A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



place of farm horses. There was this advantage where the ploughed marsh 

 was away from the homestead ; the animals were turned into the grasses 

 adjoining and shifted for themselves till the next day's work called them to 

 the plough. Not many young men cared to work them, and they are now 

 rarely seen at work. The Devon was the breed mostly used. 



Occasionally it occurs that arable fields adjoining the homestead are laid 

 down to grass, but the climate in Suffolk is too dry for rapid formation of a 

 good bottom of turf. But where it is fed and not mown, and liberally 

 treated, there are places where, since corn-growing has been unprofitable, 

 some newly laid down pastures are becoming fair feeding grounds. 



The only instance of breaking up land from what may have been 

 termed ' pasture ' in the agricultural returns has been on light sheep land. 

 It is ploughed up for a crop of roots or oats, sown with cheap seeds, and again 

 left to re-fertilize itself. 



The crops grown in Suffolk comprise the following : Cereals : Wheat, 

 barley, oats, peas, beans, rye. Roots and Cattle Feed : Mangolds, swedes, kohl 

 rabi, turnips, cabbages, carrots. Fodder and Sheep Feed : Red clover, white 

 clover, alsac, lucerne, rye-grass, sainfoin, trefoil, trifolium, rye, colewort or rape, 

 tares, lupins, natural grass. Other Crops : Hops, flax, potatoes, sugar beet. 



There is nothing unusual about cereals either in kind or treatment. 

 The chief sorts of wheat now in fashion are the old Kentish Red under various 

 names, the rough-chaffed Tunstal, and occasionally a little early sown 

 Talavera. Of course, there are endless varieties in the seedsmen's catalogues, 

 some of which find favour in one place and some in another. 



Of barley there are various names, but perhaps the most universally sown 

 variety is the old Chevallier introduced many years ago by an ancestor of the 

 present owner of Aspall Hall, near Debenham. Winter barley, drilled in the 

 autumn, has been cultivated very successfully in the Lavenham district. 



Both black and white oats are grown ; the Tartarian produces an 

 abundant crop. The heavy Canadian White finds favour in some places, but 

 is not widely patronized. 



Winter beans are displacing the old spring kind, and are grown on lands 

 which some years ago were not thought stiff enough to produce a bean crop 

 at all. Peas are considered an uncertain crop. The fine old Pheasant Eye 

 has given way to modern kinds, and a few farmers grow peas of a delicate 

 character for seed growers, the farmer having the seed found him and a 

 contract in price for the crop. 



Rye is only grown as a crop, on the poorest soils ; the produce is 

 chiefly retailed out for seed to the flockmasters for early sheep-feed. 



Among roots it may be mentioned that mangolds are increasing in 

 acreage. The yellow globe, and tankard-shaped orange, are favourite 

 varieties, but the long red is grown on marsh or low lands, and produces 

 enormous weights per acre. The latter keeps sound into summer, but the 

 idea is prevalent that it is not so rich in fattening qualities as the yellow and 

 orange varieties. 



Swedes are mostly up and hoed out in the northern counties before the 

 Suffolk farmer has drilled his. Compared with the crops grown in Scotland 

 our swedes are miserably small. If sown early they are subject to lice and 

 mildew in September. There has been recently a great increase in the area 



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