AGRICULTURE 



of easy access, £20 a year is not beyond the mark, even on a farm where the 

 grass lands are not rich. But the expenses are high, and the wear and tear of 

 carts, ponies, and milk churns appear as a heavy item in the year's expenses. 

 Owing to the necessity for rising at 3.30 in order to milk the cows for the 

 early delivery, and the Sunday milking which has to be done whether there 

 is a delivery or not, it is not easy to obtain dairy hands, except by the induce- 

 ment of very high wages. 



Perhaps the greatest increase of the farmer's output in money value 

 would be from the large flocks. The difference is most remarkable. A 

 reliable correspondent, quoted by Arthur Young, estimated the return per 

 head of a breeding flock at gs. As recently as 1842 the lambs on one of the 

 best sheep farms in East Suffolk were sold at in. per head, but thev were 

 Southdowns, of which great numbers were kept in Suffolk sixty years ago. 

 The large breeds made little more. Now an average of 40.;. each for the 

 lambs sent to market is not an unusual figure. But of course seasons, flush 

 of sheep-feed, &c, have great influence on current prices. It must be 

 remembered, too, that the intrinsic worth of the lamb at the present day is 

 very much greater than it was seventy years ago. The ewe of whatever 

 breed is kept is heavier, wider, shorter in the leg, and produces a different 

 type of lamb. More judgement is exercised in the choice of rams, and higher 

 prices are paid even by those who are not ram breeders. 



The value of common work-horses has varied very little between 1825 

 and the present day. Previous to the war with France, and some time before 

 its conclusion, Suffolk foals were sold at from £3 to £6 each, and in one case 

 a colt realized £10, but this afterwards became a celebrated horse. With the 

 general inflation of prices following on the war all farm stock increased in 

 value. In 18 12 the first two four-horse teams of common working horses at 

 the Newbourne Hall sale realized more than 80 guineas each, when an 

 ancestor of the family who afterwards became noted breeders of Suffolk horses 

 tpok that farm in hand ; and these, although probably very good, were not 

 breeding animals, but common agricultural horses. Then for a decade or 

 two all stock depreciated in value. Depression in agriculture shows itself in 

 various ways. Since the present fall in price of farm produce the character 

 of the working horses in general use in this county has decidedly deteriorated. 

 Before the eighties numberless small farmers had valuable pedigree Suffolk 

 mares ; few other than Suffolk horses were used. When the hard times 

 tempted the small farmer to part with his best mares, they were bought by 

 the more wealthy breeders, and stables were made up with bays and browns 

 of an inferior type. A marked difference in the uniformity of colour in the 

 present day breeds may easily be detected in a rail journey through east 

 Suffolk. The farmers renewed their stock with other breeds and various 

 colours because they could buy these more cheaply. 



Although Suffolk is less a breeding than a meat-making district, the 

 great increase of the milk trade results in more calves being bred in this 

 county. Even thirty or forty years ago the wretched stamp of horned bulls 

 used in the large dairies would have struck any but a Killarney man with 

 astonishment. The consignment of excellent north-countrv bulls bv pure-bred 

 Durhams has entirely altered the general character of cattle bred in this 

 county. They are sent in detachment to the repository sales. The 



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