UNIVERSITY OF B-C. LIBRARY

o-

3 9424 00126 0246

Oil PAIII.1 L.KD3

3, J. Bsdaile.

SIOfcAGE ITLM
PROCESS 1NG~CM

Lpl-F19A
U.B.C. LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA

Gift of
H. R. MacMiUan

ON FARM LANDS.

BY

E. JEFFRIES ESDAILE, ESQ.

BARRENNESS OF ALL KINDS IS EITHER A VICE
IN NATURE OR A VIOLATION OF HER LAWS."

TAUNTON;

PRINTED BY H. SUTTON, OPPOSITE THE CASTLE.

1853.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

University of British Columbia Library

http://www.archive.org/details/onfarmlandsOOesda

ON FARM LANDS.

BY

E. JEFFRIES ESDAILE, ESQ.

" BARRENNESS OF ALL KINDS IS EITHER A VICE
IN NATURE OR A VIOLATION OF HER LAWS."

TAUNTON:

PRINTED BY HENRY SUTTON, PARADE.

1853.

ON FARM LANDS.

The few words I have submitted to the public,
under the head of " Farm Buildings," having been
favorably received by many into whose hands it has
fallen, I am induced to further the attempt of stimu-
lating the landlords to the improvement of their
homesteads, by extending the subject, and drawing
their attention to the good results to be expected by
so arranging and disposing of their farm lands, as to
make them much more productive, both of pleasure
to the eye, and of profit to the pocket. Perhaps I
am rash thus early to mention the word profit, as
connected with EngHsh agriculture, and may imagine
a slight curl on the Hp of one of my farming friends,
followed, not unlikely, by a sudden increase of flame
in the fire near to which he may be sitting. Well,
however this may be, to whatever fate the legislature
may doom the broad acres, don't let us give way,
rather let it be met, if not with harness on our backs,
at least with the plough in our hands, and our hearts
in the right places.

My chief acquaintance lying with Somerset and Somerset

Devon, it must be understood I particularly allude ^nd Devon

■■■ •'as exam-

to those two counties, not only on the score of that pies of the

preva- acquaintance, but that it so happens they present
small fields 2iost prominently the evils to which I am anxious to

and tim- draw attention, and from which I would fain endea-

ber grown

hedges. vouT to pomt out a road to escape.

Blessed >nth a mild climate, and large tracts of
fertile land, they yield to no part of England in loca-
tions suitable to carry on a scientific and advanced
state of agriculture, yet, how is it that, notwith-
standing these advantages, in vain does the enquirer
ask, when looking about him, passing through the
rural and beautiful districts, for those enhghtened
scenes of industry which often present themselves
elsewhere, and under less favored cu'cumstances ;
indeed it seems to me, strange as it may appear, tliat
the greater the obstacles, so much more does the
mind of man exert itself to overcome them.

I wish to be understood that I shall endeavour, as
much as possible, to avoid falhng into a discussion
upon the modes of cultivation pursued by the agri-
culturist, it may be rather difficult to do so^ seeing
that the subjects? run parallel with each other; but
one thing is in my favor, that I am not insensible to
my inability for the task, knowing but little or
nothing of farming ; but were it otherwise, what a
beaten track would there be to pursue, for it must
be conceded that books of agriculture abound, and,
as was said by a friend of mine, " if the land was
laid as dry as the subject of farming in print is, pipes
would bear a bad price in the market ;" nor am I
about to expatiate on the beauties of solitude or
scenery — that lies more within the province of the

poet and novelist — mine is but a humble attempt to

induce landowners to give a more decided cliaxacter

of civilization to their estates than they now possess,

by showing them the way to do it, and by bribing

them by that powerful of all inducements, self ggjf ;„.

INTEREST — I am aware of the obstacles in the wav ^^''^^t put
1 1 • T 1 • 1 ^ 1 " forthasthe

— deep rooted prejudices to be got rid ol — resolu- induce-

tion required — and the means along with the will at 1^^"* *''
^ " improve.

hand ; but these, and many more, every one that
would clear the way to a new reading must expect
to meet with. In the character of an agitator I may
not be so successful as my brothers in the craft ; I
do not look to feathering my nest ; on the con-
trary, shall be perfectly satisfied to remain quietly
within it.

The prominent features of Somerset and Devon
are small enclosures, surrounded by hedges. In „, ,

' . . cAms and

the lower and richer lands these hedges principally trees in
occupy themselves in protecting, raising, and feeding ^^ ^^^'
a numerous family of trees, chiefly elms, and whether
the land is pasture, meadow^ or arable, 'tis all the
same.

It is hardly to be credited, but true it is, — whole
parishes are to be found in which the average num-
ber of acres in each field does not exceed two. One ,

Average of
would have thought this bad enough, but it does not fields un-

appear so, for even this miserable allowance is eked '' '^'^ ^"'°
1 J- ' acres.

out by hedges twenty feet wide, which are mea-
sured in, to make up the quantity — add to this the
numerous trees, ditches not scoured out, and the
hedges seldom laid, — never, indeed, until the wood

obtains a lofty growtli — can it be otherwise that a
rank and comparatively worthless vegetation fol-
lows ? For a moment we'll climb, at the risk of our
necks, on the top of one of these hedges, or even
venture a footing on the rough Hmb of yon huge
pollard ash, just to be enabled to look around, here
"we have a view of fields of every variety of form and
Fields of figure, no two alike, save in their diminutive pro-
all forms, portions, some appear in long triangular slips, losing
themselves in the embrace of a brother and sister
hedge, others attempt a circle more or less success-
fully ; in short, there is no Hmitation to such fancies,
and no little ingenuity shown in laying them out.
Difficult How the plough gets at these odds and ends I don't
to plough, profess to explain, and if an answer is wanted to the
pretty song of " Tell me where is Fancy bred," it
may be found in Hodge's head, when he leaves off
work and fancies he has ploughed an acre of land.
It is not to be told the waste of land within a farm
partitioned into sundry two acres enclosures, as com-
pared with one of open fields — it must be, that the
The eye constant and habitual sight of such ever presenting
customed thcmselvcs before the proprietors^ make them, as it
to small -^ere, blind to the defects of the system ; otherwise

fields, the ^ , i i- , , • i

ill effects 1 can scarcely beueve that those possessmg the

of them j]2gans would allow things to remain as they are ; nor
not seen. ° . j ^

are the small fields and high hedges confined to the

lower and vale parts of the country, but extend up-
wards. It may be, the fields are a trifling larger,
and the fences not quite so rank in growth, and the
elm tree gives way to the ash and beech, but the

main features of the evil remain, and tlie same
obstacles stand in the way of a due cultivation of
the ground.

Impressed with the conviction of the very great
advantages of a large farm of one thousand acres First-rate
over small ones, say over the like number divided in husbandry

•' only to be

farms of one hundred acres each, and under ; and carried on
as it is on the former alone a scientific and first-rate |"j,j^^ ^^l
course of husbandry can be carried on, I would fain such re-
bring landowners, whose estates will permit of it, to ed.
my way of thinking, and sit about ridding them-
selves, without loss of time, of the little holdings,
and in the place of such, to concentrate them in one
or more large farms, under tenants of capital, both
of mind and pocket. Surely it must be more satis-
factory to a man to walk over, and have before his
eyes, his lands under the most improved system of
husbandry, and exhibiting the prolific capabilities of
the soil (hitherto never having been developed) , than
to witness the laborious life and ill paid exertions of
men who call themselves farmers, but many of whom
are in reality hardly better than day laborers, — nay,
as far as work goes, are much more called on, as ill
fed, and as ill clothed, and whose wretched expedi-
dients at cultivation betray a bad conditioned state
of things ; these men cannot raise themselves to in- jg^^^^jj ^^^
dependence whilst confined within the narrow limits mers not
allowed them — of course exceptions are to be found, than day
but, generally speaking, never do themselves any laborers,
good, merely living from day to day, and from hand
to mouth. Now, some may exclaim, " Well, it is all

8

vei'y pretty, but what is to become of the iudustrious

small renters, if these holdings are to be taken from

them, and added one to the other to make a grand

farm," — the reply to this is, that there is not any

thing to fear on this account, for 'tis only here and

there that an estate is so circumstanced as to afford

the means of adding field to field, there must of

necessity always be an abundance of small farms,

particularly in Somerset and Devon, where the lands

are much subdivided into numerous properties, and

where many local contingencies exist to keep them

so. Again, it may be suggested that a large farm

does not require an equal number of cottages, and,

consequently, fewer laborers ; the impression on my

borers em- ^iiitl is, that a man of capital must employ that

ployed on capital, and according to the amount of it, together

farm than with liis energy and education, so will the produc-

°" J. tiveness and capabilities of a farm be in accordance :

same di- _ ^

vided into — the day is not yet come when the land will bear its

small ones, iiicrease without the sweat of the brow, the mandate

has gone forth, and although the most perfect

: lachi- jj2achinery may be devised, and the steam engine

nery by no •' •' ' o

means su- thresh out the corn and winnow the mow, yet the
the laborer laboring man will be found worthy of his hire, and
the cottage to shelter him erected, — so far from a
large farm not calling for labor equal to that of a
number of small ones, I must require proof to the
contrary. In a well- constituted order of things, cot-
Cottages ^ages for the laboring population should be found
not to be '=' o i i

in distant within, or adjacent to, the scene of operations. I
VI ages. -^^^^ ^^ system, happily not yet a general one> of

driving the working man into distant villages or
towns — I would keep him on the sloping bank, or
sunny nook of his own garden, not far from the farm
house. On the other side of the question, however,

it must he admitted, legislative interference has step- „,

. 1 11 1 •'^"^ mea-

ped in, and inade it the interest of the landlord to sure of go-
pull down the cottages, and to trust to the chapter ^^["^/^ted
of accidents for a supply of labor, and it is a hard to prevent
thing to run contrary to so powerful an advocate, ^jq^ ^f
and I lament it is so. cottages.

I now will refer, and attempt to show the pecu-
niary advantages to he derived by the landlord from
a one thousand acre farm over that of one having a
like quantity divided into ten of one hufidred acres
each, and to do so, will contrast the one with the
other. The large farm will require a good comfort-
able house, one large bam, bartons, and cattle sheds s(,n"made
sufficient in number and size for the rearing, breed- of a 1,000
ing, and feeding of the stock, and all other accom- ^\^\^ jq of

modation of the kind, to which must be added the i^^, ^'^'^^^

each,
costly erection of machinery.

The requirements of each of the ten farms are the

same, less the machinery, which cannot be supplied

to the several holdings. I know what will be said,

and that I shall be met with the assertion that it

never could enter the head of any man that each

should have such a provision — every convenience

might be had of the kind by causing the erection of

the needful on one farm, for the use of all, and thus

the benefit derived from machinery at hand — this

looks pretty, I allow, on paper, and good in theory,

10

but is it so in fact ? will you bring me ten farmers,
so amiable, so accommodating, and arranging mat-
ters between themselves so well, as to find the mill,
&c., at their service, just at the moment it may be
wanted ? I fear not : and bear this in mind, too,
that one great use of machinery is, the enabling tlie
farmer to seize the turn of the market, and not only
get a customer for his wheat, or his barley crop, but
pocket sixpence per bushel, or four shillings per
quarter on the gross amount ; now, the small holders
are shut out from any participation in such advan-
tages; they cannot supply a momentary demand,
and thus benefit by it.

That the landlord's interest is much at stake,
comparing the calls upon him on account of one
large farm, and those from a number of smaller
farms, is soon shown : two thousand 'pounds, per-
haps will afibrd every thing wanted in a farm of one
thousand acres, laid out in addition to what may
already be on the premises ; now, double this amount
will hardly limit the requirements of the one hundred
acre allotments, which must each have a house, a
barn, bartons, &c., or cultivation could not be
carried on, — it is not needful to get into algebra to
explain this, and it must be affirmed that, at least as
lar as building accommodations go, aU is in favor of
my argument ; but there is much more than this, —
every landholder has a right to receive the full value
of the land he underlets — every tenant of the same
to have that land so disposed and conditioned, as to
afford him everv facihtv to meet his rent-dav — such

JI

an arrangement must be for the benetit of both

parties. Now, small holdings cannot fulfil these

conditions, the constitution of such will not admit ■

of them. However beneficial, and however attempted

to be enforced — a perfect drainage, for instance, a perfect

cannot be carried out, the first and foremost of all j^^^j^"^ "

agricultural improvements. I grant, to a limited cannot be

extent it may, but not to the full developement of q„ ^ small

the svstem. It has been stated that as of necessity f^fm, and

why.
small farms must exist, and on many such the fields

are devoted to distinct purposes, as corn, grass, &c.,
and casting them together would be attended with
some disadvantages, this particularly would be the
case as regards Somerset and Devoji, which counties
glory in minute subdivisions — here, to turn the one
hundred acre farm into two enclosures, would be
preposterous, it would effect a change in the cha-
racter of its cultivation ; I won't discuss whether for
better or worse, but at all events a landlord might
pause, and well consider the question, before he
decides. My idea is, that in proportion to the num-
ber of acres, and the several uses to which they are
applied, so should be the size of the enclosures, and
it is on these grounds I advocate extensive farms,
I must now proceed to show, that where a gentle-
man's estate is so fortunately placed, by its size and Large
circumstances, as to admit of large open farms, it is comme'n-
his interest to have them, and not confined to him ^ed be-
alone, for the tenants and the public come in for a them only
share — at the word, public, I think I hear, " -^^^ fields^ b^^
for a hit of patriotism ;" but nothing of the kind, made.

12

for though it fetches a high price ill the market, I

have the definition of its possessor before me, and

am not envious of the character. Let us suppose,

now, a man convinced, we'll say, by ray argument,

sets himself down to a practical application of it,

he finds himself the owner of a number of little

farms, rendered almost invisible to him by reason of

hedges and trees, — in fact, he is like a bird in a caffs
To set .

about hav- ^^^^ longs to be free ; the first thing he does is to

ing large divest himself of the present occupiers, they will have
where notice to quit, one and all : now don't be alarmed,
^'^^bi gentle reader, and feelingly ask, what then is to be-
come of the poor tenants, there is no fear about the
destiny of these men, for, as I have before said,
there will always be an abundance of small farms
open to receive a good tenant, and as for one that
may not be regarded in that light, why he may be
considered as a riddance. The landlord may now be
supposed to have had an advantageous offer for his
attached farms, by an educated and intelligent man,
possessing a capital sufficient to stock the whole, and
carry on the cultivation of it with spirit and enter-
prise— he asks for a twenty-one year lease, which is
readily granted, and as a considerable outlay must
fall on his shoulders, in assisting to reconstruct and
improve the property, he would not have been justi-
fied in accepting a less period.

Here it may not be considered out of the way, if
a word or two drop from me in respect to leases, or
terms of letting lands, particularly when talking
about twenty-one years — a good slice in a man's life.

13

I believe there never has been a perfect document of
the kind seen; all, more or less, abounding in ridicu-
lous clauses and impracticable applications ; the old
form, therefore, cannot be recommended for the
ground-work of a lease of the present day, and we
must look elsewhere ; great difficulties, no doubt, lie
in the way in arriving at a satisfactory result ; all I
can say is, that the less a man is tied down as to
cropping, the better, for you may as well have a
clause to direct the seasons, as one for the rotation
of crops ; every farmer knows this ; however, in the
matter of a lengthened period, great caution should
be observed by both landlord and tenant ; and, after
all, the former has little or nothing to fear in respect
to the cultivation, because the tenant, for his own
interest, will, in nine cases out of ten, keep it in a
high and satisfactory state ; h is the last four years
of the lease that are those chiefly requiring stipula-
tion. To a man living amongst his tenantry, nothing
tends more to pleasurable country pursuits than
witnessing the enlightened exertions of a tenant
crowned with success — perhaps a smile may be seen
here, indicating a picture drawn on one end of the
canvass rather too much in castle-air style ; it may
be so, — but if mutual interest will not afibrd a good
foundation for our best feelings to rest on, what will?
It is by no means an easy undertaking to convert
ten farms into one, even if they are so disposable by
local advantages ; a proprietor may not like to sacri-
fice a number of houses and homesteads — perhaps
all, or the greater part, in good repair, and on which

14

he has laid out much money, and for an experiment
or whim, whicli may or may not turn out to his
liking, he has to contend with the prejudices of many
of his neighbours, and a host of things of the kind ;
never mind ; down with the hedges, and their accom-
panyments ; in with the pipes ; and let those laugh
that win Were it possible, I would have the farm
Advisable g^ arranged as to have the arable all in one part, and

to have the ° _ r '

arable di- the grass in another ; probably, to effect this, some
the^aTs'" parcels must change character, — a bit of old pasture
lands. put under the plough, and a slice of arable turned
into meadow, nor is this to be objected to, provided
that the tenant lays down as much as he ploughs up,
and in a manner and way to ensure speedy success.
'Tis Ukely I may be telling what everybody knows,
and many have practised, viz., that of grass planting,
as the most preferable and perfect mode of going to
work; under the common system of seeding out,
years expire before a permanent pasture is obtained,
whereas, in three years, by planting, you may mow,
and get a crop of hay equal and of the same quality.
The way to proceed is this, first prepare the ground
planting and show a clean and even surface, and then turn to
hK)w effec- ^^^ nearest pasture or meadow for the required ma-
terial : should some acres be destined to the planting,
it might be worth while to have a little plough, for I
can call it by no other name, made for the pui*pose,
something like a trowel, this drawn by a pony or
donkey, appHed to the surface, pares up the turf, and
a boy gathers up the same in a basket, and being
conveyed to the scene of action, is torn into pieces.

15

and is then fit to use, — being supplied with a short
handled hoe, a hole is scraped, a bit of the grass in-
serted and covered in at about the distance of eight
inches apart, the cost of this will amount to two
pounds per acre, or something less. If the field is
in corn, say barley, the drills should be set wide, so
as to admit more room for the grass planter. In
using the grass plough, or common narrow shovel,
the ground must be gone over in alternate lines,
corduroy fashion, and it is astonishing in how short
a time the wounds will be healed, and the place
resume its former appearance, without a perceptible
sacrifice of its fertility. I most particularly would
recommend this method where hedges, dividing pas-
tures, have been pulled down, where trees have been , Y^^^^

^ _ hedges are

grubbed up, and hollows filled ; here, as it were, pulled
almost by magic, a sward is obtained, not distin- tj-eeserub-
guishable from the old. Those acquainted with rural bed up, the
afiairs will understand how much is gained, in fact of grass
the obstruction may be said to have departed, and planting.
left no sign

Trees, however favorable to scenery in general,
are not so to a farm ; the fewer the better on all, for
running the risk of being considered a Goth, I
would, whilst giving notice to quit to a hedge, in-
clude their occupiers, — here and there, perhaps, a
fine oak standing in the ditch may be spared, but the
maxim that on highly cultivated ground trees are rp^.^^^ ^^^_
trespassers, must be particularly enforced : it is sidered as
much better, if it is considered absolutely necessary
for a farm to grow timber, to devote certain spots

16

for the purpose, and fence them well in. Many
advantages would be unattainable where trees are
suflFered to grow within the fields, — drainage, for in-
stance, could not be perfectly effected, from the ob-
struction to be met with fi'om the roots ; and it is
matter of astonishment to what a distance they will
run, and when having readied a drain, howburglari-
Draining ously they effect an entrance and obtain possession.
Pipes are sure to be stopped, whether of a larger or
smaller diameter, and as far as such stoppage is con-
cerned, it is only a matter of time; people are much
tempted to the use of draining pipes ; they are com-
monly ready at hand, are cheap, and very effective at
first; but can they hold out any prospect of remaining
so, or is there no fear from the roots of turnips, man-
gel, &c. ? truth says there is very much. I was lately
viewing a large farm in Cambridgeshire, in the occu-
pation of its wealthy proprietor, all the cold and wet
parts had been piped, — he told me the mangel roots
had entered, and mischief followed ; as gravel was to
be found near, he regretted not having used it, for
by screening, stones could have been had well suited
for the purpose. I agreed with him fully tliat, in
A stone every respect, a stone drain is the best that can be,

effectlve^^ most permanent, useful, and natural.

than one Many parts of Hertfordshire suffer from wet
chiefly on the surface. I have been over fanns that
from want of drainage alone, were rendered nearly
uncultivated, and yet no where could a remedy be so
cheaply and easily found ; the soil was a stiff" clay,
here and there of a fertile quality, and all to be made

17

so. Flints lie above ground in many places, afford-
ing a good material, and the drains themselves, to
receive them, should not be cut above twenty inches
deep, yet I saw no attempt of the kind — I don't
mean that draining is not done. On a farm belong-
ing to my Lord Essex, and I believe in his own
hands, a great deal has been effected in that way by
pipes — some four feet deep — in my humble opinion
a useless expense, in thus cutting through hard
clays ; and I am at a loss how surface water (and
as it has been before said, the land suffers principally
from that) can get at the pipes. I learnt of one
peculiar feature of that part of the country, viz., that
the higher grounds were the wet ones, comparatively
speaking, the lower range being dry ; if this holds
good, no further proof is required to show how
readily drainage is obtainable, and how the landlords,
either from poverty, apathy, or ignorance, or all,
let things remain as they are ; but I fear, without an
act of parliament to compel those, I will designate
as owners of the outlets of the country, to cut and
keep clean the main water courses, they wont do it.
For want of such attention, in any thing like rain,
the water is ponded back, and overfloods the land
in a surprisingly short space of time, even rendering
much frequented roads impassable, all which nui-
sances could be abated, and in a great measure pre-
vented, by view-drains, that is, subjected to be
visited by a jury.

Talking of the removal of hedges, — what a raeta-
morphus is produced in the face of the country ; it is

18

notliing move or less than an advance in civilization,
for of what use is an eye of taste, if the possessor of
it can't see above a few yards at a time. In hus-
bandry it is every thing ; instead of the ploughman
confined to his work in the space of an acre or two,
ever on the twist and the turn, congratulating him-
The ad- self it may be, of getting out of one corner, only to
of ope^^^ run into another, he finds himself relieved of his
lands as trammels, has room to breathe, and executes his task

compared ■ ^ ^ -, -, ^ ■ ^c 1 n 1 ■

with small """ith less labor to himseli, and greater profit to his
fields. employer. " Speed the Plough" is an old standing
toast, responding to it is the theory, to pull down a
hedge, the fact ; and I, for one, am new fangled
enough to prefer the latter. It is admitted by farmers
that com delights in an open space, and is impatient
under trees and hedges, which shuts out the influence
of the sun and air, renders the ground foul, and the
crop deficient in quantity and quality, — although
there is not so much to say against small enclosures,
speaking of grass lands, nevertheless they are not
altogether to be recommended ; bowing to long cus-
tom, and to the nature, particularly of the two coun-
ties, Somerset and Devon, I do not insist upon so
complete a clearance as in the case of arable lands,
perhaps going as far as to keep up something of the
character hitherto enjoyed, we may give way a Httle
to old prejudices, and permit a tree here and a fence
there to remain ; but whilst thus admitting so much,
I am by no means sure that trees and fences should
be seen even on lands dedicated to pasture alone ; I
have avoided touching on the mode of culture*

19

althougli walking so near the borders of it, but I Doubt
may express a doubt whether natural grasses, that is natural
whether old pastures, and meadows are the most ^'"^^^'^"^^

'- _ _ are so pro-

profitable and productive, and give the best return, ductive as
I will instance the Isle of Thanet, as presenting an *^ * ^^^ '
unenclosed and open area, all I believe under plough,
and generally of a rich fertile soil — see the corn
crops here, accompanied by roots and grasses in per-
fection— would subdividing by hedges, &c., better
matters ? — would the farmers give an increased rent
if their farms were laid out into two or three acre
pieces ? I should say not ; men accustomed to till
open tracts of country are ever found to object to
enclosures of any kind, — in fact, they consider them

in the way. A short time since I was riding in the ^" ^-""^
•' _ '^ parts of

company of some agi'icultural friends, through that the coun-
part of Gloucestershire, called the Cotwolds, the j. J ^j^jg"^'
country here lies high, and presents a scene of large "o" is
fields, fenced in by stone walls ; and surely if any fences of
boundaries are to be defended, these are most easily ^"^ '^'"'^•
so. A Wiltshire man, a practical and experienced
farmer, addressing me, said — " Mr. Esdaile, I have
not so much fault to find with the farming here, as
with the stone walls, for what earthly use are they?
they give an aspect of poverty all around, and are
much better away." These sentiments were re-
sponded to by others of the party ; and one man
venturing to defend the poor stones on the score of
convenience, &c., broke down altogether, and was
voted as having failed in his case. It must be ac-
knowledged that the Cotwolds, free of stone walls.

20

would present a beautiful undulating country, the
summits being often crowned with beech woods, afford
a rest to the eye, and the whole district unconfined,
might challenge comparison with any in England.

As many men have many minds, we must not be
too opinionated, but give way a little to ancient
customs and habits of residents, who cannot be sup-
posed to fall in, all at once, with a new and, to them,
a foreign order of things : they may love the dark-
ness and privacy of acre mead, and home close
hedges, twenty feet wide, and twelve high, and glory
in the profusion and size of the elm and ash thereon
— it would be almost a pity to dispel such day
dreams of rural life ; but, unfortunately, these men
require their rent as well as others, and in the pre-
sent days of competition, in which the farmer is
more particularly interested, the two don't agree ;
that is, — rent, and land forbidden to be cultivated.
Vi'vn^ P™" In former days hedges afforded, by the strong growth
reason at upon them, much fuel for the use of the house, and
havins'^ there can be no doubt but the custom of cutting off"
large the heads of trees and rendering them pollards, arose
from the same circumstance ; now, however, times
are changed, and the facility to get coals, and the
ready application of them, far and wide, renders fire
wood a material of necessity no longer ; indeed, in
some places it does not more than pay the wages of
the men for collecting it, — thus the land occupied
by hedges is undoubtedly, and may truly be said to
be uncultivated; and for which the farmer is ex-
pected to pay, and does pay, rent and taxes.

•21
I have a strong conviction that the time is not The day

!> m 1 1 Ml T 1 "°^ ^^^ off

very far on, when a general crusade will be made when

against small enclosures, that we shall not see them, V^.^}^ ,
° _ _ fields and

save only on properties of a very minor description, trees will
or near or adjoining to country towns or villages, [IJieraled.
coming under the character of accommodation lands
and gardens. Turning more immediately to my sub-
ject of a farm of one thousand acres and upwards,
where enclosures are the order of the day, none
should be less than fifteen or twenty acres for grass,
and double for arable, a small allowance under any
circumstances — fields should be squared as much as
possible — a chess board ofiers a good exemplification
of my meaning; and white thorn planted, only raised
above the level by two turfs, is the best fence, it
requires protection for ten or fourteen years, after it
will take care of itself, where the eye is to be pleased
by sinking the ground a little, the thorns could be j^^gj ^g
kept out of sight by being only trimmed once a year, had, one
and an open and park-like appearance is obtained, thom.
Iron railing is got into very general use, it is objec-
tionable as applied to farm purposes, unless made
so strong as to cost too much. Little more remains
to be said ; but before winding up, one observation,
and that is, the necessity of having free and easy
access to all parts of the farm, by a firm hard road
or two ; it is seldom such is seen, or even thought Farm
of, though one would think the saving in the wear cessary. "
and tear of horses and carriages alone, would strike
any person : strange as it appears, it is only within
forty or fifty years that the farmer could get to mar-

22

ket without a contest with the impediments from
land and water the whole of his way. I cannot here
refrain from an anecdote as given by an ancestor of
mine, M.P. for a now much frequented town, but
then little known from the difficulties of access, and
the impassable condition of the public highways; be
moved for leave to bring in a bill to amend and
make good the roads within a certain district ; upon
which a gentleman got up and asked the honorable
member whether it was intended to make them ?iaii-
gahle or passable, — to understand this, it should be
bonie in mind that at that period the roads were the
chief drains of the country, in fact, were great part
of the year, water courses, and indeed to this day
many are of that character, and must ever remain
so, as long as the roads are below the level of the
adjoining fields ; all that can be done is, to convey
the water into the ditch or the side, and keep the
hedge cut as low as possible : after all, the traveller
in vain attempts to catch a peep at the country he
passes through ; he requires no Brunell to furnish a
tunnel ; he is perpetually witliin one, and 'tis only
on amving on eminences he discovers the beauty of
the scenery from which he has been shut out. On
the subject of public roads, I say little, but if the
present through the fertile vales of Somerset and
Devon were abandoned, and new lines carried along
on the surface of the country, what delightful pros-
pects would gratify the eye ; a great expense would
be saved in repairs, now continually called for, and
a highway, in reality, obtained to the very letter.

It has been my eudeavouv to steer clear of politics,
and although we all have our feelings in favor of, or
against, as it may be, the measures pursued by the
ruling powers of the day, yet on one point we all
agree, viz., on the necessity of an ample supply of
food for the people. Party spirit has greatly assisted
to divide public opinion as to how and through what
means it is to be procured ; one party insisting that
to cultivate the English soil for the purpose of grow-
ing wheat, is absurd, whilst a supply of the same can
be found ready at hand in America, Poland, and Every
elsewhere ; the other holding to the opinion, that to should be
the produce of our own industry and cultivation of ^^^^ ^°

grow

our own soil, should our thoughts and energies be wheat from
directed ; certainly these latter have history on their °".^ """^
side, for we learn from it, that when luxury over-
ran the Roman provinces, the decline of the empire
was visible, from the cultivation of the soil being
abandoned, and trusting rather to a foreign supply
of corn to feed the people, than to their own
exertions.

I have said that party spirit greatly influences
men's actions — an instance of this was aflbrded by
Mr. Ricardo, when on a visit to the late Sir T. B.
Lethbridge, in Somersetshire— ^/rowi whose own lips,
I had it — the subject in discussion was the corn
laws. Mr. Ricardo. "From what you say. Sir
Thomas, it would seem you attach the growth of
corn in England as contingent with its prosperity
and welfare ; now I confess I do not, and so far from
it, that if thistles and briars were to cover every acre

34

of this vale," alkuling to the heautiful one of Taun-
ton Deane, "it would be just as well, in a national
point of view." Now tliis opinion may be taken for
as much as it is worth, nor should I have mentioned
it, but to show the extent of folly to which party
politics will carry a man, for it is difficult to believe
it to be the result of an unbiased mind, and calm
reflection.

Thinking as I do that our national existence de-
pends on a constant and regular supply of food, and
that produced from our own, and by the labor 'of,
our agricultural population; I hasten to one observ'a-
tion, and well worthy of attention, it is on the rights
On the claimed and exercised over mill streams ; times were

injury -^hen such importance was attached to these waters,

caused by ^

mill that laws "were made of the most stringent and arbi-

streams. |-^.^j.y character, to facilitate and regulate the use of
them ; no doubt, then, as wise and necessary a pre-
caution, as. their existence on the statute at the pre-
sent day is absurd and mischievous. Comparatively
speaking, the application of water power to an over-
shot wheel is of recent date, and it was the conse-
quence of this invention that led to the diversion
of the streams from their natural bed, and the
causing them to be carried along a higher level, or
ponded back to an overflow. To the miller was
granted despotic rule over the course of the stream,
and he has transmitted the same to his represen-
tatives, unimpaired and in full force. Talk of the
Riglits Czar of Russia indeed, he is nothing to our autocrat

streams by of the mill — every lover of the rod will understand

25
me, and I would the public did as well ; but fond as millers

, , n -r n i • i t sliould be

£ am ot the gentle crait, i ny at higher game, and set aside.
would gladly hail the day which is to free the
streams from their present vasalage, as the most
honest radical, when he sees a tax reaching his
neighbour's pocket, but avoiding his own. To speak
seriously, the injury and loss to the country by the
rights claimed by millers is immense, and whilst
they exercise them, little advance can be expected
towards a more perfect cultivation of the soil, and a
corresponding benefit by an increase of production,
for how can a drainage be effected when you must
not touch the source of the spring ; there are thou-
sands of acres lying wet and cold, and to a certain
extent under waste, merely that water should be
conveyed to a mill, and which said mill, nine times
out of ten, does not more than pay its expences ;
besides, the steam engine is at hand, let them apply
to it. Of course, what has been said on the subject
alludes to those mills worked by a stream diverted
for the purpose, where the water runs in its natural
bed, or from reservoirs close at hand, the objection
don't apply, unless obstructions exist in the outlets
of the same, and then your neighbours may suffer,
which should not be ; the day is not far off, when
these, and other obstacles to the raising of food,
will be no longer endured. The majority of people
do not shut their eyes to the fact, that if war was to
happen, as things now are, provisions might be at a
famine price ; owing to the change of the laws, or
from circumstances with which we are unacquainted.

20

wheat growing has declined throughout the United
Kingdom, and it should be the endeavour of every
one to remedy the evil, not by crying to Jupiter,
but by putting their shoulders to the wheel.

I have now exhausted what knowledge I may have
possessed on the subject which has been treated on ;
my humble endeavour has been to direct the atten-
tion of landed proprietors to the times in which they
live, to induce them to move with them, in fact, to
mend their ivays, and their manors, and if I should
do this in the slightest degree. I shall have the satis-
faction of knowing I have not been uselessly em-
ployed.

p. SUTTON, PRINTER, TAUNTON.

University of British Columbia Library

DUE DATE

:-c u.^-/..

FORM 3IO

(iSPA^n

AGRICULTURE

FORESTRY

LIBRARY

ii.

^