THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



301 



and talk better than he could farm; for early in life 

 he took an occupation of three hundred acres, but, 

 not being successful, he gave one hundred pounds 

 to be released from it, and on the same farm the 

 new tenant did exceedingly well. Having aban- 

 doned farming, he made those agricultural tours 

 for which his name will be handed down to pos- 

 terity as a most useful and sagacious man. In his 

 time the most advanced counties communicated 

 with the metropolis and each other by thorough- 

 fares which could hardly be traversed except by a 

 well-mounted horseman, or a broad-wheeled wag- 

 gon drawn by twelve horses; while, as not one 

 farmer in a thousand read anything at all, the 

 printing press could not supply the place of 

 personal inspection." 



" Norfolk, with a subsoil which allowed the rain 

 to filter through, boasted her natural roads ; and 

 the inhabitants quoted with pride a saying of 

 Charles II., that the county ought to be cut up to 

 make highways for the rest of the kingdom. In 

 Essex, Young also found the lanes so narrow that 

 not a mouse could pass a carriage ; ruts of an in- 

 credible depth, and chalk waggons stuck fast, till 

 a line of them were in the same predicament, and 

 it required twenty or thirty horses to be tacked to 

 each to draw them out one by one. In attempting 

 to traverse these lanes, he had frequently to alight 

 from his chaise and get the rustics to assist him in 

 lifting it over the hedge. "Such," writes Mr. Sidney, 

 *' was the state of things when, in 1767, Young 

 abandoned the farm on which he had experimented 

 too much to be successful, and, availing himself 

 of the frank hospitality which has in every age 

 been the characteristic of our farmers and country 

 gentlemen, made those celebrated tours which are 

 absolute photographs of agricultural England. In 

 his reports, he makes knov/n the merits of Robert 

 Bakewell, of Dishle)', to whom we owe the intro- 

 duction of the breed of sheep knowii as the Lei- 

 cester, and who realized extraordinary prices for 

 them — three sheep in one season having been let 

 for twelve hundred guineas; and describing the 

 way in which he lived, it is said the yeoman 

 farmers had not yet removed to a parlour, and 

 Bakewell sat in the huge chimney corner of a long 

 kitchen, hung round with the dried joints of his 

 finest oxen, preserved as specimens of proportion 

 — a tall, stout, broad-shouldered man, with brown 

 red complexion, clad in a brown loose coat, and 

 scarlet waistcoat, leather breeches and top boots. 

 There he entertained Russian princes, French and 

 German royal dukes, British peers and farmers, 

 and sight-seers of every degree. Whoever were 

 his guests, they were all obliged to conform to his 

 rules — breakfast at eight; dinner at one; supper 

 at nine ; bed at eleven ; and at half-past ten 

 o'clock, whoever would be there, he knocked out 

 his last pipe." 



A new era now began to dawn upon agriculture; 

 it became a fashionable employment; for King 

 George III. was very devoted to the pursuit, and 

 did much to recommend it to others : he had a 

 practical knowledge of the science, and contri- 

 buted letters to Young's monthly periodical — TAe 



S. Sidney, Quarterly Review. 



Annals of Agriculture. And he was often fondly 

 spoken of as " Farmer George ; " and it is a source 

 of great gratification and pride for us, as Bedford- 

 shire men, to know that this country owes so 

 much to an ancestor of a noble family, standing at 

 the head of our county, for the exertions he made 

 in the cause of agriculture — 1 allude to Francis, 

 Duke of Bedford, whose example has had a 

 marked and permanent influence, not only upon the 

 farming of this country, but I may say of the 

 whole world, and who was for many years its emi- 

 nent leader. He established those sheep-shearings 

 that have given a world-wide fame to Woburn; 

 and it may be new to many of you, but at which 

 royal princes, dukes, and peers met and discus3ed 

 with farmers the mode in which sheep and cattle 

 could be most economically fed, and the best 

 means to be adopted to bring about an increased 

 production of our corn and root crops. This 

 nobleman, with some few others, established the 

 Smithfield Club for exhibiting fat stock at Christ- 

 mas. Perhaps there are many present who have 

 not witnessed this great sight ; if so, they would 

 do well to visit it, for then would they see the no- 

 blest animals and finest stock this country pro- 

 duces. This society has been of essential service, 

 by making known the best kinds of food by which 

 animals can be fed, and also imparting a know- 

 ledge to the farmer of the best form of animal. 

 The Duke of Bedford was aided in his great work 

 by Mr Coke of Holkham, afterwards Lord Leices- 

 ter, who came into possession of an estate in 

 West Norfolk, and described as consisting partly 

 of swamp and partly blowing sand, with here and 

 there patches of cultivation, where little was heard 

 but the wild sea-birds' cries, or felt save the oft- 

 returning alternations of the ague, burning or 

 freezing its unfortunate victims. There was many 

 a broad acre in its primitive state of sheep-Vi'alk ; 

 and, in describing some portions of his property, 

 Mr. Coke made the remark that he found two 

 rabbits quarrelling for one blade of grass. Such 

 was the condition of this estate when this great 

 man came into possession of it; but a speedy re- 

 formation was effected. He spent above £400,000 

 in dwellings and offices ; laid out large farms with 

 mansion-like houses, to induce men of capital and 

 intelligence to take them; granted long leases, the 

 covenants of which were drawn by one of his ten- 

 ants—a proof they were liberal, and only restrained 

 them from taking two white straw crops. By 

 taking this course, Mr. Coke was well rewarded, 

 for it is supposed the tenantry have also laid out 

 another £400,000, and his rental was raised to more 

 thousands than it was hundreds a year. This 

 estate contains about 30,000 acres, and is now 

 computed to be worth £1,200,000; but when Mr. 

 Coke first inherited it, in 1776, its outside value 

 was £300,000. It was then in the occupation of 

 small farmers, who paid their rents very badly, 

 although these were very low, and ultimately a 

 great many of them abandoned them altogether, 

 because they could no longer gain a livelihood. 

 Mr. Coke decided upon farming a portion himself, 

 and had in hand ISOO acres, upon which he tried 

 experiments for the benefit of his tenantry. He 

 introduced a better description of sheep, and 



