English agriculture in 1850-51

Front matter

ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY

New York State Colleges

OF

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 diff'erent 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, undrained, 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 an (J 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 reconcile 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 qualifications of those with whom you would be associated.

" I presume the character and the interests of the paper are so deeply concerned, as to insure every attention to this important matter.

" Faithfully yours,

" Robert Peel.

"James Caibd, Esq."

PREFACE. IX

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 examples 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 between landlords and their tenants have also been fully discussed; and the condition of the labourer has obtained a due share of attention.

To the liberality of "The Times" 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.

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 obtained 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.

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 - - - - Page 1

LETTER IL

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE — continued.

Chalk Districts. — 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 -._--. 12

LETTER IIL

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 Efifect of this on the Subsoil — Excellent Management 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

XU CONTENTS.

LETTER IV.

oxrOKDSHiEE — continued.

Western District. — Nature of Land — Blenheim — Different Management by the same Tenant under different Landlords — Farmers conscious of had Farming — Their Excuse — Average Crops and Stock — Wages — Neatness of Farm Houses — Want of practical Knowledge by Landlords 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

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 — Benefit 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 Uttle 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 aiid 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 superseded by short Terms — Rent — Variety of Occupations which Demand 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 Improvements suggested — Dairy Management — Other Stock Water

Meadows — Orchards — Wages — Clay Land — Prices and Rents 48

CONTENTS. xm

LETTER VIII.

DOKSETSHIRE.

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 attributed 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 — Results — Condition of Dorsetshire Labourers — Clothing Club — Complaint 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 Highway Rates — Neglect of Landlords — : Miserable Accommodation for Stock — Dairy Management — Arable Land — Primitive Barn Implements - - - - - - 74

LETTER XL

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 Labour — Low Wages — Diet of Labourer insufficient — Subdivision of very large Farms believed to be inevitable — Farmers' Opinions and Prospects - - - - - - - 79

XIV 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.

NOKTH 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 Qrops — Farm Garden — Buildings — Machinery and Implements — Pig Management — Thin Seeding, Wide Drilling, and frequent Horse Hoeing — Labourers - - - - - - - 97

LETTEE XVL

BERKSHIRE.

Northern Division. — Farm of Mr. Pusey, m.p. — Laud 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 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 — Farmers' Opinions — Improvements at Bearwood - , - 107

LETTER XV.

SURREY.

Description of County — Backward State of Agriculture Tenur'e

" 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 audits 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 inferior 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 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 - - - - - 143

CONTENTS.

LETTER XIX.

SUFFOLK.

Description of Soils — Size of Farms, and Tenure — Inadequate Buildings — 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 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 — Farming at Holkham Park — Benefit of applying Nitrate of Soda and Salt to Wheat — Mr. Hudson's Farm at Castleaore — 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 — Advantage of enlarging Settlement proved - . 16'2

LETTER XXI.

THE FEN COUNTRY.

Extent of Fen Country — Early and Progressive Improvements — Two Kinds of Fen Land— "Black" the most fertile apd remunerative 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 - - . J77

CONTENTS. XVU

LETTER XXII.

LINCOLNSHIRE.

Great variety of Soils — Description of the Country — Opened up by Networlc of Railways — Want of Drainage — Great Improvement 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 ploughing^Rent — Process, and Expense of "Warping" on the Humber and Trent - - Page 185

LETTER XXIIL 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 thera — Farmers not more liberal in Outlay or more hopeful than in Districts vfhere 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 - \QS

LETTER XXIV.

NOTTmGHAMSHIRE.

Change from Agricultural to Manufacturing Districts — The " Diikery "

— 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 Tenant's Capital absorbed by the Payment of Valuations — Size of Farms — Rent — Condition of Labourers — Diminution of Cottages - - - - 198

LETTER XXV.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COntill Ucd.

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

a

Xviii CONTENTS.

and famous Water Meadows described ^Sherwood Forest — Defective Management of Clay Soils — Exception to this — Mr. Parkinsons Farm at Leyfields — Rent and Produce of Land near Nottmgham —

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 Arahle 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 Understanding 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 — ^Vaste 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.

Chmate and Elevation of Country — Mr. Hartshorne's Farm Grazing of

Pigs — Manufacture of concentrated Milk — Mr. Lewis'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 Implements— Cannock Chase^ its Capabilities undeveloped - Page 233

LETTER XXX.

T AM WORTH.

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

LETTER XXXL

CHESHIRE.

Naturally adapted to Grass Farming — ^ The Farmer's Wife the most important 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 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 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. 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^rMr. Garnett's Improvements — Benefits of Bones on highlying Pasture Lands — Comparative Prices, Rents, Wages, &c. in 1770 and 1 850 — Condition of Labourers — Agricultural Societies Page 274

LETTER XXXIV.

YOEKSHIRE.

West Riding. — Woollen and Worsted Manufactures — Weaver- Farmers — — ^ General Taste for Agriculture among Manufacturers of*the West Riding — Milk Farmers — This District little affected by the Price of Corn — Mr. Stansfi:eld's Farm at Esholt — Management and Productiveness of Italian Rye Grass — Rent — Wharfdale — Value of a Cow's Produce — Rent and Rates — Harewood — Condition of Labourers — Leeds — ■ ^Fakefield — Farming at Chevet Grange — Details of Management 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.

YOEKSHIRE — 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 jVIanure — 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, and Wages — Want of Drainage and Buildings in Holderness- Patnngton— Mr. Marshall's Improvements — Flax

" ■ - - - 297

CONTEXTS. XXI

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 1 791^ 1 8 11 and 1 850 - Page 308

LETTER XXXVIL

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 - - - - 319

LETTER XXXVIIL

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 —

a 3

CONTKNTS.

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 liis 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 Management of Milch Cows — Contrasted with that of Gloucestershire. — Shorthorns introduced by Mr. Cur wen — Covered Dung House and Corn Ricks at Gilgarron — Prosperous 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 — Depreciation 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 — Experimental 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 - . _ ° „/.„

CO]STENTS. XXin

LETTER XLIII.

noRTHCMBEiiLAND — continued.

Fanning 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 — Reduction of Rent — Condition of Labourer — Cottage Accommodation requires Improvement — Contrast betvpeen the Villages of Ford and Wark — Discreditable State of the latter - - Page 379