Farming in Snfiolk 



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familiar to the eye in the Suftblk horse. 

 The breed of the present day had been 

 greatly improved by a judicious selection 

 of the best animals, with a view to correct 

 those faults which had previously existed. 

 Almost all Suffolk farmers were breeders of 

 horses. A few colts were reared as the 

 cheapest and easiest way of keeping up the 

 horse stock on a farm, and, speaking generally, 

 that system prevailed all throughout the 

 county. The greater part of the farmers pre- 

 ferred having a horse to sell rather than to 

 buy. In Young's time, six horses were used 

 on farms of loo acres, but the means of cul- 

 tivation had so much improved, that now the 

 standard throughout Suffolk was four horses 

 to ICO acres. The tendency of farming 

 was to crop as much as possible and 

 to plough less ; and at the present time 

 farmers were rejoicing in the introduction 

 of the double-furrowed plough, which he 

 (Mr Everett) believed Avas an old instru- 

 ment revived in an improved form ; and 

 which, when used on light and level lands, 

 would do as much work with three horses as 

 two single ploughs would do with two horses 

 each. But on heavy soils, taking all kinds 

 of work into consideration, the double-fur- 

 rowed plough would never supersede the 

 single plough, though it would enable the 

 Suffolk farmers to reduce the number of 

 liorses on their farms. As to the manner of 

 keeping horses, the tenant was never depend- 

 ent on the landlords for the kind of shelter 

 he had for them. As a rule, horses were 

 very rarely turned out to pasture. They 

 were baited in stables, and then turned out 

 for the night into yards, some of which had 

 sheds, while others were simply fenced round. 

 The ordinary amount of food given to a 

 horse in a week was i bushel of beans and 

 I cwt. of clover-hay, but since maize had 

 been introduced, it entered largely into the 

 food of horses. By some farmers it was 

 ground up with beans, but a better plan was 

 to soak it for about twenty-four hours. It 

 swelled immensely, and the water altered the 

 nature of the maize. Used in that way with 

 corn, chaff, and a httle bran, it was the 

 cheapest food that could be given to a horse. 

 VOL. tx. 



In days long since, Suffolk was famous for its 

 cows. 



SUFFOLK AS A GRAZING COUNTY. 



The Suffolk cow was a small animal, and it 

 was said that in old times it had horns ; but 

 he had never known any one who saw a 

 horned Suffolk cow. Old books told them 

 that it was of a dun colour, quite small, but 

 exceeded by one other breed for its valuable 

 milking qualities. Now, however, the ani- 

 mal was quite changed in colour, and very 

 much improved in form. What was now 

 called the improved Suffolk breed was a red 

 animal, a good deal resembling the polled 

 Scot, excepting in colour. It still retained 

 many of the valuable milking qualities of the 

 old Suffolk cow, while it was much more 

 pleasing to the eye, and was not a bad ani- 

 mal to graze. For dairy purposes they were 

 very useful, but. beyond that there was no 

 trade in them in the county, nor, as a rule, 

 were they the animals which the farmers of 

 Suffolk grazed. Cows for that purpose were 

 bought out of the county. After referring to 

 the superiority of the north country or 

 Yorkshire shorthorns for grazing purposes, 

 though many Irish shorthorns were fast be- 

 ing imported into Suftblk, the lecturer said 

 another practice prevailing in the county 

 was to buy up the calves from Buckingham- 

 shire and other counties, as soon as they 

 could be taken from their mothers, and to 

 wean them at home. When meat was very 

 high he thought that was a wise plan. The 

 manner of weaning calves was to give them 

 sweet-milk, gruel, linseed and bran, with 

 a few pulped roots, or anything else 

 they could be got to eat. The practice 

 has one requiring some little skill and atten- 

 tion on the part of the man who had the 

 management of the stock, but it was carried 

 on to a considerable extent by many farmers, 

 who thought it was a means of spending less 

 and bringing more in. In addition to the 

 Irish cattle, a few Welsh were brought over 

 to be fed on the marshes in the summer, but 

 no one in Suffolk thought of buying Welsh 

 cattle to graze in the winter. During the 

 past year Dutch cattle had been introduced 



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