the counties where it exists that the agriculture
is on the whole inferior to that of other districts, and in no case,
even under the most favourable circumstances, superior to other
well-conditioned counties which do not possess this tenant-right.
In every county it has led to fraud in a greater or less degree.
It perpetuates bad husbandry, by stereotyping costly practices
which modern improvements have rendered obsolete. It absorbs
the capital of the entering tenant, thus limiting his means for
508 ITS EXTENSION NOT DESIRABLE.

future improvement. It unfairly depresses the letting value of
land.—Perhaps it may be urged that we dwell on the abuses
rather than on the fair and legitimate uses of the system. But
it is not easy to see where the line of demarcation is to be
drawn. The difficulty has already occurred in Lincolnshire,
where landlords find it necessary to limit by special agreement
the otherwise indefinite and constantly widening objects which
this custom may be understood to embrace. With the best and
purest intention, a farmer may lay out 1000J. in drainage or
manures, but, if his investment turns out disadvantageous, is it
consistent with common sense that he is to be at liberty to
relieve himself from the consequences of his own miscalculations
or imprudence, by giving up his farm, and demanding reimburse-
ment of the “unexhausted improvement” from his landlord ?
The same principle too which is applicable to the farmer in his
buildings and his farm might be equally claimed by the labourer
in his cottage, his garden, and his allotment.

The practical working of tenant-right has thus led us to the
conviction, (contrary, we admit, to our preconceived opinions,)
that it is not desirable to extend it, either legally or conventionally,
to other parts of the kingdom. However well it may look in
theory, we should find the honest and intelligent farmers of
other counties becoming disgusted with its frauds, and, as the
same class are now doing in Surrey, North Notts, and the
West Riding, demanding its restriction, and recommending their
landlords to buy it up and get rid of it.

The wish for leases will increase, when the tenant at will dis-
covers that security for his capital by tenant-right is neither pos-
sible nor desirable. There is a very prevalent dislike to leases on
the part of the tenantry of England. To a considerable extent
this was occasioned by the uncertainty of the maintenance of pro-
tection previous to the free-trade measures, but chiefly from the
fact that there was really less change of tenancy and a lower scale
of rent under a system of yearly tenure than under lease. Ifa
man improved his farm during a lease, he was obliged to
LEASES WITH LIBERAL COVENANTS. 509

pay an increased rent for it, in consequence of that improve-
ment, when he renewed it for a second term. If he held from
year to year, he either made no improvement, or, speaking
generally, so little, that the difference of produce from year
to year was so gradual and imperceptible that the farmer kept
nearly the whole advantage to himself. In the one case there
was a gradual progress caused by a greater exertion on the part
of the tenant, and a larger outlay by the landlord, in the ad-
vantage of which all parties participated; in the other an
encouragement to maintain things as they are, that there might
be no inducement on the part of the landlord to raise the rent.

But there are instances in many counties, and particularly
the north and west, of the tenant’s unassisted improvements
during a lease having been taken very unfair advantage of at
its conclusion. ‘The landlord’s right of preference under the
law of distraint has been repeatedly urged to us as affording
an embarrassed or inconsiderate landlord great facility in thus
oppressing an improving tenant. In Northumberland we have
given examples which prove in the strongest manner that the
injury sustained by the tenants, by being induced, through
unfair competition, to offer exorbitant rents, never fails to
reach the landlord in the prostration of that class whose means
have been thus crippled, and who are compelled to resign their
farms, which are then relet at greatly diminished rents. But
a landlord with ordinary foresight must see that his interest is
bound up in the permanent improvement of his estate, not in a
temporary and therefore uncertain rise of rent. It is both his
duty and his interest to encourage sure and steady progress;
and we have no hesitation in saying that, in that respect, the
system of yearly tenure has proved itself in practice, as it is in
theory, inferior to that of leases with liberal covenants, when
fairly and judiciously tried, as in the examples we have given
at Holkham and at Woburn.”

* See Note on Leases at end of volume.
510

LETTER LV.

THE LABOURER.

DIsPaRITY OF WAGES IN ENGLAND — TABLE SHOWING THE AVERAGE AMOUNT
IN THE VARIOUS COUNTIES — INFLUENCE OF PROXIMITY TO MANUFACTURING
AND COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE—ADDS 37 PER CENT TO THE RATE OF WAGES
AS COMPARED WITH THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES — INCREASE OF WAGES SINCE
1770 IN THE NORTH 66 PER CENT, IN THE SOUTH 14 PER CENT — WAGES
IN THE NORTH SUFFICIENT FOR COMFORTABLE SUBSISTENCE, IN THE SOUTH
OFTEN INSUFFICIENT FOR HEALTHY SUSTENANCE — TABLE SHOWING THE
PRESSURE OF POOR RELIEF IN THE VARIOUS COUNTIES — WHERE RATE-
PAYERS DIVIDE AMONG THEMSELVES THE SURPLUS LABOUR, SUPERIOR
SKILL ON THE PART OF THE FARMER OR THE LABOURER IS DISCOURAGED—
HARDSHIP TO THE LABOURER OF “ CLOSE” PARISHES — CONTRAST BETWEEN
NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN COUNTIES IN WAGES AND POOR RATES — HIGH
WAGES AND LOW POOR RATES, AND LOW WAGES AND HIGH FOOR RATES
ALMOST INVARIABLE— ALTERATION IN THE LAW OF SETTLEMENT REQUIRED
— DECREASE IN THE PRICE OF PROVISIONS VERY DIFFERENT FROM A RESORT
TO A LOWER SPECIES OF FOOD — ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH WOULD LEAD
TO SUCH A RESORT DEPRECATED—COTTAGE RENTS—WAGES NOT DEPENDENT
ON PRICES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE — NO CLASS MORE INTERESTED IN
THE CONTINUED PROGRESS OF MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE INDUSTRY.

Dec. 1851.
Tur last class of the agricultural body whose interests we
have to consider, is the Labourer. The disparity of wages
paid for the same nominal amount of work in the various
counties of England, is so great as to show that there must
be something in the present state of the law affecting the
labourer, which prevents the wages of agricultural labour
finding a more natural level throughout the country. Taking
the highest rate we have met with — 15s. a week in parts of
Lancashire, and comparing it with the lowest — 6s. a week in
South Wilts, and considering the facilities of communication in
the present day, it is surprising that so great a difference should
BENEFICIAL INFLUENCE OF MANUFACTURES. 511

continue. ‘To use the words of Adam Smith, “Such a difference
of prices which, it seems, is not always sufficient to transport a
man from one parish to another, would necessarily occasion so
great a transportation of the most bulky commodities, not only
from one parish to another, but from one end of the kingdom,
almost from one end of the world, to the other, as would soon
reduce them more nearly toa level. After all that has been
said of the levity and inconstancy of human nature, it appears
evidently from experience that man is, of all sorts of luggage,
the most difficult to be transported.”

The table on p. 512 shows the average weekly wages, in the
counties we visited, of the agricultural labourer in 1850-1.
We again divide the country into the two divisions of the corn
counties of the East and South coast; and the mixed corn
and grass of the Midland and Western counties. The table is
so constructed as also to show the wages of the Northern coun-
ties separately from those of the Southern. The black line,
dotted on the map, indicates the limit southwards of the Coal
formation, within which the great branches of mining and manu-
facturing enterprise, with the exception of Wales, Somerset,
and Cornwall, may be said to be confined.

An examination of this table shows very clearly that the
higher. wages of the Northern counties is altogether due to
the proximity of manufacturing and mining enterprise. The
difference between the rates in the corn counties of the East,
and the mixed husbandry of the Midland and Western counties,
is not so uniform as to warrant any deduction such as showed
itself so distinctly in the average rent of those districts.

The influence of manufacturing enterprise is thus seen to add
37 per cent. to the wages of the agricultural labourers of the
Northern counties, as compared with those of the South. The
line is distinctly drawn at the point where coal ceases to be
found, to the south of which there is only onc of the counties
we visited in which the wages reach 10s. a week, Sussex. The
local circumstances of that county explain the cause of labour
512 WAGES IN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN COUNTIES,

Tasie showing the Rate of AGRICULTURAL Wa4G#s in 1850-51.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NORTHERN COUNTIES.
Shidland patid Western Weekly Wages. East and South Coast Weekly Wages.
s. d. Ss. d.
Cumberland - - 13 0 Northumberland - 110
Lancashire - - 13 6 Durham - - 110
West Riding - 140 North Riding - 110
Cheshire - - 12 0 East Riding - 12 0
Derby - - 11 0 Lincoln - - 10 0
Nottingham - - 10 0
Stafford - - 96
SOUTHERN COUNTIES.
Warwick - - 8 6 Norfolk - - 86.
Northampton - 90 Suffolk - - 70
Bucks - - 86 Huntingdon - 86
Oxford - - 90 Cambridge - - 76
Gloucester - - 70 Bedford - - 90
North Wilts - 76 Hertford - - 90
Devon - - 8 6 Essex - - 80
Berks - - 76
Surrey - - 96
Sussex - - 10 6
Hants - - - 90
South Wilts - 70
Dorset - - 76
Average of West - 10 0 Average of East - 91
s. ad.
Average of all NoRTHERN CoUNTIES - - - 116
Average of all Sovrnern Countizs - - - 8&5
Average over the whole - - - - - 96

 

 

 

being there better remunerated; the wealthy population of
Brighton, and other places on the Sussex coast, affording an in-
creased market for labour beyond the demands of agriculture.
A comparison with the price of labour in the same counties
in 1770 will show this influence clearly. In Cumberland, at

* See illustrative Map at beginning of volume.
HIGHEST IN TIME NORTHERN. 513

that time, the wages of the agricultural labourer were 6s. 6d.,
in the West Riding 6s., in Lancashire 6s. 6d.; in each of which
counties they have since increased fully 100 per cent. In all
the Northern counties the increase is about 66 per cent. The
increase in the eighteen Southern counties mentioned by Young
is under 14 per cent. In some of them there is no increase
whatever, the wages of the agricultural labourer in part of
Berkshire and Wilts being precisely the same as they were 80
years ago, and in Suffolk absolutely less. The average wages
in 1770 in the Northern counties visited by Young were 6s. 9d. ;
and of the Southern counties 7s. 6d.

Nothing could show more unequivocally the advantage of ma-
nufacturing enterprise to the prosperity and advancement of the
farm-labourer. We constantly hear expressions of regret, on the
part of those who do not look beneath the surface, that the
agricultural labourer, hitherto accustomed to the peace and
plenty of his Arcadian lot, is year after year being withdrawn
from it by the increasing demands and more tempting wages of
the manufacturer. But, when we look to the facts, we find that
in the manufacturing districts agricultural rents and wages
have kept pace with each other; while in the purely agricultural
counties the landlords’ rent has increased 100 per cent., and
the labourers’ wages not quite 14. In the Northern counties
the labourers are enabled to feed and clothe themselves with
respectability and comfort, while in some of the Southern
counties their wages are insufficient for their healthy sustenance.

But the agricultural labourer in the Southern counties, while
he derives from his labour the means of a very scanty existence,
is almost every where felt as a burden instead of a benefit to
his employer. To ascertain how far this feeling is well-founded,
we have compiled the following table; in which the counties
are arranged for comparison in the same order as in our table
of wages, p. 512. : —

TABLE
514

POOR RELIEF.

Tas.z showing the rates of the amount expended for relief of the
poor, lst. per pound on property, 2nd. per head of population, and
8rd. the per centage of paupers to the population, vagrants ex-
cluded, in thirty-one counties, arranged for comparison, of the
Eastern with the Western counties, and the Northern with the
Southern. Compiled from Parliamentary Returns, 1848., No. 735.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NORTHERN COUNTIES. -
Poor relief. fog Poor relief. [ag gy
Midland and oye al
Western: counties: ee East and South Coast 7 223).
r head/ 222 counties. 228)
Peg or at pon 26 peasy pene 22)
s dls. a s. dls. a. 4
Cumberland |1 1 | 4 8 | 6.2 |/Northumberland|1 23) 5 74] 6.7]
Lancashire -|1 03| 3 71) 7.2)/Durham - -|}1 383) 3° 73) 5.2
West Riding)1 53| 4 14) 6.0\North Riding -)1 1] 5 102) 6.5
Cheshire -|1 01} 3 8 | 5.5|[East Riding -|1 23) 5 103) 7.9
Derby -|1 011 8 82} 4.2 |\Lincoln - -|1 23) 6 73) 7.5)
Nottingham -/1 5] 5 3 | 7.9 @
Stafford -|1 1] 38 83) 4.3
SOUTHERN COUNTIES.
Warwick -|1 31) 5 13/5 |\Norfolk - {2 2/9 8312.8
Northampton! 1113) 9 23/11.3 Suffolk —- +2 2) 9 3313.6.
Bucks - -|}2 42110 23)14.6 |Huntingdon -}2 0/9 6311.6
Oxford -|2 5 |10 44)15.1 |\Cambridge -}1 93) 9 13)10.7 |
Gloucester -|1 81) 6 10}| 9.9|Bedford - -|2 O3 7 73/116
North Wilts|2 3410 5 |16.1 ||Hertford - -|1 83} 7 93/11.3
Devon -1114} 7 0310.6 Essex = - +2 13) 9 9314.2
Berks - -+2 23) 9 114/128
Surrey --111])6 9 | 88,
Sussex - -/2 13/9 1312.7
Hants - -/2 2318 23/119)
South Wilts -)2 3310 5 {16.1
Dorset - -|2 23) 9 7315.7
Average ofall Mid- |
fandanaWenern) 1 931 6 8 | 8.9 | terse oof at and 110 | 7 103 10.9
Mew counties |. 2 | 4 Tf 6.3 "cowie resem 2 Og] & 8p] 12d
North and South Wilt:
once only -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
SKILL ARBITRARILY SET ASIDE. 515

Here will be remarked the same broad line of demarcation
which was formerly exhibited in our Table of Wages, between
the Northern, or manufacturing, and the Southern, or agricul-
tural, districts. But there is this striking difference, which is
almost invariable, that the counties which stand high in the,
scale of poor rates, stand low in the scale of wages.

' The evil effects remain of an interference by law, in 1782,
to fix the rate of wages. In 1795, owing to a rise in the price
of corn from 54s. to 75s., the magistrates of several of the
Southern counties issued tables showing the wages which,
in their opinion, every labouring man should receive, propor-
tioned to the number of his family, and the price of bread; and
the parish officers were instructed to make up the difference
between this rate and that paid by his employer! A system
akin to this continued to be acted upon, as is well known, down
to the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act, and destroyed,
as might have been expected, every feeling of independence on
the part of the labourer. But the same system is, in effect, still
in existence; for there is little difference in principle between it
and that which we have so frequently mentioned as being adopted
by the rate-payers of a parish, agreeing to divide amongst them the
surplus labour, not according to their respective requirements,
but in proportion to the size of their farms. In such a parish,
the superior skill of a farmer in economising one of the chief
costs of production is arbitrarily set aside, and he is reduced to
-the same level with his unskilful neighbours. But it has been
also proved to operate in the same disadvantageous manner upon
the skilled labourer, whose capacity would enable him to do
more work and earn a higher rate of wages, but which he is dis-
couraged from doing, as the effect would be to diminish the em-
ployment of others for whom work must be found. The bad
labourer is thus paid the same rate of wages as the good, emu-
lation is discouraged, and the standard of skill and efficiency
kept down. If a labourer knows that he must be employed at

a certain uniform rate of wages, whatever be the quality of his
LL 2
516 * HARDSHIP OF ‘“* CLOSE” PARISHES.

work, he has no motive to improve. But should he, notwith-
standing these artificial trammels, fee] within himself both the
power and the will to do better, the law of settlement tells
him that he is not at liberty to carry his skill to a better market
except on conditions which are felt to be prohibitory.

There is another evil with regard to the labourer, which
is not confined to the Southern counties, — the system of
“close” and “open” parishes, by which the large proprietors
are enabled to drive the labourer out of the parish in which he
works, to a distant village, where, property being more divided,
there is not the same combination against poverty. It is the
commonest thing possible to find agricultural labourers lodged
at such a distance from their regular place of employment, that
they have to walk an hour out in the morning, and an hour
home in the evening,—from forty to fifty miles a week. In
one county the farmers actually provide donkeys, on which
their labourers ride out and home, to prevent them tiring them-
selves with walking, that so they may be more vigorous at their
work. Two hours a day is a sixth part of a man’s daily labour,
and this enormous tax he is compelled to pay in labour, which
is his only capital. Nor is this the sole evil of the practice,
for the labourers are crowded into villages where the exorbitant
cottage rents frequently oblige them to herd together in a
manner destructive of morality and injurious to health.

 

The average wages of the NorTHERN COUNTIES
have been shown to be 11/6
Their average poor relief per £ on property “ iy
— — per head of population iv ove (A 78
Their rate per cent. of paupers to the population die aie ira 6.2

Contrasted with which are: —

The average wages of the SouUrTHERN counTIEs - | 8/5

Their average poor relief per £ on property woe | 2/ Of
—  — per head on population * ww. «| 8/ 8h

And their per-centage of paupers to the population ‘ies

 

 

 

 

12.1 |

 

Here it appears that, while the average wages of the North
are 37 per cent. above those of the South, the expenditure in
the North for poor relief is about 70 per cent. lower on pro-
HIGH WAGES AND LOW POOR RATES. 517

perty, and about 87 per cent. lower when estimated according
to population ; and the difference in the per-centage of paupers
is nearly as one to two.

The redundance of labour which oppresses property and
depreciates wages in the South will not only relieve itself as
soon as freedom is restored to the labourer to settle where he
will, but the change, by equalising the market of labour, will
cheapen the cost, and stimulate the progress, of production in the
North. It is obvious, however, that a change to mere union
settlements would not accomplish these desirable results ; since
it is found that the marked inequality in wages and poverty
is not limited to unions or counties, but bisects the kingdom by
unmistakeable lines into two great geographical divisions. We
may draw a line across the map of England: all to the south
of that line we shall have high poor rates and low wages, and
all to the north of it high wages and low poor rates ; on one side
an enforced excess of labour, impoverishing and bearing down
the working man, and, by consequence, rates pressing on pro-
perty with undue severity ; on the other a comparative deficiency
of labour, raising its price to an unequal average, and operating
unfairly on the cost of production ;— in these two divisions
the same people, the same language, habits, and institutions, with
cheap and rapid communication between them, and no obstacle
except a law which, aggravating the natural indisposition to
move, hinders the working man from carrying his labour to
the best market.

It is not our province to discuss the Poor Laws, or to
attempt to lay down a remedy for a state of things which is
confessedly injurious both to employer and employed. We
desire only, as strongly as we can, to direct attention to a system
fraught with so many evils, —a law of settlement which binds the
labourer to a parish in which his labour is not required, and
prevents another, where labour is deficient, from obtaining that
supply which would be to all parties so beneficial. The im-

portance of the subject, and the inquiry and discussion it has
LU 3
518 THE LAW OF SETTLEMENT.

recently undergone, lead us to hope that some remedial mea-
sure will be early introduced by the Legislature to enable
and encourage the free circulation of labour throughout Eng-
land. The over supply is, as far as we have seen, apt to
be exaggerated. As labourers begin to withdraw, employers
will soon discover, under the pressure of higher wages, that
the surplus was not so great as they led themselves to be-
lieve. The lowest rate of wages we met with in England, 6s.
a week, was in an agricultural parish in South Wilts, where
one large farmer employed the whole labour of the parish,
and fixed as he chose the scale of wages; and yet, in this
very parish, the resident labourers were insufficient for the
regular summer work of the farms, strangers from a different
part of the county being introduced for a season to perform the
operation of turnip hoeing, and to assist in the hay and corn
harvests. *

The change in the price of provisions has added greatly to
the comfort of the labourer. Within the last ten years the
decrease in price of the principal articles of his consumption is
upwards of 30 per cent. In 1840 a stone of flour cost. him
2s. 6d., which he can now purchase for 1s. 8d.; good Congou
tea in 1840 was, exclusive of duty, 2s. 6d. per lb., and is now
only 1s.; and the same quality of sugar which then cost him
6d. per lb., can be had now for 33d.

Such a reduction in the price of provisions is a great boon to
the labourer, because it gives him the command of additional
comforts, and thereby elevates his condition. This is totally
different from the effect of resorting to a lower quality of food,
such as potatoes, contentment with which lowers the standard
of comfort, and debases the condition of the labourer. The sure
consequence of such a depression of standard is, that labou-
rers being more cheaply produced, increase in more rapid pro-
portion than the capital for their employment, and, the labour-
market being overstocked, wages are lowered. There could no
greater evil befal the English agricultural labourer than that
any circumstances should compel him to depress his standard of
WAGES NOT DEPENDENT ON PRICES. 519

comfort so far as to be content for his principal subsistence
with the lowest species of human food in this country, the
potato.

In the counties visited by Arthur Young, the rent of the
labourers’ cottages has increased since his time from 8d. to
Is, 5d. a week, being upwards of 100 per cent.; while agricultural
wages in the same counties, on the average, have risen in the
same period only from 7s. 3d. to 9s. 7d., or about 34 per cent.

The great difference in the rate of wages between the Southern
and Northern counties, is a sufficient proof that the wages of the
agricultural labourer are not dependent on the prices of agricul-
tural produce. A bushel of wheat, a pound of butter, or a
stone of meat, is not more valuable in Cumberland or the
North Riding, than in Suffolk or Berkshire; yet the wages
of the labourer in the two former are from 60 to 70 per cent.
higher than in the two latter counties. The price of bread is
not higher in July and August than in May and June; yet, in
every agricultural county, the wages of labour during the
period of harvest are increased. Nor are better wages di-
rectly the effect of capital; for the poor farmer of the cold
clays of Durham or Northumberland pays 11s. a week, while
the large capitalist who cultivates half a parish in South
Wilts or Dorset pays only 7s. to his labourer. The higher
rate is unmistakeably due to the increased demand for labour.
This has been greatest in the manufacturing and mining
districts of the North, and near the commercial towns and
great seaports, whose prodigious increase of business has at-
tracted and been followed by a similar increase of wealth and
population. The increase of population shown by the census
of 1851, during the last ten years, in the twelve counties in the
foregoing table where wages are highest, exceeds by 6 per cent.
the increase of the Southern counties during the same period.
It thus appears that the welfare of the agricultural labourer is,
more than that of any class in the community, dependent on the

continued progress of our manufacturing and mercantile industry.
LL 4
520

LETTER LVI.

CONCLUSION.

WANT OF AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS ——RENTAL OF ENGLAND — ESTIMATED
ANNUAL PRODUCE OF CORN — AVERAGE PRODUCE PER ACRE — FLUCTUA-
TION OF PRODUCE ACCORDING TO SEASON—-GREAT INFLUENCE OF A COLD
SUMMER IN DIMINISHING THE YIELD — ADVANTAGE OF CORRECT STATISTICAL
INFORMATION BOTH -TO THE STATE AND THE AGRICULTURAL INTEREST—
NECESSITY FOR A READJUSTMENT OF RENTS— AND IN SOME CASES OF THE
TITHE RENT-CHARGE—EDUCATION THE MOST POWERFUL AID TO AGRICUL:
TURAL PROGRESS ——-SUMMARY OF THE PUBLIC MEASURES RECOMMENDED
— THE PROSPECTS OF AGRICULTURE—GREAT BODY OF INTELLIGENT AND
WEALTHY FARMERS, AND SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL WRITERS, ENGAGED
IN ITS ADVANCEMENT.

a
Dee. 1851.

Havine thus concluded the consideration of the three great
interests connected with agriculture—the landlord, the tenant,
and the labourer—we have felt most strongly the want of any
agricultural statistics, on which full reliance can be placed, for
estimating the yield of food for the people. There are statistical
returns on almost every other subject connected with the
business or welfare of the country, but that which may be
well regarded as the most important of all, —the annual supply
of food;— is still left to conjecture. The only information we
possess as to the extent of cultivated land in England, is the
result of a survey made by Mr. Couling, civil engineer and
surveyor, in 1827. Since that period, much of the pasture land
has been broken up for the cultivation of corn, and a great
inroad has been made on the portion set down as uncultivated.
Applying our figures to the calculation, and testing them by
the return to parliament (March, 1845) of the annual rent of
land in every parish of England assessed to the property tax in
1843, we divide the area of England as follows :—
AVERAGE ANNUAL PRODUCE OF WHEAT. 521

27,000,000 acres of cultivated land, including meadow
and arable pasture grounds, at 27s. 2d.

per acre of rent - - - £36,675,000

2,000,000 acres uncultivated, at 5s. per acre - - 500,000
3,160,000 acres moor and mountain, at 1s. 6d. = 287,000
82,160,000 acres = - - - £37,412,000

From this estimate the acreage and rent of Middlesex is
excluded, the circumstances of the metropolitan county being
exceptional. This tallies very nearly with the actual rental *,
and, so far as we have seen, is as accurate a basis on which
to found an estimate of the cultivated and uncultivated land of
England as the present sources of information afford. These
twenty-seven million acres of cultivated land we have sub-
divided according to the various crops, in the following table.—
(See next page.)

This table shows the average annual produce of wheat in
England, after deducting seed, to be 10,250,000 quarters, which
gives, from our own soil, a fraction less than five bushels to each
individual of the present population. But it is based upon the
assumption that, of the twenty-seven million acres of land in
England capable of cultivation, one-third in the Eastern division,
» and two-thirds in the Midland and Western division, of the
country, are in permanent grass and meadow, making upwards
of thirteen million acres altogether, not used for the growth of
corn. This may or may not be near the truth, as we know of
no accurate data by which to test it, and have therefore been
obliged to guide ourselves to a general result in accordance with
personal observation and information. The average produce of
wheat in England we have already shown to be 262 bushels an
acre, which is considerably below the estimate given in the leading
statistical works of the day, in which four quarters or 32 bushels

* The land rental of England as determined by the assessment under the
Property and Income Tax Acts in 1842-3 was - - £37,795,905
Of which the rental of Middlesex was - - - 387,861

 

 

Land rental of England, excluding Middl. sex - - £37,408,044
§22

ESTIMATED ANNUAL PRODUCE OF CORN,

 

 

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IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT STATISTICS. 523

are assumed as the average produce. Our figures we believe to
be more correct, both because they are the average of figures
given to us by competent judges in different parts of all the
counties we visited, and also from the knowledge that four
quarters as an average produce is to be met with only on farms
where both soil and management are superior to the present
average of England.

The necessity for accurate information on this question can-
not be better shown than by this,—that notwithstanding all
our progress in agriculture, our command of manures, and our
improved processes, the total produce of corn of all kinds in
England is, according to the estimates of the most eminent
writers, less now by two millions of quarters than it was
stated to be in 1770 by Arthur Young! We cannot doubt that
Young greatly over-rated the produce of his time, but we have
no certain knowledge that we are right ourselves. The differ-
ence of seasons, too, influences the average materially. The same
land, with the same management in every way, will sometimes
vary in its yield more than ten bushels an acre, according as the
season proves favourable or otherwise. If we estimate the total
produce of corn of all kinds in England, in a good year, at
thirty million quarters, it is not too much to say that it may
vary to the extent of one-fourth, or 7} million quarters, by the
effects of a cold ungenial summer. For it is not merely a varia-
tion of five bushels of wheat above or below the average.
A diminution of produce to the extent of five bushels an acre,
caused by a cold season, implies also a falling off in quality from
621b. to 581b. per bushel, (the corresponding figures, when con-
verted into flour, being 53 Ib. and 47 Ib.), making a difference of
48 lb. of flour per quarter of wheat, or equivalent to a farther
decrease, in the average produce, of three bushels per acre, or
eight bushels altogether. The only government agricultural sta-
tistics in the United. Kingdom —-the returns made by the consta-
bulary in Ireland — show a falling off of ten bushels an acre in the
produce of wheat in 1848, as compared with 1847. The climate
524 READJUSIMENT OF RENT,

of Ireland is certainly more uncertain for wheat than that of
England, yet the experience of most practical men in this
country will attest that a fluctuation of five bushels an acre above
or below the average is not uncommon. This difference is equi-
valent to the sustenance of a sixth part of the population, and
yet it has not been thought of sufficient importance to warrant
the government in incurring the moderate expense necessary to
obtain such information.

It is therefore on grounds of public policy, not less than
for the special benefit of agriculture, that we venture to insist
on the advantage of obtaining correct agricultural statistics. In-
dependent, however, of their general value, we believe the informa-
tion obtained might be so classified and arranged as to throw
much light on the relative progress of agricultural improvement
in different counties, and the causes which encourage or retard
that progress. It is sometimes objected that the farmers*might
be unwilling to give the minute information desired; but we
must bear testimony, from personal experience, that in the
thirty-two counties which we visited, during a period of strong
political excitement, and coming in contact day after day with
men of all parties, we can recall only two instances in which
information was refused. On all other occasions we were re-
ceived with the utmost frankness, and every facility was afforded,
both by personal inspection and inquiry, for obtaining the amplest
information. The returns might embrace particulars illustrative
of the state of rural economy, by which the productiveness of
one district could be contrasted with another, and a calm and
indisputable statement of facts be made to carry conviction to
the mind of the most prejudiced or unthinking, whilst it would
be a guide of the most useful kind to the earnest agricultural
improver.

When it was finally resolved that protective duties were to
be taken away from agricultural produce, it was thought by
some that Parliament should have interfered to relieve tenants
from contracts made under an artificial system, on the per-
AND TITHE RENT-CHARGE. 525

manence of which they had been encouraged to rely. A
measure so obviously just was probably deemed unnecessary,
from the almost uniform system of yearly tenure in England,
which put it in the power of a farmer to terminate his contract
when he chose. But this is not a fair alternative to give to an
improving tenant who had sunk money on the faith of pro-
tection ; and the duty becomes the more imperative on landlords
to share the difficulties of the crisis in a fair and honourable
spirit with their tenants, since the legislature has left the ques-
tion to individual arrangement. On the purely corn farms it
is obvious that a reduction of price, in the only commodity the
farmer has to sell, must for a time incapacitate him from paying
his former rent,— the costs of production, as in his case, re~
maining the same. And on the more kindly soils, where it is
admitted that capital may be employed with advantage in
increasing their productiveness, and on which a variety of re-
munerative crops may be introduced, this change cannot be
effected in a season. A considerate landlord will therefore
take care that his tenants, during the period of transition, do
not bear an undue share of a burden, the heaviest part of which
ought assuredly to fall upon him who has the largest and most
permanent interest in the land.

On the same principle it would have been just that the tithe,
which was calculated as a certain proportion of the produce of
cultivated corn land,” should have been reconverted to the
same proportion of the diminished gross produce which such
land yields when laid to grass, For it is clear that if low
prices of corn shall compel the owners and occupiers of the stiff
wheat soils of low quality to lay them to grass— though such a
course may be really more remunerative to both—yet the gross
produce of each acre will, under this system, be considerably
diminished. If the tenth part of the average produce was con-
verted to a rent-charge of 6s. an acre when the land was under
corn, it would obviously be unfair to throw on the owner or
occupier the same charge when measures for the public welfare
compelled a change of cultivation which reduced that propor-
526 MEASURES RECOMMENDED.

tion of the produce to 4s. an acre. This change is not com-
pensated by the fluctuation of the rent-charge according to the
average prices of corn, for that applies a lower price to a fixed
quantity of produce, whereas in reality it should be a lower price
to a diminished quantity of produce. The basis of conversion
has become erroneous, and to that extent presses unfairly on
the owners and occupiers of such lands.

Our observations must now draw to aclose. To education
in its widest sense we look as the most powerful aid in the
farther progress of British agriculture. Knowledge,—of his
business, and true interest to the landlord and the tenant, —
and of the best mode of promoting his own welfare to the
labourer, —is the first requisite to obtain an improvement of
their condition. A wise pursuit of individual interest will, we are
persuaded, be most conducive to their own and the general
welfare. It is by individual energy that this is to be developed.
And while no exclusive protection is granted by the legislature,
the agricultural interest has a right to demand that all trammels
on their enterprise and industry should now be withdrawn.

The measures of a public character which, in addition to those
within the power of individual landlords or farmers, we have
indicated, are these : —

1. The cheapening and facilitating the transfer of land.
2. The sale of overburdened estates.

3. The encouragement of leases, with liberal covenants.
4. An alteration of the law of settlement.

5. The collection of agricultural statistics.

We see no reasons to-despond, but many to encourage hope
in the future prospects of British agriculture. All the evidence
we have collected tends to show, that in the districts where the
increase of manufacturing and commercial enterprise and wealth
has been greatest, there the rent of the landlord, the profits of
the tenant, and the wages of the labourer have most increased.
“It is manufacture that creates the town, that peoples the moor,
that sinks the shaft, that fills the port, that swells the metro-
PROSPECTS OF AGRICULTURE. 527

polis, that rewards husbandry, and that draws the redundant
population of the hamlet to the less picturesque labyrinth of the
town.” The recent gold discoveries of California and Australia
will give increased development to the manufacturing interests,
and at the same time will enhance the value both of land and its
produce. The resources of our limited territory will every year
be called upon for an increased supply of the most remunera-
tive crops. Science points out, and commerce renders available,
new manures to enrich the soil; engineering skill is applied to
the construction of machinery for economising the cost of
production, and lightening the toil of the labourer. The reap-
ing-machine has been introduced with every prospect of its
successful application. The steam-engine has been yearly ex-
tending its benefits in cheapening the processes of agriculture ;
and there is every reason to believe that not many years will
elapse before it will be successfully applied to the direct
cultivation of the soil. New products are recommended as
objects more remunerative than corn; and the culture of flax for
spinning, and possibly of beet for sugar, may ere long transfer
to the Southern counties a portion of that manufacturing enter-
prise which the expense of transporting coal has hitherto con-
fined to the North. Look in what direction we may, we have
good prospects of success for the agriculturist, — increasing
markets, without which his produce would be valueless; increas-
ing wealth to enhance its price; resources of manure at home
and abroad to maintain and add fertility to his farm ; — he wants
nothing but a reasonable adjustment of his rent, intelligent co-
operation on the part of his landlord, and the security of a lease,
to render well-directed enterprise successful.

But, besides the evidences given in most of the foregoing
Letters, observing men of all parties concur in attesting that
at no former period has the general progress of agricultural
improvement been greater than at present. On every side
increased exertions are being made by both landlord and
tenant. . How otherwise is it possible to account for the entire
528 CONCLUSION.

absorption of that mass of labourers who were three years
ago employed in the construction of railways, and the prospect
of whose dismissal was looked forward to with dismay? Then
if we consider the great body of highly intelligent and wealthy
farmers scattered over the country, and whose applied science is
concentrated in the ‘Journal of the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety,” and at the great annual shows of live stock and imple-
ments; or to the eminent men both at home and abroad,—
Liebig, Buckland, Daubeny, and Playfair, Professors Henslow,
Lindley, Johnston, and Way, Mr. Lawes, and Dr. Anderson, of
Edinburgh, who are bringing pure science to the aid of agricul-
ture; or to our most influential public writers on farming, Mr.
Pusey and Mr. Morton, whose practical experience enables them
to test or illustrate the subjects they discuss,— we feel that we
may speak with confidence and hope of the future.

In concluding this extensive inquiry, we beg to express
our heartfelt thanks to the landlords, agents, and farmers
throughout the country, who so cordially aided our humble
endeavours to make it trustworthy and complete. It has been
our aim to give a faithful description of English agriculture as
it is, dwelling in detail on such examples as were most instruc-
tive, offering suggestions where we felt ourselves competent
to do so, and not hesitating, where necessary, to criticise
careless indifference on the part of the landlord, or indolent
waste of opportunity by the tenant. This was a delicate and
difficult duty, but we have endeavoured to discharge it im-
partially and without offence. We rise from our task con-
scious of its imperfect execution, but with a firm persuasion
that, though there are many exceptions, the great body of
the landlords and tenants of England have, by mutual co-
operation, energy and capacity sufficient to meet, and by
degrees to adapt themselves to a change, which, in its extraor-
dinary effect on the welfare of all other classes of the com-
munity, will sooner or later bear good fruits also to them.
529

NITRATE OF SODA AND SALT AS A TOP-
DRESSING FOR WHEAT.

Referred to at Page 167.

Havine read in the “Times” Commissioner’s Report, that some
very good farmers in Norfolk made a practice of top-dressing their
wheat in spring with nitrate of soda, I determined once more to try
this salt, which, as the older members of our Society will remember,
was once a very fashionable manure, but the use of which was dis-
continued by its advocates in consequence of its tendency to lay the
corn and to produce mildew. These two serious faults, it now
appears, may be corrected by mixing with the nitrate a moderate
quantity of common sea salt, which, when used in heavy doses,
destroys the life of grass, and may therefore be readily supposed to
counteract the dangerous suddenness of vegetation that nitrate pro-
duces. Thus common salt may prevent mildew, and is known cer-
tainly, on some soils, to strengthen the straw. The nitrate was
sown, as directed, at the rate of 1 cwt. per acre, mixed with 1 cwt.
of common salt; but this quantity was not given at once, being
divided, as enjoined, into two doses, applied at a fortnight’s interval
and in showery weather. It was so applied to a ten-acre piece of
white wheat, a portion thereof being, however, passed over. The
whole produce has been thrashed out already, in order to test the
effect. A portion was top-dressed, not with nitrate, but guano. The
result is as follows : —

weneat Cc f Value of
sae Be ce . poe one
7 s. dd. Ss. od.

Undressed . ‘ ‘ ‘ 21 = — —
Guano, 2 cwt.. . 3 24 8 20 0 15 0
Nitrate 1 cwt. and salt 1 cwt. 254 43 17 0 22 6

The other trial was made on an eight-acre piece of red wheat,
following barley. The wheat had begun to appear very blue and
spindling, notwithstanding a good coat of dung given it in the
autumn to make up for cross cropping. The improvement was im-
mediate, and has stood the test of thrashing; for the account is as

MM
530 NITRATE OF SODA AND SALT.

follows. ‘Two acres were thrashed, one on each side adjoining the
half-acre in the middle, on which no nitrate of soda was sown.

Value per acre
Bushels per _Increase Cost of of increased Profit per
acre, in bushels. dressing. produce. acre.
: s & 6d, & od.
Undressed . ‘ é 193 _— = — ats
Nitrated. . c 2 273 83 17:0 42 0 25 0

The profit on this piece is certainly more than the value of the
rent of the land, which is a poor blowing sand. The theory of this
action is now clearly established by Mr. Lawes’s experiments ; for
nitrogen, whether as ammonia in guano or whether in a nitrate, is
proved to be the food generally wanted by wheat. — Mr. Pusey, in
Royal Agricultural Society's Journal.
531

NOTE ON LEASES, p. 509.

We have not thought it necessary to enter into a discussion, in this
work, of the best form of leases, or the period of their duration,
though to both points due reference has been made in describing
the best practices we have met with. A lease should be long
enough to permit the tenant to reap the full benefit of the capital
he invests in improvement, and at the same time not so long
as to admit of any delay in commencing his improvements with
vigour. Twenty-one years may be reckoned, and is found in prac-
tice, a term which sufficiently secures the interests of the tenant.

The system of leasing land, though far too little practised in Eng-
land, is of very ancient date. We are indebted to the kindness
of J. R. M‘Culloch, Esq., for making us acquainted with an Attic
lease, dated in the 108th Olympiad, 345 years before the Christian
era, which is so curious and instructive that we are glad to have an
opportunity of laying it before the agricultural public. It is alease by
the Aixonians, the townspeople or demos of Aixone, of a piece of
land called the Philais, near Mount Hymettus, to a father and his
son for 40 years, for 152 drachmas a year.

“ The demos of A®xone let on lease the Philais, to Autocles, the
son of Anteas, and to Anteas, the son of Autocles, for forty years,
for 152 drachmas a year; the said land to be farmed by them, or
planted with trees, as they please; the rent to be paid in the
month of Hecatombaon. If they do not pay it they forfeit their
security, and as much of the produce as they stand in arrear. The
JExonians not to sell nor to let the said land to any one else, until
the forty years have elapsed. In case of a loss on the part of the
tenants by hostile invasion, no rent to be paid, but the produce of
the land to be divided between the Aixonians and the tenants. The
tenants are to deliver up half the land fallow, and all the trees upon
the land; for the last five years the Avxonians may appoint a vine
dresser. The lease to begin with respect to the corn land with
Eubulus the Archon entering into office; but with respect to the
wood, not before Eubulus goes out of office. The lease to be cut
upon stone, to be set up by the magistrates, one copy in the temple

MM 2
532 NOTE ON LEASES.

of Hebe, the other in the Lesche; and boundary stones to be set up
upon the land, not less than two tripods on each side. And if a tax
should be paid for the land to government, the said tax to be paid
by the Atxonians ; or, if paid by the tenants, to be deducted from
the rent. No soil to be carried away by digging of the ground, ex-
cept from one part of the land to another. If any person makes a
motion in contravention of this contract, or puts it to the vote, he
shall be answerable to the tenants for the damage.”

This inscription was brought, with several others, from Greece,
many years ago, and is now in the University of Leyden, and
believed to be of unquestionable authenticity. It shows that the
mode of letting land for a fixed number of years, with a money rent
and certain conditions of management, must have been well under-
stood in Attica, at that remote period. The terms of the lease
indicate a very considerable knowledge of agriculture. For five
years previous to its expiration, the landlord was to appoint a vine
dresser, and at the termination the tenants were bound to have half
the land in fallow. The landlord, on the other hand, was not to
sell or let the land during the period of the lease, — he was to share
in the tenants’ loss in case of hostile invasion, —and he was to pay,
or allow the tenant to deduct from his rent, the taxes required by
government. In this short lease there is much of that plain common
sense which fairly recognises the interest and duties of both parties,
and which is so often lost sight of in the perplexing labyrinth of
modern legal phraseology.
533

INDEX.

AGeEnT or steward, importance of having
them well qualified, 493. Qualifications
required, 493. Well qualified agent
the most economical, 494. Immense
loss sustained by landlords who em-
ploy incompetent agents, 494.

Agents, Land, in Oxfordshire, said to
be deficient in practical knowledge,
27.; in Northamptonshire, 417.

Agriculture, English, reasons for hope
in the future prosperity of, 526. Pro-
gress of improvement more rapid than
at any previous time, 527. Railway
labourers absorbed, 527. Eminent
scientific and practical writers on,
528. Welfare of other classes sure
to contribute to its success, 528.

Allotments for labourers in Oxford-
shire, rent, injurious effects of, 29.

Arable land, management of, in Buck-
inghamshire, 9.; in Leicestershire,
215. See Crops.

Artificial manures, advantage of, 35.;
and food, expenditure on, in Salisbury
Plain, 83.

Ashes, preparation of burnt, for ma-
nure, in Notts, 209.

Atkinson, Mr., his farming at Seaham
Hall, 336. Excellent management de-
scribed, 336. Rationale of his system,
338. Its great advantages as compared
with the “two crop and fallow ” course,
338.

Aylesbury, Vale of, 1.

Barley, produce of, in Bucks, 10. Ma-
nagement in Oxfordshire, 20, Pro-

duce of, in Oxfordshire, 21.; in West-
ern Oxfordshire, 26.; in Cotswolds,
35.; in Vale of Gloucester, 45.; in De-
vonshire, 53.; in Dorsetshire, 61. Ma-
nagement, on Salisbury Plain, 82.
Produce of fertile loam in Hampshire,
91.; near Basingstoke, 92.; at Isley,
115.; at Guildford, 121.; in Essex,
138.; in Suffolk, 154.; in Norfolk,
171.; in Notts, 209.; in Lancashire,
269.; in West Riding, 289.; in York-

 

shire Wolds, 313.; in Durham, 333. 5
in Northumberland, 376. 385. Man-
agement at Overstone, 426.; at Lid-
lington, 451. Produce at Lawrence
End, 456. :

Basingstoke, rent and produce of land
near, 92.

Beans, dibbling of, in Bucks, 9. Ex-~
pense of hoeing,9. Produce of, 10.;
in Vale of Gloucester, 45.; in Essex,
138.; in Suffolk, 155. Expense of
dibbling and hoeing in Warwick-
shire, 225. Produce, 225. Expense
of hoeing in Staffordshire, 248. Great
value of winter, as an addition to the
four-course husbandry, 445.

Beasley, Mr., his farm at Overstone,
Drainage, 421.  Trenching, 422.
Sub-division of farm, 423. Course of
crops, 423. Subsoiling, 423. Manage-
ment of manure, 424. Wiuter vetches,
425. Turnip crop, its cost and value,
425. How consumed, 425. Barley
crop, 426. Mixture of “seeds,” 426.
Wheat crop, seed, and produce, 426.
Reasons for not sowing very thin,
427. Buildings, 427. Cost of thrash-
ing by steam, 427, Management of
short-horns, from birth till fattened,
428. Mixture of food, 429. Manage-
ment of sheep, 429. Increase of stock,
430. Cost of labour, 430. Materials
for manure, 430. Long period before
his high-bred stock arrive at maturity,
objectionable, 431.

Bedford, Duke of, his estates, 435.
Particulars of the mode in which his
farms are let, 436. Course of crops
prescribed, 436. Labourers’ cottages
held directly from the Duke, 437.
Comfortable arrangements of, 437.
Cost of, 438. Garden allotments, 438.
Rent of cottages, 438. Advanced and
infant schools, 438. Workshops at
the park farm, 438. Cost of con-
structing farm-buildings, 441. Wise
and business-like arrangements with

MoM 3
534

tenants, 441. His conduct as a land-
lord an example to others, 442.

Bedfordshire, 435.443. Land near Bed-
ford, 452. Towards Cardington, rent
and rates, 452. Wages, 453. Duke
of Bedford’s estate, 435. Mr. Whit-
bread’s, 453. Straw plait manufac-
ture, 454,

Beer, consumption of, by labourers in
Dorsetshire, 72.

Beet, Sugar, its cultivation and manufac-
ture suggested, 309. See Sugar Beet.

Berkshire, 99. Western Division, 107.
Vale of the Isis, 118. Wantage, 114.
Isley, 114.

Beverley, Earl of, his liberality as a
landlord, 301.

Birmingham, milk dealers in, 228. Loss
of sewerage manure, 228. Price of
milk, 228.

Blenheim, Duke of Marlborough’s es-
tate, 24.

Blyth, Mr., his farm in Norfolk, 172.
Increasing averages the consequence
of good farming, though accompanied
by more frequent “calls” on the
land, 172. His stock, 172. Cultiva-
tion of chicory, 172. Rolls his wheat
crops in spring; large deficiency in
yield when this is omitted, 172.

Boards, sparred, used for economising
litter at Mr. Huxtable’s farms, 68.;
Mr. Mechi’s, 141.

Box feeding, commodious but expensive
arrangement, at Denton, 334.

Booth, Messrs., eminent breeders of
Short-horns, 322.

Breast ploughing, at Mr. Pusey’s farm,
after turnips, 108.

Bright, Mr., great increase of crops and
stock at Teddesley during his manage-
ment, 243,

Bone manure, little used in Bucks, 6.
Application and benefit of, to grass
land in Cheshire, 257.

Buildings, Farm, in Bucks, 2. 6. Ar-
rangement of, 10. In Oxfordshire,
23.; Gloucestershire, 42.; Devonshire,
51. Mr. Huxtable’s farm, 67. In Wilts,
very inadequate, 77, Accommoda-
tion of, at Salisbury Plain, 84. Very
expensive to keep in repair, 84. In
Hampshire, very inadequate, 89. Sir
John Conroy’s, 103. In Essex, very,
inadequate, 135. In Suffolk, unsub-
stantial and ill-arranged, 152. In
Notts, 200. In Warwickshire, inad-
equate, 222, Economical construction
of, in Durham, 343. Generally most

 

INDEX.

defective, 490. No economy of ar-
rangement, or power, or of food, 491.
Inferior to those of neighbouring Con-
tinental states, 491.

Burning land, in Cotswolds, process de-
scribed, and cost, 33. The system
discussed, 34. On Salisbury Plain,
on first breaking up from downs, 81.
In Essex, cost and advantages of,
140. Necessity for under-drainage
afterwards, 140.

Butter, price of, in Bucks, 4. Well-
managed butter dairy in Surrey, 122.

Cabbage, culture of cow, 290. Does
not affect the taste of milk, 290.
Cultivation of, in Derbyshire, 405.

Cambridgeshire, 467. Incendiarism very
prevalent, 467. Necessity for put-
ting it down at any cost, 468. Wages
and cottage rent, 368. Manure scan-
tily applied in agriculture, 468. Ma-
chinery little adopted, 469.

Cannock Chase, extent of improveable
land lying waste in the midst of large
populations, 243.

Capon, Mr., of Dennington in Suffolk,
his large farms, 156. .

Capital, farmer’s, at Wittering, North-
amptonshire, 414. Increase of, re-
quired by farmers, in consequence of
commutation of tithe, 80.

Cattle, expensive and unremunerative
mode of fattening in Oxfordshire, 23.
Mode of fattening in Bucks, 5.
Sir John Conroy’s plan, 104. Mr.
Pusey’s, an expensive mode, 109.
In Suffolk, expensive, 155. Small
stock of, in Western Oxfordshire, 27.
Duty on importation of foreign,
claimed, 29. Management of, on
Cotswolds, 35. Rearing of heifer
calves, 35. Small stock kept on farms
on Salisbury Plain, 83.

Cavendish, Honble. Mr., his farm at
Ashford, 399.

Chalk, used as manure, 61. Expense
and mode of application, in Dorset-
shire, 62. Applied on Salisbury Plain,
at intervals of twenty years, 83. Ex-
pense of chalking in Essex, 139.

Chalk district of Bucks, 12. System
of farming, 13. Rent and extent of
farms, 12. :

Chalk soil of Hertfordshire not so ex-
pensive to cultivate as sandy soils of
Bedfordshire, 450.

Chaplin, Mr., of Blankney, in Lincoln-
shire, the beau ideal of a resident
landlord, 196.
INDEX.

Cheese, produce in Gloucestershire, 44,
Fall in price, 45. Produce in North
Wilts and value, 78. Dairies in Lei-
cestershire, 217. Manufacture of, in
Cheshire, 259. Size, and produce, 260,

Cheshire, 252, Farmer’s wife the most
important member of the establish-
ment, 252. Industry and frugality of
the tenants, 253. Grass land yields
largest proportion of annual produce
to landlord, 253. General description
of the county, 254. Management of
farms, 254, 255. Management of
dairy stock, 258. Numbers of cows
on different classes of farms, 258.
Culture of early potatoes and vege-
tables, 262.

Chicory, mode of culture, produce, and
value of, 172. Cultivated in York-
shire, 316.

Chiltern Hills, 7.

Cider, Orchard in Devonshire, 55. Con-
sumption of, by labourers, 55.

Cirencester Agricultural College, 36.

Clay, inferior quality cultivated by
poorer class of tenants, in Bucks, 7.

Clay land, management, at Stratfield-
saye, 98. ; in Essex,140. Plan of plough-
ing and working early in Leicester-
shire in preparation for wheat, 216.
Bad management of, in Lancashire,
268. Hopeless state of,in East Riding,
without drainage, 315.; and in Dur-
ham, 335. Generally too high-rented,
420. Change of management indi-
cated by Mr. Lawes’s experiments,
460. 462. Details of good manage-
ment in Huntingdonshire, 470. Ra-
tionale of the system, 471.

Cleveland, Duke of, and his tenants, 347.

Climate, its influence on cultivation and
rents, 482.

Clover, management of, in Oxfordshire,
20.; on Salisbury Plain, 82.

Coke, Mr., of Norfolk, his great enter-
prise and improvements, 164. Change
effected by him in Norfolk, 165.; con-
tinued by his son, the Earl of Leices-
ter, 166.

College, Agricultural, at Cirencester, 36.
Course of education, college farm, 37.
Arrangement of buildings, 38. Ad-
vantage of extending similar institu-
tions, 39.

Common field, injurious effects of, at
sey, 115.

Compensation for low prices, 452.

Compensation for unexhausted: im-
provements. See Tenant Right.

M

 

M

535

Competition between neighbouring far-
mers on most unequal terms, 489.

Competition for land encouraged in De-
vonshire, 49. ; in North Lancashire,
281. Greater,competition for large than
small farms on Yorkshire Wolds, 311.
Consequences of encouraging over-
competition in Northumberland, 386.

Conroy’s, Sir John, farming at Arbor-
field, Berks, 100. Drainage and
trenching, the foundation of his suc-
cess, 101. Course of crops, 101.
Sheep and early lambs, 101. Thin
seeding and hoeing, 102. Farm gar-
den, 102. Buildings and machinery,
103. Cattle feeding, 104. Pig esta-
blishment, 105. Covered yards cheaply
constructed, note, 105. Quantity of
seed used by, and width of drills, 105.
His system with the labourers, 106.
Benefits of his example, 106.

Corn and stock land, difference in value,
18.

Corn, extent of, increased by low prices,
14. Produce of, in }Bucks, 9.; in
chalk districts of Bucks, 15.

Corn farms, cause of their being less
remunerative than mixed corn and
stock, 476. 482. Rent and price of
land in certain districts show the
effects of the value of the commodities
which they produce, 485.

Corn-growing counties lower rented
than mixed and grazing counties,
480. Caused by their staple produce
not having increased so much in
price, 480. Also by large farms
being less competed for, 481.

Costs of cultivation, 320.

Cotswolds, farming on, 31.
sheep, 35.

Cottage rents, very high in Hampshire,
95.; in North Berkshire, 113.; at
Ilsley, 114.; in Surrey, 125.; in Suf-
folk, 161.; in Thorney Fen, 182.; in
Cambridgeshire,468.; in Huntingdon-
shire, 472. Table of, in 1770 and
1850, 474. Increase per cent in
eighty years, 475.

Cottages, Duke of Bedford’s, 437.

Covered yards for stock and manure,
Sir J. Conroy’s, 105.

Cows, feeding and management of, in
Bucks, 4. Number of labourers em-
ployed in tending a herd in Bucks, 4.
Extent of land necessary for feeding,
5. Value of produce in Vale of Glou-
cester, 45.; in Devonshire, 54.; in
Dorsetshire, 58. Price of, and num-

Breed of
536

bers, on a dairy farm in North Wilts,
77. Produce of, in cheese, in North
Wilts, 78. Excellent management of,
near Reigate, 122.; near Brighton,130.
Management of dairy, by Mr. Over-
man, 170. Necessity for regularity in
feeding dairy cows, 218. Manage-
ment and numbers of, in Cheshire,
258. At Halewood in Lancashire, 271.
Value of produce, in Wharfdale, 290.
Excellent management of, in West
Cumberland, 365.; contrasted with
that of Gloucestershire, 366. In
Derbyshire, 394. Increased produce
caused by giving forage to cows in
August when pastures fail, 397. Eco-
nomical food for, 404.

Crops, course of, in Bucks, 8.; in chalk
districts of Bucks, 13.; in South-east
Oxfordshire, 19.; on turnip farms, 20.;
on Cotswolds, 33.; in Vale of Glou-
cester, 45.; in Devonshire, 52.; in
Dorsetshire, 60.; on Salisbury Plain,
71.; in Hampshire, 91.; SirJohn Con-
roy’s, 101.; on Sussex Downs, 127.; in
Essex, 139.; on heavy lands of Suf-
folk, 153.; at Holkham, 167.; at
Castleacre, 168. Increase of, 169,
170. Increasing averages with more
frequent crops in Norfolk, 172. Course
and management of, on fens, 181.; in
Warwickshire, 225, 226.; in Stafford-
shire, 247.; in Cheshire, 255.; in Lan-
cashire, 267, 268. Rationale of the
system, 272. In the Fylde, 279.; near
Wakefield, 291.; in marsh land, 297.
299.; in Holderness, 302.; on York-
shire Wolds, 312. Gradual change of
system, 314. At Bainesse, 323.; in
Durham, 332. On heavy land, 334.
Excellent course at Seaham, 336. At
Netherby, 355. ; at Guards, 355.; in
West Cumberland, 363. ; in North-
umberijand, 376. 379. 384, 385.; in
Derbyshire, 394. 397. 399. 404. On
light lands in Northamptonshire, 418,
419. Onclay soils, 418. At Overstone,
423. In Bedfordshire, 453. At Lid-
lington, 445. Between Cardington and
Southill, 453. In Hertfordshire. 455.
At Lawrence End, 456. Mr. Lawes’s
successive corn crops, 460. Best pro-
portions of straw to corn, 461. In
Huntingtonshire, 470.

Cross-bred Hereford and Ayrshire, 440.
Short-horn and Highlander, 346.

Cumberland, its humidity of climate
more favourable to grass than corn,
350. Sir James Graham’s estate, 352.

 

INDEX.

Arable farming at Guards, 355. In-
dustry of farmers and their families,
358. West Cumberland, 359. “States-
men ” lessening in number, 360. Size
of farms, 360. Tenure, 360. Lord
Lonsdale’s estates, 361. Extent of
drainage, 362. Excellent manage-
ment at Moresby Hall, 363. Breeds
of stock, 366. Mr.Curwen’s improve-
ments, 351. 366. Captain Walker's
covered dung-pits, 366.; and rick-
yard, 367. Comfortable condition of
labourers, 367.

Custom, astoentry to farms in Cotswolds,
32.; in Surrey, 119.; in Essex, 139.

Dairy farming in Bucks, 4.; in Vale of
Gloucester, described, 42. Starving
system in winter, 43. Suggestions for
improvement, 44. Dairy farming in
Devonshire, 54. Dairy produce, value
of,in Dorset, 58. Dairy management
in North Wilts, 78.; near Reigate,
122.; near Brighton, 130. Value of,
in Notts, 212.; in Leicestershire, 218. ;
in Staffordshire, 249,

Derby, Earl of, his arrangements with
his tenants, 266. Drainage and con-
struction of substantial buildings, 266.
His estates in the Fylde held, till
1831, on leases of lives renewable by
fine, 278. Consequent backwardness
of district, 279.

Derbyshire, 391. Matlock Bath, 391.
Description of county, 392.  Eleva-
tion at which corn crops are cultivated,
392. Farming at Birchills, 393. Good
management detailed, 394. Produce
and management of crops and stock,
394. Shed feeding of sheep, its ad-
vantages, 395. Mr. Thornhill’s farm,
396. Mr. Cavendish’s, 399. Privi-
lege on “‘ King’s Field,” 399. Chats-
worth and park, 400. Duke of Rut-
land’s estate, 402. Mr. Arkwright’s
improvements, 404. Farming at Shot-
tle and Duffield, 405. Contrast with
Northumberland, 406.

Devonshire, description of county and
mode of farming, 48.

Devonshire, Duke of, compensation for
unexhausted improvements allowed
by, 400. Chatsworth and park, 400.
His village, 401.

Devons compared with short-horns at
Lidlington, 449.

Dickenson, Mr., of Curzon street, his
Italian rye-grass, 465. Rent of his
farm, near London, 465. Quantity of
seed necessary, 465. Number of cut-
INDEX.

tings in a season — dressings of liquid
manure, 465. Yield of hay, 465.
Meadows manured with horse-dung,
and straw gathered up for further
use, 466.

Distress, Law of, complained of, in Ox-
fordshire, 28.

Dixon Mr., his improvement of weak
sands in Lincolnshire by claying, 186.

Dorsetshire, description of soil, and
agricultural management of, 57. Ma-
nagement of crops detailed, 60. Sys-
tem really not an enriching one,
though apparently so, 61.

Drainage, in Bucks, 2, With “rag,” 8.
Inefficient, 8. In Wilts, advantage of
having it done under proper superin-
tendence, 75. In Hampshire, too little
attended to, 89. At Sir John Conroy’s
101.; In Essex, 135. Not approved
of, by some, on heavy clays, 135. In
Suffolk, 152. Necessity for super-
vision, 217. Defective, in Warwick-
shire, 226. Well understood in Staf-
fordshire, 230. Drains choked by
ochrey deposit, 249. Undergoing
great improvement in Cheshire, 256.
In Lancashire with cinders, 268. Im-
pediment to drainage in the Fylde,
281. Application of drainage loan in
Yorkshire, 327. Diminished cost of
operation, 328. Grasping conduct of
‘some landlords in their charge for in-
terest, 328. Costof, on SirJ.Graham’s
estate, 354. In West Cumberland,
361. Requires larger pipes and more
frequent drains to carry off excessive
quantity of rain, 362. Increase of
value by drainage in Northumberland,
374. At Beal, 377. Doubtful pro-
priety of levelling down old crooked
ridges after drainage, 378. At Over-
stone, cost and mode of executing
it, 421. Of certain kinds of grass
land proved injurious at Lidlington,
450. Near London, much required,
466.

Drummond, Mr., m.p., his farm at Al-
bury, 121.

Durham, description of county, 330.
Capital embarked in coal mines, 331.
Farming at Denton, 333. Inferior
farming on undrained land, 334,; can-
not pay, 335. Necessity for drainage,
335. Expense, 335. Excellent farm-
ing at Seaham, 336. Calculation
showing the anprofitableness of “two
crop and fallow” course, 340, Lord
Londonderry’s arrangements, 341.

 

537

Lord Durham’s, 343. Lord Ravens-
worth’s, 344. Duke of Cleveland and
his tenants, 347.

Durham, Earl of, his estate, drainage,
rent, and arrangements with tenants,
343. Cross between Highland and
Short-horns found profitable, 346.

Education, in its widest sense, the most
powerful means of agricultural im-
provement, 524, In their true interest
and business, to the landlord, farmer,
and labourer, 525.

Ekyne, Mr., his farming of clay land in
Huntingdonshire, 469. Mode of drain-
age, 470. Course of crops, seed,
management and produce, 470. Feed-
ing of sheep and cattle, 470. The
system shown to be a very rational
method of dealing with strong land,
471. No turnips grown, 471.

Embankment of land, in Hampshire
might be done with advantage, 89.
Want of it, in East Norfolk, 173.

Encumbered estates in Essex, 134.; in
Northampton, 416. A great barrier
to improvement, 495. Advantage of
a measure to permit the sale of, 495.
Might be much relieved by a measure
which would cheapen and facilitate
the transfer of land, 496.

Essex, 133. Character of soils, 133.
Want of co-operation between land-
lords and tenants, 134, Farming in
the Roothings, 137. Mr. Huxley’s
farms, 138. Mr. Mechi’s, 141. Local
position of, not turned to best ac-
count, 142, Mr, Fisher Hobbs’ farms,
143.

Examples, showing the direction in
which consumption of agricultural
produce increases, 484.

Fanning or dressing machine, very
antiquated one in North Wilts de-
scribed, 78. The same in use in the
Weald of Surrey, 123.

Farmers, opinions of, in Oxfordshire, on
present crisis, 28.; in Gloucestershire,
46. Variety of occupation in Devon-
shire, 50. Opinions in Devonshire,
56.; in Dorsetshire, 73.; in Wilt-
shire, 86. Strong claims of, on land-
lords’ justice, 87. Opinions and com-
plaints of, in Hampshire, 95.; in
Berkshire, 116. Defective education
and prejudices of, in Surrey, 122. 124,
Their opinions and complaints, 125.
Borrowed capital, in Suffolk, 146.
Their complaints in Huntingdonshire,
472, Some employing less labour to
538

convince Parliament, by filling the
workhouses, of agricultural distress,
472, Great numbers of wealthy and
intelligent farmers in England, 527.
See Tenant Farmers.

Farms, size of, in chalk districts of
Bucks, 12.; in South Eastern district
of Oxfordshire, 17.; in Devonshire,
51.; in Wilts, 75.; on Salisbury
Plain, 81. Subdivision of largest, re-
commended, 86. Size of, in Hamp-
shire, 89.; at Guildford, 120.; near
Brighton, 130.; in Suffolk, 152.; in
Lancashire, 273.; in the Fylde, 280.
Their size influences the rate of rent,
481. Average extent of, 482. Ten-
dency to a diminution in size of, 484,

Farm-houses in Bucks, neatness of, 16.;
in Oxfordshire, 27.

Fen Country, 177. Its extent and gra-
dual reclamation, 178. Two kinds of
fen-land, and their respective values,
179. The “islands” chiefly in grass,
their management, 180. Arable ma-
nagement of, 180. Expenditure in
labour, 180. Rent, 180. Wages, 180.
The clay fens, 183. Their manage-
ment, 183. .

Ferrabee’s straw cutter, much approved
by Mr. Thomas, of Lidlington, 448.
Ingenious mode of sharpening it, 448,

Flax culture in Holderness, 306. Might
probably be more successful in Essex
and Suffolk, where the wages of labour
are lower, 309. Recommended, 483.

Flail, used in Bucks, 10.; and in many
other counties. See Crops.

Fold, sheep, in Dorset, 59. See Sheep.

Food, mixture of, used on Mr. Hux-
table’s farms, 68. Mixture of, for
cattle, 429. Economy of cooking it
for cattle, 448.

Fylde district in Lancashire, 278. Back-
ward state of, 278. Improvements on
Mr, Clifton’s estate, 279. Rent, 280.
Size of farms, 280. Defective manage-
ment, 281.

Galloway Scots, profit on grazing, 450.

Game, injurious preservation of, in Suf-
folk, 146. Farmers of a parish sub-
scribed to hire right of killing it, 146.
Destructiveness of, in Northampton-
shire, 408.

Garden, farm, at Sir John Conroy’s, 102.

Garnett, Mr., his arrangements with his
tenants in North Lancashire, 282.
Lays the foundation for future in-
crease of produce, 282,

Geological character of a district influ-

 

 

 

INDEX.

Chalk districts low
Red sandstone high

ences rent, 482,
rented, 482.
rented, 482.

Gloucestershire, Cotswolds, 31. Vale of
Gloucester, 40.

Graham, Sir James, his estate in Cum-
berland, 352. Leading principles of
his improvements, 352. Assisted by
tenants of enterprise, 353. Farms all
let on lease, 353. Mode of drainage,
and charge for it, 354. Management
of wood-land, 354. Rent of land, 355.
His advice to “plough less, and
graze more,” 351.

Grass-land, vigour of newly broken up,
157. Said to be injured in its value
for producing cheese by being dunged,
218. Cause of high rent in Cheshire,
254, Management of, 255. Appli-
cation and benefit of bone manure to,
257. Top-dressing used with great
advantage in Derbyshire, on poor
pasture, 405. Dressing for,457. Mode
of “inoculating” it, 457.

Grazing, rules for, of sheep and cattle,
447. Mr. Oakley’s system, 458.

Green crop and grazing, the most re-
munerative husbandry at present, and
likely to become increasingly so, 483.
Examples showing the direction in
which consumption of agricultural
produce increases, 484. The value
of the commodities produced influences
the price and rent, 485. In an emer-
gency, a store for successive corn
crops, 486. Give more employment
than corn farming, 487.

Grey, Earl, his estate, 373. Experi-
ments at Howick Grange, 375. Profit
on feeding Highland cattle, 376.

Guano, little used in Bucks, 6. Most
suitable for a moist climate, 463.

Hampshire or Southampton, description
of, and agricultural state, 88. Sugges-
tions for making more of the natural
advantages of, 94.

Hatherton Lord, his arrangements with
his tenants, 231. Plan of industrial
training for field labourers, 232. Im-
provements effected by, 236. Drainage
and profitable application of water,
first as a power, and next for irriga-
tion, 237. Expense and profits, 238.
Instructive details of arable farming,
239. Mode of drainage, 241. No ad-
vantage from subsoiling, 242, In-
creasing wheat crop, 242.

Hay, produce of, in Bucks, 5. Manage-
ment of crop, in West Cumberland,
INDEX.

364. Mixed with straw in stacking,
406.

Heath, Messrs., grazing farms in Nor-
folk, 173. Their system, 174. Do
not restrict themselves to the four-
course, 174.

Heavy land farming in Suffolk detailed,
152. “Stetch” management, 153.
Mr. Parkinson’s system at Layfield
detailed, 207. Danger of fastening
the land below, 208. See Clay Land.

Hedgerows, injurious extent of, in Vale
of Gloucester, 40. In Devonshire,
52. In Dorset, used for making
hurdles, and for fuel, 57.

Highland cattle, profit of feeding, 376.

Hertfordshire, 455. Rent of land in,
455. Extent of farms, and mode of
management, 455, 456.

Hobbs, Mr. Fisher, his breed of pigs,
143. His agricultural improvements,
144,

Hoeing, spring of, corn crops, reckoned
injurious by some good farmers in
Norfolk, 170. See Crops.

Holderness, altogether dependent on
price of corn as at present farmed.
Necessity, therefore, of drainage and
buildings to enable farmers to grow
cattle crops, and consume them profit-
ably, 304.

Holkham Park, Lord Leicester’s farm-
ing there, 166. Working bullocks,
167. Management of crops, 167. Ap-
plication of nitrate of soda and salt,
167.

Hop culture in Sussex, 127. Its risks,
127. May be questioned whether, on
the whole, more profitable than equal
enterprise in ordinary farming, 127.
Many farmers ruined by it, 127.

Horses, number in a plough in Bucks,
10. Extent of land ploughed daily,
10. Number kept on arable farm on
Salisbury Plain, 83.; at Pusey, 112.
Mr. Hutley’s management of, 139. In
Suffolk, 161. Feeding of, at Castleacre,
167. Feeding of, in Lancashire, with
steamed Egyptian beans, 270. Re-
ceipts for feeding, 345. Economy of
this mode, 346. Feeding of, at Paston,
383. Feeding of, at Wittering, 414.
Food of, at Lidlingion, 448. At
Rothamstead Park, 464.

Horse power, waste of, in Northampton-
shire, 434.

House-feeding, advantage of, 375.

Hudson, Mr., his farm at Castleacre,
167. Manures for every crop, 168.

539

Details of management, 168. Great
increase of stock and corn in thirty
years, 169.

Huntingdonshire, 469. Rent and rates,
469. Farming of heavy land, 470.
Management and produce of crops
and stock, 470. A very rational
method of dealing with strong land,
471. Great extent still undrained,
472. Impossibility of such lands com-
peting with those which are drained,
472. Farmers’ complaints, 472. Wages,
472, Labourers in a certain union
dismissed to convince Parliament of
distress, 472.

Hutley’s, Mr., farms in Essex, 138. His
management and crops, 139. Tares
very exhausting crop, 139. His

horses, 189. Pigs, 140. Sheep, 140.
Success attributed to liberal applica-
tion of capital, a large stock, and suf-
ficient labour, with a moderate rent,
140.

Huxtable, Mr., description of his farm-
ing in Dorsetshire, 65.

Implements used in Bucks, 15.; at
Pusey, 112.; at Sir John Conroy’s,
104. Agricultural implement manu-
facturers in Suffolk, 148, 149. Foreign
demand for, 150.

Improvements, repayment for unex-
-hausted, urged in Gloucestershire, 46.
See Tenant-right.

Incendiarism in Northamptonshire, 420.
Very prevalent in Cambridgeshire,
467. .

Italian rye-grass, management and pro-
duce of, at Esholt, 288. Suggestion as
to growing it for sale near towns, 289.
Liquid manure, best application for,
288. Mr. Dickenson’s culture of, 465.

Johnson, Mr., his farming at Chevet
Grange, 291. Management of crops
and stock, 293.

Jonas Mr., of Ickleton, his prize essay
on Cambridgeshire agriculture, 468.

Knightley, Sir Charles, his estate, 433.

Labour, shown, by cost of task-work in
Salisbury Plain, to be really dearer to
the farmer when wages are below the
necessities of the labourer, 85. Sub-
division of large farms would increase
the demand for, 85. Cost of, per acre,
at Holkham, 167.; at Overstone, 430.;
at Lawrence End, 459.

Labourers, number employed on grazing
farms in Bucks, 7. Wages, 7. Driven
out of close parishes, 8. Number em-

 

ployed on arable farms in Bucks, 10,
540

Wages in chalk districts of Bucks, 15. ;
in South-eastern Oxfordshire, 18. ; in
Western Oxfordshire, 27.; in Cots-
wolds, 32. Number on a farm on Cots-
wolds, 36. Wages in Vale of Glou-
cester, 45.; in Devonshire, 55.; in
Dorsetshire, 72. Clothing club for, in
Dorsetshire, 73. Wages, why lower in
corn than dairy districts of Wilts, 84.
‘Wages lower on Salisbury Plain than
any other district of England, 84.
Insufficiently fed there, 85. Wages in
Hampshire, 95. Sir John Conroy’s sys-
tem, 106.; Mr. Pusey’s, 112. Wages in
North Berkshire, 113.; at Ilsley, 114.
in Berkshire, 116.; in Surrey, 125.
in Sussex, 130.; in Essex, 139. Con-
dition of, in Suffolk, 147. Obligation
to employ or maintain all, reduces
rate of wages, 148. Distance from
their work, 161. Wages at Holk-
ham, 167. Numbers employed on
arable farms in Norfolk, 175. Their
condition, 175. Societies for irn-
provement of, 176. In Fen country,
182. In Lincolnshire, scarcity of cot-
tages, 197. In North Notts, 202. In
Warwickshire 223. In Staffordshire,
232. Wages and cottage rents in
Lancashire, 284.; in West Riding,
290. 294. Their advantages at Air-
myn, 301. Comfortable condition in
Cumberland, 367. In Northumber-
land, 378. Number employed at
Paston, 383. Condition of labourers
in Northumberland, 387. Necessity
for improving their cottages, 389.
Very well fed in Derbyshire, 395.
‘Wages in Derbyshire, 406.; in North-
amptonshire, 416. Condition of, 510.
Great disparity in wages of, in dif-
ferent counties, 510. Table of wages
in Northern and Southern counties,
511. Influence of proximity to manu-
facturing, mining, or commercial en-
terprise, 512. Shown by comparing
the rise since Arthur Young’s time, in
the Northern and Southern counties,
512. Striking difference between in-
erease of rent and wages in the agri-
cultural counties, 513. Table showing
that high wages and low poor rates,
and low wages and high poor rates,
are concomitants, 514. The system
common in Southern parishes of di-
viding the unemployed among the
ratepayers, not according to their
requirements, but in proportion to
the size of their farms, reduces the

 

INDEX.

skilful farmer to the same level as the
unskilful, in so far as the economy of
labour is concerned, 515. ; and acts in
the same way on the skilled labourer,
515. Great tax on the labourer who
is obliged to reside out of the “close”
parish in which he works, 516. Com-
parison between North and South in
wages, poor relief, and paupers, 517.
Law of settlement operates against the
free circulation of labour, 517. The
kingdom distinctly divided by a line,
to the north of which are high wages
and low poor rates, and to the south
low wages and high poor rates, 517.
Over supply of labour apt to be ex-
aggerated, 518. Reduction in the
price of provisions has added much
to the comfort of, 518. Evils of a
resort to a low standard or species of
food, 518. Different ratio of rise in
rent of cottages and wages, 519.
Proof that wages are not dependent
on the prices of food, 519. Nor di-
rectly on capital, 519. But altogether
on demand and supply, 519. Hence
no class more dependent on the con-
tinued progress of manufacturing and
mercantile industry, 519.
Lamb, early, management of, in Oxford-
shire, 21.; Sir John Conroy’s, 101.
Lancashire, 263. General description
of the county, 264. Humidity of
climate, 265. Slow progress of agri-
cultural compared with mineral and
manufacturing improvements, 265.
Lord Derby’s and Lord Sefton’s ar-
rangements with tenants, 266. Mr.
Watts’ improvements, 267. Good
farming at Rainhill, 268.; at Hale-
wood, 270. Rent of grass land, 271.;
of arable, 272. Increasing value of
land, 273. Extent of moss, and im-
provements, 275. — Northern division,
277. The Fylde, 278. Comparative
prices in 1780 and 1850, 283. Wages,
284. Agricultural societies, 284.
Land, the transfer of, a measure to
cheapen the cost of, and to facilitate,
most desirable, 495. Would increase
the value of property, 496. Difficulty
of effecting loans on, 496. A record
might be opened for registering es-
tates, an extract from which might
form the foundation of successive
transfers by short endorsements, 497.
Landlords, do not take much interest in
agriculture in Oxford, 27. Relation,
with tenants in Wilts, 77. Strong
INDEX.

claims of tenants on Salisbury Plain,
on their justice, 87. Want of sympathy
with their tenants in Leicestershire,

220. Retired capitalists good land-
lords, 220. Advantage of resident,
222. Considered by tenants of West

Riding to be “steady” men, 295. In-
judicious and embarrassed, 417. Their
want of practical knowledge a great
hindrance to improvement, 491. Ne-
cessity under which they now are to
learn the profession of a landowner,
492. The advantage of this, 492. The
only class in the community who re-
ceive no special training, 493. Im-
mense loss sometimes sustained by
employing an incompetent agent, 494.
Their interest to encourage leases ra-
ther than compel tenant-right, 505.
Permanent improvement better than
a temporary rise of rent, 509.

Lawes, Mr., experimental farm in Herts,
459. Advantage he has in superin-
tending details of his experiments,
459. Prospects afforded of a more
remunerative system of managing
clay land, 460. Practice of growing
successive wheat crops, 460. Prepa-
ration and management of the land,
460. Produce nearly invariable with-
out manure, 461. May be increased
by certain applications, 461. Am-
monia the most certain, 461. Climate
limits the increase of corn, 461.
Straw of little value as manure for
corn crops, but converted into food by
the turnip, 462. Land may be re-
duced, but not exhausted by corn, 462.
Mode of farming indicated by Mr.
Lawes’s results, 462. Turnips cannot
be grown long without manure, 462.
Superphosphate a certain manure for
turnips in the South, 463. Guano
more suitable for a moist climate, 463.
Manure for beans, 463. Shed feeding
of sheep, 463. Shed feeding in move-
able sheds on rails, 463. Increase of
weight per week, 464. Farm horses,
464. Mr. Lawes’s system may not be
suitable for all clay soils, 464.

Leases, advantage of, in Oxfordshire,
25.; approved of, in Dorsetshire, 58.
For life, a great obstacle to improve-
ment in Devonshire, 50.

Leases or tenant-right necessary for
security of farmers’’ capital, 503.
Leases recommended as on every ac-
count the most advantageous for all
parties, 505. Cause of dislike to

 

541

leases by the majority of English
farmers, 508. Length of lease recom-
mended, 531. System of leases very
ancient, 531. A Greek lease 2,000
years ago, 532.; very equitable in its
conditions, 532.

Leicester, Earl of, his relations with his
tenantry, and enlightened manage-
ment, 166.

Leicester sheep and South Downs com-
pared, 446. Crossed with Cotswolds,
458. Feeding of, at Lawrence End, 458.

Leicestershire, 213. High rented
county, 213. Much pasture land,
214, Levelling of high ridges thought
unadvisable, 215. Management of
arable land in, 215. Produce of crops,
216. Management, near Melton
Mowbray, 216. Cheese dairies, 217.
Majority of landlords are owners of
small properties, 219. Want of
sympathy between landlords and
their tenants, 220.

Letting land, mode of, three remarkable
examples of, the different effects pro-
duced by, 478.

Lime, application of, as manure, 292.
In Holderness, considered essential to
good farming, 303.

Lincolnshire, 185. Improvement by
claying, 186. Heavy land not so
well farmed as in Essex and Suffolk,
187. Wold farming, 188. Very few
Swedes grown, 189. Crops not heavy,
189. Management inferior to West
Norfolk, 190. Heath farming, 190.
More liberal management, 190. Rent,
191. Farm buildings good, 190.
Rapidity of improvements in Lincoln-
shire, 193. Lord Yarborough and
Mr. Chaplin, 194, Tenant-right in,
194.

Linseed, compound, great economy of,
as a substitute for cake, 180.

Littledale, Mr., his farm opposite Liver-
pool, 260. House feeding of stock
advantageously practised, 261. Ap-
plication of liquid manure, 261.

Liquid manure, its value as an applica-
tion to Italian rye grass, 288. 465.

Live stock, kept on arable farms in
Bucks, 10. Management of, in Devon-
shire, 54.

Londonderry, Marquis of, his improve-
ments in Durham, and arrangements
with his tenantry, 341. Consequence
of their adoption, 342.

Lonsdale, Earl of, confidence between
him and his tenantry, 361.
542

Longton, Mr., details of his farming in
Lancashire, 268. Frequent manuring
and heavy crops, 269.

Machines, used in Mr, Huxtable’s farm,
68.

Mangold Wurzel, management of, in
Suffolk, 154.; at Lidlington, 445.; in
other counties, See Crops.

Mansfield, Earl of, arrangement with
his tenants, 357. Considered very
equitable, 358.

Manure, dry straw used for, in Dorset-
shire, 64. Liquid, distributed by
pipes on Mr. Huxtable’s farm, 66,
Covered house for, and tank, 70.
Reduction in price of, in Lancashire,
270. Heavy application of, in Lanca-
shire, 270. Management of, at Over-
stone, 424. Materials for, 430.

Marl, its application discontinued in

part of Staffordshire, 229.

Marshall, Mr., his improvements at
Patrington, 304. Arrangement of
farm buildings and machinery, 305.
Flax culture, 306.

Marsh lands of Norfolk, most valuable
for grazing early in the season, 174.
Too great uniformity of grasses, 175.

Meadows, water, in Devonshire, their
great value, 55. In Dorsetshire, 62.
For early lambs in Hampshire, 90.
Great produce of Mr. Pusey’s, 110.
Expense of construction at Pusey, 110.
Duke of Portland’s, at Clipstone, 205.

Measures recommended to promote agri-
cultural improvement, 525.

Mechi, Mr., his farm at Tiptree Hall,
140.  lLuxuriance of crops, 141.
Large consumption of corn in feeding
stock, 141. Fattening on boards, 141.

Milk, manufacture of concentrated, in
Staffordshire, 234.

Moss lands in Lancashire, 275. Facilities
for their improvement, 275. Process
of effecting it, 276. Mr. Wilson
Ffrance’s operations, 276. Profitable
returns from, 277.

Mustard, advantage of ploughing it in
green as a preparation for barley, 419.

Norfolk, 162. Position, soil, and cli-
mate of, 163. Improvements by Mr.
Coke, afterwards Earl of Leicester, 164

Northamptonshire, Marquis of Exeter’s
estate, 408. Farmers very despondent,
408. Strict preservation and de-
structiveness of game, 408. Labourers
employed in reclaiming waste land,
409. Arrangement offered by a
landlord, 410. Farming at Wittering,

 

INDEX.

411.; at Wansford, 415. Deserip-
tion of the county, 416. Good farm-
ing still the exception, 416.
Northumberland, Duke of, his arrange-
ments with his tenants, 372. Con-
struction of new cottages, 389.
Northumberland, description of the
county, 369. Agricultural manage-
ment of Southern division very
defective, 370. Large farms better
cultivated, but not profitably, 371.
Fall in value, 371. | Landlords mak-
ing arrangements with their tenantry,
373. Arable farming near Morpeth,
374. Experiments at Howick Grange,
375. Farming at Beal, 376. Five-
course husbandry, 379.; at Paston,
384, Farming at Wark, 384; at
Wandon, 385. Advantage of more
liberal application of manure, 386.
Consequences of over-competition for
farms, 386. .
Nottinghamshire, 198. The “Dukery,”
198. Duke of Portland’s arrange-
ments with his tenants, 199. Details
of farming large light-land farm near
Worksop, 203. Clay land at Ley-
fields, 208. Mixt farm at Ruddington
Grange, 211. Rent of land on Trent
bank, 210. Produce of crops, 210.
Oakley, Mr. his farming at Lawrence
End, 456. Management of the vari-
ous crops, 456, 457. Top dressing
for grass land, 457. Practice of “ in-
oculating” it described, 457. Ma-
nagement of stock, 458. Expendi-
ture in food, manure, and labour, 458.
Oats, yield of at Isley, 115. Cultivation
on Sussex Downs, 128.; in Norfolk,
171. ; in Fens, 182, 184.; in Notts,
209. Yield of, in Cheshire, 255.; in
Yorkshire Wolds, 313.; in Durham,
333.; in Northumberland, 376.384,385.
Old fashioned farmers, who plough little
and run no risks, more prosperous
than men who take more land than
they have means to cultivate, 224.
Orford’s, Lord, system of corn rents, 58.
Outhwaite, Messrs., their farming at
Bainesse, 323. Advantage and prac-
tice of autumn fallowing, 323. Ma-
nagement of crops and stock, 324.
Overstone, farming at. See Beasley, Mr.
Overstone, Lord, his estates, no arrears,
farms being moderately let and other-
wise in good condition for a tenant,
429.
Oxfordshire, South Eastern district, 17.
Oxen, used for ploughing at Holkham,
INDEX.

167; at Castleacre, 168; at Teddesley,
242,

Paget, Mr., his farming at Ruddington
Grange, 211. Manure applied liberally,
and crops correspondingly increased,
211. Wheat taken every other year
with increasing success, 212. Dairy
stock, their value, 212.

Parkinson, Mr., of Leyfields, excellent
management of clay land, 208. Im-
provements executed by tenant on
yearly tenure, 210.

Pasture, proportion of to tillage in Vale
of Aylesbury, 1. Mode of manage-
ment in Bucks, 3,

Pease, culture of, near Wantage, 114.

Peel, Sir Robert, his estates in Stafford-
shire, 244. Arrangements with his
tenants, 245. Rent, 247. Condition
of labourers on the estate, 251. His
letter to the Author on the possible
benefit of this inquiry, Preface.

Pigs, management of, on Mr. Huxtable’s
farm, 68. Management of, in Hamp-
shire, 93.; Sir John Conroy’s, 105.;
Mr. Hutley’s, 140.; Mr. Mechi’s, 141.
Grazed in fields at Brancott, 234.

Ploughs, varieties in use in Bucks, 10,
Depth of furrow in, 10.

Ploughing with five horses in Oxford-
shire, 10. Farmers’ reasons for doing
so, 19. Injurious effect on subsoil,
19. Dislike to deep, in Western Ox-
ford 26. With too many horses, near
Reigate, 122.; though two horses
proved on same land sufficient, 122.
On Sussex Downs with bullocks, des-
cribed, 128. Enormous waste of
labour, 128. 250. 434.

Poor-law, farmers on Salisbury Plain
consider themselves, obliged by it to
employ manual labour instead of
machinery, 84.

Poor rate, self-deceptive mode of lessen-
ing it, 18.

Poor rates, in Bucks, 8. In Wilts,
tyranny practised on labourers by
owners of close parishes, 75.

Portland, Duke of, his arrangements
with his tenants, 199. Early began to
improve, 200. Farming at Clipstone,
205. Celebrated water meadows, their
produce and cost, 206. His tenants
in Northumberland, 375.

Potato culture in North Notts, 204. Cul-
ture of early potatoes in Lancashire,
271.; in Cheshire, 262.; in West
Riding, 294. ; in marsh land, 299.

Prices and wages in 1794, 1811, and

 

543

1850, 881. Comparative prices in 1770
and 1851, near Stamford, 407.

Prices of sheep and wool since 1838 at
Paston, 382.

Provisions, table of prices, in 1770 and
1850,474, Increase per cent. in price
in eighty years, 475. Wheat has not
increased in value, but all other arti-
cles of agricultural produce have, 476.

Pusey, Mr., m.p. 107. Character of his
soil, 108. Mode of culture, 108.
Breast-ploughing after turnips, 108.
Sheep fed on rape cake, 109, Expen-
sive mode of feeding cattle, 109.
Great produce of water meadows,
110. Explanatory letter from, 110.
Increase of stock and corn resulting
from his improvements, 112. Horses
requisite to manage land on his farm,
112. Condition of his labourers, 112.
His experiments with nitrate of soda
and salt, 529.

Railways reduce by sharing the burden
of rates, 125. Saving of food by, 169.
Use of a portable railway in Lanca-
shire, and its expense, 271.; by Mr.
Lawes, 463.

Rates, amount of, on Cotswolds, 32. Se-
vere pressure of in North Wilts, 75.
Highway, oppressive, 76. In North
Berkshire, 113.; near Wantage, 114,
Effect of railways in reducing, 125.;
in Essex, 138.; in Lancashire, 272.;
in West Riding, 290. So variable in
amount that no average is attempted,
481. Suggestion to let farms free of
all rates except poor-rates, 481.
Landlords would in the end profit by
it, and tenants be more certain in their
calculations, 481.

Reaping wheat, expense of, on Salisbury
Plain, 82. Expense of, 248.

Rent, in Bucks, 2.7. Of chalk district,
12. Of green crop land in Oxford-
shire, 18. Of land on Cotswolds, 32. ;
in Vale of Gloucester, 41. ; in Devon-
shire, 50. ; in Dorsetshire, 58.; in North
Wilts, 75. Reduction of, much
pressed in Devonshire, 56. Of fine
fertile loam near Southampton, 91.
Of clay land, 91. Ofchalk and arable
lands near Basingstoke, 92. In North
Berkshire, 113.; near Wantage, 114
at Ilsley, 115.; in Essex, 139.; at
Holkham, 167.; in Fen country,
180. 184. In Lincolnshire depen-
dent on landlord, 188. Of Trent bank
land, 201. In North Notts, 204. In
Leicestershire, 214, Sometimes low,
544

with the understanding that tenant
is to execute any improvements, 219.
In Warwickshire, 221. Of land in
Cheshire, 259. Of grass land in Lan-
eashire, 271. Of arable land, 272.; in
the Fylde, 280.; in Wharfdale, 290.;
in marsh land, 301.; on Yorkshire
Wolds, 311. 313. Of cold clays in
East Riding, 315.; in Durham, 334.
Of heavy land 335. Of Beal in Nor-
thumberland, 377. Of Paston, 383.
In Derbyshire, 395. 404. 406. In-
equality of, in Northamptonshire,

417. Rent of land near North-
ampton, 420.; in Southern part of
that county, 434.; near Cardington,
in Bedfordshire, 452.; near London,
465. ; in Huntingdonshire, 469. Ta-
ble of, in 1770 and 1850, 474. In-
crease per cent. in eighty years, 475.
Mr. M‘Culloch’s definition of, 476.
Much regulated by character of land-
lord, 477. Danger of under-letting,
477; and of over-letting, 477. In-
fluenced by Law of Distraint, 477.
And therefore is not always fairly
regulated by supply and demand, 477.
Formerly much influenced by proxi-
mity to or distance from metropolis,
479. That does not now produce the
same proportionate effect, 479. Com-
parative rent of corn and grazing
counties, 480.

Re-valuation,not always afair alternative
toa good farmer, 409. Its injustice
as between him and a bad one, 410.

Roads, defective field, in Bucks, 11.

Rotations discussed in Norfolk, and
enlarged, 171. Constantly expanding
with requirements and resources of
the country, 501. The great prin-
ciple is to keep the land dry, clean,
and rich, 503. Impolitic to restrict
a good farmer too severely, 503. See
Course of Crops.

Rutland, Duke of, re-valuation of his
estate in Derbyshire, 402. Rent not
much dependent on the price of corn,
403. Makes necessary improvements,
403. Game damages paid for, 403.
Much respected by his tenantry, 403.

Sainfoin, culture of in Cotswolds, 34; on
Salisbury Plain, 81; at Isley, 114.

Salisbury Plain, description of, and agri-
cultural state, 79.

Salt, used as manure for wheat, 212. As
manure for wheat, and to destroy
small weeds, 419. Not beneficial on
strong land, 419. Applied one half

 

INDEX.

in autumn and one half in spring, 426.
Starves the crop on clay land, 427.
Corrects the tendency of nitrate of
soda to produce too much straw,
529.

Sandy soils more expensive to cultivate
than chalk, 450. Different manage-
ment necessary, 450.

Scott, Mr., his farming at Beal, in North-
umberland, 376. Management and
produce of crops and stock, 377.

Schools for labourers’ children, 438.

“Seeds,” management of, in Hampshire,
91. Sowing out without a crop, prac-
tised with advantage in Cumberland,
357. Process described, 357. The
same system adopted in West Cum-
berland, 363. Mixture of, at Over-
stone, 426.; at Lidlington, 444.; at
Lawrence End, 457.

Sefton, Earl of, his improvements, 266.

Settled estates, difficulty of effecting im-
provements in farming on, 41.

Settlement, law of, very hurtful to the
labourers, by inducing landlords to
crowd them into villages and «towns,
out of the parishes in which they
work, 95. Enlarged with great ad-
vantage in the Dorking Union, in
Norfolk, 176, ;

Sewerage manure, waste of, 228.

Sharpley, Mr., his farming at Wittering,
411, Very moderate expenditure, 412.
Management and produce of crops
and stock, 412. Application of ma-
nure, 412. Feeding of cattle, 413. ;
of horses, 414. Labour employed,
414. Capital, 414. —

Sheep, management of in Bucks, 3. In
Oxfordshire, for early lambs, 21.5
fat sheep, 22.; numbers kept, 22.
Western Oxford, 26. Prices and
wool, 27. Cotswolds, 35. Dorsetshire,
59. “ Working” them in Dorsetshire,
60. Management of, and produce, 62.
Mortality in lambing attributed to
barbarous system of ‘“ working” the
flock, 63. House for, on Mr.Huxtable’s
farms, 70. Management and produce
of, on Salisbury Plain, 83. ; in Hamp-
shire, 93.; Sir John Conroy’s, 101. ;
Mr. Pusey’s, 109. Extraordinary
number kept on water meadows, 110.
Management at Isley, 115. At Guild-
ford, number kept, 121. On Sussex
Downs, 128. “ Working” of, 129. Mr.
Hutley’s, 140. Shropshire Downs,
250. Pure Leicester too much fat in
proportion to lean meat, 294. Cor-
obeY Buissiy\
Missing Page
INDEX.

rected by crossing, 295. Manage-
ment and produce of, on Yorkshire
Wolds, 313. Advantages and practice
of shed feeding in Derbyshire, 394.
Management of, at Overstone, 429. ;
at Lidlington, 446, 447.; at Lawrence
End, 458. Shed feeding at Rotham-
stead Park, 463. On moveable rails,
463. Increase of weight per week,
464,

Shoddy, refused woollen rags used as
manure, 211.

Short-horns, management of, from birth
till fattened, by Mr. Beasley, 428.
Compared with Devons, at Lidlington,
449,

Skim coulter, used for shearing off the
surface in ploughing for wheat, 209 ;

_ in Leicestershire, 215.; in Holder-
ness, 303.

laughter-houses, establishment of, re-

commended along lines of railway
within a moderate distance of Lon-
don, 95.

Slug, mode of destroying in Bucks, 9.;
in Leicestershire, 215.; in Holder-
ness, 303.

Soot used in Suffolk as a protection
against game, 159.

South Down and Leicester sheep com-
pared, 446. ;

Sowing, thin, Sir John Conroy’s, 102.
105. See Thin Sowing.

Spencer, Earl, his estates, 431. Im-
proved cottages, 431. Mode of let-
ting land, 432. Tenants long on his
estate, 433. No written agreements
between landlord and tenant, 433.

Staffordshire, 229. Its mineral wealth
and resources, 230. State of property
in, 230. Farm buildings superior,
232, Farming at Brancott, 234.;
at Groundslow, 235. Excellent ma-
nagement at Teddesley, 239. Drayton
Manor and estate, 244. Arable farm-
ing there, 247. Waste of horse power,
250.

Stamford, unenclosed land near, re-
marked by ArthurYoung 80 years ago,
remains so still, 407. Prices in 1770
and 1851 in that neighbourhood, 407.

Stansfield, Mr., his farming at Esholt,
in the-West Riding, 288. Italian rye
grass very productive, 288.

Statistics, agricultural, want of, 520.
Computation of cultivated and uncul-
tivated land, in -ngland, and its rental,
520. How subdivided, 522.  Esti-
mate of annual corn produce of Eng-

 

547

land, 521, 522, Average produce
below the usual estimate of statistical
writers, 521. Extent to which dif-
ference of seasons may cause the prc-
duce to fluctuate, 523. Equivalent to
the sustenance of a sixth part of the
population, 523. Statistics might be
made to throw much information on
agriculture, 524.

ieam-power, economy of, in thrashing,
300.449. Economical when fully em-
ployed, 449. Expense of, 449.

Steward. See Agent.

Stratfieldsaye, rent of land, 98. Tithes
and rates, 98. Arable management
of farms there, 98, 99.

Straw plait manufacture, value of straw
for this purpose, near Dunstable, 454.

Stubble, or “ haulm,” left on the land at
harvest for after use, in Essex, 138.

Subsoiling at Overstone, 423.

Suffolk, 144, Landlords and tenants in,
145. Description of soil, 151. Excel-
lent management of heavy land in,
152. Comparative value of manure
and food of cattle, 156. Absurd com-
pulsory clause as to ploughing fal-
lowsin, 157. Sparing use of manure,
158. Field barns, 159. Mode of con-
ducting harvest work in, 159. Light-
land farming in, 159.

Sugar beet, culture of, recommended,
483. Refuse of manufacture valua-
ble for stock, note, 483. Price at
which it can be sold with profit when
manufactured, note, 483.

Sunk Island, its agricultural manage-
ment, rent, rates, and labourers’
wages, 303.

Superphosphate of lime, use of, on Salis-
bury Plain, 83.; in Hampshire, 92.
Advantage of applying heavier doses,
92. Manufacture of, at Penkridge,
236. A certain manure for turnips in
the South, 463.

Surrey, 117. Tenant-right in, 119.
Guildford, 120. Valley of the Wey,
121. Reigate, 122. The Weald, 123.
Very backward state of agriculture in,

125. Great facilities for improve-
ment, 125.
Sussex, 126. Weald of,126. Hop dis-

trict, 127. Sussex Downs, 127. Farm-
ing near Brighton, 130.

Sutherland, Duke of, his estates in Staf-
fordshire, 231.

Swedes, time of sowing on Salisbury
Plain 82, Successful culture of in
West Cumberland, 362. See Crops.

NN
548

Table of comparative. wages and prices,
318. Of cosis of cultivation, 320.
Showing the comparative rent, pro-
duce, prices, and wages in 1770 and
1850, 474. Showing the compara-
tive rent, produce, and wages in the
corn growing, and the mixt corn
and stock districts of England in
1850-1, 480.

Talbot, Earl, his arrangements with his
tenants, 231,

Tenants, eagerness to take land, 418.
Changes of, in Northamptonshire, 420.
Wise and business-like arrangements
with, at Woburn, 441.

Tenant farmers, their position, 498.
Contrasts presented on neighbouring
farms, parishes, or counties, 498. Ad-
vantage of not restricting them too
much by rules, 502. Entitled to se-
curity for their capital, either by
tenant-right or lease, 504. Leases
strongly recommended, 505. Many
ruined by over-competition for farms,
509. Entitled to a re-adjustment of
rents, 525. Great number of wealthy
and intelligent, in England, 527. See
Farmers.

Tenant-right in Surrey, 119. Mr. Clut-
ton’s evidence, 119. Demoralising
effects of, 120. In Sussex, 130. Its
injurious effects, 182. Does not pro-
duce good farming, 132. In Lincoln-
shire, 194. Farmers do not attribute
so much benefit to it as to moderate
rents, 196. In Notts, 200. Necessity
for defining and limiting it, 201. Pro-
portion of tenants’ capital absorbed by
it, 201. Advantage of, doubtful, 222.
In West Riding, while it has led to
fraud, has not produced good farming,
328. Best farmers desirous of having
the right modified, 329. Apparent
reasonableness of, 5038. An improving
farmer entitled to security either by it,
or by lease, 504. Leases reccmmended
in preference to, 505, Results ofthe cus-
tom in Surrey, Sussex, Lincoln, North
Notts, and part of West Riding, 505.
Encourages fraud, 506. Value of, 507.
Gives tenants power of combination
against landlords, 507. Does not pro-
-duce superior farming, 507. Perpe-
tuates bad husbandry, 507. Limits
the means of an entering tenant, 507.
Is indefinite in extent, 508. Not de-
sirable to extend it to other parts of
the kingdom, 508. Honest and in-
telligent farmers in Surrey, North

 

INDEX.

Notts, and West Riding. anxious «to
have it restricted, and recommending
their landlords to buy it up and get
rid of it, 508. ;

Tenure in Bucks, 2. 7.;-in Oxford,
South-eastern district, 17.; in Western
district of Oxford, 24.; in Cotswolds,
82.; in Vale of Gloucester, 42.; in
Devonshire, 50.; in Dorsetshire, 58. ;
in Hampshire, 89.; in Berks, 115.; in
Surrey, 119.; in Essex, 135.; in
Suffolk, 152.; in Leicestershire, 219. ;
in Warwickshire, 222.; in Stafford-
shire, 231.; in West Riding, 290.

Thatch, equal temperature of.a roof
of, 70.

Thin sowing, objections by Mr. Beasley
to, 427. Disapproved by Mr. Tho-
mas of Lidlington, 445. Economy of,
500. Of limited application, 500.

Thomas, Mr., his farming, at Lidling-
ton, 443. Management and manure
for turnip crop, 444. Barley and
seeds, 444, Winter beans a valuable
introduction to the four course, 445,
Wheat, 445. Course of crops on clay
land, 445. Mangold, 445. Cdéimpara-
tive value of Leicester and South
Down flocks, 446. Culled ewes ex-
peditiously fed, 446. Rules for graz~
ing of sheep and cattle, 447. Cooked
food economical, 448. Food of horses,
448. Steam engine and machinery,
448. Ferrabee’s straw cutter, 448.
Saving by use of steam power, 449.
Cost of, and expense of thrashing,
449, Comparison between short horns
and Devons, 449. Profit on Gal-
loways, 450. Drainage injurious to
certain grass lands, 450. Different
management and expense of sandy
and chalk soils, 450. Wheat better
suited to high farming than barley,
451. Comparative value of wheat
and barley crops, 451. Propriety of
leaving good farmers free to adopt the
course of crops they find most advan-
tageous, 452. Compensation for low
prices, 452.

Thomson, Mr., his farming at Paston,
379. His reasons for renewing his
lease at former rent, 380. Manage-
ment and produce of crops and stock,
381. Prices of sheep and wool, 382.
Safe and economical system of farm-
ing, 384.

Thornhill, Mr., his farming at Stanton,
in Derbyshire, 395. Greatly increased
produce, 396. Process of improve-
INDEX. 549

ment, 396. Arable management,
397. Yield of crops, 398. Dairy
management, 398. Expense and
profits, 398.

Thrashing, hand machine, quantity
thrashed by, in a day in North Wilts,
78. Comparative cost of, by hand,
horse, and steam power, 300, 427,
449. Expense of, by steam, at
Overstone, 427.; at Lidlington in
Bedfordshire, 449. Economy by steam
power in this operation equivalent to
a large reduction of rent, 499.

Tillage, proportion of, to pasture in Vale
of Aylesbury, 1. Mode adopted in
Bucks, 6. Advantage of deep, 6.

Tithes in Bucks, 3. Commutation of,
and consequent increase of tillage and
rent on Salisbury Plain, 80.

Transfer of land. See Land.

Trenching, cost of, at Overstone, 422.

Turnip, management of in Bucks, 15.
Management in Oxfordshire, 20. Ad-
vantage of cutting them for sheep, 21.
Expense and mode of hoeing on Salis-
bury Plain, 82. Taste of, in butter,
neutralised, 170. Crop, its cost and
value at Overstone, 425. How con-
sumed, 425. Management and manure
for at Lidlington, 444. ; at Lawrence
End, 456. Converts the refuse of the
corn crops into food for plants, 462.
Superphosphate a certain manure for,
in the South, 463. Guano in a moist
climate, 463.

Valuation; a revaluation generally un-
fair to an improving tenant, 418. 432.

Vernon, Lord, his arrangements with his
tenants, 373.

Vetches, winter, at Overstone, 425.

Wages of labourers in Northampton-
shire, 420, ; in Bedfordshire, 453. ; in
Hertfordshire, 456.; in Cambridge-
shire, 468; in Huntingdonshire, 472.
Table of, in 1770 and 1850, 474. In-
crease per cent. in eighty years, 475.
Table of, 480. Table showing the
rate of wages in the Northern and
Southern counties respectively, 511.

Wark, village of, filthy state of, 390.

Warping, process of, along the Trent
and Humber, 191. Rapid deposit of
mud, 192, Great improvement by,
and accuracy of, the process, 298.
Expense, 298. Subsequent manage-
ment of land, 299. ‘

Warwickshire, 221. Different qualities
and rent of land, 221. Too much
timber in hedgerows, 222. Agricul-

 

ture much improved within thirty
years 223. Too many horses used,
223. Backward state of farming in
some parts, 224. Management of
strong land, 225. Drainage imper-
fectly executed, 226. Management of
light land, 226. Supply of the large
towns not sufficiently turned to ac-
count, 227, 228.

Water turned to excellent account at
Teddesley, 237.

Waterford, Marquis of, his arrange-
ments with his tenants in Northum-
berland, 373. Picturesque village of
Ford, 389.

Weald of Surrey, course of crops, 123.
Produce, 123. Antiquated imple-
ments, 123. Suggestions for its im-
provement, 124. Size of farms, and
rent, 124. Want of education in
farmers of, 124,

Webb, Mr. Jonas, his celebrated South
Down flock, 469. Also a breeder of
short-horns, 469.

Wellington, Duke of, as a landlord, 97.
Farm buildings on his estate, 98.
Labourers’ cottages, 98. Large ex-
penditure on a stubborn soil, 98. Sys-
tem of cultivation on estate of, 98.

Wells, Messrs., farm at Booth Ferry,
297. Culture of potatoes for the Lon-
don market, 297. Great improve-
provement by, and accuracy of, the
process of “warping” land, 298.
Crops heavily manured, 299, 300.

Wendover, 7.

Westminster, Marquis of, his drainage
arrangements in Cheshire, 256.

Wheat, management of in Bucks, 9.
Produce of, 9. Management in Ox-
fordshire, 20. Produce in Oxford-
shire,21. Produce in Western Oxford-
shire,26. Management on Cotswolds,
and produce, 35. Produce in Vale of
Gloucester, 45. Produce in Devon-
shire, 53. Management in Dorset-
shire, 60. Produce in Dorsetshire,
61. Produce on Salisbury Plain, 82.
Management on Salisbury Plain, 82.
Produce in Hampshire of fertile loam,
91. Management of, 91. Produce
near Basingstoke, 92.; at Ilsley, 115. ;
at Guildford, 121.; in the Weald of
Surrey, 123. ; on Sussex Downs, 128.;
in district of Roothings in Essex,
138.; in Suffolk, 155. Application of
nitrate of soda to, 167. 170. Produce
of in Norfolk, 171. Advantage of
rolling it, 172. Produce of in Fens,
550

182, 184. Management for in Notts,
209. Produce, 209. Increasing crops
at shorter intervals, 211. In Leices-
tershire, 216. Crops increase with
good cultivation though more fre-
quently repeated, 242. Peculiar mode
of drilling, 248. Expense of reaping
248. Produce in Cheshire, 255.; in
Lancashire, 269.; in West Riding,
289.; in Yorkshire Wolds, 313. ; in
Durham, 333.; at Seaham, 338.; in
West Cumberland, 363.; in Northum-
berland, 374.; at Beal, 376.; at Pas-
ton, 384.; at Wark, 385.; at Wandon,

885. Yield of in Derbyshire, 394.
398. Seed and produce at Overstone,
426.; at Lidlington, 445. Better

suited to high farming than barley,
451. Its value as compared with
barley, 451. Produce at Lawrence
End, 456. Successive wheat crops
grown by Mr. Lawes, 460. Ammonia
the most certain manure for, 461.
Climate limits the increase of, 461.
Produce of well-managed clay Jand
in Huntingdonshire, 470. Table of
pr. duce in 1770 and 1850, 474. In-
crease per cent. in 80 years, 475.
Produce of, in 1850-1, per acre, 480.

Whitfield, example farm, 46.

Wiltshire, Northern and Western divi-
sions, description of soil, and agricul-
tural management, 74. Arable farm-
ing in, 78.

Woburn Park farm, workshops, 439.
Farm buildings, 439. Stall and box
feeding, 440. Food for fat cattle, 440.;
for milch cows, 440.; for young
stock, 440. Management of liquid
manure, 441,

THE

 

INDEX.

Wood land. Management of at Ne-
therby, 354.

Yarborough, Earl of, bis estates in Lin-
colnshire, 196.

Wool, prices of, in 1770 and 1850, 475.

Yorkshire, West Riding, 286. Preva-~
lence of grass land, 287. Manufac-
turers fond of agricultural pursuits,
287. Weaver farmers, 287. Milk
farmers, 288. Good management at
Esholt, 288. Wharfdale, 290. Hare-
wood, 291. Leeds and Wakefield, 291.
Farming at Chevet Grange, 292. Va-
riety of crops near Doncaster, Ponte-
fract, and Goole, 294. Agricultural
management on the whole not very emi-
nent, 295.— East Riding, 302. Holder-
ness, description of and farming there,
302. Rent of land, 308. Sunk Island,
303. Flax culture at Patrington, 304,
Increased employment, 307. York-
shire Wolds, pleasing appearance of
the country as compared with the bare
South Downs, 310. Extensive farms,
310. Advantages possessed by the
Wold farmer, 311. Farming on the
Lower Wolds, 311. Howdenshire and
the Vale of York, 315. Hopeless
state of cold clays without drainage,
815. Management of sand lands, 316.
Letting of farms, 316.—JVorth Riding,
description of, 321. Arable farming
in, 323. Cleveland farming not pros-
perous, 326. Tenant-right in West
Riding has not produced good farm-
ing, 328.

Young, Arthur, his ideas now realised,
144, His results in 1780, compared
with 1850-1, 473. His description
of the roads in England in 1780, 479.

END.

Lonvon:

SPoTTISWoobeEs and Snaw,
New-street-Square.
 

An ALPHABETICAL CATALOGUE of

NEW WORKS
GENERAL & MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE,

PUBLISHED BY

Messes, LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, anp LONGMANS,
PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.

Agriculture and Rural
Affairs.

Pages.
Bayldon On valuing Rents, &c. - :
Crocker’s Land-Survey1
Johnson’s Farmer’s {copes 1 ae
Loudon’s Agriculture -

s Self-Instruction  ~

we Lady's Country ‘Compan,
Low's Elements of Agriculture = -

On Landed Property -

i
18
18

Arts, Manufactures,
and Architecture,

Bourne's Catechism of the Steam
ngine

Brande’s Dictionary of: Science, &c, 4
Budge’s Miner’s Guide - - 4
Cresy’s Civil Engineerin, - 6
D'Agincourt’s History o! Art ~ 28
Dresden Galler: => 38
Eastlake On Od Painting - 8
Evans’s Sugar-Planter’s anual - 9
Swilt’s Encyclop. of Architecture 10
Humphreys’ Illuminated Books - 14
Jameson’s Sacred and LegendaryArt ua
Loudon’s ‘Rural Architecture

Moseley's Engineering. - - 23

 

Scoffern On Sugar Manufacture - 25
Steam Engine, bythe Artisan Club 3
Tate on Strength of Materiais - 28
Twining On Painting - 81
Ure’s ‘8 Dictionary of ‘Arts, &e. - 81
Biography.
Foss’s English Judges - = - 9
Grant’s Memoir & orrespondence 10
“Head's Memoirs,of Cardinal Pacca 11
‘Humphreys’s Black prince - -i14
Kindersley’s De Bayard - -
~Maunder’s Biographical Treasusy'= 20
Southey’s Life of Wesley - 29
Life and Correspondence 28

Stephen’s Ecclesiastical Biography 29
Taylor’s Loyola -  - 29
‘Townsend's Eminent Judges

Waterton's Autobiography & Essays

Books of General

 

 

Utility.
Acton’s Cookery = - - 8
Black’s Treatise on Brewing - - + 4
Cabinet Lawyer --  - - 6
Hints on Etiquette - 12
“Hudson’ sExccutor’s Guide 13
‘aking Wills = - - LB
Loudon’ ‘s Self-Instruction - - 17
Lady’s Companion - 17
ae Amateur Gardener M7
Maunder’s Treasury of Knowledge 20
} jo Biographical Treasury 20
z id Scientific Treasury - 20
et Treasury of History 20
< Natural History - - 20
Pocket andthe Stud - - - JL
Pycroft's Pneliah | Sealing - - «a
Reece’s Medical Guide -——- - 24
Rich’s Comp. to Latin Dictionary 24
Riddle’s Latin Dictionaries - - 25
Rowton’s Debater - ee 25
hort Whis' - 26
Thomas’s Interest Tables - - 30
‘Thomson On the Sick Room- - 30
Thomson’s Interest Tables - - 530
Webster’s Domestic Economy - 382

 

Classtied Enver.

Botany and Gardening.

Callcott’s Scripture Herbal
Conversations on Botan:

 

Pages.

Evans’s Sugar-Planter’s Manual - 9

Houte On Cultivation of the Vine - 12

Hooker’ s British Flora - - - 12

Guide to Kew Gardens - 12

fe Introduction to Botany - 16

Lindley’s Introduction to Botany 16

Loudon’s Hortus Britannicus - 18

es Amateur Gardener - 17

< Self-Instruction - - 17

Ef Treesand Shrubs - - 17

e Gardening - - - 17

sh Plants - - 17

.| Rivera's Rose Amateur’s Guide - 25

Schleiden’s Botany, by Lankester 25
Chronology.

Allen On Prerogative - 3

Blair's Chronological Tables - 4

Bunsen’s Ancient Egypt - - 5

Haydn's Beatson’sIndex - ~- 12

Commerce and Mercan-
tile Affairs.

Banfield and Weld’s Statistics - s
Gilbart’s Treatise on Banking = -
Gray’s Tables of Life Contingencies 10
Lorimer’s Letters to a Young
‘aster Mariner - - 16
M‘Culloch’s Commerce & Navigation a8
Steel’s Shipmaster’s Assistant -
Symons’ Merchant Seamens’ Law 20
Thomas’s Interest Tables - - 30
Thomson’s Interest Tables - - 30

Criticism, History, and
Memoirs.

Blair’s Chron. and Histor. Tables -
Bunsen's Ancient Egypt = - -
Coad’s Memorandum -— -
Conybeare and Howson’s St. Paul
Dandolo’s Italian Volunteers -
Dennistoun’s Dukes of Urbino -
Dunlop’s History of Fiction -
Eastlake’s History of Uil Painting
Foss’s English Judges - - -
Foster’s European Literature
Gibbon’s Roman Empire -
srant’s Memoir & Correspondence 10

VOOMDOYIIAATE

 

Hamilton’s (Sir W.) Essa: say - - 10
Ilarrison On the English Language 10
Head’s Memoirs of Cardinal Pacca 11

Holland's (Lord) Foreign Remix

 

niscences  - 12
Humphreys’ Black Pri - 14
Jeffrey’s (Lord. Contribations, 15
Kemble’s Anglo-Saxon: 15
Macaulay's Crit. and Hist. Eosays 18

History of England 15
Mackintosh’s Miscellaneous Works 18
M‘Culloch’sGeographicalDictionary 19
Maunder’s Treasury of History  -
Merivale HistoryofRome- - 21
Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History 22
Mure’s Ancient Greece 2:
Rich’s Comp.to Latin Dictionary 24
Hiddle’s Latin Dictionaries - - 2

Rogers's E s Essays fromtheEdinburgh i

schmits’s History of Greece - - 30

tl Pages.
| Smith’s St. Paul - - 27
| Slephea’e The Doctor &e, - = 2B
tephen 's (Sir ae ssay8  - - 29
ydney Smith's ‘orks - = = a7
Lectures on Moral
Philoso hy - - = = 27
Taylor's Loyola - - = 2
Thirlwall's History of Greece - 30
Tooke’s History of Prices - 30 & 31
Townsend's State Trials 31
Twining’s Philosophy of Painting - - 31
Twiss on the Pope’s Letters - - 31

Zumpt’s Latin Grammar 32

Geography and
Atlases.

Butler's Geography and Atlases - 5
Erman's Travels through Siberia - 9
Hall’s barge Library Atlas - - I
i ilway Map of England - 10
Johnston's General Gazetteer - 15
M‘Culloch’s Geographical Dictionary 19
Murray’s Encyclop. of Geography - 2
Sharp's British Gazetteer - — -

Juvenile Books.
Amy Herbert - 26

Corner's Children’s Sunday | Book 26
Earls Danghter (The) - - 6
Gertrude - 26
Howitt's Bey 8 Country Book - 13
Mary) Children’s Year - 12
Lana ‘arsonage - 26
Mrs. Marcet’s Conversations- - 19
Margaret Percival - — - - 26
Marryatis Mt Masterman Readg - - - 19
Mission - - 19
ns Settlers in Canada - 20
Privateer’s Man - - 20
Pycroft's English Reading - - 2
Medicine.
Bull's Hints to Mothers- —- 5
“ ManagementofChildren - 65

Uopland’s Dictionary of Medicine- 6
Latham On Diseases of the Heart- 16
Moore On Health, Dineaee »&Remedy a
Pereira On Food and Diet - — -

Reece’s Medical Guide- - - Bt

Miscellaneous and Ge-
neral Literature.

‘

Allen On Prerogative - -
Coad's Memorandum - = -
Dresden Gallery - os
Dunlop's History of Fiction - - -
Graham's Englis!
Frant’s Letters from the Mountains 10
Haydn's Book of Dignities 2 5
Hooker's Kew Guide
Howitt's Rural Life of England - i3

Visitsto RemarkablePlaces ie
Jardine’s Treatise of Equivocation
Jeftre Ee Lord) Contributions = - i
Kay ucation, &c., in Europe
Loudon’ 's Lady's Country Comp. -
Macaulay's Crit.and Hist. Essays
Mackintosh’s Miscellaneous Works

Swan

 

 

 

 
| Amy Herbert. -

 

 

CLASSIFIED INDEX—continued.

‘Page 2 |
Maitland’s Churchin the Catacombs 19
Pascal’s Works, by Pea earce - 23
Pycroft's English Reading 24
Rich’s Comp. to Latin Dictionary 24
Riddle's Latin Dictionaries - - 25
Rowton’s Debater 25
Seaward's Narrative of his Shipwreck26
Sir Roger de Coverley - - =

Smith’s (Rev. Sydney) Works - 3
Southey’s Common-place Books - 28
The Doctor &e. - - 28
Stephen's Essays - = - = = 2
Stow’s Training System - = Bi
Townsend’s State Trials = - - 81

Zumpt's Latin Grammar

Natural History in
General.

Catlow’s Popular Concholo; - 5
Doubleday’s Butterflies and Moths 8
Ephemeraand Young Onthe Salmon 8
Gosse’s Nat, Hist. of Jamaica +
Gray and Mitchell’s Birds - = -
Kirby and Spence’s Entomology - is
Lee's Taxidermy -

«« Elements oF Ni atural History 16
Maunder’s Natural History - 20
Turton’s Shells ofthe Britis] Islands 31
Waterton’s Essays on ) Natural Hist. 31
Westwood’s Classification of Insects a
Youatt’s The Dog- - - -

«The Horse - -  - 32

Novels and Works of
Fiction.

Dunlop's History of Fiction - 8
Head’s Metamorphoses of Apaleltis. 11

Lady Willoughby’s Diary = - 32
Macdonald’s Villa *Verocchio ~ 18
Marryat’s Masterman Ready- + 19

‘ Settlers in Canada 20

sf Mission - - = = 19

« Privateers-man - - 20
Mount St. Lawrence - - - 22
Sir Roger de.Coverley 2 2 = 2
Sketches (The : 27
Southey's The ‘Doetar &e. - - 28
Twelve Years Ago: aTale - - $1

One-Volume
Encyclopedias and
Dictionaries.

Blaine’s Rural Sports - - - 4
Brande's Science, Literature, & Art 4
Copland’s ictionary of Medicine - 6
Cresy’s Civil Engineering -

Gwilt’s Architecture. -- - 10
Johnson’s Farmer’s isneyclopmdia
Johnston's Geogr ep bieal Dichonary: 16

1

 

Loudon’ 's Agricultur if
Rural Architecture -u

‘ Gardening - - 7

i Plants - - - VW

ae Trees and Shrubs - = =

 

1
Al‘Culloch’s Geographical Dictionary 19
Dictionary of Commerce ae
Murray‘s Encyclop. o' Geography -
Ure’s Dictionary of Arts, &c.-  -

Webster's Domestic Economy - a

Religious and Moral
Works.

Bloom field's Greek Testament, -
Annotations ondo. -
fe College and School do.
aes Lexicon 0.
Book of Ruth (illuminated) -
Callcott's Scripture Herbal - 5
Conybeare and Howson's St. Paul 6

aAaeed

14

 

 

=o3 3 Pages.

r Cook's Edition of the Acts - - 6
Cooper’s Sermong-  - - - 6
Corner’s Sunday Book - - - 6&
Dale’s Domestic Liturgy -~ - 7
Discipline ses
Earl’s Daughter (The) - = = 26
Ecclesiastes, illuminated - 23
Elmes's Thought it Book - - - 8
Englishman’s Greek Concordance §&
Englishman’ sHeb.&Chald.' ‘Concord. 8
Gertrude = 26
. Hook’s Lectures on 1 Passion Week 12
Horne’s Iritroduction to Scriptures 12
ee Abridgment of ditto - 12
Howson’s Sunday Evening 13
Jameson’s Sacred Legends - - 14
Monastic Legends- - 14

ae ‘Legends af the Madonna 16
Jeremy Taylor's orks - = 5
Laneton Parson: y 26
Letters to My Un own Friends - 16
« on Hap 16

ppin
Maitland’s Chore 1 in m the Catacombs 19
Margaret Percival - 26
Marriage Service (illuminated)
Maxims ofthe Saviour - = -
Miracles of Our Saviour -
Moore On. the Use of the Body .- 21
Soul and Body -

 

26 Man and his Motives 21
Morell's Philosophy of Religion - 21
Mosheum's Ecclesiastical History - 22
Mount St. Lawrence - 22
Neale’s Closing Scene - 22

Ke Resting ee of the Just 22
Newman’s (J. H.} Discourses - 22
Paley’s Evidences, &c. by motte 23
Parables of Our Lurd | = - 14
Readings for Lent
Robinson's Lexicon to “the Greek

Testament - -
Sermon on the Mount (The) - - - 23
Sinclair's Journey of Lite 26

“! Business of Life - - 26

Smith's(G.) Perilous Times- = -
Smith's (G. Releiones anes Britain zB
acred Annals - — ~
“ Doctrine of the Cherubim 2
se (Sydney) Sermons - 27
Ge Moral Philosophy y #
SF (J.) St. Peat -

Solomon’s Song, illuminated | - 3
Southey’s Life of Wesl ey - + a
Tayler’s Lady Mary -
«Margaret; or, the Pearl - 29
« (Isaac) Loyola - + aa

Thumb Bible (The,

Tomline's Introduction to the Bible 30
‘Curner’s Sacred History - - oe a
Twelve Years Ago -
Twiss on the Pope’s Letters - - 3
Wilberforce’s View of Christianity 32
Wisdom of Johnson's Rambler, &c. 15

Poetry and the Drama.

Aikin’s.(Dr.) British Poets -  - 3
Baillie’s (Joanna) Poetical Works 3
Flowers and their kindred jhoashts a ah
Fruits from Garden and Field -

Goldsmith's Poems, illustrated - 0

Heys s Elegy, illuminated - - 22
8 Mor: of Flowers- = 12

‘Sylvan Musings - - - 12
L. B. L.’s Poetical Works - - 16

Tinwood’s Antholo ia Oxoniensis- 16

Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome 18

Montgomery's Poetical Works - 21

Moore's Poetical Works -  - 2

s¢LallaRookh - - - 2l

«€ Trish Melodies - - == 21

ae Songs and Ballads - = Qi

Shakspeare, yy Bowdl - 26
Sei ntiments & Similes 13 |

Southey’ 8 Poetical Works - 28

British Poets - = - 28

Swain’s English Melodies - - 29

Taylor's Virgin idow - - 29

Thomson's Seaagns, illustrated - 30

“edited by 30

r. A.T. Thomson
‘ies oof the ‘Heart'= -
oughts - -

Watts’s L:
‘Winged "

Political Economy and
Statistics.
Banfield and Weld’s Statistics - ;

Gilbart’s Treatise on Banking -
Gray's Tables of Life Contingencies 10

 

es.

Kay On the Social Condition, &e, a
of Europe - .

Laing’s Notes of a Traveller - = 1b

M‘Culloch’s Geog. Statist. &ewDiet. «19
a Dictionary of Comm ce 19
te Statistics of Gt. Britain’ 19

“On Funding & ‘Taxation a
Marcet's Politica) Economy -
Tooke’s Histories of Prices - 30 & a

The Sciences
in General and Mathe-
matics.

Bourne's Catechism of the Steam
Engine =
Brande’s Dictionary of Science, &e. 4
Conversations on. Mineralogy - 6
Gresy's Civil Ane ineeriny 6
De laBeche’sGeol logy of ornwall, &e, 7
ae Geological Observer - | 7
De la Rive’s Electricity . +  -
Dixon’s Fossils of Sussex - | - i
Gower’s Scientific Phenomena’ -
Herschel’s Outlines of Astronomy u
Humboldt’s Aspects of Noture - 1

 

Cosmos _- - 13
Hunt's Researches on Light ~ - -il4
Marcet’s (Mrs.) Conversations - 19

Memoirs of the Geolo; logical Survey 20
Moseley’ 's Practical Mechanics “- 22
«« “_ Engineering&Architecture 22
Owen's LecturesonComp.Anatomy 23
Peschel’s Elements of Physics - 24
Phillips" 's Fossils of Cornvall &e.
Mineralogy, by Miller -
Portlock’s Geology of Londonderry 2
Schleiden’s Scientific Botany - 25
Smee’s Electro Metallurgy eS
Steam Engine (The’ - =
Tate On Strength of Materials -

1
9
Thomson’s School(Chemistry 30

Rural Sports.

Blaine’s Dictionary of Sports

The Cricket-Field - - os

Ephemera onAngling -  - =
Book of the Salmon, -

Hawker’s Instructionsto Sportsmen ht

Leeda a ys 00 ia ij H

oudon's 's Count ‘comp. -
Pocket andes Si gy zoe

Practical Hiorsemanchip - oe i
Pulman’s m Tishing - = - w@

Doom

 

 

Ronalds’s Fly Fisher - = 25
Stable Talk and Table Talk - n
The Stud, for Practical purposes - - At
Wheatley’ 'sRodand Line -

Veterinary Medicine,

&c.
Hunting Field (rhe he) - - - li
Pocket and the - -ll
Practical pores - -u
Stable Talk and Table ‘ake = UD
Stud (The) - il
Youal vs The ‘Dog moe - 32
e Horse - 82
Voyages and
Travels.
Chemey’s Euphrates and Tigris - 65
an's Travels through Siberia- 9
For es’s Dahome 9
Forester and "Biddalph’s | Norway - - 9
Head's Tour in Rome - a3)
Humboldt’s Aspects of Nature - B
Laing's Notes of a Traveller - i

6
Power's New Zealand Sketches a

Richardson's Overland soutney: - 25
Rovings in the Pacific +  - 26
Seaward’s Narrative - - § - 26
Snow's Arctic Voyage - - - 8

 
 

 

AN

Alphabetical Cataloque

oF

NEW WORKS anD NEW EDITIONS,

PUBLISHED BY

Messrs. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, anp LONGMANS,
PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.

as.

MISS ACTON’S MODERN COOKERY-BOOK.

Modern Cookery in allits Branches, reduced to a System of Easy Practice. For the use of
Private Families. In a Series of Reccipts, all of which have been strictly tested, and are given
with the most minute exactness. By EL1zA Acton. New Edition: with Directions for Carv-
ing, and other Additions. Fep. 8vo. with Plates and Woodcuts, 7s. 6d. cloth.

ATKIN.—SELECT WORKS OF THE BRITISH POETS,

From Ben Jonson to Beattie. With Biographical and Critical Prefaces by Dr. A1kIN. New
Edition, with Supplement, by Lucy ArkKIN; consisting of additional Selections from more
recent Poets. 8vo. 18s. cloth,

ALLEN ON THE ROYAL PREROGATIVE.—AN INQUIRY

into the RISE and GROWTH of the ROYAL PREROGATIVE. By the late Joun ALLEN,
Master of Dulwich College. New Edition, with the Author’s last Corrections: preceded by
M. Bérenger’s Rapport on the Work read before the Institute of France; an Article on
the same from the EpINBurGH Review; and a Biographical Notice of the Author. To
which is added, An Inquiry into the Life and Character of King Eadwig, from the Author’s
MS. 8vo. 12s. cloth.

THE ARTISAN CLUB.—A TREATISE ON THE STEAM

ENGINE, in its Application to Mines, Mills, Steam Navigation, and Railways. By the
Artisan Club. Edited by Jonn Bourne, C.E. New Edition. With 30 Steel Plates and 349
Wood'Engravings. 4to. 27s. cloth.

JOANNA BAILLIE’S DRAMATIC AND POETICAL WORKS.

Now first collected; complete in One Volume; and comprising the Plays of the Passions,
Miscellaneous Dramas, Metrical Legends, Fugitive Pieces (including several now first pub-
lished), and Ahalya Baee. Uniform with the New Edition of James Montgomery’s Poetical
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21s. cloth; or 42s. handsomely bound in morocco by Hayday.

BANFIELD AND WELD.—THE STATISTICAL COMPANION,

Corrected to 1850; exhibiting the most interesting Facts in Moral and Intellectual, Vital,
Economical, and Political Statistics, at home and abroad. Cuompiled from Official and other
authentic Sources, by T. C. BANFIELD, Statistical Clerk to the Council of Education; and
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BAYLDON’S ART OF VALUING RENTS AND TILLAGES,

And Tenant’s Right of Entering and Quitting Farms, explained by several Specimens of
Valuations; with Remarks on the Cultivation pursued on Soils in different Situations.
Adapted to the Use of Landlords, Land-Agents, Appraisers, Farmers, and Tenants. New
Edition ; corrected and revised by John Donaldson. 8vo. 10s. 6d. cloth.

 

 

 
 

 

 

4 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS

Baar.

 

 

PRR PARRA

 

BLACK.—A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON BREWING,

Based on Chemical and Economical Principles: with Formule for Public Brewers, and
Instructions for Private Families. By WrLtL1am Brack, Practical Brewer. New Edition,
with considerable Additions. 8vo. 10s. 6d. cloth.

BLAINE.—AN ENCYCLOPADIA OF RURAL SPORTS;

Or, acomplete Account, Historical, Practical, aud Descriptive, of Hunting, Shooting, Fishing
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thoroughly revised Edition, corrected to 1851. 1n One Large Volume, 8vo. [In the press.

BLAIR’S CHRONOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL TABLES,

From the Creation to the present time: with Additions and Corrections from the most authen-
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to the Temple. Under the revision of Sir Henry Exuts, K.H., late Principal Librarian of
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BLOOMFIELD.—-THE GREEK TESTAMENT:

With copious English Notes, Critical, Philological, and Explanatory. Especially formed for
the use of advanced Students and Candidates for Holy Orders. By Rev. S. T. BLooMFIELD,
D.D. F.S.A. New Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. with a Map of Palestine, 2, cloth.

THE REV. DR. S. T. BLOOMFIELD’S ADDITIONAL ANNO-

TATIONS, CRITICAL, PHILOLOGICAL, and EXPLANATORY, on the NEW TES-
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English Notes, in 2 vols. 8vo. In One large Volume, of 460 pages, printed in double columns,
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and so arranged as to be divisible into Two Parts, each of which may be bound up with the
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BLOOMFIELD.—COLLEGE & SCHOOL GREEK TESTAMENT:

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BLOOMFIELD.—GREEK AND ENGLISH LEXICON TO THE

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BRANDE.—A DICTIONARY OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE,

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BULL.—THE MATERNAL MANAGEMENT OF CHILDREN,

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CHESNEY.—THE EXPEDITION FOR THE SURVEY OF

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6 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS

 

 

 

JOHN COAD’S MEMORANDUM.—A CONTEMPORARY AC-

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COOK.—THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES; ‘

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DISCIPLINE.

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DIXON.—THE GEOLOGY AND FOSSILS OF THE TERTIARY

and CRETACEOUS FORMATIONS of SUSSEX. By the late Freperick D1xon, Esq. F.G.S.
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8 - NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS

DOUBLEDAY AND HEWITSON’S BUTTERFLIES. — THE

GENERA of DIURNAL LEPIDOPTERA; comprising their Generic Characters—a Notice
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DRESDEN GALLERY.—THE MOST CELEBRATED PICTURES

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DUNLOP.—THE HISTORY OF FICTION:

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EASTLAKE. — MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF OIL

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| BPHEMERA.—THE BOOK OF THE SALMON:

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GOWER.—THE SCIENTIFIC PHENOMENA OF DOMESTIC
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gins

 
 

 

10 NEW WUKAS AND NEW BULLLUNS

 

 

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GRAY.— TABLES AND FORMULA FOR THE COMPUTATION

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GRAY AND MITCHELL’S ORNITHOLOGY.—THE GENERA |

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HAMILTON.—CRITICAL ESSAYS ON PHILOSOPHY, LITE-

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HARRISON.—ON THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT

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| ep —THE BOOK OF DIGNITIES; OR, ROLLS OF THE

OFFICIAL PERSONAGES of the BRITISH EMPIRE, fiom the EARLIEST PERIODS to the
PRESENT TIME: corgprising the Administrations of Great Britain ; the Offices of State, and
allthe Public Departments ; the Ecclesiastical Dignitaries; the Functionaries of the Law; the
Commanders of the Army and Navy; and the Hereditary Honours and other Distinctions
conferred upon Families and Public Men. Being a New Edition, improved and continued, of
BEATSON’S POLITICAL INDEX. By JoserpH Haypw, Compiler of “The Dictionary of
Dates,” and other Works. In One very large Volume, 8vo. [In the Spring.

HEAD.—THE METAMORPHOSES OF APULEIUS:

A Romance of the Second Century. Translated from the Latin by Sir Georee Heap, Author
of “A Tour of. Many Days in Rome ;” Translator of “ Historical Memoirs of Cardinal Pacca.”

Post 8vo. 12s. cloth.

HEAD.—HISTORICAL MEMOIRS OF CARDINAL PACCA,

Prime Minister to Pius VII. Written by Himself. Translated from the Italian, by Sir Estas
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SIR GEORGE HEAD.—ROME :

A Tour of Many Days. By Sir GroraE Heap. 3 vols. 8vo. 36s. cloth.

SIR JOHN HERSCHEL.—OUTLINES OF ASTRONOMY.
By Sir Joun F. W. HerscuE, B Bart. &c. &c. &c. New Edition; with Plates and Wood En-
gravings. 8vo. 18s. cloth.

 
 

12 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS

MRS. HEY.—THR MORAL OF FLOWERS ;

Or, Thoughts gathered from the Field and the Garden. By Mrs. Hey. Being a New Edition
of “The Moral of Flowers ;” and consisting of Poetical Thoughts on Garden and Field
Flowers, accompanied by Drawings beautifully coloured after Nature. Square crown 8vo.
uniform in size with Thomson’s Seasons illustrated by the Etching Club, 21s. cloth.

“MRS. HEY.—SYLVAN MUSINGS ;

Or, the Spirit of the Woods. By Mrs. Hey. Being a New Edition of the ‘Spirit of the
Woods ;” and consisting of Poetical Thoughts on Forest Trees, accompanied by Drawings of
Blossoms and Foliage, beautifully coloured after Nature. Square crown Svo. uniform in size
with Thomson’s Seasons illustrated by the Etching Club, 21s. cloth.

HINTS ON ETIQUETTE AND THE USAGES OF SOCIETY:

With a Glance at Bad Habits. By Aywyés, “Manners make the man.” New Edition,
revised (with additions) by a Lady of Rank, Fep. 8vo. 2s. 6d. cloth.

HOARE.—A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTIVATION

* OF THE GRAPE VINE ON OPEN WALLS. By Cuement Hoare. New Edition. 8vo,
7s. 6d. cloth.

LORD HOLLAND’S FOREIGN REMINISCENCES.—FOREIGN

REMINISCENCES. By Henry RicaarpD Lorp HOLLAND. Comprising Anecdotes, and an
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his Lordship’s observation. Edited by hig Son, Henry Epwarp Lorp Hou.anp; with
Fac-simile. Post 8vo. 10s, 6d.

HOOK.—THE LAST DAYS OF OUR LORD’S MINISTRY:

A Course of Lectures on the principal Events of Passion Week. By WaLTER FARQUHAR
Hook, D D. Vicar of Leeds, Prebendary of Lincoln, and Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen.
New Edition. Fep. Svo. 6s. cloth.

HOOKER.—KEW GARDENS;
Or, a Popular Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew. By Sir Wint1am Jackson
Hooker, K.H. D,C.L. F.R.A. & LS. &e, &c. Director. New Edition. 1émo. with numerous
Wood Engravings, 6d. sewed.

HOOKER AND ARNOTT.—THE BRITISH FLORA;

Comprising the Phenogamous or Flowering Plants, and the Ferns. The Sixth Edition (1850),
with Additions and Corrections; and numerous Figures illustrative of the Umbelliferous
Plants, the Composite Plants, the Grasses, and the Ferns. By Sir W. J. Hooker, F.R.A.
and L.S, &e., and G. A. WALKER-ArNoTT, LL.D. F.L.S. and B.S. Ed.; Regius Professor
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cloth; or with the Plates coloured, price 21s.

HORNE.—AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CRITICAL STUDY

and KNOWLEDGE of the HOLY SCRIPTURES. By THomas Hantweuu Horne, B.D. |
of St. John’s College, Cambridge; Rector of the united Parishes of St. Edmund the King
and Martyr, and St. Nicholas’ Acons, Lombard Street; Prebendary of St. Paul’s. New
Edition, revised. and corrected. 6 vols. 8yo. with numerous Maps and Facsimiles of Biblical
Manuscripts, 68s. cloth; or €5, bound in calf.

HORNE.—A COMPENDIOUS INTRODUCTION TO THE |

STUDY of the BIBLE. By Tuomas Harrweit Horne, B.D. of St. John’s College,
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ledge of the Holy Scriptures.”? New Edition, corrected and enlarged. 12mo. with Maps and
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HOWITT.—THE CHILDREN’S YEAR.

By Mary Howirr. With Four Illustrations, engraved by John Absolen, from Original
Designs by ANNA Mary Howirr. Square l6mo. 5s. cloth. :

 

 
 

 

 

wn, AND co. 13

HOWITT.—THE BOY’S COUNTRY BOOK:

Being the real Life of a Country Boy, written by himself; exhibiting all the Amusements,
Pleasures, and Pursuits of Children in the Country. Edited by WiLL1am Howitr. New
Edition, Fep, 8vo, with 40 Woodcuts, 6s. cloth.

HOWITT.—THE RURAL LIFE OF ENGLAND.

By WILLIAM Howirt. New Edition, corrected and revised ; with Engravings on wood, by
Bewick and Williams: uniform with Visits to Remarkable Places. Medium 8vo. 21s. cloth.

HOWITT.—VISITS TO REMARKABLE PLACES;

Old Halls, Battle-Fields, and Scenes illustrative of Striking Passages in English History and
Poetry. By Witulam Howitt. New Edition ; with 40 Engravings on Wood. Medium 8vo.
21s. cloth,

SECOND SERIES, chiefly in the Counties of NORTHUMBERLAND and DURHAM, with a
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HOWSON.—SUNDAY EVENING:

Twelve Short Sermons for Family Reading. 1. The Presence of Christ; 2. Inward and Out-
ward Life; 3. The Threefold Warning; 4. Our Father’s Business; 5. Spiritual Murder; 6. The
Daty of Amiability ; 7. Honesty and Candour; 8. St. Peter and Cornelius; 9. The Midnight
Traveller; 10. St. Andrew; 11. The Grave of Lazarus; 12. The Resurrection of the Body.
By the Rev. J. S. Howson, M.A. Principal of the Collegiate Institution, Liverpool, and
Chaplain to the Duke of Sutherland. Fecp. 8vo 2s. 6d, cloth.

HOWSON AND CONYBEARE.—THE LIFE AND EPISTLES

of SAINT PAUL. By the Rev. J. 8S. Howson, M.A., and the Rev. W. J. ConyBEARE, M.A.
2 vols. 4to. very copiously illustrated by W. H. Barttlett. [See page 6.

HUDSON.—THE EXECUTOR’S GUIDE.

By J. C. Hupson, Esq. late of the Legacy Duty Office, London; Author of “ Plain Directions
for Making Wills,”? and “The Parent’s Hand-book.” New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 5s. cloth.

HUDSON.—PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING WILLS

In Conformity with the Law, and particularly with reference to the Act 7 Will. 4 and 1 Vict.
c. 26. To which is added, a clear Exposition of the Law relating to the distribution of Per-
sonal Estate in the case of Intestacy; with two Forms of Wills, and much useful information,
&c. By J.C. Hupson, Esq. New Edition, corrected. Fep. 8vo. 2s. 6d. cloth.

*,* These Two works may be had in One Volume, 7s. cloth.

HUMBOLDT.—ASPEOTS OF NATURE

In Different Lands and Different Climates; with Scientific Elucidations. By ALEXANDER Von
Humeotopt. ‘lranslated, with the Author’s sanction and co-operation, and at his express
desire, by Mrs. Sasine. New Edition. 16mo. 6s. cloth: or in 2 vols. 3s. 6d. each, cloth ;
Half-a-Crown each, sewed.

BARON HUMBOLDT’S COSMOS ;

Or, a Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe. Translated, with the Author’s sanction
and co-operation, under the superintendence of Lieutenant-Colonel Epwarp Sasine, R.A.
For. Sec. R.8. New Edition. Vols. I. and II. 16mo. Half-a-Crown each, sewed; 3s. 6d. each,
cloth: or in post 8vo. 12s. each, cloth.—Vol. JII. Part I. post 8vo. 6s. cloth : orin 16mo. 2s. 6d.
sewed ; 38. 6d. cloth.

HUMPHREYS.—-SENTIMENTS & SIMILES OF SHAKSPEARE:

A Classified Selection of Similes, Definitions, Descriptions, and other remarkable Passages in
Shakspeare’s Plays and Poems. With an elaborately illuminated border in the characteristic
style of the Elizabethan Period, and other Embellishments. Bound in very massive carved
and pierced covers containing in deep relief a medallion Head of Shakspeare. The Illumi-
nations and Ornaments designed and executed by Henry Noel Humphreys, Illuminator of
“A Record of the Black Prince,” &c. Square post 8vo. [Nearly ready.

 

 

 
 

14 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS

 

 

HUMPHREYS.—A RECORD OF THE BLACK PRINCE;

Being a Selection of such Passages in his Life as have been most quaintly and strikingly nar-
rated by the Chroniclers of the Period. Embellished with highly-wrought Miniatures and
Borderings, selected from various Illuminated MSS. referring to Events connected with
English History. By Henry NozL HumPuHReys. Post 8vo. in a richly carved and pierced
binding, 21s.

HUMPHREYS.—THE BOOK OF RUTH.

From the Holy Scriptures. Embellished with brilliant coloured Borders, selected from some
of the finest Illuminated MSS. in the British Museum, the Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris, the
Soane Museum, &c.; and with highly-finished Miniatures. The Illuminations executed by
Henry NoEL HumpHreys. Square fcp. 8vo. in deeply embossed leather covers, 21s.

HUMPHREYS. — MAXIMS AND PRECEPTS OF THE

SAVIOUR: being a Selection of the most beautiful Christian Precepts contained in the
Four Gospels. IlJustrated by a series of Illuminations of original character, founded on
the Passages—‘“‘ Behold the Fowls of the Air,” &c., “Consider the Lilies of the Field,” &c.
The Illuminations executed by HENry NorEL HumpPHREys. Square fcp. 8vo. 21s. richly
bound in stamped calf; or 30s. in morocco by Hayday.

HUMPHREYS.—THE MIRACLES OF OUR SAVIOUR.

With rich and appropriate Borders of original Design, a series of Illuminated Figures of the
Apostles from the Old Masters, Six Illuminated Miniatures, and other Embellishments. The
Illuminations executed by HENRY NozeL HuMPHREYs. Square fep. 8vo. in massive carved
“covers, 21s.; or bound in morocco by Hayday, 30s.

 

HUMPHREYS.—PARABLES OF OUR LORD.

Richly illuminated with appropriate Borders printed in Colours and in Black and Gold:
with a Design from one of the early German Engravers. The Illuminations executed by
Henry Noe, Humpureys. Square fep. 8vo. 21s. in a massive carved binding; or 30s.
bound in morocco by Hayday.

HUMPHREYS AND JONES.—THE ILLUMINATED BOOKS

- OF THE MIDDLE AGES: A series of Fac-similes from the most beautiful MSS. of the
‘Middle Ages, printed in Gold, Silver, and Colours by Owen Jones; selected and described
by Henry Noet Hompureys. Elegantly bound in antique calf. Royal folio, €10. 10s.;
imperial folio (large paper), 16. 16s.

HUNT.—RESEARCHES ON LIGHT:

An Examination of all the Phenomena connected with the Chemical and Molecular Changes.
produced by the Influence of the Solar Rays: embracing all the known Photographic Pro-
cesses, and new Discoveries in the Art. By Roperr Hunt, Keeper of Mining Records,
Museum of Practical Geology. 8vo. with Plate and Woodcuts, 10s. 6d. cloth.

MRS. JAMESON’S LEGENDS OF THE MONASTIC ORDERS,

as represented in the Fine Arts. Containing St. Benedict and the Early Benedictines in
Italy, France, Spain, and Flanders; the Benedictines in England and in Germany; the
Reformed Benedictines; early Royal Saints connected with the Benedictine Order; the
Augustines; Orders derived from the Augustine Rule; the-Mendicant Orders; the Jesuits;
and the Order of the Visitation of St. Mary.. Forming the Seconp Seriexs of Sacred and
Legendary Art, With Eleven Etchings by the Author, and 8 Woodcuts. Square crown 8vo.
28s. cloth.

MRS. JAMESON’S SACRED AND LEGENDARY ART;

Or, Legends of the Saints and Martyrs. First Serizs. Containing Legends of the Angels
and Archangels ; the Evangelists and Apostles ; the Greek and Latin Fathers ; the Magda-
lene; the Patron Saints; the Virgin Patronesses ; the Martyrs; the Bishops; the Hermits;
and the Warrior-Saints of Christendom. Second Edition (1850), printed in One Volume for
the convenience of Students and Travellers; with numerous Woodcuts, and Sixteen

mane tee

 

Etchings by the Author. Square crown 8vo. 28s. cloth,

 
 

 

=
PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, AND co. 15

 

 

 

 

MRS. JAMESON’S LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA,

As represented in the Fine Arts. Forming the TH1rp and concluding Series of Sacred and
Legendary Art. By Mrs. Jamxson, Author of “Characteristics of Women,” &c. With
Etchings by the Author, and Engravings on Wood. Square crown 8vo. [Un the press.

JARDINE.—A TREATISE OF EQUIVOCATION;
Wherein is largely discussed the question Whether a Catholicke or any other Person before a
Magistrate, being demanded upon his Oath whether a Preiste were in such a place, may (not-
withstanding his perfect knowledge to the contrary), without Perjury, and securely in con-
science, answer No: with this secret meaning reserved in his Mynde—That he was not there,
so that any man is bounde to detect it, Edited from the Original Manuscript in the Bodleian
Library, by Davip Jarvinz, of the Middle Temple, Esq., Barrister at Law; Author of the
‘© Narrative of the Gunpowder Treason,”’ prefixed to his edition of the “ Criminal Trials.”
{In the press.

JEFFREY.— CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDINBURGH

REVIEW. By Francis Jerrrey, late One of the Judges of the Court of Session in Scotland.
Second Edition. 3 vols. 8vo. 42s. cloth.

BISHOP JEREMY TAYLOR’S ENTIRE WORKS:

With the Life by Bishop Heser. Revised and corrected by the Rev. CHARLES PaGE
EDEN, Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. Vols. Il. III. 1V. V. VI. VII. and VIII. 8vo. 10s. 6d.
each.

*,* In course of publication, in Ten Volumes, price Half-a-Guinea each.—Vol. I. (the last
in order of publication) will contain Bishop Heber’s Life of Jeremy Taylor, extended by the
Editor.—Vol. IX. is in the press. -

BISHOP JEREMY TAYLOR.—READINGS FOR EVERY DAY

in LENT: compiled from the Writings of Bisuor JEREMY Tayior. By the Author of “ Amy
Herbert,”’ “The Child’s First History of Rome,”’ &c. Fep. 8vo. 5s. ‘cloth.

JOHNSON.—THE FARMER’S ENCYCLOPADIA,

And Dictionary of Rural Affairs: embracing all the recent Discoveries in Agricultural Che-
maistry ; adapted to the comprehension of unscientific readers. By CurHBERT W. JOHNSON,
Esq. F.R.S. Barrister-at-Law; Editor of the “ Farmer’s Almanack,” &c. 8vo. with Wood
Engravings, #2. 10s. cloth.

JOHNSON.—THE ‘WISDOM OF THE RAMBLER, ADVEN-

TURER, and IDLER: comprising a Selection of 110 of the best Essays. By SAMUEL
Jounson, LL.D. Fep. 8vo. 7s. cloth.

JOHNSTON.—A NEW DICTIONARY OF GEOGRAPHY,

Descriptive, Physical, Statistical, and Historical: forming a complete General Gazetteer of
the World. By ALEXANDER Keira Jounston, F.R,S.E, F.R.G.S. F.G.S.; Geographer at
Edinburgh in Ordinary to Her Majesty ; Author of ‘The Physical Atlas of Natural Pheno-
mena.” In One very large Volume of 1,440 pages ; comprising nearly Fifty Thousand Names
of Places. 8vo. 36s. cloth; or strongly half-bound in russia, with flexible back, price 41s.

KAY.—THE SOCIAL CONDITION AND EDUCATION OF

the PEOPLE in ENGLAND and EUR‘)PE: shewing the Results of the Primary Schools and
of the Division of Landed Property in Foreign Countries. By Joszen Kay, Esq. M.A. of
Trinity College, Cambridge: Barrister-at-Law ; and late Travelling Bachelor of the University
of Cambridge. 2 thick vols. post 8vo. 21s. cloth.

-KEMBLE.—THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND:

a History of the English Commonwealth till the period of the Norman Conquest. By JoHN
MircHett KEMBLE, M.A., F.C.P.S., &c. 2 vols. 8vo. 28s. cloth.

KINDERSLEY.—THE VERY JOYOUS, PLEASANT, AND
REFRESHING HISTORY of the Feats, Exploits, Triumphs, and Achievements of the Good
Knight, without Fear and without Reproach, the gentle LORD DE BAYARD. Set forth in
English by Epwarp Cocksurn KINDERSLEY, Esq. ‘With Ornamental Headings, and
Frontispiece by E. H. Wehnert. Square post 8vo. 95. 6d. cloth.

 

 
 

 

16 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS

KIRBY & SPENCE.—AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY;

Or, Elements of the Natural History of Insects : comprising an account of noxious and useful
Insects, of their Metamorphoses, Food, Stratagems, Habitations, Societies, Motions, Noises,
Hybernation, Instinct, &c. By W. Krrpy, M.A. F.R.S. & 1.98. Rector of Barham; and W,
Srence, Esq. F.R.S. & L.S. New Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. with Plates, 31s. 6d. cloth.

LAING.—OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOCIAL AND POLI-

TICAL STATE of the EUROPEAN PEOPLE in 1848 and 1849: belng the Second Series of
“ Notes of a Traveller.” By SAMUEL Laing, Esq. Author of “ A Journal of a Residence in
Norway,’’ “A Tour in Sweden,” the Translation of “The Heimskringla,” and of “ Notes of
a Traveller on the Social and Political State of France, Prussia, &c.’’ 8vo. 14s. cloth.

LATHAM.—ON DISEASES OF THE HEART.

Lectures on Subjects connected with Clinical Medicine; comprising Diseases of the Heart.
By P. M. Laruam, M. D., Physician Extraordinary to the Queen ; and late Physciian to St.
Bartholomew’s Hospital. New Edition. 2 vols. 12mo. 16s. cloth.

LEE.—ELEMENTS OF NATURAL HISTORY ;

Or, First Principles of Zoology. For the use of Schools and Young Persons. Comprising
the Principles of Classification interspersed with amusing and instructive original Accounts
of the most remarkable Animals. By Mrs. R. Leg. New Edition, revised and enlarged,
with numerous additional Woodcuts. Fep. 8vo. 7s. 6d. cloth.

LEE.—TAXIDERMY ;

Or, the Art of Collecting, Preparing, and Mounting Objects of Natural History. For the
use of Museums and Travellers. By Mrs. R. Leg. New Edition, improved ; with an account
of a Visit to Walton Hall, and Mr. Waterton’s Method of Preserving Animals. Fep. 8vo.
with Woodcuts, 7s. cloth.

L. E. L.—THE POETICAL WORKS OF LETITIA ELIZABETH

LANDON ; comprising the IMPROVISATRICE, the VENETIAN BRACELET, the GOLDEN
VIOLET, the TROUBADOUR, and other Poetical Remains. New Edition, uniform with
Moore’s Songs, Ballads, and Sacred Songs; with 2 Vignettes by Richard Doyle. 2 vols.
16mo. 108. cloth ; morocco, 21s.

 

 

*,* Also, an Edition, in 4 vols. fep. 8vo. with Illustrations by Howard, &c. 28s. cloth;
or £2. 4s, bound in morocco,

LETTERS ON HAPPINESS, ADDRESSED TO A FRIEND.

By the Autboress of ‘Letters to My Unknown Friends,” “‘ Twelve Years Ago, a Tale,”
© Some Passages from Modern History,” and “ Discipline.” Fcp. Svo. 6s. cloth.

LETTERS TO MY UNKNOWN FRIENDS.

By A Lapy, Authoress of “ Letters on Happiness,” “Twelve Years Ago,’ ‘ Discipline,” and
‘*»ome Passages from Modern History.” 8d Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 6s. cloth.’

LINDLEY.—INTRODUCTION TO BOTANY.

By J. Linpusy, Ph.D. F.R.S. L.S8. &c. Professor of Botany in University College, London.
New Edition, with Corrections and copious Additions. 2 vols. 8vo. with Six Plates and
numerous Woodcuts, 248. cloth.

LINWO0D.—ANTHOLOGIA OXONIENSIS,

Sive Florilegium e lusibus poeticis diversorum Oxoniensium Grecis et Latinis decerptum.
Curante GULIELMO Linwoop, M.A. dis Christi Alummo. 8gvo. 14s. cloth.

LORIMER.—LETTERS TO A YOUNG MASTER MARINER

On some Subjects connected with his Calling. By the late CuarLes Lorimer. New Rdi-
tion. Fep. 8vo. 5s. 6d. cloth.

 

poy ig

 
 

 

PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, AND Co. 17

RI EE

 

 

LOUDON.—THE AMATEUR GARDENER’S CALENDAR:

Being a Monthly Guide as to what should. be avoided, as well as what should be done, ina
Garden in each Month: with plain Rules how ¢o do what is requisite; Directions for Laying
Out and Planting Kitchen and Flower Gardens, Pleasure Grounds, and Shrubberies; and a
short Account, in each Month, of the Quadrupeds, Birds, and Insects then most injurious to
Gardens. By Mrs. Loupon. 16mo. with Wood Engravings, 7s. 6d. cloth.

LOUDON.—THE LADY’S COUNTRY COMPANION;

Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally. By Mrs. Lovpon, Author of “ Gardening for
Ladies,” &c.. New Edition. Fep. 8vo. with Plate and Wood Engravings, 7s. 6d. cloth.

LOUDON’S SELF-INSTRUCTION FOR YOUNG GARDENERS,

Foresters, Bailiffs, Land Stewards, and Farmers; in Arithmetic, Book-keeping, Geometry,
Mensuration, Practical Trigonometry, Mechanics, Land-Surveying, Levelling, Planning and
Mapping, Architectural Drawing, and Isometrical Projection and Perspective ; with Examples
shewing their applications to Horticulture and Agricultural Purposes. With a Portrait of
Mr. Loudon, and a Memoir by Mrs. Loudon. 8vo. with Woodcuts, 7s. 6d. cloth.

LOUDON’S ENCYCLOPADIA OF GARDENING ;

Comprising the Theory and Practice of Horticulture, Floriculture, Arboriculture, and Land-
scape Gardening: including all the latest improvements; a General History of Gardening in

_all Countries; and a Statistical View of its Present State: with Suggestions for its Future
Progress in the British Isles. Illustrated with many hundred Engravings on Wood by
Branston. An entirely New Edition (1850), corrected throughout and considerably improved
by Mrs. Loupon. In One laige Volume, 8vo. 50s. cloth,

LOUDON’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TREES AND SHRUBS:

being the Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum abridged: containing the Hardy Trees
and Shrubs of Great Britain, Native and Foreign, Scientifically and Popularly Described ;
with their Propagation, Culture, and Uses in the Arts; and with Engravings of nearly all
the Species. Adapted for the use of Nurserymen, Gardeners, and Foresters. 8vo. with
2,000 Engravings on Wood, £2. 10s. cloth.

LOUDON’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF AGRICULTURE:

Comprising the Theory and Practice of the Valuation, Transfer, Laying-out, Improvement,
and Management of Landed Property, and of the Cultivation and Economy of the Animal and
Vegetable productions of Agriculture: including all the latest Improvements, a general History
of Agriculture in all Countries, a Statistical View of its present State, with Suggestions for
its future progress in the British Isles. New Edition; with upwards of 1,100 Engravings on
Wood. In Onelarge Volume, 8vo. €2. 10s. cloth.

LOUDON’S ENCYCLOPADIA OF PLANTS:

Including all the Plants which are now found in, or have been introduced i nto, Great Britain ;

giving their Natural History, accompanied by such descriptions, engraved figures, and

elementary details, as may enable a beginner, who is a mere English reader, to discover the

name of every Plant which he may find in flower, and acquire all the information respecting

it which is useful and interesting. The Specific Characters by an Eminent Botanist; the

Drawings by J. D.C. Sowerby. New Edition with Supplement, and new General Index.
" gvo. with nearly 10,000 Wood Engraving, #3. 13s. 6d. cloth.

LOUDON’S ENCYCLOPADIA OF COTTAGE, FARM, AND

VILLA ARCHITECTURE and FURNITURE; containing numerous Designs, from the Villa
to the Cottage and the Farm, including Farm Houses, Farmeries, and other Agricultural
Buildings ; Country Inns, Public Houses, and Parochial Schools; with the requisite Fittings-
up, Fixtures, and Furniture, and appropriate Offices, Gardens, and Garden Scenery: a
Design accompanied by Analytical and Critical Remarks. New Edition, edited by Mrs.

Loupon. 8svo. with more than 2,000 Engravings on Wood, £3. 3s. cloth. =

 
 

 

 

18 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS

 

LOUDON’S. HORTUS BRITANNICUS;

Or, Catalogue of all the Plants indigenous to, cultivated in, or introduced into Britain. An
entirely New Edition (1850), corrected throughout: with a Supplement, including all the New
Plants down to March, 1850; and a New General Index to the whole Work. Edited by Mra.
Loupon; assisted by W. H. Baxter, Esq., and Davip Wooster. 8vo. 3is. 6d. cloth.

SUPPLEMENT TO LOUDON’S HORTUS BRITANNICUS;

Including all the Plants introduced into Britain; all the newly-discovered British Species,
and all the kinds originated in British Gardens, up to March 1850. With a New General
Index to the whole Work, including the Supplement. Prepared by W. H. Baxter, Esq.;
assisted by D. Wooster, under the direction of Mrs. Loupon. 8vo. 14s. cloth.

LOW.—ELEMENTS OF PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE;

Comprehending the Cultivation of Plants, the Husbandry of the Domestic Animals, and the |
Economy of the Farm. By D. Low, Esq. F.R.S.E. New Edition, with Alterations and Addi-
tions, and an entirely new set of above 200 Woodcuts. 8vo. 21s. cloth.

LOW.—ON LANDED PROPERTY,

And the ECONOMY of ESTATES; comprehending the Relation of Landlord and Tenant, ;
and the Principles and Forms of Leases; Farm-Buildings, Enclosures, Drains, Embank-

ments, and other Rural Works; Minerals; and Woods. By Davip Low, Esq. F.R.S.E. -
8vo. with numerous Wood Engravings, 21s. cloth, ; :

MACAULAY.—THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND FROM THE.

ACCESSION OF JAMES II. By THomas BABINGTON Macautay. New Edition. |
Vols. 1. and II. 8vo, 32s. cloth. ’

MACAULAY.—CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL ESSAYS CON-.

TRIBUTED to. The EDINBURGH REVIEW. By Tuomas BABINGTON MAcAuvLay.
New Edition, complete in One Volume; with Portrait by E. U. Eddis, engraved in line by
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cap Messrs. Longman and Co.’s Edition should be ordered.

YOUATT.—THE DOG. E s

By Witiram Youatt. A New Edition; with numerous Wood. Engravings, from Designs
by William Harvey. 8vo. 6s. cloth.

 

 

*,* The above works, which were prepared under the superintendence of the Society for
the Diffusion of Knowledge, are now published by Messrs. Longman and Co., by assigument
from Mr. Charles Knight. It is to be observed that the edition of Mr. Youatt’s book on the
Horse which Messrs Longman and Co. have purchased from Mr. Knight, is that which was
thoroughily revised by the author, and thereby rendered in many respects a new work. The
engravings, also, were greatly improved. Both works are the most complete treatises in the
language on the History, Structure, Diseases, and Management of the Animals of which
they treat.

ZUMPT’S GRAMMAR OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE.

Translated and adapted for the use of English Students, with the Author’s sanction and
co-operation, by Dr. L. Scumrrz, F.R.S.E., Rector of the High School of Edinburgh:
with copious Corrections and Additions communicated to Dr. Schmitz, for the authorised
English T’anslation, by Professor ZUMPT. New Edition, corrected. 8vo. 14s. cloth.

. [March 81, 1851.

WILSON AND OGILVY, SKINNER STREET, SNUWHILL, LONDON,

 
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OCT - - 1988
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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