THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



419 



ciency and economy in fallowing, a perfect aeration of 

 the soil, improved and increased root culture, more 

 stock, more manure, and more corn — that it must be- 

 come a general system ; and those who have uoglccted 

 to adopt it, have to their own disadvantage failed to 

 make fallow when the sun has shone. 



We have seen hundreds of busy teams and 

 busy men on numberless acres admirably carrying 

 out autumnal cultivation; but yet we liear complaints, 

 and they are froni sporting proprietors. Autumn fal- 

 lows and partridges do not agree : breaking uj) the 

 cover injures the shooting ; foul lands atFord good 

 laying for birds; 'tis plcasanter shooting, too, in over- 

 grown stubbles than in good swedes or mangel -wurzels. 

 The old keeper has also his say of condemnation ; he 

 hates — and all keepers hate — good farmers and good 



farming — " Birds can't thrive so — soon shan't have 

 one" — and such a yarn ! This is too much for the 

 nineteenth century, with world-wide competition ; and 

 wo invite such landowners to reconsider before they 

 check the wheel of progress, prevent essential and eco- 

 nomical culture, curtail the growth of root crops, pre- 

 vent the increase of stock, and tend to impoverish them- 

 selves, their tenants and estate^. Good shooting and 

 good farming may be made to go hand-in-hand toge- 

 ther. And West Norfolk is a proof that stubbles 

 and rubbish knee-deep, large fences, and wide borders 

 are not essentials for good shooting or an abundance of 

 winged game. Partridges must bo secondary to pro- 

 gress, and autumnal culture may not be prevented or 

 impeded. " Property has its duties as well as its 

 rishts." 



THE EARL OF LEICESTER AND HIS TENANTRY. 



There are some few names prominently associated 

 with the rise and progress of improved agriculture. 

 They are those of men who led the way when their fol- 

 lowers were but few, and the chances of success any- 

 thing but encouraging. They trace back, indeed, to 

 the very foundation of our modern system ; long ere the 

 steam-engine was in use, or the reaper known of. 

 They were content to make the most of the materials 

 they found at hand, with little hope, perhaps, of doing 

 more than' increasing the produce of their own in- 

 dividual properties. And yet it is remarkable how 

 effective their example gradually became, and how 

 such estates are slill looked to as the very models of 

 good management and superior husbandry. They have 

 not even now been surpassed in the race for excellence. 

 On the contrary, they fully maintain their ancient pres- 

 tige; and Woburn, Holkham,and Yarborough are land- 

 marks that still serve us as well as ever they have done. 



Honestly, this could scarcely have been expected. It 

 JB not every son that inherits with the domain the 

 tastes of his father. It is not every one that will make 

 a good country gentleman. How often does the heir 

 look upon his lands simply as the means to support 

 some other pursuit ! How the timber falls, and the 

 rents rise; and how the agent has instructions simply 

 to pay in all he can, and to lay out as little as 

 possible. Or, a more passive spirit may reign, 

 content enough to keep things going as well as they 

 have been, and to wish for no more. We repeat, how- 

 ever, that the great properties we have i-eferred to have 

 fortunately escaped either of these fates. The Duke of 

 Bedford's tenantry, and the Duke of Bedford's system 

 are at this moment perhaps more deservedly famous 

 than ever ; while we have a notable instance, within this 

 week or so, of how the hospitality of Holkham is never 

 so much in character as when it summons ns to the 

 sweet home of English Agriculture. 



In a word, we have another " Coke of Norlblk." 

 Neither rank nor title c:m gild over his claim to that 

 high distinction. It is the father's son who now holds 



Holkham in trust for him and his, with the same 

 worthy ambition to do his duty to those about him. 

 And he has not failed, either. It needs not to be re- 

 corded here that the Holkham farming and farmers 

 yet keep their ground amongst the first of their order. 

 But we may let these tell for themselves how much 

 they regard the landlord they hold under. Even the 

 strong comparison they must involuntarily have drawn 

 has not told against him. What Mr. Coke was, Lord 

 Leicester is— at least, so say those who should know 

 him best. The tenantry on the estate have just paid his 

 Lordship one of the most graceful compliments they 

 had it in their power to do ; they have presented 

 a good portrait of him to the Countess. As we 

 briefly mentioned last week, this was made the oc- 

 casion of a great day at Holkham. The House was 

 once more, as it so often has been, the home of agri- 

 culture. Farmers and their wives thronged in— for 

 farmers and theirs were the honoured guests of the en- 

 tertainment. But it was something more than mere 

 feasting, or common-place compliment-making. The 

 happy influence of one man spoke through it all, and 

 of one who has proved himself equal to the great name 

 that was left him. Let us hear the Holkham tenants 

 declare themselves on this point. Mr. Hastings, then, 

 to whom was intrusted the pleasant duty of presenting 

 the portrait, previous to reading to her Ladyship the 

 address prepared for that purpose, had a word or two 

 to say to his Lordship himself: " During the period 

 which has elapsed since your accession to this noble 

 property, this mansion, and the estates which occupy 

 an influential and important space in both divisions of 

 our county, we have watched with infinite satisfaction 

 the interest you have evinced in the cause of agricul- 

 ture, keeping alive a spirit of improvement which 

 bears date from the early days of your most noble 

 father, and redeeming the pledge with which you fol- 

 lowed him by carrying out, in matters between your- 

 self and your tenantry, that golden rule and Christian 

 motive of action, * Live and Ictlive'." 



