342 History of the English Landed Interest. 



land at a low rent, and to the educated mind of the landlord 

 the palpable gain needed no demonstration. Before the author 

 exhausts his subject he proves under five heads the advantage 

 to the national agriculture of his enclosure scheme, viz. 1. the 

 increase in fodder to cattle ; 2. augmented fertility of soil ob- 

 tained by resting one enclosure while the turf of another is 

 ploughed up ; 3. availability of the enclosed ground for manur- 

 ing ; 4. increase in the yield of cereals ; 5. conversion of the 

 obsolete slades, hakeways, balks and highways of the common 

 field into profitable tillage. 



If we collect together the topographical information conveyed 

 in the writings of the seventeenth-century agricultural school, 

 we have a fair peep at English agriculture as a whole. Perhaps 

 Somersetshire, a county under a bad name amongst Tudor 

 writers ^ on account of the marauding propensities of its inhabi- 

 tants, exhibited the greatest fertility, the Taunton district being 

 styled by Norden the "Paradise of England." The best meadow 

 fields were at Crediton and Welshpool, the best hop gardens 

 those of Suffolk, Essex, and Surrey,^ the best fruit grounds at 

 Feversham and Sittingbourne, and the best apple and cherry 

 orchards in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcester.^ 

 The carrot was being grown with success on the light soils of 

 East Anglia,'^ liquorice had been attempted at Pontefract and 

 Godalming,^ saffron had obtained a trial in a corner of Essex. 

 Dorset, Sussex, Wilts, Hants and Bucks were celebrated for 

 their sheep farms ; at Cobham in Kent had been made one of 

 the earliest trials of sainfoin. The best flaxland was about 

 Bow and Stratford in Essex, Maidstone in Kent, and the cen- 

 tral counties of England.'' Sussex farmers were purchasing 

 lime from a distance and bui'ning it in .their own kilns ; Cor- 

 nish farmers rode many miles in search of sand. Middlesex 



' A Somersetsliire justice of the peace says that in his county 40 per- 

 sons had been executed, 35 burnt in the hand, and 183 discharged for 

 robberies and other felonies. Strype, Annah, vol. iv., p. 2U0. 



2 Norden, Surreyor\'i Dialogue. 



^ AVorledge, Systema Ayriculturce. 



* Norden, Surveyor's Dialogue. 



* Worledge, Systema Ayric. 

 ^ Bliih, Improver Improved. 



