T. RiGG 407 



Broom plateau is apt to form a thin liard cali;e on the surface. This 

 makes the soil very unsuitable for such crops as carrots and parsnips, 

 because it would be impossible to get a good "stand" of seedlings. 



The Biggleswade Common plain and the Ouse gravels resemble the 

 Stanford-Broom plateau very closely and in both cases the texture is 

 not so good as on the Biggleswade plateau. The soil on the Biggleswade 

 Common plain is rather more uniform in texture than the Stanford- 

 Broom plateau. This is due to a wash of greensand material from 

 the neighbouring escarpment. The subsoil shows just as much stones 

 as the Biggleswade plateau soils, showing that the wash is purely a 

 surface one. The agricultural treatment of this area is precisely similar 

 to that of the Stanford-Broom plateau and mechanical or chemical 

 analysis reveals an almost identical composition. The Ouse gravel 

 soils are very similar in colour and properties to the soils of the 

 Stanford-Broom plateau. In places, however, the underlying gravel 

 beds come very near to the surface and make market-gardening a 

 precarious occupation in dry seasons. Sample 65 is an instance of 

 this, but sample 57 perhaps more adequately represents the Ouse gravel 

 soils. This sample contains only 10 per cent, of stones which is very 

 similar to the average content of the old brown soil formation. 



The old brown soil formation taken as a whole is associated with the 

 following market-garden crops: late potatoes, brussels sprouts, early 

 potatoes, green peas and spring cabbages. Smaller quantities of runner 

 beans, onions, parsley and parsnips are also grown on this formation. 

 A considerable acreage of the formation is farmed, mangel seed, cereals 

 and clover being the principal crops. 



The large owners on this formation are gradually introducing 

 market-garden crops in place of ordinary farm crops. They invariably 

 winter a number of cattle in order to make farmyard manure for the 

 hungry soil. In many cases little profit is made on the animals, but a 

 supply of farmyard manure on the land even outweighs a small deficit 

 on the animals. 



As a rule these farmers aim at having one big crop a year rather 

 than two small ones. The land is hardly in good enough "heart" to 

 grow more than one good crop a year, but early potatoes followed by 

 brussels sprouts is not uncommon. Early peas followed by spring 

 cabbages and then an autimin crop, making three crops in two years, 

 are also seen. The following example illustrates the rotation usually 

 adopted by the larger owners on this soil formation : Potatoes (manured 

 20 tons farmyard manure). Brussels sprouts (manured 1 cwt. nitrate 



