Norfolk Farming 



441 



of Norfolk farmers, but a literary and scientific 

 assembly, whose knowledge of agriculture is principally 

 confined to its theory', and who have probably but a 

 slight acquaintance with the general practice and local 

 customs of Norfolk farming. It may therefore be 

 necessary to say that the soil of the county varies 

 greatly, and that while in some parts of the east and 

 north there are districts that are naturally fertile, there 

 are large tracts to the south and west which are so 

 thin and poor that fifty years ago they grew nothing 

 but rye and rabbits, but which are now so changed by 

 the judicious expenditure of capital that literally 

 " fleecy flocks the hills adorn, and valleys smile with 

 wavy corn." It is in these districts that the greatest 

 imjn-ovements have been made, it was so in the days 

 of Arthur Young, it was so when Mr Bacon wrote his 

 report, and it is now so. 



In West Norfolk we find large farms and long 

 leases. In the East smaller estates and yearly hold- 

 ings. In the West there are open fields and thin soil; 

 in the East, small enclosures, much hedgerow timber, 

 and a soil more or less fertile. The one is the country 

 for sheep, the other for stall-fed cattle ; one requires 

 an extravagant expenditure of artificial food and 

 manures to maintain the productive powers of the 

 land ; and the other requires little more than the oil- 

 cake and other purchased food which are given to 

 winter grazed oxen to keep the farm in excellent 

 condition. 



And here an observation should be made as a sort 

 of qualification to the above statement. 



In talking of the agriculture of East and West Nor- 

 folk, no one supposes that the electoral division of the 

 Reform Bill of 1832 drew any sort of line between one 

 description of farming and another ; neither must it 

 be inferred that there are not in the East individual 

 farmers as enterprizing and successful — and perhaps 

 more so — than any in the West, and there are also 

 some landowners equally liberal as the great and good 

 ones of the Western Division, nor that all the soil of 

 the East district is superior to that of West Norfolk ; 

 but taken as a whole these distinctions do exist, and 

 when applied in a general manner will not convey an 

 impression materially incorrect. 



LIVE STOCK IN NORFOLK. 



It is impossible from the statistical returns supplied 

 by the Board of Trade to give an idea of the number 

 of cattle that are grazed in Norfolk. These returns 

 are made in July, when the farmer has just cleared 

 his yard of the winter-fed cattle, and having so little 

 pasture he does not buy in many more lean stock till 

 late in the autumn. 



The numbers returned in 1866 and 1867 correspond 

 pretty nearly with those collected by Sir J. Walsham 

 in 1854, but when it is stated that more than half or 

 upwards of 60,000 of that number are com])osed of 

 cows and yearling stock, it will be at once seen that 

 the great mass of grazing cattle are practically ex- 

 cluded. I could add much to the interest of these 



statistics if the returns of live stock were occasionally 

 made in the winter. It would show the amount of 

 summer and winter grazing that is peculiar to differ- 

 ent districts, and I believe that if our returns were 

 made in January, the number of our cattle would be 

 doubled. A larger quantity of younger steers are kept 

 than formerly and are grazed at a very early age. 

 Polled Scots have almost disappeared from our yards, 

 and a very large proportion of the Norfolk-fed cattle 

 come direct from Ireland. Norfolk must ever be more 

 of a grazing than a feeding county, but we have a few 

 herds of improved shorthorns in various parts of the 

 county. The Devons that lingered in the west so 

 long after their introduction at Holkham have almost 

 vanished, even from our show-yards, but as a set-ofF 

 against the loss of the Devons, we have to commemo- 

 rate a grand revival of the polled Norfolks as a numer- 

 ous and distinct breed. The old-fashioned gay Home- 

 breds are not recognised as the true stamp of the im- 

 proved Norfolks, for the latter are a blood-red, and 

 while horns and slugs are studiously avoided, and 

 milking properties well cared-for, they possess a uni- 

 formity of character, style, and make that would do 

 credit to many of our established breeds. 



In consequence of the high price of store stock an 

 effort has been made to rear calves sent, when a few 

 days old, from the dairy districts, but I do not appre- 

 hend that it will be extensively practised, as it will be 

 found cheaper in a county so destitute of milk to buy 

 yearling steers that have been raised on the natural 

 pastures of the Emerald Isle. The custom of giving 

 grazing, but especially young stock, pulped or shredded 

 roots mixed with equal quantities of straw or hay chaff 

 has prevailed of late, and will be resorted to this winter 

 where there happens to be any roots for the cattle. A 

 large admixture of linseed cake, and more recently of 

 cotton cake, and all sorts of meal is given to grazing 

 stock, and frequently in too large proportions, for it is 

 impossible for the stomach of a bullock to assimilate 

 7 or 8 lb. of linseed cake and half a peck of meal. 

 Even the improved value of the manure by no means 

 compensates for this loss, as cheaper fertilizers can be 

 supplied in the shape of guano and other ammoniacal 

 dressings. 



Although flocks of sheep have undoubtedly increased 

 in some parts of the county, especially within the last 

 two years, it does not appear that the numbers on the 

 whole have materially altered. More ewes may be 

 kept in some districts but in many well-farmed tracts 

 of West Norfolk, where there is no sheep walk, 

 breeding flocks have been dispensed with, as there is 

 great difficulty to provide green food in the spring, and 

 the reservation of turnips for the flock told prejudi- 

 cially upon the late-sown com crops which followed. 

 The chief sheep stock on such farms are the lambs that are 

 bought in the summer from some neighbouring farmer 

 and are sent fat to the London market when twelve or 

 thirteen months old. These sheep are mostly supplied 

 with sliced swedes ad lihitian, receiving at the same 

 time hay, chaff, and oilcake, and sometimes a little 



