IJSl fjc GENERAL VIEW OF THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK. w ^ k .i;./r .••(o//:'-''Oit,ltl GENERAL VIEW OF THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK DRAWN UP FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT. BY THE SECRETARY TO THE BOARD. LONDON: PRINTED BY B . M A C M I L L A N, PRINTER TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALti; FOR G, NICOL, PALL-MALL, BOOKSELLER TO K!S MAJESTY, AND THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE; AND SOLD BY G. G. AND J. ROBINSON, P ATERNOSTER-ROW ; J. SEVVELL, CORNHILL; CADELL AND DAVIES, strand; W. CREECH, EDINBURGH; AND JOHN ARCHER, DUBLIN. M.DCCXCVII, ^- ADVERTISEMENT. THE great desire that has been very generally expressed for having the Agricultural Sur- veys of the Kingdom reprinted, with the addi- tional communications which have been received since the Original Reports were circulated, has induced the Board of Agriculture to come to a resolution of reprinting such as may ap- pear on the whole fit for publication. It is pro- per at the same time to add, that the Board does not consider itself responsible for any fact or obser- vation contained in the Reports thus reprinted, as it is impossible to consider them yet in a per- fect state ; and that it will thankfully acknowledge any additional information which may still be communicated : An invitation, of which, it h hoped, many will avail themselves, as there is no circumstance from which any one can derive more real satisfaction, than that of contributing, by every possible means, to promote the improve- ment of his Country. N, B. Letters to the Board may he addressed to Sir John Sinclair, Bart, t/ie President, M. P. London. a 3 INTRO- Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2010 witii funding from Researcii Library, Tine Getty Researcii Institute http://www.archive.org/details/generalviewofagrOOyoun INTRODUCTION. I T is not easy to conceive an undertaking more difficult, than to give such an account of a pro- vince, as shall on one hand be minute enough to convey satisfactory information j and on the other, shall not be so minute as to include matter either of insufficient importance, or that is more calcu- lated for a general treatise or report than for a lo- cal and appropriated one. The first edition of this memoir, was drawn up under the idea that the Board of Agriculture wish- ed for such a return from the several counties, as should answer the various purposes, i. of describ- ing the most interesting features of the local prac- tices, and noting the most remarkable deficiencies j the one as an example to other counties, the other for attaining the knowledge that might prove useful to this ; z. of receiving such a re- port of the statistical circumstances of the county, as might enable the Board to combine, from vari- ous sources, the real state of the kingdom. These objedls I fulfilled to the best of my abili- ty, touching very lightly on those articles which must necessarily be common to every county, and dweUing particularly only on such as had something more local in their merit, a 4 Such 'D -VIU INTRODUCTION. Such 1 conceived to be the wish of the Board ; and after above fourscore reports have been re- ceived, I remain clearly of opinion, that this is the true idea of a county report. If I am right in this, any chapter, secftion, dissertation, &c. that might be taken from the account of one county, and with equal propriety inserted in another; or any observations that would come with pecuhar propriety in a general treatise on husbandry, are not properly a part of the return of a particular district. If such a distinftion is not adhered to, the report of a single county might swell into a complete body of husbandry. I trust that those who. may have any opinion of the little talents I possess, will believe that I could have expatiated largely in various divisions of this work ; but 1 am apt to hold, that the next evil to writing badly on a good subject, is at- tempting to w^ite well when the opportunity is improper; and I still conceive, that in treating of any subjeft locally, all general deviations, how- ever ably treated, are liable to the non erat his locus. In the first reports, the surveyors were at liber- ty to make their returns in whatever manner and form they pleased; but since the President of the Board has drawn up and distributed a particular arrangement of the subjects on which he wished for information, and to be adhered to in the cor- rected reports, it has become necessary to cast anew the materials, which will necessarily be fa- vourable INTRODUCTION. IX vourable or the contrary, to the reporter, propor- tionably as the new arrangement coincides with the intelligence afforded by the county. The reader will observe, in various seftions of the fol- lowing papers, treating of pra6tices the same in Suffolk as every where else, that brevity has been the principal objedt in view ; and that the chief additions have been under those heads in which the pradices of the county are not found in many others, as in carrots, cabbages, hemp, the polled breed of cows, he. If in consequence of the Board having surveyed the kingdom, such a prac- tice as cultivating carrots for horses should be es- tablished in other light land distrid;s, and every county contributes some useful pradice in tha same way, there will not long remain any ques- tion of the benefits which have resulted from the institution ; without having in contemplation those greater and more general advantages which must flow from an establishment singularly calcu- lated to dire - - . ^^ 6 Chicory - - - - ib. 7- Hemp i]^ CHAPTER VIIL— GRASS. - - - - - - - 138 Sect, i.— Meadows and Pastures, their Culture ■) and Produce - - _ . j ib. CHAPTER IX.— GARDENS AND OR- CHARDS. 143 CHAPTER X. — WOODS AND PLAN- TATlOxNS. 144 CHAPTER XL— WASTES. '"■""---- 146 Sheep-walks - _ . _ _ g CHAPTER XIL— IMPROVEMENTS. oECT. I. — Uraming ----- ib 2. — Paring and Burning - - _ j5j 3.— Manuring - - - . 165 4.— Irrigation - - . . 1,5 CHAPTER XIIL— LIVE STOCK. ^ - 178 SECT. 14 CONTENTS. PA«S Sect. i. — Cattle - .- - - - 179 2. — Sheep - _ - _ _ 189 3. — Horses . - _ - _ 196 ' 4.— Hogs 199 5. — Rabbits _ _ - - - ib. 6. — Poultry _ , - - - 200 7. — Pigeons _ _ _ _ _ ib. 8. — Bees ----- 201 CHAPTER XIV.— RURAL ECONOMY. ------ - - 202 Sect. i. — Labour ----- ib. 2. — Provisions _ - - - 203 3. — Fuel ----- 204 CHAPTER XV.— POLITICAL ECONOMY. 205 Sect. I. — Roads ----- ib. 2. — Canals _ _ - _ _ ib. 266 — Faii-s ----- 208 — Commerce - - - - - ib. — Manufadtures _ _ _ _ 209 — Poor - - . - - - 21-2 — Statistical Division of the Produce t of Land _ _ - - J 8. — Population - _ _ _ 279 CHAPTER XVI.— OBSTACLES TO IM- PROVEMENT. 289 Game ------ 290 CHAPTER CONTENTS. 15 CHAPTER XVIL— MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 292 Sect, i. — Agricultural Societies - - - ib. 2. — Weights and Measures - - 2Q2 AGRI- AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF SUFFOLK. CHAPTER L GEOGRAPHICAL STATE. SECTION I. SITUATION AND EXTENT. ' Y the new map of Mr. Hodskinson, an oblong of almost unindented form may be measured, of 47 miles long by 27 broad. The land stretching beyond it, in the N. E. and N. W. parts, will more than fill tlie deficiency in the S. W. That form indicates a surface of 1269 square miles, or 812,160 acres. In Templeman's survey from old maps, he makes it 1236 ; but, as he com- puted by geographic miles, his estimation was confessedly erroneous, and of no other use than that of comparing one country with another. Suffolk, therefore, may be com- puted at about 8oq,oqo acres. SECT. II. DIVISIONS. The two grand divisions of the county, are, i. The liberty of Bury St. Edmond's. 2. The body of the coun- ty, as it is termed ; for each of which there is a separate grand jury. The subdivision is into hundreds. A SECT. CLIMATE. SECT. III. CLIMATE, t'T is unquestionably one of the dryest climates in tliC kingdom ; with which circumstance two others unite : the frosts are severe, and the N. E. winds, in the spring, sharp and prevalent. In these northern latitudes, and insular situations, the most humid countries are the most free from frost and snow, till you anive on the western coasts of Ireland, where the rains are incessant, and frost unknown. Severe winters and dry springs have a strong influence on agricuhure : the former render tur- nips a precarious dependence, and the latter lengthen the winter, to the great expence of the keepers of live-stock. On the whole, however, the climate of this county must be reckoned favourable. SECT. IV. — SOIL. 'There is not, perhaps, a county in the kingdom which contains a greater diversity of soil, or more clearly discriminated. A strong loam, on a clay-marl bottom, predominates through the greatest part of the countv, as may be seen by the map annexed ; extending from the south-western extremity of Wratting Park, to North Cove, near Beccles. Its northern boundary stretclies from Dalham, by Barrow, Little Saxham, near Bury, Rough- am, Pakenham, Ixworth, Honington, Knattishal, and then in a line, near the liver wliich parts Norfolk and Suffolk, to Beccles and North Cove ; but every where leaving a slope and vale of rich friable loam adjoining the river, of various breadths. It then turns southward by Wrentham, Wangford, Blithford, Holton, Bramfield, Y oxford, SOIL. 3 Yoxford, Saxmundham, Campsey Ash, Woodbrldge, Culpho, Bramford, Hadleigh ; and following the high lands on the west side of the Bret, to the Stour, is bounded bv the latter river, Avith every where a very rich tra6l of slope and vale from thence to its source. Such is the strong land district of Suffolk taken in the mass ; but it is not to be supposed that it takes in so large an extent with- out any variation : a rule, to which I know few excep- tions, is, that wherever there are rivers in it, the slopes hanging to the vales through which they run, and the bottoms themselves, are of a superior quality, in ge- neral composed of rich friable loams : and this holds even with many very inconsiderable streams which fall into the larger rivers. The chief part of this distridl would in common conversation be called clay, but improperly. I have analvzed many of these strong loams, and found them abounding with more sand than their texture would seem to imply ; so that were they situated upon a gravel, sand, or chalk, they would be called sandy loams ; but being on a retentive clay-marl bottom, are properly, from their wetness, to be termed strong, or clayey loam. The distrifl of rich loam being much less clearly dis- criminated, will leave more doubts on the minds of per- sons acquainted with it. From the river Deben, crossing the Orwell, in a line some miles broad, to the north of the river Stour, to Stratford and Higham, there is a vein of friable putrid vegetable mould, more inclined to sand than to clay, which is of extraordinary fertility : the best is at Walton, Trimley, and Felixtow, where, for depth and richness, much of it can scarcely be exceeded by any soils to be found in other parts of the county, and would rank high among the best in England. As the position Tccedes northward to the line from Ipswich to Hadleigh, it varies a good deal ; in ma^y places it approaches sand, A 2 and 4 SOIL. and in some Is much stronger, as about W'cnliam and Raydon : the general complexion, however, of tiie whole of Samford hundred is tliat of good loam. I was mucii inclined to class the hundreds of Lothingland and Mut- ford, that is, all to the north of a line drawn from Ceccles to Kessingland, in this division of soil ; the rent of much would contirm such an arrangement; but on reconsidL-ring the quality of tlie soil in various parts, and palpable sand so often intervening, especially along the coast, I think ir, upon a general scale, safer to let it pass as part of the sandy maritime districi. Of that distridt I must observe, that my arrangement will startle many persons, who speak of clay in a loose and iiidefinite manner. I was told of large tracls of clay near Pakefield and Dunwich*, and particularly on the farm of Westwood Lodge ; but when I examined them I could not find a single acre : I found rich loamy rirrn sand worth 20s. an acre, but nothing that deserved even the epithet strong. I was assured that there was little or no sand in Colness hundred, w here 1 saw hundreds of acres of buck-wheat stubbles. All these expressions result from the common ideas of soils being not sufficiently dis- criminated. Land of 15 s. or 20s. an acre, in the eastern parts of the county, is never called sand, though deserv- ing the epithet as much as inferior ones. The error has partly arisen from the title of sandlhi^ being given pecu- liarly to the country south of the line of Woodbridge and Orford, where a large extent of poor, and even blow ing sands is found ; but speaking with an attention to the real quality of the soil, and not at all regarding the rent, the * There is not an entire acre of clay near Pakefield or Dunwich; but al- most all the corn lands thereabouts have been made by opening pits, and lay- ing from 60 to i2o loads of clay per acre. That is what in Suffolk is called fhy, though mort properly marl. whole SOIL. 5 wliob of tiie maiicime distrI6l may be termed sandy ; towards the north, much inclinhig, in various parts, to loamy sands, and in others to sandy loams ; but so broken, divided, and mixed with undoubted sands, that one term must be applied in a general view to the whole. This distri6l I take to be one of the best cultivated in England ; not exempt from faults and deficiencies, but having many features of unquestionably good management. It is also a most profitable one to farm in ; and there are few dis- tridls in the county, if any, abounding with wealthier farmers, nor any that contain a greater proportion of occupying proprietors, possessing from one hundred to three and four hundred pounds a year. 'The under stratum of this district varies considerably, but in general it may be considered as sand, chalk, or crng ; in some parts marl and loam. Tlie crag is a singular body of cockle and other shells, found in great masses in various parts of the country, from Dunwich quite to the river Orwell, and even across it in Wolver- ston Park, &c. I have seen pits of it from which great quantities have been taken, to the depth of fifteen and twenty feet, for improving the heaths. It is both red and white, but generally red, and the shells so brokeq as to resemble sand. Oi:^ lands long ip tillr,ge the use is dis- continued, as it is found to make the sands l;/ow more. The western distric^l of sand is a much poorer country, containing few spots of such rich sands as are found on the coast, but abounding largely with warrens and poor sheep-walks : a great deal under the plough blozi's, and consequently ranks among the worst of all soils, black sand on a yellow bottom perhaps excepted. Paits of the distridt take, however, the charadler of loamy sand ; the whole Jungle, for instance, to the right of the line from Barrow to Honington (see the map), in which no blow- A 3 <"S» SOIL. ing, or even very light sand is found. A more striking exception, though of small extent, is found at Mildenhall, where there is an open field of arable land of capital value, dry yet highly fertile, and friable without being loose ; its produ6ts almost perpetual, and its fruitfulness almost un- varied. The under stratum, through almost all the dis- tridl, is a more or less perfecl chalk, at various depths, but I believe uninterrupted ; and it may be received as a rule, that the whole of it, low vales on rivers only ex- cepted, is proper for sain-foin. Of the fen distridl it is only necessary to qbserve, that the surface, from one foot to six, is the common peat of bogs, some of it black and solid enough to yield a considera- ble quantity of ashes in burning ; but in other places more loose, puffy, and reddish, and consequently of an inferior quality ; the under stratum generallya white clay, or marl. Part of these fens is under water, though subjedl to a tax for the drainage, which has failed ; but in Burnt Fen, by a late a£l of parliament for improving the banks, 14,000 acre are completely drained, and under cultivation. SECT. V. MINERALS AND FOSSILS. There are no mines in the county ; nor other fossils connedled with agriculture,- except such as are necessarily mentioned under the titles of soi/ and manure. SECT. VI. WATER. Suffolk may be esteemed a well-watered country : its boundaries to north and south are rivers partly naviga- ble ; ble ; and it is every where irttcrseded by streams which would be invaluable, was that most beneficial of all prac- tices, irrigation, understood : but unfortunately, these waters have from the creation ran in waste, to an incaU culable loss. There are, however, some thousands of acres which might easily, by this improvement, be a^-. vanced to a state infinitely more produdive. A 4 CHAPTER ESTATES. CHAPTER II. PROPERTY. SECT. I. ESTATES. THE State of property in Suffolk mav be considered as beneficial in its division. The largest estate in the countv is supposed not to exceed 8000 or 8500 1. a year ; and it is a singular instance of the rise in the value of land with- in the period of forty or fifty years. There are three or four other estates which rise above 5000 1. a year ; and I have a list of about thirty others which are about 3000 1. a year and upwards. Under this there are numbers of all sizes ; but the most interesting circumstance is of a differ- ent complexion — I mean the rich yeomenry, as they were once called, being very numerous, farmers occupying their own lands, of a value rising from 100 1. to 400I. a year. A most valuable set of men, who, having the means and the most powerful inducements to good husbandry, carry agriculture to a high degree of perfe6lion. SECT. II. TENURES. The great mass of the county is freehold property, but copvholds are numerous, and some of them large. Of college leases, scattered in various pa:ts, nothing par- ticular is to be noted. Under TENURES, Under this head, however, may not be improperly ar- ranged some customs which are very great impediments to the due cultivation of the soil ; these are the rights of commonage and pasture, which exceed tlie ordinary cases. At Troston, on the borders of the western sand district, I found open ticld lands in which the course is one crop to two fallows ; and these consist in leaving the land to weeds for the llork of one farmer, who, by prescription, is tlic only person that can keep sheep in the parish ! Nfothing can be imagined more beggarly than the husbandry and crops on these lands ; the same farmer has even the right of sheep-feeding many of the inclosed pastures and mea- dows after the hay is removed. In return for sucli privi- leges, he is bound to fold a certain number of acres for the other farmers. It is not difficult to trace the origin of such customs ; but wherever found, they ouglu to be abolished, by giving an equivalent. CHAPTER. )^ BUILDINGS. CHAPTER III BUILDINGS. SECT. I. HOUSES OF PROPRIETORS. I WISH It was in my power to Insert an account of houses so singularly adapted to the residence of country gentlemen of a certain property, as to merit a particular attention. This branch of architeflure has been strangely neglc6led : great exertions have been made for the conve- pience of men of large fortunes, but none that are adapted to the mode of living which takes place by reason of smaller incomes. SECT. II. FARM-HOUSES, AND REPAIRS. The farm-houses are much improved within the last twenty years ; but they are still very inferior to what, it is to be hoped, they may become in some future period. They are too often built, even at present, of lath and plaster, which dccaymg in a few years, occasions repairs being so iieavy an article of uedu6lion from the annual receipt of an estate, as to lessen considerably the net profit resulting from landed property. The extent to which this evil operates in the eastern part of the kingdom in general, may be conceived from a curious fa6l ; that the repairs on one estate of about 15,000!. a year, came in eleven years to above 40,000!. This COTTAGES. il This is partly owing to houses, aiul still more, to barns being larger, Ihd more numerous than nccassary ; as the farmers ot tliis county are in respedl of barn-room not easily satisfied. The advantages, and even the mode, of stacking corn, are not well understood. It is very much to be regretted, that the durability of brick and stone, upon comparison of lath and plaster, or wattle and clay, for all buildings, should not induce pro- prietors universally to use those superior materials, and thev would find the dilFerence of expence not material. SECT. III. COTTAGES. Some very resneflable individuals have distlngiushci themselves most laudably, bv building neat and comfortable cottages for the poor ; but such instances are not general, and can only be effected by p-ersons of a certain income ; as unfortunately the rent commonly yielded by them v.ili not pay more than two to four per cent, at the utmost, for the money invested, reduced considerably by repairs, cspc- •cially if of lath and plaster, or wattle and clav. Were the reward of labour sufficient to enable the poor to pav a higher rent for their habitations, it would contribute greatly to the improvement of cottages. In Suffolk, they are in general bad habitations ; deficient in all contrivance for warmth, and for convenience ; the door very generally opening immediately from the external air into the keep- ing-room, and sometimes dlreclly to the fire-side : the -state of reparation bad, and the deficiency of gardens too general. In this respedl, which is nearly connected with the comforts of a poor family, there is a want of at- tention amongst many of the poor themselves ; for I have seea 12 COTTACKS. seen small plots of garden-ground contiguous to their cot- tages, in a wretchedly neglected stat(f ; and in the parish Avhere I live, there is an instance of a cottager who owns his own dwelling, letting about a quarter of an acre con- tiguous to his house to a neighbouring farmer, at the com- jTion value of such land ; yet the man is sober, saving, and industrious. He is, I should apprehend, a bad cal- culator. The general rent of cottages is from 40s. to 3I. with or without a small garden. Mr. Davenport, of Bcirdwell, remarks, " that it must in a pretty good degree benctit the poOr, if their cottages were not to be annexed to the hirer of the farm, but to be let to them immediately by the landlord, or his agent, who must have particular orders for that purpose. The farmer often lets them as dear as he can, and beyond their value, in order to lower his own rent ; whereas the land- lord would let tliem at a proper price, and not suffer the rich farmer to take a mite for his further bulk from the poor starving labourer;" whicli observation is certainly )U$t, and has been well elucidated by the Earl of Win- chilsea, ia his valuable Memoir on Cottages. CHAPTER FARMS. CHAPTER IV. O C C U P A T I O X. SECT. I. Sl^E O^'^-FARMS. THESE, in SufFolk, must, in a general light, be reckoned hrge ; and to that circums:ance, more perhaps than to any other, is to be attributed the good husbandry so commonly found in the county. In the district of strong wet loam, tliere are many small ones from 20 1. to 100 1. a year ; but these are intermixed with others that rise from 150I. to 300 1. and some even niore. In. tiie sand districts they are much larger, many from 300 1. to one of 850 1. or 900 1. ; tiaat of Vv^est Wood Lodge, near Dunwich, in the occupation of Mr. Hewlett, and be- longing to Sir John Blois, Cart, consisting of above 3000 acres, is without exception the finest f.irm in the county. Agriculture is carried on to great perfection, through much of these sand districts, owing not a little to these large occupations in the hands of a wealthy tenantry. But this is a point that calls for an observation relative to (he profit of cultivating different soils, which is, that there is no comparison between the wealth of our farmers on dry and on wet land. On the former, the occupation of a farm of 200 1. or 300I. a year, has been thro^ighout the county, generally found attended with a very handsome profit, visible in various circumstances, and ascertained on the death of the farmers. But on the wet land, thoucrh numbers are very much at their ease, yet the advantages, and X4 FARM?. and fortunes made, have been exceedingly inferior, and mixed witli many instances that will not allow the idea of considerable protits*. Conclusions maybe drawn from this not unimportant : it should seem to mark wjiat 1 have many years observed, that the management of light soils is vastly better understood than that of heavy ones ; and it may possibly be found, that the latter are higher rented than the former, and also the expence of stock and culti- vation much greater. The fa61: is probably owing, also, to the arable land being, on wet soils, in too great propor- tion to the grass f. These are circumstances much de- serving the attention of landlords. In some parts of the county, the farms continue very small. The Rev. Mr. Nesficld, of Wickhambrook, -w-rites me, that " the parish of Wickhambrook contains about 30CO acres of arable and meadow land, besides pasture, of which 1 can give no accurate account. Ir is all strongly inclosed ; the fields in general are exceedingly small, and divided into 59 farms : the largest, including Bansficld-Hall Paik, rated at 133I. per annum ; one at 118I. one at 112I. and one at iiol. ; nine between 6cl. and lool. three at 60 1. The rest are of all sizes, from 60I. down to 5I. per annum.'* * The second solution of this difficulty seems more adequate than the first, though certainly, for a number of years, the management of liglit soils was fcetter mvierstood than that of heavy ones. Yet the considerable improve- meats that have lately been made, give reason to believe that the comparison U-ill not long remain in favour of the former. — Note by y. R. + Notwithstanding this opinion, which is in a great measure well-founded, the constant request frcm the heavy land farmers to their landlords is, to be allowed to break up more land, and they will pay more rent accordingly. — Note. SECT. RENT. SECT. II. RENT. To ascertain as nearly as possible, the rent of land in every county of the kingdom, is an objecl not only of po- litical importance, but of great utility even in an agricul- tural view. In many cases, for want of other authori- ties, the produce of the soil cannot be calculated but by means of tlie fair rent of it* ; and it is unnecessary to ex- plain the variety of lights in which a knowledge of the gross produce is of material consequence, being in truth the greatest and most solid foundation of the national wealth and power. There is, however, some delicacy jaecessary in treating, under the authority of a public board, a subje6l which has been apt to excite jealousies, as if it were possiblie that ascertaining rent was one step to the possible imposition of certain taxes. The idea seems to me unfounded : Government has such a varietv of methods of acquiring knowledge of that naturcj that it could derive very little assistance from any possible enqui- ries made through the medium of a Board of Agriculture. And it might further be observed, in all questions of tax- ation, ascertaining the national amount of any ol)je6l, is of far less importance, than deciding upon the principles and effedt of the imposition, which must ever determine such questions ; and by no means the facl of a rental being 20 or 26 millions, or any other sum to be supposed. In an agricultural light, a knowledge of the rent is an essential article, for there are low rents paid by certain modes of management, with more difficulty to the tenant than would attend much higher ones, under a change of con- dufl. Such a ditFerence is a very strong argument, ap- plicable equally to both landlord and tenant. * Which may perhaps be generally allowed to be one-firth nearly cf the produce. — ifote by J. C. To )6 REVT. To ascertain the rent of the several distriits is impossi- ble ; nothing more is to be expefled than to guess, with some degree of approximation to tlie truth. On tlie foundation of as corre(5^ information as I could, frorri re- sidence and examination, procure, I am inclined to be- lieve, tliat the several soils are at present rented as under, the whole country included, sheep-walk, wasre, com- mons, &c. which are very large deduflions from the rate of the cultivated land. £. s. d. The strong or wet loam, at per acre, - - o 13 o The rich loam, - .._._ 0140 The maritime distrift of sand, - - - - o 'o o * The western ditto of ditto, - - - - d 5^ o The fens, -_-.--. -026 It should be noted, that there are in all these distri(5ls, except the fen, trads that let at 20 s. and 25s. and even higher rents, and meadows higher still : but the rents here ninuted are those of the whole county, as viewed in the map. GENERAL VIEW OF THE RENTAL OF THE COUNTY. ])ividing the county according to the soil in the an- nexed mr.p, and weighing each division accurately, I find the proportions are, to the total of 800,000 acres, as un- der ; to which I have added the rent and totals. * In the western sandy distrifl, there is a very large proportion of heath, vhich will probably reduce the average value of tlie distridl below 5s. per acre. There are also extensive heaths in tlie neighbourhood of Ipswich, so unfavour- able to sheep, that they are of very little value in their present state. — ^ate iy T. L. 1 was aware of these circumstances, and do not conceive them to re- duce the rent below js. — A. Y. ACRES. TYTHES. ij ACRES. 30,000 ten, at 25. 6d, ^^6,666] rich loam, at 14s. 156,6661 sand, at 10s. 1^3,3331 <^o- at 5s. - - - •455,5333 strong loam, at 13s. - - 294,666 13 4 jC- 5. d. 3750 32,666 «3 4- 78,333 3 4 28,333 6 S Soojooo, average rent, los. 6d. j^. 457,749 16 8 SECT. III. TYTHES. There is as great a variety in the circumstances at- tending the receipt of tythes in Suffolk, as in most other distridls of the kingdom. They are gathered in kind by some ; and the compositions admitted by others, vary in proportion to the liberality, and situation in life, of the possessorsf. In the mass, they must certainly be consider- ed as favourable to the occupier, and to do credit to the moderation and feelings of the gentlemen, who, having the power to require what would be a very heavy pay- * Quere. — Is the difference of is. per acre between rich ind strong loam sufficient ? I should rather suppose 2s. or 3s. nearer the value and truth, y. C. — I am of the same opinion as to real value ; but I state here simply what I conceive to be the faifl. — A. Y. NOTES COMMUNICATED BY CORRESPONDENTS. Rent of common field land in Bardwell, los. to 2os. In Barningham, arable 16s. pasture lower. In Hopton, arable 14s. 6J. Fornham St. Martin, gs. on an average ; the greatest part common field. + The present mode of the payment of tythes, is as little liable to objec- tion in Sutfolk as in most parts of the kingdom, as they are generally com- pounded for af a very reasonable rate. Yet it is readily admitted, that the mode, even thus qualified, 4s liable -to great objadtions, but not particular to this county. — Note, B ment l8 POOR RATES. mcnt from tlie farmer, content themselves with composi- tions under the real value. These are, in some parishes, by tlie acre, and in others by the pound of rent. They vary too much to allow of general description, consistent Avith accuracy. Mr. Ncsfield, of Wickhambrook, informs me, that for 75 }cars they have been there invariably 3 s. an acie for corn, when a fore crop ; 2 s. the after crops ; and 1 1 d an acre for hay. SECT. IV. POOR RATES. It has long been an obje61: of considerable consequence, not only in a political light, but with a view to the better administration of the poor law, to ascertain with some de- gree of correctness, the progressive rise of rates. The House of Commons have more than once called for returns from all the parishes in the kingdom, but for want of such being compleat, and also from their not being periodically renewed, so much use has not been derived from them as might on a different plan have attended such wise exer- tions. The rise in Suffolk, during the last ten years, has been very considerable, and in some cases enormous. I wish my correspondents had enabled me to give a proper number of details on this progression ; at present, I have it in my power to insert but one or two striking instances. Progress of rates in the parish of Glemsford, containing 2400 acres, rated at 1800I. a year, and has 40 1. a year estate for the poor. I. s. d. 1772 - - -■• - 678 5 8 1773 - - - - 590 16 6 1774 POOR RATES. < £. .. J. 1774 - - - 404 5 8 1775 - - - 343 H 5 1776 - - 45^ 7 4 1777 - - 482 18 3 1778 - - - 516 i6 8 1779 - - 610 3 5 1780 - - 482 II 10 i78i - - 549 16 8 1782 - - 645 711 1783 - - - 586 3 6 1784 - - - 496 5 4 178s - - - 570 II 4 1786 _ - 607 17 6 1787 - - - 783 8 6 1788 - - 948 II 2 1789 - - - 1039 6 4 1790 - - 1062 6 4 1791 - - 1113 5 lOl 1792 - - 1 100 8 6| 1793 - - 1703 5 1794 - - 1594 4 Si 1795 - - - 1594 4 5t 1796 - - 2129 12 ii'l 19 The gentleman who favoured me with this account (the Rev. Mr. Butts), adds, " I forbear to comment on the causes of the rapid increase in the rates during the last six years ; I shall only observe, that in the first seven years of the period above-mentioned, a worthy magistrate, now no more (who was then resident in the parish), gave un- remitted attention to all the mlnutia of parochial business • and that from 1788, there has been no justice nearer than four miles from the scene of adlion^. B 2 "I am 20 POOR RATE.?. *' I am of opinion that there is a radical evil in our prcsfiTr poor-laws, which, if not speedily removed, will, in many populous villages in this kingdom, be attended with utter ruin to the small farmers. The evil 1 mean to point at, is the almost irresistible power of the overseers, in their respef^ive parishes, who, in many instances, which come under my own immediate observation, are land- holders, who have received no advantage from education, and who arc by routine put into office, from their large occupations. •' In all public business, much of private interest must frequently be sacrificed to the general good : with men of this descrijtion there may not exist a sufficient idea of foregoing profit for articles with which the parish work- house is to be supplied. " Experience (the only test of theory ) in my own and a neighhouring parish, has evinced, that the attention of gentlemen to parochial business has effe6led a saving of 300 1. or 40oi. per annum hi the poor-rates. As soon as they ceased to attend, the stream returned into its former muddv channel, and the lost time to the selfish contractors, wlio winked at each others exorbitant bills, was amply compensated by a rise in the rates, increasing nearly in an arithmetical progression ; as the abstraifls from the rate-books of these parislies -will irrefragably demonstrate. " The only remedy that appears to me to be in the least likely to check the progress of this growing evil, is to in- corporate the hundreds, and to appoint men of liberal edu- cations, and independent fortunes, to superintend all mat- ters relative to the poor. As a proof of the necessity of such incorporations, I must observe, that in many popu- lous villages, there is only one man of this description to combat a different tribe : of w'hat avail can his systems ■of reform be, with those who never look beyond the term of POOR RATES. 21 of tlieir leases, for the welfare of the present, nuich less of the rising generation ? " The recent direful events of a sister kingdom, cannot fail of convincing every man, not utterly bereft of his senses, what must be tlie inevitable consequence of entrust- ing an illiterate multitude wicli power. I am far from ar- raigning the farmers of this country ; the majority of whom are no doubt a very respedlable body of men, who would not abuse the power given them by the 43d of Elizabeth, over the poor. " But if it can be proved, that one in t/jree is adlu- ated by selfish motives, and that in some parishes, the majority may be of this class, I apprehend that it will be readily admitted, that in such parishes, an incorporation of the hundred of which they constitute a -part, is neces- sary ; and that it would most probably provide an effec- tual remedy against the evil. Parish politics, and ale- Iiouse councils, would then lose their efFecls ; the com- plaints and necessities of the paupers would be impar- tially attended to ; private interest, or local connedlions, would not decide on the merits of the respedlive claim- ants. " The very salutary efFeifls arising from such incorpora- tions, are evident, from the almost incredible reducflion of the poor-rates in several hundreds in this county, which are incorporated ; which have gradually decreased since the acls granted for the union of the interests of the parishes. In some instances, a redu6lion has taken place of full one-half of the former rates, and the paupers in every respe6l better provided for ; and what is of equal, if not of greater consequence, the rising generation brought up in habits of industry, and a knowledge of their duty both to God and man ; and not left in total ignorance and indolence, as is most frequently the case in parishes where B 3 ihf) 2i POOR RATES. the children of the paupers are suffered to reinain to- tally unemployed to the age of sixteen or seventeen : the natural consequence of this long leisure Is, that they con- tract habits of idleness and vice, and become noxious mem- bers of society, annually adding to the enormous burthen of rates, which in such ca«;es can have no limit. " It has been urged, in objct^ion to this plan, that if gen- tlemen do not attend to the business in the hundred houses of industry, that the evil is increased, and iniquity is establish- ed by a Inw: but if it were allowable to argue from the abuse against the use, no law or government could exist for a day ; and if men of enlightened minds and disinterested hearts (and such, we cannot doubt, are to be found in every hwidrcd of every county of this much-envied island), are not to be entrusted with power, where can It Vvith safety be placed ? Experience has sufficiently proved the fallacy of this argument. " It may be said, that if nvagistrates attended properlv to their duty, such incorporations would be needless, as every abuse of the poor laws might be immediately remedied oa an application to them. No doubt, were a sufficient number of active and intelligent men appointed by the Lord Lieutenants in every county, to fill the most im- portant and useful office in which it is possible that any member of the community can be employed, much might be done towards correcSling the growing abuses ; but where the residence of a justice is at the distance of six or seven miles from the existing grievance, there is but little chance of its being removed : ignorance, and want of leisure. In the small occupier and pauper, secure the overseer from any Interruption in his inattention to those laws which were enabled for the benefit of society ; but which, I am confident, without the intervention of the magistrate, become, in many instances, oppressive. " The Poor rates. 23 "»' The following extradl from the rate-book of an atlja- -cent parish, will render every thing that can be furthei- said on the subjedl, to prove that the evils complained of atise from the causes I have mentioned, entirely needlc:S. £• s. d. Easter 1770 to Ea-stcr 1771 - - 109 1 17 5 Ditto 177 1 ditto 1772 - - 1320 5 7 Ditto 1772 ditto 1773 - - 1886 I 3 Ditto 1773 '^'"^ ^774 " ~ ^^/^ ^ ^ Ditto 1774 ditto 1775* - - 848 -2 3 Ditto 1775 ditto 1776* - - 817 9 10 Ditto 1776 ditto 1777* - - 966 7 9 Ditto 1777 ditto 1778 - - 1113 6 II Ditto 1778 ditto 1779 - - 1 151 17 3 Ditto 1779 ditto 1780 - - 1202 19 5 Ditto 1780 ditto 1781 - - 1 146 10 11" Amount of money raised by asse^ment for the relief of the poor in Woodbridge : 1791 - . - . 1792 - . - . 1793 - . - . 1794 . - - . 1795 - - - The voluntary contributions of the inhabitants of the parish, towards purchasing coals, and reducing the price of flour, in the years 1794 and 1795, amounted to up- wards of 300 1. At Bildeston, Mr. Cooke informs me, the rates during the scarcity were at 5 s. in the pound, per quarter ! * During these three years, a committee of gentlemen attended to the parish business. B 4 At L' s. d. 1021 14 890 13 2 833 3 7 889 8 3 1175 24 LEASES. At Lavenham, they have been 7 s. 6d. in tiiC pounds per quarter ! ! At Brome, near Eye, rates, the Rev. j\Ir. Xegus iii-. forms me, are about three shillings in the pound. SECT. V. LEASES. I N Suffolk, the more common terms for leases are seven, fourteen, and twent^-^-one years ; much land is oc- cupied by men who are tenants at will. There are few counties that have been more improved by leases of twenty- one years than this has been. The trades in the sandy districts, which have been converted from warren and sheep-walk into cultivated inclosurcs, by means of clay, marl and crag, have seen these improvements effe(Sled by means of such leases giving the tenant that security in the investment of his money, which induced him to lav it out : nor have they operated only in such capital \inder- takings ; they have caused large tra6ls to be hollow drained, and have occasioned an improved cultivation in almost every respedl w'here it depended on larger sums being ex- pended than common to farmers who are not able or willing to make such exertions. Leases, however, are not absolutely necessary on lands so rich, or so fully improved, as to want no such exer- tions ; but even in this case, the general management is rriore likely to be spirited, when the tenant has a certainty of reaping the benefit of his expenditure for a long term. In all cases of long leases, great attention should be paid to the clauses that respe6l the three or four last years ; for want of this, we sometimes see lands that have been well improved, left in so exhausted a state, that the landloid does EXPENCES AND PROFIT. jjj /' Stoke Asl J iMPLFMENtS. 29 acres per week vvlch it ; and that a person having tlie ex- tirpator, may, with only three horses, farm as much land as would, without it, require six horses. It js not customary in this part of the country, to work oxen, but I am coniident it will answer the same purpose where oxen are used. It is advisable to work all lands that are over-run with weeds, twice over. Some lands may possi- bly retiulre three times dressing. Some time should elapse, for the weeds that are cut to die, before it is plouglied a second time. It is now adopted by most farmers in this neighbourhood ; and its great utility will be attested by every person that has used it. Many, whose prejudice against every novelty induced them at first to ridicule the idea, are now as warm in praising it, and acknowledge it to be the greatest improvement in agricultu;e they have ever witnessed." Fig. I. Represents a back view of the machine, when put together ready for work. A, The shares, eight inches broad and nine inches long, which are fixed to stalks, rising ten inches. The dist- ance between thern is eleven Inches. B, The hind ledge, six feet lortg, and about four inches square. C, The fore ledge, five and a half feet long, four Inches square. The distance of these ledges is twelve inches. D, The beam, seven feet long ; its elevation is three feet three inches. Vide Fig. 2. E, The handles. Fig. 3, Represents a share with its stalk. This Instrument Is fixed to the wheels, &c. of a common wheel plough, and made to go shallow or deep in the same manner. CHAPTER 30 IKCLOSIXG. CHAPTER VI. INCLOSING. SUFFOLK must be reckoned amongst the earliest jn- dosed of the English counties, but there are very large tradts yet open, that want the benefit of this first 'and greatest of all improvements. Some modern inclosures have been made by acl of parliament, but the spirit is not adlive ; the examples have not been well followed, thougli vhe succCiS has been as great. PARISH OF CONEY WESTON IN SUFFOLK, contains about 1260 acres; the rent about 192 1. In- closed in 1777, by a6l of parliament. REGISTER. Births Burials Births. Eur I76I, 6 6 i 1778, 4 1762, 4 1779. 3 3 17^3' I 6 1780, 6 5 1764, 2 4 . 1781, 5 5 17^5' 3 n 1782, 4 1766, 6 2 1783, 5 3 1767, 2 1784, 4 1768, 3 I 1785, 7 5 1769, 2 4 178b, 6 4 i77o» 8 .3 '7?Z' 9 I 177I' * I 1788, 1772, 4 2 1789, 13 4 1.773' 4 5 1790, 6 4 1774' 3 3 I79I' 6 4 1775' 3 2 1792, 8 4 1776, 6 2 1793'* 10 2 58 46 99 56 46 56 12 ] ncrease. 43 Inc reasc • Year ending June 3, at the Generals. Rents INCLOSING. 51 Rents doubled since the inclosure ; and the farmers at the same time far richer than before. Poor rates is. 3d. in the pound, rack rent. 21 houses, poor-house included. 36 faniihes, containing 212 souls*. * From the case here inserted C which is, in truth, a copy of what has been done in many places in the county of Norfolk}, the Board of Agriculture may ice clearly, that in no one object which comes under their consideration, arc tlieir exertions more beneficially employed than in the procuring bills of iiiclo- fures. — AciV'^y T. E. CHAPTER. '34 ARABLE LAND* CHAPTER VII. A P. i\ B 1. E LAND. THOUGH the dairy clistri6t of Suffolk is extensive, and the number of sheep great, yet the arable part of the county ia much the most considerable. SECT. I. — TILLAGE. Ploughing. — In every part of the county this is done ■with a pair of horses, conducted with reins by tlie plough- man ; and the quantity of land visually turned in a day, is an^cre upon stitF soils, and from one and a quarter to one and a half on sands. The ploughmen are remarkable for straight furrows ; and also for drawing them by the eye to any objcifl, usually a stick whitened by peeling, either for water cuts, or for new laying out broad ridges, called here stcatcha ; and a favourite amusement is ploughing such furrows, as candi- dates for a hat, or pair of breeches, given by alehousc- keeprrs, or subscribed among themselves, as a prize for the straightest furrow. The skill of many of them in this work is remarkable. Rolling and Harro'u.'ing. — In general, there is nothing in the practice which demands particular attention ; but I foimd in the hemp distri6t a management in working clo- ver lays for wheat, which ought to be noted. A heavy roller follows the ploughs, then a spike roller. This pre- pares well, especi.d!y in a dry season. Ridges, FALLOWING. J>i(is to be treated more particularly by those whose situation enables them locally to give the authority denied to others, it is only pradlicable to seize the most promi- nent features, such as best discriminate the svstcm pur- sued. In the strong soils of Suffolk, the course of crops, into whatever variations it may usually be thrown, includes summer fallow as the common preparation for the ro- tation of corn produ6ls ; the old system, vcrv general about forty or fifty years ago, was the uniform husbandry of unenlightened Europe. The fallow to prepare for wheat ; the wheat succeeded by oats or barley ; and that again by the return of fallow. This husbandry is still found even in inclosed lands. But, generally speaking, it is changed for one or two other courses, either to make the fallow still the preparation for wheat, or to change that crop for barley. In one case it IS thus : 1. Fallow, 2. Wheat, 3. Barley, ^. Clover, COURSE OF CROPS. 3^ 4. Clover, 5. Wlieat ; or the same principle governing many variations. Tliis principle is, that a fallow v^'hen once given, will enable the farmer to omit it the second return, and even the third also, by means of clover, tares, pease, &c. l^hus im- proving a little upon the old true system of a dead fallow every third year. The other method is a later improvement ; to change the principle of relying on a year's tillage as the prepara- tive for wheat, and substituting.clover. Thus, • I. Fallow, 2. Barley, 3. Clover, 4. Wheat ; which, for lands ( if such there be) that really demand fal- lowing, is a corred mode, and seldom pradised except by very good farmers. Others, not of equal intelligence, continue it by ilie addition of a crop Taf barley or oats after the wlieat ; or by sowing clover with that crop, taking pease after the clover, and wheat after the pease. Where manures sufficient can be raised or purchased, a still better course is followed : 1 . Beans or pease, 2. Barlev, er. 3. Clov . 4. Wheat. Or, I. Fallow, 2. Wheal, 3. Beans, 4. Barley, 5. Clover, 6. Wheat, c 2 manured 36 COURSE OF CROPS. manured on the surface after the clover is mown and pre- pared for a repetition of the same course. Fallowing in the second course should be rejedled ; and ever afterwards. The note of these courses is sufficient to give the ge- neral idea of common pradlice on this soil. Variations cannot be attended to; a notable one is, planting cabbages instead of fallow : but, as that will be mentioned else- where, I omit it here. RICH LOAM AND SAND. On this soil the management is more uniform. The rotation, called the Norfolk husbandry, is very generally introduced, which is making turnips the preparation for barley, and clover that for wheat, in the course of, 1. Turnips, 2. Barley, 3. Clover, 4. Wheat*; ■which is certainly one of the best systems that ever was invented, and, indeed, nearly unexceptionable. There are two common variations, but both for the worse : to take a second crop of barley or oats after the wheat, and then recommence : the other, to sow clover with that se- cond barley, and then wheat again on that clover : this is very bad, for it fouls the landf. SAND. * I apprehend that the course of cropping here mentioned, cannot be im- proved upon, except, perhaps, by substituting in the second round, oats for barley ; and sometimes other grass seeds in lieu of clover, every second or third round, for I believe clover will not stand on lands constantly laid down there- with every fourth year. Note iy y. R. — There is reason in this observation, and chicory, instead of clover, would be found to answer. — y1. Y. + Upon a deep rich soil, such as is described by Mr. Young, in Walton, Trimlies, and Felixtow. i. Turnips. 2. Barley. 3. Beans. 4. Wheat. 5. Barley. 6, Clover. 7. Wheat.— This will appear, at first sight, a very extravagant COURSE Of CROPS. 37 SAND. On the sand distridls, the management varies propor- tlonably with tlie badness of the soil ; but in one feature it is universal, that turnips are every where the preparation, the extravagant rotation of cropping ; therefore the tillage given to each crop, should be explained. The land intended for turnips, should be ploughed soon after wheat-sowing, or at any rate before Christmas : in the spring, when the barley-sowing is iiuished, should be ploughed back again, and have at least three earths more, with proper harrowing and rolling, before the sowing-earth. At the time the turnips are sown, a small one-horse roller should follow the plough, close after the seed, and the harrows close after the roller ; by this me- thod the surface will be smooth, and have a neat appearance ; the land will re- tain its moisture ; the young plants sooner receive tlie beneht from the wind, and of course there will be no clods to obstrudt the progress of hoeing, which should be performed twice. I am convinced the fly never destroys the young plants, where the surface is made fine, as it does when suffered to remain coarse and uneven. After the turnips are fed off, the land should be ploughed a good depth, and have, at least, three earths, with proper rolling and harrowing to each ■earth, before sown with bailey, which should be as early in the spring as the season would permit; when the barley is up to a proper height, let it be rolled, and afterwards properly weeded. In the winter following, manure the barley stubble with about sixteen chaldron per acre, of good rotten compost ; and tlie spring following, plant with beans at one ploughing ; taking care to make the land fine, by rolling and harrowing ; when the beans are all come up, roll them witli a two-horse roller, and about a fortnight after, harrow them, and let them be properly hoe(i twice afterwards. When the beans are harvested, and every thing cleared oft" the land, sow wlieat at one ploughin^^- ; when the wheat is likewise harvested, and the stubble-feed is fed off, which will be in November, clear off the stubble, and manure with about twelve chaldron per acre; im- mediately plough the land, but not too deep ; early in the spring, plough again, and take care to plough deeper, so as to bring the manure all upon the surface ; then give proper harrowing, and plough twice more before you sow with barley ; with which sow from twelve to sixteen pounds of clover-seed per acre, In the summer let the barley be carefully weeded; feed the young clover in the autumn; but not long after Michaelmas ; in the spring following, look the young clover-layer over, and take out every weed that may be an impediment, and when the clover is off, sow with wheat in the autumn as usual. This is the rotation of cropping with the tillage, ma- nuring, &c. Sec. as pracflised by very intelligent farmers, upon as good arable land as any in the county ; and I will venture to say, no country is more pro- dudlive, or kept cleaner; and from the tillage that is given to every spring- crop of corn, the lands have the neatest appearance possible. Wliere the lands c 3 are 38 COURSE OF CROPS. the basis for both corn and grass. There is no sand so light that it will not yield, by means of dung or fold, this crop. A fter arc too wet, and not so proper for turnips, winter-tares are sown in September, and eitlier fed off the l.ind in May, or mowed till the middle of June, or be- ginning of July, to be given to the cart-horses in the farm-yards : In this case, the land should have all the tillage possible, till after Michaelmas, when it is properly laid up to keep it dry during the winter; in the spring it is ploughed and managed the same as if turnips were fed ofF. Upon lands of nearly the same quality as before described, but where the under-stratum is a gravel, their management is as follows: i. Turnips. 2. Barley. 3. Beans. 4. Hheat. 5. Turnips. 6. Barley. 7, Clover. 8. Wheat. The first four crops are managed as before described ; and the turnips in succession to the wheat, are generally manured for with light muck, out of the farm-yard ; this, with the feeding tiiem upon the land, .md the tillage given for the barley, al- most ensure a plant of young clover. In the first rotation of cropping, I ought to have given my reason for planting beans after a crop of barley, in succession to turnips, because it is generally understood, that clover should be sown with barley, after a sunimerland-crop of turnips ; but whoever understands the tillage of strong rich land, knows that they do notwoik so fine after tur- nips, as when the land has been cropped longer ; of course, the young crop of clover is not so likely to plant, and will be subj(jdl to May-weed : now by manuring the wheat-stubble for barley, and giving the tillage as described, the land not only works finer, but is, by being manured, rendered more kindly to receive the young clover ; and it will be found to have fewer weeds, and be more produ£tive, than if sown after a summerland-cro'p of harley. In the se. cond rotation of cropping, where the land is not so strong, beans succeed tlie barley in the first instance, ana clover in the second, where the turnip crop is manured for ; of course the young clover comes into a share of manure to en- courage it ; and by being kept at a distance by the aforesaid rotations, the land is not so likely to be tired of it. In land that has been tired of growing clo- ver, by the rotation of turnips, barley, clover, and wheat, I have sown with the barley, half the usual quantity of clover, a quarter oF a peck of trefoil, and a sack of hay-seeds per acre ; mowed the next summer for stover, and the winter following manured for beans, which should be hoed twice ; and in tlie autumn sowed wheat. 1 have known the above method answer beyond ex- peftation ; for the hay-seeds, with the clover and tiefoil, are sure to pro- duce a good crop of stover, and yield a fine piece of feed afterwards. Beans are very kindly after a layer of this sort, and when the Und is ploughed for wheat, will be in the best possible state to receive it, and less subjeifl to slugs or worms. Some farmers sow ray grass with the clover ; but I do not ap- prove it ; for amongst the hay-seeds there always is found a proportional quan- tity of the narrow-kaved plantain, and Dutch clover ; and it is well-known hav- COURSE OF CROPS. 30 After turnips, barley is generally sown ; tlien gras^ seeds succeed, but with variations. On bad sands trefoil and ray grass are chosen, because their duration equals the views hay-seeJs are of a better quality than ray grass, spread close to the ground, and not run up to bents like it; and if suffered to remain two years, will increase upon the land, when ray grass is known to decrease the second year. I con- fess myself no friend to ray grass, and think it never should be sown, but upon land of the lightest and worst quality imaginable; for sheep feed, there is no comparison. Where the plant of clover fails in a small degree,, the farmer should never attempt to sow wheat next following j but to manure fer pease or beans, and give them proper hoeing, and then to sow wheat in succession ; for I believe it is generally understood, that wheat never plants kindly after a thin crop of clover; but is subjedl to the worm, and to be root fallen. — In the sand- land or eastern distridl of Suifolk, where the soil is light, and principally manured and fed with sheep, the pradlice with the best farmers is to break up their layers at two yeai-s, and to plant pease, and if the pea-stubble is free from grass, to sow ray, which is generally folded as soon as the seed is deposited ; the next year give a summer-tillage for turnips ; fold them off with sheep and lambs, and baulk the land in the spring, to prevent the fold from drying away; give one ploughing for barley, and sow with it half a bushel of ray grass and half a peck ot trefoil, and let the layer continue two years. Layers should never be suiFered to continue more than two years, except upon very poor land ; in that case, the farmer gives it what is called a ris-baulk in the winter after the second year, which causes it to yield a good deal of sheep-feed the following summer ; it is ploughed up again after Christmas, and sown in the spring with oats, or- with buck-wheat the beginning of June. The turnip-crop follows, which is generally folded for. Some years since, it was the common praer four bushels per acre will seldom be found too much. " The furrows should by no means be rpore than eight or nine inches in breadth, less is better, if the plough turns them well ; and the two first furrows should not be lapped one on to the otlier, as is common \\ith most farmers, but ploughed so as to leave a space of about two inches between tlicm, for some seed to fall in, as in the other case the seed must of course harrow off in dressing the land, and leave the best part naked. Some farmers obje6t to so much land being left whole under the first two furrows ; but I never saw any disadvantage from it, but the contrary. " Another thing I have observed in some farmers, and have paid very dear fur it myself ; that is, drawing the land over with a heavy harrow when only one cast, or half the ceed is sown, which never should be done, for the seed WHEAT. 47 seed can never be laid in too deep v. ith harrows, and by harrowing before all the seed is sown, what \x)u sow afterwards, especially if late in the season, might almost as well be thrown on the highway, for by being laid ia so fleet, the mildest winter will kill it. I tried only one breadth of a harrow so the last season, and it is plainly to be seen (notwithstanding this favourable winter) as far as I can see the land. " I own I am at a loss to account for the wheat thriv- ing better on lands that have been ploughed some time, than it does on fresh ploughed lands which dress as well, or better : but I have often tried both ways on the same lands, and always found the former answer best. I have often tried dibbling in of wheat, upon both clover and ray grass lands, and both have answered very well, but best on the former. It cost 8 s. 6d. per acre (covering includ- ed). And when wheat is so high as 6 s. per bushel, the saving in seed will about pay the expence, as one bushel per acre is as much as can well be got in. But this never answers so w ell, after about the middle of Odlober." D'lbhllng. — This praiflice, which there is every reason to denominate excellent, is wxU established in the county, and increases every year*. In the maritime sand distridl:, many thousand acres are thus put in. One farmer near Dunwich, the year before last, dibbled 258 acres, and this year above 250, that is, his whole crop ; and many others apply the same ijiethod also for their whole crop. The ground being rolled with a light barley roller, a man, walking backwards on the fiag^ as the furrow slice is * Pease, particularly white ones, are very generally dibbled on ray grass l:iyers, and followed by wheat, upon light lands where wheat was formerly little cultivated. Even barley and oats are sometimes dibbled, but rarely. — Note b^ T. L. called, 48 WHEAT. called, with a dibber of iron, the handle about three feet long, in each hand, strikes two rows of holes, about four inches from one row to the other, on each flag ; and he is followed by three or four children, to drop the grains, three, four, or five in each liole. In this way, from six to seven pecks of seed are deposited, at very equal depths, in the centre of the flag. A hush-harrow follows to cover it ; the expence eight to nine shillings an acre. There are several circumstances which tend to render this method superior to the common. The treading so equally, is very beneficial upon light soils ; and in dry weather hurt- ful upon none. The seed is laid in at an equal and good depth ; and it is all in the flag itself, and not dropt in the seams, where weeds, if any, will arise : and there is some saving in seed. The fadl is, that the crops are superior to the common, and the sample more equal. Jc is not common to hoe, except only one row is put in instead of two. Some use a frame which strikes many holes at a time ; but the work is not so well done, and I found the pradlice not equally approved. The vast system of well- paid employment for the poor, which this pra6lice carries with it, is a point of immense importance. I heard of families who had received, father, mother, and children, among them, two guineas a week for six weeks*. Drillmg — is pra6lised with great intelligence and suc- cess, by individuals, in several parts of the county f; but no ♦ Dibbling and drilling are very admirable improvements in modern hus- bandry, and carry with them all the advantages enumerated. If drilling be rather the cheaper mode, the consideration of the excellent employment dib- bling and setting affords to a poor family, more than counterbalances that ad- vantage. — Note by y. R. + Instead of bush-harrowing after drilling, I recommend rolling the land across the drills with a roUex of a weight according lo the state of the land, so as WHEAT. 49 Vto where has the least tendency to become the common pradlice. In some districls it declines : and while dib- bling spreads rapidly, this pradtice moves with difficulty. The kinds of drills arc various ; Mr. Cook's , variations of Mr. Ridge's, and a new one, which promises to be an improvement on all, now made by Mr. Brock, a mlll- wright at Harlstone*. Oa as to close the drills and press the land pretty flat. This has very much t!ie same efFedl as the treading of the children who drop the corn after the dibblers, to which many attribute the superiority of dibbling. This observation particu- larly respeifls mixed soil, and light lands, which cannot lie too close. * Dibbling. — This pradlice has been introduced into the county but few years ; it is every where tolerably well understood ; but within two years has been very much improved upon. For wheat, a narrow setplough of only seven inches width at bottom, is used to plough with ; then follows a one-horse roll to level the flag, or furrow, for the dibblers, who strike only one row upoa each : when the wheat is deposited, tzvo or three kcfuels in each hole, a two- horse roll follows, afterwards the harrows twice in a place ; when the field is finished in this manner, it is harrowed up again obliquely ; by this method the wheat is deposited in the middle of the flag, at nine inches distance in the rows ; and when come up, has the appearance of being drilled ; the two-horse roller is of material use in closing up the holes, and preventing the wheat from being disturbed by harrowing ; the land is made so solid by rolling, that very little apprehensions are entertained about the slug or worm. If there should be occasion to hoe in the spring, how easy and cheap the operation ! Bush-harrowing is of very little use ; it can only sweep the dust or light mould over the holes, and the first shower of rain that follows, most of the holes will be seen, and much of the wheat swelled out of them. Six pecks of wheat per acre are deposited. Beans are in general dibbled one row upon a furrow, and the same distance should be kept so as to plant them square, at nine or ten inches ; a two-horse roll should follow the ploughs, to level the land for the dibbers, which should be harrowed twice after the beans are deposited ; when the beans are all up, they- are rolled, and in ten days or more, harrowed with heavy harrows : In hoeing them, the best method is to hoe across the land the first time, and length- ways the steatches the second ; the work will then be better performed, both 'in respedt to destroying the weeds, and moulding up the beans, whicli, when planted as above direfteJ, will have more air, and certainly stand a better chance for a crop, than when housed together, by the old manner of planting them too thick ; besides, here is a saving of seed. Formerly three bushels per acre, or more, were deposited ; now not two bushels. Pesse are likewise planted by the dibble, in the same manner as wheat. I) Oats 50 WilKAT. On drilling, the Rev. Mr Hill, of Buxhall, writes ; *• I still prefer the drill method of husbandry, and that because OatJ — upon land that is stifFand unkindly to work in the spring, no way is equal to dibbling tliem ; and where old pasture-land is broke up for oats, it cer- tainly is preferable to any other method ; an instance I will mention ; a farmer in the village I live in, broke up two acres of pasture -land in February, 1794 ; in March he planted it with oats, by dibbling two rows upon a flag ; the quan- tity of seed deposited upon the two acres was exactly one comb ; the land was several times rolled with a two-horse roll, and often harrowed, to cover the seed ; the produce was forty combs and one bushel, of the best oats I saw any where last season ; this was ilie greatest quantity I ever knew produced from a comb of seed. Barley is seldom dibbled, by reason the land is so dry in April, that the holes will run in, and not stand open to receive the seed ; for which reason, and the want of expedition, it can never be the general pradice. Drilling — Is very well understood by individuals, and has succeeded when done properly ; but the general deficiency of the drill-machines, and the sav- ing of seed, which has been recommended by drill venders, in order to intro- duce their drills to the public, have in faft, been the causes why many of them have been laid aside. One and the same drill can never answer in a large and a small occupation, any more tlian one man can dibble in the corn upon a large, as well as a small farm. This is the case with Mr. Cook's drill. 1 use a drilf which Mr. Young saw at work when he surveyed the county, and can speak to its utility; it has nine coulters; goes with two horses, and will keep pace with six ploughs : In barley sowing, it finishes ten acres every day, with east to the horses, and can never be affeded by rain or wind, and will deposit the corn the same, whether the land is hilly or level. In all drilling, the land should be well ploughed, and made tine, before the drill comes upon it, by rolling and harrowing ; a one-horse roll should follow the drill, to close the land upon the seed, and then the more the land is harrowed, the better ; very little seed is saved by drilling, for it is found by experience, that corn drilled at nine inches asunder, requires thickness in the ridges ; in that case, they will nearly touch before harvest, and appear as if sow-n broad-cast. Farming should come as near to gardening as possible ; but nothing will accomplish it like drilling. Let any judicious agriculturist examine the rows of pease, or kidney beans in a gar- den, and see which are the most produdlive, the thick, or the thin ones : let him examine the young plants of clover in drilled barley, and in barley that is sown broad-cast ; it will soon be distinguished which has the preference. — Dibbhng and drilling corn, have been attended with the best consequences to the poor, by encouraging the farmer to weed it, in a ten-fold degree to what he did when sown broad-cast : and as the ploughing, rolling, and harrowing, are more attended to by the farmer, the land is in a better state of tillage, than t ver was thought necessary, before they were introduced. — A. Collet, Esj. I am WHEAT. 51 I am from frequent trials convinced I get mncli better crops from it, and save at least one half of my seed ; and particularly so in wheat, as I have found from repeated trials, that I get more at harvest from wheat planted at •eighteen inches asunder, than from that which is planted nearer ; indeed this year (which you know has not been favourable to thin plants) my eighteen inch wheat has the advantage, even in quantity of straw, producing 666 sheaves, from exa6lly the same quantity of land, in the same field, and of the same kind of land. That planted at nine inches asunder, has produced only 564 sheaves ; and I believe as little difference in the size of the sheaves as possible. But I must tell you my bailiff dislikes all ex- periments, anil therefore if it was in his power, he would certainly lean towards the old method of drilling at nine inches asunder ; but notwithstanding all this, the account he brings me of the produce of my experiment this vear, is still more in favour of the eighteen inches than ever it has been before, that having yielded 8 c. i b. i p. the nine inches 7 c. I b. 2 p. I should likewise inform you, that this same experiment has been tried on the same land se- veral years, always having the eighteen inch on the same side of the field, to shew which would have the advantage in a length of years : the eighteen inch has always had the advantage in corn, though never before in bulk of straw." Noted hy Correspondents. — I\lr. Davenport observes, that at Bardweil, wheat, beans and pease, are generally dib- bled.— Mr. Brettingham, near Bungay, says, that *' dib- bling wheat, beans and pease, has been pradtised many years, and latterly barley and oats, which are thought to answer well; the expence 10 s. 6d. an acre without any allow- ances, which is, I think, in a great degree saved by -planting on the first earth instead of scxiug on the third, D 2 which 52 WHEAT. which was frequently the case, and some saving In the seed, suppose from one to one and an half bushel per acre." — Mr. Banks, of Mctfield, observes, that the poor find much employment for themselves and children, in planting almost all kinds of grain, both in spring and au- tumn. — Ml-. Moore, of F iningham, writes, " Dibbling wheat maintains its reputation and increases it — price, 9s. per acre, and beer. People are foolishly captivated with the green appearance of their wheat in winter, when thick-set, and, put in six and even seven pecks per acre, •which, I am persuaded, is a waste of one or two. Many people dibble even their barleys and oats, which, if it in any degree answers, must be beneficial, by finding em- ployment for the children, now spinning earns so little. Our plants of clover are very hazardous ; the farmers consider tlic land as tired of it. A substitute seems to be wanted for a thne." Cuhwc while growing. — When wheat is dibbled one row on a flag, or furrow, it is always well hand-hoed ; hut if two rows, it is too thick to admit that operation conveniently. Sometimes, however, such is also hoed ; and there are many good farmers who make it a rule to hand-hoe their broad-tnst crops ; but the pracflice cannot he said to be general. The price is usually from 6 s. ro 8 s. an acre. Cutting out tliistles with weeding hooks, is universal. Harvest. — They are more careful and attentive in many parts of the kingdom, in harvesting all sorts of corn, than they are in Suffolk. The wheat sheaves are generally made too large, which is a heavy evil in a w et harvest. Verv attentive husbandmen are apt to think all too large tl^at are made by tying two handfuls to form a band, one length WFIEAT. 53 length of Straw not very short, being esteemed sufficient. In forming the shocks, or stooks, also, they use no precau- tions against rain, merely setting ten or a dozen together, without capping or other attention, a method that is found in other counties very useful. Thresh'mg. — I do not know of any threshing-mill in the county, which is rather surprizing, for one abounding so greatly in corn. Produce. — The crops of wheat vary considerably : from one quarter and an half on the poor sand, when substituted for rye, and at that small produce answering much better, to three and an half on the rich and strong loams. Upon the finest soils in the county, specified elsewhere, four, and even five quarters are not uncommon. Probably the general average of the whole may be estimated at twenty two bushels per acre, on a medium of seven years. In the answers I have been favoured with to my circu- lar queries, there are a few minutes that merit being noted. At Bard well, Mr. Davenport remarks, that five combs is an indifferent crop. At Brome, Mr. Negus mentions the produce to be five combs. At Hopton, by Mr. Stone's account, four combs. At Barningham, five. II. BARLEY, 54 BARLEY. II. BARLEY PREPARATIOX. The preparation for this grain, is very generally a crop of turnips, which being eaten on the land by sheep, or drawn off for cattle, three spring earths are given by good farmers, and the seed on sands ploughed in ; on heavier soils harrowed in. The rule of giving three ploughings is much more invariable in Norfolk than it is in Suffolk. On wetter soils, however, and in wet springs (which have not been common of late years), it some- times happens that the land breaks so friably under the plough after sheep feeding, that it is better to put in the barley on one, than on more earths ; but that is merely an exception, and never to be followed as a rule. It is to be regretted, that the use of scufflers is not more kiK)wn, as they would in various instances be more effedlive than the plough. Soils too heavy for turnips, are in many places summer fallowed for barley ; and if fallows are ap- plied, this is certainly one of the best applications, in which case the grain is sowed on one spring earth, and the earlier the better. Sort. — The common barley, hordeum vulgarc^ is the only sort I have known cultivated in Suffolk. ^ant'ity of Seed. — On very light sandy lands in the western district, so small a quantity as two bushels, and two and an half, are sown ; but the common practice on all soils in general, is to sow from three to four bushels. 'Time OATS. 55 ^imc of Sovuhig. — April is the season most common; but varying with many circumstances from the beginning of March lo the beginning of May. I have known farm- ers wait by reason of drought, to the last week in May, and even the first in June, and yet get large crops. Harvest. — Barley is every where in Suffolk mown, and left loose : the neater method of binding in sheaves, is not practised. The stubbles are dew raked, by men drawing a long iron-roothed rake ; but this is better, and much quicker performed, by a horse-rake, a very effective tool. Produce. — The produce of barley varies greatly ; from two quarters to six. I am inclined to think the average, so difficult in all cases to calculate, may be estimated at three quarters and an half. Produdsy noted by Correspondents. — At Bardwell, Mr. Davenport observes the average produce to be seven combs. At Brome, M. Negus notes eight combs as the average. At Hopton, Mr. Stone calculates it at three quarters. III. OATS. PREPARATION. It is not common to give more than one ploughing for oats, whether on a stubble or lav ; but good farmers will afford two, and sometimes three, by breaking the stub- bles iu autumn which are intended for oats in the spring. B 4 Sen 56 OATS. Sort. — The black, the white, the Tartarian, and the light oat, are the sorts cultivated in Suffolk ; but the two first only, are common. Tiie Tartarian are very pro- du6tive, and have been brought to a good weight per bushel. The light, called also Jilght oats, arc known only on the poorest sands, and in the fen distridt. ^iant'ity of Seed. — Four bushels an acre are the general allowance of seed. Time of Sowing. — Oats are sown throughout the spring, generally before barley ; whereas in Hertfordshire, \\'hite oats are rarely sown till after all the barley is in the cround. Harvest. — Oats are mown, and gathered loose, as barley. But I have known some very great crops on new land, reaped and bound in sheaves ; a pra6lice that ought to be more common. Produce. — The average produce of this grain may be estimated at four quarters, possibly four and an half. In- stances of extraordinary produ6ts are not uncommon. The Rev. Mr. Kedington, in three successive crops of Tartarian on an old pasture, the soil good loamy sand, gained thirty quarters. IVIr. Negus, of Brome, mentions ten combs as the average produce. At Hopton, Mr. Stone estimates it at four quarters. IV. RYE. RYE. 51 IV. RYE. This grain has gradually given way to the culture of wheat, by means of those improvements which in the last fifty years have taken place in so manv parts of the king- dom. It is now found only on poor sands, and from se- veral observations I have made on the crops of both on the same soil, I ain much inclined to think that wheat will generally pay better. To see a year's summer fallow, and a folding, bestowed on any land, in order to reap three or four combs of rye, is mortifying. Assuredly the same expence to procure an improved sheep-walk, would, where one part of a farm is sacrificed to another in folding, pro- — This is not a common pra£tice ; but one gentleman has with great skill applied a peculiar husbandry to if, which deserves reciting. The Rev. Mr. Moselev, of Drinkston, has the merit of plan- ing and executing a system of tare husbandry which deserves considerable attention. The following is his own account of it. " When I last had the pleasure of seeing you at Drink- ston, you expressed a desire of hearing from me, as soon as I could ascertain the effefls of ploughing in buck wheat as a vegetable manure for wheat, after having previously taken a crop of tares for fodder. In compliance with your request, you receive the following imperfeft account. " Your excellent method of managing light lands I generally adhere to, viz. turnips, barley, clover, and wheat ; but finding, from a failure of clover in my two last crops after barley, that the succeeding ones were not equal to my expedlation, I determined to trv something as a substitute for that excellent pneparation. Tares, I was aware, BUCK WHEAT. 63 aware, were frequently sown, and excellent crops of wheat have succeeded ; but, as there were near tliree months between the time of cutting tares and sowing wheat, I thought that something might he done in the interim, in order, not only to keep the land clean, but to improve the succeeding crop. " It was necessary to consider what would answer this end, that would not be attended with considerable expence ; buck wheat claimed the preference, as it was of quick growth, and had been recommended as a strong and lasting manure. I, therefore, determined to try the effecls of it, and have reason to think that my expedlalion was not too ^Tiuch raised ; for, although I cannot with that certainty ascertain the real produce of the land as I can wish, as a considerable quantity of the wheat lias been destroyed by vermin, yet, still have I had the satisfadtion of lodging in mv g-ranarv as much as I usi;allv have done in the com- mon method of husbandry. The loss I sustained, was, indeed, very considerable, and almost incredible, from such small animals as mice, for there was not a rat in the barn, and will be a standing memorial to me for thrashing my corn in the proper season. It was computed at one fourth of the whole crop. £uf, even deducting the loss, and allowing the increase to be equal to former years, will it not be right sometimes to alter the usual course, and sub- stitute a preparation equally, profitable as clover for the farmer's grand crop, wheat? " The land upon which this experiment was ma'le, was light, and produced excellent turnips and barley, but seldom more than a moderate crop of wheat ; twenty bushels per acre, were as much as might be expe6led in a good season. *' But, although I cannot speak with precision in re- gard to the wheat crop, yet I can thus far affirm, that the addi. 64 BUCK WHEAT. additional profit from the rye, as spring feed, which SUC' ccedcd the wheat, was more than equal to the original price of the buck wheat. How long the effedls of this manure will continue, I cannot possibly say ; but, from the luxuriance of the rye, should not have made the least doubt of its operative qualities to the ripening that crop. The expence is trilling, for you cannot find any manure, even for a single crop, equal in all respe6ts to this for five shillings, which is, in general, the price of two bushels,, and is sufficient for one acre. " But a material advantage there certainly is from two vegetable crops, tlie one immediately succeeding the other, in cleaning the land ; for although the rye was sown as soon as 1 could conveniently plough after the haulm was carried off, vet, upon breaking up the land after the rye was fed off, it was much cleaner than it was after the last fallow. " I wish I could have drawn a more accurate conclu- sion from this experiment, as J find that it is the first that has been made in this manner ; and would not have troubled you with this, had it not been by your particu- lar desne, it being impos.^ible to ascertain precisely the loss I sustained, consequevitly, from mere presumption to offer any thing as certain from it. " I hope hereafter to be more accurate, as I have six acrci, which have produced this season twelve waggcn loads of tares, and are now sown with buck wheat, to be ploughed in the latter end of this month as a preparation for wheat. The produce of these you shall be acquainted w ith, as I wish to give you a fair account of this, as I think, valuable vegetable manure." And in a succeeding letter — " I am now able to ascer- tain the real produdl of my field of wheat after my tare and buck wheat systejm; and it gives me peculiar satisfaction ta BUCK WHEAT. 65 to assure you that the increase has exceedeil my expe6la- tion. «' The field contained near 6 acres, including borders, and the produce was 29 coombs 2 bushels of clean wheat, so that it may reasonably be set at 5 coombs per acre, which is a much larger crop tlian I expedled. " The appearances a. different times were such, as sometimes to promise a large crop, at others, a very mo- derate one. At first, vegetation seemed to be very luxuri- ant ; this continued till April, when it changed much for the worse, and from that time till harvest, appearances were against it. For this, 1 believe, I can in some mea- sure account. The tares and buck wheat were both in too forward a state ; the one not to exhaust the land in some degree, the other, to afford that food for the succeed- ing crop which might have been expedled, had the tares been cut a fortnight sooner, and the buck wheat turned in before it had formed the seed. Delays from frequent storms occasioned the latter. *' However, upon the whole, I am so well satisfied with my success, that I shall try several methods of applying this useful manure, sometimes to assist my crop with others, and sometimes, as the only manure that can conveniently be procured. " One observation I have made in watching the tare and buck wheat system, and which every cultivator ought to have primarily in view, viz. that in order to ensure the succeeding crop, it will be necessary to mow the tares as early as possible, that the buck wheat may be sown and ploughed as soon as it is in blossom. By this manage- ment, much time will be gained, the land little exhausted, and the buck wheat in a state to afford the stron^-cst vegetable manure to the succeeding crop : and could this be performed early enough in the autumn to allow three E weeks 66 BUCK WHEAT. weeks or a month for the buck wlieat to rot, I would then adopt Mr. Elhs's mode of harrowing the land, and then plough and sow the wheat in broad lands, under thorough. This way, he says in his treatise upon buck wheat, will dress the ground for three years ; whereas clover, vetches, or turnips, ploughed in, will, only for half the time. Mv grand object, in adopting this preparation, has been hitherto to secure a crop of tares as a sub:^titute for clover- hay, and it has answered the intended purpose ; the crops of tares having been uniformly good, and tlie succeeding crops of wheat equal, if not superior to former years. " If what Mr. Ellis has asserted be fa(5l, in respeil to the strength of buck wheat as a manure, surelv it would be well worth considering, whereiil this comparative dif- ference of buck wheat, and other vegetable manures, con- sists. This only can be brought to the test by a chymical operation, and, according to my opinion, well deserving a serious trial. If you think it of that consequence in the general system of husbandry as I really do, I am persuaded that you will favour us with some experiments to ascertain the reality of this assertion, and point out the respet^ive properties of the manures, from that and other vegetables. " I find in your experiments upon the best preparation for a crop of barley, that beans claim the preference, and that the buck wheat land, with all the apparent advantages of the crop for manure, did not answer so well as the fal- low. Having thought much of this preparation, I think that I can point out a method by which it would have an- swered berter, and that is, by sowing the '»vheat stubble with tares, immediately after carrying on the muck, and then upon one earth throwing in the buck wheat. If this had been done, I question whether the crop of barley would have been worse, as the muck would have forced, that, and the BUCK WHEAT', 67 the creditor side would have made no despicable appear- ance. " If we treat this article in this manner, we must adjust our calculations in the following way*: I. s. d-. Vieditor. /. s. ^. To manure I 9 9 2 Loads of tares, ll. 15s. 3 lo 1 Ploughing 6 By 4 quarters, 2 bushels and j > S 7i Tares tor seeJ, 2 bushels - I 5 Q I peck barley, at 2od. Sowing, harrowing and rolling 6 3 By straw - - - 12 4 Mowing, &c. - - "^ ^ S I Ploughing, harrowing, &c. 7 3 8 7 Hi 2 Bushels of buck wheat - 5 '8 S S Rent 18 — — • Sundries _ _ - 2 I to profit £ , 2 6i 3 Earths . - - 18 *" ' Harrowing and rolling 10 Seed and sowing lo 3 JIarvest . . _ S 10 Threshing ... 4 6 Rent, tithe and rates 18 6 Sundry expences 3 8 L .8 S S " I think that 1 have not placed the tares at too high a rate to the credit account, as I really think that the fodder is well worth 1 1. 15 s. per load ; nor do I think two loads per acre too much, as, upon moderate land, I have sel- dom had less : I have therefore estimated the profit accord- ingly. " If we allow, according to my mode of treating your* land, the same quantity of barley per acre, it will then, in- stead of being the most unprofitable of all the preparations, be found infinitely the most profitable. But even dedudt- ing something from the barley crop, or throwing out the * Mr. Moseley here alludes to an experiment published in the Annals of Agriculture. The observation and the calculation ate perfedly fair ; and had the trial been a part of my design, I have no doubt bu( the result would have been corredly as this very ingenious correspondent states it, — A, Y, E Z crop 63 BUCK WIIKAT. crop of tares entirely, if it be true that this vegetable ma- nure will continue to improve a crop for thiee years, your experiment of a single year is by no means complete, as, according to the common course, the succeeding crops might be expedled to derive much benefit from this ma- nure. " I have never sown buck wheat upon wet cold lands, consequently cannot ascertain the cfFedls of it as a manure upon them : what I have hitherto dene, has been upon a light sandy soil, and from experiments upon that, my mite of information has been drawn." I may call for the attention of farmers anxious to be- come acquainted with real improvements in agriculture, to this account of Mr. Mosclcy's system ; which is one of tlie best imagined arrangements that has been discovered. One ploughing puts in the winter tares ; that earth is given in autumn, and consequently opens the soil to the influence of frosts ; as the spring advances, and the sun becomes pow- erful enough to exhale the humidity, and with it the nu- tritious particles of the land, the crop advances and screens it from the adlion of his beams. Whatever weeds are in the soil, vegetate with the young tares, and are either strangled by their luxuriance, or cut ofF widi them before they can seed. A crop is gained at a vcrv moderate ex- pence, which is usually worth from 40 s. to 3I. an acre; oftentimes much more. But this crop is cleared so early from the land, that it would remain exposed to the sun through the most burning part of the summer for three months, as that ingenious gentleman rightly observes ; if left so, there would be a call for three ploughings to do mischief, except in the point of killing some weeds. To give one earth immediately, and harrow in buck wheat, spares that expence, and covers the earth when it most wants BUCK WHEAT. 69' wants to be so protecled. But a great deal more is done ; for according to this comparison, a coat of manure is gained at absolutely no expence ; and the year is carried through from Michaelmas to Michaelmas, and three crops put in on only three ploughings, viz. the tares, the buck wheat, and the wheat. It is not easy to invent a system more complete. Let me go further, and remark, that Mr. Moseley in this husbandry is original : many have sown tares ; and many liave ploughed in buck wheat ; and most have given a year to each ; but it is the combina- tion of the two tliat forms the merit, and is a plan not before registered ; and therefore, we are to pronounce (as far as the advancement of the art is concerned), not vet practised. When we see the universal eagerness and anxiety ex- pressed by the experimental philosopliers of the present age, to secure to themselves priority of discovery (an anxiety fair and honourable, as speaking a noble emulation in the best paths of fame), ought we not to do justice to those who in a less brilliant, but more useful walk, invent new com- binations of old praftices that have the merit, because thq advantages of novelty. E 3 Vlli. TARES,, 70^ TARES, VIII. TARES. This plant is generally cultivated to the extent of a few acres ; the scale applicable to soiling the horses of the farm ; it is not, however, as it ought to be, a universal pracSlice. Preparation. — It is not common, though an excellent pradlice, to manure for tares : and one earth only is given for tliem. Sort. — The winter and the spring tare are the only sorts cultivated. I once saw white tares in the county, but they were not found equal ro the cominon sort. The following cxpciiments were made by the Rev. Mr. Laurents, of Bury, to ascertain the distindtlon of winter and spring tares. *' Whether there subsists an essential difference between the spring tare and the winter tare, is a question, about •which husbandmen are not unanimous. Some assert the distin6lion which is made between the tAvo, real, and grounded in the natuie of the plants themselves; whilst others conceive it imaginary, and to lie merely in the difference of the seed time. With a view to decide this question, have the following experiments been made. •' Experiment L — Sept. 30th, 1 783, 1 sowed seeds of the \vinter tare and of the spring tare near one another in the same soil and exposure ; and covered botli witli a coat of crumbled mould one inch deep. The weather proving mild, the TARES. 71 tLe spring tnre soon maJe its appearance ; and two days after came up tlie winter tare. This ascendant the former did not fail to maintain over the latter until the middle of De- cember ; for at this tune that was about six inches high, and this not above four. They both were in a vigorous and thriving condition, when a frost came on and conti- nued for som.e weeks. When a thaw took place, I found the spring tare lying on the ground, slimy, and putrihed to the very root. The winter tare had received no da- mage. This grew up afterwards, and was ripe before the middle of August. " The circumstance of the different fates thev had ex- perienced from the frost, led me into the fields to view the state of tares in a more open situation. There I found, that In some grounds scarce any plants had failed ; in others were patches of something in a state of putrefac- tion, resembling the dead tares in my garden. *' Expcrhr.cut II. — On 6th March, 1784, both sorts were sown in the manner above described ; and in their springing up and growth, observed a progress similar to that which I had remarked in autumn. Near a week later than the winter tare of the autumnal sowing, the spring tare of the vernal sowing arrived to perfecSl: m.aturity. But the win- ter tare of the vernal sowing was mildewed, nor did a single pod of it ripen, " From these two circumstances there appears a' ma- terial difference in the constitution, if I may so call it, of the two tares in question. I shall say nothing to the trifling difference in the colour and size of their seeds, but pass on to the only visible marks of distinilion I was able to trace in watching the process of the two experiments. And this is a disparity in the first leaves of the upright E 4 Stalks 72 TARES. Stalks above ( a ) m the annexed plate. The figures Jn this plate, delineated from j:;)ecimens gathered about the end of November, render a technical description unneces- sary. " N. B. The leaves on the branches, which afterward issue below { a ) and in time form the bulk ot the plants, resemble one another in the two vetches. Tliis is all I am able to offer toward the decision of the question. Let tlie reader judge. " The purpose of curiosity thus far answered, let us see what may redound from these inquiries to the interests of agriculture. And here it requires no great degree of pe- netration in the husbandman to discover the necessity of keeping the seeds of the two taies separate and unmixed j since sown out of season neither is found to prosper. Hence the seedsmen too may learn a lesson. WJiat the praiStice in other places may be I cannot tell ; but in the Course of last summer, wishing to compare with our win- ter tare that which is cultivated in the Pays de Caux, and called there by the farmers hyvcrnachc, \ searched almost every shop in Rouen, where it was likely to be found, in vain. And the reason assigned for my disappointment was, that the time of sowing it was over. So very nice and exadl a proportion between the wants of the farmer and the stock at market, struck me as a case somewhat rc- inarkable ; the solution of which is this : after the au- tumnal sowing, the remains of the hyvcrnache are thrown in among the other vetch. Now this pra6lice stands con- demned by the result of the second experiment, " Some winter tares, self-sown in August, were so for- ward as to suffer from the severity of the winter more than what I had sown in experiment the first. It appears to me, that if the shoots 'below (a) in the plarc are coming oul; TARES. y» out before the winter sets in, they are sufficiently forwaid. They will then stand ready to start at the genial suinmons of returning spring." Seed. — Two bushels, or two and an half, are the por- tion of seed commonly allotted to an acre. ^Ime of Solving. — September is the usual season for sow- ing winter tares; but continued by some through October; I\ larch and April for the spring sort. Harvest. — When left for seed, they are cut and wadded as pease, witli a make. Produce. — From three to six sacks an acre. For Soiling. — This is the best and most general applica- tion of the crop. Winter tares, if sown in September, are in Suffolk ready to mow, that is, pretty full in blos- som, by the first week in June. Upon rich soils, or ma- nured, they will be a crop earlier ; but the loss is consi- derable by mowing loo soon, and it depends on the time of sowing having been varied in a succession, to procure tlicai for several weeks consumption. For Hay. — They are found to make excellent hay, if the season is good to save it ; they bear rain, however, worse than any other sort of hay. IX. COLE-SEED. 74 COLE-SEED. IX. COLE-SEED. There is a considerable quantity of cole-seed sown in all parts of this county ; but in the fen distrift, it is one of the principal crops. Preparation. — The preparation is the same as for turnii)s, but manure not commonly bestowed for it ; in the fens it is generally sown on one thin ploughing, on pared and burnt land. Seed. — A quarter of a peck is the common quantity of seed ; but I have known half a peck sown by many. Time of Sowing. — If for sheep feed only, it is sown in the turnip season ; but if for seed, in the beginning of August. Harvest. — It is reaped, and left on the gavel till fit to thresh. Threshing. — Threshed in the field on cloths, and the straw burned, which is wasteful management, for there is no vegetable substance, however apparently dry, that will not rot, and make manure, \\hen bedded in a farm-yard for the urine and dung of cattle to mix with it. Produce — Various ; from four to ten sacks an acre ; five coombs, or two quarters and a half an acre, probably the medium ; and as it sells from thirty shillings even to forty shillings a sack sometimes, it is a very profitable crop to the fanner. For TURMIPS. 75 For S/ieep. — The application most important, and most beneficial to a farm, is this ; it is excellent for sheep, and exceeds turnips both in fattening and giving milk. Succeeding Crop. — When seeded, it is commonly suc- ceeded by wlieat, which farmers are fond of representing as excellent, in order to convince their landlords that the crop is innocent, in not exhausting: I have seen very- good wheat after it ; but it is certainly an exhausting crop. When fed, it is followed by barley or oats. X. TURNIPS. ' The culture of this plant, may justly be esteemed the greatest improvement in English husbandry that has beeu established in the present century. In Suffolk, it has changed the face of the poorer soils, and rendered thera more productive to the landlord, the tenant, and the public, than anv other system of management, perhaps, that could be devised. The culture has been accurately described by a considerable and practical Sutlolk farmer, in The Annah df Agriculture^ from which I shall extra6l the material Jieads. Soil. — The right soil for this root is a deep sand, such as has adhesion enough td make it of the value of from 5 s. to JOS. an acre; land of 14s. or 15s. has generally too great a mixture of loam ; for if the land is wet or stiff, such as yield good wheat crops, the culture may not be advan- tageous, especially if used, as it should be, as a preparation • for barley : on such a soil, it would shorten the crop at least ^5 TURKU'S. least two or three coombs* an acre ; I should sooner pre- fer blowing sands of 3 s. 6d. and even 2 s. 6d. per acre, which, when folded, and the season liappens to be wcf, yield profitable crops ; indeed, sucli lands can be fanned no other way, for, if no turnips are gained, no corn will be had ; and a mere sheep-walk is then the only use that can be made of them. Wliere a farmer has no proper soil for turnips, I think it would be prudent to give up the winter feeding of more cattle than his hay and straw will do for, unless he depends on buying turnips, which may sometimes be advantageous, and sometimes the con- trarv. 1 will just observe, that I have a neighbour upon a wet soil, with about 30 score very fine sheep, who, one year with another, cannot grow 20 acres of turnips, but depends on buying of his neighbours. Prcpayation. — Tillage. — The first earth should be given before Christmas, of a common staple depth; and if be- fore the spring seed-time a second earth can be given, it will be very useful; for, if there should be any spear- grass in the land, that pernicious weed is apt to get too great a hold before barley-sowing is over; immediately after the barley is in, tlie third earth should be given ; this will be in May; the fourth about the second week in June ; and the fifth, or seed-earth, the latter end of the same month, unless the soil is subjc6l to the mildew, in which case Old Midsummer will be full soon enough. And let it be observed, that harrowing with every earth is very necessary, for the surface should always be kept in fine friable order, that the seed-weeds may grow, otherwise, if that is omitted till the seed-earth, they will then grow so powerfully as to smother many of the young plants. •» A coomb is half a quarter. Manure. TURNIPS. 77 ATanurc. — For manure we depend on the fold or farm- yard, usually both ; of farm- yard dung not less than 12 loads should be spread on an acre, such as was made the preceding whiter, and once tunned over. In respe6l to the lengtli of dung, it should neitlicr be long nor cpite rotten ; the best condition is, when it is in such a state that the labourers say, it will neither spit nor fork, I never tried any other manure for this root, except once an experiment on shell marie from WoodbriJge-side, called there, crag. I had seen sucli great cffetSls there from it, that, through curiosity, I brought a waggon load (back carriage) and tried it on a light turnip soil, and also on a good strong loam, and it was with great surprize I found that it did scarcely any good on either: the advantage was, if any thing, rather greater on the former, but not suffici- ent to induce me to carry it a single mile, had a crag-pit been found on the farm. When the dung for turnips is rather long, and ploughed in witii the seed-earth, the seed should only be rolled in. Sort. — The white round Norfolk is preferred ; the red round, and the small green round, are known, but the tankard sorts are uncommon. Seed. — The quantity of seed depends on the soil; upon a naturally good turnip sand a pint an acre, evenly de- livered by a good hand, or sowing engine, will be enough ; no soil demands so much seed as chalky land, when the chalk comes quite to the surface ; upon such soil, a quarter of a peck an acre will seldom be too much ; the reason of the difference is, that the fly is sure to attack the plants upon this soil much more voraciously and with greater certainty, than on any other. I do not, therefore, recom- mend this soil for turnips in general, but where it so liappens. 78 TURNIPS. happens, tliat one end, or one side of a piece of turni[i land is of this sort (which is often the case) to be careful to lay the seed thick enough on those parts. Having mentioned the sowing-engine, I sliould rcinark^ that thougli it is, with care, a good tool, yet it is liable to have the holes stopped by two seeds sticking in them, so that if the seedsman is not very attentive, he may go some tllscance without a regular delivery. Time of Sowing. — Tlie season for sowing extends from New Midsummer to the end of July : this variation is* ne- cessary for two reasons ; first, because the land cannot be all manured to sow early ; and, secondly, because the late sown will last much longer than the early ones, which are apt to miUlew, and consequently more likely to be rotted by hard frosts afterwards, for wlilch reason all farmers should take care to have some late sown ; I have had them from a sowing the first week in August, which proved the most profitable crop on my farm, owing to the frost kill- ing others while these escaped. Cuhure -iv/ii/e growing. — Hoeing Is so essential towards getting a good crop, that I am surprized a farmer should think of sowing them with any other view*. As soon as the plants are stout enough, they should be harrowed with a light harrow once in a place ; tills assists the hoeing ; it is not easy to describe the state of tlie plants when they ar£ ready for the hoe; age will not disci iminate, because the season will vary from three weeks to eight, and even * T have been informed, by gcptlcmen that I am sure would not deceive me, that there are parts of the kingdom wliere all hoeing is unknown ; but certain I am, that if one of those farmers would come into this country, and compare our crops with his own, he would return with a determination to change his pr.:£lice, nine, TURNIPS. 79 nine, from tlie time of sowing ; hut a better rule Is, to be- gin when the plants in general spread a circle of about four inches diameter. If any of the fields, after the hoe- ing begins, are getting too forward, which in a wet sea- son is often the case, a second harrowing (the contrary- way) may safely be given. I find, by sowing my turnips at different seasons, that six men will hoe an hundred acres twice ; but those who do not equally vary their seasons, must of course piopor- tionally increase the number. The second hoeing is given about a fortnight or three weeks after the first, at half the expence, tliat is, 2s. an acre ; this is sometimes omitted, but it answers exceedingly well. Occidents. — It is necessary to say something on the fai- lures that turnip crops are liable to, which are the fly, the mildew, the black canker, and to rotting from frost. I calculate that the frost destroys half the crop once in six or seven years ; the fly not only destroys some crops entirely, but even when a second or third sowing yields something, it is gained at the expence of one cr tu o ploughings, har- rowings, and seed, when no tillage is wanting for the land : this may, on an average, be calculated to amount to the loss ot a whole crop once in five or six years ; the mildew is rather conneded with the rot, and the black canker has not yet been so common with us, as to de- mand a particular calculation. I would, for the above reasons, notwithstanding all the praise that is due to this most useful root, recommend to all sheep-masters, especially those with breediiig flocks, not to trust singly to them. I have found verv great ad- vantage from having certain breadths of cole-seed, rye, and w inter tares, sown early on the first stubbles tha' were cleared the preceding autumn j indeed, supposing no fai- lures, X 8o TURNIPS. lures, it is absolutely necessary to have some provision for the couples, by the time the lambs begin to feed, as it will put them on a great deal faster than tlie best turnips that can be given. application of the Crop. — In regard to consuming the crop, I would recommend feeding sheep with them upon the land, as by far the best preparation for barley, provided the soil is true turnip-land, that is dry. The benefit will, however, vary with the time of eating off, for those that are eaten early in the winter, will not by any means, give so good barley as those which are eaten later, provided the plants do not run for blossom, for then they exhaust the land, and the succeeding crop suffers. Cart- ing off is common, but die expcnce, allowing for the damage done to the succeeding crop, is too great, and I should never recommend the culture with that view. Preservation. — On this subjedl, the Rev. Mr. Orbell Ray, of Tostoc, thus expresses himself : — " Your ad- dress, requesting information of the measures pursued for preserving turnips, and relieving the land from the ex- hausting effe61s of their very rapid vegetation, during the spring, determined nie to send you the following ac- count of my treatment of this root, the advantages of which 1 have experienced tor many years, and which, with a few variations, is, I believe, the general praftice of the Suffolk farmers. About the middle of February, I began to draw my turnips, cutting off the tap-root at the same lime, and carried them to a pasture field, adjoining to my farm-yard, where they were unloaded, and labourers employed to take the roots, one by one, and set them upon Xht grass, in as upright and close a manner as possible. I pursued this method through the month of March, until 1 had TURNIPS. 8l i had colletfted above an hundred loads ; always availing myself of dry windy weather, when the tops are less brittle, and the roots in the cleanest state. The expence varies with the distance of carriage; the setting up, about three halfpence per load of 40 bushels. The growth of ihe top is not much interrupted by the loss of the tap-root, and is an ample compensation for the waste of the bulb. I carried about two loads per day to nine bullocks which were confined in a farm-yard, with suitable binns ; and do not recollect that I ever experienced so profitable an expenditure of my turnips. The cattle did not leave the yard till the second week in May ; when they were turned into a field of fresh luxuriant ray grass ; I observed that the succulent quality of the turnip-top was more accept- able to their palates than the grass. And I am more- over convinced of this very important circumstance, that the quantity of nutritious food is increased by this me- thod. The turnip-rooted cabbage appears to me to be highly deserving the attention of flock-masters. The singular mildness of the last winter rendered its resistance to the severity of seasons, an unnecessary quality. Tliat it possesses this in a perfect manner, appears from the tes- timony of many who seem inclined to confine its excel- lence to this single point. If the preference given by- animals to any sort of food, be a sure way of judging of its excellence, I had an opportunity of marking that pre- dileftion in the case of sheep, in a manner highly to the advantage of this root. I had a rood of these cabbages in my orchard, which I took up in the month of March, with little expectation, from their singular hardness, that any part except the top would be consumed. I repeatedly offered them to my bullocks ; but, after an unsuccessful effort to break them, they devoured the top aud left them. I sliced them and offered them to mv hogs, and tliey re- F j celled $2 TURNIPS. jeclcd them. I liad, at that time, some wether hoggrts feeding oft" nirnips, \vith an allowance, by hurdles of a fresh piece, as occasion required. 1 directed my bailiff to carry a load of these cabbages every day to the sheep, spreading them upon tlie land already cleared. The sheep immediately gave them the preference ; and, though they seemed to make very slow progress with their teetli, their perseverance, till all was consumed, convinced mc that these cabbages rank high in the list of winter resources." On this account I may remark, tliat a method some- -what different from the foregoing, has been pra6lised with great success in the neighbourhood of Bury. The turnips, when running for blossom, have been topped and tailed in the field as they were pulled, carted home, and laid under cover for stall-fed bullocks, which have thriven perfectly well upon them throughout the whole month of May. The stalks have been ploughed in, and have proved a dressing for the barley crop ; which has been found good, but not equal to that which followed the turnips fed oft" by a flock of sheep. The diflaculty of feeding off turnip-rooted cabbages clean with sheep, has prevented many persons from cul- tivating that useful plant ; but Mr. Ray has found that it answers very well to cart them oft" the land for sheep ; and Mr. Le Blanc carts oft^ the fragments left bv his flock into his farm-yard, and finds himself well paid for tlie la- bour of doing it, by the sustenance ti^ey aftbrd to his lean hogs, at a season when threshing is just over, and, conse- quently, hog's-meat scarce. Value. — The value is exceedingly various, rising from lOs. to 50s. per acre, with many entire failures, thnt upon a general medium of all lands and all seasons, sink the produ(5l greatly. I do not conceive they can be estimated at more than 35 s. an acre. XI. CLOVER. CLOVER. S^ XL CLOVE R. After tlic culture of turnips, the Introduction of tlils J)lant, as a preparation for wheat, must be esteemed the greatest of modern improvements upon arable lands. It has been cultivated in Suffolk largely beyond the memory of the oldest man ; and is, in every branch of its manage- ment, perfedtly well understood by good farmers. Prcparnt'ion. — The due preparation for clover, consists chiefly in its right arrangement in the course of crops. It ought invariably to be sown, and is so by the best and most accurate husbandmen, with the first corn crop after a fallow one, such as turnips, &c, ; when two white corn crops arc sown in succession, and clover with the second, it is an error, and doing an injustice both to tlie plant and the land. The land, after turnips are consumed, should have three spring earths for the barley and clover. Seed. — Ten or twelve pounds an acre, are the common quantity; but fifteen are better. Feeding. — It is upon clover that the generality of farmers depend for the summer support of their teams; which in common management graze it in the fields. Sheep, also, are fed on it with the greatest success. Hay. — Clover hay, so valuable at London, is hardly saleable in Suffolk ; but it is sometimes made for home use. From one and an half to two tons per acre, on good land, are the usual produce. F % For 84 CLOVER. For Soiling. — It Is not commonly applied to this ase, ^vhich is more generally seen in Hertfordshire. No plant, except lucerne, chicory, and tares, is better adapted to it. For Sce{{. — Great quantities are seeded in SufFolk, it be- ing a very favoiylte, because sometimes a very profitable ciop. But there are farmers that have been injured by repeating it too often. Failure of Clover. — By repeating clover too often, as every fourth or fifth year, the lauds in this county have be- come tired of it. Though the plant rises well, and has a good appearance in autumn, afcer the spring corn is re- moved, yet it dies in the winter ; and there is nothing more mischic\'ous to the soil than half a plant of clover, as weeds are sure to supply its place. On this subject, Mr. Williams, of Marlesford, writes me, " that it would be desirable and valuable, if the Board could point out an artificial grass as a substitute for clover ; of which, from long use, the lands are wholly tired. Indeed, for some years, they have been obliged to use trefoil and ray grass. This parish is critically situated at the jundlion of the two soils, the sti'ong and light ; the substratum of one a clay, the other gravel and red sand ; and the remark of one, that he finds It necessary to sow more seed on the light soil than he did, gives some reason to apprehend that the lands may in time reject it also ; and this he knows to be the case with others, on light soils. One more opu- lent of concerns, more eNtcnsive, and of course more apt to experiment, was a few years ago informed by a Dur- liam gentleman, that in that district a grass called cow- grass was well thought of and used ; understanding it to be very similar to clover, only that the stem is solid instead of tubical. He endeavoured in London, and the North, to TREFOIL AND WHITE CLOVER. 85 to procure the seed, but w^s disappointed by their sending clover-seed, and has not been able to come at it since." Chicory is this great desideratum, and will answer on all soils : it may be managed in every respcdl like clover. XII. TREFOIL. Sometimes sown for a single year's crop, when in- tended for seed ; but more commonly substituted when the land is meant to rest two or three years, and ray grass usually mixed with it. Seed. — The same quantity as of clover. ^application of the Crop. — When not seeded, generally fed with sheep. Duration. — Trefoil, though a biennial crop,, will, by seeding itself, last several years in the land. It is generally left two or three. XIII. WHITE CLOVER. Is a very valuable plant for soils on which it will abide i but it lasts a short time on wet ones. On sands and dry loams, it is excellent husbandry to add a few pounds to trefoil and ray grass. In some parts of the count)', 10 1. and 12I. per acre has been made of the seed. XIV, SAINFOIN, 86' SAINFOIIJ. XIV. SAINFOIN. This noble plant, the most profitable of all others oi^ the soils it afFciSs, is much cultivated in Suffolk. In the sandv distri6ts, especially the western, it is every x^-here found, though not in the quantity that ought to be sown of" it. The culture, however, has increased of late years. Soil. — The peculiar land for this plant, is that which has chalk under it ; but all dry sound loams and gravels will do for it. The Rev. Mr. Moscley, of Drinkston, has had it some years, and now in good perfection on a gravelly loam without any chalk ; and on soils that are dry, tlie crop is in proportion to the goodness of the land. Preparation. — As sainfoin remains many years on the land, the preparation by good farmers, is that of a very complete turnip fallow. Two crops of that plant in suc- cession, form the perfedtion of management. Seed. — Four bushels an acre, aloiie, are the usual quan- tity, and the price generally a guinea the coomb of four bushels. Some have sown only three, and five or six pounds of clover with it, to form a crop the fiist yeaj, as the sainfoin is weak till the second, Time of Sowing. — Generally sown with barley or oats, in the spring ; but Mr. Fairfax, of Bury, tried it in Sep- tember, with rye, and with great success. Mowing for Hay. — They find in Suffolk what has been observed elsewhere, and first publicly noted, I be- lieve, SAINFOIN. 87 Have, bv Tqll, that there is a great convenience hi being able to mow sainfoin almost with equal advantage either earlv or late, as the weather may suit. The hay, all the world knows to be excellent. It requires no other making than once turning the sivaths. Produce. — About two tons per acre on tolerable soils, may be estimated as the average croj) : on poorer land, one and an half. Crop of Seed. — The seed amounts to about four and aji half, or five coomhs per acre ; and the straw is good fod- der for cart-horses. Faltic. — Two tons an acre, of hay, cannot be valued at less than 4I. used at home, and much more if sold. The seed is a guinea a coomb. The after-grass excellent for cows, calves, oxen, &c. and may be lightly fed by weaned lambs, Avithout damage to the plant ; though it should never be hard led by sheep, and especially in the spring. What immense advantages at so small an ex- pence, seed alone excepted ! DuraUon. — About twf Ivc or thirteen years may be con- sidered as the mean duration in Suffolk. Breaking up. — Paring and burning for turnips, is un- questionably the best mode of breaking up a sainfoin layer, but not pra6tised here, h is usual to give one earth for oats. F 4 SECT. 88 HOP&. SECT. V. — CROPS NOT COMMONLY CULTI- VATED. Under tliis liead it is ncccssarv to note the followiuE' articles of cultivation: 1. Plops. 2. Cabbages. 3. Carrots. 4. Lucerne. 5. Chicor.y. 6. Potatoes. 7. Hemp. I. HOPS. At Stowmarket and its vicinity, there are about 200 acres of hops, which deserve mention, as an article wlijch is not generally spread through the kingdom. The ave- rage produce, six cvvt. at 5 1. or 30 1, per acre, and cxpence in labour only 7 1. Eiglitccn or twenty acres are grubbed up and turn- ed to meadow within a few years, owing to bad timi.;^. The soil they plant on, is a black loose moor, on a gravelly bottom, very wet and boggy, lying on a de;id level with the little river that runs by the town ; the more boggy and loose it is, the better the liops thrive, especial- ly if the gravel be within three feet ; the neighbouring grounds rise in such a manner as to shelter them very well. Before HOPS. 89 Before planting, these moiassy bottoms were coarse mea- iiow, worth about 20s. an acre, and some much less. In preparing for hops, they form them into beds sixteen feet wide, by digging trenches about three feet wide, and two feet or two feet and an half deep, the earth that comes out being spread upon the beds, and the whole dug and level- led. Immediately upon this, they, in March, form the holes six feet asunder every wav, twelve inches diameter, and a spit deep, consequently, there are three rows on each bed. — Into each hole they put about half a peck of verv xotten dung, or rich compost, scatter earth upon it, and plant seven sets in each, drawing earth enough to them afterwards to form something of a hillock. Some persons in the first years sow French beans, or beans, and plant cabbages ; but not reckoned a good w ay by Mr. Rout, to whose obliging communication I owe the particulars from which I draw this account : in about two or three weeks, but according to the season, they will be fit to pole witli old short poles, to which they tie all the shoots or vines, and then keep the land clean by hoeing and raking ; at I\lidsummer tliey hill them. The produce th.e first year will be three, four, and even five hundred weight of hops j)cr acre. After this they reckon them as a common plantation, and manage accordingly. Manure is not always given regularly ; but amounts, upon an average, to ten loads a year, value 5 s. a load in tiie plantation. They keep it till it would run through a sieve, which they prefer to a more putrid state. The labour of forming the beds for a new plantation, by digging the drains, &c. amounts to 4I. an acre. That of the annual work, picking excepted, is put out to the men at4l. an acre per annum, for which they dig, strip, sack, clean drains, hoe, rake, hole, tie, &c. Three 5(> HOPS. Three poles are put to each hill, consequently, there are 30 hundred (at 120) to the acre, at 24s. a hundred delivered. They are generally of ash, and the length they prefer, is 24 feet. But in addition to this regular poling, when a hop raises much above a pole, thev set another to take the shoot to prevent its falling, preventing the circulation of air, and entanghng with the poles of other hills. A hop garden will last almost for ever, by renewing the hills that fail, to the amount of about a score annually ; but it is reckoned better to grub up and new plant it every twenty or twenty- five years. The only distempers to which they are subje6l, are the fly and honey-dew ; they know the blast and the red worm, but they are rare ; the latter chiefly on dry land. The lightning they think favourable, as it kills flies and lice. Mr. Rout has raised a bank against the river about three feet high, to lessen the force of floods ; but does not wish to keep them entirely out ; as he finds, that if the water comes in gently, and does not wash the earth away, it is rather beneficial. And he is clear, that if he was to let the river into his drains to a certain height, in very dry weather, it would be of service to the crop. Relative to the expence of forming a new plantation, they had, many years ago, an idea that it cost 75 1. an ?xre ; and Mr. Rout is clear that it cannot now be done under icol. Among other articles, he named the fol- lowing : Preparing the beds, . - - Manure, _ « - - Pkinting, - , . - Sets, L- s. d. 4 2 10 I 5 91 I' J. d. ■ I 15- o 10 o 10 o 10 36 15 .^ HOPS. Sets, if bought, or the labour In raising and cutting, - - _ _ Hoeing, raking, and moulding, Tying, _ _ . _ Poling, - - - - 30 hundred poles, at 24 s. Shaving and knotting, 6d. per hundred, Carrying to the ground,- 2S. per hundred, Pickin:^-, drvino^, and ba2;c;ir''-i, 20s. per cwt. t o' ^ to' oto i>' r V 4 o O 4 cwt. - - - - J Duty 10 s. Two bags, « - - Two years rent, 20 s. Tythe, - - - - ^ates, 7 s. in the pound, ^.61 19 o The gross calculation, therefore, includes some articles not noticed here, or takes a considerable portion of the expence of building the kiln. The annual expence they reckon : Rent, when the land is -in order, - - Tythe, - - .- - - - Rate 7 s, Labour, by contrail, _ - _ Manure, ____-- Picking, drying, and bagging, 203. per cwt. 8 cwt. 8 puty, 10 s. - Three bags, at 5 s. Annual renewal of poles, suppose Interest 2 , - 10 2 2 14 14 4 £■ s. d. 2 I 14 4 2 10 8 4 15 4 92 HOPS. Interest of money, - - - -320 Ditto kiln, - - - - -loo 'Mr. Rout's crops have varied from i cwt. whicli was the lowest lie ever had, to 13 cwt. which he thinks was the greatest produce he ever received ; on an average, 8 cwt. and the mean price 4I. per cwt. Eight cwt. at 4 1. - - - - ,^.32 o o Expences, - - - - - 3110 Tiiis account nearly resembles many others I have taken in different counties. Anotlier minute of the expence and produce at Stow- market ; EXPENCES. /. .. d. Stock, 25 1. for poles, the interest of which -150 Rent, - - -. 200 Tythe, - - - 100 Rates, - - - o 14 o 3 14 o Rent total per annum, - 1^- - 4190 Tlirec load of poles, at 22 s. annually - 360 "Manure, four loads a year, - - - 0160 Labour, - - - - - - 3100 Carriage of poles, and sharpening, - -030 Picking6cwt.anddryingandcarting,ios.percwt. 3 o O Bagging, 030 Kiln, - - - - _._ -050 Duty, at id. and 15 per cent. - - - • 3 4* o Carting to Sturbitch fair, is. 6d. - - 090 Fences, and draining, - - - - o 10 o ;(^-20 5 O Interest of that sum, - - -100 PRO- flops. PRODUCE. The average price, 5 1. Six cwt. at 5I. Expences, . _ - _ Profit, Repleuishing may be reckoned one-sixteenth annually, _ - _ _ _ Remains, - - - - ^. 6 ic Still to be dctlu6led for a farm impoverished by 1 the manure being taken for hops, - 3 93 jC' X. J, 30 21 5 £-^ 15 1 2 Neat profit, - - - - ^^.4150 Where they pick latest, are the best hops next year. The two hundred acres of hops in this neighbourhood, arc spread in the following proportion, through these parishes : In Stowraarket, - - - 50 acres. Combs, - - - - 30 Newton, - - - - 20 Dagworth, _ - _ § Finborougii, - - - 20 One-House, - - - 20 Shellan, - " - - 5 Buxhall, - - - - 15 Stow-Upland, - - - 10 Haughley, - - - _ 8 186, &c. II. CABBAGES. ■ 94- CABBAGES. 11. CABBAGES. TiiK culture of cabbages*. Is another article \vhii:h adds not inconsiderably to the agricultural merit of SufFolk. The most approved method is, to sow the seed in a very rich bed, early in the spring ; to prepare the land by four ploughings, the last of which buries an ample dunging, and forms the land a second time on three feet ridges, along the. crown of which the plants arc sec in a rainy season, about Midsummer. They are kept clean by horse and 'hand hoeing. The produce rises to above thirty tons per acre. A gentleman near Bury carried this husbandry very near to perfetSlion, and on so large a scale ab to seventy acres hi a year ; but he sowed more than halt the "esd in August, and pricked out at Michaelmas ; planting in the field the first heavy rains in May: his crops always great, and their use in fattening oxen disting"uishcd. On this subjc*ft, I\'Ir. W. Green, of BraJtield, thus com- municates: — " Sow the seed on a very rich bed the begin- ning of March ; one pound of seed on ten rods of ground for three acres ; the sort, clrum-her.d, from its flat top, and as hard as a stone; price of the seed 2s. 6d. per pound; this beticr than the tallow-loaf, heavier and harder. The land where they are to be planted, to be ploughed up at Michaelmas ; let it lie till spring ; plough four or five * Cabbages certainly produce, in some seasons, a great quantity of food, ■which IS very excellent ; but if the season for pricking them out be very dry, they are attended with inconceivable trouble. They must all be watered by hand; and even this will not alwavs succeed. They cannot, therefore, be grown on a large scale by common farmers, and not at all on light soils. The subsequent crop of corn is materially injured by the growth of cabbages. Nole by y. R. — I must think otlierwise ; and have seen trom forty to seventy acres on a farm every year for several years. — y4. i'. times ; CABBAGES. 95 times; dung before the last ploughing ; fifteen load (three horses) au acre dung, or twenty dung and eartl; ; plough ir in on three feet ridges, the latter end of June ready u> plant, that is to wait for rain. Much depends on having large stout plants; the seed-bed is therefore drawn, when rain conies, all hands to work. 1'hc expence is about 3 s. an acre planting. In about a month, plough between, by ilrawing the lands into baulks, and then shut up, after which hoe with hand-hoes ; but do not hand-hoe before shuttiiTg up, for by the hoc following the plough, the clods which roll on to the plants are easily removed ; an- other reason is, the space of land on which the plants stand after drawing out, being too narrow to bear a hoe- ing. Hand-hoe thrice, each time 2 s. an acre, 6 s. in all. I have cultivated them six years, and never lost a crop but once for want of rain. *' About three weeks after planting, taking the oppor- tunity of rain, replant the vacancies from failure. *' Begin to use them a month after Michaelmas for milch cows, and keep using them so till the end of March ; but thev ought to be off tlie land the middle of that month, as they then shoot, and draiu tlie land. Three good acres will do for my dairy of twenty cows, with straw and some hay ; but if absolutely no hay, then five acres of cab- bages. For weanling calves they are most excellent. Tur- nips are apt to give tliem the garget, by vvhich tliey very commonly die ; but in six years I have lost only one calf in above forty, by feeding them on cabbages, nor can anv calves thrive better. *' In fattening beasts, I find tb.at a middluig crop will fatten in proportion of three fourths of an acre for tvvo beasts of 50 stone that have had the summer grass. " Hogs prefer them exceedingly to turnips ; of this I have a striking instance the present season ; for having a field <)6 CABBAGES. field part under turnips and part cabbages, my sows, &c; have at various times this winter got into the field, and I do not think they have begun ten turnips in the whole field, but constantly got to the cabbages. " In regard to value, I have no positive datd to calcu- late on, for it is not easy to keep accounts accurate enough to ascertain it, bjt in a general way, reckon a good acrii worth from 4I. to 5I. ; or, more generally, to be doublii tlie value of turnips. " I am sensible, that this pra6lice leaves the farmer with- out cabbage assistance for a month or six weeks In the spring; part of this time may be supplied by drawing cabbages for about a fortnight, and the remainder by a pradlice which I have followed many years with suc- cess. It is, to keep about twenty acres of my meadow rouen (after-grass) till April, never turning any thing in from the scythe till that time. This is excellent for cows, for ewes, and lambs, especially crones; and I believe it will be found (it has proved so with me) that any piece of rouen that is worth 5 s. at Michaelmas, will be worth 10 s. in April, and so in other proportions ; but the value will depend a good deal on the weather ; in a dry time it goes very far, but in a wet season it is much spoiled. Let it also be remembered, that this grass is saved from a season (autumn) when food is exceeding plentiful, and of little value to those who do not sell. EXPENCES OF AN ACRE OF CABBAGES. Rent, Tythe, Poor-rates, Five ploughings, £' s. d. 10 I 6 I 3 I Two CABBAGES. 97 £' s. ^. Two hatrowings, - o o 6 Manuring, - - - - 2 Seed-bed seed, &c. - O I 6 Planting, _ ^ _ * O 3 d Deficiencies, . _ > - o o 6 Hand-hoeings, _ - _ - o 4 Horse-work in hoeing, - o 4 Cutting, and carting quarter cf a mile, o 15 £■5 I 3 ■ ** This is giving the total expence of the manure to the cabbages ; but if the advantage is divided, as it cer- tainly is, then not more than 15 s. should be laid to the crop, which will make the tx)tal expence 3I. i6s. 3d. " The barley or oats that follow cabbages, have been thought by some to be inferior to that which succeeds tur- nips, but in my experience I have not found it so ; for I have several times had turnips and cabbages in the same fieW equally dunged, and rhe soil and management the same, but I have found that that crop gives the best barley which is taken off earliest." • The heavy part of Suffolk is the only distrifl in Eng- land, that, to my knowledge, has the culture of cabbages established among common farmers, and is in that respedi curious. It may be remembered, that on the publication of my Northern Tour, in 1770, in which this culture was for the first time fully explained, in the pradlice of many very spirited gentlemen in Yorkshire, &c. it gave rise to a sort of farming controversy, concerning the utility of that cultivation, many persons declaring it to be an unprofitable article, and that when large crops were gained, they were found to be good for little. I saw enough of it in that G and 9^ CABBAGES. and some succeeding journies, to be fullv convinced of tlir great benefit of the crop ; and declared expressly in favour of it. To find a branch of cultivation fixed here, and to Rave found that it had established itself since tlic period of that publication, could not but make me solicitous to in- quire into every circumstance that related to it. Tliev do not have recourse to either turnips or cabbages as a necessary article in any course of crops, but merely in subservience to tlie daiiy. On the contrary, they ar& very generally of opinion, that tlie husbandry with any other view is disadvantageous. The wetness of their land is such, that carting otF these crops poaches the soil to an extreme, so that the barley which succeeds them is da- maged considerably. This point goes to both ; or rather, cabbages 'being much easier got at, and standing clear above the ground, have, in this respeft, a considerable ad- vantage. But the idea among them is very general, that cabbages cxliaust the land much more than turnips: I saw few farmers who were iiot ol this opinion ; aftid as it is an interesting point in the cultivation, I made numerous in- quiries; and repeated them with such attention, that I believe I brought away the truth very corredlly. The point, that ihey exhaust more than turnips, seemed upon the whole to be well ascertained ; but some circum- stances, even in this respccSl, deserve attention. Several were Inclined to attribute. this fadt to th.e com- mon praclicc of cutting off the cabbages, and leaving the shanks and roots in the ground, which throw out sprouts, and draw the laud when tlie elFe6l of the crop ought en- tirely to have ceased. The remark is sensible, and some cife6t must certainly flow from the neg]e6l of notextrafling them root and all. It seemed to be a general opinion, that barley after turnips was better by two coombs an acre than after cabbages ; but it was admitted as generally, that the CABBAGES. 99 t?ie cabbages were superior to the turnips in quantity and value of food, by more than the amounc of two coombs of barley. The opinion most common is, that one acre of cabbages is equal to an acre and a half of turnips: se- veral farmers assured me, that it was equal to two of tur- nips. IVIr. Garneys, of Kenton-, tliat an acre of his cab- bages has been better than any two of turnips he ever grew; and farther, that though his barley after turnips has had the longest straw, yet he thinks the quantity of corn little superior, and the sample of it not equal. I met with several whose cabbages were done, wlio thought turnips superior as a preparation for barley; but who Xvislied very earnestly they had planted more cabbages.-— Mv. Dove, of Euston-Hall, thought that barley after a summer fallow without dting, would give more, by three coombs an acre, than cabbage or turnip land would, though dunged for that crop. John Fairvreather has had part of a field turnips and part cabbages, equally dunged for, and the barley as good after one as the other. The Rev. Mr. Chevallier has cultivated them with atten- tion for several years ; and has found them so very con- venient in frost and snow, that he would never be without some, were there no other reason for it. He lays forty loads an acre (three horse ones) of dung for them ; and has observed very generally that they give more, and better milk and butter, than turnips. I found hirh feeding four cows and seven hogs with them ; and that they ate (be- sides some hay) two three-horse loads of cabbages a week, which was in the proportion of an acre lasting that stock eighteen weeks : if hay had not been given, the calculation ot value would have been easy; but suppose the cows at I s. a week, and i s. more for the hogs, it is 5 s. a week, and for the acre 4I. los. Thirteen fat wethers were also supplied with them, and except what thcv picked up in G 2 open lOO CABBAGES. open weJtlicr on a bare grass field, had nothhig efse to eat i these consumed one load a week ; this is in the propor- tion of an acre (as I found in both cases, by counting the rows of an acre, and seeing the cart loaded) keeping 26 sheep 120 days, or more than 16 weeks, which, at four-pence a head per week, amounts to 61. i8s. &d. for the acre. I have no doubt but the value of an acre will be found viery generally in this country to vibrate between 4I. los. and 7 1. It was universally agreed among all die farmers I con- versed with, that cabbages and straw were by far better food for milch cows than any quantity of hay : if tliis point is well considered, it will be entirely decisive of the question of their merit, and put their exhausting qualities almost out of the inquiry. A circumstance that proves their goodness for butter, is, the veal carts which go regu- larly from this country to London, taking large quantities tliither, which is sold and eaten as hay-butter as long as the cabbages remain sound; but when they rot, there is an end of this laudable deceit, for by no management can tlic same thing be done with turnips. The culture here given to tliis crop, nearly resembles that for turnips ; the land is ploughed three, four, and some- times five times. In May, or the beginning of June, it is manured very amply with a compost of earth and dung : some cart them separate ; 30 or 40 loads of earth, and spread it, and then 20 of dung. But the quantities vary proportionably to the plenty the farmer has, and to the richness of the soil. The land is immediately ploughed on to the three feet ridge, and left for rain, when the planting is executed as fast as possible ; distance ol the cabbages in the rows two feet. The seed is 3 s. the pound, sown the latter end of February, on a seed-bed very well dunged at Michaelmas. A great objecl is to get fine large plants ; CABBAGES. 101 plants-, their superiority to others in the end being very- considerable. I shall, upon the whole, observe, on the general fea- tures of the intelligence I received on this branch of cul- ture, that as far as the experience of this country extends, they are more exhausting than turnips. In some in- stances it has not proved so; but in general it has. The degree of this exhausting quality is not well ascertained. Ii is said to amount to about two coombs an acre in the barley crop: but the same authority also ascertains, that the value of t\\c crop exceeds that of turnips by more than this superiority of the turnip-land barley. I must confess, that this is not a point on which I am well satisfied, and wish much that Mr. Chevallier would experiment it with the most decisive care. He is so remarkably attentive and accurate in every thing, that if he would undertake it, I am sure the event could be depended on. ^Vill he allow me to recommend to him to choose two acres (not more) one exaclly on each side the gateway of the field where the trials is made; and to order a load of dung alternately to each, in order that the manure may be positively the same? Let the same tillage be given to both acres, and no difference allowed, but planting one with large cab- bage plants, and sowing the other with turnip seed. Culti- vate both, in respedl to hoeing, in the completest manner possible. The cabbages to be thrice horse-hoed. In carting them off, as well as in carting the dung on, let each acre bear no more than its own poaching, which is easy when the gate is between both. Let them be con- sumed at the same time, which is essential to the experi- ment ; and in order that this circumstance may not be troublesome, a load of turnips might be drawn for every load of cabbages used (roots to be taken as well as the rest) and set close to each other in the corner of a grass P 3 iieldj 102 CABBAGES. field, where they will keep well, should it be convenient to consume them at the same time -^vith the cabbages. It would farther be necessary to weigh some rows of the cabbages, and some square rods of the turnips, to com- pare the 'produce of each; and carefully to register the cattle supported by each, provided tliey were equally fed, but no hay to be used in the consumption of them. Such an experiment in such hands, would throw great light on this question ; and by a few repetitions, would absolutely ascertain it. From what I observed, and I examined the laud care- fully under both crops in many fields, both must damage the land considerably. The Parting them off poaches this soil in a dreadful manner ; but the turnips worst, because they ai c on stcatches nearly flat, and the cabbages on three " feet ridges, where the poaching is chiefly in the furrows : nor have I the least doubt, for this reason, of the great superiority attributed to summer-fallow barley. But on this head 1 must remark, that eitlier might be carted oiT better, if broad arched ridges were customary here ; by all the carting being in the furrows alone, the produ{5\ive part of the field would be secure from injury: this is a capital advantage attending those arched steatches, and equally adapted to -both turnips and cabbages. In the consumption of these crops, the farmers of this distri6l are in one instance exceedingly reprehensible. — There is no idea of confining cows to a farm-yard. They are universally open to two, three, or more pastures, so that the cattle have tlie barn-door at pleasure, and range over the fields almost where they please. The cabbages and turnips are scattered about on lands so wet, that the cattle at every step are up to the fetlock, and they walk regularly backwards and forwards to the farm-yards, poaching in such a manner, that if the soil v,as not very . fertile, CARROTS. 103 fertile, it would never recover, but harden with the sum- mer sun into knobs of steril mortar, I know not a more pernicious custom, nor one more ruinous to a farm, Ic is doul)ly so; for the poaching not only injures the land, but die dung is at the same time lost, which, accumulated with the litter of the yard, would add greatly to the value of the dung-hill. E\ery farm is \Veli furnished with neat- houses, where the cows have standings, and arc tied up, from three feet to three feet six inches allowed to each ; but they are used only for suckhng, milking, and baiting with hav. III. CARROTS. The culture of carrots in the Saiidlings, or district U'ithin the line formed by Woodbridge, Saxmundham, and Orford, but extending to Leiston, is one of the most interesting obje6ts to be met with in the agriculture of Britain. It appears from Norden's Surveyors Dialogue, that carrots were commonly cultivated in this distriil: two hundred years ago, which is a remarkable fa 2 12 6 21 cwt. at 2s. od. - - - \ ^.8 12 6 The carrots may cost - - - '33'^ Farmer's profit per acre, by feeding horses, ^.5 9 6 H 2 It Il6 CARROTS. It admits of various calculations ; but view it in an^ light you please, the result is nearly, though not exadlly, the same. Two fa6ls result most clearly from this intelli^nce ; that horses will do upon them as well as upon oats ; and that this application will not only pay the charges of culture, but leave a profit^ nearly as great as the gross f reduce of a common crop of wheat. No wonder, there- tore, the fanners cultivate them for their own use alone, without any view to a sale. It should farther be remarked, that this result takes place, not in a distridl where the horses arc poor mean animals, that betiay a want of good food, but, en the contrary, amongst the most useful teams that are to be found in England ; and that these teams are fattest, and in the highest condition, when they are supported by carrots. No greater proof of the excellency of the food can be wished for, than the horses going through the barley-sowing upon it, and the root doing betrcr at that season of hard labour than earlier in the winter ; this seems to speak the heartiness, as well as wholesome- ness of the food. One conclusion veiy naturallv arises from this part of tlie intelligence, tliat the crop, or a considerable part of it, ought to be taken up in au- tumn, and packed in a barn ; in which thev would much soonei loose their juiciness, and acquire that more with- ered state, in which they are tound to yield the best nou- rishment. The next circumstance to be atten;;ed to, is the advan- tage of the plant as a preparation for corn ; all the preced- ing minutes agree, that the barley after them is good and clean •, several persons were inclined to think it equal to that after turnips fed on the ground ; but tlie fair jesult is evidently, that if carrots were so fed, the barley would be much superior ; of this the intelligence will not permit us to CARPOTS. 117 to doiiht. It Is, however, fair to observe, that they one and all declare tor putting them in upon clean land, and io this course: i. turnips; 2. barley; 3. carrots; 4. barley, &c. ; from which it appears, that on these sandv soils they are not to be depended upon, for cleaning them when foul with couch. I cannot conclude tlie subject, without earnestly callr ing on all persons who have sands, or light sandy loams, to determine to emancipate themselves from the chains in which prejudice, or indolence, have bound them. To cultivate tin's adaiirable root largely and vigorously; to give it the best soil they have ; to plough very deep ; to hoe with great spirit ; and to banish corn from their sta- bles, as a mere luxury and barren expence that cutrht to be extirpated ; an cfFefl that flows very fairly, from the preference which the instin6l of the four-footed inhabitant generally gives to carrots. IV. POTATOES. This root has not been cultivated in Suffolk till within a few years. 1 have had them on a large scale ; and Mr. Mure, of Saxham, on a still larger ; but in general they are not much attended to ; not so much as they ought to be by cottagers. I have, however, the satisfadion of observing, that they increase, and promise to be much better establislied. Mr. Nesfield, of Wickhambrook, writes—" The re- commendation of the culture of potatoes from the Board of Agriculture, has afforded me particular pleasure ; the H 2 more. Il8 POTATOES. more, perhaps, for its coincidence with the advice whicli 1 have been earnestly pressing upon my parishioners for near forty years, with as little efFecl as if it had been de- livered from the pulpit. They begin, however, I think, to listen to it now with some degree of attention : and, were it pursued in this part of the country with the spirit which its importance deserves (the plan of which 1 have repeatedly pointed out), I have no doubt but in a very- short time the parish rates would be reduced lower than they have been for the last fifty years. I would observe, however, that unless potatoes are universally cultivated by every farmer in a q antitv proportioned to tlie number of his labourers, from a rood, suppose, to an acre, (and there is, I believe, hardly any farm in any part of this kingdom, which will not affjid such a quantity of suitable land, upon which, with proper management, they might be planted any number of years in succession) ; until this, I say, is done, the culture of them, even in large patches here and there, will not prove of any general utility." V. LUCERNE, LUCERNE. CHICORY. HEMP. II9 V. LUCERNE, Not cultivated, to my knowledge, by any farmers ; but some gentlemen have it in small pieces. I have had many acres ; enough to prove it an object deserving great attention. VI. CHICORY. This plant 1 introduced some years ago into the hus- bandry of Englard, I have had as far as ninety acres of it, and cultivate ir still very largely for sheep. The ac- counts I have given of it in the Annals of Agriculture, are ample. The reader will allow me to refer him to that ^York, for a variety cf information on the subjedt. VII. HEMP. The distridl of country in which this article of culti- vation is chiefly found, extends from Eye to Beccles, spreading to the breadth of about ten miles, which oblong of country may be considered as its head-quarters. It is in the hands of both farmers and cottagers; but it is very rare to see more than five or six acres in the occu- H 4 pation I20 HEMP. pation of any one man. With cottagers, tlic more coin- mon method is, to sow it every year on the same land : there is a piece at lloxne, which has been under this crop for seventy successive years. The soil preferred, is, \\hat is called in tlic diitridb, mixed land, that is, sandy loam, moist and putrid, but without being stifF or tenacious ; in one word, the best land the country contains ; and does well, as may be supposed, on old meadow, and low bot- toms near rivers. They manure for it with great atten- tion ; so that it mav be taken as a maxim, that hemp is not often sown without this preparation : of dung and moulds, twenty-five three-horse loads per acre ; of dung alone, sixteen loads. This is done diredlly after wheat sowing is finished. The tillage consists in three earths, with harrowing suf- ficient to make the soil pcrfecSlIy fine ; and it is laid £at, with as few furrows as possible. Time of sowing, from the middle to the end of April ; but will bear being sown all Alay. It is often found, that the early sown yields hemp of the best quality. Quantity of seed, eleven pecks per acre, at the price of one bhilling to two shillings a peck, generally from sixteen to eighteen-pence. Much is brought from Do^ivnham, and the fens ; tlie seeded hemp is not so good by eighteen- pence or two shillings the stone. No weeding is ever given to it, the hemp destroying every other plant. It is pulled thirteen or fourteen weeks after sowing ; the wetter tiic season the longer it stands ; and it bears a dry year better than a wet one ; make no ,distin6lion in pulling, between tlie male and fcm.nle; or femble and seed hemp, as denominated in some places. In the Cambridgeshire fens they are frctjueatly separated, wdiich may arise from their hemp being coarser, and the stalk larger. Tlic price H£MP. 121 price of pulling is one shilling a peck of the seed sown, or eleven shillings an acre, and beer; bu: if it comes in harvest, the expence is higher. It is tied up in small bundles called halts. It is always water-retied^^ ; clay pits preferred to any running water, and cleaned out once in seven or eight years. An acre of three small waggon loads are laid in onQ bed. They will water five times in tlic same hole; but it is thought by some coo much. If necessary to wait, they pull as the hole is ready, not chasing to leave it ou the land afcer pulled. It is generally four days in the water, If the weather is warm, if not, five ; but they examine and judge by feeling it. The expence is twelve to fifteen shillings an acre. The glassing requires aboui: five weeks ; and If there are showers, constantly turned thrice a week ; if not, twice a week. This is always on grass land or layers. It is done by women ; the expence ten shillings an acre. It is then tied up in large bundles of eight or ten baits, and carted home to a barn or house to break dneclly. Breaking is done by the stone, at one shiLIng. There are many people in the disiridt who do it. and earn fif- teen or sixteen-pence a day, and beer. The oH'al is called hemp sheaves, makes good fuel, and sells at two-pence x stone. * Generally; but in a circle of about six miles r^und Thilnetham, Ae greater part is never put into the water at all, but is dew-retted, which is done by laying it on pasture ground, for from three to six weeks, according to the season, and turned five or six times. '1 his process costs about one shilling per stone per acre, including pui.ing, spreading, turning, and getting up ; and the hemp at market is not worth so much by two shillings per stone, as that which hath been water-retted, and thereiore probably the custom of aevv-retting is only followed to any consderable degree where there are not pits sufficient to water-ret what grows in a distri(fl.— As/e Ij; a Correspondent oj the Board. It !22 HEMP. It is then marketable, and sold by sample at Dis, Har- ling, Bungay, (jcc. price 5s. 6 d. to 8s. a stone; generally ^s. 6d. In 1795, ^°^' The buyer heckles it, which is done at i s. 6d. a stone ; he makes it into two or three sorts : long strike, short strike, and pu/I tow. Women buy it and spin it into yarn, which they carry to market, and sell at prices propor- tioned to the fineness. This the weaver buys, who con- verts it into cloth, which is sold at market also. The spinners earn better and more steady wages than by wool : a common hand will do two skains a day, three of which jire a clue, at nine-pence ; consequently she earns six-pence a day; and will look to her family and do half a clue. — Nor is the trade, like wool, subjedl to grest depressions, theie being always more work than hands ; the conse- quence of a brisk demand. They begin to spin at four or five years old : it is not so difficult to spin hemp as wool ; but best to learn with the rock. For very fine yarn, one shilling a clue is paid for spinning. About Hoxne, the yarn is half whitened before weaving; but in other places, weave it brown, which is reckoned better. The weavers of fine cloth earn i6s. or i8s. a week, .middling los. The fabrics wrought in tliis country from their own hemp, have great merit. They make it to 3 s. 6d. and 4$. 6d. a yard, yard wide, forshiits; and I was shewn sheets and table linen, now quite good, after twenty years wear. Huckabacks, for table Unen, 13 d. to 7 s. a yard, cU wide. The produce of an acre may, on an average, be reck- oned forty-five stone, at 7 s. 6d. Some crops rise to fifty- five, and even more ; and there are bad ones so low as twenty-five. If sold on the ground as it stands, gene- rally 1 s. a rod, or 81. an acre. The HEMP. 123 The account of an acre may be thu§ estimated ; EXPENCES. Pvcnt, tythe, and rates, Manure, 25 loads, at is. 6 d. Three eartns, at 4d. harrow included, Seed, _ - _ - _ Sowing, - _ - - - Fulling, -_--.- Watering, Grassing, - - - - JBreaking, Carriage and delivery, £' s. d. 1 10 I 17 6 12 16 6 6 12 10 12 10 2 12 6 5 1-9 8 10 PRODUCE. Forty-five stone, at 7 s. 6 d. Expences, _ - - . 9 17 6 8 10 Profit, ., . - - I'l 8 8 All accounts of this sort must be received with due al- lowances for many variations. The preceding was taken at Hoxne ; but at Beccles (where, however, the quantity cultivated is not equally great) a very different mode of calculation takes place, and rent is valued. EXPENCE. £• s. d. Rent, tythe, and rates, - - - 400 Manure, -.»»^, 300 Tillage, 124 , HFMP. Tillage, - - - - Seed, twelve pecks, Pulling, - - - - Watering, _ _ > Grassing, - _ _ Breaking, £• s. J. I 4 I i6 o 19 12 o 10 2 10 PRODUCE. /. 14 II Fifty stone, at 8 s. Expences, ^.20 14 I I Profit, l-S 9 The common method is to sow turnips on the land im- mediately after the hemp is cleared : this is for producing, among the little occupiers, some food for a cow and the family. With good management, one ploughing and one hoeing will carrv them to the value of 30s. But an evil arising from the pnii5^ice is, that the land must for the next crop, be mucked in the spring, when carting does more damage. When corn is sown after the hemp, it is wheat ; and these are the best crops in the country, 35 nothing is esteemed to clean land like tliis plant. After the wheat, barley or oats, and this great also. Finding the profit so great, I demanded why the cul- ture did not increase rapidly ? I was answered, that its coming in the midst of harvest was embarrassing, and that the attention it demanded in every stage of its pro- gress was great ; being liable to be spoiled if the utmost care \^'as not perpetual. It HtMP. 125 It Is considered, and with great justice, throughout the diitrivSl, to be of infinite consequence to the country ; and especially to the poor, who are entirely supported by it, and are now earning six-pence a day bv spinning, with more ease than three- pence is gained on the other side the county by wool. The culture has increased considerably In the last tea years. A manufa61:urer at Stowmarket, thus communicates to me on tliis subje61:, from whose account it appears that there are variations : — " Hemp may be grown, with suc- cess, on the same land, many years, by manuring annually. The quantity of seed usually sowm, is from nine to twelve pecks per acre ; varying with the strength of the soil, and the custom of the country. In those places where the finest and best hemps are grown, twelve pecks is a com- mon quantity. " The soil and season m.ake a very material dliFerence in the produce and quahty. An acre will produce from 25 to 60 stone ; an average crop may be estimated about 36 or 38. " Hemp, when left for seed, is seldom water-retted, from the additional trouble and expence ; but I am of opinion, it would be better if so done. It is generally stacked and covered during the winter, and is spread upon meadow- land in January or lebruary. If the season suits, (particularly if covered with snow) it will come to a good, colour, and make strong coai se cloths. It is much inferior to hemp pulled in proper time, and water-retted. " The custom of many places is to dew-ret their hemp ; that is, to spread It on meadow-land as soon as pulled, and turn it frequently ; but this is a very bad method of retting it ; the bark will not come oiF completely — it tlierefore requires more violent means of bleaching the yarn, and con- 126 HEMP. • consequently diminishes the strength. It is hkewise much sooner injured in rainy seasons than hemp water-retted ; water-retting is performed by binding the hemp in small bunches, with the under hemp, when pulled, and as soon as may be, placed in rows crossing each other in the wnter, and immersed. Standing water is deemed ihe best : it requires four five, or six days steeping, till rhe outside coat easily rubs ofF, and is then spread on meadow-land, and turned frequently until finislied. The same water ■will not be proper for receiving heinp more than three times in a seas )n, and the first water always produces the best colour, in the least time. " But I do not pretend to give exacl direclions for ma- naging hemp; it can only be acquired by pra6tice. When the hemp is retted, it is bound up in sheaves or large bunches, and with a machine called a brake, the cambuck is broken in piece<^, and with a swingle is cleared from the small remaining pieces of the cambuck, and then bound up in stones. In Suffolk 14.^ pounds of hemp is deemed a stone. The hemp which breaks off in the operation, and called shorts, is b )und up by itself, and is about half the value of the long hemp. " The price of breaking hemp varies with the length, and the ease or difBculty with which the cambuck separates from it : from J2d. to iSd. or 20d. is paid: I2d. and 14(1. arc tlie most common prices. The refuse is only fit for burning, and is sold from one penny to two-pence per sack. " I have been informed tliere are mills erefled for breaking flax ; and as the mode of breaking is similar, I imagine they might be applied to hemp. In some parts of the countiy, where much hemp is grown, this might prove a considerable saving. But as hemp is very bulky before it is broken, and small quantities only are grown in each HEMP. 127 each village, in general, I fear it would not answer the expence to ere6l many of them. ■^ *< When the hemp is broken it is fit for market, and is purchased by hecklers. Dis, Harleston, and Hales- worth, are considerable markets for heuip ; but the greatest quantity is sold to neighbouring liccklers, without carrying to market. " Th-e prices vary very much: dew-ret hemp sells from IS. to i8d. or 2 8. lower than water-ret. The present price of the best water-ret is about 8s. 6 d. per stone: this price is very high. Dew-ret hemp is proper for coarse yarns ojily : and if that were made from water- retted hemp, it would be stronger and of a better co* lour. " The first operation of the heckler, is bunching or beating the hemp ; this was formerly, and is still, in some places, done by hand ; but in Suffolk, is now always done by a mill, which lifts up two, and sometimes three heavy beaters alternately, that play upon the hemp„ while it is turned round by a man or boy to receive the beating re- gularly. This mill is sometimes worked by a horse, and sometimes by water; but I think a machine might be con- trived to save the expence of either. In this I may be mistaken. " The time requisite for beating the hemp, varies ac- cording to the quality of it, and the purposes it is intended for; the finer the tow is intended to be, the more beating the hemp requires. When bunched, it is dressed or combed by drawing it through heckles, resembling wool- combers tools, only fixed. The prices paid the heckler vary in different places, and with the different degrees of fineness to which it is dressed ; from three farthings to two- pence per pound is paid ; and the earnings are from 1 5 d. or i6d. to 2s. per day. " la 128 ^EMP. " 111 the hemp trade there arc no fixed rules for comb- ing, as in the \% ool n adc. Tht same hemp is dressed finer or ctarser, to suit tlie demands of the purchaser.^. It is sometimes divided into two or three sorts of tow, and sometimes the whole is worked together for one sort. — • The prices of tow vary, from about 6d. to i8d. per pound. " The heckler either sells the tow to spinners and to weavers, or pats it out to spin himself, and sells the vam to the weavers. The prices of spinning vary with the fineness of the yarn : d. d. 1 clue from a pound is worth spinning, about 7 or 6|; l\ clue from a pound, - - - 8} or 8 2 clues from a pound, - - - 9I or 9 2| clues from a pound, - _ _ io\ or 10 3 clues from a pound, - - - 12 *' The spinners who buy tlie tow, sell their yarn to neighbouring weavers, or at the nearest market. The yarn is reeled, in many places: — 2 yards, i thread; 40 threads, 1 lea ; 20 leas, i skain ; 3 skains, i clue, 4800 yards: in others — 3 yards, i thread.; 40 threads, i lea; 20 leas, I skain ; 2 skains, i clue, 4800 yards. The former is the most convenient method for the bleacher and weaver. ** Weavers, in general, purcliase tlieir yarn from spinners in the neighbourhood, or at markets, and deliver it to the whitester, as he is commonly called, who returns it, blcathed, to the weaver; receiving 20 or 21 for bleach- ing 120 clues. *' Bleaching the yarn is performed by laying it in large tubs, covered with thick clotlis, upon which ashes arc placed ; and pouring liot water daily through it, turn- ins: HEMP. 129 mo- 'the yarn frequently, until the bark comes ofF. It is then rendered whiter, by spreading it on poles in the air. This is a difficult part of the business ; the art consisting in procuring the best colour with the least diminution of strength. " Weaving is, in general, condufled in the manner I have stated ; that is, by purchasing the yarn at market, and after bleaching, making it into cloth of various degrees of fineness and breadth. The breadths are half-ell; three quarters wide ; three quariers and a nail; seven-eighths and yard-wide sheeting ; yard-wide ; seven-yards one- eighth wide; and ell-wide. Prices from lod. per yard, half-ell-wide, to 4 s. or 4 s. 6d. ell- wide. " Exceeding good huckaback is also made from hemp, for towels and common table-cloths. The low priced hemps are a general wear for husbandmen, servants, and labouring manufacturers ; the sorts from i8d. to 2s. per yard, are the usual wear of farmers and tradesmen ; the finer sorts, seven-eighths wide, from 2s. 6d. to 3 s. 6d. per yard, are preferred by many gentlemen, for strength and warmth, to other linen. " The largest quantity of hemp is sold as it comes from the loom, and bleached by the purchasers ; but some quantity is bleached, ready for weaving, either by the weaver or by a whitester : this is done by boiling it in lye '(made from ashes), and frequently spreading it on the grass till it is white. " Many weavers vend their clotlis entirely by retail, in Tiieir neighbourhood ; others to shopkeepers, principally in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and in part of Essex ; and others at Dis, where there is a hail for the sale of hemp cloth, once a week ; and at Norwich, where there is a street occupied by weavers, from different parts of the country, who have shops in it. I " The 130 HEMP. " The earnings of the journeyman weaver var)"- con- siderablv, from the season ; frosty, windy, and very dry weather being unfavourable ; and they vary, also, from the great difference in skill, and the quality of the materials to work upon : they may earn from about I s. to I s. 6d. per day ; in extra cases, more. " I think, Sir, you will perceive, from the statement 1 have given of tlie manner in which the hemp trade is condu6tcd, the impossibility of ascertaining, with any tolerable degree of certainty, the profits arising from an acre of hemp, converted into cloth ; and that estimates, drawn from sources so vague and uncertain, would be more likely to mislead than inform. " I will now, agreeably to your request, proceed to mention a few hints, which may tend to the improvement and extension of the trade : " Although I have stated hemp, in the process of ma- nufadlurlng, to pass through the hands of the breaker, heckler, spinner, whitester, weaver, and bleacher of cloth, vet many of these different operations are frequently carried on under the dire6lion of the same person. Some weavers bleach their own yarn and cloth ; others their cloth only : others heckle their tow, and put it out to spinners ; others buy the tow, and put it out ; and a few carry on the whole of the trade themselves. This latter is the plan which I pursue, tlie advantages appearing to me consider- able. " When the trade is conduced by different persons, tlieir interests often clash : by under-retting the hemp, the grower increases the weight ; by slightly beating it, the heckler increases the quantity of tow, but leaves it fuller of bark ; by drawing out the thread beyond the staple, the spinner increases the quantity of yarn, but injures the quality ; by forcing the bleaching, the whitester increases his HEMP. 131 his profit, but diminishes the strength of the yarn. The whole should, therefore, be checked and regulated by the weaver, with a view to his ultimate profit ; which, in the hemp trade, should ever be deemed inseparable from the strength of his cloths. " It appears to me, that in manufacturing cloth, in ge- neral, in Ireland, Scotland, and elsewhere, strength has been sacvlticed to fineness and colour. — Flax is pulled too early (being finest before it acquires its full strength), and drawn beyond its staple, to render the cloth finer, at the price ; and although there never was a time when the linen manufadlure excelled so much in colour and in fineness, yet the want of strength was never so universally com- plained of. *' The hemp manufadlure cannot rival that of flax, in fineness ; nor is it desirable: — in colour, it is by no means deficient, and possesses this advantage over Irish and all other linens, that its colour improves in wearing, while theirs declines. But the article in which English hemp, properly manufactured, stands unrivalled, is the strength ; — flax will not bear the least comparison with it, in this respedl ; and I can assert, from experience, that it is far superior in strength to Russian — the strongest known hemp next to the English. — Every regulation made in the trade should, therefore, be done with a view to improve it in this respctSl ; and one of the most beneficial, I conceive to be an increased bounty on the growth of hemp ; if it could be procured, the additional bounty to be paid for hemp water -retted only. If large farmers could be induced to grow it, as they became habituated to the management of it, the trouble would decrease, and the bounty might in time be discontinued. " The necessity of keeping up the quality of the cloths, should be strongly impressed on the weavers ; perhaps if I 2 prer 132 HEMP. premiums were given for the best manufa^lured hcinp cloths, it might be serviceable, under proper regulations. I think the public would be found very much disposed to encourage a strong nianufadture of cloth ; and there arc faiSls which induce me to think so. *' Considerable quantities of Russian sheeting are sold in England, merely for their strength ; as they arc coarser, at the price, than any other foreign linen. " Hemp, if known, would always be preferred, being stronger than Russian, from the quality of the thread, and at the same time, lighter in washing ; which is often an objefbion to Russian. *' The quantity of good hemp being gradually increased, %vould insensibly increase the number of spinners, and ex- tend the trade. Some regulations are wanting respe6l:ing reeling the yarn. The svjme method the wool trade has adopted would not, I think, succeed ; as the spinners often buy the tow, and rlierefore it would be i m pra 61 i cable for an inspector to examine the yarn. But if the punishment were similar, and the owner of the tow, the putter-out, Cr the person to whom it was offered, were permitted to prosecute, it might answer the purpose. " In Ireland and in Scotland, I am informed, "there is a board, or committee of gentlemen, entrusted with powers by government for the regulation of the linen trade: if st)me plan of this kind were adopted, I think it would be Very serviceable, as they would acquiie, in time, a com- plete knowledge of the trade, in its different branches ; and apply such rewards and regulations as the different times and situations w^ould require; and might extend these to cir- cumstances which general regulations by parh'ament could not effefV. " In Scotland and in Ireland, each piece of cloth is stamped by an officer, with the length, breadth, and num- ber of one hundnd threads coiltained in the warp. " If HEMP. 133 *• If a similar pra6llce were obtained here, it would liave a beneficial tendency ; as the length, breadth, and rate (or number of threads in the warp) being given, it is easy to ascertain what should be the weight. If then a certain mark were put on each piece of hemp manufac- tured agreeably to the best rules. It would improve tlic quality of the cloths, by exciting competition rather in goodness than in fineness. This would also prevent a pradlice which, I fear, prevails greatly ; the selling other cloths, made up to imitate hemp, in lieu of it. *' If the method I have hinted should be found imprac- ticable, some means should be devised to prevent this im- position on the public, which, if suffered to proceed, will discredit, and perhaps ruin the manufa6tory. " You will perceive. Sir, that these are, many of them, hazarded thoughts, which it would require much reflec- tion to mature md reduce to praitice. " You inquire if Suffolk hemp is used for ropes? I believe, never. It is too fine and dear ; and sacking is principally made from Russian hemp, although the offal of finglisii is sometimes used. '* I hope. Sir, you will find the above account in some degree satisfadlory : if you wish any further information, I shall be happy to give it you, as far as in my power. You will be pleased to make any use of these hints you think proper — concealing my name. I have inclosed a few specimens of hemp cloth, of different degrees of fine- ness." Tlie Rev. Mr. Mills, of Bury, also writes thus : — " Hemp delights in a black rich mould, the richer* and stronger f * A rich black strong soil is best for every thing; but it woulj too much dis- courage the culture it it was supposed to be essentially necessary : 1 have seen it thrive well, sown after turnips fed off on good common friable loams ; ma- nure will make it thrive on any except very dry and steril soils. — A. Y. + A good and friable clay, well manured with mould, will answer : the soil cannot be too ricli, I 3 it 134 HEMP. it is, the better. It has sometimes been sown upon the breaking-up an old lay, and where there has been sufficient depth, with success. Let the land be well worked and manured with 30 loads per acre, about a fortnight before seed time, which is from the beginning to the end of April ; if sown earlier, as the plants are almost as tender as French-beans, the frosts would greatly injure, if not totally destroy them ; the sooner (the season permitting) it is sown, the better, though it has been sometimes de- ferred to the 15th of May. Three bushels and an half of good bright seed are sufficient for an acre, which should be gently and lightly harrowed in — the birds must be kept off the land till the plants appear ; the time of pull- ing is about rhe beginning of August, or, more properly speaking, thirteen weeks from the time of sowing : the leaves turning yellow and the stalks white, are signs of its maturity; the male and female hemp are pulled together: indeed when the crop is thick, it is impossible to separate them. The expence of pulling is generally estimated at one shilling per peck, according to the quantity originally sown. ** When it is all taken up and bound in small bundles, with bands at each end, to such a bigness as you can grasp with both hands, it is conveyed to the pond of standing water (if a clay-pit the better), where it is laid bundle t I t I upon bundle, direct and across, thus, -H-H this is termed a bed of hemp, and after it is piled to such a thickness as to answer the depth of the water (which cannot be too deep *) it is loaded with blocks and logs of wood, until all of it is totally immersed : after remaining in this state four or , * This deserves experimental inquiry; watering hemp is a partial rotting through Icimentation ; the vicinity of the atmosphere must for that purpose be necessary. The best hemp ponds I have seen, have not exceeded the depth of five ktt—A. v. five HEMP. 135 five days, as the weather shall dire6^, it is taken out and carried to a field of aftermath, or any other grass, that is clean and free from cattle ; the bundles being untied, it is spread out thin, stalk by stalk ; in this state it must be turned every other day, especially in moist weather, lest the worms should nijure it ; thus it remains for six weeks or more, then it is gathered together, tied in large bundles, and kept dry * in a house till December or Ja- nuary, when the stalks are broken and the bark wholly freed from them, by an instrument called a braker. The art of breaking it by a labourer of common capacity, would be learnt in a few hours, and the swingling of it, which follows, requiring some sleight as well as labour, though more difficult, might, in a little longer time, be acquired. After breaking and swingling, it is sent to the heckler and hemp-dresser, to be prepared for spinning, according to the fineness desired. " Should the hemp stand for seed, the y^im of it will never be so white, as it is not watered, but onlv spread on the grass for the benefit of the dews; it will not be improper to observe in this case, after it is tied in bundles, it is set up like wheat in shocks, till the seed will freely shed, and then threshed out. ** In the state hemp comes from the brake, it will fetch from 6s. to 7 s. 6d. per stone f; in the year 1787, it sold as high as 9 s. The produce is so variable and uncer- tain, that in one season a rood and six perches of land has produced 17 stone, and another with the same culture and manure, only twelve. * It might do as well stacked, if kept perfectly dry. + The hemp is tied up in stones, -.vfaen it eomes from the brake. I 4 " The 136 HEMP. " The cxpenccs of cultivation may be thus estimated: £. s. d. Rent of an acre of land, . - - 100 Ploughing, sowing, &c. - - - O 10 6 Three bushels and \ of seed (sold from i s. 4d. l ' to 2 s 6d. per peck) at is. 6d. per peck, 3 Boy keeping birds a week or more, - - o i 6 Pulling, at the rate of i s. per week, accord- ing to the seed sown, _ - _ Getting it in and out of water, turning, and laying up, - - - Tythe and town charges * not estimated, j o 14 ^•4 8 " The expence of breaking hemp, is from is. to is. 6d. per stone; the dressing at the hecklers is. 6d. per stone; and the spinning (according to the fineness) from 7 d. to 1 s. per clue. A clue is three skains, a skain is 20 leas, I. s. d. • To continue this account : - - - 480 Tythe and rates, suppose - - - - - 060 The lowest crop mentioned, is 48 stone per acre, let us suppose only ■) , • J 5 2 10 o 40, breaking at IS. 3d. - - - - j Totalj -•« . • • /■■740 PRODUCE. Forty stone, at 7 s. - » « « -140^ rarliamentary bounty, 3d. a stone, - » - o 10 o £,. 14 JO o Espenccs, .> » . - - 74( Neat profit pet acre • « » • - >C-76o A. Y. » lea HEMP. joj a lea is 40 threads, a thread Is two yards when reeled. The weight of a clue varies with the fineness or coarse- ness of the thread, " There cannot be much difficulty in a wool-splnner's learning to spin hemp ; the usual stint of a woman, is two skains per day, or from four-pence half-penny to eight- pence, according to the fineness ; from this there are no de- dudlions ; and the price has been nearly the same for-sorae years. " As you requested, I inquired if a rich sand would answer for the cultivation of hemp ; and whether wheat might be sown after it. Both these questions were an- swered in the negative*. And the reason assigned against the wheat was, the richness of the land would make it run to straw. Oats is the general* crop after hemp. — Turnips sown immediately after it, have answered tole- rably well." f * It is common to sow wheat after hemp in various parts of this kingdom, and also in France ; and it is reckoned one of the best preparations for that grain ; but upon a rich black mould, the observation of this gentleman is pro- bably very just. I have seen very tine hemp on good sands.— j^, Y, CHAPTER X38 GRASS. CHAPTER Vm. GRASS. SUFFOLK is not famous for its grass lands, either in respefl of fertility or management. Coarse pastures, though of considerable value, arc found to a large extent in the cow districft. SECT. I. — MEADOWS AND PASTURES : THEIR CULTURE AND PRODUCE. The management of meadows and upland pastures, in this county, in general, can scarcely be worse. Upon the same farms, where almost every effort is made upon the arable, the grass is nearly, or quite negleClcd. A little draining is sometimes, though rarely, bestowed. Manuring them is almost unknown in tlie hands of tenants; and as to mole and ant hills, bushes, and other rubbish, im- mense tradts of what is called grass, are over-run with them. Rolling is seldom performed. Things wear rather a better aspect upon farms occupied by the owners ; but, speaking generally, I allude principally to tenants. As to lands in the hands of gentlemen, they are managed, in many cases, in a much superior stile, but not always. The arable lands of the county are so much better ma- naged than the grass, that an improvement in the latter •would be attended with great private and national advan- tage. Our sister county of Norfolk is, if possible, yet worse GRASS. 139 worse in this respefl. The reason of this general' negle6t, results not from inattention, but an erroneous calculation. In the farmer's estimate, and he is right, there will be a considerable benefit remaining to the landlord at the end of a lease, from all improvements of grass land ; whereas upon arable there may not be one penny left from the expenditure of a pound. This is true, but the conclusion, tliat what the la>ndlord gains is at the expence of the tenant, Is a very great error ; both may gain considerably, but not at the ex- pence of each other. One reason why improvements of grass are so rarely seen, and also why most tenants would, if their landlords allowed it, plough up every acre of grass on their farms, results, in some measure, from their mak- ing no fair experiments of the value, which Is not to be done In ordinary rough land, except by sheep only. If they would lock into such a field, a certain lot of sheep, suppose two, two and a half, or three to an acre, and keep them there the whole year, registering the hay given in deep snows, and on no account folding those sheep on other lands (as in that case little improvement results from sheep-feeding), they would find the return of such lands not contemptible ; and if they continued the trial for a few years, they would see such lands constantly improv- ing ; so that the more sheep were kept, the more might be kept in future. These are experiments very easily made with a quiet breed, and there are not many more important ones. Feeding. — I have not met with any pracSllces In the feeding of grass lands, that would mark a peculiarity of management. Avowing. — Towns must every where be supplied with hay, which, with the necessary consumption of the farms, uni- 140 GRASS. universally occasions large trafls to be mown : these, in Suffolk, are too often the same ^Ids, without the varia- tion of being sometimes fed, which is a beneficial manage- ment. Hay-making. — This branch of the farmer's business Is but imperfedtly pra6tised in Suffolk : the grass is left too long after the scythe, nor is there sufficient attention to grass cocks, and those ot the second size. Too much is left to the hazard of weather ; nor is there sufficient care taken to tread the stacks enough in making; they are rarely pulled, but left loose and rough on the surface , and die practice of trussing is but now coming slowly in. A gentleman in this county has invented a stage, which he uses for building the upper parts of stacks of hay or corn : it consists of two pa^ts, one of which is a frame, eight feet wide, made of two fir balks twenty- two feet long, braced together in a parallel position, and having several holes bored in them, about fourteen feet from the ground, for the reception of the hinges of the stage ; and an hook in each of them, to hang the chains on which support the outward edge of the stage, and serve to raise it or lower it at pleasure, The other part is a moveable stage, eight feet long, and three feet eight inches broad, having an hinge under each end, at the hinder, or edge nearest the stack ; one end of the hinges is made like a boll, to enter the holes in the balks ; the stage likewise has an iron plate under each end, with an hole in it to receive an hook on tlie chain. The stage is set against the stack when it grows so high that it is inconvenient to pitch on to it from the buck of an empty waggon. The holes in the balks most'commonly used, are fourteen feet from die ground, about the heiglit uf a waggon load of hay ; should the stage be fixed lower, it ^-3 iiill liiilllKl ii*i' 'I ©■ii-,i.«M.!!''0'ii ' '6 ,."■* * ■111 iiiiiiRii«> ■• *' im^t^i' w% GRASS. 141 h v.'oulcl be ofao use, not being wanted whilst a man can convenienrly pitch from the buck of a waggon on to a stack ; and should it be fixed much higher, it would be found too high for a man to pitch oii to, when the wag- gon is nearly empty. A stage like this is not expensive, and might be used for nailing ap weather-boarding, painting, plaistering of walls, and other purposes. — fSce the plate.) Produce.— T\iZ produce of mowing lands is various ; but there are few fields reserved for hay, tliat will not yield a ton on an average ; low meadows, and uplands well improved, produce one and an half, and two tons ; and it may not be far from the faiSt, to estimate the fair rent at is. per cv/t. of the average crop. Improving. — Gentlemen here, as elsewhere, improve their grass lands, but it is not common to see farmers do it. There are large trafls in the county, which would pay well for draining, Siuoolhing, clearing from bushes and rubbish, and manuring ; but attention is given almost exclusively to tlic arable land. Laying down to Grass. — This is a part of husbandry little pradlised, and not much understood in Suffolk. The* common method has been, to sow hay seeds, as they are called, which must be good or bad, according to the •^ plants in tlie fields that are mown. Twenty sacks an acre, at 2s, 6d. a sack, have been sown, and not wifh bad success ; bur the expence is high, and bad plants propa- gated as well as good ones. 1 have been for some years collecting separate grasses gathered by hand, and have several fields, sown with them : they promise to be suc- cessful. On dry rich sound land, on which the diadel- pliia 142 GRASS. phia and some other plants will abide, there Is no diffi- culty ; for white clover, trefoil, rib-grass, burnet, &c. will on such form a fine turf, but on poorer and wet soils, grasses are necessary. Breaking up Grass. — Whatever is expended upon ara- ble land, the tenant can, in the course of a lease, get back again. Upon grass this is not the case : he may make as large a profit ; but still he will leave something at the end of a term for the landlord. If this idea be not the cause of tlie ill management noted, I know not what is. But the- condufl ought to be a lesson to landlords, to be very care- ful indeed, of the clauses in a lease by which they allow grass lands to be broken up : Instead of which, it has been common, in various parts of the county, to let great trades be ploughed, to the unquestionable damage of the farms. CHAPTER. GARDENS AND ORCHARDS. 143 CHAPTER IX. GARDENS AND ORCHARDS. THERE is nothing in this branch of culture, that has come to my knowledge, that seems to claim particular attention ; without doubt, there are pradices in the county which would be worthy of insertion, had they been com- municated. I have only to observe one praiStice, not common elsewhere, which is, that of building garden walls no more than the breadth of a common brick in thickness, by means of waving the line. The saving is considerable. In regard to the effefl, both in point of duration and fruit, accounts are various ; and the intro- dudlion of this method is not of a sufficient date, to ascer- tain it satisfadtorilv. CHAPTER. l44 T^OODS AND PLA!^tATlONS. CHAPTER X. WOODS AND PLANTATIONS. THE woods of Suffolk hardly deserve mentioning, except for the fa6l, that they pay in general but indiffer- ently. By cuttings at ten, eleven, or twelve year's growth, the return of various woods, in different parts of the county, have not, on an average, exceeded nine shillings per acre per annum ; the addition to which sum, by the timber gro\%ing in tliem, but rarely answers sufHciently to make up for the difference between that produce and the rent of t!;e aujoining lands. There cannot be a fa6l more clearly ascertained, than that of every sort of wood being at a price too low, to. pay with a proper profit for its production ; and nothing but the expence and trouble of grubbing, prevents large tracSts of land thus occupied, from being applied more beneficially*. 'J'lmhcr. — The strong loams of Suffolk formerly con- tained consiJerable quantities of large oak ; these, as in every other part of the kingdom, have been much lessened, and the succession that is coming on, bears no proportion to the growth that preceded it. Improved cultivation of the lands, is the cause of this fa6t, which is so genera! in England. Rough pastures, over-run witli thorns and briars, and broad hedge-rows, were nurseries of timber. * Many of the woods might be converted to tillage, with mucli more profit than they at present produce. But j^erhaps this praftice might be found gradu- ally to reduce the growth of oak timber, and on that account, it would be good policy to let them remain in their present sute.— iVo/f by y. R. As WOODS AND PLANTATIONS. I45 As land became valuable, these have been cleared ; and With this obvious and valuable improvement, timber has of course declined ; a circumstance not at all to be regretted, for corn and grass are produ6ls mucli more valuable. Copses. — tlnderwoods are not generally produdlive m this county. The net return from such as I am acquaint- ed with, is much less than that of the adjoining lands under other produ(Sls : I know various woods which yield little more than half the ilet rent ; and I have observed in various instances, that the soil is much Inferior to that of the contiguous lands. Grubbing Up. — If the soll is dry, few operations answer better than grubbing up woods ; for on such, the exclu- sion of the sun, united with the fall of leaf for centu- ries, have formed a good depth of vegetable mould ; but in wet tenacious soils, that have not been drained, I have known them grubbed in this county with very Inconsider- able profit; yet the roots have paid for the work of ex- trafling them. This is one of the many titles of subje6ls v^hich I have Inserted in this work, not for the value of the communications I am possessed of, but in hope that my readers, who may have experience, may be induced to send an account of their experiments. Planting. — In most of the Instances with which I am acquainted in Suffolk, planting has been performed more with a view to ornament than profit ; how far they are made to unite, is a subje6l worthy of attention ; and when it is seen that 1 have no Suffolk communications on it, I may hope the deficiency will be supplied by those gentle- men who have it in their power. K CHAPTEP. T46 WASTEJ. CHAPTER XL WASTES. IF there Is one obje6l more important than another In the examination of the agriculture of a province, with a view to the improvements that are pradlicable in it, it cer- tainly is this of wastes*. No person who has refledied se- riously on the state of the soil of England, but must be convinced that there want few instigations to cultivate wastes, but the power to do it, without those very expen- sive applications to parliament, which arc at present ne- cessary even for the smallest obje£ls. If the Board of Agrlcultuie be able to accomplish this desideratum, it will merit greatly ; and tlie national interests find tliemselves advanced in a degree which no other event whatever could secure. The magnitude and importance of this de- sign cannot be understood, without discovering the extent of these wastes, which will, without doubt, be efFefted by means of the surveys going on in every part of the kingdom f. I have • The importance of this subje£l cannot be too much enforced ; and it were an objeft worthy the Board of Agriculture, to obtain a Bill from Parliament permitting a general inclosure throughout the whole county, of waste lands. Where the commons consist of good lands, the advantages of converting therrs to private property, would be prodigious ; and the poorest, by being so convert- ed, would, 1 am persuaded, produce double their present value ; whereas at present, the profit is extremely small indeed. And whenever a landlord lets a farm with a common-right, which is valued with the rest of his premises, I believe every good farmer who makes use of it, would be a loser instead of a gainer. — Note ty y. R. _ + The importance of inclosing waste lands, is evident too from another con- sideration, supposing an equal protit only would be the result : the men who usually WASTES. 147 I have calculated from much information, of different kinds ; and from comparing and combining various data, conclude that tiiere are in Suffolk wastes to the amount of nearly, perhaps quire ioo,000 acres, or fth part of ihs whole ; comprehended under the terms sheep-walk, com- mon, wsrren, &c. It is, however, to be noted, tliat none of these are, stiiclily speaking, absolutely waste, if by that term is under- stood land yielding nothing : I include all lands unculti- vated, which would admit of a very great improvement, not always profitably to the tenant, wlio may, on a small capital, make a great interest per cent, by a warren, for instance, but in every case to the public. Commons fed bare, may seem to yield a considerable produce, but there is often a great deceprion in it : the cattle and sheep should be followed through the winter, and whenever it is found that there is no adequate winter provision, so often the case with poor men's stock, there are large deductions to be made from the apparent pro- duce of tlie summer*. In Bardwell, Mr. Davenport observes, that " Bohcc Heath, in this parish, contains about a thousand acres. It affords a walk to five hundred breeding ewes, but their chief support, and tliat of their lambs, must be artifi- usually reside near a common, are the depredators of the neighbourhood : smugglers, sheep-stealers, horse-jockies, and jobbers of eyery denomination, here lind their abode. — Note iy y. R. * In this case, the poor man'sstock ought to be, and generally is, sold to those who abound in winter provision. If a poor man buys a cow in May, and keeps her on a coramon through the summer, he sells her again in the autumn at a considerable Joss. If he buys hay to maintain her over the winter, his loss is increased ; and it fiequently happens that dry cattle (bought in early in the summer], are sold in the autumn for less than prime cost. Hence, the imall advantages resulting to the poor from their right of common. — Note i>j IJ. K 2 Cbl T^S SHtEEP-U AlKS. ' cial grasses on the inclosed lands of tlicir ox^Ticrs. There may be also somewhat more than an hundred bullocks in it, with a few mares and colts, and colts from two to three years old. If a beast is put on the heath about old May-day, and is t#ikcn from it at Michaelmas in much the same order in which it was sent, it is supposed to have done pretty well. The farmer, meanwhile, has had his home-feed for his cows, and the beast is kept in tolerable order till it can be put to turnips. There are several in- closures which have been formerlv taken out of heath, which are now under the plough, and, having been clayed, produce well. " Sapiston is a small parish, and all of it the property of the Duke of Grafton. The greater part of the heath was inclosed a few years ago, and what remains of it, with other TOUgh pasture whereon are many timber trees, makes a. walk for about three hundred ewes." SHEEP-\VALKS, Many farmers think these desart wastes necessary for their flocks, which is a most egregious error. They are undoubtedly very useful, and, if they were converted tt> corn, the number kept upon a farm would decline ; but good grass adapted to tiie soil would be abundantly more produdive for the flock. Whoever has viewed the im- mense wastes that fill almost the whole country from Newmarket to Thetford, and to Gastrop-gate, and which are found between Woodbridge and Orford, and thence, one w?y, to Saxmundhanj, not to mention the numerous hcaihi SHEEP-WALKS. I4g heaths that are scattered every where, must be convinced, that their iir.provemeijtyor grass, would enable the county to carry many thousands of sheep more than it does at present*. Some wastes that have been noted to me by correspond- ents, are these : in Hopton tour hundred and ninety acres. In Barningham, five hundred acres : the quality very good. In Brome, one hundred and twenty acres. Mr. Hay ward, of Lakenheath, informs me, that that parish contains five thousand acres of fen ; two thousand five hundred acres of warren ; one tliousand acres of open-field arable, and a common of tliree hundred acres. Mr Page, of Beccles, observes, that the grand division of commons in that vicinity is into rated and unrated ; and even the rated are of disservice, by being generally over-stocked to such a degree as to render cattle, after a long grazing, of sometimes less value than when turned on at first. A custom is also prevalent among farmers. ♦ The following observations will perhaps induce us to believe we are not ♦inder so very egregious an error. 1st, Upon newly broken up lands, the lambs are subje(ft to the rickets, and other pernicious maladies ; and the effect lasts tor numbers of years. Of this I can speak from experience. 2dly, Upon ex- amination, it will be found that the wastes complained of are extremely poor, and not worth the cultivation. The rage for ploughing up has been so great within these late years, that except in a lew instances, v/ithin the places men- tioned (between Newmarket and GastropJ no waste land remains worth culti- vating. Several instances which have come under my observation, renders this position of the author extremely doubtful to me. Within a few miles from me, several heaths which were broken up and improved under skilful occu- piers, about thirty years since, have within these last ten years been laid down again, and r^-convertcd to heath lands. And this, from a pradical proof, that neither so many, nor so good sheep, could possibly be reared without them. And it may be observed, that the new heath will not be so good as the old one for mote than twenty years to come. Note by y. R. .All this is founded on the supposition of tneir being broken up for corn ; in which case the remark may partially be right ; but they ought to be cultivated for grasses and sheep.— A. Y. K 3 of 150 SHEEP-WALKS. of skinning the turf from tlic commons, for foundations to their manure lieaps ; and among the poor, of gathering the manure of the stock partly for fuel and partly for sale, and thus the commons decline every year. CHAl'TER IMPROVEMZliTS. 151 . CHAPTER XII. liAIPROVEMENTS. AMONG the improvements which have been com- municated to me through the liberality of the clergy, in their replies to my circular letter, I may note, that of wheat being substituted for rye. Mr. Davenport observes, that in Bardwcli, he finds from the redlor's books, that a cen- tury ago, there was but little wheat grown in the parish, but much rye ; now the reverse. Mr. Greaves informs me, that at Lackford one-third more corn is annually raised than some years ago ; 300 acres of sheep-walk heath having been broken within 12 vears ; and that a large tra£t of heath is broken up in West Stowe. Of 4000 acres in Downham, near Brandon, the whole some years ago was warren, but now a large quantity is under the plough. — Mr. PFright. Of 1200 acres in the parish ot Dunwich, one-half is waste ; but agriculture on waste sands and black heaths has advanced rapidly in the last 20 years, by mean^ of clay marie. SECT. I. — DRAINING. HOLLOW-DRAINING. This most excellent pra6lice is general o.n all the wet lands of the county : it is too well known to need a particu- K 4 lar 15* DRATKIKG, lar descrlj^tion. I shall only observe, therefore, that the distance between the drains is usually from 5^ to 8 yards ; the common depth is 24 inches, from 20 to 26*; the breadth at top, just wide enough to admit a man to worl? in ; and at bottom, as narrow as possible, not more than two inches. The materials used for filling, hushes covered with straw, sometimes straw or stubble only ; and the ex- pence, if with bushes, amounts, on an average, every thing included, to two guineas, or forty-five shillings an acre, the men being paid three shillings a score rods for the work. The duration varies, according to the goodness of the work and materials, from 12 to 25 years; and some filled with straw only, have been known to last much longer. It will not be improper to hint, that there are two errors very common in the performance of this im- provement. The first is, making the drains in, or nearly in, the diredlion of the declivity ; whereas, they ought always to be made obliquely across it. The other is, that of marking out, and making numerous drains across the sides of springy hills, which might, in many cases, be drained completely with a single drain, judiciously dis- posed, according to those obvious principles upon which the celebrated drainer, Mr. Elkington of Leicestershire, proceeds. No improvement can have greater or more immediate cfFedls than this of draining; none that pays the farmer with more certainty. Its importance is perfe6lly well understood, and the praflice general. • In this article of draining, from 2o years praftical experience, I have found 30 inches of much more advantage in the depth than what is here mentioned, as it will draw the land drier, and the drain is much more secure from being ■topped up by carting or treading over it in wet weather. The price of labour to have this work properly done, cannot be IciS than four shilliiigs per score. -r yeleiv J. P. De-.kjm. 1 About DRAINING. 155 About twenty years ago, a Mr. Makins, of this county, invented a plough for cutting these drains, which was, re- warded by the Society of Arts ; but, on various attentive trials, it was found to work at a greater expence than the spade, and has long since been totally laid aside. James Young, Esq. of Clare, in this county, has thus .described the method common in that vicinity, but im- proved by himself: *' The forcible arguments you made use of when I had last the pleasure of meeting you, have determined me to communicate to you the mode of land-draining I have praflised tliese several years. " Little use or advantage would be derived from my enumerating the failures and disappointments I met with in many of the experiments which I have made ; suffice it to say, I have every reason to prefer my present me- thod; and I will endeavour to give it to you in such plaia terms as shall be within the comprehension of every com- mon farmer: my grand wish is to remove that dread of the expence which has prevented many from land-draining their fajins, and to impress on the minds of farmers the same opinion I have of it : I know, from experience, that in clayey soils it will answer perfe6lly, that it is the least ■expensive and the most expeditious, as well as most durable improvement of any in the whole system of agricultural ^^conomy. " I have a field that used to be so wet and poachy in the winter, as not to be able to bear the weight of a sheep; i land-drained and fallowed it, then sowed it with wheat, without any manure, and had a crop equal to half the value of the land. " During the wet weather, about the middle of last ^pril, I examined a field of six acres, which I land- idrained t^ DRAINING. drained in the month of November in the year 1773, and had the satisfaction to find every drain in the field (except one) running. " 1 do not pretend to determine what sort of soil will be most benefited by land-draining; in my opinion, there is scarce any land in a clayey country, but will be greatly iaiprovcd by it, and in particular, wherever the horse-tail {Equ'tsctum Arvense) abounds, a man will be very seldom disappointed in expe6ling to be repaid the expence by the first crop. " I hold it right never to draw the drains straight down a hill, but obliquely across it, with a descent just suffici- ent to give the water a fall into a leading ditch ; there are some fields where a leading ditch must be covered. I contrive almost every method to have as few covered as possible ; 1 like to have every drain independent ; and have carried it so far as to have open ditches cut on pur- pose. *' When I have marked the drains in a field (usually a rod asvmder) I draw two furrows with a common foot plough, leaving a balk betwixt them, about 15 inches wide ; then with a strong double-breasted plough, made on purpose, 1 split that balk, and leave a clean furrow, 14 or 15 mchcs below the surface ; but where the depth of soil requires it, for 1 like to touch the clay, by a second ploughing I sink it to 18 or 20 inches; it is then ready for the land-ditching spade, with which I dig 15 inches^deep, a drain as narrow as possible. It is an invariable rule with me, never to sulFcr the man who di;^s to cover up the drain, but it is left open for me or my bailifl^to ex- amine, and then it is well filled up to the shoulder with wheat-stubble, cut and stacked for the purpose immedi- ately after the harvest, and a small stick or two at the out- kt, 15RAINING. leC Jet, to prevent its being stopped by any external accident. Lastly, with a common plough I turn a furrow of the upper soil, or mould, upon the drain, taking care not to turn in any of the dead soil raised by the lahd-ditch spade, which ought always to be laid on the outside, and scat- tered over the land. " It is right not to let the drains lie open any length of time, lest they get injured by wet or frost j my general rule is to fill them up every day. **■ It is not easy to ascertain the price of carting thq v^hcat-rstubble to the place where it will be wanted, and stacking it, because the value must depend upon the dis- tance ; it is equally difficult to say, what the work of the ploughs ought to be valued at, for though several acres may be drawn out in a day, with one plough, yet, I never chuse to do above two or tliree hours work at a time ; therefore, I shall leave every farmer to fix his own price upon these parts of the business, only desiring him to con- sider, that it is work that will wait for a leisure time, and frequently, if the horses were not so employed, they would cam nothing. " I pay for digging the land-drains, one shilling and eight-pence, and for filling them up with stubble, four- pence, per score rods, without any beer whatever; an adive man, used to the work, where the soil is not stony, will dig 23 or 24 rods in a day, within working hours. " The state of the expence, that is, the money a farmer will pay out of his pocket for land-draining an acre of land, will stand thus: For cutting and raking together, an acre of •% wheat-stubble, gcncrallys..fficientforanacre /■ of drains, - __--_-__ -/ £■ Digging 1^5 DRAIKIX'C. £. S. d. Digging eight score rods of drains - - - o 13 4 Filling them up with stubble - ---028 Extra-work with the common spade, on anj average, a days work of a man - - _ . O ^.o 19 4 ** Thus, in a? plain and concise a manner as possible, I have given you the whole process, to be disposed of in whatever manner you shall think proper. I have not ventured to broach a single idea on the theory of land- draining ; let time and experiment ascertain its efFefV, you Jcnow it wants not philosophy to encourage the trial." REPLY TO QUERIES. Question I. Were the failures and disappointments mentioned, owing to sinking the drains deeper than men- tioned, or to filling with other materials ? j^nrjjcr. The failures and disappointments I met with at first, were not owing to any of these causes, but to drawing the drains with too steep descent, carrying too many into one covered leading ditch, using a spade too wide at the bottom, not digging the drains a sufficient depth, and not paying a proper attention to the examinincj and filling them up: I never did use any other materials than wheat sjtraw, stubble, and wood. ^estion II. Clay and clayey soil mentioned. — Has Mr. Young tried his method in such as have the clay to the surface ? At what depth is it fcund on his farm in com- mon? DRAIN^IKG. 157 Amwer. I never knew my method used on any land that has clay to the surface ; the depth of my surface soil is below the common sweep of the plough. ^testlon III. " A crop of %vheat equal to half the vahie of the land." — Has Mr. Young observed that fields early after draining, are more fertile than thev are after some years have elapsed ; sucli remarks have been made elsewhere ; query, if so, to what does Mr. Young attribute it? Anrxer. Such remarks and observations, form a power- ful argument in favour of land-draining, for as the drains gradually become impaired and fall into decay, the lands will consequently return to their pristine state and nature. Shiest: on IV. Were the drains in the six acre field of 1773, filled with stubbie only? Ansiver. They were all filled with stubble only, except a little wood at the mouths, and empty themselves singly into an open leading ditch or drain cut for the purpose. Question V. What is meant by a leading ditch P A drain, or a fence ditch ? If open drains are cut across borders, how cart on them ? Does not Mr. Young throw several drains into one carrier or master drain ? Answer. By a leading ditch, I mean a carrier or master drain, into which all the single drains empty themselves, and may be covered or open as situation suits ; in many instances, the fence ditch of the field will serve the pur- pose. I strongly recommend these carrier ditches to be open, though at the expence of a whelm at the bottom of a field where a cart-way is necessary ; the leading many drains into one carrier ditch, that is covered, must be more liable 15$ DRAIKIKC. liable to sccidcnts and injuries, than where every draiit empties itselr singly into an open ditch. ^testion VI. How many horses to plough the fur- rows fifteen inches deep ? Is it necessary to plough into the clny ? It seems from this expression, that Mr. Young's surface soil is 1 8 or 20 inches deep ; are the drains, as im- plied, 30 inches deep ? j^urjuer. I never use more than four horses, generally but three, to draw the drains ; I do not mean the surface soil of my land is 18 or 20 inches deep, but my rule is to touch the clay, though obliged to go that depth, and the spit taken with the laad-ditch spade is always 15 inches deep. ^^estiofi VII. What is the duration of the stubble ? Has Mr. Young drained any fields a second time? In cutting across old drains, it done, what was tlie appear- ance ? Does the stubble partially rot and the clay arch ? Or does the rotten stubble keep an open vein ? Is it com.- mon, or do others fill with stone or wood? Would Mr, Young recommend those materials in any particular cases? Jnsnver. I have never been able to ascertain the dura- tion of the stubble with any degree of exadlness, neither have I ever drained a field a second time, but a drain will sometimes be stopped by carting on the land in the wet, or some other accidental cause, in which case, as soon as it is discovered by the wetness of the place, my practice is, to make one or more fresh drains in different diredtions to the old ones, and I have many times observed old drains, when cut across, though there was not the least appear- ance of any vegetable substance remaining in them, but full of a loose porous eai th, at Once run ircely, or, accord- ing DRAINIKG. 159 iiig to my workmen's phrase, bleed afresli. — As I hold cheapness to be one of the first recommendations of any plan of improvement in agriculture, I can say nothin"- in favour of stone; in some cases, particularly across an horse or foot path that is much frequented, the use of wood may be adviseable, but I use it very sparingly. ^estion VIII. Has Mr. Young applied his method to draining grass fields ; if so, in what manner does he take the first spit? And is this draining found equally beneficial as on arable ? Ansvjer. I have had but little experience in draining grass lands, having only two upland pastures that required it, and only a small part of them ; my method there, was to take a deep spit with the common spade, then one of 15 inches with the land-ditch spade, fill up with stubble, shovel in the mould only, and lastly, to lay on the turf neatly, so as to make as little blemish as possible ; it has been done eight years, and continues to answer perfeiflly. Were I to drain grass fields on a larger scale, I should pursue the same process I have hitherto done in arable lands ; the turf may very easily be first raised by a com- mon foot plough. ^mt'ion IX. Does Mr. Young ever drain in summer?' Which is the better season, that, or winter? Ans-joer. I never land-drain in summer; two incon- veniences attend it; the increase of labour in a clayey soil, when liard and dry, is very considerable, and the want of leisure, where good labourers are scarce: there are, who land-drain through the whole summer, but I al- ways find something more material to do at that sea- son. " What i6o i>RAINIKG. " WTiat shall I say In answer to your last request, that I would particularize my soil? There are so many techriical terms used in agriculiure, which are merely provincial, I am fearful lest I should not he understood hy farmers at a distance; I will, therefore, just state the general piopertics and qualities of my land, sufficient to enable the farmer of every country to judge of it by comparison: — In a tra6l of 200 acres of inclosed arable knd, mostly broken ground, yet by no means steep, it is natural to suppose a variety of soil, but mme varies remarkably iictlc, except in the depth of the surface soil, which is universally sliallow^est and wettest on the highest grounds, and consists of moderately heavy brown moulds, mixed with different proportions of clay ; the under stratum is every where white, or grey tender clay, abounding with calcareous earth, except here and there patches particularly wet, which in this coun- try, arc called gaits ; these consist of stone and gravel, and sometimes loose sand, are never of a large extent, and arc ciFe<5lu ally laid dry by land-draining. " I hav?j no land so light, but that the succeeding crop of barley will be injured by feeding off turnips by sheep in •wet weather ; neither have I any so stiff or heavy, as to require three horses in a plough: my constant pra6lice is to plough with two horses a-breasr, one man holding the plough, and guiding his horses with rope reins. It has been advanced, that we have not a particle of clay in tliis parish ; in answer to whicii, give me leave to subjoin the best definition of clay I have ever yet met with: " Earths firmly coherent, smooth to the touch, not easily breaking between the fingers, heavy, viscid and ductile to a great degree while moist, not readily ditiusible in water, and ^vhen mixed with it, not readily subsiding from it: this genus is the most un(5tious of any of this series, and hardens PARING AND BURNING. l6i hardens by fire, into a kind of stony substance." — Jlde Da Costa's Natural History of Fossils. SECT. II. PARING AND BURNING. This husbandry, -which, properly managed, is tlie most admirable of all Improvements, and improperly, tlie most mischievous*, is known only in the small angle of fen. In that distriiSl they could not cultivate without this capital assistant. It is scarcely possible, profitably, to bring boggy, moory, peat soils, from a state of nature into cultivation, without the assistance of fire, which is the most efFe£live destrudlion of the spontaneous growth, and never fails, but because the men employed do not pare deep enough. In these fens, the original surface is rough and unequal, from great tufts of rushes, &c. called there Jiassccks. Some persons cut them with spades, at the ex- pence of five to ten shillings an acre ; others with the plough. Paths for the horses were, in that case, to be cut by hand, and the plough made on purpose, and called a hassock plough, cut laterally much beyond the line of its draught. But opinions are, in general, that hand Avork is the cheaper : in either case the hassocks are dried, he.iped, burnt, and the ashes spread. After this they go over it again with a very complete and efFedtive tool, called a fen-paring plough, the furrow qf which is burnt. Cole- seed is then sown on one shallow ploughing ; never har- rowed, in order not to disturb the whole furrow, but rolled, or lightly bush-harrowed, This cole-seed is either for a * This is the remark of a man of science and observation, and very unlike the declamatioii of many reporters, who know noiliing about it. — Baillie. L crop l62 PARING AND BURKING, crop of seed or for sheep food ; in the latter case, sells for a guinea an acre ; in the former, two or three guineas. Oats arc tlien sown ; the crop produdlive r and the land, if well laid down to grass, becomes good meadow. But the management in tiiis respedl is very bad, for they sow only clover and ray grass ; and after six or seven years, pare and burn again ; instead of which, if proper seeds were sown*, the land would be ever after in an improving state. Whatever obje6llons have been made to the husbandry of paring and burning, have either been the result of tlieo- rctical reasonings on false principles, or else founded on fa£ls furnished by very bad farmers. The common con- dudl is to make this" operation the preparation for succes- sive corn crops, and perliaps in a bad rotation. If a dung- hill were given to a bad farmer, and it was used on simi- lar principles, it would almost equally exhaust the soil ; yet who lias found out that dunging land is bad husbandry ? Paring and burning gives a dunghill also : it is bad ma- nagement alone that converts it into an evil. Make it the preparation for grass, and all is safe. It is very rare to find such instances of sudden improve- ments as have been made In Burnt Fen. Forty years ago five hundred acres we; e let for a guinea a year; but In 1772 an ail: was obtained for a separate drainage, and one shilling and six-pence an acre levied tor the expence of em- "* Quere — Wliat are proper seeds ? — Perhaps marl grass, wiili meadow foxtail grass, may be found beneficial. A small mixture of the finest ray grjss, or darnel, is found to answer well. Marl grass, though resembling red clover in appearance, is quite different in its effeds. Clover is found unfriendly to all natural grasses, and marl grass the reverse. I find this fadt established by extensive experience upon my own farm in Pembrokeshire. One very material advantage resulting from the culture of marl grass is, that neat cattle are not »o liable to swell by eating it in moist weather, as they are with red clover ; nor is its hay so dangerous to horses' wind, as clover. — Ncu by H. bankraent, PARING AND BUP.NING. 163 bankment, mills, &c. In I'J'J'], the bank broke, and most of the proprietors ruined. In 1782, on the success of the macln'ne called t/ie bear, in cleansing the bottoms of the rivers, and other reasons, occasioned some persons to purchase in this -neglected trail. The banks were bet- ter made, mills erected, and the success great. Servants of the former proprietors bought lots for 200I. with almost newly eredled buildings on them, that cost 3, 4, and 5C0 1. Such lots now let at lool. per annum. An estate of Mr. Jones, bought of Chirham, Esq. for 200 1 would now sell at 2000 1. A IVIr. Cash bought eight hundred acres for 25I. he since sold half of it to Edward Gwilt, Esq. of Icklingham, for ioqI. the other half he sold for 3Ciol. which has been rc-sold for 800 1. ; and Mr. Gwilt ^could now sell his for 1600I. Three farms sold for 600I. would now let for 3C0I. a year.- Mr. Foote of Brandon, in 1780, bought three hundred and ninety acres for 150I. a considerable part of which is now let at los. an acre. All these improvements have been very much owing to paring and burning. The application of fire is as useful and effedtive to land as that of water. There are in Suffolk many thousands ot acres of poor, wet, cold, hungry pastures and negle6l- ed meadows, over-run and fined with all sorts of rubbish, snd abounding with too few good plants to render their improvement easy without breaking up : all such should be pared and >urnt ; not to keep under the plough to be exhausted and ruined, which is infallible, and the land left in a worse state, beyond all comparison, than it v/as be- fore ; but to be laid immediately to grass> that is, as soon as the course of husbandry necessary will admit, Ihis ought to be without variation, under any pretence w-hat- ever, in this course of crops : i. pare :yid burn for tur- L 2 ifip^j 164 PARING AND BURNING. nips*, wliich fed on the land by sheep. 2. oats; and \v'nU these oats the grass seeds sown. The cats and the turnipj would more than pay all the expence of a previous hollow- draining, should that be necessary ; of the paring and burn- ing, and every other charge : and the change, from a very bad pasture to a very line one, would all be neat pro- "fit. The tenant would be greatly benefited, and tlie landlord \yould find his estate improved, if let, as farms ought to be let, with an absolute exclusion of selling a, lock of hay under any pretence whatever. The dry rough sheep-walks covered with ling, furze, broom, &cc. should also be broken up in the same man- ner ; but universally to be laid down again with the grasses suitable to the soil and to sheep. Qn weak thin stapled land, two cn;ps of corn, after paring and burning, would be pernicious. Perhaps, they might be well laid down without a single one, which would be so much the better f. * Tn moist bottom lands, rape will often succeed better than turnips ; and the sheep feed better with rape upou such lands. — Note by H. + It is humbly presumed, that it would be better to take two or three suc- cessive crops of turnips, in order to completely eradicate all the seeds of ling, furze and broom, before the land be laid down to grass, as otherwise those plants will appear with redoubled vigour. These observations on paring and burning are very excellent, being founded on common sense, reason and expe- riment, and confute the absurd doiflrine of other surveyors, who condemn one of the first of agiitultural improvements, as produftive of an injury which is entirely occasioned by a covetous and slovenly culture. — Note by Mr. B'ys of Kent.- There can be no objeiftion to repeated crops of tuynps, if fed on ihc land. They form excellent husbandry. — A. Y. SECT. MANURING. 165 SECT. III. MANURING. Under 'this head the Suffolk husbandry furnishes some information In the several articles of J. Marl, chalk and clay. 2. Crag, or shell marl, 3. Town manures. 4. Farm-yard composts. CLAY, MARL, Bcc. Cby'ing — A term in Suffolk which includes marling; and indeed the earth carried under this term, is very ge- nerally a clay marl ; though a pure, or nearly a pure clay, is preferred for very loose sands. The extent to wliich this improvement has been carried, in both the sand districts*, is very considerable, there be- ing few farmers of any note, on very light land, that have not carried large quantities. An excellent cultivator near Bury, though not on a very large farm, has carried 140,000 loads. The operation of this manure, acSting both che- mically and mechanically, is so obvious on very light soils, tliat it wants no explanation. But w^hen the day is not of * Clay is thought to be nearly as good a manure for heavy land as for light land ; and it is a constant praftice to lay clay upon clay land, especially if the land has been laid down with grass-seeds for some years. In the eastern part of Suffolk, if the clay pit be not very distant, the price of *''.??'">?' c^t'Ky'^Si 3nd spreading, is ^o s. for i2o loads, wliich is really cheaper than a farmer can do it with his own men and teams. I must here observe, that the clay of SufTolk will answer a second time; viz. Suppose the first coat of loo loads per acre, to last 2o years, at the expira- tion, 50 loads per acre will make tlie land in good heart again ; and the best mode of doing it is, to lay down the land with grass-seeds for a couple of years, and then lay the clay upon the turf the latter end of the summer, and break up the land in the spring following, to set with pease, if the land be proper for that rop. — Note l>y a Correspondent of the Beard. L ^ a itood l66 MANURING. a good sort, that is, wlien there is really none, or scarcely any clay in it, but is an imperfcft, and even a h rd chalk, there are great doubts how far it answers, and, in many cases, has certainly been spread to little or no profit. The quantity usual is from 60 to 80, >and sometimes 100 loads an acre, the load containing about 32 bushels. Many experienced farmers prefer carrying 40 or 50 loads onlv, and repeating it after the first course. The land receives more immediate benefit, and double the number of acres may be clayed in the first years of the lease, with- out any additional expcnce. The men are paid from 27 s. to 30s.- per 120, for filling and spreading, earning los. or 1 1 s. a week; and the expence of teams is about as much more*. When this manuring is done, therefore, on verv poor land, the expence is equal to the value of the fee- simple of the estate. The duration, and indeed the \Vhole cffedl, depends much on the course of crops pursued. If the plough is too freely used, and corn sown too often, it answers badly, and the efFetfi: is soon lost; but, with good management, it lasts 20 vears. Where the management is goad, and the clay well adapied to the land, the profit • In consequence of the Impissibility of the occupier's being aUvayt with hi* men, and the opportunities they perpetually have of deceiving him, in regard 10 filling the load^, the best way seems to be, to put out the claying at 2 d. or 2i d. per square yird, measuring the content of the pit after all is carried out. At this rate, I have found that the men earn from 9 s. to iis. per week. — With respeft to t'.ie expence of teams, I have never given less than 4 d. per square yard, measured as above, and found, moreover, tumbrils, wedges, &c. \\'iih respect to the quantity of loads per acre, loo perhaps is not too much lor newly cultivated heaths or %varrens. Hut for other fleet soils, which have been for a long time under cultivation, 50, or at most 70 loads, is quite sufficient. — On such soils, to lay on too much is attended with great loss. — Notf by 'J. R. 4 Men, at II s. per week, (much greater) - - - - ,f • 2 4 6 Horses, - - - - - - - >C-3'^ v Driver, -.------09 Tumbrils, kc. _.>-_--o3 4 4 ^ is MANURING. ^ 167 IS very great. la many cases, a course of fallow and rye, or ii0 O O money of them agam, about a load to 70 loads of clay _ - _ _ Wear and tear of CTrts and harness, including 7 e. » [o I 6| accidents, at a farthing per load, per acre 3 Drifts, stakes, &c. &:c. per acre - - - 000 Loss of seed, as it should always be laid upon ^ a layer, and lie some months before it is lo I O ploughed in, per acre - - _ J £.1 12 6 • Two shillingj a day for a cart-horse may be thought a high price, but when it is considered that he is, or ought to be worth 20 1. I believe no per- son in his senses would lend ariother such a horse, pay keeping, shoeing, and farrier, and run the hazard of his being spoiled, by being whipped and strained thirty times a day out of a clay-pit, for less money. Interest MANURING. lyj I- s. d. Interest of the above sum for two years and a y half, as it will be so long before the fanner \o 6 6i gets any of his money into his pocket again ^ L-1 19 oi *' The next expence the farmer has to encounter (and which must ever be a bar to all improvements in agri- culture in this kingdom, as the laws now stand) is the tythes; for no sooner ha§ he been at the expence of carry- ing a thousand or two^ thousand loads of clay, or marl, than liis re6tor may demand a larger composition. " The farmer's argument, that he has been at all'the ex- pence, and has not yet got any of his money into his pocket again, is" of no avail; for he tells him that the tenth of all his past, and future improvements, are, by Av:t', as tirmly vested in him, and his successors, as if a tenth part of the expence had been taken from his (the redor's) own pocket; therefore, if he will not give him ten or fifteen pounds a year more, he must draw his tythes. And thus, on some improved farms in Norfolk (as I have been informed) before the first lease is expired, they have paid nearly as much in tythes as thev did in rent. *' To return to the 2I. 19s. o|d. which sum, being money sunk upon another person's estate, the Interest of it is not only an additional rent fp the farmer, of about 3 s. an acre, but he is in all fairness, in the course of his term, to be reimbursed the principal likewise; and which sums added together, allowing for the decrease of interest, as the prin- cipal is paid otf, I calculate to amount to 5 s. 6d, an acre per annum, which, supposing the rent to be 5 s. an acre when the farmei' enters upon his farm, more than doubles it, from the time of improving till the lease expires. « To 17* MaJICURING'. " To proceed tcrtlle calculation of tlic profits from the produce, I will chrow the lands into the following courser " J^rsr, pease dibbled, or oars harrowed in, upon the flag with one ploughing; second, turnips; third, barley ; fourch and fifth, lavcr for two years. " Now, as lands thrown into the above course, would by rest, and taking only two crops of corn, and one of turnips, in jfivc years be in a state of improvement without cl.iy or marl, 1 can lay t!ic adJitional produce to each crop, on account of the clay, &c. (supposing it answers the fanner's wishes) only as toUovvs : 1. If widi pease, one coom.b, or if with cats, six buiheh, per acre 2. Turnips, per acre - - - 3. Bailey, per a* re^ six bushels - ' - 4. Layer, per acre', ist year 5. Ditto, 2d year . - - } I- s. d. 12 4* ^S 4 2 6 ^. I 17 6 Extraprofit on account of tlie clay, &:c. per acre 076 *' It 1 am right in the above calculation, a farmer who has a spirit to improve another person'^ estate by clay and marl, may, in the course of a 21 years Uase, get some proht by it. But then you will say, that I'le great expence be- * Four shillings an a.cre may be thought a small profit on the turnip crop ; but clay and m;irl is not a natural n.inuro tor turnip?: I remember, some years back, a farmer's claying a piece of la:)d of his own {betwixt some that he occupied by hire;, at the rate ol i2o loaus per acre, and tl.e next two crops of turnips were not so good on the former, as on the other lauds that were otherwise fanned the same. in? MANURING. I'^3 ingovefj he will have the ndvantage of it in the next lease : certainly, as he has had but little in tlie first term, hisf landlord can, and ought to give him some in a second. " The above, without dwelling any longer upon tijc subjedt, I should think sufficiently explains what I ad- vanced, that there are too many obstacles in tlie way, to make it prudent for a common former to improve by claying and marling (wholly at his own expence) a large tracl of light lands on another person's estate, even upon a lease of 2 1 years; indeed it is my opinion, that it seldom answers in the first, and often fails in the second lease ; by a farmer's giving too grejt an advance of rent, rather than turn his back upon his improvements. For' if he is once led to give a little too much rent, he is next rated' higher to the tythes, higher to the poor, higher to the church, and higher to the higliways. *' I should think, therefore, that it would be fair, for gentlemen, after their tenants have laid out 3 thousand pounds or upwards (or less, if the occupation is less) in improving their lands, to renew their leases at the same rent. for twenty-one vears, from the time the last year's im- provement was laid on, provided they went on with spirit, and cot thfouHi the wh61e in seven years from the time DO J of entering upon the farm. This, I must take the liberty to sav, is the least a genilcman can do, to encourage a tenaiit that has a spirit to improve his estate." IMr. Bretringha;n, near Bungay, writes me, tliat the lands tit Ilketshall are much clayed, often to the amount of eighty to one hundred and twenty loads an acre, twentv- four bushels each, which makes it necessary to cart off the turnip crops. Mr. Parlbv, of Stoke, bv Nayland, remarks, that *' that parish is six miles by three ; the soil generally light. This large area formerly grew very little v.heat or barley, but 174 MANURING. but chiefly rye, buck-wheat, or oats ; many of the gravelly liills were covered only with broom, which now, by proper composts with chalk, produce fair crops of the finest wheat and barley. The method of chalking the land was introduced about sixty years ago ; since which time the agriculture of the parish has been constantly im- proving, and the general surface of it is now covered with very fine crops of wheat, barley^ oats, Sec." In Sampford hundred, the soil rich loamy sand, they buy Kentish chalk at Manningtree, at seven shillings a five-horse load, with which they form composts for tur- nips ; they do tills while London dung may be had at ten shillings a load. CRAG. In a part of the maritime sand 'distrifl called the Say.d- lings, which are south of Woodbridge, Orford, and Sax- mundham, they formerly made a veiy great improvement, by spreading shell marl on' the black ling heaths, witli which all that tradt was once covered. But as the marl, called there crag, is all dry powdered shells, like running sand, without any principle of adhesion, the efFe6l was good only once ; for, after cultivating those heaths, on trying the crag a second time, it was found to do little or no good ; and, in some instances, even to make the sand blow the more. It seems, therefore, to have a(SI:ed in this respecl like lime, which has been frequently found to have- gi"eat efFe6l on the first application, upon lands long in a state of nature ; but on repetition, that elfcd has been found to be lost. TOWN MANURING. lyj TOWN MANURES. In the neighbourhood of all the towns in this count v, the farmers have for thirty years past been very assiduous in purchasing all sorts of manures ; so that the price has been gradually rising to 5s. or 6 s. a waggon load, for even the inferior sorts ; at fiv« miles distance, a load of duntJ- is estimated to cost, by the time it is on the land, from 12 s. to 15 s. ; an expence so enormous, as to leave it a question whether it answers. In the neighbourhood of Burv, farmers neglecl soot, which is carried to others at Isleliam, Burwell, 2cc. at a more considerable expence, eight-pence and nine-pence a bushel, besides many miles of carriage. In Sampford hundied, the soil a rich sandy loam, they buy large quantities at Manningtrec, which come from London, and for which they give los. for a five-horse load of three tons at the quay, aird which costs 20s. when oa the land ; all spread for turnips. There is great vigour in such an exertion. FARM-YARD COMPOSTS, The methods of this county are those general in the kingdom, and extremely deficient. The dung and refuse straw is turned over in the spring, and thrown into lieaps, where it lies some time to dry ; or carted on to hedc^e rows upon earth turned up to receive it, often remaining exposed to the surt and wind before it is covered up with eaith, gain- ing nothing by the mixture; whereas, had the earth beeil carted into the yards in autumn, as a foundacion for the dunghill, it would in the course of the waiter be well saturated with urine, and in the spring be ready to cover the dung immediately in turning. It is an almost general error, to be too inattentive to the quality of the dung thus made. It is scarcely credible how lyo IRRIGATION. how many farmers, good ones in other respe(£ls, manage their farm-yards in such a manner, as would impress a be- lief that they thought the sun, air, wind and rain, ex- trafled nothing valuable from a dung-hill ; and that the ■w::shings running into a dicch, a river, or a poad, did not carry off the most valuable part. Landlords, however, are much to be condemned, wlien they form farm-yards, not to prepare convenlencies so obviously adapted to the fight pra6licc, as to force an adherence to it. CROPS TO WHICH MANURE IS APPLIED. Upon this subje61: a question in pracfllce arises in Suf- folk, whether the dung and composts of various kinds should be spread for turnips, or upon clover lays and fal. lows for wheat ? I have attentively remarked the practice in various parts of the county, and it appears, that in the best cultivated distri£ts, manure is applied for turnips : this is the case in Sampford liundred, on the rich loams and sands, and with great success. There are many good farmers who are in different habits, but the balance, on an accurate examination, would be against them. SECT. IV. IRRIGATION, Of all the improvements wanting in this county, there is none so obvious, and of such importance, as watering meadows. The rivers, streams, and brooks, in every part, arc numerous; few countries are better watered with small streams ; yet is there not a well- watered meadow in the county ; IRRIGATION. 177 county*; at least, not one to my kno\vled:;e. Some In- dividuals have been so struck with the benefit of partial flooding by accident, that they have thrown water over meadows, but never have done it in a manner to be highly beneficial, and usually without any attention to take it ofF again. But of all improvements, this is perhaps the most iniquestionable and important. To view large tra6ts of .poor and unprodu6live arable land, below those levels in which water might be made to flow, is a spe61:acle that wounds every feeling of a man that looks about him with the eye of an irrigator ; and yet this horrid sight is to be found almost in every parish of the county, at least in the vicinity of every stream, and in lands kept In the hands of gentlemen who call themselves farmers, and are really fond of husbandry. It would be Idle to enter at large into the means of etFe6ling this improvement. It Is under- stood and practised. In great perfe6lion, in many of our counties, and men to perform the operation easy to be had f. * After reading Mr. Boswell's Treatise on Watering Meadows, and convers- ing with a gentleman well acquainted with him, and with the diredlions ne- cessary to be given for the proper management of the work, 1 have, since the beginning of November last, completed such works as to be able to lay the greatest part of three meadows, containing more than 2o acres, completely under water at any time, when there is a stream running ; and I have very little doubt, but the pradlice will become general in a few years, where it can be done. — Note by J. P. Denham. + The mode of sending for men from other counties to irrigate the meadows, has been embraced by a few individuals in the county within these last two or three years ; and it is most sincerely to be wished that it may become ^twt' xiX.—Nste hy J. R. M CHAPTER. 178 LIVE STOCK. CHAPTER XIII. LIVE STOCK. THIS obje6l is perhaps the most important in the whole range of rural economics. The poorest and ir.ost backward nations contrive to raise bread for their con- sumption, equal to the demand ; and to increase the quan- tity with the increase of their motiths. Their wheat, in the most miserable husbandry, is nearly equal, and much of it superior, to that of our highly cultivated fields ; and we feel constantly in our markets the effe6l of their com- petition; but with all that concerns live stock, the case is abundantly different ; it is by great exertions only, that a people can be well supplied, and for want of such exer- tions, many nations are forced to content themselves with such meat as others would not touch. Look at a sample of French and Swiss wheat, no difference is found ; but examine the cows of Svvisserland and of Lorraine, what a difference ! Compare the mares of Flanders witli the ponies of Bretagne, the sheep of England and of France ; nay, let us come nearer home, and rcfledl on the wool in competition ; examine the fleeces of Segovia and of Italy, in the same parallel of latitude. Next to the cultivation of waste lands (which, by the way, much depends on the well ordering of live stock), this is the greatest desideratum in the agriculture of Bri- tain. The sheep, cows, hogs, and horses of Suffolk, de- mand attention. - SECT, CATTLE. 179 SECT. I. CATTLE. The cows of Suffolk have long been celebrated for the great quantity of their milk, which, I believe, much ex- ceeds, on an avei-age, that of any other breed in the island, if quantity of food and size of the animal are taken into the account* The country, which Is more peculiarly, but not ex- clusively, the seat of the dairies, is marked out by the parishes of Codenhani, Ashbocking, Otley, Charlsfield, Letheringham,Hatcheston, Parham, Framllngham, Crans- ford, Bruisyard, Badlngham, Sibton, Heveningham, Cook- ly, Linstead, Metfield, Wethersdale, Fressingheld, Wing- field, Hoxne, Brome, Thrandeston, Geslingham, T^en- ningham, Westrop, Wyverston, Gipping, Stonham, Cret- ing ; and again to Codenham, with all the places within, being a tra(5l of country of 20 miles by 12. The limits cannot be exacl, for this breed of cows spreads over the whole county ; but this space must be more peculiarly considered as their head-quarters. The breed is universally polled'^% that Is, without horns ; the size small ; few rise, when fattened, to above 50 stone, (141b.) The points admitted are, a clean throat, with little dewlap ; a snake head ; clean thin legs, and short ; a springing rib, and large carcass ; a flat loin, the hip bones to lie square and even ; the tail to rise high from the rump. This is the description of some considerable dairy-men. But if I was to describe the points of certain individuals, * The breed is in general polled ; but a certain proportion of the calves would have horns if reared : the inconvenience of horned cattle among horses, and the damage they do to fences, are an inducement to the farmers to sell all the calves as veal to the butchers, or to the sucklers, which would have horns, and to keep for stock only the polled ones. The horns are to be felt at a very early age. M Z which l8o CATTLE. which were very famous for their quantity of milk, if would vary in several points ; and these would be such as are applicable to great numbers : a clean throat, witli little dewlap ; a thin clean snake head ; thin legs ; a verv large carcass ; rib tolerably springing from the centre of the back, but with a heavy belly ; back-bone ridged ; chine thin and hollow; loin narrow; udder large, loose, and creased when empty; milk-veins remarkably large, and rising in knotted puffs to the eye. This is so general, that I scarcely ever saw amongst thcin a famous milker that did not possess this point. A general habit of lean- ness, hip-bones high and ill-covered, and scarcely any part of the carcass so formed and covered as to please an eye that is accustomed to fat beasts of tlie finer breeds. But something of a contradidlion to this, in appearance, is, that many of these beasts fatten remarkably well, the flesh of a fine quality; and in that state will feel well enough to satisfy the touch of skilful butchers. The best milkers 1 have known, have been either red, brindle, or yellowish cream-coloured *. The quantity of milk given is very considerable indeed. There is hardly a dairy of any consideration in the distridl;, that does not contain cows which give, in the height of the season, that is, in tlie beginning of June, eight gallons of milk in the day ; and six are common among many for a large part of the season. For two or tliree months a whole dairy will give, for all that give milk at all, five gallons a day on an average, if the season is not unfavour- able, which, for cqvjs of this size, is very considerable. — * Several farmers in the parish of Hoxne, have found great advantage from a cross between the true Suffolk polled cow, and the short-horned Yorksliire. The calves have been better either to fat young, or to keep for stock. A steer of this breed, barely three years old, was killed last Christmas, and weighed more than 6g stone. Cows from this cross, upon good land, give a great quan- tity of rich milk. — Ncie by T. M. 1 cannot recommend any crosses for the Suffolk breed, with a view to the dairy.— ..A 1'. When } 5 H CATTLE. l8l When the quantity of milk in any breed is very great, tliat of butter is rarely equal. It is thus in Suffolk ; the quantity of milk is more extraordinary than that of the butter. The average of all the dairies of the distri6l may be estimated at three firkins ; and three-fourths of a wey of cheese per cow, clear to the fadtor's hands, after sup- plying the consumption of the family. The hogs are very generally laid at a guinea per cow, aiid 3 calf, at a fortnight old, half-a-guinea. £. s. d. Three firkins, at 38 s. average price of last n seven years, _ _ - - Three-fourths wey, at 36 s. - - - I 7 O Hogs, ------ I I o Calf, - - - - - - 0106 ^.8 12 6 About 2 s. or 3 s. may be dedu6led from this, on account y J. R. t Annals, vol, 2. p. 247. vol. 7. p. I, SufTolk 192 8HEEP. Suffolk flock-masters allow, with great liberality, for tTie winter bcason, and are at an immense expencc to meet it. Whether ihis does not parrl^- arise from the breed they are so fond of, demanding great keep, deserves inquiry. This most ample provision of turnips is, however, at- tended with one very great inconvenience; which is, the exc«ssive distiess that results from such a severity of weather as rots that crop ; the loss of lOO acres, or even half of it, in the piovioion for thirty score ewes, can only be made up by a dreadful expence in hay , which, in such severe winters, is usually at a price much beyond its aver- age value. 1 have known flock-masters buy hay for their sheep, at tlie rate of 5I. a day, for weeks togetiicr. Such accidents oight certainly to induce them to vary their provision moic, by substituting cabbages, kale, cole-seed, &c. in li^u of a part of their turnips*. But, the provision, of all others, the most important, because the cheapest an 1 mot c.reflive, is rouen^ as it is called in Suff"lk, that is, the after-grass of the mowing ground. The value, fed in autumn, rarely exceeds 10 s. or I2s. an acre; but kept till the spring for ewes and lambs, io worth from 20 s. to 30='. an acre f. For the summer food ot sheep our flock-masters depend altogether on what is called the sheep-walk (a piece, of waite land) and the layers^ artificial grasses, clover, trefoil • From an experience of twenty-three years, in wbich, upon a farm of be- tween twelve and foui ;een hundred acres of land, two liundred of which are heath (which is very black and bad\ I have maintained, with tolerable suc- cess, from fortv-hve to fifty-five score breeding ewes ; and have found, that much less jrovision for them is required, than the author seems to think. Fitly loads of hay have not been expended upon them during the whole time ; and generally, I have had about one hundred and thirty acres of turnips yearly, whicli have been appropriated to the use of the flock. — N'ttt by jf. R. f The method of feeding here recommended, would be certainly attendei! with profit, but in most flock farms there is a great swrsity of meadow, or pasture land.— .^o/r /y y. R. and SHEEP. 193 ^n^ ray, which are regularly sown In their course of crops, and which are often double the quantity of the turnips. Folding is universally and anxiously pracli.ed, as the manure upon whicli the corn principally depends ; the value of it is reckoned from is. 6d. to is. 8d. a head of the flock*. The other circumstances proper to note are, that the rams are turned into the flock about a fortnight after Michaelmas, sometimes later: and in doing this, ten or twelve will be let in promiscuously among 600 ewes, without the least attention or idea of separating the sixty test ewes to put to the best ram, in order that some part of the fleck might be improving: on the contrary, the worst ewes may, in the common method, have the best ram; and the best ewes the worst ram. With such con- du6l, a farmer has good luck, if his flock is not in a state of degradation. The lambs are born pretty well woolled. They are weaned immediately preceding Ipswich fair, (August 22), perhaps a month too late; nor is it uncom- mon to see the Iambs drawing the ewes to skeletons, the middle of August, with clover over the hedge in full blossom, /'r^^yor seed, instead of weaning the lambs in itf. The following system^ is the covwrnon Jlock management: the wether lambs sold ; and the refuse ewe lambs, after drawing ofFthat number to keep, which supplies the place of the crones, sold. The return, lamb and wool. Wether lambs of the best flocks, sell at from 14s. to 15s. in good times; ewes 10 s. to lis. but the average of all their lambs at Ipswich fair, in a common year, does not exceed los. 6d. * The method of valuation of folding, is generally per acre ; and for thirty score sheep folded within six dozen hurdles, from 7s. 6d. to 10 s. 6d. per acre. But, in my opinion, on an improved soil, it is worth much more. — Note by J.R. + The custom the author here justly ridicules, must not be supposed to be very prevalent, as there is very little clover-seed grown on flock-farms ; the lands in general not being sufficiently good.— A^o/e by J. R, N The 194 SHEEP. The price of flock wool, for seven years, from 1778 to 1784, was il. 2S. 6d. the tod of 281b. It kept rising till 1789, when it was 29s. in 179032s. in 1791 35s. and in 1792 40;:. In 1 796 it sunk to 36s. Some flocks sold higher than these prices, but; otlicrs were lower. It is a point of consider- able consequence, to ascertain what is the annual rewrn of a sheep in all the breeds of England ; for many curious and important questions, relating not only to the breeds of sheep, but also to the comparison of grass and arable, and of different rotations of crops, depend on it. Mr. Macro's flock returned him lis. 3d. a head per annum, for his whole flock of ewes. Prices have risen since ; so that I am inclined to think, that large Norfolk sheep like his, which ranked among the finest flocks we had, may be calculated to pay in lamb, wool and fold, 13 s. a head, which will make just three-pence a week for the year round : but this must not be considered as the average of Suffolk flocks, but beyond it, for great numbers of lambs are sold at Ipswich, Horrenger, Harling, Coolege, and Newmarket fairs, from 6 s. to los. each. It is probable, that all the sheep in the county do not pay more thaa 9 s. aliead; at least, tliis is the opinion of various prac- tical farmers, who know the county w^ell. And that it is a matter of serious national concern, to have so great a number of sheep, kept in a country so well adapted to that animal, for so small a return, will, I believe, be admitted by every one. There is no other sheep system on a scale large enough to demand particular notice. In the richer parts of the county, most farmers keep a few of a changeable stock, bought and sold every year, either wether lambs kept a year, or a year and a half, and sold to the butcher; or crones bought in autumn; thft lambs sold fat early in sum- mer, and the sheep at the Michaelmas following. Where this I SHEEP. 195 this is done, h is not common to find them in greater numbers than in the proportion of five acres to a sheep, that is, 20 upon a farm of 100 acres. In all such cases, and speaking not of particular instances, but on a general average, if the farmer doubles his money within the year'*^, he thinks himself pretty well paid; if he returns two and a half for one, he is well paid ; but good managers will sometimes treble their money. All such points, however, 'depend for their merit on the number kept. Much might easily be added on the subjedl of shepherds, 'shearing, mode of folding, distempers, and other interest- ing obje(fls : but I am giving not a dissertation on sheep, but the sketch of a county, and wish to confine myself to those points which are somewhat local and appropriated. Perhaps it w ill be admitted that a foreign cross is necessary ; as much so for the profit of the farmer, as for the interest of the nation. The Norfolk breed certainly have merit ; but merit, purchased at the expence of keeping only half a ■fair stock, becomes something very different from merit. The South Down, and Bakewell's breed, are introduced, and will probably make their way. In regard to the number of sheep in the whole county, as it is a point of some importance to approximate to the truth, I shall calculate thus: that the sand distridls have (which is nearly the fad) one sheep to two acres ; that the rich and strong loams have one to five acres ; and that the fen has one to six. Under these propositions, the numbers will be : Sand, 270,000 acres, - - - sheep, 135,000 Loam, 500,000 -------- 100,000 Fen, 30,000 -------- 5,000 800,000 240,000 * Perhaps the profit is somewhat greater, as the folding, and the feeding of turnips by the flock, is the basis of a good crop on light soils; indeed, no corn could be grown without this pradtice on such soils. — N»te iy y. R. ^ Z SECT, l<)6 HORSES. SECT. III. HORSES. The SufTolk breed of horses. Is no less celebrated tharl the cows. They are found in most perfeflion, in the dis- tri*5\ of country that is upon the coast, extending to Wood- bridge, Debenham, Eye, and LowestofF. The best of all were found some y^^^s ago upon the Sandliiigs, south of Woodbridge and Orford. Amongst the great farmers in that country, there was, forty years ago, a considerable spirit of breeding, and of drawing team against team for large sums of money. Mr. Mays, of Ramsholt-dock, was Said to have drawn fifteen horses for 1500 guineas. It is to be regretted, tliat such a spirit of emulation was lost. — I remember seeing many of the old breed, which were very famous, and, in some respefts, an uglier horse could not be viewed ; sorrel-colour, very low in the fore-end, a large ill-shaped head, with slouching heavy ears, a great carcass and short legs, but short-backed, and more of the punch than the Leicestershire breeders will allow*. These horses could only walk and draw ; they could trot no better than a cow. But their power in drawing was very consider- able. Of late years, by aiming at coach-horses, the breed is much changed to a handsomer, lighter, and more adtive iiorse. It is yet an excellent breed ; and if the com- parison with otliers, and especially the great black horse of the midland counties, be fairly made, I have no doubt of their beating them in useful draft, that of the cart and the plough. But the fair comparison Is this : let a given sum be inv'csted in the purchase of each breed ; and then, by * Clean legs and weil formed shoulders, are criierions of the true Suffolk horse, points which einitle them to be good movers ; and such they are in ge- neral, if used in thaises, and not too long habituated to drjw only. — Note l>y J. C. means HORSES AND OXEN. 197 means of which, will a thousand ton of earth be moved to a given distance by the smallest quantity of hay and oats ? It is the oats and hay that are to be compared, not the number or size of the cattle. The present price of these horses is high ; good geldings, of five or six years old, selling at thirty to forty guineas. A spirited and at- tentive breeder, upon a farm of looo or 1500 acres of various soils, that would admit two or three stallions, and thirty or forty capital mares, might, by breeding in and in, ■with close attention to the improvements wanted, advance this breed to a very high perfe6lion, and render it a m- tional objecl : but then, query, whether the same expence and attention would not produce a breed of cattle that would, by training, supersede the use of horses ? Ot all the branches of live stock, perhaps nothing is in such an imperfecfl state as working oxen*; in everything that concerns them, we are really in the Infancy of agriculture. The cows and horses of the county are already so good, that the only attention they want is that of selection for the purpose of breeding in and in. A skilful attentive occupier of a large farm, who carried tliese breeds to the perfe6lion they admit of, would find his account greacly in it, and raise the pfices of these stock high enough to excite competition, without which nothing can be per- fe6lion. In the article carrots, I have inserted much information on ihe singular method in which Suffolk horses are fed, to which it is necessary here to refer. * I have used for a year past, and continue to use, a pair of oxen to a plough, harnessed exaftly the same as horses, driven with reins, and the same man drives and ploughs, as done with a pair of Suffolk horses. I work the pair of oxen but one journey, taking another pair in the afternoon; by pra(Sice, they will walk very fast, and in this way I can plough from ans acre to an acre and a half per day. As they do nothing but ploughing^ and are not used upon the road, tliey are not shod. — Note by a Conetpondent of the Board. N3 In J98 HORSES. Addition.— ^^ In the eastdistri6\, in winter, horses are n^ver permitted to remain in tlie stable at night, but about eiglit o'clock are turned out into a yard, well littered with straw, and have plenty of good sweet oat or barley straw to eat ; but never clover or hay. By this treatment, a horse is never swelled in his legs, or seldom has any ailment about him. Horses in this country, are as good as any in Eng- land, and are kept in as fine condition. A horse turned out every night, will hold his work several years longer than one confined in the stable. *' Cutting straw, clover or hay, and mixing them with the horse-corn and chafF, is a very good way, and is a saving in stover ; but in the county of Kent, where they cut all the provender for their horses, they have a prac- tice which the farmers in Suffolk are not acquainted with, anl which I recommend to their notice. It is their cus- tom, in the month of April, or sooner, if the season per- mits, to cut every day, a small quantity of green rye, and mix with their corn and chaff. Every farmer knows, that in the spring, many horses pine, and take hurt for the •want of green food ; and if the weather is dry and hot at th° time, will see many that will not eat dry meat without its being watered : half an acre sown in the latter end of September, will be sufficient for ten or twelve horses till they go out to grass. Lucern will come in to cut as early as rye, and is preferable. I am convinced that who- ever tries this once, will never leave off the pradice." — /f. Collet, Esq. SECT. HOGS. RABBITS. 199 SECT. IV. HOGS. Of the hogs of Suffolk I shall only observe, that the short white breed of the cow district has very great merit: well made, thick short noses, small bone, and light of- fals; but not quite so prolific as some worse made bieeds. SECT. V. — RABBITS. There are many warrens In Suffolk, especially in the western sand distridl ; but within the twenty last years, great tracfls of them have been ploughed up, and converted to the much better use of yielding corn, mutton and wool*. From this circumstance, has arisen the great in- crease of the price of these furs. Thirty years ago, the skins \yere at five shillings a dozen ; they gradually rose to twelve shillings ; but, since the commencement of the present war, have fallen to seven shillings, which may be considered as an event favourable to agriculture ; for im- provements will, without question, be the consequence. It is very difficult to gain a satisfactory knowledge of the acreable produce of land, in this application of the' soil ; for the warrens are more cominonly estimated than mea- sured. There is one near Brandon, which is said to re- turn above forty thousand rabbits in a year, Estimating * I apprehend that the soil of the principal part of the warrens in this county, is so extremely barren, and at so great a distance from lands of superior quality, from whence they might be improved, the present method ot iarming them with rabbits, produces more profit than any other that could possibly be devised, both to individuals and the public at large. — Note by y R, If so, why have such large trails been ploughed at a higher rent ? — A. Y. N 4 the 200 Poultry, pigeolts. the skin at seveti-pcnce, and the flesh at three-pence, {'n\ the country it sells at tour- pence, and five-pence), it makes ten-pence a head ; and if ten are killed annually, per acre, the produce is eight shillings and four-pence ; which may not be far from the fad, on some soils ; but variations are very considerable. I'he expcnces are less- ened, since faggots, which the rabbits peel, have been partly substiruteu in lieu of much of the hay which was once thought necessary for them in snows*. SECT. VI. POULTRY. I LET the title of the sedlion stand, to shew that if any Suffolk farmer has information to communicate, it will be received with thanks. The county is exceedingly well supplied, and especially with turkeys, for which it is al- most as famous as Norfolk. SECT. VII. — PIGEONS. Pigeon houses abound in the open field part of th^ county bordering on Cambridgeshire ; but I have had no communi--:ations toucliing the advantages or disadvantages of tliem. * The calculation in Lincolnshire is, that an acre of warren should produce twenty rabbits annually. The carcass is estimated to defray the rent and ex- pcnces, and the skins are considered as clear profit. If this calculation be ge- nerally true, there is no mode of occupying such land as is usually appropriated to warrens, that can compare with it, in point of profit to the occupier. — Note by a Ccrrcspendent of the Boa>J. SECT. BEES. 20? SECT. VIII. — BEES, Are very Hrtle attended to, in general; they woi!J4 probably, in the neighbourhood of uncultivated lands, ad- iiiit ol' a considerablle increase. CIlAl'TER ^ 20Z LABOUR. CHAPTER XIV. RURAL ECONOMY. SECT. I. LABOUR. The variations in the price of labour In the county, are not considerable : it may be stated generally (beer in- cluded) at IS. 4d.* in winter, is. 6d. in summer, and 2s. lod. in harvest. Call winter twenty-nine weeks, harvest five, and summer eighteen ; this will make the year's earnljjgs 23 1. 18 s. A woman earns six-pence» and the wages of men servants rise from 5 1, to lol. These are prices by the day ; but the great mass of "Work in this county is done by the piece, in which earnings are usually much higherf. With a clay cart, which goes on through winter, the earnings are pretty generally 10 s. a week ; and but little work is taken, at that season, for less than 9s. In summer, the rates are higher. In re- gard to the rise in labour, It Is considerable. In my own * Labour by the day, in the parish of Hoxne, is only one shilling, and beer, from the end of September till new layers are began to be cut : from that time till the end of Scpicmber, one shilling and four-pence, and beer, except during the harvest: for the harvest month, if the men are not taken into the family, they generally have half-a-crown a day, and two bushels of malt. — Note by a Coirespondi/t; of the Board. + The putting out work by the piece, is certainly preferable to work by the day, and that which I have always pursued. By this mean, the labourer works with greater satisfaftion to himself, and does more for his mister; hie curnings being then more than here estimated, in general. — Note by y. R. viclaity> PROVISIONS. 203 vicinity, I remember it to have risen In twenty to twenty- five years, from I s. in winter, to i s. 41!. a day ; and in harvest from 10 s. to 12 s. and of late to 14s. a week. There are parts of the county, where the rise has not been equally great. Some rates of labour communicated by correspondents, are: at Brome, from Lady-day to Michaelmas, is. 4d. and pint of beer ; the other half year is. 2d. and ditto ; at Hopton, is. 6d. summer, is. 4d. winter; at Forn- ham St. Martin, is. 5d. no beer; at Lackford, 9s. a week, and small beer. SECT. II. PROVISIONS. Throughout the county, the average of mutton, beef, and veal, to take no weighing meat, on contract for the whole year, may be stated at 5d. per pound. But mutton usually a halfpenny per pound dearer than beef; and the coarse joints of the latter, bought in the aftcniootiy may be had in general by poor house-keepers, at 2d. or 2Td. the pound. Pork 5|d. Butter, salt S^d. 9d. and 9|d. ; fresh lod.* and to is. at scarce seasons. Cheese 5d., but Suffolk 3|d. and 4d. The price of all these is risen considerably in twenty years. Bread lyd. and not risen. * At Hoxne, fresh butter is always sold by the pint (a pound and a quarter) , and during many weeks of this winter, it hatli been sold at one shilling per pint ; a very rare circumstance indeed. — Note bj a Correspondent oj the Board. SECT. 204 FUEL, SECT. III. FUEL. The fuel of the poor, is in general wood ; but for the last twenty years, coals have been gradually introducing in some cottages ; and in the parts of the county joining to heaths, fens and commons, they burn, as in other pountries, heath and peau CHAl'TEB. ROADS. CANALS. 20^ CHAPTER XV. POLITICAL ECONOMY. SECT. I. ROADS. THESE are uncommonly good in every part of the county ; so that a traveller is nearly able to move in a post-chaise by a map, almost sure of finding excellent gravel roads ; many cross ones in most directions equal to turnpikes. The improvements in this respedl, in the last twenty years, are almost inconceivable. SECT. II. CANALS. For the following account of the new navigation from Stowmarket to Ipswich, I am indebted to the Rev. Henry Hill, ofBuxhall. It will be a great satIsfa61ion to me, to give you the best intelligence in my power respe6ting our navigation ; or on any other subjedl which may assist you in your very useful undertaking. I have therefore, according to your request, sent you a full statement of the expences, receipts, Sec. 6cc. of the canal from Stowmarket to I^jswich ; the expence of making which, was greatly enhanced by the trustees being forced into a law-suit with the fir^t con- tradtors io6 CA>JALS. tra6lors who liad began the work, somctunc before thcf •were dismissed ; and as their work was began at the lower end, at different places, and could not be settled for till after the law-suit was concluded, the trustees were obliged to begin their works at the upper end, consequently the carriage of many of the heaviest materials, v/hich would have been brought by water-carriage (had the works been finished below first), were brought by land. It is now nearly completed, and of infinite service to the country^ and will be still more so, as the Suffolk farmers (who, you know, are not easily put out of the old road), find their wav to Stowmarket ; and indeed I may take in some part of Norfolk, for I understand we had a great deal of corn brought to Stowmarket from the country round about 'i'hetford, Brandon, &c. last year. Length. — From Stowmarket to Ipswich, sixteen miles forty rods. Locks. — Fifteen ; each sixty feet long, fourteen feet wide: three built with timber; twelve with brick and itone. Expence. — The sum of 26,3801. taken up at interest, upon the credit of the tolls, which sum was expended in procuring acls of parliament, paving interest to subscribers during the carrying on the work, and for making the river navigable ; and may be said to have cost 23,000!. in making the same. Tolh. — Each barge pays for twenty-four ton to Ipswich from Stow, il. 123. ; and from Ipswich to Stow, i6s- each voyage : up and down, 2I. 8s. ; which tolls are in- tended to be altered from twenty-four ton, and charged at thirty-five ton (agreeable 10 the a»5t), at the same rates as befoie, when each voyage will produce 2I. 6s. 8d. down CAKALS. 207 down to Ipswich, and \ip to Stow il. 3 s. 4d. : up and down, 3I. I OS. Revenue. — From September 14, 1793, ^° J^^Y ^794» the tolls amounted to 460I. ; — from July 1794, to July 1795, to 937 1. los. Ten barges were employed the latter part ot the year : twelve will be employed by Mi- chaelmas next. In the months of January, February and March last, from the frost and floods, the earnings were only 103I. 19s. 6d., which would otherwise have been at least 400 1. Annual Charges. — The navigation was opened on the 14th of September, 1793, when only from two to four barges were employed from that time to July 1794 ; and the navigation not being at that time completely finished, the expences cannot be exadlly ascertained. From July 1794, to July 1795, it was intended by the trustees to have had the expences accurately ascertained, but from the late floods (the repairing the damages of which cost little short of 1000 1.), they cannot be accurately made out ; but from the best calculation, including surveyors' and clerks' sala- ries, rent of towing paths, and other annual charges, and repairs, they are estimated at 380 1. EffeB. — Reducing the price of land-caniage more than one half, and a redudion (of carriage only) of four sliilllngs per chaldron on coals, and consequently raising the rent of land considerably. Tonnage. — The charge, one penny per ton per mile, from Stow to Ipswich ; and from Ipswich to Stowmarket, one halfpenny per ton per mile. SECT. abS FAIRS. COMMERCE, SECT. III. FAIRS. Ipswich for lambs, Aug. 22; — Horrenger, for crone!S> t)Cc. Sept. 4 ; — Woolpic, for cattle and horses, Sept. 20. SECT. IV. COMMERCE. The trade of Suffolk does not merit a partlcuLnr atten- tion, unless there were documents before me which would lead to ascertain the consumption of the county. The imports are the same as in all other maritime counties, and corn the principal export. At Lowestoffj the principal support of the place is the herring-fishery, in which they have 40 boats, each of 40 ton, which they build themselves, at the expence of about 61. to 7 I. a ton: to each boat there are two fleets of nets, the price of which are 300 1. Each boat requires eleven men. They catch from 10 to 40 last of herrings per boat; average 20 ; and the mean price 12 1, a last, rising from 61. t0 20l. A last requires 5 cwt. of salt. The men are paid wages, except the master, mate, and one other ; these by the last. To four herring-smacks, there are two boats employed in landing the herrings ; they are carried Immediately to the salting-house, washed in fresh water, spitted, and hung up in drying lofts; fires are made under them ; the fuel, oak, elm, or ash-billet, cut out of the arms of timber-trees ; other wood not so good ; when dried, they are packed up in barrels and sliipped for the Medi- terranean. The nets and casks are all made in town. — I'he boats are laid up all the year, except from Sep- tember MANUFACTURES. 2O9 tember 22 to November 22, which is the season. If built larger than 40 ton, they are not so well for the iisher5^ Both this town and Yarmouth have as many smacks as ever ; yet th'c trade is much declined in the three or four last years ; owing not to a want of fish or demand, but to the expences of all sorts rising. Dr. Campbell, in his account of LowestofF, in tlie Political Survey of Briiain, takes no notice of this almost only branch of trade ; but speaks of a lobster-fishery here, which has no existence. SECT. VI. MANUFACTURES. The principal fabric of the county, is the spinning and combing of wool, which is spread throughout the greatest parr of it ; except in the hemp distrift marked in the map, where hem.p is spun and wrought into linen. At Sudbury, they have a manufafture of says. A weaver of says earns 10 s. a week, if a good hand, but many less. Wool-combers 14s. The says are made in pieces of 27, 30, and 4a yards; one of 27 yards, at 2s. a yard, will cost about 3 d. a yard weaving. The same master-manu- fa6lurers here condu£l the combing, spinning, and weav- ing branches. Others buy the spun wool to employ the weavers. They have also a small silk manufa6lory here, established by the London mercers about 20 years ago, on account of the dearness of labour in Spitalfields ; tiiese men earn more than the say-weavers. No baize made ' here. Calamancoes at Lavenham. The following satisfactory account of the woollen fa- bric, was drawm up in 1784, by James Oakes, Esq. of Bury : o «< Account 210 MANUFACTURES. *' Account of the number of journeymen and spinners at this time supposed to be employed in the county of Suffolk, with the computed amount of their annual earn- ings : " We imagine there are at this time, Including all de- grees, about 1 20 yarn-makers: but our following calcu- lations are entirely founded upon the number of journey- men wool-combers employed by the masters, which think may be fairly stated at 1200. " We say, that every one of these journeymen-combers deliver in to their respedlive masters, weekly, upon the average, 331b. of tear or tops, and that this is full emplov for thirty spinners, including women and children, of all ages. First, as to numbers : 1200 combers, 30 spinners each, ^,000 spinners, 1200 combers, 5 journeymen, apprentices, riders, sorters, 3°° i &c. &c. Second, their earnings : Combers and journeymen, 1500, at 10 s. per week. £. 750 per week. ^.39,000 per annum. Deduft I- 1 2th allowance) :>' 250 for harvest month, &c. Net earnings of 1500 for-) ekven months, -: - > L-5:yJ^ Spinners, MANUFACTURES. 211 Spinners, Including women) . , , ,.,, > '50,000 at ad. a day, and children, - . S ^ j^. 2,700 weekly. j^. 140,400 per annum. Dedu6l 1- 1 2th for harvest,^ &c. ----- \ 11,700 Net earnings of spinners, - ----- /. 128,700 Amount of all the earnings, ----- ;^. 164,450 " In a bad trade, when spinning-wages are particularly low, the earnings must, of course, be less ; but think the average, communibus annhy may be fairly computed at 150,0001. *' Estimate of the number of people employed, and the quantities and value of yarn made in the county of Suf- folk, solely for the Norwich manufafture : Combers, - - - 523 Spinners, - - - 16,736 Journeymen, &c. - - 100 17359 65 packs weekly, at 30I. - - _ ^.1,960 3397 packs — 364 ton per annum, - " ^- 101,920'* This manufadlure is supposed to have declined consi- derably since that period. " In the year 1775, ^^ ^'^^ computed that goodswere manufa6lured in Norwich, for America, to the amount of 50,000 1, per annum ; and this was reckoned only one twenty-eighth of their trade : if so, the total of their ma- niifadure in the woollen branch must be 1,400,000!. per annum." O % SECT. 212 THE POOR. SECT. VII. THE POOR. The most singular circumstance relating to this sub- je6l, in the county of Sutfblk, is the incorporation of va- rious hundreds, for eredling and supporting houses of in- dustry. Thomas Ruggles, Esq. a friend of mine, having examined these, with great attention, is so kind as to com- municate the result of his inquiries in the following me- moir, which I insert, as the most satisfadlory mode of in- troducing thrm in this report: " The local inconvenience and distress arising from the number of the poor, and the expences of maintaining them, had occasioned many districts within the county of Suffolk to apply to parliament for the power of incor- porating themselves, and of regulating the employment and maintenance of their poor, by certain rules not authorized by the existing poor laws ; in consequence, several a6ls of parliament passed, incorporating those distild^s ; the poor have been governed and maintained within those distridls, according to the power given by such aCls j and the con- veniences and inconveniences, the benetit and tlie dis- advantage, experienced from the execution of those a<5ts of parliament, will be explained and elucidated by the best information obtained from the dlstriils thus incorporated. Tliat this might be performed with accuracy and cer- tainty, 1 determined to visit all or most of the houses of industry within the county of Suffolk, that I might be able, from aflual Inspedion and personal inquiry, to state the fadls which have been experienced respetSling these institutions ; the condu6l of them, together with the con- sequences which have arisen to the public from them ; and to make also some observations on those fadts and con- sequences. The THE POOR. 21^ I'he middle of the summer was the time when the ex- cursion was made ; and the houses were visited aiid in- spedbed as suited convenience, from the naorniag to the evenijig. The notices taken on the spot, and the infor- mations received since by letter, shall be stated according to the priority, in point of time, of tlie a6ls of parliament incorporating the distridls, and the erc(Stioa of the re- spedlive houses. The following questions were put to all the governors of the houses of industry, and their answers to them minuted, when answered satisfadlorily ; and the infor- mation obtained is incoiporated with the general account ; except when tlie governor or attendant could not answer them immediately, but engaged to do it by letter : 1. How many poor men, women, and children, have been admitted since the building of the house, annually ? 2. How many have died since the same time in the house ? 3. Has any, and how much of the debt contradled by authority of parliament, been paid ? 4. Have the poor-rates in the districts incorpoiated, been increased or diminished ? 5. What are the manufa£lures in which the poor are employed ? 6. Is the sale of any of these manufaflures, and which of them, diminished by the war ? 7. Are the poor, or any of them, and how many, em- ployed in agriculture ? 8. Is any particular disease epidemic, or more prevalent tlian another, and what is the nature of such disease r These questions were calculated with a view to form some judgment, whether these institutions tended to in- crease the chance of human life ; to diminish the poor- rates in time of peace and war ; and also to form a coai- o 3 parison ai4 THE POOR. parison of the probable profits arising from the manufac- tures of wool and hemp, in houses of industry. Colness and Carlford hundreds were incorporated by aft of parliament, in the twenty-ninth year of his late Majesty's reign ; and their house of industry in the parish of Nadon, was built in 1757, and first inhabited in 1758. The information which could be obtained on the spot, was not of the best authority ; the governor and his wife being from home when tlie visit was made, which was about six o'clock in the evening of the committee day. Manufadlures in this house — cordage, sacks, plough- lines, spinning wool for Norwich. Boys spin hemp, stinted at six-pence a day, one with another. Girls spin wool ; great girls stinted at six-pence a day, but receive for their work only half. In the dormitory for men and boys, two men are usually put into a bed, and three or four boys ; certainly too many : one man, or two boys, is the proper number ; probably it arose from this circumstance, that the dormitory was neither neat nor sweet ; dining-hall veiy neat. The poor are allowed more liberty without the walls at present, than they used to have, and are more healthy. Five acres of land are occupied by the house ; two cows are kept. Only one man out at work in agriculture ; no boys. The highest poor-rate in any of the parishes when in-r corporated, was four-pence or five-pence, quarterly. What follows, is the answer to the foregoing questions, transmitted to me by Mr. John Enefer, the governor of Na6lon house of industry, by the order of Philip B, Brooke, Esq. one of the directors. KACTON THE POOR. ai5 NACTON HOUSE OF INDUSTRY. The poor are employed in wool-spinning, home spin- ning, and making sacks, Sec. the neat profits of which, upon an average, for the last seven years, amount to 277 1. 13 s. 6d. per annum. The poor-rates were at first 1,487!. 13s. per ann. but advanced at Midsummer 1790, to 2,6031. ys. per ann. The expenditure, upon an average, for the last seven years, 2,3671. 8 s. 8 d. The original debt was 4,800!. is now 4,400!. and v/ill be reduced 500 1, more, Michaelmas 1793. The men and women able to work, earn from two-pence to six-pence a day. The children are stinted according to their abilities, and not according to age, from one halt-penny to six-pence a day. Very few hands are employed in agriculture. The number of poor admitted into the house, for the last fourteen years, amounts to 2017. The number of deatlis, for the last fourteen years, amounts to 389. The most prevalent diseases in the house, have been the small-pox, measles, hooping-cough, and fever. The hundred of Blythlng was incorporated in the year 1764; and the house of industry built on a rising ground, in the parish of Balcamp, about a mile from Blithburgh. The manufadlures are woollen and linen, for the use of the house, shoes, stockings, and all their clothes ; linen is made in this house, up to the value of three shillings and sjjc-pence a yard ; nothing is sold. The house also spins for the Norwich woollen manu- fadlures, and has earned 400 1. a year. Forty-six parishes were incorporated, o 4 The 2l6 THE POOR. The average number of poor admitted the first five years, amounted to about 203, annually. There are now in the summer generally about 250, in •winter about 300, in the house. The number of men, women, and children admitted into Balcamp house since the institution, 061. 13, 1766, total 5207. . ■ The number of men, women, and children, who have died since the same time, total 1381. These totals were taken from a list of admissions and deathr., transmitted to me by Sir John Rous, Bart. • Many children are admitted without their parents. Near 800 1. a year is paid to out-pensioners. The sum borrowed was 12,000 1, half of which was paid off in 1780; tlie whole in 1791. The average of the poor-rates annually, at the first in- corporating the hundred, was not above one shilling in the pound; this rate was diminished onc-clghth in 1780, when halt the debt was paid. None of the poor are at present employed In agriculture. In 1781, a putrid fever broke out in the neighbourhood; this house -lost by it one hundred and thirty of its inhabi- tants ; the town of Blithburgh one-third of its inhabitants. Twenty-five acres of land belong to the house, which, together with thirty-one acres hired, are occupied, some for the plough, some pasture and garden. The hundreds of Mutford and Lorhingland were incor- porated in 1764. The house of industry is in the parish of Oukon, near LowestofF, and has been built twenty- seven years. The number of parishes incorporated is twenty-four. Yearly income about 1,200 1. of this near 200I. arises from the earnings of the poor. Sum THE POOR. 21^ Sum borrowed, 6,200 1. Expences in building the house about 3000 1. It is eredted on a frugal plan, and will con- tain about 200 poor. Not more than 100 were admitted annually for the first seven years; the number now amounts to about 150. 1,7001. of the original debt has been paid; besides 300I. a debt contra(3.ed when the house was under bad manage- ment. The poor-rates were advanced, in 1781, ten per cent, on the original assessment, and have not been diminished ; but the debt continues diminishing at the rate of 300 1. an- nually. The register of deaths has not been regularly kept during the first years of tlie institution ; but the average number during the last six years, has been eleven annually. The manufa6tures are, making nets tor the p.crring fishery. The merchants furnish the twine, and it is braided by the yard. The hemp which they grow is also manufa>5lured ia die house; but lately the weaving has been put out. Woollen yarn is also spun, but the trade is at present bad ; therefore only such are employed in spinning wool as can do nothing else. A child's stint, either for braiding nets, spinning yarn or hemp, is four-pence a day. Several children not above seven years of age, were employed in braiding. Sometimes some of the poor are let out to work in hus- bandry at six-pence a day: their employment chiefly weed- ing. The weekly earnings of the house, on an average, 4I. Out-allowances were, last year, 55 1. and are increasing, but supposed to be injurious to the establishment. Land tl8 THE POOR. Land in occupation twelve acres, all arable ; two yearly sown with hemp. No cows kept; their butter and milk bought. The hundred of Wangford incorporated 1764. Shipmeadow house of industry, between Harleston and Beccles, has been built twenty-six years. The number of parishes incorporated, twenty-seven. Annual income from their rates, 1,7501. Annual amount of labour, about 156I. Number of paupers in the house, about 200. X)eaths in a year, about 20. There is no manufa(5lory in this house ; but their em- ployment is spinning for the Norwich manufadlures. Out-allowances about 80 1. a year. Children are taken into the house from large families, instead of relieving those families by out-allowances. Original debt 8,5001. of which 4000 1. is paid ofF. Land, forty-five acres, of which twenty-seven are arable ; five cows are kept. The house has no chapel ; but they attend the parish- church *. Loes and Wilford hundreds, incorporated in 1765. The house of industry in the parish of Melton, ere£led the same year, is on a more extended and expensive scale than any of those which have hitherto been examined. — Their dining-hall is very spacious and neat; as are the dormitories. There are apartments appropriated to the surgeon. The governor's apartments are large and con- venient. The cellars are excellent. There are good rooms tor the boys and girls schools ; and there are also apaitments fitted up and appropriated as penitentiary lodg- ings for refradory people, and those who may be guilty of • Oulton and Shipmeadow houses of industry were visited, and the notices of them taken by a friend who accompanied me to the otlier houses of industry in tlie county. offences THE POOR. 219 offences requiring solitary restraint, under authority of the acl of parliament which passed in 17 90, enabling the incor- porated hundreds to borrow an additional sum of money. The manufa(5lures are linen and woollen: the first prin- cipally for their own use ; the last is considerably afFcdcd by the war. The number of poor in the house is from 230 to 240. The average number of deaths, for the last three years, is about sixteen annually. The governor could not give any information, In this respe. Dually, could not be exacSlly ascertained, but is about 260. The average number of deaths trom tlie same year, an- nually, is 37 and a fra6li(5n ; but the small-pox, attended, or rather followed, by a putrid fever, has been in the house three years, viz. in 1780, 1781, I79i> when the number of deaths each year was 76, 81, 56. The poor are principally employed in spinning for Norwich ; the prcht on which was. la THE POOR. 221 r. s, d. In 1786, - - - 5H 9 " 1787/ - - - 509 3 17S8, - - - 407 18 9 1789* - - - 401 16 7 /• s. J. /. ^. - - - 2905 2 - - 2175 8 6 1788, - - - 2857 14 6 - - 2574 7 ' 1789* - - - 2876 8 - - 2587 5 1790, - - - 2908 16 II - - 2622 10 2 179I' - - - 2890 10 - - 2529 18 10 1792, - :al, L- 2920 13 6 - - 2810 10 3 Tot 20,318 16 11 - £.i'j,6%o 12 9 Profit to the house in seven years, ending in 1792, 2,6381. 4s. 2d. There were more women between the ages of twenty and thirty years in this house, than in any of the other houses of industry. Seventeen aged and infirm people were in the sick- wards. Land belonging to this house, twenty acres, of which two acres were garden ; six cows were kept. The hundred of Cosford and the parish ®f Polsted in- corporated in the nineteenth year of the present reign. The house of industry is situated in the parish of Semer, and was eiefted in 1780. The original debt was 8000 1. — is now reduced to i8oi. and an annuity of 20 1. payable to a person upwards of sixty years of age. The poor-rates have been reduced three-eighths ; and a considerable fund remains in hand. The poor in the house are employed in spinning wool, which is washed and combed in the house ; and the varn is sold at Norsvich by commission; but the sale has been con- 224 ^"^ POOR. considerably affe6led by the war : a considerable quantity now rennains in hand. The poor, wlio are able, are employed in -agriculture, when an opportunity offers. The average number of paupets generally In the house, h about one hundred and eighty. The average number of burials annually, since the in- stitution, is about twenty-six ; the mucli greater propor- tion died the first two years after the hou^e was inhabited, •which was attributed to too much meat diet being allowed to the paupers after their first coming into the house, after having suffered extreme poverty: this cause has been since guarded against, and the burials have considerably decreased. The house has been free from any epidemic disease, since It has been inhabited ; when the small-pox has been pre- valent in the country, there have been two general inocu- lations in the house, with great success each time. When I visiied this house of industry, the governor was from home ; as was the Rev. Mr. Cook, the son of that worthy magistrate who from the first institution of the house to the time of his death, regulated the management of it with so much attention, as to make it produdtive, in the shortest space of time, of more beneficial effedls than any other in tlie county of Suffolk. It was from an an- swer to a letter I took the liberty of writing to this gen- tleman, that the foregoing account has been extracted ; the information obtained, and observations made on the spot, shall follow from my own notes. The chief employment is spinning yarn for Norwich ; fcut some of the top-work is wove into serge for the wo- men's jackets. Coarse thickset Is bought at Norwich for cloathlng ; linen cloth for shirts and shifts, at the market town of the hundred. Poor THE POOR. 225 Poor in the house, July 25, 1793: men 27, women 42, children 22, between the ages of 12 and 20 ; under the age of 12 years 74 ; in all 165. No men are out at day labour ; four boys are scaring birds at the wages they can earn by spinning, which is five-pence a day. Girls at the age of thirteen are put to service ; boys at the age of fourteen. Twenty-two packs of yarn reinained unsold, valued at about 600 1. Land belonging to the house, about twelve acres ; of which two are garden, ten meadow and pasture. Hartsmere, Hoxne, and Threading hundreds, incor- porated in the 1 9th of the present reign. There is no house of industry eredled*. Owing chiefly to the difficulty, at the lime of incorporating the hun- dreds, of borrowing money, several parishes in the hun- dreds have eredled workhouses for setting to work and maintaining the poor ; and, in general, it is supposed by the incorporated hundreds, that this plan is equally, if not more beneficial to the respedlive parishes, than if they had built a house of industry, as they were empowered to do by the adl of parliament incorporating them. For this in- formation, I am obliged to a letter from the Rev. Mr. Chevallier of Aspal. * Sixteen thousand pounds was the sum wanted ; 500I. was only offered : it was borrowed, and repaid by a contribution among the several landlords within the hundreds, when it was found impossible to put the aft of parliament int9 execution. It was said the distrift was too large to be well managed. This occasioned the dilBculty in raising the money wasted, though it is well known that the large hundred of Blything was much better condudledt than any of the smaller ones. — Note by a Corresfondent of the Board. + If, by " better conduced," the author of this note means, more success- fully as to frofit, I agree ; but there is great doubt as to the other part of good condudl. By having been very profuse in their out-door allowances, they have wonderfully increased the wants and demands. They have done well firom having a very large income, and only one town, for Southwold can scarcely be termed a town. — Additianal Note by another Gerrtspondenf, » The 226 THE FOOR. The hundred of Stow, incorporated in the 20tli of his present Majesty's reign. The house ot industry in the parish of One-house, opened for the reception of paupers 061. nth, 1781. The sum first borrowed was only 8000 1. but the ex- pence of building the house so much exceeded the sum intended to be laid out for that purpose, than an additional debt of 4,150!. was afterwards incurred; and the rates were increased one-fourth, by common consent, for three years : they remain now the same as they were at first. Fifteen hundred pounds have been paid of the debt. The poor are employed in spinning top work for Nor- wich ; the wool is bought by the house ; nnd the cloath- ing for the use of the house, is made frc^n the refuse of the wool, and such spinning as is unfit for the Norwich manufactory ; their best rugs are also made from these materials : no part of their cloathing is put out to be made except stockings. The sale of their spinning is considerably affected by the war ; twelve packs were left in tlie house unsold the latter end of July, the value of which is about 24I. a pack. None are employed in agriculture at present ; only two men are in the house, wlio can do harvest work ; some children are sometimes employed in weeding ; all who are able are employed in hop-picking ; but it is conceived that nothing is saved by such employment. The average number of paupers in the house, about two hundred. The number of burials since Oct. 11, 1780, to Au- gust I, 1793, as follows: 0.u%e. These, when sent to .thcr respeclive parishes, will they become such efficacious preachers of righteousness in word or deed, as to convert tfae great bulk of the people around them, or even any part of the.m ? No, no ; On the contrary, they will soon sink to the common level of morais and behaviour. minlshed THE POOR. 23$ finished three-eighths ; and the rates were very moderate when the hundred was incorporated. Wangford hundred ; houie of iadustrv at Shipmeadow: original debt 8,500!. of whicli 4000!. is paid. Rates re- main the same. The hundred of Sampford ; the house of industry at Tattingstone : the original sum borrowed 8,250!. of which 2,450!. liave been paid. The rates were settled at ts. 8d. in the pound annually, and remain the same. Hundreds ofBosmere and Claydon ; tlie house of in- dustry at Barham : the original sum borrowed 9,994}. of which 7,294!. have been paid. The rates remain the same. Stow hundred; the liouse of industry at One-house, near Stowmarket: the original sum borrowed 12,150!. of which 1,500!. have been paid. Tlie rates remain tiie same. Hundreds of Colness and Carlford ; the house of in- dustry at Na6ton : the original debt v/as 4,800!. is now 3,900!. The rates were increased at ^Mid^uintner 1790, from 1.487!. 13s. 4d. annually, to 2,367!. 8s. 8d. Bui from information it appears, tliat the rates were not more than sixteen or eigliteen-pence, annually, when tlie aver- age was fixed; and the revenue of the house has exceeded its expenditure, on an average of the last seven years, 513!. IIS. 10 d. annually. Hundreds of Mutford and Lothingland ; the house of industry at Oulton: the original debt 6,500!. of which 2000!. has been paid off. T!ie poor-rates are advanced ten per cent. ; but 300I. of the debt is annually paid otF. Hundreds of Loes and Wilford ; the house of industry at Melton : their original debt was 9,200!. their present debt is 10,050!. Their poor-rates, together with the^r county-rates, do not now exceed i5d. in tlie pound, at raclv rent. By 236 THE POOR. By this recapitulation it appears, that, at two of the houses of industry, the rates have been considerably dinii- jiislied, and the original debt annihilated. At ft ur, the rates remain ; but a considerable part of the original debt has been paid. At two, the rates have been increased, and the debt di- minished. At the last house of industry, the debt has been increased, and the rales remain the same. The question, whether houses of industry tend to di- minish the expence of the relief and maintenance of the poor, is therefore answered in the affirmative*; since in two, the rates are diminished, the debt is paid ; in four, die ♦ How tills question can be answered in the affirmative, I cannot conceive. Not a circumstance here mentioned can enable us to form any judgment of the matter. It only appears, that in some of the districts in which houses of in- dustry have been eredted, the r «" s £ — ■ S b. rt S if ■~ s ^ f^ S r3 'S u ■3 5 cS ■3 « ■3 ^ h !> Jh r. ■JT ?« h > h 'S) > h 'm 1 1 l-H 1 1690 gs t II7IO 84 3 1730 102 S 1750 98 7 1770 86 7 1700/ 86 I I172O _73_ 3 _«74o Io2 lo 1760 JJ- _4_ 1780 1 77 12 V U 1) U (3 ^ B B i e 6 ,ti ,ti ,^ ■^ '*j H bO u '00 "So ►J hJ -J -1 J < 89. s I 75 -5 3.0 94-5 7-5 80.0 5-S 7.20 9-J Suppose 1 Le<;itim. > 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,009 Children J Base ". born > 1,117 3.973 7,936 6,8-5 I3>1M will be ) 1 1 " These are averages of twenty years each, for a com- plete century, ending 1789; the third deserves consider- ation. " It may be taken for granted, that tlie price of labour in husbandry had been increasing during the first half of the century ; particularly, as the demand for it increased greatly to supply the great exportation of corn, then ar- rived at its highest point. Let this circumstance be com- pared with the price of provisions. " Dr. A. Smith has given the price of the best wheat in Windsor market, per quarter of nine bushels, for the years here to be considered ; whence it appears the aver- age price of forty years, ending with 1730, was il. ^d. per coomb, and it is evident by inspedtion, that the aver- age of the first twenty years of that term exceeded that of the second ; that often years, beginning in 1731, was 16s. 6|d. and of the following ten years, 15 s. Ojd. *' The next article is the price of beef, or butcher's meat : contrary to the common opinion, this had greatly fallen: before 161 2 it amounted to three-pence eight- R tenths 258 THE POOR. tentlis of a pffnny per pound wciglit of tlie wliole carcass^ (Wealth of Nations, vol. i. p. 236, 1784); in 1710 Davt. stated it at one-penny seven-tenths only, (Sinclair Hist. Rev. p. 3, p. 201, 1770.) *' This increase of wages, and great decrease of the price of food, must have had much efFe(5l on the manner of living of the labourers in agriculture ; ijiev became greater consumers, aiid of more expensive articles. The decrease of prices continued so long, that a new set of comn:v)dities were now called their necessaries of life, and believed so to be. Wheat slowly re-attained the price it sold for at the beginning of the century ; meat has risen greatly above it; and as wages have not risen in tl)e same proportion since 1740, the whole class is involved in great distress, on account of the habits of living which had then become established. This I take to be the leading cause of the accelerated rise of the rates since tliat time. " The great cheapness of corn from 1740 to 1750, seems to have had a pernicious effect upon the morals of the lower classes : severe economy was almost unneces- sary ; and a relaxation of economy was followed by that of morality. The illegitimate births of these ten years were double those of the preceding periods, thougli the latter greatly exceeded those births in the four former equal terms. *' There however existed then one circumstance, to preser\'e economy among the labourers, which is now of greatly less force, or wc may say, lost. There were a multitude of small farms, for whichi such economy could in time lay up a capital: there is but little probability any such use can be made of such hoards now ; therefore, they are not made. A I'abourer will not hoard to spare the parish: every thing he can expcdt, is given him by law, wages, and parish allowance; therefore the cause of sub- ordinatioa THE POOR. 259 brdlnation is gone. For the favour of his superiors is always a great step to a man's obtaining an establislinient. The ruling classes • have thus lost a great part of their physical strengtli in society: if they have made some Yearly gain by it, they pay its price, in a part of the in- crease of the poor-rates. " It may be doubtful, whether the abolition of small farms has made an addition to the national stock of pro- visions, or not : it is dearly paid for, by the degeneracy of the common people, and being obliged to watch against the violences which may spring from it: and it is the same in towns ; there are fewer manufaflures than for- merly, in which small capitals can find employment. " I add only the measure of the increase of the irre- gularity of the common people in the twenty years be- ginning with 1776; there are 187 baptisms registered in tliis parish, of which twenty-nine were of illegitimate children, or the proportion of children born in wedlock, to those which are base-born, was at the end of 1785 as 100:000 to 18,354. In the beginning of the century their numbers were respedlively as 100,000 and 1,117. Therefore, from the beginning of the century to the middle of the last twenty years, in the tables, that is, to the end of 1785, the illegitimate births have increased in the proportion of 18,354 to 1,117; or of 16 2-5ths to unity. This proportion is deduced from a parish whose in- habitants do not exceed 400: the basis is too narrow to conclude that it ought to be held general ; but Dr. Price has founded three tables on the registers of a parish con- taining 1,113 inhabitants in 1780, and refers to it repeat- edly, (Holy-cross). The regularity of the series of ille- gitimate births for a century, gives the result much con- firmation. It is shewn not to be shaken by an excess in the third term, as that is accounted for, R 2 " But 26o THE POOR. *' But although the near approach of this result to tittf truth must be accidental, yet thus much clearly appears, that the increase of these births is too serious not to call for examination ; and the account is perhaps an example ot one of those modes in which materials, adequatelv full, may be digested, in order to attaining a proper knowledge on this very important business. ** In the last ten years we see a high price of corn and a great multiplication of births: this admits of a solution, as the labourer has no advancement to hope, for the spirit of hoarding will not make him afraid of having a family ; he h now not ashamed of applying to a parish in his youth, and is sure of a sordid sufficiency, with a family of any magnitude. In these circumstances population will increase, but the people will become debased — in- dustry and frugality have lost much of the hope of inde- pendence ; laziness and profligacy of the shame of coming to a parish, or the fear of wanting absolute necessaries. — The further evils these things may generate in the cha- radler of that numerous class, the labourers, are beyond all estimate. ♦' The bii;ths during the first fifty years of the second table, were 430 ; of the next fifty years 436 ; but an al- lowance being made for the anomalous year 1789, they are to be taken as equal, and the population of the centuiy stationary. INCREASE OF POOR-RATES IN THE SAME PARISH. ♦* There is much disorder in the parish books : the average of seveja years, the middle term ot wliich was Michaelmas 1748, was 661. 9s. 6d. 1 hat of four years and THE POOR. a6i iiid a half, beginning Oiflober 1789, the middle term of which was the first day in 1792, was 2 1 1 1. 8 s. 8 d. The charge, therefore, had increased in forty-three years and a quarter, in the proportion of 3*1,808 to unity; and if it had increased at an equal rate per cent, every year *, that rate would have been 2 "711. per cent; but the cele- rity of increase, it is certain, was less in the beginning, and much greater at the end of the term. Nothing ought to be inferred on the general celerity of advance from the accounts following that time : they contain the charges of furnishing a workhouse, and all the efFefls of singular mh- nianagement, and the late prices of corn. '* When from two given amounts of this charge at distant periods, in one place, or larger distri(5l, the annual rate of advance per cent, is found, the account is reduced to a proper form for comparison with any other, so treated. In 1776 I obtained the rates of ten parishes in Suffolk, at two periods, twenty-two years distant: their first amount was 800 1.; the second 1,3451.; the rate of ad- vance was 2*391. per cent, yearly. There is a tolerable coincidence of this rate with that of Wickham. " Secondly, about the year 1775, the hundreds of 'Mitford and Laundilch were incorporated. The average payment of each parish was taken from the last seven years ; in the first of which the charge was 3,41 1 1. ; in the last, 4,4621. The annual increase of this charge was, therefore, 4-581. percent, for seven vears. In ten years, ending with 1775, the poor-rates of the hundred of Fore- hoe, in Norfolk, (exclusive of three parishes) increased from 2,0301. to 2,972!. : the rate of increase was there- fore 3*8851. per cent. If in these latter instances the comparisons had been made for longer terms, as thirty or • AH supposition, that the rates of parishes in general increase only equal sums in equal times, must be rejected as contrary to the nature of things. R 3 forty 262 BOX CLUBS. forty years, the rate of advance found, would not probably have so much exceeded that of Wickham and the twenty- two parishes. Twaite, average years, 1785, 6, 7, 8, 9, /• 103 18 o Six following years, ------ j(^. 10798 Advance in this parish in five years and a half, 3'4il. per cent, and the annual rate of advance is o*6il. per cent, which is to be regarded comparatively as very small. — Register of ten years from 1775 imperfe6l." BOX CLUBS. This admirable institution has flourished considerably in Suffolk, as may be seen by the following list of them in the ofl&ce of the clerk of the peace for the county: No. not to exceed 1 Ipswich, 2 Sproughton, - 3 Lavenham, - 4 Ditto, - - 5 Ditto, - - 6 G. Bradley, - 7 Bungay, 8 Yoxford, 9 Kersey, 10 Boxford, 11 Stoke, 12 Groton, 13 Stoke, 14 Lavenham, - 15 Mel ford, 16 Bures, 61 61 - 31 41 51 41 51 - 50 No. not to exceed 17 Bures, - - — 18 Melford, - - — 19 Ditto, - - — 20 Beallngs, - - 61 21 Rushmere, - - 45 22 Alderton, - - 41 23 Framlingham, - 81 24 Coddenham, - 61 25 Ipswich, - - 61 26 Needham, - - 51 27 Crowfield, - - 41 28 Hintlesham, - - 61 29 Ditto, - - 51 30 E. Stonham, - 43 31 Stowmarket, - 31 32 Coddenham, - - 61 23 Stow- BOX CLUBS. 203 33 Stowmarket, - 41 67 Ipswich, - — 34 Needliam, - 5^ 68 Riskin^hail, - 41 35 Willisham, - - 45 69 Ipswich, - 6i 36 Srowmnrket, - 61 70 Stonham, - 43 37 Gosbesh, - 51 71 Stowmarket, - — 38 fpswlch, - 6r 72 Ixworth, - 35 39 Ditto, - 61 73 Kessingkand, - 41 40 Ditto, - 61 74 Ditto, - 41 41 Shitton, - - - 51 75 Benacre, - 61 42 Bel stead, - - - 51 76 Walton, - 51 43 Ipswich, _ — 77 Alderton, - 51 44 Ditto, - — 78 Saxmundham, - 51 45 Ditto, - 61 79 Walton, - 51 46 Needhain, _ — 80 Woodbridge, - 51 47 E. Bergholt, - 61 81 Wilnesham, - 51 48 Eye, - - 51 82 Framlingham, - 65 49 Blal^enhaiii, - - 41 83 Earlsoham, - 61 50 Ipswich, - 61 84 Framlingh.-^.m, - 61 51 Eye, - — • 85 Saxmundham, - 51 52 Stonham, -_ — 86 3:)itto, 53 Stratford, - 41 87 Framlingham, - _ — 54 Stowmarket, - 61 88 Sudborn, - 41 '55 Somersham, - - 41 89 Nadon, - 61 56 Stowmarket, - 31 90 Needham, - - 42 57 Cheln".on(liston - 45 91 SwilUmd, - — 58 Ipswich, - 61 92 Claydon, - 5* 59 Westcrfield, - 61 93 Barham, - 41 60 [pswich, - 61 94 Ipswich, - 61 61 Bramford, - 61 95 Freston, - 45 62 Stowmarket, - 41 96 Lawshall, 63 Ipswich, - 61 97 Nayland, _ — 64 Onehouse, - - 61 98 Weststow, - - 41 65 Ipswich,^ - 61 99 Lawshall, - _ — 66 Sproughton, - 51 100 Mel tor d, _ — R 4 lOI Cock- a 04 Box CLUBS. loi Cockfield, - - — 135 Hopton, - 31 102 Nayland, - — 136 Huntingford, - 41 ip3 Halesworth, - ] r37 Blunderstone, - 31 104 Ditto, - — 138 Woodbridge, - 40 105 Pcasenhall, - 61 139 Ditto, - 61 106 Wangford, - _ 140 Ditto, - 61 107 Framsden, - 41 141 Ditto, - 51 108 Woodbridge, - 61 142 Melton, - 3^ 109 Levington, - - 41 143 Alder ton, - - 41 1 10 Saxmundham, - 61 144 Walton, - 45 III Trimley, - 51 [45 Framlingham, - 61 1 1 2 Woodbridge, - 6r 146 Brantham, - - 45 113 Ditto, - 41 [47 Holton, - 41 1 14 Ditto, - 61 148 Gislingham, - 41 115 Trimley, - 51 149 Withersdale, - 116 E. Bergholt, - 61 [50 Ervvarton, - - 61 117 Tattingstone, - 45 151 Haughley, ' - - 51 118 Capel, - 51 152 Yaxley, - 41 119 Ditto, - 51 [53 Stowmarket, - 31 120 Hintlesham, - - — 154 Ditto, " 31 121 Highain, - 31 [55 Haughley, - - 31 122 Bramford, - - 61 [56 Wishhambro', 123 LowestofF, - - — 157 Hadlcigh, - - 31 124 Hopton, - .-^ [58 Bay ton. - 31 125 LowestofF, - - 41 159 Lay ham, - 31 126 Ditto, - 41 160 Ditto, - 31 127 Ditto, - 61 [61 Lavenham, - 128 Ditto, - 31 1 62 Glemsford, - — 129 Ditto, - 31 163 Woolpit, - 31 130 Ditto, - 41 ] 64 Hinderslay, - - 4^ 131 Ditto, - 31 65 Clare, — 132 Ditto, - 41 ] 66 Norton, - 41 133 Ditto, - 31 3 67 Cavendish, - - 61 134 Ditto, - 31 1 68 Ditto, _ - - — 169 Glemsi Box CLUBS. 265 tS() Glemsford, _ — 195 Nayland, ^ » 170 Haverhill, - 6r 196 Bury, - -i. 171 Bury, - — 197 Polstead, - 4t 172 Ditto, . — 198 Waldingfield, - 31 173 Ditto, - — 199 Newton, - 31 174 Ditto, - 31 200 Thelnetham, - 41 175 Medical Society, — 201 Haverhill, - - 61 176 Bury, - — 202 Barnby, - 41 177 Ditto, - 25 203 Hessett, - 41 178 Ditto, - — 204 Sproughton, - 61 J79 Ditto, - — 205 Wortham, - - 45 180 Ditto, - 31 206 Stradbrooke, - - 61 j8i Barrow, - — 207 Worlington, - 42 182 Fornham, - 31 208 Haughley, - 31 183 Hessett, - 31 209 Hadleigh, - 3^ 184 Thurlow, - — 210 Swefling, ^- 61 185 Cornard, - — 2 1 1 Monk Ely - - — 186 Eriswell, - 31 212 Sapiston, - 35 187 Shimpling, - - — 213 Oulton, ' 31 188 Hadleigh, - - 31 2i4Gazeley, . — l8g Stradishall, - - — 215 Fornham, - - 3^ J 90 Bury, - 41 216 Homersfield, - 31 191 Newmarket, - 40 217 Ipswich, - 61 J 92 Ditto, - 51 218 Barrow, - 31 193 Stoke, 219 Peasenhall, - - 61 J 94 Ditto, - 60 Number of Clubs , 219— 7709 members; average of members, 35 in each Club. From this account it appears, that these societies flourish very considerably in Suffolk. Of the parishes in the county (in all 443*) 232 are in the incorporated hundreds >. Now , dedudting 29 friendly socie- jies at Ipswich and Bury, where there are particular • a6ls of * By Mr. Hodskinson's map. parlia- a66 PRODUCE OF LAND. parliament for the management of the poor, somcwha^ resembling those corporations, there remain 190 of these societies in the county. In order to see whether houses of industry have the beneticial effe6t of driving, by a species of apprehension, the poor into such societies, or on the contrary, to. discover whether they prove by the number of societies in the incorporated parishes, that the poor have no such a terror of them as thus to be induced to become members, let us compare the number of societies in and out of tho;;e hundreds : There are in the incorporated hundreds, 103 In the non incorporated ones, - - 87 Thus, there ought to be in the non-incorporated hun-. dreds 93 clubs ; which is so near the fa6l, that it may be called an equality. From which it appear:, they have no such efFeft; and it should therer'bie seem, that there results no conclusions to be drawn in favour of the houses, as an encouragement to societies; but verv much in favour of their treatment of the poor: for if tiie fear of entering them was as great as some have represented, assuredly we should have found a greater proportion of thesQ^ societies in the incorporated ^j^ndreds than out of them, of all other mea- sures, they being the most effeilivc to remedy such appi^c-i hension. SECT. VIII. — STATISTICAL DIVISION OF TJIE PRODUCE OF LAND IN SUFFOLK. T HAVE often reflcdcd on the most simple method of bringing into the shortest compass possible, a view of the gross produce of the soil, ditl'using itself through the variety of classes most nearly concerned in the culture, receipt, and consumption, of the earth's produdts. What may be called, without impropriety, political agriculture, depends altogether PRODUCE OF LAND. a6| altogether on this division being clearly understood. Vo- lumes have been written diffusely upon the subje61:, and have perhaps failed in utility in proportion to their bulk ; but if tables, on a plain and simple plan, could be con- strudled, which would present the leading fa6ls in a clear view, the road to tliis branch of knowledge, so unques- tionably important, would be greatly shortened. Inqui- ries, however, of this r^iture, must be long pursued, and by many persons, before any thing near perfe61ion is to be attained. I present the following sketch to the Board, as an attempt which may in time be ameliorated, in more able hands, into a general view of the kingdom, which shall contain, in a very small space, abundance of useful iaformation. SUFFOLK RICH LOAM. •STATISTICAL DIVISION OF THE PRODUCE OF AN ACRE OF WELL-MANAGED ARABLE LAND. Rent, 15s. Farmer's capital, 5I. per acre. Course of crops : 1. Turnips, 2. Barley, 3. Clover, 4. Wheat. GROSS PRODUCE. £. s. d. 1. Turnips, keeping 6j sheep 26 weeks, at 3d. 2 o o 2. Barley, 4 qrs. at 2 IS.* - - _ 440 * For the price of wheat and barley jp Suffolk, see AcnaJs of Agriculture, vol. XV. p. 83, 3. Clover, 9t6S PRODUCE or LAVD. 3. Clover, 7 sheep 26 weeks, at 3d. 4. Wheat, 3 qrs. 42s. 256 660 Divide by 4 years, - /•14 15 6 Per annum, i-7> 13 1^ THE ABOVE DIVIDED AMONG The landlord, - - /^- 1 2 net rent. The state, - -02 6 land-tax, Artizans, - - - 6 repairs. 15 Industrious poor, - -11 gross rent, labour. Indigent poor, - - 03 Artizans, and sundries, - 6 6 poor-rates, other rates, Artizans, - - - 2 wear and tear. The church, - - - 4 tythe, The farm, - - - 7 seed. Ditto, - - - 10 1 0^ 'team of 4 horses, at 12I. los. The farmer, - - - to 10 per 1 00 acres. /•3 13 10 Produce, _ - - - - Lz 13 JO DEDUCT Seed, I Team, - _ - _ - 7 10 Half wear and tear, , - I Five-sixths of labour. 17 6 Three-fourths of poor-rates, 2 6 Tiff n - For market, - _ * . /•I 15 10 In PRODUCE OF LAND. 269 In order to form such a table as this, it is necessary to simplify the business, more than it admits in every case, in fad;. The clover is supposed to be the food of sheep alone ; but in common practice, tlie horses, hogs, cows, and, in general, all the stock of a farm consume it ; but for the great objedls of such an inquiry, to substitute sheep does not afFe6l the principles of the calculation. To discover what portion of the produce comes free to market, is always an inquiry of considerable importance ; for if the subjedl was thoroughly analyzed, it would pro- bably be found, that that system of rural economy, whe- ther respedting the size of farms or the condufl of the soil, would be found politically best, which sent the largest surplus to market. In order to discover what this is, de- dudlions should be made of that portion of the produce consumed by the necessary neighbours of the farmer in the village, including a very large portion of the labour, a smaller proportion of poor-rates, and a still smaller one of the wear and tear ; all the seed, and (but not with posi- tive accuracy) the team. The farmer's personal consump- tion should also be dedu6led ; but this is more difficult to estimate. When the consumption of these several classes is deduced, the remainder forms that 'portion of the pro- duce which may be said to go free to market, and forms the great basis which supports towns and manufadlures. STRONG LOAM. STATISTICAL DIVISION OF THE PRODUCE OF AN ACRE OF ARABLE LAKD IN COMMON MANAGEMENT. Rent, 15s. Farmer's capital, 5I. an acre. Course tJO PRODUCE OF LAND, Course of crops : I. Fallow dunged for, a. Wheat, 3. Barley, 4. Clover, 5. Wheat. GROSS PRODUCE. 2. Wheat, 3 qrs. at 42s. 3. Barley, 3I qrs. at 21s. 4. Clover, 6 sheep 26 weeks, at 3d. 5. Wheat, 2 1 qrs. at 42s. Divide by 5 years. Per annum, _ _ - THE ABOVE DIVIDED AMONG £• s. /. 6 6 3 13 6 I 19 6 5 15 6 :-i7 14 6 £-3 10 10 The landlord, - £-0 12 net rent, The state, 2 6 land-tax. Artizans, 6 repairs, 15 gross rent, Industrious poor. - 18 labour, Indigent poor, 3 6 poor-rates, Artizans, and sundries, - 6 other rates. Artizans, 2 wear and tear. The church, 4 tythe, The farm, 8 3 seed, Ditto, 12 team. The farmer, - 7 7 £-3 10 10 Produce, PRODUCE OF LAND. i'Jt I'roduce, - - - - £.^ 10 lo ■ DEDUCT AS BEFORE, Seed, team, five-sixths labour, three-fourths n poor-rates, and one half wear and tear, / For market, - - ' - j^. i 12 o This table explains the circumstance to which I have dready adverted, the profit of cultivating dry soils on comparison with wet ones ; and it shews, that while fal- lows are retained, neither the produce for the public, nor the profit for the farmer, can be carried to the heighth they are capable of. If, instead of this fallow course, a different one be substituted, such as, i. cabbages ; 2. oats ; 3. clover ; 4. beans ; 5. wheat; the produce and advan- tage would probably be found to become greater. SAND. STATISTICAL DIVISION OF THE PRODUCE OF AN ACRE OF POOR ARABLE. Rent, 5 s. - Farmer's capital, 3I. los. an acre. Course of crops : 1. Turnips, 2. Barley, 3. and 4. Trefoil and ray, 5. Ditto, and bastard fallow. 6. Rye. CROSS 9J9 PRODUCE OF tANO, GROSS PRODUCE. t. Turnips, 4 sheep 24 weeks, at 3d. a. Barley, 2i qrs. at 21 s. 3. Clover, 3 sheep 26 weeks, at 3d. 4. Ditto, 2 ditto ditto, 5. Ditto, 2 ditto, 12 ditto ditto, 6. Rye, i| qr. at 1 1 s. Divide by 6 years, Per annum. THE ABOVE DIVIDED AMONG The landlord, - £-04 4 net rent. The state, - - 006 land-tax, Artizans, •> - 002 repairs. £. s. d. 140 2 12 o 19 O 1 o 6 I 13 Li 8 i^ 4 8 5 gross rent. Industrious poor, '- 4 labourer. Indigent poor. 10 poor-rates. Artizans, and sundries, 2 other rates. Artizans, - - - 9 wear and tear. The church, I tythe, The farm, 2 6 seed. Ditto, 2 team. The farmer. 8 5 ^.i 4 8 Produce, l-^ 4 8 DEDUCT AS BEFORE, Seed, team, proportion of labour, rates and wear and tear, - - « For market, - - » j^. o 15 10 o 8 10 It PRODUCE OF LAND. 273 It is proper to explain here, and the observation is ap- plicable to ail these estimates, that the proportion assigned to the farmer concerns no farm in general, but merely land precisely thus managed. If any of the expences run higher, or the produdls lower, that proportion is of course afFefted. The general profit of his business has no place in this inquiry, which is confined merely to such fields as are cultivated in the course assigned, and under the cir- cumstances minuted. It is, however, of high importance, that his interests should flourish ; which, in very many cases, they do not sufficiently, either from his expences being too high, or his produdls too low. GRASS APPLIED TO COWS. STATISTICAL DIVISION OF THE PRODUCE OF AN ACRE OF GRASS LAND. Rent, 1 6 s. Farmer's capital, 5I. an acre. Three acres supposed to carry a cow through the year. GROSS PRODUCE. Of a COW, - - - -850 Divide by 3 years, - - ^^.2 15 O THE ABOVE DIVIDED AMONG i' S' d. The landlord, » - o 13 o net rent. The State, - - 029 land-tax, Artizans, - - 003 repairs, 016 o gi-oss rent, » Three 274 PRODUCE OF LAKtJ. Three years, Industrious poor, Indigent poor, Artizans, Ditto, The church, The farm, Ditto, Ditto, The farmer, Ditto on 3 acres, Per acre, Produce, I. s. d. 280 gross rent. 100 labour, O 10 6 poor-rates, 016 other rates, 040 wear and tear, 12 o tythe, 080 fuel, r renovation of \ stock, 050 team, 1 18 o o il ^"• 8 5 I 18 £■ 12 8 X.'8 5 o DEDUCT AS BEFORE, Team renovation and fuel, \ of labour, | poor- rates, and I wear and tear. Divide by ^ years, For market, _ - _ - . j 2 17 6 £■5 8 6 ^.i 16 2 I am inclined to believr, that no calculation of grass land can be made on any data, tolerably fair, that will not shew, as this does, the benefit to the public, of land being under grass ; here is a larger produce free for market, than ia any of the preceding estimates. ^EEP- PRODUCE pF LAND. 275" SHEEP - WALK, Statistical division of the produce on an acre of sheep-walk. Rent, 2 8. 6 d. Farmer's capital, los. per acre. It is extremely difficult to calculate with accuracy, the prodace of land which is never managed or kept distindt from the rest of the farm. In such cases, all that is possi- ble to be done is, to approximate as near the truth as a variety of information, not founded on experiment, will allow. From such circumstances, I am inclined to be- lieve, that the average produce of such sheep-walks in Suffolk, as let for 2s. 6d. an acre, landlord's rent, do not produce gross more than 5s. which may be called the keeping of one sheep twenty weeks, at 3d. a week. This sum may be thus divided : £, s. d. Landlord, - - o 2 3 net rent. The state, - -003 land-tax. 026 gross rent. Indigent poor, - 003 rates, Industrious poor, - O O 2 labour, The church, - -004 tythe. 033 The farmer, - -019 \% If 2)^ PRODUCE OF LAXD. If this estimate approaches the truth, it explains the reason why such immense tra6b remain in a state disgrace- ful to the kingdom. It is evidently the farmer's interest to make a large return on a small capital. Were such lands improved, he would receive a smaller return from a much larger investment. Hence arises the fadl, that all land- lords, when they let such wastes, should take care to fix on them a very high rent, as an inducement to the tenant to cultivate them. If favour is shewn in rent, let it be in any other part of the farm. The real produce of such lands will never be known till inclosures are made, and sheep confined to them with- out folding, tlirough the year. The question might be ascertained in that manner, with great ease. tJOOD GRASS LAND APPLIED TO SHEEP. STATISTICAL DIVISIO:; OF THE PRODUCE OF AN* ACRE OF GOOD GRASS LAND. Rent, 15s, Farmer's capital, 61. per rxre. It is proper to observe, that there is very little land in this county thus applied ; and 1 in^eit ihc estimate merely by way of query, to bring to light sucli observations as individuals may have made on slieep-fecdin^ good land, without the stock hc'in^j: folded from it. GROSS PRODUCE OF LAND. Z'j'J GROSS PRODUCE. Seven sheep, 26 weeks in summer, at 3d. - 2 5 6 Winter, halt" a sheep per acre, 20 weeks, at 3d. o 2 6 /•.2 8 o DIVIDED AMONG £. s. d. The L-indlord, - 012 o net rent. The state, - -029 land-tax, Avtizans, - -003 repairs. o 15 o gross rent, Industrious pooi", -026 labour, Indigent poor, -.036 poor-rates, Artizans, &c. - - o O 6 other rates, The chuicli, - - o 4 o tythe. 7'he farmer, - - i 2 6 £.2 8 o Produce, - - - - - -^.280 Dcducl 5-6ths labour, and 3-4ths poor-rateSf 048 For market, - - - - - j/^. 234 RECA- ttyB PRODUOE OF LAND. RECAPITULATION. Rent. I. -r. d. Arable good dry loam, o 15 o Ditto, strong loam, 0^5 O Ditto, sand, - 050 Grass*, cows, - 0160 Sheep-walk, - - o 2 6 Grass, sheep, - - o 15 o In Market. Gross Produce. ^■ s. d. I. s. -f. I 15 10 3 13 10 I 12 3 10 10 15 10 I 4 8 I 10 2 2 15 2 ^ _4 2 8 ti3 12 4 Jf in future, a greater light should be thrown on these inquiries, it will probably be found, that an apprehension, very common with some persons, of grass land being, on comparison with arable, injurious to the public interests, is extremely ill-founded, and that, on the contrary, the support of great cities and flourishing manufa6lures very intimately depends on a large proportion of the soil being thus employed. Comparing the sum total of the gross produce with the portion free in the market, it should appear, tharthe latter exceeds considerably the half of the former. ♦ It may be presumed, that if the rich loams were occupied in grass, th« clear profiu to the tenant, the landlord, and the public, would increase.— A'^/f byH. f Without inclusling 5s. shecp Lindbey 42 37 — 5 38 3- — 5 Henley 61 lOj +2 — 43 46 3 — 30 204 ^^1 2 4+ SiratfordSt.Mary 14c '53 '3 — 9t 92 4 Wei herd e 11 i'5 103 — 12 104 78 — 26 S" 292 - 3 5 + 29 38 Coddenham '77 254 ri - 119 146 27 — - 124 820 i^i 32 58 Wesrerficld 65 67 2 — 32 22 — 10 24 130 - r :!4 2C 65 Exning '97 228 3' — .68 ^5^ — 18 HundngfitlJ V-' "5 39 — 5^ 54 4 — Ashboking 4c 54 '4 — '9 18 — I 26 15c 5i 3<^ 75 Biicklesh^m 65 64 I — + 1 23 — 18 2(3 165 *" 4 ■** / 8z Wetheringset 2S5 22S — 57 19: ti8 — 72 Newbouin 39 48 9 7 3c ^3 18 104 yi 22 34 In 1788, souU 1 18. 4 Families 70, Hawk- 282 POPULATION. Fari-,11. 5^ 66 '4 ■X 49 62 1^ '3 00 0^ •^ Hawkcion Snmerton 34 29 — 5 32 26 — 6 Stradishall IOC 137 37 — 83 67 — 16 Hoxiie 283 269 - ■4 204 164 — 40 150 932 6 I in 35 I in 58 Rii.kinghall 148 i8i 33 — 128 93 — 35 474 26 5^ INJciulicsliaui 326 377 5' — = 37 200 — 37 850 Stuston 64 54 — 10 51 37 — 14 35 187 51 37 5» Meiidliam 23c 233 3 — •34 118 — 16 \Vfyl)rea(i 184 227 43 — 136 120 — 16 St. Mary Stoke") Ipswich 3 92 108 (6 — •34 97 — 37 63 368 51 36 36 Siansficld 127 i22 — 5 72 85 •3 — Denston 10b 84 — 24 69 48 21 JCiikton .3S .7c i- 107 94 — •3 44 390 H 22 43 Fdlkciiliam yfc 81 5 — 58 47 — 11 27 224 8 s8 48 Easion 14c 9' — 47 9c 58 — 32 40 233 5i *5 38 Boyton 63 66 3 66 46 — 20 *20 170 81 26 36 B^iWum 78 85 7 — 62 44 — 18 Htmingston 49 7O 27 — ** 41 3c — 35 237 H 30 59 Halcswortli 41- 494 82 — 308 271 — 37 400 fisoo H 30 55 Cliedistoa- 9- to. 12 — 70 54 — 16 Eye — — — — 1769 Brome 6( "76 7 — 61 S^ — 29 233 8 30 42 Rubhbrokc 3^ 33 — 5 3' 25 — 6 B^rhatn 7 ' ■05 28 53 57 4 — il45 323 7 32 58 Hawleigh 172 ^3 3' — 124 IOC — 24 •'5 44c 22 44 Chil!'sford I2(- '39 '3 — 43 53 10 — 44 382 H 27 76 jMufidd -1/ -55 3« — 141 .31 ■^ 10 72 623 8i 24 47 Frts,ini;fitld >5S 356 I 244 165 — 79 112 976 81 27 60 VVct()er^oale 24 4a 18 — 22 •5 — 7 15 97 6i 24 tH Sylcliam 8; 70 — '3 •59 61 2 — 40 288 7 4' 4S Copdock (39 79 .tc — 72 54 — 18 Wabiibruok 62 73 I i — 40 35 — 5 Culpiio IC lb 6 — IC 5 - 5 9 69 -I / 2 46 ,38 Lloiiewden 4« 35 — f3 27 24 — 3 22 13c •5i 36 ^5 Worliiigham 61 6; 6 - 65 4c — 25 24 169 7 26 42 Bicimpioii 75 v3 18 — 43 3^ — 5 23 235 10 26 5'^ Ac>')ii 10^ 169 34 — I IG 8. — 24 Harkstead 69 79 I,. — 4; 5^ 3 — 33 238 7 29 47 BcUtead t)^ /^ 10 - 4' 2fc — lb ;;38 200 51 25 80 IVIeitiagliam 94 93 - 1 48 3<3 — 12 .3° 150 5 Jb 4» Cowling ( 12 204 92 — 125 9' — 34 Lidgate 1C9 101 — 8 99 49 - 50 Thorpe 7; 69 — 8 5'- 4^ — 10 Great Bradley - 92 i02 10 — t)j 64 3 — Barnuiiston 53 S' — 2 Si ^7 — 34 • Forty tenements. — •• Register lost.— t In the year 1790.— P. Sixty-five tenements — H 'I'enemems reckoned as houses. Chevini;- POPULATION. 283 Palish. Chcvingtoii Hargravc Euston Barnham Little Thurlow - La ken heath Flemp'oa Culford Kedington Wickhambrook Hepworth Clare Timworth Ingham Ampton Thurston Ashfield Magna Wood Ditton - Great Livermere Little Livermere Sr.MarvNewmt. Melford Barninghan) West Stowe Lackford Kentford Norton Great Wratting Hiindoa Bildtston Mildenhall Gazeley Elde'n Elmset Jxwortli Wetheisfield Laxham Dounham Gt. Waldingfield I3urwell Ubbesfoii Hemstead St, Matt. Ipswich Play ford Hemley Covebithe 134 38 206 79 61 161 288 143 30 >' 28 53 7 1 10 94 164 1 12 3' 377 577 85 56 48 33 161 62 184 .65 573 '59 53 228 126 187 4 174 339 59 130 3'4 62 18 70 164 98 44 [00 108 225 86 84 165 320 169 338 52 40 16 107 119 169 85 20 446 010 109 33 5^ 4' '73 65 271 169 682 165 31 114 ^43 141 15c 1 1 205 373 79 119 323 57 25 96 rr. ^ w^ «-». 00 o^ :' 30 — 96 86 — IC — 17 59 55 — 4 6 — 39 20 — 19 — I 66 55 — 1 1 28 — 77 66 — II 19 — [68 139 — 29 7 — 42 57 '5 — -3 — 49 37 12 4 — 139 143 4 — 32 — 182 174 — 8 26 — 80 105 25 — 53 — 351 245 6 24 — 30 24 — 6 169 I in 3? — 13 21 21 — — 135 33 9 — 9 10 I — 97 64 — 3 87 57 — 30 25 — 48 62 14 5 — 125 114 — 1 1 27 55 5" — 5 — 1 1 H 17 3 — 69 — 319 1-332 87 — 33 — 478 468 10 24 — 7^ 63 — 8 — 23 37 2i — 16 — 4 26 I I — '5 8 — 24 15 — 9 12 — '5' 99 — 5- 3 — 62 61 I 87 — '75 160 — 15 4 — 132 127 — 5 109 S^S 406 — iS9 6 — 82 78 — 4 — 22 21 ^9 2 29 — 61 65 4 — '5 i~ [4c 119 — 21 15 97 85 — 12 37 '4' 99 — 50 7 — 8 JO 2 — 31 — 159 107 — 52 34 — 346 324 — 22 20 — 21 24 3 — 23 20C H 25 — 1 1 75 53 — 22 9 — 303 29© — 13 207 927 4i 29 •: — 5 39 , 24 — 15 22 209 9i 3^ 7 — 28 22 — ' 6 9 57 6 22 26 — 40 52 12 — 26 185 7 2C I in 84 67 97 + In J79Z and J793 great ravages by the snull-pox. So 31 8a 28 37 Benacre fiSif. ?OPLLATIOK. Parish. ~ 57 M-l \ 28 5^ Ilke-tshallSt.And. los j — ■ 65 62 - 3 43 37^- ^i 37 61 AllSts.St.Nich.7 105 5& 85 2C ) 3c 3' ' — 37 283 7^ 32 94- S. Elmham j Freckenham 95 7' 15- - 48 61 '3 — Hopton 101 167 74- - 88 103 '5 — Hesset 185 9' — IC ' 5' 6c 9 — E^st Stnnham - '53 '97 12 — -119 115 — 4 68 387 5: 20 35 Worlingworih - 9^ 186 33- 73 77 4 — Little Cornearth 348 88 ' ■ 64 6; 3 — Dcbenham 1Z5 278 30- -261 260 - 1 185 1 161 61 43 4+ Marlesford 181 119 _ ( 5 I IC 60 — 50 46 353 7t 29 58 Thorndoii 56 180 I 116 [12 — 4 Chattisham 83 27- - 22 33 II- 27 179 6| 2i 59 St. Michael So. 1 37 41 4 — - 5 7 2— 14 112 8 28 150 Elmham 3 51 Homeisfield 52 65 14- - 42 34 — 8 25 164 61 24 46 Sandcroft 45 60 8- - 38 3^ — 8 27 185 6| 30 6r North Cove \ 10 79 34- - 33 2Q - 4 28 179 6i 22 59 Bclton '75 113 3- -*79 62 — 17 Bungay Trinity 336 252 77- - 160 = 73 ^3-1468 12340 5 36 53 Bungay St. Mary 70 404 68- -255 233 -22 i'^ Botesdale 48 84 14- - 80 97 17 — Shadinoficld 336 54 6- - 24 17 - 7 16 165 10 30 1 10 Brandon '9 334 — 2 241 191 — 50 204 1072 55 32 5; Wangford 239 2C I - - 17 2 — 15 10 49 5 24 ',',245 Barrow 82 191 — 4 8 150 124 — 26 115 578 5 30 48 Buxhall 62 75 7 68 33 — 35 Tioston 47 75 13- - 49 42 — 7 31 237 -ri. or 59 Higham 156 56 9- - 44 33 — 9 34 178 5 32 50 Middleton 1219 188 32- - 93 85 — 8 70 460 7t 24 '^ Werkton 123 285 66- - I2fc 114 — 12 75 i 618 8i 22 56 Bl)tKl)iirgh 62 143 2C - - "5 6i — 50 54 1 ll3'c 5i 22 46 Wallerswick 138 97 35- - 68 52 — 16 3c 212 7 2t 42 Alderton 41 1465 152 4C 14- - lOfc %l — 18 82 415 '3^ 5 27 >6i 7i 46 Bradfield Combt 1 2C 2S > 8_ 21 45 St. Peter Sudburv p42 473 8- -36; 38c )24 — St. Gregory dittc ;444 . 30C ) — 3 ^■38c 37' ■ — 12 Glemsford 21; 49? ) 52- -38; 32c J -56 Woolpit '5^ \' 9 i8c [ I. ^ — 66 * Many from Yai mouth in these ten years. — + Multiplied by five, but probably not an enu- meration. — " A fire destroyed some houses, anJ the people went.— 1| Besides four hundred in a kouse of industry. Total a36 ropuLATrojT- Total ist column, being births in the first ten years, 7 - Htiningston deduded, - i Ditto, 2.1 ditto, deduftiniT Stonhara, 1 C4 7 and Hennngston, 76 3 Ditto, of jrh ditto, bring burials in the first tciv years, 22,800 Ditto, of 6ih ditto, bcingditto in the second ten years, "1 dedu6\ieg 102 for Stonham and 120,259 Hemingston, . _ _ J Ditto, of the gth ditto, being number of houses, 7,767 1 . house. DittOyofthe lotli ditto, beingnumberof souls, 44,416 j Deducting Rickingliall, 474 Mendlesham, 850 Eye, - 1 769 Timworih 169 Ingham, - 13^ Ampton, - 97 3494 On an average of the second period of ten years, one in thirty of the population is born, and one in sixty buried. Births in the first ten years, - - 29,684 Deaths in ditto, - . - 22,800 Difference, - - - - 6,884 Births in the second ten years, - - 33>oii Deaths in ditto, - . _ 20,259 Difference, ... - 12,754 It should seem from this comparison, that population must either have increased very greatly in this county, or, that a considerable emigration from it is cons;antly going forward. The numbers here minuted, are great enough to admit of both these circumstances; but what proportion is to be assigned to each, does not appear. As, however, the accounts which have been published of other parts of the kingdom, are neaily of the same tenor, the probability is, that population has been rapidly in- creasing. An HOUSES. SERVANTS. HORSES. DOGS. CARRIAGES. 287 An account af the number of houses, servants, horses, clogs, and car- riages, in the county of Suffolk in 1796 : Houses. Servants. Horses. Dogs. Under 7 windows, - 8,370, From 7 to 9 windows incl. 3,607 10 to 12, ditto, 2,117 13 to 20, ditto, 1,977 21 to 24, ditto, 26^ 25, and upwards, 602 16,944 Carriages. >. '^ b a 'S^ fO -^ (>• v^ u» l' ? 5 t 1 - r* C" ^ 5- w^ \^r\^^ W^,- From 7 to 10 incl. 160,084 i? 1 1 1 to 15 ditto, 61,473 14 to 19 ditto, 61,356 2" 5- ' ^ s 20 1024 ditto, 19,898 t^ ^ ^ p> 25 and upwards, 31,642 "S ^ *^ t;- v_^v>^ J^ ^ ^ 688,844 56,850 i7s^84 ■v- -' 900,700 J9,o7T 24.3 °j For Suf^)Ik to be in proporiion to Eiigland, it will contain by acres Horses in husbandry, House?, Horses for pleasure, Servants, Carriages, four-wheel, Ditto, two-wheel, 15,871 12,181 IjOOt 336 428 Proportion by rent, of 444,000!. to 26,000,000!. Horses in husbandry, Houses, Horses for pleasure, Servants, Carriages, four-wheel. Ditto, two-wheel, 15,381 11,763 3,o5i 970 32$ 415 Hence j83 houses, ^rvants. houses, dogs, carriages. Hence it appe.irs, that this county contains more than the double of its proportion of horses in husbandry; onc-foiirth more of those kept for plea- sure; one-fourtli nnore houses; about its proportion of servants; about a-fourih more four-wheelcfi carriages; and nearly its proportion of two- wheeled ones. This is on the supposition that the kingdom at large pays corrc(5tIy. Let us, on the contrary, suppose that Suffolk is correal, and inquire what ought to be the proportions of the whole kingdom ? Amnx.'fr. Really paiJ/or, ^35,474 horses in husbandry, % r 1,978,009^ 900,0 4,012 horses tor pleasuic, 1 What should 237,072 I 178,0 ! J 1 6,944 houses, L ^ rental of) 1,001,235 l688,c J 1,065 servants, j 26 millions | 62,931 f 56,0 I 456 4-wheel carriages, I maintain? j a6,y45 ! 19,0 ^ 440 2- wheel ditto ■' ^ 26,ckjo-' 24,0 CHAPTER OBSTACLES TO IMPROVEMENT. 289 CHAPTER XVI. OBSTACLES TO IMPROVEMENT. I N whatever counties these are found, they will con- sist of ch-cumstances either generally affedting the whole kingdom, or locally particular counties : the latter I con- ceive to be the obje6ls that ought more especially to at- tract the attention of any person who is employed to re- port the state of a county : in this respe6l, I am happy to observe that Suffolk labours under no such obstacle. Those which are general to the whole kingdom, such as the payment of tythe, the existence of commons, and common-ticlds ; the practice of some individuals not to give leases to their farmers on soils which want improve- ment ; the rapid increase of poor-rates, and various other evils and deficiencies — these to analyze, would lead rather to general dissertations, which in my opinion ought care- fully to be avoided in a local work, than to explanations of any thing, essentially necessary to be known for well unr del standing the husbandry of a county. Among the notes which have been added to my former report by corres- pondents, I find but one to insert here*. GAME. * As to tytl'.es, it it at least a question, whether they are not more imagi- nary, than real obstacles, to improvements ? If in some parishes where tythes have been constantly gathered, improvements have progressively been carried ■»ery high ; if in others, though tythe free, improvements have comparatively stood still ; it at least shews that tythes are not the general, though they may Sometimes be the partial obstacles to improvements. At any rate, it must be considered, that tythes are estates invested either in the crown, or public bo- Ales of men, or iodiriduals by inheritance or purchase ; secured by the same T laws 2-90 OBSTACLES TO IMPROVEMENT- GAME. On this subge6l, Mr. P. Edge, of Ipswich, thus ex- presses liimself : — " An unnecessary consumption of corn, is at all times to be carefully avoided. I will therefore take the liberty of informing the Board of Agriculture, that a most alarming quantify of corn is destroyed by game preserved in woods and plantations, in Various parts of this kingdom. It is not possible for me to make any calcula- tion as to the quantity destroyed ; but I will beg leave to mention, that in a field of eleven acVes of wheat within three miles of this town, the occupier, from the goodness laws as the mast antient landed property ; and possessed by a body of men who perform the most essential service to the public, who are precluded from other professions and occupations, and for ii:comes generally inadequ.ite to their edu- cation, and situations in life. The examp.e of France, is perhaps most strik- ingly, in this instance, a warning to Britain, not to attack a property intimately connected with the constitution, under the fascinating idea of rejorm. The Devonshire society sets out with professing to offer nothing less than an ade- quate compensation for' tyihes ; but a corn-rent is extremely fallacious and in- jurious. The difficulty of first ascertaining the rent, is very great; and if ascertained, would ultimately aft as a modus. Had a corn-ient been substi- tuted a century back,, the estates of t^e church would at this time have been, probably, only half their present value. Let tythes be considered as they really are, a rent hi kind, known and experienced both to landlords and tenants, and if they make a fair calculation, such a rent can be no reasonable bar to improve- ments. 'I'he argument that would make it so, might by parity of reasoning be exiended to the landlord's rent, and to all taxes, and leads diredly to the levelling system. And indeed, rents in kind are, in some countries, paid as high as oae-fourth or one-third of tlie produce, with a flourishing agriculture. From various discussions on this subjedt, land has been fixed upon as the nearest adequate substiiuie for tythe. This, under new inclGslng bills, has taken place to advantage, and may probably be gradually exiended. But the diffi- culty of setting out land in old inclosed parishes, to the satisfadion ot contend- ing parties, is often insurmountab:e. And if done, the future increase of dila- pidations to the family of a late incumbent, and the necessary increase of a capitii, and skill in husbandry, to his successor, are objeffions formidable and valid, to such commutation ill general. — Note by the Rev, Mr. Carter, 0/ Fit mp ton. of GAME. 291 of the land, from the excellent state of if^ cultivation, and from the health and vigour of the plant, had a right to ex- pe<5l from eight to ten coombs an acre. His neighbours, men of great respe£labiHty, were of the same opinion. Unfortunately for the farmer, the field joined a wood full of hares and pheasants, preserved and fed by the game- keepers ; and such was the havock made by the game, that the produce of the field was only fifteen coombs. " In this single instance, no less than seventy coombs of wheat were lost to -ihe tenant, as well as to tlie jiublic. What therefore must be the astonishing quantity of corn destroyed throughout the kingdom by game that is preserv- ed ? I humbly hope the Board of Agriculture will excuse me in observing, that this evil loudly calls for the inter- ference of parliament, to adopt some plan to redress this grievance. Let me therefore stand forth as the unsolicited advocate of the farmers, and request the honourable Board to recommend to the House of Commons to make siich altera:ions in the game laws, as will in some measure xlecrease the quantity of preserved game. " I have no doubt but the legislature w ill endeavour to put a stop to an evil so prejudicial to individuals, and at the same time so detrimental to the community." T 2 CHAFTES. 292 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. CHAPTER XVII. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATION'S. SECT. I. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. THE only society of this sort ever established in Suf- folk, is the present existing one, called the Mclford So- ciety, which now meets alternately at Bury and Alelford. At first, some of the members, according to the design of the institution, read memoirs of experiments, which ap- peared in the Annals of Agriculture; but for some years this has been discontinued. A few premiums were of- fered, but never claimed; and these have consequently been also discontinued. County societies, however, if well imagined, and tolerably supported, might work very beneficial effc»5ls ; and it is to be regretted, that so large, opulent, and respe6table a province, should not possess an establishment of this kind, on an efFe£tive scale. Were such an one instituted, to meet three times a year at Bury, twice at the assizes, and once at the tune of Bury fair, when there are a considerable assemblage from every part of the county ; with local committees at the chief towns, they might be able to do some good, provided their pre- miums were few and considerable ; and aimed at such obje(5ls as would promote the inquiries peculiaily adapted to the agriculture and live stock of the distrivSl:. But the general failure of such societies, proves that most of them have WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 29; have hitherto adopted improper plans of proceeding. Till a better is established, the present one should continue, as the mere existence of a body to whom otiier societies may- apply for assistance in various rcspefts, is ot itself a cir- cumstance of considerable value. SECT. II. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. Under, this head, there is nothing peculiar In the county. The Winchester bushel is universally used. F I N 1 S. APPENDIX, SOME PARTICULARS RELATING TO CERTAIN PARISHES. WOODBRIDGE. BY IWR. ROBERT LODER, OF THAT PLACE. TNQUISITION of the inhabitants of Woodbridge, taken in the years 1770, and 1777. 1770. Of the Established Church, - 1973 Independents, - - - 275 Quakers, - - - - 82 P^ist, _ _ - - I ^33^ 1777. Of the Established Church, - 2105 Independents, - - - 283 Quakers, - - - - 86 2474 Taken 1^6 WOODBRIDGE. Taken in the years 1760, 1763, and 1781 (no separate distindlions.) 1760, - - 2026 1781, 534 houses. 1763, - - 2197 591 families. 1781, - - 2600 Progressive increase, from 1760101763, - 171 1763101770, - 134 1770101777, - 143 1777 to 1781, - 126 Total increase in 2 1 years, - - 574 In the year 1666, the plague raged violently in tin's parish. It appears from the parish register, that in the months of July and August in that year, there were buried no less than 327 persons : whereas the burials in those two months in each of the ten preceding years did not, on an average, exceed the number of twelve. Tra- dition says, the dead were buried in the field now called Bearman's Hill. BARNHAM. BARNHAM. 297 B A R N H A M. The parish of Barnliam, near Euston, contain? ^^dz acres, viz. ;^ * In 1764. Infield arable, inclosed, - 3^^,y Outfield arable, _ _ - 2626*,.. Meadow and pasture, - - 559 Headi, or sheep-walk, - ^735 Tctal, - - 5302 And consists of four farms. The whole belongs to his Grace the Duke of Grafton, to whom I am obliged for these particulars. There are 3300 sheep in it, 60 cows, and 43 horses. Land-tax, - - lOll. 2S. Poor-rates in 1764, - - - ;^-53 1765, - - - 41 1767, - - - 45 1787, - - - 131 Windows in the asodsment, - - 94 Houses appearing on the duplicates, - 9 But this number being very small, for a village which I recolledted had quite another appearance, I counted, an(«K found them to be forty-six. Hence, whatever examination a political arithmetician could make at the Tax-office, to discover the population ot this parish, would give him not more than the num- ber of forty-five souls, at five to a house ; but the h&. is, there are at that ratio 230, or nine times as many. U 2 PARISH 298 TROSTON. PARISH REGISTER. Baptisms, Burials. Incr. In 14 years, from 1731 to 1744, 112 92 20 In 14 do. from 1745 to 1758, 76 56 20 In 14 do. from 175910 1772, 115 104 11 In 14 do. from 1773 to 1786, 145 98 47 This rapid increase in the fourteen last years, ought to be attributed to some clear and manifest cause : it is very general in this county, but I know not to what pe- culiarly to assign it. A vast improvement upon the outfield land of this parisli, would be to add a good portion of burnet and rib- grass to the ray, with which tjjcy lay down for four years. A. Y. t R O S T O N. BY CAPEL LOFFT, ESQ^ OF T R.OSTON-HAL L, NEAR BURY. This village consists of twenr\' -eight houses. Of the twenty-eight houses, the assessment to window lights Is, /. s. d. Old duty, - - - 13 5 6 New ditto, - - - 17 13 o The TROSTON. ii9^ The lights arc, i house - - - 3^ I ditto - - - - 21 4 ditto between 20 and lo 3 ditto - - - - 9 1 1 ditto _ _ - - 6 20 Seven are excused on account of poverty : one exempt- ed as being the poor-house. Assessment to the house duty, - - ^. i 2 O Only five houses assessed. A. R. P. Pasture, _ _ - 123 Arable, . _ - - 205 Common field, - 613 Mixed, pasture and arable, 4 2 945 2 Common, about - 83 19 1028 2 19 The nine hundred and fortv-five acres above specified, stand at the yearly value of 595 1. as stated in the assess- ment to the poor-rates ; which appears to be fairly made to the full rents. But it must be remarked, that this in- cludes the valuation to tythe and glebe ; which are fijrm- ed by an inhabitant, who stands at iiol. in the assessment on that account. The glebe is fifty-eight acres. It it stands at 8s. per acre, this is 23 1. 4s. say 23 1. al- lowing the remaining 87 1. for tythes, then the parish rental will be (by the dedudion of 87 1.) 508 1. This, to u 3 the 200 TROSTON. the !u;mber of acres, is as near as is well possible, los. ()d per acre. £. s. d. 2 9 71 The assessment to the poor-rates, at id. in "i the pound for a single rate, siands J This at 2 1 penny rates, as was the case T ^ last year, \vould give J In i8 years from 1767, the average is 44I. "1 with a very small fraflion beyond : die \ 3 4 iii total in that time being only J Beyond tJien, it would be at the annual t ^ assessment above taken as the average, y^-^ ^ ^ For the first nine years of this period, the 7 average is rr.tner below 39 1. J ^ ^ The greatest sum hitherto assessed, was in ^ 1783, by twenty-five iates,on 2 1. 9s. 7d. I 61 19 7 penny rare, J The least in 1767, by 13 rates of 2I. 5s, o|d. 29 5 6| The mean of these two very near exadtly, 7 was assessed m 1709, j "^ To the land-tax the parish is assessed 9280 Outgoings, exclusive of non-enumerated taxes, as servants' tax, horse and wheel tax, &c. are as follow : /. .. d. House, 120 Lights, old duty, 13 5 6 Ditto new, 17 3 O Poor-rates, on average, 44 o O Land-tax, 92 8 o ^.167 18 6 Tvthe and clebe fr.rmed at i lol. value : set "i at no more than it is farmed, J ^.277 18 6 Rents as per assessment, ;i^-595 ° ° Number TROSTOJT. 301 Number of Inhabitants. — I find, by my account, that the inhabitants (exclusive of such servants as are not com- prehended under the description of the several families) were, at the end of the year 1784, asibllows : Husbands, . - - 31 Wives, - - - 31 Widowers remaining unmarried, 8 Widows ditto, - - 7 There are, at piesent, of inhabitants, as before eX' plained, Males, - - - 92 Females, - - - 89 181 Add to these, twenty-three servants, not enumerated under other descriptions : Males and females, - - 18 1 Servants, - - - 23 204 More than seven, on an average, in each house. There are of freehold, enabling them to exercise the right of voting at ele6lions - - 9 Our quota to the militia was - i Births, in 49 years from 1679 *° ^7^7 ^7^ Ditto in 49 years from 1727 to 1776 294 In favour of the last -. - 16 The greatest number of marriages in these periods, is from 1706 to 17 13, and Irom 1734 to 1741, in each period - - - 14 Thfe fewest from 1720 to 1727, and again from 1748 to 1755, in each - - ~' 7 The greatest number of births is from 1762 to 1769 51 The least, from 1685 to 1692 - - 29 u 4 The ;02 TROSTON. Tlie least of deaths Is the same period as the least of births, 1685 to 1692 - - 15 The greatest from 17 13 to 1720 - 48 The comparison may be stated another way : Years Bi inhs. 1677 to 1685, 1 rs^ 1692, 1 \^9 1699, 189. 43 1706, / 40 1713. 1 t.35 1720, ( r48 1727. \ 41 1734. 203 < 36 1741* 1 41 1748, 1 ^37 1755' j f43 1762, 1 41 1769, 220^ 51 1776, i 45 1783' 1 L40 159- 163- Hence we see, that in these periods of thirty-five years, population has increased very considerably. EXTRACT TROSTON. 303 EXTRACT FROM THE REGISTER OF THE PARISH OF TROSTOK, FOR 20 YEARS, FROM I776 TO I795, BOTH INCLUSIVE. BAPTISMS. BURIAL5. Males, Fern. 1 Males. Fem. 1776, - 2t - n 2,^ - - 2 1777. - 3* - 7 2 - - 5 1778, - 3t - 2* - - 2 1779. - 4 A 3 2* - - J780, - It - 4 3t - - 6 I78I, - 5* - 4 0* - - 2 1782, - of - I 2* - - 1783. - 5 - 2 2* - - 3 1784. - 4 - 4 2 - - 3 1785. - 4 - 3 3 - - 3 1786, - 7* - 3 I* - - 2 1787. - 4 - 2 I* - - 2 1788, - 6* - 4 "'P - - 3 1789, - 3* - 6 9 ^ - - 2 1790, - 4* - 5 3t - - 6 I79I. - 3* - 3^ - - X 1792, - 5 - 2 3* - - X 1793. - 3 - 4 2* - - 3 1794. - 5 - 3 I* - - 1795. - I - 5 1* - - 3 72 65 39 52 Diff. of male births 'jf Diff. of male burials 13 Diff. in favor of births 46 Gen. total males - 72 Gen. total males 39 Gen. total females - 65 Gen. total females cz Whole No. of births 137 "Whole No. of deaths 9 1 The * to the Baptisms, denotes a year favourable ; ot in which they are nine, or more. — The + denotes an unfavourable year ; or in which they are five, or under. — For the Burials, these signs are reversed. OBSER- 304 TROSTON'. OBSERVATIONS. First Dccennium. Table of Births. — i year singly favourable ; or births above the par taken, 1 do. doubly ; or births above, and burials below the par. 3 do. singly unfavourable. 1 do. doubly ; where both births be- low, and deaths above par. Table of Burials. — 5 years singly favourable. I do. doubly. I do. doubly unfavourable. Second Dccennium. Table of Births. — i year singly favourable. 3 do. doubly. Table of Burials.) — 6 years singly. 3 do. doubly favourable ; where births above, and deaths below par. In the first decennium the male and female baptisms \s'ere exaftly equal. In the second, the males are to the females as 41 to 34, or as 14 to 11 nearly in favour of the females. In the first decennium, the male burials are to the fe- male as 20 to 29, or as 5 to 7 nearly in favour of the male. In the second, they are as 19 to 23, or as 6 to 7 nearly in favour of the male. The whole number of males born in the 20 years (72) to the whole number of females ^65) is as 12 to 11 nearly in favour of the male. The wliole number of males dying (39) to the whole number of females dying (52} is as 13 to 14 in lavour of the males. The II TROSTON, 305 The male births exceed the male burials - 1^^ 1"he female births exceed the female burials - 13 In the I St decennium the male births exceed the burials by - - - The female by - - - 2 Total excess - - " ^3 In the 2d, the male births exceed the deaths by 22 The female by - - - 11 Total excess of male births above deaths in 20 years Of female - - 13 }: Total excess of births above burials 46 Annual average of births in the 20 years, 6| nearly. Of deaths, 4I one-twentieth nearly. GENERAL OBSERVATION. The excess of births above burials, amounts in the 20 years to one- third, if there had been only one birth more : 46=3=138. Such an instance of increasing population, if the rcr gistcr is correiSl:, aud I know nothing to the contrary, I believe will hardly be paralleled. Troston has no manufaiflures, to increase it adventi- tiously. I think therefore such an increase may be taken as evidence of great salubrity in the air and soil ; which indeed the iormer registers and extradts confirm. But as the favourable difference considerably exceeds the former proportions, other favourable circumstances of a more va- riable nature, such as season, modes of living, modes of nursing, must have been presumably in its favour also. The 306 TROSTOX. The latitude of Troston, 50° 18'. t. longitude 48'. 20". The soil dry, and rather sandy, with a gi*avel or chalk bottom. The country flat and open, abounding hi heath and common, in proportion to the size of the parish. A small proportion of the heath put under cultivation withui the last ten years. General level rather high : air, taken in different places, very good, by the test of the Eudiometer. No epidemical disorder. About twelve years back, agues had bee« pretty frequent ; rare since. Several rather deep ponds : scarcely any marsh, or bog land. The wa- ter moderately good. Thirty-one houses in Troston. Two added since the year 1790. In the account you honoured mc bv inserting*, eleven years back, twenty-eight houses are stated ; and two hun- dred and four, inhabitants. As only two or three persons have migrated from the parish into others, and about as many have come into it from otliers, the surplus by births within these last eleven years, may be tak,en ia addition to the two hundred and four. Taking it for ten ycarj, that it may coincide with the period you proposed, the surplus of births above burials is thirty-three. — 33t 204=^237. Two hundred and thirty-seven to 31 houses, is above y-l on the average, to each house. The average of deatlis in the last ten years, is four two- tenths annually. The average of births, seven five-tenths. The deaths, therefore, are about one in fifty, annually ; which is one of the lowest rates of mortality. The births one in thirty yearly, taken on the last ten years. Of these births, three have been twins , or one ia ninety nearly. * Annals, vol. iv. p. 305. FORNHAM FORNHAM ST. MARTIn's. 307 FORNHAM ST. MARTIN's. BY THE REV. DR. ORD. The number of inhabitants in tbe parish of Fornham St. Martin's, is at this time (1784) 134. The number of houses 22 ; of which six are double tenements, and one is a treble one ; of tenements, therefore, there are 30. Of the 22 houses, there are charged to the window-tax 13. 1 learn from the parisli register, that from the year 17 1 1 to 1733, there w^ere 43 baptisms and 49 burials; from the year 1762 to the year 1784, there were 76 bap- tisms and 61 hurials. The annual expence to this paiish, for the support of tlie poor, was in 1745 - - ;^'^2 1756 - - 27 1776 - - 50 From 1776 to 1783, on an average, - - 59 The parish contains, of arable land, 932 acres, of grass land, 116 1048 There are of commons and reads, 241 1289 FORNHAM 308 FORKHAM ST. CEXOVEVi:. FORNHAM ST. GENOVEVE. BY THE REV. DR. ORD. Ok examining the register of the parish of Fornhnm St. Gentiveve, during the same periods as I did that of Fornhnm St. Martin, I find that Bap. Bur. From the year 1711 to 1733. there were 76 96 J 762 to 1784, - - 60 54 Decrease in first period - 20 Increase in second - - 6 This parish contains, at present, 108 persons, inhahit- ing eleven houses, five of which are double tenements, and three pay to the window-tax. It consists of five hun- dred and eighty acres, of wliich the average value is about nine slnlirngs an acre : of these five hundred and eighty acres, two hundred and seventy have lately been imparked. The whole parish belongs to one person. MOULTON. MOULTON. 309 M O U L T O N. BY THE REV. E. WILSOl^. This parish contains about sixteen hundred acres of arable land, chiefly in open fields, and lying in small pieces. Course, two crops and a fallow. About one thousand acres of heath, in eight several sheep-walks. Much of this convertible (as appears by experiment on some parts) into good arable. A small quantity of meadow, pasture and common. Rental about 750 1. Poor-rates about 3s. 3d. rack rent. Houses thirty-seven : inhabitants about two hundred and twenty. Wages, I4d. a day, with beer. Employment of the women and children, spinning for Norwich, Births. Burials, In 20 years, ending with 1620 - 132 128 1700 - 113 95 1754 - 148 155 1794 - 147 io6- BURY 310 BURV ST. EDMOND's. EARROVV. BURY ST. EDMOND's. In 1775, there were in Bury St. Edmond's, twelve hundred and ninety-four houses : seven thousand one hun- dred and thirty-five souls : five per house. About 40CX) paupers. Land-tax 2080I. Assessed taxes 2540 1. BARROW. BY THE REV. GEORGE ASHBY. Had your knowing and communicative correspondent, Mr. Macro, been aHve, you would perhaps have received a complete account of the agriculture of this parish : from me it will be quite superficial. Bv a large plan, from a survey taken in 1597, the contents, with roads and wastes, are set down at two thousand five hundred and fifty acres. Mr. Macro mentions the smut prevailing one year in this and the neighbouring fields. I have known a year when tlie smut was in the neighbouring fields and not in this. A grand disadvantage which the open field labours un- der, is not (as vou probably pre-suppose) the tythes ; for if they were entirely done away, by allowing the Red:or a com- BARROW. 311 a compensation, the field, I should suppose, would receive no benefit thereby, whilst run over by a flock of seven or eight hundred sheep belonging to one farm. This is aa hardship of the worst kind, as it prevents a single tur- nip being grown, except by one tenant, and the whole system, to the disgrace of a more enlightened age, effec- tually prevents him, and all tlie rest of the farmers, from adopting the improved course of, i. turnips; 2. barley ; 3. clover ; 4. wheat ; instead of the rotation most of our common fields in East England are bound to, by the thraldom of common rights ; which might more properly be called common wrongs, as injurious to the individual and public, in lessening by fallows, once in three years, the produce, instead of a fallowing crop of turnips, beans, peas, or grasses, that would feed many animals. We have no waste, or common. The well at the redlory is deep, probably the same as at St. Edmond's Hill, Ickworth, and Higham, all which are one hundred and thirty feet nearly. Ours is probably for this reason negle6led, and we content ourselves with a pump set down in land springs, which lye very little below the surface. If we go lower, there is no water till the former depth is reached. Baptisms from 1774 to 1794, one hundred and seventy- one more than deaths. Average of baptisms, - - 21 two-thirds, deaths, - - 13 one-half, marriages, _ - 4 one-third. Of the persons buried, the following were aged seventy, or upwards : 70 4 76 I 81 2 86 3 71 I 77 2 82 2 88 I 72 2 7« 3 83 I 89 I 73 I 79 2 84 I 90 I 74 2 80 6 X 85 2 91 I In $t2 BARROW. In the baptisms, trventy, or one a year nearly, should be dedudled, as not belonging to tlic parish, but brouHit from the neighbouring ones (where no minister resides) to be named. So of the burials, t\velve seem not to have been parishioners, and three that \vere, may have been carried away; which, upon the whole, may lessen the burials one in two years. So it appears that one in foity- two died annually. This place may therefore boast of a desirable degree of salubrity, compared with many other places ; but which is nothing in respe<5k of your Bradficld, perched on a raised ridge of earth full two hundred feet above the level of the water coming out of Bury. In Manchester, one in twenty-eight die, and In the country immediately sur- rounding it, only one in fifty-six. Poor-rates, 1774, at 2s. in the pound, 1784, at 2S. 3d. 1794, at 2S. gd. Against this latter period the rents were raised. Land-tax 180I. Four or five houses at least have been built within these twelve years. Cottages much wanted. In the twenty-first years of my constant residence, I tave known of no prevailing distemper. Inoculation has been little prafllsed, so tliat the number liable to the dis- temper is great. On the 13th of April, 1784, there were, 108 houses, 144 men, 143 women, 131 beys, 120 girls, 14 men. ser- vants, 1 7 women-servants ; in all, 569 persons. On the 13th of April, 1789, there were, 115 houses, 134 men, 147 women, 146 boys, 119 girls, 18 men-ser- vants, 14 women-servants; in all, 578 persons. Our to\Nn stands high, and exposed to north winds, coming over a vast tiadl of bald and bare country ; yet I knoMT £' s. d. 94 17 I 161 5 •2] 213 14 8 VVELNETHAM. 3^3 I know of no particular mischief done, except on the last clay of 1778, or first of 1779, in blowing down a large new barn that I had just built: when no other harm was done here; but in Ickworth park the storm blew down, or disbranched, many large trees. WELNETHAM. BY THE REV. R. PHILLIPS. The air at Welnetham is very keen, being a high Spot. No. of burials, 1784, 3 — i at 45, i at 75, and an infant. 1785, I— aged 85. 1786, 5—1 at 86, I at 30, I at 22, and 2 infants. 1787, I — an infant. 1788, 3 — I at 86, and 2 infants. The daily wages of the labourers, during the winter, is IS. 4d. a day without beer; with beer is. 2d. Of thirty-one labouring families, five contain three children; five ditto, four; three ditto, five; and one ditto, six children. It is not usual, in this neighbourhood, to board the harvest-men; their wages are twelve shillings a week, for five weeks, and allowed three bushels of malt in lieu of beer. Number of labourers in the prime of life, viz. from 25 to 45 years of age, 19; 9 from 45 t© 60 ; 2 between 60 and 70; and i of 79. Number 21^ WELNETHAM. Number of Inhabitants: Farmers, wives^ children, and servants, - ii^ Labourers, - - - - 31 wives and children, - 109 Widows, - - - » 6 Total, ... 259 I believe 27 of the above-mentioned labourers earn, up- on an average, upwards of 20 1. a year per head, and tliose that take luork considerably more. The earnings of the remaining three must be small, as they are very in- firm, and receive something weekly from the parish. I believe the average earnings of the wives and children, in each of the thirty-one families, exceed 2s. a week, though spinning is at this time very bad; we have many- children that in autumn earn 4d. a day in dropping wheat. ♦Number of houses charged in the parochial duplicate to ihc window-tax at 3s. house duty, 23. The net annual average expence of the poor, for the last four years is lool. (1792). FINIS. \h ..V-: t 1