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J lie Country Gentleman's Magazine 



to some extent ; and his (Mr Everett's) ex- 

 perience was that a good young Dutch heifer, 

 properly treated, would pay for such treat- 

 ment nearly as well as English heifers. 

 Many thousands v/ere introduced into the 

 county last year, and if the Dutchmen con- 

 tinued to bring them they would find a ready 

 sale. Three systems of grazing were pursued. 

 In the winter the cows were turned into a 

 yard with a shed, and were allowed to roam 

 at will, feeding out of troughs common to all. 

 In that way the beasts did quite as well as 

 any. 



Another plan was to tie the beasts up in 

 stalls, keeping them changed and cleaned out 

 as often as possible. The advantage of that 

 system was that every beast got its own food. 

 A third system, of which there were many 

 advocates, was to put one or two bullocks in 

 a place by themselves, which, besides the ad- 

 vantage of each having its own food, gave 

 the animals some degree of liberty. For 

 that system much larger premises were re- 

 quired, and it was a much more expensive way 

 of feeding cattle. On arable farms summer 

 grazing was being greatly introduced, and 

 the system pursued was to keep the ani- 

 mals in the barns, which were large, dark, 

 and cool. The feed given was trifolium, tares, 

 and similar green stuff cut up and mixed with 

 corn, chaff, and cake. With such treatment 

 it was found that farmers could make beef 

 profitably in July as well as in the winter 

 months. 



The sheep grazed in Suffolk was a half 

 bred sheep got by a white-faced ram from a 

 black-faced wether. Yorkshire stood first 

 as supplying the largest number of hogs, 

 and Suffolk second ; but he did not 

 consider it greatly to the credit of the Suffolk 

 men to say so. If was far more difficult to 

 make meat in the shape of pork and get 

 money by it, than it was to make meat and 

 get money in the shape of beef and mutton. 

 Great improvements had been effected in the 

 breed of their hogs, but if they sold at 6d. per 

 lb., they only just kept their money together. 

 It was found that pork sold best in the har- 

 vest months. They were not, however, a 

 profitable investment as a rule. 



THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SOIL. 



Next speaking of the management of the 

 soil, the lecturer, referring to the treatment 

 of heavy land, said the first thing which had 

 to be done was to drain it, and there was 

 much heavy land in Suffolk which would be 

 all the better if drained. The old system of 

 draining was to lay the pipes 30 inches in 

 depth, and i yard from drain to drain ; then 

 to fill in with bushes, leaves, or straw, or, still 

 better, with tiles. Recently, however, some 

 farmers had advocated draining deeper and 

 wider, and now in many cases the drains 

 were placed 4 feet deep, and nearly twice as 

 far one from the other as they used to be. 

 Judging from the character of the men who 

 adopted that system, he was inclined to think 

 it was the best. Many of the best farmers 

 had done away with the " stitches," and farmed 

 on the level ; and that system appeared to 

 him to be by far the best. It enabled the 

 machines to work much better. On the 

 heavy lands the four-course shift was almost 

 universally adopted throughout Suffolk ; or 

 perhaps it would be better described by 

 calling it a two-course shiff, the principle 

 being a green crop, and a corn crop alterna- 

 ting. The fiiUows generally foUowed wheat 

 stubble, and on heavy lands it used to be 

 the practice to plough the land all through 

 the year, thus resting it and enriching it By 

 the effect of the air, but with the rents 

 the farmers now had to pay, they were not 

 able to follow their fathers' practice in that 

 respect. Having described the rotation of 

 crops, in the course of which he spoke of the 

 extensive introduction of beetroot into the 

 county, Mr Everett alluded to the mixed soil 

 farms, on which green crops, consisting of rye, 

 trifoHum, and mustard were extensively cul- 

 tivated. He did not think there was any 

 crop which would take the place of trifolium. 

 It was of comparatively recent growth, and 

 Avas not so widely cultivated as it ought to 

 be. It was usual on mixed soil fiirms to take 

 two crops in a year. Rye being the earliest 

 spring feed, that was cultivated first, and it 

 was found that beet grew in remarkable 

 quantities after it. As to the light lands, 



