6 On the Improvements in IVest Norfolk. 



am confident, from practical experience, that it would be advan- 

 tageous in the best grazing districts to breed a considerably larger 

 proportion than is now done. But in Norfolk, if any large pro- 

 portion was bred, much of the advantage of carrying a numerous 

 herd of cattle during the winter would be lost. It is perfectly 

 well known that the more nutritious the food is on which cattle 

 are fed, the better is the manure produced : it is therefore of great 

 importance that the number of cattle preparing for the market 

 should bear a large proportion to that of those kept in a store 

 and growing state. It is, therefore, in a soil like that of Norfolk 

 of peculiar importance that much the greater number of the 

 cattle on the farm should only remain on it while they are feed- 

 ing on the most nutritious food. No difficulty is found in effect- 

 ing this object; for this district^ on which at the commencement 

 of Lord Leicester's career scarcely a head of cattle could be 

 found, has now become the centre of attraction for drovers from 

 every part of the United Kingdom. Devonshire, Scotch, Lincoln- 

 shire, and I believe even Irish cattle crowd the fairs throughout 

 the county of Norfolk, and most certainly Norfolk now supplies 

 more than its full share of the beef consumed in the metropolis. 



This is the present improved state at which Norfolk has arrived ; 

 but in order to trace some of the other main causes of this im- 

 provement, it is necessary to go back to the latter end of the 

 last century. 



When Lord Leicester had proved by his ov*ai practice that 

 wheat might be profitably grown, he endeavoured to persuade the 

 neighbouring farmers to follow his example, but it was nine years 

 before any of them did so: at last the late Mr. Overman, whose 

 skill and ability are well known, made the attempt with perfect 

 success, and from that time the old system fell into disrepute, and 

 the present Norfolk agriculture gradually replaced it. 



But any attempt to grow wheat would have been an entire 

 failure as long as the farmers persevered in growing three crops 

 of white grain in succession. The land had been usually let on 

 leases of twenty-one years, the occupying tenantry consequently 

 had full security that they themselves would reap the benefit to 

 be derived from any outlay of capital which they made, or any 

 improvement in agriculture which they introduced ; but they were 

 so ignorant of their true interests, that they would not forego the 

 apparent immediate profit of growing corn as long as the land 

 would produce it, although it is perfectly clear that, taking the 

 whole period of their leases into consideration, they were enor- 

 mous losers by pursuing this course. The leases contained no 

 covenants, and the tenants were at perfect liberty to cultivate 

 their land in any way they thought proper. Lord Leicester, 

 however, having proved by his own experience, and having also 



