106 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



urn of money, to enable him to look out for, and to stock a new 

 farm. The size of the farm being thus enlarged, it was neces- 

 sary to enlarge the size of the inclosures, and to lay several 

 closes into one, and, where possible, to give them a more regu- 

 lar and uniform shape. This arrangement enabled the land- 

 lord to get rid of the long useless lanes, by which a considera- 

 ble addition to the number of arable acres was acquired. 



In order to give each tenant every advantage in itraining his 

 farm, the great lines of ditches were executed by the land- 

 lord; and wherever it was possible, these were made the 

 boundaries of the farms. Thus the whole drains on the es- 

 tate were conducted according to one uniform plan, by which 

 the system of drainage was rendered much more complete, 

 and the interests of the whole, and not that of any individual 

 tenant, were consulted, nor was any one allowed to interfere 

 with the interests of his neighbor. Such a perfect system will 

 have the effect of rendering the condition of these estates more 

 complete in this respect than that of any other in England. 

 Attention has also been paid, in the execution of these works, 

 to make the water available for the construction of water-mea- 

 dows, and for impelling the threshing machines of the respec- 

 tive farms. 



In consequence of the complete state of ruin in which the 

 farm buildings on these estates were found, it was necessary to 

 incur a serious expence in constructing new ones. In this 

 way it has been necessary to erect thirty -seven new, and to re- 

 pair throughout eight other extensive sets of farm offices, 

 besides the smaller repairs which such estates necessarily re- 

 quire. They have been executed in the most substantial man- 

 ner. They are built of the best possible brick-work, covered 

 with tiles or slates ; and their cost, including the expence of 

 those thoroughly repaired, 

 from 1500/. to 1600/. each. 



We have already given examples of these buildings (2763. 

 and '2765.), which "are remarkably complete in design, and sub- 

 stantial in execution, and several of them are fiimished with 

 threshing machines, driven by water or steam, a thing rare in 

 England, excepting in Northumberland. It is believed. Loch 

 observes, that they unite as many advantages with as few faults, 

 as any buildings of the sort, and that they will supply useful 

 hints to others. 



It had been at one period the custom to permit hvis to be 

 erected in all parts of the estate. These huts amounted in 

 number to many hundreds ; they were inhabited by the poor- 

 est, and, in many instances, by a profligate population. They 

 were not regularly entered in the rental book, but had a no- 

 minal payment fixed upon them, which they paid annually at 

 the court leet. These cottages were built on the sides of the 

 roads, and upon the lord's waste, which was gradually ab- 

 sorbed by the encroachments which the occupiers of these huts 

 made from time to time, by enclosing that which lay next to 

 them. They gradually fell into the hands of a body of middle- 

 men, who underlet them at an extravagant rent to the actual 

 occupiers. In this manner the poor people were oppressed, 

 and the landlord was in danger ot losing his property. 



To remBdy the evils arising out of this system, the cottagers were 

 made immediate tenants to the landlord, and their rents made 

 payable at the half-yearly audits ; an arrangement perfectly 

 satisfactory to them, as they were no longer exposed to the 

 vexations of an intermediate possessor, and, in many instances, 

 their rents to the landlord were less than they had been accus- 

 tomed to nay to those from whom they had hitherto held their 

 houses. Since they have been placed in this situation, greater 

 attention has been necessarily paid to their conduct and cha- 

 racter, as well as to their wants. As they know that their 

 good conduct will now be noticed by, and meet with the ap- 

 probation of their landlord, a considerable improvement in 

 their habits has taken place. There can lie no doubt but that 

 these important and necessary arrangements were far from 

 being agreeable to those who suffered from them. In alter- 

 ing such a system, not only was the direct interest of the exist- 

 ing middlemen affected, but also the expectant interests and 

 influence of many who contemplated the chance of one day 

 benefiting from their favor. These were not few, and it did 

 not always happen that the person who expressed his dissatis- 

 faction loudest, was the one most likely to succeed in his wish- 

 es : and, in proportion as this object was near its completion, 

 was the vexation and discontent of those who were disappoint- 

 eti. To the larger farms some of these cottages have been 

 added, to enable the occupier to put into them married farm 

 servants, who have thus a great inducement to behave honestly 

 and industriously, and to attend with good will and zeal to the 

 interest and the business of their master. It is by giving such 

 inducements as this, and by making them feel an interest in 

 acting right, that this most invaluable class of laborers can 

 alone be maintained and supported. 



What has been done by the proprietor, has been well seconded by 

 the exertions (fhis tenants. A more respectable and enterpris. 

 ing body of men do not exist ; and, while they are in a better 

 situation of life than a great body of this class, they have not 

 allowed themselves to forget, that it is by a constant attention 

 to their business, by their keeping in the" line of life to which 

 they belong, and never attempting to commit the manage- 

 ment of their affairs to bailiffs, that they have gone on steadily 

 improving and bettering their condition. In the knowledge 

 of stock, in their capacity as excellent market-men, in the ma- 

 nagement of their grass land, and in the cultivation of and in 

 cleaning their lighter soils, they are surpassed by no farmers 

 in the kingdom. The rotation they follow is the Norfolk hus- 

 bandry ; and in the cleanness of their crops, and the excellence 

 of their drill turnips, they cannot be surjiassed. The breadth 

 of turnip annually sown is very great, and the rapidity with 

 which they have adopted the drill system of husbandry, is as 

 creditable to them as it is satisfactory in the result. 



Except plmtghing with too many horses, and not being suffici- 

 ently active in getting in their harvest, they have fewer prac- 

 tices to abandon, and there are fewer things which they have 

 to adopt from any other of the well cultivated districts of the 

 island, than is generally the case. Every means has been used 

 to explain to them the advantages of ploughing with fewer 

 horses, and there is every reason to expect that their good 

 sense will soon see the propriety of these suggestions, as many 

 of them have already adopted this system. The fact is, that 

 the difficulty consists in being able to persuade the ploughmen 

 to adopt it, as the labor of holding the plough is more severe : 

 it it impossible for one or two individuals to contend success- 

 fully aiptintt thefceling* of a country ; but when undertaken 



by so numerous and wealthy a tenantry, supported by the in- 

 fluence of the landlord, these feelings must speedily givtf 

 way. 



This mode of ploughing has made rapid progress at Trentham. 

 The reason of which is, that it is more generally admitted, that 

 this system is calculated to suit the stiff", better than the lighter 

 soils, inasmuch, as two ploughs, drawn by two horses abreast, 

 do much more work than a double plough, drawn by four 

 horses, can do in such soil : the superiority of the work, also, 

 is very conspicuous. On the other hand it" is argued, and with 

 some apparent force, that on light soils the double plough, 

 drawn by four horses, and guided by one man, can do as much 

 work as two ploughs drawn by two horses each, and guided 

 by two men. In this way the labor of one man is saved. It 

 must be admitted that the argument would be in favor of the 

 double plough, were it not that the work it performs is neither 

 so neat, so perfect, nor can it plough so deep as is done by the 

 two-horse system. It is remarkable that this mode of plough- 

 ing with two horses should be confined to the eastern parts of 

 England, from which it was adopted, at no very distant pe- 

 riod, into Scotland, where the ploughing with a number of 

 horses yoked along with oxen existed to an extent never prac- 

 tised in any part of this country. 



In order to encourage these men to make this change, an 

 anmial ploughing -match has been instituted, at which prizes are 

 distributed to the best ploughmen. The effect this has already 

 had is very considerable; and at the exhibition in Octolier 

 1814, no fewer than fifty ploughs started for the premiums. 

 The progress of such a system must be also slow ; as it cannot 

 be expected that the tenants should at once lay aside all their 

 old implements, and purchase new. The difhculty of procur- 

 ing good ploughs operated much against the adoption of this 

 mode of ploughing. In removing this inconvenience, there 

 has been established, both in Shropshire and in Staffordshire, 

 a manufactory for the construction of the more improved im - 

 piemen ts of "modem husbandry : and it is strongly recom- 

 mended to the persons who have been thus established, that, 

 they should take their apprentices entirely from the lads of 

 the country. 



It is in the management of their stiff lands, that the tenants are 

 most defective. Of late, howiever, they have made so great ex- 

 ertions in draining their lands, that it is hoped they are begin - 

 ning to adopt a better system. The defect of their mjuiage- 

 ment consists in their ploughing very shallow ; the effect of 

 which is, that the depth of soil is not sufficient to protect the 

 roots of the plant from being chilled with the cold and wet 

 (which is upheld by the impervious nature of the subsoil), when 

 the ground is wet, and exposes it to the too rapid action of the 

 drought when the weather is dry. To plough deejier is, there- 

 fore, the first, the most simple," and the most important im- 

 provement which can be adopti in these soils. 



They also, until la.te\y, hnrttliese cold laiids by making use of a 

 large qiiantity of a bad sort of red clay marl, which they dug out 

 of every field. The eflfect produced was, to increase the tena- 

 city of the soil, and to render it still less fit for the purposes of 

 agriculture. Of this fact, all the intelligent part of the tenants 

 are themselves convinced, though some of those who are still 

 we<lded to their old customs, lament the regulation which 

 prohibits them from using this article. On those farms where 

 the inclosures have been entirely renewed, and where, in con- 

 sequence, a portion of several of the ancient inclosures have 

 been thrown into one close, the bad effects of this system of 

 marling is perceived in a remarkable degree, and a distinct 

 line in the appearance of the crop, points out with precision 

 the land which had been formerly so treated, from that which 

 had not. The consequence of this prohibition has been, that 

 the tenants have applied tlj_emselves much more to the use of 

 lime as a stimulant, which has repaid them, as might have 

 been expected. It has also put a stop to the rapid deteriora- 

 tion of property, which was occasioned by the digging of 

 the pits, which every where disfigure and destroy a consider- 

 able portion of the farms of this district. 



To level down these marl-pits, and to render them again Jit for 

 the purposes qf husbandry, has been an object of great attention. 

 In this way there was applied the labor of a great proportion 

 of the parishioners, to whom, from time to time, employment 

 had been affbrded, in those years when the circumstances of 

 the country rendered such an exertion of the landlord's bounty 

 necessary. This was more particularly the case in 1817; in 

 which year a vast body of men was employed on each of the 

 Marquess's estates. 



In another particular, the mamtgerneid of the stijf soils might 

 be considerably amemled ; which is, in the mode of working the 

 fallows, which are left too generally to grow full of weeds, in 

 place of being cleaned as they ought to be. The muck, also, 

 is laid on at an improper season of the year, by which its gooil 

 effects rather go to encourage the growth of weeds, than to 

 improve the crop. At Trentham, the strong soils are of a far 

 superior quality, fit in every respect for the most improved 

 system of wheat and bean husbandry. But the lands were so 

 much sufxlivided, and the capita! of a large proportion of the 

 tpnants, until lately, was so inadequate to the right cultivation 

 of their land, that no improvement could take place or be 

 expected, and this estate remained stationary, amidst the 

 general progress which was so conspicuous in the other part* 

 of the county. These defects have been remedied in both 

 instances ; and the introduction of some skilful farmers from 

 Shropshire and Cheshire, at Trentham, has given rise to that 

 spirit of enterprise which at present characterises the tenants of 

 these estates, and which must prove so beneficial to the 

 country, by the additional surplus produce which will be 

 brought to market. 



The rotation which they followed, on both estates of the stiff' 

 soils, was, fallow, wheat, oats, clover. That is now altered, 

 by clover being substituted after the wheat ; and an attempt 

 has been made to induce them to try a six-shift course of hus- 

 bandry, by introducing beans into "their rotation. Little pro- 

 gress, however, has, as yet, been made in this experiment. 

 To this they have considerable objection, which arises from the 

 defective mode of cultivating their bean-crop. In the first 

 place, they are unwilling to sow them in drills. They are, 

 besides, longer in planting them, and allow them to stand later 

 in the year than they ought to do. The consequence is, that 

 their crop is often damaged, and the nutritious matter of the: 

 bean-straw is entirely lost. They cannot be persuaded, there- 

 fore, that it forms an excellent and nourishing food for horses 

 and cattle ; and the complaint that they make of its being an. 



