AGRICULTURE 



southern boundary runs in a direct line towards Newmarket, keeping a few miles 

 north of the railway. The western boundary touches Cambridgeshire ; then 

 follows the east side of the fen corner to the Little Ouse dividing Norfolk 

 from Suffolk. It follows the river eastward to Thetford and Brandon, taking 

 as its eastern face a direct line towards Thurston. 



The fen-land in the extreme north-west corner. 



The area lying between the Deben and the Orwell, with the old turn- 

 pike from Woodbridge to Ipswich as its northern boundary, which partakes of 

 the nature of the sands in the belt on the east coast. But interspersed in it 

 are some parishes of excellent mixed soil, and the blunt end of the apex of the 

 triangle, which comprises the watering-place of Felixstowe, extending on the 

 sea-line from the mouth of one river to the other, and reaching two or three 

 miles from their outlets, is a spot of perhaps the very best land in Suffolk, 

 deep enough to grow excellent crops in a dry season, and friable enough for 

 any kinds of roots. 



On the west side of the Orwell is another triangular area of land of the 

 same character as the last named, but without any light, heathy soil. It extends 

 from Shotley to where the line from Ipswich to London crosses the Stour. 

 That line may roughly be described as its western boundary. But towards 

 the line itself there are some sharp, gravelly hillsides. On the whole it is, 

 perhaps, the finest district in the county. It is known as Samford Hundred, 

 and comprises the splendid Woolverstone estate, with its magnificent park, 

 excellent farm buildings, and endless model cottages. 



The stiffer part of Suffolk contains good corn districts, but it also 

 embraces a great deal of the worst heavy land in the county. Of course there 

 are more fertile spots and some useful meadow lands which flank the fresh- 

 water streams. To the north of Ipswich there are pleasant mixed-soil farms, 

 but they lie close to the stiffer lands. The valley of the Gipping, running 

 from Ipswich to Stowmarket, is mostly low-lying grass lands, water-slain 

 with no very fertile subsoil. 



But there is a narrow strip of land through which the railway runs from 

 Thurston to Newmarket, some twenty miles in length and about four miles 

 wide, comprising some of the very best farming in Suffolk. The fields are 

 large, immense quantities of lambs are reared in it, and the finest Burton 

 barley grows there. Bury St. Edmunds is in the midst of it. 



The marsh-lands are the only grass-lands in the county which are 

 good cattle-feeding pastures. The upland meadows may be described 

 as bad, and while the present system of repeated mowings continues, with 

 dressings of manure few and far between, and they are thus managed, they 

 will not improve. Some of the low-lying pastures bordering the smaller 

 streams are useful. But where there is barge traffic and mill power, the water 

 is headed up to the roots of the grass. These are mostly cow-fed, or used for 

 raising young store cattle. The marshes are better treated ; they are usually 

 at a distance from the farms to which they are attached, and there is little 

 temptation to mow them. Those on the flats in the neighbourhood of 

 Beccles are fine grazing lands. Many of these are let by auction, and a few 

 years ago made as much as £4 an acre. 



The ploughed marshes produce good crops of beans and oats, but their 

 cultivation is heavy work, and they are the only lands where oxen take the 



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