Norfolk Farming. 283 



chief fault is its great price, wliich, considering the present cost 

 of iron, is really too high, notwithstanding all that can be said 

 about its good workmanship ; and even this is by no means 

 faultless. Now these scarifiers, if they did not introduce, have 

 perfected a new feature in Norfolk agriculture. Autumnal cul- 

 tivation was certainly attempted in times gone by ; the land was 

 skeleton-ploughed (that is, ploughed with the common plough 

 deprived of its mouldboard), first one way, and then the other ; 

 harrowed, rolled, and so forth. By these means a small por- 

 tion of the stubble was cleared after harvest, perhaps enough 

 for the small breadth of mangold then groAvn. But the operation 

 was slow, and the ploughs often stirred the land unevenly, and 

 too deeply, so that the harrows could not drag out all the grass. 

 Now it is not uncommon, after an early harvest, to see all the 

 fallows thoroughly cleaned before Christmas, so as to want but 

 little ploughing in the spring. Several farms were visited this 

 winter with the view of collecting materials for this Report. 

 The dry weather enabled many farmers to give their fallows the 

 second earth early in the spring ; and the winter ftirrow, on being 

 run back, turned up the soil as clean and well pulverised as the 

 most fastidious gardener could desire. When these liglit lands of 

 Norfolk are clean, autumnal cultivation does more harm than 

 good. They are sufficiently friable by nature, and do not want 

 to be finely pulverised or constantly stirred, as the heavy winter 

 rains then wash more of the manure into the porous subsoil. 

 So the best farmers do not stir their clean stubble in the 

 autumn, but give them a good winter ploughing some time before 

 Christmas, and thus grow better turnips than where the soil has 

 been well cultivated alter harvest. Notice has already been taken 

 of the extended use to which Coleman's scarifiers are applied on 

 some farms. These are, of course, exceptions, but they commonly 

 save a great many ploughings, being used largely for stii'ring 

 strong soils for barley in the spring and in the after preparation 

 for the root-crop. The idea has at last become very prevalent 

 even in Norfolk, that, if the land is clean, the constant inversion 

 of it, by repeated ploughings in the spring, is unnecessary. 

 There can be no doubt of the truth of this on light lands. The 

 sun is not required to extract every particle of moisture before 

 the turnips are planted, but a good, deep, and finely pulverized 

 seed-bed can be obtained by the scarifiers, and the moisture still 

 retained. 



The very commendable practice of forking out couch in the 

 stubbles, directly after harvest, is fast incieasing. The little 

 cast-steel forks are famous for that purpose, and a gang of 

 women or boys will go over many acres in a day. The cost 

 varies from Is. to 5^. per acre ; and if the land is too foul to be 



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