90 THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL [CH. 



All this time, however, the loams have remained 

 in cultivation in spite of all vicissitudes of prices and 

 of seasons. 



The story that we have briefly sketched out must 

 now be studied with a little more detail. 



The ancient method of dealing with clays was to 

 lay them up in high backed ridges so that the rain 

 could run off into the furrows. There it often lay for 

 long periods. On these high backed lands cross- 

 ploughing was impossible ; cultivation was not deep ; 

 the surface being worked only to the depth of two or 

 three inches and the subsoil was never touched. Only 

 the ridge carried a crop of any size : the furrows were 

 too wet in winter and too hard in summer to allow of 

 plant growth. 



Chalking and marling were commonly adopted in 

 good times or whenever circumstances were pro- 

 pitious to permanent improvements, but they were 

 neglected in bad times in spite of the advice of all 

 agricultural writers. " Howsoeuer this Weald," writes 

 Gervase Markham in 1625^ of the clay plain forming 

 the Weald of Kent, " be of itselfe vnfruitful and of 

 a barren nature, yet so it hath pleased the prouidence 

 of the Almighty to temper the same, that by the 

 benefit of Margie or Marie (as it is commonly called) 

 it may be made not onely equall in fertility with the 

 other grounds of the Shire, as well for Corne as 



1 The Inrichmcnt of the Weald of Kent, 1625. 



