^52 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



For Vie New England Farmer. 



EURAL ECONOMY OF THE BRITISH 

 ISLES-IJo. 10. 



EASTERN COtJNTIES — MIDDLESEX, HERTFOKD, ESSEX. 



The Eastern counties of England are ten, to wit, 

 Middlesex, Hertford, Essex — Suffolk, Norfolk, Bed- 

 ford and Northampton — Cambridge, Huntington 

 and Lincoln. 



^Middlesex, Hertford and Essex may be called 

 metropohtan counties, from their proximity to Lon- 

 don. Middlesex, esjjecially, which is the first coun- 

 ty we enter on crossing the Thames, has no agri- 

 cultural importance ; it is small in extent, and almost 

 entirely occupied by the immense metropolis of the 

 British Empire. Beyond the town ])roperly so called 

 all that is not in villas or gardens, is under grass, 

 either natural or artificial ; the hay from which is 

 sold in London or goes to supjjly the dairies of the 

 capital. I'roximity to such a large population af- 

 fords enormous supplies of manure, by which the 

 fertility of the soil is renewed. It is admitted, how- 

 ever, that farming, in the neighborhood of London, 

 is not what it might be. High as rents for arable 

 land are — averaging $10 the acre — they do not 

 reach the rents paid in other parts of England. The 

 agriculture of the surrounding counties makes itself 

 felt, through the railroads, to the very gates of the 

 city. Farms in the environs, average one hundred 

 acres — some are three or four hundred, but many 

 are below one hundred. Among the most skilful- 

 ly managed, is one at Willcsden, of 100 acres, en- 

 tirely in grass, 60 in natural meadow, and 40 in 

 Italian rye-grass, and let at §18,75 the acre. 



Immediately to the north of London is the small 

 county of Hertford, which like Surrey on the south, is 

 filled with villas and gardens. It possesses one of the 

 most remarkable establishments in England, namely 

 the laboratory of agricultural chemistry, belonging 

 to Mr. La WES, the only establishment of the kind 

 now existing. A private individual has established 

 and sujjports, at his own ex])ense, a costly enter- 

 prise, which, elsewhere, governments have declined 

 to undertake. All England looks to the results of 

 experiments there carried on, and it has already 

 furnished valuable information as to the kinds of 

 manures best suited to the different crops and soils, 

 The laboratory is on the scale of a regular manu- 

 factory, with steam engine, enormous furnaces, (S:c., 

 and the entire carcases of cattle are reduced to ashes, 

 for the purpose of exact analysis. A piece of ground 

 of 12 or 15 acres serves as a field for trying exper- 

 iments with different manures. 



The impression prevails in England that further 

 progress in agriculture must be by the aid of sci- 

 ence, that expense or capital has done nearly all it 

 can ; and a half hour's conversation with the first 

 farmer one meets, and his talk of ammonia and 

 phosphates, will convince you that the agricultural 

 mind is running into agricultural chemistry, how 

 wisely, and with what results, time will show. 

 That it is difficult to lift the veil that covers the 

 mysterious processes of nature, all will admit — that 

 it will never be lifted, so that we can act intelligent- 

 ly in the cultivation of the earth and the rearing of 

 animals, who will say? Agricultural chemistry 

 seems to have established and explained the fact 

 that the most successful manure for grass land is 

 bone dust ; and farmers in England willingly pay 

 proprietors seven per cent, annually of the expense 

 of laying this powerful manure upon the soil ; as 



upon every four acres they say it gives them suffi- 

 cient extra food for an additional cow. Chemistry 

 says the jahosphates are taken out of the soil by the 

 constant carrying away of the milk, and requires to 

 be renewed. One or two tons of ground bones are 

 used to the acre, the effect of which is immediate 

 and lasts for fifteen or twenty years. 



Next to these two counties comes the county of 

 Essex, containing, like Sussex and Kent, about a 

 million acres, and it much resembles these counties 

 in its history. Though so near to London, its ag- 

 riculture is not in good condition — it almost all 

 rests upon clay ; and its system of farming, for this 

 reason, has, like that of Sussex, cereals for its object. 

 For the same cause, there is a greater division of 

 farms than in three-quarters of England — the farms 

 generally varying from one hundred to three hun- 

 dred acres. Many farms are cultivated by their 

 own proprietors. Properties in this county have 

 generally been mortgaged to the extent of more 

 than half their value ; and carried on therefore with 

 little capital. The result has been foreclosures, 

 and a pretty large number of forced sales. The 

 English attribute this result to too great division of 

 property — I should attribute it to want of capital 

 to furnish stock and carry on the farms. Large 

 proprietors, as a general thing, have more capital 

 than small ones, in pro])ortion to the extent of their 

 propertj- — often more intelligence ; but a proprie- 

 tor of a moderate sized property, of capital pro- 

 portioned thereto, and equal intelligence, will carry 

 it on better than a large pro])rietor, as I think. — 

 That sized farm is the best which most reduces the 

 expenses of production ; but capital, cai)ital, with 

 intelligence, is the thing in farming, as well as in 

 manufacturing; and a small farm can do better 

 without capital, than a large one. 



Fortunately for Essex, it possesses one of those 

 energetic individuals, who is of a spirit to contend 

 with the difficulties by which farming is surround- 

 ed in that county. This is Mr, Mechi, a cutler by 

 trade, but devoted to agi-iculture, who owns the fa- 

 mous farm of Tiptree Hall, situated in one of the 

 worst parts of the county, and often visited and 

 described by foreign agriculturists. All that the 

 inventive spirit of the English could imagine to 

 make the soil produce to its utmost extent, and 

 overcome the resistance of clay lands, is employed 

 by this indefatigable man. The farm is of about 

 170 acres, the average size of farming and property 

 in the county ; the farm was originally of marshy 

 land, which had resisted hitherto all kinds of cul- 

 ture. The soil has been relieved of stagnant water 

 by thorough draining, and then turned up to the 

 depth of two feet, and transformed by means of the 

 most powerful fertilizers. In the centre is a steam 

 engine, the soul, as it were, of the farm. Mr. Me- 

 chi feeds on the farm, besides working horses, 100 

 horned cattle, 150 sheep, and 200 pigs, or equal to 

 about one head of cattle per acre ; and these ani- 

 mals are entirely stall-fed, and grow and fatten al- 

 most perceptibly. There is scarcely any natural 

 pasture on the farm ; one-half is in wheat and bar- 

 ley, the other half in artificial fodder and roots. 



It must not be supposed that this farm presents 

 the true state of EngUsh agriculture. It is rather a 

 vigorous effort, than a success — more admired than 

 imitated. It is said Mr, ISIechi sinlis a good deal 

 of money on his experiments. But if he does, I 

 may, with some show of reason, prefer his extrav- 

 agance in farming, to that of the men (who are 



