82 ME. COKE OF HOLKHAM 



and more labour into the land, and assisted them to take 

 advantage of every new invention or discovery. His farm 

 buildings, dwelling-houses, and cottages were models to 

 other landlords. By offering long leases of twenty-one 

 years, he guaranteed his tenants a return for their outlay 

 and energy. ' My best bank,' said one of his farmers, ' is 

 my land.' At the same time he guarded against the 

 mischief of a long unrestricted tenancy by regulating the 

 course of cultivation. In all the leases of his estates he 

 inserted covenants for the adoption of the Norfolk system 

 of husbandry. Though clauses of management were then 

 comparatively unknown, his farms commanded the compe- 

 tition of the pick of English farmers. Even Cobbett, in 

 spite of his prejudices against landlords, was compelled to 

 admit the benefits which Coke's tenants derived from his 

 paternal rule. 'Every one,' he wrote in 1821, 'made use 

 of the expressions towards him which affectionate children 

 use towards their parents.' 



One great obstacle to improvement remained. Farmers 

 of the eighteenth century lived, thought, farmed, like 

 the farmers of the sixteenth. The Holkham sheep- 

 shearings did much to break down traditions and preju- 

 dices. These meetings began in 1778, in Mr. Coke's own 

 ignorance of farming matters : he annually invited small 

 parties of farmers to his house to discuss agricultural 

 topics and aid him with their advice. In 1818 open 

 house was kept at Holkham for a week; hundreds of 

 persons assembled from all parts of Great Britain, the 

 Continent, and America. The mornings were spent in 

 inspecting the farms and the stock ; at three o'clock six 

 hundred persons sat down to dinner ; the rest of the day 

 was spent in toasts and speeches. Among the pupils was 

 Erskine, who abandoned the study of Coke at Westminster 



