1146 



STATISTICS Of AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



nw of situation. It is |>os.sible, howrt.r, where two, or even 



iiir-v houses are Joined together, lo uaiulfi the g a rdens. In 



Mich :ii.. ■ ere in in I-- utile Inn 



Una three ik ghbourtiig families may do beast together then 



two. 



4. Occupation. 



I in the bonlen of Wales the farms arc small, many not ex- 

 rcs-diiig twentv acres; on the east ride of (he county from one 

 to.HNfa.Tcs: fanners in general very jtlnsllllHIl . work along 

 with their servants; wise, hre.v, bake, dory, anil at spare 



hour* spin, and L'et up a piece of linen cloth for sale every ve.tr. 

 I a--. I be lira ruiiueil] very common. Buthton "f km— n 

 has taken great palm to prepare printed leases, which .m-mT 

 rarj veil. Tin- terra he n n a fourteen.) or 



1 ^ ' "t v one ft ars. llv being printed the farmer can read them 

 at in* leisure. 

 SL Implement*. 



h \i ah two wheels, drawn by four or fire horses, or six 



. in the strong lands, ami [no hordes with a hoy 



to drive in the turnip sou*, various improved implements and 



tlireahins-machlnes : tome excellent mills on Lord Stafford's 



estates, driven by steam. 



ti. Enclosing. 



Much practised! and still going on. Flashing hedges is 

 usually *ery ill done in Shropshire; it is a business which re- 

 quires great nicety and judgment, and has the most ignorant 

 = to perform it in general ; who in the first place cut 

 do,, nwards, through mere idleness, instead of upwards, and so 

 expose the heart of the plant to the weather. Many miles of 

 hedges lately planted on the Statford estates. 



7. Arabic hand. 



Fallowing vcr, badly done mi the strong lands. Common 



ujtj "heat, bartey,oats,p as, and turnips. Peas 



found nut to boll well unless grown on a .-.harp grarel or sand ; 



those grown on clay given to pigs and horses, home hemp and 



Imp. . ultivated. 



8. Grass. 



Some natural meadows on the Severn and other rivers ; not 

 much attention paid to them. Artificial herbage and grasses 

 grown on the turnip soils* 



9. Gardens and Orchards. 



Many fanners have small orchards, from whence thev make 

 a little cider for home consumption ; and on the confines of 

 Herefordshire and Worcestershire the orchards are larger, and 

 cider is made for sale. 



10. Woods and Plantations. 



A good deal of hedge-row timber, and some fine oak woods ; 

 also numerous joung plantations. Narrow-leaved elm re koned 

 an excellent hedge-row tree, but the broad-leav-d Letter tim- 

 ber, and less difficult as to soil and situation. In t'ii> county 

 few persons will bury their relations in any but the best oak 

 timber, which contributes much to its scarcity. 



11. Improvements. 



Marl used, and some irrigation. A good deal of draining 

 done with brick, stone, and faggot wood. Some bogs droned 

 in Elkington's manner. On the f.itlesh-.ll estate of Lord Staf- 

 ford (ftr. 999.), in 1 si Hand 1817 there has lieen executed about 

 17,000 yards of embankment; 27,000 yards of water course 

 deepened and scoured ; 40,000 yards of main ditches made or 



I with ston.-s ; besides the erection of many new farm- 

 erics erf the most commodious plans and substantial execution 



Itut to hare an adequate Idea of these and other imntm ' „,l 



effected by tins munificent and patriotic nobleman, it is in- 

 to peruse the very interesting work of l.och alreadi re- 



I lo, 3 * 



n„ the H-ildmonr eitate of I.ord Stafford ( fig. 1000.) excellent 

 roa.ls have been formed ; so that several part,, before ■ 

 Die In winter and during wet weather, in ,v n..., beam 

 at all lim.-. with ease. The effect, as l.och observes, has thus 



idd to many acres to the estate. Hut the most consi- 



work executed upon these elites is the drainage of the 

 re district alluded to, called the Wddmoors. The ex. 



I nature of this improvement is such as to deserve a 

 ; r and detailed description. Some adjoining propenies 



nave benefited h> tins work, and contributed to the expen e of 

 It, which i> is done uniler the authority of an act of parliament 



iniosl the whole of the land belongs to the M 

 SUIIord, and the c»penM> having been dwells borne bj him. 



the direction of its progress, and Its preservation hereafter, Is 

 entirely vested in a surveyor chosen bv his lordship, 

 •i, i "V™" consisted of an extensive tract, amounting, with 

 the land similarly circumstanced, to near twelve hundred 

 acres, I he soil is composed of a fine black peat, incumbent 

 on a bed of red sand, full of water. They are bounded chiefly 

 by the upland part of these estates, and surround the parish ot 

 rynnerslcv, which also belongs to it, and which is composed 

 Tv 50 "! 6 a ,he finest ""T'P and barley soil in the kingdom. 



hey had evidently formed the bottom of an extensive lake. 

 i ne different brooks from the surrounding country held their 

 course through them. These brooks are known in the country 

 « the name of Sfn,i«, being distinguished from each other by 

 the name of the places from which, or past which, thev flow. 

 Their course to trie Team (which rive? drains the whole of 

 this country into the Severn) w as devious and crooked in the 

 thenar.'. ' njllr " ,g to a B rc ' at e " ent 1« 'and through which 



A irmit ro-oriortVon o/ their rrwort was occupied by the tenants 

 of the adjoining farms, who turned their stock in upon them 

 or a port, on of the summer season only. During the rest of 

 the year il was impossible to use them. Thev afforded but a 

 small quantity of food, and were in most places so wet that il 



