vii] THE RISE OF THE SANDS 103 



water to be utilised. Thus the value of a sand 

 depends very much on its situation. A soil that 

 is fairly uniform may be fertile in one place where 

 water is available, but infertile in another not far 

 off, where the water is out of reach. Where cultiva- 

 tion is possible it is very easy : the land can be 

 worked almost directly after rain, seeds can (and in 

 fact must) be sown early in the year, and crops ripen 

 quickly and easily. 



The sands that most resemble the loams the so- 

 called sandy loams have usually been in cultivation 

 as far back as any record goes. The lighter sands 

 have only slowly been taken up, and the process is 

 not yet complete, considerable areas being still left 

 as waste. 



The stretch of country surrounding Fakenham and 

 Wells in Norfolk is classical ground for the student 

 of agricultural history. It was to Raynham, near 

 Fakenham, that Charles, second Viscount Townshend, 

 retired in 1730, after his political life was over, and 

 began those farming experiments that were destined 

 profoundly to influence our methods of husbandry. 

 At the outset the land was a barren sandy waste. 

 His first step was to apply marl which considerably 

 increased its productiveness. This, however, was no 

 new discovery ; marl was well known in Norfolk, 

 although it had long fallen into disuse. Lord 

 Townshend's great advance was the clearness with 



