Manor-Farming 29 



Hokeday, the secondTuesday after Easter, to the I ith of November, 

 which was the whole of the proper grazing season. At times the 

 lord's fold was moved from place to place on the demesne, so 

 that the manure was distributed as it was made, but at other 

 times a stationary fold was used, from which the villains had to 

 cart out the manure on to the lord's land. Where this was the 

 custom, if a villain kept his cattle and sheep in his own fold, he 



Sowing with a modern Horse-drill. 



had to pay a penny for every ox and dry cow, and a penny for every 

 five sheep. 



The system of folding is still one of the principal sources from 

 which manure is obtained throughout the south of England. 

 It is a method of transferring the fertility which is collected by 

 the vegetation on the wastes and downs to the ploughed land 

 from which corn crops are taken. Although this process has gone 

 on for more than a thousand years, it still yields some profit. 

 The grasses and clovers on the downs and wolds in the south of 

 England are not abundant, but they still feed sheep very well 



