138 ENGLISH RURAL LIFE 



thought, about i8s. 6d. an acre. Poor rates, then 

 going up rapidly, were perhaps 55. an acre. The 

 farmers on an average were then paying under these 

 heads about 233. 6d. an acre, which would not differ 

 greatly from the amount they paid at the end of the 

 century. Rents were, however, inclined to go up. 

 Most of the land in Hertfordshire was in those days 

 under the plough. Much wheat was grown, and the 

 crop varied from 20 bushels to 40 bushels an acre, 

 not very much less than the yield of modern times; 

 the English average at the close of the century being 

 about 32 bushels an acre. The price, however, was 

 much higher then than later; in 1801 it averaged about 

 I2os. a quarter, as against 26s. Qd. in 1901. Besides 

 wheat, Young found oats, barley, peas and beans in 

 general cultivation, whilst turnips and clover (currently 

 reported to have been introduced into the county by 

 Oliver Cromwell) and tares were in widespread use. 

 Some farmers were also growing sainfoin and swedes, 

 whilst cabbage, potatoes, trefoil, lucerne and carrots 

 were novelties as field crops, only to be found on a 

 few farms. 



The Norfolk four-course system was common at 

 that time wheat, and then turnips, followed by barley 

 and clover and the old system of fallowing the land 

 between corn crops was being given up wherever 

 possible. 



A great deal of attention was given to manuring 

 land, and bush draining, paring and burning, and 

 irrigation are referred to as being used with success 

 in some places. 



The principal breeds of sheep were Southdown, 

 Wiltshire, Cotswold and Leicester, and amongst cattle 

 were mentioned Suffolk, Welsh, Devon and Hereford, 



