142 



FARMERS' REGISTER— MR. COKE OF NORFOLK. 



EXTKACTS FROM "A FEW DAYS AT HOLKHABI. 



By the Rev. henry berry. 

 [The following extracts are from a mucTi longer ar- 

 ticle continued through the last three quarterly num- 

 bers of the British Farmers' Magazine. We do not 

 like to begin the publication'ofany thing until its con- 

 clusion has been seen, and a judgement formed of the 

 "whole together; and this we are just enabled to do by 

 the arrival of our last foreign periodicals. Tiie report 

 is much less interesting than we should have antici- 

 pated from such a subject, treated by so competent a 

 writer as the Rev. Henry Berry, who is now conductor 

 of the Farmer's Magazine. Still, it cannot fail to 

 please most readers to hear the latest account, however 

 imperfect, of the operations of the farmer who perhaps 

 truly deserves the title of the greatest ctnd best, and 

 ■who is one of the most eminent living benefactors of the 

 human race. His immense estate, novi one of the 

 most fertile and profitable in the world, was once but 

 little better than a barren waste. All its fertility, 

 beauty and value, have been created by the skill and 

 labors of Mr. Coke. If there is any greater service 

 which he could have rendered for his country, and for 

 the world, or if there ought to be more glory attach- 

 ed to the name of any living man, we at least have 

 no conception of either.] 



From the British Farmers'. Magazine. 



***** \Yq proceeded without further 

 delay to Holkham, Avhere we arrived about mid- 

 day. I had never heard, and of course liad.no 

 conception of Mr. Coke's active habits. He rode 

 up to the house immediately atler our arrival, and 

 at the same time ordered luncheon and the car- 

 riage, and in less than half an Iiour we were on 

 our way to view, in the first place, Ifis Devon cat- 

 tle. It may be proper here to say something of 

 the land on which these cattle are depastured, and 

 though much has already appeared belbre the 

 pubUc on the same subject, from more able pens 

 than mine, the interest attaching to every thing at 

 Holkham, and more particularly the necessity I am 

 under of noticing the quality of the land, will ex- 

 cuse what may appear, to some persons, an unne- 

 cessary repetition. Mr. Coke's estate, around 

 Holkham, consists principally of a hungry seuidy 

 loam, or light gravel of the same character, with 

 occasional, but not frequent, interruptioirs of small 

 patches of bog. The latter description oi' soil was, 

 during the early part of Mr. Coke's proprietorship, 

 covered with low alder bushes and sedges, which 

 seldom failed to hold a fox. They are now, by his 

 skilful application of capital, rendered highly pro- 

 ductive Avater-meadow. The instances of this 

 kind are however tew, and not of any great extent 

 where they do occur. But in every possible case, 

 advantage has been taken of circumstances, and 

 the profitless bog lias been converted into water- 

 meadow of the highest quality^. Willi respect to 

 the arable land, and the permanent pasture, which 

 principally owes its existence to the system of in- 

 noculation,* the nature of the soil, and the extent 



* Innoculation of grass land is setting out bits of old 

 turf of the grasses desired, at such distance as will per- 

 mit the plants to spread and cover the whole surface. — 



ID. FARM. REG. 



of its amelioration, may best be judged of from the 

 following facts. An estate let, when Mr. Coke 

 first cameto Holkham, at one shilling and sixpence 

 per acre, and subsequently on a- lease at three shil- 

 lings, was, at the end of his term, quitted by the 

 tenant in consequence of his considering he could 

 not pay a rent of five shillings per acre. The 

 estate was tithe-free! — Now, mark the diflerence 

 in the performances of two men, and let all de- 

 spondency cease as to the capabilities of our poor 

 soils to produce food, and profitably to produce it, 

 under an equitable and judicious protection. From 

 this identical estate, Mr. Coke, under his superior 

 management, obtained seventj'-nine bushels of 

 barley, per acre! Again, on the same land, and on 

 land of similar quality, his crop of wheat of. 1832, 

 from 806 acres, produced 2632 coombs; being an 

 average of rather Tmore than thirty-four bushels 

 per acre. This was obtained from land decidedly 

 not wheat land; but it shows what cultivation AviU 

 acliieve. I shall not at present go into any detail 

 of Mr. Coke's management of his wheat crop, the 

 remarks which have preceded, being preliminary 

 to a notice of his Devon cattle, it being evident 

 that on such land, howsoever well the permanent 

 pastures may have been managed, notonly drought, 

 as in the present season, but also many other 

 causes must conspire to render the bite for cattle 

 too frequently scanty; and, consequently, to render 

 much circumspection necessai'y in the adoption of" 

 a breed. It is now about -forty-two years since 

 Mr. Coke, very properly considering the difficulties 

 he had to encounter on his light poor soil, be^anto 

 breed Devon cattle, and it is noi a little creditable 

 to his judgement that he has, during that period, 

 scarcely referred to any thing which may, prop^er- 

 ly speaking, be called a cross; certainly, to none of 

 which he could permanently avail himself, and yet 

 his Devons, take them- altogether, are by far the 

 best I have ever seen. I much doubt whether the 

 county of Devon can produce such an animal as 

 one of Mr. Coke's bulls, the sire of the ox which 

 embellishes this number of ihe Magazine. I am 

 totally free from prejudice on these matters, and, 

 therefore, candidly admit the ox in question to have 

 been, in my judgement, at the time I saw him, the 

 most complete I ever put my hand on. I am sorry 

 to soy Mr. Coke's indulgence of his neighbors' 

 Avishes consigns this ox to slaughter at home. 

 Such an animal ought to appear atSmithficld. He 

 has, however, others coming forward, of high 

 promise, and I trust he will gratify the Smithfield 

 club, on the first possible occasion, with a specimen. 

 The dairy of Devon coavs appears to be, and I am 

 assured is, highly productive, each cow, no matter 

 what her other excellencies, being rejected which 

 proves a bad milker. They present great unifor- 

 mity of character, with all the genuine distinctions 

 of the pure north Devon cattle, and, with great 

 aptitude to fatten, possess precisely the compact 

 bodies and short legs, which constitute the multiim 

 in parvo I have so ofien advocated. Much as I 

 admire the Norfolk husbandry — much as I have 

 seen to admire in the zeal of Mr. Coke's tenantry 

 to evince their gratitude and respect, there are two 

 things which I must severally censure and deplore. 

 While the judicious and spirited improvements in 

 tillage of this great landed proprietor have been 

 forcing conviction, and obtaining adoption, his ef- 

 forts as to the stock of the country have been com- 

 paratively vain, and he stands alone, a solitary in- 



