VII] THE RISE OF THE SANDS 109 



in four crops he devoted some of it to other fodder 

 plants. Sainfoin in particular proved valuable; it 

 yielded considerable quantities of nutritious hay for 

 winter, and, being a leguminous plant, it greatly en- 

 riched the soil in nitrogenous organic matter. Tares 

 also were sown; some in October or November, some 

 in April and May, to afford more green food to the 

 animals. 



Later on he grew mangolds, cocksfoot, potatoes, 

 and he made experiments with other fodder crops. 

 He purchased oil cakes for his animals, and thus 

 not only fattened them more rapidly but also in- 

 creased the amount of fertilising material in the 

 manure. In this way he imported fertility fi'om other 

 districts to his own, a process which has now become 

 a regular part of British husbandry. Thus sheep and 

 cattle were the central feature of the farm as in Lord 

 Townshend's system, but Coke increased the margin 

 of safety by having certain areas of other fodder 

 crops not liable to the same ills b& clover and turnips, 

 so that if one set of troubles intervened he would 

 still have a reserve of food for his animals. 



Little has been added to our knowledge of the best 

 methods of farming sandy soils, and in all essentials 

 our best present day methods are practically the same 

 as these. The reclamation of the sands was now 

 within the power of any landowner and was soon 

 taken in hand in many districts. The Duke of 



