492 Farming of Warwiclisldre. 



Tn addition to the ordinary clians^es in tillajje which have been 

 referred to, we must mention the almost entire disuse of the 

 marl-pits, which are plentiful in the western and northern parts 

 of the county ; they were formerly worked very larg'ely, and it 

 must be admitted a coatinj^: of marl was made a substitute for 

 other manure ; now, by a kind of reaction, this latter aid having- 

 become indispensal)lc, the former is quite overlooked. It is saidy 



" He that marls sand, may buy tlie land ; 

 He tliat marls moss, sliall sufii'r no loss ; 

 ]')Ut he that marls clay, flings all away." 



The old adage is equally true at the present day ; some of the 

 best farmers on light land regret much their distance from the 

 pits, which if conveniently situated may be used to advantage, 

 for marling light or peaty soils. 



Another change has been the decay of the long-horned breed 

 of cattle. The improved Leicestershire breed Avas originally 

 founded by Mr. Webster of Canley, near Coventry, from whose 

 stock, originally brought from the banks of the Trent and crossed 

 with Lancastiirc and Westmoreland bulls, Bakewell and the 

 other leading men selected. The largest and best herd was that 

 of Mr. Barbery of Wroxhall (lately deceased), consisting of 

 upwards of 30 cows ; there ai'e others in the county, but they are 

 seldom pure in breed. Those, hoAvever, of Mr. Warner of 

 Weston-in-Arden, Mr. Joseph Burbery of the Chace Farm,. 

 Kenilworth, Mr, Canning of Sherborne, and Mr. Twycross of 

 Canley, may be named as the principal herds at present. 'I'he 

 causes of their gradual abandonment seem to have been that 

 the short horns come earlier to maturity and give more milk ; 

 added to which they were found, about twenty years ago, to be 

 unprolific, and became very liable to slip their calves. They are 

 quick feeders, and the beef is of excellent quality, but butchers 

 dislike them on account of their tendency to lay on meat on the 



the last 40 years, and whose capital and industry penetrate with lavish enterprise 

 every habitable corner of the earth. The exqnisite liome-timidity of English (not 

 Britiuli) capital, the straining at the gnat upon the narrow acreage of our own little 

 island, and the swallowing of the camel that hears our wealth and long-credits 

 across every ocean and continent and desert, might furnish fine contrast upon some- 

 spots to be seen within ten miles' earshot of the l^irmingham gun-proof house,, 

 npon wild heaths darkened, but not fertihzcd, by the proximity of the " central 

 metropolis of England, " the very heart of the " world's workshop." What must 

 be the occasional reflections of Mr. Sherift' Mechi upon the stir and comments made 

 about the few thousands spent in the redempticm of a farm at Tiptree Heath, com- 

 pared with the trade investments and connnercial ventures with which his metro- 

 politan experience is probably familiar ! The subject deserves a thorough raking 

 out: for the causes lie deep, and some of them hidden, some perhaps swaddled 

 and smothered in prejudice. Very likely a young law student, thoroughly Con- 

 versant witli the words " entail," " feudal tenure," " land transfer," " succession," 

 Sec, &c., could, after all, tell us most about this important but neglected subject. — 

 C. W. H. 



