428 PRESENT-DAY EXPERIMENTS 



is found at a depth of 10 or 12 feet all over the 

 estate. The two items, therefore, of water-supply 

 and road-making, which would often involve an 

 outlay nearly equal to the purchase price per acre, 

 are here very favourable. 



TYPE OF CULTIVATION. 



As regards the suitability of the district for 

 cultivation in small holdings, one factor is that this 

 neighbourhood is specially noted for roses, many of 

 the noted rose-growers having their nurseries on 

 the adjoining land ; otherwise the district is purely 

 agricultural, and large farms predominate. Near 

 the village of Boxted there are, however, a certain 

 number of men who cultivate small plots of land in 

 connection with other employments, their produce 

 being bought up by dealers for Colchester and 

 other markets. 



The class of land is not ill-adapted for spade 

 cultivation. It is for the most part a sandy loam 

 with gravel 10 to 12 feet down. Stronger land 

 would no doubt require less manure, but would 

 take much more labour in cultivation, and could 

 not be worked in all weathers, which is a point to 

 be specially considered by the small man who relies 

 on his own labour entirely. 



As regards disposal of produce, Colchester is with- 

 in reasonable reach of the chief seaside resorts of the 

 East Coast, with their very large summer demand for 

 all market-garden produce. Clacton-on-Sea is only 



