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IV

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n

THE

RURAL ECONOMY

OF THE

WEST OF ENGLAND-

INCLUDING

DEVONSHIRE;

AND PARTS OK

SOMERSETSHIRE,
DORSETSHIRE,

AND

CO R N W A L L.

TOGETHER WITH

MINUTES IN PRACriC E.

By Mr. MARSHALL.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. L

LONDON:
printed for G. Nicol, Bookfeller to His Majefty, Pall Mall ;
G. G . and J.Robinson, Paternofter Row ;
and J. Debrett, Piccadilly.

M,DCC,XCVI,

Advertisement. xxxiii

V. {

A FEW particulars of modern pra<ftice,
that have been recently introduced into
this part of the Illand, efpecially into the
South Hams, have not deranged the long-
established SYSTEM OF DaNMONIAN
HusBAJ^DR Y ; v^^hich is ftill firmly rooted,
^ in the feveral Difl:ri(fls pf this Department {
and remains as diftinguifhable from the
^ ordinary management of the body of the
% liland, as if the Peninfula, they form, had

OS •'

13 been recently attached to it.

jr

2 Moreover, it v^rill appear, in the fol-
lowing pages, that, although the Dan-
-g monian prad:ice has many defecCts, it has
^ likewife its excellencies, by which the Bri-
tifh Hufbandman may greatly profit ; and
very many peculiarities, by which the
mind of an attentive reader will be
enlarged, and its prejudices be relaxed.

I there-

XKxiv Advertisement.

I therefore confider it as one of the moil for-
tunate circumftances, that have attended the
execution of my undertaking, that I was
led to the pure fountain of this diflinguifhed
pradlice.

London, May, 1796. '

CON-

CONTENTS

OF THE

FIRST VOLUME,

THE

WEST OF ENGLAND.

Introductory Remarks on survey-
ing A Country.
Division of this Department of
England into Districts, 5.

DISTRICT THE FIRS T

WEST DEVONSHIRE,

&c.

Introductory View of this Dis-
trict.

Sect. I. Its Natural Charaders, 8.

I. Situation, g.
II. Extent, 9.
Vol. I, a III. Elc-

u

Contents.

III. Elevation, lo.

IV, Surface, lO.
V, Climature, ii.

VI. Waters, 12.

VII. Soils, 13.

Species.
Quality, 14.
Depth.
Abforbency.

VIII. Subfoils, 15.

Slatey Rock. -
Rubble.

Whittaker.

Analyfis of the Subftrata.

IX. Foffil Produaions, 18.
Blue Slate.
SlateIlon6.
Freeftone.
Moorltone.

X. Minerals, 19.
Tin.
Copper.
Lead.
Silver.

Se(5t. II. Its prefent State, as a l*art of the
National Domain, 20.

I. Political Divifions, 21.
County.
Militia Dilhifts.

Hun-

Contents. ik

Hundreds.
Manors, 21.
Townlhips, 22.

II. State of Society, 23.

1. Its principal Towns, 33.

2. Villages, 24.

3. Inhabitants, 24.

Moral Reflexions concerning theitl.

4. Habitation, 2*7.

5. Food, 27,

6. Fuel, 28.

7. Employment, 28.

8. Provident Societies, 29.

III. Public Works, 29.

Embankments.

Drains.

Inland Navigations.

Canals.

Made Brooks, 30.

Public Mills.

Ferries.

Bridges.

Roads, 30.

Their recent Improvements,

Inclofures, 3 1.

Refledions on their probable Origin.

IV. Its prefent Produ6lions, viewed in a
political Light, 34.

1. Produce of its Waters, 34.

Sea Filh Pilchard Fifhery, Salmon.
Gen. Obf.

2. Produce of its Soils, 37,
Vegetable.

a 2 Note

iv Contents,

Note on Dwarf Furze.
Animal, 38.
3. Produftions of the Subftrata, 39.
General Remarks on mining.

V. The Face of the Country, viewed as a
Part of the Demcfne Lands of
the Empire, 40.

Sect. in. Its prelent State, as private Pro-
perty.

I. Pofleffory Property, 43.
Life Leafes, 43.
Their Nature.
Their Operation.
The Means of Annihilation, 47.

II. Abilraa Rights, 48.

1. Manorial Rights, 49.

2. Tithes.

3. Poor's Rate.

^ffedl of Village Manufac-
tures on the Poor's Rate.

T H »

Contents.

THE

RURAL ECONOMY

O F

THIS DISTRICT.

Analysis and Division of the

Subject, 53.

DIVISION THE FIRST.
LANDED ESTATES,

AND THEIR

MANAGEMENT.

Sect. I. Eflates, 57.

Sect. II. Management of Eftatcs, 58.

1. Laying out Eftates, 59.
II. Laying out Fann Lands, 60.

a 3 HI, Far-

vi Contents.

III. Farmeries, 60.
Situations.
Water, 61.
Plans, 61.

Materials of Building, 62- •

Covering Materials, 64.

IV. Fences, 65.

Defcription.
Origin, 66.
Age.

Raifing, 67,
Advantages.
Difad vantages, 68.
. General Remarks, 69.

V. Difpofal of Farms, 69.
Occupying, 70.
Selling for Three Lives, 71.
Letting for a Term certain, 73.
General Remarks on L E T T I N G Fa R M s
by Auction.

VI. Forms of Leafes, 77.

Remark on the Devonfliire form, 80.

VII. Rent, 82.
VIIT. Removal, 82.
IX. Manor Courts.

DIVISION

Con-tents.

Vil

DIVISION THE SECOND.
WOODLANDS,

THEIR

PROPAGATION and MANAGEMENT.

Sect. I. Woodlands, 83.

- - 1. Species of Woodlands.

II. Species of Timber Trees, 84.

III. Species of Coppice Woods.

IV. Hiftory of the Devonfhire Woods, 85.
V. Their Eligibility, in a general View.

Sect. II. Propagation, 86.

Sect. III. Management, 87.

I. Management of Timber, 88.

II. Management of Coppice Wood, 90.

1. Training Coppice Woods.

2. Age of Felling, 91.

Note on Cider Cafk Hoops.

3. Difpofal, 92/

4. Method of taking down, 93.

5. Converfion, 95.

6. Confumption.

III. Management of Hedgewood, 95.

IV. Markets for Bark, 96.

Remark or the Process of Tannikg,
a 4 DIVISION

rm

Contents.

DIVISION THE THIRD.
AGRICULTURE.

Sect, I. Farms, 98.

I. Natural Chara6leriftics.

Climature, 99.
Surface.
Quality of Soil.
Quantity of Soil.
Subfoil.

II. Hiflory of Farm Lands, 100.

III. Their Prefent Application, lOi.

IV. The Sizes of Farms.

General Obfervations on the gradation
OF Farms, 102.

V. Plans of Farms, 104.
Sect. II. Farmers, 104.

Defcription.

Qualification, 105,

Property.

Education, 106.

Knowledge,

Spirit of Improvement.

SlCT.

Contents. ix

Sect. III. Workpeople, 107.

I. Laborers.

A Remark on the Effefts of a L«w-
nefs of Wages.
II. Servants, 108.

Manner of Hiring, 109.

Wages.

Treatment, 110.

III. Apprentices, 110.

General Remarks on their Treatment,
and their Value in a Political Light,
III.

Sect. IV. Beafts of Labor, 113.

Introduftory Remarks.

I. Pack Horfes, 115.

II. Oxen, 116.

The Ufual Plow Team,
Mode of Working.
Style of Driving.
Breed, 117.
Age of Throwing up.
No Spayed Heifers.

III. Cart Horfes, 117.

General Remark, 1 18.
Hours of Work, 119.

Sect. V. Implements, 119.
I. Waggon.

II. Cornifh Wain, 120.

III. Dray or Sledge.

IV. Gurry Butt, 121.

V. Fur-

X Contents.

V. Furniture of Pack HorfeS.

Cro.ks.

Short Crocks, 122.

Pots.

Bags, 123.

Packfaddle.

VI. Plow, 123.

Its Sinoularities of Conftruftion.
Vfl. Harrows, 125.
. VIII. Roller.
IX. Drudge.
X. Yoke.

Its Admirable Conftru£lion, 126.
XI. Tools, 127.

The Pointed Shovel Particularized.
Gen. Obf. on Instruments OF Hus-
bandry, 128.

Sect. VI. The Weather, 129.

Prognoftlcs not attended to.
The Advantages of attending to the Ba-
rometer and Setting Sun.

Sect. VII. Plan of Management, 130.

Pref?-tory Remarks on the Rife of Rural
Prailices, in different Diilrids.
L TlieObjeiSis of Hufbandry, 133.
Crops, 134.
Liveftock.
II. Courfe of Pra£lice, 135.

Remarks on the Devonshire Hufban-

dry.
Succeffion of Crops, 1 36.

Sect. .VIII. Managcnient of the Soil, 137.

State of Tillage Deficient, 138.
Reclaiming the Soil from Obftrudions.

Reclaim-

Contents. xi

Reclaiming it from Weeds, 140.

An Irftance of Pradice, with refpe£lt«

the Wild Oat.
. Sodburning, 141.
The Devonlhire Praftices.

Ilandbeating.

Spading, 142.

VelUng, 143.

Skirting, 144.

Burning Beat, 145.
General Remarks on Sod-burn-
ing, 146

Its Operation on the Soil.

Its Ufes in Hulbandry, 151.

Political Agriculture.

Its Aftion on Private Property,

Se6l. IX. Manures and Management, 153.

I. Dung, 153.

Species.
Raifing.

II. Sea Sands, 154.

Species.

Analyfjs of their Qualities.

III. Lime, 156.
Introdudion.
Species of Stone.
Limekilns defcribed.
Fuel, 157.
Separating the Afhes.
Preparation, for Manure, defcribed.
Methods of Spreading, 159.
General Remarks on the Appli-
cation OF Lime, i6o.
Propofed Improvement, 163.

Sect.

xA Contents.

Sect. X. Semination, 164.

Sect. XI. Management of Growing Crops, 1640'

Deftroying Weeds.
Species of Vermin, 165.

Sect. XII. Harvtfdng, 166.

Prefatory Remarks 6n the Growth of
the prefent Praflice.

T. Hewing Wheat, 168.
I!. Setting up Shocks, 170.

III. Arrifh Mows or Field Stacklcts, 1716

Method of Making, 172.

IV. Turning Corn Swaths, 173.
V. Binding Corn Swaths, 174.

An Improvement fuggeftgd, 175.
VI. Carrying Sheaf Corn on Horfcback,

176.
VII. Pitching Corn Sheaves, 177.
VIII. Form of Stacks, 178.

IX. Method of thatching Stacks.

General Remark on the Devonfhire
Farveft, 179.

Sect. XIII. Management of Harvefled Crops,-

179.

I. Houfing Stacks by Hand, 180.
II. ThraihingWheat,&c. in the Devon-
fhire Manner, defcribed, 181.
Thrafhing Barley, &c. 183.
111. Winnowing with the Natural Wind!

184.

Sect.

Contents. xili

Sect. XIV. Markets, 185.

Sect. XV. Wheat and its Management, 186,

I. Species,
JI. Succeflion.

III. Soil.

IV. Soil Procefs, 187.

V. Manure.
VI. Seed Procefs,

The Singularity of the Devonfiiire

Pradice.
Time of Sowing, 1S8.
Seed Plowing.

Hacking over the Land ! 189.
Quantity of Seed.
Method of Sowing.
Covering.

Adjufting, by Hand !
General Obfervation, on this Pradlice,
190.
VH. PrqduceofWheat, bytheAcre, 191.

Sect, XVI. Barley, 191.

I. Species.

II. Succeffion, 192.

III. Soil.

IV. Tillage.
V. Manure.

VI. Sowing, 19^,
yil. Weeding.

Produce.

SZCT.

xlv Contents.

Sect. XVII. Oats, 193.
Sect. XVIII. Turneps, 194.

I. Species.

II. Succeuion, 195.

III. Tillage.

IV. Manure.
V. Sowing.

VI. Hoing, 196.
VII. Expenditure.

General Obfervations, 197.

Sect. XIX. Potatoes, 19S.

Prefatory Remarks on their Introduc-
tion.
I. Species, 200.

II. Succeffion.

III. Planting.

IV. Cleaning, 201.

V. Taking up.
VI. Preferving.

VII. Farm Expenditure.

SiCT. XX. Cultivated GrafTes, 202.

Introdudlionandproportional Quantity.

I. Species, 203.

II. Succeffion.

III. Sowing.

IV. Application.
V. Duration, 204.

Sbct.

C O N -IP E N T S. XV

Sect. XXI. Grafslands and Management, 204.

I. Species of Grafslands.

1. Meadow Lands.

Note on Meadow Plants : the
Foxtail wanting !

2. Grazing Grounds, 205.

3. Temporary Leys.
4. .Rough Upland.

IJ* Management.

Watered Meadows, 206.

Conjedlures on their Origin.

Proportional Quantity, 207,

Management.

flfFett of the Slate Water, 208.

Remarks on the Analyses 09
' ' Waters, 209.

Hay Harveft,^ 209.

Mowing.

Haymaking, 210.

Carrying Hay on Horfeback.
Aftergrafs, 211.

Sect. XXII. Orchards and Fruit Liquor.

I. Orchards, 213.

1 . Their Introduftion into the Diftri^l,

2. Aggregate Quantity, 214.

Note on the Orchards of Cornwall.

3. Species of Fruit, 215.

4. Situations of Orchards.
|. Soils of Orchards, 217.

6. Raiflng

XVI

Contents.

6. Raifing Plants, 217.

Extraordinary Way of Training
them.

7. Planting Orchards, 21S.

Setting out.

Mode of Planting, 219.

Guarding.

8. Aftermanagement, 22Q.

Meliorating.

Remarks on the Canker.

Pruning, 221,

Cleaning.

The MisLETOEunicnown?

9. Application of the Land, 222.

A Cenfure of the Devonfliire

Pradice.
Note on Fruit, as the Food of

Swine.

II, Fruit Liquor, 223,

Prefatory Remarks.
I. The Manufadtory, 224.

Mr. Stapleton's Pound Houfe, 225.
Cider Rooms of Buckland Place,
226.
3. Fruit, 226.
Species.

Gathering, 227.
Maturation.

3. Breaking, 227.

Pounding by Hand.
Horfc Mill, 228.
Hand Mill.

4. PrelEng,

Contents. xyli

4. Prefliivg, 228-

Preffes defcribed.
Method of Preffing, 230.

5. The Muft or unfermentcd Liquor^

6. Fermenting, 231.

7. The Fermented Liquor, 232.

8. Quantity of Produce.
C). Market and Price.

Genelral Observations, 233,
Cider profitable in Devonshire.
Interferes with Farming-
Promotes Immorality.
The Devonlhire Colic defcribedji
The proper Ellimation of Or-
chards, 237'*

Sect. XXIII. Horfes, 238.

Sect. XXIV. Cattle, ^39.

I. Breed, 240.

General Remarks on the native

BREED of this Ifland, 241.
North Devonlhire Breed, 242.
II. Breeding, 243.
Ill conduced.

III. Rearing, 245.

An extraordinary Routine of Praflice.

IV. Fatting, 246.

Remarks on slaughtering Cat-
tle, 247.
Vol. L b Sect.

Xviii CONTEtJTS.

Sect. XXV. Dairy Management, 248.

I. Calves.
Rearing.

Houfe Calves.
Grafs Calves, 249.
Note on their Provincial Name,

II. Butter, 249.

Method of clouting Cream, 250,
Conjeiftures on its Origin, 251.
Its Advantages.
Its Difadvantages, 252.
Reafons aiBgned for its Contimiancc^

III. Skim Cheefe, 254.

Sect. XXVI. Swine, 255.

I. Breed.

II. Rearing,

Food.

Age kept to, 256*

A new Breed introduced.

III. Fatting, 257.

Place of Fatting !
Materials of Fatting, 258,
On boiling Hog Food,

Sect.XXVII. Sheep, 259.

I. Breed.

Conjeflures oA the ancient Breed of the

Weftern Mountains.
The Houfe Lamb Breed, 261.

South

C O J^ T E N T 9. XIX

South Down and New Leiceftcrftiire

Breeds, 262.
Flock of Buckland Place.
II. Breeding, 264.
Seledion.
Time of Lambing.
Treatment of Ewes and Lambs*
Time of weaning the Lambs, 265V
Conjeflure on the Houfe Lamb Breed.

III. Store Sheep, a66.

Shepherding — and Dogs.
The Ufe of Pens fuperfeded.
A Praftice peculiar to this Peninfula.
. , Summer and Winter Keep, 268.

Omit to wafh, previous to the Shearing.'
Reflections on this Praftice, 269.

IV. Fatting Sheep, 270.

Defcription of Sheep.
Materials of Fatting.

Sect.XX VIII. Rabbits, 27 1 .

Skct. XXIX. Poultry, 272.

Reflexions on the Fecundity of Fowls,
with Refpeft to Eggs.

b z DISTRICT

XX

Contents.

DISTRICT THE SECOND.

THE

SOUTH HAMS

O F

DEVONSHIRE.

Introdudory Remarks, 275.

GENERAL VIEW of this DISTRICT,

I. Situation, 277.
II. Extent.

III. Elevation, 278. , -

IV. Surface.

V. Waters, 279.

VI. Soils, 280.

Ivybridge to Xingfbridge.
Kingfbridge to Totnefs. 281.
Environs of Totnefs.
Totnefs to Ivybridge.
Environs of Ivybridge.
Sherford Eilate.
General Obfervation.

VII, Sub.

Contents, xxi

YII. Subfoils, 282.
VIJI. Townlhlps, 283.

Large, confidering the Nature of the
Country.
IX. Towns, 284,
X. Inland Navigation.
XL Roads, 285.

Exeter to Plymouth.
Ivybridge to Kingfbridge, 286.
Environs of Totnefs.
Totnefs to Ivybridge.
XII. State of Inclofure, 287.

XIII. Hedgerows, 288.

XIV. Prefent Produaions.

Woodlands.
Farm Lands.
XV. Appearance of the Country, 289.
XVI. Tenancy, 290.
XVII. Poor's Rate.

Inftance of the Effe(fl of declining
Manufactures, on the Poor's
Kate.

The AGRICULTURE of this Diftrid.

I. Farms, 292.

Charadleriftics.
Size.
II. Farmers.
JII, Beafts of Labor, 293.
Plow Team.
Koad Team.

h 3 IV. imple-

xxii Contents,

IV. Implements, 294.

V. Management of Farms.

Comparifon \vith Weft Devonlhire,
Crops of the South Hams, 395.

VI. Management of Soils, 296.

Similar to Weft Devonlhire.
The Operation of " Toripenting"
defcribed.

VII. Manures, 297.
VIII. Wheat.

A new Variety of this Diftri£l»

Succefiion.

Time of Sowing yery late.

IX. Turneps, 299.

X, Grafslands.

Species.
Management.

XI. Orchards, 300.

Prefatory Remark.

Quantityof Orchard Grounds, 30?.

Difpofal of Apples by Number.
XI|. Cattle, 302.

Breed.

Breeding.
XIII. Sheep.

Breed, 303,

HETROSPECTIVB

Contents. xxiii

RETROSPECTIVE VIEW

O F

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE.

Preliminary Obfervations, 305.

State of Hufbandry.
Aggregate Produce, 306.

The Diilridl and its Management fimilar to
that of Weft Devonlhire.

The prefent Rate of Rent, and State of Huf-
bandry, reconciled, 307.

Improvements fuggefted, 303.
The Form of Farm Yards.
Forms of Leafes.
Application of Lands, 310,
Management of Timber.
Ufe of Wheel Carriages.
Turn wreft Plow, &c.
Succeflion of arable Crops.

General Remarks.
Management of the Soil, 311,

General Remarks.
Two- Ox Plow-Teams, 312,
Farm Yard Management.

b 4 Early

Xxiv C 0 N T E N T S. N

Early Sowing, 313.
Setting up Wheat Sheaves.
Harvefting Barley and Oats.
Winnowing Mill.
The Turnep Crop.
Management of Ley Grounds, 3 1 4.
Watering Grafslands.
Orchard Grounds, 315.
Manufafturing of Cider.
Breeding Livellock, 316.
Hint fubmitted to the So c i e t y for promoting
Agriculture, in South Devonftiire, 317.

A

LIST OF RATES

IN

WEST DEVONSHIRE, 319.
PROVINCIALISMS

O F

WEST PJEVONSHIRg, 323.

ADVER.-

ADVERTISEMENT.

A PERIOD of almoft fix years has
^ jL elapfed, fince the pubUcation of the
Rural Praa:iceofthe Midland Counties.

The profecution of the General Work, of
which that publication makes a part, has
not, however, been negleded, during this
lapfe of time. The Pradices of the more
Western Counties have been regif-
tered, and are here offered to the Public.
And thofe of the Southern Counties
have been examined and collea:ed *.

I HAVE,

* Aild will be digeftsd, and publifhed, with fuitable
fjifpatch,

xxvi Advertisement.

I HAVE, therefore, at length obtained a
General View of the Established
Practices of England. And, altho'
I have had a partial View of thofe of
Scotland, it is not my intention to ex-
tend my Remarks to that part of the Ifland,
or to Wales, until J have, in fome mea-
fure, rounded my phviy with refped to
England.

Since the Publication of the Rural
Economy of the Midland Counties,
a BOARD OF AGRICULTURE has
been appointed, and a Plan of Survey,
iimilar to my own, has been adopted :
circumflances which caufed fome appre-
henlion, in my friends, and a degree of
alarm, in my Bookfellers, left the Reports
of the Board fhould fuperfede the ufe of
theREGiSTERS I had publifhed,and fhould
render abortive an undertaking, on which I
had expended the mofl valuable part of life.

I confess.

•

Advertisement, xxvii

I CONFESS, that when I ventured to
recommend to public attention, the Eftab-
iidiment of a Board of Agriculture *, it

did

* In the following pafTage, publiOied (in 1790) in the
Rural Economy of the Midland Counties, i. 222.
« I have already faid, in the courfe of thl^ work, that it
« is not my intention to obtrude my fcntiments, iin-
« feemingly, on National Concerns; but poileiTed
« of the mafs of information, which, in the nature of my
« purfuit, i muft neceflarily have accuiriuhted, — no man,
« perhaps^ having had a fimikr opportunity, — I tliink it a
^' duty I owe to fociety, and an infcparable part of my
« prefent undertaking, to regifter fuch ideas, whether
« political or profcfiional, as refult, aptly and fairly, out
^< of the fubje6l before me: and, in this place, I think it
« right to intimate the probable advantage which might
*« arife from a Board of Agriculture ;— or, more
*' generally, of Rural Affairs; to take cognizance,
^' not of the ftate and promotion of Agriculture,
« merely; butalfo of the Cultivation ofW as Ttsan4
^' thePROPACAT'ioN of Timb£R : bafeson which, not
« Commerce only, but the political exigence of the Natior?
« is founded. And when may this Country expea a
« more favorable opportunity, than the prefent, of laying
«' a broad and firm bafis of its future profperity ?"

Here, I find my pen forcibly arrefted, and bent from
the public fervice, towards my own gratification. And
it may be pardonable in a man, who his labored long and
hard in the fervice of the Public, and this, too, with but

few

xxviii Advertisement.

jiid not occur to me, that fuch an inftkution
would, in any way, interfere with my own
undertaking, — and much lefs, that it would
become a valuable fource of information,
inofl: happily calculated to prpmpte it.

But finding the meafure of provincial
farveys adopted, and feeing the public
benefit it was capable of producing, I v\^as
among the jir-ft to comply with the requell
of my honoi-able Friend, the President
OF THE BoARP, — whofc public fpirit
entitles him to every attention, — and to

furnhh

few gratifications, except what have occafionally rifen
from his own reflections, to indulge himfclf, for once, in
fuffering his refleiStions to force their v/ay into public
jiotice — and to fuggeft — that hud the General Bill
OF Inclosure, which he earneflly recommended, in
1788 (feethe Rural Economy of Yorkshire, Vol.1.
?ao-e 1 01.), been prefentiy pafTed into a law, and had a
Board of Agriculture bgen inftitutcd, in 1790, and
DULY ENCOURAGED, it is more than probable,
that the diftrefling fcarcity, v/hich this Country exper
rienceJ, in the fuinmer of 1795, would not now have lain
?. reproach, on the Political Economy of the
j(flaj.d.

A i) V £■ R T I S E M E N^T, XXlX*

furnilli my quota of information , by pre-
fcntin^ to the Board a Report of the
Central Highlands of Scotland; —
wher5 I was refident, at the time of its
eftablifliment : and this I did, under the
natural imprefiion, that I was, in effe(f(?',
working in my ovv^n field, and with fellow
laborers, who were jointly employed, in
colleding fads, that could not fail of
proving ufeful, to the General Work,

which has ever been the eventual

Object of my Undertaking *.

It did not, however, flrike me, at that
time, as it has done fmce, that the Board's
Reports may be rendered more immediately
ferviceable to my Work, in affifting to fill
up the vacant interflices of my Reglfters ;
and thereby to make them more worthy,
than otherwife they would have been, of

the

* See the prefatory Advertisement to the Rural
Economy of Norfolk, for the outlines of tliis Under-
* taking;.

XXX Advertisement'.

the title I wifli them colledively to de-
ferve ; — namely, AN AUTHENTIC
REGISTER OF THE RURAL ECO-
NOMY OF ENGLAND, AT THE
CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY.

To my valuable and lamented friend,
the late Sir Francis Drake, whofe
virtues were bed known to thofe who were
beil acquainted with his private charadter,
I am chiefly indebted for the opportunity
of forming the Regifi:er> which is now
under publication.

In the Summer of 179 1, t made my
firil journey into the West of Devon-
shire, to examine into the date of his
Rural concerns, in that part of the County ;
and, in the Autumn of the fame year, re-
turned.

Advertisement. xxxi

turned, to endeavour to retrieve them from
the difo^raceful ftate, in v^hich I had found
them. In the fucceeding Autumn, I made
a third journey, to the fame quarter; and,
in the Summer of 1794, I went over the
whole of the Drake Estate, lying in
different parts of Devonshire.

It will perhaps be faid,that the Yalley
OF THE Tamer, is too confined, and is of
too little importance as a Diftrift, to be
fuitable for a principal station. In-
deed, it is more than probable, that had I
ichofen my flation, it would not have been
that which circumflances alTigned me.

But (thanks to the Difpofer of Circum-
flances),—now, when I am acquainted
With the feveralDiftrids of this Department
of the Iflaiid, I am convinced, that there
is. no other fituation, which could Iiave

been

tXXii A B" V E R T i S E fvl E N t.

been made equally favorable to my views^
as that in which I was placed — as it wer^
providentially. There is no other indi-
vidual ftation, in which I could haye com-
manded, fo well, the two Counties of
Devon and Cornwall, and, at the fame
time, the fertile Diflirid of the South
Hams, — "the Garden of Devonfhire," —
of which dillinguilhed Diftrid the Valley
of the Tamer forms, in reality, a part.

Beside, in the Valley of the Tameo
and on the magnificent Farm on which I
relided, — the very firfl: in the Country, — I
poiTefled the moffc favorable opportunity,
that either circumftances or choice had to
give, of iludying the Danmonian prac-
tice, in all its branches, and in its almoft
priftine purity *.

A FEW
* Danmonian,— an epithet derived from Dan-
ivioNiA, the antient ilame of part, or the whole, of this
"VV'eitern Peninfula of Britain.

THE

WEST OF ENGLAND.

Introductory Remarks.

THIS popular appellation Is ufually
given to the four moft Weftern
Counties ; namely, Cornwall, Devon-
shire, Somersetshire, and Dorset-
shire*

But, in examining a Country, like Eng-
land, with a view to the exifting ftate of
its Agriculture, and the other bran-
ches of its Rural Economy, the arbi-
trary lines of Counties are to be wholly
difregarded. For if any plan was obferved
in determining the outlines of Provinces, in
this Ifland, it certainly had no referjsnce or
alliance whatever to Agriculture ; unlefs it
were to divide, between oppofing claim-

Vol.I. B ants.

2 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Jlnts> the nsLtural Diflri(3:s, wKich require
to be iludied feparately, and entire. Na-
ttiraly not fortuitous lines, are fequifite to
be traced -, Agricultural, not political dif-
tindlions, are to be regarded.

A NATURAL District is marked by
a uniformity or fimilarity of soil and sur-
face j whether, by fuch uniformity, a
marfh, a vale, an extent of upland, a range
of chalky heights, or a ilretch of barren
mountains, be produced. And an agri-
cultural District is difcriminated
by a uniformity or fmiilarity of practice^
whether it be charatflerifed by grazing,
fheep farming, arable management, or
mixed cultivation , or by the production
of fome particular article, as dairy pro-
duce, fruit liquor, &c. 6<:c.

Now, it is evident, that the boundary-
lines of Counties pay no regard to thefe
circumflances. On the contrary, we
frequently find the mofl entire Diilridts,
with refpedl to Nature and i\gri culture,
fevered by political lines of demarcation.
The Midland Difl:ri(!ls, for inftance, a
whole with refped to foil, furface, and

efta-

WEST OF ENGLAND. 3

eftabliflied pradice, is reduced to mere
fragments, by the outlines of the four
Counties of Leicefter, Warwick, Stafford,
and Derby*. Again, The Fruit Liquor
Diftrid of the Wye and Severn includes
parts of the Counties of Hereford, Glou-
cefter, and Worcefter f -, and the Dairy
Diftridt of North Wiltshire receives
portions of the Counties of Gloucefter
and Berkfliire within its limits, and ex-
tends its pradice to the Eaftern margin of
Somerfetfliire J.

Hence, it may be truly faid, to profecute
an Agricultural Survey, by Counties, is to
fet at naught the diftindiions of Nature,
which it is the intention of the Surveyor to
examine and defcribe ; and to fcparate into
parts the diftinguifhed pra(flices, which it is
his bulinefs to regifter entire.

Such a mode of procedure is not only
an impropriety in theory, but in prad^ice.
It deflroys that simplicity of execu-
tion and PERSPICUITY of arrange-

B 2 MENT,

* See RuR. Econ. of the Midland Counties.
t See Glo. Econ.
X See as above.

4 lNTROt)UCTORY REMaUKS.

MENT, which alone can render an exteil--
five undertaking pleafurable to him who
profecutes' it, and profitable to the Public.
Another pradical obje6tion, which lies
againft furveying by Counties, befide the
repetitions or references it requires, is the
UNNECESSARY LABOR it iucurs, and the
SUPERFLUOUS VOLUMES jt ncceflarily
gives rife to. For it is not the practice of
every townlliip or farm, which can be
regiftere^, nor that of every hundred or
county, which requires it.

It is the SUPERIOR practices of DIS-
TINGUISHED NATURAL Districts, in
different and distant parts of the
Island (thus feparating its more dis-
tinct practices), and thefe only, that
are neceflary to be fixed; as a firm

BASIS, ON WHICH TO RAISE FUTURE
improvements, AND STILL MORE EN-
LIGHTENED PRACTICES. The interme-
diate lands either partake df the manage- ^ ,
ment of thefe diflinguiflied Diflrifts, or
are fubje(fled to methods that are lefs eli-
gible ; and are therefore not requilite to
be regifl:ered.

The

WEST OF ENGLAND. s

The Districts of the West of
England, which require to be defcribed
or noticed in this regifter are,

Firji, West Devonshire, or The
Valley of the Tamer : inckiding
the Weftern Margin of Devonfliire, and
the Eailern parts of Cornwall.

Secojidy The South Hams. A conti-
guous Diftrid, which fornis the Southern
point of Devonlliire.

^hirdy The Mo u n t a i N s of Cornwall
and Devonfhire.

Fourth, The Diftria; of North
Devonshire.

Fifth, The Vale of Exeter.

Sixth, The Dairy District, which
includes parts of Eaft Devonfhire and Weil;
Dorfetfhire -, — and.

Seventh, The Vale of Taunton, in
Somerfetfhire.

B 3 D 1 S-

DISTRICT THE FIRST.
WEST DEVONSHIRE}

INCLUDING

THE EASTERN PARTS

O F

CORNWALL.

Introductory View op this
District.

BEFORE we enter into a detail of
the feveral branches of the Rural
Economy of the Diflrid of Weft Devon-^
(hire, &c. it will be requiiite to take a
comprehenfiye \iQ\y of the District
itfelf j and to endeavour to mark its dif-
tinguifhing characters.

First, As a produdion of Nature,
Secondly, As part of the domain of
the realm.

Thirdly, As the pro-perty of indivi-
duals,

B 4 SEC-

DISTRICT.

SECTION THE FIRST.

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS

O F

WEST DEVONSHIRE, &c,

IN taking a curfory view of the Natu-
ral History of this Diftridt, I fhall
attend to fuch particulars, only, as have an
immediate connection with Rural Eco-
nomics; conformably, with the plan which
I have hitherto found it requifite to purfue.
Thefe particulars are,

I. Its fituation in the Ifland.

II. Its extent.

III. Its elevation with refpedt to the

fea,

IV. The conformation of its furface.
V, Its climature as it alFedls Agricul-.

ture.
VI. The waters which occupy its fur-
face.

vii. Its

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 9

VIT. Its prevailing foils.
VIII- The fubfoils moft prevalent.
IX. The ufeful foffils found in its fub^

ilrata.
X. The minerals it contains.

I. The SITUATION of this Diflrid: is
within the South-weftern limb of the
Ifland, w^hich feparates the two feas— the
Irifh and the Englifli Channels.

Its NATURAL BOUNDARIES are Dart-
more, an extenfive and elevated tradt of
mountains, on the Eaft ; Hingllone, and
other mountains of Cornwall, on the
Weft; with Plymouth Sound, and the
eftuaries branching out of it, on the South,
The Northern boundary is lefs evident.
Brent Tor and the heaths around it may
be faid to feparate this Diftridt from North
Devonshire.

II. The EXTENT of this fecluded
tra<5t of country is not inconfiderable :
It is about twenty miles from North
%Q South, and about ten miles from Eaft to

V/eft.

ic D I S T R I C T.

Wtd. But within thele limits ibme ban'en
lands are included.

III. Its ELEVATION above the fea is
leis than the eye may eftimate. The tide
ilaws to its center. The vallies of courfe.
lie low ; but the hills rife abruptly j and
much of the cultivated lands may be
deemed /ji7I ; all of them upland. No
part of the Diftricl can be flriftly called
vale i nor is there any extent of flat
yneaddwsj or marfh lands, within it ; though,
here and there, a narrow bottom or
*' coombe" is obfervable : thefe meadowy
flips, probably, having been formed by
the waters which now ilcirt them.

IV. The SURFACE is various in
the extreme : not only from the number,
narrownefs, and depth of the larger vallies,
whofe fides generally rife fteeply from the
banks of the ftreams that divide them ; but
from the hills, or wider fpaccs between
thofe vallies, being ;-ent and broken, in the
manner peculiar to the South-weftern ex-
tremity of the Iflpvnd : a ftyle of furface
•\vhich takes place at the Weftern termi-
nation

WEST DEVONSHIRE. ii

nation of the chalk hills of Dorfetfhire,
and continues to the Landsend.

V. The CLIMATURE of Weft
Devonfhire is particularly marked. The
lituation of the Diflrid between two Teas ;
its immediate expofure to the main ocean,
in the direct paffage of the South-weft
winds, and the elevated fammits of the
mountains, which furround it, arrefting
the fleets of vapours as they arrive heavy
laden from the Atlantic, unite in ren-
dering this portion of the Illand liable to
an excefs of rain ; this, to a coolnefs ox
climature, and a latcnefs of feafon.
Though fituated in the moft Southern
climate of the Illand, its harvefts are com-
paratively late ; but vary in a fmgular
manner with the feafon.

In 1 79 1, wheat crops in general were
green, the iirft of Aiigiiji, and hay harveft
was, then, barely at its height. The twenty-
fifth of Auguft, corn harveft was in for-r
wardnefs, the weather having recently been
dry and hot. Neverthelefs, at that time,
much corn ftill remained green y efoecially

on

12 DISTRICT.

pn the i'klrts of the Cornifh mountains,
where wheat is not unfrequently harvefted
after Michaehiias. In 1792, barley harveft
did not clofe, even on the comparatively
forward lands of Br.ckland Place, until
the beginning of Oclober : the feafon
wet. On the contrary, in 1794, a very
dry feafon, wheat harvefl commenced the
Jail week in July.

Taking the par of years, we may fairly
place Weft Devonfhire ten days or a fort-
night behind the Midland Diftrid:, which
lies more than two degrees of latitude — -
namely, about one hundred and fifty
ftatute miles — farther North. A proof
that climate and cliniature have not an
immediate connecllioji. ,

VI. WATERS. This Diftrid, not-
v/ithftanding the fteepnefs and elevation
of its furface, is fingularly well watered.
Every defcription of water may be faid to
belong to it, except the lake.

The SEA audits ESTUARIES fever it to
its center. Its rj.vers are the 'Tamer, the
^aveVf and the Plym -, whofe various

brooks.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 13

brooks, rivulets, and rills, furrow the fides
of almofl every Hope ; frequently ilfuing
from near the fummits of the hills.

But I have met with no inftance of
collected waters, among the Weflern
mountains ; fuch as frequently occur in the
Northern parts of the liland. Dofmary
Pool, a fmall lakelet, which lies amon^r
the mountains, between Bodmin and Laun-
cefton, is the only one I have feen.

It is among complex ranges of moun-
tains that lakes are generally found. Thofe
of Cornwall and Devoniliire form onlv
one chain, except in the part where this
pool occurs.

VII. SOILS. The SPECIES of furface
foil is remarkably uniform, and fmgular
in its component parts. It does not clafs
properly with any of the ordinary defcrip-
, tions of foils, namely, clay, loam, land,
or gravel ; but is rather of a filty nature.
Perhaps the principal part of the ordinary
foil of the Diftridl is perifhed fiate-flone
rubble ; or flate ilone itfelf, reduced by
the adion of the atmofphere to its original
flit or mud : among vrhich, however, a

portion

,4 • DISTRICT.

portion of loamy molti is mixed, in various
degrees of quantity. '

Hence, though the fpecies of foil may
be faid to be the fame, the qu al i t y var;es,
and in fome inftances, very greatly. There
are fmall plots of land, upon the upper
branches of the Tavey, equal in quality
with the befc-foiled Diilridis of the Bland ;
deep rich land ; grazing ground of the firft
quality.

The prevailing depths of the foils of
the ordinary cultivated lands of the Dii-
trid: are, fr>ni five to ten inches. But
they are feldom h'CQ from rocks or large
Hones to thefe depths : and they are gene-
rally mixed plentifully with looie fragments
of fmiilar rocks and ftones : of which,
under the next head.

Other obfervable circumflances of the
foils of Weil Bcvonfnire refpeft their
absorbenCy, and their being in a manner
free from tenacity. For, notwith-
{landing their fmoothnefs, and apparent
unduoufnefs while wet, they prefently
become dry and clean, after the heaviell
rain : excepting after a long continuance

of

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 15

of winter rains, when, the fubfoil being
furcharged, the foil, efpeciallv in particular
plots, remains perhaps, for feme length of
time, in a Hate of mud ; yielding to the
foot in walking over it ; a mere quagmire ;
horfes and cattle reaching the rocky fub-
flratum every flep. This evil quaHty,
however^ is narrowly hmited, both in
refpedt to extent and continuance ; and
might be removed, by draining.

Upon the whole, the natural properties
of this Angular fpecies of foil is fuch, as to
render it highly fivorable to the purpofes
of Ilufbandi-y ; as being, under proper
treatment, .produdive either of corn or
grafs.

VIII. SUBSOIL. This is univerfally
of a flony nature. I met with no beds of
clay, loam, fand, or gravel ; fuch as we
find in other Diflridis. The prevailing
fubftratum is a foft slate v rock; which,

. in fome places, rifes to the foil ; in others
intervenes a ftratum of rubble, or unhard-
ened Hate ; which, in quality, partakes of
the firmer and purer rock ; the relation of
the two being analogous with that which

fub-

i6 DISTRICT.

fabfifls between limefhone and the rubble,
with which it is frequently covered *.

Intermixed with the foil, and often united
with fragments of flate rock, is found, in
blocks and fragments of various lizes, a
fpecies of cryilal, or quartz — provincially
"WHiTTAKER;" which, in colour, is
moftly white, fometimes tinged with red,
or rufl; colour.

Obferving, in feveral fpecimens of this
fofiil, fome refemblance of gypfum ; and
alfo remarking the fertilizing quality of the
waters which filter through thefe flatey
rocks : and moreover finding them infen-
fible to the m.arine acid, ufed as a teil ;
I was led to the idea, that they were of a
gypfeous nature.

To endeavour to afcertainthe component
parts of the slate rock, of which the
hills of the cultivated parts of the Diftridt
may be faid to be formed, I fubje<fled diffe-
rent fpecimens-f of it to an extended courfe

of

* See York Econ*. Vcl. I. page 336.
-j- Thcfc fpccimens were the ordinary building
STONE of Buckland Place, aiid the covering slate of

a quarry

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 17

of experiments ; whicli I profecuted with
greater folicitude, as I had been informed,
by an authority which T conceived to admit
not of doubt, that the Weftmorland Hate
contains a confiderable proportion of cal-
careous earth in its compofition, and I was
defirous to afcertain whether the Hate of
Devonfliire, whofe appearances are limilar,
were not hkewife fimilar in component
parts.

All that requires to be faid, in this place,
refpcding thefe experiments, is, that the
Hate rock of Weft Devonfhire appears,
from their feveral refults, to be void of cal-
careous earth, in a ftate of gypfum, and that
the proportion it contains of this earth, in
a ftate of chalk, is very fmall.

It may, however, be right to add here,
that, on extending the experiments to the
RUBBLE, and the chrystal, above-
mentioned, they appear to have been formed
from the fame materials with the rock

Vol. L C itfelf.

a quarry in its neighbourhood. They appear to be only
varieties of the fame fpecies of foflil ; and miglit, no doubt,
be traced, by conagdted gradations, into each other.

i8 DISTRICT.

itfelf. The former contains the Ingredient.*?
of flate, in a loofe impure form : and the
latter, part of the fame ingredients, in a
purer ftate.

IX. FOSSILS. Blue slates of the
firft quahty, for covering houfes, are raifed
in different parts of the Dillricl, Slate
STONES, for walling, are formed in mod
parts of it.

A fmgular fpecies of freestone Is
found near the center of this Diflridt. It
has formerly been diflributed over the
Weft of Devonlhire, and a great part of
Cornwall ; having been ufed moft efpeci-
ally for fculptural purpofes, in the Gothic
ornaments of churches and other buildings.
It appears to have received its immediate
formation from fire ; though evidently not
the produ(!^ion of a volcano, in the fituation
in which it is now found ; being fcattered,
at prefent, in detached rocks. It is called
" Rooborou^h ftone," from the name of
the conimon pafture on which it is more
particularly or principally found ^- . Moor-

STONF,

* It Is infenfible tfe the marine acid.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 19

STONE or QUARTZOSE GRANITE is plen-
tifully found, on either fide of the Diflrid.

X. MINERALS. Mines of tin,
COPPER, and lead (containing a portion
of Silver) are ftill worked in the Diftriclt ;
whofe furface is defaced, and for ever
rendered unprofitable, for the purpofes of
agriculture and cultivation, by theie into*
lerablc pefts. The ftannary laws, if any
fuch laws can really be faid to exift, ought
to be forthwith abrogated, and fome rational
regulations be ftruck out ; — fuch as men of
common fenfe may underfland, and under
which induflry may be proteded, from, the
rapine of adventurers ; who, not unfre^
quently, do irreparable Injury, without
obtaining any counter advantage to them-
felves or the community : throwing away
that attention and labor, which, if beftowed
on the foil, might remain an everlafting
benefit.

C 2 SEC-

20 District.

SECTION THE SECOND*
THE

PRESENT STATE OF THE DISTRICT

AS A PART OF

THE NATIONAL DOMAIN.

IN viewing what may be termed the
POLITICAL Economy of this Diilrid-,
it may be proper to confine ourfelves to
the following branches of that fubjecS.

I. The political Divilions of the
Diftrid:.
II. The prefentilate of Society within

it.
IIL The public works it poiTeiTes.
XV. Its prefent productions, as they
may be viewed in a political
light.
V. The charadleriflic features, or the
prefent appearance of the face of the
country, viewed as a pafTage or part of
the demefne lands of the Empire.

I. POLL-

WEST DEVONSHIRE, 21

1. POLITICAL DIVISIONS. The

County of Devon ranks among the
largeft of the Engliih Counties.

In regulating the MiHtia, it is divided
into three Districts ; namely North,
Eafiy and South Devon ; this Weftern part
being included in the laft.

The fubdivifions are termed hundreds;
fbme of which, I underftand, have, or
lately had, their Courts , — held principally,
I believe, for the recovery of debts under
forty fliillings.

HuNDR,ED Courts, or Courts peculiar to
the fubdivilions of Counties, were formerly
prevalent ; and might not a revival of thefe
antient inquefls, with regulations adapted
to the prefent times, be rendered fervice-
able, in matters of embankment, common
drains, exteniive inclofures, roads, and
public nuifances, not peculiar to any parti-,
cular manor.

The MANORS of the Dift.ridl: are many of
them fmall; frequently, more than one
being included in the fame towniliip. The
Courts are regularly held, and well at-
tended y the rents of the lands appropriate
C 3 to

2Z P I S T R I C T.

to the manor being ufually paid at the
Courts.

It muft not be omitted to be mentioned
here, that, by the cullom of this country,
the inquefts of manors have cognizance of
the weight of bread, within their refpedtive
precin(^s : an admirable cuftom, which
might well be extended.

The revival of Manor Courts, through-
out the kingdom, (or the eftablifliment of
other ruftic tribunals of "a fimilar nature,)
could not fail of producing the happieft
cffeds. They are the moft natural
guardians of the rights of villagers, and the
mofl prompt and efficient police of

COUNTRY PARISHES,

1 have formerly fuggeftec^ the benefits
which would probably arife from manorial
inquefls *, and the more my obferyations
are extended, the more I am convinced of
the numerous advantages which would
arife from them,

The TOWNSHIPS are moftly large.
Many of them have formerly been mo-r

naftiCt

* Sec York. Econ. Vol.L p. 28.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 23

naftic. A fufficient evidence, this, of the
amenity and natural fertility of the Diftrid.

II. The STATE OF SOCIETY.
The particulars to be noticed, under this
head, are

1. The towns of the Diflrict.

2. Its villages and hamlets.

3. Its inhabitants.

4. Their habitations.

5. Their ordinary food.

6. The fuel mod ufed.

7. The employments of working

people.

8. Provident Societies.

I. The chief TOWN of the Diftrid is
Plymouth ; which, with the new town ad-
joining to the dock- yard, and familiarly
called Bock, together with the village of
Stonehoiifey which now nearly unites the
new and the old towns, may be faid to
form, at once, the port and the market
of the Diflria.

T^aviftock, however, in point of fituation,

and heretofore, perhaps, in that of ref-

C 4 pedtability.

24 DISTRICT,

pedability, might rank high among the
market towns of the kingdom. It is fitu-
ated in the Northern quarter of the Dif-
tricfl, am.ong its richeft lands (though befet
v/ith wild mountain fcenerv), and was.
formerly famous for its monallery.. At
prefent, though meanly built, it is a tole-
rable market town ; and is the only inland
town, in the Diftrid:, now immediately
under furvey.

2. The vit^LACES of Vv'efl Devonfhire
are fewandfmajl; farm houfes, and many
cottages, being happily fcattered over the
areas of the townfliips. Neverthelefs,
near moft of the churches, groups of
houfes occur -, with here and there a

CAMLET.

Within one of its townfhips, are found
the remains of a borough — Beer-Aljhn :
in which, however, not a fmgle voter, at
prefent, refides.

3. Inhabitants. Thofe of Plymoutli
and its environs are not objecfls of this
furvey. They have been drawn together,
by war and commerce, from various quar-
ters.

The

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 2$

The natives of Devoniliire are moftly
of good perfon ; tall, llraight, and well
featured- Many of the women are of
elegant figure.

In the habitudes and manners of the
middle clafs, we find little which marks
the inhabitants of this Weilern extremity
of the Ifland, from thofe of the more
central parts of it ; except fuch provincial
diftineuilhments as are obfervable in almoft
every Diftrid: 3 and except what arifes from
^n over-rated eftimate of themfelves.

This endemial habitude, which is not
obvious to Grangers only, but which the
Gentlemen of the country, who mix with
the world, are the.firfl; to remark, may
perhaps be accounted for, without bring-
ing any violent charge of perfonal vanity,
or want of natural fagacity, againlt the
prefcnt inhabitants.

The coafl of the Engliili Channel, efpeci-
ally its more Wcftern pa,rt, was, in much
probability, the firft part of the Ifland which
was reforted to by civilized Foreigners;
and its inhabitants, of courfe, took the lead
in the early ftages of civil izatioa, in Eng-
land ;

m-

26 DISTRICT.

land ; and were far advanced, perhaps, in
urbanity and ufeful knowledge, while the
inhabitants of the more central and Nor-
thern Diftridls remained in a ftate of bar-
barity and ignorance. Hence, in thofe
days, they not only felt, but really pof-
felTed, a well grounded fuperiority.

But, through a feries of fubfequent cir-
cumftances, which it would not be dif-
ficult to trace, the inhabitants of the body
cf the Ifland have long fmce gained the
lead, in what relates to the ufeful arts, and
modern improvements : a hS: of which the
mere Provincialifls of this extremity of it
do not appear to be yet fufficiently ap-
prized ; or, fomewhat unfortunately for
their country, cannot yet allow themfelves
to acknowledge.

I endeavour to place this circumffance,
in v/hat appears to me its juft light, the
rather, as it has tended, more than any
other, perhaps, to prevent the country
from profiting by modern difcoveries.

Indeed, of late years, the spirit of
IMPROVEMENT has not numbered more
compofedly, in the Highlands of Scotland,

than

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 27

than it has in this part of England : and
with refpe(ft to civilization and moral con-
duft, among the lower claiTes of fociety,
the Highlanders are very far fuperior to the
Miners and Mountaineers of Cornwall and
Devonfhire. A fpirit of riot and outrage
may be faid to diftinguilli them from the
other inhabitants of the liland,

4. The HABITATIONS of the Diftri<H:,
immediately under notice, are fuperior to
thofe of moft other parts of the liland j
owing chiefly, perhaps, to the, materials
of building being plentiful and good.
Stone is ahnofl everywhere abundant 3 and

Jlates of the firft quality for covering are
procurable at a fmall expence ; and lime
for cement is alfo a cheap article. Even
the cottages are moftly comfortable, and
fometimes neat. The farm buildings are
generally fubftantial and commodious,
compared with thofe of many Diftri^s, for
farms of fimilar iize.

5, The FOOD of working people is
fomewhat .below par. Barley bread,

jkim-milk cheefe, and potatoes, are principal
articles of food, among laborers and fmall

working

a8 T) I S r R I C T.

working farmers. Formerly, barley bread
was prevalent at the tables of the middle
claffes of fociety. The beverage is. chiefly
diier ; or, during a fcarcity of this, i^eer :
the liquors are a bafe kind of fpirit drawn
from the ices of cider, and fmuggled French
brandy.

6. The FUEL of farmers and cottagers,
\n the inclofed cpuntry, is invariably -zt'Wi
on the fkirts of the mountains, peat^ or
turf, is in ufe. Lime is burnt chiefly or
wholly with Welch culmy and Plymouth
has a fiipply of Newcaftle coa/s.

y. The employments of the Diflirid:
are chiefly thofe of hujhandry. T|ie little
7ntning which has lately been done, has been
carried on chiefly, I believe, with miners
from the Wefl:ern parts, of Cornwall. At
Tavifliock, is a &erge immifaBory, but not,
I believe, of any great extent, and the
fpinniug (^^''t£;^;;)^£'</employs,of courfe, fome
of the female villagers in its neighbour-
hood. Much worfled yarn, however, is
fent out of Cornwall, to be woven in
Devonfliire -, where wofnen are employed iri
the iceavmg offergcs.

8. Prot

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 4^

8. Provident Societies, or Box
Clubs. Thefe valuable inftltutlons were
introduced into this Diftricl, about thirty
years ago. In Taviilock and its neigh-
bourhood, there is one or more, I under-
fland, iov Jingle women (moflly ferge weav-
ers) J and fome of the Men Clubs, I am
told, make a provilion for widoivs.

The encouragement of thefe Clubs is a
National object of the firfl magnitude.
Not more with a view to lefTen the prefent
heavy burdens of the poor, than to inftil,
into the lower dalles of fociety, a prin-
ciple of frugality, and a fenfe of fecial
duties, which thefe Meetings, under fuitable
regulations, cannot fail of producing.

III. PUBLIC WORKS. The natural
abruptnefs of the country renders public
EMBANKMENTS, and DRAINS, unncccf-
fary ; and inland navigations diffi-
cult. So far as the tide carries up the
veiTels, fo far navigation goes ; but no far-
ther, at prefent. Neverthelefs, a navi-
gable communication between the two feas
is mod defirable ; as will be (hewn in the
courfe of thefe Volumes,

The

z^

t) I S T R I C v.

The " Leat," or made brook,
which fuppljes Plymouth with water, is
one of the moH: ufeful and ftriking works
of the Diftrid:. An account of it will ap-
pear in the Minutes.'

Public corn mills are ufually fup-
plied with water, by means of fimilar leats.

Thefe moft antient of public works ftill
temaLn, here, in their priftine ftate. The
poor take their own corn to the mill, and
there drefs it, themfelves ; the miller find-
ing them drefling fieves j and the farmer
of whom it is purchafed, a horfe, to take it
and the female who dreffes it, to the mill*
Cufloms which mark veiy ftrongly the
fimplicity of manners, that ftill prevails, in
this remote part of the Ifland.

"Passages," or public ferries^
acrofs the eftuaries, are num^erous.

The BRIDGES are few, and, in general,

mean.

The ROADS of Weft Devonfhire are, at
prefent, moft remarkable for their fteep-
nefs, Lefs than half a century ago, they
were ir.e re gullies, worn by torrents in the
rocks ; which appeared in fteps, as flair-
cafes.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 31

cafes, with fragments lyiTig loofe in the
indentures. Speaking with Httle if any
latitude, there was not, then, a wheel
carriage in the Diftri(5t ; nor, fortunately
for the necks of travellers, any horfes but
thofe which were natives of the country*

At length, however, good turnpike roads
are formed, between town and town>
throughout this quarter of the Ifland ; and
moft of the villages have carriage roads
opened to them ; though many of thefe
by roads, as yet, are narrow, and abound
with fteeps. In Devonfliire, as in other
mountainous countries, the firil inhabitants
crofTed the hills, on foot, in flraight forward
paths. When horfes came into ufe, the
fame tracks were purfued ; and fome of
them have been continued, in ufe, to the
prefent time.

In CLOSURES. This DiilrlcSt has no
traces of common fields. The cultivated
lands are all ihclofed ; moflly in well lized
inclofures ; generally large in proportion to
the lizes of farms.

They have every appearance of having
been formed from a Hate of common paf-

ture ;

^ D I S 7* R I C T.

ture ; in which ilate, fome coniidsrable
part of the Diftrid: fhill remains ; and what
is obfervable, the better parts of thofe open
commons have evidently heretofore been
in a ilate of aration -, lying in obvious
ridges and farrows ; with generally the
remains of hedgebanks, correfponding with
the ridges; and with faint traces of build-

mgs.

"From thefe circumflances, it is under-
lloo^, by fome men of obfervation, that
thefe lands have formerly been in a ilate of
permanent inclofure, and have been thrown
up again, to a ftate of commonage, through
a decreafe in the population of the country.

But from obfervations, made in different
parts of Devondiire, thefe appearances,
which are comm.on, perhaps, to every part
of the county, would rather feem to have
arifenout of acuiiom., peculiar perhaps to
this part of the liland, and which fiill re-
mains in ufe, of lords of manors having the
privilege of letting portions of the common
lands, lying within their refped:ive pre-
cindls, to tenants, for the purpofe of taking
one Or more crops of corn, and then fuf-

ferinsi

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 33

ferinJT the land to revert to a ilate of grafs
and commonage.

In the infancy of fociety, and while the
country remained in the foreft flate, this
Avasa moil rational and eligible way of pro-
ceeding. The rough fides of the dells
and dingles, with which it abounds, were
moft fit for the produdion of wood -, the
flatter better parts of the furface of the
country were required for corn and paf-
turage ; and how could a more ready way
of procuring both have been fallen upon,
than that of giving due portions of it to the
induftrious part of the inhabitants, to clear
jjway the wood, and adjull: the furface i
and, after having reaped a few crops of
corn, to pay the expence of cultivation, to
throw it up to grafs, before it had been too
much exhaufted to prevent its becoming,
in a few years, profitable fward ? In this
manner, the country would be fupplied
progreflively, as population increafed, with
corn and pafturage, and the forefts be con-
verted, by degrees, into common paftures,

or HAMS.

Vol. I. B The

34 DISTRICT.

The wild or unreclaimed lands being at
length gone over in this way, fome other
fource of arable crops would be requifite.
Indeed, before this could take place, the
pallure grounds would be difproportionatc
to the corn lands : and out of thcfe cir-
cumflances, it is highly probable, rofe the
prefent iNCLOsyRKS.

IV. PRESENT PRODUCTIONS.

In rcgidering the prefent produce oi tlie
Diilridl, we will obferve the lame order,
in which its natural chara6lers were re-
viewed ; and enumerate,

I . The products of its waters.

Z. The produce of its foils.

3. I'he productions of its fubArata.
T. Of its WATERS, The fea, wliivh
wailies the Southern fkirts of the Diflriift,
is fmgularly produdUvc. The market of
Plymouth has long, I believe, been cf-
teemed tlie firfl in the Ifland, for the
abundance, variety, and excellency of its
(jii A FISH, Of late years, however, this

jnarket

WEST DEVONSHIRK. 35

nmi-kct has Ixcn the ^v(>ric fupphcd, as
the prime fiOi, caught by the fifhermcn
in its vicinity, Iv.ivc hccn contrnded for,
hy dealers, for that of Bath. And fomc
riiarc of tlu' finny treafure, which thefc
ihores produce, is fcnt, I undcrftand, to the
London market.

In a poHtical view, however, tlie Pit,-
ciiARD FISHERY of Cornwall is the moll
worthy of attention. In fome feafons,
the quantities that are faid to be caught arc
almoil incredible ; employing many vcflels
and men in taking and curing them ; and
affording an article of foreign traffic, of no
mean conlideration.

The produce of the rivers of the Dillrie'"!
is chiefly Salmon : which refort to them,
in great abundance ; though not in fuch
numbers, as they do to fomc of the rivers,
in the Northern parts of the Illand.

There is a remarkable circumftance
regularly takes place, with refpcnft to the
time at which Salmon cuter the two rivers
— the Tamer and the Tavey. They
ufually begin to go up the latter, in the
month of February j but are not found in
D 2 the

36 DISTRICT.

the former, until fome t\yo months or
more afterward ^ and this notwithflanding
the diflance of their iun(;^ion from the
fea ; and notwithflanding the Tamer is the
larger river.

The natural hiftory, and habits, of this
moil; valuable of river fifh, is a fubjedt of
caquify,^iiot unv/orthy of public attention.
Befide throwinsr into the market a confi-
derable fupply of human food, this fpecies
of produce brings in an income to indivi-
duals of many thoufand pounds a year :
public and private advantages, which
i:^jight, in much probability, be doubled,
by judicious regulations and laws, refped:-
ing the prefervation and encouragement
of this fource of national produce ^ which
occupies no part of the lands, nor confum.es
any part of the produce of the foil -, fur-
nifhes a confideiabie incrcafe of nutriment,
without incurring any counter diminution i
and is obtained at little expence of labosj-
or attention.

It is a pradice, in every Diftrift of the
Ifland, perhaps, for the diiTolute part of
thofe who live near the fources of rivers,

to

WEST DEVONSHIRE. si

to take? Salmon in the a«a of fpawriiiig : a
clrime for which fcarcely any punifliment
can be too fevere. In deftroying one, at
this jun(5ture of time, the exiftence of
hundreds, perhaps thoufands, may be pre-
vented.

, Some particulars, relating to this article
of produce, will appear in the following
Minutes.

2. The prefent produce of the soil is
in a cdnfiderable proportion, wood ; w^hich
fills the delis and narrow vallies ; and
hangs on the rugged fides of more infu-
lated hills; and which grows in great
abundance, upon the extraordinary fence
mounds, v/hich will be hereafter defcribed.

The rough open paflure grounds bear

little wood, ftridly fpeaking. But the

Dwarf Furze *, and the Heaths,

D 3 occupy

* The Dwarf Trailing Furze. This plant is
cotlinion to the more Weftern and Southern Counties.
Its appearances and habits are fo perfeftly different frdni
thofe of* the ordinary fpecies of Furze, and it preferves
thofe diftinguiftiing chara6lers fo perfedly pure and per-
manent, when intermixed as it frequently is with the tall
upright fpecles, that they may well bs conlldered as dif-
tin£l plants.

A'- '■^■"l' r, i v-^-

33 D 1 S T R I C T.

occupy no fmall portion of their furfaces*
Of the inclofed lands, in a ilate of Agri-
culture, a large proportion is grass —
perhaps two thirds of the whole. The
refl is occupied by arable crops, and

ORCHARD GROUNDS.

The ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS of the

Diflri(ft are the ordinary domeftic animals
of the reft of the kingdom.

Viewing thefe feveral produdlions of the
foils of this Diilrid, in a political light,
we find them to exceed its confumption ;
and to afford fome fupply to the national
demands. A confiderable portion of the
wood goes to the fupply of the King's
fliips, brewery, and bakehoufes, at Ply-
mouth. Much barley is, I underfl:and,
fome years, fent out of the Difl:ri(!l: ; and
numbers of cattle, every year, travel Eafl-
ward, on their way to the markets of the
metropolis ; by the route which will here-
after be defcribed ; and, of fheep, fome
few may be drawn towards the fame center.
Befide, it is obfervable, that, of the fheep,
fwine, poultry, and a variety of vegetable
produdions which find a market within

the

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 3c|

the Diftri<Ct, much goes to the fupply of*
the dock yards and fhips of war. We
muft not, however, omit to remark, at the
fame time, that the population of the Dif-
tridt itfelf is much below par. The inha-
bitants, which it at prefent contains, are
chiefly employed in raifing the produd;ions
of which we have here fpoken.

3. The produds of the substrata
have been enumerated; as stones,

SLATES, TIN, LEAD, SILVER, COPPER.

Yet, notwithftanding the natural treafures
with which the Diftridt has abounded*,
and which has been drawn from its
bowels J during a fucceffion of ages, we do
not find it either richer or happier, than
other Diftrids of the Ifland, to which
Nature has been lefs bountiful of fubter-
D 4 ranean

* Formerly, this Difl:ri(£l was the principal fcene of
MINING : but, of later years, little had been done; until
very lately ; when the advanced price of tin induced the
adventurous to re-open fome of the old mines, and to try
their luck in new ones : to the annoyance of the country j
and with little profit to themfelves.

The Mines, which are worked at prefent, are chiefly
in the Wefterti parts of Cornwall.

46 DISTRICT/

ranean wealth. On the contrary, we here
iind civiHzatlon, and the arts, in the rear.

This, perhaps, is a natural and inevitable
confequence of mining ; which not only
immerfes the lower clafs in the rnoft abje(il:
employment, and buries them in the depths
of ignorance; but, by exciting a fpirit of
adventure and fpeculation in the middle and
upper clalTes, draws off their attention from
the more regular and certain advantages,
which accrue from amculture, m.anufac-
ture, and the other ufeful arts of life.

Viewing the fubject in this light, it ap-
pears to be found policy in the Chinese
Government, to fuppre fs mining, and
to dired: the induftry of its myriads of
fubjeds to THE CULTURE OF THE
SOIL, AND THE MANUFACTURE
OF ITS PRODUCE.

V. THE FACE OF THE COUNTRY.
The infinite variety of furface which this
Diftrid: affords, the irregularly winding
eftuai-ies,and the rapid torrents, by which it
is interfered, and the wild coppices that
hang on the fides of its hills, down perhaps
to the immediate margins of the rivers and

elluaries.

.WEST DEVONSHIRE. 41

efluaries, exhibit fcenery the moft romantic
and pi(5turefque. But the vievrs generally
want liiwn to give them foftnefs and
beauty. When the meadows of Buck-
land, and the meek grounds of Mariftow,
blend their lawny furfcc:is with the wood
and water,^ fccnes the moil delightful are
formed.

The broader views that frequently pre-
fent themfelves are not lefs interefting.
The grandeur of the diftant mountains of
Dartmore and Cornwall would orive effeft

o

to lefs pidturable foregrounds. Plymouth
Sound, partially hid by Mountedgecumbe
(a prominent and ftriking feature fc-^en
from every knoll), form another charming
diflance. A globular hillock, feated on
the Eaftern banks of the efluary of the
Tamer, below the church of St. Budix,
commands a circle of views, eaual in rich-
nefs and variety of vifual effed:, to any
other this Ifland pQiTefies. To the Eift,
the church of St. Budix, with the fweetly
wooded fcenery of TamertonFoliot, backed
by thefavage " Tors" of Dartmore. To the
Weft, the eftuary of St, Germains, lying as

a lake.

4^ D I S T R I C r,

a lake, among the cultivated riling grotincls^
of Cornwall. To the North, the efluariesf
of the Tamer and the Tavey, terminated
with bold broken woody heights, and
backed by tlie Ccrnifh mountains. To
the South, the lov/er part of the fame
eftuary, including Hamoze, with the fhips
of war in ordinary ; the church of Ply-
mouth and the prominent features around
it; the Sound, with fhips under fail,
' fkreened on the left with the cultivated
hills of South Devonfhire, on the right by
Mountedgecumbe. ' A more interefling
fubje<l^ for a Panorama painting could not
well be conceived-.

SECTIOH

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 43

SECTION THE T HI R 15.

th£
PRESENT STATE OF THE DISTRICT

A S

PRIVATE PROPERTY.

THE SPECIES of property attached to
land feparates, in this as in other
Diftrids, into two orders : namely,

I. PoffelTory property In the land itfelf-
11, Abilraario-htsarifingoutofit.

I. POSSESSOPvY RIGHT, or LAND-^
ED PROPERTY, puts on an appearance,
here, very different from that which it
wears in other parts of the kingdom. The
feefnnple is principally in the poiTeffion of
men of large property. But inflead of
letting out their lands to tenants, at an
annual rent equivalent to their value, they

are

44 DISTRICT.

zv^fold, in fmall parcels or farms, generally
for THREE LIVES named by* the pur chafe r^
or ninetynine years, provided any one of
tlie parties, named, furvives that period :
referving, however, a fmail annual rent,
together with a heriot or other forfeiture,
oh the death of each nominee, limilar to
thofe attached to the copyhold tenure;
which this fpecies of tenancy, cr tenure,
very much, refembles : it being ufual to put
in frefh lives, as the preceding ones drop
off; receiving a fine or adequate purcMfe,
for the addition of a frefh life, or lives.

This ilate of landed property, which is
common to the West of England,
forms one of the many ftriking featufes,
which Rural Economy at prefent exhibits^
in this part of thelfland.

The advantages of this flate of landed
property are few ; its disadvantages many;
It is a fatisfaftion to the piirchafcr to know;
tlrat, during his o\vn life, and perhaps du-
ring that of his fbn, the land whofe tempo-
rary pofTeffion lie has thus purchafed wil!
remain in his family; and theory fuggefts
thatj with fuch a hold, the impro\'cment

and

WEST DtVONSHiRE. 4S

yLY\d enriching of ZvV oum ejlate — for as fuch
it is ever eflimated — mufl of coiirfe be-
come the gre^t objed; oi his hfe. But
unibrtunately for himfelf and his family,
as well as for the community, he has laid
out his whole on the purchafe, and has not
a {hilling left for improvements : nay, has
perhaps borrowed part of the purchafe
money ; and has thus entailed on himfelf
and his family lives of poverty and hard
labor. Whereas, had he expended the
fame morjey, in Hocking and improving a
rented farm, he might have enriched his
family, and have throwr. into the markets
a much greater proportionate quantity of
produce. Belide, the poileffion depends,
perhaps, on his own life, and he has a wife
and a young family of children. He dies,
and of courfe leaves them deflitute : while,
to add to their nusfortunes,. the bailiiF of
the manor, in the hour of their diftrefs,
deprives them, perhaps, of the beft part of
the pittance he has left them.

Another evil tendency of life leafes is
that of exciting a fpirit of fpeculation and
gambhng, and of alienating th^ minds of

men

46 DISTRICT.

men from the plain and more certain path
of indullry. Purchaiing a life leafe is
putting in a flake at a game of chance.
An inllance fell within my own know-
ledge, in which two fets of lives have
ceafed, and of courfe the eftate has heen
twice fold, while a woman who was ex-
cluded, through a 77iere circumjiance, from
being one of the nominees in the firfl pur-
chafe, is flill living. And, on the other
hand, there is a well known inftance, in
which the leffee, at the expiration of the
term of ninetynine years, tendered his
leafe, in perfon, to the defcendant of him,
from whom his anceflor had received it.

To the proprietor of an ertate, this is,
in many refpedls, a difagreeable fpecies of
tenancy. His income, as has been iliewn,
is exceedingly uncertain ; and, what to a
man of fentiment is worfe, it literally arifes
out of the deaths and diftrcffes of the inha^
bitants of his eflate : befide the unplea^
fant and unprofitable circumftance of hav-
ing his lands in everlailing bondage. Let
them lie aukwardly for the tenants, or
intermix.ed with the lands of others, or in

farms

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 47

farms of improper fizes, he has no oppor-
tunity of adjufting or altering them. He
can have no hope of two or three adjoining
tenants dying at the fame time. Nothing
lefs than the plague, pelHlence, or famine,
can affifl him in a mcafure fo falutary,
both for himfelf and the community.

Thefe difagreeable circumftances have
induced feveral men of property, to fuffer
the life leafes of their eftates to drop in j
and, afterwards, to let theii* lands for an
annual rent, agreeably to the'pradiice of
the reft of the kino-dom.

o

This delirable change, however, can
only be eifecfted by men whofe incomes
are not wholly dependant on this fpecies
of property. Neverthelefs, any man who
is pofleiled of fuch property, and is not in
diftreiled circumftances, may releafe the
fmaller farms from this unprohtable and
impolitic ftate ; and, in the courfe of two
or three generations, the whole might be
fet at liberty, without fenlible inconve-
nience to the proprietors.

|t is obfervable, however> that there is

fome-

4S D I S T R I C T.

fometimes an inconveniency arjies to a
proprietor of life leafes, in fuiFering his
farms to drop into hand ; efpecially when
the lafl life happens toHnger. In this cafe,
jhe land is exhaufled, and the premifes
I'tripped : for the property changes with
the lall: breath, of the dying nominee.

But, fortunately for both parties, there
Is an effectual mode of preventing this evil;
namely, by granting the leiTee, or his repre-
feiitative, a reilric^tive leafe, for a term of
three or more years, to commence on the
death of the lafl: nominee: a liberal and
wife regulation, which fome few men
make, vind which common prudence re-
quires. The intereils o€ the landlord,
the tenant, and the public, are thereby
jointly benefited,

IL ABSTRACT RIGHTS. Of the
numerous claims to which the lands of this
fcahn arc liable, three only will be noticed,
here : namely,

1. Manorial rights.

2. Tithes.

3. Poor's rate.

5. Ma~

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 49

1. Manorial RiGHTt. There are
two fpecies of property attached to the
manors of this Diftrl(ft, which belong not
to EnghlTi manors in general. Thefe are
mines and fiilieries.

The profit arifing from mines is
either a fum certain, paid by the miner to
the lord of the foil, for fuffering him to
break, encumber, and for ever deftroy it ;
or fome certain proportion of the mineral
produced ; as every fifth, tenth, or twen-
tieth " dilh."

Of the Salmon fishery of the Dif-
tri6t, fome accounts will appear in the
Minutes.

2, Tithes, It is, I believe, the uni-t
verfal pradice, in the Diflricl under fur-
vey, for the Rector, whether lay or cle-
rical, to fend valuers over his parifh. pre-
fcntly before harvefl, to eflimate the value
of his tithes. If the owner of the crop
approves of the valuation, he reaps the
whole of it : if not, the Redor gathers his
tithe in kind : a cireiuT:iftance, however,
which, I underftand, feldom. takes place.

This mode of fettlement is certainly
Vol. I. E. more

50 DISTRICT.

more eligible, for all parties, with refped;
to the exifling crop, than that of collecSting
tithes in kind. But, with refped: to the
difcouragement of improvements in Agri-
culture, they are precifely equivalent.

3. Poor's rate. It is worthy of
remark, that, notwithftanding the wages of
the country are low, as will hereafter ap-
pear, the pariih rates are moderate. In
Buckland, and the contiguous pariihes, the
poor's rate, on a par, is not more than two
Ihillings in the pound, rack rent.

This fad:, perhaps, may be the beil
accounted for, in the circumll:ance of the
wool, which the country produces, being
manufadlured within it : not, however, in
public manufadories, by the dilTolute of
every age and fex, drawn together from all
quarters, as if for the purpofe of promoting
difTolutenefs, debility, and wretchednefs :
but in private families ; by men, women,
and children, who, by this employment,
are kept at their own houfes, are enured to
habits of induftry, are enabled to fupport
themfelves, at all feafons, and are always
at hand, to alTift in the works of huf-

bandry.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 51

bandry, whenever the produdion, or the
prefervation, of the neceffaries of life re^
quires their afliftance.

Manufadures carried on, in this rational
manner, are highly beneficial to a country :
while thofe which are profecuted by de-
tached bodies of people, in towns, or
populous manufadiories, may be confidered
as one of the gre ate fl evils any country can
be afflid:ed with.

Many fubftantial reafons might be ad-*
duced to fhew, that AGRICULTURE
AND MANUFACTURE SHOULD
GO HAND IN HAND.

E 2 THE

T iJ E

RURAL ECONOMY

0 F

WEST DEVONSHIRE}

AND T k E

EASrERN PARTS OF CORNWALL.

URAL ECONOMICS comprifc
three fubjecHis, diftindt in their more
eflential parts, but clofely connected in
their ramifieations, which blend, in fuch a
manner, as to unite the whole in one con-
nected fubjedV, and form the moft ufeful
branch of human knowledge.

The HUMAN SPECIES receive their fub*
fiftence from the foil, — arc, in reality,
themfelves a produce of it. In the more
advanced ftates of population, their exift-
ence may be faid to reft on the right appli«
cation and management of the lands, they
colkdively hold in pofTeffion.

E 3 Landed

54 RURAL ECONOMY,

Landed possessions, in a ftate of ac«
cumulation, become too extenfive to be
profitably occupied by individual pof-
feflbrs ; who, therefore, parcel out their
refpe(flive lands, among a plurality of oc-
cupiers, to whom a fpecies of temporary
poiTellion is given, and they, in return,
give a Riitable conlideration for fuch tem-
porary occupancy,

But before a landed estate can be
difpofed of, in this manner, with due pro-
priety, it is necefTary to affign the lands it
contains to their proper ufes : as to fepa-
rate thofe which produce, and are fit for
producing woody from thofe which are
adapted to the purpofes of Agriculture y
and, this done, to feparate the latter into
fuitable parcels, or farms ; agreeably to
their refpecftive foils and fituations. The
farms thus laid out require buildings ^fences^
roads, &c. &c. fuitably adapted to each.
Thefe arrangements and operations, added
to the appreciation of the feveral parcels,
the choice pf proper perfons to occupy
them, the regulations and reilridiions
jieceilary to be underilood by the parties,

together

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 55

together with the unremitting care and
fuperintendance, which an extenfive eftate
and its occupiers require, form a feparate
and very important branch of Rural
Management.

Again, — Woodlands, which were
formerly committed to the care of farm
occupiers, who reaped the undergrowth,
as a produce of their holds, the timber
being referved for the owners of the lands,
are now generally, and very properly, de-
tached from tenanted lands, and placed
under the care and fuperintendance of
woodwards, ad:ing as affiftants to the
managers of eftates ; the whole produce,
whether of timber or undergrowth, being
reaped by the proprietor of the foil,

ThisMANAGEMENTofcROWN WOODS,

is in itfelf an employment of fome
confideration, and, when united with the
propagation of woodlands, whether by

PLANTING or by SEMINAL CULTIVA-
TION, forms the fecond fubje(5l of Rural
Economy.

The laft is Agriculture; or the

cultivation of farm lands 3 whether in the

E 4 QCCU-

56 RURAL ECONOMY.

occupation of proprietors, or their tenants :
a fubjeft, v/hich, viewed in all its bran-
ches, and to their fulleft extent, is not
only the mofi: important, and the moft
difficult, in Rural Economics, but in the
circle of human Arts and Sciences.

From this analyfis it appears, that
JkuRAL Economy comprizes three fepa-
rable fubjecfts ; namely,

Firfl, Tenanted eftates, and their ma-
nagement.

Second, The produdlion and manage-
ment of woodlands.

Third, Agriculture, or the management
of farmlands.

Neverthelefs, viewed in the fynthefis,
they form a diftindt branch of knowledge,
with which it is incumbent on every man
whofe fortune is vefted in landed property,
to be familiarly converfant.

DIVISION

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 57

DIVISION THE FIRST.

LANDED ESTATES,

AND THEIR

MANAGEMENT,
I N

WE ST DEVONSH IRE, &c,

I,

ESTATES.

THE SPECIES of landed property,
that prevail^ in this Diftri(5t, has
been noticed.

The SIZES OF ESTATES are various.
There are a few of confiderable extent.

The PROPRIETORS are the Duke of
Bedford, w^ho has a large eftate lying
round Taviftock ; the Earl of Mount-
edgecumbe has now a conliderable pro-
perty, on both fides of the Tamer. The

Drake

58 MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES.

Drake Estate, now Lord Heath-
field's, is extenfive. Mr. Heywood
has a good property in the Diflri(!T:. Mr,
Ratcliffe, Mr. Elford, and other
fmaller proprietors, are in polTelTion, or
have the fuperiority, of the remainder.

2.

THE MANAGEMENT OF LANDED

ESTATES.

IN a Diftricft where landed property is
clogged with fo cumbrous a burden as that
of life leafes, a general fuperiority of ma-
nagement cannot with reafon be expected :
neverthelefs, it will be proper to examine
the prefent pracflice of the Diftrid ; which
is not wholly under that encumbrance ;
beiide, it is often as fervieeable to the
practitioner, to expofe defeats, as it is to
point out excellencies of practice.

The DIVISIONS of this fubjedt, which
require to be examined, on the prefent
occafion, are,

I. Layr,

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 59

I. Laying out eftates into woodlands
and farm lands.
II. Laying out farm lands into diftind^
tenements or farms.

III. Farm buildings, &c.

IV. Fences.

V. Difpofal of farms.

VI. Forms of leafes.

VII. Rental value of land.
VIII. Time of entry and removal.

IX. Manor Courts, and the receipt of
rents,

L LAYING OUT ESTATES. In
the diil:ribution of lands to their proper
ufes, as into v^^oodlands and farms,
little perhaps has been done, fmce the ori^.
ginal laying out of townships, in the
manner already fuggefted. The fleep
fides of the hills have been fuffered to re-
main in wood, the flatter, and more eafily
culturable parts, being converted tothepur-
pofes of husbandry. This, however, is
not, at prefent, invariably the cafe : the
|:ops, as well as the fides, of fome of the

fwells,

6b MANAGEMENT OF ESTATE^.

fwells, are flill occupied by wood ; and
though it may frequently happen thatj
where this is the cafe, the land is equllly as
well adapted to that fpecies of produce, as
to cultivation ; yet this is not always the
cafe : and fomething, though not much
perhaps, ftill remains to be done in this
department of management.

II. LAYING OUT FARM LANDS.
In the diflribution of culturable landsj into
diflindl holdings, the DifbicS: under view
may claim fome merit. The farms, though
of different fizes, are many of them fmall }
perhaps too many of them are of this de-
fcription j but, in general, they lie well
about the homeftall ; or rather, we fhould
fay, the homefteads have been judicioufly
placed within the areas of the lands ; not
in villages ; as is too often the cafe, in
many parts of the Ifland.

m. FARMERIES. ThesiTtJATio>is
of homefteads, or farm buildings and
yards, are generally well chofen; as the
fide of a valley, or near the head of a coomb

or

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 6»

or dell. A fultable fhelter, and a rill of
water, appear to have been principal ob-
je(fts, in the choice of farmfleads.

In fituations deflitute of natural rills,
" LEATS," or made rills, are cut, and
have been time immemorial employed, in
bringing what is called, in the pure lan-
guage of fnnplicity, " potwater" — tQ
farm houfes, and hamlets of cottages, in
upland lituations : an admirable expedient,
which is applicable in many parts of the
Ifland : yet which, until of late years, in
Yorkfhire *, has never been pradtifed per-
haps out of this extreme part of the Ifland.
How flow has hitherto been the progrefs of
rural improvements;!

The PLANS OF FARMEi?.^iESi lieic, havc
nothing tQ engage particular attention.
The barna are fmall ; and the cattle yards
furniihed moftly with open fheds — prov.
*' linhays," witji troughs or mangers in
the back parts, to hold fodder.

Sornetimes thefe linhays are double : the
fame fpan roof fm-nifliing two ranges of

flieds^

♦ S.ce York. Econ. Vol. I. page 174*

62 xVlANAGfiMENT OF ESTATES.

fheds, and ferving two yards, feparated by
a fence partition, running along the middle
of it. A fpecies of farm building, which
might be adopted in many cafes. Thefe
open fheds are ufed for cows, and young
cattle 5 oxen beiiig generally kept in houfes
or hovels, provinciaily " fhippens," during
the winter.

The MATERIALS of FARM BUILDINGS

are chiefly Jione ; moilly the light blue
flate flone, which has been defcribed.
For farm offices, earthen walls^— prov*
*' cobb walls," are common.

Indeed, in lituations, where ftone is not
at hand, " cobb" is a common material of
farm buildings, throughout the West of
England. Not only houfes and offices,
but yard wails, and even garden walls, are
commonly built with it ; and endure for
a length of time j provided they are kept
dry. Single walls are coped ; generally
with thatch.

In building thefe walls, ftraw is mixed
with the earth, in a ftate of pafte, and in-
corporated with it, by treading or otherwife,
in a way fimilar to that ufed in making the

clay-

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 63

clay floors of Norfolk *. The walls are
carried up, in courfes of eighteen inches, to
two feet high, and fourteen inches to two
feet thick ; the preceding courfe being
fuitered to ftiffen, before the fucceeding
one be fet on. I have feen, in different
parts of the Weft of England, cottages
two ftories high, with no other fupport for
the joifts and timbers, than thefe earthen
walls.

In fituations expofed to Weflerly winds^
the v/alls of dwelling houfes of every
material are frequently guarded withjlafes,
put on fcale-wife, as upon roofs, to prevent
the " fea air" from penetrating the walls,
and giving dampnefs to the rooms* In
towns, the ihells of houfes are not uncom-
monly built of wood ; lathed J plaiflered;
and dated,

Houfes fronted with well coloured jflate,
put on neatly, and with ** black mortar"
(namely cement, among which pounded
forge cinders have been freely mixed), are
not unfightly. But fmeared, in ftripes or

patches,

* See Norfolk Econ. Vol. II. Page 24.

64 MANAGEiMENT OF ESTATES.

patches, with v/h,ite mortar, ouzing out of
the joints, and fpreading partially over the
furface, the appearance is filthy.

In the ufe o1 rmgh-rcajl, or " flap-dafh/'
die Devonfhire workmen are proficient.
They render it pleafmg to the eye andi
durable. It is fometijnes formed with a
fpecies of fliining gravel, found upon the
moorlands, which gives it, when the fun
fhines upon it, a fplendid effedt. It is
ufual to draw crofs lines over the furface,
to give it the appearance of dreifed ftone-
work. Not only the practice, but the
theory of rough-ct^fting is here underflood ;
as will appear in the Minutes.

The COVERING MATERIALS of th©

Diflrid: zx<ijl.ate and thatch — prov. ** reed,"
namely, unbruifed ilraw ; the grain being
feparated from the ftraw without breaking
it i in the manner which will be hereafter
defcribed :, a pratflice common, \ believe.,
to the West of England. Straw thus
preferved makes a neat and durable cover-
ing ; and, when no other fpecies of covering
can be procured, it is certainly preferable
to thraihed il:raw ; wl;^ich, being lefs du-
rable,,

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 65

rable, tends ftill more to the impoverifli-
ment of the lands that are robbed of it.

IV. FENCES. Nothing marks the
rural management of this extremity of the
Illand more ftrongly, than the construc-
tion of its farm fences.

The bank or foundation of a Devonfhire
*' hedp-e" is a mound of earth, eidit, ten,
or more feet wide, at the bafe, and fome-
times nearly as much in height ; narrowing
to fix, feven, or more feet wide, at the top ;
which is covered with coppice woods, as
Oak, Afli, Sallow, Birch, Hazel. Thefe
are cut, as coppice \^ood, at fifteen or
twenty years growth, and at more, perhaps,
than twenty feet high, befide the height of
the mound; together forming a barrier,
perhaps thirty feet in height.

A ftranger, unaware of this practice,
conliders himfelf as travelling perpetually
in deep hollow ways -, paffing on, for miles,
perhaps, without being able to fee out of
them ; though the mofl: delightful fcenery
may have accompanied him.

Vol. I. F The

66 MANAGEAIENT OF ESTATES.

The ORIGIN of thefe extraordinary fen-
ces may not be difficult to affign . By clear-
ing the forefts, in the manner which has
been fuggefled, the natural fuel of the
country was, of courfe, materially abridged;
and, where the general face of the country
was tolerably level, the fides of the vallies
were too few, and infufficiently extenfive,
to fupply this necefiary of life. And it
appears to me moft probable, that thefe
COPPICE FENCES were adopted to fupply
this defed: of fuel ; and they have proved,
perhaps, the beft expedient that could have-
been flruck out. Many farms have no
other woodland y nor fupply of fuel, than
what their fences furnifii ; yet are amply
fupplied with this j belide, perhaps, an
overplus of poles, cord wood, faggots, and
the bark of oak, for fale. Hedgewood is
looked up to as a crop ; and is profitable as
fuch ; befide the benefit received from the
mounds and itubs, as fences.

The AGE of mofl of thefe fences is o:reat
beyond memory. Neverthelefs, they are
continued to be formed, to the prefent

day.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 67

day. Indeed, it may be faid, there is no
other method of raifing a Uve fence inufe,
in the Diftria.

I have met with feveral inflances of
RAISING fences in this way. One, to
which I paid fome attention, was formed
feven feet wide at the bafe, and about feven
feet high ; the fides being carried up with
fods, and battered fome what inward.
The coft of it, about two fhilHngs a yard
in length : namely, eighteen pence for
labor, and fix pence for gathering plants,
in the woods, to fet upon it. I have fecn
plants as thick as the leg, with ftems left
two or three feet high, fet on the top of
thefe mound fences : a pra(flice, however,
which is evidently improper j as not only
the labor of collecting, carriage, and
planting, is greater, but the probability of
fuccefs is lefs, than they would be, if
younger plants were ufed.

The ADVANTAGES of coppicc fcnccs

are thofe of being an infuperable barrier to

flock, — of affording extraordinary fhelter

and fhade to pafluring animals,— of giving

F 2 ane-

6S MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES.

a neceiTary fupply of fuel, in a country
where no gther fuel than wood can, at
prefent, be compaiTed by farmers, — and of
being, with ordinary care in repairing
therji, everlafting. Inftead of mouldering
away, and growing lefs as they increafe in
age, the fwclling of the roots, the falling
of leaves, and decayed boughs, and the
fhovellings of their bafes thrown upon their
tops, with freih fods brought from a dif-
tance, perhaps, to make good accidental
breaches, tend to increafe, rather than
to diminifh, the mounds,; fo that the
bulkinefs of fome of the old hedges may be
owing to time, rather than to the original
formation.

The DISADVANTAGES of the Devon-
(liire hedges are their iiril coll;, and the
quantity of ground they occupy, and injure,
by their drip and iliade, and by the foil ufed
In their formation : Five and twenty feet
is the leaf! that can be reckoned, for the
width of wafte. The injury they do to
arable crops, in preventing a free circu«
ktion of air > and their being liable to be

torn

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 69

torn down by cattle, when the adjoining
field is in a {late of pafture, are other dif-
advantages. ^

But every fpecies offence has its difad-
vantages, and whether, upon the whole,
that under confideration is preferable to the
ordinary live hcdge'of the kingdom, I will
not attempt to decide. In an Upland Dif-
tria, and where the fields are of a good fize,
coppice fences are more eligible, than
they would be, in a low flat country, with
fmall inclofures ; and much more eligible in
a Diflria, where wood is the only fuel,
than they would be in a coal country.

To the fportfman, thefe fences are un-
friendly ; and, to an invading army, they
would be moll embarraffing : an extent of
country, interfeded byfuch barriers, would
be, in efi^ft, one immenfe fortification.

V. The DISPOSAL OF FARMS in

this Dillridl may be faid to be threefold;

namely.

Selling them for lives,,
Letting them for a term, and
Occupying them in hulbandry,

p -^ The

yo MANAGEMENT GF ESTATES.

The laft, namely the practice of men of
fortune occupying fome confide rable
parts of their eftates, appears to have been,
until very lately, a prevailing fafhion among
the great proprietors of Devonshire.
There is an inilance of one noble family
having kept in hand fourteen or fifteen
hundred acres, for fome generations paft ;
and of anotlier family having occupied
feven or eight hundred acres, for more
than two centuries ; and, in thefe two
infi:ances, the lands, I believe, ftill remain
in hand. But many other proprietors,
finding little income arifing from lands
thus employed, and fome one or more, it
is afferted, having been brought into debt
by their managers (I fpeak here of farms
lying at a diflance from the principal refi-
dences of their owners), fuch farms hove
been wifely let or fold, to men who have a
perfonal intereit in their management.

Thefe domains were probably kept in the
occupation of their proprietors, with a view
to fct an example to the tenants of their,
refpedlive eflates, in the infancy of huf-
bandry : and the ftate of management, in

whicl-^

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 71

which we now find the Diftridl, may have
arifcn out of this circumftance. But men
of fortune appear to have abandoned, long
ago, this original intention, if fuch it were ;
and to have taken for- granted, that their
lands were in a ftate of perfe<ft manage-
ment.

The SELLING OF FARMS FOR THREE

LIVES, nominated by the refpe(!^ive pur-
ehafers,.as it was the antient, and once per-
haps the univerfal, practice of the Diftridt,
comes next under confideration.

At prefent, one half, or two thirds of the
lands of the Diftridt, probably, are under
this fpecies of tenure, or tenancy, or hold :
the remainder being occupied by proprie*
tors, whether men of fortune or yeomanry ;
and by tenants, for a term certain, or from
year to year.

The difpofal of farms for three lives is
generally by what are provincially termed

SURVEYS ; a fpCcieS of AUCTION ; at

which candidates bid for the priority of
refufal, rather than for the thing itfelf^ a
fpecies of fale common to every fpecies of
property. If the highefl bidder does not
F 4 reach

72 MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES.

reach the feller's price, the bidding is
inconclufive : the feller names his price,
and the highelt bidder has the firft option
of choice, or refufal. If he refufe, the
next higheft bidder takes his choice, and fo
of the reft : a fpecies of fale, which is very
convenient to the feliet;

The eftirnate value of lands, for three
lives, is about eighteen years p.urchafe of
the neat rental value, or about fourteen
years purchafe of the grofs rent and taxes,
which laft life lelfees ufually engage to,
pay ; together with a fmall annual rent -,
and generally a heriot, forfeitable on the
death of each nominee, as has been men-
tioned.

The purchafer has the right of transfer,
^nd of letting the premifes to farm, from,
year to year, for a term of years, or during,
the term of the life leafe. Thus becomino;
a fort of iniddle man, between the proprie-
tor and the occupier.

The leiTee ' for lives keeps up the build-
ings, feiices, gates, &c. (the proprietor
finding timber,) or is liable to pay for,
dilapidations. All coppice wood and

under-

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 73

underwood, as well as fruit trees and other
trees, except Oak, Afli, and Elm, are,
entirely, or under certain regulations^ at the
difpofal of the leffee ; and cannot be cut
down, by the proprietor of the land, during
the demife.

On the expiration of a leafe for lives,
the leflee is allowed, by cuftom, a few^ days
for clearing the premifes of liveftock, an4
forty days, for dead flock — as grain, fur-
niture, &c. but he cannot touch a bough,
or a fixture, or remove ftraw, dung, &c.
after the mopient of extindion o£ the laft
life.

The LETTING OF FARMS, for a year,
or a term of years, is fimilar in method of
difpofal, to th^t of felling them for lives :
fo forcible would feem to be the tide of
cuflom !

In Je//mg a farm, an au<5Lion is a fui table
medium of difpofal : the feller receives
his price or fecurity, before he delivers up
pofl'effion ; and the leffee, himfelf, being
generally one of the nopiinees, is, in fome
meafure, ^one with.

But

74 MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES.

■ But the cafe is very diiFerent with a man,
who is to pay his rent halfyearly, and to
conform with a variety of covenants and
regulations, which are neceiTary to the
fpecies of tenancy, now under confide-
ration. In this cafe, it is not more the
rent, than th^ man, that is to be looked to,
and chofen. Among candidates, at auctions,
for letting farms, are generally adven-
turers, who want judgment, and men of
defperate fortunes, who want a temporary
fubiiftence ; and thefe men will ever be
the highcft bidders j will ever outbid men
of judgment- and capital ; fuch as will pay
their rent, keep up their repairs, and im-
prove the land -, and fuch as ought ever to
be, and ever are, the choice of judicious
managers of eflates. There is a fair mar-
ket price for farms, as for their produce ;
and no man is fit to be entrulted with the
management of an eilate, who cannot af-
Certiin the value of its lands, and who,
having afcertained this, does not prefer a
man of judgment and capital, to ^ny nominal
Xmti which fpeculation can offer him. It

may

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 75

may be faid, with little latitude, that, in
the end, it is equally detrimental to an
eftate, to overrent it, as it is to let it beneath
its fair rental value. This is an axiom of
management which is well known to every
man of landed property, who has perfe-
vered in paying attention to his own affairs ;
and which has cofl fome men bo fmall
fhare of property, refpedtability, and peace
of mind, to come at the knowledge of.

The pradice of letting farms by aucflion,
in this Diftridt, is not difficult to be ac-
counted for. It has grown in part out of
the cuftom of felUng farms by audion, aa
abovementioned -, and is in part owing to
the circumftance of the imm.ediate manage-
ment of eftates being in the hands of,
country attornies ; who are, profefiionally,
unacquainted with the value of the lands
they have to let, and who have valuable
interefts in the holding of furveys.

Another fmgular trait, in the manage-
ment of eilates, in this Diftrid, may be
proper to be mentioned. The agent, in-
rtead of receiving a falaiy adequate to his

fer-

76 MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES.

fervlces, makes an exorbitant charge, upon
the tenants, for their leafes ; each eftate
having its eilablidied impofl.

This regulation is evidently founded on
fallacious principles. The intereft of the
agent ought ever to be conne6ted with that
of his principal . W hereas, by the practice
now under notice, as well as by that of
letting farms by audion, in the manner
which has been mentioned, they are
efl-ranged from each other. Inftead of its
being the interefl of the agent to promote
that good order, pun(rtuality, and fpirit of
improvement, which oilght to be folicitoufly
cherifhed on every ellate, his beft interests
are connecfted with the beggary and fhift-
ing of tenants ; and, of courfe, with the
confuiion and eventual injury of the eftate :
and this without any adequate counter
advantage. Farmers are not fo inatten-
tive to their own interefts, as to omit to
calculate the expence of the leafe, while
they are bargaining for the farm ; and it
is well known to thofe, who are conver-
fant in the bufine.fs of letting farms, that

nothing

WEST DEVONSHIRE.. )^

nothing more difgufts a good tenant, a man
who can have a farm anywhercy than an
exorbitant charge for his leafe.

VI. FORMS OF LEASES. In the
conftrucftion of leafes, it would be unrea-
fonable to expe(^ to find anything fuperi-
orly excellent, in a Dillriilt where the
letting of farms may be confidered as, ia
fome meafure, a modern practice. For
although it mufl ever have been in ufe,
between middle men and under tenants,
yet it mufl ever have been a fecondary and
fubordinate branch of the manajrement of
eflates ; and as fuch, indeed, it llill re-
mains, Befide, the forming of leafes,
bemg left to men who are unacquainted
with the required covenants and regu-
lation, neceffary for promoting the interefl:
of aneftate, is another bar to excellency of
conflrucftion.

The following are the heads of a
LEASE, under which one of the firfl: farms
in the country was let, a very few years

ago.

Landlord gramts the ufe of th«

premifcij

78 MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES.

premifes for twentyone years, at a fixed
annual rent.

Landlord reserves tile privilege of
holding Courts (this being a manor farm)
v^ith the life of a parlour, bed room, and
ftable, one day and night, for the cuftomary
fee of two fhillings ; alfo the ufual dinner
and liquor, for the Court tenants, at one
(hilling each.

Also all mines, quarries. Sec.

Also timber, game, &c.

Also the liberty of fowing the third
crop of grain with, eaver (raygrafs) and
clover, to be provided by the tenant.

Also a right of viewing the flate of
repair of buildings, &c„ and, if necelTary
repairs are not executed within two months
after notice given, the landlord may execute
them at the tenant's expence.

Also the power of re-entry on non-per-
formance of the agreement.

Tenant agr-ees to pay rent, taxes,
&c.

Also to do all repairs ; the landlord
firfl putting the premifes into tenantable
CQnditicn.

Also

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 79

Also to do fuit and fervice at the Lord's
Courts.

Also to lay on fifty double Winchefler
bufhels of ftone liine, or feventy facks of
fea fand, an acre, the f.rft year of breaking
up ; to be mixed with mold, in a hufband-
like manner. ^

Also to take three crops of corn, for
fuch dreffing, and no morel thefe crops
being Wheat, Barley, and Oats, in fuc^
cejjion ! and to fovv grafs feeds with tlid
lafl: crop.

Also to keep up orchard grounds ; the
landlord firft ftocking them properly with
trees : the tenant afterwards having the
decayed trees for filling up vacancies.

Also to repair the mounds of hedges
every time the wood is felled ; and not to
cut them under feven years growth j nor
to cut rods, &c. but when the hedge is
felled.

Also to the following

Restrictions. Not to break up
meadow grounds, unier the penalty of
ten pounds an acre.

Also-

So MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES.

Also not to pare and burn the furface
of other lands, under the fame penalty *.

Also not to grow Rape, Hemp, Flax,
Woad, Weld, Madder, or POTATOES ! I
unlefs for the ufe of his own family^

Also not to fell Hay, Straw, or Tur-
neps ; nor to carry manure off the premifes.

Also not to depallure orchard grounds
with horned cattle.

Also not to fell, lop, or top^ any timber
tree, under the penalty of ten pounds ; nor
any maiden tree or fapling, under that of
five pounds*

Also not to afTuyn the Icafe, v/ithout
confent, &c.

Thofe who If/'/uI tenants to fucli a bafe
iyflcm of management, as the > tenant of
this charming farm is bound (for eighteen
years to come ! ) are entitled to pity, rather
than to cenfure * they copy leafes from
mufly forms, left them by their predecef-
fors, as they copy black letter precepts out
of Jacob and Burn.

The

* This farm lies fomcwhat to the Southward of this
Diftriv^ ; bciiii* within that of the South hams.

WE ST DEVONSHIRE. 8i

The heads of a leafe of a fmaller farm,
within this Diftridt, runs thus :

Landlord agrees to repair, &c.

Tenant to lay on a hundred bufhels
of hme, or one hundred and twenty feams
(or horfeloads) of fea fand, mixed with
one hundred and twenty feams of dung,
an acre, on all lands broken up for Wheat
after Ley or G rafs. And not to take more
than a crop of Wheat, a crop of Barley,
and a crop of Oats, for kich dreffing ; but
to fow over the Oats twelve pounds of
Clover and half a bufnel of Eaver, an acre;
and not to mow the Clover more than once.

Also not to cut hedges under twelve
years growth; and then when the ad-
joining field is broken up for wheat : and
to plafh the fides (or outer brinks of the
mounds), and fliovel out the ditches (or
hollows at the foot of the bank), throwing
the mold upon the mound, to encourage
the growth of the hedgewood.

Also to preferve orchards : to keep

them free from horned cattle : landlord

agreeing to find young trees ; tenant to

fetch and plant them, and to cany two

VoL.L G feams

82 MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES.

feams of dung or frefh maiden earth to fet
each plant in : being allowed the old trees
for his trouble.

Also not to fell Hay, Straw, &c. except
** Reeu (or unthrafhed Straw).

Also not to affignover, &c. &c. Sec.

VII. RENT. The rent of the larger
arable farms, on which hufbandry is the
principal objecTt, is from ten fhillings to>

.twenty {hillings an acre ; accorL^ing to the
quality of the foil, its lituation, and atten-
dant circumflances. Small farms, with a
large proportion of orchard ground lying
to them, pay higher rents.

VIII. R.EMOVAL. Ladyday is the
accuflomed tim.e of entry and transfer.

IX. MANOR COURTS. Thefe
Courts, as we have already intimated, are
regularly held. Conventionary or life-
leafe tenants are conlidered in the light of
copyholders ; and, by the cullom of the
country, freeholders attend Manor Courts ;
which, however, are principally held for
the RECEIPT OF RENTS, whether con-
ventional or predial. division

WEST DEVONSHIRE:. 83

DIVISION THE SECOND.

WOODLANDS,

THEIR
PROPAGATION and MANAGEMENT.

1.

Woodlands.

L rpHE SPECIES OF woodland,
X which is moft prevalent in this
Diftricl, is that which comes emphatically
under the denomination of Woods:
namely a mixture of Timber and Under-
wood i the ancient law, which requires
that a certain number of Timberlings {hall
be left {landing, in each acre of Coppice-
wood cut down, being here, more or lefs
complied with ; though it were only that
G 2 ^^ich

$4 WOODLANDS.

iuch ftandards fhould be taken down at tlie
fucceeding fall of Underwood, and others
left in their fl:ead» In confequence of this
evalion there is, in eifedt, much Woodland
in a ftate of Cop pice. And there is fome
Mttie in a ftate of Timber, with but little
Underwood,

The Hedgerow Wood of the Diftridt
is invariably Coppice ; with fome few
Pollards growing out of the fides-, or at the
bafes, of the mounds ; which are probably
loo high and narrow to fupport Timber
Trees upon their tops, — were the tenants
to fuiFer them to rife.

IL The SPECIES OF TIMBER

TREES are principally the Oak and the
Ash, with fome Elms on the deeper bet-
ter foils ; alio the Beech and the Syca-
more. But the Oak may be emphatically
termed the Timber Tree of the Diftrid:.

III. The SPECIES OF COPPICE
WOODS'arethe Oak, the Birch, the
Sallow, theHAZLE, the Ash, the Ches-
jTUT, which laft is found, in wild reclufe

,iituations;r

WEST DEVONSHIRE. S5

iituations, .with every appearance of being
a native." The Wild Cherry, too, is
found in Coppices : but Httle or no Hav^^-
thorn ; which does not appear to be 2.
native of the country!

IV. The HISTORY of thefe Wood-
lands is unknown : tradition is jfilent on
the fabjed:. They are, undoubtedly, the
aboriginal produce of the foils ihey now
occupy. They have no appearance of
cultivation ; except near habitations : and
even, there, unlefs in a few inflances.
Planting does not appear to have been, at
any time, th£ prii<^tice or fafhion of the
jDiHrid,

V. The ELIGIBILITY of the pre^
fent Woodlands, in their prefent ftate, has
been mentioned : fome fmall portion of
ithejn ought, perhaps, to be converted to
Farm Lands ^ though, in the ordinary
anodes of conv^rfion, they mi^t not pay
fo he. akeratioin : and there are confide-
rable extenib of unproduxftive high lands,
which ought to be converted to Woodland-

G 3 THE

86 WOODLANDS,

2.

THE PROPAGATION OF
WOODLANDS.

THE SPECIES OF WOOD, proper to
be railed on the bleak barren heights, which
are here fpoken of as being eHgible to be
converted into Woodlands, appear to me
evident. On the fides of valiies, flieltered
from the cutting winds of this Diltridl, the
Oak is undoubtedly the mofl eligible
fpeci^s of Woofj. But, upon expofed
heights, the Oak, even as Coppice wood,
fhrinks from the blaft ; and, as Timber,
makes no progrefs after a certain age ; be-
coming ftunted and moffy. The only Oak
Timber, I have obferved in the Diflri(St, of
any fize, grows on the lower fkirts of the
hills. Whereas the Beech flourifhes,
even as Timber, in very bleak expofed
fituations. And, I am qf opinion, that, for
Coppice wood, on the bleak barren
heights under notice, the Beech and the

Birch

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 87

Birch would be moft eligible : and tbat,
for Timber, in liich fituations, the
Larch, alone, is eligible.

I fpeak, however, from a general know-
ledge of this valuable tree, in the foils
^nd fituations in which I have {eeA\ it
flcurifli. For it does not appear to have
been tried on the bleak barren foils of this
DiftriLl:. Yet, f-eing the extent of fuch
foils, which it contains, and its fituation
with refpea to the {hip yards of Plymouth ;
and feeing at the lame time, with almoft
moral certainty, that the Larch, in times
to come, will be a principal article of Ship
building, in this illand, it is highly probable
that whoever now propagates it, will ex-
ceedingly enhance the value of his eilate.

MANAGEMENT OF WOODLANDS.

TO convey a comprehenlive idea of this

department of Rural Management, in the

G 4 Diilria

tS MANAGEMENT OF WOODLANDS.

Dillrid: now under view, it will be propq
to fpeak feparately of

I. Timber,

II. Coppice wood,

III. Hedge wood,

- IV. Bark!

I. THE MANAGEMENT OF TIM^
BER. 1 he chief produce of Woodlands,
here, being Coppice wood, rather than
Timber, lefs is required to be faid, under
this branch of management, Indeed,
judging from what has fallen under m^y
notice, refpedting the treatment of Timber,
in this DiftriA, little more than cenfure
can be fairly attached to it.

To the TRAINING of Tirfibcr, little if
any attention appears to be paid. I have
feen Oak woods irreparably injured, and
for ever rendered incapable of producing
large Timber, for want of timely thinnings.

And in the only inftance of felling
Oak Timber, on a large fcale, which came
under my obfervation, the management,
pr rather mifmanagement, was fuch as

ought;

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 89

ought not to be fufFered. Inflead of clear-
ing the ground, or of removing the under-
ling and ftunted or full grown trees, to
make room for thofe which were in a
thriving profitable flate, the latter, only,
were hewn down ! Many of them in the
m.oft luxuriant ftate of growth ; throwing
them, heedlefsly, among the ilanding trees !
thus adding crime to crime, and causing
double deflru(5lion. A6ls like thefe Hiould'
be puniiliable ; for it is not a wafle of pri-
vate property only^ but, in the prefent
flate of Ship timber,, and in the immediate
vicinity of a dock yard, fuch wafle becomes
a public lofs.

Enquiring into the caufe of this outrage,
I was told (and probably with truth, as
nothing elfe could well account for it) that
fo many hundred trees had been fold, at
fuch a price, the choice of them being left
to the purchaler -, who had a wide extent
of Woodland to range over ; and who,
guided by the exorbitant price of Bark,
chofe of courfe, the full topped fafl-
growing trees ; as affording the moft bark
and of the beil quality.

II. MANAGE-.

^o MANAGEMENT OF WOODLANDS,

II. MANx\GEMENT OF COPPICES.
This forming a prominent feature in the
Rural Management of the Diftrid, it re-*
quires to be treated of in detail j under the
following branches.

I.

Training,

2.

Age of Felling,

Difpofal,

A-

Mode of Cutting.

5-

Mode of Converting,

6.

Confuriiption,

I. Thetraining ofCoppicewoods
is not, I believe, attended to farther, than
to keep them free from brouzing flock,
during the firft ftages of their growth.
However, conlidering the advanced age at
which Coppice wood is cut, here, mvich
faggot v\^ood, and perhaps other inferior
wares, might be taken out with advantage
to the rifmg Coppice. The Birch and the
Sallov/, quick growing woods, ought cer-
tainly to be checked, fo as to prevent their
overtopping and cramping the growth of
the Oak. The great objed: in training

Coppices

W E S T B E V O N S H I R E. 91

Coppices Is to give evennefs and fuilnefs
to the whole. In a diiLiiift, however,
where flakes, edders, and wicker hurdleg
are not in common ufe, the lefs profitable
would be the thinnings of a Coppice. In
the more advanced ftages of growth, hoops
gre, here, a profitable article ^,

2. The age or felling Coppice
WOOD, in the ordinary pravftice of the
Diflri(fl, is twenty years. The bark of
the Oal^ is a principal objedl, efpecially at
prefent ; and this does not acquire, much
fooner, a fuiiicient fubilance and maturation
of juices, to fit it properly for the ufe of
the tanner. It is oftcner, I believe; fuf-
fered to fiand* until it be more than twenty
years growth, than it is felled under that
age. From eighteen to twentyfive years
may, perhaps, be fet down as the ordinary
Jijnits.

3. The

* Hoops for cider G.iflcs. The principal wood is AiTi ;
butChefnut and Wild Cherry are reckoned nearly as good.
The price, in the rough, about 8d. a hundred weight. The
time of cutting, December and January: the time of bcnd-
Lng, May and June. The Coopers charge is half a crown a
dozei).

92 MANAGEMENT OF WOODLANDS;

3. The DISPOSAL OF Coppice WOOD.
The common medium affile is the furvey
or au(!^ion : the proper vehicle of dif-
pofal, in all cafes where large allotments of
v/ood, of every kind, are to be difpofed of,
in the grofs ; provided men of property
and common honefty can be drav/n together
as bidders *, But, in, this Diftridt, where
the bidders at fuch fales are, many of them,
men without property o? principle, public
auctions become a hazardous mode of dif- .
pofal ; as mofi: men of property, in the
Diftrid, I underfland, have experienced.

This clafs ofpurchafer s are chiefly working
woodmen, who unite themfelves into com-
panies or fets, in order that they may com-
pafs, the better, the parcel on fale ; after-
wards, Iharing it out among themfelves ;
and each employing alliilants to take down
his own fhare.

The prices of Coppice wood, by the
acre, are various ; according to the age ,
;ind quality ; and have lately had a rapid
rife, on account of the high price of bark ;
,and the great demand for wood, which the

war
* See York. Econ. Vol.1, p. 241.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 93

war has occafioned. Formerly, (within
memory) four or five pounds an acre was
reckoned a good price for wood of a middle
quality, and twenty years growth. Within
the laft ten years, or lefs time, ten pounds
an acre was efleemed a full price for fuch
wood. Now (1794) it is worth fifteen
pounds an acre ; the purchafer paying
tithe 'y which is ufually 2s. 6d. to 3s. in
the pound, upon the grofs amount of fale.

4. The method of taking down
Coppice wood, in this part of the illand,
is fingular. The ordinary woods being
cleared away, previous to the Barking
feafon, theOak is peeled standing ;
all the hands employed continuing to peel '
during the fpring run of the Bark. When
a check takes place, the woodmen employ
themfelves in cutting down the peeled
wood; until the midfummer run calls
them again to the operation of peeling ;
w^hich, indeed, may be faid to laft, with
little interruption, throughout the fum-
mer; the wood being chiefiv converted
into faleable ware, during the winte r months .

This

94- MANAGEMENT OF WOODLANDS'.

This unufual mode of proceeding gives
a piece of Woodland, undergoing thefd
operations, a ftriking appearance to the eye
of a ftranger, travelling through the coun-
try, in the fummer feafoh. The purchafer's
ihares are marked out in fquare patches ;
and the fe divided again into flripes of dif-
^ ferent colours : one white, with barked
poles lying along upon the flubs ! another
brown, — 'the leaves of the early peeled
poles, yet Handing, being already dead, and
changed to this colour : a third mottled^
having naked ftems, headed with yet greert
leaves ; while perhaps the remainder of
each patch, referved for another year's fall,
appears in its natural green.

This method of taking down Coppice
wood, however, has been prac^ifed, time
immemorial ; and, where Firewood and
Bark are the principal objedts of produce,
a more eligible method would be difficult
to ftrike out. The practice of fuffering thei
peeled ftems to remain upon the roots, in
the firfl: inflance, as well as that of after-
wards letting them lie upon the ilubs, is
theoretically bad. The fa<5t hov/ever is,

this

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 95

this pradice, though it may have been
continued for centuries, has not deflroyed*
nor materially injured, the woods ^ which,
though not equal in thicknefs and even-
nefs, to the Suflex and Kentifh Coppices^
are upon a par with thofe of the reft of the
Ifland.

5. 6. The conversion and con-
sumption OF Coppice wood is, here,
into polesy for ufes in hufbandry, as the
roofs of fheds and hovels, rails, &c. &c. ;
cordwoody moftly for the ufe of fliips of war;
faggots of different forts, for fuel, and for
the ufe of the King's bake-houfes, &c. at
Plymouth.

The ordinary price of cor dwoody in time
of peace, is about ten fhillings a cord, of
128 cubical feet (namely 4, 4, and 8) and
the poles and faggots in proportion *,

III. The MANAGEMENT OF
HEDGE WOOD. This department of

management

* Formerly, Cordwood was sold by weight;
a praftice which is not, yet, altogether obfolete. The
|)rice about i8d. a featn, or 6d. a hundred weight.

9& MANAGEMENT OF WOODLANDS.

management is fo exadtly limilar to that of
Coppice wood, that it does not require a
feparate detail. The brufli wood is cleared
away, in early fpring, and the Oak peeled
Handing, in the barking feafon.

IV. The MARKET FOR BARK,

after the tanneries of the country are fup-
piied, is Ireland ; to which it has, for fome
years laft pad at leaf!:, been iliipped in
great quantities. This appears to be a prin-
cipal caufe of the exorbitant price, which
this ufeful article of manufacture has rifea
to of late years ; and which bids fair to
reduce to a ilate little fhort of annihilation,
the Oak timber of this illand, fit for Ship
building.

Remark.

The process of tanning is pecu-
liarly entitled, at this time, to the attention
of the Chemist. The bark of the Oak,
it is' probable, acts principally as an aflrin-
o-ent, on the texture of the hide; and
might, perhaps, be equalled, or excelled,

bv

WEST DEVO'NSHIRE. 97

by other aflringents, natural or prepared,
if duly fought for, and attentively applied.
To export Oak Bark, under the prefent
circumftances, 'muft furely be a political
error.

VOL.L H DIVISION

^S FARM S.

DIVISION THE THIRDS

AGRICULTURE.

THIS moi^ ext£*iifive hrixnchi of Rural
Economy requires to be examined,
in detail; agreeably to the plan which I
have hitherto found it requiiite to purfue,
inregiileringthe pracftices of other Dill:ri(fl:s>
and conformably to the analytic
TABLE OF CONTENTS, prefixed to this
Volume.

I,

F A R M S.

Jt. THE NATURAL CHARACTERS

of Farms appear, in a great meafure, in

what has been faid of the Natural Cha-

• ra(5tcrs

W E S T D E V O N S H I R E. 99

raders of the Diftri^ft ; and only require
to be adduced, here, in order to bring
them into one point of view, with the ad-
ventitious properties of Farms, at prefent
obfervable, in this extreme part of the
Kland.

The CLiMATURE is very uncertain, in
an agricultural point of view. In a dry
fummer, the harveft is early, on account of
the foutherly fituation of the Diftridl,
Eut, in a moift feafon^ it is fometimes very
backward ; owing to inceflant drizzling
rains, added to the coolnefs of the fea air.
See Climature, page 1 1.

The ftirfaces of Farms, notwithftanding
the uneven furface of the country at large,
are lefs fteep and difficult to work, than
the Farms of many other hilly Diftritfts ;
owing to the circumftance of the ileepef
fides of vallies being chiefly appropriated
to wood.

The QUALITY OF THE SOIL has been
defcribed, as being of a llatcy nature ;
moftly abounding with fragments of flate
rock and other flones ; and generally mixed
with a portion of loam.

H 2 The

t<>6 FARMS.

The QUANTITY or depth of foil is
greater than the par of upland foils ; vary-
ing, from five or fix, to ten or twelve
inchesv -

---Th'C SUBSOIL is a rubhle, or broken
flatey rock ; abforbing water to a certain
and great degree ; but an excefs of wet
weather fometimes caufes a temporary
furcharo-e ; durin? v/h'ich, the foil, in fomc
particular fpots, becomes wet and poachy.
It -may be faid, however, in general, the
'.M "-aiid fubfoil are abforbent, clean, and
found.

:t- -Ii: The m'STORY of Farm Lands, in
this Difcrid-;- has been hinted at, as having,
pafiled from the forefl or unoccupied fi:ate,
to' a ftate of common pafture, through the
medittm of at leaft a partial cultivation ;
and, from the ftate of common pifiiurage,
to the predial ftate, in which it now ap-
pears. But thefe fuggeltioiis arife, prin-
cipally, from the prefelit appearances of
the furface, and from^ the other circum--
"flantial evidences, mentioned above. Thefe
circumftances, collated '^kith. the different

furveys

V WEST DEVONSHIRE. loi

furveys that have been made, at diftant
periods of time, might bring this matter to
a greater degree of certainty, than either
of them, taken feparately.

IIL The PRESENT APPLICATION
of Farm Lands. Viewing the Diftrid; at
large. Farms in general are in a flate of
MIXED CULTIVATION; comprizing ^r^/^/^
la7idy temporary leys, %vater mcadoivs, and
orchard grounds : grassland being the
more prominent chara<^eriftic, as will more
fully appear in fpeaking of their manage-
ment.

IV. The SIZES OF FARMS are, as
they ought to be, extremely various.
Bartons (a name which perhaps was
originally given to demefne lands, or manor
farms, but which now feems to be applied
to any large farm, in contradiftindion to
the more common defcription of farms)
are generally of a full fize -, as from tv/o
or three to four or five hundred acres of
culturablc lands. Ordinary tarms run from
ten to a hundred pounds a year.

H 3 General.

IC2 FAR M S.

General Observations.

THE humiliating fituation in which this
country is placed, at prefent (i795)>
through a mifguided attachment to
SPECULATIVE COMMERCE, and thro
a negledt, not lefs to be lamented, of the
PERMANENT INTERESTS of the
country,— has given us an opportunity of
feeing the utility v^'hich arifes from a
GRADATION OF FARMS j and from having
farmers of different degrees and conditions,
to furnifh the markets with a regular fiap-
ply of grain.

Were the whole of the cultivated lands
of the Wand in the hands of fmall needy
farmers, unable to keep back the produce
from the autumn and winter markets, it is
highly probable that the country, during
the paft fummer, would have experienced
a fcarcity, nearly equal to a famine ; and
would, every year, be at the mercy of
dealers or middlemen, during the fpring
,^nd fummer months.

On

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 103

On the contrary, were the whole in the
hands of men of large capitals, a greater
fcarcky might be experienced, in autumn
and the early part of winter, than there is
under the prefent diftribution of farm
lands.

I do not mean to convey, that the pre-
fent diftribution of farm lands is perfect,
or precifely what it ought to be, in a poli-
tical point of view. Neverthelefs, it might
be highly improper, in Government, to
interfere in the difpofal of private property.
It is therefore to the conflderation of pro-
prietors of eftates I beg leave to offer the
following principle of management, in the
tenanting of their refpedlive eflates :
namely, that of not entrufling their lands,
whether they lie in large or in fmall farms,
in the hands of men who have not capital
iTcJlland induftry, taken jointly^ to cultivate
^hem, with profit, to themfelves and the
f ommunity ; nor of fuffering any man, let
his capital l^e what it may, to hold more
land, than he can pcrfonally fuperintend ;
fo as to pay the requifite regard to the
ininutirp of cultivation.

H 4 V, Thq

104 .FARMS.

V. The PLANS OF FAP.MS have
been fpoken of as being generally judicious,
in refped; of having the farm-flead, or
buildings, placed within the area of the
lands. The fields too have been . men-
tioned, as being well fized ; but fometimes,
perhaps, too large, or out of proportion,
on the fmailer farms ; owing to the ex-
peniivenefs and clcfenefs of the fences in *
ufe : and^ owing, perhaps, to the fame
circumflance, private larjes, or driftv/ays,
are in fome cafes v/anted. On the v/hole,
hov/ever, the Diflrid: is above par, with
refped: to the plans of its farms.

General Observation. From this
Analyfis of Farms, it is plain, that W^fl:
Devonfliire has many advantages, natural
and fortuitous, as an Agricultural
District.

' ^ 2..

FARMERS.

The SCALE of OCCUPIERS, in this
Weilern Diftrid, is fingularly exteniive ;

reaching

WEST DEVONSHIRE. SQS

reaching from the largeft proprietor, down
to the farm fervant, or paridi prentice ;
who having, by his temperance and fruga-
lity, faved up a few pounds, and, by his
indaftry and honefty, eftabUflied a fair
charadier, is entrufted with one of the
fmall holdings that are fcattercd in every
parifh ; and who, perhaps, by perfevering
in the fame line of condud, afcends, ftep
after fcep, to a farm of a higher order.

The QITALIFICATIONS of PROFES-
SIONAL OCCUPIERS, including fmall pro-
prietors, lifeleaTeholders, and tenants, will
not be found, on a general view, at prefent,
equivalent to the natural and adventitious
advantages of the Difcria, nor fuch as are
likely to give effeO: to thofe advantages ;
fo as to raife the Rural Management of this
extremity of the Ifland, to a par with that
of lefs favored parts of it.

The PROPERTY of occupiers of this
clafs is abforbed in life leafeholds. If a
man can purchafe a farm he will not rent
one ; and, in purchafing, he incapacitates
himfelffi-om occupying his purchafe, pro-
■ pcrly«

Io6 FARMERS.

pcrly. There are, no doubt, many excep-s
tions to this general pofition.

Their education is another bar to
improvement. Many of them, as has been
intimated, have rifen from fervants of the
lovvefl clafs ; and having never had an
opportunity of looking beyond the limits of
tlie immediate neifrhbourhood of their

o

birth and fervitude, follow implicitly the
paths of their makers.

Their knowledge is of.courfe con-
fined ; and

9

The SPIRIT of IMPROVEMENT deeply
buried under an acpcumulation of cufromand
prejudice.

There are, however, fome few indivi-
duals, in the DiHiricfr, who are ^ruggling to
break through the thick cruft of prepofr
ftflion, under Vvdiich the country feems to
have been long bound down. But they
have not vet obtained, fufficiently, the
confidence of the lower clafs of occupiers.
Their exertions, however, may convince
the latter that the eflablifhed prad:ice of
the DilLri'ft m.iy be deviated from, withoiit
•0ang.:;r-

3. WORK-

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 107

3

WORKPEOPLE.

NO inconliderable fhare of farm labor
is done by farmers themfelves, their wives,
their fons, and their daughters. On the
larger farms, however, workpeople of dif^
ferent defcriptiqns are employed, They '
^re either

J. Laborers,
IL Servants, or
JIL Apprentices.

L The LABORERS of the Diilritt
are below par : many oi them drunken,
idle fellows ; and not a few of them may be
faid to be honeftly dilhonefl ; declaring, ,
without ixferve, that a poor man cannot
bring up a family on fix ihillings a week
and honefly. In addition, however, to.
thefe low wages, it is pretty common for
farmers to let their conllant laborers have
corn, at a fixed price ; and endeavour to

give

|.o8 WORKPEOx^LE.

give them piece-work, — to be paid for, by
rneafurement, or in grofs.

Neverthelefs, the wages of the Diflrid:,
feeing the great rife in the price of hving,
appears to me to be too low -, arid what the
farmers fave in the expence of labor, they
probably lofe-Uy pillage, and in the poor's
rate. All ranks of people, FARM LA-
BORERS ONLY EXCEPTED, have
had an increafe cf income, with the in-
creafe of the prices of the neceffaries of
life ; or, which is the fame thing, with the
decreafe in the value or price of money.
This may, in a great meafure, account for
the increafe of the poor's rates, in country
Dariilies, without brins;ino; in the deeene-

J. ,0 O CD

racy and profligacy of the prefent race of
working people, compared with the paft ;
though fome part of it, I believe, may be
fairly laid to the charge of that degeneracy,
which, if the tailc were not invidious,
WQuld not be difficult to account for.

IL SERVANTS. The moil rem.ark-
able circumllance, in the economy of farm
fervants, in this part of the Ifland, is that

of

XVEST DEVONSIliRE. 109

of there being no fixed time or place
OF HIRING them : a circumftance which,
I believe, prevails throughout the Wefl of '
England. They are hired either for' the
year, the half year, or by the week ,• the
lafba veryunufual method of retaining houfe
or indoor farm fervants. When a fervant
is out of place, he makes enquiries among
his acquaintances, and goes round to the
farm houfes, to offer himfelf.

In the Rural Economy of the Mid-
land Counties, I made fome obfer-
vations on this^fubje(fl (fee note, page 19,
Vol. II.) before I had any knov/ledge' of
the practice of this Diftrid. ¥/hat I have'
iince feen of it inclines me to decide in its
favor. It is certainly more convenient to
the farmer : and it is Icfs degrading to the
fervants, than the pradice of expofmg
themfelves, for hire, in a public market ;
"though it may not, perhaps, be fo fpeedy
^nd certain a way of getting into place.

The w A G E s o F s E R v A N T s, as thofe of la-
borers, are low, compared with thofe of moft
other Diftrifts. The yearly v/ages of men

run

lio WORKPEOPLE.

run from fix to eight pounds ; of womtri
three pounds or three guineas.

The MODE OF TREATMENT OF FARM

SERVANTS, here^ may be faid to be a
judicious mean between the extravagance
of the Southern counties, and the oppolite
extreme of the Northern provinces.

III. APPRENTICES. It is a uni-
verfal and common pradtice, throughout
Devonfliire, and, I believe, the Weil: of
England in general, to put out the children
of paupers, boys more particularly, at the
age of feven or eight years, to farmers and
others ; and to bind them, as apprentices,
until they be twentyone years of age ; and
formerly until they were twentyfour !
on condition of the mailer's finding them
with every neceilary, during the term of the
apprenticefhip.

This is an eafy and ready way of dif-
pofing of the children of paupers, and is
fortunate for the children thus difpofed of;
as enuring them to labor and induftry, and
providing them with better fuftenance,

than

WEST DEVONSHIRE. iii

than they could exped: to receive from
their parents. To the farmers, too, fuch
children, under proper tuition, might, one
would think, be made highly valuable in
their concerns, and, in the end, would
become very profitable.

The contrary, however. Is generally the
cafe : an unfortunate and indeed lamentable
circumflance, which arlfes, in a great mea-
fure, I apprehend, from improper treat-
ment. Inflead of treating them ag their
adopted children, or as relations, or as a fu-
perior order of fervants, whofe love and
eileem they are delirous of gaining, for
their mutual happinefs, during the long
term of their intimate connexion, as well
as to fecure their fervlces at a time when
they become the mofl valuable, they are
treated, at leaft in the early flage of fer-
vitude, as the inferiors of yearly or weekly
fervants, are frequently fubjedted, I fear,
to a ftate of the moil abjedt drudgery :
a feverity which they do not forget, even
fliould it be relaxed, as they grow up.
the ordinary confequence is, no fooner are
they capable of fupporting themfelves,

than

ill WORKPEdPL'E.

than they defert their fervitude, and. fill
the provincial Papers Vvdth adveftifements
for " runaway prentices."

There are, no doubt, circumflances
tinder which it were difficult, or impoffible,
to render this ciafs of fervants, either plea-
furable or profitable to their mailers ; fuch
as the naturally bad difpofition of the fer-
vants themfelves, and the more, reprehen-
fibie cbndudt of their parents, in giving
them bad counfel. Neverthelefsj it flrikes
me forcibly, that ^rjiuch might be done by
a change of principle^ in their treatment.

When the unrortun?,te offspring^ of-un-
fortunate parents lalljnto the hands of men
pf fenfe and d.ifcretion,4hey fieq^uei^ly turri
out v/sll, and becon^f. mofi: valuable mem-
bers of the ccmrnunitv. • ' ^

A m.ore natural ^ feminary .of. wp^kjhg
hu]tt»andmen could not Jpe devifed ; and the
progrefs in life* that,, fome individuals of
this ciaf? have made,, ia A recGmmendation
of the a£a«3tice ; .v/hich,, under tlie proper
treatment of farmery, the;encouraojement of
landlords, and the p,r<)ted:ion" of Magif-
ti"ates, might be profitably extended to

other

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 113

other Diflridls y and become a prolific
fource of the moil valuable order of inha-
bitants a cultivated country can polTefs,

4-

BEASTS OF LABOR.

Introductory Remarks.

THE Diflria under furvey may be faid
to be undergoing a change, with refpe<ft to
this department of its Rural Economy : a
change which has been going on, flowly,
for the laft twenty years j but w^hich has,
as yet, made little progrefs.

Formerly, carriage of every kind was
done entirely on the backs of horses j
except in harveft, .when fledges, drawn by
oxen, were fometimes ufed ; alfo heaps of
manure, in the field, were dragged abroad
in fmall cart fledges, either by oxen or
horfes. Twenty years ago, there was not.
a " pair of wheels" in the country -, at leaft

Vol. I. I not

if4 BEASTS OF LABOR.

hot upon a farm ; and nearly the fame may
be l^id at prefent. Hay, corn, flraw, fuel,
fcones, dung, lime, &c. are, in the ordinary
practice of the Diflrid, ftill carried on
horfeback.

This, to a fhranger, forms a ftriking fea-
ture of management. Before the invention
of wheel carriages, thefe modes of transfer
were of courfe univerfal throughout the
Ifland, and the reafon of its being continued
fo long, in this Diflri<!t, has no doubt been,
in part, the unlevelnefs of its furface. But
there are other Diftrid:s, the cultured parts
of whofe furface s are much fteeper than
thofe of Devonihire (for reafons already
given) ; and the continuance of the prac-
tice, here, has been in a great meafure
owing to a want of judgment in laying out
roads -, or a want of fpirit in executing
them y arifmg from a backwardnefs, in all
matters of nnprovement. There are farms
of fome hundred acres, lying perfectly well
for wheel carriages ; as level as farms in
general throughout the Ifland ; yet have
not a wheel carriage belonging to them.

' . ' I. If

WE;ST DEVONSHIRE. us

^I. It would be unfair, however, not to
obferve, that there are many farms in the
Diftria, on which the ufe of *' PACK
HORSES" ought never to be kid wholly
afide. Andi in many other Diftrid:s, the
fame mode of conveyance might be par-
tially adopted ; for the difpatch made, by
pack horfes^ properly ufed, is fach as no
one, who has not fecn it, would readily
apprehend*. Neverthelefs, the pradicej
compared v/ith that of wheel carriages, ia
iituations "which will admit of them, is
altogether ineligible ; and the prevalence
of it at prefent is a flroiig proof, of the
I 2 back-

* In an inftance noticed, in which a ftout lad with
two pack horfes, and two men with three horles in a wag-
gon, were carrying faggots nearly the fame diilance (the
road of the one fomewhat fteep, ©f the other more level),
the comparative difpatch flood thus : Each pack horfe
carried nine faggots (twelve are a full feam), and made
eight journies a day; thiis transferring twelve dozen.
The waggon carried eight dozen at a load, and rriade fix
journies ; and confequently transferred juft f )ur times the
number. But if the grafs horfes and the boy are calcu-
lated at fixpence each, and the ftable horfes and the men,
at a Ihilling each, the difparity of expf^nce will not be
found very confiderabk.

ii6 BEASTS OF LABOR.

backward ftate in which hufbandry ftill re-
mains, in this remote part of the Illand.

11. OXEN have ever been the plow
TEAM of the Diftrid; : fometimes with
horfes before them ; but more generally
alone : four aged oxen, or fix growing
ifteers, are the ufual " plov/" of the Dif-
tridl.

Oxen are unlverfally worked in yoke ;
yet are remarkably trad:able ; and ftep out
with a pace, which a Kentifh clown would
think a hardiliip to follow, with his high-
fed horfe team.

The ftyle of driving an Ox team,
here, is obfervable ; indeed, cannot pafs
unnoticed by a ilranger. The language,
though in a great degree peculiar to the
country,! does not arreft th^ attention ; but
the tone, or rather tune, in which it is
delivered. It refembles, with great exadi-
nefs, the chantings, or recitative of the
Cathedral fervice. The plow boy chants
the counter tenor, with unabated ardour
through the day -, the plowman throwing
in, at intervals, his hoarfer notes. It is

under-

WEST DEVONSHIRE. - 117

underftood that this chanting march, which
may fometimxes be heard to' a confiderabk
diftance, encourages and animates the
team, as the mufic of a marching army, or
the fong of the rowers. Let this be as it
may, I have never feen fo much cheerful-
nefs attending the operation of plowing,
anywhere, as in Devonfhire.

The native breed of this Diftri6t are
fomewhat too finall, for heavy work. But,
in the North of the county, they are larger,
and fitter for the yoke ; and are, indeed,
on the whole, the beft working cattle I have
anywhere feen. Thefe breeds will be
fpoken of, more fully, under the head
Cattle-

Oxen are here worked to a full age :
fometimes to ten or twelve years old.
^ I met with no sp^vyed heifers in the
Diilricft. The art of fpaying does not
appear to be known in the country.

III. CART HORSES, fmce the intro-

dud:ion of wheel carriages, are beginning

to creep into the Difhrid:. They .are

moflly of the black, heavy-heeled, unpro-

I 3 Citable

ii8 BEASTS OF LABOR.

fitable breed. However, in the ileep pulls
of this country, a true-drawn, fleady kind
is required ; but the hardy adlive breed of
Suffolk appears, to me, to be better calcu-
lated for the foil and iurface of this country,
than the iluggifli fen fort, which is inlinu-
ating itfelf into it.

But, in a country where draught oxen
are of fo excellent a quality, and where the
drivers of ox teams are lo expert, and at
prefent fo partial to them, it were pity
almoll to introduce any other animal of
draught ; unlefs under particular circumftan-
ces *. It would be as dired: an affront to
a fleady good fervant, in this Diflrid:, to
"ordain" him to go with a team of horfes,

as

* I have feen a pair of young fteers, rifing three years
old, put before, as leaders, the fecond or third day after
they had been broken into yoke ; and, in a few days more,
made perfeclly tradtable, in this intelleflual capacity.

The goad is the inftrument ufed in driving, when
oxen are ufed alone. Byt if horfes are ufed before them,
a ftrongkind of whip — a thong tied to the end of a pliant
goad is the ordinary inftrument — the identical ^^ gad'*
which is ufed in Yorkfhire, when oxen and horfes are
lA'orked together, in a fimilar manner.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 119

as it would be to a Kentiih plowman, to
order him to take the charge of a team of
oxen ; and it might be a crime to do away
fo valuable a prejudice.

The HOURS OF WORK, are well regulated.
The plowteams make two journies a day,
as in Norfolk : they go out before eight in
the morning, and return at twelve. Go
out, again, before two, and return before
fix : working about eight hours a day»

IxMPLEMENTS.

IN a Diftrid: whofe Rural Management
k far behind that of many other parts of
the Illand, and whofe prefent fyftem of
pradice is probably of very antient ori-
gin, we muft expert to find a peculiarity,
rather than an excellency, in its Implements
of Hufbandry.

I. The WAGGONS which have been

introduced, are of the Weft-country con^

I 4 ilruCtion j

I20 IMPLEMENTS.

ftruftion ; with the outer rail bending
over the hind wheel ; in the fame manner
as that of the Cotfwold waggon "* : a pecu-
liarity of conilrudtion, which, I find,
reaches from Glocefterfliire to the lands-
end ; and which, in much probability, has
been originally copied from a two-wheel
carriage, that is flill in ufe in Cornwall,
and which may, poflibly; have been here-
tofore common to the more Weftern
counties.

II. The CORNISH WAIN is among
thefimplefl; of wheel carriages. It is adapted
either to oxen or horfes. It is a cart
without a body ; at leaft without Jides ;
faving only two ftrong bows, which bend
over the wheels, to prevent the load from
prefling upon them. This Implement will

- be mentioned again in the Minutes.

III. The DRAY, or SLEDGE, of
this Diftrid:, is like wife found in the lowei]:
rank of fimplicity. Merely two fide pieces,

joined

* See Glo. Econ. Vol. I. Page 57.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. m

joined together with crofs bars. It is
large, Urong, and ufeful,on manyoc'cafions,

IV. The **GURRY-BUTT,"or DUNG

SLEDGE, of Devonfhire, is a fort of Aiding
cart, or barrow j ufually of a fjze proper
to be drawn by one horfe : fometimes it is
made larger j I have feen four oxen draw-
ing compoft upon a faHow, in one of thefe
little Implements ; which might, any-
where, hi: made ufeful, on many occafions ;
/sfoecially in moving earth, ftones, rubbilli,
or manure, a fmall diftance. The fides
and ends are about eighteen inchtts high,
and are fixed J the load being difcharged
by overturning the carriage.

V. The FURNITURE OF PACK
HORSES varies with the load to be car-
ried. Hay, corn, ftraw, faggots, and other
comparatively light articles of burden, are
loaded between '• crooks;" formed of
Willow poles, about the thicknefs of fithe
handles; and feven or eight feet lotig;
bent as Ox bows ; but v/ith one end much
bnger than the other. Thefe are joined

in

122 IMPLEMENTS.

in pairs, with flight crofs bars, eighteen
inches to two feet long ; and each horfe
is furnifhed with two pair of thefe crooks;
ilung together, fo as that the fhorter and
ftronger ends fhall lie eafy and firmly
againil the pack faddle ; the longer and
lighter ends rifing, perhaps, fifteen or
more inches, above the horfe's back, ancl
ilanding four or five feet from each other.
Within, and between, thefe crooks, the
load is piled, and bound faft together, with
that fimplicity and 4ifpatch, which long
practice feldcm fails of ilriking out.

Cordwood, large il:ones, and other heavy
articles are carried between ^* short
CROOKS '," made of four natural bends or
knees ; both ends being nearly of the fame
length ; and, in ufe, the points ftand
nearly level with the ridge of the pack
faddle.

Dung, fand, materials of buildings, roads,
6:c. Sec. are carried in " potts ;" or
flTong coarfe panniers ; flung together, like
the crooks ,' and as panniers are ufually
ilun": ; the dung, efpecially if long and
Ijo-bt, being ridged up, over the faddle.

The

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 123

The bottom of each pot is a falling door,
on a ftrong and fimple conflrudion. The
'place of delivery being reached, the trap
is unlatched, and the load releafed.

Lime is univerfally carried in narrow
BAGS 3 two or three of them being thrown
acrofs a

Packsaddle^ which is of wood, and
of the ordinary conftrudion.

VI.ThePLOW,— provincially"sEWL,"
pronounced " zewl,"— refembles, in ge-
neral appearance, the old-fafnioned Plows
of other Diftrids ; but has three notable
peculiarities of conftrudion. It has no
rice or wrefl ; the mold board flanding
fome inches above the level of the chip,
head, foal, or keel of the Plow. This, in
turning whole ground, is fometimes an
advantage ; but, in a loofe fallow, fuch a
tool rathet makes a rut than a furrow;
half the foil, perhaps, remaining unflirred.
Another variation in the conilrudion of
the Devonfliire Plow is flill more fmgular.
The iheath, breaft, or flem is not fixed in
the beam ; but ferves as a regulator to the

depth

124 IMPLEMENTS.

depth of the furrow ; and is made longer
pr fhorter, at the will of the Plowman i
who faflens it^ in the required pofition,
with a wedge, driven into a notch, made
acrofs the end of the tenon, above the
beam.

The third peculiarity of conftrucllion lies
in uniting the principal handle to the foal,
chip, or keel. In moil old Plows, this
handle is tenoned into the foal. But, here,
the foot of the handle, is crooked ; Hiooting
horizontally forward, in a line parallel with
the foal ; to v/hich it is ilrongly faftened,
by two thick wooden pins driven through
them.

In cafes, where the old fafliioned foal is
ufed, this is an admirable way of joining
the handle to it 3 giving great ftrength
and firmnefs of conftrucftion. There is
fome difficulty in finding pieces of wood,
fit for this fort of handle; but,i||^ convert-
ing top wood, the eye of a good Plow-
wrig;ht is ever on the watch for them.
For further remarks on this Implement,
fee the Minutes.

VII. The

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 125

VII. The rough HARROWS of this
Country— provincially " Drags" —con- '
fift of two parts ; each of three beams 5
hung together with hooks and eyes -, and
drawn by the corner of the foremoft.
They hang remarkably fteady behind the
team.

VIII. The ROLLER of this Diftrid!
has not yet been furniflied with fhafts, or
a pole, to check it in going down-hill -,
notwithftanding the unlevelnefs of furface !

IX. The "DRUDGE"isanImplemcnt
peculiar, I believe, to this part of the
Ifland. It is a long,4ieavy, wooden-toothed
rake ; with the teeth broad, and fet with
the flat fide foremoft ; drawn by oxen or
horfes, and ufed to colie^ft the fragments
of fward, loofened by the plow and har-
row ; for the purpofe of burning it, in the
manner which will be hereafter defcribed,
ujider the article So DBURN'iNG .

X. The YOKE of Devonfliire is of too
valuable a conflrudtion to be pafied v/ith-

out

126 I M P L E M E N T'S.

out notice. It is by far the befl I have
anywhere feen. It is at once hght, and
eafy, to the animal. The operative part
of the w^ooDWORK', that which refls upon
the withers of the Ox, is broad and gently
convex on the under fide, to lit eafy ; and
hollowed out, above, to give it lightnefs.
To prevent this thin part from being fplit
by the adion of the bows in work, rivets
are or ought to be run through it, horizon-^
tally, clofe to the outer fides of the bow
holes. The fpecies of wood is chiefly
Alder, fometimes Elm,

Another moft admirable part, in the
conilruftion of this Yoke, belongs to the
DRAUGHT IRON ; whidijinfleadof having,
as is ufual, a fmgle ftaple or eye, to receive
the ring ; the crovv^n of the flaple is en-
larged, and is divided into thdee compart-
ments or notches, like tbofe of the draught
iron of a plow ; in order to give the weaker
Ox the requifite advantage. An admirable
thought ; and equally good in theory and
in practice .

The BOWS are invariably, I believe, of
Elm ; being brought from the Txcter

quarter

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 127

quarter of the County, into this Diftriift :
felHng, here, at about 1 8d. a pair : while
the neighbourhood abounds in Af:) and
Sallow, with which the farmers might
make their own bows, or have them made,
at much lefs expence.

XL Some of the TOOLS of this Coun-
try are not lefs peculiar, than are many of
its Implements. The shovel is pointed,
in the manner of the hay fpade of the North
of England ; refembling the marks on the
fuit of fpades, in playing cards : a circum-
ftantial evidence, this, that the tool under
notice was once the common fpade or fhovel
of the Ifland at large *. In this part of it,
it ftill fupplies the place of both fpade and
fhovel : there being no fuch tool as either
a fpade or a, fhovel, of the ordinary con-
ftrudion, in the hands of farmers or their
laborers. I have traced this tool as far
eaftward as Wiltfliire. In Dorfetiliire, it
is common.

It is furniflied with a long, flrong,

crooked

* Or arc both Cards and pointed Shovels of French
origin t

i2^ I M P L E M E N T S.

crooked Handle, the back of the bend being
turned upward; and, in ufingit, the hollow
of the bend is reitedupon the thigh, which
is uluaily guarded with a iliield of flrong
leather, bound upon it.

This tool has many good properties. It
enters any fubilance much ealier than a
broad-mouthed fhovel or fpade ; and an-
fwers, in the hands of a Weilcountry man,
every purpofe of the fhovel, the fpade, the
yard fcraper, and the dung fork of other
Dillridls. As a fubftitute for the laft,
however, it is lefs eligible, than it is for
the three firfl:. -

There are various other peculiarities, in
the fliape and dimenlions of Tools y but
none of them are fuiiiciently excellent, or
ilriking, to be noticed here. Some of them
may, neverthelefs, be mentioned, in treat-
ing of the operations to which they be-
long. Thofe which are here brought
forward are fuiiicient to fhev/, demo:n-
flrably, that the Rural Management of this
quarter of the liland has either had a fepa-
rate origijif or has not partakcTn of the un-
provements and changes which that of the

reft

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 119

i-efl of the kingdom has undergone. Im-
plements and utenfils of hufbandry, as of
war, are among the beft evidences of
Hiltory.

6.

The weather.

THE CLIMATURE, or general ilate
of the weather, in this extreme part of the
Ifland, has been already fpoken of. And
with refped: to PROGNOSTICS, or a fore^
knowledge of the weather, at any time
or feafon, I have gained no information,
here. The barometer appears to be
little attended to ; and, indeed, all thoughts
about the weather, even of the morrow or
the pafling day, are conlidered as ufelefs ;
until the mifty fummit of fome oracular
miountain announces approaching rain.

It may be true, that, in this peninfular
fituation, the weather is lefs certain, than
in the more central parts of the Illand -,
yet, from the obfervations I had an oppor-
tunity of making, I found the BAROMETER,

• Vol. I. K and

130 MANAGEMENT OF FARMl

and the -SETTING sun to be of the iam©'
or a fimilar ufe, here, in forming a judge-*
ment of the weather, as I have ever found
them, in other places ; though, in this
country, which may be faid to be fituated
within the region of rain, the changes from
fair to foul weather are, no doubt, more
fudden, than they are, in more eafterly and
central iituations. Neverthelefs, I am
clearly of opinion, that a due attention to
the barometer and the fetting fun, in the
fummer months, would amply repay the
occupiers of lands, for the time and at-
tention they might have occafion to beflow
upon them.

7-

PLAN

O F

THE MANAGEMENT

O F

FARMS.

Prefatory Remarks.
AN account of the rise and progress
of Agriculture, in the feveral Diflridls

of

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 131

of the Illand, would form an interefling
part of its history*

That the Rural Managements, no\V
found in different Provinces, have had
difl:in(fl origins, or have been raifed to the
ftates in which we now feverally find them,
by very different circumffances, is moil
evident. But whether the obvious dif-
tincftions, which now appear, have arifen,
from the circumftance of the firil fettlers
of the Illand having migrated from different
countries ; or from that of fubfequent con-
querors having introduced their refpedtive
fyflems ; or that of improvements having
taken different routes, in different Diftridts,
— is by no means a queffion that can be
promptly anfwered.

By comparing minute details of the
praiftices of difterent Provinces, with the
minutis of pradiice, obfervable in the fe*
veral Countries of the Continent, fome-
thing might be determined refpedirig this
fubjedl.

That the outlines of Management, in

different parts, have arifen, in fome mea-

K z fure,

132 MANAGEMENT OF FARMS*

fure, out of the nature of foils, and the
ftate of occupancy in which they have
happened to be placed, is probable, from
the ftriking fad, that the general Plan of
Management, now pradtifed in the Diftricft
under view, is, in outline, the fame as that
of the Midland Diftrid;, fituated at two
hundred miles diHance, and fevered from
it .by Diflridls purfuing contrary practices:
Both of them have been fome length of
timfe in a ftate of inclofure ; both of them
are produdiive either of corn or grafs ; and
both of them have fallen into that routine
of Management, which, viewed in the
outline, will not, perhaps, admit of much
improvement : namely, that of fubjediing
the lands in general to an alternacy of corn
and grafs -, but preferving the bottoms of
valiies and dips, in a flate of perennial grafs
or meadow land. And, what is remark-
able, thefe lands, in both DifJ:ri(5ts, have
been watered, time out of mind : but with
tjiis. ftill more remarkable difference, the
one was wholly overflowed, and kept co-
vered with- flag nant water, the other irri-
gated

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 133'

gated with running water,— agreeably to
the practice of the South of Europe.

From this and other circumftances,
which will appear in the courfe of this
Survey, it is probable, that the Rural Ma-
nagement of the Weft of England is of
French origin.

To affift us in gaining a general idea of
the Plan of Management of this Diftrid;
it will be proper to* view

I. The prefentpbjedis of its Huf-

bandry.

II. The Courfe of Pradice, whereby

thefe Obje(fls are attained.

I. The prefent OBJECTS of Hufhandry
in Weft Devonfhire ; thofe from which
the Farmer expeds to draw rent, laborj
and perfonal income ; — are

Corn, and, of late years,

Potatoes,

Fruit Liquor,

Dairy Produce,

Cows,

Oxen, ,

Sheep,

Swinet

K 3 The

134 MANAGEMENT OF FARMS*

The CROPS, at prefent in cultivation^ '
are principally.

Wheat, and

Barley; withfome

Oats ; a very few

Peas ', fome

Turneps ; many

Potatoes ; with at prefent much

Clover and Ray Grafs; together with

Meadow Grafs,

Pafture Land Produce, and

Eruit,

The LIVESTOCK of the Dillrid: arc

Working Horfes ; — a fev7

, Rearing Horfes,

Working Oxen,

Dairy Cows,

Jlearing Cattle,

Grazing Cattle> '

Swine,

Breeding Ewes,

Store Sheep,

Fatting Sheep,

Rabbits,

Poultry,

11, COURSE

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 135

II. COURSE OF PRACTICE. Left
it fliould be faid that the Pradice of a
Country, (o far behind the reit of the King-
dom, in Rural Improvements, as that which
is now under view, cannot be a fit fubjcdt
of minute defcription, it may here be pro-
per to remark, that the Subjed of Agri-
culture, viewed to its outmoft limits, is not
only extenfive, but abftrufe ; and that no
ESTABLISHED PRACTICE can be fo
inconfiderable as not to furnilh ufeful ideas,
if fairly difcufied. Befide, we have feen
that the outline of its Plan of Management
is in fome meafure right, and, by due in-
vefbigation, we may be able to dete(5t mi-
nutial pradices, which will throw frelh
light on the general fubje<fl.

It has been mentioned, as .the PracSlice
of this Diftrid:, to keep the cultured lands,
alternately, in leygrafles and arable crops.
The latter have long been fixed and in-
variable ; but the number of years allowed
for the duration of the former aepends on
circumftances, and the judgement of indi-
viduals. Speaking generally of the Difl;ri<^,
more than half of its cultured lands are in
K 4 tern-

X36 MANAGEMENT OF FARMS.

temporary ley.: belides the perennial leys
or meadow lands ; and befide the rough
pafture grounds that are not under regular
cultivation.

Dividing the arable lands into ten parts,
five of thefe parts may, in giving a general
idea of their arrangement, be faid to be in
ley or pafture grounds, one under prepa-
ration for wheat, one in wheat, one in
barley, one in oats, and one in ray grafs
and clover; following each other in the
SUCCESSION, in which they are here fet
down : namely,

Pafture,

Partial Fallow, or Beat-burning,

Wheat,

Barley,

Oats,

Herbage,

This has been the ordinary Courfe of

Management, during the laft fifty or fixty

years; during which length of time, I

underftand, herbage has been, more or lefs.,

cultivated: a circumftance which does

credit to the Rur^l Management of the

Country,

" Abou^

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 137

About twenty years ago, the cultivation
of the POTATOE was introduced into this
Diflridl; and turn EPS have been more
or lefs cultivated, for a much longer time ;
but not in a manner which redounds any
honor on their cultivators.

Thefe two crops, being grown on ley
grounds, have broken in upon the prior
fyftem of Management : fo that, at this
juncture, the Diftrid: may be faid to be
without any regular Courfe of Manage-
ment ; and it mull remain in this predi-
cament, until turneps and potatoes fhall be
introduced after wheat or oats, as a fallow
crop for barley and ley herbage.

8,

' MANAGEMENT

O F

THE SOIL.

IN this department of the arable Ma-
j)agem^nt, the Hulbandry of Weft Devon-

ilwe

J3S SOIL AND MANAGEMENT,

fhire is very defe<ftive. The lands, in
general, are foul and out of tilth.
The leys are many of them covered with
fern and thiilles, a few years after they are
laid down to grafs, as if they had been, for
ages, in a ftate of commonage ; and, when
broken up, are equally difgraced by myriads
of feed weeds.

This fqul ftate of the Soil is not more
owing to the fmall number of p lowing s
it receives, than to the defect, which has
been mentioned, in the conilrudlion of the
PLOW, and the injudicious manner of ufmg,
it. The plit, or plowflice, is carried too
wide ; the .fhare is narrow, and th? flern
of the plow without a wrefl to force open
the furrow. Hence, in plowing broken
ground, half the weeds are left uncut, and
the lower part of the foil left alm.oft wholly
iinftirred -, the moldboafd only fliding off
the upper part j thus covering up the un-
cut weeds, and giving the land the appearance
of laaving been plowed. The confequence
is, the weeds foon break through their thin
covering, and take again full poflefllon of
|he furface. I have feen turneps, after a

fallow

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 139

fallow of three or four plowings, overihaded
with fern a foot high, before the turnep
plants were fit for the hoe.

Another caufe of imperfect tillage, in
this Diftric!^, is the unreclaimed ftate
in which much of its arable lands remain,
with refoed: to larp-e flones, and rocky
obflrudions of the plow; and which want
nothing but fpirit and induftry to remove
them ', fo as to give an even and fufficient
depth of furrow.

The Devonfhir^ Plowmen, however,
have hit upon a much eafier way of faving^'
their plows from deilrudiion and them-,
feives from injury, than that of clearing the
foil from ftones. Inflead of ufing an iron
bolt, to fallen the draught chain to the end
of the beam, a wooden pin is fubflituted.
When the fliare llrikes againft a ftone, the
pin breaks ; and by this fimple contrivance
the neck of the plow and the teeth of the
Plowman are freed from danger.

It is probable that, formerly, much has
been done towards clearing the

GROUND FROM OBSTRUCTIONS OF THE

y^ow; as a very ingepious method of

freeing

J40 SOIC AND MANAGEMENT.

freeing the foil from large hard detached
ftones has been introduced into pracftice :
namely, that oi finking them below the foil;
fo as to give free range for the plow, above
them. This is done by digging pits be-
neath them: an operation, however, which
is fomewhat dangerous, and requires a
degree of care and circumfpediion.

Cleansing soil from seed weeds.
I muil not omit to mention, here, an in-
cident of pra<fl;ice, which was related to
me, in this Diflrid, by a friend of the
farmer in whofe pracflice it occurred. A
field, particularly fuhjeB to %vild oatSy was
eile6tually freed from them, by dunging it
^ell, while under fdlow, and by working
it afterwards, fo as to mix the foil and dung
intimately together. The confequence of
this was a full crop of oats j which was
mown for hay ; and the foil ever after freed
from thefe troublefome weeds.

This incident, though not, perhaps, ac-
curately ftated (it is net probable that, with
the imperfect tillage of this country, every
individual feed . fhould be brought at once
iiito vegetation) fh^ws the utility of

WORKING

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 141,

Working a dunged fallow, before
the crop be fown : a practice I have ever
found highly eligible.

SoDBURNiNG. The iTioft noticeable
particular of Management, in the Soil
Procefs of this D ifl:ri(ft, is that of " B u R n i s o
Beat," as it is provincially termed ; an*
fwering to the paring and burning, or more
technically, fodburning —of other Diftri6ls.

This operation in Agriculture has been
pradifed, in this Weftern part of the Ifland,
from time beyond which memory nor
tradition reaches. It has probably been
imported from the oppoiite fliore of the
Continent.

In an old tracfl which I faw, fome years
ago, in the Britifh Mufeum, this operation
is termed devonshiring, and it is to
this day called Denshiring, in diiferent
Diftrifts.

There are, at prefent, three diftin(fl
methods of feparating the fward or fod,
provincially the ** fpine" — from the foil.
The one is performed with a " beating
axe" — namely a large adze — fome five or

fix

i42 SOIL AND MANAGEMENT.

fix irrches wide, and ten Of twelve inches
iQng ; CiOoked, and fome what hollow or
diihing. With this, which was probably
the original inflrument employed in the
operation, large chips, fliavings, or fods
are flruck off. It is ftill ufed in rough
uneven grounds, efpecially where furze or
the Itubs of brulhwood abound. In ufing
it, the workman appears^ to the eye of a
ftranger at {oniQ diilance, to be beating the
furface, as with a beetle, rather than to be
chipping off the fv/ard with an edge-tooL
This operation is termed " hand

BEATING."

The next Iniirument in ufe is the
** SPADE," refembling the paring fpade,
or bread plow, of other Diilri(fls : with,
however, in fOme inilances at leaft, a
notable addition : namely a mold board !
fixed in fuch a manner, as to turn the fod
or turf, as a plow turns the furrow llice :
thus becoming literally a breast plow «
a name which has probably been given ta
the Implement in this flate ; and- continued
to be applied to the fpade or fliare, after
the moldboard w^s laid afide.

W E S T D E V O N S H I R E. 143

■ In working with this tool, the laborer
proceeds without Hopping to divide- the
fods into fhort lengths ; this part being
done by women and children ; who follow,
to break the turf into lengths, and fet the
pieces on edge to dry.

The PRICE for " spading" is about
three halfpence, a fquare percji, of 1 8 feet,
orlixteenorfeventeenfliillingsaftatuteacre.

Formerly, it is probable, tliis inflrument
was much in ufe ; but, at prefent, it appears
to be chiefly in the hands of fmall farmers.

The inftrument at prefent ufed, for fepa-
rating the fpine or graffy turf from the foil,
by farmers in general, is the common
TEAM PLOW, with fome little alteration in
the fize and form of the fhare ; according
to the fancy or judgement of the farmer or
his plowman ; there being two different
ways of performing the operation. The
one is termed " Veiling,** the other
** Skirting," or " Skirwinking.**

For YELLING, the fliare is made wide,
with the angle or outer point of the wing or
fin turned upward, to feparate the turf
entirely from the foil*

For

144 SOIL AND MAN^AGEIMENT.

For SKIRTING, the common fhare is
ufed ; but made, perhaps, fomewhat wider
than when it is ufed in the ordinary ope-
ration of plowing.

in this mode of ufing the plow, little
more than half the fward is pared off;
turning the part raifed, upon a line of un-
moved turf; as in the operation of ribbings
rice -balking, raftering, or half plowing*
The paring of turf in this cafe is from one
to two inches thick, on the coulter mar-
gin, decreafing in thicknefs to a thin fea-
ther edgCy by which it adheres to the un-
moved Ryard.

Having lain fomjs time in this flate, to
rot or grow tender, it is pulled to pieces
with rough harrQivs, drawn acrofs the linesl
of turf; and, having lain in this rough
ftate, until it be fufficiently dry, it is bruifed
with a rolkr, and immediately harrowed,
with lighter harrows ; walking the horfcs
one wav, and trottinij; them the other : ta
iliake the earth out more. effed:ually from
among the roots of the grafs ; going over
the ground again, and perhaps again, ac-
cording to tke feafon, and the judgement of

' the

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 145

the manager ; until moft of the earth be
difengaged.

The "beat/' or fragments of . turf,
being fufficiently dry, it is gathered into
heaps of five or fix bufliels each ; either
v/ith the " DRUDGE," mentioned under
the Section Implements, firft into rows,
and then, drawing it along the rows, into
heaps ; or is pulled together with long-
toothed HAND RAKES, adapted to the pur-
pofe. The former is more expeditious,
and requires fewer hands ; the latter ga-
thers the beat cleaner, — freer from earth ;
which is liable to be drawn together by
the drudge. ^

The** BEAT BURROWS," or heaps,being
rounded, and fhook up light and hollow,
a wifp of rough fi:raw, — a large handful, —
is thruft, double, into the windward fide of
each heap : and, a number of heaps being
thus prim.ed, a match or flambeau is
formed, with ** reed" or ftraight unthrafhed
ftraw ; one end of which being lighted, it
is applied, in fuccefiion, to the loofe ragged
ends of the wifps offlraw; which readily
communicate the fire to the heaps.

Vol. I. L The

146 SOIL AND MANAGEMENT.

The center of the heaps being confumecf,
the outfkirts are thrown Hghtly^ into the
dimples or hollows, and the heaps rounded
up, as at firfl: ; contmuing to right up the
burrows until the whole of the beat be
confLinied, or changed, by the ad:ion of the .
fire.

The produce of the firft fkirting being
burnty and fpread over the furface, the
operation is fometimes repeated ; by run-
ning the plow acrofs the lines of the firj(l
fkirting : thus paring oif the principal part
of the fpine ; again dragging, rolling, har-
rowing, eolleOing, and burning, as in the
former operation.

General Remarks on Sodburning.

HAVING formerly fpoken, at fome
length, on the fubjsed: now under notice,
the lefs is requilite to be faid in this place*.
Neverthelefs, the pra^J^ice of this country
(to which I was a ftranger when I wrote
the remarks above referred to), tending to
confirm the ideas which are there offered ;

and

« See York EcoN. Vol. I. page 311.

WEST DEVONSHIRE, 147

and this Diflrid being, in all probability,
the fountain and fource of the practice, in
thefe kingdoms, it would be improper to
difmifs a topic, which is of confiderable
importance to the rural concerns of the
111 and, without taking a retrofpedlive view
of the pradice, in this quarter of it.

There needs not a better proof, that the
pradice, under the guidance of difcretion,
is not deJiruBive to foils, nor any way
dangerous' to Agriculture, than the fadl, (o
fully afcertained here, that after a conil-ant
ufe of it, during, perhaps, a long fuccelliori
of ages, the foil ftill continues to be pro-
ducSlive ; and, under management in other
refpe<9"s much below par, continues to yield
a rent equivalent to that drawn from lands
of equal quality, in more enlightened Dif-
trids : and there appears to me ftrong
reafon to imagine, that, under the prefent
courfe of management, fodburning is elTen-
tial to fuccefs. Indeed, inftances are men-
tioned, and pretty well authenticated, in .
which men who ftood high in their pro-
feffion, and of fufficient capitals, having
been injured or brought to poverty, through
L 2 their

148 SOIL AND MANAGEMENT.

their being reflrided from this pradice^
which may be faii to form a principal
wheel in the prefent machine or (yftem of
the Devoniliire hufbandry. For it is ob-
fervable, that the Wheat crops of this
Diftrict, after the burning, Hming, and one
plowing, which will be mentioned in de-
fcribing the culture of that crop, notwith-
ftanding the accumulated foulnefs of the
foil, already defcribed, are, in general,
beautifully clean : and this, though the
fucceeding crop of Barley may be foul in
the extreme : a circumstance, perhaps,
w^hich would be difficult to account for, in
any other way, than in the check which the
weeds receive, from the burning. The,
imperfed: tillage, of one plowing and a
chopping, cannot be allowed to have any
fliare, in producing this hufbandlike effed:.
Let it not, however, be underflood, that
any fad:s, which are here brought forward,
are intended to fliew the iiecejfity of fod-
burning, in this or any other Diilriit. To
three fourths of the Illand, the practice may
be faid to be unknown ^ yet in many parts
of this unburnt fufface of country, if not

through-

WESTDEVONSHIRE. 149

throughout the whole of it, the prefent
^atc of hufbandry is preferable to that of
]3evonfhire; and, whenever clean fal-
lows, and faitable fallow crops, fliall
be introduced, here, and judiciouily mixed
with the grain crops, agreeably to the
pradiice of modern hufbandry, burning
beat will certainly be no longer required.

In fadt, the upland foils of this country
are not adapted to the practice. The foil
under ordinarily good management, is, in
its nature, productive of clean fweet her-
bage ; and, under a proper courfe of huf-
bandry, never would become coarfe and
rough ikinned, fo as to require this ope-
ration ; which is, as has heretofore been
remarked, peculiarly adapted to old coarfe
tough fward, whether of dry land or wet,
light land or fliff j and, in much probabi-
lity, to cold retentive foils, as often as a
fuitable rotation of crops will permit *,

That burning the graffy fward of land
ad:s as a stimulus to the foil is every-
where obfervable : in this Diftrid, I faw a
L 3 ftriking

* See York. EcoN. Voll. Page 313.

fSO SOIL AND MANAGEMENT.

flriklng inflance of it. A meagre thin-
foiled fwell, never worth half a crown an
acre, has, by burning and liming, been
ftimulated to throw out, part after part,
ample crops of wheat : which, however,
were found to exhaufl the foil, fo com-^
pleatly, that no after crops of grain were
attempted ; but the land was fuffered to
lay down again to reft, and yet remains in
a ftate of fall lefs value, perhaps, than it
was in, before it was broken up for wheat.
This, however, is not an evidence againfl
the operation of fodburning ; but the
reverfe, The value of the wheat, thus
produced, was probably equal to that of the
fee fimple of the land it grew on; which,
if a grateful return, of part of this value
received, had been made, would probably
A^ have been put into a much better ftate
than it was in, before it underwent this pro-?
Citable operation.

Does not lime, when ufed alone, adl as a
ftimulus ? Does not tillage a<ft as a ftimu-
lus ? Yet will any one affert that calcareous
parths and tillage are unfriendly tp agri«
culture ?

Ffon^

WEST DEVONSHIRE, 151

From what I have feen, in this country,
of the effeds of fodburning, I am more and
anore convinced, that, in many cafes, and
under difcrete management, it forms a
valuable part of Britifh huibandry ; and
may become an inftrimient of real im-
provement, in places where it is not, at
prefent, known; efpecially in bringing
the WASTE LANDS of the Ifland into a
proper courfe of cultivation *.

Political Agriculture appears to
me to be highly interefted, in the conti-
nuance of this practice ; which men, who
farm in clofets, feem defirous to extin-
■ ^uifli. But Jet them theorize with cau-
tion ; and go forth into the field of prac-
tice, before they venture to draw infe-
rences, which may prove fubverlive of the
public good they doubtlefs intend to pro-
mote.

Men of landed property, however,

ought to regard this pra(!^ice, with a

watchful eye. Through its means, a

tenant has it in his power to enrich him-

h 4 felf,

* For remarks on the means of cultivating
WASTE LANDS, fee YoRK, EcoN. Vol. I. P. 316-

152 SOIL AND MANAGEMENT.

felf, at the expence of his landlord. And
although, while he is doing this, he may
be enriching the Public ; yet proprietors,
confidered as fuch, have an undoubted
right to guard their property. But let
them not, by an ill judged and narrow-
minded policy, injure, at once, the Pub-^
lie, their tenants, and themfelves. It
may be prudent to reftridt tenants, in cer-
tain cafes, from the ufe of this practice ;
but to debar them from it, in ail cafes,.
would be equally impolitic, as to refl:ri(5t
them from the ufe of calcareous earths ;
or, as IS too often the cafe, to debar them
from the ufe of the plow, where the
application of it would be beneficial to
themfelves, to their tenants, and to the
community. Thir, is, in truth, laying up
their talents in napkins.

In every case, in which a land-*
lord gives up special advantages
to a tenant, he ought to be paid
down a reasonable consideration
for such advantages ', or the te-»
nant should bind himself to pay,
during a suitable term, an equj^
valent rent.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 153

MANURES

A N D

THEIR MANAGEMENT.

THE manures, at prefent in ufe, are
Dung,

Sea fand, and
Lime,

I. DUNG. This is either yard
DUNG, or Plymouth dung ; the latter
arifmg from the fcrapings of the ftreets,
with dung and offal of every kind, which
populous towns afford, and which, when
applied to lands that have not been accuf-
tomed to additions of that nature, never
fail of producing the moff favorable effed;.

In regard to the raising of dung, in
this Dillrid, I have met with nothing

com-

«^4 MANURE AND MANAGEMENT.

commendable. Farm yards are without
form, and unguarded from extraneous
water : nor are they fupphed with mold or
other abforbent fubilances, to imbibe and
retain the fuperSuous juices of the dung.

11. SEA SAND. This has been a ma-
nure ,of the Diflrid;, beyond memory, or
tradition.

There are two species ilill in ufe.
The one bearing the ordinary appearances
of fea fand, as found ^t the mouths of
pvers J namely a compound of the com-
mon fand and mud. The other appears,
to tlte eye, clean fragments of broken
fhells, without mixture -, refembling, in
colour and particles, clean-drelTed bran of
wheat.

By analyfis, one hundred grains of the
former contain about thirty grains of
common filiceous fea fand, with a few
grains of fine filt or mud ; the refl is cal-
careous earth, mixed with the ^nimal
matter of marine fhells.

One hundred grains of the latter con-
tain eightyiive grains of the matter of

{hells.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. tsS

(hells, and fifteen grains of an earthy
fubftance, which refembles, in colour and
particles, minute fragments of burnt clay,
or common red brick.

Thefe fands are raifed in different parts
of. Plymouth Sound, or in the harbour j
and are carried up the elluaries, in barges ;
and from thefe, on horfeback, perhaps five
or fix miles, into the country ; of courfe at
a very great expence : yet without difcri^
mination, by men in general, as to their
fpecific qualities. The fhelly kind, no
doubt, brought them into repute, and in-
duced landlords to bind their tenants to the
life of them ; but without fpecifying the
fort ; and the bargemen, of courle, bring
fuch as they can raife, and convey, at the
lead labor and expence *.

But the ufe of fea fand has been for fome

time

* It is probable that the fpecimen firft mentioned, is
^bove par, as to quality. I have fecn fand of a much
{leaner appearance, travelling towards the fields of this
quarter of the country : and, near Biddeford, in North
JDevonfhire, I coile6led a Ipecimen, under the operation
of " melling" with mold, which contains eighty grains
percent of clean filiceous fand !

S56 MANURE AND MANAGEMENT.

time on the decline in this quarter of the
county, and is now in a great meafure
fuperfeded, by

III. LIME. This fpecies of manure,
I underftand, has been more or kfs ufed,
here, for about fixty years : a proof that,
heretofore, the Weft of England ftood
forward in Rural Improvements.

The only species in ufe is burnt from a
variegated stone, or marble, raifed near
Plymouth; and carried up the different
eftuaries ; along the banks, and at the
heads of which there are kilns ; in which
' great quantities are burnt, ' by men who
make a bufmefs of burning it.

The LIME KILNS of Devonfliire are
large, and of an expenfivc conftrudlion ;
fome of them coiling not lefs than thirty
or forty pounds each. But their duration
is in proportion : one which has been
built thirty years is ftill firm and found on
the outfide. The walls are of extraordi-
nary thicknefs ; wide enough, on the top,
for horfes to pafs round the kiln, and de-
liver the flones.

The

WEST DEVONSHIRE. rj;

The body or infide of the DevonflHrc
kiln is not well formed. The fides are
too flraight : the cavity is not fufficiently
eggfliaped, — is too conical, — too narrow
in the middle, — the contents, of courfe,
hang, — do not fettle down freely and even-
ly,— as they do in a well fliaped kiln. The
rim is guarded with a curb of large
moorftones.

The flones are brought up from the
water fide, on horfeback, or upon affes ;
and, being diftributed round the top of the
kiln, are there broken, and thrown into the
kiln with fliovels ; without the extra
trouble of carrying them in baikets : a
faving, probably, which counterbalances
the apparently extra expence of carrying
up the unbroken flones, on horfeback,
inftead of in carts : fo that we have, here,
as in many other inftances, in Rural Ma-
nagement, two roads, of fimilar lengtli and
expediency, leading to the fame end.

The Fuel chiefly, or wholly, J^Fe/Jh culm.

Lime is separated into two forts,
at the kiln. Thofe who carry it to a great

dif-.

J58 MANURE AND MANAG£MENTo

diftance, on horfeback, take onlv the clean
knobs, or " stone limej" the allies and
rubbifh being fold, at a lov^°r price, to thofe
who have lands at a fhorter diftance from
the kilns, under the name of ** lime
ASHES." This is a ver) accurate prac-
tice, when lime is carried to a great dif-
tance.

Upon the whole, the mahufa(ftunng of
lime may be faid to* be well condu(Cted,
in this country; and the preparation
of it, for manure, is entitled, at leaft on
the fcore of induftry, to frill higher praife,
and to a minute defcription.

Previous to fetching the lime, " earth
ridges" are formed in the field; either
with mold hacked from the borders of it,
or with the foil of the area, raifed with
the plow. The earth thus raifed is bro-
ken into fmall fragments, and formed into
long narrow beds. Upon thefe earth
ridges the ftone lime is laid ; and covered
up with the outfkirts of the beds.

When the lime has burft the covering,
and is found to be futHciently fallen, the

rid^^es

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 159

ridges are " melled ;'* the earth and lime
are intimately mixed together ; in a very-
ingenious and effe(Ctual manner. The
workman begins at one end of the ridge ;
and, with a hack or fmgle-ended mat-
tock, hacks down the heap ; mixing the
whole intimately, by beating it with the
Jide of the hack j railing it up again with
the point, and again hitting it iideway,
with a flight and dexterity to be acquired
only by pradlice. When the two ingre-
dients are fufficiently blended, the compofl
is thrown back, with a fhovel, and formed
into a roof-like heap ; ftill continuing ta
burfl: any lumps the hack had miffed, with
the back of the fhovel, and to mingle the
parts as evenly as poflible.

In thefe ridges the compoil: remains,
until the time of fpreading.

Lime compofl is spread from the
lodges, or angular heaps above defcribed,
by means of gurry huts, or of wheelbarrows.
When the latter are ufed, it is proper to
harrow and roll the furface, before the
operation commences.

General

i6o MANURE AND MANAGEMENT.

General Remarks on the Appli-
cation OF Lime as a Manure.

THE right application of lime to the
foil, has long appeared to me a fubjedt
which deferves the ftridleft inveftigation.
In Norfolk, marl being the prevailing
calcareous manure, J paid the lefs attention
to lime. In Yorkshire, lime has long
been depended upon, as a principal
agent, in the produftion of arable crops.
In that Diflrift, therefore, I paid much
attention to the fubje<Cl *. In Gloces-
Tershire, it can fcarcely be faid to enter
into the lift of manures. But, in the
Midland Counties, it has, for fome
time paft, been in full eflimation ; and
fome confiderable attention rs paid to its
application j efpecially in watering and
turning over the load heaps, before they
are fpread out upon the foil -f-.

In the application of lime to foil, as a
manure, the perfedioh of management

appeals

* See York. Econ. Yoll. P. 349.
■f See Mid. Econ. Vol. I. P. 201.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. i6i

appears to be, from what is at prefent pub-
licly known on the fubjed, the incorpo-
ration of the two fubftances, into one
homogeneous mafs ; or, at leaft, to mix
the Lime, in a ftate of powder, with fome
portion of foil, in order to feparate its
particles, and prevent their adhering in
lumpsj and returning, in this form, to a
ftate of chalk or marl : for although Lime
reduced to that ftate may not be loft to the
foil, as a manure, it probably does not ad:
as Lmie, but as Marl \ and, of courfe, a
given quantity of Lime, lajd on in whole
ftones or large fragments, will not produce
the fame effed, in a given time, as it would
have done, had it been more evenly dif-
tributed,-^-more mechanically affimilated
with the foil*

There are two widely differing methods
of effedinsr this mechanical union. The
one is to reduce the foil to a fine tilth j to
fpread the Lime evenly over it, in a ftate
of powder ; and to mix. them together,

WITH THE ROLLER AND HARROW, UUtil

the whitenefs of the Lime difappears :
fuffering them to remain in this ftate, if
Vol. L M the

i62 MANURE AND MANAGEMENT.

the feafcn will admit of it, until a fall of
rain has fl:ill more intimately united the
two fubflances.

The other method is to mix the Lime,
BY HAND, with a certain portion of foil
coUeded for that p"urpofe ; agreeably to the
practice of the Diftrict under review.

In a favorable climate ; in the fummer
feafon ; and where a fafficient quantity of
Lime can be readily colledied ; there can
be no doubt as to the fuperiority of the
firil method : it is more expeditious, much
lefs expenlive, and infinitely m.ore com-
pleat.

But, in a lefs certain climate and feafon j
and where the bulinefs of fetching Lime
goes on flowly, — continuing, perhaps^
through the fummer months, the Devon-
fhire praftice, unlefs the Lime were lodged
under cover, until the land were ready tO'
receive it, is certainly the mofl: eligible.
The great objeftion to it. is the labor and
expence which it incurs. The " hacking
of vorrage" — the forming of " earth
ridges," the *' melling," and ** fetting
about lime and earth" m.av be faid to

employ

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 163

employ a fet of laborers the fummer
through.

Experiencing the tedioufnefs and incon-
veniency of t,hefe operations, and feeing
the wetnefs and uncertainty of the climate,
with refpedito " burning Beat," it ftruck
me that much time would be faved, and
a degree of certainty gained, by uniting
the two operations of preparing Lime and
burning Beat : namely, by burning the
Beat with the Lime ; and by mixing the
Lime with the allies and foil of the Beat :
thus favinpr, on either hand, much labor ;
fettins: the feafon, as it were, at defiance
(for the wetter the Beat the quicker
would be the operation of the Lime) -,
and, at the fame time, deftroying the roots
and feeds of weeds, with the eggs of
infeds and animalcula of various kinds,
and this perhaps with lefs injury to the
vegetable matter of the Beat, than by the
ordinary procefs of combuflion. Strongly
impreffed with thefe ideas, I fet about
carrying them into execution. The refult
will appear, in the Minutes.

M 2 SEMINATION.

164 SEMINATION.

10.

SEMINATION.

I GATHERED no general information,
refpedling this department of the arable
Management, in the Diftricfl under view.
Every thing is fown broadcaft. A modern
drill made its appearance fome years ago ;
but it has been laid alide.

The method of feminating the Wheat
crop, here, is lingular. It will appear in
its place ; under the head Wheat.

II.

THE MANAGEMENT

O F

GROWING CROPS.

THE Management of Crops during
their Growth, is confined to hand-
weeding, which is performed with or-
dinary

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 165

dlnary care. The hoing of Field Crops has
not yet been introduced : not even for
TuRNEPs ! as will appear under that
head.

The VERMIN of arable crops are
below par, in number and deftruc^ivenefs.

Game is kept within bounds : there
ju'e few Hares, and no Pheafants.

Pigeons are not numerous.

Rooks, in fome places, are evidently
too numerous.

Sparrows are in conliderable number ;
and require to be checked : a bufinefs
which refls with Farmers ; v/ho can have
no color of complaint againft Gentlemen
for encouraging Rooks, while the more
injurious Sparrows- arp fufFered to remain
in force.

WjLD DEER were formerly common,
in the woods of this Diftri^:, and were
found very injurious to the verging crops.
But, through the good offices of the late
Duke of Bedford, the country is now
nearly free from, therru

M 3 HARVESTING.

i66 HARVESTING.

.12.

HARVESTING.

THE Harveft Management, at prefent
eilabiimed in the Diftrict, has evidently
rifen out of the pra(5tice of carrying home
harvefl. produce on horfeback. For al-
tliough this prad;ice , has in fome degree
been laid afide, the operations of Haryeft
(that of carrying excepted) are the fame
as they were, before the introdud;ion of
wheel carriages.

Every article of corn produce is bound- j
even the rakings of barley and oats that
have been mown ! But this, in the
horfeback hufbandry, was perfe6tly right.
Sheaves, or bundles of any fort, are not
only much f tter for loading between
crooks, but are handier to be pitcht, or
rather flung, from the ground or floor; to
the top of the rick or m^ow, in the m.anner
that "will be defcribed, than loofe corn.'

I have

W E S T D E V O N S H I R E. 167

I have feen rakings wafted ; becaufe there
was not time to bind them, before the
rain fet in ; though waggons were ftanding
by, to receive them.

Formerly, it ieems, loofe corn, which
had been*cut with the lithe, was "led" in
" ti-ufl'es," — or large bundles, each a horfe-
load, bound together with two ropes, and
laid acrols a " pannel" or pad faddle, and
fteadied or " led" by a woman or youth,
from the field. This v.^as called " trufs
leadino:" or " leadino:''" — a term' which is
common at this time^, in the North of
jEngland, and in Scotland, for carrying,
hauling, or drawing hay, corn, or other
article, on a carriage ; and which, perhaps,
owes its origin to an obfolete and forgotten
prad:ice, of a limilar nature, in thofe Pro-
vinces.

In a general view, the Harveft Manage-
pient pf this piftri(n: is below that of many
others : neverthelefs it differs, in various
refpe(fts, from that of every other part of
the kingdom ; and certainly merits a place
in a regifter of the prefent ftate pf Englifti
Hufbandry.

M 4 - The

i68 HARVESTING.

The particularswhich require to be de^
tailed are thefe:

I. Hewing Wheat, and Raking the
Stubbles.

,TT. Setting up Slipcks.'

III. Making Arri(h Mows.

IV. Turning Corn in Swath.

V. Binding Oats and Barley out of
Swath.

VI. Carrying Sheaves onHorfeback.
VII. Pitching them to the Mow or
Stack.

VIII. Form of Corn Stacks.
IX. Thatching Corn Stacks.

I. HEWING W^HE AT. This is a kind
of mowing with one hand . The " Yowing
Hook" is formed much like the common
(liarp-edged ** hand reaping hook" of this
and other places; but fomewhat larger
every way — longer, broader, and ftouter -,
with a hooked knob at the end of the
handle, to prevent its . flipping out of the
hand.

With this inftrument, the corn Is ftruck
at, horizontally, and almoil clofe to the

ground,

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 169

ground, with the one hand; while the
other hand and arm Jirike it, at the fame
inflant, about the middle of the ftraw 5
thus driving it, upright, againll the {land-
ing corn : the workman taking a fweep, ,
round as much as will form a fheaf, and
colleding the whole together, in the cen-
ter, into a fort of leaning cone ; fmally
flriking the hook under its bafe, to difen-
I gage it entirely from the foil ; but fliil
fupporting it, with the left or loofe arm
and the leg, until the hook be put beneath
it, to lift it, horizontally, to the band.

In variation of this method, I have feen
the hewer force his way up one fide of a
narrow ridge, againft the wind, and back
on the other fide j thus collecting half a
flieaf ; and then fetching another half flieaf
in the fame manner.

This practice is not peculiar to the Weil
of England : it has long been in ufe, in
the Southern Counties of fCent and Surrey :
where, however, it is conlidered as a
llovenly and bad practice. If a crop o£
wheat be free from weeds, and ftand well
upon its legs, this method of cutting is

exceditious

jfo HARVESTING.

expeditious and eligible enough : but, if
the corn be lodged or ravelled, or foul at
the bottom, with green fucculent weeds,
it is altogether improper : indeed, in the
former cafe, it requires expert workmen
to make good work.

A SI THE, in good hands, v/ill m.ake
equal or better yvork, and is flill more
expeditious.

To fecure the fcattered corn;, which
this ioofe method of cutting leaves upon
|:he ground, women or boys colled: and
fet up the {heaves ; , and are followed by
women with rakes, to draw together the"
Ioofe corn : gleaning being feldom
permitted, until the fliocks be out of the
lields*.

II. SHOCKS are here formed of ten
iheaves, fet up in an extraordinary man-
ner. Nine of them are crouded together
|n a fquare, of three fl:ieaves every way,

and

* Another diftin^uilhina; trait of the Devonshire
Husbandry is marked, by the Harvest Holla, —
v.hich is here given when the cutting of wheat is finifhed;
and not, according to the ordinary cuftom of England,
when the laft load of Corn is drawing home.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 171

and the tenth is put over them, as a cloak
or hood ; the whole forming a Ibrt of
cone or pyramid.

This is evidently a bad pradice. The
clofe pofture of the flieaves prevents a
circulation of air among them ^ the center
fheaf being wholly excluded from it.
And, in mod cafes, the covering is very
imperfedt ; one fheaf, unlefs very, large and
the fbraw very long, is not fufficient to
fecure the reft from rain water -, but rather
ferves to conduct it into the centers of the
upright llieaves.

Shocks of ten (heaves, with eiglit fet up
in a double row, and with two inverted as
hoods or thatch, are much more fecure and
eligible. For the method of fetting up
Shocks of this defcription, fee Mid. Econ.
Vol. II. page 160.

III. -ARRISH MOVs^S"— or Field
Stacklets. In a late harveft, and in a moifl
climature, like that of Weil Devoniliire
and Cornwall, efpecially after a wet fum-
mer, which feldom fails of filling the butts
of corn flieavcs with green fucculerit

herbage.

172 HARVESTING.

herbage, — fecuring the ears from injury,
and at the fame time expoiing the butts to
the influence of the atmofphere, is, felf-
evidently, an admirable expedient.

The lize of Arnih Mows varies. Thofe
which I have obfsrved, generally contained
about a v^aggon load of ihsaves. But they
may be made of any iize fiom a fhock of
ten fheaves to a load. /

The method of makins: them is this :
a fort of cone, or rather fquare pyramid,
being formed with fheaves {tt upon their
butts, and leaning towards the center, the
workman gets upon them, on his knees ;
an affiftant putting fheaves, in their pro-
per places, before him 3 while he crawls
round the " mow ,' trcadmg them, in this
manner, with his knees, applied about the
banding place -, and continuing thus to lay
courfe after courfe, until the m.ow be
deemed high enough : obferving to con-
tradt the dimenfions as it rifes in height,
and to fet the fheaves more and more up •
right, until they form, at the top, a fharp
point, fimilar to that of nine fheaves fet up
as a il^iock ; and, like this, it is capped with

an

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 17^

an inverted flieaf, either of corn or of
" reed:" the principle, and the form
when finiflied, being the Tame in both ;
namely, a fquare pyramid: a form which
would feem to have been taken from the
pyramidal fhock *.

Where corn is put up into thefe little
ftacks it is confidered as fafe, and is fufr-
fered to fliand fome weeks in them. I
have {een flieep feeding in the ftubble,
while the corn was ftanding iti thefe piles.

The only difadvantage, perhaps, of this
mode of harvefting, which is applicable
to oats or barley as well as to wheat, is
that of mice being thereby liable to be
conveyed from the field to the barn.

IV. TURNING CORN SWATHS.
This I have feen done by hand. The
Corn, being gathered up carefully in the
hands and arms, the turners face about,
and fplread it evenly upon frefli dry ground.
This is an accurate mode of turning ; and
a good preparation for binding. But the

turning

* Have not thefe pradlices been imported from the
Continent ?

174 HARVESTING.

turning of Corn Swaths is more generally
done with flender poles, cut out of the
hedges, fix or eight feet long, about the
fize of a fiail handle, and fomewhat crooked :
a tool which I have feen ufed in other
Diflrid:s. It is peculiarly well adapted to
the purpofe of lifting over Swaths ^ and
ought to be everywhere in ufe **

V. BINDING CORN SWATHS.
In general, however, the Harvefting of
mown Corn is done in a floveniy manner.
The mowing is roughly performed, and the
binding: executed in a ftill coarfer manner.
Jn harveftino- Oats, which had icood too'
long before they were cut, I have i^tw orie
fourth, if not one third, of the crop left
jfhed upon the ground. In common prac-
tice, a very confiderable iliare of the crop
is harvefted in the form of rakings ^ ib
much being left on the ground, after the

flieaves

* I have elfewhere afligned my rcafon for defcending
to the Mtnuti^e of the Harvell Management. (See
Mid. Econ. V^ol. II. p. 231.) The talk of regiftering
the Manual Operations of Hufbandry is irkfome in the
extreme. And nothing but a full conviiPaon. of its
utility could induce me to perform it.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 175

flieaves are removed, that it requires to be
raked both ways ; namely, to be gone over
twice ; the fecond raking being at right
angles to the firil.

In binding, the Swaths are rolled into
•* fkoves," with ihort rakes ; the band
ftretched over the bundle ; the ends, one
in each hand, forced beneath it ; the bundle
lifted up, turned over, and the twifted ends
of the band tucked in.

If the crop be ihort, " reed" is ufed for
binding it : it was with the utmoft diffi-
culty I got a field of barley, which, through
the thinnefs of the foil and the drynefs of
the fummer, was too fliort for bands, and
which was clean, and in the highefl order
for flacking, — carried to the flack in wag-
gonsy^ without the expence and trouble of
tying it up in bundles.

In a climate fo uncertain as that of Weil:
Devonfliire ; and mofl efpecially in a late
harvefh -, fetting up mown corn in fmglets,
agreeably to the pradlice of the North of
England, would, I am convinced, be the
moft eligible practice. For the method of
fetting up corn in this manner, fee York.
EcoN, Vol. I, page 390,

VI. In

176 HARVESTING.

VI. In-CARPvYING SHEAF CORN
ON HORSEBACK, the Sheaves are packed
ill between the crooks, head to tail, with
the butts outward, and cai^ried up even 5
piling the load confiderably above the
horfe's back; The lower part of the load
is laid in hy hand, the upper part piled up
with a fork ; which being fet firmly under
one of the crofs bars of the crooks, a rope^
previoufly thrown over, is pulled down tight
and faflened j the fork being a ftay or
purchafc to pull againil.

A firing of horfes being thus laden, a
boy travels them foberly to the barn or rick
yard ; where they are unloaded, by pufliing
back the upper part of the load with the
fork, throwing it over the tail of the horfe
to the ground, or upon a cloth laid to re-
ceive it ; the crooks being cleared, by
hand, in a fomewhat immechanical manner.

The whole firing unloaded, the boy
mounts, and, ilanding upright between the
crooks, trots or perhaps gallops his horfes
back to the field ; frequently, to the no
fmalldifmay, or perhaps injury, of peaceful
travellers. Afomev/hat uncivilized pradice.

VII. PITCHING

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 177

VII. PITCHING CORN SHEAVES.

The Sheaves being thus left upon the floor
or ground, without any advantage from a
carriao-e, where the mow or Hack rifes to a
height above the reach of an ordinary fork,
an expedient has been flruck out, and
brought, by practice and the emulation of
young men, to an extraordinary degree of
flight and expertnefs. They are flungy
provincially " pitched" from the point of a
prong, formed very narrow in the tines,
over the head of the pitcher ; a boy placing
the {heaves fairly before him. I have feeii
a man thus pitching sheaves up to the
roof of a flack above the ordinary height,
throwing them feveral feet above the reach
of his fork.

The fpring is got by the arms and the
knee jointly ; or is done at arms length*
When the height is very great, or the
flieaves heavy, two men's exertions, it feems,
are joined : one man placing the tines of his
pick under the " ftem" or handle of the
other ! Much probably depends on the
forming of the tines of the prong : they
contract upwards to an acute angle : the

VoL.L N £heaveG,

17? harvesting:

flieaves, of courfe, part from them with a
degree of fpring, given by the ftraw com-
preiTed between them.

VIII. The FORM OF STACKS.

The llem is.ufually carried up fquare, and
high 3 but the roof very ilat, and hipped,
or doped on every fide : fo that the roof,
which in many DifbricSts contains nearly
one third of the contents of the Hack, does
not here, perhaps, contain a fixth of it.
The difficulty of pitching from the ground,
and the excellency of " reed" as a thatch,
may have affifled in fixing this prevailing
falhion.

IX. The METHOD OF THATCH-
ING STACKS, in Wefl Deyonlhire, is
very judicious and eftedlual. The " reed"
is fpread thinly and evenly over the roof,
and is faftened with " fpars" or hazel rods,
pegged down to the butts of the fheaves,
and covered by the next courfe of reed, in
the manner that reed roofs are laid, in
Norfolk.

But, in Cornwall, I faw the reed faflened

on

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 179

on with firaw ropes, ftretched horizontally,
within a few inches of each other -, as in
the Highlands of Scotland !

General Observations. Upon the
whole, the bufinefs of Hiirveft, except ih
as much as relates to the Field Manao;ement
of mown Corn, and the forming pf Wheat
Shocks, may be faid to be well condudted,
in this Diflridt. It is true, that corn in
general is here allowed lefs field room, or
time between the cutting and the carrying,
than it is in mofl other places ; but, feeing
the uncertainty of the climate, in this
peninfular fituation, the deviation is evi-
dently on the right fide.

THE MANAGEMENT

O F

HARVESTED CROPS.

THE Homeftall Management of this

Country, varies fo little from the ordinary

pradice of the Kingdom at large, as fcarcely

N 2 .to

i8o HARVESTED CROPS,

to require particular notice. There are,
however, two or three pecuharities of
Managenient which require to be regiftered.

I. HOUSING STACKS BY HAND
is not uncommon. Under the horfe-and-
crook fyftem, it is perftCtly cUgible ; and,
where carriages are in ufe, it is compara-
tively more expeditious, than an Eafl-
countryman would readily allow. In an
inflance noticed, five men houfed about
eight loads of wheat, in {even or eight
hours. Two men, upon the flack, bound
the {heaves, in bundles of ten each, with
ropes, and let them down, upon the flioul-
ders of other two men, who carried thf m to
the barn, from thirty to forty yards diflance,
and handed them up to the fifth man, on
the moiv. This piece of a ftack would
have broken deep, into the day's work of a
team ; and, in a bufy time would have coft
twice the money the wages of thefe five
men amounted to ; which, at a fhilling a
day, was not more t)ian three or four fliil-
iings.

11. The

WEST DEVONSHIRE.

isi

11. The method of THRASHING
WHEAT, in this Diilricfl, and throughout
the Wefl of England, is too lingular to be
pafTed without notice. While llraw con-
tinues to be ufed as thatch, the pradice is
highly profitable.

The objed of this method of Thralliing
(which is applicable to rye, as well as to
wheat), is to extract the grain from the
ear, with the leail poffible injury to the
flraw. To this end, the ears are either
thraflied lightly with the flail, or they are
beaten aero fs a cailc, by hand; until the
grain be got pretty well out of them. If
the corn is fmutty, the latter is. the more
eligible method.

The next operation is to fufpend the
fliraw, in large double handfuls, in a ihort
rope, fixed high above the head, with an
iron hook at the loofe end of it -, which is
put twice round the little Hieaflet, jufl
below the ears, and failened with the hook's
laying hold of the tight part of the rope.
The left hand being now firmly placed
upon the hook, and pulling downward, fo
as to twitch the ftraw hard, and prevent
N 3 the

1^2 HARVESTED CROPS.

the ears from flipping through it, the butts
are freed from (hort ilraws and weeds, by
means of a fmall long-toothed rake or comb.
This done, the rope is unhooked and the
** reed" laid evenly in a heap.

A quantity of clean ftraight unbruifed
ftraw, or '* reed," being thus obtained, it is
formed into fmall fheaves, returned to the
floor, and the ears thraflied again, ^vith the
flail, or is again thraflied by hand over the
cafk, to free it eifedtually from any remain-
ing grain, which the former beating might
have milled.

Laflly, the reed is made up into large
bundles — provincially "fheaves" — of 36
pound each j with all the ears at one end 3
the bi^itts being repeatedly punched upon the
floor, firfl in double handfuls, and then in
the flieaf, until they are as even, as if they
had been cut off fmooth and level, with a
fithe, or other long edgetool 5 while the
ftraws lie as flraight, and are almofl as flout,
as thofe of inferior reed, or flems of the
Arundo.

It is not for the purpofe of thatch, only,
that the flraw of wheat is carefully preferved

from

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 1S3

from the aftlon of the flail ; but for the
purpofe of Htter alfo ; it being found to kfl
or wear much longer, in this capacity, than
foftly bruifed ftraw ; which may be faid to
be already on the road of decay, and to have
pafTed the firft ftage toward the dunghill.

Women fometimes aflift their hufbands
in the work of thralliing wheat, in this
manner ; as in beating it over the ca/k, or
in raking out the loofe flraw, as v/ell as in
making up the reed*.

In thra/liing barley and oats, the
opened fheaves are piled on one lide of the
floor, and drawn over, heads -and- tails, to
the other ; the thrafliers of the Weftern, as
well as of the Northern extremity of the
Kingdom^ keeping ftroke , — and, here, this
N 4 animating

* In one ihftance, I faw a frame, for beating the ears
over, inftead of a cafk ; the conftru6tion fomewhat re-
fembling that of a very wide, fhort, crooked ladder, fup-
ported nearly horizontally, v.-ith its convex fide upward j
the crofs bars being fet edgev/ay, and a few inches from
each other \ and with an angular piece of wood running
lengthway through the middle of tlie frame, and rifmg
above the crofs bars, — to feparate, and fpread with greater
eafe, the ears of the corn j and thereby to render the ftrokes
the more effedive.

i84 HARVESTED CROPS.

animating practice is fometimes extended
to four thralhers working in the fame barn ;
performing a peal, which, though mono-
tonous, is not difpleafing to the ear.

Fodder straw is here bound in very-
large, long, two-banded trufles ; no doubt
that it m,ay be the more eafily " led" to the
place where it is wanted. And where
carriages are in ufe, the practice is continued.

III. . The laft particular of Pra6lice,
noticeable under the prefent head, is that of
WINNOWING WITH THE NATU-
RAL WIND. Farmers of every clafs
(fome few excepted) carry their corn into
the field, on horfeback, perhaps a quarter
of a mile, from the barn, to the fumiiut of
fome airy fwell ; where it is winnowed, l^y
women ! the miftrefs of the farm, perhaps,
being expofed, in the fevereft weather, to
the cutting winds of winter, in this flavifh,
and truly barbarous employment. The
obfolete pracftice of the Northern extremity
pfthe Ifland, in which farmers loaded their
wives and daughters with dung, to be
carried to the fields on their backs, was but

a little

W E S T D E V O N S II I R E. iSs

a little more uncivilized. The machine
fan, however, is at length, making its way
into the Weftern extremity.

14,

MARKET S,

Plymouth, and its environs, form the
metropolis of the Diftricft, in which its
various products may be faid to concenter.
The confumption, there, depends much
however upor^ the circumftances of War
and Peace.

Tavistock, neverthelefs, has a good
CORN MARKET : a large flour mill, in this
place, is condui5ted with judgement and
fpirit.

The STOCK FAJRS of the Dlftridl are
chiefly thofe of Taviftock ; where very
great numbers of lean cattle, bred in Corn-
wall and Weft Devonfhire, are bought up,

by

i86 MARKETS.

by Somerfetfliire and other Eaft-countiy
Graziers. There are, however, feveral
V I L L A G E F A I R s, in this, as in other parts of
the 1 11 and.

^5-

WHEAT,

AND ITS

PARTICULAR MANAGEMENT.

IN regiftering the mhiutial Management
of this and the other crops of the Diflricfl, I
fhall follow the fame Plan of Arrangement,
as I have, on every other occafion, found it
right to purfue.

I. The SPECIES of Wheat ufually
cultivated is the common white WJieat.

II. SUCCESSION. It is univerfally
U)\vn on ley ground.

III. SOIL. It is grown on every fort.

IV. The

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 187

IV. The SOIL PROCESS is mollly that
which has been defcribed, under the general
head. Management of the Soil :
namely, that of cutting or tearing off the
fod, and burning it. But this is not inva-
riably the practice : fometimes the Ley is
broken up by a full depth plowing; which,
I think, is called " rotting the fpine." To
this fucceeds a fort of rough baftard fallowj
the roots and rubbifli, which harrow up,
being burnt, if the weather be favorable.

V. MANURE. Formerly, SEA 'sand
and DUNG were in ufe. Now chiefly
luiME, with perhaps a fmall portion of
dung. The method of Liming has
been defcribed. See page 158.

VI. SEED PROCESS. This is one
of the many operations, belonging to the
eflablifhed pradice of the Diflridt under
furvey, which have fo little refemblance to
the eftabliflied practice of the Ifland at
large, that they can fcarcely be confidered
as belonging to Britifli hufbandry.

A mere Provincialifh of thp central, or

the

i88 MANAGEMENT OF WHEAT.

the Northern parts of the Ifland, might
travel through all the countries of Europe,
and not find pradlices lefs foreign to his
own, than thofe of Devonfhire.

The TIME OF SOWING "Wheat is late ^
the feed time continuing, from October to
near Chriflmas. The reafon given for
late fowing is, that " early fown crops are
liable to weeds." This precaution, added
to the burning and the lime (as before
mentioned), account more fully for the
cleannefs of the Wheat crops of this Dif-^
trid:, notwithftand'ing the foulnefs of the
foil with refped to weed feeds. But in a
backward and uncertain climature, late
fowing cannot be altogether right.

The SEED PLOWING, which, in the
ordinary pra(!^ice of the Diflridl, is the only
full-depth plowing given for Wheat, takes
place immediately previouc to the fowing.
The Ibil is, 1 believe, invariably, laid up in
narrow lands ; and, in general, diagonally
acrofs the field ! The ufual width is four
bouts, or eight plits ; one plit, or narrow
balk, being left flanding in each inter-
furrow.

' Pre-

WEST DEVONSHIRE. iSg

Previous to the fowing, the entire fur-
face of the field is hacked over, bV
HAND ! with large heavy hoes or hacks :
each man taking two plits ; which, in the
feed plowing for Wheat, are plowed of a
narrow width, and which, in this operation,
are cut into fquare clods, the fize of fpits
or fpade bits : and, it is very, probable,
the pradice has grown out of the hand cul-
ture, which, in every country, probably,
preceded the ufe of the plow.

The QUANTITY OF SEED frOHl tWO tO

two and a half Winchefter bulliels.

Sown in feparate ridges, and at one caft.

Covered, with light harrows and two
horfes.

Adjusted, in an extraordinary manner.
Until very lately, the interfurrows were
univerfally hacked and lliovelled out,' by
hojzd. The unplowed flips, having been
reduced to fragments witli hacks, were
thrown over the ridges, or into hollows or
vacancies, by the fides of the furrows, and
the furface otherwife adjufled, withfhovels.
Now, it is become the more general prac-
tice, to open the furrows with the plow ; a

double

190 MANAGEMENT OF WHEAT.

double mouldboard plow being ufed by fome
farmers. The rows or ridgets of foil and
clods, forced up by the plow, on either lide
of the furrow, are afterw^ards pulled up-
ward, and the furface in general adjurted,
with " haul-to's" — or three-tined dung
drags ; giving the ridges, with this rude
tool, a degree of finifh.

General jobservations. It need
not be remarked, that the fetting about, and
the fpreading of lime and earth, hacking
over the ridges, and finally adjuiling them,
require a great fupply of hand labour.
Ten acres of Wheat put into the ground,
in the manner of this Diftrid:, take up
more manual labor, than hfty acres fown in
the ordiqary way. Neverthelefs, the labor
is not all loft ; the land, belide receiving
additional tilth in the operation, is more
evenly feeded, and wdth a lefs quantity of
feed, than it would require without it j and,
in a country where labor is plentiful and
cheap, it might be v^rong to withhold any
part of it, fo long as the prefent fyftem of
management fiiall be purfued.

The

W E S T D E V O N S H I R E. lOt

The other operations, refpedting the
culture of Wheat, are fufficiently explained,
under the general heads. '

VII. The PRODUCE OF WHEAT,

by theficitute acre, is eflimated at twenty
Winchefter bufhels.

i6.

B A R X. E Y,

AND ITS

MANAGEMENT.

AFTER what has been faid, in defcrib-
ing the general operations of the
Arable Management, little remains
to be added, here.

I. The SPECIES of Barley grown is
chiefly, or wholly, the common long

eared

192 MANAGExMENT OF BARLEY.

EARED kind; Other forts, it feems, have
been tried 3 but have been given up for
this.

II. The SUCCESSION. ' Barley fuc-
ceeds Wheat, or Turneps, or fome times
Barley itfelf : the lail of the three grain
crops, vi^hich the prefent fyilem of aration
requires, being in this cafe Barley, inilead of
Oats.

III. The SOIL. Barley is grovsm on all
the better lands ; which, indeed, are the
beft adapted to this grain. On the thinner
foils, tov^'ards the Moorlides, Oats are'more
generally cultivated.

IV. TILLAGE for Barley. After
Wheat, two plowings, or rather oneplovv^ng
and a half : after Turneps, one plowing ;
the charlock and other weeds being pre vi-
oufly burnt !

V. MANURE. Seldom any uled, I
believe, for Barlev.

VI. SOW-

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 193

VI. SOWING. Time of sowing—
April. Quantity OF seed — fourbufhels
and upward! Method of sowing-^
broadcaft, above.

VII. WEEDING. Univerfally, I be-
lieve, hand-weeded.

For HARVESTING, THRASHING, &C.

fee the General Heads.

Produce of Barley— from thirty to forty
bufhelsau acre. It is, ofcourfe, a profi-
table crop; and ought frequently to be
grown on lands, which ^re forced to produce
Wheat.

17.
OAT S.

THE SPECIES moftly black; a^ berng
lefs liable to be difcoloured in this moift
dirty climate. Tillage, one plowing.
Time of sowing, February and March.

Vol. I. O Quan-.

194 OATS.

Quantity of seed, five or fix bufhels.
Produce, not regifi:ered.

Indeed, the culture of this crop being in
a confiderable degree confined to the Moor-
fide farms, I paid the lefs attention to its
culture.

T U R N E P S,

NOTWITHSTANDING the unhuf-
bandlike manner, in which Turneps are
flill cultivated, in this Diftridt, it is more
than half a century fince they were intro-
duced into fidd culture : — 1 flrong evi-
dence of the fupinenefs of the Devonlhire
hufbandmen,

I. The SPECIES, various ; but not, ex-
cellent. The proper method of raifing the

feed

WEST DEVONSHIRE., 195

feed does not appear to be underllood, or
is not attended to *.

II. SUCCESSION. Turheps are in-
variably fown on grafs land. There never,
perhaps, had been an acre of turneps grown
in the Diftrii^, after a grain crop, until I
introduced the pradlice. Some account of
the attendant circumflances will appear, in
the Minutes.

III. TILLAGE, &c. for Turheps, is the
fame as for Wheat. Namely, veiling or
fkirting ; burning -, and one plowing.

IV. For MANURE, the Beat ashes
are chiefly depended upon -, and without
them, it has been believed^ no Turneps
could be grown.

V. The SOWING is do^e chiefly, in
July. The quantity of seed, one to
two pints.

O 2 VI. The

* For the Norfolk praftice, in raifing Turnep feedj
fee NoRF. EcoN. Vol I. P. 278.

196 T U R N £ P S*

VI. The HOING of Turneps has not
yet found its way into the ordinary practice
of the Difl:ri(^. In Autumn,- the Turnep
grounds are as yellow, as Muftard Fields
in May ; and, in winter, as white with the
Opened pods of the Charlock, as flubbles
in Autumn : the filvery pods and withered
bra:nches of the weeds, fhading and nearly
hiding the green tops of the Turneps :
not in the immediate Diftrid: of the Nation
only J but in other parts of the County.
This phenomenon flruck me mod forcibly
in travelling between Exeter andPlymouthy
in the latter end of December 1791.

Many individuals, it is true, attempt to
draw the weeds, hy hand ; piling them, in
heaps, upon the ground. But the whole
crop, I apprehend, is rarely if ever got
through, in this way. And what is done^
is probably done at a much greater expencc,-
thaa hoing would have incurred,

VII. The EXPENDITURE of Tur-
neps is. judicious. They are chiefly drawn,
and tlarown upon ley grounds, to cattic^

and

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 197

and fhecp ; or carried to ftalls, for fatting
cattle ; agreeably to the Norfolk pradice !

General Observation on the Tur^
nep culture.

It is not fitting, nor likely, that this part
of the Ifland, alone, Ihould remain much
longer a difgrace to Britifh Agriculture, in
refpecft to the culture of this valuable crop.
And yet, if I may judge from my own ex-»
perience, the hand hoing of Turneps can^
not readily be introduced, For although,
by perfonal attention, I fucceeded equally to
my expectation ; yet, whenever that at-
tention was called off, a relaxation or neg-
,le(!?l: of the operation took place ; fo rooted,
and difficult to eradicate, is the cuftom of
half a century.

If I were to venture to recommend any
pradlice, to the Gentlemen who are now
evincing a defire of roufing their country-
men to a fenfe of their delinquency, it would
be to change, entirely, the prefent mode of
raifing Turneps ; arid to adopt that which
has been lately flruck out, in the South of
O 3 Scot-,

198 1 U R N L P S.

Scotland, and which is now making its
■\^'ay, very rapidly, into the North of Eng-
land : namely, that of fowing them on
narrow ridges, fimilar to thofe in which
potatoes are fometimes raifed, in the Dif-
tri<ft under view : a method that appears
to me fingularly adapted to the fliallower
foils of Devonshire j which, in gener^tl, are
well fuited to the Turnep culture.

19.

- POTATOES.

THE History of the Potatoe crop, as
an objed of field culture, in this Weftern
Diflrift, furniines another inflance of the
refpect which its cultivators have long
borne to eilablifiied cuftoms. It is not
more than twentyfive years, if fo much>
fmce the entire Country, including, I be-
lieve, the markets of Plymouth, was fup~
plied vv'ith Pototoes from the neighbour-
■ ' hood

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 199

hood of Morton Hampftead, at the oppo-
lite end of Dartmore, and at not lefs than
twenty miles diftance from the center of this
Diftrid:, nor lefs than thirty miles from
Plymouth and its dock yard ! The film of
prejudice, however, being at length feen
through. Potatoes were found to grow, and
to produce their kind, at the Weft end, as
well as at the Eaft end, of Dartmore ; and,
now, the Diflridl raifes enough to furnifli
its own confumption, and to fupply the
markets in its neighbourhood j though
the population, probably, has much en-
creafed, during the lapfc of five and twenty
years.

It is reafonable to fuppofe that the people
of Morton, while they monopolized, and
pradlifed as a myftery, the culture of Po-r
tatoes, during a length of time, would not
be inattentive to the minutigs of cultivation;
and it is equally probable, that the know-
ledge they acquired travelled Weilward,
with the operation. Let this be as it may,
the culture of Potatoes is, at prefent, well
underftood, here; and, in one particular,
at leaft, deferves to be copied. ,

O ^ I. The

200 POTATOES.

I. The SPECIES of Potatoes, here as in
moft other places, are various ; not only in
Ihape, colour, and farinaceous quality, but
in the nature of their grov/th ; the different
forts requiring different times of planting :
a circuniilmce which is not, perhaps, fuf-
ficiently attended to, in other Diftridls.

II. SUCCESSION. Potatoes fucceed,
invanablyl believe, Ley herbage;— broken,
fometimes at leaft, by tv^^o or three plow-
in gs J but no BURNING is ufed for this
crop.

III. PLANTING. Time of plant-
ING' — March, AjdHI, May, or even June;
according to the varieties or forts which are
eultivaied : it being found that each has its
fa-f >rit€ feafon of planting : and it is pro-
bable that, were attention paid to the varie^"
ties of every other Diflridt, limilar propen-
iities might be difcovered.

Th« METHOD OF PLANTING VaricS.

Some'imes they are planted in alternate
furrows, and cavered with i>ung. Id^
other inflances, they are planted in flips or

beds ;

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 201

beds ; narrow ridges of mold being left
between them, to earth up the plants, in the
lazy-bed way.

IV. The CLEANING of Potatoes is
well attended to. They are hoed ; and I
have feen thofe planted in alternate furrows,
earthed up, in a hulbandlike manner,

V. VI. Potatoes are TAKEN UP, in
November, and December; and PRE-
SERVED in pits.

VII. The FARM EXPENDITURE of

Potatoes is chiefly, or wholly, on Swine,
And, from the reftridlive claufe in Leafes,
fee page 80, it is probable that even this is a
modern mode of expenditure.

ZQ. CUL^

232 CULTIVATED HERBAGE.

ao.

CULTIVATED HERBAGE.

IT has been already mentioned, that the;
cultivation of herbage is of more than half
a century (landing, in the Diil:ri6t under-
furvey. From this circumftance, and from
the cultivation of Turneps, and the ufe of
Lime as a manure, having been intro-
duced about the fame timxe» it would feem
that, about fixty years ago, a stage of
IMPROVEMENT took placc j fince v^hich
tirne the prad:ice appears to have been
ftationary -, and it is, of courfe, nov/ fully
prepared for another ilep>

The PROPORTIONAL (QUANTITY OF

Lev, in the inclofed country, is full two
thirds of the arable lands, or lands o^xa-
iionally plowed, confidered as diftindl from
meadows, grazing grounds, and rough up-
land

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 203

land paflures. But, on the llvirts of the
moors and commons, which ferve as fum-
mer paftures, the proportion is much lefs,

L The SPECIES of herhage which is
here cultivated are chiefly red Clover
and Raygrass — provincially " Eaver;"
but WHITE Clover, and Trefoil, ar^
occafionally fown.

II. SUCCESSION. In the ordinary
pracClice of the country, cultivated herbage
fucceeds Oats, after Barley, after Wheat !
A pradlice which we have feen, bad as it is,
enforced by reflridlive claufes in a modern
leafe.

III. SOWING. The ufual time is
between the fowing of the corn and its
coming up. The quantity of seed
I2lb. of Clover, and half a bufliel of Ray-
grafs.

IV. APPLICATION. Mownthefirll
year : afterwards paftured.

V. DU-

204 CULTIVATED HERBAGE.

V. DURATION. Six or feven years,
in the incloled country ; lefs, by the fidej>
of the commons.

21,
GRASSLANDS,

AND THEIR

MAN AGE M E N T,

I. SPECIES OF GRASSLANDS.

THE GRASSLANDS of this Diilrid may
be claffed under

I. Meadow landg, or cool and fre-
quently rich bottoms, or dips ; as well as
more upland fites, over which water can
be fpread 5 and which are kept in a ftate pf

MOWING GROUND*.

2. GriA-

* Meadow Plants. I colle<3:ed moft of them;
but not with fufficient accuracy, as to their proportional

iiuautityj to entitle the lift: to publication,

^' ' • The

\V E S T D E V O N S H I R E. 205

2. Grazing grounds, or rich uplands.
Over which water has not been conducted ;
and which are kept in a flate of pastu-
rage.

3. The TEMPORARY Leys, juft men-
tioned; which are ufed as mowing
GROUND, the firfl year ; and afterward, as

PASTURE GROUNDS. And

4. Rough uplands, which fometimes,
though not frequently, occur on private
property, and are kept in a ftate of coarfe!

PASTURAGE.

II. MANAGEMENT OF GRASS-^
LANDS. In the management of pas-^

TURE

The fpecies, found in the meadows of Buckland Place^
are the ordinary fpecies of i«cadow lands, in raoft parts of
the Ifland; with, however, one remarkable difterencef
the meadow Foxtail [Aiopecurus pratenfis) is wanting!

The late accurate Botanifl, and amiable man, Mr. Hud-
son (Author of Flora Anglic a) had fome feeds of thig
Plant colledled, in the neighbouriiood of Loudon (at the
requeft of our mutual friend the late Sir Francis
Drake), and fown over thefe meadows j but without
fuccefs. In the fummer of 1794, 1 examined, with fome
attention, the part over which they were fown ; but could
not difcover that any of them had taken root.

2o6 MANAGEMENT OF GRASSLANDS;

TURE GROUNDS, I met with nothing no-
ticeable ', except the extraordinary foulnefs
of many of the Leys ; which has been al-
ready noticed, under the head— Man AG e^
mentoftheSoil. I ihall therefore eon-
fine my remarks, under this head, to mow-
ing GROUNDS, and more particularly, to

Watered meadows. The origin. c^
the practice of watering Grafslands, arti-
ficially, in this Diftrid:, cannot be reached
by memory ^ nor does tradition^ I believe,
attempt to afcertain it. There is a ftriiiing
inftance of the antiquity of the pradice ob-
fervable, on the iarm of Buckland Priory.
A hedge, in appearance fome centuries oldy
winds by the (16.Q. of a water courfe, evi-
dently formed by art, for the purpofe of
conveying a rill, along the brow of a fwell
of rich Grafsland, whi^h bears no mark of
having ever been ih a flate of aration.
From the vz-nding diredlion,and the regular
defcent, or almofl: levelnefs, of this artificial
rill, there is every reafon to believe, that it
was formed prior to the Hedge -, which
may feem to have fince been run along the
upperiide of it. From the circumftance of

tliis

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 207

this farm havln? been monaftic, one is led
to conclude that the pra(!^ice was introduced
under the aufpices of the Church : or, if
we go flill farther back, we may conjedure
that it was brought over by the firfl: fettlers,
or by future Colonifls, from the South of
Europe ; where it has been, for ages paft,
in ufe.

But this by the way : Hi{lory,ecclefiaflic
or profane, may perhaps furnifh thofe,
who have leifurs to look for them, with
better lights.

The quantity of watered lands, in this
Diflrid:, is, in fome townfliips, conlide-
rable ; while, in others, where the vailies
are narrow, and their fides wooded, little
watered ground is feen. There remains,
however, much to be done in this refpet^t.
Perhaps, not hllf the quantity of the lands,
capable of receiving this admirable improve-
ment, enjoy it at prefent ; and

The managemeijt of thofe which are fub-
jetfted to the practice, whatever it may have
been heretofore, is, at prefent, far from
being accurate. Tlie foil is imperfed:ly
drained, and the water imperfectly fpread

over

ao8 MANAGEMENT OF GRASSLANDS.

Over it. Prefently before my going down
into the Diftrid:, a perfon of the firfl prac-
tice in it had been employed, to condu6t the
water over the meadov^rs of Buckland Place i
which had previoufly lain in a ftate of
neglecCt. Neverthelefs, I found them ftill
in fuch a ftate, as induced me to have the
whole laid out, afrefh, under my own di-*
re(fl:ions.

Yet, the eff'eS^ of the water, notwithfland-
ing the low ebb at which the watering of
lands is found, at thi^ day, is fuch as I have
no where obferved; except in the neigh--
bourhood of chalk hills. It gives a green^
nefs and groffnefs of herbage, nearly equal
to that of the meadows of Wiltfhire and
Hampffiire.

This led me to conceive that the llatey
rock, cut of which the mofl eflicacious of
thefe waters filter, contained fome conli-
derable proportion of calcareous matter.
But, from the experiments already men-
tioned, the proportionate quantity of cal-
careous earth, contained in thefe flate rocks, -
appears to be fmall.

Neverthelefs, it might be dangerous to

con-

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 209

tonclude, from thiSj that the waters under
tonfideration do not contain a fufficient
quantity of the calcareous principle, to
enable them to produce thie eifecft which
we are delirous'to account for. Indeed, it
is not a knowledge of the component parts
of the filtering ftratum, but of thbfe of the
waters themfelveSi which is moft defirable.
Accurate analyses of waters,
whofe efFedts OiVtknoiv?!, as manures, are
very much to be defired. That different
waters are as various, in their effefts 011
vegetation, as diflind: vegetable and animal
fubftances are, muft be evident to every one
who has made extenlive obfervations on .
thefe efFe(-ls. And Chemistry cannot
beflow on Agriculture more valuable
affiftance, than in profeeuting enquiries of
this nature.

The Hay harvest of Weft Devon-
fhire has little to recommend it, as a pattern
to other Diftrids.

The mowing is, in general, ill done.

The lithe is fhort, and laid in, too near the

handle. The unavoidable confequence is^

the work goes on flowly, or a line of uncut

Vol, I. P herbage

210 MANAGEMENT OF GRASSLANDS.

herbage is left between each ftroke. I
have feen worfe mowing, both of grafs and
corn, in this Diflridt, than in any other.
This cenfure, however, does not apply to
the country in general. I have alfo fctn
good work in it.

The Hay -making of the Diftrid ftands
in a fimilar predicament. Some I have
feen vilely managed ; others conduced on
the beft principles of the art : namely^
fpread, turned, cocked in fmall cocks, re-
fpread, turned, recocked, or carried.

But, in thefe operations, a principal tool,,
the PRONG, is ridiculoufly too fmall; fitter
for the hands of a Cook, than a Haymaker r
the tines, even of thofc tifcJ. for leading
carriages, are not longer than thofe of a
Man of War's beef- fork. But they were
fafliioned under the Horfe and Crook huf-
bandrv, and when carriages are ufed, they
fl:ill remain unchanged.

The carrying of Hay in crooks I have
{ttn done in a neat and fecure manner.
The ends or faces of the load are carried up
ftraight, and appear in folds, like thofe
formed at the corners of waggon loads, in

fome

WEST OEVOKSHIRE. in

fome Diflrids. This gives firmnefs to the
load, and prevents its being fcattered by the

way.

The At-TERGRASS of mcafdows Is, here,
judicioully managed : it is fuffered to grov/
to a full bite, but not to be overgrown, be-
fore flock be turned upon it.

I have feen cattle put into a mea(Jow
immediately after the Hay was got out of
it, ** to pick about the hedges :" — an accu-
rate minutia of management. For the
herbage, which is then fucculent and edible
to ftore cattle, would, before the aftefgrafs
were ready to be pailured off, become unpa-
latable, and be altogether neglected by cows
or fatting flock, with frefh fucculent her-
bage before them. It would be evidently
wrong, however, to fuffer fuch cattle to
remain in frefh mown grounds, after they
have performed the principal intention.

See Mid, Econ. Vol. IL P. 130. on
this fubjed*

P 2 22. THE

2ia MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS,

22,

THE MANAGEMENT
OF

ORCHARDS AND FRUIT LIQUOR

I N

tVESf DEFONSHIRE, &c.

■ AFTER the ample detail already given
of the management of Orchards and Fruit
Liquor in Herefordshire, 6cc. * little
may feem to be requifite, on the prefent
occasion. But when, on examination, wc
find the pradices of the two Difl:rid:s, ef-
pecially with refpedl to Orchards, fo widely
different, as to appear pretty evidently to
have had feparate origins, the propriety of
regiftering the management of Devonfliire,
in detail, will be readily admitted.

In

* See Glo, Econ. Vol. II, p. 239,

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 213

In examining the pradlice of this Dif-
tridt, I find it requifite to follow nearly the
fame fteps which I took in going over that
of Herefordfhire ; and to examine
Firft, Orchards.
Second, Fruit Liquor.

1. ORCHARDS. The particulars which
prefent themfelves, on viewing this brancif
of the fubjedl, in the prefent cafe, are

I., The introduction of Orchards into
the Diilrid.

2. The quantity of Orchard grounds

it contains.

3. Species of Orchard fruits,

4. The fituation of Orchards.

5. The foils of Orchards.

6. The method of railing Orchard

trees,

7. Planting Orchard trees.

8 . Aftermanagement of Orchards.
^. The application of the ground of

Orchards.
I. The firfl INTRODUCTION of Or-
chards, into this Diflridl, appears to be
pretty well afcertained. One of tiie Or-
P 3 chards

?H4 MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS.

chards of Buckland Pricry is faid to be the
oldefl in the country, and this is fpoken of
&s being about two hundred years old.

NeverUielefs, this Orchard is flill fully
ftocked, and in full bearing ! A fad: which
the Orchardmen of Herefordfhire will not
readily credit. A fad:, however, which is
peFfed:iy reconcileable, when the prad:ice
^f this Diftri(lt is explained *.

2. The AGGREGATE QUANTITY of

(Orchard ground, in this Diftrid, is confide-
rable. F or though the Orchards in gene-r
ral are imall, compared with thofe of Here-
fordfhire, &:c. -, yet the Farms being alio
fmall, and each having its Orchard, the
number is of courfe great . Neverthelefs,
the proportional quantity of Orchard
grounds to culturable lands, is much lefs,
here, than in the Mayhill Diilrid: -f,

3. The

* This particular, with many others relating to the
prefent fubje£l, I had from Mr. Stapleton of Monk's
Buckland ; who may, I believe, be faid to have a more
accurate knowlcdije of the manasrement of Orchards and
Cider, than any other man in the country.

+ Orchards of Cornwall. The Cider country,
J ajn well informed, does not reach more than half the

lenGrtU

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 215

3. The SPECIES of FRUIT is invariably
the Apple, when Liquor is the objed: *.

For the Fruit markets, Cherriesy Fears^
and Walnuts y are railed in great abundance ;
cfpecially in the townfliip of Beef Ferries ;
which is iliid to fend out of it a thoufand
pounds worth of fruit (including Straw*
berries) annually.

4. The SITUATIONS of Orchards ar^
chiefly in vallies, and dips or hollows, near
houfes; not fpread over the arable land,
and pafture grounds, as in Herefordfhire
and Gloceflerfhire. Neverthelefs, there
are grounds, not only well adapted for
arable crops, but for water meadows, which
are at prefent appropriated to Orchards.
On the Barton of Buckland there are twenty
or thirty acres of land of the lafl dcfcrip-

P 4 tion,

length of the county, Below that, thefea air Is injurious
to Orchards ; the land growuig narrower, and there being
fewer vallies to fhelter them, in the Weftern extremity of
the county, than there are in the Eaftern parts, and in
Pevonlhire.

* The foil, perhaps, is not adapted to the Pe ar'Tree,
which afFe<^s a cool Ihong foil. See G LO. Econ. Vol. IL
p. 263.

2i6 MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS.

tion, encumbered with Orchard trees,
which have never paid for planting and
land room; and which ought forthwith to
be diforcharded : and there are other
Orcharc'; grounds in the fame predicament,
on different parts of this Eftate : not arifmg
fo much, perhaps, from locality, as frora
afpeSi,

Part of the Orchards, here under notice,
lie bleakly exrpofed to the North : part in
the opening of a deep valley, in the current
of the Southweft wind.

Much of the fuccefs of Orchards depends
on lituation. Tiie Orchards vy^hich fucceed
beft, in this Diftrid:, are fituated in dips or
hollows, which are neither expofed to the
bleak blafts from the North Eaif, nor to
thtfeawindsy from the Weil and South-^
wefl. Deep narrow vallies, whofe fides
are precipitous, and neither lit for corn
nor meadow, and which are not liable to
the winds here notiped, as they blow acrofs
them, are fingularly eligible for Orchard
grounds j and there are many fuch, pro-
bably, which have not yet been planted.
While? it is equally probable, much of the.

ground,

WEST DEVONSHIRI^. ai;

ground, at prefent in a 'ftate of Orchard,
might be converted to a better purpofe.

5. Soils. The richeft deepeft foils
appear to have been chofen for Orchard
grounds. It is probable that the fhallower
foils of this Diftridt are unfit for fruit trees ;
but, where fituation will admit, fuch as are
encumbered with large ftones, with good
intervening foil, are fmgularly eligible 5
and, in fome cafes, I have feen them chofen.

6. Plants for Orchards are raised,
either by nurferymen ; or by farmers, for
their own and their neighbours' ufe ; or by
cottagers for fale ; or by landlords to fupply
their tenants.

In the management of nurfery plants, the
moft remarkable circumftance is that of
training them, with ftems, not more than
three or four feet high ! A practice which
is fo different from that of other fruit-
liquor countries ^ indeed, from that of
every part of this Illand, Devonfliire and
Cornwall excepted 5 a flranger is inclined
to condemn it, at firfl fight, as being guided
jjy ignorance or folly of the loweft clafs.

\Vhethcr it has been adopted, originally,

tq

2i8 MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS.

to avoid the ill effed: of the winds, or to
bring the fruitbearing wood near the
ground, and thereby to gain a more genial
atmofphere, for the fruit to mature in ; or
whether it may have arifen out of the
practice of gathering crab ftocks in the
woods, and rough grounds, where they fre-
quently take a low IJirubby form, may now
be difficult to afcertain : at prefent, the
pra(ftice appears to be followed, merely, as
an eftablilhed cuitom.

The difadvantages of low fruit trees will
be mentioned, in fpeakir;gof x\xq Application
of the Land of Orchards.

7. In the PLANTii^G of Fi-uit Trees,
the Orchardmen of Welt Devonlhire exceh
A flronger proof of this need not be pro-
duced, than the circumflance of their
keeping the fame ground in a ftate of
orchard, in perpetuity. As the old trees
go pfF, young ones are planted, in the inter-
fpaces, without any apprehenijons of mif-
carriage,

la Jetting out Orchards, the pra(ftice of
Devonfiiire is not lefs unique, than it is in
training the plants. A ftatute rod, namely

five

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 2i.q

five yards and a half, may be taken as thq
ordinary dijlance between the plants ! Some
I 'have meafured at not more than four jards
apart : fome few at fix yards.

The moft approved mode of planting is to
remove the foil down to the rock, which
feldom lies very deep, and to cover this,
eight or ten inches thick, with a compofl
of frejli earth and fea fand. Upon this
compofl, in ordinary cafes, the inverted turf
is laid J and upon this the young tree is
fet ; and its roots bedded in the beft of the
excavated mold; finally covering them
with the ordinary earth raifed in making
the pit. A method which is altogether
judicious.

The ufual guard zxq faggots of brambles,
brufliwood, or furze ; letting them remain
to rot at the foot of the tree. No flakes, I
believe, are ufed. Indeed, the plants are
generally io low as not to require them :
efpecialiy in filling up old Orchards ; as the
pld trees fhelter the young ones from the
wijid. And the planting of new Orchards
does not appear to be, at prefent, much in

prad:ice.

&2Q MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS.

praiTtice. I have not obferved it, in more
than ©ne or two inflances. ,

8. The AFTERMANAGEMENT of Or-
chards is confined to fup plying the trees
with frelii brambles, furze, and frith — ftrasv
and weeds — to rot on their roots : not over
the pafture of the feeding fibers, but round
the ftem (in fuch a manner however as
iK)t to touch it). Yet it is believed, by
men who pay attention to thefe matters,
that the growth and fruitfulnefs of the trees
are much promoted through thefe means.
Does the dead matter, by deftroying the
living herbage, becorae the means of a fup-
ply of air to the larger roots, and thus affifl
the fap in its afcent ? The popular idea is,
that thefe fubilances " find their way down
to the roots" *,

It will not be improper to relate, that I

-have heard the canker (the great enemy of

modern ^ Orchards) fet at naught 1 Not,

however, by a man on whofe judgement I

have a fufficient reliance, to become a

voucher

* For an inftancc of iNVERTitCG the sward of an
Orchard, by way of meliorating the Trees, fee the

Minutes.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 221

voucher for the truth of his opinions. " A
zeam of zand" applied to the root is an in-
falUble remedy. " Common river fand,
or the fand of Rooborough Down will do."
The canker, he believes, is owing to too
much *' dreffing," or additional fubftances
applied to the roots j or" to too great rich-
nefs of foil, which he thinks the fand
corredls or qualifies.

I regifler thefe ideas the rather, as thev
accord with my own theory of the canker :
and in evidence of the truth of the theory,
and the juftnefs of the practice, the true
Redftreak, or an apple, which, as well as
the tree that bears it, refembles the Here-
fordfliire Redflreak, formerly of fo much
celebrity, is flill cultivated, here, with great
eafe and certainty *. .

The pruning of Fruit Trees, appears to
be little attended to ; after they are planted
in the Orchard.

With relpedt to the cleaning of Fruit
Trees, I have neither feen, nor heard, of
any traces of fuch a pratflice. Durin?^ the
winter months, aWeft Devonfhire Orchard,

by

* But fee forwardo

t2i MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS.

by reafon of the lownefs of the trees, per^
haps, and the humidity of the climate, ap-
pears as if hung with hoarfrcil ; owing to
the wh'te mojs which hangs in ribbons from
its boughs. The MiJIeto is not known to
this Diflricf!:, nor I beh'eve, to any part of
Devonshire or Cornwall.

9. The APPLICATION OF THE LAND

cf Orchards. Here lies the great objecftion
to the Devoniliire Orchard. The ufe of
the land is in a great meafure thrown away*
Horfes are fuffered to run through them, ifl
winter, and calves are kept in them, in
early fpring ; but grown cattle and (lieep
arc, at all times, prohibited from entering :
while fruit is on the trees, the very fwine
are carefully kept out of thein ^ even fmail
pigs ; left they ihould gather the fruit as it
hangs on the boughs ! which, in a bearing
year, bend to the ground, and perhaps reft
upon it ; while weeds, three or four feet
high, flioot up among them, and^ of courfe,
overfhadov/ the fruit.

Previous to the gathering feafon, the
weeds are cut down with the fkhe, and
thrown to the roots of the trees ; that the

fruit

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 223

fruit may be found : an operation, however,
which is too often neglected until the firft
v/indfalls have rotted on the ground ; and a
double deftrudion of hog food has taken
place *.

II. FRUIT LIQUOPv. Where the
confumption of any article lies chiefly within
the Diftrid of Manufad:ure, there is the lefs
ftimulus to excellency of management, than
where a common market creates an emu-
lation among thofe who fupply it. From
the Southern Parts of Devonfhire, more or
lefs Cider is fent to the London market ;
but very little from this Wellern Diftri^t.
Neverthelefs, I have tafted Cider of a fu-

perior

* An idea prevails, here, that apples are not nutritious
to hogs. It is very probable that apples, alone, would not
be (o ; but confidering the nature of the hog, v^ith refpe£t
to the heat and dryncfs of his habit, and the well known
efFed of acidulating his beverage ; and feeing the avidity
with which he devours fruit of every kind ; — it is more
than probable, that fufFering fwine to pick up the early
windfall fruit, previous to the firft grijiding, is much
more eligible than letting it wafte among the weeds and
grafs; which, if likewifc thrown open to (lore fwine,
would have been a farther fource of profit to their owxiers.

±J4 MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT LIQUOR.

perior quality, made in Weft Devonfliire*
Indeed, its cliniature, in a moderately dry
fiimmer, feems to be much better adapted
to the produ(Ction of this fpecies of Fruit
Liquor, than is that of Herefordlhire or
Glocefterfhire.

In taking a view of the Weft Devonfhire
pra(ftiee^ it will be proper to examine, fepa«
tately, the following particulars.

1. The Manufadory.

2. The Fruit.

3. Breaking.

4. Preffing,-

5. The Muft- . .

6. Fermenting*

7. The Liquor.

8. Produce.

9. Markets.

1. The ordinary place of manufac-^
TURE, provincially the " pound house,"—
is ^enerally^a mean ftied or hovel, without
peculiarity cf form, or any trace of con-
trivance. On thelarger Bartons, or where the
Orchard grounds are extenfive, appropriate
buildings are fitted up, in different ways.

The

•WEST DEVONSHIRE. 225

^he only pound houfe, I examined, which
has any claim to merit, in refpedt to plan,
is that of Mr. Stapleton of Monks
BucKLAND ', which, though not on a large
fcale, is perhaps, in the arrangement or
general economy of its more effential parts,
as near perfection, as the nature of a Fruit
Liquor Manufadory will admit of, or re-
quires.

The building is a long fquare, ftanding
acrofs a gentle defcent. Behind it is a
platform or flooring of loofe ftones, (the
rubbifh of a flate quarry) to receive the
fruit, as it is gathered, and to give it the
iirft ftage of maturation, in the open air.
The ground floor, of one end of the build-
ing, contains the mill and prefs. Over this
part, is a loft or chamber, in which the
apples receive the lafl fl:age of maturation,
and from which they are conveyed, by a
fpout, into the mill. The ground floor of
"the other end of the building is the fer-
menting room, funk a few fteps below the
floor of the mill and prefs room ; a pipe or
Ihoot conveying the liquor, from the prefs,
into a cifl:ern in the fermenting room.

Vol. I. CL Thus

226 MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT LIQUOR.

Thus far, the plan may be faid to be
compleat. If, over the fermenting room,
an empty caik loft were fitted up ; and, on
a ilage below it, a keeping room or ftore
cellar were fet apart for the fermented
liquor : and, further, if a contiguous room,
fitted up with a boiler, were made to com-
municate, equally, with the fermenting
room, and the em.pty calk room, for the
conveniency of coopering and fcalding the
cafks, fuch premifes might be faid to be
compleat in all their parts.

On principles fimilar to thofe which are
here fu'eeefted, I made fuch alterations in
the cider rooms of Buckland Place, as the
fituation of the buildings would admit of,,
without great expence. They are on the
largeil fcale of any I have feen -, and are
probably, in many refped:s, the iiril faite of
private cider rooms, in the kingdom.

2. Fruit. The /pedes , as has been
faid, is folely the apple, whofe varieties
are, here, numerous -, though not fo endlefs,
as they are in Herefordfhire ; the propa-
gation of /^^rw^/ yr///V^ being lefs frequent,
in this Diilrid. Many of the Ibrts are of

an

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 227

an old ftanding. The Golden Pipin, how-
ever, is going oft*; " it cankers and will not
take ;" fo that the identity of the Redftreak.
may be doubted. See above, page 221.

In the gathering of fruit, there is nothing
either excellent or peculiar ; except in the
circumftance of fruit being gathered wet or
dry : a circumftance wliich may have arifea
out of the moiftnefs of the climate, and out
of the clofenefs and rough woody ftate of
the orchards ; in which, it were next to
impoflible, to colled dry fruit; unlefs in a
remarkably dry feafon.

The maturation of the fruit, in the ordi-
nary practice of the Diftridt, is carried on
in large heaps, in the open air, or in the
pound houfe, or other covered fituation * ;
where they remain, until they be fufticiently
*'come ;" that is, until the brown rot has
begun to take place.

3. Breaking. Formerly, this ope-

0^2 ration

* . •

* Preparing a flooring of rough ftonesj as mentioned
above, is very judicious, when apples are matured in the
open air ; not only as keeping the bafe of the heap drj ;
but as communicating, perhaps, a fupply of air, to the
lower and central parts of the heap.

228 MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT LIQUOR.

ration was performed by hand : a pradtlcc
which is ilill continued, I underftand, in
fome parts of Cornwall. The apples being
thrown into a large trough or tub, five or
fix perfons, ftanding round the vefiel,
"^pounded" them *, with large clubfhaped
wooden pelliils, whofe ends are guarded, and
made rough, to lay hold of the apples the
better, with the heads of nails.

At prefent, the ordinary horfe mill of
HerefordHiire, &c. is in general ufe, here:
and it has the fame objediionable point in
its manufacture, as that noticed in the
Gloceflerfhire mills : namely the coarfenefs
of the ftone work. The grinding is of courfe
imperfedly done •\,

Lateiv, I underftand, a hand mill h-2iS been
introduced into this county, and is making
its way i-a.^ into pradiice ; but it did not fall
in my way to examine it.

4. Pressing. The old Prefs of the
Difi:ri(fl,and which, I beheve,is flillmuch in

ufe,

* Hence, no doubt, the epithet "pound" is applied to
the houfe, &:c. in which the whole bufinefs of cider making
is performed.

t See Glc. Econ. Vol. II. P. 333.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 229

ufe, by the fmaller growers of elder fruit, is
very ingenious and beautifully mechanical.
It is an improvement of the fimple lever; by
adding a rider, or lever upon lever ; at the
end of which a weight is fufpended. By .
ithis fimple contrivance the ading lever is
kept hard down upon the cheefe, and follows
it as it finks ! an advantage which no fkrew
prefs pofTefTes, -

As an improvement upon this (and with
refped to power it certainly is fuch) iijkrew
is made ufe of to pull down the loofe end of
the lever j the other end of it, in either cafe,
being moveable ; and is fixed higher or
lower, according to the height of the pile of
pomage to be prelTed : lowering it as the
pile is lowered by preffing.

The lafl: flage of improvement, or refine*

ment, of the lever prefs ; for fuch it flill

is, in principle ; is to furnifli each end with

^ pulldown fkrew ; firfl the one end and

then the other being worked, in the a<5t of

prefiing ; a fmall plumrnet being hung in

the middle, to aiTift the eye of the workmen;

left, by adling too long upon one end of the

Jever, they fliould injure the worm of the

ikrew.

0^3 Thefe,

230 MANAGEMENTOFFRUITLIQUOR.

Thefe fkrew lever prefles are made of an
enormous fize, whether with one or two
fkrews : large enough to prefs four, five, or
fix hogfheads at once ! the lever being
equal in fize to the deck beam of a man of
war. Altogether an uncouth, unwieldy,
monftrous inftrument.

The method of prejjing is invariably that
of piling up the pomage or ground fruit, in
'^ reed"(unthrafhed firaw) in layers ; thofe
of pomage being fome three or four inches
thick, the reed being fpread thinly over,
and then another thin covering is fpread
acrofs the firft. Under the gigantic preffes
above -defcribed, the pile is four or five feet
fquare and nearly as much in height. On
the top, a broad ftrong covering of wood is
laid ; and, upon this, the lever is lowered.

A pile fo large, and of fo frail a con-
ftrufflion, requires to be prefixed with caution,
in the cutfet : a circumftance which renders
the operation extremely tedious : one of the
enormous " cheefes" of the larger prefies
taking two days to compleat the prefiing!

The pile having acquired fufficient firm-
nefs, the outfides are pared off, fquare, with

a hay

W E S T D E V O N S H I R E. 231

a hay knife ; cutting off all the loofc fpongy
parts which evaded the prellure, and piling
them upon the top of the cheefe, to receive
the immediate adiion of the prefs : or are
referved for •* beverage;" being watered
and prelTed feparate *.

5. The MUST, or expreffed liquor, which
comes off, from this mode of preffmg, is
extremely foul, compared with that, which
is {trained through hair cloths. It is, there-
fore, placed in large veffels or ciffern's, for
its feculcncies to fubiide, before it be put
into cafks.

6 . In the fermenting of Fruit Liquor,
nothing of fuperior excellence, I believe, is
to be learnt, from the ordinary pra(!^ice of
this Diftrid. In the fermenting room of a
farm, which has long been famous for its
cider, I have feen ^n experienced manager,
who has for feveral years had the care of this
cider, — tacking ^* one iide of the houfe to-
day, and the other li4e to-morrow," under
a full convid^ion that it " would do them all

0^4 good."

^ For a defcrlption of the Herefordfliire Prefs, and the
method of prelTing in Haircloth, fee Glo, 5 con. Vol, II.
Page 312. and 340.

234 MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT LIQUOR.

good." Under management like this, it
muft, ofcourfe, be mere matter of chiince,
if a cafk of palatable liquor be produced.
But cider of a fuperior quality being pro-
duced, as it v/ere accidentally, under this
ignorant trcatm.ent, it fhews plainly how-
much might be done (indeed has been
done *) by knowledge and attention.
However, while the confumption remains
with the Diftrict, and while ftrength is the
great recommendation of the liquor, fuch
knowledge and attention might, in fome
meafure, be thrown away.

7. The FERMENTED LIQJJOR is laid up
in HOGSHEADS, oifixty three gallojis each }
or in PIPES, or " double hoglheads."

8. The QUANTITY OF PRODUCE is HOt

more than fupplies the confumption of
the Dill:ri6l ; of courfe,

9. The MARKETS for fale cider are the
towns y and the public houfes of the Diilricft ;
X\it farmer s own confumpfionht'mg fupplied
by windfall fruit ; by the wafhings of the
*' mock," orpomage, in fcarce years ; and
by inferior cider.

Th(5

* Particularly by Mr. Stapieton. •"

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 133

The price of marketable cider, on a par
of years, has been fifteen (liillings a hogfhead
(of 63 gallons) for the muft or unfermented
liquor ; and a guinea for fermented cider -,
which fometimes rifes to two or three
guineas a hogfliead : and on the other
hand, fome years the muft has been fold at
five (hillings, a hoglliead, at the prefs.

General Observations on Or-
chards AND Fruit Liquor. Thefe
prices, confidering the fmallnefs of the
mieafure, com.pared with that of Hereford-
fliire, make cider a more advantageous
article of produce, here, than in the Mayhiil
Diftrid; and, in fuitable fituations, as on
the rugged fides of vallies, fufficiently fhel^
tered from more cutting winds, there can
be no difpute; about the fuperior profitable-
nefs of Orchard Fruits, in a pecuniary point
of view, to any other fpecies of produce ;
and moft efpecially to a fmall farmer, who
attends perfonally to the whole buiinefs,
and whofe wife and children are his affiftants.
Neverthelefs, on larger farms, where the
management is left much to fervants, and
i where

234 MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT LIQUOR.

where cider, under any management, is
but a fecondary objed:, the bufinefs of
making it interferes with the more im-
portant concerns of hufbandry ; even the
bufmefs of harveft, and ftill more the clean-
ing of turneps,are too frequently neglecfied,
to give place to fruit pickings and the
breaking and preiTmg are, afterwards, not
lefs inimical to the faving of potatoes and
the fowing of wheat -, which, as has been
Ihewn, requires all the hand labour the
farm can afford. Befides, the " dreffing"
which ought to be applied to the arable
lands, it is to be feared, is too frequently
beflowed on the Orchard Grounds — for
** how can dreffing be beflowed to fo good
a purpofe."

Again, the drunkennefs, difTolutenefs of
manners, and the difhonefly of the lower
clafs might well be referred, in whole or in
great part, to the baleful efiedlis of cider ;
which workmen of every defcription make
a merit of flealing : and, what is noticeable,
the effects of cider, on working people,
appears to be different from that of malt
hquor. Give a Kentifh man a pint of ale,

and

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 235

and it feems to invigorate, his whole frame:
he falls to his work again, with redoubled
fpirit. But give a Devonshire man as much,
or twice as much cider, and it appears to
unbrace and relax, rather than to give cheer-
fulnefs and energy to his exertions.

Another more flagrant evil, which is laid
to the charge of cider, is the Devonfiire
colic, analoo-ous with the colic of Poitou.
This violent diforder has been afcribed to
the circum.ftance of the mills and prelles, of
Devonlliire, having lead made ufe of in their
conftrudion : and, under this idea, one of
the prefTes, I had an opportunity of exa-
mining, was fcrupuiouily formed without
lead ; the joints of the " vat" or bed of the
prefs, being caulked with wool and cow
duno-, which is found to be fully eiFedive,
in this intention. But, in evidence of the
improbability of lead being the caufe of
this mifchief, a mill, which had been con-
ftru(fled a century at leaft, and which is
cramped together by means of lead, being
examined, it was found that no corrolion
of the lead had taken place ; even the marks
of the hammer remained perfedly diflindl.

ThJG

436 MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT LIQUOR.

This fa<ft I do not fpeak to from perfonal
examination ; but I received it from, an
authority, on which I have every reafon to
rely.

From two or three iliriking cafes of this
diforder, to which I had an opportunity of
paying fome attention, it appeared to me
to be the joint effect of cider, and of a vile
fpirit which is drawn, by the houfewives
of Devon, from the grounds and lees of the
fermenting room. Thefe dregs are diftilled
(of courfe illegally) by means of a porridge
pot, with a tin head fixed over it, and com-
municating with a flraight pipe, paffing
through a hogfhead of water j " the liquor
being pafTed twice through this imperfe(3:
apparatus. It, of courfe, comes over ex-
tremely empyreumatic ; and is drank in a
recent Hate, under the appropriate name of
" neceflity.'*

The patient having brought on, by an
inordinate ufe of rough corrofive cider, and
by the quantity of acid thrown into the
habit, a fit of the ordinary colic, has re-
courfe to " necefiity," in order to remove
the complaint. The confequence is an

obflinate

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 237

obftlnate coftivenefs, which generally con-
tinues for feveral days, attended with the
moft excruciating pain : and, though the
firfl paroxyfm is feldom fatal, repetitions of
it too frequently are : firft bringing on a
lofs of the ufe of the limbs, particularly of
the hands, and, finally ending in the lofs of
life ; if the deprivation of life can be faid
to'be a lofs, under circumflances fo diftrefs-
ful.

Notwithftanding, however, the accumu-
lation of evils arifing from the produd:ion,
ufe, and abufe of cider, the men of Devon
are more ftrongly attached to it, even than
thofe of HerefoVdfhire. Their Orchards
might well be flyled their Temples, and
Apple Trees their Idols of Worfhip.

It is not my intention, or v/iih, to de-
preciate the Devonfhire Orchards below
their real value ; but to endeavour to fix
them at a proper flandard : to lower them
fo far, in the eftimation of owners and oc-
cupiers, as to prevent their interfering too
much with the more important operations
of Agriculture. Iwiih to fee them confined
to unculturable fites, and to have them

confidered.

238 MANAGEMENTOFFRUITLIQUOR.

confidered, as they really are, a fubordinate
objed: of hulbandry ; in order that the
occupiers of lands may bend their attention,
with greater energy and effec!!:, to the arable
and grafsland managements : more efpeciaily
to the watering of meadows ; and, of courfe,
to the removal of many of the prefent
Fruit Trees : changing them for a more
certain, and, on a par of years, a more
profitable i^^ecies of produce.

HORSES.

THE native BREED, which are ilill
feen on the mountains that overlook this
Diflrict, are very fmall : much refembling
the Welch and Highland Breeds ; and like
them are valuable for particular purpofes.
The ** PACK HORSES," or ordinary fort
found in the inclofed country, are of a
fimilar nature j but larger. The saddle
HORSES, at prefent in ufe, are chiefly, I

believe.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 239

believe, brought into the Diftrid:, from the
Eaftward. Of cart horses, no breed
can yet be faid to be eftabhfhed. See

BEASTS OF LABOR.

The BREEDING of Horfes does not
enter much into the pradice of this Diftria:;
except on the fkirts of the mountains.

0,4.

CATTLE.

•

THIS Species of Liveftock are entitled
to every attention, in a Regifter of the-
Rural Economy of the West of
England. The Breed of Devonfliire is,
in many refpedts, the mofc perfed Breed
of Cattle in the Ifland.

The Breed,

Breeding,

Rearing, and

Fatting, of Cattle,
will require to be fpoken of in detail.

I. In

240 CATTLE.

I. In BREED, they are of the middl£-
HORNED Ciafs. There are numberlefs in-
•dividuals of the Devoniliire Breed fo per-
fectly refembhng the Breed of Hereford-
shire, in frame, colour, and horn, as not
to be dillinguifhable from that celebrated
Breed ; except in the greater cleannefs of
the head and fore quarters ; and except in
the inferiority of fize. The Cattle of
Devonihire refemble thofe of Sussex ;
except in their greater fymmetry of frame,
and their being much cleaner in the fore-
end, and every where freer from offal, than
the ordinary Breed of SulTex. The Devon-
fhire Cattle refem^ble very much, in color,
horn, cleannefs, and fymmetry of frame, a
few of the more perfed: individuals of the
native Cattle of Norfolk ; but exceed
them greatly in point of fize. They are a
mean between the Norfolk and the Here-
fordfliire j fome individuals approaching
towards the former, others towards the lat-
ter ; but, taken in general throughout the
county, they approach much nearer the
Herefordfnire than the Norfolk, v/ith ref-
pedt to fize : being fimilar, in this and

other

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 241

other refpeds, to the breeds of Glo-
CESTERSHiRE and South Wales.

Thefe feverai breeds I conceive to have
fprung from the f?:me ftock. Their coloui*
apart, they perfe(fdy refemble the wild
CATTLE which aie ftill preferved in
Chillingham Park, in Northum-
berland; a Seat of the Earl of Tan-
ker ville : and it appears to me, that
the different breeds, above noticed, are
varieties, ariiing from foils and manage-
ment, of the ^NATIVE BREED OF
THIS ISLAND. A race of animals*
which, it is highly probable, once ranged
it, in a ftate of nature ; as the buffalo
does, at this day, the favage regions of
North America. The black mountain
breeds of Scotland and Wales appear*
to me, evidently, to be from the fame
race ; agreeing in everything, but colour>
with the red breeds that are here adduced„
The Jhorf horned breed, it is well known,
were imported from the Continent;
and the longhorned, it is more than pro-
bable, might be traced from Ireland.
The Devonfhire breed of cattle vary
Vol. L R much.

242 CATTLE.

much, in different Diftridis of the County,
both in lize and mold. North Devon-
shire takes the lead, in both thefe parti-
culars ; and its breed are> in both, nearly
what cattle ought to be. In fize, they
are fomewhat below the defirable point,
for the heavier works of hufoandry > but
they make up for this deficiency, in exer-
tion and agility. They are beyond all
comparifon the beft workers I have any-
where feen.

If they are to be ffcill improved, as work-
ing CATTLE, it is by breeding from the
largeft of the North Devonfhire, or the
cleanefl: of the Herefordshire breed.

As DAIRY CATTLE, the Devonfliirc
breed are not excellent. Rearing for the
Eaflcountry graziers has ever, or long,
been the main objedt of the cattle farmers
of this county. Neverthelefs, I have
feen fome individuals of the breed, which
evinced the pradlicability of improving
them, as dairy fleck.

As GRAZING CATTLE, individuals, in
every part of the county, fliew the breed
to be excellent.

In

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 243

In West Devonshire, the breed is
confiderably fmaller, than in the Northern
Diftria: ; and their quahty, in every re-
fpedt, is lov^^er.

In Cornwall, the breed gets coarfer;
with fomewhat larger and more upright
horns * : bearing a fimilar affinity to the
true Devonfliire breed, as the Shropfhire
cattle do to thofe of Herefordfliire : a
flriking and interefting faft, to thofe at
leaft v/ho find gratification, in obferving the
different varieties, and affinities, of this
valuable fpecies of domeilic animals.

II. The BREEDING OF CATTLE.
I had no opportunity of attending to the
pradice of North Devonfhire, in this
refpedt. It is highly probable that a con-
fiderable fhare of attention has been paid,
for fome time paft, to the choice of males,
if not of females, alfo ; as it is not pro-
bable that accident fhould have raifed them
to their prefent excellency.

R 2 The

* Refembling, in the turn of the horn, the wild cattle
of Northumberland.

24

T

CATTLE.

The , Moorfide farmers have little to
anfwer for, in this refped ; moil of the
calves, they rear, are purchafed ; either from
the " In-country" farmers of their refpedivc
neighbourhoods, or are fetched from a dif-
tance : the calves of the dairy farms of Eaft
Devonfhire and even Dorfetfhire, are, I
underfland, bought, in great numbers, by
the farmers on the &irts of Dartmore.
The few which are bred, by thefe farmers,
are, as far as my ctwn obfervations have
gone, of a fmall, clean, hardy fort ; adapted
to mountain pafture.

In [this Diftria (Weft DevonHiire) the
buiinefs of breeding cattle is conducfted on
the woril: of bad principles. If a calf,
which otherwife would be reared, difcover
fymptoms of a fattening quality, it is
** bulled /' fuifered to run with the cow,
ten or twelve months, in the manner of
the running calves of Norfolk * * and is
then butchered. If a calf of this defcrip-
tion fortunately efcapes fo untimely a fate,
but fhould fhow an inclination to get fat at

two

'*- See NoRF, Econ\ Vol. II. P;<ge 121.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 245

two years old, it is indulged in its propen-
i!ty. It follows, of courfe, that the indi-
viduals which reach the ftage of maturity,
and from which new generations are to be
raifed, are, as to fatting quality, the mere
refufe of the breed : and nothing, but a
.Wrongly rooted inherent excellency of qua-
lity, could preferve them in the ordinary
ftate, in which they are at prefent found.

III. In the REARING OF CATTLE,

I collected nothing, in this Diftrid, which
is entitled to efpecial notice. The firft
year, the calves are kept within the in-
clofures ; bat, the next, are generally fent
to the commons and hill paftures. Hei^
fers are brought into milk at two and a half
to four years old ; according to' cii'Cum-
ftances. And fleers are broke into the
yoke, at fimilar ages -, according to their
/ize and keep.

What fteers the ?4^oorfide fanners do
not want for their own work, are fold to
the In-country farmers, who work them
fometimes to eight, ten, or twelve years
old. When thrown up, they are princi-

R 3 pally

246 CATTLE.

pally fold to jobbers, or graziers, from this
Somerfetfliire fide of the county.

Thus a calf, dropt in the dairy DiftricSl
of Eafi Devonfhire or Dorfetlhire, may
be nurfe4 at the foot of Dartmore, and
reared on its hills ; worked in Weft De-
vonfhire or its environs j and driven back,
through his native country, to be iinifhed
QHrtha marfhes cf Somprfetfliire, for the
London market.

IV. FATTING CATTLE. A por-
tion, however, of the cattle reared in this
country are fatted in it, or rather brought
forward iji fiefh, for its own- confumption.
I did not fee what in Smithneid would be
called a fat bullock, in the country ; except
. .fome two or three which were finifhed, by
. a fpiriteditidividual, with the commendable
view of appearing at the head of his pro-
feflion, both as a grazier and a butcher ;
"and his praifeworthy exertions fhowed,
plainly, what the cattle of Devonfhire are
capable of, under judicious and fpiritpd
managen^ent,
■ We(v Devonfliire, however, is not a

grazing

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 2*47

grazing Dlllrlcft. Except fome of the
lands of Mylton Abbots, Lamerton and
Taviftock, and thefe are confined within a
narrow compafs, the foil is too weak for
grazing. Its lands, in general, are better
adapted to the purpofe of bringing cattle
forward, for aftergrafs, turneps, or oilcake,
than for finifliing them for market.

A peculiarity of pra6:ice in the slaugh-
tering OF CATTLE, in tliis Diftrid:, mufh
not be left unnoticed. In moft parts of
the Illand, it is cuftomary for butchers to
bleed calvf^s, previouily to their being
killed. And a fimilar cuilom prevails,
here, with refpecfl to bullocks. Enquiring,
of an experienced and intelligent butcher,
the motive for fo extraordinary a prad:ice,
he gave a fatisfadtory anfwer. It affifts in
giving that delirable brightnefs of colour,
which attrads the ey^, in purchaling beef
on the fliambles ; and what is of much
more advantage to the purchafer, it makes
the beef keep better* in warm or clofe
weather ; fo that it operates as an advan-
tage, both to the buyer and the feller -,\nd
it is highly probable, that, in the lumiaer
R 4 leafon.

»48 CATTLE.

feafon, and for ill fleilied bullocks at all
feafons, the practice might be found eli-
gible, in other places. The trouble and
difficulty of the operation, feems to be its
greateil obje(5lion.

^S

THE

DAIRY MANAGEMENT

O F

WEST DEVONSHIRE, &c.

THE OBJECTS of the Dairy of this Dif-.
tv'id: are

I. Calves.
« II. Butter.
III. SkimCheefe,
Swine.

I. CALVES are either reared 5 or
are fatted, in the houfe, for veal ; or are

turned

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 249

turned abroad with the cows, as *' busses"
or GRASS CALVES*: the laft, a parti-
cular of practice, v/hich generally pays
amply ; efpecially when the moft promifing
calves are chofen for this purpofe. But the
mifchievous tendency of the pradlice, in a
general view, has been pointed out ; and,
conduced on the principles, on which it is
here carried on, it cannot be too feverely
reprobated.

II. BUTTER. The only particular of
management, which requires to be no-
ticed, in the Devonfliire Butter Dairy, is
the fmgular method of raising the
CREAM J a prad:ice which is, or lately
was, common to Devonfhire and Cornwall.
This peculiarity confifts in employing culi-
nary heat, to affift in forcing up the cream,

with

* Perhaps originally bosses, or wood calves fin
contradiftinaion to house calves) ; namely, calves
fufFered to run with their dams, in the woods, or foreft
lands 5— the prailice and the appellation having probably
originated, while the country was in the foreft ftate,and
have both of them been continued, fmce the prefent ftate
©f iiiclofure took place.

250 DAIRY MANAGEMENT OF

with greater rapidity and efte6t, than limpljf
depoiiting the milk in open velTels in the
ordinary way, produces.

The milk having flood fome hours, in
broad pans or velTels, either of brafs or
earthen ware, it is placed in thefe pans
over a gentle heat ;— generally, over the
wood embers of the ordinary hearth ; but
fometimes over charcoal, in ftoves lifted
up for that purpofe ij—and remains in that
fituation until it approaches nearly to
boiling heat : the proper degree of heat
being indicated by pimples, or bhflers,
wliich rife on the furface of the cream.
The fmalleft degree of ebullition mars the
procefs ', which is there Ibre properly
.termed ■* fcalding ;" and the cream thus
raifed is termed *' fcalded cream," qr
*' clouted cream ;" probably from the
tough cloth-like texture which it acquires
by this procefs.

The cream, thus raifed, remains on the
milk, — which is rendered very fheer lean
and 6/ue by the procefs, — until the dairy
woman wants ** to make the butter :"
another lingular operation, in the Devon-

iliire

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 25^

^ire dairy. The clouts or rags of cream
being throwj) into a large wooden bowl,
they are ftirred about, by a circuitous
motion of the hand and arm, until the
butyraceous particles unite ; leaving a fmall
quarjitity of thick creamlike matter, or
ferum j anfwering to the churn milk of
the ordinary butter dairy. In ** fcald
cream dairies," no churn is in ufe.

The origin of fo peculiar a practice may,
perhaps, be traced back to the forefl; ftate.
After the arts of producing butter and
cheefe were difcovered ; yet while, per-
haps, each family was polTeiTed of no greater
dairy than two or three cows ; any procefs
which enabled the proprietor of fuch a
dairy to manufacflure thofe valuable articles,
with a degree of certainty, was embraced
as eligible : and how could a more fortu-
pate procefs have been flruck out, than
that of fecuring the milk and the cream
from their natural propenlity of entering
the diiferent ftages of fermentation, than
the application of fire ; which, at once,
fecures the milk fr^-^m acidity, and the
cream from putrefaction ; until a lufficient

g^uan-

252 DAIRY MANAGEMENT OF

quantity of each can be laid up, for the
purpofes to which they are particularly
appropriated ?

But the difadvantages of this priftine
practice are fuch as to render it ineligible,
in the prefent ftate of cultivation. If, in
the ordin.xy prad:ice, the embers prove too
weak, and an additional heat is required,
frefh fuel is apphed 3 and, if a fcrupulous
attention is not paid, the fatal ebullition
takes place ; and, in confequence thereof,
the cream is too frequently mixed with the
aihes. While over the fire, efpecially if
freih fuel be added, the furface regeives
the more volatile parts of the fuel, and
perhaps a portion of foot 5 and after the
pans are taken off the fire, while they iland
in the kitchen or pafTages to cool, before
they be returned tq the dairy, the cream is
liable to the depredations of domefcic ani-
mals ; ^nd to receive, in a variety of ways,
additional daft and dirt *,

In

* I am here fpeaking of the ordinary practice of far-
mers,— fuch as I have feei; in the Diftri6l : Gentlemen,
«.;id fome dairy farmers, as has been before noticed, have
floves fitted up for this operation, which render the prac-
tics much more tolerable.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 253

, In Weft Dorfetaiire, and the Eaftern
confines of Devonfhire, where the fcalding
of cream had been in ufe time immemorial,
the pradice has lately given way to tlie
ordinary method of raifmg the cream and
churning it ; owing to the circumftance of
the butter of that Diftrid having found its
way to the London market ; as will be par-
ticularly mentioned, in fpeaking of the
DAIRY District.

In different parts of Devonfhire and ^
Cornwall, " raw cream dairies" are here
and there fcattered. Gentlemen, efpecially
ftrangers who fettle in the country, prefer
** raw cream butter.'* That made from
fcalded cream has frequently a fmokey
flavor, and wants the even waxlike texture,
obfervable in well manufactured butter.

Two reafons may be afllgned for the
natives of thefe counties perfevering in the
pradice of clouting cream. Prejudice, or
the attachment to eftablifhed cuftoms,
may be confidered as one. The other is
their attachment to " fcald cream," as a
delicacy, or article of luxury ; in forming
the "juncates," for which this country is

cele-

254 DAIRY MANAGEMENT OF

celebrated ; and as a favorite addition to
paftry of different forts; which is ufually
ferved up with clouts of cream. And, if
the Weft of England farmers prefer the
pleafures of the palate to the profits of the
dairy, it might be extremely improper, in
any one, to cenfjre them, for continuing
their prefent fyftem of dairy management.
Skim cheese. I remarked nothing, iri
the manufacture of this article of the
Devonfliire daily, which induced me to
regifter the minutia3 of practice* In the
dairy which I had the beft opportunity of
obfervino;, the cheefe was not z^nuine.
However, from general ideas which I ga-
thered on the fubjedt, it is evident, that
fcaldingthemilkis nol; unfriendly to cheefe ;
and it may be v/orth the trial, whether
fcalding fkim milk in general, previouily
to its coagulation, would not be eligible.

26. SWINE.

W E S T D E V O N S H I H E. 255

^6.

SWINE.

I. THE BREED, in this extremity of
the Ifland, is the fame long, thin-carcafed,
white kind, which has, pretty evidently,
been once the prevailing> if not the only,
breedof the Wand*.

, II. In the REARING of Swine, the
moft remarkable circumftance is that of*
letting all the females remain open ; and
for a veiy fufficient reafon : there is not a
Spayer, even of Pigs, in theDiftrid: of Weft
Devonlhire !

The FOOD ofrearing Swine, while young,
is the refufe of the dairy, with turneps,
clover, and even grafs, or ordinary herbage,
boiled! A new idea, in the management
of Swine. The food of larger ftore Swine

is
* See York. Econ. Vol. II. P. 235. And Glo,
EcoN. Vol. I. P. 316.

25S S W i N E.

is chiefly grals : they being not unfrequently
driven to the fame pafture with the cows,
and brought home with them, at milking
hours : and are kept on* in this way, until
they be two, or perhaps, three years old^
before they be put to fatting ! under an
idea that the bacon of old hogs goes farther,
than that m.ade from young ones -, not cal-
culating the expence of keeping them to
that extravagant age.

The native breed of the country, it is
true, do not fat kindly, under eighteen
months or two years old ; but, through the
attentions of the late Sir Francis Drake>
the Diftridt is, at prefent, in pofleffion of
the firil breed of Swine in the liland;
namely, the beffc variety of the Berkfhire
breed : and it remains with the farmers to
chufe whether they will perfevere in their
prefent unprofitable breed, or adopt one
V/hich v/ill leave more profit, by fatting^
at nine months old, than their old fort will,
at three or four times that age * .

III. The

* I have heard an obje£iion raifed againll this hrecd
of Swincj on account of the thicknefs of their fkins, com-
pared

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 257

in. The method of FATTING SWINE,
in this Diftria, forms another of the many
fingular pradlices which fhew, that the
Devonshire hufbandry -is not of Englijh
growth. They are fhut up in a narrow
clofe hutch, in which they eat, drink, and
' difcharge their urine and fcEces; which are
formed, of courfe, into a bed of mud, to
fleep in ^ th^ir briftly coats being prefently
converted into thick coats of mail : in
which filthy plight, they remain until they
are flaughtered.

This extraordinary trait of pradice is not
to be afcribed, wholly, to negledt and Ho-
venlinefs ^ but, in part, to a principle of
management, which, it is highly probable,
has been drawn from experience. ** Fat
pigs fhoul* lie wet ; it keeps them cool :
they are of a hot nature, and if they lie on
dry warm litter, it melts their fat !" And,
when applied to pigs fliut up in a clofe
coop, without an aperture, perhaps, at

Vol. I. S which

pared with thofe of the old white fort ; but this ohjeftion,
while the hide of the hog remains a favorite article of
human food, has no weight.

258 S W I N E.

v/hich to draw in a little cool frelh aify
there may be much truth in this theory :
which, however, would be ridiculous, if
applied to hogs fatted in the ordinary
prad:ice of the Ifland ; in which fatting
fwine have a clofe room (be it ever fo mean)
to lie dry and ileep in, and an open one, or
little yard, to eat, drink, difcharge, and
breathe in* The advantage of raifing a
larger quantity of dung is, alone, a fufficient
recommendation of the latter practice.

The MATERIALS OF FATTING are
Potatoes, with Barley or Oats ground, or
Barley boiled. If fuel be cheap, and the
mill at a diflance, boiling the Barley may
be as cheap and as little trouble as having
it ground.

The BOILING OF HOG FOOD, which
makes a part of the eftabliflied pra(!^ice, in
this Diftrid, forms, at leail, a fit fubjed: of
experiment, in others. Where fuel is
cheap, the pradice may perhaps be found
profitable.

27. SHEEP.

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 159

27,

SHEEP.

1. BREED. The ESTABLISHED BREED

of the Country, whether we examine
it on the mountains of Devonlhire and
Cornwall, or in the cultivated Country
which lies between them, is uniformly of

the MIDDLE-WOOLED CLASS.

What is obfervable, however, in defcrib-
ing a breed of Sheep, their he ads are vari^
oully charaa:erized : thofe of fome indi^
viduals 2X^ horned, others polled, or hornlefs
— provincially "notsj" and between thefe
there are, of courfe, individuals bearing a
mongrel deformity of head, as if they were
really a mongrel breed, of recent debafe-
ment.

Neverthelefs, they have been, beyond

memory, what 'they appear to be, at pre-

fent. And what ftrongly corroborates the

S z idea

26o SHEEP.

idea of their being a diftindl breed, they
are found, on the Northern fkirts of Dart-
more, about Okehampton, of a dimi-
nutive fize : not much larger than the
heath Sheep of Norfolk. Yet, in uni-
formity of wool, in difparity of head, and in
their general appearance, their fize apart,
they perfectly accord with the larger variety
of what may well be confidered as the

ANTIENT BREED OF THE COUNTRY.

It is obfervable, that, in the different
varieties of this breed, there are many indi-
viduals v/hich bear fo ftron? a refemblance
to the prefent breed of Dorfetihire, as to
kave little doubt of their having a natural
alliance. And it appears to me mofl pro-
bable, that the horned Sheep of Dorfetihire,
5cc. have been originally drawn from the
antient breed of the Weflern mountains j
bv breeding from a felection of the horned
individuals. While a polled or hornlefs
breed, now feen in the South Hams, may
well feem, from their reiemblance, to have
been raifed, by a fimilar feleftion, from the
hornlefs individuals of the fame antient
ftock. The encreafe ofcarcafe and wool,

whicia^

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 261

which they have acquired, is fuch as would
naturally arife from mountain Sheep being
transferred to the rich foils, and genial
climature, of South Devonllilre *.

The true Dorfetfhire (as they are called),

or HOUSE-LAMB BREED, are found, at

prefent, in great purity, in the Vale of

Exeter, in Eall Devonfhire : of which

S 3 breed

* It may, with great fhow of probability, be faid, that
the Sheep of this Country are a mixture of the two breeds
abovementioned. But from whence, it might be afked,
were thefe pure breeds imported ? Where are the mother
flocks ? Suppofing them to have been imported, and fet
down on the fpots they now feverally occupy, it muft ne-
cedarily have been fome centuries ago, to give time to
their mongrel progeny to mold themfelves to foils and
fituations ; and it is very improbable, that, during the
dark days of Agriculture, the two breeds fhould have beea
preferved diftin6t and pure, as we now find them ; efpeci-
ally the horned variety. Reride, it will prefently appear,
that the idea of their having been brought to their prefent
l^ate, by SE|,ECTioNj is not only probable, but pradli-
qable.

Let it be underftood, however, that what is here fug-
gefted, refpedling this' interefting part of the Historv
of Agriculture, in this Ifland, is intended to agitate
the fubjedl, rather than to fettle the point,^

262 SHEEP.

breed there are a few flocks, in this Dif-.
tri(5l ; but not of the pureft kind.

The flock I found, at Buckland, were
of this defcription : but were in a fl:ate of
negle(£l j — reverting faft back to the native
breed of the country,, both in carcafe and
head ! But there being fl:ill a fufliciency
of the true breed left, to recover the flock
from its degeneracy, it was thought more
advifeable to improve them, as the Houfe-
lamb breed, than to change them for either
of the more popular forts, that are working
their way, even into this remote part, —
namely, the South Down and. the ^ew
Leicestershire.

I mufl: not omit to mention, by the way,
a circumfl:ance attending the improvement
of the Buckland flock ; as it farther corro-
borates the idea of the horned fheep of Dor-
fetfhire, &c. having been originally drawn
from the antient mountain fl:ock. In 179 1 ,
the flock, viewed in the aggregate, bore a
much flironger refemblance to the ordinary
breed of the Diftrid, than to the Dorfet-
(hire breeds efpecially in head, — a confl^

derablq

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 26j

derable portion of them being polled, or
nearly fo. Neverthelefs, by a feledion of
females, and by employing males of the
eftabliilied horned breed of Eafl; Devon-
ihire, there was, in 1794, fcarcely a horned
individual left, in the flock of five hundred :
and, in that iliort fpace of time, a fnnilar
alteration of carcafe took place.

The two breeds above mentioned, are at
prefent fpreading, in all dire^Stions, over the
face of the Ifland ; and, in confequence,
pthex breeds will probably be negled;ed or
loft : and although, in many refped:s, thefe
two breeds may excel the Dorfetlhire ; yet
they are neither of them fuitable for the
Houfe- lamb farmers ^ who may hereafter
iind it neceifary, to give extravagant prices,
for the only breed which will fuit their
purpofe ; and which may, therefore, turn
.out highly profitable, to thofe who now
prefer ve it, in its purity.

JBefide, the Houfe-lamb breed, diflinclly
from that peculiar excellency, is, as grazing
flock, a valuable breed of Sheep. The
wedders, of the bed fort, fat perfedlly well,
iit two years old ; and pay, perhaps, in a
S 4 mid-

264 S H E ]<: R

middle foiled upland fituation, equal, as
Graziers flock, to any other breed*.

II. BREEDING SHEEP. From what
has been faid refpedling the heterogeneous
llate, in which the ordinary flocks of this
Country now appear, it is not probable that;
much attention has lately been paid to the
SELECTION of either males or females :
and, yet, no Country in the Ifland would
repay fuch an attention, better, than De-
vonfhire ; a principal part of whofe lands
are peculiarly fuitable for Sheep.

The TIME OF PUTTING THE RAMS

TO THE EWES is v€ry early, compared with
that of m.ofl otlier Diftrids. In the in
Country, the middle of July is the ordinary
time y the lambs, of courfe, beginning to
drop, about Clirilimas ; the month of
January being the principal time of

LAMBING.

In the treat m e n t of Ewes and Lambs,
I met Avith little obfcrvable, in this Dif-

trid:

* Thcfe remarks arc not intended more to explain my
own motives, for preferring an oldfafuioned breed, than
as hints to thofc v/ho have fimilar flocks in their poflcflion.

W E S T D E V O N S II I R E. 26,5

trlO: : kept grafs is chiefly depended upon,
as the fcod of fuckhng Ewes. Turneps
are Ibmetimes given to them; but it is
found, here, as in other places, that although
Turneps furnifli a flufli of milk, and are
beneficial to the Lambs, they do not, at the
fame time, afford fufhcient nourifliment to
the Ewes ; which never fail to fmk in flefli,
when fed on Turneps alone. If, however,
a fmall quantity of hay were added, tq
correal the ladefcent quality of the Tur-
neps, this objediion to them, as the food of
fucklingEwes, would no longer lie.

The ufual time of weanimg lames
is May or June ; except for tjie late dropt
Lambs, whofe dams did not take the Ram
in due feafon. Thefe are fuffered to run
with the Ewes, and, if dropt very late, as iiii
April, are generally configned to the But-
cher.

%^;t. May not a long continuance qf
the pradrice of breeding from the early
dropped Lambs, and killing off thofe which
are lambed later in the feafon, have afli/lcd
in giving the remarkable propenfity or habit,

peculiar

266 S KEEP.

peculiar to the Sheep of this quarter of the
Ifland, of admitting the male, at a time
when the other breeds it contains are in-
different to the intercourfe of the fexes?

III. STORE SHEEP. In the shep-
herding OF SHEEP, the particular which
mofl merits obfervation, relates to the Ikill
of the Devonihire Shepherds in the training
of their dog s : and fomething perhaps may
depend on the nature or breed of thefe
ufeful animals. Let this be as it may, I
have not obferved fo much fagacity, activity,
and fubordination, in the Shepherd's dog
of any other Diftrid:.

This breed of dogs are fomewhat fliaggy,
tall on their legs, and have very fliort tails ;
the colors are various 5 but moftly grizzled j
fbme are of a fort of dun color ; — others—-
a larger fmoother kind, — I have feen of a
|>lack color, marked with white.

The excellency of thefe dogs renders
SHEEP PENS, in a degree, unneceffary, If
Sheep require to be looked over, or exa-»
mined, as to be handled by the Butcher, or
JO be dreffed, or cleaned, though it may

require

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 267

require an hour's confinement, they arc
driven into a corner, and kept pent up
there, by one or more dogs, until the
bpfinefs be completed.

If an experienced Shepherd wifh to m-»
fpedl his flock, in a curfory way, he places
himfelf in the middle of the field or piece
they are depafturing, and, giving a v^hiftle
or a fhout, the dogs and the flieep are
equally obedient to the found ; the one
flies from hirn, with their fwifteil fpeed,
while the other, from every quarter, draw
towards him in confiderable hafte, long
before the dogs have time to approach
them. The fi:ragglers are driven in, by
the circuitous route of the dogs ; which
keep flying round, from fide to fide, until
the flock be gathered round the Shepherd,
clofe enough, not only to be feen, but to
be laid hold of, by him, if any thing wrong
be fufpe(5led *.

An objection v/ould be raifed againfl this
practice, by the Shepherds of heavy, long-
wooled Sheep ; as tending to alarm, diflurb,
^nd injure the Sheep 5 but little of this is

in
*. Are not thefe pra<Slices Fremh ?

268 SHEEP.

in fadx produced : for, being accuilomed to
it, from their earliell: age, no alarm appears
to take place. They will even follow the
Shepherd about, as if they were fenfible of
his care- and protedlion. Such being the
efFefts of habit, over ahnoft every fpecies
of the animal kingdom, v/hen it is early
induced, and when it is brought on by the
example of parents, or intimates of riper
years.

The SUMMER KEEP of Shccp, in the
ordinary practice of the Diftridt, confills
chiefly of the commons and rough paftures
of the low country, or of the hills of Dart-
more ; to which Sheep are driven, in the
fummer feafon, from a confiderable diftance.
Even fome of the larger flocks are fent
thither; efpecially, in a dry feafon, when
the cultivated upland leys are burnt up.
In WINTER, ' they are of courle brought
back to the inclofures -, and to fuch keep
as the Farmer can find for them. Snow
feldoin lying long, on the lower grounds
of this Diftrid:, very little hay, I underftand^
is given to ftore Sheep.

A ftriking feature in the management of

Sheep:,

W E S T D E V O N S HI R E. 269

Sheep, throughout Cornwall, and in the
Weftern Half oF Devonfhire, is that of

OMITTING TO WASH THEM, PREVIOUS
TO THE SHEARING !

This pradice, like many other pradlices
in hufbandry, has its advantages and difad-
vantages. In this cafe, the wool weighs
heavier ; but the price is lower, for " v/ool
in the yolk," than it is for wailied wool;
fo that it probably makes little for or againll
the grower 5 and, to the manufadurers,
though it may require fome what more labor
in cleaning, there is a faving of foap, which
more than makes up the lofs of labor.
Wool which has been wailied on the Sheep's
hack, requires foap, to cleanfe it properly
for manufacture ; but in unwailied wool,
the " yolk," or yellow egg-colored matter
which is lodged among it, precludes the
ufe of any additional detergent. Thus it
becomes to the manufadlurer a matter of
no great importance, whether Sheep be
wafhed or not.

Itisobfervable, however, that wool fliorn
in the yolk, is liable to take a confiderable
degree of heat ; a circumilance which, if

made

i7o S H E K F.

made the moft of, may be highly ferviceabld
to the farmery but the procefs of fer-
mentation having ceafed, it is probable^
that not only the weight decreafes very
rapidly, but that the quality of the wool^
loaded with fo much dirt, like wife decreafes*
Befide, if the place of growth and the place
of manufadure, be, as they too frequently
are, diftant from each other, the additional
weight is an objedion to the pradice under'
notice : which, though it may be perfedly
rio-ht, in a Diilrid which manufadures its
own wool, cannot perhaps be generally
adopted, with propriety*

IV. FATTING SHEEP. Little is
required to be faid on this fubjed.

The DESCRIPTION of Sheep, fatted, in-
cludes wedders, aged ewes, and common
fheep, bought in for this purpofe, by the
in-country farmers.

The MATERIALS OF FATTING are
orafs, — particularly the aftergrafs of young
leys, — turneps,&c. The market, chiefiy
Plymoutji and its environs.

RABBITS.

WEST DEVONSHIRE, 271

28.

RABBITS.

r OBSERVED only one Rabbit Warren
in this Diilrid:, which is now flocked >
with a fmall one, that has been difwarrened.
Neverthelefs, there appears to me to be
much land in the Weft of Devonfliire, &c.
which would pay better in a ftate of Rabbit
warren, than in any other flate of occu-
pancy. 1 mean the higher weaker lands,
and where the fides of the hills have a
fufficiency of loofe rubble for the Rabbits
to burrow in. The markets of Plymouth,
and its Dock, would not fail to take off the
produce.

An objedlion to Rabbits, in or near the
inclofed country, lies in their being de-
flrudiive to the large hedge mounds of this
Diftridt ; in which they burrow, and be-
come a fpecies of vermin, difficult to ex-
tirpate ;

ft72 RABBITS.

tirpate ; fcooping out the infide ; wher^
they make their lodgements ; generally
with an entrance on each fide, and a third or
perhaps a fourth, on the top. But if warrens
were fufficiently fenced in the York-
fhire manner, and the fences properly at-
tended to, this objedrion would lofe much
of its weight. The warren I faw, on the
ikirts of Dartm-ore, had no fufficient fence
to prevent the Rabbits from ilraying.

10*

P O U L T R Y.

THE only circumllance that ilruck me^
m Devonfhire, with refpetft to this petty
article of Liveftock^ was the fcarcity of
Eggs, compared with the number of f owLSi
The markets of Plymouth, I underftand^
are fupplied with eggs, in fome confide^
rable part, frotpi the North of Devonfliire j
from whence they are fent, twenty or

thirty

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 273

thirty miles, by land ; and this- while, ta
common appearance, there are a fufficient
num.ber of Fowls kept, within ten miles
of it, to fi.ipply all its wants of this article.

This circumftance did not ftrike me,
until I had fpent fome time in Scotland ;
where, from ,no greater appearance of
Fowls, the quantity of Eggs confumed in
the country, and the extraordinary quantity
fent, efpecially fi'om Berwick, to the
London market, is almofl: incredible.

Thefe extraordinary fa(Sts led me to a
clofer inveftigation of this fuhjeft, than I
had, theretofore, thought it entitled to ;
and it evidently appears, that the whole
difparity of, produce may be traced to a
difparity of management,

In Scotland, Fowls in general roofl in the
warm iinokey cottages of their owners ;
^re nurtured, and forced in a hot houfe,
The confequence is, they produce Eggs in
every feafon } and, generally fpeaking, the
year round. The Gentlemen of Scotland,
feeing the fuperiority of the Cottage Fowls,
in their produiftivenefs of Eggs, have re^
moved the comparative flerility of their

Vol. I, T 9Wna

274

POULTRY.

own, by keeping them, literally, in hot
HOUSES ;— built on a fimilar principle to
thofe in which exotic plants are coriferved :
flues being formed in the walls ; with
niches or fmall recelTes, on the infide, for
the Fowls to lay and breed in : with roofts
for them to reft on at night.

The fame fort of fecundity is well known
to be produced, by the warm livery ftables
of London.

On the contrary, in Devonfhire, Fowls
rooft in the Qool open air -, frequently in
trees; inajlate of nature.

The Fowl, in its native woods, probably,
bred only once a year ; and, of courfe,
produced Eggs at no other feafon -, and, I
think, we may fairly infer, that the nearer
they are fuifered to approach that ftate,
the lefs fruitful they will prove.

district:

DISTRICT THE SECOND.

THE

SOUTH HAMS

O F

DEVONSHIRE.

Introductory Remarks.

THE knowledge which I gained, of this
Diftrid of the West of England,
was collected in paffing through it re-
peatedly, in my journies to and from Weft
Devonfliire ; in an excursion purpofely
made, in the autumn of 1791, to examine
into its Natural Characters, and to mark
how far its Rural Management differs from
that of the Diftrid, which circumftances
had affigned me as my principal ftation ;
and in viewing a part of the Drake
ESTATE, which lies within the South
Hams.

T 2 The

276 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

The EXCURSION was made fromlvv-
B RIDGE, a rich and romantic fituation, at
the foot of the Dartmore mountains, to
MoDBURY, and KiNGSBRiDGE ; thencc
to Tot NESS and its fertile environs : from
thence returning, by a different route, to
Ivy bridge.

In defcribing the Natural Characfters, and
the Outlines of Management, obferved in
this Difhrid:, I fhall, here, as on other oc-
cafions, purfue the method which Nature
^d Science didate.

GENERAL

S O.U T H HAMS. 277

GENERAL VIEW

O F

THIS DISTRICT.

I. SITUATION. The South Hams
form the Southernmoft point of the Depart-
ment of Country, which is the fubjeft of
the prefent Volumes. Its natural
BOUNDARIES areDartmore andtheHeights
of Chudleigh, on the North -, Plymouth
Sound, on the Weft ; and Torbay, on the
Eaft ;— the Englifh Channel fheathing its
Southern point ;— its outline, or figure,
being nearly triangular.

II. EXTENT. Eftimating the bafe of
the triangle at thirty miles, and its perpen-
dicular at fifteen miles, we have an area of
two hundred and twenty five miles ; but
if we include the rich valley of the Dart,
T 3 which

278 DISTRICT.

which runs up towards Afhburton, we may
fet down the extent of the South Hams at
two hundred and fifty fquare miles, or one
hundred and fixty thoufand acres.

III. ELEVATION. The tide flows up
the eiluaries, — with which the Diftrid is
deeply indented on every fide except the
North, — a conliderable way within its
area ; neverthelefs, the tops of the hills, of
which the Diftridl may be faid to be com-
pofcd, are elevated coniiderably above the
Sea. Viewing it with regard to Agriculture,
it is truly an Upland Diftrift. The bolder
fwells, towards the center of it, might be
termed Heights ; although, in comparifon
with the Mountains that overlook them,
they are Hillocks of a pigmy order.

IV. SURFACE. Viewed from even
the midway flages of the Dartmore Hills,
from whence almoft every acre of the South
Hams is diftindly feen, the Surface appears
fiat, or barely furrowed with water courfes,
— a broad flat of marfhes, or an extent of
low vale lands.

But

SOUTH HAMS. ??9

But in croffing the country, the Traveller
finds endlefs difficulties, arifing from the
great inequalities of furface. It is billowy
in the extreme. Some of the fwells are
nearly femiglobular. The South Hams are
the Stroudwater Hills of Gloceflerfhire,
without wood, — or the moil- billowy paf-
fages of the Chalk Hills of Kent or Surrey,
interfedled with hedges. Round Totnefs,
the ground is mofl ftrongly featured ; being
there divided by deep rivered vallies 3 and
between this and the feet of the hills, a
limilar flyle of ridge and valley is obferved;
correfponding with that of the more Wef-
tern Diftrid:.

V. WATERS. The Hills of the South
Hams, as thofe of Well Devonfliire, are
well watered. Springs are feen to pour
forth their limpid rills from the 'fides of the
fwells, and frequently from near their fum-
mits. The waters from thefe fprings col-
left in the vallies, and form rivulets and
minor rivers ; five or fix of which have
their efluaries, advancing fome miles within
the area of the Difi:ri(ft.

T 4 The

zSo DISTRICT.

The Dart is a flream of coniiderable
magnitude. The reft mere brooks, at dead
water ; but fwell into rapid torrents, in the
times of floods. The Yalm, at Ivybridge,
is a mountain torrent of the liril rank.

VI. SOILS. To convey the befl idea,
i am able, of the foils of this fertile Diftridt,
I will adduce the remarks which were
made, at the diiierent times of examining
them.

Ivybridge to Kinoseridge* The
Soil uniformly fertile. The tops of fome
of the hills are rich grazing ground !
Other hills are leaner and lefs productive.
But I obferved not a field v/orth lefs than
ten or fifteen fhillings, an acre. The whole
ride is worth twenty fhiilings, on a par !
much of it forty ihillings, an acre, to a
Farmer. The hill fides are excellent corn
knd j — the bottoms rich meadows. Some
Mttk red foil is feen, in this ride.

KiNGSBRiDGE TO ToTNESS, The na-
ture and appearance of the country are much
like thofe obferved, between Ivybridge and

Kinglbridge ;

SOUTH HAMS. 281

Kingfhridge ; excepting a high fweil or
fwells, the foil of v/hich is much inferior
to any, in the foregoing I'ide : — The produce
furzey, incHnable to Jicath : one of the
Chudleigh Hills thrown in here. Much
red foil appears in this ride. The water
of the road, in £ome places, red almoil as
blood.

■Environs of Totness. The foil of
•thefe Hills is rich in the extreme, — even
to their very fumniits ! mofl: rich gracing
ground. Autumnal grafs, near a foot long,
now reclining on the ground ; as grofs,
and as darkly green> as the autumnal herbage
of the Vale of Berkley.

Tot NESS to Ivy bridge. The foil
iimilar to that of the central and more
Southern parts of the Diflrid ; . but, on the
whole, not fo ?ood.

IvYSRiDGE, A rich plot of ground to
the Eafl: of the Yalm : — a deep loam on a
fort of gravel : worth, to a Farmer, thirty
or forty {hillings, an acre.

Sherford Estate. The Country Is
at prefent fo completely burnt up, with the

inveterate

2^2 DISTRICT.

inveterate drought of this fummer (1794),
that no accuracy of judgement can be formed
of it. The foil, in general, is evidently of
a fuperior quality. But judging from the
prefent parchednefs of the crops, fome parts
of it are as evidently too fhallow : a defe<ft
which appears to be common to moft of the
lands of the South Hams.

General Observations. From the
fum of thefe particulars, it is evident, that
the South Hams, with refpedt to foil, ranks
high am-ong the fertile Diilridis of this
Ifland. There are very few, of equal extent,
to place in competition with it.

Vil. SUBSOILS. In the South Hams,
as in Weil Devonfliire, slatey rock,
^j^^ SLATE-STONE RUBBLE, are the pre-
vailing Subfoils : vvith, however, a few
variations in the former, v/hich are not ob-
fervable in the latter. A vein of lime-
stone runs along the Northern margin of
the South Hams ; and, in different parts of
its area, a- deep red ochery loam is ob-
fervable ; and, at the foot of Dartmorc, a
fort of gravel is met with. But thefe

variations

SOUTH HAMS. 283

variations are only incidental ; and it may
be faid of this Diftrid, as of Weft Devon-
fhire, that its lands are clean and found,
adapted either to corn or grafs ;— inclining
towards the extreme of abforbency, rather
than to that of retentivenefs.

VIII. TOWNSHIPS. Some of thofe
on the Northern margin of the Diftrid, at
the feet of the Dartmore Hills, are very
extenfive : a circumftance which has pro-
bably arifen from the unreclaimed ftate of
their lands, at the time they were diftributed
into Townfhips. But the more remarkable
circumftance of the lands of the area of the
Diftrid — of lands fo dry, rich, and habitable
as thofe of the South Hams — lying in
Townftiips above the ordinary iize, mav be
more difficult to be accounted for, Per-
haps, the beft reafons that can be afligned
for it are, their having been kept long in a
ftate of open pafture, as their name would
feem to import they were ^ and, in courfe^
their prefent ftate of inclofure and culti-
vation being of comparatively modern
dat?.

IX. TOWNS,

2^4 b I ^ T R I C f .

IX^ TOWNS^ Sec. Plymouth and
its Environs have the fame influence on the
Weftern point of the South Hams, as they
have on Weft Devonfhire. And the fea
port of Dartmouth draws off feme parfc
of the produce of tlie Eaflern quarter.

The more inland market Towns are:
ToTNESS, Plymptoi;, Modbury, and
King SB RIDGE : with feveral confide rabie
Villages.

X. INLAND Nx4 vTGATION. The

Eiluaries, which have been m^ntionedj
afford convenient paifage to fmall veiTels ;
and, perhaps* precl.ade the ufe of Canals,
while the Country remains in its prefent
Hate. From Kingibridge, confiderable
quantities of corn and cider are laid to be
flipped off. Small mafl veffels reach
/Xotncis. And Aunton Gifford, a finely
fi^xiated Village, has its Eff uary ; whicli,
hovv^cver, like the reft, is ilirinking from the
ipot, vA%re in much probability, it for-
xn-srly gave rife, to the Village or Town,
whkh. it has nqw deferted. But fome rich
p:arfli lands, which it has left in its ftead,
^ore perhaps than rccompenfe the lofs.

XL ROADS.

SOUTH H'A i\r S, 23s

XI. ROx\PS.. On the Roads, as on the
Soils, of the South Hams, I will tranfcribe
the extemporary remarks which I find in
my journals.

ExETr.R TO Plymouth, The Road,
though generally too narrow, is in many
parts exceedingly well formed, and well
kept. The materials blue marble, and a
hard rufl-colored ftone. In fome places,
the barrel of the Road might be termed the
fegment of a marble cylinder. But the
lofty hedges, on either fide, are not only in-
tolerable nuifances to the Traveller, whom
they feclude ; but, in many parts, are in-
jurious to the Road. The Magiflrates have,
therefore, a double motive for enforcing the
law ; fo far, at leaft, as to flrike off the fide
boughs which contrail the lanes, and over-
fhadow the Road 3 and, in fuitable parts, as
at the more abrupt bends, to keep the brufli-
wood down to the banks ; — at once to let
in currer^ts of air, to dry the road when wet,
and to blow off the dufi: when dry ; and, at
the fame time, to difclofe the beauties of
their Country to thofe who travel through
it. Befide, by obliging thejr tenants to

prune

286 DISTRICT.

prune the hedges of the Roads, they, might
fee the utility of the pra(flice, and might be
induced to extend it to Farm fences in

general*.

IvYBRIDGE TO KlNGSBRIDGE. The

K.oads are moil intricate j num.erous, nar-
row, and crooked -, and rendered fnnilar in
their appearance, by the fame tall banks,
and taller hedge wood, which are common
to the Diftrid ; and this without guide pofts
to afTift the Granger : efpecially in the bye
roads, where they are the moil wanted.
They are likewife moft unlevel,— braving
the fleep, where fide -long roads would be
equally near.

Environs of Totness, The private
Roads, to grounds, how fleep ! ftraight in
the face of the fleepefl part of the hill !
Firil, no doubt, foot paths ; ilill horfe paths.
Some of them too fleep, even for fledges.

Totness to Ivybridge, The Roads
much better laid out in this, than in the
other rides. They frequently lead along
the tops of the hills, and wind acrofs the
vallies. There is much level road, and

little
* See the Minutes on this fubjccl.

SOUTH HAMS. 287

little that is fleep. This is a proper pattern
for the other Roads of the South Hams ;
though it could not be followed in all.
The materials flone j beaten tolerably
fmall,-— and covered, when freili laid on,
with earth or rubbiih, to foften and bind
the rough materials. The almoil only in-
ftance I have met with, in common pradice,
of this moil: eligible method.

XII. STATE OF INCLOSURE. The

entire Diflricft, fome fmall plots excepted,
is in a ftate of permanent inclofure ; and
moftly in well fized fields, with flraight
fences ; except againft public lanes ; which
are in general winding ; as if they had been
formed to inclofe fuch fortuitous roadways,
as we fee deviating acrofs forcils, and other
open commonable lands : a fa6t which
renders it highly probable, that the Diftrift
was inclofed from a flate of common paf-
ture ; or from a ftate of paflure lands inter-
mixed with temporary arable inclofures ;
fuch as have been already particularly
noticed *.

XIII. HEDGE^

* See Page 32,

s.%t DISTRICT.

XIII. KEDGEROVv^S. The Dan-.
MONi AN Fence is comrnor. to the South
Hams. High mounds farmounted by
Coppice wood. Not a Hedgerow Tree or
a Pollard in a hundred fquare miles I As
naked of Hedge Timber, as the recently
inclofed lends of Leicefierfliire. Perhaps
the fea air is an enemy to Hedgerow Trees,
Or the high mounds of this Country are not
fit ta receive them . Or the life-leafe tenure
has an interefl: in preventing their riling,

XIV. PRESENT PRODUCTIONS.
Along the Northern margin of the Diftri(ft,
and on the fleep rugged hanks of the Dart»
Plots of Woodland are obfervable. But
fpeaking generally of the South Hams of
Devonshire, they may be faid to be deftitute
of wood ; except what grows on the Hedge
banks. Yet the fuel of the Country is
wood ; and it is, I believe,, abundantly fup-
plied with that neceffary article, from its
Hedges : a circumftance which would no
longer appear extraordinary, if we were to
calculate the proportional quantity of the
lands of the Diftrict, which they occupy.

The

SOUTH HAMS. 289

The Produce of its Is^arm lands varies
in different parts of the Diftridt. Not only
the bottoms or coombs, in every part, arc
kept in a ftate of permanent grafs ; but, iri
fome parts, the fides, and even the fummits,
of the fwells, particularly about Totnefs,
are preferved in the fame flate. And al-
though I obferved no extenfive plots, of
fuch lands, as there are about My Iton Abbots
and Lamerton ; yet, perhaps, taking the
Diftrid: throughout, the proportion of per-
manent grafsland, in the South Hams> is
fequal to that, in Wefl Devonfhire.

XV. THE APPEARANCE OF THE
COUNTRY. Notwithflanding the ex-
traordinary beauty of the ground, or natural
furface, of this Diflridl, it is far from being
rich in pidiurable fcenery. Square fields,
and flraight lines of Hedgewood, how pro^
fitable foever they may be to the Farmer,
and pleafurable to a mind reflecting on their
utility, — are not grateful to an eye, viewing
them in the light of Ornament.

This, however, apphes mofl clofely to
the area, or more central parts, of the South

Vol. I. U Hams.

2^6 DISTRICT;

Hams. The Northern margin is finely
diverlified. In the valley of the Dart, about .
Totnefs, the views in every direction are
fine. Gompofitions the mod ftriking might
here be caught. Belov/ Kingfbridge too, .
the fcenery is fine. And from Modbury
Church, in the area of the Diilridt, fome
lovely views are feen : winding coombs,
backed by the rugged fcenery of the Nor-
thern margin,, and diftanced by the moun- ;
tain heights of Dartmore. But an eye
delighted with the wilder fcenery of nature, .
will find, on the banks of the Yalm, above
and below Ivybridge, the fulleft fcope
for its gratification.

• XVI. TENANCY. Lifelcafehold is
the prevailing Tenure, or Tenancy, of the
South Hams, as of Weft Devonfliire.

XVII. POOR'S PvATE. An evidence
of the mifchiefs which manufactures
are capable of entailing on Agriculture,
ftands confpicuous, at pre fent, (1791) iii
this Biftri^t.

Some years finc-e^ a woollen manufa(fi;ory.

SOUTH HAMS. 291

bf confiderable extent, was fet on foot, at
Modbury, and carried on with fpirit, and
with fuccefs to the individuals who profe-
cuted it. But their end being anfwered,
the manufadure ceafed, and all the vice
and debility, which it had drawn together,
were left as a load upon the parifli. The
confequence of which is, I am informed,
the Occupiers of Lands, within the Town-
fhip of Modbury, are now paying five {hil-
lings in the pound, to the poor, while thofe
of the furrbunding pariflies, do not pay two
ihillings.

U -i THE

i9l A G R I C U I, T U R Ec

THE

AGRICULTURE

THIS DISTRICT.

t FARMS. Mofl of the charac-
teristics of the Farms, of the South
Hams, appear in the foregoing Remarks,
on the prefent flate of the District a^
large.

The SI2ES of Farms, here, are various 5
the South Hams refembHng, in this and
other refpeds, the more Weflern parts of
this quarter of the County. Fifty pounds,
a year, rack rent, is efteemed a middle-iized
Farm. One hundred pounds, a year, a
full-fized one.

II. FARMF.RS. In a Country which
Is principally divided into fmall Farms, it

would

SOUTH HAMS, 3^93

would be unreafonable to look for many of
that valuable order of men, who are ufually
ftyled CAPITAL Farmers. At the fair
of Plympton, or at the market of Kingf^
bridge, I faw no appearance of men of this
rank in fociety. Neverthelefs, men of en^
lightened minds are familiarly fpoken of.
Indeed, from fome modern improvements,
which will appear in this detail, to have been
introduced into the Diflrid:, we might fafely
conclude, without other evidence, that it
pofTefles men, who think for themfelves,
and ad without the authority of their an^
ceflors,

III. BEASTS OF LABOR . Thefe are
Oxen, Horses, and Asses : the laft being
not uncommonly ufed for pack loads.

The PLOW TEAM is four or fix oxen j
or four light, or two heavier oxen, with two
horfes before them ; or three, or in fome
inftances, two horfes, — with a boy, or a
man, to drive, or lead them !

AROADTEAMldo not recoUed to have
feent out of the public road, between Exeter
^nd Plymouth : and very few in it. Pack

U 3 HORSES,

294 AGRICULTURE.

HORSES, I believe, are the prevailing, or
univerfal, means of transfer, whether of
produce, of manure, or of materials in ge-
neral.

IV. IMPLEMENTS. The waggon
and the cart may be faid to be wanting,
in the South Hams ; which, in this parti-
cular, appears, from everything I have feen
and heard, to be behind Weft Devonfliire.
I have {ten building ftones carried on horfe-
back along the fineft road in the kingdom ■,
clofe by the fide of which they were raifed;
and conveyed to a neighbouring town,
through which the road pafTes.

In the PLOW of this Diftrid, I obferved
no deviation from that of Weft Devonftiire ;
except in the addition of a foot, in one or
more inftanceSo

V. MANAGEMENT OF FARMS.
The only obfervable deviation, in the gene-
ral management of the South Hams, from
what may be ftyled the genuine Danmo-
NiAN HUSBANDRY, lies in the proportion
pfcorn crops to temporary ley grounds, 0.1

the

SOUTH HAMS. 295

the lands that arc fubjefted to an alternacy
of corn and grafs.

In Welt Devonfhire, the regular diftri-
bution has been broken, in fome fort, by
the introdu(§tion of Turneps and Pota-
toes *. In the South Hams, the breach
has been made ftill wider, by the intro-
duction of CLOVER LEYS P^OR WHEAT,

and the practice of fowing wheat after

TURNEPS.

How long thefe pra^flices have been in-
troduced, I did not learn. But from their
not having \et reached the more Weftern
Diiiriifl:, they are probably of modern date.
And although I obferved them in feveral
inftances, they are probably not yet intro-
duced into the ordinary m^inagement, even
of this Diftrid.

The Crops of the South Hams are the
three corn crops of Wheat, Barky, and
Oats. The Fulfes are fparingly, if at all,
cultivated in the Diftrid:. Beans, at leafl,
are imported, in quantity. Some Turneps,
a few Potatoes, and cultivated herbage^
form the reft of its arable crops,

U 4 YL MA-

* See Page ^37..

296 AGRICULTURE.

VI. MANAGEMENT OF SOILS,
Nothing ftruck me, in this department of
management, as differing from the pradiice
of Weft Devonfhire. The fame veiling,
burning, and one plowing of 4ey grounds
for Wheat and Turneps are obfervable :
with, however, in fome cafes, an additional
fpecies of tillage, which, though partially
ufed, throughout this quarter of Devon-
fhire, did not fall under my infpedlion, in
the more "Weflern Dillri<!l.

This operation in tillage, has for fome
length of time, I underftand, been prac-
tifed here, under the ludicrous name of
** tormenting." It is performed with a
suBPLOw* of many fhares, which are
fixed in a triangular frame, fupported by
wheels ; thefe fhares, or fub-hoes, working
a few inches beneath the furface.

The onlyinilance, in which I particularly
examined it in ufe^ was on a ley ground
which had been veiled Sec. for Turneps, to
IpG fown on one plowing : the tormenting
being done previoully to the plowing -, for

which

» Sec Minutes of Agriculture, in SurreYq

SOUTH HAMS. 497

which it is an admirable preparation 5 as
not only feparating the rpots of weeds, but
breaking the foil, and rendering it the
more obedient to the harrow. As a prepa-
ration for Wheat, to be fown under fimiiar
circumftances, the operation feeips to be
equally eligible.

VII. MANURES. The fame manures,
^d the fame management of them, are
common to the South Hams, and to Weft
Devonfhire. The ufe of sea sand is faft
declining. Lime is in full repute, and is
managed, I believe, without deviation,
agreeably to the method which has been
defcribed. And beat burning, though
prohibited by fome, is flill in high efti,
mation.

VIII. WHEAT. A NEW variety of
Wheat has lately been raifed in this Dif-
tri<^, and is likely to become a favorite
fort*. This improvement^ having been

made

* For an accurate method of raising varieties of
Wheat or other gram, fee York. Econ. Vol.11. P. 4*

298 AGRICULTURE.

made by a Farmer, or a Farmer's fon, and
adopted by profeffional men, is a ftrong
evidence that the bonds of prejudice are at
length broken.

Succession. Burnt ley ground appears
to be ilill the prevaihng matrix for Wheat,
But, as has been mentioned. Clover leys,
and i'urficp lands, are now more or lefs
fo\Yn with this crop.

The TIME OF SOWING. In going over
theDiHrid, in the latter end of Odober,
I had an opportunity of obferving this par-
ticular. Sowing was then commencing.
But, in generai, the lime and earth ftill re-
mained, in roof heaps, unfprcad : and, in
many places, among Turneps, uneaten off.
Some Clover leys v^^ere then breaking up ,
and, in one or two inflances, men and
women were hacking over the plowed
ground, to receive the feed*. November
is probably the principal feafon of fowing.
But it is thought "very well if they finifh
by Chriftmas." Can this be right? Is
th^ practice peculiarly adapted to the cli-

mature

■? See P. 1 89,

SOUTH HAMS. 299

mature of the South Hams ? Or is it pur-
fued, to counteraa: the fouhiefs of the
foil * ? Or is it merely a bad praftice,
that wants to be improved ?

IX. TURNEPS. In the South Hams,
as in Weil Devonfhire, Turneps are ftill
univerfally grown, after temporary Ley;
except a few that are fown in autumn, on
Wheat flubble. I met with no inftance,
nor could I hear of any, in which they were
fown after Wheat or Oats, of the preceding
year, agreeably to the prevailing pradice of
England.

Nor did I fee or hear of an inflance, in
which Turneps were cleaned, and fet out at
fuitable diflances, with the hoe, as in that
practice.

X. GRASSLANDS. The species of
Grafsland, here, as ih the more Weilern
Diftrid, are

Mowing grounds, or meadows ; which are

partially

* Wheat fl ubbles, in general, were then in full herbage.

300 AGRICULTURE.

partially watered, throughout the Dif*
Iria: ;

Grazing grounds y or rich upland paflures 5
which were remarked, more particularly,
aboi^t Ermipgton, Aunton, and Kingf-
bridge ; and, moil efpecially, about Tot-
nefs ; and

Fcfiure grounds, or the ordinary tempo-^
fary leys of the Danmonian hufbandry.

In the MANAGEMENT of Grafslands, I
perceived nothing which gave me reafon to
apprehend, that it diifers from that of
West Devonshire.

XL ORCHARDS, &c. This is the
principal fruit-liquor Difcri^l of Devon*
ihire. But, as I had fo favorable an oppor-
tunity of making myfelf mailer of the
Devonihire praftice, in the place of my
refidence *, I had the lefs pccaiion to attendl
to it, in the South Hams : whofe pra<5tice,
from what I faw of it, is the fame as that of
Weil Devonihire ; except in the greater

atten-

» See Note, Page 2 j 4»

SOUTH HAMS. 301

attention which is paid, in the former, to
the procefs of fermentation. But the Here-
fordfhire prad:ice being flill far fuperior, irt
this refpedt, to that of South Devonfhire ;
and having already given an a:mple and,
I beheve, an accurate detail of that pradice,
it is the lefs neceflary to refume the fubjed:,
in this place.

In the proportionate quantity of or^
CHARD GROUNDS, the South Ham«, in like
manner, refembles the Weft of Devonfhire.
A ftranger, in riding acrofs the country,
would not fufpedt it to be a fruit-liquor
Diftrid. None of fuch extenfive plots of
orchard ground, as meet the eye, in tra-
velling through Herefordfhire, &c. and in
fome parts of Kent, are feen in South De-
vonfliire. Neverthelefs, the farms being
fmall, and each having its Orchard, the
^gg^^g^te quantity is confiderable. The
trees being low, and confined chiefly to the
vallies, and perhaps overtopped by tall
hedgerows, account for the little fhow they
make.

A minutia of pradice in the disposal of

APPLES,

-di AGRICULTURE.

:>

APPLES, for houfhold purpofes, may not be
too trivial to notice. In the ordinary prac-
tice of the kingdom, they are fold by
meafnre : but, here, not unfrequently by
number : a fhilKng a hundred being ef-
teemed a moderate price.

XII. CATTLE. The brsed is that
of Devonjhire : excepting a few, in the
hands of individuals, o^ the fiort horned
breed *.

The South Hams is not emphatically a
BREEDING Diftrid:. Corn rather than
Cattle appears, to a flrangcr paffing through
the Country, to be the principal objed: of
the Farmers of the South Hams. Many
of the working Oxen, that are feen in this
Diftrid, are doubtlefs purchafed of the
Moorfide Farmers -f-.

XIII. SHEEP. 1 obferved fome con-
flderable flocks, on the Weft fide of the
Diftrid j and fmallcr parcels on the Eaft.

The

* Sec MiN. 5.
4 See Page 245.

SOUTH HAMS. 303

The BREED varies as to head. On the
Eaftfide of the DiHria, particularly about
Totnefs, I obferved a thick-carcafed, long-
wooled kind, uniformly polled, and with
mottled or grey faces *.

*■ See Page 260.

A retrospective:

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE. 305

RETROSPECTIVE VIEW

OF THE

RURAL ECONOMY

OF

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE.

I

N .taking the foregoing View of the
South Hams and its Rural Manage-
ment, fome reflections have arifen, which
it might be wrong to fupprefs.

Viewing its ftate of hufbandry, in the
aggregate, and including the modern im-
provements of individuals, it approaches
nearly tp the medium of that of the king-
dom at large. The permanent grafslands
appear to be moftly well kept, and are
jnany of them partially watered : and the

Vol. I. X lands

p6 RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF"

lands fubje(!^edto aration are not ftriklngly
foul ; nor do they appear, fuperficially , to
be greatly in want of tillage.

Neverthelefs, one who has been aecuf-
tomed to the more fertile parts of Norfolk,
of the Midland Counties, and of other fer-
tile and well cultivated Diflrids, — and to
obferve, in the autumnal months, the
plenty which everywhere prefents itfelf,
— the fpacious barn, and well ftored rick
yard, with herds and flocks feen in every
diredlion,' — is ftruck with the apparent de-
ficiency of produce, whether of corn or of
cattle, in travelling over the South Hams,
at the fame feafon.

This apparent deficiency, is no doubt,
in a "confiderable degree, owing to the
fmalinefs of the farms, and to the farm-
il:eads being much fecluded in the vallies.
But iimilar appearances are obfervable, in
the fairs and markets of the Diftrid. And
I am of opinion^ that its produce, at prefent,
is far from being adequate to its natural
advantages.

Viewing the Diftrid: of the South Hams,
'and its present state of husbandrv,

m

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE. 307

tn the detail ; a few modern improvements,
— chiefly perhaps of individuals, — only ex-
cepted ; they perfectly agree v^^ith thofe of
WestDevonshire. In soil, surface,
and ESTABLISHED PRACTICE, they may
well be confidered as the same Dis-
trict; and the following remarks are
applicable to the whole of the inclofed lands
of

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE.

IT rriay be right to premife, that, not-
withftanding the apparent deficiency, in
refped; to produce, the lands of South De-
vonfhire pay a rent, equal to what would be
efteemed their fair value, in better culti-
vated Diftridts. This feemino; contra-
didlion is to be reconciled, by the circum-
ftance of the Danmonian prad:ice having
no high-fed horfes to fuppOrt ; — by the
lownefs of wages, and by the frugality of
living, among working farmers ;— by a
ready market and i;nuch water carriage ;—
and, ftill more, by the favorable circum-
X 2 ftance

^8 RETROSPECTIVt: VIEW OF

ilance of liir.e being freely ufed, on a foil
th^r is not -vet faturated with the calca-
reous principle.

Among the numerous IMPROVE-
MENTS, of which this Diviiion of the
W.eft of England is fuiceptible, the f<>llow-
ing have occurred to me, in taking aretro-
4pe<Stiye iviev/ of tlie foregoing regiilers of
its prefent pra(ftice. Many of them are
noticed in thoiJe regifters. But I think it
right to bring the whole togetlier here, for
the greater eafe of thofe, who may be
dlfpofed to promote the profperity, of this
favored part of the liland.

In the FOP.M OF farm yards much is
to be done ; efpecially in providing proper
receptacles for dung ; to prevent its moil:
valuable parts from being diffipated. In
fome fev/ cafes, I have feen the water, from
dung yards, led over grafslands. But unlefa
a refePv'oir be formed, to colled: fuch water,
in order to throw it over the land, in a.
large body, its eftccls are very confined and
inconfiderable. For hints on this fubjedt,
fee the clofe of the following Minutes.

In the MANAGEiMtNT OF HEDGES, I

am

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE. 309

2m of opinion much improveicaent maybe
made, by pruning the fides, fo as to prevent
their drip and fhade from deftroying the
under growth of the mounds, and the crops
on either fide of them ; as well as to pro-
mote the upward tendency and ftrength of
the wood, which grows on the tops of the
mounds ; whofe furfaces, being limited,
can only throw out a certain quantity of
produce ; and it is but reafonable to con-
clude, that fo much of the nourifliment, as
is fuffered to be expended on the fpreading
outfide bouo^hs, is loll to the more ufeful
ftems, which rife upon the top. See the
Minutes, on this fubjed.

A proper form of a li:ase, for a term
of years, appears to be much wanted ; ilich
a form as will encourage improvements,
and give encreafmg value to eftates ; — in-
ftead of that which is at prefent in ufe.
The modern forms of Norfolk, York-
3111RE, and the Mipland Counties, will
furnifh hints on this important part of the
management of landed property *".

X 3 In

* See ^hofe FprrnSj in their rcfpectivc Rcgifters,,

3IO RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF

In the application of lands to their fitteft
ufes, fomething remains to be done. There
are many fites which would pay for p l a n t-
ING, and fome, which are are now in a
flate of woodland, that would pay for
CLEARING. See page 59.

In the MANAGEMENT OF TIMBER,

there is room for much improvement. See
page 88.

The USE OF WHEEL^ CARRIAGES may
be profitably extended to many of the farms,
both of the South Hanis, and of the more
Weftern Diftrids.

The ordinary PLOW of thefe Diftrids is
fufceptible of very eilential improvement :
^nd the turn wrest plow would be
found highly ufeful, in , cultivating the
fteeper lands of this broken hilly country.

But the greateft improvement, which
thefe Dillri(5ts appear to be capable 'of re-
ceiving, lies in the succession of arable
CROPS. The prefent practice of taking
three corn crops in immediate fucceffion,
as well as the paucity of tillage which the
land receives for thefe three crops (and
even perhaps the ineffedive form of the

plow ! )

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE. 311

plow !), doubtlefs arofe from the difficulty
which was experienced, at the time this
pradice was eftabliihed, in the RENEWAL
OF THE SWARD, after fallows, pulfe
crops, or more efficient tillage. Even the
pra(f^ice of drawing the weeds of Turneps,
inflead of cutting the grourid over with the
hoe, may have originated in the fame ex-
perience.

But ROW, that the art of CULJIVx^-
TING SV/ARD is known, and pradifed,
fuch a mode of procedure is become im-
proper : for the cleaner the foil, and the
finer the tillage, with the more certainty
and effec!^ may fv/ard be cultivated.

In the Midland DiHrict, where the foil
is retentive of moiflure, and where the Tur-
nep crop, and breeding flocks of flieep, are
lefs eligible, than they are, on the abforbent
foils of Devonfhirc, there is a better plea
for perfevering in a fimilar practice. See
Mid. Econ. Vol.1. P. 186, and the Mi-
nute there referred tO; alfo Vol.1. P,
195 : where the reader may find this inte-
feilingfubjec^^l difculTed.

In the MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL,

X 4 very

312 RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF

very much requires to be done. The firfl
flep is to clear it from obftruftions of the
plow ; and the next to refcue it from the
dominion of weeds, to which much of it
may well be faid to be, at prefent, fubjecfL.
In other words, it requires to be WHOLLY
RECLAIMED from a ftate of nature and
negledl.

This reclaim is to be effecfted, by FREE
CLEAN FALLOWS i or FALLOW
CROPS, whether of roots, herbage,
or PULSE; according to the circumfhances
of the refpedtive lands, and the ftate of
foulnefs in which they are found.

Another obvious improvement, in the
foil procefs, is that of driving two oxen,
with WHIP R e I N s , in all the lighter works
of tillage ; carrying a width of plit or plow-
flice, in proportion to the ftate of the foil,
and the ftrength of the animals.

For inftances in which thefe improve-
ments v/cre carried into effed, fee the fol-
lowing^ Minutes.

An evident and great improvement, in

the FARMYARD MANAGEMENT, is that

of bottoming the dung yard with mold : a

pra(^ice

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE. 313

pra(ftice by which a rich fource of manure,
for grafsland, is obtained, without lofs of
dung to the arable crops : or, if the mold
be mixed up with the dung, in the fpring,
a moft valuable compoft is formed, fit, in
the courfe of the year, for any purpofe of
Agriculture j and this at the trifling coft of
eolle(fting the materials ; which may fre-
quently be done, by means of back carriage ;
and always at leifure times.

It is at leaft an objetfb of experiment, in
this uncertain climature, to try the effecl^s
of EARLY SOWING, on clcan reclaimed
land.

The prefent method of setting up
Wheat, in the flubble, in this country, is
very ineligible, cqmpared with that of the
North of England. See page 170.

In the harvesting of barley and
oats, efpeciaily in a wet and backward
feafon, the prad^ice of the Northern Pro-
vinces would, I am of opinion, be found
very advantageous. See page 175.

The WINNOWING MILL requires to be
introduced, forthwith, into general prad:ice.

The turnep CROP of this country is,

at

3x4 RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF

at prefent, difgraceful to Englifli Agri-
culture. The pradice of Eail Norfolk is
perhaps the befl which this Diftrid could
adopt. For a minate detail of that prac-
tice, fee the Rural Economy of Nor-

POLK.

In the M AN AGEMEISTT OF LEY grounds,

fomething is evidently requifite to be done :
many of them, at prefent, are fliamefully
unprodudive. If the Norfolk plan of
management were wholly adopted, and the
duration of the leys confined to one whole
year, fowing them with Wheat the fecond,
they might with ftrid: propriety be mown
for hay, the iirft year. But fhould they be
continued, as at prefent, in pafture grounds,
during five, fix, or feven years, every eiforE
ihould be made, to prevent fo ruinous an
operation from b?ing necefiliry -, or, if it
cannot be wholly prevented, its injury
ihould be rendered as light as poflible, by
mowing early, before the taller herbage has
had time to deftroy the. undergrowth, and
injure its own roots. See the Minutes.

The quantity of WATERED grassland
may doubtiefs be much encreafed , aild the

prefent

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE. 315

prefent pradice of watering be very much
improved.

Some confiderable portion of the prefent
ORCHARD GROUNDS, it is Very probable,
may be converted, profitably, into v^^atered
mowing grounds. And manyunproducltive
fites be converted, with ftill greater profit,
to Orchard grounds. See page i j 5.

In the treatment of the prefent Orchards,
one improvement is mcfl obvious ; name-
ly, that of training up the trees, in fuch a
manner, that yearling cattle may pafture
■ among them, during fummer; and Sv^^ine,
the year through ; except during the ga-
thering feafon. In the pruning and clean-
ing of Orchard trees, there is likewife full
fcope for improvement.

To the MANUFACTURING OF CIDER,

the Devonfliire Orchardmen m.ight bend
their attention with profit, by turning their
produce to the beft advantage. Their foil,
apd their climature, efpeciaily in a mode-
rately dry fummer, are more friendly to the
^pple, than thofe of Herefordfliire or Glo-
cefterfhire. And, were the arts of manu-
facture as well underflood, here, us in the

May-

3i6 RETROSPECTIVE VIE vV OF

Mayhill Diftriv^t, I am of opinion, that the
cider of Devonfliire would outrival that of
Hereford/hire, at the London market *.
However, while cider remains a mere ar-
ticle of beverage, at the tables of thofe who
indulge their palates-, there is lefs en-
couragement to excellency of manufafture,
than there would be, were it failiionable,
as a fubiHtute for wine.

The South Devonfliire Hufbandmen,
however, have an objecl of iniprovemcnt
lying open before them, which will repay
tliem, ten fold, for their attention, compared
\yith any advantage that can arife from their
Orchard grounds, or their fermenting
rooms. This important obje<^ of their
attention is the breeding pf livestock;
whether Cattle, Sheep, or Swine.

I am of opinion, that the rental value of
the lands, of this part of the County, may be
encreafed, exceedingly, by a due attention
to the improvement of thefe three fpecies
pf doniefi:ic animals, only. And feeing the

facility

* For a minute detail of the Herefordrhire pradiccj
fee the Rural Economy of Gjlocestershire,

SOUTH DEVONSHIRE. 317

facility with which it may be effecfted,—
iince there are fuperior breeds, of cattle
and flieep at leaft, within the limits of the
County, — there remains no color of excufe
for delaying fo valuable an improvement.

Finally, I will beg leave to fuggeft, in
addition to the hints v/hich are here confi-
derately oii'ered, that if the Gentlemen of
this Country, who have lately formed them-
felves into a Society, for the purpofe of
promoting its Agriculture, will affiil: the
PROFESSIONAL part of their Countrymen,
in the eflabiiihment of substantial
PRACTICES, inftead of wafling their atten-
tion and fubfcriptions,on theoretic fchemes,
and impradicable fpeculations, their Coun-
try, for ages to come, may have caufe of
gratitude for their patriotic exertions.

A LIST

LIST OF R^TES

I N

WEST DEVONSHIRE.

Buildings*

BLUE Slates, at the quarry, 3s. 6d. a
thoufand j for the ordinary rough un-
drefTed Slates, great and fmall : running
from 4 to 12 inches wide> and 8 to 18
inches long, when drelTed. The large
Eaves Slates— pro vincially ** Rags"— fome
of them two feet fquare, when drefled> are
fold at 28. 6d. a dozen 3 rough, at the
quarry^

The price of " dreffing," or cutting
Slates into the required form, is 2od. a
thoufand.

The

326 A List of rates in

The entire workmanfliip, of dreffing^
pinning, pins, and laying on, in mortar, is
6s. a fquare, of loo fquare feet: without
pins, 5s. 6d. a fquare;

A fquare of Slate roofing takes about
a thoufand Slates.

Oak timber — i5d. a foot.

Afli timber — is. to i4d. a foot.

Lime— 5d. a bufhel.

Mafons' wages— 1 8d. a day, and a qifart
of cider.

Carpenters' wages— the fame.

Woodland Produce.

Cordwood— fee page 95.

Rough Topwood — -prov. " Sheedwood"

(7 feet long, and the thicknefs of the

arm, to that of the thigh) — 3 or 4s.

each 1,00.
Spray Faggots (4 feet long and 3 girt)

1 6d, a dozen to the King's bakehoufes,

&c.

Hub-

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 321

Husbandry,

The year]y wages of fervants are,—

Prinie Men Servants 81.

Second 61.

Women Servants 3I to 3 guineas.

Boys gd. to i ^d. a week.

Day wages : — in winter and fpring, is.
a day ; with a quart of cider, to con-
flant laborers. In hay time, is. with
more liquor. In harveft, i s. with full
board. See alfo page 107.

Mowing meadow grafs — 2s. Clover —
2od. and Corn iSd. the cuftomary
acre * ; with 3 or 4 quarts of cider,
each acre.

Reaping Wheat — 4 or 5s. an acre, with-
out bindin? it.

Thrashing Wheat (in the Devon-
{hire manner fee page 181.) — is. a
" bufhel" of two Winchefler bufliels ;
including the making up and binding
of the reed.

Vol. I. Y Day's

* Customary acre. This ic calculated byperches
of eighteen feet fquare ; being proportioned to the ilatu'.s;
acre, nearly as fix is to five.

322 A LIST OF RATES &c.

Day's work of a packhorfe—- is.

Plowing ley ground— 6s. an acre.

' broken ground — 4s. 6d. an acre.

Agiftment of a cow — 2S. a week.

• of fheep — 2d. or 3d. a head.

, for the winter — 4s.

from Odober or November to Lady-'
day : an extra price, which is owing
to the facility of keeping flieep, in
fummer, on the common and foreft
lands.

FROVINCIALISMS

PROVINCIALISMS

O F

WEST DEVONSHIRE.

A.

APPLE DRONES: wafps (the ordinary
JTV. name).
ARRISHES: ftubbles.
ARRISH MOWS : field flacklets. Sec

Vol. I. page 171.

B.

BALLARD : a caftrate ram.

BARKER : a rubber, or whetftone.

BARTON : a large farm. See page 10 1.

BEAT : the roots and foil lubje6led to the ope-
ration of '^ burning Beat." — See Vol. L
P. 141.

BEATING AXE : fee as above.

Y 2 BEEN:

324 PROVINCIALISMS OF

BEEN : a with, withey, or band : a twilled twig,
BEES CM or BIZZOM {Spar Hum Scoparium) :

the Broom plant: hence a name of the fweep-

ing broom of the houfewife.
BEVERAGE : water cider, or fmall cider.
BLIND NETTLE (Galeopfis tetrahit) : wild

hemp.
BURRDW : a hillock or heap; as « Stone Bur-
rows"— "Beat Burrows:" hence, probably,

Barrow— 'f Tumulus).
BUSS : a grafs calf. See page 249.
BUTT : a clofe-bodicd cart; as dung butt, or

wheel cart ; gurry butt, or fledge cart : ox

b'.:tt ; horff butt.
BUTT LOAD : about fix feams.

C ADDEL (Reracleum Sphondilium) : cow parfnip.

CESS or ZESS : a mow, in a barn.

CHEESE: thepils ofpomage, in making cider,

CLAW-ILL : the foul, In cattle.

CLOUTED CREAM : cream raifed by heat.

COB, or COBWALL : mudwall.

CONVENTIONARY RENTS : the referved
rents of life Icafes.

COOMB : a narrow meadowy bottom ; gene-
rally, or always, between hanging woods.

COURTLAGE : farm yard.

COUSIN-

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 325

COUSIN BETTY : afemale changeling, real or
counterfeit, who goes about the Country, to
excite charity ; as fbe does in Yorkfhirc, —
under the fame name !

CROOKS : a furniture of packhorfes. See page
121.

CROW BAR, or BAR IRE : an iron crow.

CULVERS: pigeons.

CULVER HOUSE : pigeon houfe, or dove cot.

D.

DASHELS (Cardui): thirties (die ordinary

name).
DRAGS : large harrows.
DRAY : a fledge, for light produce, as hay or

ilraw. Q^ A corruption of Draw ?
To DRAW : to carry, or convey, hay or corn,

on a waggon or fledge : mofi; proper. Q^

From dray or draw — a fledge ?
DRUDGE: a large team rake. Seepage 125.

E.

ETH — is in common \\k, as the termination of
the third perfon Angular : hath, doth, arc
alfo in ordinary ufe.

EARTH RIDGES : fee page 158.

EAVER ( LoUum perenne ) : raygrafs.

Y 3 FAIRIES

326 PROVINCIALISMS OP

F.

FAIRIES (pronounced "Vairies"): fquirrels ?

FERN WEB (Scarahaus Hortkola ?) : a fmall
chaffer ; injurious to the fruit of the apple tree,
while very fmall.

FETTERLOCK: fetlock of a horfc ; by cor-
ruption, perhaps, Footlock.

FLAP DOCK (Digit alls purpurea): Fox Glove.

FRENCH NUTS : walnuts.

FRITH: brulhwood.

G.

GALE : a caftrate bull.
GREENSIDE : grafs, turf, greenfward.
GREY BIRD : the thrufh j no doubt, in con-
> tradiftincStion to the Black bird -y both being

birds of fong, and nearly of the fame fize ; a

fimple, apt diftinflion.
GURRY BUTT : dung fledge. See page I2i.

H.

HACK : a one-ended mattock.

HAM TREES : hames.

HAM WARDS : ftraw or rufli collars, for horfes.

HANDBEATING: fee page 142.

HAND-

V/ E S T DEVONSHIRE. 3^7

HANDREAPING: ordinary reaping ; contra-

diftindl from hewing.
HAUL-TO : a three-tined dung drag.
To HEAL : to cover, as with Hates.
HEALING or HELLING : the Hate covering

of a roof i alfo the operation of flating : hence,
HELLIER : a flater.

HERBERT : a cottage garden, or herb garden.
HEWING: a method of cutting wheat. See.

page 1 68.
HINE : bailiff, or farm fteward,
HOG COLTS : yearling colts.
HOGS : yearling fheep.
HOLM (Ilex Aquifolium) : holly.

J.

JUNCATE, or JUNKET : coagulated milk;
eaten in the undifturbed ftate of coagulation ;
with fugar, fpices, and clouted cream.

K.

KEEZER : a fort of fieve.

L.

To LEAD : to carry " trulTes," on horfeback.
See page i6/.

LEAR

328 PROVINCIALISMS OF

LEAR or LEARY : empty j as an unloaded cart

or waggon.
LE AT : an artificial rill, r|vulet, or brook. ' See

Vol. II. p. 269.
LENT ROSE (pi. lentrosen): the Nar-

ciflus, or Daffodil.
LINHAY : an open ihed,

MASTS, or MESS ? Acorns.
MAZED: filly— idiotic.
TO MELL : to mix, as lime and earth.
MORES: roots, whether of grafs or trees (the

ordinary name).
MOCK : pomage, or ground fruit.
MOW : a rick or Hack.
MOWHAY: ftackyard.

N.

NECESSITY: a bafe kind offpirit. See p. 236,
NOT. or KNOT : polled, as flieep.

O.

OAK WEBB (Scarah^iis Melokntha) : the
Chaffer, or Maybug,

To

W E S T D E V O N S H I R E. 329

To, ORDAIN : to order.
ORDAINED : intended (common).
OVERLAND FARM : a parcel of land, with-
out a houfc to it.

P.

PASSAGE: ferry; the ordinary name.
PIKE, PEEK, or PICK : a prong or hay

fork. Q^ Analogous with war pike ?
TO PITCH : to fling fheaves upon a flack or

mow. See page 177,
PLANSHER : a chamber floor.
PLOW : a team of oxen.

PLUM : light and puJfFy, as fome foils'. '

POOK: a cock of hay.

POTWATER : water for houfhold purpofes.
POUND HOUSE : cider manufadory. Sec

p. 228.
POTTS : furniture of pack horfes. See p. 1 22.

R.

RAW CREAM : cream raifed in the natural
way : not " fcalded," or " clouted."

RED HAY : mowburnt hay ; in difl:in-6lion to
" green hay," or h?.y which has taken a mo-
derate heat ; and to " vinny hay," or tha,t
which is mouldy.

R EED : unbruifed ftraw, of wheat or rye.

KOO : rough.

SCALD

330 PROVINCIALISMS OF

S.

SCALD CREAM : cream raifed by heati clouted

cream.
SEAM 1 a horfe load; or three hundred-weights.
SEWL or SULE,— pronounced " ZULE :" a

plow (the only name). See Plow.
SHEEDWOOD : rough poles of top wood.
SHIPPEN : an ox houfe.
SKIRTING : ke page 144.
SKOVES : reaps, (hoves, grips, or bundles, of

corn ; — unbound fheaves.
SLAPDASH : roughcaft, or liquid coating of

buildings.
SLAT AXE : a mattock, with a fhort axe end.
SLIDEBUTT: dungQedge. See gurry butt.
SMALL : low, as the water of a river, &c.
SOUANT: fair, even,rcgular(a hackneyed word).
TO SPADE : to pare, or brcaftplow.
SPARS : thatching rods. ■
SPINE : turf, Ibd, fward.
SPIRE (Jrundo)'. reed.
STAFF: a meafureofninefeet; half a cuflomary

rod.
STEM : the handle of a fork.
STICKLE: fteep, as a road; or rapid,asa{l-ream.
STROLL : a narrow flip of land.

STROYL:

WEST DEVONSHIRE. 331

STROYL: couch, or other weeds » or roots of
weeds : efpecially what harrow up, or rake cut
of the foil J whether in the field, or the
garden.

SURVEY : a fort of audlon. See page 71.

T.

To TILL : to fow and harrow in the feed ; to

feminate.
TONGTREE: the pole of an ox cart, or waggon.
TOR : a ragged pointed hillj as " Brent Tor,"

— « Roo-Tor,"—" High-Tor."
TORMENTING : fub-hoing, or fub-plowing.

See page i^(i.
TRONE : trench or drain.
TRUSSES : bundles of corn or draw, to be

« led" on horfeback. See page 167.
TUCKER: fuller.
TUCKING MILL : fulling mill.
TURF: peat.

V. ^

VAGS : turves, for fuel. C^ A corruption of

Flags ? fee Prov. of Norfolk.
VAT : the bed of the cider prefs.
ToVELL: fee page 143.

VETTY :

332 PROVINCIALISMS, &c,

VETT Y : appofite, fuitable i — oppofed to

Wish.
VINNY : mouldy.
VORRAGE: earth colleded, for " melling" with

lime.

W-

WANTS: moles.

WHITAKER : a fpeciesofquartz. Seepage i6.

WHITE WITCH : a good creature, which has
the power of counteracting the evil defigns of
Black Witches. Such kind Spirits formerly
were found in Yorkfhire : and arc ftill fpoken
of, there, by the fame name !

WISH: inapt, bad, unfit, as "wifli weather", — or
any " wifh thing", — as a ftone, or a piece of
timber, ill fuited to the purpofe for which it is
applied or required (another hackneyed epi-

' thct).

Y.
YOKE of OXEN : a pair of oxen,

END OF THE FIRST VOLUMEc

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