108 THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL [cH. 



Norfolk, brought in from Ireland and from the English 

 mills) was therefore applied with excellent results: 

 it cost £5 per ton and was used at the rate of 5 or 

 6 cwts. per acre : later on, however, the price rose 

 considerably. After wheat, turnips were grown, and 

 then barley followed by grasses as before. Thus the 

 rotation was that of Lord Townshend except that 

 the grasses were left growing for several years, and 

 peas appear sometimes to have been sown after the 

 grass was ploughed up and before the wheat crop 

 was taken. Alongside of this improvement in cul- 

 tivation he effected great improvements in the live 

 stock of the district. He compelled his tenants to 

 adopt a proper rotation and induced them to pur- 

 chase good animals. So successful were his eflPorts 

 that as early as 1784 Young states that "Mr Coke 

 resides in the midst of the best husbandry in Norfolk, 

 where the fields of every tenant are cultivated like 

 gardens." There was a great surplus of produce, 

 wheat and live stock were sold and the whole district 

 became very prosperous. 



The difficulties inherent in the Norfolk rotation — 

 turnip fly and clover sickness — now engaged his 

 attention. Although he did not suimount either 

 difficulty (no one has done so even yet) he got over 

 them by increasing his range of crops so that he 

 should not be wholly dependent on turnips and 

 clover. Instead of having the whole of the land 



