Farming in Suffolk 



115 



they were usually let in larger quantities than 

 the other descriptions of land ; mixed soil 

 and heavy soil lands were let in farms varying 

 from 50 to 300 or 400 acres, but 200 acre 

 farms were the most common. The light 

 land farms ranged from 200 to 3000 acresj 

 but the greatest part of them averaged about 

 1000. On such farms the rule was to keep 

 the land cropped, but on many of the light 

 land farms some portions of the land was so 

 poor that it did not pay to cultivate it on the 

 fcfur-course system, and on such land the 

 farmer would only take a crop once in two 

 or three years, giving it rest in the interval. 

 The maxim with the Suffolk farmers was, if 

 they wished to find their way to the work- 

 house, to farm high on light land. As to 

 manures, they used to cart it on in hills, and 

 turn it over twice, but that system was quite 

 exploded, though they were sometimes 

 obliged to make hills when they wished to 

 empty their yards. But they made as few as 

 possible, and those they did make were only 

 turned over once. 



THE CONDITION OF THE LABOURERS. 



With reference to wages, perhaps the least 

 that was said on that subject the better, for 

 the masters thought that if the men were 

 quiet they should be quiet too. The average 

 pay of the labourer in Suffolk was 12s. per 

 week, but the horsemen got from is. to 2s. a- 

 week more, according to whether he was 

 under or upper horseman. He found from 

 his ov/n accounts that the extra wages paid 

 to the men for task work, for haymaking and 

 harvest work, amounted to about 3s. per 

 week all the year round, so that the average 



pay of the labourer in Suffolk was from 14s. to 

 15s. per week, besides which their cottages 

 were let at small rents ; they generally had a 

 piece of garden, and got good wholesome 

 milk for little or nothing. Their position 

 would therefore compare favourably with 

 that of labourers in towns earning 17s. per 

 week. As he had before stated, the labourers 

 in Suffolk were quiet, and if they made a stir 

 they would probably go farther a id fire 

 worse. There was, no doubt, vast room for 

 improvements in the agriculture of Suffolk ; 

 the farmers could do with less game, of 

 which he heard bitter complaints from some 

 quarters. He did not wish to see partridge 

 and pheasant shooting done away with, but 

 he did think the ground game might be very 

 well dispensed with. Great improvements 

 were required in the farm buildings in some 

 parts of the county, and better accommoda- 

 tion for stock was sadly wanted. Their 

 treament of manure was also capable of great 

 improvement ; and another thing much 

 needed was the application of more capital 

 on the land. He did not think it would pay 

 to expend more money on the light lands ; 

 but on the mixed and heavy lands there was 

 a large field for the application of capital — 

 in the shape of draining, deep cultivation, and 

 the keeping of almost an unlimited quantity 

 of stock. There was one thing he hoped to 

 see, and that was better security for the 

 tenant's capital ; so that while the landlord 

 had justice done to him, the tenant would be 

 made secure for any money he might lay out 

 While there was room for much improvement, 

 Suffolk could still hold its own as a well 

 farmed country. 



