t k k k S^ k k k k k k k k k k Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN GENERAL VIEW OF THE AGmiCUlTlURE OF THE COUNTY OF NORFOLK, 1604. ^^^ y//„ .sou. y ^ ^ I GENERAL VIEW AGRHeUILTIJmE OF THE COUNTY OF NORFOLK. DRAWN UP FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. BY THE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD. LONDON: PRINTED BY B. M-^MILLAN, BOW-STREET, COV ENT-G ARDE N, PRINTER. TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALIS ; FOR G. AND W. NICOL, PALL-MALL, BOOKSF.LLERS TO HIS MAJESTY, AND THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE ; AND SOLD BY G. AND J. ROBINSON, PATERNOSTER - ROW ; J. ASP ERNE, CORNHILL; CADE LL AND DAVUS, STRAND ; W. CREECH, EDINBURGH J AND JOHN ARI'HER, DUBLIN. 1804. ADVERTISEMENT. THE great desire that has been very generally expressed, for having the Agricultural Sur- veys of the Kingdom reprinted, with the addi- tional Communications which have been received since the Original Reports were circulated, has induced the Board of Agriculture to come to a resolution of reprinting such as may appear on the whole fit for publication. It is proper at the same time to add, that the Board does not consider itself responsible for any fa6l or obser- vation contained in the Reports thus reprinted, as it is impossible to consider them yet in a per- fe6l state ; and that it will thankfully acknowledge any additional information which may still be communicated : an invitation, of which, it is hoped, many will avail themselves, as there is no circumstance from which any one can derive more real satisfaction, than that of contributing, by every possible means, to promote the improve- ment of his Country. N. B. Letters to the Board, may Ip addressed to Lord Sheffield, the President, No. 32, Sachville-Strect, Picra- HUly, London. NORFOLK.] b PLA>I F IL A N FOR RE- PRINTING THE AGRICULTURAL SURFEYS. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICUL- TURE. A BOARD established for the purpose of making every essential inquiry into the Agricultural State, and the means of promoting the internal improvement of a power- ful Empire, will necessarily have it in view to examine the sources of public prosperity, in regard to various im- portant particulars. Perhaps the following is the most na- tural order for carrying on such important investigations; namely, to ascertain, 1. The riches to be obtained from the surface of the na- tional territory. 2. The mineral or subterraneous treasures of which the country is possessed. 3. The wealth to be derived from its streams, rivers, canals, inland navigations, coasts, and fisheries ; — and 4. The means of promoting the improvement of the people, in regard to their health, industry, and mo- rals, founded on a statistical survey ^ or a minute and careful inquiry into the adlual state of every paro- chial distridl in the kingdom, and the circumstances of its inhabitants. b2 Uml' C viii ) Unilcr one oi other of these heads, every point of real importance thnt can tend to promote the general happiness of a great naiion, seems to be included. Invcstifrations ot so extensive and vSo complicated a na- ture, must require, it is evident, a considerable space of time before thev can be completed. DitFcring indeed in many respe(5ls from each other, it is better perhaps that thcv should be undertaken at different periods, and sepa- rately considered. Under that impression, the Board of Agriculture has hitherto direcShed its attention to the first point only, namely, the cultivation of tlie surface, and tlie resources to be derived froin it. Tliat the fad1:s essential for such an investigation might be coUefled with more celerity and advantage, a number of intelligent and respe6table individuals were appointed, to furnish the Board with accounts of the state of husban- dry, and the means of improving the different distri£ls of the kingdom. The returns they sent were printed, and circulated by every means the Board of Agriculture could devise, in the districts to which they respe6lively related ; and in consequence of that circulation, a great mass of ad- ditional valuable information has been obtained. For the purpose of communicating that information to the Public in general, but more especially to those Counties the most interested therein, the Board has resolved to re-print the Survey of each County, as soon as it seemed to be fit for publication; and, among several equally advanced, the Counties ot Norfolk and Lancaster were pitched upon for the commencement of the proposed publication ; it being thought most advisabte to begin with one County on the Eastern, and another pn the Western Coast of the island. When all these Surveys shall have been thus re- printed, it will be attended willi little difficulty to draw up au ( i>i ) an abstract of the whole (which will not probably exceed twoor three volumes quarto) to be laid before His Majes- ty, and both Houses of Parliament ; and afterwards, a General Report on the present state of the country, and the means of its improvement, may be systeinatically arranged, according to the various subjedts conrie61:ed with Agricul- ture. Thus every individual in the kingdom may have, 1. An account of the husbandry of his own particular county ; or, 2. A general view of the agricultural state of the king- dom at large, according to the counties, or districts, into which it is divided; or, 3. An arranged system of information on Agricultural subjecls, whether accumulated by the Board since its establishment, or previously known: And thus information respe6i:ing the state of the kingdom, and agricultural knowledge in general, will be attainable with every possible advantage. In re-printing these Reports, it was judged necessary, that they sbould be drawn up according to one uniform model ; and after fully considering the subjccl, the follow- ing form was pitched upon, as one that would include in it all the particulars which it was necessary to notice in an Agricultural Survey. As the other Reports will be re- printed in the same manner, the reader will thus be enabled to find out at once where any point is treated of, to which he may wish to diredt his attention. b3 yjuAN PLAN OF THE RE-PRINTED REPORTS. Preliminary Observations. Chap. I. Geographical State and Circumstances, Sect, i Situation and' Extent. 2. Divisions. 0* Climate. 4- Soil and Surface. 5- Minerals. 6. Water. Chap. II. State of Property. Sect. i. Estates, and their Management. 2. Tenures. Chap. III. Baildirigs. Sect. i. Houses of Proprietors. 2. Farm Houses and Offices, and Repairs. 3. Cottages. Chap. IV. Mode of Occupation. Sect. i. Size of Farms. Chara6ter of the Farmers. 2. Rent — in Money — in Kind — in Personal Services. 3. Tithes. 4. Poor Rates. 5. Leases. 6. Expense and Profit. Chap. V. Implements. Chap. VI. Enclosing-^-Fences-^Gates. Chap. ( xi ) Chap. VII. Arahle Land. Sect, i. Tillage. 2. Fallowing. 3. Rotation of Crops. 4. Crops commonly cultivated, such as Corn, Pulse, Artificial Grasses; their Seed, Cul- ture, Produce, &c*. 5. Crops not commonly cultivated. Chap. VIII. Grass, Sect. i. Natural Meadows and Pastures. 2. Hay Harvest. 3. Feeding. Chap. IX. Gardens and Orchards. Chap. X. Woods and Plantations. Chap. XI. Wastes, * Where the quantity is considerable, the information respefling the crops commonly cultivated may be arranged under the following heads — for exam- ple, Wheat : ,. rreparatioa ^^^ZuX 2. Sort. 3. Steeping. 4. Seed 'quantity sown^. 5 . Time of sowing. ("hoe, 6. Culture whilst growings weeding, j (.feeding. , 7. Harvest. 8. Thresliing. 9. Produce. 10. Manufacture of bread. In general, the same heads will suit the following grains : Barley. Oats. Beans. Rye. Pease. Buck-wheat. Vetches — Application, Cole-seed - \l\^H^ ( Drawn, > Turnips — ){''<='}- C ^ ^ red on grass, f C in houses, j b4 Chap. ( xii ) Chap. XII. Improvements^ Sect. I. Diaining. 2. Paring and Burning. 3- Manuring. 4- Wealing. 5- Watering. Chap. XIII. Live Stock, Sect. I. Cattle. 2. Sheep. 3- Horses, and their Use in Husbandry, com- pared to Oxen. 4- Hogs. 5- Rabbits. 6. Poultry. 7* Pigeons. 8. Bees. Chap. XIV. Rural Economy. Sect, . I. Labour — Servants — Labourers — Hours of^ Labour. 2. Provisions. 3- Fuel. Chap. '. XV '. Political Economy, as conneBedivitli^ or ajff^eSiing Agriculture, Sect . I. Rouds. 2. Cauids. 3- Fairs. 4- Weekly Markets. 5- Commerce. 6. ManufacSlurcs. 7- Poor. S. Population. Chap. ( -^iii ) Chap. XVI. Obstacles to Improvement ; including General Observations on Agricultural Legisla- tion and Police. Chap. XVII. Miscellaneous Observations, Sect. i. Agricultural Societies. 2. Weights and Measures. 3. Supply of London. 4. Experimental Farm. CoMCLUSioN. Means of Improvement , and tfus Measures calculated for that Purpose, Appendix. Perfection in such inquiries is not In the power of any body of men to obtain at once, whatever may be the extent of their views or the vigour of their exertions. If I.ouis XIV. eager to have his kingdom known, and pos- sessed of boundless power to efFefl it, failed so much in the attempt, that of all the provinces in his kingdom, only one was so described as to secure the approbation of pos- terity *, it will not be thouglit strange that a Board, pos- sessed * See Volt A I r e's Age of Lours XIV. vol. ii. p. 127, 128, edit. 1752. The following extradt from that work will explain the circumstance above alluded to : " l>ou I s had no Colbert, nor Lou voi s, when, about the year 1698, for the instrudtion of the Duke of Burgundy, he ordered each of the in- tendants to draw up a particular description of his jirov'nce. By this means an exa(fl account of the kingdom might have been obtained, and a just enu- meration ol the inhabitants. It was an useful work, though all the intendant* had not the capacity and attention of Monsieur De Lamoi c NON De Ba- vttts. Had what th« King dij-efted been as well executed, in regard to every ( xlv ) sesscci of incnns so extremely limited, should find It difficult to reach even that degree of perfeiftion which perhaps might have been attainable with more extensive powers. The candid reader cannot expc<5t in these Reports more ihari a certain portion of useful information, so arranged as to render them a basis for further and more detailed in- quiries. Tlie attention of the intelligent cultivators of the kingdom, however, will doubtless be excited, and the minds of men in general gradually brought to consider favoura- bly of an undert.iking which will enable all to contribute to the national stores of knowledge, upon topics so truly interesting ;is those wliich concern the agricultural inte- rests of their country ; interests which, on just principles, never can be improved, until the present state of the king- dom is fully known, and the means of its future iinprove- uienc ascertained vvitli minuteness and accuracy. every province, as it wns by this magistrate in the account of Languedoc, the colleftion would have been one of the most valuable monuments ot the age. Some ot them are well done ; but the plan was irregular and imperfett, because all the intendants were not restrained to one and the same. It were to be vi-ished that each of them had given, in columns, the number of inhabitants in each eledion ; the nobles, the citizens, the labourers, the artisans, the mechanics; the cattle of every kind ; the good, the indifferent, and the bad lands; all the clergy, regular and secular ; their revenues, those oi the towns, and those of the communities. ' " All these heads, in most of their accounts, are confused and impertedl j and it is Ireijuently necessary to search with gr«at care and pains, to find what is wanted. 'I'he design was excellent, and would have been of the greatest use, had it been executed with judgment and uniformity." I.N'TR.0- INTRODUCTION. A SECOND Report for the County of Nor- folk, by a different Writer from the Gentleman who executed the first, demands a short expla- nation, to obviate any idea tending to lower the estimation in which the Original Report is justly held. There have been various instances of se- cond, and even third Reports of the same County, all by different hands ; but in the case of Norfolk a new Report was demanded, for a local reason. The introduction of a new breed of Sheep, and the rapidity with which the practice of Drilling spread in the County, had effedled so great a change in the state of Norfolk Husbandry, that all former works on the Agriculture of that ce- lebrated County must necessarily be deficient, however excellent in other respe«5ls. The pre- sent Report does not appear to the exclusion of the former, but merely in assistance of it ; that such objeds as were unnoticed, or but little XVI INTRODUCTION. little attended to, from their being at that mo- ment in their infancy, should now be registered, for the use of such other Counties as may not yet have made similar exertions. July U, 1804. ERRATA. In p. 527, third line from the bottom, after Rent J5, r^rW per cent. P. $29, in the col. of Uninhabited Houses in the Hundred of Eynesford, for 39 riadli. CONTENTS^ CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHICAL STATE. PAG« Sect. J . Extent, 1 2. Climate, 2 3. Soil, Hid. District of various Loams, 5 Light Sand, 12 Light Loam, Hid. Marshland Clay, 14 4. Water, , . . , Hid. CHAP. iL PROPERTY, 1/ CHAP. III. BUILDINGS, 19 Cottages, , 24 Farm-yard, ibid. CHAP. IV. OCCUPATION. 6ect. 1. Farms, 26 2. Rent, 36 3. Tithes, 40 4. Poor-rates, 41 5. Leases, 47 CHAP. V. IMPLEMENTS, 52 Ploughs, iiid. Harrows, 55 Roller, . . > 56 Waggons, il'id. Drill-roller, 58 Drill Machine, Hid. Fixed Harrow, 5g 1 lorse-hoes, i/'id. Barrow CONTEXTS. Barrow to drop Wlieaf, 5g Double Barrow, 60 Scnffler, 6l Hop-plough, 62 Rake 63 Thresbiug-mill, ibid. Chaff-cutter, 72 Steam Engine, 73 CHAP. VI. ENCLOSING, ys Fences 185 Sect, l 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 l.-j \6 17 18 CHAP. VII. APxABLE LAND, Tillage, 187 Fallowin!:^, 102 Course of Crops, ipS Turnif)S, 219 Barley, 238 Clover, 256 Hay-grass, 2^7 Burnet, 26S Cock's-foot, 269 Cliicory, 270 Wheat, 271 Rye, 304 Oats, ibid. Pease, 308 Beans, 311 Buck-wheat, 317 Tares, 318 Cabbages, 320 Cole-seed, 323 Carrots, 324 Mastard, 325 Hemp and Flax, 326 Sainfoin, 338 SECT. CONTENTS. XIX PAGE Sect. \g. Lucerne, 342 20. Mangel Wurzel, 34/ 21. Potatoes, if:id. 22. Drill Husbandry, 348 23. Norfolk Arable System, 3d2 CHAP. VIII. GRASS, 370 Rouen, .' 3/(5 CHAP. IX. WOODS AND PLANTATIONS, 381 CHAP. X. WASTES, 3S5 CHAP. XL . IMPROVEMENTS. Sect. 1 . Draining 339 2. Irrigation, 3g5 3. Manuring, 402 Marie, it-id. Lime, 412 Gypsum, 413 Oyster-shells, i!/d. Sea-Ouze, 4 1 4 Sea- weed, itid. Pond- weed, 4 1 o Burnt earth, ihd. Sticklebacks, , 41/ Oil-cake, ibid. Ashes, 421 Soot, U-d. Malt-dust, i/'d. Buck-wheat, Hid. Yard-dung 422 Littering, 433 Leaves, 433 Burning Stubbles, ilml. River Mud, Hid. Town Manure, 134 SECT. -xx COjsTKiVxS. T.\C,V. Sect. 4. Paring nnd liurning, 434 5. Embanking, 435 CHAP. XII. LIVE STOCK. $ECT. 1. Cattle, 444 2. Sheep, 447 Breeds, Crosses, &c 449 Food, Wool, 470 Fold, 473 Distempers, 47O' 3. Hogs, 478 4. Horses and Oxen, 479 CHAP. XIII. RURAL ECONOMY. Sect, l . Labour, 483 CHAP. XIV. POLITICAL ECONOMY. Sect. I . Roads, 4S9 2. Canals, Hid. 3. Fairs and Markets, 49O 4. The Poor, 492 Houses of Industry, 494 House of Corre6lion, 503 5. Comparison of Times, 504 Day-work, 505 Wages, 506 Piece-work, 507 Blacksmith, 508 Artisans, 509 Rent, Tithe, and Parish Taxes, 5J0 Cultivation, 511 Manure, *5 1 1 6. Population, 529 CHAP. XV. OBSTACLES TO IMPROVEMENT. Rooks, 531 AGRI- AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF NORFOLK. CHAPTER r. GEOGRAPHICAL STATE. SECT. I. — EXTENT. A CCORDING to TempLeman's Survey of tht Globe, Norfolk is 57 miles in length and 35 ift breadth, and contains 1426 square geographic miles. Mr. Kent makes the greatest length, from east to west, 59 miles, and its greatest breadth,, from north to south, 38; containing 17 10 square miles, and 1,094,400 statute acres. It contains 33 hundreds, one city, four sea-port towns, 25 other market-towns, and 756 parishes; a greater number than any other county in the kingdom. Mr. How LET contends that Norfolk is larger than Essex, which is estimated at 1,240,000 acres. As this point was therefore doubtful, I had the area of the county on the new and very accurate map, measured carefully by the map. engraver to the Board, whose measurement gives 1830 square miles. NORFOLK,] B SECT. a CLIMATE. SOIL. SECT. II. CLIMATE. There are several points of the compass from which lie north and north-east winds blow more direflly on this county than on any other in the kingdom : we fcei these winds severely in Suffolk ; but Norfolk is still more exposed to them, and the climate consequently colder, and more backward in the Spring. Another circumstance which must have some effedl on the climate, is the whole western boundary being the fens and marshes of Lin- colnshire and Cambridgeshire, to the amount of 5 or 600,000 acres ; but this is more likely to affecl the salu- britv of the air relative to the human bodv, than to the produiSts of the earth. SECT. III. — SOIL. The annexed Map will best explain tlie great divisions of the soil of Norfolk. I travelled many miles, in order to give it as much accuracy as such a sketch admits, short of an attention that would demand years rather than months, perfe£tly to ascertain. Entering the county from the south-west, the district of sand extends from Garboldsham to the fens of Hockwold and Methwold ; contradting its breadth between Stoke and Pickenham, continues to Congham and South Rainham ; and then diverging both to the east and west, fills up the whole north-eastern part of the county to Hindringham, and then taking a south-easterly diredlion, bends again to the north to Barningham, and strikes the sea at Over- strand. But this sandy district is again divisible into light and good sand; the former to the south of the line from Winch to SwafFham, and the latter to the north. The southern part comprehends by far the poorest part of the county, a considerable portion of which is occupied by rabbit- SOIL. 5 rabbit-warrens and sheep-walk heaths, and has a most de- solate and dreary aspeft. It is, however, highly improve- able by the marie and chalk, or cork, which is almost every where found under the surface. Much has been broken up in the last 20 years ; but much remains to be done. The improvement of this distri6l has been long impeded, from an idea that the white chalky marie would not answer carrying ; and what they call good clay is scarce ; but modern experiments have, or rather are, at present, working out these erroneous ideas ; and under the article oi Manures, will be found some satisfactory trials, which speak a different language. The north-eastern angle, of better sand, contains large tradls of excellent land, intermixed with a good deal of an inferior quality. Here is found the agriculture to which the general epithet of Norfolk husbandry peculiarly be- longs. The improvements wrought here from 60 to 70 years ago, first gave rise to, and afterwards established, the celebrity of the county: rents have risen from is. to to 15s. and from is. 6d. and 2s. to 203. A country of rabbits and sheep-walk has been covered with some of the finest corn in the world ; and, by dint of manage- ment, what was thus gained, has been preserved and im- proved, even to the present moment. To tlie west of the light sand distri6l is a small trail of various soils, between the Stoke and the Sechy rivers, and bounded on the west by the river Ouze. Here is much good sand, some strong wet clayey loams, and on the Ouze a line of lich marsh. Still more to ihe west, and cut off by the Ouze from the rest of the county, lies the rich distriil of marsh- land; the larger part of which is a marine silt on a clay basis, at various dejjths. In some traifls the clay mixes with the silt to the surface, and forms the richer grazing lands. The distridl of various loams comprehends the larger E 2 part 4 SOIL. part of the county, and includes soils of a very difFerenC description. In the southern part of it, in Diss hundred, and some adjoining ones towards Norwich, there is much strong wet loam, where summer tallow and beans are found ; and similar land is scatteicd in other parts ; but the general feature is a good sandy loam, upon which turnips come in regular course : it is an old enclosed wood- land country, which would not be noted as very famous for management ; nor had Norfolk attained any great celebrity for her farming, from the pra£ticcs (though, upon the whole, meritorious) which are found in this distrins much ; on which account Mr. Beck disap- proves of picking stones. The remark is very judicious. To deep sands he thinks twitch so natural, that it is im- possible to free them from it : if the field is made ever so clean, and lays two years, there will be some. There is some sand that burns, at Grimstone. The soil of Massingham is much better, and never burns. At Guyton the soil has a mixture of stones, and is the better for it. At Morston, near the sea, there is some land so covered with stones, as to appear to the eye to contain little be- sides ; but excellent for corn ; 1 1 combs an acre of white vetches have been gained on it. Much good land is found at Cley. Sarsingham, Dawling, BInham, are good sand ; the loam on white clay marie. Wighton, sandy loam ; good mixed soil, on clay marie ; but some is inferior. In Sherrington, Hindringham, and Kilderston, there is much strong land, upon which hollow-draining is prac- tised. LIGHT 12 SOIL. LIGHT SAND. From RicIcUesworth, by West Hailing, there nre poor thin sands on irarle. At Qiiiddenham it improves, and continues better thiough Eccles to Snetterton. The crops 5n Harling-ficld, in this wet season, miserably poor, hardly yielding the seed again ; yet a most luxuriant growth of spontaneous chicory and mellilot, which shews the profit to which the traiSt might be applied, if the hints offered by the beneficence of the Almighty were pursued. From Attleborough to Euston, by Rowdham and Bre- tenham, a dreary country, beginning with rich, but som- bre commons, and then crossing poor open heaths and sheep-walks, and open arable, thar cries aloud for chi- cory : poor sand, on chalk and marie. RICH LOAM. One of the most interesting circumstances in the hus- bandry of Norfolk, is the soil of Fleg hundred ; and much in Blowfield and Walsham hundreds is of the same qua- lity : it is a sandy loam, from two to three feet deep, and much of it as good at bottom as on the surface ; of so happy a texture, that almost any season suits it ; subjefl neither to burn in droughts, nor to be wet witli incessant rains. The basis moit general, is a clay marie ; but in several distridls sand, both yellow and white. So fertile a soil I have very rarely seen of so pnle a colour ; it is a very light whitish brown in dry weather. The produ61s are great : wheat from 6 to 14 combs; barley 9 to 16; oats 10 to 24; pease to 15. Yet these produds do not altogether announce the merits of the soil, which pcr- liaps is marked more by paucity of failures than by extra- ordinary crops. Ashby and Burgh were named to me as having extraordinary land, and at the latter I found it excel- ,SOIL. Ig excellent. Mr. James Wigg's is famous land, and his wheat this year great. Mr. Brown, of Thrigby, remarked tome a circum- stance which well deserves noting ; that at Ashby, Billaby, and Burgh, is land that, before marling, ran uncommonly to white clover; but after being marled from Thorpe and Wightlingham, will do it no longer, none coming at present without sowing. At the Burlinghams and Linwood there is capital land. Some of the finest land in Norfolk is at Acle, Moul- ton, Tunstal, and South Walsham ; the crops of wheat ■were, in 1789, estimated, on an average of years, at ten combs an acre on their good land ; they have, however, some that does not produce above six. At Mawby, near Castor, the average of the parish, for ten years to- gether, ten combs : twelve, and even fifteen, have been had; but in 1802, they did not admit crops equal to these. I examined with pleasure the fine lonms near tlie respec- tive houses of Mr. Everitt, of Caistor, and Mr. Fer- RABY, of Hemsby, which class amongst the finest soils in Fleg ; it ought to 'be termed a rich sandy loam ; dry enough for feeding turnips, and rich enough for five or six quarters of wheat ; equal to great crops of cabbage, beans, or any other produ6lion. Southwood, Moulton, Lippenhoe, and Rudham, class high among the fertile parishes. At Martham, much of the land is on a sand bottom, and some gravelly spots subjcdl to scaidy but towards the fens, brick earth. At Catfield, &:c. a pale, fine, sandy, loam, upon a sand bottom, esteemed tliin skinned, but I found it to the eye the same, at a foot and eighteen inclies deep. Very 14 WATER. At Waxham the soil is very fine. No clav for an under-stratum in Happing hundred, e:>c- cept at Happsborough, Walcot, and Ra6lon ; generally sand or brick earth. Here arc some of the finest lands in the county — equal to Fleg, but stifFer ; yet the surface a fine friable sandy loam, and the bottom not too retentive of water. The best land in the Catfield distri6t Is at Stal- ham and East Ruston. Happsborough, Walcot, and Bafton, again noted to me as the finest soils, perhaps, in the county ; a rich, deep, mellow, friable loam, on a clay loam bottom, some on brick-earth and sand ; all good. East Ruston, very good, deep, on brick -earth. Mr. Cubit, at Honing, has some very fine pale co- loured sandy loam, resembling the Fleg soils, and worth 26s. an acre ; vet, intermixed, he has some hills of sand and gravel of much inferioi value. MARSHLAND CLAY. The wliole distri(5l of marshland is probably a relicl or deposition of the sea ; it is a silt, or warp clay of great fertility, upon a sandy silt at various depths, but usually eighteen inches or two feet. The stifFer clays are the ■worst arable : the more mild and temperate ones, the best and easiest worked of course ; but the strongest clay is the best for grass. SECT. IV. WATER. Norfolk is advantageously situated respecting na- vigation; for of its great circumference of 200 miles, there are but something more than thirty, from I'hetford to • WATER. 15 to Bungay, which do not consist of the sea, or of navi- gable rivers : to the north, the ocean ; to the west, the great Ouze ; to the east, the sea; to the south, the lesser Ouze, and the Waveney ; and, exclusive of this benefi- cial boundarv, the Yare and the Wensum penetrate from Yarmouth to Norwich, and the Bure and Thyrn, from the same port to Aylesham. With the last named river the Broads, and their communicating channels in the hun- dreds of Fleg and Happing, unite and connefl the rich dlstridl: with the sea and with Norwich, and the advan- tage is mucli felt in the conveyance of marie, &zc. The navigation of the Nar reaches Nai borough, and conne£ls with the Ouze. Smaller streams abound in every part of the county, and offer such opportunities of irrigation, as must excite the amazement of every farming traveller, at the utter ne- gleil in which they have been suffered to run to waste for so manvages. At last, this important application has begun to receive a little attention ; so that we may hope, that, in half a century more, these valuable treasures will i?e accepted. Ponds, art'ijic'tal. — Mr, CojCE makes these ponds at Holkham to serve each four enclosures ; they are set out 42 I'eet square ; at bottom twelve, and seven deep. A bot- tom is worked with good clay, free from all stones, nor the least soil or sand in it, beating it as close as possible three inches thick; then three inches more are beaten in, and so on till a foot thick ; then sand over it, tokeep thedrougiit out. The sides are made in the same manner as the bot- tom : within a yard of the top, the clay should be two feet thick. It is then paved w ith bricks set on edge. These ponds vvue made by men from Gloucestershire, who were paid 2S. 6d. per superficial yard, costing 28I. each, besides tS WATER. besides the bricks. To divide the ponds for four fields^ a large stone with a hole wrought in it to receive a post, is necessary at the centre, with mortices to leceive the rails. Chap. ( 17 ) CHAP. II. PROPERTY. ESTATES arc of all sizes in Norfolk, from nenrly {he largest scale to t lie little freehold: cne of 25,000!. a year ; one of 14,000!. ; one of 13,000', ; two of iO,OOol. ; iTianv of about 5000I. ; and an increasing number of all smaller proportions. When the larger properties are de- duifted, the remainder of the county will be found divided into moderate estates, and in the hands of gentlemen wlio pav a considerable attention to the praflice of agricul- ture. Seventy years ago, there was not, I believe, n great rental in the county, so that these considerable properties have been accumulated, first, by the most excellent of all causes, agricultural improvements, and, secondly, by ad- ditional purchases. Estaces sell now (1802) pretty currently at thirty ycnrs purchase. In th>; Ovington and Sayharn enclosure, the land sold by the com mi::>ioncrs to defray the expense of the mea- sure, brought 43I. per acre, as it was assigned, waste and unenclosed. The average of all sales near Watton, 40I. an acre. An estate lately sold at Fisliley, near Yarmouth, con- tained Arable land, good, - _ - 250 acres. Cars and marshes, worth 22s. nn acre, 100 Markh, worth 20^. au acre, * ~ 50 400 NORFOLK.] c Rent, l8 PROPEfi.TV. Rent, 400I. a year, worth 500!. fairly, hut 600I. 3 year offered for it ; sold for 17,500!. to Sir I'h:)NfONi:) Lacon, and I 500I. offered for the bargain. Price of the estates sold at and near Happsboroiigh, 30, 40, and 50I. an acre ; niucli sold lately ; and at tliJs time^ the best land would all sell at from 40I. lo 50I. an acre. Land worth not above 20s. an acre, between Coltishal and Norwich, has been sold at 50I. an acre. In Marshland Smeeth, newly enclosed, at 50, 60, and 70I. an acre. In Downham Wesrside, Denver, Welney, &c. fen farms, lol. to 12I. anacre: to the cast of Downham, at 24 years purchase. In Upwell, some, not fen, to 50I. an acre, but the average 20I. Mr. Bagge, of Lynn, has land in Marshland which would now sell at 70I. an acre, which Mr. Dix,0N bought, 60 years ago, at 12!. 10s. CHAP. ( 19 ) CHAP. III. BUILDINGS. SOME of the houses belonging to the proprietors of large estates in this county, have long been famous as ob- je£ls of the attention of travellers, and deservedlv so; for there are very few counties that rival it in this respect: the circumstance, however, is not interesting in an agricul- tural inquiry. The well-cultivated domain is here of much more consequence than the well-decoraced palace. In the species of building properly appropriated to an Agricultural Report, greater exertions have, I believe, been made in Norfolk than in any other county of the kingdom. One landed proprietor, Air. Coke, has ex- pended above one hundred thousand pounds in farm-houses and offices ; very many of them eredled in a style much superior to the houses usually assigned for the residence of tenants ; and it gave me pleasure to find all that I viewed, furnished by his farmers in a manner somewhat proportioned to the costliness of the edifices. When men can well afford such exertions, they are cer- tainly commendable. One of Mr. Coke's barns at Holkham is built in a su- perior style; 120 feet long, 30 broad, and 30 high, and surrounded with sheds for 60 head of cattle: it is capitally executed in white brick, and covered with fine blue slate. At Syderstonc, he has built another enormous barn, with stables, cattle-^^heds, hog-sties, slicpherd's and bailiff's houses, surrounding a large (quadrangular yard, likewise c 2> ia I 10 BLTILDIITGS. in a style of expense rarely met with. In discourse whf? tlie men at work in this li,:rn, tliey iiiformed us, that to one man who ufrpitc/ic^ ihcwiig^on at harvest, seven others ■were necessary on tlie ^2^ to receive and dispose of the corn, alter it was raised to some heigiit ; a great expense at a time of the year when lahour is the n^ost valuable. The farmers are, however, very geiicraljy advocates not only for barns, but for great bains. Another inconveni- ence is their not daring to triuiJ^ excej)t lightly, in large barns : and tlie men complained that tlie corn threshed the worse for want of more treading. 140 acres were in this barn of Mr. Savary's. Floor, eleven yards; barn, nine wide. In all Mr. Coke's new barns, and other offices, he has substituted milled lead for ridge tiles tothe roofs, which is far more lasting, and the means of escaping the com- mon accidents, in raising a heavy ladder on tiling, in order to replace a ridge- tile blown off. For all locks, particularly m stables and other offices, Mr. Coke has found those with c( ppcr wards mue!) more durable than any others. The front edge of his own mangers are rollers covcretj with tin ; the mangers themselves are plated with iron.;- and the bottoms of the stall fences are of slate. All thfse ci^rcumstances are found very economical in duration. In building the wails around a new farm-yaid for Mr, Coke, Mr. Overman, after a certain height, draws them rn to a brick's length at the top, a saving in these ere6tions which merits notice. Alr.CoKE^s jMcihod of making up and applying L'tme-vjask as a PrestiViUive and Covering to Boarding, JValh, i^c. Irv a tab of six or eight gallons, put of water a quanriry. •' ■ sufficienf BUILDINGS. 21 Sufficient to half fill the same ; add thereto of clean sharp sand, and of lime fres/: bm-r.t, in about equal quantities, as much as will make, when well stirred up, a wash of moderate consistence. With this wash, as soon as made, pay over the boarding of any barns or buildings, keeping the sand constantly stirred up, so that the brush may tak^ up the sand as well as the lime. As the quantity in the tub decreases, add by degrees, in small quantities, more h"me and more sand, taking care to make up no more than \\\\\ be immediately used. The quicker the lime the better, wiiich, if good, will make the wash hot; and if it be required to make this wash particularly hard and du- rable, the same will be efteiSled by making use of boiling \vat€r instead ot cold, taking care to make it in such quantities that it can be laid hot on the boards. Mr. Coke has, at Holkham, a brick manufadory, which ranks very high among the tirst in the kingdom ; bricks in all sorts of forms are made, so that in raising an edifice, there is never a necessity for breaking a whole brick to have a smaller of a very imperfect shape, which takes time, and creates waste ; cornice, round column, corner, arch brie ks, Sfc, are made in great perfcvSlion. Account in 1792 £. s. 4- Raising earth, making and burning per 1000 (white bricks 12s.), - - p 8 O [The brick-maker finds moulds, pails, bar- rows, rakes, boards, Sec] Duty, - - . - A chaldron of coais, at 26s. burns 7000, A kiln, 32,000, - - ^ Red are burnt with coal? ; white with wood : the latter CQuld be sold at 4I. 4s. a thousand ; such as are stained, C3 ^l 0 2 6 0 3 8i 0 H 8i 22 BUlLDINdS. at 3I. 3s. 8oDO of the wliite are burned In the centre of a kiln of 32,000 red. 1802. — All now are burnt with wood. Mr. Salter, at Winborough, built a cart-Iodgc, and granary over it, in which are three circumstances that de- serve noting: the main-posts that support the granary rest on brick-work square foundations, about two feet high, and these he has guarded by oak plank let into the ground ; the posts are tied 10 the beams at top by knees, which add much strength. — [See Fiatc 1. Fig. i.] The stairs are without the building, at the end ; and for the conveni- ency of loading waggons, there arc two rollers fixed, over ■which sacks are slid down easily into tlie waggon. j\Ir. Robinson, at Carbrook, sanded his cornice, window and door frames, and window solts. The me- thod is, to paint wliite, and dash it immediately with j^'^ sand from a dredging box : the effect, as 1 saw, is that of an exceeding good imitation of stone. It is said to be very durable. Mr. CoLLisoN, of Dereham, has built at Bilney a very capital barn of brick, the walls 18 inches thick, and for three feet from the ground, 22 ; and 23 feet high : no cross beams to impede the filling. — [See Plate I. Fig. 2.] The porch, by being something lower at the point of the roof than tlie barn wall, and forming no jun6tion in the roof, has no gutters. The lean-to sheds are joined to the walls by lead worked into the brick-work. No ridge- tiles to any of liis buildings, but milled lead. Stables, har- ness, and straw and hay houses, with two sheds, one on each side the barn porch : the whole covered with pan- tiles. A granary and cart-shed, and a double cottage, very good indeed, but witli the universal error of the house-door opening into tlie keeping-room. Good gar- dens; Plate 1 y.'flr jf.SAs Strarui-. BUILDINGS. 23 ;'s embankment, me- rits noting. By the flooring ot the arlecping age, would be passed by, are turned by active exertion into profit. In such a state of progressive improvement, every objetSt becomes interesting, and all the faculties of the human mind are on the stretch to draw advantage, where our ancestors drawled on ina6live and torpid. I wish 1 had it in my power to add, that I saw a good farm-yard in the county, manifesting contrivance, and in which no building could be moved to any other scitewith- juut doing miscliicf. Where is such an one to be seen ? CHAP. ( 26 ) CHAP. IV. occupation: SECT. I. FARMS. UPON this subje^l we must divide the county gene- rally into two parts — the dry soils and the wet ones. Upon the former the farms are large, and upon the latter much smaller. The rich distri^fls which, though dry enough for tur- nips, are strong enough for yielding great crops of wheat, possess some moderately-sized farms, such as from 400 to 600 acres ; but many smaller. The wet land is more commonly held in small occupations. The poorer sands are usually in very extensive farms. One near Holkham, 1792, 1000 acres, 450I. rent. 50 acres wheat, 400 acres sheep-walk, 150 spring corn, 10 harvest-men, 120 turnips, 500 sheep — Norfolks, » 240 layer, 14 farm-horses, 40 sundries, 40 cattle. Mr. PuRDis, at Egmore, 1802. 300 acres of turnips, 300 barley, 600 seeds, 300 • tares, 300 ■■ wheat, lOo ' sundries. 1900 — — A tincr FARMS. 27 A finer farm is rnrely to l>e seen, than Mr. Mil- dred's at Earsham, belonging to the Duke of Nor- folk ; as compa6l as a table ; without a foot-path, near a town and a navigation : a good soil, and a beautiful si- tuation. In the hundreds of Diss, Earsham, and Depwade, more under than above lool. per ann. Average farm of Fleg under 200 acres ; none very large. Mr. Heath's, at Hemh"ngton, of 500 acres, is one of the largest farms, if not the largest, in South Walsham hundred. In Happing liundred, farms are very much in the hands of the proprietors, the yeomanry being numerous ; hardly any so large as 4 or 500 acres, and not many under 50 ; from 50 to 300. About North Walsham, few more than 2 or 300 acres. Mr. Petre's, at Westvvick, 600 acres : 100 wheat, 25 horses, 180 barley and oats, 4 cows, 12 pease, 50 bullocks, So turnips, 340 sheep. 150 layer, Mr. BiRCHAM, at Hackfoid, 840 acres: 720 arable, 120 pease, oats, and after- 120 turnips, crop barley, 240 barley, 70 bullocks, 240 seeds, 600 sheep. 120 wheat. His system is, to keep the greatest quantity of stock he can ; to keep his land clean, and then not to doubt of great crops of corn. Mr. JoHxsoN, at Thurning, SSo acres: 2 CO grass, 32 horses, a8 FARArs. 32 horses, 70 score sheep of all sorts, 95 beasts at turnips last year. Mr. Reev£, at Wighton, 700 acres : 600 arable, 22 horses, and therefore not four to tlie hundred acres ; all drilled. Mr. Styleman's, at Snettiihani, 2C00 acres : . 1400 arable, 600 grass, 700 ewes, and iheir produce, or about 2000 in all He has arranged his Ringstead tann in such a manner, in tive divisions, each of six fields, like five .distin(5l farms, that every sort of crop is scattered over the whole, which he convidcrs as a great convenience. Earl of CliOLMONDELEY : 650 acres arable, 120 turnips, 350 grass, 120 barley, 360 plantations, of which 24O seeds, 120 added by the 12O wheat, present Earl ; The size of farms in Marshland, will be seen by certain of Governor Bentinck's : 695 acres, 264 acres, 438 another, 168 ditto, 231 ditto, 185 ditto, 497 ditto, 60 ditto, 324 ditto, 55 ditto. About Downham, most arc small ; a few to 4 or 500 ;>cres. About Wymondham, chiefiy small : 200I. a year a Isrge one ; many 4O1. 70I. and to looi. per ann. Around Hingham, and to Attleborough, farms are all small: Mr. Gass, at Hingham, has one of the largest. In the richer lands of Attleborough, Hingham, anJ WattoO; FARMS. 29 Watton, tlie farms are generally small: about the latter place, 200I. Is a common size, and some of lOOL and even 60I. and 50I. Mr. Bougen, of Sayliam, 700I. the largest in the neiglibourhood. Entering. — Mr. Johnson, ofThurning, entering 500 acres in sad order, he i)lougIied up and iallowcd the seeds, for which he haw-drills, and Iiorsc-hces the whole; three rows, at nine inches, r-n thrte-feet ridges: fine crops. Various implements ; and a bcautifid little flock of South Downs. Mr. Drake, of BillingforJ, oaring and burning ; drilling and dibbling. Mr. Havers, of Thelton, Devon cattle ; piggery ; beans ; oxen. js'oKFOLK.] D Mr. 54 FARMS. Mr. Pitts, of'lhoipc AI>l)ots, diiiling; beans. Mr. Kerrich, ofH.uleston, manuring for beatrs. Mr. Mrr^DRED, at Earsham, beautiful farm. Mr. Burton, at Langley, general information ; ex* tensivtf knowledge, and excellent management ; enclosures. Mr. Thurtei.l, near Yarmouth, manuring; tillage; building. Mr. Ever IT, at Caistor, fine land, and good ma- nagement. Mr. Eerrier, at Hemsby, fine land, and great crops. Mr. Brown, at Thrigby, clay j marie; yard-dung; pease. Mr. Syble, of South Walsham, intelligent; course; drilling ; oil-cake feeding. Mr. Francis, at Martliam, tillage ; dibbling ; manures ; ploughs ; produ6ts. Mr. HoRNARD, of Ludham, double ploughs; teathing wheat ; manuring. Mr. Cubit, of Catfield, teathing wheat; potatoes; mixino; dunfT ; marie. Mr. Wiseman, of Happsborough, beans ; pease for pigs ; while clover. Mr. Cubit, of Honing, ploughing in buck-wheat ; marlc. ]\ir. Marcateson, of North Walsham, feeding and mowing clover ; dibbling : marlc. Ml". Petre, of Wcstwick, South Down sheep; beau- tiful improvements. Mr. Dyble, of Scotter, tillage ; ploughing in green crops ; good management. Mr. Palgrave, of Cokishal, improvement of mea- dows ; manuring ; drilling. Mr. RtPTON, of Oxnead, courses of crops ; proJu6ls ; drilling ; steaming roots ; Leicester sheep. 5Mr. FARMS. 35 Mr. Reeves, of Heverland, Norwich muck; im- provement of wastes; ilrilling i threshing-mill; South Down sheep. Mr. Birch AM, of Hackford, excellent management in the old school. Colonel BuLLER, of Haydon, steam-engine; drilled barley ; enclosing., Mr.JoHNSoN, of Thurning, draining ; improvement of meadows ; drilling ; tillage ; South Down sheep. Mr. England, of Binham, drilling; South Downs. Mr, Reeve, of Wigliton, irrigation ; draining; drill- ing ; Leicester sheep. Mr. H. Blythe, of Burnham, drilling; South Down sheep ; sainfoin ; white marie. Mr. DuRSGATE, of Summerfield, drilling ; course of crops ; manuring ; South Down sheep. Mr. RisHToN, of Thornham, drilling; South Down sheep ; sea-weed. Mr. Styleman, at Snettisham, drilling; improve- ments ; threshing-mill. Mr. GoDDisoN (for Lord Cholmondeley), ma- nuring for wheat ; marling. Captain Beacher, drilling; Wiltshire sheep. Mr. Beck, of Riseing, South Down Sheep; drilling; marling ; manuring ; threshing-mill. Mr, Bentinck, a noble embankment. Mr. Saffory, of Downham, fen-management. Mr. Porter, of Watlington, drilling; beans; ma- nuring ; course ; Leicester sheep, Mr, Martin, of Totterhill, drilling. Mr. RoGERSoN, of Narborough, drilling; manuring. Mr. Burroughs, ofWymondham,good management. Mr. Priest, of Besthorpe, drilling; lucerne; chafF» cutting. Mr. Twist', ofBretenhara, drilling; Norfolk, sheep. Mr. 36 RENT. Mr. Galway, of TofFts, irrigation. Mr. Bevan,' of Riddles worth, considerable efforts in irrigation; marling; and various improvements; South Down sheep, &c. SECT. II. RENT. The circumstance which makes the rent of a county an objedl of any interest in an Agricultural Report, is its being a confirmation of tlie descriptions which are given of soils ; the terms used in defining land, rich, poor, mixed, strong, light, &c. must in many cases be vague; but when sand is noted at 2S. 6d. an acre, or rich or strong at 203. to 30S. the reader has more explicit Information. When a man is told that sand produces six or seven quar- ters an acre of beans, the fa£l does not convey any know- ledge ; but if it be added, that the rent is 30s. an acre, it becomes easy to guess what the soil is. The minutes, however, of rent, are not numerous : on many occa- sions it is an inquiry prudently shunned, and on some, it is not an ohjc6l of consequence. Hufidred ofShrcpham. — Two-thirds of Shropham hun- dred, containing 20 parishes, are sand, at 5s. an acre. The other thiid better land, at 12s. ; average of the whole, 7s. 4d. Around Attleborough, 20s. to 35s. Besthorpe, 23s. Shropham, 20s. but high let. Way land. — About Watton, small enclosures, up to 40Si and 50s. an acre : all the country round, that is not light, 20s. GUcross. — Snare-hill, June 20, 1734. Valuation of stock : 15 neat beasts, 3 cart mares, 8 acres of grass, and all the other r^rass, and all the corn of the farm, loil. 4s. (Signed) JOHN WARD. RENT. 37 In 1S02, this estate sold for 15,000!. Alemoranduni with which I was favoured by Mr. Salter, of Winbo- rough. Grimshoe and Soiuh Grcenhoe. — Thetford to Swnffham, 7s. 6J. Some 3s. 6d. and 5s. Warrens, 55. Lands thar have been clayed, 7s. ; if not clayed, 5s. Laiindich. — One of the most exvraordinary instances of advance, is that of tlie farm at Roughara. Within tlie memory of many persons, it has been advanced froiu 500I. a year to 2500I. Diss. — The whole of this hundred is good land, and much of it strong. At Thelton, in general, about 20s. ; some higher. Rents in this hundred not raised more than 15 per cent, of late years. Eai'sham and Depixade. — The former of these 20s. and not dear at that rent. Dtp wade equally good ; but being further from navigation, is in realicy worth 2s. or 2S. 6d, an acre less on that account. Rents have not been raised more than from 15 to 20 per cent, of late years. Clavcr'ing, — The whole consists of rich land, rented at 20s. and cheap. Gillingham, i8s. ; Stoflon, 20s.; Al- derby, 20s. ; Whitacre better still. Hcnsted and Loddon. — Both "ood, and let at near 20s. All the country for many miles around Langicy, raised one-third in 25 years ; and a great deal doubled. lu that parish, 600 acres newly enclosed, at 12s. The river ^^.re bounds both these hundreds to the north ; on its bank a line of marshes. At Wightlingham tfiese are negle61ed, and do not let for more than 20s. an ucrc. At Surling- ham. and Rockland tliey are boggy, and let at about 8s. ; but to Rudham-ferry at 20?, ; thence, to Yarmouth, 23s. and to 30s. Forchoej Humbleyard and Afitford, — These are in the »3 di.sf!i(5^ 38 KENT. (listriifl of various loams, arid let on un average at from 75s. to 20r.. an acre. For five miles around Wymondham, five years ago, the rents were not more than 20s. ; now from i8s. to 25s. From Attlehorough to Hinghnm, 20s. to 35s. an acre. Two miles around Hingham, 18s. to 20s. Three miles around, 15s. or i6s. ; hut, if clayed and drained, 20s. to 25s. East and fVest Fleg- — These hundreds are famous for t^eir excellent soil ; and let on an average from 25?. to 27s. an acre ; some up to 423. ; at which rate Mrs. JMapf.s, of Rollcshv, has let some. In the opinion of Mr. Ferrilr, they have doubled in 20 years. Happing. — Great trails let at from 25s. to 30s. ; and the whole at above 20s. on an average. The northern part of the hundred contains some of the finest soil in the county. But there is in other parts of it much low land, fen and commons enclosed, and some let in 1802, for the first time; the worst worth 12s. an acre, the better sort, 20s. The Bishop of Norwich has let some as high as 26s. Happsborough, Walcot, and Ba6lon, I have heard in conversations, valued too high to note : much lets at 30s., and well worth that rent. Sandy loam on a clayev-loam bottom ; but sound. Tunsted. — About North Walsham, raised one-third in 20 years. Westwick and its vicinity, 20s. to 25s. ; nut there is some much poorer. Scotto, 20s. to 25s. ; some at 155. The best soil in the hundred is in the maritime part. Korth ayid South Erp'ingham. — Much of North Erping- ham is in the better sand distrid. In the southern part of it, much at 20s. \\\ South Erpingham great trails very rich, and as high in rent. Around Coltishal, i6s. Tavcrham RENT. 39 Taverham — Consists of various soils, and varies much ;n rent : some up to 2cs. ; and some as low as 5s. Horstcd, Beiough and VVroxham, los. Raised one- fonrth, and some one-third, through most of this liundred in 20 years. Blowfield and JVahham, — These hundreds are in the rich -district of East Norfolk, and are in general let (with local exceptions) from 20s. to 25s. an acre. Eynsford. — The whole of this hundred is included in the district of various loams. For some miles around Rcepham, Hackford, &c. Tents 20s. ; they have been raised one-fourth in 20 years. Much gracing land at Gestwick lets at 30s. to 36s. ; some at 20s. Holt^ North Greenhoe, Gallow, Brother£ross, Sm€€thdcK, Frccbr'ulge. — These hundreds are in the distriiSt of good sand, except only the marshland part ot F reebridgc. From Holt to Burnham, los. to 203. an acre. Thirty-five years ago, I registered the rent from Hoik- ham westward to Snettisham,and sout^iward to SwafFham, at 2s. 6d. to 6s. per acre; some farms then newly let, at 10s. Chosely, los.to 17s. tithe and rate free. Thornham, 2IS. Soirre from Thornham to Snettisham, 8s. lOs. 12s. ; much at the latter place, 20s. Five miles round Houghton, 8s. to 15s. Hillingdon, Sec. 8s. to i6s. ; average los. The rich level of marshes to the south of J-ynn, and east of the Ouse, 2 guineas an acre ; the acre something more than three roods. lihtncsM intakes {rom the sea, in Marshland, by Go- vernor Bentinck, 2I. 2s. to 2I. 12s. 6d. an acre. The old iands 30s. Marshland in general, 28s. the statilte acre i but much, near 30s. the short acre. It let 120 vears ago at 15s. iUackcloic. — A considerable parr of this hundred is fen ; 15 4 muiJji 40 TITHES. itiuch of it poor sand ; but the rest Is good, and lets at 17s. ; some at 20s. East of the Ouze, at Dowiiham, Stow, Wimsbotsham, Cruniplesham, Bexwcll, Ruston, &:c. ibs. Ribe in seven years, one-fourih. Recapitulation. — The liglit sand distri<5l, as marked on tlie Map, I conceive, lets, on an average, at 6s. an acre. The various ioams ai i6s. The better sand, 12s. The rich loam, 26s, The Marshland clay, 28s. SECT. III. — TITHES. So much has been written on the great national ques- tion of tithes, and their commutation, that any general observations are unnecessary. All that can with propiiety be inserted here, are the notes taken of the compositions per a( re. At Harleston, 5s. an acre. In the hundreds of Loddoa and Clavering, 5?. ; some 6.5. ; and even ys. an acre. Average of Fleg hundreds, 6s, marsh excluded. At Hems- by, taken in kind. Martham,&:c. 7s. Happing hundred, 4s. to 6s. In Ludham, great tithe, 4s. 6d. ; small, is. 6(1. At Catfield, 6s. At Sutton, 5s. Some pai i.snes more, few jess. At Honing, great, 4s. 6d. ; sinall, is. 6d. About Nortii Walsham, 4s. to 6s. East Ruston and Happsborough, ys. Around Westwick, 5s. At Oxnead, 4s. Hevcringland free. At Causton, arable, 4s. ; ordinary meadows and pastures, is. 6cl. At Recpham, great and small, 4s. At Thurning, 3s. At Briston, sold by auflion ; and the buyer POOR RATES. 41 buyer gathers. At Dawling, 3s. Binham, &:c. 3s. to 4s. an acre. Snettisliam, and the parishes around, ave- rage 4s. an acre. Houghton, &c. 4s. Gathered at Hilling- ^on : 2S. 6d. to 5s. the common payment in the vicinity. At Snetterron, and the neighbouring parishes in general, about 3s. to 4s. an acre. At Attleborough all gathered; and they gave this as a reason for not enclosing their im- mense commons. At Hingham, 4s. an acre. At Wat- ton taken in kind. At Carbrook 5s. an acre. At Gurs- ston 5s. and is. 6d. the vicaiial. Waterden something under 3s. per acre, grass included: in some parishes, 3s. 6d. In the parishes around East Bilney, 3s. and 3s. 3d. ati acre, on an average. At Goodwick, &c. 3s. and 3s. 6d. Some so high as 6s. said to be known near Holt. At Terrington 43. 6d. At Walpole 6s. arable ; is. 6d. grass. Parishes around Downham 3s. At Wymondham 4s. 6d. Carleton 4s. Bunwell 4s. North Walsham, 1782, redorial 2S. gd. and vicarial is. an acre, all round. North and South Reps about 3s. an acre for both. 1770, at RuniSton, 2od. an acre round. General Average of 37 minutes, 4s. gd. per acre. ^ECT. IV. — POOR RATES. It is to be regretted that returns similar to those made pursuant to an adl passed in the 16th year of His present Majesty, have not been lately called for by Parliament. if the amount of the rates throughout the kingdom, during the late scarcity, were known, the necessity of some new system of provision for the poor would appear in a light so important, that measures would probably be .had rc- tousro 42 POOR RATES. course to, for preventing in future a return of similar burthens : not by way of lessening the comforts of the poor, but for increasing them ; the grand obje£tion to the present support being its insufficiency to answer the j^ur- poses for wliich it is given : the burden has been enoi- nious, and the poor not provided for, by means which would produce in them industry and economy. Snetterton in general 3s. in the pound. In Harfham, Wilby, Larling, and Eccles, in about the same proportion. The scarcity was met by different exertions. At Attlebo- roufh 3s. 4d. for all parochial. At Hingham, in an incor- porated hundred, 8s. to los. ; once in the scarcity 14s. in the pound. At Watton 5s. 6d. land at rack-rent ; houses at 3-4ths. In North Barsham, 4s. in the pound. At Good wick, in 1802, 2s. in the pound. At Rep- ham 5s. in the pound, rated at 20s. an acre j some at 15s. or 1 6s. Tlic hundreds of Loddon and Clnvering are incorpo- rated ; their house of industry at Heckingham, which has answered greatly. Five years ago, Mr. Burton, of Langley, paid 16I. a year; the scarcity doubled, and even trebled it ; but now it is reduced to 24I. and will come down again to 16I. AtFoncet and Tackleston, rales were 143. in the pound, and now are 9s. to los. Edgefield 24s. in the pound, for two years running, now 163. and the land not worth 20s. an acre. The Fleg hundreds incorporated! rates no where liigh : about 3s. in the pound. Martham, &c. 2S. to 3s. an acre. Happing and Tunsted hundreds incorporated ; 41 pa- rishes : income above 4OC0I. a year ; rates in the scarcity rose, but they are now down again to 2S. in the pound ; but not at full rent ; about 2S. an acre : in winter between 3 and 400 in the house ; in summer betwctn 2 and 300. At FObR RATES. 43 At' North Walsham, not included In the incorporated hundred, 48, ni the pound ; Wesrvvick is. At Scotto, last year, 16$. in the pound, rack-rent: now 10s. Coltishal IS. 6d. in the pound. Hevingham — , ^ Easter to Miciiaelmas 1795 - - 6 6 To Easter 1796 - - - 7 6 The year - - To Michaelmas 1796 - - - To Easter 1797 - _ _ To Michaelmas 1797 To Easter 1798 To Michaelmas 1798 To Easter 1799 To Michaelmas 1799 To Easter 1800 H 0 20 0 6 6 16 6 4 9 5 6 10 3 4 9 S 6 10 3 5 9 »3 6 19 3 Easter 1800 to J>ily 1800 to Oa. i8oo to Jan. 1801 to Easter 1801 994* 211 1 0 0 0 0 9 6 7 7 0 6 6 6 I 10 6 Acres - - 1504 Rent Tithe >I205l. An4 44 POOR RATES. And tills enormous rate on a new assessment, including tithe : tlic addition In the whole 350I. To July 1 80 1 To ba. 1801 To Jan. 1802 To April 1802 April i8c2, Rental assessed - Disbursed The common enclosed was lOOO acres ; It fed the cows of the poor, but they were greatly dlsiiessed to get winter food. Total population - - 598 Dedu(St, not belonging to the parish, 83 Disbursements 1360I. or 52?;. a head. Buxton rates 45s. In the pound, at 2-3ds rent. Masham, one quarter - - 0126 another - - 090 1. s. d. 0 6 9 0 6 9 b 3 6 0 3 9 /••I 0 9 1307 9 6 1360 9 8 half year - - £. 1 A new valuation, including tithe. Before the scarcities, the rates at Causton were 4s. or 5s. in the pound. In the scarcity, iis. or 12s. From Lady- day to Midsummer 1802, is. 6d. at rack-rent. At Reepham and Hack ford, 5s. an acre. At Thurning ^s. 6d. At Holt los. in the pound. At Eurnham \^'es{- gate, from 1790 to 1800, 2s. 6d. to 3s. in the pound fol the year. In i8qi they were 83. ; and this year (1802) thev POOR RATES. 45 tliev win not be lower than 5s. At Thoinham — Easter 1797 to Easter 1798, 6s. 6.1. in the pound, oa half rent. To Easter 1799, 4s. 6d. To Easter 1800, los. oJ. To Easter 1801, 173. 6d. To Easier 1802, 17s. 6 J. Rental 1265I. At Holm, last year (1801), 9s. 6d. in the pound: thh year 5s. 6d. Rates, exclusive of scarcity, at Snettisham, &c. 4s. in the pound, rack-rent, lii the scarcity, some were 7s. In the parishes around Houghcon, 2S. 6d. in tiie pound, on the average. At -Hillingdon, 2S. in the pound on real rent. At Castle Riseing is. 6d. to 2s. in the pound ; thev were higher. At Lvnn, thev are now lOs. in tlie pound, and were lately 12?. and laid on stock; they would be near 20s. if on rent only : in the scarcity were 1 6s. besides great subscriptions. A gentleman in this town has paid 2I. 12s. in a year for poor-rates, and row (inliahiting tlie same house) lool. At Terrington, in iVIarshland, 2s. in the pound : were in the scarcity 5s. to 6s. At Walpole, poor 23. church 6d. surveyor is. in the pound. Dyke reeve 6d. Land-tax is. 4d. per acre. Parishes around Downham 5>. in the pound. Besthorpe, last year, los. in the pound, rack-rent: now 5s. to 6s. Carleton 8s. last year. RECAPITULATION. 1. t. d- Snetterton, in the pound 0 n 0 0 flarfham - - _ 0 3 0 Wilby _ - _ 0 0 J 0 I.jriing Carry forward. 0 3 6 0 12 0 Eccles 4.6 POaR RATE*. I. s. i. Brouglit forward, - 0120 Ecclcs - - - 030 Aitlcborough - - -034 Hingham - - - 090 Watton - - - 056 N. Barsham - - 040 Goodwick - - - 020 Reepham - 05a Foncet - - - 096 Tackleston - - -096 Edgfieia - - o 16 o Fleg Hundred - - 030 Martham - - 026 Happing - - -020 Tunsted - - 020 N. Walsham - -040 West wick - - - 010 Scotto - - o 10 O Coltishal - - -016 Hevingham - - 109 Causton - - -050 Hackford - - O 5 O Thurning - - -056 Hole - - - o 10 O Burnham Westgate - O 5 O Thornham - - - O 17 6 Holm - - -056 Snettisham - - 040 Houghton -> - - 026 Hiltingdon - - 020 Castle Riseing - -019 Lynn - - o 10 O Carry forward, - 9194 Terrington LEASES". Brought forward, 1. 9 s. 19 d. 4 Terrington _ - - 0 2 0 Walpole G 2 0 Round Downham O 5 0 Besthorpe _ - - 0 5 6 Carleton O 8 0 4X ;{*. II I 10 Average of 40 minutes, 5s. 6d. In the pound. SECT. V. LEASES. The great Improvements which for 70 years past have rendered Norfolk, famous for its husbandry, were effected by means of 21 years leases ; a circumstance which very fortunately took place on tlic first attempt to break up the heaths and warrens in the north-west part of the county. These leases established themselves generally ; and were, more than any other cause, powerfully operative in work- ing those great ameliorations of wastes which converted that part of the county into a garden. To explain generally the necessity of long leases, would at this time of day be an idle disquisition. I never heard any arguments against them which carried the least weight. Exceptions may, and will occur : inlands which are immediately around the mansion, it may be prudent to grant short tenures ; and when a landlord is willing to take upon liimself all those expenses which a tenant sub- mits to merely because he has a term of 2 1 years, it is obvious that there is no necessity for a long lease ; but, in general, it may be held for sound dodlrine in Norfolk, tiiat an estate can neither be improved, nor even held to its former state of improvement, without long leases. Sorry 48 CEASES. Sorry I am to perceive, that contrary ideas seem to be gaining ground in this county ; tha^t some landlords will give no leases, and others onty for 7 or 9 years. That the agvicultine of the country will suffer in proportion as these ideas prevail, I have not a doubt ; and it is a very fortunate circumstance, that Mr. Coke, the possessor of the largest estate in it, adiaercs steadily to those principles which improved his noble property, never giving a shorter term tlian 2 1 years. The views of landlords who a6t otherwise may easily be conceived ; they have a quicker return of those oppor- tunities for advancing their rents tlian occur with longer terms ; and the late scarcities, among their other evils, have added much to this. The tenants' profits (supposed to be greater than in fa(5l they were), glittered in the eyes of landlords, who were apt to think they had not a fair proportion of the produ£^. But if such temporarv flucSluations are to have weight in regulating the rent of land, the medium short of a corn rent will be difficult to find ; and no lease? at all are likely to be the consequence: what such maxims would produce z« Norfolk, are easily conceived. But in the main objedl of raising rents, confining my- self to the county I treat of, 1 have great doubts whether an estate, in 43 years, will not be let for much more after two leases, than after six. Every sort of improve- ment, and what is of as much consequence, the common course of the husbandry, in points which no covenants can touch, will tend to improve the land in one case ; ■while, in the other, the tenant will look to the duration of his term before he spends a shilling, or gives an order for a cart or a plough to move. The silent operation of such a constantly influencing motive, will gradually afFc6t the farm in a manner that must be severely felt ; and is a perfect LEASES, 49 perfe6t contrast to the spirit of animated exertion which pervades every part of the farmer's business, when he looks forward to a lon^ period for his re-nuneration. The particular notes [ made on the subjedl are few, but merit insertion. There are more seven years leases about Holt than of any other term. Mr. Styleman, at Snettisham, gives leases of lo or 15 years, of lands in the five-shifr husbandry ; that is, for two or three courses ; and for 12 years, in the four or six-shift course. Mr. M. Hill occupies two farms, one (Waterden) tinder Mr. Coke, on a 21 years lease, and another (Bar- s;ham) from a relation, on a 7 years tenure; the former land a lightish sand or gravel ; sandy and gravelly light loam; : the latter, a deep rich friable sandy loam, on marie, very fine land, and far superior to the Waterden soil ; but he has upon it crops at leiist equal to the soil; fine corn, that is in its appearance to liis credit as a farmer. I was much surprized to find the crops on the Barsham land very inferior ; by no means equal to the soil : some very good barley ; but some inferior, and no wheat com- parable to the crops at Waterden. In such cases, I always cxpefl to find some cross-ciopping has been tampered with ; end :' turned out just so — wheat after barley; barley after wheat, 6cc. The circumstance is applicable not so much to the subjeft of courses of crops as to leases : it de- serves the attention of landlords; for they never refuse 21 yeais leases without their farms suffering. It is true, the farmers suffer also, and nine times in ten lose by their calculation. NORFOLK.] E T/lt 50 LEASES. The Nnv Covenants in Lettinj^ the Farms of T. W. Coke, Esq. "M. i>i Supposing a farm to contain 540 acres arable land: Shall, and will at all time:, keep and Icnve ninety acres, part of the arable land, laid to grass of one or more years laying. Also ninety acres grass of two or more years laying — each to be laid down with a crop of corn, after turnips, and to continue laid two years at least ; the time of layiiig to be computed from the harvest next after sow- ing the said seeds ; and upon breaking up the same*, after January ist, 1804, may be permitted to sow forty-five, acres (part thereof annually) with pease, or tares, for seed, to be twice well hoed : other part thereof with tares, for green food, buck-wheat, or any leguminous or other vegetable plant, for ploughing in as manure, or summer- tilling any portion of the remainder. ohall not sow any of the lands with two successive crops of corn, grain, pulse, rape, or turnips, for seed, (except the above-mentioned pea and tare stubble), with- out the leave or consent of the said , his heirs, or assigns, being first had and obtained in writing. Lands for turnips, four clean earths at least. The turnips covenanted to be left in the last year, ninety acres to be mucked, so tar as the same will extend, and to be paid for by valuation ; at the same time a due regard to be had to the cleanness ot the land upon which they grow. Sheep, cattle, and all otlier live stock, to be lodged * The Land intended to be «o\vn with pease should not be till 4^ years sfier the commencement of lease, upon supposition that >itiu tenant may not be so situated as to have tli« turnips (covenanted to be lift by old IcaseJ tojnpletely clean. upoa LEASES. 51 upon some part of the premises, when consuming the produce of the farm. Straw, chaff, and coWer, to he left without allowance. Incoming tenant to carry out the crop of corn, not ex- ceeding the distance 'of ten miles, gratis. Rent payable forty days before St. Michaelmas (vvhere- ever a threshing machine is, or shall be erected), it de- manded, by notice ia writing being left at the farm-house to that purpose. £ 2 CHAP. CHAP. V. IMPLEMENTS. FOR more than lialf a century, the implements of Norfolk remained without alteration or addition. ; but of late years many and great improvEmefits have been intro- duced. PLOUGHS, The common Norfolk wheel-plough varies from other wheel-ploughs in three circumstances: I. By the high pitch of the beam. 2. By the wheels being, when in work, brought so near to the point of the shaic. 3. By the general lightness of the tool, when compared with some others. The Hertfordsliire plough has a very long beam, with a low pitch, a circumstance thought in that county to be essential to steadiness of draught ; and when Mr. Arbuth- uoT made a wheel-plough for gaining 1 3 inches depth for the culture of mailder, he adopted a long beam, as es- sential to a great power. Whether the second circumstance in the Norfolk plough^ that of the points in the periphery of (he wheels which touch the ground, being so near to ti)e sliarc point, is really a benefit, remains a question, and greatly merits expeiiment to ascertain. The general lightness of the plough is probably a merit, when the work is easy ; but when we find it not an un- common pracllce to load the body of the tool with a great stone, IMPLEMENTS. 53 ^oiic, to keep It steady, doubts will suggest themselves, that the mathematical constru6lion is erroneous. Bur let me recur to the notes. I foiiiul wheel-ploughs coinmon through Earsham, Lodclon and Clavering Inrndreds, bur a sprinkling of short swing ones, such as are in general iisc, about Thetford, Brandon, &c. In discourse with Messrs. Thttrtell and EvERiT, near Yarmouth, they both insisted on tlie propriety of having tlie share point and the wheels as near together as possible, as the ease of draught depended much upon it ; but admitted that a greater distance would make the plough go steadier, in case of difficulties. Examining the ploughs of Mr. Francis, at Martham,' from perceiving the beams not mounted so high as in com- mon, he remarked, that the wheelwright made his upon Iiis own plan: he has ploughed much with his own hands, and knows that when thcv are very high, the plough is apt not to cut a flat furrow, nor to go close at heel, he therefore lowers the beam, and the share is two feet from the points where the wheels touch the earth ; and the beam-ring being in the centre hole, th-e plough will then go alone without holding. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, has his beams lower than ct^.nmon, and ;ather further from the share point to the wheel points of contatfl with the ground ; nor does he find that his ploughs are at all less easy in the draft. Mr. England, of Binli:.m, thinks that the nearer the share is to the draft, the easijcr for the horses ; the reason for mounting the beam. Mr. Reeves, of VVighton, is ot the same opim'on, ami that the points of wheels and share being near, does nof make the plough go unsteady. When he wants to w/wlm a layer well, be uses ploughs with (he p/a: rather longer, E 3 and 54 IMPLEMENTS, and the beam a little longer, as well as the share point a little farther from the wheels. Mr. Hn.L remarks, that there are tliree sorts of plough- wheels used in West Norfolk; first, all of cust-iron ; se- cond, wooden boxes, spokes, and fellies shod with iron ; tiiird, wooden boxes and spokes, with rims of ham- mered iron. The first are good and safe while at work, but very apt to break as thev move through stony lanes ; the third are light, and do well in dry weather; but the second are the most durable ; he thinks they last out ten sets of the cast-iron, and two sets of the iron-rims. He uses the cast shares of Messrs. Gurney and Co. ; No. 6 of these he mucli approves. Cast-iron wheels are lOs. 6d. a pair ; wooden ones 30s. They do not use wheels o( unequal height in Norfolk, common in Hertfordshire, &c. because in one-furrow work (a species of half-ploughing), the wheels would be reversed, the high one run on the land, and ihc low one in the furrow, as the plough turns the contrary way. The line of tradion, from the tuck of the collar to the heel of the plough, passes tlrrough the axletree- The ploughs are a foot wide at the heel. In the south-west angle of the county, and from Wy- mondham, swing-ploughs only are used. On different farms T followed several of them, most of which were ill construdled ; they ride on the nose, to use the farming term, not going close at heel, adefedl arising from the shortness of the beam. It would be improper to omit noticing the high opinion ■which the great agriculturist, Mr. Coke, has of the Norfolk wheel-plough ; which goes so far as to induce him to be always ready to bet it against any other, on any soil ; and he has in several trials been successful. But for •want of minutes being kept of such trials, and, above all, for IMPLEMENTS. 55 for want of the force exerted being accurately ascertained, these experiments have not been attended with the con- viftion which might have been the consequence. From the preceding minutes it appears, that some doubts have acSluaHy been entertained, by very able and practical farmers, on the usual btrudlure of this plough ; and Mr. Reeve, varying the form in tlie length of beam and the mould-board, when he wants to ivhelm the fur- row well (that is, turn it completely over), confirms the propriety of our considering the struftuie of this plough as not well ascertained. In addition to this observation i have to remark, that in passing through almost every part of the county, I never omitted any opportunity of following ploughs at work, and noticing their steadiness and other circumstances ; and I remarked two very deficient points — they do not gene- rally go close at heel ; and when I desired the men to quit their held, and let the jilough go alone, not one in twenty woukl do it, even for a single rod ; now, a ivheel' plough must lie badly constructed that will not stand this trial, which, for a short distance, is perhaps the best criterion of a swing-plough. I have an high opinion of the Norfolk plougli, when well construdled, and offer these i-emarks merely to insti- gate the gentlemen of the county who take any pleasure Tn rural mechanics, to ascertain these circumstances by experiments which are not difficult to make, and would tend powerfully to give the wheel 'a rights and blacksmiths more certain rules to work by, than they possess at pre- sent. HARROWS. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, thinks that it is common lo put too many teeth in harrows : he chuscs to have his £ 4 harrows 56 IMPLEMENTS, harrows snatch in moving ; and always trots tlje horscu when hnishing turnips. Mr. M. Hill, of VVaterJen, has improved the light harrows of the country, by making them three four- baulked (or rows of teeth), instead of two six-baulked ; the division fits them better to tiic lands. Tlie teeth all round, as he thinks that square teeth gather more as they move, and impede the work. He inclines the position of the teeth to the iron hooks, by which the whipple-trees are tastei-\cd. ROLLER. Mr. Priest, at Besthorpe, uses a roller divided in two parts, rising and failing in the centre, for rolling the slopes of ridges. I have seen the same useful tool at the Rev. Mr. Hill's, in Suffolk. Mr. Coke has the most powerful roller for grass-lands I have seen : it was cast at the Carron foundery ; it is 5 feet 6 inches high, and 5 feet 6 inches long ; weighs 3 1- tons, drawn by 4 horses, and cost 60I. It leaves the sur- face of grass-land in the order it ought always to be in. WAGGONS. Mr. Dekton, of Brandon, has found a considerable saving by the use of light caravan waggons for two horses abreast, with which he carries a chaldron and half of coals, and other loads proportioned. Every man who reduces the teams of any country, will be sure to do this till lie arrives at perfedlion in a one-horse carriage. Verv few waggons are used in Fleg, except for road- work ; chiefly carts and wizzards, CARTS. iMPLEMENTS. ^y CARTS. Mr. Overman, of Burnham, made an improvement in his carts, of beautiful simplicity: instead of the toe- stick, as in the common, drawing out to let the buck tilt up, and deliver tlie load, it turns in the centre on a pivot, and the hooks which confine it at the ends, being each in a position the reverse of the other, the least motion laterally, frees It, and permits the buck to rise. A thought of no small value also, is that of chaining the tail-board to the cart. It is not uncommon elsewhere to see the carter, in unloading, leave his board, and have to go many steps for it; not to mention carelessness in mis- laying, and time lost in searching. Yarmouth, from the singular arrangement of the streets, will not admit common carriages for the domestic purposes of the town. It consists of two large streets, but all the cross-ones (called rou:sJ are so narrow, that a cart more than 3 feet or 3^ broad, cannot enter them. Necessity, there- fore, has happily driven tlie inhabitants to the best of all vehicles fur carriage, those of a single horse or ass; they are not well constru6led, as too great a weight rests oit the back of the animal, from the load being all before the axletree : however, the loads they carry are considerable; seven coombs of wheat are a common load ; a hogshead of sugar the same ; one man and cart have moved ten score of corn in a day. DRILL 58 lATPLEMENTS. DRILL ROLLER. 1 have at different periods made many inquiries for the inventor of this tool, but could not ascertain it thirteen years ago. Mr. Sillis, of Hartford Bridge, near Nor- wich, was mentioned to me as a person who had im- proved it. It is a cylirjer of iron, about seven feet long, around wliich are cutting wlieels of cast-iron, that turn, each independently of the others, around the common cvlinder, weighing from a ton to if, drawn by four horses, and hcavv w^ork. The cutting wheels, being moveable, mav be fixed by washers, at any distance, commonly at four inclies. By passing over a fresh- ploughed layer, the soil is cut into little channels, four inches asunder ; the seed is then sown broad-cast, and the land bush-harrowed in the direcStionof the drills; thus the seed is deposited at an equal depth. George Earl of Orford gave the Writer of this Report one, but the soil was too heavy for it: for breaking clods in a dry sea- son, no tool 1 ever beheld comes near to it. They are much in use in Loddon hundred. Mr. Burton, of Langley, put in a great deal of corn thus, and approves the method so much, that hitherto he has drilled little; but thinks dibbling a vast improvement. The implement was more cominonly used in the county ten or twelve years ago than it is at present, for the drill machine has been adopted by many who formerly had a good opinion of this tool. DRILL MACHINE. Mr. Cooke's drill is very generally used in Norfolk, and I found it every where highly approved. Mr. I'l.llC Jll m*f'- ^<:J.tf .i"o-<" IMPLEMENTS. 5^ Mr, Farrow, of Shipdam, uses tlie drill of Mr. Stanton, of Weybread, the shares of which swing- separately ; but on his land it executes very badly; chokes at 5 J inches, and the delivery very unecjual. Mr. REEvts, of Heverland, has a drill machine made by Mr. Ashby, of Biyborough, in Suffolk, which exe- cutes to his satisfa6tion: lie has iiad it three years; price Th<: Rev. Mr. Munnings, at Gorget, near Dere- ham, uses only ihe barrow-drill, which he had originally from tlic Rev. Mr. Lindsey, of Lincolnshire, at pre- sent Lord Bibhop of Killalloe. He finds it excellent for all purposes, and especially adapted for little farmers, who are weak in horses. He has himself only 48 acres of arable land, and 14 of grass; by means of it, on this poor land, he gets 5 comb of wheat, 7 of barley, and ^ of pease; and once had 12. FIXED HARROW. This implement, newly invented by Mr. Cooke, for attacliing to his drill machine, has been used this year (1802) by Mr. Reeves, of Wighton, who thinks it the best tool he ever saw of the kind. HORSE-HOES, &c. The following tools, invented or improved by the Rev. Mr. Priest, of Seaming, merit the attention of the reader. No. I. 1$ an attempt to delineate the Barrow I used to drop my wheat. [See Plate III.] AB 1 i^ the two handles are 4 feet long. D £, one 60 IMPLEMENTS. D E, one of the feet 13 inclies. The diameter of the wheel, viz. ST, 22 inches. The dimensions of each hopper : LV -I each 6} inclics. KL -| or > i8i inches. HI L P 'J 12 inches of which, x y, makes 4 inches ; or Vand the length of the hairs of the brush is one I W J inch. X Y, is the form of the brush, made moveable upon a hinge at Z, so that the hairs of the brush may a6l by pressing; against a cylinder at the bottom of the hopper, and suffer more or less seed to drop from ir, according as it is pressed against the cylinder by the screw a b. This screw is 3 inches long, fastened to the brush x y, and by aif^inf^ through a female screw e f, fixed at the end of the handle A B, viz. at c, presses the brush against the cylin- der. The cylinder x is in length two inches ; its diameter 2 1 inches. It has twelve cups indented in its surface; each cup | of an inch in diameter. The cylinder is fixed upon the axis of the wheel, and revolves with it at the bottom of the hopper, so as to carry the wheat out of it by the cups on its surface. . The hopper is supported upon the handle A B, al PO, and by the stay F G. No. II. Is an attempt to delineate my. Doubte Bar row — [See Plate IV.] It is only the Barrow No. I. with two wheels instead of one ; the two wheels and the axle-tree are ^^ »1 ^ IMPLEMENTS. 6l are united like the wheels of what are called Tarmouth carts. a b c are diiFerent views of the springs A B, against which the lids of the hoppers fall, and are fastened ; a is a side view, b the back, and c a front view. This barrow, and No. I. I formed myself from a single barrow, which I saw when I accompanied my friend Munnings into Lincolnshire, to visit the Rev. and Hon. Mr. Lind- SEY. Ncic\ — The flat piece of iron k 1, lies parallel, and the plates d g, f h, perpendicular, to the horizon. No. III. My Scuffler [See Plate Y. Fig. i.] is an instrument formed from a double-breasted foot-plough : thus — I took ofFthe breasts of the plough, and had a share larger and flatter than the original share made. I then fastened, at the end of the beam of the plough, a cross beam of wood, 3 feet long, 4 inches broad, 4 inches thick, and at the distance of I2-| inches each way from the centre of this cross-beam, inserted two coulters, each 12 inches long, 3 inches broad, and f of an inch thick on the back, but re- duced to 3-8ths in front; and into these coulters, at the bottom, I rivetted two shares, of nearly the same size as the first share, which was 9 inches broad, but these two only 8 inches. The cross-beam 1 strengthened by two iron reins, or bars, fixed to the cross-beam, and also to the beam of the plough, thus: a m e f n h c d, a part 6t IMPLEMENTS. c d, a part of tiie beam of the plough. a b, the cross-beam. iron reins, or bars to strengthen the cross-beanj. The coulters which are fixed into the cross-beam, do not stand perpendicularly, but inclining, as the coulter o: the head of the plough, thus they are fixed into the cross-beam by a screw, a b, and a nut, c d. The advantage of this scuffler above any that 1 have seen is, that it is used with two horses only. It does the work of more than two ploughs, as the three shares cut nearly the width of 30 inches, whereas two ploughs would cut only 24 inches. My farm consists of heavy land, as well as land of a mixed soil. No. IV. Next I am to describe my Hoe-Plough, which I formed purposely to scarify and hoe wheat on tour-furrow work. At the time when I visited Mr. Lindsey, 1 saw a double mould board foot-plough, which he sent to Mr. MuNNiNGS, and from it I had one made like it. Upon the beam of this hoe-plough I have fixed two scarifiers (or hoes, as I want them), [See Plate V. Fig. 2.] A B represents a part of the back of the beam of the plough ; A the head, and B the tail. — c e is a small iron bolt, with a nut and screw at one end, fixed into a cap upon the beam, to be taken out at pleasure. At each end of this bolt is fixed a chain, c d, e f, each two feet long, and hooked to plates of iron, d g, t h. These plates, d g, fh, are flat, and %\ inches long, 2 {inches broad, and moveable upon staples fastened into the beam : upon the ends IMPLEMENTS, 63 ends of these flat plates of iron are hsed two pieces of wood, do, f p, paralielopipeds, 2 feet 3 inches long, 2f inches broad, and af thick ; moveable at d and f by hooks (upon the wootl of the same bieadth as tlie ii on plates), and eyes (upon t!ie iron places). The points q and r mark, the distances to which the expanding mould-boards are opened, viz. aiir.m 10 inches from one to the other. At m and n, distances beyond the points q and r, are cut grooves through the wooden paralielopipeds, for the scari- fiers and hoes to be fixed in. k 1, is a flat piece ot iron, 3 feet long, and 2 inches broad, y an inch thick, passing through grooves in each parallelepiped, and in the grooves through which it passes are screws to fasten it. This iron does not communicate with the beam of the plough. At s and t, points on each side the beam, are hung weights, such as may be necessary to make the scarifiers or hoes do their work properly. I do not describe my scarifiers and hoes, because they are nearly the same as are used upon all instruments of this kind. RAKE. The hand -wheel rake of Fleg is an excellent implement for both hay and corn : it is to answer the purpose of the common hay-rake ; about foul feet long in the rake, and the two wheels of nine inches diameter, so fixed that the Jecth are kept in any position, at the will of the holder. THRESHING MILL. Mr. Johnson, at Kempston, was so obliging as to order horses into his mill, that I might view it. To mc it appears to be one of the best I have seen ; if not the very best of tJie larger machines, Tlie movements are uncom- 64 IMPLEMENTS. uncommonly smooth. It requires from six to eight horses^ six men, and one woman ; threshes, without any ques- tion, much cleaner than the flail, and, without any douht, cheaper. To bring it to its present perfe6tion cost Mr. Johnson much time, attention, and expense ; but as he was determined to carry his p:)int, he never stopped till it worked to his mind ; and having completed it, the repairs have been quite trifling. He attributes the common complaints of their being always out of order, to original errors or inattention in the constru6lion. The arrangement is excellent, for disposing of the chafF, colder, straw, and corn, at once, in their respedlive places, with- out any confusion or removals ; and it takes up a very small part of a barn. It was built by Mr. Wigful, of Lynn. Mr. Drozier's, of Rudham ; built by Messrs. Wig- ful, 1799: Machine - - - - - - -C- T^ Blacksmith ■).,,. . 2C (. mrintiing repairs - - -^ ( including Carpenter 3 25 Workmen's wages and board, 25 weeks, 4 men 105 Timber and deals _ _ _ - . 40 £■ 265 Including a granary over the wheel, of 26 feet by 24. The threshing-mill, with dressing addition, would have cost about 120I. A repair now in hand will cost lol. at least. V EXPENSE OF THRESHING. £. S. d. Four strong horses, at 5s. - - - 100 One boy to drive - - - 010 Carry forward - - ^. i 10 Three IMPLEMENTS. 65 £. s. ci. Brought forward - i i o 'Three women, to hand and untie sheaves - - - - 020 One man with ditto - - 016 One man to feed the machine - 026 One man clears the machine, and throws the foul corn to the riddle O 2 O One man to carry away straw - 016 090 Repairs and oil, calculated at 10 per cent, on 120I. 12I. At 60 days work - - - - -04 £■ I 14 The mill will thresh 40 comb of wheat in eight hours, 50 comh of barley, 60 of oats and pease, and threshes pease better than any thing. The same men, while the horses bait, dress the corn with the winnowing ma- chine. 40 comb of wheat, 34s. at lod. a comb. 50 comb of barley, 34-s. at 8d. 60 comb of oats and pease, 34s. at 6|d. He is confident that the machine threshes much clean'er than any flails. Every man that has examined the straw, admits this without a shadow of doubt ; and barley equal- ly wiih any other sort. One objed^ion however, is, breaking the straw for thatching ; but this is none for cattle. It makes the chaff good j but leaves no corn in the colder — not a grain. He has not tried threshing with the mill any straw from flails ; but that there is a saving, he has no doubt. Common threshing was never less than is. per comb; may be reckoned for wheat, on an average is. 3d. for this norfolkJ F iieigh- 66 IMPLEMENTS. neighbourhood ; for barley, 6d. the general price, but yd. the average now ; oats and pease, 6d. On an emergency, there is a poAVer of getting corn out much quicker than withuut a machine. Mr. Whiting, of Fring, has a large threshing-mill, built by an engineer from Scotland, Mr. Fordyce. It cost him 200l. ; is worked by 6 horses ; threshes 24 comb of wheat in the dav, 55 of barley, and from 63 to 84 of oats. It has five beaters on the drum-wheel, and the fluted segment of a cylinder which covers the drum in two parts> with an unfluted plate between them, which is raised or sunk by a short lever; this as a guard against stones getting in. In another circumstance also it is singular ; there is a long platform, with a rolling cloth bottom ; the whole raised or sunk at pleasure, for delivering the corn, across the floor space of the barn, from the goff in which the corn is stacked, to the other end in which the mill is built j ■which saves much labour, and works to his satisfa6lion. EXPENSE OF THRES'HPNG. £^. S. d. Four men ; one to feed, one to hand the corn, two at the strawy and one to drive One boy at the straw _ _ - One woman - _ - _ . Six horses _----. X o & Repairs have been considerable, but 10 per cent. a large estimate, or 20I. : if it works 80 days, this is - - --050 This may be called is. a comb for wheat, ^\^. for barley, and 4d. for pease aud oats. As to its performance^ Mr. 0 7 0 Q 0 10 0 0 8 0 12 0 IMPLEMENTS. 6^ Mr. Whiting is well satisfied with it; no flails in com- mon management equal it for cleanness, and with bar- ley as well as all other sorts of corn. The horse-wheel is upon a different constru6lion from the common ones, working by a cogged-wheel of small diameter below, instead of above the horses; and the communicating spindle under their path ; but Mr. Whiting says it is hard work. Mr. Styleman, of Snettishara, has a very capital mill, which cost 300I. It is worked by 8 horses, and threshes in a day of 8 hours 120 comb of barley, pease, or oats, and 80 of wheat. It is afterwards dressed in the hand machine. EXPENSES. ^. s. d. Two men to feed, alternately - - - 040 One at the chaff - - - O 2 o One at the straw - - - ■ 016 Four women - - - -040 Two drivers - - - - 020 o 13 6 4 o Eight horses _ - - - i Repairs, 10 per cent. 30I. : if 80 days work, it is, per diem, - - --07 ;^-2 4 6 The wheat is therefore threshed at 6d. per comb, and the other sorts of corn at 4|d. As to clean work, it does every sort of corn far cleaner than the generality of task- ing, and barley equally with the rest. Mr. Coke, of Holkham, has a very large machine, whicii cost about 600I. Besides threshing, it grinds corn, works two chaff-cutters, and breaks oil-cake. f2 EXPENSES. 68 IMPLEMENTS. EXPENSES. Two men to feed - - Three men to remove straw One sacking the corn Thi ce to hand the sheaves Two drivers _ _ - . One looker-on, to oil, and see all in order Eight horses _ _ _ Interest of 600I. at 10 per cent, 80 days £ £' s. d. 0 3 0 0 4 6 0 I 6 0 4 6 0 2 3 0 2 6 I 4 0 0 15 0 2 17 3 Its work has not been tried with sufficient accuracy •with any thing but wheat, of which it threshes 64 combs a-day: it has sacked 13 combs in an hour; but no rule, as it was a mere exertion : 64 combs, at 52s. 3d. is 9|d. per comb. The common price is is. ; here, therefore, is a saving ; no flails equal it for cleanness in every sort of corn; and it dresses better than any method whatever that has been yet tried. It occupies too great a space in one of the finest barns in England : it prevents the stowing of near 300 quarters of barley. The more of these machines I see, the more I am convinced of the saving that would at- tend the moveable stacks i proposed in the Annals. Mr. Bevax, of Riddlesworth, built one by a person from Leith, in Scotland : it cost lool The following is Mr. Day, the bailiff's, calculation of its work, compared with common flails. TO IMPLEMENTS. 69 TO THRESHING BY FfcAILS. Forty combs barley, at yd. come to -134 To dressing of dit^o - -020 Fifty combs oats, at 6d. Dressing ditto, at is. per score £- 1 5 4 I 0 5 2 0 6 £• I 7 6 I 0 10 2 0 0 L- 1 12 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 £■ 2 2 0 Forty combs rye, at gd. Dressing ditto, at is. per score Forty combs wheat, at is. Dressing ditto THRESHING BY MILL. Forty combs barley take eight horses, ^ 2s. 6d. - _ . _ J o o Ten men, at is. 6d. each r- - o 15 o To dressing ditto, five men one -day 076 ;^. 2 2 6 Barley costs more by 17s. 2d. Fifty combs oats take eight horses, at 2s.6d. 1 o O Ten men, at is. 6d. each - 0150 To dressing ditto - -076 £-'^ Oats cost more by 15s. r 3 Forty JO IMPLEMENTS. Forty combs rye take eight horses, at 2S. 6d. Ten men, at is. 6d. each Tofivcditto, at is.6(l. one day dressing £■ Rye costs more by los. 6d. Forty combs wheat take eight horses Ten men, at is. 6d. each Five ditto to dressing £' £. i. J, I 0 0 o 15 0 o 7 6 , 2 2 6 I 0 0 o 15 0 o 7 6 . 2 2 6 Wheat costs more by 6d. ^ The flails thresh mucli cleaner, as the thatching of the stacks proves ; so that if this article were brought to ac- count, it v/ould go much further against the mill. Nor is here any thing reckoned for repairs, which have always amounted to from 61. to 81. a year: to which add 5I. inte- rest of capital, and the worthlessncss of bad threshing mills will be sufficiently obvious. 1802. — iVIr. Bevan has had the machine eight or ten years ; and thinks the material objeft is the power of get- ting out a crop to sell for seed, or to employ the men and horses in a wet day ; but is clear that if he had it not, he xvould not build one, unless he was certain of its threshing barley cleaner than his does. Mr. Farrow, of Shipdam, has built one of these mills on his new farm at Sayham : Mr. Wigful, of Lynn, was the engineer : it is worked by four, five, or six horses, requiring also three men and three women and a boy. It threshes with that strength 40 combs of pease in a day ; 40 of oats ; 30 of barley ; and 20 of wheat ; but the dressing is not more than half effedted, so that the com- mon IMPLEMENTS. 7I TOon machine is necessary to finish it, by which a mail snd woman will dress 60 combs a day. It threshes all grain very clean ; barley as well as the rest ; and in a ye?r and quarter's nearly constant work, has not demanded any repairs. Yet upon the whole Mr. F. is not well satisfied •with it. On examination, I found it very aukwardly placed; the delivery of the corn is in too confined a space, close to a wall, so that men must attend to take it away ; the straw is thrown out against a door into a yard, when it cannot all be wanted, and no sufficient receptacle fordiechafF: the appearance is as if the machine was hooked into a building, and not the building raised for the machine. One is never to see an end to ill adapted farm buildings. Mr. Goocrf, of QuidJenham, has a thresh ing-miU built by BuRREL, of Thetford. It works with two horses; and tlireshes all sorts of grain to his satisfatflione barley included. Mr. Reeves, of Heverland, has a threshing-mill, which is, I think, nearer to perfection than any other I have seen : it is made by Mr. Assby, of BIyborough, in Suffolk ; works with two or three horses, and cost 100 guineas. I found it at work, threshing oats: it does for barley, as well as for any other grain, threshing 32 combs in a day, of 7I hours; more of oats; 40 of pease, and 30 of wheat : its day's work of wheat, threshed the day before 1 was there, was 31 combs, standing sacked in the barn. It varies considerably in the beating-drum cylinder from the others [ have seen, it being of a much larger diameter, and has 11 beaters. Mr. Reeves is perfed^iy well satisfied with it ; and the men all agreed that it does the work much better than the flail. It has had no repairs in the threshing one crop ; nor does he, from the simpli- F 4 city 72 IMPLEMENTS. city of the movements, expe£l that It will be hi that respedl the least expensive. Mr. Beck, of Castle Riseing, has a threshing-mill built by Mr. Wigful, of Lynn ; he works it with four, five, or six horses, three men and three women. It threshes 32 combs of wheat, 64 of barley, or 80 of pease, in a day ; cost 200 guineas, and has had very trifling re- pairs in three years, not 3I. and threshes barley as clean as anv other grain. I saw it at its work, and clean done. CHAFF-CUTTER. Mr. BuRToK, of Langley, has so high an opinion of cutting hay into chafF, that he gives his horses nothing else; and finds that a bushel weighing 141b. will go as far as 30lb. given in the common way. Mr. Kerrich, of Harleston, has attached one of Salmon's chafF-cutters, which cost him twenty-two guineas, to his malt mill ; and as he had to fix it in a chamber near to the stable, for the chaff to fall at once into the chaff-room, which joins it, and the whole build- ing detached from the mill, he very ingeniously con- trived a communication of the power, under the pavement of the yard, by a universal joint. The engine cuts 40 bushels an hour, with no other expense than feeding; and the addition of labour to the horse so small, that a inan*s force will take the whole pressure off. He finds the saving, by giving hay in chaff only, to amount, at the lowest computation, lo one-fourth. He also applies the engine to cutting green rye, mixed with an equal quantity of hay, which makes a most fragrantly sweet food, with attention not tokeep it after cutting more than six or seven hours. Two acres of rye thus used in soiling, last twenty horses IMPLEMENTS. 73 fior&es three weeks : succeeded by winter tares, and tliesc bv summer tares. STEAM-ENGINE. IVIr. GoocH, of QuidJcnliam, in Norfolk, having a water-mill which was sbmetimes unemployed for want of water, eredted a steam-engine contiguous, at the expenic of about 500I. The stove which heats the boiler, is so contrived as to burn coal to coke for his malt-house. Oi^e man attends both the engine and the cinder oven. It was, in the drought of 1800, of singular use to the whole country, for wind and water having both failed in a great measure, corn was brought from ten miles distance, to be ground by this engine : he has two pair of stones to tlic water-wheel, and two pair to the engine. The power, that of twelve horses. The hist steam-engine ere6led in Norfolk for inerely agricultural purposes, and, for what I know, in England, is one now ere6iing at Haydon, by Colonel Buller. He has coniradled for the sum of 6ooI. it is to do the work of ten horses; to work a threshing-mill that shall thresh and dress six lasts a day : it is to grind com also, and cut straw ^ to grind nine bushels of wheat with one bushel of good Newcastle coals, of 841b. weight, and this with all the other works going on at the same time : the Colonel to find timber. Last year his hay and straw cut- ting cost above 70I. therefore little doubt can be entertained of the plan answering. Under the head Implements, I must not conclude vvith- oul mentioning a person of most extraordinary mechanical talents. Mr. Jex, a young blacksmith at Billingford, at 16 years of age, having heard that tliere was such a machine as a way-meas>urer, he refiedicd by what machinery the result could be prodixed, and set to work to con- trive 74 IMPLEMEKTS. irivc one : the whole was his own invention. It was cJone, as might be cxpcdied, in a round abo^Jt way, a motion too acceiei atcd, carrddted by additional wheels ; but throughout the complexity such accurate calculations were the basis of his work, that when finisiieil and tried, it was perfectly corre6\ without alteration. His inventive talents are unquestionable. He has made a machine for cutting watch pinnons ; a depthening tool ; a machine for cutting and finishing watch-wheel teeth, of his own in- vention ; a clock barrel and fuzee engine, made without ever seeing any thing of the kind. He made a clock ; the teeth of the wheels cut with a hack saw, and the balance ■with a half round file. He has made an elcd^rical ma'-- chine, and a powerful horse-shoe magnet. Upon being shewn by Mr. Munnings a common barrow-drill, the delivery by a notched cylinder, he in- vented and wrought an absolutely new delivery ; a brass cylinder, with holes, having moveable plugs governed by springs, which clear the holes or cups, throwing out the seed of any size with great accuracy; and not liking the api)lication of the springs on the outside of the cylinder, reversed the whole ; and in a second, now making, placed them most ingeniously within it. He has not yet failed in any thing he has undertaken : he makes every thing himself: he models, and casts them in iron and brass, having a powerful wind-furnace of his own invention. It is melancholy to see such a genius employed in all the work cf a common blacksmith. However, he is only 23 vears of age, and 1 am mistaken greatly, if he does not ere long move in a much higher sphere. This is not a country in which such talents can long be buried : a mind so occupied has had no time for vicious habits ; he is a very sober honest young man, and bears an excellent charadter. CHAP. ( 75) CHAP. VL ENCLOSING. THE number of parliamentary enclosures tliat have taken place of late years in Norfolk, and the remarkable improvements which were known to have flowed from them, made it an obje61: of considerable importance to ascertain the result, as far as it could be procured by visit- ing the respecflive places, or obtaining information from the Commissioners, or other persons interested in the work thus effected. With this view I visited many of them, and gained the best intelligence to be procured concerning the rest. The following alphabetical table contains the result of these inquiries, with such additions, not immediately relative to enclosing, as circumstances induced my attending to. ACLE, 1797. Quantity. — About 350 acres of common, 300 of it grass ; the great objedl laying lands together: no half-year land. Rent. — Now 20s. and upwards. Corn. — Increased. Sheep. — None before, nor at present : not 100 in the parish. Cowi. — The same ; but few \ they might keep more : perhaps more bullocks. Course. — Now, i. Turnips; 2. Barley; 3. Seeds, one year ; 4. Wheat ; 5. Barley or oats ; a middling crop of barley, 76 ENCLOSING. barley, lo comb an acre; wheat, average 9 comb ; oats 20 comb sometimes, average 14; turnips, all for bullocks, and generally in stalls. Improvement.-^— The chief improvement is the bringing maile from Thorpe, near Norwich, by water ; notwith- standing which conveyance it costs 4s, 6d. a cart-lo:.d, and to 5s. or more on the land : they lay on 8 or 9 loads an acre, "which lias more eiFedt than 40 or 50 of what they call clav, though that has a good effervescence with acids. The marie works sooner, and mixes better. The marshes are very extensive, and have for centuries yielded much stuff, as ruj;hes, &c. for making dung, and thus contri- buted to the great fertility of much of this country. More than 8 or 9 loads of marie is prejudicial for a time ; a farmer in the neighbourhood tried 12 loads, and did mis- chief at first. Population. 1780. — Males, 3 1785- —Males, 9 Females, 5 Females, 6 — 8 1781. — Males, 7 1786.- —Males, -IS 4 Females,- 7 Females, 3 — 14 — 7 1782. — Males, 10 1787.- -Males, 8 ' Females, 5 Females, 7 — 15 — I? 1783 — Males, 7 1788.- —Males, 12 Females, 1 1 Females, 8 —18 1784. — Males, 5 1789.- —Males, — 20 S Females, 8 Females, 5 — 13 — 10 Males 70 ^zs Females, - - 65 J 790. ENCLOSING. 77 1790-- — Males, 7 1795- —Males, 4 Females, 4 Females, 2 I79I-- -Males, — II 12 1796.- -Males, — 6 8 Females, 9 Females, 6 1792.- —Males, — 21 13 1797.- —Males, -6'* Females, 13 Females, 12 «793.- —Males, —26 2 1798- —Males, — 18 II Females, 5 Females, 12 1794.- -Males, — 7 3 1799- —Males, -23 10 Females, — 16 Females, 8 —18 Males, 76 160 Females, - - 84 BUR lALS. 1780.- —Males, 9 1785.- —Males, 6 Females, 10 Females, 10 1781.- —Males, —19 4 1786.- — ]\Iales, —16 5 Females, 9 Females, 3 1782.- —Males, -6'^ 1787.- —Males, - 8 0 Females, 9 Females, 5 1783- —Males, —15 5 1788.- —Males, — 5 7 Females, 5 Females, 5 1784- —Males, — 10 8 1789- —Males, — u 5 Females, 7 —IS Females, 6 — II Males, 55 124 Females, - - 69 1790 78 ENCLOSING. 1790- — Males, 6 I795-- —Males, It Females, 8 —14 Females, 6 —17 1791. — Males, 6 1796.- —Males, 3 Females, 2 — 8 Females, i6 1792. — Males, 8 1797.- —Males, 5 Females, 3 — 1 1 Females, 6 — II 1793. — Males, 4 1798- —Males, 6 Females, 3 — 7 Females, 4 — 10 1794. — Males, 4 1799.- —Males, 3 Females, 2 — 6 Females, 4 — 7 97 Males » ~ ~ - 56 Females, - - 41 First period. Baptisms, m - 135 Burials, - - 124 Increase, - - II Second period. Baptisms, - - 160 Burials, - - 97 Incrca se, - - 63 ASHILL. — ENCLOSED I785. Soil. — A very good mixt soil ; scarcely better corn -land in Nortolk. ^antity^ ENCLOSING ''• Acres. Value. ^uan'liy.- — Whole year land - «93 £. 610 Half year ditto - 819 468 Land in dispute - 329 190 Commons 933 2974 - 550 i8i8 Roads 20 79 2994 tl^nt. — Quality price 18I. i8s. Fifty-four Proprietors. Course. — Now, I. Turnips; 2. Barley; 3, Glover, one year ; 4. Wheat; 5. Someiimes Barley. Coivs. — Have diminished. Poor. — 39 acres of common for the poor; fed by all whose occupation is underjl. a year ; and 32 let, and applied in coals. The former of no benefit, from abuses. They take in stock, and call it their own, but none of the real poor enjoy the benefits. Tithe. — Remains subje6l, and pays 5s. and 5s. 6d. an acre. Corn. — The produce of corn lias increased to an extra- ordinary degiee. They raise upon the besi land wheat of 8 combs an acre ; oats 20 combs; and barley 14. Improvement. — Has been in general great : the land, which before enclosing was worth but little, has been sold so high as 40I. an agre. 1770. r aptisms. Burials. Daptlsms. BurialJ, I770 - 15 - 6 1785 - 23 - 14 I77I - H - 4 1786 - 13 - 14 1772 - 7 - 7 17S7 - 18 - 6 1773 - 12 - 8 1788 - 14 - 7 1774 - 12 - 9 1789 - 16 - 5 J775 - 15 - 9 1790 - 18 - 9 1776' - 13 - 5 1791 - 11 - 12 1777 - 19 - 7 1792 - 14 - 4 1778 - 10 - 16 1793 - 26 - 11 1779 - 16 - 15 1794 - 11 - 7 1780 - 15 - 9 179s - 19 * 9 1781 - H - 9 1796 - 23 - 8 1782 - 10 - 17 1797 - ^7 - 5 1783 - IS - H 1798 - 16 - 8 1784 - 8 195 ^3 1799 18 257 10 148 129 First 1 period 15 years befo le the enclosure, Bapt sms - - - ^95 Buri lis Iiicrea se _ 148 47 Second period, 15 years sin ce tke cnc losiire, Bnpt "sms - - ■ 257 Burials - - - 129 Increa se - 128 EANHAM,»^ACT I7S9. Quantity. — About looo acres: 6co of heath and com- mon ; no open arable. Soil. — Very gocd strong land j clay bottom^ Rent. ENCLOSING. 8i Refit. — Quality price from 15s. to 25s. Corn. — All turned to arable. S^ccp. — 6 or 700 sheep were kept; no'w not more than 300 ; but much better : some farmers breed, and some graze. The common was much subjedl to the rot. Cows. — Nearly the same as before. Tithe. — Remains subjeft. Rates. — Heavy, and always were so: 3s. 6d. or 4s. In the pound. Expenses. — There was much road to make, and cost above 2000I. Poor. — An allotm.ent of 30 acres of turf fen, for fuel. No complaints of any injury. The herbage of the 30 acres is given among them. Improvcmmi. — All clayed ; and where wet, hollow- drained. POPULATION. Baptisms. Burials, Baptisms. Bcrlals. 1778 - 36 II 1789 - 28 - 18 1779 - 25 - 16 1790 - 38 - 14 1780 - 28 - 21 I79I - 39 - 9 1781 - 31 - 21 1792 - 41 - IS 1782 - 27 - 26 1793 - 50 - 25 1783 - 31 - 27 1794 - 41 - 29 1784 - 30 - 24 1795 - 34 - 19 1785 - 32 - 16 1796 - 39 - 34 1786 - 29 - 17 1797 - ZS - 16 1787 - 40 21 1798 - 37 - 13 1788 - 29 - 19 1799 - 44 - ' 18 33^ 219 426 210 «ORFOtK.] First 8ft ENCLOSING. First period. Births . Burials - Increase - Second period. Births - Burials . 338 219 119 426 210 Increase - - 216 BARTON. — ENCLOSED I774. Shtanthy. — Open fields, 2626 acres ; commons and wastes, 784; total, 4087. Soil. — Much of it strong land j but some on chalky Rent. — Now about 2000I. Tithe. — Land assigned, about one-seventh. Corn. — ^Increased much. BINTREY AND TWIFORD. — ENCLOSED I795. Soil. — Mixed soil ; turnip and wheat land. Quantity. — About 1 950 acres; open fields 661 acres; 309 commons ; the rest old enclosures, or whole year land. Reni- — Before enclosing about 1200I. ; quality rent, 1560I. The commons let at 20s. which were not wordh 2S. 6d. before. Course. — On part of it five shift husbandry ; on part six. Corn. — A very great increase from the common. S/ieep. — Certainly increased. Cow^. — Not diminished ; as some part remains in pasture. Improvement. — The commons drained and cbyed. Tit/ie. — Remains subje61:. Poor. — There vv-ere 26 acres allotted for fuel, let by the parish. There were 46 commonable rights ; the whole divided according to value : very few little proprie- tors ; but small occupiers suffered. ' Expenses. — 19C0I. ; paid by rate. BIRCHAM ENCLOSING. 83 SIRCHAM (great). — ENCLOSED I746. I attempted to procure information here, but every body Was dead who lived at tlie time, except the old Parish- Clerk, who remembered nothing more than v/orking at the fences. Corn must be increased. Baptisms . Burials. Biptisms. Burials, 1680 10 II 1700 - i I - 8 1681 9 - 8 1701 - 9 - 9 1682 12 - 13 1683 - 7 - S 196 155 1684 8 5 : 1685 12 5 1702 - 13 - 6 1686 5 - 10 1703 - 13 - 7 1687 6 - 6 1704 - 4 - la 1688 6 - 6 1705 - 9 8 1689 7 - 7 1706 - 2 - A Gap in the Registef. 82 76 1722 - 7 - 9 1723 - 13 - 9 1690 8 4 1724 - 7 - 3 I69I 7 - 5 1725 - 6 - 7 1692 12 - 7 1726 - 12 - 5 1693 9 - 3 1727 - 12 - 10 1694 8 - 4 1728 - 8 - 12 1695 6 11 1729 - 7 - 7 1696 - 13 10 1730 - 8 - 7 1697 9 - 9 1731 - 10 ' 3 1698 9 . - 4 1732 - 15 - 9 (699 i> - S c 1733 2 " 20 - 9 1734 54 EKCLOSIKG. Baptisms. Burials. Bapiismi. Buriah. ^34 8 - 7 1760 4 - 4 1735 - 17 - 10 1761 7 - S ^73^ 9 1 1 1762 0 - 6 1737 - 15 - 9 1763 6 - II 1738 12 2 1764 4 I 1739 - 19 - 5 1765 3 - 6 I740 9 - 14 1766 7 - 8 1767 8 - 8 214 148 1768 6 - § 1769 6 - 6 1741 - 23 - 5 1770 8 . - 7 1742 - 13 - 8 1771 5 - 5 1743 - 17 - 7 1772 7 - 6 1744 9 2 1773 5 - 5 1745 5 - 8 1774 5 - 5 1746 8 5 1775 6 5 1747 9 2 1776 12 - 6 1748 7 - 7 1777 - 15 - 8 ^749 8 2 1778 7 - 6 175° 12 II 1779 7 - 6 I75I 6 - 5 1780 - 15 - 7 ^752 8 I 1781 6 - 12 1753 8 - 6 1782 7 - 8 '754 12 - 7 1783 ' 15 - 8 ^755 2 5 1784 - 14 - 9 1756 8 - 4 1785 - 16 - 8 1757 6 - 9 1786 12 - 7 1758 7 - 7 1787 12 - 7 1759 5 0 1788 9 4 1789 - 14 - 8 173 lOI 25f 203 1790 ENCLOSING. 85 Baptisms. Burials. Baptisms. Burials. I790 - 5 - 6 1797 9 - 5 I79I - 13 - II 1798 9 - 6 1792 - 11 - s 1799 II 2 1793 - ^3 - 6 1794 - 10 - 12 102 62 1795 " 12 ~ 4 1796 - 9 - 5 Baptisms In 19 years immediately preceding tlie enclosure Burials Increase 214 148 66 Baptisms in 19 years immediately following the enclosure - - - 175 Burials - - - idt Increase Ten years from 1780 to 1789 : Baptisms Burials Increase Ten years from 1790 to 1799: Baptisms Burials Increase 74 120 42 102 62 40 The -whole of this account is unfavourable : the enclo- sure lessened Baptisms so far as these data extend ; and in the last 10 years there are i^ fewer baptisms than in the 10 preceding. These arc circumstances not uncommon o 3 in 8.6 ENCLOSING. in this part of Norfolk, and tlicy deserve an attentive in- vestigation. I know knolhing to which to attribute it, except the parishes being occupied by one farmer; or pcr- liaps by two, or at most three, who unite and prevent the settlement of poor, by employing hands only from more populous places. In such a case the local deficiency h mad« up elsewhere. ERANCASTER. — ENCLOSED 1755. family.— About 2350 acres, besides salt-marshes, of whicb 960 were breaks; 1020 common field; 210 half- year land , 160 old enclosures. Soli. — Good sandy ioam. ^Qiit. — What it was before the enclosure is unknown ; now about 2500I. a year. In 1792, there were 1570 acres sold, containing 94O arable, 75 I'resh marsh, and 555 salt Ifoarsh, whicl\ were then rented at 500I. a year. Paor. — Very well ofi' ; Barrow-hills, a common of 65 ^cves, allotted to them ; and each dwelling-house has a fight to keep two cows or heifers ; or a mare and foal; or two horses; and also to cut furze. Rates. — Disbursements for the poor : 1760 1770 1787 . 1794 1799 A rate of 2s. in il. raises 201I. ; this last year the rates therefore wete above 3s. Tithe. — Remains suhjet^. Corn. — Before the enclosure it was in an open, rude, bad state ; now in five or six regular shifts. POPU- €•91 0 0 119 0 0 180 0 0 203 0 0 0 o<7 0 0 IKCLOSING. 07 POPULATION. Baptisms. 1 Jurials. Baptisms. Burials. 1780 - 7 - 11 1790 - 25 20 lySi - H - ^7 179^ 22 12 1782 - 14 - 8 1792 - 16 . 26 J783 - 8 - ^3 ^93 - ]6 - 5 1784 - J5 - 13 ^794 - 29 . 8 1785 - 10 10 179s - 24 10 i786 - 26 - 6 1796 - 38 - 7 1787 - H - 21 1797 - ^3 - 9 1788 - 20 ■ - 36 1798 il - 5 1789 - 14 - 8 ^799 - 18 10 142 123 182 102 Tenements 1789, ^3^—5^ 14 souls. ^797* 5^ 30 souls. First pe riod Baptisms .- - 142 Burials - - 123 Irxrease - - 19 Second perl od. Baptisms _ . 182 Burials . . 102 Increase So In the last ten years, i in 31 born ; 1 in 56 died. BRESSINGHAM AND FER SPIELD. — 1798. ^uaniiiy. — About 800 acres of common. Jient. — Will be 18s. some worth 30s. Corn. — AH corn. sheep. — Will lessen. Cows, — More will be kept. G4 Peer. 88 ENCLOSING. Poor. — Never cut any fuel on the com men : no allot- ment. Rates. — About 5-5. BRINTON. . B: ptisms. Burials. 1 Baptisms. Buriali. 1780 - 6 _ 0 J) 1790 - 13 - 3 1781 - 10 0 0 1 79 1 6 - 7 1782 - n :> - 3 1792 9 - 2 i7»3 - 7 - 7 1793 9 - 1784 - S - 8 1794 7 - 5 1785 - 8 5 179s 5 - 4 1786 - 7 - 7 1796 7 - 6 1787 - 6 2 1797 8 - 5 1788 - 9 - 8 1798 8 - 1 1789 - 9 - 6 1799 7 - 0 0 70 52 79 39 First period. Baptisms - - 70 Burials - - 52 Increase - - 18 Second period. Baptisms . - 79 Burials - - 39 Increase - - 40 BROOK. -1800. ^ant'ity. — 200 acres of common ; no open field ; all will bt ploughed, except 40 acres ; the value will be above 20s. ; quality price, 15s.; never paid any thing but to jobbers and idle fellows. ENCLOSING. 89 OLD BUCKENHAM. — xlCT I/QO- Quantity. — Near 900 acres of poor common, some wet, tlte rest sandy and gravel ; a little good, that the a^St ope- rated upon. No open field arable. Re>2t. — Quality, price 5s. to 255. Now 15s. and much raised since enclosing. All now, 15s. Corn. — All, except loo acres, converted to arable- S/ieep. — Vervfew kept before ; certainly increased. Cozvs, tec. — Lessened, periiaps two-thirds ; but as niuch butter as before; other kinds of cattle increased. Improvements. — The soil not adapted to the common ones. Tit/ie. — Free before. Rates. — About 2s. except in a year of scarcity. Expenses. — Roads included, above 1500I. Poor. — Had ICO acres of fen allotted for fuel ; the her- bage lets for 12I. a year; had, as at Carleton, a double portion, and set out near rheir houses, nobody suffered or complained ; very few under 5I. a year kept cows ; they have not been injured in any degree whatever : for fuel, arc better off than before; as no draining was done to the ieuy it is not under any regulations. BURNHAM NORTON. This parish was instanced to me, as a proof that the no- minal number of cows kept before enclosing, was a mere fallacy. There is a salt-marsh common, of 15 acres, which, it" embanked, would not let at 15s, There are 24 cows kept on it by the common-right cottagers ; they have no other land ; no hay ; no turnips ; no means of winter support; no enclosures belonging to them. It is not known that they do, or can buy hay or turnips. How the cows arc supported is an enigma ; but, as in summer, there is go ENCLOSING. is not feed IiarJIy for a sheep, it may easily be supposed ■what the 24 cows yickl. Such was the account 1 received in the neighbourhood ; but the circumstances seeming extraordinary, I went to the place itself for further information, and there I was told a rather dilLicnt account : tliat the number of cows ■was 17 ; that they had another small common besides that alluded to; that Mr. Foley, the farmer of the parish, sold them hay and straw for their cows : that he did not disapprove their keeping cows, and that the poor were better contented, and better oiF here, and at Brancaster, than in any perish near them, Tl)is the second attempt; I shall make a third, by seeing Mr. Foley himself. Called ; but not at home. CANTLEY AND HASSINGHAM. — 180O. Quantity. — 6(D0 acres of common ; no open fields ; lOO acres of it to till ; the rest marsh. Rent. — Increased from 5s. to 16s. Sheep. — No sheep ; but will have some. Cows. — Will be increased ; and grazing also. Corn. — Will be greatly increased. CARLETON. — ENCLOSED I777. ^Mntity. — About 3000 acres in all : enclosed about 1200, chiefly common. Soil. — Sandy loam ; good mixt soil, upon a clay bottom. Rent. — Old enclosed land, 15s, to 20s. before the enclo- sure ; verv little open field ; new rent of enclosed com- mon, 15s, to 20E. quality price. Corn. — Greatly more corn produced since than before ; it is the best corn parish in the neighbourhood : the 1200 acres all converted to corn, and very little has been laid down : nearly half more corn than before. S/ieejt, E5JCL0STNG. 9* Shesp.-^ About looo sheep were kept on the common before; now not above halt"; they buy lambs and iatten them, having changed their system to grazing : the sheep before were much subject to rot, and were very ordinary j now very good. Co'u;s. — As many as ever, or rather more, and have a considerable return of fat beasts, as turnips are now laigely cultivated. Horses. — Are increased a third, in consequence ot the increase of tillage. Improvement. — The whole 1200 acres have been marled^, and all the parts that were too wet, have been hollow- drained. \\\ general produce, it may fairly be estimated that the parish produces double what it did before. It gave me very great satisfaction to view this parish, with Mr. GoocH, of Quiddenham, who was a Commissioner in the enclosure, and to whom 1 am obliged for these particulars. The crops,' very generally, great, and the whole face of the parish bore every appearance of a most prosperous cultivation. Tithe. — Remains subject to tithe; they would not take land. Rates. — The rental increased one-third ; and till the last year, not more than 2S. in the pound. Expenses. — The whole about 2500I. Poor. — 40 acres allotted for fuel; not turf, hui Jidg; and, therefore, the laiid let at 15s. an acre, and the money applied to buying fuel. In tiie allotment for common- rights, every poor man who had a 5I. or 61. a year tene- ment, had equal to 10!. given him, in case lie was a poor owner; but notybr the tenement, if belonging to a large pro- prietor. Several poor owners, received for loi. occujjan- cy, two acres. yMmost all kept them; and seveial kept cows, others turned their attention to hemp, turnip seed, &c. ENCLOSING. &c. and have acknowledged that they arc better ofF than before. And very few indeed who had received an ad- vantage from the common before, but what had some thing better, and to their content, in the enclosure. POPULATION. Tw( :nty ■three years before and 23 aft er the cncl osurc. Ikptlsms. B irials. Baptisms Burials. 1754 - 30 - 30 1777 - 28 - 16 175s - 14 - 16 1778 20 - 9 1756 - 25 - 6 1779 - 26 - 20 1757 - 14 - 23 1780 - 19 - 19 1758 - 28 - 11 1781 - 19 - II '759 - 15 - 16 1782 - ^7 - 20 1760 - 27 - 18 1783 20 - 14 1761 - 25 - 19 1784 - 17 - 13 .762 - 17 - 33 1785 - 16 - 9 1763 - 26 - 18 1786 - 18 - 5 1764 - 27 - 29 1787 - 16 II 1765 - 19 - 17 1788 - 17 - 12 1766 - 27 - 21 1789 12 - 6 1767 - 26 - 14 i790_ - 19 - H 1768 - 25 - 17 1791' 8 - 24 1769 - 26 - 28 1792 - H 12 1770 - 21 - 23 1793 - 14 - 6 1771 - 22 - 21 1794 - 18 - 10 1772 - 24 - 18 ^795 II - 10 1773 - 26 - 22 1796 21 12 1774 - 24 - 15 1797 12 - 15 1775 - 27 - 6 1798 - 17 - 6 1776 - 22 - 19 1799 10 - 13 537 440 389 287 f; irs^ ENCLOSING. 93 First period, i^ years before the enclosure : Baptisms . - _ 537 Burials _ - _ 440 Increase 97 Second period, 15 years since the enclosure: Baptisms - - « _ 389 Burials _ - - 287 Increase - - 102 The difference marked in this account is far inferior to the fa6l ; for the number of Anabaptists have multiplied so of late years, as to form a considerable proportion of the whole population. The parish is crowded with inha- bitants, who have increased uncommonly since the encloi- sure. CAUSTON. — ENCLOSED 180I. Thirteen hundred acres of common and warren ; the warren subjec'^ to sheep-walk, and the rent only 20 guineas a year, to Colonel^BuLLER. Remains subjc6t to tithe. The mode of improving has been, to plough it up, and leave it for a year, then coleseed sown, for sheep to ma- rrure and tread it ; then marie, by lease 25 loads an acre for the first course ; and in every after course 10 loads, mixed with dung. Colonel BuLLER has arranged the divisions in such a manner, that the roads open into all jfhc pieces. The acl, roads, commons, &:c. cost Colonel Buller 1300I. : probably the other proprietors' shares might have made the total 2000I. « By 94 ENCLOBING. By means of small allotments let by him to the poot', cows will increase, as they exceed the rights that werd adlually exercised. Slteep will increase after seven years; but during that period excluded by the a6l. The whole parish above 4000 acres ; and the valuation' two years ago tor the rate, 2800I. besides 400I. tithe. The rent of the new enclosed lands, on 2 i years leases, for 10 vcars, 7s. to 8s. ; tlie tenants doing every thing except raising the buildings; but at the end of 10 years, 2S. an acre more. The Colonel reserved between 70 and 80 acres for small occupiers, to enable them to keep cows ; and he has planted 321 acres of the parts where the coinmon had been most pared for fuel, witl) all sorts of trees. CRANWORTH, REMIRSTON, SOUTHBOROUGH. — EN- CLOSED 1796. Quantity — Commons to four parishes, Cranworth anc^ Letton, Remirston and Southborough ; the two latter the largest. 743 acres in all. Remirston 306, Cran- worth 171, Southborough 272 acres. . Jl£nt. — Will be 20s. an acre. Corn. — Greatly increased : the whole under it. Cfftvs. — Few or none were kept by the poor. Now piore cattle of all sorts. Sheep. — None to be kept for seven years in the new enclosures, by the ad:: they will be lessened; but very often used to be rotten. Poor. — They kept geese on the commons, of which they are deprived. But in fuel they are benefited: an allot- ment not to exceed ^^ let, and the rent applied in coals for all not occupying above 5I. a year : this is to the ad- vantage of those at Southborough, having enough allowed for EKCLOSING. 9S for their consumption; at Cranvvorth the poor are more numerous, and the coals of little use. The allotment for the poor at Letton, is 1 7 acres. Ten are left as a pasture for the cows' of those who rent under 5I. per annum. Seven are let to the highest bidder, and the money is applied to the purchase of fuel. The number of those who keep cows, is five. All encroachments within thirty years to be divided as common ; but to be allotted to persons in possession, if en- titled to any. Tithe. — The commons to pay is. 6d. an acre the first year; 2s. the second; 2s. 6d. the third ; 3s. 6d. the fourth; and after that remain subjedl:. Rates. — Four shillings to five shillings in the pound- CRANWORTH AND LETTON. POPULATION. Baptiscni, Burials. Baptisms. Burials. 1780 8 ^ 6 1790 - 21 - 9 1781 9 - 6 1791 - 9 - 9 1782 10 - 1 1 1792 - 15 - 3 1783 9 - 1 1 1793 - 14 - 7 1784 12 - ^> 1794- - 16 - 10 1785 II - 1 1 1795 - 13 . 12 1786 - ^7 - 9 1796 - 19 - S 1787 10 - 5 1797 - ^9 - 7 1788 12 - 3 1798 - 22 - 1 1 1789 9 107 - 8 1799 19 167 4- First period. Baptisms - . _ 107 Burials . _ ^ 8c Increase 22 Second 9(>. ENCLOSING. Second period. Baptisms Burials Increase 167 80 ~8^ SOUTHBOROUGH. Baptisms. Burials. Baptisms. Burials. 1780 4 5 1790 - 8 I I78I ? 4 1791 - 6 3 I78Z 6 2 1792 - 3 I 1783 4 8 '793 - 4 4 1784 4 8 1794 - 4 0 1785 6 2 '795 - 3 0 1786 3 I 1796 - 9 2 '787 3 5 '797 - 4 3 1788 3 3 1798 - 4 3 1789 4 0 '799 - 3 I 42 38 48 18 Firit period. Baptisms Burials Increase Sec^Jnd period. Baptisms Burials Increase 42 33 48 30 R E Y- BNCLOSING, 97 RIMERSTONE, ENCLOSED. fiaptisms. Burials. Baptisms. Burial-?. 1780 - 6 5 1791 - I I 2 1781 - n 5 1792 - 5 3 1782 - 4 4 1793 - 6 3 17«3 - 4 I 1794 - 7 3 1784 - 6 5 1795 - 5 3 1785 - 10 8 1796 - 6 a 1786 - 3 7 1797 - 7 2 1787 - 6 1 1798 - I 7 1788 - 8 6 1799 - 6 2 1789 - 5 5 1866 - 7 2 63 47 6 1. 29 Increase 16 Increase 32 DERSINGHAM. 7?^;?.'. — Doubled. Corn. — At least twice as much corn raised as before the enclosure. sheep. — Increased. Coii's. — About the same number as before. Tithe. — Remains suhjefl. Poor. — The poor are not atFedted, exxept by the In- crease of employment. The common remains common, but stinted by the Commissioners. KORFOLK.J OOCKINO. 98 EN'CLOSING. DOCKING. liiplbms. Burials. 1 Bsptisms. Burials. i73o - 24. iS 1790 - 20 - ir 1781 22 12 '79' - n - 8 17S2 20 21 1792 - 24 - 16 '783 - 19 - 14 1793 - 20 - 14 1784 12. 22 179+ - 23 - '7 178J - 23 I I 1795: - 16 - 7 1786 20 - 15 1796 - I? - 16 1787 - 29 12 '797 - 18 - 10 X788 13 9 1798 - 19 - 17 1789 . 24 10 1799 - 22 - '5 206 144 194 131 First period. Baptisms - - - 206 Burials Increase _ _ «. 144 62 Second period. Baptisms - - - 194 Burials - - - 131 Increase 63 DOWNHAM. Baptisms. Burials. Baptisms Burials. 1780 - 26 - 44 1790 - 57 - 35 I78I - 38 - 54 1791 - 42 - 23 1782 - 27 - 45 1792 - 39 - 25 J783 - 49 . 42 1793 - 34 - 27 1784 - 30 - 42 1794 - 45 - 3t 1785 - 36 - 27 »795 - 39 - 40 1786 - 31 - 43 1796 - 53 - 26 1787 - 39 - 36 1797 - 44 - 28 1788 - 42 . 46 1798 - 40 - 3» .-789 - 35 33 1799 » 42 - 2; 353 412 435 292. Burials ENCLOSIfTG. Burials In the first ten years Baptisms - Decrease Baptisms in second ten years Burials ncrease 99 412 353 7* 59 435 292 143 LITTLE DUNHAM. — ACT t'ASSED I794. Quantity. — About 1800 acres in the parish, of which 360 are common. Improvement. — Had great effe6l on the common, and by exchanges ; and half-year lands were much improved. Poor. — Thirty-five acres of common let for 46I. a year, to be distributed in coals, instead of their cutting whins (not turf). Last winter each family had 22 bushels of coals. Very few kept cows. Ifit/ie. — Remains subje6l. Expenses. — 1260I. POPULATION, Baptisms. Bu rials. Baptisms . Burials. 1780 5 - 8 1790 H - 5 I78I 8 - 6 1791 8 - 9 1782 5 - 3 1792 10 - 3 1783 6 - 2 1793 - 7 - 5 1784 7 - 6 1794 7 — *> 1785 10 - 7 179s 11 I 1786 9 - 3 1796 S 1 1787 8 - 4 1797 11 " 8 1788 9 - 4 1798 7 - 3 1789 12 - 8 1799 9 - 5 79 51 86 48 K 2 £i|g;hteen lOO ENCLOSING. Eighteen years, 1562 to 1579 : JBaptisms - - 68' Burials - "59 Increase - 9 Twenty years, 1580 to 1599: Baptisms - ^35 Burials - 72 Incrtase - 63 Twenty years, 1720 to 1739 : Baptisms - n6 Burials - 81 Increase . 35 Twenty years, 1740 to 1759: Baptisms - 131 Burials - 72 Increase - 59 Tv.'enty years, 1760 to 1779 : Baptisms - 102 Burials - . - 78 Increase 24 Twenty years, from 1780 to 1 [799: Baptisms - 165 Burials - 99 Increase - 66 Baptisms. »-First period - 68 Second - ^35 Third - n6 Fourth - - 131 Fifth - - 102 Last - - 165 The account is remarkable ; but in whatever h'ght viewed^ ENCLOSING. 101 viewed, it proves the superior population of tlie present ^riod. Survey taken in 1792 : Men (above 16) • lih^ Women Male Children Female ditto - - 44-' ^ Souls 206 Forty-four families; 39 married couples. Males 100. Females 106. Forty-one houses. In 1763 tjjere were 172 souls. If the average numbei- be 190, deaths will be i in 38 ; births I in 21. — (Note in the Register.) EATON. Baptisms. Burials. Baptisms Burials. 1780 6 - 6 1790 11 - 6 I7SI - 16 - 8 1791 6 4 1782 9 - 5 1792 II - 5 1783 5 - 6 1793 7 - 4 17^4 9 - 8 1794 - 13 - 4 1785 9 - 6 1795 7 - 3 1786 6 - 6 1796 8 - 5 1787 - 13 - 4 1797 10 - S 1788 6 - 8 1798 - 14 1 J789 8 - 4 1799 6 - 3 87 61 93 40 "3 First 102 ENClJOSING. First period. Baptisms - - - 87 Burials - - - 61 Increase - - - 26 Second period. Baptisms - . - - 93 Burials . - - 40 Increase - - - 53 ELLINGHAM. — ENCLOSED I798. ^antity, — About 2C00 acres, old enclosed land. > 800 common divided by the a6l. 2800 Rent. — About 14s. or 15s. old rent: quality price, 15s. to 17s. Soil. — A loam on clay ; some light soils. Poor. — The allotment for fuel by the acl, as the Com- missioners «hari appoint. There are 64 common-rights ; they have allotted 60: there were scarcely any cows kept by the poor, as they would have been starved by the sheep. Cows. — Mere \y\\\ be kept in consequence of the enclo- sure. Sheep. — Will be decreased. Corn. — All will be in course under corn, and the in- crease very great. Tithe. — For five years from the award, is. an acre, if not broken up ; and 2s. on such as is ploughed : then to remain tithcable. Rates. — Are about 4s. in the pound. FELTHORI'E. — ENCLOSED I779. ^'antity. — About 1 500 acres ; old enclosure, about one- third, or two-fifths ; common, three-fifths. Soil, ENCLOSING. 103 Soil. — OIJ enclosures, red sand ; tlie new, a grey sand on red and white sand. Rent. — Before enclosing, 600I. ; at present not Sool. Poor. — The coinmon was so valuable to the poor, or thought to be, that the farmers could not get their work done; tliey cut fuel, whins, &c. for sale, and the place harboured poacljevs, &:c. — Twenty-hve small occupiers ; only four above 40I. a year : many very small, and gene- rally owners. They arc comfortable, though they work harder than day labourers ; they were not well treated respec^ling pasture; bat they have a common of 50 acres for fuel, which they itcd.. Corn. — There ii;iy be a little increase; but question- able : perhaps no:c at all. Cov:s. — Perhaps more cows ; but doubtful : the poor kept before, and do so iiow. Sheep, — Little differeiice ; for several years fewer. Tithe. — Remains subje-ft to tithe. Expenses. — The enciosare did not pay them. Rates. — This year aboui 6.s. ; in general alwut 4s. Improvement. — Mr. Wright, on a summer •^allow, drilled an acre with sainfoin, July 1799; ^'^ looo it did nothing: soil, a red %and bottom. In icDc>, six acrci carrots of his did well, though a had season for hoeing; these were on red but good s.ind,. •vOidi 12s. an acre. He had lived at Sutton, n^ar Wcxjchridee, where carrots are a common article of culture, ana did not observe the husbandry in vain: I hope he wit* Udly establish it on these sands, some of which are well adapt- ed to it. The husbandry which should be adopted, is to pare and burn tor turnip.-, fed with sheep ; then plougli well for buck- wheat (ofwhich there is mucl) in the parish), and with it lay down to grass lor a sheep-walk ; sowing bumct, chicory, H 4 cocks- 104 ENCLOSING. cocks-foot, ynrrovv, &cc. : tliis would be a great and lasting iniprovesnenr, and would, hereafter, give good corn. — I do not know any w'lere, after an enclosure, a pariili that carries so unimproved a countenance as this, unless it be the heatlis at Kelling Little or no use is made of the allotments of common : they generally Jie in their waste state : they say, for want of marie or clay, •witliout which tnrnips are anburicd; and yet some small pieces have been pared and burnt, but being exhausted by repeated crops of corn, the land and the husbandry both are abandoned. Some pieces have been sold since the adl passed, at 40s. an acre ; at 20s. and even at 14s, as it is said: yet these poor grey sands do exceedingly well for potatoes; many are cultivated, and in 1799, as many were produced on one acre, as would have paid the fee simple of 10. Population.- — The register most irregularly kept, and births and burials so jumbled together, that even for the last eiglit or ten years (all i could get at) they are not easily ascertained: Captisms. Burials, J792 8 4 1793 8 . 10 1794 -II 5 J 795 11 4 1796 9 5 J797 2D I 1798 10 2 1799 6 I I have little faith in the account: no resident clergy- jpaa ; the case of half the county. FiNCHAiyi:, ENCLOSING. 105 FINCHAM. — ENCLOSED I772. ^ant'ity. — 2953 acres ; by the award, divided amongst L9 proprietors, viz. No. I. - 1288 No. 16 - 21 2 - 358 17 - 12 3 - ?pi 18 - 13 4 - 141 19 - 5 5 - 39 20 - 5 6 - 90 21 - 10 7 - 55 22 - 16 8 - 66 23 - 10 9 - 121 24 - 10 10 - 74 25 - 7 II - 27 26 - 7 12 - 20 27 - 7 13 poor - 51 28 - 61 15 ■" 78o 22 - 18 1790 10 - 13 1781 18 - 9 1791 21 - 7 1782 9 - H 1792 21 - 9 17^3 - 16 - 6 1793 21 - 5 1784 - H - 12 1794 20 - 7 1785 - 18 - 16 1795" - 19 - H 1786 ■ 24 - II 1796 - 17 - 10 1787 - 16 - II ^797 - 23 - ^ 1788 - 17 - 6 1798 - 26 - iS ^789 . 19 - 7 1799 18 - 9 ^73 1 10 196 98 First 122 ENCLOSING. First period. Baptisms Burials '73 110 Increase - - - ^3 Second period. Baptisms - - - 196 Burials - - - 98 Increase - - - 98 Population in 1795 _ - - ^^9 Average baptisms from J 790 to 1799 - 19 One in 29 therefore born annually. Average burials in the same period, ten. One in 55 dies annually. The Rev. Mr. Alderson, the Re£tor, has great merit for the regular manner in which this register is kept, and the people numbered. January i, il 3oo. Males r Married 1 Unmarried - 114 39 TT 1 f Married r emales J L Unmarried - 114 44 Widowers - 7 Widows - 14 Males under 20 years - 118 Females ditto H5 595 January ENCLOSING. 123 January i, 1801. Males married - 113 Feaial'^s ditto - J 13 Males unmarried, above 20 years 30 Females ditto 3» Males under 20, and above 14 26 Females ditto 34 Males under 14 104 Females ditto 132 Widowers 8 Widows '9 6iO January i, 1802. Males married - 109 • Females ditto - 109 Males unmarried, above 20 years 40 Females ditto - 48 Males between 14 and 20 - 18 Females ditto - 22 Males under 14 - 113 Females ditto, - - 121 Widowers - 7 Widows - - II 598 The decrease has been occasioned by the enclosure of the common, which has lessened the temptation to getting settlements in the parish : poor-rates had risen to such a height, that this parish, Buxton, and Marsliam, have united 124 ENCLOSING. •united for building a work-house, under Mr. Gilbert's a6t, which has carried ofF some to settle elsewhere. IVoodi. — Memorandum in possession of Rob. Mars- j-iAM, Esq. ofStratton Strawless, made bv Mr. Plumb- stead, Re6lor of Heveningham : it appears that the Spanish chesnut, now standing in the church-yard, was planted in 1610. It girted in 1742 - ii feet 7 inches. 1778 - H 81 1782 - '5 c| 1 measured it in 1802 - '5 1 1 All the measures were taken at the same place, four feet I It inches hom the ground, on one side; and four feet tour inches on tlie other. There arc knots at five feet. HEACHAM. — ENCLOSLD J780. Quantity. — Three thousand tlirce hundred and twenty- nine acres, of which 400 salt-marsh ; now worth about Rent. — Now above 15s. (dedudling marsh) an acre, which is more than double what it was before the en- closure. Soil. — Fine loamy sand, on marie, or a chalky bottom. Course. — Before the enclosure they were in no regular shifts, and the field badly managed ; now in regular five shift Norfolk managcmejit. Corn. — The produce of corn is increased by the enclo- sure very considerably. Sheep. — More and larger sheep are kept, and the crop of wool more considerable. Cou's. — More cows are kept; for the common was not divided, only. stinted by the ad. ENCLOSING. 125 Titiie. — Remains subjcdt. Rates. — Ofbte years is. gd. ro 2s. in the pound. Expenses. — 1 1 74^* Poor. — There are fifty-five commonable right-houses, of which none belonged to poor people ; but many to h't- tle tradesmen and small occupieis. The really poor and distressed people had no stock on the fields or common, fur- ther than geese, and could suffer by the enclosure to no other amount ; abundantly made up to them by an ampler and better paid employment. The common-rights them- selves were worth very little before the enclosure, which gave two head of large cattle per right to feed on the com- mon of 209 acres. As to fuel, the poor had no right to cut flag, &c. on the common before, nor of course since: they burn coals, supplied by the parish. To the common- right houses were assigned for each right, tvi'o acres of middling land, or one and half of good, for open field sliackage and feeding ; the right to the stinted common, remaining: there are from twelve to fifteen little and very comfortable ptoprietors and renters of small plots, from two to ten acres ; who have cows and some corn, and what they like to cultivate. A remarkable instance, and I cordially wish it was universal. Most of them have two cows ; some more. Population. — This register, like that of Snettisiiam, kept previous to 1784 so ill, with such a gap of years, as to be useless. 178Q 226 ENCLOSING. Baptisms. Burials. Bapfisms Buriahi 1780 19 - 18 1790 - ^9 9 1781 - 8 - 5 1791 - '9 1 1 1782 16 - 2 1 1792 - 22 8 3783 15 - 10 1793 - 28 - 16 1784 - 17 - 15 1794 - 19 16 1785 - 14 - 20 1795 - 19 - 25 1786 22 - 14 1796 - »7 - 16 1787 18 - 17 1797 - 17 9 1788 - 17 .. 12 1798 - '5 - ^S 1789 - iS - II 1799 " 19 16 164 143 194 * 139 First period. Baptisms - - - 164 Burials - - - 143 Increase - - - 21 Second period. Baptisms - - - 194 Burials - - 139 Increase 55 IIILLBOROUGH. — ACT PASSED 1769. So!/. — Sand : some mixed land. Quantity, — The parish contains 3020 acres: 01 which 420 commons. J^ent. — In 1791 the parish was valued. Farms — No i. — 572 Acres ;^-272 Rent 2-- 535 250 3—356 117 4.-244 120 5.— 407 190 6— J 99 80 Farms ENCLOSINCJ. Fanns — No 7. — 109 Acres £' 30 I^ent 8— 54 50 9— 90 5c> 10. — 100 40 II.— 36 30 2702 1229 Sundries 318 71 3020 ;C-J300 127 Tithe. — Glebes, &c. 300I. Corn. — Produce greatly increased. Sheep. — The number lessened : before the enclosure there was a large flock of ewes for folding ; now they buy and sell for fatting ; under lOOO. Cows. — Lessened ; there are not above 60 at present > some few cottagers have ten or twelve among them. Rates. — For three or four years past, avernge 33-. in the pound. In 1800, 6s. Poor. — Twenty acres were dire6led by the aiSt to be sowti with whins ; and six others for turf and whins, and feed- ing their cows; but the crop of whins was so badly sovvrv or managed, that the produce is trifling; and the people 3uiFered. Population. — Baptisms, tec. for tliirty years before the enclosure. Uaptisms. fiurials. Baptisms. Burials. 1740 5 - I »747 7 - 4 I74I 5 - 5 1748 3 2 1742 5 - 9 1749 6 - 4 1743 10 - 5 1750 6 - 6 1744 8 - I 1751 3 - 4 >745 7 - 7 1752 9 - 8 1746 6 - 7 1753 2 - 4 »7S4 128 ENCLOSING^ Baptisms. Burials. Baptisms, Burial*. 1754 - 5 - I 1764 - 3 - 8 J755 - 5 - 3 1765 - 7 ' 7 175^ - 9 - 4 1766 - ir - 7 '757 - 4 - 7 1767 - 9 - 6 1758 - 4 - 3 1768 - 12 - 3 1759 - 5 - 3 1769 - 7 2 1760 - 4 - 2 1761 - 4 - 4 186 136 1762 - 5 - 6 1763 - 10 « 0 Thirty years sine :e the enc losure. U'lptisms. Burials. Baptisms. Burials. I770 - 8 - 6 1786 - 6 2 177 I - II - 4 1787 - 12 - 3 1772 - 18 - 6 1788 - 10 - 7 1773 - 10 - 6 1789 - 10 - 5 »774 - 13 - 6 1790 - 14 - 6 J775 - 13 - 16 1791 - 9 - lO 1776 - 12 - 4 1792 - 8 - 7 1777 - ^3 - 9 ^793 - H - 9 1778 - 10 - 4 1794 - 7 - 9 1779 - 10 - 7 1795 - 10 2 1780 - 12 - 7 1796 - 13 - 9 1781 - 6 - 15 1797 - 9 I 1782 - 8 - 10 1798 - 14 - 7 1783 - 10 - 6 1799 - 13 - 6 1784 - 9 - 8 1785 - 8 - 4 320 20 r First [ eric d. Baptisms • - - 186 Burials - . - - 136 Increase - - - 50 Second EHCL'OSIN 142 Increase - - - 82 Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 232 Burials - - - 112 Increase - - - 120 OVINGTON. — (see SAYHAM.) ^uavthy. — Six hundred acres of common. Rent. — Was worth 8s, an acre; will be 20s. to 22s. Sheep. — Decreased . Cows. — Decreased. OXBOROUGH. — ENCLOSED I723. ^antity. — About 2000 acres m the parish. Rent, ENCLOSING. I4g Rent. — Now near 900I. a year. The award and all tlie tlocuments relative to the enclosure being lost, the Rev. ]Mr. White, the re<5lor, to whom I applied, and who was so obliging as to give me such information as was in his power, could not satisfy various of the inquiries. Population. — For 20 years past : Baptisms from 1780 to 1789 - - 67 Burials - - - 65 Increase - - 2 Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 " "74 Burials - ^ '53 Increase - - - 21 The people are certainly very much increased, and more than any account of this sort would shew : for the last seven or eight years the Roman Catholics are much increased ; these bury, but do not baptize in the church. In 1782 an enumeration taken : Inhabitants _ _ _ 233 Houses ~ ~ ' 3S Charged to window tax - 9 Families - - - 43 Souls, per house - - - 6f Baptisms and burials for 7 years, 1780 to 1786, 44 45 Average - - - 6 6 One in 39 born — one in 39 buried. PLUMBSTEAD. ^anfityx — About 600 acres of common. No half ycjir land. Rent. — Common worth 12s. and will be wonh 25s. Corn, — Greatly increased. L 3 Shec^. 1^0 ENCLOSING. Sheep. — Decreased. Cgzvs. — Much the same. PORINGLAND AND FRAMINGHAM, 1 8oO. ^antity. — One thousniulonc hundicd and forty acres of common. Known for many years to he fed only by asses, and the worst of Hve stock : never paid (except by fining) oncshiUing. It is bad land ; not worth mote than los. Tithe. — Commuted by a corn rent ; which, on the com- mons and waste lands, shall equal one-tenth part of thc'i-r improved annual value. Shtep. — Decreased. Cokvs. — A decrease. RANWORTH. Baptisms from 1780 to 1790 - - 58 Burials - - - 45 Increase - - ~ '3 Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 88 Burials - - - qS Increase - - - 50 RINGSTEAD. — ENCLOSED 1781. Quantity. — Two thousand six hundred and ninety-seven acres. Sot/.- — Sandy loam. Rent. — Now near 15s. an acre round, which is con- siderably more than double what it was before. Course. — Five shifts at present ; before irregular. Corn. — The produce of corn more than doubled. Sheep. — As many ; not more ; but they were wretched- ly kept before the enclospre. ENCLOSING. I^I Cvws. — More ; and more catile of all sorts. Tithe. — Remains subject. Rates. — Of late about 2s. 6d. in the pound. Poor. — Fifty acres were allotted for cutting whins, and they are restricted to cut in regular crops ; much more than wanted ; so that others take tor various uses. A fair equivalent was given to common-right houses. Very few little proprietors, like those at Heacham, adjoining. Improvement. — Mr. Styleman, after grubbing the whins, ploughed lOO acres of heath, quality at 4s. an acre, and sowed cole, which killed many wethers by the mur- rain, which arises sometimes from feeding cole. After this, he summer-fallowed for wheat, which gave seven coombs an acre, and sold for 930I. POPULATION. Burials from 1762 to 1780 - _ _ i^y Baptisms - « - - 137 Decrease - - - 10 Baptisms from 1781 to 1799 - -j, - 233 Burials - - - it;^ Increase _ - SALT HOUSE AND KELLING. — ENCLOSED I780. family. — About 1200 acres of heath. 1500 half year land. 2700 Soil. — Much black sand on a gravelly bottom ; but some better land. Rent. — The heath yielded little or nothing ; and the half year land was from 7s. to los. an acre^ it is now 15s. L 4 Improve- 74 152 t ENCLOSING. Improvement. — The rent now made by the heath is dilefly by cultivating parts of ir, for the assistance of the rabl)its, that are upon the reinainder : before the enclosure the poor cut whins and flags every where ; since, they arc restrifted to their own allotments, Mr, GirdlestoN£, who is lord of die manor, and has a considerable property here, manages his warren by thus improving parts. He ploughs, and leaves the furrow two years to rot , then clays it 50 loads an acre, and 10 loads of muck, %vorks it for turnips, which are good, worth 40s, an acre j these are sowed with sheep and cattle. Sows oats next, which, in a season not too dry, vield ten coombs: with these he lays down to grass for as many years as it will stand, for the rabbits ; these new lays enable them to give milk, and bring up their young ; when grown, they feed upon the ling, thus giving value to all the rest, and in this Avay is worth 20s. an acre: but w-ould not let lo a farniej» by itself, for more than 5s, or 6s. Corn. — Very rnucli increased. Sheep. — Not so many kept as before the enclosure. Cuws. — Much more cattle kept. Cows are increased, yet the farmers graze more thap dairy ; and tl.e tread of great cattle is wanting ii) feeding off the turnips. Poor. — To every commonable right house under lol. a year, there is a right allotted of keeping a cow, and two hicifers, or a mare and a foal, and of cutting fuel ; J^e- t.vcen three and tour hundred acres being allctred for ihis purpose. Tiiis coinmon is not overstocked, and the poor are much better ott than they were before, as they have it to themselves, all great commoners being excluded ; but being iavested in the chujich-wardens and overseers, as well as in the lord of the manor and the redor, there are seme abuses which might have been avoided. fithe. — Remains su-bjecl : pays 5s. an acre. Expenses, ENCLOSING. 2!;3 Expenses. — About I500I. Present General State. — A very large part of the parish, from being left in warren, has, to the eye, the same dreary, uncultivated, barbarous state, as so many otiier common heaths in the neighbourliood. Those animals are never found but in deserts, and it seems to iiave been a straof^e exertion to have gone to parliament for powers to leave any part -of a parish in such a state. The sail is certainly not good ; but turnips worth 40s. and ten coombs an acre pf oats, are proofs that the land might be profitabl) culti- vated in an alternate husbandry of sheep-walk and corn. Their manner of breaking up and leaving to rot two years, explains the failure; this has been tried in various parts of the kingdom ; and almost every where, whether it fails or not, pi oved unprofitable. It should be pared or burnt for t-urnips or cole, and laid down to grass ; burnet, chicorv, cocksfoot, Yorkshire white, and a little ray, and beino- well loaded with sheep as long as it would last, and clayed ar not, would prepare for one crop of corn to lav down again. But the notion that the land is good for nothino' but rabbits, makes it so. POPULATION. — SALT-HOUSE. ijapt^isms twenty years before the enclosure - 164 Burials . „ - _ _ 128 Increase 3^ Baptioms twenty years since the enclosure - 121 Burials - - - - lo'? Increase - - - - 18 This is a singular instance ; for population has unques- tionably declined, as far as this document proves any thing, and considerably too, whether the increase or the baptisms jbe confided in. "^ KELLING. 154 ENCLOSING. KELLING. Burials twenty years before the enclosure - 55 Baptisms -' - - 52 Decrease Burials twenty years since the enclosure - 66 Baptisms - - - 61 Decrease - - - 5 The two parishes together. First period. Baptisms — Salt- House - 164 Kelling - - 52 2l6 Enrials — Salt-House - 128 Kelling - - 55 Increase - - 183 Second period. Baptisms — Salt-House - 121 Kelling - - 61 182 Burials — Salt- House - - 103 Kelling - _ 66 Inc rease 169 ^3 Whatever the cause be, it has, therefore, operated on both parishes. SAYHAM ENCLOSINGi 155 SAYHAM AND OVIKGTON. — ENCLOSED iSoO- ^antlty. — One tlionsand six hundred acres of common; no half year land. Soil. — A marley clay bottom at 12 to iS inclies, over it a vegetable mould. Very superior land: triable loam. Rent. — The value nothing; for it was so overstocked, that though the land is very fine, yet it would have answer- ed much better to have paid a good joist price for putting cattle out, thanjceeping them gratis on the common: notwithstanding this circumstance, however, and the fa _ _ 2100 o o For the first year - - ^\66oo o o No cole would be sown, but they cannot get all ready in time for onts and pease. Second year. 400 acres of cole, at 6 coombs, 2400 coombs at 30s. - _ _ 3600 o o 600 acres of wheat, after pease, at 8 coombs, 4800 at 24s. - - 5760 o O 600 acres of turnips, at3J. - 1800 o O pT. 11,160 o o Third year. 400 acres of wheat, 6 coonribs, 2400 coombs at 24s. . - - 2880 o o 600 acres of turnips, at 3I. - - 1800 o o 600 acres of barley, at 10 coombs, at 12s. after turnips fed - - - 3600 o o ^.8,280 o o And this prodigious product will arise in three years, from the culture of a common which most certainly never produced 500I. in any one year, reckoning at the highest which such indefinite returns as that of an unlimit- ed common can be estimated at. Births 158 £NCL0SING. POPULATION. Baptisms from 1780 to 17 89 - - 182 Burials - - . 17.8 Increase - - - 4 Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 256 Burials - - - 126 Increase - - - 130 SEDGFORD. — ENCLOSED I795. ^ant'ity. — About 4000 acres. Soil. — Sand ; loamy sand ; and some sandy loam on marlc. Refit. — About IIS. an acre, which is more than double wliat it was before the enclosure. Course. — Before enclosing, the management was quite irregular. Now it is in five shifts : I. Turnips ; 2. Barley ; 3. and 4. Seeds ; and 5. Wheat, pease, or oats, according :o soil. Corn. — A great deal more than ever. Sheep. — More, and better than before. CoiL's. — Fewer. Tit/ic. — Remains subjecfl. Rates. — Arc 2 j. to 2s. 6d. in the pound. Poor. — The real poor did not suffer by the enclosure ; but the allotments to common-riglit houses, which before kept two cows, amounted only to half an acre, in lieu of shackage, and the common of above 100 acres. Improvement. — The metliod Mr. DuRSGATE look to improve his waste was, after stubbing the whins, to plough and sow oats, which yielded a good crop ; he then fallowed and worked it well for wheat, which crop was very bad. He then clayed it well, and sowed turnips, which ENCLOSING. 159 ulilch were very fine, but from a tinge of black sand in the soil, stock did not prove on them. Then barley, which looked beautifully in the spring (1800), but fell off in the drought, and proved a bad crop, though much in bulk. SHARNBOURN. — ENCLOSED ABOUT 30 YEARS, ^ant'itj. — Something under lOOO acres. Corn. — Vevv much increased. SHARRINGTON. ^tatitity. — Commoa 200 acres, Half year laiid 120 \'\^hole year ditto 570 890 Rent. — Increased full one-third. The equality value of the common was i6s. an acre. Common Rights. — 37 ; and 3 acres of average value were assigned to each cottage-right house, to enable the cottager to keep a cow : their cattle before were starved, by the farmers superior stocking. Corn, — Increase in the propordon of 15Q additional acres cultivated ; and the improvement of half year land converted to whole year. Sheep. — Much the same. POPULATION. Baptisms from 1780101789 - - 74 - 43 Burials Increase 31 Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 76 Burials - - -36 Increase - - - 40 SHIPD- r60 ENCLOSING. SHIPDHAM — NOT ENCLOSED. Baptisms from 1780 to 1789 - - 376 Burials • - - - 258 Increase - - 118 Baptisms from 179010 1800 - - 477 Burials - « - 258 Increase » - - 219 HINGHAM — ENCLOSED. Baptisms from 178010 1789 - - 300 Burials _ . . 202 Increase - -.98 Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 358 Burials - - 228 Increase - - 130 SHRCPHAM, 1798. Quantity. — About 800 acres common : some half year land. Fent. — Will be about 14s. : was before only 4s. Corn. — Will be greatly increased. Sheep. — Decreased. Coves. — There will be as many as before. Toar. — About 50 or 60 acres for fuel : very few kept cows ; and will keep better than before: severaMittle pro- prietors of two or three acres, and will now have double allotments added, and be better able to keep. Rates. — About 4s. in the pound. Tiihe, — Land allotted for tithe. SHOULD- ENCLOSING. l6l SHOULDHAM AND GARBOISE. — ENCLOSED 1794* ^antity. — Whole year lands • 82O acres. Common fields, commons, and waste - 475^ 5570 Tithe. — Impropriations : lemain subje6t. Poor. — Two allotments at Shouldham, ot 82, and 13 acres, for fuel : what they have is good, but not in the former plenty ; this, however, is not their great com- plaint, but the deprivation of keeping live stock: they used to have cows, mares, geese, ducks, &c. ; but now no- tliing; and their language is (I talked with several) that they arc ruined. About 40 poor people kept cows at Siiouldham ; not all with what was esteemed a right ; but if the commons were drove, the fine was small: those cottages that had rights and allotments, are now let merely as houses, and the allotments laid to the fanr.s. The account a farmer gave njc was, that many poor kept cows before ; now, not more than one or two. It is suf- ficiently evident, therefore, that this enclosure classes with those which have been, In tJih rcspe^I, injurious to the poor. At Garboisethorpe, the poor before the enclosure kept about 20 cows ; now none. Course. — The former husbandry was : 1. fallow, 3. Barley, 2. Wheat, 4. Oats, jieasc, barky. Now — I. Turnips, 3. Clover, 2. Barley, 4. W'hcar. Cc/7i.— The quantity raised, very considerably increased in both pnriihes. Sheep. — About the same number kept as before at Shouldham : 3 or 4CO fewer at Garboisethorpe. Cows. — At least 50 fewer than before) at Shouldham. N" Q R FOLK.] W Kent. l62 EKCLOSIVG. Rent. — The old rent at Sliouldham was about 130CI. Rates. — At Shouldham, is. 6d. to 2s. in the pound be- fore ; now 3s, 6d. pn the new 1 ental. Soil. — At Shouldham, much good loam on marie ; and In the vale an extraordinarily fine sandy soil of great depth. SHOTTESHAM ST. MARY, AND SHOTTESHAM ALL SAINTS, rySi. Qiiant'ity. — In all 3561 acres: about 314 acres of com- mon enclosed by the a£l. Rent. — It was good land ; about 12s. an acre, quality price ; now alxjve 20s. Course. — The greatest part (3-4ths) grass ; the arable in — I. Turnips; 2. Barley; 3. Clover, wheat. Corn. — Increased proportionably. Cows. — Not diminished ; cattle in general very much increased. Sheep. — Increased. Poor. — A common of 48 acres of good grass allotted to the poor, occupying under 5I. a year, and six acres of turf for fuel ; also another common of six acres for the same purpose. To each cottage a right of keeping a cow, not merely common-right houses^ but to poor inhabitants indiscriminately. An account of the number of cows kept in 1792, by poor people : — In 1792, 11 cows; two occupiers of 7I. each, keep two, or 4 ; in all 15. Note — before the enclosure, only four cows were kept by poor people in Shottesham. By half a right since the enclosure, they can keep a bud\ a colt not exceeding 12 months, or an ass, or three geese, a gander, and their followers. A whole right is a cow, a horce. ENCLOSING. 163 horse, or double, the Others. In 1800, increased and in- creasing: great competition. Before the enclosure, cottages let from 403. to 3I. Now Mr. Fellowes has not increased the rent of any (all at 40s.), but the rent of others is increased 20s. a year more than before the enclosure. It has upon the whole been very beneficial to the poor ; and all were pleased ; their share of 60 acres in 300 was uncommonly large. No poor person here, if he can, and will pay, but may be supplied with milk. There are six additional rights, wliich produce as many guineas a year, laid out in improving the common, by keeping open the drains, carting on the earth from them, and mowing rushes. Tithe. — Remains subjecSl. Rates. — About 1795, they were at 9d. in the pound; the year ending Ladv-day, at rack rent 23. in the pound. In 1789, nd. in tlie pound; paid off 70I. for the pur- chase of the house, besides turnips. Now 4s. in the pound. Mr. Fellowes' father (and himself continued it) took care to have no children bound to weavers, which has been a principal cause of preventing poverty being an increasing inhabitant of these parishes. Another cause has been, Mr. Fellowes having established a poor-house for all the Shoiteshams, for the reception of very old and very young people; but which takes in none tliat can maintain themselves upon the sum which it would de- mand to keep them in their own cottages: tills has also had a very good effei5l. Another plan that has been very successful, has been a steady determination in Mr. Fel- lowes to get children, whether from the house or from cottages, to be put out for a year in farmers' services ; he absolutely requires the attendance of all the farmers for that purpose, and on the day fixed, the children of a due M 2 age l64 ENCLOSIKC. age are brought out one by one, and offered to be let : if refused witliout a premium, los. is offered with her or him ; if no offer, i ^^ then 20s. and so on till some farmer agrees: as it does not suit Mr. FtLLowES to take them, he. takes the burtlien of any cripple, or other child that is particularly objt'61 ion able, and is liimsidf at tlie expense ot procuring them a situation without a premium. Earnings in the house : £■ ^' 'I- Lady-day 1798 to Lady-day 1 7 99, by thirty peo- ple, - - - 39 10 O All very young or very old. Lady-day 1788 to Lady-day 1789, by twenty- six people, - - - 29 10 O The old to the young, as tlirec old to four young. In 1794 each poor person in the house cost, exclusive of their earnings, 2s. Sd. per week. In 1784 each cost 2s. per week. Expenses. — The total. A^ and Law charges Roads Commissioners Ditto expenses Ditcliing vSurvcyor Sundries Total Anu YCt this enclosuri; was opposed in Parliament. £■ s. d. 218 10 0 i«5 0 0 69 0 0 18 13 4 43 0 0 42 0 0 104 ^5 ICi £Mqo 19 2i In ENCLOSING, 165 POPULATION. In October 1763, St. Mary and St, Martin, an accu- rate account : St. Mary, including St. Rotolph 190 souls. St. Martin - - 68 All Saints - - 372 630 In 1782, St. Mary and St. Martin 3H AH Saints 394 mi/ics—St. Mary and St. Martin All Saints 708 80 136 Now they are certainly Increased. This great attention to getting the children of the poor into service and habits of industry, has had a very consi- derable cfFeifl in keeping down rates, which usually rise in proportion to negligence. The expense of these pre- miums is paid by the rale, and equally borne consecjucntly by the whole parishes, SHOTTESIIAM ST. MARY. Twenty years before cnclobing : Baptisms from 1760 tcj 1779 - - 155 Burials - - - 90 Increase - - 6 c Twenty years since enclosing: Baptisms from 1780 to 1799 - - 165 Burials . - - 62 Increase - - - 103 M *; SHOT- i66 ENCLOSING. SHOTTESHAM ALL SAINTS. Twenty years before enclosing: Baptisms from 1760101779 - - 233 Burials - - - 187 Increase - - 46 Twenty years since enclosing : Baptisms from 1780 to 1799 - - 313 Burials - - - 213 Increase - - - 100 SNETTISHAM, — ENCLOSED 1762. ^antity. — Five thousand acres in the parish. Soil. — Various ; sand, sandy loam, &c. on marie attd stone and gravel. Rent. — About 4000I.; but in a valuation in 1 80 1, has been at least doubled ; since the enclosure perhaps much more. Course. — The husbandry is six shift: i. Turnips. 2. Barley. 3. and 4. Seeds for two years. 5. Pease. 6. Wheat. Corn. — Very greatly increased. Sheep. — Increased certainly. Cozvs. — Increased ; neat stock also much ; many bul- locks fattened in marshes open to the sea, before the en- closure. Tit/ie. — Free of all tithes. Rates. — On an average 2S. in the pound. Expenses. — 2200I. Foor. — The poor had an allotment of 90 acres for cut- ting flag, which they make little use of; 1 did not see one stack on it: no right of common on it: there are ten little proprietors of commonable-right houses, who have 3' 4. EN-CLOSING. 767 3, 4, 5, 6, or mare acres of land, keep cows, and are in comfortable circumstances. Popul-ation. — No register kept for many years previous to 1760 ; I can therefore only give the last twenty, as if no enclosure had taken place. Baptisms from 1780 to 1789 - - 219 Burials - - - 218 Increase - - - i Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 267 Burials _ - - - 141 Increase - - - 126 SPROWSTON. ^anthy. — Eight hundred acres in common ; no half year land. Rent. — Worth 6s. raised to 14s. Corn. — Great increase. Sheep. — Decreased. Cows. — None ; nor will there be any. TACOLNESTON — ACT I778. ^ant'ity. — Six or 700 acres: with Thorpe lOOO. Sell. — Pretty good mjxt soil. Rent. — Quality 15s. to 20s. but now let higher. Corn. — All to corn, and fences well got up : a valuable improvement. STIFFKEY AND MORSTON. — ENCLOSED I793. ^antity. — About 3400 acres, and 1200 of salt-marshes. Very little common. Value about 1400!. M 4 Tithe. l68 ENCLOSIKC, Titfie. — Remains subject. Glebe of two parlslics laid together to one jianoiiage. Livings consolidated. Ohjcn. — The objcdl of the enclosure was chiefly to lay tlie land together, and to extinguish rights of shackage, &:c. The common did not contain above 30 acres, and therefore was a very small object. Rent. — Lord Tctvvxshend advanced his farms 240I. a year, on 1900 acres, for the expense of 1150!. his share of the enclosure, besides the tenants doing tiic fences: ai least loool. a year nddfd to the whole rental. The marshes are valuable only as a sheep-walk at certain times, for the spring tides overflow them. Pcor. — The cottagers that kept cows, asses, or horses, had allotments of land. Sheep. — More, and of a far superior quality. C(yiL-s. — More kept now than before; for one of tlie farms, the pasture of which was at a distance before, is now become a dairv one. Expenses. — 12s. an acre, exclusive of fences, whicli were done by the owners or tenants. hnprovemcnt. — It has bren a very capital one in every rcspe^l, and the manners of the people much ameliorated ' — less wandering ard idleness. The improvement is the more remarkable, as the usual obje^l in Norfolk enclosures (commons) was almost wanting. Corn. — Being half year land before, they could raise no turnips except by agreement, nor cultivate their land to the best advantage : they raise much more corn than be- fore. STOKI.SHV. — ENCLOSED l"]!!. This was an enclosure of about 350 acres of marsh common, which is on the river leading to Yarmouth: I walked three miles from Aclc, and crossing the ferry, made ENCLOSING. 169 i-i^ade Inquiries for some person who could give me infor- mation, but all were long since dead : I was assured that three or four acres were laid to each common-right house, besides an allotment in common of eighteen acres of marsh for the poor that had no cottages of their own, which remains so at present. All those allotments, how- ever, for rights, have been sold long ago, as the whole parish is now the property of one person. By means of the common left, there are 17 or 18 cows now kept by the poor people, who buy i)av or otlv:r winter food. Poor rates about 4s. in the pound. The parish register at Yar- mouth. SWAFHAM. — NOT ENCLOSED. Ten years, from 1780 to 1789: Baptisms - - 619 Burials - - - 489 130 Increase Ten years, from 1790 to 1799: Baptisms - - 6cc Burials - - n^^ Increase - - 266 Rent. — The rental in Swafham in 1795. Land at i6s, an acre - ^. 3108 Besides above 2000 acres of common. Houses - - - 187 r Stock in trade and mills - - 120 Rcdory, tithe and glebe - 387 Vicar - - - 1^0 £• 5640 Number lyo ENCLOSING. Number of inhabitants in Svva ifham in 17S2 - 1877 1792 - 2031 i\Iean number from Jan. 1782 to D cc. 1791 1954 Average baptisms each year - - 63 Burials ditto - - 45 Baptisms, , one in 31. Burials, ( one in 43V. Died from 1784 to 1794 — eleven years, 484, or 44 averaire : 0 Of which V mdcr I year At I ditto - 136 33 2 to 4 - 23 5 to 9 - 12 10 to 19 . - 26 20 to 29 - 4^- 30 to 39 - 25 40 to 49 - 39 50 to 59 - 33 60 to 69 - 57 70 to 79 - 42 80 to 89 - 19 484 From December 1798 to February 1799, There died, i of 82 of 99 of 95 of 78 of .89 of 83 of 73 of 77 In ENCLOSING. 171 In 1798, Males - - 1022 Females - - 1126 2148 Males between 15 and 60 - 494 Waggons - . - 44 Carts - - - 89 Farm horses - - 227 Price of the best wheat and barley at Swaf ham market, on ihe market day after Christmas, as ascertained bv a corn rent paid by the reclor to the vicar. Wheat. Parley. 1750 - £-13 0 0 per last. l.G 0 0 per last. J75I - 16 0 0 7 0 0 1752 - 15 15 0 6 15 0 1753 - H 0 0 8 0 0 »75+ - 12 0 0 6 0 0 1755 - II 0 0 5 10 0 1756 - 21 0 0 9 10 0 1757 - 18 0 0 8 10 0 1758 - 1 1 0 0 5 5 0 J 759 - 12 2 6 5 10 0 1760 - 12 0 0 5 15 0 ,761 - 12 5 0 5 15 0 176a - 16 0 0 10 0 0 '763 - 15 0 0 7 0 0 1764 - 21 0 0 9 0 0 176^ - 19 10 0 ID 10 0 1766 - ^S 0 0 7 0 0 1767 - 21 0 0 9 10 0 1768 - 16 10 0 7 0 0 1769 - 16 10 0 7 15 0 1770 - »9 0 0 9 10 0 1771 - 21 0 0 10 10 0 1772 - 24 10 0 12 lo 0 »773 »72 , ENCLOSING, Wheat. Bjiiej-. 1/75 - l-n 0 0 per last. ^.11 100 per last. i77f • 29 0 0 J I 15 0 «775 - 18 ID 0 J I 00 1776 ' 18 0 0 7 15 0 '777 - 20 0 0 9 10 c 177S - 20 0 0 9 10 0 »779 - '3 0 0 7 15 0 1780 - 2J 0 0 S 0 0 1781 - 20 0 0 7 5 0 1782 - 26 0 0 14 0 0 1783 - 23 10 0 13 1 5 0 1784 - 2 + 0 0 10 10 0 1785 - 19 0 0 10 10 0 17S6 - '7 10 0 10 <; 0 1787 - 21 0 0 10 0 0 178S - 22 10 0 9 10 0 1789 - 26 0 0 II 15 0 J 790 - ^3 10 0 II 5i 0 1791 - 21 0 0 1 2 10 0 1792 - 19 0 0 *- 13 0 0 1793 - 22 0 0 15 0 0 179+ - 25 10 0 14 10 0 ^795 - 55 0 0 17 00 J796 - 28 0 0 I r 60 1797 - 20 0 0 10 10 0 1798 - ax TO 0 I 2 10 0 1799 - 48 0 0 28 0 0 J 800 - 66 0 0 38 00 1801 - 37 0 0 * 20 0 0 j8o2 . 26 10 0 M 10 0 Until 1792 the last contained 21 coombs; since that time, 20. THE- ENCLOSING. ^73 THE HEATH. There Is no clay under ir, that has yet been discovered : 3 deep sand ; and it is questioned whether it will answer enclosing : the town ot Swafham feeds it, and cuts fuel ; and has a slicei)-walk over if. It contains about 200O acres. TERRINGTON, ST. JOHN's, AND ST. CL£ M E N x's. ENCLOSED 1790. ^antity. — Lands allotted, 868 acres, all a salt»marsh common, embanked from the sea. One hundred and eighteen commonable riglits on it. hnprovement. — The tradl was worth less than nothing' : being injurious by the commoners' cattle being ot'ten swept away by the tides ; when embanked, it was valued to the poor-rates at 25s. an acre, and is let from 20s. to 40s. ; average, 30s. Produce. — From yielding nothing, it is now all ploughed and cropped with wheat, oats, cole seed, and some beans. None of it laid to permanent grasss. £' '- d. Expenses. — The bank cost, and was then -, deserted, the sea breaking it J ^^«^^ But afterwards completed 8032 o o £• 12,567 0 0 Sluice - 309 0 0 A partition bank - 254 0 0 A€(, Solicitor, &:c. - 759 0 0 Commisslqncrs, &c. - 5H 0 0 Survey 200 0 0 14,603 0 0 Suiidiics - 2367 0 0 Total - ^.16,970 o o Popula- 174 ENCLOSIKC. Population. — Ten years before embankment : Baptisms from 1780 to 1789 - - 272 Buiials _ _ _ 224 Increase - - - 48 Ten years since tlic embankment : Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 291 Burials - - . 260 Increase - - - 22 This account is surprizing, if we look to the balance ; that near 9CO acres ofwaste should be brought into operose tillage, and have no e.^c6\, or rarher a bad one on popu- lation, seems extraordinary. It could not result, I should suppose, from the profligacy introduced by the bankers, though it might be something, for that cause could not, one would suppose, be more than temporary, even if the eifecl was certain. Has it been caused by removing so much further the eiTc^Sl of the tide in ameliorating rhc armo^pherc of this low tracl of country ? However, tiic comparison must not be estimated altogether from the balance, as stated above, because men leave a parish, and are buried elsewhere ; the ciiristenings are a better rule, perhaps, and these have increased. THORPE ABBOTS. Here Mr. Pitts has 56 acres of common, and deter- mining to improve it as quickly as possible, advertised for labourers, and had above 40 people at work : he ditched and hollow-drained the whole in six weeks; and has now clayed it 80 loads an acre. Quality price about 14s. an acre. TITCH- % ENCLOSING. 175 TITCHWf.LL. — ENCLOSED I786. , r. 'Quantity — A small coaimoii, and much half year land. Soil. — A good luaiij. ;,,: Corn. — Greatly increased. The half year land was in very irregular management: ; now in six shifts. Sheep. — More than doubled. Cattle. — Neat cattle trebled. The whole parish could not muster more than 25 cows before the enclosure; now one farmer has wintered lOO beasts. Tithe. — Remains subject. Rent. — Three hundred acres of sah-marsli were em- banked by the atf}, and raised fiom is. 6d. to at least 20s. POPULATION. Baptisms from 1780 to 1789 - - 4c Burials 29 Increase - - - 16 Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - ~ 39 Burials 25 Increase - - - 14 THORNHAM. — ENCLOSED I794. Quantity. — Two thousand one hundred acres ; of which a ling common of 300 acres. Soil. — Sandv loam. Corn. — Much more jiroduced tlian hefore tlie enclosure. Sheep. — Before enclosing there was but one flock in the parish, of about 300 ; now not less than 900. Cows. — Rather lessened ; but not amongst the poor. Tithe. — Remains subje6l. Expenses. — Twelve shillings and sixpence an acre. Poor. 176 ENCLOSING. Poor. — The common-right houses hail an allotment of three roods, in lieu of sliackage ; and the common marsh stinted: they had also 29 acres of the ling common allot- ted for fuel, on which each {xjor person, and the occu- piers of a common-right house had a right to cut 60 whin faggots ; so tluu they are in a much better situation tharv before. Baptisms from 1780101789 - • 205 Burials - - - 176 Increase - - - - 29 Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 172 Burials - - - - ' 121 Increase - - - - 5^ THORKAGE. Baptisms fron^ 5780 to 1789 - - 57 Burials - - - 44 Increase n Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 52 Burials - - - 31 Increase - - - - 21 WEST TOFFTS. Three thousand and six acres. Mr. Galway - 2804 acres. Lord Petue - 202 acres. Rated at £•590 Inhabitants - 64 Cottages - - ^3 Foor-rates, 1801 - ^.86 0 10 UPTON. ENCLOSING. iff UPTON. ^anthy. — 8oo to looo acres of common, no half year land ; but great advantage by laying properties together. Rent. — By giving contiguity, land of 5s, made worth 20s. The common was under water ; now drained by a mill, and worth i8s. to 20s. per acre. Corn. — Will be increased. Sheep. — None before ; but there will be some. Cows. — Very few ; but there will be a great increase of grazing. POPULATION. Baptisms from 1780 to 1789 - - 100 Burials 49 Increase - - . 51 Baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 79 Burials - - 44 Increase - ' 3S WALSHAM ST. LAWRENCE. Baptisms from 1780 to 1789 - - 105 71 Burials Increase 34 Baptisms from 179010 1799 * - 118 Burials rr, ;* jc;, 41 Increase - - - 77 NORFOLK.] N WAL- jyS ENCLOSING. WALSHAM ST. MARIES. Baptisms from 178010 1789 - - 81 Burials - * " 55 Increase - - - 26 Baptisms' from 1790 to 1799 - - 62 Burials . - - 38 Increase - - 24 About 2C00 acres in the two parishes. They are going to enclose the common, and half year lands. WALLINGTON, ELLOW, AND NORTH COVE, I797. ^antity. — Four hundred and twenty acres of common r no open field. Rent. — Before enclosing, the common was woith no- thing: now 14s. an acre. Corn. — Three hundred and twenty acres ploughed. Sheep. — They kept very few : but now will keep manv- Covi's. — Much increased. Tithe. — Remains subje6l. Rates. — An Incorpcjrated hundred. WALPOLE. In 1770, Walpole, St. Peter, and St. Andrew. Pasture land - - 4130 acres. Arable - _ - 2050 Common, or waste, about - 2500 8670 In the occupation of 103 persons, at the yearly rent of - - - ;^476o Assessed to the land-tax, at - ^907 Farmers ENCLOSING. 179 Farmers and their wives and childi -en 275 Servants 160 Labourers, and wives and children 81 Poor maintained by the parish 22 Souls 538 Houses . - - 120 Cows - - 2CO Horses - - 310 Beasts, young and feeding . 580 Sheep - - 10,000 Hogs - - 330 Rates in 1730 — Church ad. Poor - 6 Highways - 0 1760 — Church - 4 Poor - 8 Highways - 0 1767 — Church 2 Poor - 10 Highways - 3 Quantity. — One thousand three hundred acres of salt- arsh were embanked and enclosed in 1789. WHEATING. — ENCLOSED I780. ^ant'ity. — About 4500 : common 400 acres. Improvement. — The chief obje£l was laying property in the former open field together: there were 50 allotments of the common to commonable rights, eight acres eacn. Corn. — Not increased ; by reason of a large po tion lawned and planted by a nobleman who resides here. Sheep, — Are better than before the enclosure ; but not so many by some hundreds. Cows. — Greatly lessened. N 2 Poor. 380 EUCLOSIKG. Poor. — Much better ofF in every respc6l since the ei> closure. WINFARTHING. — ACT 1781. ^antlty. — About 600 acres of heath and common: no open arable. Soil. — Like that of Banham, but hardly so good. Rent. — Quality price, from 7s. to 20s. Corn. — All turned to arable. Sheep. — Six to 700 sheep were kept, and lessened to 300 ; but of a much better sort. Cows. — The same as before. Improvement. — All clayed, and hollow-drained where ■wet. Tithe. — Remains subjedl. Rates. — Two-and-sixpence to 3s. Expenses. — Something under 2000I. Poor. — Twenty acres allotted for fuel ; many allot- ments to little people; and they are well content; and have kept them : they have much hemp, wheat, &c. and well managed. An account of the number of baptisms and burials in the parirh church of Winfarthing, for forty years last past : Burials from 1762 to 1780 - - - 2,^5 Baptisms - • - - 190 Increase - - - 145 Baptisms from 1781 to 1799 - - - 342 Burials - - - 189 Increase - " - I73 "WRENNINGHAM. — ALLOTTED IN I779. Quantity. — Two hundred and sixty acres. Rent. ENCLOSING. l8l - Rent. — Before 153. an acre; now 20s. the whole parish. Tithe. — Free : an allotment in land, 37 acres. Poor. — Twenty acres for fuel allotted. Corn. — A great increase. Expense. — About 620I. WOODBASTWICK, I767. ^anthy. — About 300 acres of common. Rent. — Worth above 14s. an acre at present. Course. — I. Turnips; 2. Barlev; 3. Clover; 4. Wheat. Sheep. — Decreased. Cows. — Lessened. WOODRISING. — ENCLOSED ONLY PARTIALLY. Baptisms from 1780 to 1789 - - 27 Burials - - - 16 Increase - - - ii baptisms from 1790 to 1799 - - 42 Burials - - - 18 Increase - - - 24 GENERAL OBSERVATION. Mr. Burton, of Langley, on all wet commons, recom- mends to under-ground drain before breaking up; and where level, to clay it also. To be began at Midsummer, then left to March, when it should be ploughed and oats dibbled : and if it was left a year or more tor grass to get up, it might be the better. After tlie oats, if not clayed before, clay it : if it was clayed, scale in the stubble att^r harvest, and plough three or four times for oats, to be sown broad-cast. After that, fallow for turnips, and pur- sue the common husbandry, which would want no muck' for a few years. N 3 I« l82 ENCLOSING. Ill fifteen enclosures, in which Mr. Bltrton lias been Commissioner, there are 10,800 acres of com- mon land ; about half converted to arable, and proper for the five-shift husbandry. One thousand acres for wheat, producing 5000 combs, at 24s. 6oooi. ; 1000 barley, 8000 coombs, at 12s. 4800I. ; looo oats, second crop af- ter wheat, 8000 coombs, at los. 4000I. ; 1000 acres tur- nips will feed 500 bullocks or cows, which will pay for the turnips only, 5I. a head, or 2500!. ; and lOOO acres of grass, with the ofFal turnips, will feed 4000 sheep in winter, and fjttened by a part of the new lay grass, to be off by June. The sheep, for the turnips and grass, will pay 3000I. : there remain 5000 acres of pasture, which will support 500 bullocks, bringing them forward for turnips, to 3I. per head, or 1500I. : and there may also be summer-kept 4000 sheep, which, with wool and profit on carcass, will pay 2000I. And, besides all this, 200 cows, at 61. or 1200I. Wheat - - 6000 Barley - - 4800 Oats - - 4000 Bullocks - - 2500 Sheep - - 3000 Bullocks - - 1500 Sheep - - 2000 Cows - - 1200 25,000 There are 800 acres more unaccounted for : 5000 acres of arable w ill take 200 horses to till it, wanting each four acres arable and pasture ; 400 of this for corn will give 10 coombs a horse, for 30 weeks, or 2000 coombs, at eight coombs an acre ; 250 acres for the 2000 coombs : J50 acres remains for hay, which producing 200 tons, will, ENCLOSING. 183 "•wfll, with the barns, maintain them tlie winter; and tiie 400 acres of pasture will support the 200 horses, with mares and colts, in summer. The improved rent on the io,ooo acres, is for a lease of 14 years, 7725I. The tithe, for 14 years, about 1500I. a-year. Capital to stock, and improvement, about io,OOol. being addi- tions to farms adjoining. The interest 5C0I. Labour for said lands, including harvest, 5000I. Seed corn, 220oh Wear and tear ; the blacksmith will be about 500I.; wheel- wright, about lool. ; carpenters, look; small seeds, 300].; poor-rates, on an average, at 5s. 1031I. 5s.; capital fof 5000 acres of pasture, 6ooq1. ; interest, 300I. Contin- gencies, &c. may be estimated at loool. Tithe Interest of capital, on the arable Labour Seed corn Wear and tear Small seed, 1000 acres, at 6s. Rates - - _ Interest of capital, for pasture Contingencies Rent Produce Expenses Profit 1500 500 5000 2200 700 300 1031 300 loco 7725 20,256 25,000 20,256 4.744 This calculation, which does Mr. Burton credit, sets in a very clear light, the immense advantages which have N 4 resulted 184 ENCLOSING. resulted from the enclosures in which he has been cm- ployed. In all the enclosures in which Mr. Algur has been concerned as a Commissioner, it has not been the pra«5lice to put poor men to the proof of the legality of their claims, but the mere praAice, and if they have proved the pradlicc even of cutting turf, it has been considered as a right of common, and allotted for accordingly. In the several parliamentary enclosures of Snettisham, Ringstead, Heacham, Darsingham, Sharnborne, Fring, Sedgford, Thornham, Tichwell, and Hunston, which are all in Mr. Styleman's vicinity, the efFedt has been, at least doubling the produce : many of the farm-houses were before in the villages, and the distance to the fields so great, that no improvements were undertaken. The houses are now on the farms, and the improvements very great. In respeftto the rent, the first leases were at a low rate, from the allotted lands being in a most impoverished condition : but on being let a second time, where that has taken place, the rise has been considerable. In enclosures, in which Mr. Gooch, of Quidenham, has been a Commissioner, claying found of great advan- tage upon fresh land ; it divides and mixes well with the decaying turf. Mr. Gooch recommends one earth for oats, by all means dibbled ; then a second crop harrowed : then turnips and barley, oroatslaid with seeds ; clover, trefoiie, and a little ray, or better no ray. Leave it a year, and then clay, if a deep loose bottom, iCO loads; but if shallow, near brick-earth or clay, about 60. Leave it with the clay on it a year, and it incorporates immediately. In the enclosures, particularly remarked by Mr. Brad- riELD, of Heacham, two methods have been pursued, but that intelligent farmer recommends on dry land, after grub- bing the whins, to plough and dibble in oats ; then to clay or ENCLOSING. 185 or marlc on the oat stubble, and summei -fallow for wheat ; after that, to take turnips, and follow the four-shift hus- bandry, of I, Turnips; 2. Barley ; 3. Clover; 4. Wheat ; which he thinks better for keeping land clean, than letting seeds lie two years. FENCES. In these several Norfolk enclosures, the fences consist of a ditch four feet wide an.d three deep, the quick laid in- to the bank, and a dead bush hedge made at the top. — Expense : s. d. Digging, banking, and planting - ~ ' 3 Bushes, a load 20s. does near 30 rods - ^ 3 Quick _ « _ _ 06 3 o The Banham and Carleton enclosures are well grown, and the fences excellent ; but this much depends on good care and attention; for if the banks are made too steep, or negledled, they slip down, and gaps are the consequence. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, in forming new fences, gives a complete summer-fallow to the lines where the quicks are to be set, and dresses the land with a good com- post: and instead of leaving the bank in a sharp angle at top, he flattens it, to retain the moisture. Mr. Hill remarks, that in making new fences, a south- erly aspedl, in strong land, will be a fence four years sooner than a northerly one ; but on light sandy land, the north best, for the sake of moisture ; on mixed soils, he prefers the east and west. Mr. l86 ENCLOSING. Mr. Coke has moveable gates and posts, if they may be so called, to place in rows of hurdles : they are a very useful contrivance; set down expeditiously, and moved with great ease. CHAP, ( i87 } CHAP. VIL ARABLE LAND. WE are now come to the grand objeil of Norfolk husbandry: in all the other branches of agriculture the county is not conspicuous for singularity of system, but in the management of arable land much indeed will be found interesting. SECT. I. — OF TILLAGE. It would be easy to expatiate on every branch of this subjefl largely, but as much, in that case, would be insert- ed in this Report, equally applicable to almost every county in the kingdom, the writer will confine himself to the observations he a6lually made in Norfolk. Ploughing. — There is a great difference in ploughing in West Norfolk ; on some farms I have remarked the fur- row to be cut flat and clean, but on others wrest baulked^ by tilting the plough to the left, whicli raising the share fin, makes that inequality, and is partly the occasion of my having found so many ploughs at work which would not go a single minute without holding. In East Norfolk the ploughmen, to prevent the soil •when moist from turning up in whole glossy furrows, which they term " scoring," tie a piece of strong rope- yarn round the plate or mould-board, which by these means is prevented from adling as a trowel upon the soil. Marshall. — I found thi^ the pradice at present, I)ut was l88 TILLAGE. was informed that it was not so generally wanted as for- merly, which they attiibutcd to better construdled platSy or mould boards. Depth, — Mr. Thurtell, at Gorlstonc, near Yar- mouth, has a great opinion of deep ploughing; three or four inches are a common depth about liim, but when land is clean he always ploughs five, and sometimes six or seven ; he is careful, however, not to do this on foul land ; he has no apprehension ot breaking the pan, having many times gone depth enough for that without any incon- venience, and as to bringing up a dead soil, he has not seen any ill efFedls from it : his land is a good sandy loam, on a clay, marie or gravel. Mr. EvERiT, of Caistor, is of a different opinion ; he is not fond of deep ploughing ; he thinks four inches deep enough ; his ideas on this subje6l, however, seem to have been chiefly the result of a trial made by his father, who broke tha pan by trench- ploughing a piece of land, which has ever since been full of charlock, &c. The dif- ference of their soils will not account for tliis opposition of sentiment : Gorlstone is a very good sandy loam at 20s. or 25s. an acre, though certainly inferior in depth 'and goodness to the land at Caistor. In discourse with these two gentlemen on this subje6l, Mr. Everit remarked to Mr. Thurtell, that if he ploughed deeper than com- mon, he ought to add manure proportionably to the quan- tity of soil stirred; an old idea of mine, and I remember well, combated by my friend Arbuthnot. Mr. Francis, of Martham, ploughs four or five inches deep. Mr. Cubit, of Honing, on a fine sandy loam, always as shallow as possible ; and at East Ruston, where the soil is exceedingly good, the same : he thinks the smaller quan- tity of muck by this means answers. They TILLAGE. 189 They do not plough four inches deep at Scotto ; Mr. Dyble remarked, that a piece was there ploughed five or six inches deep, and damaged for seven years : three inches enough : the soil much of it a fine sandy loam, manifest- ing no want of depth. Mr. Palgrave, at Coltishal, applies deep ploughing in one case with singular judgment: he brings by water from Yarmouth, large quantities of sea ouze, or haven mud, this, on dry scalding gravels and sands, he trencli- ploughs in without fear of burying, and finds, on experi- ence, the effect very great, forming thus a cool bottom, so that the surface burns no more. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, thinks that it Is common to plough too shallow ; nor does he believe that any mis- chief results from depth. He has made a ditch one year, and thrown it ^lown again the next, and the benefit was seen for seven years, without the soil being adted on by draining, or wanting it : nor is he nice to have his muck ploughed in shallow, having no fear of burying it. By ploughing a good pitch for turnips, they come slow to the hoe, but when they do get hold, thrive much faster than others. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, is an advocate for deep ploughing ; he goes five inches deep ; if I did not I should get no turnips. Mr. DuRSGATE approves of deep ploughing; remark- ing, that he breaks up his ollonds deeper than most people. Mr. Willis observing the marie on his land was sunk below the common path of the plough, turned it up again by going a deeper pitch, and found it to answer nearly as well as a new marling ; and he suffered no inconvenience* The two furrow work about Holt, &c. is to turn a furrow on lay or ollond ; the plough then returns and throws It back with the untouched land that is under it, into 190 TILLAGE. into tlie former open furrow, and overlapping that, rests on the baulk left beside it. Mr. Money Hill, in breaking np the strongest land he has, ploughs deeper than on the lighter, that is, four inches, and on light three and a half, and on that depth drills on flag ; it twitch in the land, ploughs only three and a half: if bcvond the usual depth, would hurt the crop and give weeds. Waterden, a thin and flinty soil. Mr. Hill's father lived for many years at Gate- son, and was succeeded in the farm by Mr. Parker. Mr. Hill's last crop yielded 400 lasts of corn, above 250 of which were barley. He generally ploughed four inches deep, and never more than four and a half. Mr. Parker in the first year ploughed the second barley earth seven inches deep, sowing about eight score acres (the common quantity twelve score). He sold that year but twenty lasts : the seeds also were worse than usual ; the wheat that followed, good ; but in general, he had indifferent crops for tourteen or flfteen years. In March he applies what he calls one-furrow work to a foul stubble, if he has such by chance ; tlie land side horse (chat on the left lianci) always, after the hrst furrow, re- turns in it ; it is lett open ; harrowed down with a heavy harrow ; then the weeds gathered and burnt, and the next ploughing given across. In June 1776, being at Wallington, adjoining Marsh- land, 1 found the high broad ridges begin, which thence spread over a great tra6t ot country, ncaily perhaps across the island ; and many of ihe turiows were then twelve inches deep in water : but at present I was informed that much more attention is paid to taking water off. Team, &c. — Mr. Thurtell, through the summer, ploughs widi three horses two acres a day, one always resting: this, from finishing sowing spring corn to the end TILLAGE. igi end of turnip tillage. There is no doubt of their plough- ing with ease an acre in four hours and a half. In the clays of Marshland all are foot or swing ploughs ; never more than two horses used : they do an acre a day, and in summer one and a half at two journeys. At Hemsby, each pair of horses two acres a day, at two journeys. Thirty years ago the common price of ploughing was 2s. 6d. an acre in every part of Norfolk, except Marsh- land : it is now 4s. ; in some places 3s. 6d. These notes of the quantity ploughed per diem, might be multiplied in every part of the county ; the farmers in every distri(5l of it, get more land ploughed in a day by their men and horses, than on any similar soli in any other part of the kingdom : not altogether to be attributed to the merits of the plough, though it is certainly a good one ; nor to any superior a(Sblvity in the horses : the cause is more in the men, who have been accustomed to keep their horses and themselves to a quick step, instead of the slow one common in almost every other distrifl. Harrowing.' — This operation is no where better per- formed than in Norfolk, where the farmers are very at- tentive to finish their tillage in a very neat manner. In no other county with which I am acquainted, have they the excellent pradlice of trotting the horses at this work, which gives a fineness and regularity in burying small seeds, not to be attained with a slow regular motion of the harrows. They harrow from 12 to 15 acres with a pair of horses once in a place per diem. The pradlice of walking the horses up hill, and trotting them c^own^ in the same place, i*; an excellent one. SECT, 19« FAHOWlIfCS. SECT. II. FALLOWING. The grand fallow of Norfolk is the preparation for tur- nips, which will be mentioned under that anicle. The common summer-fallow takes place on strong, wet, and clayey soils ; upon which, however, turnips are too ge- nerally ventured. One fault in the husbandry of the county, and of Norfolk farmers when they move into very different distridls, is that of being wedded too closely to pradtices which derive their chief merit from a right application to very dry or sandy soils. Mr. Overman, whose husbandry merits every at- tention, having taken a farm of Mr. Coke, at Michael- mas 1800, and the outgoing tenant possessing a right to sow some layers which were very full of speai-grass, &c. Mr. Overman gave him, to the surprize of his neigh- bours, 5I. los. per acre to desist; not that he might him- self sow those fields, but for the sake of completely fallow- ing them. Some I found had undergone the operation, and were clean ; others were in it, and almost green with couch. He destroys it by mere ploughing and har- rowing, without any raking or burning; conceiving that by well-timed tillage, any land may be made clean ; and that on these sandy soils, a July earth in a hot sun will efFe6l it : but whenever or however done, his objedt, whether with much or little tillage, is sure to be answered ; and as the successive cleanness of the land depends on its being once got perfe6lly free from weeds, his great ex- penses, he expe(5ts, will in the end prove the cheapest way of going to work. He gives four earths in all ; the first before wintei', only two inches deep ; another in the spring ; the third two, or two inches and a half deep, in July, in a hot lime ; the fourth after harvest. 1803. COURSE OF CROPS, iga 1803. — He now tells me, that the land I saw full of couch, is at present as clean as a garden. Mr. Pitts, of Thorpe Abbots, remarked to me the great consequence, for the destru6tion of weeds, of plough- ing a summer-fallow just before, and also diredtly after harvest. SECT. III. — COURSE OF CROPS. If I were to be called on to name oiie peculiar circum- stance, which has done more honour to tiie husbandry of Norfolk than any other to be thought of, I should, with- out hesitation, instance this of the rotation of cropping. I should not hazard, perhaps, too bold an asseraon, were I to declare that, till the accession of his presenc Majesty, there were to be found few just ideas on this subjed, in the works upon husbandry of any author pre- ceding that period: if any thing tolerable occurs, it is mixed with so much that is erroneous, tliat credit cannot be given even for what is good. The fields of the rest of the kingdom presented a similar exhibition : right courses hardly any where, perhaps, no wlierc, to be found. But in West Norfolk, the predominant principle which go- verned their husbandry at that period; as well as ever since, was the carefully avoiding two white corn crops in suc- cession. Turnips were made the preparation for barley ; and grasses, that fo*" wheat, or other grain. I have viewed various parts of the countv, at different periods in the last thirty years, and have found these ideas steadily adhered to. COURSES ON SAND, AND ON TURNIP LOAMS. Some of the finest rye I have any wliere been, was on Mr. BEVAN'sfarm, in 1802, after two successive years norfolj:.] o of 194 COURSE OF CROFS. of sowing cole, eaten off with sheep. The rye put in ori one earth ; there are thirty acres of it, and fourteen of thenj on a hlack sand. Mr. Bradfield, of Knattishall, tenant to Mr. Be- VAN, pursues regularly this course of crops : 1. Turnips,-^ fi. Turnips, 2. Barley, | 2. Barley, 3. Seeds, I But if seeds fail, ' 3. Vetches, 4. Seeds, I changed to [ 4. Turnips, 5. Wheat, i I 5. Barley, 6. Turnips, J L6. Turnips; by which means, in the sixth year, the variation ceases, and it comes, as in the other, to turnips again. The sys- tem, however, is open to two great objedtions: in the fourth year, he has no summer food for sheep ; and, what is as bad, he doubles his quantity of turnips ; he also loses wheat in the course. To have two successive years of vetches, appears to be a better svstem, and a much less in- terruption, or rather none at all. If the first vetches are to be fed, grass-seeds might be sown with them for the second year, and this would save the expense of seed vetches and tillage for that year. In 1802, the barley crop is generally very fine ; yet in the whole line from Holkham to TofFts and Thetford, I remarked many pieces which in colour were too yellow for Norfolk management in a good year. 1 have some sus- picion that it lias been caused by the very high prices of corn inducing some farmers to be too free with their land", and varying from the course of shift!;, which, in steady times, they adhere to more exadtly. Mr. FowEL, of Snetterton : 1. Turnips, drilled at eighteen inches, 2. Barley, ditto at nine, 3. Seeds, 4. Seeds, 5. Pease, COURSE OF CROPS* ig^ 5. Pease, drilled at twelve inches ; or wheat at nine, &c. and this is the rotation of the vicinity. Wheat, pease, oats, or rye, the fifth year ; if rye, a bastard fallow for it : the second year, seeds. In general about Hingham : 1. Turnips, i. Turnips, 2. Barley, 2. Barley, 3. Clover, 3. Clover, 4. Wheat, 4. Pease, 5. Wheat. Nearly the same around Attleborough. About Watton: 1. Turnips, 3. Clover, &c, 2. Barley, 4. Wheat. Mr. Blomfield, at Billingford, in one field near his farm-yard : 1. Winter tares, and then turnips, 2. Barley; and the crops always good. Mr. Drake gets better turnips after wheat, the stubble ploughed in, than after pease. Mr. Wright, of Stanhow, never takes barley or pease after wheat, tliough his soil is a good loamy sand : he thinks that no distritSl where this is the pracSlice deserves the reputation of having the true Norfolk husbandry. Mr. Drozier remarked, that upon the sandy land of Rudham, and that vicinity, the greatest improvement perhaps would be, to lay down for eight or ten years to repose, the land from turnips and corn, which would so fieshen it as to render it produdlive perhaps in the stile of the first breaking up ; but common grasses wear out, and will not pay the present rents after two years: they sow (refoii and ray. o a Sir 19^ Course of crops. Sir MoRD AUNT Martin's course is a five-shitc : 1. Turnips, 6. Turnips, 2. Barley, 7. Barley, 3. Clover, 8. Trefoil and ray, 4. Wheat, 9. Pease, 5- Potatoes, mangel wur- 10. Potatoes, mangel wur- zcl, or vetches, &cc. zel, vetches^ &c. Mr. Overman, of Burnham, has found, from many observations, that pease do not succeed well if sown oftener than once in twelve years. Where he has known them return in six or eight years, they have never done well. Mr. Overman ploughed up a layer of four years, and drilled wheat on it. Then ploughed for winter tares. Ploughed the stubble once for a second crop of wheats which I viewed : a very fine produce, and as clean as a garden. Three crops of great profit on only three plougli- ings, and yet the land kept perfedly clean. Not a little resulting from four years sheep feeding without folding from it. His common course : 1. Turnips, 8. Barley, 2. Barley, 9. 10. Seeds two years> 3. 4. 5. Seeds three years, 11. Pease, 6. Wheat, 12. Wheat. 7. Turnips, But with the variation of having part of the twelfth under pease on the three years layer, and also some tares. 1 iiis course is partly founded on tlie experience of pease not doing well, if sown oftener than once in twelve years. Mr. Coke : 1. Turnips, 4 .Seeds, 2. Barley, drilled at 6^ inc. 5. Wheat, drilled at 9 inc. 3. Seeds, 6. Turnips, 7. Barley, COURSE OF CROPS. 197 7. Barley,diJlledat6|inc. 10. Pease, diiiled 319 inc. S. Seeds, or tares at 6, 9. Seeds, II. Wheat, drilled at 9 inc. Mr. PuRDis, of Eggmore, s very uncommon variation iiom the general husbandry : i. Turnips, 4. Seed^, 2. Barley, 5. Tares, 3. Seeds, 6. Wheat. Upon a large part of this fine farm the former rotation included a summer-fallow, which afforded (broken at whatever time) little food for live stock ; tares now occupy the place, and support immense herds of cattle and sheep. What a noble spectacle is this faim ! 300 acres of turnips, 500 of barley, 600 of seeds, 300 of tares, and' 300 of wheat: 1800 acres arable, the crops luxuriant, and much the greater part of the farm very clean ; all of it except the layers ; on which, however, some thistleo, so diiEcult to extirpate. Mr. Thurtell, near Yarmouth, is in the four-shifi, returning to turnips always after the wheat, for he thinks that nothing^is so bad as taking a fifth crop. At Caistor, in Pleg, the land excellent ; they are in th'^ five-shift of East Norfolk, that is, 1. Turnips, 4. Wheat, 2. Barley, 5. Barley; 3. Clover, with two variations pracSlised sometimes by Mr. Everit? at the Hall farm. I. 2. Cole seed instead of turnips and barley, taking two years, 3. Wlieat, 4. Barley; but not a great crop; and then turnips again. The other is, to substitute pease instead of clover, foU o Q lowed 198 COURSE OF CROPS. lowed by wheat, and then in the four-shift, to come again to turnips. A remarkable circumstance in the rotation of crops here is, that spring corn will not succeed well after wheat which follows cole seed : they will give an excellent summer- fallow for this crop ; spread 14 loads of tine dung per acre, and sowing wheat after the cole, get the finest crops, yet if barley or oats follow, the produce is seldom tolerable ; oats better than barley, hut neither good. Some farmers at Hemesby, and among others Mr. Ferrier, on his own property : 1. Turnips, 4. Wheat, 2. Barley, 5. Pease, or oats, 3. Seeds (clover once in 6. Wheat. 10 or 12 years), It may easily be supposed that the wheat of the fourth year is much better than that of the sixth. The course cannot be defended even on Hemsby land, and the wheat stubbles were some of them not so clean as they ought to be. At Thrigby, Mr. Brown, &c. is in the Fleg five- shift ; barley after the wheat ; with the variation, to avoid clover every other round, of sowing half the barley with other seeds, and d'bbling pease on the other half. At South Wals!iam, Mr. Syble, and others : 1. Turnips, 2. Barley, 3. Seeds, one or two years, o^^ [4. Wheat, ■£.= t J c. Barley, ( „ 5. Barley, or oats, ||t 16. Pease, "" I L7. Wheat. ^ u u 2 The variation of the seeds is to prevent clover coming two rounds together, as the land here, as elsewhere, is sick COURSE OF CROPS. I99 sick of it. Upon a part, white clover, trefoil, and ray are sul)stitured, and left two years ; about one third of the wheat is on a two years layer. If the clover be a good crop, the wheat is bjetter than after the other seeds. I'he barley after wheat (if that followed a two years lay), is better than after turnips. Bat Mr. Syble, if the land is foul after the first wheat, is sure then to take turnips. Sometimes pease on a two years lay, and then wlieat ; hut Mr. Syble does not like pease, from their being so liable to failure. He is of opinion that the husbandry of Fleg and Blowfield wants variation, from having been kept too long in a regular course. One which has succeeded with him, is to sow barley after pease or vetches, in which way he has had great crops. At Repps and Martham the common Fleg five-shift husbandry ; that is, barley follows wheat; clover and other seeds alternate, and the wheat as good after one a^s the other. At Ludham, the common five-shift. At Catfield I found a variation ; here the course is a six- shift husbandry : 1. Turnips, 4. Clover, &c. 2. Barley, 5. Wheat, 3. Clover, &c. 6. Barley. Mr- Cubit praflises this in common with his neighr bours ; the seeds riffled the second year before harvest, that is, r'lce-baulkcdy raftered, half ploughed : some scaled^ a clean earth, as thin as possible ; the management Mr. Thurteli. reprobated for his soil; and wiiat is singular, they seem to do it with equal reference to dibbling and broad-casting. At Honing the same as at Catfield. All around North Walsham the same ; and thence to Preston, Cromer, and o 4 Ayle- 2CO COURSE OF CROPS. Aylcsham, in general the same husbandry. If seeds fail, some scale the stubble in, and keep it for pease. Mr. Margateson, of North Walsham, assured me, that he considered the four-shift husbandry of turnips, bad ; clover, wheat, as the best of all management, if the land ■will bear it j but clover has been sown so long in East Norfolk, that it is sure to fail in that rotation. Mr. DYBLE,at Scotter, is in the six years course, which js also common through the country. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, has been, from the year. 1773, regularly in the six-shift husbandry, of 1. Turnips, 4. Seeds — ollond, 2. Barley, 5. Wheat, 3. Seeds — hav, 6. Barley ; ■' which is common throughout the country. I took an ac- count of several of his fields j and found but few variations : accidentally, wheat occurred on the first, instead of the second year's layer. Sometimes the barley omitted after the wheat. In a few instances, pease on the ollond, or hay and wheat, &c. after the pease : but the variations few ; so as to shew clearly the established rule. Mr. Reeve, of Heveringland, in the five-shift; the seeds two years. Mr. BiRCHAM, at Hackford: 1. Turnips, 4. Clover, and other scedc 2. Barley, alternately, 3. Clover, and other seeds 5. "Wheat, alternately, 6. Barley, oats, or pease. But if land be out of condition, Pvlr. Bircham's me- thod lo recover it, is to take, 1. Turnips, 3. Turnips, 2. Barley, 4. Barley, The same six-shifts at Haydon. Mr. COURSE OF CROPS, 201 Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, thinks that the comraon course of, 1. Turnips, 4. Seeds, 2. Barley, 5. Wheat, 3. Seeds, two years 6. Barley ; which, is the usual system about him, would be improved by the following variation : 1. Turnips, 5. Seeds, 2. Barley, 6. Pease, 3 Seeds, 7. Wheat, 4. Seeds, 8. Barley ; in which the land would have rest for feeding, three years in eight, instead of two in six, as in the other, Mr. England, at Bingham : 1. Turnips, 4. Seeds, 2. Barley, 5. Wheat; 3. Seeds, never adding barley after the wheat. Sometimes on ten- der land, not equal to wheat, drills pease on the cllond, and then, if the land be clean, takes barley, or even wheat, but not without rape cake. . Mr. Reeve, of Wighron : ■ 1. Turnips, 5. Wheat, drilled, 2. Barley, 6. Turnips, 3. Trefoil, white clover, 7. Barley, and ray, 8. Clover, 4. Ditto, 9. Wheat. Every idea of this most accurate farmer, merits much at- tention ; and this course among the rest : whenever red clover is left a second year, it disappears, and the land is principal- ly covered with ray grass: query — if it is not much better, when red clover is the objedl:, never to leave it two vears: this is an improvement in Mr. Reeve's intention, but it has not yet been his general pra(^icc. Mr, 20? COURSE or CROPS. Mr. Reeve muckeil a barley stubble for vetches, ploughed once for that crop ; and then drilled wheat on one other ploughing. The stubble clean as a garden. Mr. M. Hill ; 1. Turnips, 6. Turnips, 2. Barley, 7. Barley, 3. Seeds, 8. Seeds, 4. Seeds, 9. Pease, or tares, 5. Wliear, 10. Wheat. Mr. M. Hill has now (1802) on his farm a very fine field of wliear, drilled on the flag of a four years layer : he remarked it as an instance of confidence in his landlord (Mr. Coke}, not to have broken it up sooner at the end of a lease. The same farmer sows cole after winter vetches fed off; eats it off at Michaelmas ; sows rye for spring feed j eats that off, and tills for turnips, getting four green crops to feed on the land in two years. Excellent husbandry. Mr. Henry Blythe, of Burnham, is in the five- shifts ; the seeds for two years. The following detail of all the courses pursued by Mr_ DuRSGATE, onhisfinefaim of Summerfieki, is, in my opinion, a most satisfa61ory account of Norfolk husbandry^ shewing the very considerable exertions made in this coun- ty for the great obje£ts of keeping land clean and in heart : the particulars merit a close examination. These fields contain near 1050 acres. No. I. — Fring Break. 1797 Summer-fallow. 1798 Wheat, manured with half a ton of rape-cake pcy acre. 1799 Turnips, mucked, and fed with sheep. iSoo Barley. 1801 COURSE OF CROPS. jg^ j8oi Clover and rav, mowed. 1802 Ditto, fed with sheep. No. 2. — Upper-end of Cow-close. 1797 Half summer-fallowed. Half vetches, fed by sheep. 1798 Wheat, rape-cake on one-half of it, one-quarter of a ton ; on the other half, one-third of a ton. 1799 Turnips, mucked, and fe^ with sJieep. 1800 Barley. 1801 Trefoil and ray, half of it mowed. 1802 Ditto, fed with sheep. No. 3. — Fox Close, new broken up fox-cover. 1797 Oats. ,1798 Wheat. 1799 Turnips, drawn. 1800 Barley. 1 80 1 Trefoil and ray, fed with horses, 1802 Ditto, fed with horses and sheep. No. 4. — First Burnt Stock. 1797 Turnips, one-quarter of a ton of rape-cake per acre, fed with sheep. 1798 Barley. 1799 I'urn'pSj mucked, and fed with sheep, 1800 Barley. 1 80 1 Trefoil, fed with sheep. 1802 Ditto, ditto. No. 5.— Church-Hill. 1797 Pease, barley, and vetches. 1798 Turnips, mucked, and one-quarter of a ton of rape-cake per acre j fed with sheep. 1799 Barley. x8oo Clover, mowed. 1801 504- COURSE OF CROPS. [80 1 Clover, fed with sheep. [802 White pease. No. 6.— Black Hurn. [797 Ollond, two years, fed with sheep. 1798 Turnips, mucked, and fed with sheep, !799 Barley. e8oo Trefoil, mowed. tSoi Ditto, fed with sheep. t8o2 Vetches. No. 7. — First part Cow-close. 797 Wheat. 79B Turnips, one-quarter of a ton of rape-cake pel" acre ; fed with sheep. 799 Barley. ^ 800 Trefoil, fed with sheep. 801 Ditto, fed with horses. 802 White pease. No. 8.— Stack-yard Break. 797 Turnips, mucked, and fed with sheep. 798 Barley. 799 Clover and ray, mown. 800 Ditto, fed with horses and sheep. 801 White pease. 802 Wheat; one-third of a ton of cake per acre. No. 9. — New-pit. 797 Turnips, half mucked, and on the other half i quarter of a ton of cake per acre, fed with sheep. 798 Barley. 799 Trefoil, ray, and white clover, fed with sheep. 800 Ditto, fed with sheep. 801 W'lite pease. 802 Barley. No. COURSE OF CROPS. 205 No. 10. — Hilly-piece. 1797 Turnlpsj one-quarter of a ton of cake per acre, and fed with sheep. 1798 Barley. 3 799 White clover and ray, fed with sheep, 1800 Ditto, sheep fed. 1801 White pease. 1 802 Barley. No. II. — Pound Close. 1797 Turnips, mucked, and sheep fed. 3798 Barley. 1799 Trefoil, white clover, and ray, sheep fed* 1800 Ditto, sheep fed. 180 1 Vetches. 1802 Barley. No. 12. — First 19 Acres. 1797 Turnips, mucked, and sheep fed. 1798 Barley. 1799 Clover and ray, mown. 1800 Ditto, slieep fed. 1801 White pease. 1802 Wheat ; one-third of a ton of cake per acre. No. 13. — First 14 Acres. 1797 Turnips, mucked, sheep fed. 1798 Barley. 1799 Trefoil, white Dutch, and ray, sheep fed. 1800 Ditto, sheep fed. 1801 Vetches, soiled. 1802 Wheat, part mucked, the rest one-third of a ton of cake per acre. No. ^OS COURSE or CRdPS, No, 14. — Second 14 Acres- 1797 Turnips, mucked, sheep fed. J 798 Barley. 1799 Trefoil, ray, and white clover, sheep fed. 1800 Ditto, sheep fed. 1801 White pease. 1802 Wheat; one-third of a ton of cake per acre. No. 15. — Lady Summersby Break. 1797 Barley, after mucked turnips, and sheep fed.; 1798. Clover, ray, and white Dutch, mown. 1799 Ditto, sheep fed. 1800 Pease. 1 80 1 Wheat } one-third of a ton of cake per acre* 1802 Turnips, mucked. No. 16. — SafFron-row. 1797 Barley, after turnips, one-quarter of a ton of cake per acre, and fed with sheep. 1798 Trefoil, ray, and Dutch, mown. i799 Ditto, sheep fed. 1800 Forty acres of it summer-fallow ; 1 1 of it pease. 1801 Wheat; one-third of a ton of cake per acre. i8o2 Turnips, mucked. No. 17. — Thoroughfare. ■ 1797 Barley, after turnips, mucked, and sheep fed, 1798 Clover, ray, and Dutch, mown. 1799 Ditto, sheep fed. 1800 Pease. 1801 Barley. 1802 Turnips, mucked. No. 18. — Second Burnt Stock. 1797 Barley, after wheat. 1798 Trefoil, ray, and Dutch, sheep fed. 1799 Ditto, sheep fed. 1800 COURSE OF CllOPS. 207 iSoo Trefoil, and then bastard summer tilth. i8oi Wheat ; half of it tathed ; half of it manured with cake, one-third of a ton per acre. 1802 Turnips, one-quarter ton cake. No. 19. — Eleven Acres. 17Q7 Trefoil, ray, and Dutch, sheep feed. 2798 Ditto, sheep fed. 3799 Ditto, ditto. 1800 Vetches, soiled. 1801 Barley, 1802 Turnips ; one-quarter of a ton of cake per acre. No. 20. — Brick-kiln Breck. 1797 Clover, ray, and Dutch, mown. 1798 Ditto, sheep fed. 1799 Ditto, 20 acres of it sheep fed ; 2;^ ditto, bastard- fallow. iSoo Wheat, ploughed up 15 acres, and sowed Tar-» tarian oats. jSoi Turnips, mucked; and part of it one-quarter of a ton of cake per acre ; sheep fed. 1802 Barley. No. 21. — Black Hurn, adjoining. 1797 Barley, after turnips, one-quarter of a ton of cake per acre ; sheep fed. 1798 Trefoil, ray, and Dutch, sheep fed. 1 799 Turnips ; one-quarter of a ton of cake per acre i sheep fed. 1800 Wheat, drilled, one-quarter of a ton of cake, 1801 Turnips, mucked ; sheep fed. 1802 Barley. No. 22. — First part Long Snelling. 1797 Trefoil, ray, and Dutch, sheep fed. 1798 Ditto, sheep fed, J79f 208 COURSE OF CROPS. 1799 Half vetches, soiled: half summer-faliovv". 1800 Wlieat ; one-third of a ton of cake per acre. 1801 Turnips, mucked jiart ; part caked, one-quarter of a ton per acre ; one -half drawn ; one-half sheep ted. 1802 Barley. No. 23. — Seventeen Acres. 1797 Trefoil, ray, and Dutch, sheep fed-. 1798 Ditto, sheep fed. 1799 Summer-tallow. 1800 Wheat ; one-third of a ton of rope-cake per acrc» 1 80 1 Turnips ; one -fourth of a ton of ditto, sheep fed. 1802 Barley. No. 24. — Paddock. 1797 Trefoil, ray, and Dutch, sheep fed. 1798 Ditto, sheep fed. 1799 Summer-fallow. 1800 X'V heat; one quarter of a ton of cake per acre. 1801 Turnips, mucked, sheep fed. 1802 Barley. No. 25. — Home Break. 1797 Trefoil, ray, and Dutch, one-half fed, one-half mown. 1798 Ditto, sheep fed. 1799 Wheat ; forty acres of it manured with one-quar- ter of a ton of cake per acre. 1800 Turnips ; forty acres, one-quarter of a ton of cake ; twenty acres mucked. 1801 Barley. 1802 Clover; forty acres mown; twenty acres (cd. horses. No. 26. — Ling Piece. 1797 Layer, second year sheep fed. 1798 Summer-fallow; clayed. 1799 COURSE OF CROPS. 20$ 1799 Tartarian oats. 1800 Turnips ; one-quarter of a ton of cake per acre. 180 1 Barley. 1802 Trefoil, niown. No. 27. — Second Nineteen Acres. 1797 Trefoil, ray, and Dutch, sheep fed. 1798 Summer-fallow. 1799 ^^s^^ j one-quarter of a ton of cake per acre, 1800 Turnips; dicto, sheep fed. 1 80 1 Barley. 1802 Clover, mowed. No. 28. — Fourteen Acres adjoiningo 1797 Clover, ray, and Dutch, mowed. 1798 Ditto, mown. 1799 Tartarian oats. 1800 Turnips ; one-qua;-ter of a ton of cake per acre j sheep fed. 1 80 1 Barley. 1802 Trefoil, sheep fed. No. 29. — Second Long Snelling. 1797 Layer, second year sheep fed. 1798 Summer-fallow. 1799 Wheat; one-quarter of a ton of cake per acre; on the other halt, one-third of a lon. 1 800 Turnips, mucked; sheep fed. 1801 Barley. 1802 Trefoil, mown. A finer detail of courses, or of great exertions in excel- lent management, has not often been seen. A singular management he has pradlised, has been that of breaking up a one year's layer, and sowing turnips, to the quantity of from twenty to fifty acres in a year, feeding them off with sheep, and then drilling wheat on one earth. KORFOLK.] P Part 210 COURSE OF CROPS. Partofonft of Mr. Dursgate's fields was sammer- fallow and part pease ; the whole then sown with wheat, which was better after the pease than after the fallow ; the crop was damaged by the wire worm, against which he has found fallowing no security. Mr. RisHTON, at Thornham, the old four-shift, of 1. Turnips, 3. Seeds, 2. Barley, 4. Wheat. Clover, one round, and other seeds the next. At Holm, on rich loam : 1. Turnips, 4. Clover, and tempered^ 2. Barley, 5. Wheat, 3. Clover and ray-grass, 6. Barley. Mr. Styleman, at Snettisham : 1. Turnips, 4. Seeds, 2. Barley, 5. Pease, 3. Seeds, 6. Wheat, Mr. GoDDisoN, at Houghton, and the farmers gene- rally, are in the five-shift husbandry. The same at Hillington. Mr. Beck, at Riseing, the same. The seeds two years, and clover in alternate rounds. The fifth year some take wheat, some pease, and then wheat ; but tjie land thus getting foul, Mr. Beck has not pradlised it of lateyears^ When he has taken turnips after pease, he has fed them off in time for wheat, on one earth broad-cast on four- furrow work. The old four-shift at Grimstone. The same to the east of the Ouze around Downham, for some miles ; sometimes the seeds are left two years, but in general only one: the course, however, is not by all adhered to, for some sow barley after wheat — some few beans. Mr. Saffory thinks that the grand point now in Norfolk COURSE OF CROPS. 211 Norfolk husbandry is a due change and variation of crops, as beans, carrots, Sec. At WatHngton the same four-shift course : if clover fails, pease, and then wheat. Mr. RoGERSON, at Narborough, on very poor sand, the five-shift, the seeds lying two years: but on the worst land, instead of wheat in the fifth year, rye, barley, vetches, pease, or Tartarian oats. He had no wheat this year (1802). About Wymondham : 1. Turnips, 2. Barley, 3. Clover ; or clover, trefoil, white clover and ray^ one year. 4. Wheat, 5. Barley, but with exceptions. If the seeds fail, dibble pease sometimes, and take wheat after. At Besthorpe : 1. Turnips, 4. Wheat, 2. Barley, ■ 5. Barley ; 3. Clover, &c. but Mr, Priest leaves oiit this last crop. Mr. Twist, at Bretenham : 1. Turnips, 4. Ditto, 2. Barley, 5. Rye, on one or on 3. Trefoil and ray grass, three eaiths. At Acle, on some of the finest wheat land in the county : 1. Turnips, 4. Wheat, 2. Barley, 5. Pease, 3. Clover, 6. Wheat. At Halvergate also, very fine land in the same course. If clover follows once in four years, it is sure to fail. Thirty years ago, a course I met with in Fleg hundred was : I* 2 1, Turnips, JX2 COURSE OF CROPS. 1. Turni[is, 4. Ditto, 2. Barley, 5. Buck-wheat, or pease, 3. Clover and ray^ 6. Wheat. It was remarked more than thirty years ago, near Nor- wich, that the crops of barley, after turnips fed late, were generally bad, which led to a pradice tiiat deserves not- ing: buck-wheat was substituted, which succeeded well, and was followed by wheat ; an observation very applica- ble to Swedish turnips at present. COURSES ON STRONGER LAND. At Thelton, Mr. Havers, on his drier soils: 1. Turnips, 2. Barley, 3. Clover, once in eight years, the land being sick of it, 4. Wheat, dibbled. But on heavy land : X. Summer-fallow, 4. Wheat, dibbled, 2. Barley, 5. Beans. 3. Clover, once In eight years, On either soil, in the intermediate course, trefoil, ray, and white suckling, substituted for clover; sometimes left two years, and then pease on the lighter land, and beans on the heavy — wheat following. Mr. Drake, of Billingford, on heavy land; 1. Summer-fallow, 4. Wheat, 2. Barley, 5. Beans or oats. 3. Clover, But as the land is sick of clover, he does not sow It of- tener than once in eight or ten years ; using white clover the intermediate round. On his light land, the common four-shift husbandry. Mr. Pitts, at Thorpe Abbots, on gravel: I. Turnips, COURSE OF CROPS. 213 1. Turnips, 3. Seeds, 2. Barley, 4. Wheat, barley, or pease. But on heavy land : 1. Summer-fallow, 3. Seeds, 2. Barley, 4. Wheat. Some put in pease or beans on the seeds, and then wheat, Mr. Mildred, on the Duke of Norfolk's beauti- ful farm at Earsham, near Bungay; on his lighter land, the four-shift husbandry ; but on the heavy : 1. Summer-fallow, 4. Wheat, dibbled, 2. Barley, 5. Beans or oats, the for- 3. Seeds, mer dibbled. His seeds for change are trefoil and white clover: he does not like ray grass, therefore sows as little as possible. Mr. Burton, of Langley, summer-fallows the strong land at Hempnal, for barley and wheat alternately ; taking beans after either, and wheat after tlie beans. On the sandy and gravelly loams of the hundred of Loddon, the four- shift husbandry ; but as the land is sick of clover, they sow it but once in eight years: sow white clover and trefoil instead of it. Mr. Salter, near Dereham, on land so wet as to re- quire much holloW'draining : 1. Turnips, 3. Clover, 2. Barley, 4. Wheat. But it does not keep his land free from charlock. 1776, at Walpole : 1. Fallow, 4. Beans, 2. Wheat, 5. Wheat. 3. Oats, Mr. Forby's, at Fincham, on strong land: 1. Cabbages, dunged for, and worth, on an average, ^I. per acre ; 2. Barley, 9I coombs ; p 3 3. Clover, il4 COURSE OF CROPS, 3. Clover, mown twice, produce three tons ; 4. Wheat, dibbled, 8|: coombs ; lias had ten round ; 5. Oats, fifteen coombs. About Harleston, on tlieir good loams of 20s. or 25s. an acre, on a marie bottom, they pursue pretty much this rotation : 1. Fallow, 3. Beans, 2. Wheat, 4. Wheat. With this variation : 1. Fallow, 4. Beans, 2. Wheat, 5. Wheat. 3. Clover, The beans all dibbled, one row on a furrow ; three bushels of Windsor ticks per acre : they used to manure for the vtheat after them, but of late have got much into the pra6iice of manuring for the beans, which lias suc- ceeded far better, not only for tlie beans, but with, the wheat also. They most approve of ploughing the land for beans in the autumn, and leaving it in order, well water-gripped, for planting, after harrowing, the end of February or beginning of March, on this stale furrow. Crop, from eight to twelve coombs an acre. Dibbling is 6s. 6d. an acre, and hand-hocing, twice, lOS. — 5s. each time. They hairow, and roll in the clover on the wheat, in the spring. Mr. Salter, at Winborough, applied summer-fal- lowing, the first year of his taking his farm, much of which consists of various loams and sands, on a strong marley and clayey bottom, and abounding with springs ; but after that, he has never fallowed, and never will. — ■ His expression was, " a man is a madman that summer" fallows." J-Ie is very regularly in the four-shift course of : 1. Turnips, 3. Clover, 2. Barley, 4. Wheat. If COURSE OF CROPS. 21^ If clover fails, or on lands where he ex'pe6ls it to fail, uintcr tares or pease, instead of it. His wheat, on layers, all dibblet), and the turnips fed by sheep on the land ; on the wettest soils, kept on them only by day, and laying on grass-land at night. At East Bilney, Brisley, Gressenhall, Stanfield, Betdey, and Mileham, being adjoining parishes, the common course is: I. Turnips, 4. Wheat, 2. Barley, and some add,, 3. Clover, 5. Barley. Also : I. Summer-fallow, 5. Barley, 2. Wheat, 6. Clover, 3. Oats, 7. Wheat. 4. Turnips, The Rev. Dixon Hoste, on some of the strongest 3nd most tenacious land I have seen in Norfolk : 1. Turnips, 6. Barley, drilled, 2. Barley, drilled, 7. Tares, &c. as the land is 3. Clover, sick of clover, 4. Wheat, drilled, 8. Wheat, drilled. 5. Turnips, Recurring thus but once in eight years, the clover stands. At Goodwick, and the neighbouring heavy land pa- rishes, the four-shift husbandry ; the turnips on nearly flat lands ! There are, however, some summer-fallows for wheat, in which case the course is : 1. Fallow, 4. Barley, 2. Wheat, 5. Clover, 3. Turnips, 6, Wheat. Mr. Porter, at Watlington, on strong land: 1. Fallow, 3. Beans, 2. Wheat, 4. Wheat. p 4 One- 2l6 pqURSE OF CROPS. One-fourth fallow. If fallow is had recourse to, how much better to introduce it thus : 1. Fallow, 4. Wheat, 2. Barley, 5. Beans, 3. Beans, 6. Wheat. MARSHLAND. At Wiginhall, St. Maries : 1. Summer fallo\y, 3. Beans, 2. Wheat, 4. Wheat. This by good farmers ; but some go on : 5. Oats, 6. Barley, or big. On Governor Bentinck's estate, in Terrington, by Mr. William Arton, a tenant: 1. Wheat, 4. Potatoes, 2. Oats, 5. Wheat. 3. Wheat, Will any reader believe that this note could be made in the county of Norfolk ? Another field of the same farm ; 1. Wheat, 3. Oats, 2. Wheat, 4. Potatoe- Another : ?. FalloAv, 4. Wheat, 2. Oats, 5. Spring wheat. 3. Wheat, Bravo ! for Marshland lads ! Other curious courses, from the same book : 1. Wheat, I. Fallow, 2. Wheat, 2. Oats, 3. Oats, 3. Wheat, 4. Potatoes, 4. Wheat, 5. Wheat. 5. Wheat. I. Fallow, COURSE OF CROPS. 217 I. Fallow, 4. Wheat, 2. Oats, 5. Barley. 3. Wheat, At Walpole: I. Summer-fallow, 3. Oats, 2. Wheat, 4. Wheat. Also : 1. Oats on grass. 4. Wheat, 2. Cole, 5. Fallow. 3. Oats, Another : I. Summer-fallow, 5. Wheat, 2. Wheat, 6. Barley or oats. 3. Oats, 7. Clover, 4. Beans, 8. Wheat. Mr. SwAYNE : I. Fallow, 4. Beans, 2. Oats, 5. Wheat. 3. Wheat, Adjoining Marshland Smeth, to the North, &c. old land: I. Summer-fallow, 4. Oats, 2. Wheat, and some. 3. Beans, 5. Wheat. Also: I. Cole, 4. Beans, 2. Cole seeded. 5. Oats or wheat. 3. Wheat, Mr. Saffory's fen farms at Denver Welney, Ford- ham, Downham, west side : 1. Pare and burn for cole for sheep ; the crop worth 30s. to 40s. 2. Oats, fifteen coombs, • 3. Wheat, seven coombs, 4. Summerland cole for sheep, 25Si 5. OatSj fifteen coombs, 6. Laid ;j5f8 COURSE OF CROPS. 6. Laid to ray, one bush, white clover 81b. red ditto, 81b. for three years, fed in general with sheep and beasts, some mown i| load an acre. Sometimes red clover only for one year, ploughed up, and wheat dibbled. OBSERVATIONS. One observation on the Norfolk courses opcurs, which the pradiceof Mr. Purdis, of Eggmore, I think, justi- fies:— he was long in the common system before he struck out a variation; and he was induced to it, partly from a convi(5lion that the land generally wanted a change : the want of variety in the courses of the county, is the cir- cumstance that I wish to allude to. For 6o or 70 years, the variations have, upon the whole, been very few ; all have begun with turnips, followed by barley; {hen seeds y m which alone have occurred the chief variations, and those, by force of necessity, from failures. If there is a deficiency, I think it will be found in not having some substitutions of crops for so regular a routine. Mr. Pur- dis introducing tares, appears a good idea : pease have been taken by some other farmers ; but Mr. Overman's curious observation, that they will not succeed, if taken oftener than once in 11 or 12 years, should be a caution. Chicory, followed by winter tares, amongst which some scattered plants rising, would be of no consequence, but rather an advantage, deserves attention. Upon very poor soils, this plant is essential to profit. Another crop J shall take the liberty of naming for loams, is the bean. The notion, in Norfolk, that tliis is adapted only to strong soils, is very erroneous; it is more profitable on good sands, and pretty good sandy loams, than it is on clay ; and would yield great crops on soils, wherein it is never found in Norfolk. Carrots also deserve attention ; for turnips have been re- peated till the land is sick of them. SECT. TURNIPS. SECT. IV. — TURNIPS. £^9 It Is proper to begin with the crop w'nich, in Norfolk, is made the basis of all others. 1. Course, lO. Drilling, 2. Soil, II. Consumption, 3. Tillage, 12. Preservation, 4. Manuring, 13. For seed, 5. Sort, 14. Is the land tired? 6. Seed, 15. Swedish Turnip, 7. Steeping, 16. Importance of the 8. Hoeing, culture. 9. Distempers, 1. Course. — At Massingham, on the first improvement above sixty years ago, it was common to take two crops running to clean the land, and it answered greatly : Mr. Car's barley, after the preparation, was greater than ever known in the common course: he had 6| quarters per acre. Mr. Burton, of Langley, considers a wheat stubble as the best for turnips. 2. Soil. — Norfolk farmers are so wedded to turnips, that they sow them almost indiscriminately on all soils. Per- haps, the heaviest land I have yet s'een in the county, is at Goodwick, on the farm of the Rev. Dixon Hoste : and I was petrified to see his turnips on such a soil, as well as his neighbours, on broad flat lands: it is true, he has hollow-drained well and carefully ; but the very tex- ture of the soil is adhesion itself, and greatly retentive of water; so that carting to remove the crop, is very hazard- ous ; the consequence is, a barley crop inferior to the land ; certainly, in many cases (even in this fine barley year, 1802}, not more than the half of what would have follow- ed beans or tares, well managed. In 220 TURWIPS. In discourse with Mr.. Johnson, nt Kempsfon, I found that he considered cultivation and turnips as synonimous : no farming without turnips: — fVhat, yl^r. Johnson, on very wet, stiffs tenacious, poacJilng soi/s P — " How are you to keep stock without them ?" And, in Norfolk, they may be said to know nothing of the Northumberland cul- ture, the only system that can make the crop advisable on such land. The universality of this culture in Norfolk, v/hatever the soil, is singular; but the most extraordinary feature is, to see so many on the Marshland, clay the ridges almost flat ; tjiey are carted, or rather poached off, for cows and sheep. The stronger, heavier soils of the southern parts of East Norfolk, will not bring turnips freely without marie, which a6ts by rendering the soil more friable. This is an observation of an ingenious v*riter ; but, at present, marled or not marled, all is under turnips. The universal system in Noriolk, whatever may be the soil, of sowing turnips, and cultivating them on flat, or nearly flat lands, must, without hesitation, be condemn- ed : hollow-draining can never be praised too mucli ; but there are districts, the soil of which is so tenacious, that no drains can make the husbandry admissible. Mr. Forby's experiments on cabbages, very carefully made, and accurately reported, bear immediately on this point, were they necessary to establish it , but, in truth, few ex- periments aie wanting to prove the point : for the many bad or Inferior crops of barley 1 saw in 1802, a very great barley year, on such soils, would alone convince me that the turnip culture, in such cases, is mischievous. The difference between six or seven coombs of barley, and eleven or twelve, would buy lintseed cake for the con- sumption of straw; or pay the loss of fattening hogs for the TURNIPS. 221 the same purpose. Straw must be converted into dung : these methods make better dung than turnips ; nor are these the only resources. 3. Tillage. — About Watton not less than four earths given. The seed harrowed in — no drilling pradised. Mr. Money Hill, of Waterden, scarifies his turnip fallows in March, April or May, as it may happen ; the scarifier attached to a frame on two wheels, made for that purpose, to save the carriage of the drill machine ; but the second time of going over the land he fixes it to the frame of a roller, to which are added irons pierced for that purpose, the roller breaking any clods that contain the roots of the twitch grass, and freeing it to be taken up by the shares, or afterwards by the teeth of the horse-rake, the teeth of which are freed by working in the common manner of other couch-rakes, through a frame of wood. A practice of Mr. Thurtell's on a pea stubble, which he has followed many times, is to scarify direne respefl, that of being set out too thin, which with dashing hoers is a common evil. 9. Distempers. — -Mr. CoKE having heard that ducks had been used to clear turnips of the black canker, tried them on a field of ^iZ ^cres : he bought 400 ducks ; on the i6th of July they were turned in, having water at one corner of the field, and in five days they cleared the whole com- pletely, marching at last through the field on the hunt, eyeing the leaves on both sides with great care, to devour every one they could see. The anbury, or external knots, each containing a small worm in the centre, depends on soil, and most of the soils in Norfolk are subjedl to it till they have been marled or clayed, which is an almost sure preventative. 10. Drilling. — The application of this mode of culture to the turnip crop has not yet made any considerable pro- gress in the country ; nor are the opinions of the farmers settled upon the question of its propriety. Mr. FowEL drills his turnips for bullocks at 18 Inches, but for sheep at 12. I viewed several of his crops, and found them very regular : the drillings well joined, and very straight. Four strokes of the drill sow an 18 feet ridge, without a marker ; the horse led by the lines of the furrows. He gives 3s. 6d. for hoeing the first time, and as. 6d. the second. Mr. Bloomfield, at Billingfold, Jias this year (1802) very promising turnips on a bad black gravel soil, which he enclosed and broke up from the heath* His culture is, to set out the ridges of two feet from the flat, with a dou« ble breast plough, and to lay the muck in the furrows ; he then sows broad-cast, and splits down the ridges with the ground wrest of a double breast plough without its breasts, harrows across, and the turnips come up regularly on flat land in rows at two feet. The baiUfF thinks that en this poor soil they should have had no turnips in the NORFOLK.] (^ coiuraoa 226 TURNIPS. common mode of cultivation ; ami that in this method lO loads of muck are equal to 14 used in the common way. Mr. Coke, at Holkham, sows none broad-cast ; all arc drilled. Mr. Rep TON, at Oxnead, drills turnips at one foot, and prefers the method. Mr. England, of Binliam, tried the drill last year, but he found the plants too thick in the rows, and has observed the same in some other cases ; they are then dif- ficult to hoe. Mr. Reeve, ofWiglUon, drilled tliem for two years at 1 1 inches and a half, but has left off the practice. Mr. Henry Blvthe, of Burnham, though a very, staunch friend to drilling corn, from 12 years experience, does not drill turnips, finding that they are not so easily hoed. Mr. Stvlem AN. at Snettisham, drills them at 12 inches, and he thinks they hoe better than bioad-cast crops, and that the produce is greater. Mr. BlooMfield, of Harpley, finding that his turnips were very apt to fail, like those of his neighbours, on a chalk soil, varied his husbandry ; he spread the muck, and then sowed the turnip seed, and ploughed them in together, by two furrows meeting, but not lapping the one on the other, and the seed coming up along the centre of the flat ridge thus formed, before winter he ploughs between, to earth them up powerfully, for preservation against the frost. The success has been great, and much exceeding the common pradlice on that soil. Mr. Goddison fa- voured me with this accoui>t — Mr. Bloom field not at home. Mr. Priest, of Besthorpe, has this year turnips drilled at 18 inches, with Cooke's machine: I viewed the crop, and admired their regularity and size, for so unfavourable a year TURNIPS. 227 a vear (1802) ; they were first liand, and then horse-hoed ; the rows 18 inches asunder : hand-hoeing performed as easy as in broad-cast crops. Mr. Twist, of Bretenham, has seen drilled turnips, but did not like them well enough to adopt the praiSlice, though a great driller of corn. II. Consumption. — Mr. Be van has for some years pur- sued the common pradlice of drawing half his crop alter- nately by stitches, and carting them to his yard or to layers, for cattle ; and feeding the other half on the land by sheep ; he has long suspedled that he lost by it : this year his bar- ley is so inferior to what it ought to be, as to afford entire convi(5tion of it; and he is determined never more to re- peat it. The sands of Riddlesvvorth are not rich enough to bear this treatment. Mr. Drake, of Billingford, carts off his turnips with quarter-carts, the horse and one wheel going in ihe fur- row, and only one wheel on the land, and that on the crown of the ridge. The mischief thus done, he says, is less than in any other method he has seen. The soil strong and wet. Upon good land Mr. Coke draws half and feeds half; but on the v/eaker soils feeds all. It is common with many farmers in West Norfolk to draw out the largest roots for carting home to bullocks, and for feeding the smaller ones in the field by sheep. Carting damages many ; but there is a great advantage in leaving the small ones, which resist the frost the best. Mr. MiTCHEL, of Houghton, having a great super- fluity of turnips, in April, 1791 (a circumstance not uncommon in Norfolk), used a tool for cutting them into four quarters ; it was a broad knife, crossed at right angles, widi a handle about three feet long ; women used it, and the expense was but a few sliijlings per acre. 0^2 I have 228 TURNIPS. 1 have known crops carted, at a great expense, into dltcli«s to rot. Thirty years ago, thj;ee roods of turnips would fatten a beast of 45 stone, or six Norfolk wethers, in East Nor- folk. In 1770, I found the genera! method of consuming the crop, from Norwich to Yarmouth, to be drawing every other land for beasts, and eating the other half on the land by sheep. At Thelton, the soil not being generally adapted to sheep, the crop is consumed by bullocks in the farm-yards [par yards J. Many drawn also at Billingford and Thorpe Abbots, as well as through all that country, sheep not being a com- nion stock. Mr. Thurtell, near Yarmouth, draws about one- third of every field for bullocks, kept loose in the yard ; of tying up in stalls, his expression was, it is done with! ten beasts at liberty, make as much manure as thirty tied up: not that they may not fat sotiiething faster? the difference, however, is small, if there be sheds around the yard : if he fatted a beast on a bet, it should be tied up. The i e- niaining two-thirds of the turnip crop are eaten by buf- locks, and fat sheep in the field ; and, in this consumption, ' he is in the Fleg system of drawing, and carting enough to spread a fair portion of the field cleared for the yard fatting; and the whole of the turnips consumed in the field, arc pulled and thrown. Tiiis method is now common in Fleg, and the best farmers have an higli opinion of it : the stock do better, and less ofFal is made, than where the roots are not drawn. Mr. Everit, of Caisfor, is in the pradtice^ and thinks, that io pull and throw, though in the same field, will make the turnips go further by one-£fth, and the stock doing better at the same time. One-horse carts ilie best for this work. Mr. TURNIPS. 22f Mr. Ferrier, at Hemsby, carts his whole crop to the par ysivCl, the roots being first tailed in the field. At Hemsby, Sec. in Fleg, 30 great cart-loads an acre ; and single roots as inoch round as a mid ^srs than usual between the turnip crops, they have" been tlie berter; and are always best on new land. Mr. Dyble, of Scotter, it maybe supposed, admits no such fa6l as land being tired of turnips ; for lie positively asserted, that he never lost a crop in his life ; but never gives any of the tillage while the land is the least wet ; it cannot be too dry for turnips. No land tired of turnips at Oxnead. Upon this question Mr. Bircham remarked, that 40 years ago, they could get almost as good turnips without dung, as they can now with it ; but still muck will do the business well. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, remarks on this point, that he gets to the full as good turnips as his father did. He never sows les;s than three pints. However, one ob- servation of his looks like the land being tired, for he reiuarks, that turnips, in his proposed course of eight years, will come better from the sowings being longer apart. Mr. England, of Binham, has no other idea of lan4 being sick of turnips, than what results from the fadt, that this crop was to be gained twenty years ago vv'ithout dung, but not so at present. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, agrees in the idea of his neighbour, and makes a point of manuring all he sows. Mr. M. Hill is clear that the land sickens of turnips, and that they are less in size every seven or ten years. His bailiff has been in the farming line fifty years ; in dis- course with him on the subjedt, he assured me, that there was no sort of comparison to be made between the crops at present and diose formerly raised: he has known two turnips as much as a man could throw over the side of a cart. But he thinks the crops of corn better now ; and he is also sure, that more sheep are kept now than in the for- pier periods, notwithstanding the w^lks being broken up. Mr. f)?^ TURNIPS. Mr. Henry Blythe, of Burnham, or his neighbourSf cannot get any turnips wiihout manuring. Mr. DuRSGATE never foinid any inconvenience from turnips being sown too often. At Sedgford he has often had them two years together, and the second better than the first. He does not admit, therefore, that land is sick of tliem. Mr. Coke is clear, that at Holkham, if turnips are sown oftenerthan in common, they fail, as the land is sick of them. Mr. FowEL is clear that turnips Iiavc rotted much more for the last lo years than they did 20 years ago, which he supposes to be caused by a change in the seasons. But he cannot by any means agree with those who assert that the turnips in Norfolk are inferior to what they for-, mcrly were, from long repetition ; he is clear that they jire just as good as ever.* From these notes it appears, that opinions vary, and I wish the reader to have tlie ideas of the farmers, rather than any general notion of my own, formed from those opinions — such might be erroneously given. I make it a rule to let tlic county speak for Itself on every point. 15. Swedish Turnips. — Mr. Walker, of Harpley, in Norfolk, has cultivated them for some years, with great success : generally has from 20 to 30 acres; feeds them ofF with sheep and bullocks, and can depend on them, when common turnips are all rotten. His crop in i8co, not- withstanding the drought, was very fine. Mr. OvermAj^, of Burnham, had in i8cc a field of tht4 plant, and among them a new-comer, the root some- what resembhng th^ifi, but the leaf m.uch more like a * In the neigVibouring county, the Duke of Grafton has made the same observation. Turnips were cultivated at Eusfon as early as at Rainham, yet His Grace is clear, iliai for the l^st 40 or 50 years they have jiot declined »% cotpmoH TURNIPS* 53^ Common turnip ; and it buries itself in thq ground more than any otJier, but the size inferior. It afterwards proved good for nothing. Mr. Coke, of Holkliam, has 30 acres this year — has cultivated them several years, with the greatest success, and esteems them as a very valuable acquisition. Mr. Bevan sowed them in 1792, ac the same time with common turnips, and the crop was so inconsiderable, as to prove the time quite improper. 1802. — He has sowed this plant since repeatedly, and at the right season in May and June ; but the fly has always eaten it, so that he has never had a crop. Mr. FovvEL, of Snetterton, has sowed Swedish tur-» nips for seven years successively, but has never had a crop : the fly ate all. Mr. M. Hill, this year (1802) sowed Swedish turnips twice, and both sowings were taken ofl^by the fly. Now (1803) sowing Swedes and tankard turnip toge- ther, to draw the latter for autumn use. Mr. Syble, of South Walsham, had last year a crop of these roots, which came to a good size; as heavy near- ly as common turnips, but they were so hard that no stock which he tried liked thein. They were white fleshed. Swedes, in East Norfolk, in the opinion of Mr. Pal- GRAVE, rather coming in: Mr. Bartlet Gurney has them at North Reps, and a few at Coltishal. Air. BiRCHAM, ofHackford, has tried them, but did not succeed ; he believes they were not sown early enough. I saw a piece on the farm of Mr. Reeve, of Wigh- ton. Mr. H. Blythe, of Burnham, had a field of them last year, and found them of great use in the spring : this year he has ten acres. Mr. Witus, of Choseley,^has a few acres. i-^6 TURNIPS/ ^ Sir^foRDAUNT Martin, of Burnham, a promising crop. Last yenr Mr. Dursgate Iiad very fine Swedish tur- nips, sowed in May : lie approves much of them. In Mr. Mackte's nursery, at Norwich, they are much infested with inse6ls : a species of aphys. Turnip Cabbages. — More than 30 years ago, Mr. How- MAN, of Bracon Ash, cuhivating this plant, observed that those which were left in the seed bed, came to mucli the larger sire. The same remark has been often made on the great common cabbage. In consequence of that ob- servation, 1 then recommended the pracSlice of sowing caT)bages where they are to remain ; but know not that it was adopted by any person except the late Mr. Bake- well. 1 6. Importance of the culture. — The general feature of the wet districts of the kingdom, is that of cleaning land which has become foul by tlie culture of white corn, by means of a summer-fallow ; but in sandy and other dry countries, and more especially in Norfolk, the same ob- je(5^ is attained by the turnip husbandry ; and the great ad- ditional advantage secured of supporting great flocks, and herds of sheep aud cattle. The system is, at present, pret- ty well known in most parts of the kingdom ; but no ■where pradlised on such a scale and so universally as in Norfolk. The difference between a barren fallow and an ameliorating crop, which 'admits so much tillage and successive hoeing, is generally known and ad- mitted; and to expatiate on the importance of cattle and sheep in manuring, would be idle; but (confining our- selves to Norfolk) it merits inquiry, whether the practice, so common, of cuhivating this crop on nearly all the soils jn the county, whether sandy and dry, or heavy and wer. TURNIPS. 237 be so really advantageous, as to justify its recommenda- tion generally to the kingdom at large. From all I have at various times seen in Norfolk of this custom, and 1 have often viewed the conduiSl of the far- mers in winter, on strong, heavy, wet lands, I must freely confess that it is carried too far. The reader should keep in his mind one material circumstance, that the tillage of the county Is very generally performed on flat, or nearly flat lands, stitches, ridges, or by whatever name they are called : high and arched lands are unknown, and the Nor- thumbei land culture of drilling on narrow ridges, no where pradtised. Hollow-diaining is the only dependence, and excellent as that husbandry is, it will not prevent much poaching, either by eating on the land, or carting the crop ofF. Every degree of treading, poaching, or kneading in the spring, or when the spring is approaching, is on these soils pernicious: drying winds must follow before the ploughs can get to work, and then the furrow cuts whole, and what is called Uvery, soon becomes hard and tenacious, so that a very favourable succession of m.oderate showers and fair weather must ensue, or the tillage will be either disturbing hard clods, or poaching in the mire. On such soils, and in such seasons, to give the turnip land only one furrow when nearly dry, and dibble in beans, vvoukl be far preferable, than against circumstances to de- termine for barley : and in conversation with several good farmers on sowing turnips on really wet lands, I have heard them admit that it is bad husbandry: a dead fallovi vjould be better; but we are tempted against our judgments. When we speak therefore of what only deserves the title of true Norfolk husbandry, we ought always to con- fioe the remarks to sand or sound loams. Ic 2^S Parley. '■J It is not merely a question between turnips and faliow^ but beans should be more generally adopted: they are (Coming in, but move slowly. SECT. V. — BARLEY. Norfolk is the greatest barley county in tlie king- dom, this grain forming the chief dependence of most of the farmers, in all except the very wettest pans of the district. "The notes taken may be thus arranged : I. Course, 7- Drilling, 2. Tillage, 8. Dibbling, 3- Time of sowing, 9- Produce, 4- Sort, 10. Awns, S- Seed, II. Malt. 6. Depth, 1. Course. — Mr, Haver's bailiff assured me, that he gets as good barley on a fallow without muck, as he does after turnios on the same strong; land tliat was well duntr- ed : a good crop ten coombs ; rarely less than eight in any i-nanagement. The husbandry is well condu61ed. After harvest the fallow is laid on to ten-furrow ridges, so that in spring they have only to plough and sow : to scarify and sow would he better, the horses going only in the furrows. Mr. Pitts, of Thorpe Abbots, also gets much better barley on a fallow without manure, than after turnips welJ manured for, if the land be heavy. Mr. Cubit, at Catfield, and his neighbours, get more barley after wheat than they do after turnips drawn ; but the lARLEV. 239 the clennest and the best coloured is afrer turnips ; and they find that the barley after wheat, in a six year's shite (the seeds lying two years), is much better than in the five shift, in which the seeds remain but one year. Mr. Cubit, of Honing, also gets the best crops of barley after wheat, but attributes it to the pulling and throwing turnips on tlie wheat stubbles; but he remarks, that the throwing business seldom answers, except in very dry weather. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, generally gets better barley after wiieat than after turnips, but the latter all drawn. Mr. Johnson, at Thurning, gets as good barley after wheat on four earths, as after turnips. Mr. EvERiT, of Caistor, in Fleg, observes, that if tur- nips are fed off by sheep early, that is, by December, then the barley is much better than what is gained after wheat ; but if the turnips are fed in the spring, in March for in- stance, the barley after wheat beats it. Mr. Francis, of Martham, upon the whole, has rather better barley after turnips than after wheat, but the latter the greatest bulk: the turnips carted away. Mr. Parmenter, of Aylesham, has compared the barley after turnips fed on the land, and carted off; and the superiority of the fortner is very great, greater than he should have imagined ; of course he has many doubts on the common prad^ice of carting off for bullocks. Mr. SrvLEMAN has observed a manifest superiority in his barley, from giving the sheep hay while feeding the turnip crop. 2. Tillage. — About Walton all is put in on two earths and an half; the first clean, the second 10:0 furrow work^ or ribbling, and the third clean burying the seed. No one-horse ploughs. But if the turnips are very late on the ground, then only one earth, and the seed harrowed in. Through 24*3 EA.RLEY. Through East Bilney and the adjoining parishes, they give two clean earths, and an half ploughing; some tliree clean ploughings : if the turnips are late, but one, and harrow in tiic seed. Mr. Salter, of Winl)orougli,alvvavs gives three clean earths for his barley, and will not admit any idea of lessen- ing this tillage: finer crops than his farm exhibits (1802) were never seen : I guessed them at 15 or 16 coombs an acre ; and he has had above 20. He puts all in with one- horse ploughs. ^bout Hingham they plough the turnip land twice clears and one half ploughing: no such thing as ever sowing on a stale furrow. Some plough in the seed, and a few har- row it in. Mr. Bevan, upon trying the diill husbandry, some years ago, and being well satisfied with it, adopted the one-horse ploughs for that purpose, and they answered very well, doing an acre and a half a day ; after which he used the scuffler, one man and three horses, doing seven or eight acres a day ; being induced by the good crops which his tenant, Mr. Bradfield, gained in that man- ner ; and he prefers scuffling, as being cheaper. The crop comes up ccjually, and he conceives that if the drill is su- perior, it must arise (not from the seed being deposited at an equal depth, because the same objetSt is attained in other methods, bur), from the seed being crowded together as in cluster sowing, which has, in certain experiments, proved highly beneficial. Of course this applies to the present Norfolk pra6lice of neither horse nor hand hoeing being applied in die drills. At Thorpe Abbots, they generally give three clean earths to their turnip land for barley. At Hemsby some fanners give four. There are sovnQ also that put it in on one, but the crop is not so good. At BARLEY. . 241 At Repps and Martham, three earths for barley, -whe- ther after turnips or wheat. Mr. Francis is very care- ful not to touch the land till it is dry in March, and thinks that all winter ploughing is mischievous. He has tried putting in barley on one earth, but never knew it answer. At Ludham, three earths to turnip-land, for barley ; but Mr. HoRNARD, this year, put some in on two, and never had a better crop. He ploughs it in with one-horse ploughs, and now has a double plough for the same work, which answers better. At Catfield, diree or four earths to turnip-land, for barley. Mr. Margateson, at North Walsham, three and four on wheat stubbles, sometimes five. He, in com- mon with the pra^ice of the country, ploughs in the seed after turnips, and harrows in that sown on wheat stubbles. Here and there are one-horse ploughs, but not common. Mr. Parmenter, of Aylesham, puts in with one- horse ploughs. Mr. Dyble, of Scotter, sometimes three earths, but oftener four, and has given five after turnips, and also af- ter wheat. At Oxnead, Mr. Repton, four or five earths for tur- nip-land barley. Mr. Birch AM, three earths. Mr. England, ofBinham, if his turnip-land is quite clean, rarely more than two earths to prepare for the drill, but three if wanted. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, this year (1802) scaled some of his turnip-land in January, and left it till the be- ginning of March, then harrowed, and gave a stirring earth ; rolled it with a light roller, and left it till the end of March, or the first week in April, and after the first jhower, harrowed and drilled diredlly ; the soil stiff and NORFOLK.] R StubboiH 242 BARLEY. Stubborn (what a Norfolk sand -farmer assigns these ex= pressions to) ; the crop very great. Mr. Coke, at Holkham, gives three clean earths, In- variably. Mr. Money Hill, three earths — part with one-horse ploughs, the rest drilled. Mr. Henry Blythe, of Burnham, drills his barley on two earths, after turnips ; sometimes on three. It is common about Thornham to plough for barley thrice, if broad-cast ; twice for the drill ; Mr. Rishton thrice. Mr. Styleman, at Snettisham, if his turnips are later on the land, ploughs but once for barley, rolls and drills, and gets as good crops as any : but on the land fed early, ploughs thrice. It depends on the season, which shall prove the best crop. Mr. Porter, of WatHngton, ploughs his turnip-land once, for barley drilling, and gets as good crops as with more tillage. 3. Time of sowing. — George Earl of Orford, tried at Houghton, some experiments on sowing barley much earlier than common, which were interesting. The soil, sand. In 1785 — 23 acres, after turnips fed off: sown Feb. 7 ; sharp frosts, with and without snow, followed, and the seed laid five weeks before it ajTpeared. Pro* duce, five quarters one bushel and one peck per acre. In 1786 — 14 acres, sown the 8th of February; pro- duce, four quarters seven bushels and one peck. In 1787 — 50 acres, sown the 6th, &c. of February; produce, five quarters one peck. Mr. Coke is a friend to early sowing; he would wish always to begin by the 20th of March, and finish by the 15th of April, and never be a moment later than the 20th. Mr, BARLEY. ^42 Mr. Overman thinks the best season for sowing bar- ley, is from the ist to tlie 20th of April: it will vary with seasons ; but about that period tiie genial warmth of the earth will, on an average of seasons, take place. He has not inade observations on the foliation of trees with this view. Mr. England, of Binham, as early as possible in April. Captain Beacher, at Hillingdon, the earlier the bet- ter: this year (1802) some the last week in February; and though it was cut by the frosts, and looked for a time badly, yet he never had a better crop. When the buds of the oak are breaking, a few days before the expansion of the leaves, no time should be lost in getting in the seed-barley : a rule in East Norfolk.— From mid April to mid May, their general time. — Mr, Marshall. 4. Sort. — Mr. Be VAN has cultivated Egyptian barley two or three years ; it bears sowing a month later than the common sort, and produces two coombs per acre more, but of a coarser sample. He has this year 20 acres of it, the crop good. Se^l, two bushels and a half per acre. Naked barley was tried by Mr, Overman, of Burn- ham, on compaiison with common, and produced scarcely half the crop. 5. Seed. — Mr. Salter, on heavy land, four bushels broiid-cast. ^ At Tiielton, three to- four bushels] six pecks and:ahalf, drilled. Mr. Thurtell, near Yarmouth, ten pecks, drilled at six inches : if he thinks hoeing may be wanted, then at nine inches. Mr. EvERiT, of Caistor, in Fleg, three bushel? to three and a half. 244 BARLEY. Mr. Syble drilled three bushels ; four sown. Mr. Francis, of Martham, four bushels; turnip-land re- quires rather more than on wheat stubbles. Mr. HoRNARD, at Ludhatn, sows four bushels. Mr. Cubit, of CatfieUl, Sec. three bushels and a half. Mr. Dyble, of Sootier, sows three bushels and a half; drills two. Mr. Palgrave, at Coltishall, two bushels drilled, four broad-cnst. Mr. Rfpton, at Oxnead, drills two bushels and a half an acre ; not at all agreeing to any thin seeding land in the drill husbandry. Mr. Reeve, of Heveringland, drills at six inches, lo to II pecks. Mr. BiRCHAM, at Hackford, three bushels broad-cast. Mr. Johnson, at Thvrning, drills four bushels, the rows at lour inches and a half. Mr. England, of Binham, finds that ii pecks are the best quantity drilled. Air. Reeve, of Wighton, lO pecks, rows six inches and three-quarters. Mr. Overman drills on light land three bushels. Mr. Coke, at Holkham, the same. Mr. Henry Blythe, of Burnham, drills nine to ten pecks. Mr. Styleman, of Snettisham, drills six pecks. Captain Beacher drills two bushels and a half, at six inches three-quarters: broad-cast on marmy land, four bushels. Mr. Beck, of Castle Riseing, drills ten pecks. Near Downham, broad-cast, two bushels to four. At Wellington, three bushels. About Wymondham, three to four bushels. Mr. BARLEY, 245 Mr. Tv/isT, at BreterJia-.n, drills two bushels: sows three pecks to tliree bushels broad- cast. 6. Depth. — Mr. Hlath, of Hemlington, had some bar- ley this year drilled three inches deep, aad the crop suffered. Mr. SYBLE,ofSouth Walsham, had partofa crop drilled at one incli and a half, and part at two inches ; and (he for- iner was evidently the best. Mr. Hornard, of Ludham, ploughs it in broad-cast, two to three iu' hes. Mr DvBLE, oi Scotrer, thinks it cannot be too sliallow, if buried. Mr. Palgrave, at Coltishal, one inch to one and a half, diilled. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, drills two inches deep. Mr.BiRCHAM, atHackford, Mr. Johnson, atThurn- ing, and Mr. England, at Binham, two inches and a half. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, not more than two inches: in most cases not so much ; but if the weather be dry, deeper. Mr. Overman drills his barley one inch deep. Mr, Coke, at one inch three-quarters. Mr. M. Hill, two inches. Mr. RisKTON, at Thornham, one inch and a half deep. Mr. Style MAN, of Snettisham, thinks this a point of great consequence ; drills two inches and a half deep. Mr. Porter, at Watlington, two inches. Mr. Priest has found that in both drilling and broad- casting, the shallower barley is put in, if it be but buried, the better. 7. Drilling. — Mr. FowEL, of Snetterton, puts in his barley at nine inches on one stale furrow, and thinks it a great improvement, as well as saving. He used to follow the common method of ploughing thrice, but prefers his present method greatly. He pens his turnips for sheep, R 5 across %^ BARNEY. across xht ridges ; then works the land in the same direc- tion with Cook's scarifier ; and ploughs as soon as the close is finished, with the ridges, leaving it till ;eed time : harrows, and drills, at nine inches, on this s'ale turrow. The soil is a good sand, hut light. He sows the grass- seeds after the harrows, and before the drilling. Thesuccess answers every cxpcclation : his crops, which I viewed, were fine. He has twenty acres, half drilled at nine inches, and half at six inches three-quarters, for comparison. This marked variation from Norfolk management came from Suffolk : he has a relation near Ipswich, where spring ploughing is going out of fashion amongst the best farmers. For barley, several farmers have remarked, that the great saving by the use of tlie di UI, is forvi arding business : the common pra6lice has been to give three earths ; but by means of the drill, one is saved ; this a material object, as the farmer gets sooner to his turnip-fallows. About half a bushel of seed is also snved. As to crop, the bulk is reckon- ed less than from broadcast sowing, but the corn as much, and of rather a better quality. They have not observed anv difference in ripening, iseeds are sown broad-cast^ and harrowed in ; no horse-hoeing in this case. Tbis management depends on the land being clean. When barley is sown broad-cast on tv/o earths, it is harrowed in, and does not come so regular, not being put in at an equal depth. I have rarely seen the drill so superior to the broad-cast, as in a large field of Mr. Bevan's : in t8o2, the crop drilled was not only consideiably superior to the broad- cast, but vastly freer from wceils ; especially poppies, which had damaged the broad-cast much ; as neither had any hoeing or weedir.q, this efi'ecl is remarkable, and what I cannot account for, nor could Mr. Be van. The whole after turnips ; one-half fed, one-half carted, alternately. Mr. BARLEY. 247 Mr. Havers, at Thelton, drills barley, and has this year a very fine crop, In that method^ Mr. Pitts, of Thorpe Abbots, drills barley on the flag, one earth on white clover, and trefoil layers ; by this means he gets it in much earlier than common, which, on a burning gravel, he finds of great consequence ; other- wise the crops are apt to go ofFin July, however well they might look in May and June. Mr. Thurtell, near Yarmouth, has for two years drilled much : he drills on fRe second earth on his turnip land ; saving the third, usually given for broad-cast bar- ley : the rows at six inches. Mr. Heath, of Hemlington, gets very fine crops, by drilling on two ploughlngs. Mr. Syble, of South Walsham, approves much of the husbandry, and intends pradising it more, but will give the three earths, which he thinks necessary. He has this a year a very fine crop drilled, which I viewed ; tlie rows at seven inches. Mr. Petre, at Westwick, drills at nine inches, with Cook's drill, and thus gets his best crops: eight to ten coombs. Mr. Dyble, of Scotter, this year (1802) drilled some barley on three earths, saving one, and these were his best crops, by two coombs an acre ; the rows at six and nine inches ; but he prefers seven. Mr. P-ALGRAVE, at Colcishal,gets as much barley from two bushels drilled, as trom four broad-cast. Mr. Repton has, from much experience, an high opinion of drilling barley. He began in April, 1790, when he drilled 46 acres, with 30 coombs 3 bushels of seed ; saving 15 coombs i bushel, which, at lis. 6d. was 81. 6s. 3d. Twice horse-hoeing the nine inch rows, 2I. R 4 5^- Net 248 BARLEY. 5s. Net saving by drill, 61. is. 3d. Produce; 427 coombs, but five acres were destroyed by the wycr worm : per acre, nine cormbs one bushel and a half: and if the five acres be dedu61ed, lo coombs one bushel and a half per acre. Sowed broad-casi, 38 acres, with 38 coombs of seed: produce, 32 if coombs; or eight coombs two bushels per acre: from that time he went on drilling, be- ing convinced of its superiority, and has now no sown barley. Thomas Fox, his bailiff, remarked this year (1802), that in a field where was both drilled and broad- cast, that the straw of the latter wasjaint, and the ears short ; but that the drilled straw was stiff, and the ears long. IVoiild you drill, if you had a farm of your oivn ? — His answer to me was, / really think I should. He ap- proves much of dibbling wheat. Mr. Reeve, of Heveringland, diills his barley at six inches, and finds the crop better than broad-cast. Colonel BuLLER, at Haydon, drills ail his barley, and finds that it beats the broad-cast oiU and out. Mr. Johnson, at Thurning, drills all on three clean earths, the rows four inches and a half, with Ashby's drill, which he thinks a very good one, though it is not easy with it to make so straight work as with Cook's : an- swers much better than broad-cast : the s^raw stiffer, and the crop larger. Mr. England, of Binham, drills all. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, all ; the rows at six inclies three-quarters; but thinks six, if the land is good, would be better. Mr. M. HfLL drills nearly all his barley at six inches, three bushels of seed an acre; when he sows broad-cast, three and one-quarter : does not hoe. Sows clover, &c. the day after. In 1802, he had two coombs an acre more from BARLEY. 249 from covering the seed with one-horse ploughs, five fur-» rows to a yard, than from the drill. Mr. Coke drills at six inches three-quarters, and gets immense crops : finer barley cannot be seen, than I view- ed on his farm in 1800, 1802, and 1803. Mr. DuRSGATE drills all his barley at six inches three- quarters. Mr. RisHToN, at Thornham, drilled all; some at six inches tliree-quarters, and some at nine inches. Mr. Styleman, at Snertisham, drills all his barley on his large farm of about 2000 acres ; the rows at six inches three-quarters, and nme inches; and bethinks, upon the whole, that his best crops are at nine inches. Drilling much superior to broad-cast : he has this year part of a field drilled, and part broad-cast; the former, the best crop, and even the labourers confess it. The broad-cast has a weak faint straw, on comparison with the drilled barley; and Mr. Styleman attributes this superiority to the uni- form depth of the drilled seed. Mr. Beck, of Gastle Riseing, drills at six inches and a half, except on his very sandiest soil, on which he ploughs in with one-hoise ploughs, to bury the seed deeper than the drill. Mr. Edw. Scott, of Grimstone, on a farm of only 200 acres, drilled his barley in 1801, and it turjied out much to his satisfadlion. Mr. Porter, of Watlington, drills all his barley; and hoes all at 2s. 6d. to 4s. an acre, covering the clover seed: the operation does much good to the ci op ; he had this year 13 or 14 coombs an acre: 17 loads from four acres: from another four acres 16 loads: from five acres reaped 10 loads, each from five to six score sheaves. Mr. Porter, of Tottenhill, this year drilled 190 acres of 250 BARLEY. of barley ; some at six inches, some at nine, and think§ nine (especially on a wheat stubble) the best. Mr. RoGERSoN, of Narborough, was amongst the earliest drillers in Norfolk, and on a very large scale, especially for barley ; but this year (1802) 1 found he had put in all his crop with one-horse ploughs, preferring this method, after long experience : he never had a better crop, Mr. Priest, of Besthorpe, drills his barley at nine inches, and horse-hoes it if he has not sown grass-seeds i and he has observed an evident benefit from the operation. His threshers admit that drilled corn is fuller bodied than broad-cast. At Shropham he tried seven, eight, and nine inches distance of rows, and nine proved the best. Mr. Twist, of Bretcnham, drills all his barley, and has much better than when he sowed broad-cast. 8. Dibbling. — Mr. Drake, of Billingfold, dibbles bar- ley on his lighter land on one earth ; one row on a furrow, and then sows a cast and harrows ; and this he thinks pays better than wheat on land much subjed to poppy, in which he has had wheat that cost from 20s. to 30s. an acre weed- ing and yet a bad crop ; but of barley never gets less thai^ nine coombs an acre, and the land clean. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, has tried dibbling barley, but gave it up, as it would not answer, 9. Produce. — In a tolerable season the poor sands in the south west part of the county, of the rent of 5s. will produce five or six coombs an acre; and in a good, that is in a wet season, six to eight : the better soils in the same distritft, intermixed with the preceding, give from six to ten, which is not an uncommon crop in a wet year. The richer lands, from Quidenham, by the line of separation on the map, and from Swafham, by Castleacre, to Holk- ham, are very fine barley lands, and yield great crops, not, however. BARLEY. 2^1 however, without a mixture of inferior soils of several varieties. It is in West Norfollc, as in many other dis- trifls, the best land is where the soils change ; between chalk and clay, between sand and clay, &c. there is usually a breadth of mellow loam of good quality. The crops of barley are generally good on tolerable land. Di- viding West Norfolk into two districSls, one of 5s. and the other of 10s. ; the first vising in trades to 7s. 6d. and fall- ing to 3s. 6d. : the other rising to 15s. and falling to 8s. ; and I should average the barley of the former at six coombs, and of the latter at ten. I have considered this point un- der many corredtions, and do not think it far from the truth : and I am of opinion that if the land was managed in an inferior stile, the poorer distrifls would not produce four : nor the richer more than seven. The greatness of Mr. Salter's barley (1802) mav be easily conceived from this circumstance : he set 18 men to mow 18 acres, they worked all day, 22 men all the next day, and 18 men till nine o'clock the third day. There were about 120 loads of it, forming a stack 28 yards long. They have a whimsical term about Holkham to denote a good crop ; they call it hat barley : if a man throws his hat into a crop it rests on the surface if good ; but falls to the ground if bad. <' All, Sir, is hat barley since the drill came." About Watton seven coombs on an average : I saw much in a good season that produced ten and twelve. Average at Langley, on fine loamy and gravelly sands, ten coombs an acre. Caistor, and average of Fleg, eleven coombs ; sixteen have been known. Hemsby, five quarters ; but some h'ght land and open ^eld : sixteen have been known. Thrigby 2^Z BARLEY. Thrlgby and Fleg, in general nine to ten coombs. Martham, nine coombs; and of late more. In 1793 a great crop in Ea^t Norfolk. The same in 1800 i Mr. Francis, of Martham, had that year : Coombs. 54 acres of wheat, which yielded 460 63 barley. 823 14 oats. 187 6 pease, 63 137 1 1| coombs per acre, ^534 The Wheat 8| coombs. Barley 13 Oats 13I Pease lof ■which, combined with the high price of the year, and /jere not a bad harvest, gave a good farming account. Catfield and Happing, in general nine to ten coombs. Happsborough and Walcot, fourteen coombs. Honing, nine to eleven coombs. North Walsham, eight to nine coombs. Scotter, eight coombs. Around Coltishal, ten coc?Tibs. Mr. Repton, at OxneaJ, favoured me, from his books, kept with uncommon accuracy and care, with an account ©f Iiis crops from 1773: Acrej. Produce per acre. Cocmbs. Bushels. 1773 JI3 7 I 1774 84 7 I 177s 74 7 3 1776 99 8 0 1777 • 73 7 3 J798 BARLEY. 253 Acres. Produce per acre. Coombs. Bushels. 1778 77 8 I 1779 73 S I 1780 93 82 1781 99 10 o 1782 116 71 1783 98 7 3 1784 81 90 1785 90 7 3 1786 91 83 1787 107 92 1788 100 9 3 1789 94 9 ° 1790 85 82 1791 90 9 3 1792 71 83 1793 90 90 1794 79 80 1795 90 9 3 1796 90 72 1797 84 9 ° 1798 90 83 1799 9^ 83 1800 94 9 3i 1 80 1 Book not made up. Average of the whole, 8| coombs. On the lighter soils at Heveringland, seven or eight coombs ; on the better lands, nine or ten. At Causton, the soil a good barley land, and the pro- duce averages ten coombs. Mr. BiRCHAM, &c. at Hackford, ten coombs. At Haydon, ei^hc coombs. At Thurning, &c. seven to eight coombs. At 254 BARLEY. At Burnliam Westgate, eight coombs. Mr. M. HiLL varies, from flifference of soil, eight to ten and a half j most on the lightest land. Mr. Coke, at Holkham, nine coombs. At Holm, eight to ten coombs, and some more. At Snettisham, eight coombs. At Houghton, eight coombs. At Hillingdon, from five to twelve coombs. The vicinity of Downham, eight coombs. At Watlington, ten coombs. About Wvmondham, nine coombs. Harvest. — " When wet in the swath, it is not turned in East Norfolk, but lifted; the heads or ears raised from the o^round with a fork or rake, admitting air underneath the swaths."— y^r. Marshall. It is the- present praiSlice of a large part of the county, especially where large farms prevail, to stack the corn, particularly barley, in the fields where it grew ; evidently to save lime in the harvest period. On a great Norfolk farm I found the work in carting a very heavy crop of drilled barley, the bulk of which I guessed at four waggon loads an acre, going on in this man- ner : Four putting in ; four pitching to two waggons ; four loading ; six women raking ; two boys leading the horses j six men driving away ; fourteen at the stack, eight of •which, in two parties, were forking in holes and from a scaffold, as the stack was high ; ten waggons and thirty- horses. From eleven o'clock in the morning to night thev cleared, by estimation, twelve or thirteen acres. The drive about half a mile. The expense is heavy. Each man (1800) had in money and beer :.bout 7I. for the har- vest ; if we call this five weeks, it is near 5s. a day per man i hawkey, &c. &c. will make it up 5s. 32 Men, BARLEY. 2SS €' s. ^. 32 Men, at 5s, » 8 0 0 6 Women, 0 6 0 2 Boys, _ - - 0 2 6 30 Horses, at is. 6d. 2 5 0 10 13 6 Wear and tear 10 waggons, 0 S 0 13 Acres, ^.10 18 6 Per acre, 0 16 9 1 conceive that with one-horse carriages this might have been done much cheaper. I found Mr. Burton's fields, at Laugley, clearing un- der the foUowing arrangement ; 2 Pitchers, 2 Drivers, 2 Loaders, 4 Waggons, - 2 Rakers, lO Horses, 4 Unloading, and cleared 12 acres of barley a day ; 36 loads ; from one- quarter to three-fourths of a mile distant, and some even a mile. Mr. EvERiT, of Caistor, in Fleg, assigns ten acres per man: Mr. Francis, of Martham, the same. Mr. Bircham's arrangement on his farm of 720 acres arable, for a gang : 2 Pitchers, 3 Waggons, 2 Loaders, 5 At the stack, 2 Rakers, boys, 7 Horses. 2 Drivers, Mr. Johnson, at Thurning, 14 to 16 acres per man- Mr. DuRSGATE, 14 acres per man. Mr. Styleman, 17 acres per man. At Houghton, 20 acres per man. Mr, Priest, at Bcsthorpe, lo acres per man. 10. Awns, t^6 CLOVER* 10. ^ions. — To free barley from the awn, in years or crops when it is very tough and adhesive, Mr. Bevan has a horse rode by a boy repeatedly over the floor when six to eight or nine inches deep in barley, and it Is found cfFedtuallv and cheaply to free it. 11. Malt. — In 1800 Mr. Gilpin, of Heacham, a considerable maltster, bought some beautiful barley that had not received a drop of rain, and trying a small parcel of it, found it malted badly : he tried a most uncommon experiment, and founded upon an idea very contrary to all common ones on the subject: he kiln-dried it by a gentle heat, watering it lightly with a watering-pot twice or thrice, six bouts intervening ; dried it : after which opera- tion it malted well, every grain sprouting, and no malt could be finer. Hence observes the very intelligent gen- tleman* from whom I liad this account, it is evident that a good shower of rain in harvest, or a sweat in the stack, is beneficial to the maltster. By the same gentleman it was remarked to me, that malt keeps better with the coml? in it, screening when wanted. The best trial is to swim it in water ; all that swims is good malt ; what sinks, is barley rather than malt. SECT. VI. — CLOVER. SEEDS. I PURSUE the general rotation in treating of these crops. Seeds, as they are usually called, are universally sown with barley that succeeds turnips. Thirty years ago they had for some time found their clover crop failing, from its recurring too often ; this ♦ Maxsy Allsn, Esq. of Lynn, caused CLOVER. jr«; caused the variation of substituting trefoil for one round, and the clover being sown but once in nine years, the evil was removed; I found the same account every where in the South of the county, that the land (whatever the soil) was what they call sick of clover. Formerly it was sown every fourth or fifth vear ; but now if it returns so often it fails, for acres together: thev therefore sow clover in one rou)id, and then substitute white clover and trefoil, adding a little rav-grass, but as little as they can help* Whether the wheat is as good after these seeds as after clover, is rather an unsettled point. In discourse with Mr. Burton, of Langley, a most intelligent observer, upon this question, he said, that he himself got as good wheat after white Dutch as after red clover, but that he believed the true change for the soil would be to sow no seeds at all ; and he shewed me a large field of red clover, part of which was very regular and good, and part inferior : the former was in a course where no seeds had been sown, and the latter where Dutch and trefoil were introduced : a strong confirmation of his remark. Mr. FovvEL, of Snetterton, six pecks of ray, six pounds of clover or trefoil, four of white clover, for two years. i recommended him to try chicory, as well as to substitute cocksfoot for ray. The land around Hingham is tired of producing this crop, and causes the variation of sowing ray, trefoil, and •white clover : but Mr. Heath has sown no ray of late years, for he has found it inju^^e the land, so that he never observes such goo from his experience, is not partial to putting in wheat upon oUond, except it be done very early ; before Alichaelmas it docs well, but should never be ventured after j all then sown or drilled, should be on tempered land. Mr. Styleman, of Snettisham, who puts inhls wheai on pea stubbles, ploughs the layer in February ; rolls the end of that month, or the beginning of March ; and har- rowing to a tilth, drills the pease ; hand-hocs them ; ploughs the stubble once, between three and four inches deep, scarifies, harrows, and drills wl^eat. Mr. GoDDisoN, at Houghton, temjicrs about half his laver§, and keeps the rest foj" sheep food. At Hillingdon the layers are sown for two vears, but if they fail, ihey are broken up for wheat at oiic year ; some- times for pease. Mr. Dennis, at Wigenhall, in the clays of Marshland, sows his wheat on teii-furvow ridges, thinking six-furrow work a loss of land. Sort. — There is a notion about Ritkllcsworth, that red wheat will not do on black sand; whire succeeding much better; on this account I found the distin(fiion made on Mr. Be van's farm. Mr. Salter, of Winborougb, iowi red wheat only; white sorts do not succeed so well on the heavier soils. It goes by the name of the chJ red. T c; Mr. 1178 WHEAT. Mr. M, Hill prefers tlie red chafF, red wheat, to die ■white; less Hkcly to grow in harvest; but white better sample and price. Time of sowing. — Mr. Robinson, of Watton, an in- teliigent attentive fanner, of 30 years experience, is clear that on their soils, wliich are not light, the sooner the wheat is sown, the better the crop. IVIr. Mason, of NeiSton, is a great friend to early sow- ing: he has put wheat in even in harvest time; old seed, kept in the straw and threshed just before sowing; and his success has proved the efficacy of early sowing. He has had it green in August, and not the worse ; but in ge- neral, he reckons September the prime season: he sows old wheat to chuse, and does not steep, nor has lie been troubled with the smut. At East Bilney, and the adjoining parishes, they think they never sow wheat on heavy land too soon : but on light soils, and all given to red weed, a month after Micliaclmas; nor is such land able to carry through forward crops. Mr. Salter, of Winborough, begins dibbling iaime- diatcly after harvest, using old wheat. Mr. Whiting, of Fring, is a great friend to early- sowing of wheat. In 1799, he drilled on the 27th of August, and this harvest got the crop up before any rain fell ; while nine-tenths of the w-heat through the whole neighbourhood, is growing in the s/ioch, or In the ear, as it stands. He would wish always to have his seed in the ground within the month of September. The crop above- mentioned was one of the very best he has ever had. Mr. Overman wishes to have all his wheat in on lays bv Old Michaelmas. Mr. M. Hill prefers from the istto the 20th of OiSlo- ber, and never wishes to be later on the flag ; but on the tempered land, no objedlion to a fortnight later. In WHEAT. 279 in 1782, Mr. Coke made an experiment, to ascertain whether the time of sowing wheat in Norfolk (November and to Christmas) was not too late, by sowing a large field the last week in September, which was a month earlier than any near it. The wheat flourished away very finely through the winter ; but the farmers predi£led that it would not prove well in the spring. Tlie fa6l turned out so, for when much poorer winter-looking crops began to rally, and spread upon the land in April, this went off, and gave at harvest a very light produce. In general, the farmers in East Norfolk begin the mid- dle of "Oflober, and continue till December ; sometimes to Christmas: but for dibbling, at Michaelmas. Mr. Burton, of Langley, begins wheat-dibbling a week before Michaelmas, and continues till three weeks after: early sown generally the best, and it saves half a bushel of seed. Mr. Margateson, of North Walsham, reckons the best time to begin is at Michaelmas ; and to finish in two or three weeks ; some are earlier, but they are apt to suffer. Mr. England, of Binham, as early as he can in Oc- tober. Mr. DuRSGATE, of Summerfield, puts in no wheat on ollond after Michaelmas ; all from that time on tempered land : seasons may prevent it, but lie would wish to have all his ollond wheat in by that time. But on turnip land, it may be put in to Christmas. Mr. Martin, of I'oitenhill, drilled wheat in Februa- ry, and the crop good. ^anthy of seed. — About Watton, rlibbled six or seven pecks. Mr. Robinson, if he sows before Michaelmas two bushels ; afterwards, two and a iialf. Mr. Salter, at Winborough, near Dereham, four T 4 buslieJs 280 WHEAT. bushels broad-cast, dibbles ten pecks to tlircc bushels. At Wissen, ten pecks dibbltd, tlirce bushels broad-cast. At East Bilney, and the adjoining parishes, two and a half to three. Mr. Havers, Sec. at Thelton, dibbles six or seven pecks, early ; but eight later. Mr. Burton, of Langley, seven. Mr. Thurtell, near Yarmouth, seven to eight, dib- bled. At Caistor, in Fleg, six or seven pecks, dibbled. Mr. Ferrier, at Hemsby, six pecks. Mr. Brown, at Thrigby, begins with six pecks, and finishes with eight, dibbled. Mr. Syble dibbled two bushels early, but more late. Mr. Francis, at Martham, dibbles two bushels : the quantity sown is ten to twelve pecks. IMr. Cubit, at Catfield, &cc. dibbles from six pecks to two bushels, according to time, early or late. Mr. Margateson, of North Walsham, two rows en a flag, and three or four kernek in a hole, which Is about two bushels an acre. He was once ver^y attentive to the droppers — they put in six pecks, and he never had a better crop : but it is good to allow for carelessness. He sows very near three bushels. Mr. Dyble, of Scotter, two to two bushels and a quar- ter, whether dibbled or under furrow. Mr. Reeves, of Hcveringland, drills, at six inches^ seven to eight pecks. Mr. Bircham, at Hackford, on summer-land, one bushel and a half; in dibbling, five pecks. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, dibbles three bushels. — Many here have lost by too thin a plant, half the wheats being under-seeded. Mr. England, of Binham, seven pecks, early; eight late, WHEAT. 2Z1 late. In a favourable year, has had a great crop froiu s'yx. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, on whole furrow, two ■bushels ; on tempered, seven pecks. Mr. M. Hill, at first eleven pecks ; later, a peck more. Mr. Henry Blythe, of Burnham, diills seven to eight pecks an acre; the common quantity, broad-cast, tea to twelve. Mr. Dqrsgate begins with six or seven pecks, and never more than eight. Mr. Styleman, of Snettisham, six pecks, drilled. Mr. God D ISO N dibbles and sows two bushels to ten pecks. Captain Beacher, at Hillingdon, nine or ten pecks, drilled at nine inches. Mr. Beck, of Castle Riseing, dri'is from six to eight pecks. Mr. Dennis, of Wigenhall, in the clays of Marsh- land, five to six pecks, broad-cast. At Watlington, two busheis. About Wymondham, dibble in six to eight pecks; broad-cast, three bushels. Mr. Overman, seven pecks, drilled. Steeping. — Mr. Robinson, of Watton, for many years has had no other smut on his farm than what has been caused by accidentally sowing a head-land, or finishing a corner ot a field with dry seed ; but if steeped, the pre- vention infallible. His mctliod is, to steep it in a brine made with common salt, of strength to bear an egg, for twelve hours, and then to dry with lime. Mr. Dover, of Hobkham, had great plenty of phea- sants, but lost them all, without knowing to what cause (o attribute their disappearance ; he found out, however, that 2S2 WHEAT. tliat it was entirely occasioned by his using arsenic in steeping liis wheat-seed. Mr. Algur confirmed ir, by observing, that he once found a covey of partridges dead or dying, from tlie same cause. Mr. SALTER,of Winborough, dresses with salt and iime, without steeping, and never lias the smut : it is only to be conckided that he has always sown clean seed. Mr. M. Hill slakes the lime with salt, dissolved in a small quantity of water ; dips the wheat in a sleep, in plain water onlv, lavs it on the floor, and incorporates it with the salt and litriC : dries witli lime. Inquiring of him whether he had ever tried this method with very black wheat, as I conceived in such a case it would fail, he said that he had not. Mr. Overman stirs his seed well in pump water, then lays it in a heap to drain, and adds half a pound of salt to every bushel, stirs it well together, and dries with lime : this he finds sufficient against the smut. Whence I con- clude that his seed is always free from that distemper, or assuredly he would find the process to fail, for he does not leave it any time limed. *' The salt is dissolved in a very small quantity of water ; with this salt the lime is slaked, and with this saline pre- paration, in its hottest state, tiie wheat is candied, having previously been moistened lor the purpose with pure water." This was the pra£iice in East Norfolk, reported by Mr. Marshall. It is not very general at present, but pursued by many. Dibbling. — Mr. Denton, of Brandon, sets all hii wheat, and nearly all his oats, and his neighbours very generally do the same — one row on an eight-inch flag. I observed, however, that many of their rows were nine inches, from the men, I suppose, carrying a wider furrow than diredled. He prefers this pra6lice to drilling, ^hich has WHEAT. 283 lias been tried, and is yet done by some. In his. farm in Bumt-fen, he sets everv thine. The (hill roller has been tried there, but it would nor do : the horses drawing by roo great a pui chase, tread in too much, and the roller i^rives the furrows. At Oxborough, and its vicinity, great traiEls are dibbled with wheat, oats, pease, &c. and tound to answer much better than drilling, which has been tried. They put in but one row on a flag of wiiear, six pecks an acre, and hoe well : the result verv beneficial. Mr. Saffory, of Downham, dibbling a field adjoin- ing to one of Mr. Creasy's, which was drilling at nine inches, borrowed the drill for two lands, for comparison. Those lands and Mr. Creasy's held were mildewed, but the dibbled crop escaped. About Old Buckenham, much wheat set, and generally- one row on a flag, which they plough as narrow as they can, and put in six pecks of seed : thib practice they find better than two rows. There is drilling, but A'Ir. Al- GUR, tec. prefer setting greatly. Many oats also dib- bled. " Dibbling pease, pratflised time immemorial near At- tleborough ; but that of wheat, introduced by a labourer, James Stone, of Deepham, about the year 1760, did not become very common till about the year 1770." — Marshall. Twelve years ago, and how much sooner I am not well acquainted, \\\c\ had, botli in East and West Nor- folk, discovered that this pra6tice was not to be pursued under the notion (very common soon attcr its introduc- tion), of saving seed: the usual qu.mtity was risen to two bushels and a quarter and two busiiels and a half per acre, and this both between Norwich and Yarmouth, and also around Houghton. Mr. Layton nm.ukcd, that j^/z/wij- lias 284 WHEAT. has failed in many instances, in proportion to the saviij'T cf seed. IMr. Robinson dibbles all his wheat on layers, and is clear that he gains a coomb an acre more than he did broad-cast, with his land at tlic same time cleaner. SirTHoMAs Beevor, with almost all the vicinity, dib- bles every thing : drilling is known, and some few prac- tise it ; but the other method answers much better. Mr. Fellowes, of Shottcsham, dibbles all, but ncitlier \vheat nor oats late : only while the season suits : for wheat late in the season, when the land is wet and cold, lie thinks the water lodges in the holes and perishes the grain. There are drills; but not one acre so put in in twenty. Mr. Salter, of Winbcrough, dibbles all his wheat 00 layers, or on whatever laud is proper for die pratlice, and -what deserves particular attention, all is done by women, ■with only one confidential man for superintending them ; he gives los. 6d. an acre for two rows on a flag. He thinks that women dibble better than men, from being more obedient and manageable. This pradtice deserves universal imitation : his women also reap wheat. At East Bilney, Brisley, Gressenhall, Stanfield, Beteley and Mileham, much wheat is dibbled ; also some oats and barley. Most of the wheat about Hingham is dibbled, as well a« both pease and oats. They pay 9s. and even los. an acre for it. Generally two rows on a flag, but on land much subjefl to poppy only one, for the benefit of hand- hoeing. Mr. BuRTOT-J thinks, that on reduced land the best of all is to dibble one row and put in the same quantity of seed ; it beats the drill : he drill rolls at five inches ; no red weed ; only nine-inch furrows, and good room for a hoe. Not WHEAT. 2^5 Not SO much dibbling as before. A new drill Is In use; four inches for barley ; it has cups and pipes, buc not Cook's ; price 30 guineas. At Thelton and the vicinity, some farmers so much ap- prove this method of putting in wlieat, as to praftice ft even on summer fallows ; they pass a heavy roller over the land, which prevents the moulds filling the holes of the dibbles. In Loddon hundred there rs much wheat dibbled, one row on a flag. Mr. TiiURTELL dibbles, as general in his neigh- bourhood, two rows on a flag; if hand-hoeing be neces- sary, one row ; but in that case some few drill at nine inches. Air. Thurtell would prefer dibbling one row. He has tried putting the seed in by spike rolling; hut he thought it made the wheat root fallen, which he attributed to the seed being too shallow. Nothing in his experience so good as dibbling; but drilling does well. At Caistor, &c. in Fleg, three-fourihs of the wheats are dibbled two rows on a flag. One bushel of seed wouki do, in Mr. Everit's opinion, but as it depends on tl>e droppers, they put in from six to seven pecks. He made a comparative experiment in dibbling : the common way js, so to spread the two rows on a flag, that they are apt to be too near the seams. He made the dibblers keep their liands as close together as they could work them, setting the two rows verv near each other in the centre of tho flag. The result proved the excellence of the practice, for the crop was beautiful. Mr. Ferrier, of Ilcmsby, two rows on a flag, and as close as he can get it done. Mr. Brown, of I'hrigby, thinks that there arc five times as many acres of wheat and pease dibbled in Flcg as rirj sown bioad-csst. He remarked, that their lands, though 286 WHEAT. though they contain so much sanJ, -vvlll not do well if ■wheat is put in in the wet ; pretty dry weather docs nmch better. Mr. Syble, of South Walshnm, this year (1802) dib- bled 60 acres ; Mr. Heath, of Hemlington, the whole of his crop on a farm of 500 acres. Mr. Francis, at Martham, all for ?ome years past. There is a great deal dibbled all through Tunsted and Happing hundreds ; and also through all North and South Erpinghani : it rather declines about North Walsham, for want of good droppers. Mr. Petre dibbles about one-fifth of his crop, amount- ing to 100 acres ; some drilled, and the rest sown ; the best ears from the dibbled, but the drilled good. About Norwich they have dibbled one row on a flag; but not putting in the same cjuamity of seed. They gene- rally prefer two rows, and nine pecks an acre: Mr. Crow never saw a good crop of wheat in his life that was thin: this icmaik has tliorough good sense in if, and he further notices, that if there is any mildew stirring, it is sure to attack such a crop severely. Drilling has been tried about Blowfield, Acle, &c. but dibbling preferred l>y many as superior. 1 hey put in two rows on a flag, and hnd it the best pra£l:ice of all. Mr. Dyble, of Scotter, dibbles much of his wlieat, and has compared it with broad-cast in the same field, which it exceeded sufficiently to give him full satisfadlion. Dibbling common about Aylesham, but does not in- crease. It increases about Reepham. The cleanest crops at Haydpn are those which are dib- bled on a whole furrow. Ten shiUings to ten shillings and si. X pence an acre. Mr- WHEAT. 287 Mr. Johnson, ofThurning, thinks dibbling so excel- lent a pra<5lice, that equal crops are not to be gained in any oiher way ; but three grains should always be put in every hole ; for on various examinations he has found, that a single kernel in a hole has almost always produced a faint ear, scarcely ever a good one. Mr. RisHTON dibbled his wheat when put in on a whole furrow, but would not have done it, only his nieu not skilful enough with the drill for that work. Mucii dibbled and well done at Holm. Air. GoDDisoN, at Houghton, dibbles from 20 to 30 acres every year. But of all ways whicli he has tried of putting in wheat upon tempered land, he is inclined to prefer that of spreading tiie muck, then sowing broad-cast, and plougliing both in together into six-furrow ridges. He drills none. Very little dibbling at Castle Riseing : Mr. Beck was in the praflice, but left it off for diilling. Dibbling well known all over Marshland. Mr, Porter, at Watlington, dibbles much, and thus gets his best crops, rather better than by the diill ; but as he docs not drill ridge work, his best land may be dibbled. Dibbling very general about Wymondham, at 9s. to I OS. 6d. an acre. Mr. Priest, ofBesthorpe, dibbles his lavers, iftiiev do not plough well for the drill. He this year compared one row on a flag with two, and the former had the best e-ars, and was the stouter crop. He scarified the single rows, but being clean did not h.and-hoe. The greatest part of Mr. Twist's farm at Bretenham IS rye land ; but he has some wheat land ; he had 40 acres dibbled in autumn i8oi ; and he di!)bles much rye. He has 50 acres of drilled wheat this year, and the best crop he had. Leaving 285 ^<^HEAr. ' Leaving Molt in the way to Holkham, came to four- furrowed work wheat stubbles. J)rii/ifig.— More than thirty years agoMr. Fellowes, at Shottesham, drilled wheat at eighteen inches, the rows cqui-distant, which produced equally with the common crops of the country. Mr. Dalton, of Swaffham, has drilled largely at Bil- nev ; but his success for the two last years has been so bad that he leaves it off, convinced that the broad-cast answers better, ^f he drills early, the poppy gets greatly a-head ; if late, the frosts turn the drilled wheat out of the ground; by ploughing the seed in he avoids the latter evil. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, dibbles his wheat, as he cannot drill it on one furrow. Mr. Reeves, of Heveringland, drills at six inches. Many drill about Reepham ; the praclice answers best on light land ; and Mr. Bircham is of opinion that the layers should be broke previously for it. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, drilled forty acres of wheat, two years agOj on a whole fallow : the crop very good. Mr. England, of Binham, drills all at nine indies. Mr. Reeve, at Wighton, at nine inches: he thinks dibbling a great improvement on the broad cast husbandry, but that drilling exceeds it; and he never saw greater burthens of wheat than what has been produced by diills at nine inches. He had this year four good waggon loads an acre, from land so managed. I viewed his stubbles, and found them beautiful spectacles of masterly manage- ment ; I rode cross and cross a field of nine acres, and do not think nine weeds were to be found in them : and all bis wheat stubbles, on examining the intervals, I found in a perfedly friable and pulverized state. Mr. WHEAT, 289 Mr. M. Hill drills all his wheat with Cook's ma- chine, at nine inches ; scarifies twice in March or April j no hand-hoeing, but all weeded. Quantity of seed three bushels, but the first put in before Michaelmas less. Mr. Coke, at Holkham, drills all his wheat at nine inches: hand -hoes twice, and uses Cook's fixed harrow once. • Mn Henry Blythe, of Burnham Westgate, drills all his wheat. Hearing much against the practice, he /made an experiment for his own convi6tion, by sow- ing five acres broad-cast on four or six-furrow ridges, in an 80 acred field, drilled with Cook's machine, and at harvest he reaped one acre of the broad-cast, and threshed the produce immediately, which was seven coombs three bushels ; it was a good wheat year, and on his best land : he then took half a land adjoining of the drilled, which measured three roods and 34 perches, and threshing it also immediately, the produce per acre was eight coombs three bushels, three pecks and a half, or per acre five bushels more than the broad-cast ; besides which, the sav- ing of seed was about three pecks. This convinced him that the drill method was the best, contrary to a prevailing opinion at that time. Mr; DuRSGATE drills all; some at nine inchesj and some at six 3-fourths ; hoeing twice at 4s. and weeding, I viewed his stubbles, and found them very clean. Mr. RisHTON, at Thornham, drilled all at nine inches, and was well convinced of the superiority to broad-cast. Mr. Styleman, at Snettisham, drills all at nine or twelve inches ; hand-hoeing once or twice, as wanted. Mr. GoDDisoN, at Houghton, puts in some wheat with a drill harrow, which mai-king channels, the seed is Rown broad-cast. I did not see the tool. NORFOLK'.] u Mr» 290 WHEAT. Mr. EeAcHer, of HlUingdon, drills at nine inches, and hand-hoes. Mr. Beck, of Castle Riseing, drills at nine inches, and hand-hoes twice, at is. gd. or 2s. each time. Mr. Porter, of Watlington, drills his wheat on layers, if on the flat, hut not on ridges : he has 100 acres of wheat, and half of it drilled : dibbles much, a pradtice he has a very high opinion of, but thinks he gets nearly as much by the drill. Mr. Priest, ofBesthorpe, dills on strongisli land at nine inches, and intends trying at twelve this year ; but if the furrows on layers do not whelm well, but stand on edge, he then dibbles, as the drill does not work well. He scarifies in March, and if necessary hand-hoes, if not, horse-hces twice, if he has the opportunity. Success much depends on the ridges being well formed for a bout of tlie machine, and they ought to be rolled and harrowed, and ieft some time for the air to pulverize, before drilling. " Scarning'Sckool Farniy Aug. 10, i802n " DEAR SIR, •* In compliance with your desire and my promise, I ■will endeavour to describe, as accurately as I can, the method I used in drilling the field of wheat which you saw, when you did me the honour of calling upon me at Seaming. ** The field consists of about twelve acres, and is a mixed soil: last year it grew clover and ray-grass after barley, and as soon as the first crop of clover was reaped, and the second crop fed ofF with sheep and cows, I broke it up in order to temper it for wheat. It was ploughed twice and scuffled twice, which, with many harrowings, biouglit WHEAT, 20! brought it, by the beginning of 0(5lober, into a high state of pulverization : in this state I began my operation by rolling such a quantity as might be sufficient for two days work. The surface then being as flat as Dorsible, I set out the work thus : in the middle of the field (which wds fixed upon because no side of it was straight) I ;:et up two sticks, in order to draw a line as straight a" possible to dire6l the drill. My drill is a small barrow with two hoppers or boxes, one on each side the wheel, and is pushed forwards by a man. In the line thus formed by the sticks the barrow was direcled, depositing the seecJ from the hopper on the right side ot the wheel upon the fiat work. Immediately after the barrow, at the distance of about ten yards, follov/ed a plough to cover up this line of seed, by turning the mould of a fleet farrow u^on it : when the barrow, followed by the plough, had reached the end, the man with the barrow turned towards the left hand, and at the distance of one yard from the line of seed already deposited, dropped from the barrow another line of seed parallel to the former : now a second plough followed him as before, whilst the first plough, which had covered the first line of seed, was backing its owii furrow. The barrow-man, arrived at the end of the second line of seed, turned to the left as he b.ad done before, and dropped a third line of seed one yard from the first and parallel to if^ and was followed by tiie first plough, whilst the second was backing its own furrow. In this manner I worked, my barrow depositing lines of seed, at one yard distance from each other, and my two ploughs alieinalely covering the lines of seed, and backing each its own furrow, till i nad completed my morning*s work, at the end ot wnich you wjil observe, that except tiie work of the barrow, 1 liad merely ict out the tops of t!ic foar-furrow work of abcut two icres of land, and there remanied the Lmiks to be U2 split; 29^ XVHEAT. split. This was the operation of the afternoon : for whilst my double barrow was direded upon a balk, depositing seed in the furrows from the two boxes on each side of the wheel, a double breasted plou2.I1, drawn by two horses, split the balk, covered the wheat so deposited, and com- pletely made up the four-furrow work which had been set out in the morning. The next day I repeated the work precisely the same as the day before, by setting out fresh work from a line formed by two sticks, as at first set up across the field, in a diredtion parallel to the first line draVn, and at such a number of yards from the last line of seed dropped, as I thought would afford work for the day. Thus was the whole of the twelve acres laid into four-furrow work, with three rows of wheat upon every stitch, at the distance of nine inches between the rows, and eighteen inches for the furrows, with no more than five pecks of seed-corn* per acre, and performed by three men, two ploughs, and four horses, in a morning, and two men, one plough, and two horses in an afternoon ; and the whole two acres were finished in a day. I rolled it afterwards to please the eye, level the work, reduce the depth to which the seed was deposited, and afford mould in the furrows to support the wheat on the sides of them. As soon as the wheat came up I cleaned the furrows by a plough with expanding wings, drawn by one horse. In the spring I contiived to fix upon this plough two scari- fiers, and taking off the expanding wings, I used it to lioe the furrows, and at the same time scarify two rows of y.'heat, one on each side of the furrow : afterwards 1 put on the expanding wings, and substituting hoes for scari- fiers, I by one operation of this plough hoed the furrows and two rows of wheat, and at the same time moulded- them up : this operation was performed twice. " Thus, Sir, have I given you as clear an account as I am WHEAT. 2go I am able, of the manner in which I drilled (if I may be allowed the expression) the wheat you saw. *' 1 am, Sir, *' Your obedient Servant, *' ST. JOHN PRIEST." From the preceding notes, it appears that drilling wheat has made a remarkable progress in Norfolk. In the north western distri(ft, amongst the great and intelligent farmers who have rendered their county famous, it is become so established a praftice, that it no longer admits any ques- tion of its utility, on a soil like theirs. In some smaller cases, dibbling is preferred ; nor has it been sufficiently ascertained which of these methods will give the greater crop. The inquiry, however, is not of consequence in North-west Norfolk, for they have no population equal to dibbling becoming general : and,a circumstance which tends much to impede this husbandry, is the imperfe6t manner in which it is performed, for the sake of making great earnings ; this has, in many instances, given a pre- ference to drilling. Depth. — iVIr. Thurtell, near Yarmouth, has found two inches, which are commonly half way through the IJag, to be the best depth in dibbling. Mr. Ev ERiT, of Caistor, in Fleg, thinks tliat the deeper it is dibbled the better ; two inches, to chuse. Mr. Syele, of South Walsham, finds two inches, in dibbling, the best depth. Mr. Ma KG ATE SON, of North Walsham, prefers one inch ; and three or four kernels in a hole. Mr. Dyele, ofScotter, remarked, that there is never any fear of the seed being dibbled too deep, even if through the flag: they plough only three or four inches. Mr, j-'ALGRAVE, at Cohishal, dibbles two inches. u 3 Mr. ?g4 WHEAT. Mr. Repton, at Oxneml, dibbles one inch, Mr. BiRCHAM, atHackford, two inches and a half. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, two inches; rathermoje than half through the flag is best. Ml'. England, of Binham, two inches and a half, on a flag. Mr. EisHTON, at Thornham, one inch and a half, Mr. Styleman thinks the depth a matter of great im- poriance ; he drills two inches and a half deep, by weight- ing Cook's machine, and using two horses ; if only one, he should he of extraordinary strength. Mr. Porter, at V/atlington, two inches. Mr. Priest, of Besthorpe, thinks, that if wheat be not buried horn one inch and a half to two inches, it is apt to be root-fallen. Mr. M. Hill one inch and a half; but by no means more. Mr. Overman diills his wheat one incli and a Iialf deep on sandy soils, rendered light by cultivation ; but on layers once ploughed, one inch only. fVith turnips. — Mr. Walker, of Harpley^ some years ago, Introduced and prn6lised a husbandry in which he ■was entirely original. I viewed his farm, while these ex- periments were going on, ior two successive years. In order to give a greater degree of stiffness to liis sandy soil, he thought of putting in wheat without any ploughing at all, immediately before sowing. He began with six acres of turnips, hoeing in the wheat seed at the second hoeing of the turnips: these were eaten on the land by bullocks and sheep. The wheat proved good, and answered ex- peilation. The next year he did the same on 35 acres : this also succeeded; but the best wheat was where the tur- nips were eaten in the driest weather. The following year he extended the culture to 70 acres, which also succeeded WHEAT. 29^ cucceedcd to his satisfadlioii. The year following, he had 100 acres. Upon the whole, the culture produced not better than the common crops, hut equal. The most adverse circumstance is a wet season for canng the turnips, but at the worst, it can amount to no more than the loss of tlie seed. The course in which he pradlised this ma- nagement, was, I. and 2. OUond, 4. Turnips, 3. Oats, 5. Wheat ; his seeds being spwn alone on tlie wheat stubbie ploughed once ; he has tried sowing both in autumn and in spring ; both succeeded well, but the autumnal rather the best : upon his farm of 6cx) acres, the saving in horses has been unquestionably five : the three earths for barley, in a busy time, were entirely saved. Feeding. — Mr. Salter, of Winborough, whose crop I found extraordinarily great, this year fed all his wheat • twice ; and he says, that if he had not done it^ it would all have been laid, Mr. Coke — Do you feed your wheats.? — Nevej', Never, Never \ Mr. M. Hill — Never ! Hoeing. — Not one farmer in twenty hoes any wheat about Aylesham. Mr. England, of Binham, scarifies early in April; and hand-hoes twice at 2s. each time per acre. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, hand-hoes once or twice, as wanted ; at 2S. each time : but if the land he clean, once at 2s. 6d. with the use of the fixed harrow, answers every purpose. His stubbles beautifully clean. Mr. Henry Blythe, of Burnham, hoes his drilled wheat twice, for 3s. 6d. an acre, and weeds at 6d. Drilled wheat in all the north-west angle of Norfolk, hand-hoed ; hut some do it not at Hillingdon. ^ u 4 Oq 296 vrHEAT. On the clavs of Marshland, where there are other signs of bad management, they are much pestered with red weed. May weed, clivers, &c. they are forced to weed much ; Mr. Dennis, of Wigenhall, has paid a guinea an acre for it: he hoes all his dibbled wheal. Tathing. — This is a singular husbandi y, which I did not meet with till I entered Fleg, from Yarmouth. It con^ sists in carting turnips on to wheat in February and March ; thev call it to pull and throw on wheat, eating them on that crop by sheep and bullocks, if sheep are kept ; but if not, by bullocks alone. Mr. Ever it, of Caistor, assured me, that the wheats thus treated, are the heaviest crops they gain ; it makes the straw as stiff as reed. It is not prac- tised as a preventive of the crop being root-fallen — for that is little known here ; when finished, the field is harrowed, and if necessary, hoed. Mr. Ferrier, at Hemsby, and his neighbours, are in the same praf^ice ; and sometimes do it too late ; with cows and bullocks. Mr. Brown, of Thrigby, confines this pradice to land that is light,and subjed to red weedj never later than March, and then wishes for^some showers diredly after: he finds that this practice does not make the wheat too rank, but the contrary, by stiffening the straw. The practice pretty- general in Fleg ; and some, but not so much, in Blow- field hundred. Mr. Syble does it like his neighbours, here and there, on a piece given to poppy. The same rule at Repps and Martham ; but some doubt whether it answers: Mri Francis has been caught sometimes by drought, and he has seen others. He remarked that the open fields give as good wheat as the enclosures, yet never have turnips thrown on them. He thinks it better to throw turnips on wheat stubble, treading all well down for barley. Mr, WHEAT. 2Qy Mr. HoRNARD, of Ludham, on his light soil Is in this pradlice: he had tAVo pieces under the same circumstances, one tathed and the other not, and the former was the best crop ; on an average of seasons, he thinks it certainly does good. He was the first here that praflised it 28 years ago; hue had seen it near Norwich: he has con - tiriued it ever since; hegins in February, and continues through March ; he has no sheep, but if he had, would do it with bull cks also. On his light land, Mr. Cubit, of Honing, has cart- ed muck on to his wheat in winter, throwing turnips af- ter for sheep : iie has done it for bullocks, but sheep answer the purpose much better. About North Walsham, the praflice of throwing tur- nips on wheat, is known, and that is all: Mr. Mar- GATESON does not approve of it with bullocks; he has done it, and mischief was che result ; but with sheep only, it is good husbandry wich those who keep a sufficient number. Mr. Petre, of Westwick, keeps 17 score sheep, and is In this husbandry: his bailiff, Crowe, irjformed me, that he pra£tises it on ligiu land with much success. Mr. Dyble, of Scotter, has known it done aow and then, but it is no general practice here ; nor does he ap- prove of it. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, has tried it, but the crop was damaged by ih.c jamming, and he left it oft. Mr. Johnson of Thurning, never does it ; but once saw it at Edgheld, and it was thought to answer. Mildew. — Mr. Francis, of Martham, remarked, that if wheat there be thin or backwaid, it is very liable to the mildew. Mr. Mar GATESON, of North Walsham, could never observe that thinness was the cause of mildew ; but that the 2€j8 WHEAT. the berberry bush will occasion it, he has ascertained by observations lh:it could not deceive him. The li.;ht soils of Saxethorpe, are very suhjc^l to the mil- dew, and about Reepham, fine barley land the same, Mr. Parmenter, of Aylcsham^ a considerable miller, lias, however, had some of his finest wheats from Saxethorpe. The Rev. Dr. Baker, at Causton, observes, that die wheat in that parish is so sui)je6l to the mildew, that he has found on various occasions, oats to be a more profit- able crop; he has known from i6 to i8 coombs of oatS;, ■where more than seven of wheat could not be expelled, and that, probably, much damaged by this distemper. The soil is very fine barley land. The mildew is so mischievous at Hillingdon, that some farmers do not sow wheat at all; Captain Beacher, Steward to Sir M. Folkes, has not sown any for three years past : as it is not here the custom to cut early, upon account of this distemper, no wonder it should make such havock. *' This distemper has been accurately traced from a point across a field to a berberry bush in a hedge. Seve- ral similar instances ; and Mr. Marshall produced the distemper by planting a small bush in the middle of a large piece of wheat ; all clean, except a stripe where the ber- berry mildewed the crop." The parish of Elsing is well known for the wheat that grows in it being very liable to the mildew, arising (as every person in it knows) from the number of berberry- bushes which abounded in the hedges, till much attention •was given to extirpate them; and stili, arising from the same cause, on the lands of those who are careless in this business. At Harpley-dam, a hedge of Mr. John Blom- FIELd's had been cleared, and the wheat consequently- safe item this cause; but this year (1802), observing a strc.ik WHEAT. 2QQ Streak of mildew in his wheat, he examined the hedge, and found a stub, missed by the workmen when they were set to eradicate the plant, which had tlirown out only two shoots, not more than two or three feet high, and from that point the streak of mildew took its course. I had ^his from his own mouth. 'Smut. — Very little smut is known in Fleg. Mr. Brown adds salt to sea-water, to make it swim an egg ; skims ofF the cosh (husks) carefully, as they find chat har- bours smut if there be any ; he only wets the wheat by dip- ping in the basket ; dries with lime slaked with sea water. Many fanners about Houghton are troubled with the smut, but Mr. Stanton, of Darsingham, sows only old wheat, and never having been known to have any smut from such seeding, others are getting into the same prac- tice. Captain Beacher, at Hillingdon, always sows old wheat, and never has any smut: no brining or liming, as that injures old seed. He has sown old and new seed in the same field, and had the smut in the latter, but not an ear in the former. Red Worm — Often makes great havock In the vicinity of Walton and Hingham, as well as the cock-chaffer grub in grass-lands ; but they have encouraged roeks every where, with some effeft : and sea-gulls fortunately resort very much to lay their eggs on an island in Scoulton Meer, and rear great numbers of young, undisturbed, as they arc known to feed only on worms and grubs, no seeds having been found in their crops. They come the end of March, and migrate in July. Roots. — Mr. Thurtell has traced the fibres of the roots of wheat, five hti deep, on the side of a marlc pit ; also the root of a turnip, drawn by hand, two feet and a half in lengtl), in a light soil. Reaping. 300 WHEAT. Reaping. — Mr. Syble, of South Walsham, cuts very low, and consequently does not haulm the stubbles ; which he thinks a very inferior pradlice, if a farm is kept clean. Mr. Parmenter, miller, at Aylesham, a considerable farmer also, and a very intelligent sensible man, remarked to me, that the farmers let their wheat stand too long be- fore cuttin^. They were apt to have a notion, that when millers gave this opinion, it was speaking for their own interest : but he cuts his own wheat before it is ripe, and ■would do so on the largest scale, if he was not a miller: the quality is far superior, and the crop just as good. *' Mowing has been pradtised at Hainford ; the crop very clean, and dead ripe. The gatherers followed the scythe, and the waggon the gatherers. Secured; at a trifling ex- pence, without any risque from weather." — Marshall. Mr. M. Hill prefers cutting green, and never began harvest but he wished he had began three days sooner. Stubbles. — Mr. Burton, of Langley, always haulms his wheal stubbles, for littering the yards ; and it is the com- mon management in Loddon hundred : by this means he finds he can support his farm in heart, without buying dung. At first coming, he bought barrack m.uck, at 5s. a load, laying on eight an acre : three years of this brought his farm into such a state, that he discontinued it. Produce. — About Watton, three quarters, on an average. The finest wheat I saw in thirty miles, was a small broad-cast field at Tofts, of Mr. Payne Galway's ; it promised to yield five quarters an acre. Tofts is in a very poor distridi, but I have often remarked, that if a good piece of land is found in such, it is usually uncom- monly good. At Langley, Sec. average seven coombs. Caistor, and average of Fleg hundred, seven to eight coomhs : four- teen have been known, and were reaped by J. Hunting- don, WHEAT. gOf CON, Esq. at Somerton, last year ; he had 32 ct)ombs on two acres and a quarter. Hemsby, eight coombs: fourteen have been known. Thrigby, seven coombs. South Walsham and Blowfield, seven coombs. Martham, seven coombs. Catfield and the vicinity, seven to eight coombs. Happsborough, Walcot, and Barton, nine coombs. Honing, seven. North Walsham, six to seven. Westwick, six. Scotter, six. Mr. Dyble, seven. As the average bar- ley is but eight, the wheat seems high for a sandy loam, a good barley land ; but drawing the turnips, and throwing them on the ollonds for wheat, explain it. Around Coltishall, six coombs. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, favoured me with an ac- curate account of all his crops for some years back. Acres. Produce per acrc- Coombs. £ushels. 1773 77 3 3 1774 50 5 2 177s 46 6 2 1776 56 5 2 J777 30 6 0 1778 71 5 I 1779 50 6 0 1780 61 5 0 J781 53 9 0 1782 46 - 7 2 1783 47 6 3 1784 50 5 3 1785 58 7 0 1786 59 8 2 1787 42 8 0 1788 302 WHEAT. Acres» Produce per acrei Coombs. Bushel?. 1788 - 56 - 7 I 1789 - 47 7 0 I790 - 58 - 7 2 I79I - 58 - 8 2 1792 - 57 7 0 1793 - 54 9 I 1794 - 48 - 5 If J795 - 59 5 ^f 1796 - 52 8 0 1797 - S3 7 I 1798 - S3 9 2 1799 - 57 5 0 ,i8oo - 55 7 3 1801 Books not made up. Average - - 6 3I On the poorer soils at Heveringland, not much wheat is sown ; the best of it, five coombs : on their better soils, six to seven. Mr. BiRCHAM, at Hackford, Reepham, &c. seven coombs. At Haydon, five coombs. At Thurning, better than five. Mr. CoKi:, at Holkliam, six coombs. Mr. M. Hill, average of last twenty-one years, six coombs. At Biirnhara Westgate, five coombs. At Holm, some very rich iand, eight to twelve ; some- times more. At Snettishara, six coombs. At Houghton, five coombs. At Hiilirgdon, not four coombs, on an average — mucli damaged by the mildew. About Downham aad the vicinity, seven coombs. Ai Watlington, seven coombs. At WHEAT. 305 At Wigenhall, St. jMary's, the average, five coombs per acre ; sometimes not more than ten to tv^elve bushels. If ;his is true, it stamps their husbandry sufficiently. At Waipole, five coombs the small acre; more than three roods. By another account, five and a half. Near the Smeeth, seven to ten coombs. About Wymondham, five. General average of the county, six coombs. Profit, compared v:ith Oats. — Mr. Fellowes, of Shottesham, remarks, that oats pay better than wheat, in many cases even which are supposed to be par- ticularly favourable to wheat, as in clover lays. He has found it more profitable to plough a clover lay late in aa- tumn; but before much wet conies, and to leave it tili the springs and then, as early as may be, harrow in oats or barley, on that stale furraw, and the crops have been so great, as to pay better than wheat ; but oats better than barle}'. This seems to be, among odiers,. one proof that wheat has been too cheap. Price. — In discourse with Mr. Parmenter, a miller of Aylesham, on what ought to be the price of wheat, re- fprence being had to the farmer and to the poor, he gave it as his opinion, that 30s. a coomb, on the average of samples, would be that fair price for ail parties. He re- marked, that the very high prices we have seen, were not advantageous to millers, by reason of the great capital de~ IIIl, manded, and from a want of proportion in tlie price of bran. When wheat was 4I. a coomb, bran was not higher than is. a bushel. Within four years he has bought a great deal of wheat, as he shewed me by his books, at 2 IS. and 22s. bran at 6d. and yd. SECT. ?04 RYE, SECT. VIII. — RYE. Upon the light sands of the South-western distriilj this is a common crop, and follows the seeds generally upon a bastard fallow. The quantity of seed usually two bushels, and the produce more uncertain than with wheat, for this plant is very liable to be damaged by frosts. The culture ought to lessen every where, except perhaps in rnountainous dlstridls, since wheat has been found to pro- duce, on poor sands, as many bushels per acre as rye. Mr. Bevan's rye, in i802, was sown in February, by which means it escaped tlie severe frosts which did so much mischief to this crop in June. I have rarely seen finer crops. Colonel Cony had once six quarters per acre, at Rune- ton. There is a pra6lice in the South-west district, which has merit — that of ploughing up the rye stubbles in har- vest, and sowing one or two pecks of seed additional per acre, with intention of burying the scattered grains, and thus having a crop of spring food for sheep. The tillage has its use for the following turnips, consequently the ex- pence merely consists in the small portion of seed added,- SECT. IX. — OATS. "This is by no means a favourite crop in Norfolk, where, if the land is in order, they greatly prefer barley; and if it is not in order, they are too good farmers to sow any corn. Mr. Hill, at Waterden, in common with the gene- rality OATS. 305 rality of his neighbours, buys all the oats he consumes ; he can grow as much barley per acre as of oats, and is at the same time a more certain crop. Upon the good barley sand, for some miles around Holicham, the farmers think oats a so much more exhaust- ing crop than barley, that they buy all their oats at Wells; carrying wheat, barley and pease thitlier, the waggons bring oats back. JMr. Denton, of Brandon, dibbles oats with great suc- cess ; puts in more tlian a coomb per sere of seed, observ- ing, that he did not approve of adopting any method as a way oi saving seed. Admiring a very fine oat-stubble at Mr. Francis's, at Martham, and inquiring the preparation, he informed mc that wheat preceded, the stubble of whicli he scaled before Christmas, ploughed it across thin, and then a full pitch for the seed oats. The wheat was on a two vear's layer. " The surface of a piece of ground, sown several days with oats, but which were not yet up, was run^* by heavy rains, into a batter, and baked to a crust: t]:ie owner ploughed the ground, notwithstanding they had begun to vegetate, under a fleet furrow. The success was beyond expedlation." — Mr. Marshall. Seed. — Mr. Fellowes, of Shottcbham, has found, from many observations in a long and attentive experience, that the more oar-seed he sows, the better is the crop. This he finds to take place as far as seven bushels an acre, and even to eight. On strong land at Wissen, five bushels broad-cast. Mr. Salter, six. About Watton, four bushels ; some five. About Bilncy, four and five. At Thelton, four to five bushels. j^r. EvERiT, of Caistor, in Flcg, fire to six busliels. >*ORKOLK.] X Mr, 306 0AT5. Mr. Syble, of South Walsham, five bushels. Mr. Cubit, &ic. at Catfield, five to six bushels. Mr. Reeves, of Hcvcringland, drills at six inches, tiircc to four bushels. Mr. Relvk, of Wi^hton, three bushels, drilled: of T.irtarian four bushels. Near Downham, four bushels. At Watlington, six bushels. Mr, Porter tliere har- rows in, because no drill cups will deliver enough. About Wymondham, four bushels. Produce. — At Thelton, ten coombs an acre common, and even more ; some twelve to fourteen coombs. On the fine loamy and gravelly sands of Langley, &c. average 1 1 coombs. Caistor, &c. in Fleg, and the average of the hundreds, fourteen coombs : twenty-four have been known. Hemsby, twelve coombs : twenty have been known* Thrigby and Fleg, twelve coombs. South Walsham and Blowfield, fourteen coombs. Martha m, eleven coombs. Catfield and Happing, twelve to fifteen coombs. Honing, eleven to fifteen coombs. North Walsham, ten to twelve coombs. Coltishal, twelve coombs : but few sown. Mr. Repton, of Oxnead, favoured me with an accu- rate account of his crops for many years : Acres. Produce per acre. Coombs. Budhels. 1773 10 14 0 1774 14 15 0 177s 20 II 0 1776 9 '5 0 1777 26 13 2 1778 12 II 0 1779 «4 11 0 1780 IS 10 3 I78I OATS. Acres. Produce per acre. Coombs. Bushels. 1781 14 12 I 1782 21 12 2 1783 10 10 0 1784 13 8 0 1785 14 6 3 1786 23 9 0 1787 17 10 0 1788 0 0 0 1789 10 5 I I790 9 8 0 1791 8 13 0 1792 23 14 0 1793 4 14 0 1794 18 12 3 1795 13 7 3 1796 15 II 0 1797 II 12 0 1798 11 12 0 1799 10 9 2 i8oo iRoT RnnL 10 « r\nt mnilp nr 8 2 3^7 Average - ii 2 On tlie liglit soils at Heveringland, eight to ten coombs: on the better land, twelve coombs. Mr. BiRCHAM, at Hackford, fifteen coombs: has had twenty-six coombs one bushel, on old land that had had vetches only. At Thurning, eight to ten coombs. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, has had twenty-five coombs an acre of the Tartarian. At Snettisham, ten coombs. The vicinity of Downham, ten to sixteen coombs. At Watliu^ton, fourteen coombs. X 2 About 30S PEAiE. About Watton, average ten coombs. At Wigenbal!, Sr. Mary's, six or seven coombs. At ^Valpolc, twelve coombs. Another account, {\\chc to fourteen coombs; on fallow, sixteen coombs. Near the Smceth, thirteen or fourrcen coombs. SECT. X. PEASE. Mr. Overman, carrying me into a crop of hroad-cast pease in his neighbourhood, desired me to examine the strongest tufts to i>e found, to shew that the poppies, so far from being destroyed, were cre6t and ready to force them- selves through when the pease fall, tiii^ugh overtopped at present. He remarked, that the common observation, that pease are apt to foul land if weak, and clean it, if stout, was erroneous: if red-weed or spear-grass are m the land, no crop will destroy them ; and if they aic not in the land, the pease cannot generate them. Mr. Overman, from various observations, is of opi- nion, that if pease are repeated oftener than once in eleven or twelve years, they are very ap: to fail. Mr. Syele, of South Walsham, has found that pease are a verv uncertain crop : this is known to all farmers; but he has remarked further, that they will not boar re- peatino". If sown often on the same land, they are almost sure to fail. Mr. EvERiT, of Caistor, has this year (1802) a vast , crop of pease, which I viewed with pleasure ; he lays them at twelve coombs an acre at least : tlicy followed wheat ; and his ren>ark was, that they had shaded the ground so completely^ that he had no doubt of very fine wheat after them again. Mr. FowEL, of Snetterton, ploughs such of his layers as FEASE. 209 as ]i« intends for pease, in December or January^ and rolls and harrows before drilling on this stale furrow. His mode of drilling this crop, is to h.ave two rows at five inches, and intervals of fifteen inclies for horse-hoeing. I viewed his crops, they were very well hung, that is, loaded with pods, but too many poppies lor a driller. Horse- hoemg, in this system, he finds far more efFe6tive than the Jiand-hocing h': gave to equi-distant rows at twelve inclies. For this drilling, he made a nev/ beam to Cook's machine, Mr.' PvEEVES, of Heveringland, drills his pease at nine inches ; and highly approves the method. Mr. Johnson, at Thurning, drills all' at nine incites. Mi. Styleman, at Snettisluim, drills all; some at nine and sonie at twelve inches : hand-hoeing, once or twice, as wanted. Mr. Roger SON, of Narborough, drills all that he jdoes not dibble. Mr. M. Hill drills at nine inches on the flag, scarifies twice, and weeds ; and prefers that practice to all others. Pease are very geneially dibbled at Thchon ; crops, eight to ten coombs per acre. Wherever found, thence to Yarmouth, and my route through the Flegs, Blowfield, &:c. &c. to North Wal- sham, dibbling very general : about the latter town, few, but what there are, dibbled; they do not hoe them. The pea stubble reckoned kind for wheat. Few pease are dibbled on ollonds at Scotlcr ; but some are; and Mr. Dyble remarked, that pease cannot well be dibbled too deep. Mr. RePTon, at Oxnead, dibldes with great success : lie had this year (1802) seventy loads froin twelve acres. The maple grey is a great favourite at present in Flcg hundred. Mr. Tuthill, ofSouthwood, seleded them from a sample that came into the country, and cultivatinoj X 3 thcni 310 PEASK. them carefully, they have establislied tliemsclvcs very ge- nerally ; they produce ten or twelve cooml)s an acre, on land that would not give five or six of the old sorts; the straw is not so long as some oiher sorts, but long enough forshade, which Mr. Brown, of Thrighy, holds to be a great point in a pea crop. Mr. DuRSGATE finds the pearl pea to ripen a fortnight sooner than other sorts: but this year the frost damaged his crop. Seed, — About Watton, two bushels. About Dereham and to Bilney, three bushels. At Thelton, grey pease dibbled, two bushels. Mr. Syble, of South Walsham, dibblesthree bushels. Mr. Cubit, &c. at Catfield, four bushels, whether dibbled or broad-cast: a thick crop they consider as a great objeft in preparing for other corn. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, dibbles, four bushels, two rows on a flag. Mr. Reeves, of Heveringland, drills at nine inches, ten pecks. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, four bushels of the large pea, drilled. Ml. Henry Blythf, of Burnham, drills, ten pecks. Mr. Beck, of CcStle Riseing, drills, ten to twelve pecks, at nine inches, and hand-hoes. About Downham, two bushels and a half to three bushels. At Watlington, four bushels. Produce. — At Lan^ley, &c. when the year is favourable, the average produce is eight or nine coombs. At Caistor, and average of Fleg, eleven coombs : fif- teen coombs have been known. At HeiUbby, Mr. Ferrier has known fourteen coombs. At BEANS. 311 At Catfield, if good, ten coombs. At Thurning, six coombs. At Siiettisham, vvlien n.-i failure, eight coombs, About Downham, guoJ, seven coombs. At Watlington, if good, ten coombs. SECT. XI. BEANS. On the stronger land about Watton, the failure of com- mon red clover, from long repetition, has had one very good efFecl, that of inducing some farmers to plant beans. They plough the barley stubble once, and dibble in one row of horse-beans on every furrow, keep them clean by hand-hoeing, and sowing wheat after; get excellent crops, oftentimes better than after any other preparation. I viewed carefully a small field of wheat at Scarnlng, belonging to Mr. Nelson, of Dereham, half of which followed beans and half potatoes: the superiority of the former considerable. The Rev. Mr. Munnings and the Rev. Mr. Priest were with me, and were entirely of the same opinion. Beans are in common cultivation at Thelton : Mr. Ha- vERs's are dibbled in rows along ridges seven feet and a lialf, or ten furrows wide, on which eight rows. He ploughs the land early In autumn, and (after the frosts) in the spring only harrows, and plants immediately; two bushels of seed an acre, at the expense of 4s. and 2S. 6d. in the pound for beer. Hand-hoes two or three times, at Ss. or los. expense; no horse-hoeing: he gets tenor twelve coombs an acre. There cannot be better manage- ment than avoiding spring tillage, on heavy land. Mr. Havers, and his neighbours, having kept their X 4 beans 318 BEArrs. beans clean by hoeing, ploiigli the stubble once, harrow, and drill or dibble in the wheat seed. Many are also cultivated at Billingford, where tliey are in the same system: Mr. Drake avoids spring tillage, ploughing befpre Cliristmas ; has a set of seven small har- rows, which dropping into every hollow, prepares well for the dibbles ; rows at nine inches : he hand-hoes twice, Jceeping them quite clean. I viewed liis crops and found them perfcftly so, and very fine, equal in apj^earauce to five or six quarters an acre ; yet they seemed too thick, and not podded so low as they would have been with more room. Mr. Pitts, of Thorpe Abbots, has this year {1802) drilled beans with Cook's machine, at 12, 18, and 24 inches, and lie thinks th.e 24 promise to be the best crop. They have been liorse and hand hocd, and kept quite clean. All will be eight coombs an acre at least. Mr. KiRRiCH, at Harieston, lays his manure on for beans, and then drills wheat, getting great crops. Mr. Baldwin, near Harieston, drills many beans, and gets great crops, as well as of wheat, after them. Through the hundred of Loddon the beans are all dib- bled, one row on a flag, and all the farmers sow wheat after them, finding it the best preparation for that grain. Mr. Burton, of Langley, whose knowledge of hus- bandry is extensive and unquestioned, upon the strong land at Hempnal has always had excellent wheat, perhaps the best, on bean stubbles. At Langley and the vicinity, average produce ten coombs. Mr. Burton never Jess than that ciop at a medium ; this vear above twelve. At Seething and MunJiiam many beans, and great crops: wheat after ihcm. Here are excellent farmers. Admiring the fine sandy loams at Caj^tor, in Fleg, and combininz BEANS. 3^3 combining the circumstance of soil wkh the small variatioit of their crops, I proposed to Mr. Everit the culture of beans: he said that he had tried them, and they would not do ; they run away to straw, and will not pod well. Mr. Ferrier, of Hemsby, has known them tried; but they would not do. Mr. Syble, of South Walsham, sowed five acres, and they ran away to straw, and yielded very little corn. These articles of information were rather discouraging, but having heard that Mr. Christmas, at Billockby, had made some experiments on beans, I called on him ; tinfortunatelv he was fiom home, but I examined his bean crop. Passing to Ludham, the ninth mile-stone is against the field, whicii I note, that others may, if they please, examine the field, it is a large field dibbled one row on every flag : the soil fair Fleg land, but rather stronger than the very pale lands : the crop had been hoed, but not suf- ficiently, for they were rather foul : the convidlion on my mind that the country will do for beans, was compleat : I guess the produce ten coombs an acre. They are rather iow than high. There is a large pit of clay marie in the field. Through the Flegs, Walsham, Blowfield, and Happing hundreds, I have been calling out for beans, and surprized at finding only one crop > but at last, at Happsborough, I found that Mr. Wiseman had them for three years, and ■with good success, getting 14 or 15 coombs an acre, though in no better mode of culture than tliat of spraining the seed in every other furrow, and hand-hoeing them twice. He got as fine wheat after them as the best in the country. Inquiring how he came to make such an expe- riment, 1 found he had been in Kent, and seeing the cflect of beans there, induced Inm to try them. Mr. BlRCHAM, at Hackford, tried beans three or four times, 314 B£AKS. times, and left them off because he could not get wheat after them ; but did not hoe : could not. I advised fresh trials j;i the horse-hoeing system. Mr. Styleman, at So ^ttisham, has had two crops of beans on a v rt of inars^^Ii, stiff and strong soil. Hjs ma- nage;r.ent ol^ the second crop, wluch 1 viewed, was to jplough a wheat stubble ii^ amu nn, leave it well water- furrowed, and in tlie spring t ) dibble in the seed. Mr. PRitsT,of Bestborj>e, has drilled beans with Cook's mac'.lne at i3 inches; five coombs of seed on 17 acres; the crop a fair one: the field yielded dibbled barley the year before, on a laver. The beans were once horse- hoed, once hand hoed, and once weeded ; designs to scuf- fle the stubble for wheat. At Wigenh all, St. Mary's, in Marshland, they plough in the wheat sti.bi les in autumn, and stirring in the spring, sov/ cvcvv third or fourth furrow with two bushels of horse beans an acre ; iiand-hoe the rows once, and plough sometimes between them. Last year (1801) they got ten coombs an acre, but tiie aver ge not above five or six. They burn the straw in ovens, t\.c. For the following wheat tliey plough once, and lianovv in the seed; and if the weaiher is goot!, twice: tiiis they reckon best on ac- count of ihe w/iiie sncii/, a slug which abounds on bean stubbies: jr eats the young plar.t of wheat tlie moment the seed shoots, and sometimes destroys the ciop ; steeping in arsenic no prevention — tliey eat the seed iitclf also, by some accounts, but this is doubtful. Their best wheats follow beans: the fallowed crops never average five coombs, but those on bean stubbles do. Such is Mr. Dennis's ac- count. Mr. CoF, of I.lington, has generally one-sixth of his arable in beans; in autumn he ploughs the wheat stubble, and again at Candlemas, and hairows in two bushels and a half BEANS. 31^ half of seed per acre ; some he dibbles, and hand-hoes in either case twice, at 5s. and 4s. an acre, and reckons a fair crop at six coombs ; he takes wheat after them on one earth, and generally good ; the best, if it escapes tlie slug, which in a wet season attacks the wheat in autumn : it is about an inch long, the size of a tobacco-pipe, and of a bluish white colour. In going round from Islington by Tilney and Terring- ton to Lynn, I saw many crops of broad-cast beans full of weeds. Mr. Thorp, on Governor Bentinck's estate, sows beans in furrows ; keeps them clean, and gets fine wheat after. 1776. At Walpole, drilled in every third or fourth furrow, and kept clean by both horse and hand-hoeing; four quarters sometimes gained. Mr. Can ham, of Southry, near Downham, had 60 acres thus cultivated in 1769, which yielded five quarters and an half round; in 1770 I viewed the wheat after them, and found it as clean and as fine as any after fallows. He has often had five quarters an acre after beans. This husbandry continues: in 1802 I found the same ; and I am sorry to say without improvement. Produce at Walpole six coombs. Many are dibbled in rows, and kept clean and well managed; Mr. Philip Griffin cultivates them in this manner. Mr. SwAYNE, of Walpole, gets the best wheat after beans, if it escapes the slug ; if the land is lightish, it is common to put them in in every third or fourth furrow, for ploughing between ; but on strong clay it is difficult to get the plough in. Some dibble in, but others objcdl to it, on account of their not being sufficiently buried. It 3l6 BEAKS. i-s more common to sow from two to three busrtels broad- tast, and plough them in ; but they hand-hoe all twice. The crop in general six to seven coombs ; last year ten. In the old lands adjoining the Smecth, the best farmers sow them in everv third furrow, but slovens at random ; the rows ploughed and cleaned yield by far the best crop, even to ten or twelve coombs per acre in good years: broad-cast six or seven. Some beans in the vicinity of Downham broad-ctst, and a few farmers hoe : some furrowed and ploughed between, produce seven or eight coombs. Mr. Porter, of Watlington, sows them in every third or fourth furrow ; if the latter, he plougb.s between the rows ; if the former, he hand-hoes. Has dibbled some, and thev answered well ; he left a wheat stubble till the sprinc:, then set two rows on every other furrow, and hand- hoed : got ten coombs an acre ; and eight or nine coombs of wheat after them: af;er beans, always as good as any other wheat. In discourse during this journey with Mr. Ming ay, of Thetford, on the subject ot beans, he mentioned that on his farm at Ashfiekl, in Suttolk, he has a licld of seven acres and a half, which has been thus cropped : 3797 Beans. 1798 Wheat. 1799 Beans. 1800 Wheat. 1801 Beans (Mr. Mikgay's ; and he sold iiol worth from ilie seven acres and a half.) 1802 Wheat; estimated by the bailiff at from ten to twelve coombs an acre. Soil, strong loam on clay marie. Observation. — The not extending the culture of beans i-s a great deficiency in the husbandry of Norfolk. In the rich ■*-• ^ BUCK-WHEAT. 317 rich land of the eastern distrldl there can be no question ; but thev ought to be much increased in that of various loams, wherein turnips are often found onland improper for that crop. But this plant would form a valuable acqui- sition where none are to be found in the good sands of the Nortli-westcrn distriift, because beans are, in general, found onlv on clays, or strong loams ; the notion is gene- ral, that such only are well adapted to the culture ; but on all the better soils of the last named district they would thrive to great profit, and prove a valuable variation in their course ot crops. I have seen very great crops in Suffolk on rich sand, and without doubt they would do equally well in the neighbouring county.. SECT. XII. BUCK-WHEAT. 'iAr. Francis, of Martliam, has sown buck-wheat after turnips, and got eight or nine coombs an acre, and wheat after the buck : the reason of this uncommon course was, because part of the field w::s coleseed, and it bronght the whole into wheat ; tiiC crop nine or ten coombs an acre. Mr. Cubit, of Honing, finds that nothing cleans land so well for wheat as sowing buck ; he gets seven or eight coombs an acre ; but oftener ploughs it under, putting a bush under the beam to sweep it down for the plough — a poor succedaneum for the skim coulter. He finds it as good as a mucking; but this only on strong land. He sows it on a second year's laver, as soon as barley sowing is over, from the 15th to the 20th of May; about the 1st of August ploughs it under, harrows well in Septembci', then throws on the seed, and ridges for wheat; always good crops. The 3l8 «UCK-"WrHEAr. The same practice takes place about North Walshanrf^ and it is reckoned by some, on the heavier soils, as good as half a mucking ; but Mr. Margateson remarks, that if done on light sand it makes it too loose and puffy. Mr. Petre, of Westwick, sows some on ollond, for a crop, and then sowing wheat, is sure of a good pro- duce. Mr. Dyble, of Scotter, has a good opinion of plough- ing in green crops : he once in a first year's layer ploughed in the secc^nd crop of clover, spreading no muck there, the rest of the field mucked, and the wheat was as good as the rest. It was much cultivated when I was at Ayleshnm, 32 tears ago ; they ploughed three or four times for it ; sowed the beginning of July five pecks an acre : the average crop four quarters an acre : sometimes they got six. Esteem it as good as oats for horses. Wlieat always suc- ceeded it, and rarely failed of producing good crops: sometimes they ploughed it in on cold springy land, using a small bush faggot before the ploughs, to lay it in the right diredlion for turning in: it answered for two crops better than dung. Ml". PvEPToN, sows buck on ollonds, and ploughs it in for wheat: it answers well, Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, has ploughed buck In for manure, but thinks his land hardly strong enough for this husbandry ; but on any piece subjedl to wild oats, by sow- ing buck after barley, on four earths, and ploughing it in at the beginning of August, in full flower, he has freed land from that weed most completely. Mr. Styleman, at Snettisham, has this year plough- ed in buck for manure ; it was sown the middle of May, and ploughed in in full blossom tiie middle of August 5 stirred in September, and is ready for the wheat-seed earth. He TARES. 31T He has pradised rhe husbandry before, and received mate- rial benefit from it. Mr. Thorp, on Governor Bentinck's estate, in. Marshland, last year ploughed in buck as a manure for wheat, and it answered greatlv, improving the crop as far as it extended to an inch : and this year he repeated it, for- tunately ; for in such a drought as succeeded he had not been able to have ploughed the land at all. At Felthorpe, buck is considered as superior to ail other crops with which to sow grass-seeds — it does not rob thctn — it shelters better than any other from the sun — it is late sown, and consequently oifers an entire spring for a second or third destrudtion of weeds: these are valuable circum- stances, and merit the attention of those who wish to varv the methods of laying down land to grass. SECT. XIII. — TARES. The culture of this plant has increased very consider- ably in Norfolk of late years. Within my memory they are multi[)lied at least tenfold. Mr. Overman begins sowing winter tares about Michaelmas, once more l:efore Christmas, and sometimes twice and thrice more, with spring tares for succession. After mowing he does not plough the land ; but runs sheep over it till wheat sowing. But the cultivator who has made by far the greatest exertions in this husbandry that I ever met with, is Mr. PuRDis, of Eggmore, who has 300 acres every year, secdr ing no more than is necessary 10 supply himself ; they are fed by his sheep ; used in soiling his numerous horses; and immense quantities made into hay. His crops of 1802 I 520 CABBAGES. viewed with much pleasure, and found them very great indeed. In such an extent they are necessarily sown at different seasons for succession, both winter and spring. Some lie has dibbled ; but intends drilling many in future. Mr. M. Hill only winter tares for soiling his horses. Sowing tares for summer feeding sheep, Mr. Henry Blythe remarks, is an absolutely new improvement in the husbandry of West Norfolk, and he thinks it a very great and important one ; he does not know who first in- troduced it: he is largely in the praclice himself, sowing both winter and spring sorts, and in succession. Mr. DuRSGATE is in this husbandry. I found Mr. Hart, at Billingford, feeding off his spring tares, the winter ones, first growth, being done : the sheep were in pens moving regularly forward ; brought in at night, and in the day on the layers: a piece of 20 by 30 yards given every day to 400 breeding ewes. They draw back on the cleared land, not resting on the unfinished tares. They were sown on a two years ollond. and as fast as cleared, the land was tempered for wheat. Winter tares fed off in May in the same field, are now, in August, a fine crop again for the sheep, when they finish the spring ones. SECT. XIV. CABBAGES, The Rev. J. Forby, of Fincham, was a most successful cultivator of this plant. Two acres produced 28 tons per acre, carried off the land, a strong v^'et loam on clay ; two adjoining acres of turnips were fed off with sheep : the whole sown, after three earths, with oats, to the eye perfectly equal, and the whole produce 90 coombs, or 12 quarters per acre. Seeds took well, and he cut nine tons of CABBAGES. 321 of hay. No manure for either cabbage or turnip. Cab- bages never exhausted his land, which always worked better for barley or oats than his turnip land. No cattle could do better than his cows when on cabbages, and the cream and butter fi ee from any disagreeable taste. The seed was al- ways sown as early in the spring as possible, on land well sheltered, dunged, and dug. The moment he" perceived the fly on tlie young plants, he sowed the beds with wood- ashes, which instantly destroyed the fly, and so far from hurting the plants, that It was astonishing to see how they were invigorated by it. They were planted out the third or fourth week in May. Air. Forby always mucked the land intended for the crop soon after MichaeLnas, which he found far preferable to doing it just before plant- ing. In a very severe frost v/hich destroyed ail the tur- nips, Mr. Forby's cabbages escaped, and were of im- mense use. Subsequent to this communication he further informed me, that he had never seen any piece of land at Fincham planted part with cabbages and part with turnips, where the former did not exceed the latter four-fold at least. Doubts having been expressed whether they did not im- poverish the land, he formed an experiment upon a course of crops to ascertain that point, by a rotation which would prove it, if the fadl were so. The land middling, let at I2S. an acre. He spread 14 loads per acre of dung on a wheat stubble, and plougiied it in soon after Michael- mas. Three ploughings more were given, and cabbages planted in June: then oats: then wheat. No person in the parish had cleaner oats or wheat, nor any such large crops ; 15 coombs an acre of oats, and six coombs one bushel ofwheat; and two years in five, 19 coombs an acre of oats, and nine coombs one bushel of wheat. No sheep or cattle NORFOLK.] Y fed 322 CAUBAGES. fed on the land at any time, nor other dressing given, ex- cept the third year, as above, for the cabbages. This gentleman tried the red garden cabbage, and found • them very hardy, and come to 141b. but they demand more time for growing than green sorts ; of which those streak- ed with red veins arc best, and most durable. He hung those up for seed (or two months aftci- Christmas. Did not approve of setting the stalk only, as the side branches were apt to break ofF; each good plant yielded lib. of seed: he dried it on burdles raised on stakes: and if the ground was fine under them and dunged, it became a seed- bed. Mr. Coke has cultivated the large cattle cabbage 13 or 14 years, and got very fine crops, which yielded more food than turnips, on good samls : he has had up to 20 acres per annum. He sowed the seed in February, and transplanted as soon as the plants were large enough, con- tinuing till the beginning of July. Manured as for turnips, 10 loads per acre. The expense the same as that of turnips. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, has every year a few acres, to use in frosty weather, finding a load of great use for his rows in the morning: he sows the seed in February, and plants in June, the rows three feet by two and dn half: he, is clear that an acre produces double the food of an acre of contiguous turnips ; and does not observe any defedl in rhe barley that follows. Mr. RisHTON has cultivated cabbages, and has known as good barley after them, though carted off, as after tur- nips fed late on the land. His method of culture was to sow the seed the first week in February, once to remove the plants, and set them out by the 4th of June : hand' hoed thpin, earthing up : then ran the double earth-board plough between the rows, and the hand-hoes after to draw the ear;h still higher up. He planted by a marking rake, with COLE-SEED. 223 with three teeth, at three feet asunder, drawn along am! across the lands, and set the plants at the intersedlions. Mr. FowEL cultivated Scotch kale in 1801. The seed was sown in a bed in April, and transplanted tlie middle of June, in rows at three feet, and the same distance from plant to plant, on three acres. They were kept clean by hand-hoeing, find fed off by sheep. They yielded abun- dance of food ; but he thought the sheep did not take kind- ly to them ; tlie use, however, was very great, as his tur- nips rotted. This year he intended a crop, but the seed was bad and failed. The barley was as good as after tur- nips. In 1784, 1 remarked in the Annals of Agriculture^ vol. ii, p. 365, the great superiority, on luy own farm, of borecole, &c. drilled and left without transplanting, to that which was transplanted, and thence recommended the praftice ; which was, Ibelievcy the first public hint given of it. COLE-SEED. Mr. EvERiT, of Caistor, in Fleg, alwavs liand-hoes his cole-seed once, with seven incli hoes, giving the same price (6s. 6d. an acre) as for the two turnip hoeings. The benefit is very great, not only in cleaning the land, but also in the growth of the plants: they stand the winter much better than unhoed crops, spreading on the ground, instead of running up, and being exposed and cut by frosts. Cole-seed, in the fens of Marshland, on paring and burning, runs to thick stalk, and that quite brittle, and is excellent for stock ; but at Walpole it is inferior. Y 2 SECT* 324 CARRots. SECT. XV. — CARROTS. It is a remarkable circumstance, tliat carrots should have been an article of common cultivation, in a distridl of Suf- folk, few more than 200 years, and yet that so valuable a crop should not, in all that time, have travelled into this neighbouring county, uhere there are such great quan- tities of land so perfecStly adapted to the husbandry. Forty years ago, Mr. Fellowes, at Shottesham, cul- tivated carrots with much success : he got 600 bushels per acre, which were used for horses and cows : the former never did better, and the butter from the latter, of superior quality. They were pretty much cultivated more than thirty years ago, between Norwich and Yarmouth — nearer to the former ; the farmers trench -ploughed for tliem, an "was as follows: On the nth day of May I began mowing 4 acres I rood and 24 perches of the above lucerne, which I had purposely divided otF, and applied it by feeding ten cart- horses, in a walled-in yard. There was neither hay nor 2 4 corn 3i^4 LUCLRNE, corn given to the horses, except the first two weeks tliey •were taken into the yard, when two pecks of oats, with some chaff, were allowed each horse per week, to prevent any ill consequences from the too sudden change from corn and hay to green food, and they were fed entirely from the aforesaid 4 acres i rood and 24 perches of lucerne, till the 2lstofSeptemher following, making exadlly 19 weeks from the period of their hrst going into the yard. lean- not state with accuracy the quantity of work done during the above 19 weeks by the ten horses, but, as near as 1 can estimate, eight out of the ten went to plough or other ■work, nine hours every day (Sundays excepted), and ■were In excellent condition during this experiment. The vard in which the horses were kept, and which they never quitted except when at work, was littered with refuse straw from other yards, green weeds from borders or waste land, or any other refuse litter tliat could be con- veniently procured. The dung was turned over after the horses were taken from the yard, and after remaining about a month In heaps, produced 62 loads, at 36 bushels to the load. The grass had a slight top-diessing of peat- ashes the first winter, and has received no msinuring since, except a small part, which did no material good. The first mowing commenced the nth May, when it was fifteen inches high ; second mowing 6ih July ; third mow- ing i8.h August. I was induced to adopt the above method of summer- feeding horses, from the. Inconvenience I had previously experienced, from having but a small quantity of pasture land, and the consequent difficulty of preventing them from breaking the fences, and getting into and damaging the growing crops of corn. Calculation of xhe value of the 4 acres i rood and 24 perches of lucerne, above-mentioned : Keeping LUCERNE. 245 Keeping lO horses 19 weeks, at 6s. per horse per week - - - > £-^1 ^ O Sixty-two loads of compost, at 3s. per load -960 66 6 o Dedu6t 2f coombs of oats, at 12s. £.1 10 o ChafF - - - 060 Refuse straw and litter - - 200 3 16 o Total - - 62 10 o Or per acre - ;^-i3 17 With the greatest respe(5^, T remain, SIR, Your most obedient humble servant, RICHARD FOWELL. Snetterton, near Harling^ Norfolk^ 1st Dec. 1801. I viewed the crop described in the preceding account, and found it very fine, regular and clean: Mr. Fowell had twelve horses soiling on it, and some pigs in the yard, which had nothing else, and which were in very good order. He has seven acres ; has sown ten more with this year's barley, which I examined, and found it had taken perfedlly well, and promised to he a fine crop: he intends eight acres more next year, meaning to mow it for hay. The ten acres are the half of a field, the other half sain- foin, for comparison. He thinks the lucerne will beat the sainfoin. Mr. Be VAN sowed at Riddles wortii, in 1793, thirteen acres broad-cast, with barley ; seed ten pounds an acre, and also six pounds an acre of red clover, on good sand, worth 12s. an acre. In 1794 he mowed half for soiling and 349 LUCERNE. and half for bay ; the latter two tons per acre ; the lucerne was predominant, rising four or five inches above the clover. Mr. Bevak's is now nhie years old, and is still very profitable, and had it not been attacked by the parasitical plant which infects it, would hiave been now in full per- feclion. He has sown twelve acres more, which is now in the second year, and promises to be very produdlive. He approves highlv of the culture. Mr. Bt.vAN, in order to get rid of the parasitical plant ■whiih is so apt to destroy his lucerne, half ploughed it in the spring of 1802, and harrowed in spring tares, which gave him a very good crop: it did not damage the lu- cerne, and checked the weeds. A very good thought. Sir MoRDAUNT Martin has cultivated lucerne 36 years ; has tried it, transplanted, drilled, and broad-cast, but, from much experience, finds the last by far the best way. Sovis 16 lb. an acre; it has lasted 17 years, and ■when ploughed up, it was like ploughing horse-radish. Three roods have given a good noon-meal to six horses, for seven years together, the racks being filled. Has had eight acres of it, but scalding in the summer, ploughed up six of them. He thinks a fair growth ot it exceeds a crop of tares: has only gravel for it: it will not do on wet land. The Rev. Mr, Crow, of Burnham, has cultivated it for many years ; and found that nothing could recompense the expense of cleaning the rows of the drilled, and if the alleys are very clean, then the lucerne is dirtied, so that broad-cast beats it greatly. It has lasted seven years ; he has had four cuttings. Mr. Priest, ofBesthorpe, copied Mr. Fowell's ex- ample, and sowed three acres near his stables, broad-cast — he has got a very fine plant: this the first year. SECT, POTATOES. 34y SECT. XX, — MANGEL WURZEL. Sir Mordaunt Martin has cultivated It from Irs first introdu6tion ; and generally with great success. Has usually four or five acres. He has drilled it for the purpose of better cleaning; drills it with Cooke's wheat cups, so reduced by putty, as to sow half a peck an acre. But in- tends it, in future, broad-cast, as the seeds are apt to be buried. Sows about the middle of May, to the 20th, be- ing apt to run to seed if earlier. He is persuaded that aa acre will carry more cow stock than an acre of turnips. It will keep hogs perfe6lly well, but better for large than young ones, "3 apt to scour : if he wanted them for hogs only, , he would still have them, as very beneficial for that stock. He usually sows it after barley. They keep la the same way as potatoes : his method is to open a furrow and fill it, and then turn two furrows over the roots, ob- serving that the ridge thus formed, is left sharp to shoot water off. He has a very In'gh opinion of them, and found that they will fatten a beast faster than any root lie has tried: on this gravelly loam, they yield a much better crop than either carrots or parsnips. 1802. He has this year a flourishing crop. 1 was un- fortunate in his absence when 1 called at Burnham. SECT. XXI. — POTATOES. The quantity of potatoes in the south of Norfolk, is very inconsiderable ; and in Fleg, I saw but a thin scat- tering of very small pieces. Mr. 34? DRILL HUSBA%'DRy. Mr. EvERlT has found that they exhaust the soil more than any thing. Mr. Cubit, at Catfield, had an acre two years ago, whicli produced 48!. at 6s. a sack: the rest of tlic field was turnips ; then wheat after the potatoes, and barley after the turnips, seeds with both ; and now, where the potatoes grew, is a bed of rubbish, the rest clean. Mr. Repton has raised potatoes for the consumption of his farm ; but not when he has any prospedl of buying them, which he has done at is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. a sack. He steams them for young cattle, &cc. having a very com- plete apparatus for the purpose ^ boils five coppers, which steam 50 or 60 bushels a day, and answers well ; also tur- nips, and pours their liquor on to cut chaff, giving the whole mixed together; it answers extremely well; the cattle licking it up with great avidity, and doing perfedily well on this food. This root is much in use amongst the poor at Thorn- ham, See. their gardens are full of them. A good many near and around Downham, and wheat after them ; but Mr. Saffory sows barley, for he has found they make the land too light for wheat. SECT. XXII. — OF THE DRILL HUSBANDRY, The introduflion of this culture has given a new face to the fields of West Norfolk ; and a new sphere of inquiry to the agricultural reporter. Some notes respedling this subjedt, have been introduced in the detail of particular crops ; but more general observations have been reserved for this be6lion. Mr. DRILL HUSBANDRY, 349 Mr. Drozier, of Rudham — To raise a great crop of Vfheat, how would you put it in — would you drill it? — No. I would dibble. Mr. Drozier, last harvest, had dibbled and drilled; the dibbled beat. In 1800 he had none drilled ; but in 1802, I heard that he drilled again. Mr. Harikg, of Ash Wicken, put in wheat, dibbled one row on a flag, and it beat the drill. Mr. Holland, of Bircham, in 1799, lost half his crop of barley by the drill ; and in 1800, his drilled wheat was much too thin: he then determined to drill no more. His stubbie did not give any signs of bad management. He remarked, that he has seen no drilled stubbles that do not shew gaps much more numerous than ought ever to be seen, Mr. Whiting, of Fring, has been long in the prac- tice of drilling, which he prefers much to broad-ca'^t sow- ing: drills all his corn. Has a high opinion of dibbling, and for produce, knows not which to prefer ; but drilling admits the hoe, which is a material point. Mr. Bradfield, of Heacham, never drills. As to saving a ploughing by drilling barley, he will not admit it to be a saving ; it is an earth that pays well. One-horse ploughs for putting in barley on one earth, the best instru- ment that has been invented. He also observes, that in a Jong course of experience, he had never seen a thin crop of wheat, but if any mildew happened, it was sure to he struck: drilled wheat is the thinnest of all, and most sub- je<5l to mildew. In 1800, all the drilled crops he viewed were much mildewed. His neighbohr, Mr. Norton, had in 1799, ** ^^^Y thin drilled crop ; and in i8cx) h« drilled none. In 1792, I found the chief part of Mr. Overman's farm drilled, and in very beautiful order and cleanness ; his stubbles 350 DRILL HUSBANDRY. Stubbles carrleil unequivocal marks of good husbandry; He was then ill the third year of his drilling ; the experi- ments of the first encouraged him. In liie second, his drilled pease yielded twelve coombs and a half an acre ; the dibbled ten, and the broad-cast eight. Jn 1792, the tliiid year, all his pease, and the greatest part of his wheat,' were drilled, and superior to what he had broad-cast ill 1792. He has attempted more than once to drill barley and oats, but was tlien convinced it would not do, and did not intend to try it any more; but he changed his mind after- wards : he drills six pecks an acre of wheat; sows two bushels; he horse-hoes once, doing an acre per hour, if the furrows are long ; and hand-hoes tw ice, each time at 20d, per acre. ] viewed his machine at work, drilling ■wheat ; a suspentled marker forms the line by which the horse walks: the boy who guides, does not lead, but rides tipon him, and goes quite straight by seeing the mark al- ways between the horse's ears. The m.an that holds, di- redls the plough by the wheel mark ; and as he holds for that purpose only one handle, the pressure is countera6led by a leaden weight hung on the other handle. The work completely straight. He considers the saving of seed as something. In 1791, this saving, after paying all the ex- penses of hoeing, gave a balance of 28I. 10s. yet the prices of corn were wheat, 24I. a last; barley, iil. 10s.; beans and white pease, 15I. Women hand-hoe the wheat at 20d! an acre; 3s. 4d. for twice; and it is then earthed up by horse-hoeing. The rows nine inches asunder. By drilling barley he saves an earth ; and thinks that the drill supersedes the use of one-horse ploughs. He never hoes it, but harrows in seeds. Mr. Overman is a gentleman of such clear and intelli- gent DRILL HUSEA'Nb'RY. 35I gent abilities, that great deference ought to be paid to his opinion. Putting some questions to hini on broad-cast husbandry, his reply v/as : " Pray, don't ask me questions about the broad-cast husbandry ; for I wish to answer you from pradlice, and I have been so convinced of the superiority of the drill, that 1 have had no broad-casting for some years, and never shall again." Sir MoR DAUNT Martin, Bart, at Burnham, has practised the drill husbandry ten years, for barley, oats, and vetches, for soiling, at six inches; but no hoeing: has had fourteen coombs an acre, of barley and oats, and has had a last an acre of Tartarian oats, broad-cast. Has never observed that the drilled crops ripened more une- qually than others. Sowing on one earth in putting in barley, lie considers as belonging to the drill. Sir Mordaunt is very well sa- tisfied with the result of his experience ; he sows the seeds broad-casr, and harrows. Barley tillage is, fiist to scale in the tath, harrow, and then plough deep. Then harrow once for drilling, and once after; then sow the seeds broad-cast, and harrow twice, and with the harrows drawn backwards, an iron being fixed for the purpose, by which means the seed is not drawn out of the ground. In the pciiod of Mr. Coke's broad-cast husbandry, 1784, I found that he had two years before carried eleven coombs and one peck of clean barley to market, over 162 acres ; and that year he had 300 acres, estimated by all who viewed it, part at twelve cooxnbs, and the whole at ten. In 1792 I was at Holkham, and found Mr. Coke then drilling on a considerable scale. In 1791 he drilled 76 acres of barley, which produced 34 lasts 13 coombs three bushels, or nine coombs two bushels one peck per acre : 9.3 352 DRILL HUSfiAHDRV. 93 acres sown broad-cast produced 44 lasts 18 coombs two bushels, or ten coombs two pecks per acre. As it was a common pra6lice in the distri6l of Holk- ham to break up a second year's layer (and sometimes of three years) at Midsummer, to give a bastard-fallow for wheat ; a husbandry still common in Wiltshire, where they begin with raftering., it should seem that one great benefit of the drill is the saving this tillage on all light soils. But it ought certainly to be remembered, that this saving belongs to the dibbling husbandry as well as to dril- ling. It was with much pleasure I viewed Mr. Coke's farm at Holkham in 1800: every sort of corn was all drilled, and in a masterly manner. The wheat, however, not great that year, being apparently too thin ; and I pointed out to Mr. Wright many gaps in the rows, of nine inches, a foot, and even two feet in length. If a general thinness is a fault, such gaps add much to k. I made the same remark in otlier person's crops. Mr. Coke's dis- tance of rows nine inches ; always hand-hocs twice at IS. 8d. ; 2s. and sometimes much more per acre. Some of the crops were immense, panjcularly barley ; and all the barley I saw was extremely good ; one acre certainly produced, as Mr. Wright, the bailiff, assured me, 19 coombs one bushel. Mr. Coke had that year some drilled turnips, but his broad-cast ones far exceeded tliem : these were capital. In drilling corn, the distance for barley six inches; never hoed, but drilled after harrowing on the stirring earth ; then the seeds sown broad-cast, and harrowed again across. Thus the only advantages attending the drill in this crop, rsdepositing the seed at a more regular depth than the har- \ro\v will do, and saviiig an earth ploughed by one horse. Aud one man and one horse putting in an acre a day of barley, DRILL HUSBANDRY. 353 barley, will reduce the saving of the earth to something not very considerable on these soils. The seeds of two years are once ploughed very care- fully for drilling wheat, and this operation is trusted only to the best ploughman on the farm ; that the furrows may be so evenly and neatly lapped together, as to enable the drill to be safely used longitudinally, which is Mr. Coke's and Mr. Overman's pradtice both for wheat and barley. The wheat is hand-hoed twice, in March and April, at the expense of 4s. an acre ; the barley not at all. The wheat is at nine inches, the barley at six and three quarters. Several gentlemen present at the sheep-shearing atHolk- ham were of opinion, that in the distri6l of that seat, ex- tending one way to Hunstanton, another to Svvafham, and East to Holt, 15 acres in 20 of all the corn sown, were this year put in by the drill. In 1792 Mr. Bevan had made some experiments with Cook's drill, with Ducket's, and with the drill- roller, and at that time much preferred the last. 1802. From 1792 to this time he has had no drilling ; but this year began again. Mr. Bevak, in 1800, had six acres of wheat drilled at nine inches, in the middle of 50 acres; 44 put in wicli the Norfolk drill-roller. Those six acres were mildewed, and the 44 quite bright. The drilled appeared also very inferior in every respecft. Mr. Day, the bailiff's expres- sion was, the bread cast zvill beat out and out. In discourse with Mr. 'Bevan, in 1802, after viewing tljc very fine and clean crops at Holkham, he said that he had for some years been in doubt upon the question ; he had tried it several times, but the result was not fa- vourable : but this year having been desired by Mr. CoKE to give it another trial, he had done it, and the barley NORFOLK.] A a drilled 354 DRILL HUSBANDRY. drilled was now certainly superior to the broad-cast. His neighbour FowELL, ofGastrop, drills every thing. Mr. FowELL, of Snetterton, has drilled all his farn? for twelve years, and has not the smallest doubt of the supe- riority of the husbandry to the broad-cast ; not only in yielding superiur produdls, but also in being cheaper j he lays much stress on saving tillage, putting in his barley and pease on stale furrows scarified : this is, however, clearly applicable to the broad-cast. He will not by any means admit that the scuffle, or the one-horse plough, will bury seed-barley at so equal a depth as the drill. In Snet- terton there arc five farmers : four have drills ; the fifth is a small one, for whom Mr. Fowell drills. They have come about to this husbandry witmn two cr three years, from seeing Mr. Fowell's crops. In Harfham there is some drilling. Mr. GoocH, at Quedenhnm, drills all. In Illington there are two farmers, and both are drillers. In Little Hockham one, Mr. Kitton, and he drills all, and scarifies a stale funow for barley. At Wilby three farmers; and two, Mr. Palmer and Mr. Bowles, drill very well. At Gastrop, Mr. Fowell drills all. The Rev. Dr. Hinton, at North w.oId, has made some interesting comparisons : on a mixed loam he drilled, zt twelve inches, with Cook's drill, one bushel, four quarts, and half a pint per acie; broad-cast one bushel and 29 quarts. Hand-hotd the drills thrice : weeded the broad- cast. The former produced 44 bushels two qoarts ; the latter, 38 bushels 18 quarts: weight of the d.-jllcd 62 lb. 2 oz. per bushel ; of the broad-cast, 61 lb. He drilled barley at i? inches, and hoed in clover seed 25 days after : the crop better than broad-cast, and the clover took well ; whichj however, is not common, for ic often failo thus put in. His IJRILL HUSBANDRY. 35^ His drilled turnips were at least equal to those sown broad-cast. Dr. HiNTON does not drill spring corn, as it is not a prac5lice, except out of course, on account of the seeds, which will not do in drilled crops : has been tried by others, and the crops failed ; but for winter corn, better than broad-cast on sandy loams ; but it will not do on strong wheat soils as a general pra£llce. Mr. Salter, at Winborough, whose soil is a wet loam on a clay bottom, which requires draining, does not drill, as he thinks his land too stifF and difficult for it ; but dib- bles largely. In discourse with Mr. Salter, on the drill hus- bandry, and inquiring how far it could be made ap- plicable to his difficult land (note, however, that he has several fields, the surface of which is an unquestion- ed sand, upon a strong under-stratum, yet called strong land fields), he gave it decidedly as his opinion, that it would not do : vet he understands drilling, and has prac- tised it at Snarehill. He appealed to his vast crops of dib- bled wheat, and immense ones of barley, this year, 1802, promising nine or ten coombs an acre of the former, and fifteen, sixteen, and even more of the latter, and demanded whether drilling could, or did any where beat them ? A respeflable party of Norfolk farmers were present, and two drillers among them, but they were silent, and all equally struck with the uncommon crops we were then examining. The Rev. Mr. Munnings, at Gorget, is upon a most unkind sharp flinty gravel ; red gravels are usually good soils, but his are blackish, from a mixture of black, sand; nearly the worst of all soils: on this land he drills turnips at eighteen inches ; also oats at nine Indies ; pease at nine and twelve ; arid once he tried wheat. A a 2 Mr, 356 DRILL HUSBANDRY. Mr. MuNNTNGs drills his poor gravels vvitli his bar- row-drill. I viewed his turnips at eighteen inches : a very regular and' well executed crop. Mr. Hart, of Biliingford, in 1802, drilled turnips at six inches, cutting up in part of the field every other row, and in part cutting away two rows and leaving one: part also broad-cast, for compaiison ; done with Cook's ma- chine, and part horse-hocd with his tools ; part with Mr.- MuNNiNGs' expanding hoe-plough. Last year he drilled all his barley, and it answered better than the broad-cast ; and this year all his corn is drilled, except the ollonds ; these drill rolled, a pradlice pretty general here : but the small farmers dibble. It is gradually coming in around Dereham, md dibbling rather going out, for want of dependence on the droppers. I viewed Mr. Collison's farm at East Bilney, and found several crops drilled, -which made a very fine appear- ance : one field oi wheot by the barn promises to produce ten coombs an acre ; some barley also very fine, and the crops in general clean : all at nine inches, and the wheat horse-hoed thrice; barley twice if no seeds, but with them not at all, as the i^eeds are covered by the harrow which follows the drill: Mr. Collison, however, has horse- hocd in some seeds, and did not fail. He drills seven to ten pecks of seed-barley. Mr. Collison prefers the drill very much : he forms his lands to be worked at a bout of the drill, the horse walking only in the furrows, and the same in horse-hoeing; a point he justly esteems essential for all heavy or ticklish land. I put the ques- tion home to an intelligent labourer who has worked 40 years on the farm, and he assured me that if he had a farm of his own, he would drill all the wheat, and horse-hoe it likewise, for when land is bound in the spring, to break the surface makes the plants grow well ; but DRILL HUSBANDRY. ^$1 but as to drilling barley he spoke very doubtfully, but said it was less liable to be /aid: and in a dry time it comes best drilled. Drilling on light lands which are laid flat, is no difficult operaclon, but on strong, tenacious, clung soils, it is no such very easy matter, without much attention. The Rev. Dixon Hoste, however, at Goodwick, has efFe6led it with a commendable regularity : one method he practises, is that of drilling athwart the ridges j to prepare which he sometimes trench-ploughs. Drilling is very little praflised in the neighbourhood of Norwich. Mr. Crowe had a machine of Mr. Cook's, which he gave to Mr. Sillis, of Hertford Bridges, but he never used it. Mr. Crowe is so satisfied of the use of dibbling, that he desires nothing better. Many drills in the vicinity of Thelton, a heavy land distri<5l, and much used of late. Mr. Kerrich, of Harleston, drills or sets all his corn. Many drills in Earsham hundred ; and several farmers drill for their neighbours at 2s. 6d. an acre. There is, how- ever, as much dibbling as ever ; the drilling having chiefly been substituted for broad- cast sowing. Mr. Burton, of Lnngley, approves much of drilling, and has seen Cook's machine beat dibbling : he, however, does not drill himself, observing that he is absent too often. Air. Drake, of Billingforci, near Scole, drills both wheat and barley, he has three fields of drilled barley this year, with part broad-case ; and the latter beats in all ifhree: his drilled wheat good, and he prefers the drill for that crop much more than for barley. Mr. Thurtell, near Yarmouth, has for two years drilled almost all his barley, by that incans saving one ploughing. A a 3 No 35$ DRILL HUSBANDRY. No drilling in Fleg that I could hear of. Very little in BlovvfielJ and South Walsham, but it is coming in, and Mr. Syble is clear that it will spread. It cannot be said that drilling is quite unknown in tiic hundred of Happing, but I heard of very lit;le, and saw none: a man last year travelled with a drill, for drilling at 28. 6d. an acre, and some farmers employed him. Some farmers use the drill roller. Very little pra£lised about North Walsham. Mr. Mar- GATESON approves much of Cook's diill. Mr. Lub- bock, of Lammas, and Mr Repton, of Oxnead, arc the only drillers ; they pradlice it much. Mr. Palgrave, of Coltishal, has drilled wheat, bar- ley, and oats, for 1 7 years ; has tried four and a half and six inch rows, but finds nine the best for all. The merit of the husbandry he thinks consists in the equal depth at "which the seed is deposited, and were this equally efFe6led, does not conceive there would be any difference in the crops, whether put in by dibbling, drilling or broad- cast. Mr. Reeves, of Hcveringland, has drilled most of Iiis corn for three years, and is clearly convinced of the merits of the pratSlice, and determined to continue it. Mr. England, of Binham, has drilled all sorts of grain for five years past, and is perfe6lly satisfied with the pra6tice; nor has he the lea^t doubt of the superiority of it to the broad-cast method ; there is little dibbling in his neighbourhood, drilling having superseded it. Mr. Reeve, of Wighion, has been a driller four years, and for all sorts of corn : he has no doubt, and makes not the least question of its superiority to the broad- cast husbandry. I viewed his stubbles with singular plea- surcj and a more beautiful spedlacle of cleanness I never beheld DRILL HUSBANDRY. 359 beheld — absolutely and positively clean : not a weed to be seen in there of wheat, commonly so foul. Mr. M. Hill began drilling about five years since, and ever since praftised it as his general system ; and is clear in its superiority, for every thing except barley, at six inches ; in that he has some doubts. He has tried it for turnips, but none at present. Mr. Hknry Blythe, of Burnham Westgate, has drilled every sort of corn for twelve years, beginning in 1790 with wheat, and has continued it ever since. He is well convinced of the superiority of this husbandry. Mr. DuRSGATE, of Summerfield, who, if not the greatest farmer in Norfolk, is nearly so, drills every crop except turnips, and of course has no doubt of the su- periority of the method to the broad-cast husbandry. On his strong land farm at Palgrave, however, the drill is not so universally used as at Summerfield, Sedgford, and Docking. Mr. RisHTON, at Thornham, drilled all sorts of corn, and has no doubt of the method much exceeding the broad- cast husbandry. Mr. Style MAN, of Sneltisham, was one of the first drillers in Norfolk : he began the use of Cook's machine sixteen or seventeen years ago, and has continued it regu- larly to the present time, keeping three machines in use. He is perfedlly convinced of the superiority of drilling to the broad-cast husbandry. Many farmers around Houghton drill much corn, and approve of it exceedingly. Captain Beacher, at Hlllingdon, drills all : the prac- tice increases much, and promises to be imiversal. Mr. Beck, of Castle Riseing, drills largely, and has done so for seven years: the husbandry meets with his cn- A a 4 tire S60 DRILL HUSBANDRY. tire approbation. I viewed some of his stubbles, and found them very clean : on his sandiest soils, he, however, docs not drill, because he cannot so put the seed in deep enough. Drilling is a little pradlised about Downham, and is preferred by several farmers. Mr. Porter, of Watlington, drills both barley and ■wheat, and this year all, except on strong land, and finds the crops a great deal better than broad-cast. He hoes all; thus covering the seeds amongst his barley ; but they do not take quite so well as in the common way. He hoes, at the expense of 2s. 6d. to 4s. an acre, once, and is clear that the benefit to the crop is very great : has had 13 to 14 coombs an acre, of barley. Mr. Martin, of Tettenhall, this year drilled 190 acres of barley and 20 of wheat ; is convinced of the su- periority to the broad-cast* Mr. RoGERsoN, of Narborough, was a very gteat driller, but not at present. About Wymondham, drilling coming in, and has been so more or less for several years. Mr. Wells, of He- thel, letts his drill by the acre. Mr. Church, of Flaw- don Hall, drills all. Mr. Priest, of Besthorpe, drilled largely for eight or nine years, at Shropham, on sand, . nd continues the prac- tice on strong land : he is much inclined to think that it 3S a superior method to the best broad-cast. He has drilled all sorts of grain. Mr. Twist, of Bretenham, drills all the corn he can, except rye ; and has no doubt of its answering. Observations. — From these notes it appears, that, not- withstanding some failures, and probably many prejudices, the drill culture has very completely established itself in DIBBLING. 361 i-n West Norfolk, and is spreading into the other distridls of that extensive county. The success appears, on the whole, to be very flattering. Bui there is one singular circumstance which should, so far as Norfolk only is concerned, check the unlimited panegyrics sometimes too generally heard in conversation, and that is, there being, at least to my knowledge, but one farm (Mr. Hoste's) on strong or clay land, where this pradtice is thoroughly introduced. SufFolk affords multitudes; but Norfolk is at present our business; and here the farmers on strong land, have hitherto rejedled ir. This is remarkable, as I have heard some very able dril- lers give It as their opinion, that this husbandry lias greater merit on strong than on light land. DIBBLING. Mr. Burton, of Langley, remarked, that good as this pradtice was in some respe6ts for the poor, there are in- conveniences flowing fiom it. Girls, old enough for ser- vice, are kept at home by it. Gleaning is their employ- ment in harvest, which gives them idle habits in the fields, then dibbling follows; and the girls lying about under hedges with the men, produces the natural consequences on their manners; bastardy flourishes, and maid-servants are uncommonly scarce. Dibbling flourishes very greatly in Fleg, both wheat and pease, and oats. Mr. HoRNARD dibbles part of his crops, and sows part, and he is not yet convinced that the dibbled exceeds the sown. About Ludham, and through a great part of Happing, it is not so general as in Fleg. About North Walshani it is by no means general, except for pease. Mr. 362- ARABLE SYSTEM. Mr. Petre, of Westwick, puts in about 100 acres of wheat, of which he sows and drills 80, and dibbles 20. Mr. Johnson, of Tliurning, makes tiie same obser- vation on the ill effe*5ls of dibbling as Mr. Burton. The great girls do not drop so well as children, nor is the work so well done as formerly : they now drop between the fore-finger and thumb, which is much inferior to doing it between the tore and middle finger. Dibbling is common around Wighton, for wheat and pease; and Mr. Reeve thinks it a great improvement upon the broad-cast husbandry, but that drilling is a step further. There is at Snettisham mucli dibbling, pease and wheat on flag; and Mr. Styleman thinks it never will be abandoned, as there arc seasons that do not suit drilling. In Marshland, the pradlice obtains every where for wheat on clover, and some on clean stubbles ; lOs. 6d. an acre. It increases. Pra£lised about Downham, and with good success. — Mr. Saffory dibbles all he can, and thinks it a grea^ improvement. SECT. XXII. ON THE NORFOLK ARABLE SYS- TEM. For the last four or five and thirty years that I have examined We§t Norfolk with the eye of a farmer, the change in the tillage system has not been great. At that period the course was, i. Turnips; 2. Barley; 3. Grasses for two, or, in a few cases, three years ; 4. White-corn ; on the better soils wheat ; on others, rye, &c. The only- change that has occurred has been in the grasses : the va- riation. ARABLE SYSTEM. 363 riation, which I believe first took place from forty to fiftr years ago, was shortening the duration, from three years to two: in both cases giving what may l^e called a bastard fallow the last year, by a half-ploughing, soon after Mid- summer. Above thirty years ago, 1 contended, both ia print and in conversation, against it, but was held cheap for entertaining any doubts of the propriety of the prac- tice. I have lived, however, to see this change also in a great measure take place amongit the best farmers, who now give only one ploughing for the winter corn, wlie-^ ther wheat or tares ; or in the spring for pease. That it is an improvement, cannot be questioned. The argu-» ment for it, founded on the invention of the drill-roller, and on the introduction of tiie drill-plougli, is good, but not singular, as the practice of dibbling is likewise far more adapted to a J^'ho1e than to a broken furrow : and for broad-cast common sowing, if we are able to cover the seed by harrowing on stitF soils, once ploughed, assuredly the same practice might be better followed on sand. Tiie other reason for the former system, spear-grass getting a-hcad in a.layer, is quite inadmissible: for 1 must agree entirely with Mr. Overman, that no weeds, the seeds of which are not carried by the \%ind, will h^ found in a layer, if they were not left there. The variations which have taken place in the crop put in upon layers, are neither great, nor are ihey peculiar ta Norfolk; the principal one is taking pease on the flag, and then the wheat, &c. an admirable system, which has long been pradlised by good iarmers in Suffolk, and I believe, earlier still in Kent. Mr. Purdis's substitution of tares, holds on the same principle. Considering the very great value of white-pea straw, well got as sheep food (no where better understood than in Kent) there is nu 364. ARABLE SYSTEM. 110 husbandry better adapted to a sheep-farm, than this of pease or tares preceding the wheat crop. A great and a very important change has, however, taken place in the application of crops to sheep instead of bullocks and cows. Formerly the farmers consumed much of their straw by cattle : now the best tread it all into (lung. Sheep are the main grazing stock, and no more cattle kept than for treading, not eating straw, while feeding on oil-cake, &c. This is an important change, which has had considerable efFe6l, and has depended not a little on the introdu6tion of South Down sheep. The grand objedl in the whole system, is the singular steadiness with which the farmers of West Norfolk have adhered to the well-grounded antipathy to taking two crops of white corn in succession: this is talked of elsewhere, but no where so steadily adhered to as in this distridi. It is this maxim which has preserved the efFedl of their marie, on thin-skinned wheat lands, in such a manner that the distridl continues highly produ6tive, under an almost re- gularly increasing rent, for more than 60 years, or three leases, each of 21 ; and by means of which great tradls have been marled a second, and even a third time, with much advantage. This system has been that to which the title of Norfolk husbandry has been long, and is now peculiarly appro- priated ; and by no means the management of the very lich distridl of East Norfolk, where the soil is naturally among the finest in the kingdom, and consequently where the merit of the farmer must be of an inferior stamp : barley there very generally follows wheat ; an incorrcdt husbandry, deserving no praise. The celebrity of the county in general was not heard of, till the vast improve- ments of heaths, wastes, sheep-walks, aud warrens, by enclosure^ ARABLE SYSTEM. 365 enclosure, and marling took place from the exertions of Mr. Allen, of Lyng House, Lord Townshend, and Mr. MoRLEY, which were in the first thirty years of the preceding century. They were happily imitated by many others ; an excellent system of management introduced, and such improvements wrought, that estates which were here- tofore too insignificant to be known,becameobje6ts of pub- lic attention in the capital. The fame of Norfolk gradually expanded, and the husbandry of the county celebrated, before East Norfolk was heard of beyond the conversation of Norwich and Yarmouth. Without a continuance of cautious management and persevering exertions. West Norfolk would again become the residence of poverty and labbits. Let the meadows be improved ; irrigation pra61ised wherever it is applicable ; the remaining wastes cultivated, and this distridl will be- come a garden. Mr. Marshall, who considers the prafllce of East Norfolk as alone deserving the title of Norfolk husbandry, mentions 40 or 50 bullocks, on turnips, as a matter of exultation. In 1768, I registered the fa6l, that Mr. Mallet, of Dunton, had 280 bullocks fatting on tur- nips, on a farm almost wholly arable. This ingenious writer appears, in various passages of his work, to consider East Norfolk as deserving the most attention. In this, I am sorry that I must differ from him greatly ; and I think, that had he resided on the other side of the county, he would have adopted a different opinion himself. ** In West Norfolk, no general plan of management has yet (1780) taken place." " Viewing the state of husbandry ia West Norfolk colle61ivcly, it is much be- neath that of East Norfolk." In West Norfolk, the most steady and regular plan of management had then, and for many /* 365 ARABLE SYSTEM-. many years taken place, that was to be found in the kingdom ; and at tlint time, probably, for the soil, the best. It is to be regretted, that so very able a writer did not examine it with more attention. There are some circumstances in the husbandry of Fleg, &:c. which deserve attention, before the merit of it can be duly appreciated, isr, The soil is certainly amongst the finest in the kingdom, 2d, They are within reach of marie, by water carriage, to every pait of the distri6l, comprehending, besides the Flegs, the hundreds of Happing, Tunsted, Blowiield, and South Walsliam : and they have, in addi- tion, great plenty of a fine clay marie for variation, under many pans of the whole. 3d, They have an enormous quantity of marsh and fen, and low rough waste, and rushy grounds, which yields a very considerable bulk of coarse hay and rushes, with which to make yard-dung, as well as to support great herds of cattle. Examine ihe map, and it will appear that near half the district is marsh, fen, and water. Ihese are circumstances so favoura!)le to the arable part of the country, that I am more surprized their produdls are so small, than that they are so great. In discourse with Mr. HoRNARD,of Ludham, on two years layers, he said, that he was forced to have recourse to them, for since the sea, eight or ten years ago, broke through the Marram banks, and flowed over the top of the marsh banks, destroying the rushes and coarse fodder, it has made a difference to him of 60 to 70 loads per annum of rushes, that were four feet high: now he has none, and therefore must leave hislayers tv cultivation, and a greater expense in manuring, and every other article bestowed. Mr. Stylem an has improved his Ringstead farm from es. to 15s. an acre. A farm in Snettisham, which he has let, from lis. in 1783, to 17s. in 1798 ; and has laid out, improved, built, and let seven farms, at a very con- siderable improvement; and this he considers as the most profitable objedl of a gentleman's husbandry. 1 viewed several of his new farms, and found the buildings on a ra- tional scale ; so small, yet convenient, that the expense was no formidable objeftion, even for small farms. He has also accommodated several tradesmen in tlie village, with closes of land for their horse or cow, for which they are glad to give a very high rent, even to 3I. an acre : this should universally be done ; and to the poor also, though at a lower rent. This gentleman has no doubt of the husbandry of the vicinitv being much improved in 20 years, exclusive of new inclosures: the crops were then disfigured by weeds, hut now, every man is ashamed to have such seen on his farm: drilling and dibbling have done much. Mr. Saffory, of Downham, has no doubt of hus- bandrv being much improved in 20 years ; they plough better. Arable system. 369 better, manure more, and have carried all rough banks and hills on to their fields. Upon the heavy lands of Goodwick and the vicinity, husbandry is very little improved in the last fifteen years. Mr. Hill thinks that the husbandry around Waterden has wonderfully improved in the last fifteen vears. He attri- butes it chiefly to drilling, and the various conversations which have taken place upon that topic. Another essen- tial point, is the increase of sheep ; cows much lessened, and consequently fewer turnips being drawn for them : if the two greatest blood-suckers of an arable farm are to be named (I use Mr. Hill's terms), they are a dairy cf cows, and the sale of lambs from a merely breeding flock. Mr. FowELL, of Snetterton, a very intelligent and ob- serving cultivator, is clear that the husbandry of all that vicinity is much improved in the last twenty years ; for besides the introdudlion of drilling, the rotation is im- proved. At that time, if their seeds laid two years, they took two crops after them ; a pradlice of some few now; but the better farmers, never more than one. Less tillage is now given, yet the crops greater ; and they are much improved in better exertions ; in hand- weeding, &c. Mr. Robinson, of Watton, has no doubt of husban- dry, in general, being very much improved in 20 years ; in almost every circumstance, NORFOLK.] 3 l> CHAP. ( 370 ) CHAP. VIII. GRASS. NO person can have been in Norfolk without quickly perceiving, that in this branch of rural economy the county has very little to boast. No where are meadows and pastures worse managed : in all parts of the county wc see them over-run with all sorts of spontaneous rubbish, bushes, briars, rushes: the water stagnant: aat-hills nu- merous: in a word, left in a state of nature, by men who willingly make all sorts of exertions to render tlieir arable land clean, rich and produftive. To make many notes would be useless, for through nine-tenths of the county, they would consist of disgusting repetitions — the same objeds continually recurring, to be condemned in the same terms. Improvement. — It is, however, witli great pleasure that I have It in mv power to mention under this head, one of the roost original discoveries (for such I esteem it, in common with many excellent cultivators) that 1 have any where met with in the improvement of grass-land. Mr. Salter, of Winborough, near Dereham, upon his large farm o above 800 acres, found 3 or 400 acres of old meadows en» tirely poisoned by springs, which, from every sort of im- pediment that negle6l could cause, had formed bogs and raoory bottoms, famous for rotting sheep and miring cows; with blackthorns and other rubbish spread over large tradls. His first operations were, to grub and clear the land, and open all ditches to the depth of four or five feet, and to cut open drains in almost every diredtion for laying them dry ; burning the earth, and spreading the ashes on GRASS, 27t on the ground : so far, all was no more than common good husbandry ; but he applied a thought entirely his own : as he found that the flinty gravel, marie, and other earths, but especially the gravel, was very beneficial to the her- bage, he thought of sowing v.'inter tares and white clover upon the places wherever any earth was spread, or any other operation had laid bare the surface, harrowing in those seeds. 1 had the pleasure of seeing several of these crops growing : the success has been uncommonly great ; for the land thus sown not only has given large and very profitable crops of hay, but has also received a rapid im- provement in the herbage; the cover and shade of the tares, so beneficial to all land, mellowed the surface, and seemed to draw up as well as prote£l such of the old plants as received improvement from the manure, and exhibited a much superior fleece of grass to any spots where this singular management had not taken place. So that nothing can be clearer, on viewing this large trail of meadow, than the superiority of the improvement resulting from the growth of the tares : the effefl of the manure is much ac- celerated and rendered greater. The idea is certainly ap- plicable to many of the grass-lands of the kingdom, espe- cially such as are improving by the addition of chalk, marie, clay, loam, sand or gravel : 40 loads an acre of any of these bodies will much improve coarse or wet, or moory grass-lands ; and then to add tares secures an im- mediate profit, and makes the manure work much sooner and more powerfully. He sows some so late as the mid- dle of May. An idea here strikes me, which I shall ven- ture to add ; that if I was to scarify any mossy, hide- bound or poor pastures, &c. it should be with a drill sca- rifier, drilling in winter tares by every tooth of the scari- fier, and I have no doubt but the tares would take well, and cfFcdl a considerable improvement, even without ma- B b 2 nuring. 37* GRASS. nuring. Mr. Salter has pradllsed the tare husbandry on meadows for lO years, but his first beginning was 17 years ago, at Elhngham : the cockchafer-grubs had de- stroyed a part of a meadow; he harrowed in tares and seeds, and the success was great. Tare-seed running short, he this year sowed pease and oats mixed on some spots, and they do well ; and this hus- bandry he pursues, whether he intends mowing or pastur- ing. I will venture to add, that if making known this single discovery had been the whole result of examining the county, the Board would not have failed in the obje(5l of ordering the distridl to be reported. Mr. Be van's arable sand, at Riddles worth, joining to his low boggy meadows, gave him the power of earring sand down hill at an easy expense ; and thus he improved some parts of those meadows to great efFeft : from 100 to 150 loads an acre were spread at the expense of 4I. or 5I. A team of five horses, 30 loads a day, and wear and tear _ . _ Driver > _ _ - Filling, at 2d. - - - 1802. It has answered very greatly : these meads were then not capable of irrigation, but one meadow has since been watered, and the water has taken much greater efFedt on account of the sanding, than if that operation had not been performed. The sand has all been laid ou the most boggy meadows. There is a great range of meadow and marsh all the way from Norwich to Yarmouth. Those at Thorpe are very good, and let at 50s. an acre ; but at Whitlingham they £• s. d. 0 12 6 0 I 6 0 5 0 0 19 0 GRASS. 373 they are negleiSled, and tlierefore only 20s. At Surling- ham are boggy marshes, and to Buckcnham ferry, Rock- land and Caucley, they are in a bad state, wanting much improvement, by draining and embanking, and clearing from rubbish ; these are not more that 8s. an acre. To Reedham better, and let at 20s. At Langley there are 600 acres newly enclosed, let at 12s. but will soon, from the improvements introducing by Mr. Eurton, steward to Sir Thomas Beauchamp Proctor, be much ad- vanced. A circumstaiicc not uncommon was found here : a great range of marsh, but with no safe means of com- munication with it. Mr. Burton made a solid road banked and gravelled, above half a mile long, so traced as to communicate with all Sir Thomas Beauchamf's allotment : a great and most useful work, equally well imagined and executed. Five miles of banking against the river, 6cc. are also made ; part drained by mills, and part by sluices. From Langley to Yarmouth the marshes are good ; all 20s. and upwards, and some to 30s. At Davvling and Gestwick Colonel Buller has from 7 to 800 acres of pasture, which he esteems worth 30s. an acre, but let at about 20s. Some is let by Mr. Couss- maker, a relation of the writer,'at 30s. to 36s. At Tasbo rough, between Wymondham and Stralton, some very fine well-drained meadows, with a fertile as- pe61. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, classes with the very few in Norfolk, that have made any considembje exertions in the improvement of permanent grass ; he has converted 200 acres, which were rough, moory, and of small value, into a tra£l which does credit to his husbandry. ' He cut off the springs which poisoned them from the adjoining hills, by outside fences, aiSling as drains, which worked avast improvement: moved great quantities of eaith in B b 3 kvcHing 374 GRASS. levelling Inequalities, to the depth of five feet, to free the land from water. Under-drained to a very great amount. The soil moory, and under it a gravel ; part of it bog. Some parts were so bad, iliat no stoek ever went upon it j his predecessor let 15 acres for 5I. a year, clear of all town charges, and at that rent they were flung up, and let to another person at the same rent. At present tliese worst parts graze bullocks well, and are very valuable lands. These works, which were only preparatory to va- rious other articles of good management, cost him, over a large part of the tra6t, lol. an acre. It is no easy matter to dwell sufficiently on exertions of this sort, in a county "where they are so rare : the cfTorts of years, and the ex- pense of tliousands to the improver, are dispatched in a few lines — but lee those who best know the deficiency of the county, estimate such works as they deserve, and hold in due honour and veneration the men who have thus laudably stepped beyond tlie common pra6tice. In these most meritoi ious works of this a6^ive farmer he has but one defe6l ; a perennial brook runs through his meadows, which he thinks erroneously would not be beneficial in irrigation : this will be his next undertaking : he will not continue to let it run waste. Mr. Palgrave, at Coltishai, improved some meadows very capitally, by spreading sea-sand from Yarmouth, which killed ail sedge and 1 ushcs, and brought up a fine sheet of white clover. The soil boggy. In 1780 they were valued at 7s. 6d. an acre, and lately by the same per- son at 3I. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, drained a large traft of meadows, and did all they w-ould admit in good grass hus- bandry, but a water-mill belonging to his landlord is a nuisance to all such endeavours, and keeps the water so high that all exertions arc vain : when will landlords have just GRASS. 3y^ just ideas on this subje6l of mills ? There is scarcely one to be found, but does mischief to an estate to ten times the value of the rent these wretched eredlions let at. Mr. Repton's father, on the same farm, improved a bog 25 years ago, as well as the mill would permit, laying a great dressing of gravel on a boggy part ; but from being kept bv the mill a saturated spunge, the gravel is now got down two feet deep, and overgrown with the spontaneous rubbish of the bog. If you will have mills, you must give up all ideas of true meadow improvement. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, may perhaps be considered as the prince of grass-land improvers in Norfolk : he has very few rivals that have come to my knowledge: one great improvement -consists of 45 acres, effe6led without irrigation ; the other of 50 acres, by means of many exer- tions, finishing in-irrigation ; the latter will be mentioned under another head. The former tra6l is situated between a line of chalk hill, on one side full of springs, and a mill river pent up on the other, so as to poison and turn to bog all the land below it : the springs from the hills thus meet- ing the soakage of the river, it may easily be supposed what the efFefl must be : the land was a quaking danger- ous bog. His cure was efFedlive, and such as could not fail ; he turned an arch, traced by a level, 160 yards long, for catching the soakage of the mill-pond, and continued it an open drain to the length of three quarters of a mile parallel, and near the river, gaining such a fall as now to keep the water in the drain four feet below the surface of the land, in places where before it was never more than six inches. To cut off the springs from the chalk-hill he run a deep ditch at the foot of the hill, varying in depth according to the level of the line, but efFedlive in cutting off the springs. In the parts where it must be of the greatest depth, as B b 4 that 376 ROUEN. that of eight feet, he turns an arch of brick-work, as thn expense of sloping down the sides would exceed it ; and that the bricks of the wall against the hill may not impede •tlie entry ot the water, he has made thqm each with two open grooves for admitting it. He has yet mugh to do to finish the improvement, as he intends carrying great quantities of earth from the drains to spread on the boggy parts, to finish the consolidation, and improve the soil. From the harvest of 1801 to that of 1802, he has had constantly at work from 20 to 30 men, on this tract and that irrigated. One of the richest tradts of grass in Norfolk, is the dis- tridl of marsh lying to the south of Lynn and east of the Ouzc. Sir Martin Folkes has there 700 acres, which let at 42s. an acre short measure, besides 2s. tithe, llie tenants are restritSlcd from mowing two years together; a bad covenant ; for mowing and feeding should be on dis- tindl lands ; and for every load of hay they sell, must bring three loads of muck. Some tra£ts in tiie hands of butchers are never mown, wliicli has made them very superior to the rest. In general these marshes, like all others in the county, are hired by the upland sand farmers, and not stocked re- gularly, but merely as convenience occasions, to case their farms. They will carry, when so fed, a large beast to two acres, and a few sheep besides. They never have too much water, and can let in fresh water at pleasure. ROUEN. In 1792, I found that Mr. Bevan had not read the y^rmals of y'lgriculture in vain ; he had a fine field of 28 acres of excellent ronen saved for the ewes and lambs in the spring. 1802. His present system of allotting ewes to different tups, in separate fields, prevents his being able to avail himself ROUEN. oyy himself of this article of food, as every enclosed pasture is, from the 15th of September to the 15th of November, forced to be fed each with a lot for this purpose. But his opinion of the great value and useof rouen, is as complete as ever: the object of improving his flock, alone occasions the change. Mr. Mason, of Necfhon, near Swafham, keeps grass from the end of July, and does not turn into it at all, till early in the spring of the following year, when he puts in his fatting bullocks and sheep, which have had hay in the winter. The old grass nurses up a great bite of young growth, and both togetiier carry on the bullocks well: and it is excellent for sheep; nothing at that season equals it. Mr. Overman, of Burnham, in 1799, kept 13 acres of grass, from Midsummer, an exposed piece, open to the sea and N. E. wind: turned into it 10 score and 16 ewes and their lambs the sytli of March, and it kept ihem well a month. They would have been half starved without it ; but were well supported, to the surprize of many who saw them feeding. The piece was equally tathed in every part. Laying down. — Mr. Coke, at Holkham, has laid down various pieces with good success, and he is decidedly of opinion, that the best method is that ot a fallow, till about the middle of August, and tlien sowing the seeds alone; keeping off all stock in the autumn, and sheep feeding for two or three years. Mr. Dennis, of Wigenhall, Si. IMarv, in Marshland, lays down with barley, or oats after fallowed wheat, sow- ing lolb. of white clover, loib. of trefoil, and a sack of hay-seeds. Manures the stubble ot the corn amongst which they were sown, in autumn. Sheep feeds the new lay tiie first year; and much better to observe the same for two 3)8 ROUEN. or three years ; by whicli means it comes to a good pas- ture soon ; but if mown, it is a long time before it gets a good covering. Break up. — Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, broke up an old pasture m 1800, for oats, which he dibbled in on the flag ; he then scaled the oat slubble, ?ind on a second earth, drilled in another crop of oats : the wyer worm did some mischief to both. He then laid on 60 loads an acre of made, and 10 of muck, and sowed turnips, which zxc now one of the finest crops I have ever seen. At Sneitisham, 600 acres of common being enclosed by adl of parliament, much of it was broken up, in 1801, for oats, by mere ploughing : they did not succeed at all. In 1802, they ploughed and took oats again, and the crop still vvoriC. Mr. Crisp broke up a four-acred field of old grass behind his house at Dereham ; the four last crops in which, paid him lool. a year ; one of which was cole- seed ; one wheat ; another year hemp, and after it turnip seed; the former producing 149I. 12s.; and the turnip seed, 18 coombs, at 36s. a bushel, 129I. 12s. It is now (1802) in wheat, and the crop very fine : he has railed off a walk around this field, and has laid it down to grass: such a piece of land affords entertainment, and might yield in- struction in experiments ; — but who has not a grass field to walk into, which alfords nothing of the sort? Mr. Salter, of Winborough, upon his finely culti- vated farm of about 800 acres, of which he had permis- sion to break up a large portion of old and miserably bad grass, poisoned with springs, and over-run with bushes, and all sorts of aquatic rubbish, first surrounded every field with ditches five feet broad and foui deep ; then hollow- drained every acre completely ; and broke up for a crop of dibbled oats ; took a second crop of oats, and on the stubble spread ROUEN. '.hi 0/ spread lOO loads of marie (called here, as every where in Norfolk, clay, and in much of it there is a large portion of clay), and then took turnips. His success was various; many oats he lost by the wyer worm ; and his first crop of turnips was, in some fields, very indifferent. In one large field the two crops of oats failed entirely, and the turnips the same. He has been there seven years: this year (1802) his turnips were the finest 1 had seen ; seven- teen hoers in one field ; and all his corn an uncommou spe6lacle of greatly luxuriant crops. He is of opinion that all the pastures and meajdows of the farm ought to be broken up. I think he will make them excellent Mr. Heath, of Hingham, in 1796, broke up seven acres of old pasture ; the soil, a turnip loam on a marie bottom, sowing oats, the crop 21 coombs per acre. 1797 Wheat, much damaged by the wyer worm. 1798 Oats, 23 coombs. 1799 Oats, 21 coombs. i8co Barley, 16 coombs. 1801 Clayed near 1 00 loads an acre for turnips. 1802 Barley, and the crop very great indeed. Mr. Robinson, at Carbrook, in 1795, broke up an old pasture, dibbling in oats, and got 17 coombs an acre. 1796 Oats again, 16 coombs. 1797 Clayed for turnips. 1798 Oats, 15 coombs. 1799 Clover. 1800 Wheat, six coombs. 1 80 1 Oats, 16 coombs. ' 1802. Turnips. Sir Thomas Beevor broke up an ordinary pasture, and dibbled in pease ; the crop five quarters an acre. — Then he sowed buck-wheat; followed by wheat, wliith produced' 380 ROUEN. produced six quarters an acre ; succeeded by turnips, nnd bailey, with grasses. The instances of the great profit of breaking up old grass, on whatever soil, and under whatever circum- stances (but on dry land being every where superior to Avet), should be combined with the arrangement of a farm in the course of shifts. Upon the poor sands of the southern half of West Norfolk, ray-grass and trefoil are their only dependence : their grand-modicrs trusted to these plants, and the farmers of the present day do the same ; after a year and a half they produce little ; after two years, scarcely any tiling. Thus the land does not get rest enough : when broken up, it has not been sufficiently im- pregnated with the dung and urine of sheep, and the crops consequently are poor.; but if the farmers were persuaded that their future crops would be exadlly proportioned to the stock kept, from the case of a layer of five years to one of 50, they would set themselves to find more durable plants, and bring their waste arable under shifts that should secure very different products. The failures in this husbandry of breaking up, have all been for want of paring and burning. CHAP. ( 38r ) CHAP. IX. WOODS AND PLANTATIONS. THE modern spirit of planting took place as early in Norfolk as in any other county of the kingtlom ; and in some cases, upon a very considerable scale. The exer- tions of Sir Robert Walpole, at Houi^hton, and of Lord TowNSHEND, atRainham, were foilovved by many other persons spread over the whole county. I have, on various occasions, noted several cases in planting in this county ; but rather than transcribe here, I wish to refer the reader to Mr. Kent's Report of Norfolk, who has treated this subjefl in a satisfactory manner. There are some large woods at Biilingford and Thorp Abbots, where hurdles and hoops are the principal objecV. Hurdles, 12s. the dozen. Admiral Wilson has 60 acres at the former place, let at 10s. an acre ; and Marquis CoRNWALLis 144 acres at the latter, at a higher renr. The Biilingford wood abounds much with hornbeam, which is made into hurdles, but is inferior in working to hazel. At Catfield, in Happing, there was a wood of 150 acres, belonging to the Earl of Abergavenny, that was grubbed ten years ago, and it has produced very fine crops ever since; it was not, while a wood, let at above 501. a a year; the produce faggots. Mr. ALLEN,atStanhow, took potatoes for the first crop, 150 bushels an acre. Then carrots very fine; then Poland oats, a last (84 bushels) an acre. Fourth, winter tares. Fifth, turnips. The success on the whole very great. A List 382 WOODS AND PLANTATIONS. A List of Trees planted at Holkham, from the year 1781/1? i8oi. Acres planted — 7 1 8 acres, 2 roods, 1 1 perches. Oak - 336,700 Ash - 420,200 Sycamore - 179,600 Beech - 166,280 English Elm . 178,260 Cherry - 92,800 Spanish Chesnut - 45'430 Horse ditto ■K 16,360 Birch - 49,490 Lombardy Poplar - 5i'72o Canada ditto - 34»950 Abelfr - 20,150 Aspin - 2000 Acacia - 6600 Hornbeam - 4700 Plane - 4110 Witch Elm - 3700 Lime - 900 Larch - 23,820 Scotch Fir - 172,850 Spruce ditto - S7>85o Silver ditto - 4950 Weymouth Pine - 950 Pineaster - 900 Evergreen Oak - 17,900 Holly - 10,950 Mountain Ash - i860 Maple - 2100 Crab - 600 Service Woods and plaktations. 383 Service 260 Alder 2900 Willows - 27,300 Weeping ditto - 12,500 Sweet ditto 2990 White Thorn 65,600 Haze! 68,280 Portugal Laurel 1250 Laurel 300 Juniper 1900 Laurustinus 300 Privet 15,300 Laburnum 700 Elder 6300 Golden Osier 1300 Sea Buckthorn 2700 Virginia Dogwood 2700 Guelder Rose 300 Sweet Brier 1200 Spindle Tree 320 2,123,090 Mr. Bevan, at Riddlesworth, has planted 966,000 which have, at present, a very flourishing appearance. Marquis Townshend has been long in the pradllcc of feeding cattle, sheep and deer, with the trimmings and thinnings of plantations: half an acre thickly planted thus fed 35 bullocks, 20 cows, 7 young cattle, 200 sheep, 300 decv two weeks, with the assistance of three tons of hay, at 4I. The browse saved seven tons, or 28I. Sheep arc fond of the bark of Scotch dr and ash, as well as the trim- mings of those trees, and it is a cure for tlic scour. The stock prefer ash, Scotch fir, and oak ; but seem to dislfkc beech, birch, spruce, fir, and larch. Mr. 3^4 WOODS AND PLANTATIONS. Mr. Crowe, of Lakenham, is a great advocate for trees in grass-land ; he has a pasture with many large oak, ash, and other trees, with spreading tops, and he is fully persuaded that he has to the full as much, and as sweet grass under them, without waste, as if no trees were in the field. This is novel, and an idea I have not met with before ; it deserves much observation : Mr. Crowe's rule is to admit air and liglit, for if the trees are close, or the branches hanging to the ground, in such case the grass becomes coarse and sour, and is refused by the sheep ; but all is fairly and closely eaten under Mr. Crowe's trees. LARCH. Colonel BuLLER shewed me a circumstance relative to this tree, which merits noting: old sows, if allowed to get at thenm, will bark them for the sake of rubbing them- selves in the turpentine : he had some killed, in this manner, before he knew by what cause ; when informed, he ordered the sows to be watched, and had it confirmed by his own view. OSIERS, Planted in small spots, and along some of his hedges, supplied Mr. FoRBY with hurdle-stuff enough to make many dozens every year, as well as a profusion of baskets. The common osier cut at three years j the yellow bark at four. CHAP. (385) CHAP. X. WASTES. NOTHINCt can cause more surprize In the minds of many strangers on their first visiting Norfolk, tlian to find, on entering the county by Brandon or Thetford, a long stage of 18 miles to Swafham, through a trait which deserves to be called a desert: a region of warren or sheep- walk, scattered with a scanty cultivation, yet highly im- proveable. This is a capital disgrace to tlie county, and has been the result of an absurd prejudice in favour of these old heaths for siieep. They have been let for is. is. 6d. and 2s. an acre for many years; have been valued at 2S. 6d. of late ye^rs, tlie best at 3s. and 3s. 6d. and while left at such rents they are not likely to be improved. Something, liowever, lias been done ; better ideas are slowly creeping in, and some men have begun, though good clay be not found on their farms. Chicory would treble the rent of these lands. Mr. Be VAN, after trying several methods of bringing old heath-lands into cultivation, gave the preference to the following : sow oats and seeds on one earth after the drill roller ; after harvest feed hard with sheep for two years, in order to rot the eld turf; then prepare it for cole-seed, by repeated ploughings and harrowings ; feed ofF the cole with sheep, and prepare for rye, with which sow seeds again, and let ir remain as a layer till it can be clayed or marled with 60 loads per acre, when it may be brought into the regular shifts of the farm. This process will give NORFOLK.] c c the 386 WASTES. the oM flag time to rot, and will not exhaust the soil, so frequently done with new lands. 1802. Tlie ciops on the fields thus managed have been very good, and are now groat. He continues of the same ci)inion ; paving and burning he has not tried, but has advised a friend to compare it witli this method. Mr. Bevan now generally takes two successive crops of cole, both fed off with sliecp (the latter greatly superior to the first), and sows seeds with the rve. I crossed 400 acres of thick fern, called Eccles Com- mon ; half in that parish and half in Snetrerton: Lord Albkmarle lias mucli property in both; and being a good farmer, it is to be hoped so fine a trail of land will not long remain in such a horrid state, exhibiting in its spontaneous produce, its great capabilities of yielding corn and turnips most amply. The commons are immense at Actleborough ; Turn- moor, Westear, Broad Moor, Fen and Row, Lyng, Ba- con's Thorpe, Decoy, Bunrough ; these are all above loo acres, and some above 2G0, with nianv smaller; I was assured that they amount to between 2 and 3000 acres. Mr. F'arrov/, of Sliipdam, purchasing 200 acres of Sayham common, under the aiSl ol enclosure, pur;,ued, in breaking up, tiie practice common in Norfolk. He took two crops of oats, and then clayed for turnips: some on this common, and on that ot Ovington, have begun with pease, and got very great crops; then oats, and then clav for turnips: for t\'*o years past the pease have answereil better than the oats ; the crops very large : the second crop of oats tlic best, and have pioduced in manv instances 20 coombs per acre. 1 viewed various fields, both at Savhani and Ovington, in 1 802, which promise that produce at least. [ saw wheat also, which must be 12 or 13 coombs : barley exceedingly great. In a woid, all the prcduds iiumensc. \rASTEs. 387 immense. The barley follows tlic clavecl tnrmps : Mr. Farrow had 17 coom'os an acre ofhailey big: with that crop clover: some with ray and trefoil. Among the improvers of Norfolk, Mr. Overman, of Burnham, ranks very high. When he frrst took the farm, the land surveyor employed by the landlord pronovuiced that it was a dang^erous error to think of wheat, as the soil was adapted only to rye and liglit oats. The great success he has had in raising very fine crops of wliear, proves that his husbandry has been conduded on sound principles. Improvements on lieaths anti sheep-walks, which bring them from the state of desert wastes to be produ6iive of corn and grass^ are certainly in the very first class; bat there are others which, though less striking, manifest abun- dance of exertion, vigour and peiseverance. Mr. Over- man took a farm of Mf. Coke, at Michaelmas, 1800, which was, as I could easily juvlge from a part, the im- provement (if which was not finished, in a very bad state: and this spirited farmer not being of a temper to dream over any thing, determined to bring the wlwle into order as soon as possible : very little remained to do when I saw it in June 1802, and that little would be finished by wheat sowing. Besides paying the outgoing tenant 5I. los. per acre for desisting from sowing tlie lays, and summer-fal- lowing lands which many would have sown, largely ma- nuring, and other more common exertions, he is going to enclose the whole farm at his own expense, throwing down the old ragged fences, and arranging the fields anew ac- cording to his intended shifts: but planting quick he post- jjones, till all spear-grass and weeds are quite destroyed : all corn sown is drilled, and as clean as a garden- He brings rape-cake in his own vessel j has a numerous flock of c c 2 South 3S8 WASTES. South Down sheep; and, in a word, will carry thr pro- dufliveness of the land to its ultimate degree of perfcdtion. There are 600 acres of good land in Sparham-heath, that calls loudly for enclosure. Sporle common, near Svvafham, has much of excellent land. Soulh Crekc commons, lOOOacrcs^ four great farmeis, and four sheep-walks; jiassed it by West Basham enclo- sures, where it is covered with thick fern, yei this is the worst land of the four. Mr. Smith's common belongs to Mr. CoKK, and is very fine land, worth 30s. an acre, rent, tithe, and rates. Mr. Crowe broke up a warren at Ash Wicken, of 300 acres, and re-laid it for a sheep-walk, with the greatest success, Mr. Reeves, of Heveringland, broke up 165 acres, an old sheep-walk, on a poor sandy soil : he began with tur- nips, claying and mucking for them ; the crop very good, and fed on the land by sheep : then he took oats, which were likewise verv good : after the oats, wheat, and a fair crop: now turnips. The improvement great and prohc- able, and with this excellent farmer's aianagement will be durable* One thousand six hundred acres of wastes at Holt ; they have talked for five years of enclosing, but nothing ye£ done. Commons ai>d unimproved marshes abound much in Flcg ; but many are enclosing and draining: 400 acres of common, and as much open field at Memsby, and an en- closure just agreed upon. In die parochial. notes entered under the Chapter of En- closures, arc numerous other cases, as well of wastes as ot their improveuunt. CHAP ('3^9 ) CHAP. XL IMPROVEMENTS. TO examine the county of Norfolk whli a single eye to this ol)je(5l, and explain in full detail the causes, progress, and consequences of the improvements which have taken place, would demand at least a year's travcU ling, and would require a large volume to contain the notes necessary for s,uch an undertaking. The subject is of such importance as to demand, in every work that con- cerns the agriculture of tliis county, a particular attentipn. The methods more especially to be treated arc : 1. Draining, 2. Irrigation, 3. Manuring, 4. Paring and burning, ^. Embanking. SECT. I. — DI^AININC Mr. Freeman, of Swanton Morley, possecsing a trai5t of meadows on the river, at Billingfold, poisoned by the water being pent up by the mill at Elsing, and no fall to be gained on his side for draining it, laid a truck under the river, and, by permission, cutting a drain on the other side, gained a fall, and by it drained 120 acres, to his great profit, and also to lowering the soakage of his neighbours' meadows. The improvement doubled at least the value of the land ; the truck delivers a good stream now (in August). c 0 3 ^ T^crc 39^ DRAINING. There are numerous fads which shew that water is, in certain cases, so conhned within the carih, that if the re- servoirs of it are pierced into, it lias a force sufficient to rise to certain heights. At Fincham, a man complaining that his well was often dry, Mr. For by advised him to bore at the bottom of it. The well was 28 feet deep ; and on boring, the borer suddenly dropped down to the head, and being drawn up, the water gushed after ir, and has ever since ran over the top of the well. The exertions which Mr. Salter, of Winborougli, has made in draining his great farm of above 800 acres, have much merit. The first yt-'ar of his coming he made a straight cut for the brook which runs through it, 342 rods in length of seven yards; 11 16 rods ot open drains in the meadows ; 2937 rods of ditching, five feet broad and four deep; and 4871 rods of hollow-draining: these works he continued, and in 1801 did above 4000 rods of hollow-draining. In another faimhe has at Carbrook, of 400 acres, he did in 1791-2, 798 rod,- of ditcliing, and 788 of draining ; in 1792-3, 371 of ditching, and 1562 of draining ; in 1 793-4? 57 1 of ditching, and 897 of draining ; in 1794-5, 201 of ditching, and 687 of draining ; in all, 1941 of ditches, and 3931 of drains. His drains are in general 30 to 36 inclies deep, some to four feet. He uses anv sort of wood, cliiefiv the buslies that were a nuisance to his fields, but of late has been forced to buy great quantities. In this note of the exertions of the master, it will be fair to minute those of one of his labourers, who did 1300 rods of hollo w-jdrains between Martinmas and harvest. 1 was rather surprized to find tliat this improvement v-'as necessary on Waterden farm, in a very dry country : but Mr. Hill, finding that the springs were injurious to much of his land, made very laudable exertions in freeing . ,; hi? DRAINING. 391 ills f:\sm from them. He digs hollow-drains, from two feet and a half to four feet deep, rilling them very carefully Aviih stones, hand-picked from the heaps by women, to prevent any earth going into the drains and impeding the current of the water. The effects of the improvement aie great. In going from Waterden to Rainham, passed by Scul- tliorpe Mill, and there enter a region that must make a farmer's heart ache. Of the nuisances that a country can be plagued with, certainly water-mills class very high in the black catalogue : for the sake of this beggarly mill, which apparently cannot be worth more than trom 20I. to 30I. a year, here is a noble tra6f, from a furlong to a mile wide, of what, ought to be rich meadow, poisoned with water, and producing rushes, flags, sedge, and all sorts of aquatic rubbish. Who would not suppose the two sides of the river belonging to little proprietors, as beg- garly as the mill, who could meet over their tankard to wrangle, but never agree ? No such matter. Marquis TowNSHEND on oue side, and Mr. Coke on the other. It would not be amiss to couple the two stewards of the estates up to tlie chin in one of these overflowing dykes, till they settled the matter, ^/or the benefit of the public. The Rev. Dixon Hoste, who has done much liol- low draining, twists three sticks or poles togetiier, which lie lays in at the botton-. of the drain, and then tills, six inches deep, with stones; as he has found, that when the drains are filled with stone only, tlicy do not run quick enough. The smaller drains he digs 24 inches deep, and the leading ones 30. Tlie price 4£d. a rod for the one, and 5d. for the other. Mr. Havers, at Thelton, drains attentively : the dis- tance from eight to ten yards j tlie depth, in general, 30 inches, but of leading drains, 32 ; fills with bushes and C c 4 ctraw; 392 DRAINING. Straw ; the expense 5s. a score. He has tried the dram- ing plougli, at the deptli of 14 inches ; but the baihfF (Mr. H. not at home himself) thought that it did not answer. Mr. Smith, at the inn at Scole, has done much. On every farm the improvement is very great.' There is some wet land in Attleborough ; and to and around Hingiiam, draining is well established and much done; but, strange to say, none on pastures, be they wet as they may. About ^Vatton, much done, and the effe(5l such, that one crop has paid the expense. Thefatlier of the prascnt Mr, Kerrich, of Harleston, began hollow-draining nt Redenhall 27 years ago; his drains were filled with bushes, and they work now. He also drained much pasture land, which was the better for three or four years, but worse afterwards, by being too dry ; moles and rats have now stopped many of the drains, and done good by so doing. I had this fa£l from the present Mr. Kerrich. Much has been done by Mr. Paul, of Starston, who recommends greatly tlie culture of sallows in hedges, as that wood lasts longer in diains tlian any other, and is as good for the purpose as the hazel. In Loddon hundred, Mr. Crickmore, of Seetliing, began hollow draining above 20 years ago: he is an ex- cellent farmer, and has been much imitated in this great improvement. Mr. Burton, of Langley, has made great exertions in this husbandry at Hempnal, laying out 3C0I. in one year. Mr. Johnson, at Thurniug, has made a great im- provement in draining meadows, described in the follow- ing cxtra6l from a letter he favoured me with : " The track of luud I toDk of the late Mr. Elwin, is about DRAINING. 393 about 26 score acres, consisting of five farms, jumbled to- gether, for more than 80 years ; three of them have not had a resident occupier during memory. The lands were chiefly small pieces and large borders ; the meadows a long strip, of about nine score acres. It is not in my power to represent the bad state the whole of the lands were in, nor can I give an exact account at what prices the work was done. The fences are chiefly drains for the land, which always should be the case, if possible. I began the work on the chief of the meadows, the year before I took the farm : the account I annex was all done the first year of the lease, and I have since expended much on all the lands. I have always had more labourers than I wanted for harvest : I began the work in all dire6lions, which made it look in a confused stale. My neighbours said at the time, it would never be made a job of; but before the year was expired, Mr. DugmoPv.e, who knew the slate the land was in, looked it over, and paid me the compli- ment of saying, it was the greatest and best work he ever saw in our county. In draining land, the main objctSl is to form the main cut in the bottom ; the fences for the next drains ; then begin on llie great springs, and see what effe6l they have: but draining small springs seldom has any effedl on the large ones. S. JOHNSON." Thurnlng, "Jan. 31, 1803. ^^^ork 394 DRAINING Work done on the late Mr. Elwin's estate ; in Thnrri- jng, from Mic haelmas I 796 to Michaelmas 1797, by Sam. Johnson. Eods. 5. d. £■ s. d. 14 at 3 0 per rod 2 2 0 99 at 2 6 - - 12 7 6 401 at 2 4 - - 46 15 8 225 at 2 3 - - 25 6 0 D 598 at 2 0 - - 59 16 0 326 at 10 - -., 29 17 8 593i at 9 - - 51 18 7 ^38 at 8 - - II 10 0 348i at 6 - - 21 2 9 28 at 4 - - I 7 4 ^85 at ♦ 3 - - 11 II n 0 Si at 2 - - 2 18 10 589 at I - - 21 18 I 500 at 0 - - 25 0 0 552 at 0 II - - 6 19 4 15 at 0 10 - - 0 12 6 66 at 0 9^ - 2 12 3 150 at 0 9 - - 5 12 6 1864 at 0 8 - • 62 2 8 262 at 0 6 - - 6 II 0 36 at 0 5 - - 0 IS 0 119 at 0 4 - - I 19 8 187 at 0 - - 2 6 9 920 at 0 2 I 17 ^3 4 7868 420 16 II 7868 IRRlGATIONv ogr 7868 rods - - .- 420 16 II " Stubbing, clearing, levelling by the piece - 178 8 8 Mould filled on three- wheel tumbrels by"\ the dav, on a valuation ot id. per load, f r ^ ^ y 202 10 o 36,000 tunibrel loads : two tumbrel loads I make one cart-load J New barn, stables, bullock-houses, bcc. - 500 O O Twenty extra horses, keeping; 1200 loads -j town muck ; rape take; labour for extra > 1200 o O jobs, (Scc. J £■^9^^ IS 7 Mr. Priest, of Besthorpe, digs his drains 30 inches deep and seven yards asunder, price 6s. a score. SECT. II. IRRIGATION. This improvement is of very late standing in Norfolk: the experiments made are few, but they are interesting enough to promise a speedy extension. In 1792 I found Mr. Bevan had made some progiess in watering his meadows. In 1794 he had completed some. He purchased them at the rent of 4s. an acre only, and his tenant had now offered him 4QS. an acre rent, for all done That year he fed them with ewes and lambs till the 15th of May ; the rushes were then swept over, and tlie produce of hay two tons per acre, though watered only for 48 hours the middle of June, and cut the 15th of July. The expen e of making iheni was 5I. los. per acre ; the produce leaving 36s. per annum interest for that sum, or about 26 per cent, profir. 1802. 396 IRRIGATION. 1802. After some years experience of these mcndows, }kIv. Bevan found, contrary to his expedition, th.it the rushes would not give way to the water ; and Mr. Brooks, from Gloucestershire, viewing them, and hav- ing the favour of a visit from the Rev. Mr. Wright, lie employed Mr. Brooks to new form the works, by al- tering the dire<5lion of the beds, and reducing them from ten and twelve yards to seven, and the immediate improve- ment made was very great : and he has also made several new meadows ; the first done were 46 acres, and 14 more are now adding. Mr. P. Galway, at Ti>ffts, has watered 20 acres: having read Mr. Wright's ticatisc, he made application to that gentleman, who procured for him a man (Mr. Brooks) well skilled ia the Gloucestershire method. I viewed the meadow which was fed. I have no doubt of the improvement being exceedingly great, though the ex- pense, by contrail, was only 4I. 4s. per acre ; but I have «Treat doubts of the metjiod followed. I think the beds or panes too flat, and that, consequently, the warer has not a motion sufficiently nimble ; and this, I conceive, results from the error of taking the water from a level of too small an elevation. Mf. Lucas has done a meadow of eight acres, still lower, at Lyndfoid, upon which the improve- ment, owing to the same cause, may perhaps disappoint him. Having crossed the Brldgham river, going from Riddles^ worth to Thetford, and observing that it brought down (in July) a most copious stream, 1 made it a point to exa- mine it higher up ; and under the condu6tof Mr. Fowell, of Snetterton, traced it from EastHarling church to Bre- tenham, being throughout that line chiefly bounded by tlie property of Sir John Sebright ; generally on the left side, West Harling ; but interrupted by the commons and some IRRIGATION, 397 some smaller properties in Bridghnm, on the right side< How far this circumstance may operate in preventing a system ot irrigation, depends on the rights of various per- sons, but this precluded, iiere is a very fine field for a ca- pital improvement by watering ; for some distance the stream is sluggish, and therefore may not give so good an opportunity as lower down, upon the lands between the Hall and Brerenhnm ; but a large tradl is evidently below the level, and consequently capable of a very important improvement. The rental of the West Hurling estate, on old tenures, is 2387I. Raundhasn is a very fine farm of 1600 acres, including 500 of ling heath: it is 50oh a year at present; and contains much fine sandy luam. i crossed a fine stream at Chapel mill, in Grcssenhall and Hoe, which runs to Wendling; another in Elmham and Beteleg ; much water in August, and a falling valley with it, capable of much irrigation ; but not a thought of it. At Billingford, it is a fine river : passed above three miles over Mr. Bloomfield's farm, and again examined' the river and meadows to Elsing mill: they are in a sad state for many miles, caused by mills keeping up the water as high as the adjacent lands, and in some places higher ; ruining the lands, wliich it would convert to gardens, were the waters applied to irrigation instcadof grinding. Messrs, Bloomfields made a weir of timber and stones to dis- charge tlie water at a certain height, sufficient for the mill, which 1 examined, and could not but commend ; yet this work was opposed by the miller, and was near causing a law-suit. It is the same story over half the kingdom ; and were the extent of the mischief known, would prove how necessary it is to apply other powers for this purpose, steam, wind, Sec. rather than suffer a trifling rent of a mill. 398 IRRIGATloy. mill, to prevent fifty rimes the amount being gained by the improvement of meadows. Mr. Bloomfield, on tlie recommendation of his landlord, Mr. Coke, has irrigation in contemplation; he has a small stream at cominanil, and has begun by a straight cut, which is thus to be applied. Note, in 1792, tiie stream at Cley offers so fine an op- portunity for watering, that 1 stopped my iiorse, repeat- edly, to view it with regret. Poor sand-hills might be con- verted to rich meadow. The river at Bodney, and the poorer arable lands, which come down below the levels it afrords for watering, struck me as offering an uncommon field for irrigation, •whicii calls aloud for the exertion of that spirit which has just begun to awaken in Norfolk. The two streams be- tween Swafham and Buckenham, join at Bcdnev. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, has made an c.Ncrtion in ir- rigation that has uncommon merit. Having a long, rough, and very coarse meadow*, of above 2C acres, tiirough which a small stream runs, which is nearly dry in any time of drought, but has sufEtient w-ater in any other sea- son, he cleared a straight channel for it through the centre of the meadow, and taking the necessary levels, threw it at pleasure into carrier trenches, under the two hedges that bound the meadow, and accompanied those trenches with drains: the first part he did, remains too flat; but as he advanced, he corrected that error, and raised the sur- face into arched lands, running the carriers along the cen- tre, from which the water flows down the sides to the drains. This part is very well done. The experiment having been lately finished, the full effcdl is not yet seen ; but it is evident enough to determine, that the value of the meadow IRRIGATION. 39Q meadow is trebled. The expense of the first part was about five pounds per acre ; but by filling up holes, taking up turf, and laying it down again, &c. some of the latter part cost him, it is said, above 20!. per acre. GeiW ticmen who attempt this improvement, cannot be too much impressed with the idea of the necessity there is, ihat water, applied in irrigation, should always be in nimble motion; the effe6t is greater and more certain: another circumstance, oftentimes^ not sufficiently attended to, is chat of the carriers being so levelled, that the water will flow over the edges in every part, by whiclr means it is much more equally delivered than when let out by small cuts. Mr. PuRDis, of Eggmorc, shewed me a mead of eight acres, which he had very lately renewed ; employing Mr. Brooks, from Gloucestershire : upon examining die spot where it would be proper to fix the sluice- for throwing the water of the river into the main car- rier, the foundations of an old sluice were found, in a sound state ; and the whole immediately renewed : on further examination, the carriers and drains in the meadow were all tiaccd, opened afresh, and thus an irrigation formed upon very nearly the plan of old works, which had been utterly negje61ed for at least 80 years : upon further inquiry, it was found that this former iriigation was obscurely known to have existed, but no records gave any information of the time when it liad been formed: it is extremely curious thus to trace former exertions in so excellent a husbandry, followed by so long a period of darkness and ignorance, as to suffer such immense advantages to sink into a state of neglef^ and ruin. Mr. Brooks approved the former mode of irri- gation. 1 may observe upon it, that the water through- out 400 IRRIGATION. out the meadow flows through little cuts : not one carrier cverjlows : equally varying in breadth as it advances, for the equal delivery, as explained by Mr, Bosnvell ; the delivering trenches are not on a very gentle, but on steep declivities: and the benefit is unequal: at the end of every little cut, tliere is a great bunch of grass, with spots on the sides, inferior : I pointed this out to the waterman, and he admitted the defeat, observing, that those little cuts must, another year, be greatly multi- plied. It ought to be apparent on the first view, that the equal distribution, by a universal overflowing, without any cuts for the purpose, must be superior. The company with whom I viewed this and Mr. Reeve's meadow, I found strongly impressed with the idea of the great supe- riority of the water first taken from the river, and reason- ed as if all the benefit arose from a deposition of certain particles, which being dropped, the water became of lit- tle value : these ideas, in certain cases and to a certain extent, are just ; but they seem to be carried here much too far, and may have ill effects in causing a small value to be assigned to water taken at the second and third hand. Mr. Brooks forms his works by the eye, and without using a spirit level : the consequence is, tliat the distribu- tion by overflowing is, in that manner, impossible to be attained. The improvement, however, as in all cases of irriga- tion, is very great : the meadow had been watered but three weeks, and the growth was very luxuriant ; the be- nefit is unquestioned ; and the exertion does great honour to Mr. PuRDis, who has the merit of cfFeding a most valuable amelioration, which eo many of his sleeping pre- decessors utterly negleded. April IRRIGATICN. 402 April 7th, 1802, he turned in his cows, and they found full teed during the rest of the month. May ist, shut them up, and in nine weeks cut two tons per acre, and they have heen fed since: these meadows were full of the broad-leaved piaintain, which has disappeared, and are now clothed with good grasses. I have rarely seen a finer opportunity for irrigation than nt Hillingdon: Sir Martin Folkes and Mr. Coke have the stream as a boundary for two miJes together. Captain Be ACHER walked with me on the banks of It for a considerable distance : I found the declivity every where so rapid, that it cannot be doubted but that it may be car- ried over a large tra6i of poor arable slopes, to the efFedl- ing a most profitable improvement. Nothing yet done: but this subjeil is well started in Norfolk, and the age of dreaming passed. If these proprietors muddle themselves in the low flat lands, on the river banks, already of a good, though inferior value, instead of running levels as high aS. possible for floating the dry arable, they will make a shil- ling where they might make pounds. For carrying irriga- tion to the highest improvement, the levels should be taken for two or three miles before a spade is in hand : and then, if there be some lousy miller below, he yelps at the un- deitaking. Thiee or four proprietors should unite, and buy, or burn, the mills, before they think of beginning. Uncommon opportunity for it from Sedgfoid to the sea, through Heacham : two mills denote a fall of ten feet in three miles, besides the rapid motion of the water every \vherc : after a long drought I found ample water in the stream for great improvements, and the circumstance of many dry arable fields under the level, will, by-and-bye, be found of great v;due. Mr. Styleman has engaged Mr. Brooks to make a trial. NORFOLK.] T> d SECT. 402 MARLE^ SECT. III. — .MANURING* This is the most important branch of the Norfolk im- provements, and that which has had the happy e£Fe£i: of converting many varrens and shccp-walks into some of the finest corn districts in the kingdom. 1. Marie. II. Aslies. 2. Lime. 12. Soot. 3. Gvpsum, 13. Malt-dust. 4. Oyster-shells. 14. Buck-wheat. 5. Sea-ouze. 15. Yaid-dung. 6. Sea-weed. 16. Leaves. 7. Pond-weeds. 17. Burning stubbles. 8. Burnt-earth. 18. River-mud. 9. Stickle-backs. 19. Town-manure. 30, Oil-cake. MARLE, Thirty years ago, being in Norfolk, I was informed by the late Mr. Car, of Massingham, that 25 yeais before that period, 70 loads an acre had been commonly spread; after which, many farmers tried 30 more, but without success : his own pradlice was to lay on 35 to 40 load, ami in three er four years after, as much more, by whicli means he found that it incorporated better with the soil. Thirty years ago the quantity spread from Warham to Holt, was 60 loads an acre, which lasted 15 or 16 years in perfection, then they laid on 25 or 30 loads more, •which lasted ten or twelve years longer ; repeating it still ; so that previous to 1 770, that country had much of it been marled thrice at least. Mr. Bevan marled (clayed, as it is called) his whole farm MARLE. 403 farm, from 60 to 80 loads per acre : I found his team at work at it, and measured the carts : length, six feet; width, four feet; depth before, two feet; ditto behind, one foot ; contents, 36 cubical feet ; price of filling, 28s. per 120 loads, filling and spreading, and pumping out water from the pit, if necessary ; six horses, two tum- brels; four men fill 30 loads a day. The expense per acre for 60 loads : Filling and spreading Two days work of six horses, allowance of' oats, two coombs a week, at lOS. which, for two days Hay . i Decline of value, 5I. 12s. 6d. per horse per' annum, at such hard work, or 4.\d. a day for 300 days ; and for six horses, 2S. 3d. a day _ _ _ Interest of his purchase, 30!. or 30s. a year, i i|d. a day, and for 6, 7|d. - j "-^ * :> Driver, at is. 6d. - - - 030 Wear and tear of carts, and interest of first t cost, 25I. say 15I. per cent. 3d. a day J 0 14 0 0 5 8 0 9 0 046 O I o Sundries, shoeing, harness, Sec. - 013 Per acre for 60 loads - - p^.i 19 2 He scuffles the marle after spreading. Examining a team (belonging to one of the tenants of Mr. Colhoun) at clay cart, 1 found the tumbrels four feet three inches long, three feet nine inches broad, and two feet three inches deep, consequently hold, if full, 35 cu- bical feet : the wheels five feet six inches high, and six inches broad : eight horses (sometimes nine) were employed ; D d 2 four 404 MARLE. four men filled, and did regularly 32 loads a day, eigljt loads per man being the stint ; the distance to the heaps 334 yards. Each load made eight heaps, and to discharge it the easier, there is a false tail-board in the cart. The tumbrel does not separate from the shafts, as in our com- mon ones in unloading ; the shafts are fixed, and rise in the air, the traice horses drawing hy the ends of the shafts, and the thill horse by short traices fixed at the other end of the sliafts. The price given to fill and spread, 25s. for 120 loads, or 2id. each. I examined the heaps with particubr attention, and guessed them at four bushels each, and then, asking the men their opinion, they also guessed the same. Surely it behoves the gentlemen and farmers of this coun- try, to reconsider this business entirely ; for seven horses (and there are often eight) to draw 32 bushels of clay, seems preposterous ; 4I busliels a horse are a load, which, ^vhen you come to divide it, seems such a system of trifling, as to be worthy only of children ; hut viewed in that bun- dle of logs called a tumbiel, witli great lumbering wheels, the machine and the load seein more congruous, and to the eye there appears somctiiing for the horses to draw ; bat calculatioii tells us there is nothing but a heavy, ill-contrived, unmechanical cart, lessening the power of the horses, till one draws not nxpre than a man would push in a wheel-barrow. All this evil, and an enormous one it is, springs from this circumstance of uniting many Iiorses in the same draught, to form a team, which is ne- ver analyzed and well examined, but you find it a bar- barity worthy only of savages. Take a light cart, sucii as I use and have recommended,- or even the little car of an Irishman ; put one of these horses in It, and see if 4^ bushels will be the load ! ! See if you are content with 9; try if you cannot carrv 12; try again at 13^, or the treble of what your horse does at present ! ! ! Ihus one horse MARLE. 40^ horse does the business of three. But drivers ? Let us examine : I get but little there ; but what do 1 lose ? A man, at is. 6d. a day, drives away 32 bushels; this is a fra6lion more than a halfpenny a bushel : a boy at 6d. Tvich me drives away 1^^; this is not a halfpenny. Here then is no loss in driving, with an enormous gain in team ; and the measure of employing children to execute the work of men, is a parochial and national benefit, which wants no explanation. I need not observe, that with one- horse machines, of whatever kind, it is not necessary to allow a horse in the standing can ; tlie horse in an Irish car, or any other, it prepared with that view, is attached in an instant, as quickly as you hook a traice-horse to a thiller. But in this point, an improvement which was introduced by Mr. Colhoun, deserves attention. This is, a contrivance to draw the carts of any size out of the pits by means of a capstan ; he uses large three-wheeled tumbrels, and to save the extra number of horses, which are used in comiifon to get the load out of the pit, he applies a boy and a horse to the lever of a cap- stan, and draws up the load with s.) little loss of time, that the whole operation takes but three minutes and a half, and with horses in the common way, three : if it de- manded more, the obje(5l:ion would go no further tliaa letting there be an extra cart in the pit, which would j^re- vent any waiting. Mr. Colhoun's are three-wheeled carts. By means of this machinery, the pit may be dug of any (bpth, without iinpediiig the laising the load ; a great advantage, not only to the men in filling, but also in the quality of the clay or marie, which is usually bet- ter at the bottom ot a pit than in any other part of it. I measured the depth of one pit, which was above 20 feet. The country about Snetterton was all marled many years ago^ Mr. Fowj^ll's farm, fihy years past, and was t> d 3 done 4,06 MARLE. done by the landlord, who contra£led for the work, pay- ing by tlie load ; and this was the cause of an evil, felt to this day ; they laid on a great deal too much near the pits, and too little at a distance : the soil in the former situation now tills badly, insomuch that Mr. Fowell wishes it had not been done at all. The marie is yellow, from the mix- ture of clay, but feiments strongly with acids. All the country about Watton has been marled (clayed, as they call it), and the general way has been to do it \jpon the first breaking up of all old grass. They take two crops of oats in succession, and then clay for turnips, 40 to 60 loads an acre. Mr. Salter, at Winborough, in seven years has clayed, as it is called, 100 acres, at 100 loads an acre ; a quantity which he thinks necessary on his soil, which is a wet loam, or springy sand, and also brick earth ; but observed, that if so much was to be iaid on the drv Nor- folk sands, they would be set fast, and it would be many years before the clay would work. All Mr. Johnson's farm at Kempstcn is marled : he approves of doing it at twice, rather than giving the full quantity at once. The country about Thorpe Abbots, has, in general, been clayed ; and on the gravels it answered greatly. But some being done on Mr. Pitt's farm a second time, it did more harm than good. The hundreds of Loddon and Clavering have all been clayed. 1 observed many pits of clay marie every where. At Langley, they now bring white marie from Thorpe, near Norwich, by water; laying on 12 loads per acre, at 4s. 6d. from the keel, barge, and costs 5s. on the land. Caistor and the vicinity, has all been clayed, 40 loads per acre. Mr. Ever IT marls from Wightlingham, at 5s. a load, MARLE. 407 ioad, at the vvater-slJe, of two chaldrons ; lays 16 chaldron an acre ; carriage, three miles besides. At Thelton, 6cc. no old pasture is ever broken up witli- out marling, called here, as every where in Norfolk, c/ay- ing. Much done in the vicmity, especiahy in all the new enclosures; and the best practice that of claying one year before breaking up. VVithout clay, the straw on new land runs up weakly and fa'mt : this manure stiffens it, and much increases the produce. Mr. Thurtell, near Yarmouth, is decidedly against claying on a layer : he has found, that in this way, it is four or five years before it works well. He spreads ir, to chuse, in the winter before a turnip fallow, by which it is thoroughly mixed with the soil; he knows several pradlica^ farmers of the same opinion. At Hemsby they spread from 20 to 70 and 80 loads an acre, of their own clay mark; the latter quantities, if not done in the memory of man ; but for re;iewing 20 ; the efFcdl lasting 30 or 40 years. Some white marie is brought by water from Thorpe, &c. Mr. Ferp.iek agrees with Mr. Thurtell, that it is best siiread on a fallow; it works quicker and mixes better, tJian when on a layer. Mr. Brown, of Thrigby, having a piece of land that he had over-clayed, ploughed it a little deeper, and it then did well. That parish was marled above 30 years ago from 7'horpei he now clays 35 to 40 loads an acre, and it does M-ell. At Martham they marie from Wightlingham ; a keel costs 5I. 5s. and does two acres well ; it lasts 30 years. Mr. Francis has no clay on his farm ; he lays on 10 cart loads per acre of the marie, equal to 20 chaldrons : 6s. a load: spreads it to chuse on a fallow for turnips ; does not approve of marling on layers, because it hurts them, otherwise it is a good method, nnd not api to sink so soon. D d 4 Ar 408 MARLE. Ar Ludliam tliey have it by water from Thorpe, Wight- linghain and Wroxham, at 4s. a chaKlron ; and lay from eight to ten cart loads an acre ; it lasts 20 years. Mr. HoRNARD spreads it on stubbles scaled: none better for it than a one year's layer tliat is to remain another. He also lays it in summer on turnip fallows : first marls, then spreads the dung ; scales in, and then deeper for the seed earth. Air. Cubit, &:c. at Catfield, brint^s marie from Hor- sted, 20 miles, by water ; costs at the staith 5I. 5s. a keel of 36 chaldrons, 18 to 20 loads. He lays on seven or eight loads per acre, generally on a fallow for turnips : lasts 30 or 40 years. Mr. CuBir has some land done 40 years ago, and does not yet want renewing. Mr. Cubit, of Honing, spreads eiglit or nine loads per acre, from Wroxham, at 5s. a load at the staith, three miles off: he would give 9s. a load in his yard ; no clay- jnarle of their own, except at Happsborough. When tur- nips shew the anbury, it is a sure sign that the land wants jnarling. They have white mrtrle in North Walsham, and it is much used: Mr. Payne has done 40 acres in one year, 12 loads an acre : it lasts 14 to 20 years. It is common to make layers of mould, the marie on to tliat, and then the yard muck, and turn the whole over together : they also lay lime on mould, turn it over, leaving it some time, then muck on, and turn the whole over again ; all chiefly for turnips, bqt some for wheat. Mr MARc^rEsoN brings it five miles, from Oxnead and Laminas ; lays on ten cart loads an acre : it lasts 20 years. If the land has not been marled, or wants a renewal, the turnips have the anbury, which this manure prevents entirely. All the country about Scotta has been marled ; full of nmrle MARLE. 409 ?way/(f is the expression ; ten loads an acre on strong land, and eight on Hght ; and lasts above 20 years. Good yellowish raarle at Cokishal j they spread 12 ioads an acre, and it lasts 14 vears. Much at Oxnead, &c. j Mr. Repton lays 20 small loads an acre : it lasts 20 years : a second marling answers well : the foulness of land shews the want of marling. He spreads on the layers, and thinks that the longer it is kept on the surface the better. Mr. Reeves, of Heveringiand, who is a very attentive and spirited farmer, lays on 28 loads an acre of clay-marle, fi-ee of callou,', which he reckons equal to 40 to take all as it comes ; but as this demands a greater depth of pit, he reclcons that it costs him yd. or lod. a load. Mr. BiRCHAM, at Hackford, from 40 to 60 loads; and the whole country there has been so marled ; the white best by far, 10 loads as good as 40 of other sorts. It pre- vents the huddle (crysanthemum se^ctumj which, and sor- rel, are the signs that land wants marling ; when done, these plants disappear. Marie does a second time, but he has found that the best way of applying it then, is by com- posts with dung ; on layers for wheat. Marie, Mr. Bir- ch am has found bad for turnips, except when it is wanted to get a farm done as quickly as possible. Mr. Johnson, at Thurning, clays, 40 loads an acre, which lasts 20 years : it is best on a layer, but hurts the grasses to the amount of half the produce : he reckons tliat the longer it is kept above ground the better. Much marie about Holt. Ail the land about Binham is marled that wants it. Mr. E>."GLAND lays on from 40 to 50 large loads an acre: it lasts 20 years ; but this depends on soil. He thinks it best spread on oUonds, between the first and second year; but thi& 410 MARLE. this must be governed by convenience. After a proper time a second marling is as good as the first. Mr. Hill's father marled 350 acres o'f the Waterdea farm, at 80 loads per acre ; he has done the rest of the farm himself, 35 per acre, and never exceeding 40, think- ing it much better to do it at twice than at once. The colour is yellow and white mixed ; considers the yellow as best. Spreads it to choose on a one year's layer ; and in winter rather tlian in summer; leaves it a year, and ploughs for the first time very shallow. Tlie first turnips are not tlie better for it, but the barley great, especially when it comes to the bushel. His rule, in after- manuring is, to muck the first time, in preference to folding. His father did one field, at the rate of 122 loads per acre, which was so over-dosed, that the land has not recovered it yet: the soil light. It has given but one good crop, ■which was wheat, nine coombs three bushels (old mea- sure) per acre : every other crop has failed more or less. If Mr. Coke had not granted a second 21 years' lease of this farm, the benefit, alter much loss, would all have gone to others. On Mr. Reeve's farm, at Wi^hton, I saw an extia- ordinarv fine white marie, not us in common, in globules, but more resembling the equal consistence and texture of -white butter. In all the light lands of Norfolk, clay, as it is called, but which ought to be called clny marie, from the quantity of calcareous earth it contains, is preferred much to more chalky marls ; and of all others, the hard, cljalky, and stony mails are reckoned the worst: when these only (called also cork) arc found under tradls of waste or poor land, they are not deemed improveable to profit. Mr. OvERJMAN has made the experiment of such, and has found MARLE. 411 found the benefit so great, that, direcily contrary to the common opinion, he prefers them. I saw such used in 1792, on a very large scale on his farm. He spreads from 40 to 50 loads per acre. Such manuring prevents the anbury ill turnips. Mr. H. Blythe, of Burnhnm, has no doubt of white marie, on the sands of his farm, being better than clay ; it works better and sooner, adding the expression, it vuill buy a horse, before clay ivill buy the saddle. Mr. DuRSGATE has found white marie more profitable than clay ; working much sooner; nor has he any objec- tion to that hard chalk called cork. Of white marie Jic lays on 50 to 60 loads an acre. Mr. Wrfght, of Stanhow, a very attentive and ex- cellent farmer, has found, that the longer marie or clay is kept on the surface the better. He spreads it on a lay of one or two years old (the latter best), and leaves it a year; then ricebaulks the land, leaving it so for the summer ; and it gives as much food as if it had not been stirred, and thus the marie works without being buried. He marls largely, yet is clear that it is an enemy to grass and tur- nips. Cork has been used successfully at Ringstead. Marie is found under all the country at Snettisham, generally white ; the farmers lay on from 6o to lOO loads an acre. Mr. GoDDisoN, at Houghton, laid, in six months, 3200 loads on 44 acres of very poor black-sand heath, and broke it up ; the success great, and shall do as much more this year. He pays 7d. a load, to a man who finds team and every thing. Mr. Beck, at Castle Riseing, has clayed all his farm, 60 to 80 loads an acre, and covered the whole with Lynn muck. 412 LIME. muck. He thinks, Iiowevcr, that it Is better to lav on less at first, and renew it bv composts. He always lays it on ollonds, and leaves it above for a year. Mr. Saffory, of Downham, is for 40 loads an acre, and then repetitions, which is a far better system than much at first ; and he would always spread it on a one year's layer, to be left another year: it then does not sink so soon. Not much done near Downham. Mr. Porter, of Watlington, lays 100 to 140 loads per acre of clay (marie) on to his gravels; and never found it « too much ; the benefit of some, done thirty years ago, is to be seen now: spreads on a layer for the sake of frosts taking it: one acre done before winter, as good as two in summer. Mr. Martin, of Tottenhill, lays 100 load of clay per acre on black sand and gravel, at 25s. per 120 in win- ter, and 30s. in summer. About Wymondham, 60 to lOO loads of clay ; 80 com- mon ; some chalkv ; some blue; and some yellow. At Besthorpe, white, blue, and brown marie ; all fer- ment in acids. Mr. Priest, 64 loads an acre, at 30s. per 120 cubic yards; now, 35s. to 36s. LIME. Mr. BiRCHAM, at Hackford, has used lime at the same time with yard-muck, very successfully for turnips ; three chaldrons, at los. or lis. a chaldron, spread out of the waggon on land, on which twelve loads of muck are spread : and when a piece has had part of it muck only and the rest muck and lime, the effecl is seen to an inch. Mr. Saffory, of Downham, has, tried lime, sixty bushels OYSTER-SHELLS. 413 bushels per acre, on liis fen farm ; but dlscontinucJ it, as it did not answer. " In East Norfolk, lime is successfully used, even after marie. It is of the greatest efficacy on hot burning soils, and is perhaps the most effedlual cure oi scalds : hence considered as a cold manure." — Marshall. GYPSUM. ■VTr. Allen tried this manure, very carefully, at Stan- how, on clean clover. March 31. No. i and 4. No manure; produce average of the two, 381b. 60Z. 2. Four quaits sifted coal-ashes kept dry, 50 lb. ^. Gypsum, one quart, 54! lb. The ashes, therefore, gave an increase of 11 lb. looz. and the gypsum of 1 6 lb. 2 oz. OYSTER-SHELLS. In East Winch and West Bilney, and scattered for ten miles to Wallington, there is a remarkable bed of oyster- slielli in sea-mud ; the farmers use them at the rate of 10 loads an acre for turnip?, which are a very good dressing ; they are of particular efficacy on land worn out by corn. Mr. FoRSTER several years ago laid 20 loads an acie on some worn-out land, and they had an amazing efFe6l in pro- ducing grass, when laid down in seeds, giving a deep luxuriant hue like good dung: the benefit very great at the present time. They are found within two feet of the sur- face, and as deep as they have dug, water having stopped them at 16 or 18 feet deep. They are used again and again on the same land, and with the same effie^l'. At East Winch, Mr. Crowe has acres together of this most 414 SEA-WEED. most valuable manure. They fall to powder on being stirred. SEA-OUZE. Mr. Palgrave, at Coltishal, uses mucli sea-mud^ scraped up by the bear from the bottom of Yarmouth Haven : he lays on 40 loads per acre, and has thus ma- nured 70 acres ; the improvement very great. 1 found, on trial, that it is a calcareous mud: on scalds, or burning places of sand or gravel, it forms a cold bottom, and is an cfFedtual cure. Fifty loads per acre, of Sea-ouzc, have been used on the upland sandy loams of Warham, with very great success; superior crops the consequence. SEA-WEED. V/hat other name to assign to a very singular manure on the coast at Thornham, I know not. In the great and accurate map of the county, published by Mr. Faden, there is a mark on the shore for what is called crabs, scalps and oak-roots. Mr^ Rishton had the goodness to take me to view this speiflacle, which is an extraordinary one : it is evidently the ruins of a forest of large trees, the stubs and roots remaining, but so rotten, that with a spade I dug. into the centre of many, and might have done of all, with as much ease as into a mass of butter. Wiiere the stumps are not found, on digging I turned up a black mass of vegetable fibres, apparently consisting of decayed branches, leaves, rushes, fl.igs, &c. ; to what depth this vegetable stratum extends is not known, but at some creeks on the very edge of the sea, at low water, there is a very fine soapy sea ouzc, at two or three feet depth. The extent of SEA-WEED. 41^ of this once sylvan region, which every common tide now covers, can scarcely be less, in one place only, than from 5 to 600 acres. There is not an appearance of any tree lying at present from the stump, as if blown down or left after falling, but rather that of a forest cut down in haste, the stems cleared and luirried away, leav- ing the branches to rot: but this is mere conjedlure. It is remarkable that there is not, as I am informed, any mention of this ruined forest in the old historians of the countv ; nor does tradition offer the least conjecture or report on the subje6t. Trees, roots, and stumps, are very cx)mmon in bogs, wherever found ; but here is not the trace of any thing like a bog, the earth is solid, and all a fine ouze or sea-clay. Mr. RisHTON viewed these relicks with the eye of a farmer ; for experiment, he sent his carts down for some, and spread 10 loads per acre of it, for turnips : it an- swered perfeclly, and on comparison, equalled his yard- dung: and also rape-cake. In another experiment, lie manured two acres for wheat, with a compost, consisting of nine loads of this weed, and three chaldrons of lime, mixed; one acre with yard-muck ; one acre with tallow- chandlers' graves, 16 bushels, and the rest of the piece with rape-cake. 'The graves were, in efFc<5l, far bevond all the rest; between which the difference was not very perceptible. The expense only is. per load; but if a barge was floated to the spot, and anchored when the tide was in, for loading at low water, it might be pro- cured at a much cheaper rate. This gentleman is go- ing to quit liis farm, but not before he has opened a real mine to such farmers as shall have the sagacity to dig in it : it appears astonishing that none of them should long ago have made the same exi^eriment, and consequently have profited by so beneficial a vicinity. POND- 4l6 BURNT EARTH, POND-WEED. Several persons in Norfolk are in the regular hnl>it of clearing their rivers and pcnds just before turnip-sowing: tliey cart tlicm immediately on to the land, and plough in as muck, and load for load they are equal to farm-yard dung. Mr. Coke thus manures from 20 to 30 acres an- nually from the lake at Holkham. Mr. Crowe, of Lakenham, manures four acres an- nually for turnips with the weeds of a river that runs by his farm ; the plants are chiefly the Phelandniim aquat'icunt ^ Slum nodlfiorum (water-hemlock and water- parsnip). He lays 20 loads of 30 bushels per acre, and ploughs in di- re6lly : are as good on sand and mixed loam as the best dung, but not equal on stiff soils. Mr. Bloomfield, of Eillingfold, has been in the habit of manuring his turnip-land with weeds fresh from the river, and ploughed in quickly ; they have answered as •well as vard-muck. EUrxNT EARTH. Mr. Salter, of Winborough, whose fine farm offers many proofs of excellent management in every part, burns all the turf and rubbish which comes out of the numerous ©pen drains he has made throughout his moory meadows, as well as the first spit of many hedge rows and borders : this he spreads on the grass, with earth from hills and rows. In his turnips, observing one part of a field finer than the rest, I found it had been manured with cottagers' ashes, who burn the parings 6f grass-land : these ashes never fail of giving great crops. At Summer-green, in Dickleburgh, I observed a large heap OIL-CAKE. 417 heap of burnt earth, the ant-hills, and inequalities in the common pared oft. STICKLEBACKS. These little fish, which are caught in immense quanti- ties in the Lynn rivers about once in seven years, have been bought as high as 8'.1. a bushel. The favourite way of using them now, is by mixing with mould and rarvy- ing on for turnips. Great quantities have been carried to * JMarham, Shouldham, and Beachamwelh Mr. Fuller there, is reported to have laid out 400I. for them in one vear: they always answer exceedingly. Mr. RoGERSoN, of Narborough, has gone largely into this husbandry, laying out 300I. in one year, at from 6d. to 8d. a bushel, besides carriage from Lynn : he formed ' them into composts with mould, mixed well by turning over, and carried on for turnips : the success very great. OIL-CAKE. From 40 to 50 years ago this was a very common ma- nure in West Norfolk : 35 years ago I registered the husbandry of manuring there with oil-cake ; then chiefly spread for wheat. Mr. Carr, of Massingham, tried it largely: he laid out 140I. for one crop, in which he re- ceived very little benefit from the manuring: on another occasion his expeiiditure was for liiusced-cake, to fatten beasts, and the dung thus gained answered much better than buying rape cake. About the^ame period this manure was much used at Sneitisham, at the expense of 3I. los. to 4I. I OS. a ton, which quantity did for three acres ; the be- NORFOLK.] £ e nefit 4l8 OIL-CAKE. nefit there reckoned exceedingly great, but lasting only one crop. At that period, from Holkham to Holt they spread one ton three-quarters to three acres ; bringing it from Hol- land and Ireland, but they found the Dutch cakes best, from not being pressed so much. It lasted strongly only for one crop, wheat; but of some use to tlie following turnips. In 1784 I found Mr. Coke in the regular pradlice of using this manure, at 5I. per ton. He found it more forc- ing to a crop of wheat than cither dung or fold ; but the turnips after the wheat not so good as after dung spread for that crop. At present (1803) it is 81. los. per ton, gnd he drills ia with the turnip. seed a ton to six acres ; and though when "used in lumps, it may be better to sow it six weeks before the seed, yet, in his estiination, this is not the case when reduced thus to a powder. In the distri(fl of Holkham rape-cake is very generaliv, perhaps I might say universally, used. They now- spread a ton on three or four acres, usually sowing it (about eleven or twelve bushels to the acre) for wheat or turnips, or for both. Mr. Overman has compared English, Dutch, and Irish cake ; the latter he thinks the worst, and suspedls from its breaking of a black grain, as ■well as from its want of that agreeable scent yielded by other cakes ; that it has undergone in the manufaflure some operation by fire. This manure is very efFeflivc. The expense rising so high, induced Mr. Coke, some time ago, to recommend to Mr. Cook, the patentee of the drill-plough, to add to that machine an apparatus for sov/ing rape-eake-dust with turnip-seed ; but his various engagements preventing the necessary attention, Mr.. Coke OIL-CAKE, 419 (joKE has procured one from Mr. Burrel, of Thet- ford, wliich worked while I was at Holkham, to the great satisfadion of every one who saw it, delivering a constant stream of powder so regularly, tliatno doubts were entertained of the great success of the invention. It con- tains alternate divisions, with large and small cnps for the delivery of both cake and seed into the same drills. In this way a ton does six acres, instead of three or four in the common method. In a letter I afterwards received from this very able cultivator, he informed me that the experiment answered to his satisfa6l:on. Mr. Hill, of Waterden, has much doubt of the bene- fit of this manure, and thinks that ic is often used (the great expense of it considered) to loss. For the last three years it has decreased in goodness, by reason of the increased power of the mills, exertions caused as he thinks by the great demand. It should not be used in less quan- tity than two tons to five acres ; and always for turnips in preference to wheat. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, finds tliat from one-third to half a ton per acre for turnips, will, in a wet season, heat every thing. It ought to be sown the first week in May, if possible ; all ideas of putting it in at the same time with the seed, he thinks erroneous • he has seen it quite lost thus : in dry seasons it has no effedt. Of this manure Mr. Johnson uses much. He thus expresses himself in a letter he favoured me with: *• Rape-cake is an excellent manure for turnips, and does not subjefl them to mildew; they will grow longer than from any other manure ; the turnip that grows most after Michaelmas is always of the best quality. Malt combs quick to bring the turnip to the hoe ; rape-cake flow i where both are used they should be sown together, E e 2 but 420 OIL-CAKE. but not ai tlie same time ; tlic raj>e-cakc should be broken to the size of walnuts, the less dust the better, and should be sown in April or Mav, as near the second ploughing as conveniently can be done, to have a shower on it ; the malt-combs should be sowed on the last earth, and har- rowed In with the seed." Mr. England, ofBinham, uses much rape-cake, and this year his turnips, thus manured, are his best. The cake-dust should be scaled in, early in ivlay. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, uses large quantities of rape- cake for his turnips, which in a wet season is an excellent manure. Mucked turnips come quicker at first than caked ones, but the latter exceed them afterwards : it is best applied three weeks or a month before sowing the seed, scaled in by the last earth but one : the deeper seed- earth then deposits the manure in the centre of tfie furrow. Mr. Henry Blythe, of Burnham, has this year tur- nips for which he spread rape-cake, at the expense of 3I. per acre, and the crop is not worch 20s. ; but it answers in a wet season. Mr. Syble, of Soutii Walsham, feeds many bullocks with oil-cake, and. finds that one load of the dung is worth two of any other: this he thinks by far the best, and even the cheapest way of getting a farm into condition, and laughs at the idea of buying rape-cake for manure, when compared with this superior practice. It is expen- sive to men who put lean beasts to cake, but if they are what is called fat before cake be given, it answers well. Mr. Birch AM, at Hackford, has found that 10 load of dung from cattle fed on oil-cake, will do as well as 16 loads from turnip-fed beasts. Mr. Styleman, finishing ins turnips before the grasses were ready for the sheep, gave oil-cake in troughs, with cut BUCK-WHEAT. 421 cut liay, to the amount of just 6d. a week for cake, on a pea stubble ; a pond in the field : it continued four or five weeks, and turnips succeeded, which were the best on his farm, and a very great crop. ASHES. Air. Salter, of Winborough, buys all the ashes he can get, of the poor people wlio burn Jlag parings, and the strength of them is very great on his heavy land j but on dry sand he remarks that they do little good. Mr. Styleman, of Snettisham, has manured sainfoin with coal-ashes ; 40 bushels per acre, and with great suc- cess. SOOT. Mr. BiRCHAM, of Hackford, lays out from 70I. to lool. a year in soot, sowing 20 bushels per acre on his wheat, in March or April. MALT-DUST. Mr. Kerrich, of Harlesion, manures for turnips with 50 sacks of malt-dust per acre, at is. 6d. and gets finer crops than with yard-dung. Mr. M. Hill uses this manure; 10 sacks per acre, at 3s. 6d. a sack. BUCK-WHEAT. Mr. Bevan has been in tlic pradice some years of ploughing in buck-wheat when in full blossom, as a ma- nuring for cole : the success to his satisfatSlion. Mr. Salter, has ploughed it in as manure, fixing a 422 YARD-DUNG. bosh to the beam of the plougli, to brush it down for that purpose. Upon a harsh stiff piece of inarshhuul, at Warham, Sir J. Turner sowed huck, aiul i)loughed it in for wheat; it answered well as a innnurc, besides saving much tillage. Sir Thomas Beevor tried the samehusbandry on strong clay, and got five-quarters of wheat per acre. YARD-DUNG. Through every part of West Norfolk, from Brandon and Thetford, to Snettisham and Holkhain, t!ie farm-yard dung, after foddering is over, is turned up in heaps in the yard, or carted on to heaps in the tields, where it is tdrned over for mixing: iVIr. Denton, of Brandon, lias made an observation on this point, which has a tendency to a change of system. It secnis from the general practice, that the gendemen and farmers, for all are in tlie samelius- bandry, do not conceive that the sun and wind have any power of extracting those volatile particles which contri- bute to the food of plants ; and the common way of leav- ing the heaps when carted on to the land for some time ^efore spreading, and again, when spread, before plough- ing in, shew that this is the case. Here, however, I must make an exception of Mr. Coke, whose teams I saw so proportioned, that the dung was turned in as fast as carried out, and very completely buried ; but it was short. The observation alluded to is this — Mr. Denton shew- ing me his beautifully improved warren farm at Feltwell, h^ remarked, hov/ much better one half of a layer of seeds was than the other ; occasioned by one part being manured with long dung, and the other with old turned-over hort dung. The soil, quite a sand : I observed the different appearance YARD-DUNG. 4^3 appearance clearly. The best was that which wascoveied with the long manure. Thirty years ago they reckoned, near Holkham, that the wheat stubble ploughed in, was as good as a light coat of dung. Mr. Bradfield, of Kerattishall, Suffolk, tenant to Mr. Be VAN, carries the yard-dung long from the yard, without any turning or mixing, and spreads it about six weeks before sowing ; ploughs it in fleeter than for the sowing earth, but not so ficei as what is called scaling ; ploughs two or three times after the manuring. Mr. Bloomfield's bailiff, in the absence of his mas- ter, gave his opinion in favour of rotten dung, rather than long and unrottcd : however, this year, he says, they used the latter^ and the turnips on bad land, justify an opinion different from his own. The Rev. Mr. Priest, at^Scarning, in 1801, on a field that had been unkind for turnips, drew it into baulks, and laid long fresh dung into the furrows, then split the baulks, covering the manure, and drilled the turnips on the tops of the ridges; the crop proved the largest and best in the neighbourhood. His man, not satisfied with this method, and thinking that he could geta better crop, Mr. Priest permitted hnn to try : he laid the land on broadlands, and sprained the seed into every other furrow, but in such a manner, that it came a broad-cast crop and good for httle; because his dung was not buried. Mr. Priest, complaining to Mr. Birch am, of Reep- ham, that he had some land on which it was difficult to get turnips, had this answei — Put on your dung in autumn^ and your difficulties luill vanish. Mr. Salter, of Winborough, pointing at some dung- hills, observed, that he had now got a year's muck before- hand; over-year muck, he thinks, far preferable to long £64 fresh, 424 YARD-DUNG. fresh, as tlie latter breeds inse6ls, tec. and sometimes I5 hurtful. We soon after entered a very fine field of turnips, the crop beautiful ; and long dung lying about some of the best parts of the field : his theory was here evidently con- demned by the appearance of the plants. Mr. Havers, at l"l-eiton, in common with his neigh- bours, keeps his yard-dung in hills, and composts, called 'over-year muck: tliat is, kept over tlie year to have it old, and for use in succession, so managed. Mr. Drakr, ofBiliingt'ord, in the same vicinity, does rot appiove of over-year muck for heavy 1 nd ; but on light land, subje6t to burn short dung best: and he has observed, that when land has been over clayed, long dun^f |ielps it much. Mr. Pitts, of Thorpe Abbots, carts clay marie on to heaps in the summer, to which he carries his yard-dung, turns over thrice, and spreads it for turnips, or wheat, or on young seeds, and he finds tliat on his burning gravels, It answers better than dung alone ; though a second clay- ing on the same land, will do more harm than good. The farmers about South Walsham, &c. mix dung and marie together. This Mr. Syble thinks a bad prac- tise, as the marie will not ^f'or^ in the' land, after it has zvorhd in the dung. Mr. Burton, of Langley, does not approve of over- year muck : the best method, he thinks, is to spread earth over the farm-yard before foddering begins, to let it be late before it is turned up, to turn over the hill once, and in a month after to cart it for turnips. He never mucks /or wheat : but very good to do it for winter tares, in order for having turnips immediately after; in this way he al- ways gets good turnips. "Mr. TiiURTELL docs not approve of ovcr-vear muck; YARD-DUNG. 425 he carts it on to heaps as soon as his turnips are sown, to rest without turning till wiieat-sovving; as all his turnips are manured from Yarmouth. He has accidentally carted long par muck for turnips, to finish a Held, and they were certainly a worse crop: for wheat it may be diiFerent. — Mr. Tki/rtell thinks the winter is the worst time of all for carrying out muck, whether from yards or com- posts ; it sliould be either in sum.mer for turnips, or ia autumn for wheat. He does not wish any of his straw to be eaten ; all trodden into muck. Air. EvERiT, of Caistor, never uses over-year muck : he carts from the yard, late in the spring, forming heaps; in three weeks turns over, and in a fortnight more carts and spreads for turnips : when he has fallen short in quan- tity, he has taken long and fresh dung, and has had as good turnips as after the short. Upon strong land, he has known long fresh dung answer very well : the chief ob- jedtion to it is the difficulty of turning it in. He was much pleased at the idea of the skim coulter. At Hemsby, Mr. Ferrier, &:c, thinks short dung, from being carted to a hill, best ; but no over-year muck. Mr. Ferrier gives fifteen loads per acre to turnips, and six to wheat Mr. Brown, of Thrigby, has carted long stable-muck in March, without any stirring, for turnips, and had as good crops as from hilled short muck; but in such cases gives 15 loads per acre, instead of 12. If the same quan- tity, he thinks the rotten would prove the best. His ob- jeflion to long muck is, the idea that seeds would be carried out which would not vegetate in time for the iioe to destroy then:, such as dpcks and needles ; and these, he imagines, are destroyed by the fcruicntation, when hilled, and for tijis purpose, tlie muck, by all good farmers, i^ thrown JfiS YARD-DUNG. thrown light on to the hills, without carting on to them.— • He never turns them over. Mr. Brown puts no value on the dung made by straw-fed heasts. He has also tried dung collected from commons, and found it of little or no service. He remarked also, that the dung wtiich in long snows has been de])osited by sheep under hedges, has proved of very small use. Mr. Brown, and other good farmers in Fleg, are attentive, in carting out muck, &:c. to make the drivers keep on tl.e head-land till they come to tlie end of the land which is manuring, so as to make each ridge hear its exacSl proportion of damage, if any ; for want of this attention, if the men are left to themselves, they make roads across from the gate, in every direction, to tlie great injury of the crop. Mr. Syele, of South VVaLsham, thinks over-year dung a bad system : he is in the common praclice of the co'jntry, but were he to farm a strong soil, he would carry out long dung dire611y to the land : and on all soils it cannot be too new, if it be in the right state. Mr. Francis, at Martham, no over-year muck, but in manuring for whear, some left was carried on for tur- nips, and there tiie ciop not so good, though perhaps a fuller plan:. He has tried long muck, fresh from the yard, and it does as well as any, hut nor quite so quick a growth for the fiist six wtcks. He has no objciSlion to the prac- tice, but the difficulty of burying it. He likes the idea of the skim coulter. He carts on to heaps, and if the team goes on, always turns the heap. He lays twelve loads per acre for turnips, and likewise eight for wheat. This large manuring, common in these hundreds, depends much en the quantity of marsh and fen land, abounding in all this country, and which commonly yields a great plenty of rough coarse fodder and rushes, for thatch atid Utter. At YARD-DUNG. 42^ At Ludham, 12 loads per acre o^ par dung, common. Mr. HoRNARD often lavs on 20. He carts his muck to lieaps, on moulds, not sufFt*ring the teams to go on to the iiills. Some farmers turn it over. He never keeps it over- year. He lays some on tor wheat, but tor turnips in pre« ference. Mr. Cubit, at Catficld, and others, carry out muck in frostv weather, on to mould heaps, and also when bar- ley sowing is over. He has often carried out long fresh dung for turnips, and the efFedl has been very good, espe- cially if the land has been at a}l strong or wet. The ob- jedtions are, the difncuity of hoeing well, and tlie manuring being unequal, from some yards and parts of yards being better than others ; whereas, in carting to hills, Mr. Cu- bit takes from oxen and stables, alternately, in order that the whole may be mixed and equal, when turned over- Mr. Cubit, at Honing, thinks that for land on a wet bottom, long dung is good for turnips or wheat ; but h? carts on to hills, to have it as sh.ort as possible j for on light land he has known it fail, for turnips, when long. Throughout the hundreds of North and South Erping- ham, the same management prevails ; all cart out and hill, and in general turn over. Mr. Dyele, of Scotter, makes platforms of earth, then a layer of mai'le, and turns over, then adds muck, and turns again, whether for turnips or wheat. Has on many acres carted long fresh stable muck for turnips, ploughing it in at once, and gained fine crops If the season proved wet; but not in a dry time. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, thinks long dung the best for turnips; however, he seldom uses it ; but when he has, the turnips have generally been the best. Carts his (dung on to heaps of marie, and turns over. Mr. Johnson, of '^^Thurning, thinks that muck wastes 42S YARD-DUMG. by keeping to an unprofitable degree, and that the more it is turned over, the worse: lie has tried long muck, fresh from the yard, for turnips, and got as good by it as by any other ; and tiie barley also as good. The difficulty is to get it buried : he has employed boys to tuck it in : he approves much of the idea oi' the skim coulter. Extras of a Letter from yl/r. Johnson. — " Where lands are unkind for turnips, straw may be converted into muck with profit, by feeding the pigs with pease in the yards ; and the muck kind for turnips ; the quality of the muck depends on what the animals is fed wuh ; muck made from turnip-fed beasts is better for grass or wheat, than for turnips : if beasts have nothing but straw and turnips, it is not so kind for turnips as muck made in straw- yards from other food." Mr. England, of Binham, carts his yard-muck or4 to heaps in the winter, and turns up the rest in the yard, to get it rotten for the turnip-seed earth, and thinks it would lose its virtues if carried on long : on strong land it may do, carried on in winter, for turnips, and has done it on such a soil with good effedt. He has no doubt of the superiority of rotten muck for turnips, but is against keeping it over-year, Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, carts his yard-muck on to heaps, and turns them twice, to destroy the seeds of weeds, and the shorter the better, provided it be in a fermenting state: eight load of short are as good as twelve long ; but over-year muck bad, as fermentation in that is over. He ba^tged long and fresh dung, but it has not answered so good a purpose. He lays on all his muck for turnips; none for wlieat. Mr. Reeve is clear that all straw should be trodden ij^o aiuck> and none eaten. He has kept, a large dairy ot cows. YARD-DUNG. 429 COWS, and tliinks them the worst stock that can be on a farm, as turnips are drawn for them, instead of, being fed on the land by sheep ; and more straw is eaten by them, instead of being trodden, than by anv other stock. His expression was, " Ivjouldnot have a mouthful eaten.''* I have observed on many farms, the dung for turnipiS* cither not well turned in, or harrowed out again, and olien recommended the use of the skim coulter. I should ob- serve, however, that on Mr. Coke's farm, his dung was very well tucked in \ whether it would have been the saisie had it been long dung, is a question. Mr. M. Hill remarks, that long muck is best, if lafd' on in November, for turnips the following year; especial- ly on wet cold land: but short and rotten for summer inanuring on the land that has had three earths. The dif- ference, in this case, little in the barley after the turnips, but much in the turnips themselves. The Rev. Dixon Hoste, at Goodwick, prefers short and rotten dung : dunghills for rotting seen in all that country. The quantity per acre generally applied on the sand distridl, north of Swafham, is 10 cart-loads; and every man tills that quantity for a day's work. The price for filling and spreading, is 3d. a load, of large three-horse carts : three men spread ; one to throw our, and two to break to pieces, and shake aboat equally. Mr. Overman desired me to remark a superiority of a part of a field of sainfoin: it was very visible. He could attribute it to nothing but that part of the field hav- ing been dunged twelve years before: the soil a sharp gravel, commonly thought to devour dung quicker than inost other soils. Mr. DuRSGATE carts his muck on to heaps, and xhca turns over: he has tried it long and fresh for lunnps, but likes ^^O VARD-DIJNG- likes short much better: though lOO ioads carried out, be- comes but 60 oil the laml- Mr. Dursgate would not have 3 bullock on his farm, except for treading straw into muck : he would have none eaten. Mr. Styleman, of Sncttisham, carts out his yard- muck on to platforms of marie, turns over, and lays it 011 for turnips. He thinks long muck might do well for strong land. Mr. Saffory, of Downham, turns over the dung in the yard, and tlien carts it for turnips, ploughing in di- rectly. He has seen very long fresh dung spread and ploughed in direflly for turnips, and it has answered well on strong, but not on light land. Some cart out of yards, and mix with mould. Mr. Porter, of Watlington, turns over dunghills, to have the muck short for turnips, not liking long dung at all ; it makes the land scald. Mr. Rogerson, of Narborough, carts earth into his yards previously to foddering, and when it is done, turns it over for turnips. Mr. Priest, of Besthorpe, forms his yard-muck into a heap, and turns over: chuses to have it short : even in this way he has boys to tuck it in. Mr, GoDDisoN, Steward to the Earl of Cholmon- DELEY, at Houghton, considers rotten dung as necessary for wheat on light soils ; and he prefers top-dressing ■wheat crops to ploughing in at seed-time : he also top- folds as much as he can do by Christmas, harrowing both across in the spring : but for turnips he has a high opi- nion of long-muck ; he carries it out of the yard witii- out any stirring over, and ploughs it in for that crop; little harrowing up ; nor does it impede the hoe: it an- swers greatly, and the barley after has been much bet- ter VARD-DUNG. 4gt ter than in any other way, insomuch, that if a fair compa- rative experiment were made, he would bet on long dung against short. Air. E. Scott, at Grimstone, has carted out long; muck from Christmas to Lady-day, and ploughed it ia for turnips, and had none better : nor did he see any dif- ference in the barley, but believes that it does not last quite so long as short. ** Muck from the straw which is trodden only. Is, by some, thought to be better than that from the straw which is eaten by lean stock." A capital farmer much in favour of fatting pigs loose in a littered yard : " What a rare parcel of muck they make, compared witli what neat beasts would have made from the same straw !'* — Mar- shall. Observations. — Many of the preceding remarks are ex- tremely interesting. The negative of so many able and intelligent men against suffering any straw to be eaten, wliich is the common pradlice of the larger part of the kingdom, deserves much attention : and the consequent pradlce they are in of buying oil-cake, often to loss, tliat their straw may be trodden into dung by fatting beasts, is a perfcdtion of management not often met with. In regard to the question of long and short dung, opi- nions are evidently much divided ; and though, in the com- mon method of the county, short dung is preferred, here is enough said upon the merit of that which is used in a long state, to prove that the inquiry deserves more atten- tion than it has met with. Mr. Denton's experiment is remarkable, and the observations, founded on praiSlice, of Messrs. Bradfield, Brown, Syble, Francis, Dyble, Repton, Johnson, and Scott, are all mucli to 432 LITTERlfCG. to the purpose. Comparative experiments, very easy to make, would ascertain this point, which is certainly of considerable importance. A prevailing idea in Norfolk is, that long dung is best for strong land, and short for light soils : the general pra6lice is that of spreading short in all cases. But Mr. Denton's soil is sand*. LITTERING. There Is a singular praiStlce at Yarmouth, which has been common time out of mind, of littering all .stock, such as horses, cows, &c. with sea-sand. A number of Yarmouth one-horse or one-ass carts, are employed to bring sand from the shore for this purpose, and it is done the more largely, that the quantity of muck to sell to the farmers may be the greater. Mr. Thurtell manures all his turnips with this dung, and it is excellent. The sand ought to be ten days or a fortniglit under the horses and cows, being gradually drawn back with hoes, and fresh supplied: many thousand loads are thus made annually; and great quantities are taken into the country by the sail- ing barges called kcsh. Ten large cart-loads per acre are a good dressing, as much as three horses can draw. It sells at 4s. a w.iggon-load in the town, and six of these loads do an acre. Mr. Thurtell brings it all winter long. He observes, however, that it is not durable ; the chief force of it is exhausted in the turnips and following barley.* Mr. EvERiTj ofCaistor, manured a field with par yard-muck for turnips, but falling short two acres, he finished that part with Yarmouth sand-muck: the turnips * Much information on this interesting question, is to be found in many |f%;sages in the AnnaU oj Agrituliure, vere RIVER-MOD. 433 were equally good ; but the barley on those two acres in- ferior to the rest of the field. Mr. Ferrier's horses, at Hemsby, all littered with sand ; and the manure very good. LEAVES. Sir Thomas Beevor, more than 30 years ago, con- stantly swept and raked up all the leaves in his park to use for litter, at the expense of 6d. a load : the success, in add- ing to the farm-yard-dung, great. buiTning stubbles. 1 found many oat-stubbles in the new enclosure of Marshland Smeeth burning, ready to put in wheat or cole for seed : the crops had been immense in straw, and reaped, and the land quite black with the ashes ; but many par- tially and badly done, not half burnt. Mr. John This- TLETON, of Walpole, had burnt his completely : I saw the fire spread over several in an unbroken moving wall of flame, and must be to the utter destru6lion of many insedls, and all grubs and slugs not buried in the earth. Where stubbles are stout it must be excellent husbandry, and will remind the reader of burning straw in Lincolnshire as a manure for turnips. — fSee my Linccln Report ) Mr. Porter, of Watlington, has burnt oat-stubbles for sowing wheat, with much success: is now threshing 10 coombs an acre of wheat thus gained. Harrows fine after ;he burning : dibbles if strong land ; drills if light. RIVER-MUD. Mr. Palgp.ave, at Coltishal, has used moory-mud, from ihe bottom of the river, mixed with lime and marie, F f and 434 PARING AND BURNING. and spread upon the sandy uplands, and it produced a pro- fusion of weeds, especiallv pcrskaria. Mr. Birch AM has used ilic silt out of die brook at Reepham, for a moory meadow : it killed the rushes, and covered the land with white clover. TOWN MANURE. Mr. Reeves, of Hcvcringland, for five or six years kept one or two teams almost constantly at work bringing manure from Norwich, at the distance of eight miles, lay- ing eight loads per acre : the expense heavy, but he thought it answered while the price was 4s. or 5s. for good stuff ; but the price rose, and the manure became adulterated. Mr, Beck, of Castle Riseing, for seven years kept a team constantly at work, bringing Lynn muck. SECT. IV. — PARING AND BURNING, Mr. Drake, of Billingford, broke up a rough coarse pas- ture ; the soil poor, wet and hungry, on brick-earth, worth scarcely any thing, from the kind and state of its herbage ; by paring and burning, at the expense of 2I. 12s. 6d. per acre ; he then ploughed it as shallow as possible, hardly more *han aa inch and half deep, and dibbled in oats, covering the seed with a very light harrow, bushed: the crop, which I viewed, very great indeed ; it varied in parts of the field, but the produce must be ciglit or nine quarters per acre. He proposes to plough tiie furrow back in the spring a Utile deeper, and dibble oats again ; then to work it well for barley, laying down and claying on the layer. I remonstrated against these crops, but he urged the ne- cessity of the flag (as he calls it, though pared) rotting, and EMBANKING. 435 and the tillage for barley, mixing the ashes well with the soil: as it is very thin skinned land, he will lay 80 loads per acre. He has hollow-drained part, and intends the rest. On another piece of the same soil he has got turnips for the first crop. His oats, however, are worth at least 61. or 7I. per acre more than the turnips. jMr. VVynearls, near iMarham, on a common being enclosed, pared and burnt 200 acres for turnips and cole- seed. SECT. V. — EMBANKING. The tra6lof land in Norfolk, between the rivers Wyne and Ouze, called Marshland, is one of the richest distridls in the kingdom. It spreads also into Lincolnshire, and forms altogether by far the largest salt-marsh we have. As the sea still retires from this coast, it is easy to perceive in what manner all this country has been the gift of that overwhelming element, which in other places encroaches so severely, and is, at high tides, restrained even here with so much difficulty. 7'he soil of the whole is the subsidence of a muddy water, with a considerable portion of what the waves, powerful in their agitation, wash from the bottom of the adjoining gulph, which forms the embouchure of two considerable rivers. It is a mixture of sea-sand and mud, which is of so argillaceous a quality, that the surface of it which covers the santl, gives it the common acceptation of a strong clay country. Is its extraordinary fertility at all owing to the marine acid, with which every particle is impregnated? That cause has every where on the coasts F f 2 »f 43"^ IMEANKING. of every pnrt of these islands, as well as other countries, some effect, if the sea leaves only a running sand, the saline particles are soon washed away or exhaled ; the land may be barren, though never in tlie degree of vulgar con- ception. But when the sand is mixed with, or covered by a more retentive substance, such as an argillaceous or cal- careousearth, then (he particles, whether saline or mucila- ginous, are retained, and the surface classes amongst, or rather is at the head of all, fertile soils. I observed that the whole country has been a present from the ocean : this is ol)vious from numerous appear- ances ; but those who wish to know its history particu- larly, should consult Dugdale. I may remark, that there are ranges of banks at a distance from each other, which shew the progressive advances which industry has efl-'edled, eager to seize the trads which so dreaded an enemy relinquishes. One of these banks is called the Roman, which naturally brings to our mind the vast exer- tions which that people made in agriculture, wherever their victorious eagles flew. The distance of this bank from the shore, it it really is Roman, and not a misnomer, is not so great as it would have been, liad the sea in all ages been as liberal as it is in this. It probably varies considerably in this respedl in different periods : at present it retires very rapidly, so that though Count Bentinck's embankment has been finished but a few y«ars, there will be, in twenty years, a thousand acres more ready to be taken in, belonging to Mr. Bentinck, the present pos- sessor. The mud deposited by the sea, is at first, and for some years, bare of all vegetation : the first plant that appears is the marsh samphire ; by degrees grasses rise, which, from their appearance ai the time I viewed them (06lober), and eaten close down by cattle, seemed to be the common ones of EMBANKING. 437 of the improved salt-marsh, but not the cliadelphia family, which come afterwards. Long before it is raised enough by successive deposits of mud from high tides, it lets to the farmers of the con- tiguous improvement for 5s. per acre ; some years since at 2s. 6 J. Broken as it is by holes and little creeks of water, it lets, immediately after embanking, at from 20s. per acre ; a few years ago to 40s. ; and 42s. at present. I observed one or two pieces within Count Bentinck's new bank, that were left in that rate \^:r cattle, but in general they were under the plough, and the grass-fields laid down after a course of tillage. The business of embanking to take in a new piece of marsh, is done sometimes at the expense of the farmers, who make the bank, to have tlic land rent-free for 21 years. Adjoining to the Bentinck improvement, is a piece of 80 acres thus taken, but the bank very ill made, at no greater expense than 40s. a rod. Those constru61ed by landlords, were deficient in not having slope enough given towards the wafer. Count Bentinck laid out his upon a scale never practised liere before ; and his son, the present pos- sessor, has far exceeded it. The former extends about four miles, and added to his old estate, lOQO acres. The base of the bank is about 50 feet. The slope to the sea, 36 feet, forming an angle, as 1 guess from my eye, of 25 or 30 degrees. The crown is four feet wide, and the slope to the fields, 17 feet, in an angle, I guess, of 50 de- grees; the slope to the sea, verv nicely turfed. I^iie first expense of this bank was 4I. per rod, but a very high tide coming before it was finislied, not only made several breaches, but occasioned an additional heiglit and sJape to be given to several parts, to bring it to the above dimen- sions, all which made the gross expense about 5I. a rod. The whole cost something above 500^!. X he expense of F f 3 the 43^ EMEANKIXG. tlie buildings, nnd other things, amounted to as much more, for five new farms, with houses, barns, and all ne- cessary offices, were immediately raised ; this was, how- ever, going to a greater expense than necessary, for the land would have let as well in two or three farms, as it did in five. Calculating the expense at io,OOo!. and the new rental at loool. a year, it is just ten per cent, for the capital. The expenses certainly ran too high ; for the value of the marsh, at 2?. 6d. an acre before embanking, reduces it to less than nine per cent. ; after which, there is still to be deducted, the almost periodical repairs, which remarkably high tides still occasion, and which may be averaged at once in ten years. So that wjien we considev it not as a purchase of a new estate, but an agricultural im- provement of a waste, the profit is not equal to what might be made on other species of waste lands. This is probably owing to the husbandry of these stiff wet soils being very ill understood, and managed in a man- ner that is reprehensible in almost every particular. Instead of a system of miserable tillage, with weeds the chief signs of fertility, the plough ought to be introduced only as a preparation for the most perfcdl grass system that can be devised. These lands, when well laid down, will fatten the largest bullocks and sheep in England, which is the right employment of them ; and in which application they would be better worth 30s. than in their present state 20s. Hence it should be an improving land- lord's business to farm the marsh till he got it to a very fine grass, laid down himself, for 1 scarcely ever saw a tenant that would do that well. Ray-grass, and the weedy rub- bish of a loft, which he calls hay-Seeds, with, perhaps, some common clover, are what he has recourse to ; and, under such management, the wonder is, that he ever gets a pasture worth even 20s. In all improvements, where the^ EMBANKING. 439 tire previous steps are very expensive, like embanking a marsh, draining a bog, &c. it is essential to profit, that the land be advanced to the higliest perfe6tion. possible, as those preparations to culture cost no more for a great thaa a small rental. Count Bentinck liad one idea in tlie execution of his work, which had considerable merit ; he planned a navi- gation from a quay to each of his tarms, over the whole estate, by a large ditch capable of admitting long-boats, some of which he aiSlually built ready for the business: by this means the farmers would be able to carry their corn, or bring manure from Lynn, if they chose to do it, with- out the least land-carriage ; but his death, which was oc- casioned by too assiduous an attention to building the bank, living in a tent, in a bad season, and aguish situation, without the precautions of adapting his diet to those cir- cumstances—pi evented the execution. One circumstance ot toily in his neighbours, prevented the improvement from being so considerable as th-j CcJnt had planned. At thefurdier extremity, towards the "W is- beach river, there -s a common belonging to the parish of Terrington, to which the sea, by retiring, makes addi- tions similar to those by which individuals have profited. A continuation of his bank, iri nearly a rigiit line to the Wisbeach river, would have taken in about 500 acres of that conimon. Mr. Bentinck applied :c< :he parish for their consent to do it, which would have been the nvrans of shortening his bank. Though several Indivifiuals would have been glad of making use of so favourable an opportu- nity,the body refused their consent. They were even so pre- posterous in their opposition, that v\'heti he nuerwards of- fered to be at the sole expense, provided they would give lilm a lease of 21 years of the land recovered, they still n - fused it. Upon which, he was obliged to follow (!v. n- Ff4 rci^jiar 440 EMBANKING, regular outline of his own property. The motive of the parish for refusing their consent to a proposal so advanta- geous to themselves, arose from this circumstance. It is of great extent ; the proprietors adjoining the common, make, at i)resent, nearly the whole advantage of it ; but wiien embanked and let, those at a distance would come in for their share, a jealousy of which, occasioned the failure of the scheme.* The spirit and unlimited attention, even to the loss of his life, with vvhicli Count Bentinck planned and exe- cuted tliis great work, ought to render his memory dear to every lover of agriculture. His adtive mind had taken a strong and most useful turn towards that art ; apparent, not only in this great and successful projccfl, but in the original invention of an admirable maciiine for drawing up trees by the root, which executed that difficult work with expe- dition and cheapness. — Minute^ in 1784. AVzy Embankment, — The men were paid 4s. 6d. a floor of 400 cubical feet, but they find wheeling planks, bar- rows, trussels, Sec. &c. When formed, the fiont slope is sodded, for which they are paid 4s, a floor of 400 square feet, earning from 5s. 6d. to 7s. a day. And some small expense follows for beating it firmly down. Tlic whole expense of bank, sluice, and all, 3300I. The quantity of land taken in, 273 acres of marsh, and 18 of bank. The previous value absolutely nothing ; now, Mr. Ad a it- land, steward to Governor Bentinck, was at once of- fered 4I. an acre for four years ; or 3I. an acre for six years. Ihe former amounts to 4368I. in four years, or the whole expense, and 1000 guineas over. Some build- ings, however, in this case, to be ere61ed : tlie Governor * This traft has been since embanked, and allotted by adt of parliament, passed in 1790. 1st BMBANKING, 44J kt it to his old tenants at 40s. an acre, without any ex- pense of building, a permanent rent, and under restri61ions in cropping: confined to cole-seed and corn ; of which, to take seven crops, laying down to grass with the seventh, to remain seven or fourteen years, and when broken up, to lay down an equal quantity of their old farms. This, iarter." At that time these were thought extraordinary circumstances. 1784, with one of the finest flocks in Norfolk, Mr. Coke is not so devoted to the black-face and leg as to he- sitate at any experiment calculated to compare it with another breed. He purchased a number of Leicester ewes of Mr. Walker's breed, to whom he put one of Mr. Bakewell's tups : he is v^-ell satisfied of the advan- tnec attending; this breed. Mr. Coke's flock of 160 New Leicester ewes, pro- duced in i8q2, 100 lambs ; his flock of 630 South Downs produced 830 lambs living in June. The same farm yields a most interesting comparison between Nor- KORFOLK.] eg folks 450 . BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. folks and South Downs : his former flock was 800 Nor- folks, SELLING all the ■produce : he planted 700 acres, and now has 800 South Downs, keeping a// the pro^ duce. Mr. Coke's New Leicester hogs and theaves produced 81b. of wool each in 1802, yet they had been hard kept on seeds fed very bare. Of all the crosses of sheep Mr. Coke has tried, none strikes him so much as that of a New Leicester tup and a Norfolk ewe : the change is almost total, to a degree that is extraordinary indeed. I viewed the hoggits of this cross, and found them enveloped in about 71b. of long wool ; no horns ; faces, some white ; and the form sur- prizingly improved. — (Note, some years back). In 1803 I found his opinion changed, from much expe- rience ; so that he prefers the cross of a South Down ram on a Norfolk ewe to that of a Leicester ram. Mr. Hoste has had the same cross, and they come to 321b. a quarter, at two- shear. He put a Norfolk tup and a Bakewell tup at the same time to the same parcel of Norfolk ewes, and at Sc. Ive's fair sold the lambs fat at six or seven months old, and the Bakewells brought just double the price of the Norfolks. Mr. Coke, in April 1799, sending Norfolk, South Down, and New Leicester three-shear wethers to Smith- field, that had been fed together, the return : £. s. d. Average per head, Norfolks - - - _ ^ o o Leicesters ----------42 2 South Downs ---------372 Ditto, fleeces included, the others being in their coats ---------3 15 3 And in May following above 100 going, the South Downs beat the new Leicesters by 2s. a head. Mr. Money Hill, at Waterden, with about 500 acres less BREEDS, CROSSES, SCC. 451 less land than at present, kept 27 score breeding Norfolk ewes, and sold the produce of lambs : now he has 35 score South Down ewes, and keeps their produce, selling his wool at 5s. a tod more tlian the Norfolk. In 1798, Mr. Money Hill sold a flock of Norfolks, reckoned a very fine one, and they brought 34I. los. a score, on the average. The next day he went to the South Downs, and bought 1000 ewes, at 31I. a score home : he culled 200 that were rather coarse-woolled be- hind, or not well made, which he sold for 400I. to a neighbour. In 1799 he lett one tup for lol. los. In 1800 he lett five at 5I. 5s. and eight at il. lis. 6d. In iBoi he lett twelve for 237I. and one to various persons, sending 60 ewes, at los. 6d. each, besides 40 of his own, being in all 50 guineas for one. In 1802 he lett ten for 254I. 3s. His mode of letting is by a table of the number and price at which they are put up at auction. In 1802 he sold 157 culled ewes for 368I. Mr. Hill estimates the difference of stocking between Norfolks and South Downs, at one-third in favour of the latter, in number, in better condition, and of greater weight both in wool and carcass ; all fairly attributable to the superiority of the breed, and free from any change of lessening cattle, &c. V/ben his flock was of Norfolks, scarcely one in a score had a whole fleece; but now they are South Downs, scarcely one itl a score is broken. His flock at Midsummer : 700 breeding ewes, 660 lambs, 45 rams. The wethers are grazed oflP in the spring, the last lot going before the ewes lamb ; such as are short of shear- lings go in their wool : culled ewes are sold in July, one, two, and three years old. Crones fed and killed in har- vest. Mr. Hill thinks that South Down stock-sheep and hoggiis are generally shorn three weeks too soon, when later there is more wool and better dipt: common G g 2 time 452 BREEDS,' CROSSES, &C. time about the 20th of June ; would be better the loth of July. In 1801 he gained the prize, a silver ladle, for the best South Down mm shewn at Swafham, given by the West Norfolk Agricultural Society. Mr. Blythe, of Burnham, had, four years ago, a flock of between 5 and 600 Norfoiks: he has now 1000 South Downs on the same land. Mr. Blythe has double the wool from his land, stock- ed with South Downs, to what he clipped when under Norfoiks. March 27, 1799. Mr. Overman took from turnips 24 two-year old Norfolk wethers, and 10 South Downs of the same age, having always lived together from the time they were lambed, and two hours afterwards weighed as follows : St. lb. St. lb. oz. 24 Norfolk, from the field, 264 7I average 1 1 i 15 Do. after fasting 28 hours, 257 13 10 10 7 Difference, 10 S. Downs, from the field, 109 4 Do. afcer fasting 28 hours, 106 2 Difference, One of each lot slaughtered ; NORFOLK. St. lb. IVIutton, - 6 10 at 6d. Tallow, - 1 2| at 5d. Head and pluck, o lof Skin, - o 9-I 5 8 average 10 13 10 8 4 7 Wool, o ^i at I7d. £-270 o 6 lof 009 010 054 £-3 o "i- Blood, BREEDS, CROSSES, &C, 4« Blood, « St. lb. o 6i Entrails, - O 11 Loss, r'eight. o o| Live \^ lO I2f SOUTH DOWN. St. lb. I\'Iutton, - 6 8| at6d. £'^ 6 3 Tallow, Head and pluck. o 13I at 5d. 0 10 0 0 5 0 11 9 Skin, - 0 10 0 I 0 Wool, 0 7f at 18J. 0 II n ^ £-3 4 lOf Blood, Entrails, Loss, 0 0 0 7 II of Live weiglir, 10 12 Norfolk, Dov^'n superior by 3 o "I £•0 3 II These Norfolk sheeep losing lib. loz. more of their respeftive weight (taken full and empty), is a strong cir* cumstance against them. The Downs are run much thicker on ihe land than the Norfolks. Mr. Overman's 600 South Down ewes have this year (1802), 645 lambs. Mr. PuRDis, of Eggmore, in November 1801, on a farm of 1900 acres, had 70 score fatting sheep, 20 scoce South Down ewes and their lambs, and 15 score Leices- ter ewes and their lambs ; in all very near 3000. About e g 3 one 454 BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. one and a half per acre on a corn farm ! full double the ratio of black-face stocking. South Downs, in the Holkham distrlft, i8lb. a quarter, two-shear ; and Norfolk about the same : Mr. CoKE 2olb. Fleece, South Down, three and a half on an average. Norfolk, before, on the same land, one and three- quarters. Mr. Long, of Cranworth, bought in wether hoggits at 35s. clipped them twice, and sold all at 4I. without any- refuse. Seventeen years ago, being at Mr. Bakewell's, he mentioned to me the curious ciicumstance that Norfolk mutton would not keep so long as South Down, on the authority of the butcher of Eton College ; I immediately desired my late brother, then Fellow of Eton, to apply to the butcher for particular information, and his own ac- count was as follows :* " The Norfolk mutton certainly will taint sooner than any in very hot weather ; neither is there any sort (that I know) of a worse flavour at that time, though inferior to none in cool weather. Many very fine and fat Norfolks do not please on the table. The fat often runs away in roasting, if they are laid to a hot fire ; and they rarely are so sweet as the South Downs. The latter are in hot wea- ther, worth a halfpenny a pound more than the Norfolks. ** When both are completely htted, it is hard to say (supposing the season cool) which, upon an average, is fattest: the flavour too, in such a season, I think is equal; and as to coarse meat, there is none in either sort. But if they are killed in cool weather, before they are very fat, the preference must be given to the Norfolks, because the * I printed this paper in the sixth volume of the ATrnals of Agriculture, but as it is a- very curious decision relative to Norfolk, sheep, I insert it here. meat BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. 455 meat will In that case eat better, and there is a probabi- lity of much more fat within. " With resped to profit to the feeder, if they are fed entirely with grass, and upon good land, my opinion is decidedly in favour of South Downs; or if they eat tur- nips in the winter, and after that are kept two or three months upon grass in the spring, it is the same. But if they are half fat against winter, and are to be completed at turnips, I believe no sheep are more profitable than Norfolks, perhaps none so much so. But both sorts should be kept where there is both turnip and grass-land, " J9HN VYSE, butcher, Eton College.'* Mr. Bake WELL observed upon this account, that the Norfolk mutton not keeping, connefls very much with the quantity, and perhnps the colour of the gravy. In all sorts of meat, that which is chosen for gravy, and which adlually abounds with it most is the lean ; and the freer from fat the better. That loose texture which is implied by the very circumstance of being full of gravy, is the cause of the meat tainting so soon, by the admission of air. To this account there is one collateral circumstance to be named : the Wiltshire sheep have proved in various trials an unprofitable breed, as well as the Norfolks j but it is remarkable that for turnips, no sheep are said, by many pradlical and experienced husbandmen, to pay better, if so well. In Hertfordshire many who turnip-feed adhere to that breed, who admit the South Downs to be a superior sort for grass-feeding. I cannot but conceive that this whole comparative inquiry into the particular merits and demerits of the breeds of sheep, is yet in its infancy : certain important fadls are gained; but when they arc combined, and the causes to be assigned, we are still in great want of further observation and experiment. c g 4 Mr. 45^ BREEUS, CROSSES, ict. Mr. Bakevvell, on the same occasion^ gavr as his opinion, that there is no comparison between the Norfolks and South Downs ; that the latter are much better for any kind of food, for folding, or for any purpose, than the for* mer, except the flavour of tiie mutton. Mr. Samuel Thorn, at Kimberly, buys weiher lambs in August, at I2s. or 14s. ; keeps them highly ; ■winter-feeds on turnips ; tlicn on clover ; turnips a second time ; and sells, six weeks after Christmas, at 36s. each : 1791. This was mentioned as a profitable system with Norfolks; but if wool makes the profit 25s. they do not pay above ^d. a week. Experiment by Mr. Grow. — '^ About Michaelmas I put ten Norfolk, ten Leicestershire, and ten South Down •wether hoggit lambs to turnips, that they might learn to eat them readily, and let them remain together till the 6th of November, when the ten Leicestershire, the ten South Down, and nine of the Norfolk (one having died) were numbered, weigiied, and put each sort by themselves, into three pieces of wheat stubble, of one acre each, separated by hurdles, and I provided at the same time three other pieces of the like size, and separated in the same manner, to shift them into. They were fed upon turnips, topped, and tailed, measured to them in bushel skeps, with great cxa(5lness, from that time till the 14th March, and thei) i^'eighed again. I-EICES- BREEDS, CROSSES^ &C. 457 LEICESTERSHIRE. Weight of each sheep, 6th W eight of each sheep. Novem^^er. 14th March. No. Stone. Lbs. Ozs. No. Stone. Lbs. Ozs. I. 4 13 4 I. 7 0 8 2. 5 4 4 2. 6 9 0 3- 5 . 5 0 3- 7 7 8 4- 5 7 8 4- 6 12 8 5- 5 8 0 5- 6 12 0 6. 5 9 0 6. 7 6 0 7- 5 10 4 7- 7 2 8 8. 6 0 0 8. 7 9 0 9- 6 2 8 9- 7 8 8 JO. 6 4 0 10. 8 I 0 Average weight 6th of November, about 551. gib, •20Z. each. Average weight, 14th of March, about 7st. 41b. I oz. each. Average increase of weight in eighteen weeks two days, about I St. 8 lb. 140Z, each. SOUTH DOWN. Weight of each sheep, 6th of November. No. Stone. Lbs. Ozs. I. 4 13 0 2- 5 0 0 3- 5 I 8 4. 5 2 12 5- 5 4 12 6. 5 5 12 7- 5 7 0 8. 5 7 0 9- 5 7 4 10. 5 8 8 Average v^'eight , 6th of November, about 5st. 41b. 5|oz. Weiglit of each sheep, 14th of March. No, I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Average weight, 14 th of March, about 6st. lalb. 7 oz. each. Average increase of weight, in eighteen weeks two days, about ist. 81b. i| oz. each. NORFOLK. Stone. Lbs. Ozs. 6 »3 12 6 11 8 6 13 8 7 2 0 6 9 4 6 12 0 7 2 0 6 10 8 7 3 8 7 0 8 458 BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. NORFOLK. w eight of each sheep, 6th We ght of each sheep, of November. 14th 0 f March. No , Stone. Lbs. Ozs. No. Stone; Lbs. Ozs. 1. 648 I. 8 2 0 2. 660 2. 10 8 3- 664 3' 4 0 4- 6 6 8 4- 5 8 5- 670 5- II 8 6. 6 8 12 6. 9 0 7- 6 11 8 7- 8 2 0 8. 6 12 8 8. 8 0 0 9 720 9. 8 9 8 A.verage weight, 6th of A verage weight, 14th Nc >vember, about 6st. 81b. of March, about 7st. i2lb. 90 z. each. 40Z each. Average increase of weight, in eighteen weeks two days, about I St. 31b. 11 oz. each. Quantity ate in eighteen weeks two days : The ten Leicestershire ate 588 bushels of turnips. The ten South Down ate 589 bushels of turnips. The nine Norfolk ate 607 bushels of turnips. The ofFal turnips were, at different times, collected, measured, anddedu(Sled from the account of the quantities given to them. If nine Norfolk consumed 607 bushels, ten would, in the same proportion, have consumed above 674 bushels, or 85 bushels more than the South Down, and 86 bushels more than the Leicesters. The Norfolk and South Down are about the same age ; Leicestershire about six weeks younger. I should BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. ^rg I should have observed, they were both times weighed, after having stood some time in pens to empty themselves. The Leicestershire and Norfolk were bred bv Mr. Coke, of Holkham ; the South Down by Mr. Ell man, of Glynd ; and as they were all picked out for the pur- pose, I doubt not but you will allow they are prime stock of their kinds. The Norfolk were chosen out of about 700 lambs ; the Leicestershire and South Downs, out of about 100 each. South Downs are coming in about Watton: it is no sheep country ; but on the commons Mr. Robinson- shewed me his own little flock, bought of Mr. Brad- field, of Knattishail, who parted vvith them because he thought they would not do for ling walks. A Gentleman remarked on the Norfolk breed, that their pelts were more valuable than any other, being worth 4I. 4s. a dozen (1791) to the London butchers, owing to the singular quality of being separable into three flakes, or skins. Mr. Wright, of Stanhow, an excellent farmer, and very attentive to his flock, kept on 800 acres of very good land, four hundred breeding Norfolk ewes, 80 or lOO of which went to his marsh (exclusive of 800) in the spring, and stayed till after Michaelmas; three hundred ewes in summer ; one hundred hoggits ditto, on the marsh in win- ter. Little more than one-half a sheep per acre. Never sold wether lambs higher than i6s. — (Note^ some years past). Mr. Salter, of Winborough, keeps only Norfolks; whatever success may attend other breeds on dry land, he is sure they would not do with him : they would viot travel through the mud oi his gateways. In 460 BREEDS, CROSSES, Acc. In 1792, I found a South Down flock, of 30 score, on Mr. Bevan's farm, and having a flock of Norfolks on an adjoining farm at Knattishall, he had an opportunity of comparing the wool exadtly : 34 score of Norfolks produced 43 tod at 281b. ; and 34 score of South Downs produced 61 tod; which 61, kept till November, became 64, but the summer very wet. South Down - - 17081b. Norfolk - - - 12041b. Superiority, just i lb. each - 5041b. In 1 79 1, the shepherd would not let his own Norfolk ewes take the South Down ram; but in 1792, he was ready enough. He said, they would eat harder than the Norfolks ; and would eat what the Norfolks would not: that they are more quiet and obedient than the Norfolks ; so that he has done with them what he could not do with the Norfolks ; fold them almost to an inch without hurdles. A neighbouring farmer bought three rams of Mr. ^is.^ VAN, at 5I. 5s. each ; but afterwards repenting, because they would stdm Jiisjlock, Mr. Sevan offered him 6d. a head, for all their lambs, more than he sold his Norfolks for, in the same flock, at Ipswicli fair. The offer was accepted ; the price proved 6s. 3d. for the ewe lambs, and OS. for the wethers. Mr. Be van re-sold the ewes for 9s. and the wethers for 10s. 6d. or 2s. lid. a head in favour of the half-breds. When his dieep were Norfolks, he kept 500; but in 1794, he had 960 South Downs. Produce BREEDS, CROS.SES, &C. 461 Produce of 116 ewe lamb?, bred by Mr. Bevan, a( Riddlesworth, 17^2 : £' s. d. Wool, 12 tod 1 61b. 26 8 0 48 Lambs, sold for 32 2 0 5 Ram lambs, ditto 8 8 0 6 Refuse ditto 2 10 0 7 Refuse shearlings, ditto - 5 10 0 10 Good d .itto 10 10 0 1 Ditto . I 0 0 87 Ditto ' 91 7 0 105 £•^11 15 0 9 Died Cost SI H 0 2 Dunt 116 Adual profit ;£'.I20 i O Mr. Bevan was early in trying South Down sheep, but finding them tender at lambing, went into a new Lei- cester cross : these he abandoned, and got back to South Downs, but still esteems them a tender breed, and that they ought to have yards sheltered and littered for lambing in bad weather; remarking, that all the farmers he knows on the South Downs, have these yards for that purpose. Mr. Drake, of Eillingford, buys ewe-lambs in Au- gust, selling them that time twelvemonth, folding the ■whole year ; a great improvement on his hot gravelly lands : wool included, he more than doubles his money. Mr. Hart, of ElUingfold, all South Downs, except a few Leicesters. He and Mr. Bloomfield were gone, when T called, to Mr. ScR ace's sale in Sussex. Loddon and Clavering hundreds are no sheep coun- tries ; there are a few, and South Downs and Leicesters have been creeping in. In Flcg one scarcely sees any sheep : I was told that Mr. Christmas, at Billocby, has some Norfolk ewes, but the number inconsiderable. Bullocks ths general stock. 'Jhi? 462 BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. This year (1802), there were but two pens of Nor- folk lambs at a fair in this neighbourhood ; not many years since there were no others : at present chiefly half-bred. Mr. Petre, of Westwick, keeps 17 score in a coun- try where flocks are not common ; he has some South Downs but more Norfolks. Mr. Repton, at Oxnead, keeps fifty breeding ewes of the New Leicester kind, which answer greatly : Nor- folks are so mischievous to fences, that he does not like to have any thing to do with them. Mr. Reeves, of Heveringland, buys in lambs, and sells them shearlings from the fold. Tried half-bred South Downs from Mr. Dursgate, which paid him better than Norfolks, and he likes them so much better, as to intend continuing to buy this sort in preference. Mr. Birch AM, at Hackford, declares against having any favourites ; he has generally bought Norfolks, and half- bred lambs ; some few South Downs, but they did not an- swer : has had some Leicesters : any sort he can get worth his money. Little farmers who keep a few sheep, find the polled breeds very convenient from their quietness, and therefore prefer them. Norfolk lambs bred near Cro- mer, were bought by Mr. G. Jones at 14s. were run on stubbles in the autumn, and put to turnips at Christmas, then to layers of the first year, probably as the best food for sheep, and sold shearling wethers at Michaelmas at 55s. each ; 20 to 241b. a quarter. Colonel BuLLER, at Haydon, is convinced that Nor- folks answer better than South Downs : shearlings come sometimes to 20 and 251b. a quarter, and have had I9|lb. of tallow ; he has a breeding flock of 400 : sold his wether lambs at 26s. and his ewe lambs at 24s. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, has 40 score of South Downs, which he has been rearing these six years, hav- ing bought many ewes and got good tups. He has, how- ever, BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. a^Z ever, a good opinion of Norfolks, and will not be sur- prized to see them come into fashion again. In May 1792, he sold two shear Norfolks at Smithfield, for 3I. each. He admits their rambling disposition, which is much against them ; and he is clear that he cannot keep so many on his farm as of South Downs. The South Down wool is not, on good keep, so good as Norfolk wool, but the fleece is heavier. Five years ago lie got a lot of York- shires from the Wolds, white faces, polled, and the wool very coarse, but they throve wondertully ; never having had any sheep that did better, insomuch, that he was sorry when he parted with them. Norfolks, he thinks, will bear folding better than South Downs. The latter will, however, come to hand rather sooner, but not on ling : has had three shear South Downs of 281b. a quarter. Mr. jfohnson, shall you go back to Norfolks P — " Certainly not, for my lands lie wide." I like this discriminating attention ; it is a sign of accurate observation, and the balance is enough in favour of South Downs. Mr. England, of Binham, got South Downs last year, and approves what he has seen of them : he thinks they may be run thicker on the land ; and if as much pro- fit is gained from five as from four, it is a better system. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, keeps only Leicesters: while he was in the Norfolk breed, his flock was 18 score breeding ewes: he has now 10 score Leicester ewes, and all their produce, amounting in the whole to never less than from 28 to 30 score, lambs included ; but the ac- count taken at any time of the year, the amount is 10 score more in number. He has had this breed six years, and prefers them to South Downs. Mr. Reeve's account is, however, candid, for he admits that they arc apt to go barren ; and the highest bred, tlie most so ; clips 6 lb. on an average, ewe and hog : his Norfolk ewes 12 to 14 to 464 BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. to a to(l. He Ictts from 35 to 40 tups annually, at from five to ten guineas, and a few from filteen to twenty. Mr. H. Blythe, of Burnham, has been for three years entirely in the South Downs; clips lOOO; a stock greater than ever he kept of Norfolks, the comparison fairlv made: his flock averaged 3|lb. of wool this year; his Norfolks never exceeding zflb. Mr. DuRSGATE has had South Downs six years, and is clear that, free from all change in husbandry, or other circumstance that would unfairly afFctSl the comparison, the number kept, compared with Norfolks, has been as five to four. The carcasses as heavy as the Norfolks; more •wool, and at a better price. He does not fold ; but the South Downs would bear it better than the Norfolks. At Palsgrave, he folds the South Downs, because there is a sheep-walk — a Norfolk flock changing gradually to South Downs. Mr. RisHTON, at Thornham, South Downs, and ap- proved very greatly of the breed ; from 250 acres of land, sold off^ a thousand pounds worth on quitting the farm. Mr. DoDMAN, at Thornham, South Downs. Mr. Styleman, at Snettisham, keeps 2000 of various breeds. South Downs, New Leicesters, and half and half; in number considerably more than when, on the same land, he kept Norfolks : his farm may, and probably does, produce more sheep-food than it did at that time ; but he is perfeflly clear in the great superiority of the number, this circumstance dedudted, and that the profit is consi- derably greater. Clear also in the sr.p rrior hardiness and kindliness of feeding of the new breeds. Of all cross breeds, he thinks the first cross of the Leicester tup on the Norfolk ewe the best, and that wool now (1802) sells at 46s. a tod ; fleeces 41b. Mr. GoDDisoN folds Lord Cholmondeley's flock of BREEDS, GROSSES, &CC. 465 «Sif Norfolk and South Down, all the year, except while in turnips; and Mr. Eeck, at Massingham, wlio has 35 score South Downs, folds tlicni as regularly as any Norfolks. At Hillingdon, all either Norfolks or half-breds, a Leicester tup on a Norfolk ewe. Captain Beacher thinks there are no sheep in the island which the Leicester will not improve. He has grazed many Wiltshires, and thinks them the best of all for cole-grazing in the fens. Mr. Beck, of Castle Riseing, has had South Downs 13 vears, beginning with some from Mr. Tyrrels, of Lamport, and has imported three or four times since. He has now 8co, and is quite convinced of their superiority to Norfolks: when he was in that breed he had not half the number; but after abating fully for improved hus- bandry, and every other circumstance, he is clear that theie is a superiority of four to three. His fences are and must be bad, and in such a farm quietness is a vast objefi : his farm 486 acres. He gained the first prize for ewes both the last and this year at Svvafham, and also at Holkham. I examined his flock attentively, and it cer- tainly is a very beautiful one. His wool now averages eight to a tod, equally of hogs and ewes: his Norfolks todded twelve : he is clear that, take the country through, they average half as much again as Norfolks. Before he took the farm there were 50 sheep on it, and a dairy of cows. What an impro\ement I In the vicinity of Downham are found all sorts of breeds: to^vards the river, Lincoiqs and Leicesters; higher up, Norfolks and Sautji Downs. Mr. Saffor.y likes the South Downs best, but thinks that if as much care and attention had been exerted to improve the breed of Norfolks as the South Downs have experienced, they would by this time have been a very different sheep. Nor- NORI OIK,] ii h folk 466 BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. folk tliree-shear wethers sold, in April last, at St. Ives, at 4I. 4s. to 4I. 10s. each. Mr. PoRTEK, of Watlington, keeps Leicesters, which he obtained from Mr. Fasset,^ Mr. Creasy, of Down- ham, and Mr. Wilcox, of West Walton, near Wis- beach. Letts tups himself, from 7I. 7s. to lol. lOs. : this year to the amount of 330I. Mr. Martin, of Tottenhill, keeps half-breds: Lei- cester tups on Norfolk ewes : sold lambs in 1801, at 27I. a score ; this year his shepherd sold at 22\. both ewes and wethers. His flock is subjeiSl to the rickets. He has much black sand ; but unwilling to attribute the malady to soil, as this year he had not 10 ; but last year 12O; and all circumstances of land and food the same. It attacks the lambs at six or eight weeks old. Mr. RoGERsoN, of Narborough, keeps 700 Norfolk ewes on 1200 acres, which he covers with Leicester tups. Mr. Twist, ofBretenham, keeps 60 score of breeding Norfolk ewes on 1800 acres of poor land. He had a South Down tup some years ago, from Mr. Crow, but he could not perceive that the breed did better than Nor- folks, though they stood the fold to the full as well. MarsJilancL — Mr. Dennis, of Wigenhall, St. Mary, grazes only the best Lincoln wethers : he buys from May Day to Midsummer ; keeps them over-year, clipping twice, average price 50s. to 60s. and seils at 65s. to 75s. getting 1 81b- in the two fleeces: his good land will carry six per acre, on an average, in summer ; in winter, two on three acres, and these will quite preserve their flesh: if the season be favourable, will get something. He thinks that there is no otbjr breed so profitable here ; even a stain of the new Leicester is hurtful, as they will not stand the winter so • well. BREEDS, CROSSES, &C. 467 well. Sheep the chief stock, though some Lincoln bul- locks. He never gives hay to sheep ; nothing but grass; 32 lb. a quarter, his average of fat wethers. Mr. SwAYNE, of Walpole, prefers the cross between Lincoln and Leicester.: he buys them shearling wethers, about Lady-day ; last year 3I. to 3I. los. each, but has had them at 36s. and 38s. He clips the best twice ; three to a tod, which he likes better than heavier fleeces of sheep demanding more food. Some give 17 or 18 lb. of wool. At Michaelmas he culls the worst, or buys cole for them, if reasonable: sells all by Midsummer, making 8s. or los. a head, when bought in high, besides the wool. Very few beasts. I have heard it made a question, who first introduced South Down sheep in Norfolk? When once an im- provement has spread so much as to become an obje6l of importance, there are generally many claimants for the merit; and if such claimants are only heard of many years after, but little attention is due to them. With re- gard to the neighbouring county of Suffolk, I can speak with some accuracy, but should not mention it on this oc- casion, were not the hCc conne6ied with the introdu61ion into Norfolk. In May, T7S5, I published an account of an observation* I made in 17S4, the year I brought them into Suffolk from Sussex ; and being printed at the time, ilie fa6t will admit no doubt. I recommended them strong- '* It was this: a South Down ram I had got from Sussex, broke, by acci- dent, t9 a little flock ot Norfolk ewes, belsriging to a tenant, the efiejl of room to fall back, and continue so on tlie layers till about the lOth of June, when the ewes are washed for clipping, and until the lambs are weaned : the ewes then go to fold with the shearlings on the fallows intended for tur- nips, and the lambs are put to fresh grass reserved for that purpose : all the sheep on turnips and cole having hay, they consume about 25 tons. The general winter provi- sion is 80 acres of turnips, 20 of cole, and 30 of rye, for the spring* : the latter, after feeding, stands for a crop. He values his turnips on the average at 30s, per acre, and cole at 25s. After turnip-sowing the flock is folded on old layers for rye, till the end of August, when the ewes intended for breeding are put to good pasture till the tups are let in. 1802. — The tups now put to the ewes about a week later, and the lambs not weaned till the latter end of June. Provision this year, iCO acres of turnips, 30 cole, 30 rye, for 25 score breeding ewes, 15 score hoggits, 20 tups, 10 score fatting stock ; 51 score in all. Sale of Cull- lambs, Ewes, and JVcthcrs. £. s. d. 1796, Sold at Kenninghall Fair, July 18 - 016 o 1797, - - - . . 1798, In September, - _ _ 1799, In September, - - - 1800, In July, - - - _ iSoi, In September, . . - 1802, In July, many twins, - • Mr. Bevan ploughs in his rye-stubbles before the shocks arc carried to turn in the scattered seed, harrowing Jii half a peck of cole-seed for sheep* (ced in the spring, and finds it of very great service. H h 4 TRICE 0 13 9 0 18 0 0 16 Q 0 16 6 I 0 0 0 H 6 472 FOOD AND WOOL. PRICE OF WOOL, PER TOD OF 2811). 1794, South Downs r»t - - - -1150 1795' 220 I796> 25Q I797» -- - 1180 1798, -- - -- - --200 1799, -- - -- - --2100 1800. I boo. -1 1801, i 2 « o 1S02, Unsold, - - - - -000 The shearers at Holkham, clip in a day about 23 shear- ling wethers, or 20 larger sheep. Mr. Crow, at Lakenhmu, 643 sheep and lambs, on 32 acres of very good turnips, and 91 acres of grass and 60 acres of stubbles for the winter. Mr. PuRDis, of Eggmorc, has two shepherds' boarded houses on wheels; they conrain a bed, and a stove fou heating milk, so well contrivtd that it is heated in ten minutes: he has found the advantage in lambing time so great, that he has no doubt of having saved a great num- ber of their lives, and recommends it stronclv to his bro- ther farmers. Mr. Hill, at Watorden, has a sliepiieid's Iiouse on wheels, for lambing tiine, and hinted that it was firs: used at Waterden. JMr. Coke readily assi-.ts not only his tenants, but other neighbouring farmers, in sorting and selecting rheir Soutli Pown ewes, &c. ami distributing them in lots to the rams, according to the shapes and qualities of each. He puts on his shepherd's smock, and superintends the pens, to the sure improvement of the Hock : his judgment is superior and admitted, I have i^een ,him snd the late Duke of Bed- ford FOLD. 473 FORD thus accoutred, work ail day, and not quit the busi- ness till the darkness forced them to dinner. FOLD. I found in 1792, at Mr. Bevan's, what I had often re- commended to the public; a yard well fenced in for a stand- ing fold, in sight of the shepherd's windows, for littering and folding in bad weather. 1802, he continues the practice, and is well persuaded of the great advantage : he thinks it is indispensable, and means in future to have his flock in for yeaning, whether the season be good or bad ; and has always 15 or 20 load of hay stacked in it for them to help themselves : he finds this not attended with any waste. Near Brandon there is a pradlice introduced about tea years ago, said to be from Kent, which is, to fold their flocks for five or six hours in the middle of the day in hot weather. In laying out the enclosures of the farm of Waterden, from 15 to 50 acres each, much attention was paid in the arrangement to have every field of the farm to open into a lane, that leads through the whole, so that by dividing the flock, for stocking, according to varying circumstances, Mr. Hill can keep at least one-fourth more dian when all the breeding ewes and lambs were in one flock, and the food dirtied by driving to fold : by this means there h not a bent on the farm, the stocking being equal. He is not, however, entirely without a fold; when the lambs are weaned (usually about old Midsummer) the ewes are folded for about two months, principally to prevent their breaking pasture, when the lambs are taken from them : and while thus folded, he finds that it takes one-half more land to feed them, than if they were left allotted, as through the rest of the year. That folding lessens the value of the lambs. 4-74 FOLD, Iambs, he has not a doubf, and that considerably ; they do not bring so high a price as others not folded— this' is not opinion, but fait. The ewes are also in doubly better con- dition from lying still and quiet. That the tmth will, in certain cases, be unequally given, he does not deny ; but it is not difficult to remedy this by the dung-cnrt; to fold a lot in its own lay, is also a remedy, and is the only sort of folding he can approve. Where there are downs, heaths, or commons, the case is different; there folding may be necessary without question. In regard to the ef- fedl on wool, Mr. Hill is clearly of opinion, that fold- ing does not render it finer — it makes the fleece Hghter, but never finer. Folding is generally given up by all who have South Downs ; not because they will not bear it, for thev bear it better than any sheep in the island, but because the stock is "SO valuable, that it is worth the farmer's attention to contrive, by every means, to keep as many as possible. One circumstance, though a small one, deserves mention- ing, for the use of those who form separating sheep-pens : Mr. Hill's, at Waterden, have sliding-gates from one to the other, he rcmaiked, tliat when a pen is full of sheep, the gate cannot be opened with convenience ; but by their sliding in the fence, this is avoided. Mr. England, ofBinham, does not fold, conceiving it to be merely robbing Peter to pay Paul. When not folded, sheep do with less food, and as to the common ob- jeflion, of their drawing under hedges for shelter, in storms, &c. so much the better; it is what they ought not to be prevented from doing. The tnthe is much more than lost in mutton. ■ Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, never folds: folding from layers, upon fallow, is only robbing one field to enrich another. He is clear in this point ; and also in the fa6l:, that FOLD. 47- that if sTieep (whatever the breed) are driven by foul wea- ther to a hedge, there is the proper place for them, and not by penning, left t* abide the beating of the storm. Mr. H. Blythe, of Burnham, sometimes folds, but never from choice, but solely by reason of the openness of his farm ; nor does he approve the praclice. And he ex- plained a point, in his manuring for wheat, which comes home to the question : — he never sows tempered land with wheat, without either oil-cake or muck, except on pieces from which the sheep VJcre not folded while feeding the layers. Mr. DuRSGATE remarks, that folded sheep certainlv demand more food than those which are not folded; a quarter of a ton of rape-cake is equal to the fold ; and the flock, without any doubt, suffers more than that value by- folding. In short, folding is to gain one shilling in manure, by the loss of two in flesh. Mr. GoDDisoN folds Lord Cholmondeley*s flock of Norfolk and South Downs: and Mr. BECK,of Massing- ham, who has 35 score of South Downs, folds. Mr. Beck, of Riseing, does not fold ; and he is vqtv certain that if he did told, he could not keep any thing like the number of his present flock. As I rode across a layer of 40 or 50 acres, on Mr. Overman's farm, I observed a great difference in the verdure, to a line across it, the appearance of one side of that line being so much superior to tlie other; and on my remarking it, I was informed that it was an accidental ex- periment, which was well worth attention : there was no other difference in management, to make one part of that layer better than another, except the sheep that fed it be- ing from one part of it folded on another arable field during the summer ; but from the other part they wx-rc not folded at all, but left in the layer night and day. Tlic difference 47^ DISTEMPERS. difference was very considerable, and might have been discerned half a mile off. This experiment made Mr. Overman give up folding, except when his flock was in a salt-marsh ; and Mr. Tuttle, a neighbour, assert- ed, he would never fold at all had he no marslies. Nor does Mr. Etheridge, of Stanhow, fold. These fads should be combined with another, that of heatlis and sheep- walks, that have been fed with sheep for centuries, but those sheep constantly folded on other lands, are so far from improving, that they are to all appearance as poor as they could have been at any former period. — Notc^ sorm years past. Mr. Stylkman, at Snettisham, turned his flock loose, and without folding, in 20 acres of ol/ond every night, for the same period that would have folded it in the common manner. The sheep did much better than they would have done had they been folded ; the face of the herbage materially improved during the period, and upon plough- ing it up for wheat, the crop was equal to what it would have been with folding, and shewed, by a regular verdure, that they had distributed the manure equally in every part. Mr. Styleman conceives that lambs sell 3s. a head lower on account of folding, than they would do without it ; but this is only his opinion. He thinks also that the ewe is much injured. Mr. Pitts, of Thorpe Abbots, finds that no mucking, on his burning gravels, will do so much good as the fold, and especially on a white clover and tr^'foil layer for barley • DISTEMPERS. When I had formerly the pleasure of being at Hough- ton, I have ofterj urged Lord Orfohd to break up a heath DISTEMPERS. 47y heath of black sand, but his Lordsjilp informed me, thjt the farmers were clear that if he did it, his lambs would be ricketty, by feeding on the turnips or grasses. Mr. God- DisoN has, hotvever, laid on 3200 loads of clay on 44 acres of It, in six months, and broke it up : he got gi eat turnips on it, and this year very fine barley, two loads and a half per acre, in the straw. As to the rickets, he cannot assert that there has been none, but quite inconsiderable, not ten affeifted in a large flock. On this distemper he observes, that the only danger is while the ewes are in lamb ; and that after lambing the malady is not acquired. On a ground noted for causing this distemper, the soil a black sand, heath, but marled and cultivated, a farmer accidentally removed part of his flock during the months of 06lober and November ; the flock then moved escaped the rickets, but those left had if. In consequence of this the trial was repeated next year, and the effedt the same. It should seem from this case, that the distemper is taken only in the autumn, at whatever time it may appear, and if so, there is very little difficulty in avoiding it. Mr. Coke's receipt for dressing his flock previous to winter, against lice and ticks: — I'wo pounds of tobacco, two pounds and a halt of soft soap, one pound of white mercury, ground to powder; boil in eight gallons of water one hour. Part the wool down each shoulder, and the breast of the sheep, and twice along each side, into whicli P'jur-it. This quantity enough for 60 sheep. Mr. Overman, as soon as Jiis flock is sheared, dresses his lambs to destroy ticks and lice. He boils a pound of arsenick and a pound of soap in about six gallons of water, and then adds 26 gallons more water: in this he dips the lambs, and finds it effedllve in the destru6lion of all the vermin; without this precaution they arc propagated a-fiesh from the lambs to the ewes, Mr. 478 HOGS. Mr. M. Hill has experienced a illstemper among lambs which, from the description, should seem to be a species of rickets. In 1799 all were quite healthy ; but ia 1800, 140 lambs fell lame in the knees and hamstrings, and wasted away much. In 1801 the same. In 1802 no such appearance ; all healthy ; the only difference in the management, and to which he is inclined to assign the cause, was putting the tups to the ewes the 10th of Sep- tember in 1798, and 1801 and in the intermediate years, on the 7th of Oclober. I inquired if they had fed on difFerent lands, or if he had broken up any black sandy heath ? No such thing. In 1S03 quite healthy. SECT. III. HOGS. The breed of hogs in Norfolk do not demand any par- ticular attention, though a useful pig if well supported: their most usual colour black and white, &c. &:c. : carcass long, but wants thiclcncss ; legs the same, or at least not short: good breeders. I found Mr. Salter, of Winborough, fatting 180 pigs in August, by throwing down pease in a well littered yard, and says the pigs lose none at all : they have the run oT a meadow, and he is clear, from long observation, that they fatten much better and quicker than it confined. He assigns 1 1 score of pease for fatting 200, more or less ; and considers it as a profitable application of the crop : he buys them all. He has compared stye-fatting and loose- fatting, and decidedly in favour of the latter. Mr. Havers, at Theltoo, has the Suffolk breed, and has also Berkshires ; but finds the cross between them better than either separate. 1 founi HORSES AND OXEN". 4y^ I^ound a new piggery building by Mr. Havep.s, at 7 hekon, in which the most singular circumstance is the sties for fatting, being single, for one hog, and so narrow that iie cannot turn himself ; a range of these on one side and a space tor cistern on the other, the whole near the new dairy — perhaps, rather too near : a degree of vi- cinity is necessary for the milk and whey to flow to the cisterns, but the air around a dairy should be preserved quite uncontaminated. Mr. Wiseman, at Happsborough, having occasion to wean some pigs much too young, from the death of a sow, or some otlier cause, tried boiled pease for them, and the success was so great, that he would never enter largely into breeding or fattening hogs without a furnace and cop- per for boiling whatever corn might be given. Mr. Johnson, of Thurning, fattens with boiled bar- ley, and by this means mad? one so fat that he was blind from excess of fat. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, every feature of whose husbandry merits attention, condeinns a dairy stock as un- profitable to a farm, in respedl of manuring : he once had a large dairy, now only 26 cows, and a principal motive for keeping so many, is the right application of it to sup- porting a large stock of swine. ' SECT. IV. — HORSES. OXEN. 1792. Mr. Overman's arable, 523 acres: he keeps 21 horses. In the distridl of Holkham, 20 to 500 acres in one farm, i6 to 5C0 acres. The larger the farm, generally thw smaller the proportion, At 480 HORSES AND OXEN". At Snettisham, 30 years ago, 16 horses necessary for 500 acres of arable land. In Happing hundred, five per 100 acres. Mr. H. Blythe, 30 to 1000 acres of sand, and chalk, drilled. Mr. Reeve, of Wighton, 700 acres, 22 horsQS ; not four per 100: drilled. Mr. DuRSGATE, at Summerfield, 1050, and 31 horses. At Sedgford, 1240 acres, and 36 horses; very nearly all in tillage, and all drilled. Mr. Styleman, of Snettisham, four to 100 acres j not the more for drilling. Mr. Pg 1803. 21. I2S. 6d. and board* 2S. and beer. IS. gd. and beer. 7s. to8s. 5s. 2S. 35- 45 6d. and 25. 6d. LABOUR. 487 1770. 1803. Threshing barley, is. is. 6d. Threshing oats, 8d. Is. Head man, 12I. 12I. Next ditto, 9I. 9I. Lad, 5I. 61. Dairy-maid, 4I. los. 4I. lOs. Others, 3I. 3I. AT SNETTISHAM. 1770. 1803. Five weeks harvest and board, 45s. to 50s. 2I. I2S. 6d. in hay time, a day, is. 6d. to2s. 2s. 6d. In winter, is. 2d. is. gd. Reaping, 5?. per acre. 12s. Mowing barley, is. as. Alowing grass, artificial, is. to 2S. 2S. ■ natural, 4s. 6d. Hoeing turnips, 4s. and 2S. 7s. Filling and spreading marie, 25s. per 120 loads, 28s. to 30S. Threshing wheat, per quarter, IS. 2d. to IS. 4d. IS. 8d. to 2s. Threshing bailey and oats, 8d, 8d. to lod. Threshing pease, is. 3d. 8d. to lod. Head man's wages, lol. to 12!. 111. to 15I. Next ditto, 9I. j]. to lOl. Lad, 4I. to 7I. 4I. to 7I. Dairy-maid, 5I. 5I. Other ditto, 3I. to 4I. 3I. to 5I. Women, in harvest, is. and board, is. in hay, 9d. and beer, is. No beer. in winter, 6d. 8d. No beer. 1 i 4 Mr, 488 LABOUR. Mr. Henry Blythe assures me, that labour, in the vicinity of Buinham, nearly doubled from 1795 to i8oi : to satisfy me of this fad, he laid his booi Thomas BEErOB, Barf. Wag« in Wages in , Wages in Cottages in Cottages in Poor-Rate in Foor-llate in rooi-Hate in ParisliM. 1 . Aldlonush 1752, 1772. 1792. 1752, 17y2. l,-'52. 1772. 17!». Payers in 1752, Payers in 1772, Payersin 1792, I.abourers, Observations, Sec. Is. 1 pint o Is. the same a W. IS. 2d. 13 i mostly 17 i incrcising 1 281, 901. 1401. More payers in 1792 than in any former A sufficient F '"Ji" '??»■ the'jbourioeh.ndhad com. buuer. cheese, &c. at a low pr.ce. In .771. bImiv bepr in W. and in 1752 ls.4d.tols.()d double period, from assessing all cottages except number, and UrmcriiolJ their labourer* corn at a rediiet.l pntc, when tnore tl.ati aoi. per cootnb. Thep'el Irl'inV^nf k-il.'"'J\.'?!i!''.t ^'1 '* '""*-'i >"«'«'* "> .my nwrnorr. 'I'hey Ii»c belter, eiceprin the t? ., Vf""' !'"":» .'^« higl. pn« of mall preclude! iheir brcwmg. and dt«e» them toil.c ale. Ke I. mn?r;''T;,';it", °' \ '*'""."» "'" *•"' " '" V*^' .""^ "1*"^ l-ve cow., where the*, 2 pints ill S. no allowance 01 real paupers, and there being a number of when corn has beer little shops in the village sold low, more than can be nave lommons. 1 he laboureij have their coin at cs. per buihel j and the overplus, of 1 1. i,j. p„ stone, irpiidby tlie farmeii to the mill-r. They have baner at 6d. per round and what 1 tew employed can be loareJ, at ajd. to Jjd. »"d +d. per pound ; but the latter itiuU ,4 u.uJh dccteaied. «,J 2. Uratl/clJ . . .S.andW. Is. 11. IS. Not known, but more nu merous than ii 17y2 fl More than are wanted 201, 3s. lOJ, 671, 17s. 4d, 801. 17s, 3J. 1 4, but chiefly paid by 3 A sufficient number, but not too many Ihe pooraie obliged to go lotheihop, and pay 4d. and jd. per pound. * 3. Hdkcl .... W. is. is. 2d. is. 2d. 21 281, is, 7d, 381, 6s. gd. 15 15 12 No want of la- 3. Whenever the price of wheat exceeded ci. per buihel, It hai been lold to the poor m ct S. u. 2d. H. 2d. is. 4d. bourers Wood .iftequenilvKiven them. They PUichiie iWir meal and flour in the Pfoi«r..on W Iwl? a stoneoerhead, at jd.peritoneche.iper llian ihc »hop price. Thij i» atthe jamh exnenie Where ir could be toiivemently done, it l>a» been alhwed the occupier of a cotute to encloie a piece ol UBdl;orthegro.-,ihof potjiiorj. &c. without any rent for ihciame; and noUbouter, whoie rem 4. Haplon .... W. lOd. S. Is. Is. la. 2d. Is. 2cl. Is. 3d. and is. 4d. 10; most were double, and some triple 12 341, Is. 431. 148. 6d. 341. 19s. 4d, 9 7 besides 0 7 ut-setters Are rather short, and should be more so, but are IS under lol. per ann. is charged 10 any rjiei, or i> required to pay or perforin any itaiuiedulT. 4- The rental of the parish .i«ol. In iTSt. wheat n. 6d. to «. and malt M. 9J. «rbu.hel, Meat ol alllcindi. iJJ. (0 ;J cfiee.c. In.m ild. to iJ. per pound, lluiter. JJd, to 4S: per pint Milkplcniv, and cheap. In .--i, ,vl„,. <> (,^ ,06s, and malt 4*. 4d. pe( builiel. Meai.iJd. to4d. cl.c..e. jd. to 4J. r. 1 1 1^ u -. Sj. to lod. In 179V 4«t (,. W. a..d mail js. Oil. per bushel. Mi:„r,.ii , ;! (0 ^'d. per pound. Butter, u-d, to is. per nini In 1751, the labourer cmiMi ■■ , , .|, .■ '.n ihepoi, with a piece ofincn imr. and ask his ..hliged to cast tithes l;arher, ali-gtiher, .itltfl. ■'... . , ■.■.v.\ that it Ij impoiiible for a poor m' TwlthTy'oung lamily to keep ihcm cirher full ■.-■t witm. wtiliotit assistance. Some fjtmefi let ihcm have wheat al ss. per bushel, and put out a Ucal ol tlieii »)UDd, owing to a rise in rentals Number of payers dimi- nished one- third, by the Not a sufficient number resi- dent ill tlie pa- rish; but llie 10, Labour p" dirm is rarely adopted ; ilmoit every thing is put as task-work, al which an aAive haid-woikinE roan may earn liom is. tid. to 2s. pCt d.iy; and the piices ot tliis work have risen m 40 yeaisfuirone-fifih. consolidation overflow of the of farms neighbourhood seldom leaves any want of la- bourers No want of il. If't/moltdham W. is. IS. Average, Considerably 1 >. It hn been an mvaiinbte custom, for the labourer, whenever he dots hedging or i- S. 18. Is, 2d. Is, 3d, ess now than in 1752 There are at labourers ing-woik, 10 be ailowed a bunch of wood per day. 12. Ciiustm ,. W. is. W. is. W, is. 2d, Not known 1261. 3171, 4541, 65 67 62 A .sufficient 12. The prices of threshing grain have remained the same for 40 years. Many new cotiagej S. is. 2a. S, is. 2d. S. is, 3d, to Is. 4f a Man, tPlfe, and Three Children, when If^heat i, al 24s. per Coomb. no beer tages, I know In none of these 3 periods the labourer hadi not : there are Cloihiiig, ' - ■ - .to very few advantages, witli respe£l to public' a sufficient Uieosils, fiiii.g. Sa. • - > 0 charity or contribution quantity, but 10 0 13. SmthTouin* W. is. 4d. W. is. 2d. W. Is. 4d. S. li. 4d. 1 S. is. 4J. 1 S. is. ed. Dot too many Being a large parish, have plenty of small tenements In general, mo- derate Uncertain A sufficient number Harvest wages go for l.ouje-rent, and gleaned corn is sold, to maintain wife and (hilSren ir, • o 1 uworvoiatcd pamh, wi im the hi^pdredt of Mutford and Lothingiaad. THE POOR. 493 The necessary and unavoidable expenses of a labourer and his wife, without any family, for one year, calculated at the price of flour 4s. and meal 3s. per stone, and the other articles at present price, 1799*. £. s. d, £. s. d. Cottage rent - - - 2 10 o One peck of coals per day, 20 ^ weeks, or 140 days, at 3fd. v 2 O 10 per peck - - J Half a peck per day, 8 weeks, or "i ^ 56 days - - J A quarter of a peck per day, 24-1 weeks, or rather 169 days J ; I 4 Soap, 4 ounces per week, at 2|d. "J which is per annum - 3 0 10 10 Oil or candles, at 6d. per week, -» for 20 weeks - - / 0 10 0 Do. do. at 3d. per do. for 32 weeks 0 8 0 Shoemaker, one pair of shoes, one n pair of highloos, and mending / 0 16 0 Stockings, two pair 0 5 0 Hat - - - 0 2 0 Slops, jacket, &c. 0 9 0 Breeches - , - - 0 5 0 Two shirts * - - . - . 0 10 0 I 8 10 7 Q £'9 1^ * Cojimunicated by. aaaftivc Magistrate. Amount 494 T"'^ POOR. £■ s. d. Amount brought forward - - 9 7 2 Woman*s apparel - - - - 1150 Sixpence per day, for food for each person - 18 5 o Sixpence per do. additional food in the harvest ") u [ o 14 o month, per man - - - . J Expense of tools - - - 080 ■C'?P 9 2 In the above account no allowance is made for the wear and tear of the furniture, and sun- dry small articles used in the house. EARNINGS. £- J, d Harvest, 4 weeks 4 14 6 48 weeks, at 8s. per week 18 4 0 Woman's gleanings - 0 14 0 48 weeks, at is. per week - 2 8 0 — /:-^6 HOUSES OF INDUSTRY. MITFORD AND LAUNDITCH. — MINUTE, 1792 — IKCORPORATED I776. Paupers - - . _^o^_ Houie buih for - - 600 Parishes - _ - ^p Annual revenue • • ;C-396o Borrowed, at 4 per cent. - ;^. 15,000 including 1500I. bid out by the treasurer. Have paid off - - ;C'5°^^ Earnings - - - ;^'-S0O Land ---.-, 60 Acres. Cows _ - - . , jQ A wind-mill. MIT- THE POOR. 495 I— CO CD ^ ^> •vj o o o CO ^ CO CO fcO Q ^ 00 ^i o « — tJ O CO — to ^ o >- C>; *. W CC U t- CO CO to w to CO to o ^ tv •— O •— 'O »- l-J I— .^- to (O kO t_, ,_, to ^ o lb- C) lO lO cc Oi •o CO ^1 ^ Cfl (O *. Oi CO Oi CO 05 OJ lo ^^ Cn CO Ci CO ^- •u ti- *' J— " CO er) '^ to ^t OS ,^ i. ^ "^^ 1^ Cl O OD CC ^^ *vj to .- CO • Oi OD O CO to O 00 ^ :" p "ro tn 5 P O. p p to w CO CO ^1 Ci O- 00 '~' *^ rf^ Ci b) In> »-• "VJ 4^ - VI u r a. H-v • Christmas to Lady-day. + On\y tliree quarters ot tli£ year to MicJiaelmas. X In the parishes. 3 =- o o a a 3 :; c a. :"S 3 5^ o > o t— < > o o a CO W o I— I :^ o ?5 49^ THE POOR. MITFORD AND LAUNDITCH. — 1802. Paupers in the house, 2d of Aug. 1802 : 244 old an J young. Earnings — Upon the 21st of June last there were in the house 52 paupers : 86 women ; 4 boys and girls above 16, and under 18 ; 25 above 10, and under 16; 48 above 5, and under 10 ; and 38 under 5. — Earnings then about 81. or 9I. a week. Poor-rates lowered. Income uncertain. Salaries — Surgeon, House» Out-Surgeons Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Chaplain, Clerk, Governor and Matron, exclusive ' " 00 £■ss^ £■ s.d. 45 ! 40 >225 0 0 45 40 J 40 0 0 42 0 0 7=) 84 of tea and sugar, Miller and Baker, - - 15 12 o Brewer and Shoemaker (paupers)- 15 12 O Debt remaining 9000I. and 1502I. to the Treasurer. Poor-rates higlier or lower. — Each parish, by a late a£t of pariiamenr, pays accutdiiui; to the number sent in:o the house — have been much lower than those not incor- porated. The circumstances which occasioned an application to parliament, to enable the parishes to keep their own poor, paying to the standing charges of the house — a proceeding quite new, were these : several gentlemen thought that the parish of East Dereham were THE POOR. '497 were a burthen to the corporation. It was agreed be- tween the gentlemen who took the active part for a new acl, and the gentlemen of East Dereham, that that parish should by the new a6l maintain their own poor, and ac- cordingly a clause was inserted for that purpose, and Dere- ham has built a workhouse, and inclosed ten acres of the common waste for their own poor. HOUSE OF INDUSTRY — HACKINGHAM — MINUTE, 1792. Paupers, - - - 215 Will hold - - - 300 £• s. d. Expense of building, 25 years ago. 7000 0 0 All paid off, and a balance in hand of 515 0 0 Parishes, _ .. _ 41 Poor-rates lowered one-eighth. Annual income. 1866 0 0 Spin wool ; some hemp. Annual earnings, 250 0 0 Salaries, Surgeon, ^05 0 0 Chaplain, - 30 0 0 Clerk, - 30 0 0 Governor, - 40 0 0 and id. per lb. on all wool spun, which is 12I. more. Baker 6s. a week and board. FOREHOE HOUSE OF INDUSTRY, BUILT I776. From Midsummer, 1788 to 1789, 1789 to 1790, 1790 to 1791, 1791 to 1792, J792toi793, 1793 to 1794, 2^-oRFOLK.] K k Average Paupers. £' s. d. 306 256 532 471 19 2i 4 H 239 220 206 243 390 436 357 366 12 0 15 SI H 4l 0 9 1470 255s 6 6 49S THE POOR. £. s. d, Aveiap;e number for 6 years, from T oo r 245 42c 17 9 1788 to 1794, - - J ^■^ t- o / y Average earnings for each pauper per year, 1 149 Ditto for ditto per week, 008 In the above earnings are included all the servants' la- bour, for which they are not paid. Sixty acres of land farmed. Income, till 1796, fixed at 2888I. per annum, from iwenty-three parishes. Income. No. in the House. 1796. Lady-day,;^. 1 084 - - 309 Midsummer, - '445 - - 244 Michaelmas, - 1807 - - 224 Christmas, - - 1807 - 269 ;C-6i43 Average, 261 1797. Lady-day,^. 1084 - - 242 Midsummer, - 722 - - 234 Michaelmas, - 722 - - 237 Christmas, - - 722 Average, 270 ;^-3250 245 1798. Lady-day, ;{'. 903 - - 253 Midsummer, - 903 - - 117 Michaelmas, - 722 - - 224 Christmas, - - 722 Average, 247 £'3^S^ 235 1799. THE POOR. 499 Income. No. in the House. 1799. Lady-day, ^^.903 - - 242 Midsummer, - 903 - - - ^33 Michaelmas, - 722 - - 240 Christmas, - - 1084 - - - 284 £-3^^^ 1800. Lady-day, ;^. 1807 Midsummer, - 2530 Michaelmas, - 2530 Suppose - 2530 £• 9397 A different arrangement must be made, in order to add the earnings, and dedu6l the allowances paid out of the house, as in these respects the year's accounts are made up at Midsummer. Average Persons. Average, 249 Suppose * - Suppose 315 334 334 334 Average, 329 Parochial income for the year, ending Midsummer, 1797, £> 5420 Earnings, - - 378 1798. Allowances, - ;^.5798 - 1131 £' 4667 Parishes, - Earnings, - " ^•3250 347 Allowances, /•3597 1012 £• 2585 242 244 * These three articles, of course, not made up ; there is very little doubt but the turn ii exadly, and the number very nearly stated. K k 2 1799- $O0 1HF. POOR. 1799. Parishes, - - £-3250 Earnings, - - 355 Allowances, - Average Persons. 1800. Parishes, Earnings, Allowances £■ 3^05 - 913 ^.2692 - 6143 461 £ 6604 ■ 3210 ;t^-3394 236 293 In order to compare the clear and cheap years, we should take tiie average of 1798 and 1799 as cheap, and of 1797 and 1800 as dear. 1798 and 1799. Parishes, - ^.3250 Earnings, - 351 Allowances, £•3601 962 £• 2639 240 1797 and 1800. Parishes, Earnings, £■51^1 419 Allowances, £' 6200 2170 . £-4030 267 ANNUj! THE POOR. 501 ANNUAL EXPENSE, PER HEAD. 1797. — 242 persons cost 466 7I. which is per head, per annum, - - - ^9^8 1798. — 244 persons 2585I. which is per head, per annum, - - - - 10 ii 10 1799. — 236 persons 2692I. which is per head, per annum - - - -1181 1800. — 293 persons 3394^ which is per head, per annum, - - II 11 8 Average, ^^•52 17 3 £'^3 4 3 HOUSEKEEPING. 1798. The expense, ^.1256 1799- ■ — > 1235 1800. ■ , 2229 EARNINGS. £, s. d, 1797. — 242 persons earned 378I. whicli is per head, per annum, - - - 1 11 2 1798. — 244 persons earned 347I. wind is per head, per annum, - - - I 8 C 1799. — 236 persons earned 355I. wliich is per head, per annum, - - - i 10 I 1800. — 293 persons earned 461I. which is per head, per annum^, - - - 1 11 5 Many are old and decrepid, and many are children. MORTA- D2 THE POOR. MORTALITY.' Parishes. 1797 179* 1799 iSoo Barnham Broom, - 0 I O O Barford, - I O O 1 Brandon Parva, - O I o I Bauberg, - o o o I Bowthorpe, - - o o o I Carleton Forehoe, - o o o 0 Cossey, - - I I o z Coulton, - - o 0 I I Crownthorpe, - - o o 0 2 Causton, - o I 0 o Deepham, - - - o 2 o o Easton, - o I o I Hingham, - - 2 2 I 6 Hackford, - o O o o Kimberley, - o I r I Marlingford, - 0 o o o Morley, St. Peter, - I I o I . , St. Botolph i> o o I I Runfiall, - 0 o I o Wymondham, - 4 i6 6 i6 Wicklewood, - - o 0 o 2 Wramplingham, - o 0 0 O Welborne, - I I o o lO 28 II 35 In 179/5 of 242 persons, 10 died — 1798, of 244 persons, 28 died — 1799* of 236 persons, ii died — 1800, of 293 persons, 35 died Proportion an" nually. I in 24 I in 9 I in 20 I in 8 A HOUSE THE POOR. 503 A HOUSE OF CORRECTION. That at Wymondham Is one of the best managed in the kingdom. 1 viewed it with much pleasure, for the extreme cleanHness throughout ; and in the persons of the prisoners, as well as in every other circumstance, is highly worthy of praise. The earnings shew how well it is conducted. ly^^. — April to July, earnings of 19 pri- soners, exceed tlieir maintenance by - 7 July to September, of 1 5, September to December of 15, - - 1798. — December to April, of 21, - - April to June, of 14, - June to September, of u, - « September to December, of 12, 1799. — December to March, of 15, March to July, of 14, - - - July to Odober, of 12, - - - October to January, of 24, - - - And the proportion of their earnings which the prison- ers receive for themselves, has, in some cases, amounted to sums which have established them in industrious call- ings, such as from 4I. to 9I. One Brown had the latter sum, with which lie set up as a basket-maker, and is now in good business, and witii a good charadler. The main hinge upon which this turns, is tlie employment being the hemp manufa6lure; bunching, heckling, and spinning hemp, are, by far the most profitable occupations they can be put to. 8£CT. - 7 2 2 - 5 H 8 - 10 6 7 - II 18 2 - 8 9 2 - 2 7 8 - 4 13 2 - 10 I 3 - 9 18 5 - 2 5 6 - 3 4 I 504 COMPARISON OF TIMES. SECT. V. — COMPARISON OF TIMES. The Board of Agriculture having, in consequence of a requisition from the Corn Committee of the House of Commons (1804), procured returns from the several counties, of the expenses on arable land in 1790 and 1803, I am permitted to insert liere the residt of their in- quiries for the county of Norfolk, which will be found in the following Tables. DAY- 505 1 ,n Price in Jt, Harvest, J 804. ek. d. PerWeek. s. d. 35 24 6 h 24 24 24 IS 10 ,6 13 4 . . . 27 13 'e* 10 6* . . . 30 39 • . . 28 30 • * . 11 6* . . . 30 37 6 "e 24 34 ■ ■ li 33 "g 12 "e 12 3 12* 6 • • . 28 9 • , . 25 — 39 18 24 2| 24 4 41| 1 DAY-WORK. Price in Price in , Price In price in Price in Price in 1 Winter, Winter, Summer, Summer, Harvest, Harvest, 1790. 1804. 1790. 1801. 1790. 1804. Per We. k. PerWeek. Per Week PerWeek. PerWeek. PerWeek. Communication. '■ d. .. d. '■ d. '■ d. s- d. s- d. No. 1 . Samuel Tayler 7 10 8 10 21 35 2. M. Gnoch 7 10 P 12 ft 24 3. Rich. Fowell 7 0 8 10 16 24 4. Henry Styleman . . 7 t> 10 0 0 12 15 24 5. Si. John Priest 1 10 10 11 21 24 6. Anonymous 7 0 8 10 14 18 7. William Curti< .... R 10 b 12 IS 12 16 fi. Thomns Thurtell . . 7 6 10 t 10 13 10 13 4 9. Willi.mi Blrchnra . - 7 0 10 p 11 24 27 10. Baker Rackham 7 10 8 12 10 13 11. John Replon (i 9 0 12 10 10 0* 12. Thomas Nelson... s 12 10 15 21 30 13. James Crowe 7 13 8 IS 21 3P 14. Scephcn Reeve 7 6 P 8 11 24 28 15, Henry Burton .... 7 6 f) 9 12 18 30 It). Edward Howman. . .7 0 8 10 10* 12 b* 1/. Daniel Srwell 7 10 P 12 21 30 18. W. M. Hill 7 10 P 12 27 37 b ig. John .Mosely ti 10 12 13 24 20. John Shearing .... 7 10 9 15 23 34 IJ 21. William Foster, jun. 7 10 s 12 21 33 22. Richard Ferrier. . . . 7 9 8 10 0 10 12 6 23. John Wagstaffe--.. 7 p 8 10 a 10 12 3 24. ^ r .7 10 6 12 10* 12* a ^gV William Palgrave] -.7 ..8 10 10 8 P 12 12 20 20 28 25 9 27.) f ..7 0 8 12 24 30 28. John Reeve 7 10 P 12 15 18 29. John Kcddle 7 10 8 12 18 24 Average 7 21 10 Oj 8 85 12 17 1 21 24 4 J' 4H 1 SI 1 DenoKi wi'h board. O Second Man's Wages, 1804. Per Ann. £.s. d. c. 0 n 0 per wk. - 0 10 10 0 n 0 7 0 0 9 0 0 8 0 0 5 0 0 5 5 0 8 0 0 '. 0 10 6 per w. 6 6 0 10 0 0 . 0 12 0 per w. 7 10 0 '. ■ 0 12 0 per w. 7 0 0 . 0 12 0 per \v. 7 0 0 '. 0 10 0 per w. 10 0 0 •. 0 11 0 per w. 7 7 0 8 0 0 '. 0 9 6 per w. 8 8 0 8 0 0 9 0 0 . 0 12 0 per w. - 0 8 10 6 ri 0 "if I 6 inds for lol. lot. being in WAGES. 0 Head Man's Wagps, 1790. Average I 9 0 per wk- 0 per V O O 6 per \ 0 6 per V 0 0 per V 0 6p.rv o 0 per \\ 0 (j per u Head Man's Wages, 1804. Per Cent ; 584 0 per w, 0 0 0 per w, 0 0 per w. 0 0 per w. 0 0 per w. 0 0 per w. 0 O Second Man's Wages, 1790. 6 per w 0 0 per w 0 0 0 per w 0 o 0 per w 0 0 0 per ' 0 0 O per ■ 0 O per ■ O 0 per ' Tbeihillingt pen NOHFOLK.] ikkoiiedia poundi, to form [he h> 507 jFilli th, Fiil "g II Fill "S 1 Fill ing Reap ' ^''"' Earth, Dun^, Duni^, Wheat 1790. ' 1790. 1804. 1790. ] S04. fer ^ '"ard. Per Yard. j| P er Load. P er Load. Per Acr e. , . 1 1 Communi- cation . s. 1 d. s. d. \ s. f/ s. d. ^. fi 1 1 3 3 2 2i 3 'Jo. 1 5 . I _ 2 5 . 2'- "' 2 3 2 ■^ 3 0 . li 3 14 3 4 0" . 2 2i . 3 4 5 8 3 •• ^i 3 2 4 2i 6 6 . 3 3 2i 2i 7 7 . 2 ■ ^1! 2; 4 8 6 . ^i It 2' 2i 9 10 6 . 2 3 3 3 5 . 2'; 3 2J 3 n 5 G •• 2 3 2; 3 12 7 2 3 2 3 13 5 . 2 "z 2 24- 14 6 . 2 M 2 3 15 7 2i- 3f ! J ; 2i 16 6 . 'H 3 "" 1 3 17 6 . 2\ 3 2 2i 18 5 If 3 J ', 3 19 3 . 2 3 i| 2i 20 5 . li 2 2 3 21 ''> 22. 5 . 2f 3| 2 3 23 0 2 3 2 0 0 24 5 .1 2 3 2 3 25 0- . 2 24! ■ .1 '^ 1 2i 2d 7 ^ 2 2 3 27 •5 i 2 3 ! 2f 3 28 5 j If 2 1 U 2 29 2 9i-l 2 .. 3 Average 5 .... 37- [....- W 50 Per Cent. NORFOLK.] PIECE-WORK. r 50f Chains, Shoeing, Shoeing, 1804. 1790. 1S04. Per lb. Per Shoe Per Shoe. c S. 1 s. d. .«-. ] cL __ 1 N n 4 4 ' 6 1 6 >- 1 44 6 9t: 4 / 6 4 7 7' 4 7 1 i 6 i "" i \ '^ \ i 6 ! 7 « I 5 4 4 1 8 ..| / 1 ^ ; t 6 51 4t 1 74 8 5'- 74 ........ 7 4' *2r 6 [ 8 4 ' 7 7 10* 15* :.. 6 .5i 7 7 04- 7 7 5 ........ 74 I 8 6 8 ' 6 4 6 7 5 /' ,8 5 8 8 6 8 8 6 8 >" I 44 6 1 7 6 8 6 4 4| G ■ 7 7 t7 tV 1 64 1 1 , a!4d, to 6d. BLACKSMITH. Tire, 1790. Tire, 1804. Per lb. Per lb. 1. 1 d.i ~.~ ' 3 ' 8 4 a ' SJ i:: 5 4 44 44 44 EE 34 35 i 85 H 3! 3i 3i 34 *T 24 Si Si 4 3| 34 34 34 34 3 34 34 :::::::: 44 54 6 Sj 7 4i 44 *4 5 S 4 -44 *i 5 *i 5 35i II Plough-Iro 1790. [l. Plough-Irons, 1S04. Chnins, 1790. Shoeing, 1804. "C . 6J. nhich ii »-• 4il- to 6J. d 509^ ^Makers •\\ 'ork. t (rf. 1S04. ^• s. d. (i h' ' 2 ]. . . . 18 1 _ 1 2 2 5 . . . . . .... 3 3' 2 4 5 2 2 2 ■gf- ' s« ■ a j 4 2 i> 2 2 cm 4 Ill i .. 2 i Si .. 3b" t 1 e 35 5 »ne-ih o id. I. f [ncreisc "*c:- ann. ARTISANS. u Carpenter 1 By Day, Ey Day, 1790. IS04, Conimuni- d. '• (/. No, 1 10 2 6 2 8 2 0' 3 8 2 4 4 8 4 5 8 2 4 6 0 2 2 - ;i 2 S 8. .. .. .1 3 0 0 S 2 .« 10 U 8 8 2 ■•^ 8 2 4 13. ... . 3 14 8 2 li Ij 2 0 1() () 2 3 17 10 2 2 18 8 2 4 2 2 l> & () 2 0 21 8 2 3 32 3 23 nll]iig hai lowered ihe cxinidic. r COMPARISON OF TIMES. ^511 MANURE. Communication. Expense ot Manure- 1790. 1804. •v. d. 1 s. rf. No. 1 1 6 2 2 2 0 4 , , 3 2 6 4 4 2 6 6 5 6 , . , , 2 6 2 9 8 2 6 4 9.. 2 6 3 4 JO 2 4 , , 11 2 4 (5 12 . . , . 13 1 4 3 14 2 Q 3 15 3 6 ., 16 2 6 3 7 17 2 6 2 9 4i 18 2 6 3 19 20 2 tl 4 4 21 . . 00 23 .. 24 1 6 6 , . 25 2 4 6 26 , . , , 27 1 6 4 6 28 29 2 6 3 7i Average Per Cent 2 4i 4 2 76-; I a VOKFOlK.l EXTRACTS COM PAP- 1 SON OI- TIMES. EXTRACTS FROM THE LETTERS ACCOMPANYING THE PRECEDING RETURNS. COMMUNICATION, No. 8. PARISH OF GORLSTON. I could grow wheat in 1790 at 40s. a quarter, with a preatcr profit to myself than I can now at 60s. a quarter, and other grain in proportion. I am confident, if some- thing is not done by the Legislature, to enable the farmer to carry on his business with spirit, it must ultimately be a very great injury to society. I assure you, a great relaxa- tion in improvement has takeii place in this neighbourhood, in consequence of the low price of grain. • COMMU' COMPARISON OF TIMES. 513 COMMUNICATION, No. 11, PARISH OF HEVINGHAM. Annual disbursements on die average of '^ jT. s. d, three years preceding the building of f 104^1- 17 g' the Buxton House of Industry, amount- ed to Disbursements from O^cber 10, 1802, to Oeioher 10, 1 803. Out-door reh'ef to aged and infirm - 124 5 II to sick 19 18 9 to clothine: bovs and ^irls 1 „, ^ ' *> ^ 24 4 8^ put out to service > - j Extra miscellaneous parish charges - 71 17 2 In-door expenses for provisions - 5827 for clothing - 21 12 O^ for payments of debt on "1 , house, &c. ... J Interest on 1337I. - • - 66 17 o £• 502 12 9^ Receipts by rate, at 6s. 6d. in the pound £. 502 12 9^. Debt on house, See. £^. 1337 o o Paid off - - 115 14 7I. Total unpaid j^. 1221 5 4^ Joseph Alder son, Visitor. Thomas Rackham, Guuidian, To Air. jfohn Reptotiy Oxtiead. S s 2 PARIIH 514 COMPARISON OF TIMES. PARISH OF BUXTON. Annual disbursements on the average of"^ £. s, d, three years preceding the building off j^^q q 7' the Buxton House of Industry, amount- ' ed to Disbursements from O£ioher lO, 1802, to OSlober 10, 1803. Out-door rchef to aged and iufirni - 1^7 5 S . to sick - - 19 15 3 . to clothing boys and girls T to tR Si put out to service - - J Extra miscellaneous parish charges - 68 9 9 In-door expenses for provisions - 239 8 5 for clothing - 'ji i O^ . for payments of debt "i jj5 j, 2'. on house, 6cc. _ - J Interest on 15181. is. 6d. - - 75 18 o £■ 1^3 9 9 Receipts by rate, at 17s. in the pound £. 723 9 9 Debt on house, &c. £".1518 i 6 Paid off - - 116 13 2^ Total unpaid ^.1401 8 3I Joseph Alderson, Visitor. Wm. Jewell, Guardian. To Alu Jo/in ReptoUt Oxncad. COMMU- COMPARISON OF TIMES. 5h O a> 9^ W (O ■^ vt CD t-O c> <^ O o o o R. 8 -: y ta- ^^ ni r** ->. v? ^ 2 ^ !^ ^ ^ ^- lO C Oi lO iti. 0> o O lO o> O Cn o o o o o o o ^v n n O o § ^ a ?3 :^ t^M (—1 Crt o o s o o H V. > 1^ o w SS3 «oMMU- 5i6 COMPARISON OF TIMES- COMMUNICATION, No. 28. PARISH OF WIGHTON. One material circumstance is not inquired after, viz, the increase of assessed taxes. By the establishment in 1790, I paid 26I. 7s. ; I now pay 47I. 4s. 6d. exclusive of the property tax, and the increase of taxation upon every article of consumption. COIVIMUNICATION, No. 2p. TARISH OF MARSHAM. F.emarks to be annexed to the Statement rcspe^ing the Rates of Labour, and various Charges on Arable Farmsy in the Tear 179O, and in 1804. The difference in the price of lahour, hetween the year 1790 ano- 1804 (which I have taken from my farm ex[.endituie books in those years), cannot be attributed to tlie price of bread corn ; as I find, by reference to the re- ceipt-book m the former of those yeais, that my wheat was sold at an average of 3I. per quarter, and barley at il. 4s. per quarter ; but must be traced to other causes ; one of which 1 conceive to be from the high price of bread-corn in the years 1800 and 1801, which obliged the employers of workmen in all the different trades connedled with the fanning interest, to give a considerable increase cf wages, to correspond with the parish allowance granted by the magi trates to those who had no employment during that scarcity ; and although the price of bread-corn is reduced consider.ibly mote than half since those vears, the other necessaries of the poor are, since the year 1790, increased nearly COMPARISON OF TIMES. 517 nearly double in iheir price, as grocery of all kinds, s!)oes, the lictle malt they are enabled to purchase, &:c. that the labourers enjoy but little benefit from their increase of wages. There is but little work done by the day in the Nor- folk harvests. The usual method has been, engaging a proper quantity of labourers, in proportion to the number of acres ol corn, allowing five acres of winter corn, and ten acres of summer corn, to a man's share, and giving them such sum, with board and lodging, to finish the harvest; \vhich, if the weather be favourable, is ended in four weeks; frequently, when the iiaivest is early, and the "weaiiicr good, in three, having the assistance of the carters aikl ploughmen kept on the farm. The difference of vi ages 1 find, bv my books, to be one-third increased since the year 1790 ; in which vear I gave il. 13s. per man ; the last harvest 2I. los. per man. The increase of wages I attribute to the recent pra6\ice of the large occu- piero of lands in this county giving 7I. per man, the la- bourers finding their own viif^uals, drink, and lodging: ti.eir wi'^es not liking to have the trouble and fatic;ue of providing provision in their houses, which has compelled thohe who adhere to tlie oM custom to give the increased price. The day-labour 1 have stared. It is usual in this county, where labourers are em- ployed as carters or ploughmen, and have the care of a team of horses during the year, to give them the harvest- wages equal to those ret:iined for that purpose, with their board. This is prudent, ns, being so engaged, they have an interest with the re t in ending the harvest as soon as possible ; which, it continued at their common wages, in all probability the business would be retarded. The advance in the priie of ihrtshing, between the two years in question, may be attributed to the same 554 causes 5l8 COMPARISON OF TIMES. causes as tlie advance of other labour conne(5led with the farm, with the general objeilion lal)ourcrs now have to that employment, whose capacities are adapted to any other method of obtaining a livelihood; and many will go miles ior employmetit, sooner than thresh corn. Theie is no doubt but the great increase in the price of blacksmiths' work, since the year 1790, may be accounted for from the dearness of foreign iron, which 'was then sold at il. 3s. per cwt. ; is now at il. los. per cwt. Coals enhanced is. per chaldron ; and the advance of journeymen wages, which has been in proportion with other labour. A very material charge on arable farms (not noted in the Statement), since the year 1 7 90, is the advance on wheel- wrights' work, which has been greater in proportion than anv other, owing to the increase in the price of timber, ash-timber, which is materially useful in their employ- ment, having had a rise from 2I. 5s. per load, which was then the gesieral price, to 5I. per load, the present one, and other timber in the like proportion ; the advance in the price of their working tools, and the additional wages given to their men. In this county, thatchers are seldom employed by the day, only on small breaches that cannot be conveni- ently measured. The price, per day, for man and la- bourer, is advanced, since the year 1790, is. per day. Measured work, in that year, was charged at 4s. 2d. per square of 100 feet, and is. per square for materials: it is now 5s., and 2s. for materials. Hay and corn ricks are usually done by the square yard: in 1790 it was o^d. per yard ; in 1803 i4d. Here seems to be a greater ad- vance than in any other labour connedled with the farmer 5 which may be supposed to have its cause from few Icarn- ine COMPARISON- f)P TIMES- '^^ig ^iig the business ; as it does not give constant osn^pleA'iTjeat throughout the year, there is not an inducemeaii, ■ Collar-makers' work is, sbce the year 1790, in- creased at least ooe-third, from the advance of leather, hemp, iron, and the addition to the journeyiT>eh.'iS wiJges. The, usual method of repairing harness is,, for the far- .mers to have them done at their own houses, the collar- maker charging IS. per day^ for laboiir, per man, the eni- ployer boarding them, and finding food for their Jiorses; the collar-maker charging for the materials used, which they always take with them. The difference in the expense of preparing and rais- ing an acre of turnips since tlie year 1790, is chiefly owing to the advance on manure. Flag and turf ashes, •which, in the neighbourhood of large heaths and com- mons, is eagerly sought for for that purpose, and carried to a considerable distance, is enhanced in its price, from IS. per cart-load to 4s. ; 10 loads of which is the usual quantity used per acre. Stable-dung, and street- muck, as it is usually termed, collefled in large towns, has had nearly tlie same advance. Malc-dusr,. or cooms, as they are provincially called, have had an equal rise, from is. ^d. per sack to 3s. 6d. This, in diffcrenr parts of thp county, is frequently used as a manure for turnips. The carriage is certainly a considerable sav-ing ; and whetc no qther can be procured, it is necessary to use it, as the turnip re- quires always to be manured for; but I must cpnfess it ne- ver met my approbation, when recourse could be had to any other. The little difference in the raising the barley-crop be- tween the yeais in question, as described in the State- ment, is merely the alteration in the expense of tillage ; as parley in this county is rarely manured for, being sowed after 520 COMPARISON OF TTME«. after wheat or turnips that has the preceding year had that operation. Wheat — The expenses of raising of which (as it is usual to manure tor it in this county), has had the same ttdditional charges as the turnip crop, from the great rise ot manures. Soot, a manure frt.quenily used for tliat purpose, is sold at double the price it was in the year i y^o, being tl)en 6:1. per bushel, now is. Rajx;, or oil-cake, an excelierit manure for culd wet lands, has since that tirtfe sold ar the same proportiorial advan'.,e. The reader will perceive, on consulting the precedifig table of the expense of cultivation, that the object is incompletely ascertained., Some correspondents returned onlv the amount of labour ; others excluded rent and rates; others omitted seed, &cc. The returns from some ether counties were still more deficient. To remedy the omissions, the Board ordered a second letter to be written, requesting an answer to the fallowing question : l'f7h!t are the charges upon lOO acres of arable landy under tJ,c follovj'- ing dist'inil heads P Rent, - - - 1790. 1803. Tithe, , - - Rates, &c. > - - Wear and tear. Labour, » - - Seed, Manure purchased. Team, - - - Interest of capital, - - - The following tables contain the result of tliese inqui- ries for the county of Norfolk. Com mu- COMPARISON OF TIMES. 52 » y > © o» .*» w to ►- ^ o n -t 3 a ^ 5-3 • . c' • 'T' ^ ■ 1 05 O CD cc o,^» CC>1^ • o O O O t-n v^ O • ' _ *-J ^ o o o o o o o ?> p o o o c o o o ?- w 2 CIO. 1 •"l 1-^ H- ►- — K- — j ^ o tn O '^ ^ O O tn c ^ o c B^: £< O ( CD Oi 0 0 0 0 0 0.=^ o CD o o o o o o ?^ ■; _. tc _- - w^ Ct ^J C in 'r Oi O • ■ ^_ ^^ "1v CD cc Ot^ o. o '.^ ^v( ^^ •^i OJ a o o *- o o ."-> 'O p f- \r. o. cc o c o o o !^ u Oi ■t-.'" r - ;^: 00 Ja. W lO Ji. W)K, ^ »-_ •^ cc o to o O . ■ r i~ CD O O Cft O O ."^ p lO to o o o o o ^ t-l-- Wear 522 COMPARISON OF TIMES. ^ - . - '^ O "* ni cr, -J- *. w to t— -;' o ^ 3 r 1 1 : 1 1 ' d 3 OC I o 3_ 1 1 : CO — ►- «- lO i-»-,x . Cr. 05 ►- c; O CO . ^ ' . CO _ "^J : '^ O O O O O ^ .^ ? IT) * t— t CO ^o O O O C O O ?- &3 ^r. " CX "' w .t. (O u- 1- W H-^^ a *^ to o o» 'O O cc - ■ ,_. CO " >-• 1— J 1— o Cn O O O O O O ?' CO i O o c o o o o ?- • 'O _ J O.^ ^^v Oi-O^ • *» C-. C5 Ji ^ O O . ' ^ ^l j^ _, O • o O O O O O C3 ?^ p Cd O O O O O C r^ o- CO to k- 1- 1- k- bO O to - -^ lo 1- is, ^ C) O 00 O C) • • Ol 1— CO k-. i-i >- , o o O C^ O O CO ?> CO j^ O O O O O O ?^ to CO A. tc *>.VK : o O bv lU >!»■ O) Cj» . ' ^ •^ - Ci o o o o o o :-^ p CA) ^ o o o o c o o P- 0) i- CL. Sf' CO CO it. CO |Ix^ CO OS « ^ 0 0 ^ 3 n li S TO 5- 2 r^ n> 0 M " to — iK toM 0 0 0 <^t . r> ^J 0 tv X 0. 0 0 0 c 0 0 .'^ p : ^ 0 0 0 c c c 0 ?■ ^c E .- W tO^s, ^^ rj w 10 c o"^vo c . CD 0 ^^ ^^ +^ Ci COOiOOiOOVS CK * * c cocooo-'^ 0 oocooo?- cji 1 ^i 0 ^ -1 C; to j>^ *> 1 00 0 o> C-. 0 0 • ' CD Ci 1 0 0 0 c 0 c •'- OdI oocooc?^ W *. CO IC to Ot W)^^ a. i- 1 -:; 0 01 Oi 0 ^ • to 0 a" a a 0 c c c 0 0 0 ;■", 0 oocooc-^ : vj W Js.*.WU>t.-iJi.fS, Ui Mm CO 0 0 0 0 0 00 • CO 0 • k^ w ooooco^ CO 4>. 000000?^ w Oi. W 03 •- w co-»^ ^^ 10 CO *- ^ C> W ^ ' Cji Ji. 4i. 0. 1- -O vr 1 - 1 CiOO^CO^ ? (J w oaOOOOO.^ W *-\^ 0 n M U^ 0. 4^ 0- to ,;. *.s. ^1 'O Ot 0> Oi to '-^ r" 4^ Cji (/. Ci 4- CO 4*: w ■ OD ^.^ t-^ h-* ^^ ^ •I"*- "v» OS 0 4- to 0 W ^ 0 1 kOOCOOOci_ RECA- 524 COMPARISON OF TIMES. RECAPITULATION. LABOUR. Per Cent. Average^ Rise in the price in winter, from T 1790 to 1803 / 43 summer - ^8 — harvest - 36 — reaping wlieat 50 — mowing barley 55 head man's wages 58 second man's do. 29 threshing wheat 72 threshing barley 51 filling earth 37 filling dung 50 .40 -47 -43 -61 -43 234 Fra(5\ions make it - 237 Divide by 5 - - 47*, gene-- lal rise in husbandry labour. ♦ This may tat Dnllltafe so much with the result of the second series of la- kour as some may at first sight imagine. This table resulting from very different data ; the five different divisions of labour being considered as equal in amount. To vary the calculation, without authority in the papers for so doings would be taking too great a liberty. ARTISANS. COMPARISON OF TIMES. 52C ARTISANS. Per Cent. Blacksmith — Rise in the price of tire, from 1790 "1 to 1803 J ^^ plough-irons - 71 ■ chains - 47 • shoeing - 64 Avei"age - - - - "54 Carpenter - - - - - 36 Mason Thatcher 39 45 Collar-maker _ - . - 38 Average of artisans - « 42 RENT AND TAXES, &c. Riseofrent, from 1790 to 1803 " " 3S tithe - - - - 58 rates - - - - qo CULTIVATION OF ARABLE LAND. Average rise on an acre of turnips, barley, and wheat 29 Average rise by the tables for 100 acres - - 3^ Par Cent. Labour - - • - 47 Artisans - - •> - ^ 42 Rent , - - - - 3j Tithe p.6 COMPARISON OF TIMES. Per Cent. Tithe - . ^ - ' S^ Rates - - - "SO Manure - - - - 76 Coltiv^atioh - - - - - 29 Average . - „ 4- In remarking on the preceding particulars, I am, in the first place, to note, that the Board is not in the least com- mitted in drawing any of these averages. That Body sim- ply ordered circular letters to be written ; and every reply stands distindlly on the personal authority of the writer. There ends the authority of the papers as I received them. The calculations, to draw tliem into one view, I have made, for the satisfa6lion of such readers as might wish to know what such a general result would be. It does not, however, follow, that, supposing the autho- rity of the letters eorre 145ti 6.53 4846 18,539 470ti 1666 10,143 8I75 1794 63S 4969 4820 1034 337 3110 9503 3385 1923 4200 14,585 5755 847 4388 6305 1530 605 3530 14,793 6003 1S77 5845 46lfi 1442 425 2504 5317 1101 1331 2887 5095 1043 39S 3656 ■1041 1642 4(31 1808 74sa 1(509 856 3396 4055 967 236 2852 94S4 2215 766 6513 5399 150O 477 2790 7900 2315 1003 4812 6487 1792 683 3982 5tJ()3 1727 360 3876 5111 1073 486 3550 8393 1(J35 839 5344 3501 1101 197 2203 4790 3028 1180 373 14,845 15 1399 13,431 224(5 149 367 1730 lo.ogti 97 2103 789(5 3(),832 1 403 12,267 24,157 23 273.371 1 e,.7ui 33,181 160,313 G c 531 ) CHAP. XV. OBSTACLES. ROOKS. " SELDOM attempted to be shot in East Norfolk, where a notion prevails, and is, perhaps, well founded, that rooks are essentially useful to the farmer, in picking up worms and grubs, especially the grub of the cock- chafer, injurious to meadows and marshes." — Afr. Adar- shall. Confirmed in the following note of Mr. John- son, of Thurning. I cannot but notice two growing evils with us, of which but little notice is taken: — ist, the number of in- se(Sls in the lands, owing to the loss of rooks, by felling so many rookeries, and not taking care of what are left ; 2d, the increase of mice, and, were I to give my opinion as to quantity and damage done, but few would give cre- dit to it : 1 have, at different times, had five mice killed to every coomb of corn moved off the stacks in the sum- mer season, and soinetimes double diat quantity ; besides being on every other part ot the premises, corn and grass pieces not excepted. Some are driven into the barns and stacks in wet seasons ; but when wheat stands long on the shock, we are sure to have most mice in our barns and stacks, except v/hcre they are driven away by some other vermin : — in my memory there were 20 grey owls, where there are now one, and though the country was in a rougher state, we had not so many mice, the owls prey T t 2 very 532 ROOKS. very much on them, and in wet weather they are more ex- posed to the owl than to any other vermin. The grey owl is destroyed by the game-keepers, and by felling the pollards. I have seen a young hare in their nests, but never saw a young pheasant or partridge : — the white, or church owl, are not so destru6live to game; and were there places made within side the top of one end of every barn, like a box, for them to pass through as they come into the barn, they would there make their nests, and become more nu- merous, and be of great service. S. JOHNSON.'* THE END. Printed by B. M'Mi!lan, ? Bow-Sueel, Covent-Carden. S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, Which may be had of the Publishers of this Volume. Report of the Committee of the Board of Agri- j(^. r. d-, ture on the Culture and Use of Potatoes, 4to. 050 Account of Experiments tried by the Board of Agriculture on the Composition of various Sorts of Bread, 4to. - - - -010 Letter from the Earl of Winchilsea, on the Ad- vantages of Cottagers renting Land, 410. -010 Communications to the Board of Agriculture on Subjedls relative to the Husbandry and internal Improvement of the Country. Vol. L 410. i i o Ditto, Vol. II. - - - - I I o Ditto, Vol. III. - - - - I I o Elkington's Mode of Draining, by Johnstone, ,8vo. - - - - -06a A General View of the Agriculture of the County of Argyll, by John Smith, D.D. one of the Ministers of Campbeltown, 8vo. - 060 : of Clydesdale, by John Nae- SMITH, 8vo. - - - -040 of Fife, by John Thompson, D.D. Minister at Markinch, 8vo. of Hertfordshire, by the Sec re. TARY of the Board, 8vo. of Kent, by John Boys, of Bct- shanger. Farmer, 8vo. of Lancaster, by Mr. John Holt, of Walton, near Liverpool, 8vo. of Lincoln, by the Stcretary of the Board, 8vo. - - - o of Middlesex, by John Middle- TON, Esq. of West Barns Farm, Mirton, and of Lambeth, Surrey, Land Surveyor, 8vo. o ( 2 ) AGeneral View of the Agricalture of Mid-Lothian, /". s. j» by George Robertson, Farmer at Granton, near Edinburgh, 8vo. . - - o 6 o of the County of Norfolk, by Na- thaniel Kent, Esq. of Fulhain, Middlesex, 8vo. - . - - o 5; o of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmorland, by Messrs. Bailev, Cul. LEY, andPRiNGLE, 8vo. . . 08 of Nottingham, by Robert Lowe, Esq. of Oxton, 8vo, - - -040 of Perth, by James Robertson, D.D. Minister at Callander, 8vo. - 060 . of Roxburgh and Selkirk, by the Rev. Robekt Douglas, D.D. Minister at Gala- shiels, 8vo. - - - -060 of Somerset, by John Billings- ley, Esq. of Ashwick Grove, near Shepton Mallet, 8vo. - - - -060 of Stafford, by W. Pitt, of Pende- ford, near Wolverhampton, 8vo. - - 056 of Suffolk, by the Secretary of the Board, 8vo. - - - -056 of Salop, by the Rev. Joseph Plym- LEY, M. A. Archdeacon of Salop, in the Dio- cese of Hereford, and Honorary Member of the Board, 8vo. - - - - o of Yorkshire (the West Riding) by Robert Brown, Farmer at Markle, near Haddington, Scotland, 8vo. - . \ . 06 of Yorkshire (the North Riding) o by John Tuke, Land Surveyor, 8vo. - 076 A CATALOGUE OF AGRICULTURAL SEEDS, S:e. SOLD BY THOMAS GIBBS AND CO- Seedsmen and Nurserymeii to the Board of Agriculture, Corner of Half-Moon-Street, Piccadilly, London : IVho also Sell every Article in the Nursery and Seed Line j and with ivhom Bailiffs, wanting Places, leave their Ad- dress, and particulars of Situations in which they have previously heeti. Barlev. Isle of Thanet. Norfolk. Naked. . Winter. Beans. Small Essex. Tick? Mazagan. Broom. Common yellow. Buck, or French wheat. Burnet. Cabbage. Glbbs' true drum- head, for cattle. Scotch. American. Large red. ■ Long-sided. White turnip above ground. Purple ditto ditto, or kohl rabi. i White turnip under ground. Tall green borecole. I Tall purple ditto. ■ Siberian hardy sprouting. Carrot. Large thick orange, for cattle. Large thick red, ditto. Canary. Chicory. Clover. Common red. Perennial, or cow-grass. White Dutch. Yellow, trefoil, non- «Uch,or black grass. Clover. Malta. — — — Providential. Flax, or linseed. Furze. Grass. Meadow foxtail. ' Meadow fescue. — — Sheep's fescue. Haidish fescue. Purple ditto. '— Float ditto. — — Crested dogstail. Rough cocksfoot. Tall oat-grass. Yellow ditto. Meadow ditto. — — Sweet vernal. Great meadow. — — Common ditto. — — Marsh ditto. Compressed ditto. — ^ Annual ditto. —— Common ray-grass. Pcaccy ditto. Improved perennial do. — — Timothy. Yorkshire. With many other sorts. Hemp. Russian, luiglish. Honcj suckle. French. Lettuce. Large Cobb. l.e:itils. Small. Large. Lucerne. Mangel wurzel. Mai^'-seed. Medicago, various sorts. Millet. Red. White. Mustard. Brov/n. Oats. Early Essex. Dutch brew. 'J'artarian- Poland. Potatoe. 1-iaiiders. Caspian. Black. Parsley. Plain. Parsnip. Large thick. Pea. Marlborough grey. — Large grey rouncival. — Parly white. — White boiling. — Pearl. — Blue Prussian. ■ — Maple. Potatoes. Ox-noble. ■■ Late champion. Large red. Nicholson seedling. Bomb-shell. Rib-grass. I>ambs-tongue, or Upright plantiun. Rape, or coleseed. Rye. .Sainfoin. Saridella. Tares. Spring. Winter. White. Perennial. Trefoil. Birdsfoot. ■ Common, various sorts. 'I'urnip^ Early stone. White Norfolk. Norfolk beli. Stubble. I Green top. Turnip. Red top. ' Large yellow. Globe. 'U''hite tankard. Green ditto. Red-top ditto. ' Large Dutch. ■ True yellow Swedish, or ruta baga. White Swedish. Vetciiw Weld. Wheat. Kidney. Cliickling. Pale-flowered. Everlasting. Great wood. Six-flowered. Tufted. Bush. Hoary. Sainfoin. Red-ilov/ered. Biennial. Bastard. Broad-podded. Rough. Single-flowered. Narbonne. Flat-podded. , Hairy ditto. Narrow-leaved. Streaked. White-flowered. White-seeded. Horse-shoe. Milk. Liquorice. Red Lammas. Common white. White hedge. White Siberian. Egyptian. Sicilian. Round AfricaH. Zealand. Cape. Dantzick. Woad. Yarrow. Printed by H. M'Millan, Uow-Street, Covsnt-Garden. A 000 031 383 3 » k Si £ X ^ % o 0\ t % r\ #4 i^ % ^; K\ . M^ ^ ^ t 1^1 j^ % ^ ip"\ A ^ ^ 1^ «■ /-^. i It, I ^1 .'■■■\ o I ^ .-r^S SL & s^ 9 t ^ ^ ^- i