304 Farming of Leicestershire. 



The estate comprises 39,000 acres, of which about one-half 

 is strong loam and clay, of which the Vale of Belvoir, on the 

 lias, forms the chief part, about 5000 acres beyond Leicester 

 being composed of strong marl and gravel. The remaining half 

 is about equally divided between white and red "creach"* upon 

 the oolite and marlstone formation. 



The farms vary from 50 acres to 750 acres ; the more general 

 size is fr(;m 200 to 400 acres, the portions in grass and arable 

 being about equal. 



The arable land is cropped as follows, viz., on the strong soils 

 of the vale a six-field system, — barley, clover, wheat, beans, 

 wheat, fallow. 



On the lighter creach the four-field, viz., wheat, turnips, 

 barley, seeds ; and on the heavier creach a five-course rotation, — 

 turnips, barley, clover, wheat, oats. 



Purchased manures are extensively used for the root-crops, and 

 the straw in winter is consumed by cattle eating linseed-cake, 

 and the clover and root- crops v/hen consumed on the ground are 

 also supplemented with cake or corn. 



The corn and turnips are drilled, and several of the tenants 

 use the reaping-machine, and improved modern implements are 

 freely adopted. 



Thrashing by steam is the rule, but steam-cultivation is as yet 

 little practised. 



The pasture-land is of average quality, a considerable portion 

 of it good, and some very good. 



Some years ago fields of grass were occasionally broken up for 

 tillage, the practice being to drain, and then pare and burn. 

 But little in this respect has been done of late years ; on the 

 contrary, in several parishes arable-land has been seeded down to 

 grass, and though not to any great extent, yet the tendency has 

 been, and is now, in that direction. 



It is the practice more or less to manure the meadow-land, but 

 hay-making is not to a great extent practised, except on those 

 farms where the dairy forms the chief element of profit. But 

 dairying is not a feature of the Belvoir Estate, and the greater 

 part of the pasture-land is used for fattening cattle and sheep^ 

 and for rearing store stock. 



The greatest improvement that has been effected on the estate 

 within the last thirty years is the effectual underdrainage of 

 nearly the whole of the strong lands. The drains put in range 

 from 3 to 4 feet, and about 24 feet apart. 



Generally the tiles have been given by the Duke, and the 

 labour in putting them in done under the supervision of his 



* A local name for soil. 



