Book I. 



AGRICULTURE OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 



i 140 



thresh ing-machines, driven by water or steam, a thing rare in 

 England, excepting in Northumberland. It is believed, Loch 

 observes, that they unite as mam advantages with as few faults 

 as any buildings of the sort, and that they will supply useful 

 hints to others. 



It had been at one period the custom to permit huts to be 

 erected in all parts ot the estate. These huts amounted in 

 number to many hundreds ; they were inhabited by the poorest, 

 and. in many instances, by a profligate population. They were 

 not regularly entered in the rental book, but had a nominal 

 payment fixed upon them, which thev paid annually at the 

 court leet. These cottages were built on the sides of the roads, 

 and upon the lord's waste, which was gradually absorbed bv the 

 encroachments which the occupiers of these huts made from 

 time to time, by enclosing that which lav next to them. They 

 gradually fell into the hands of a body of middlemen, who 

 underlet them at an extravagant rent to the actual occupiers. 

 In this manner the poor people were oppressed, and the land- 

 lord was in danger of losing his property. 



To remedy the evils arising out of this system, Vie cottagers mere 

 made immediate tenants to the landlord, and their rents made 

 payable at the half-yearly audits; an arrangement perfectly 

 satisfactory to them, as they were no longer exposed to the 

 vexations of an intermediate possessor, and, in many instances, 

 their rents to their landlord were less than they had been accus- 

 tomed to pay to those from whom they had hitherto held their 

 houses. Since they have been placed in this situation, greater 

 attention has been necessarily paid to their conduct and cha- 

 racter, as well as to their wants. As they know that their 

 good conduct will now be noticed by, and meet with the ap- 

 probation of, their landlord, a considerable improvement in 

 their habits has taken place. There can be no doubt but that 

 these important and necessary arrangements were far from 

 being agreeable to those who suffered from them- In alter- 

 ing such a system, not only was the direct interest of the exist- 

 ing middlemen affected, but also the expectant interests and 

 influence of many who contemplated the chance of one day 

 benefiting from their favour. These were not few, and it did 

 not always happen that the person who expressed his dissatis- 

 faction loudest, was the one most likely to succeed in his wishes; 

 and in proportion as this object was near its completion, wis 

 the vexation and discontent of those who were disappointed. 

 To the larger farms some of these cottages have been added, 

 to enable the occupier to put into them married farm-servants, 

 who have thus a great inducement to behave honestly and in- 

 dustriously, and to attend with good will and zeal to the inter- 

 est and the business of their master. It is by giving such 

 inducements as this, and by making them feel an interest in 

 acting right, that this most invaluable class of labourers can 

 alone be maintained and supported. 



What has been done by the proprietor, has been well seconded by 

 the exertions of his tenants. A more respectable and enterpris- 

 ing body of men do not exist ; and, whde thev are in a better 

 situation of life than a great body of this class, thev have not 

 allowed themselves to forget, that it is bv a constant attention 

 to their business, by their keeping in the line of life to which 

 they belong, and never attempting to commit the manage- 

 ment of their affairs to bailiffs, that they have gone on steadily 

 improving and bettering their condition. In the knowledge 

 of stock, in their capacity as excellent market-men, in the man- 

 agement of their grass land, and in the cultivation of and in 

 cleaning their lighter soils, they are surpassed by no farmers 

 in the kingdom. The rotation they follow is the Norfolk hus- 

 bandry ; and in the cleanness of their crops, and the excellence 

 of their drill turnips, they cannot be surpassed. The breadth 

 of turnip annually sown is very great, and the rapidity with 

 which they have adopted the drill system of husbandry is as 

 creditable to them as it is satisfactory in the result. 



Except ploughing with too many horses, and not being suffi- 

 ciently active in getting in their harvest, they have fewer prac- 

 tices to abandon, and there are fewer things which they have 

 to adopt from any other of the well cultivated districts of the 

 island, than is generally the case. Every means has been used 

 to explain to them the advantages of ploughing with fewer 

 horses; and there is every reason to expect that their good 

 sense will soon see the propriety of these suggestions, as many 

 of them have already adopted this system. The fact is, that 

 the difficulty consists in being able to persuade the ploughmen 

 to adopt it as the labour of holding the plough is more severe : 

 it is impossible for one or two individuals to contend success- 

 fully against the feelings of a country ; but when undertaken 

 by so numerous and wealthy a tenantry, supported by the 

 influence of the landlord, these feelings must speedily give 

 way. 



This mode of ploughing lias made rapid progress at Trenthatn. 

 The reason of which is, that it is more generallv admitted, that 

 this system is calculated to suit the still better than the lighter 

 soils, inasmuch as two ploughs, drawn by two horses abreast, 

 do much more work than a double plough, drawn by four 

 horses, can do in such soil : the superiority o** the work, also, 

 is very conspicuous. On the other hand it is argut d, and with 

 some apparent force, that on light soils the double plough, 

 drawn by four horses, and guided by one man, can do as much 

 work as two ploughs drawn by two horses each, and guided by 

 two men. In this way the labour of one man is saved. It 

 must be admitted that "the argument would be in favour of the 

 double plough, were it not that the work it performs is neither 

 so neat, so perfect, nor can it plough so deep as is dene by the 

 two-horse system. It is remarkable that this mode of plough- 

 ing with two horses should be confined to the eastern parts of 

 England, from which it was adopted, at no verv distant period, 

 in Scotland, where the ploughing with a number of horses 

 yoked along with oxen existed to an extent never practised in 

 any part of this country. 



In order to encourage these men to make this change, an 

 annual ploughing -match has been instituted, at which prizes are 

 distributed to the best ploughmen. The effect this has already 

 Dad is very considerable; and at the exhibition in October 

 1S14, no fewer than fifty ploughs started for the premiums. 

 The progress of such a system must be also slow ; as it cannot 

 be expected that the tenants should at once lay aside all their 

 old implements, and purchase new. The difficulty of procur- 

 ing good ploughs operated much against the adoption of this 

 mode of ploughing'. In removing this inconvenience, there 

 has been established, both in Shropshire and in Staffordshire, 

 a manufactory for the construction of the more improved im- 

 plements of modem husbandry : and it is strongly recom- 



mended to the persons who have been thus established, that 

 they should take their apprentices entirely from the lads of 

 the country. 



It is in the management of their stiff lands that tenants are 

 most defective. Of late, however, thev have made so great ex- 

 ertions in draining their lands, that it is hoped thev are begin- 

 ning to adopt a better system. The defect of their manage- 

 ment consists in their ploughing very shallow ; the effect of 

 which is, that the depth of soil is not sufficient to protect the 

 roots of the plant from being chilled with the cold and wet 

 (which is upheld by the impervious nature of the subsoil), when 

 the ground is wet, and exposes it to the too rapid action of the 

 drought when the weather is dry. To plough deeper is, there- 

 fore, the first, the most simple, and the most important im- 

 provement which can be adopted in these soils. 



They also, until lately, hurt these cold lands by making use of a 

 large quantity of a bad sort of red clay marl, which they dug out 

 of every field. The effect produced was, to increase the tena- 

 city of the soil, and to render it still less fit for the purposes of 

 agriculture. Of this fact, all the intelligent part of the tenants 

 are themselves convinced, though some of those who are still 

 wedded to their old customs, lament the regulation which 

 prohibits them from using this article. On those farms where 

 the inclosures have been entirely renewed, and where, in con- 

 sequence, a portion of several of the ancient inclosures have 

 been thrown into one close, the bad effects of this system of 

 marling is perceived in a remarkable degree, and a distinct 

 line in the appearance of the crop, points out with precision 

 the land which had been formerly so treated, from that which 

 h id not- The consequence of this prohibition has been, that 

 the tenants have applied themselves much more to the use of 

 lime as a stimulant, which has repaid them, as might have 

 been expected. It has also put a stop to the rapid deterior- 

 ation of property, which was occasioned by the digging of the 

 pits, which every where disfigure and destroy a considerable 

 portion of the farms of this district. 



To level down these marl-pits, and to render them again Jit for 

 the purposes of husbandry, has been an object of great attention. 

 In this way there was applied the labour of a great proportion 

 of the parishioners, to whom, from time to time, employment 

 had been afforded, in those years when the circumstances of 

 the country rendered such an exertion of the landlord's bounty 

 necessary. This was more particularly the case in 1817 ; in 

 which year a vast body of men was employed on each of the 

 Marquess's estates. 



In another particular, the management of the stiff' soils might 

 be considerably amended ; which is, in the mode of working the 

 fallows, which are left too generally to grow full of weeds, in 

 place of being cleaned as they ought to be. The muck, also, 

 is laid on at an improper season of the year, bv which its good 

 effects rather go to encourage the growth of weeds, than to 

 improve the crop. At Trent ham, the .strong soils are of a far 

 superior quality, fit in every respect for the most improved 

 system of wheat and bean husbandry. But the lands were so 

 much subdivided, and the capital of a large proportion of the 

 tenants, until lately, was so inadequate to the right cultivation 

 of their land, that no improvement could take place or be 

 expected, and this estate remained stationary, amidst the 

 general progress which was so conspicuous in the other parts 

 of the county. These defects have been remedied in both 

 instances; and the introduction of some skilful farmers from 

 Shropshire and Cheshire, at Trentham, has given rise to that 

 spirit of enterprise which at present ci aracterises the tenants of 

 these estates, and which must prove so beneficial to the 

 country, by the additional surplus produce which will be 

 brought to market. 



The rotation which they followed, on both estates of the stiff" 

 soils, was, fallow, wheat, oats, clover. That is now altered, 

 by clover being substituted after the wheat; and an attempt 

 has been made to induce them to try a six-shift course of hus- 

 bandry, by introducing beans into their rotation. Little pro- 

 gress, however, has as yet been made in this experiment. 

 To this they have considerable objection, which arises from the 

 defective mode of cultivating their bean-crop. Ir. the first 

 place, they are unwilling to sow them in drills. They are, 

 besides, longer in planting them, and allow them to stand' later 

 in the year than they ought to do. The consequence is, that 

 their crop is often damaged, and the nutritious matter of the 

 bean-straw is entirely lost. They cannot be persuadi d, there- 

 fore, that it forms an excellent and nourishing food for horses 

 and cattle; and the complaint that they make of its being an 

 exhausting crop is quite correct, in consequence of their per- 

 mitting it to stand so long upon the ground. 



One improvement the tenants have paid much attention to, 

 and a more valuable one they could not adopt, which is the 

 construction of water-meadows. They have lost no opportunity 

 in making use of whatever water they could obtain for this 

 purpose- They were allowed the rough materials to construct 

 the flood-gates, and the example was shown them as to what 

 could be done in this respect to a very great extent at Tren- 

 tham. The value of this improvement is well known to 

 every experienced agriculturist in England, and no opportu- 

 nity should he lost in taking advantage of every circumstance 

 to promote its adoption. There has been lately finished a new 

 water-meadow on the home farm at Trentham, at the evp nse 

 of about twenty pounds an acre, which will now let for near 

 four pounds an acre, besides the advantage derived to the ad- 

 joining upland. This meadow was not worth ten shillings an 

 acre previous to such an improvement. It consists of a small 

 deep dingle, with steep banks, in which a copious spring rises 

 near the top: the upper part bting formed into a fish-pool. 

 From this head the water is conducted on the difierent Itvels 

 on each side, with the proper catch-water drains carrying the 

 water round the various knolls. The whole being adorned by 

 some fine trees, it forms for its extent a very perfect union ef 

 useful and ornamental farming. It shows how much may be 

 made of such a piece of land, incapable of any other sort of 

 ust ful occxipation. 



Much .money, however, in this neighbourhood has hern thrown 

 away by watering !<<>ul which has not been previously tho- 

 roughly drained ; this latter improvement is the foundation of 

 all others. Another mistake has also been fallen into, bv at- 

 tempting to convert into water-meadows peat soils, without 

 first bringing them to a pro)" r state of consistency by means 

 of repeated heavy rollings and top-dressings. A proportion of 

 ten acres of water-meadow to every hundred acres of pasture 

 or arable land, aelds at least two shillings and sixpence m\ itxe 



