115G 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



rough to Lincoln, afforded a navigation of the utmost conse- 

 quence to t hi-* fertile country . 



Some Irriffotioni and warphuf. on tin* (lumber, where, as 

 i> ii int.), it was Invented* 



9 Live ttock. 



More attended to in thw count* than the culture of corn. 

 The I >n r uq ihorl ho referred, but any tort 



Bitten well, md there >^ Utile dairying. 



< aunty carries one sheep and m half pern 

 average. Lincoln breed prei I estei much tried* and 



n them frequent ; upon interior l uid the I 

 let pref rred, i t itting e latex ; since the en< losurt no folding ; 

 ien r.ii rain to li tie*. 

 Boreet. ol the bee -■ black kind a food deal bred both for 

 d coaches j In various places taddle horse-, also ; some 

 fanners keep their horses all the wint r Ln open sheds, with 

 Uttered ranu tor them to go out and in at pleasure* Ground- 

 id ..ii'ii, said to nire the grease; oats malted In saltwater 



■teen for three weeks or a month, found preferable to spring 

 phvsl - 

 Rabbits. Several -van-ens on the wolds. 



.in, il. much kept In the fens, and p'.ucked four or 

 five times a rear. " The father-, of a dead goose worth six- 

 pence] three giving a pound* But plucking alive does not 

 rleld more than three-pence pes lead, per annum. Some 

 wing them onlv even quarter, taking t'n leaders from each 

 goose* which sell at five shillings a thousand. Plucked geese 

 pay in feathers one shilling a head in \\ lldmuor fen. 



](). Political Economy. 



i; ids in many place* made of silt ; ** dreadfully dusty and 

 hi- »vv m dry weather : on a thaw or day's rain like mort.tr.'* A 



iiiiiii >er of can ds, and, as already observed 3802. , the first ir 

 England, made from Lincoln to the sea. A fabric of brushes 

 and sacking at Gainsborough ; flax spun in various places. An 

 agricultural society at Falkingham, established in 17'J'». 



7802. RUTLANDSHIRE. 91,000 acres, resembling in soil and surface the uplands of the adjoining 

 county of Lincolnshire. The western part of the county is under grass, and the eastern chiefly in aration. 

 The soil Is almost every Where loamy and rich ; and the agriculture partaking of that of Lincolnshire and 

 Leicestershire. The operative classes seem more comfortable in this county, and more humanely treated 

 by the proprietors and farmers, than in many others. The Earl of Winchelsea has made great exertions 

 to this effect {Crutchley % s Report, 1791 Parkinson's General Review, 1808. Marshals Review, 1812.) 



1. Buildings. 



comfortable cottages built by the Earl of Winchelsea, 

 containing * kitchen, parlour, dairy, and cow- house, &c. with 

 I rooms over. 



< 'ihers for three cows, and with a calf-house, piggery, dairy, 

 kiteh n, living-room, and two bed-rooms over. 



A third sort for operatives without a row, containing a 

 kitchen, pantrji closet in the stair over, and two bed-rooms, 

 one with a lire. Several with small farms of from five to 

 twenty acres attached. (Jig. I0i»7.) 



1007 



Arable Lands. 

 Generally better managed than in Lincolnshire, and very 

 productive. The barley said to be of very superior quality. 



.'$. Pasture. 



Chiefly upland. The custom of letting part of it to labourers, 

 and also of taking in labourers' cows at so much per head, pre- 

 vails, and is encouraged hy the Karl of Winchelsea. 



4 Several Orchards. 



In several places the cottagers take small portions of fields 

 from the fanners to use as gardens. At one place, three acres 

 and a half is divided into fourteen gardens ; and at Oakham, a 

 field of three acres is divided into twenty-four gardens, and let 

 at five shillings per g mien. 



• r >. Improvements. 



Parkinson, one of the reporters, and a man of sound judg- 

 ment, has altered his opinion on the subject of irrigation, and 

 says, it is now in conformity with that of a correspondent who 



thus writes to hbn ; — " In my opinion watering renders the 

 quality of the herbage and the land the worse for the process. 

 Where land is tolerably produ tive, and in a situation m here a 

 qu unity of grass food is not required, I should certainly not 

 advise it. I think the land may be turned to better account 

 without it. But I think there are many situations, particularly 

 on gravel, sand, or open soils, where it may be very advantage- 

 ous; the produce, by such means, is certain y much increased, 

 and, in some instances, rendered larger when very little other- 

 wise would be produced. Though the produce is increased, 

 yet it becomes in time, in a few y ears, of so coarse a nature, and 

 mixed with rushes and plants, that cattle frequently refuse to 

 eat it ; and when it is eaten, the appearance of the cattle pro- 

 claims it far from being of a nutritious nature " He adds, u I 

 was formerly an advocate for irrigation, and am still on such 

 soils as are described in the above extract ; but having had since 

 opportunities of viewing several water meadows which have 

 been of long standing, which have operated to the disadvantage 

 of both the herbage and land, 1 have been obliged, in a great 

 measure, to alter my opinion." 



6. Live Stock. 



Not much breeding, but chiefly feeding. P. considers that 

 much depends on the application to fallow, and is of opinion, 

 that the large Durham ox did not eat more food to raise nim to 

 that enormous size, than some others would to bring them to 

 half the size or weight at the same age. Nor is it at all probable 

 that Lambert, of Leicester, who arrived at such an astonishing 

 weight, had eaten more food than Towel I, the celebratea 

 pedestrian, who was a very thin man. An animal for the 

 shambles is seldom too large if he has an aptitude to ratten : 

 and much depends on the constitution of an animal in this 

 respect. 



A good plan for washing sheep at Burleigh ; but not so sim- 

 ple as the Duke of Bedford's. 



Horse* of a very heavy, slow, unprofitable sort are raised in 

 the county. 



Of oeej,1176 hives kept by the cottagers. 



7. Pol/tical Economy. 



The Leicestershire and Rutlandshire Agricultural Society 

 established in 1S06, meet at Melton Mowbray and Oakham 

 alternately. Less want of knowledge in this county than in 

 most others. 



7803. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 617,600 acres of billowy surface, rich in woodlands and pasture 

 lands, but much behind in the culture of corn. The soil is almost every where excellent ; and by the 

 introduction of good husbandry, the marketable produce of the county might be amazingly increased. 

 {Donaldson's Report, 1794. Pitt's Report, 180o. Marshal's Review, 1812.) 



1. Geographical State and Circumstances. 



Climate. Favourable both to health and vegetation ; exempted 

 from deep falls of snow and Long-continued rains ; highest point 

 in the county supposed about .S<>0 feet above the level of the 



sea, and there is neither mountain nor bog. Donaldson found 

 thai wlie.it harvest gener. illy commences here about a fortnight 

 earlier than In P< rthshlre. 



Soil. Great pan on i calcareous lw>ttom, limestone, schisms, 

 or slate, and the remainder of sandstone. The surface earths 

 i as strong and deep loam, light thin reddish soil, 

 thin light day, and ten and meadow. 



Mimeralt, < fuvj , limestone, marl, freestone, and slate. 

 S Property, 



Almost whoiiv m large estates i thim-seven of or above 3000/. 

 a year, half of which are from 6000/. to 10,000/. ; menaced l.\ 

 stewards. ' ^ J 



S Buildings. 



Althorpe, Burleigh, and Castle Ashby, noble mansions. 



1 ■ idt] st r u c t ed as Improper)] placed;" 



built of stone or bruit, and covered with state or straw ; Farmers 



and their t.irm.Ti.-s crowded together in towns and villages; 



pottages of mud end thatch. 



I Occupation, 



No targe farms; l.~>0 acres the average of open fields, and 

 200 the average of inland farms ; few or no leases. 



~> Implements, 



" Plough i ctumn piece of work, with a long massy beam 

 and timber mould, being drawn by four or live hoi 

 line." Donaldson says, a small plough, with two horse s abreast, 

 will make better work ; but Pitt (who seems to know very 

 Uttle of the matter) joins with Smith of TuchmSXSb, **ho 



I have heard and read much on the subject, and tried a 



R'. ploughs ; but it is ridiculous to eaten that tu o 

 one. can plough sbreast in almost any part of this County. 1 



I I with no ploughs which serve so well(!) or run 10 easy 

 as the ploughs in common uses." So much for the Ignorance 

 and presumptiou of Farmer Smith, and the prejudiced 



opinions of Pitt the reporter. A ribbed or plated roller, 

 formed by letting in sixteen bars of iron lengthways of the 

 roller, is found preferable either to a spiky or smooth roller for 

 breaking clods. 



6. Arable Land. 



Fallow, wheat, and beans, the common rotation, but others* 

 which include turnips and clovers, beginning to be introduced 

 on the light lands. Most of the other p ants in cultivation tried 

 by amateurs or others. Woad cultivated by two woad growers, 

 who live in the county ; it requires rich old pasture land, for 

 which the woad grower pays the landlord from Si, toll, per 

 acre, per annum, for two or three years, the farmer being com- 

 pelled to give it up for that term, and to take to it again after- 

 wards at the old rent- The land is ploughed early in spring, 

 well harrowed, and sown broadcast, as thick as grain, by hand- 

 fuls; a great deal of harrowing and dressing is necessary to 

 bring it to fine tilth. When the pi mts appear, they are hoed, 

 and kept perfectly clean, In a garden style of culture, and the 

 crop appears somewhat like a broadcast crop of spinach ; the 

 leaves are gathered by hand, in baskets, three times in a season 

 (except a plot sometimes saved for seed), and carted to a mill f 

 where they are ground to a pulpy mass, by vertical wheels, 

 crossed with iron plates, and moved round by horses: this 

 pounce, or jelly, is then formed into balls, by band, and dried 

 on hurdles, In a shed; these balls are afterwards broken up, 

 and fermented, and finally dried in small lumps, somewhat re- 

 sembling hor>e-dung in colour and appearance; it is then 

 packed up in casks for use. 



Onions cultivated to great perfection about Northampton; 

 TiO quarters known to have been sent to Daventry fair at one 

 tune. 



Tobacco cultivated by some farmers for the purpose of dress- 

 ing sheep for the scab. 

 Furze in a few places for oven-fuel. 



7. dross. 



Supposed to cover 375,000 acres j 40,000 acres in meadow, 



on the borders of the Ken and other rivers. One farmer says, 



A great improvement on all mowing meadows, incapable of 



