104 ON THE MANAGEMENT OF GEASS LANDS IN ENGLAND. 



he must give it up. We took it in hand at Lady-day 1866. The 

 soil is a deep loam on the lower alluvial plain of the Derwent 

 Valley in Derbyshire. On the outskirts of the field is an arti- 

 ficial lake several acres in extent, which drains its water supply 

 from the river Derwent. The town of Derby, with its 60,000 

 inhabitants, is situated four miles higher up the Derwent, into 

 which the whole of the town sewers empty. No doubt a con- 

 siderable quantity of feculent matter is carried down by the 

 water and deposited in this lake. In the summer of 1864 the 

 lake was cleared of mud, the accumulation of years, and the mud 

 was carted into large heaps. During the summer we had those 

 heaps turned over and mixed with a large quantity of unslaked 

 lime from the kiln, and the heaps were again twice turned at 

 intervals of three weeks. Care was taken to thoroughly mix the 

 lime with the mud and soil. The quantity of lime used was 85 

 tons, being a little over 2 tons per acre. The land was eaten 

 bare, and the top-dressing spread evenly over the field. About 

 the end of February and early in March advantage was taken of 

 the drying winds to use the heavy roller and chain harrows freely, 

 and the lime and soil well worked into tlie land. All loose 

 stones were next collected and carted off; no new seeds were 

 sown. The pasture showed a marked improvement the first 

 summer. The second spring we were offered a rent of L.4 per 

 acre for it by a cattle dealer in the neighbourhood. It has ever 

 since been grazed with a herd of shorthorn dairy cows and occa- 

 sionally a few sheep. Instead of falling off it continues to im- 

 prove. The whole field is closely covered with a thick carpet 

 of clovers and the finer varieties of natural grasses, and since the 

 first year, after top-dressing, it has never kept less than one cow 

 per acre from the middle of May to the end of September. The 

 entire cost of the whole operation, including lime, manual and 

 horse labour, was L.3 per acre. The land is well drained, it is 

 situated at an elevation of 165 feet, and the mean rainfall is 

 26 inches. 



During the year 1852 and two following years, we assisted in 

 laying down 'in permanent pasture a considerable area on the 

 Berkshire estate of J. J. Wheble, Esq. The soil is on the 

 Bagshot Sand formation, which, under arable culture, was highly 

 rented at 20s. per acre. Good crops of roots were grown by the 

 aid of farm-yard and artificial manures, and the whole of the 

 roots were consumed on the land by sheep ; the seeds were sown 

 without a corn crop. The seeds were supplied by Messrs Sutton 

 and Sons, Beading, and consisted of the following mixtures : — 



