1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



303 



provides for a larger number more equally. Be- 

 sides, the gross produce is greater on smaller farms 

 than on large, when they are not deficient in capi- 

 tal and skill, as is shown in these counties. A tour 

 through this smiling county is very pleasant ; for 

 there are no lands in the world so well dressed by 

 the hand of man. Kenilworth and Warwick, with 

 their historical associations and the delightful banks 

 of the Avon, are additional attractions to such an 

 excursion. 



What I have remarked in respect to Warwick- 

 shire applies equally to the neighboring counties of 

 Worcester and Leicester. The valley of the Avon 

 runs into Worcestershire, carrying along with it 

 the same beauty and fruitfulness. Leicestershire 

 is perhaps richer still. This county is famous for 

 the Stilton cheese and for the farm of Dishley 

 Grange, once occupied by Bakewell, from whence 

 emanated the great principle of the transformation 

 m breeds of domestic animals, one of the most val- 

 uable conquests of human genius. 



Staffordshire affords, prol)ably, one of the most 

 striking examples, in England, of the influence 

 which the vicinity of manufactures exercises on ag- 

 riculture. This county is not naturally fertile, and 

 mountains, barren and wild, run through it. Owing 

 to the extraordinary progress manufactures are 

 every day making, the population of the county 

 exceeds G0O,()U0 upon an area of 730,000 acres. 

 With such a mass of pojnilation the land must be 

 stubborn indeed, Avhich cannot be forced to pro- 

 duce. The potteries and iron foundries produce 

 the immense wealth, which re-acts on agriculture. 

 Large property predominates in Staffordshire, as 

 in all counties, not naturally fertile. 



Averse as we are to the relation of landlord and 

 tenant in the United States, one cannot but admire 

 the confidence and kindly relation which exists be- 

 tween landlord and tenant, in England. From gen- 

 eration to generation tenants hold their lands in 

 their own families, under leases that run from year 

 to year, and make great outla}s on the lands, and 

 generally refuse a longer lease, when oft'ered to 

 them. In this county, is Drayton Manor, a few- 

 years since the residence of Sir llobertPeel. When 

 he carried the repeal of the corn-laws, he caused 

 all his lands to be drained, at his own expense, upon 

 condition that the tenants paid him four per cent, 

 on the outlay, which terms they accepted ; and then 

 revised their rents, reducing all such as were not 

 moderate enough, which were few, and offered his 

 farmers long leases. These they refused, preferring 

 the yearly tenantry, under which they had held 

 their lands for generations, in their families. These 

 estates of Sir Robert are the model of good man- 

 agement. The excellent state of the roads and 

 buildings, the levellings and drainage, the good 

 cottages with gardens for the laborers, the most 

 improved implements, the most productive meth- 

 ods, everywhere the best crops and the best cattle, 

 all speak not only of a high state of agriculture, but 

 of a fortune used by the ])roprietor, as entrusted to 

 his care, to bring forth fruit, under his hands, for 

 the greatest good of the community. 



Nottinghamshire is a hilly country bordering on 

 the mountainous. In former times Sherwood For- 

 est covered the greater part of these hills. It was 

 the region of Robin Hood and his exploits. Ow- 

 ing to the sterility and barreness of the soil, it has 

 continued in the possession of a few noblemen, who, 

 for their own enjoyment, have laid it out in fine 



parks and extensive estates. The district now goes 

 by the name of the Dukeny, from the number of 

 ducal residences it contains. There is not much to 

 interest the agricultural student ; though there are 

 some extensive and very expensive systems of irri- 

 gation to be seen in the county, and nurseries and 

 plantations of all kinds of trees. In parts where 

 attempts to improve the land have not been attended 

 with success, some noblemen have set about plant- 

 ing regular forests. And it will be ascertained how 

 far these forests, sown and planted by man, com- 

 posed of selected trees, freed from all parasital veg- 

 etation, carefully thinned, will be superior to those 

 natural forests, which have grown up of themselves. 

 Derbyshire is one of the most picturesque coun- 

 ties of England, and is visited by crowds during the 

 summer. Chatsworth, the magnificent residence of 

 the Duke of Devonshire, is in this county, which 

 everybody has heard of, and which is thrown open 

 to the public with great liberality. One is struck, 

 in its gardens and magnificent park, that, at the 

 owner's expense, it is kept up more for the enjoy- 

 ment of the public than his own ; and that the time 

 will come when no private fortune can stand such 

 expense. The county is mountainous and much 

 devoted to pasture, the rearuig of cattle and the 

 making of cheese. M. 



For t/ie New England Farmer. 



WHITEWASHING EOOFS. 



Having read the inquiries of a correspondent, and 

 the remarks of the editor upon the subject, I ofi'er 

 to "show mine opinion." 



Within two years I have reshingled two barns, 

 and several sheds and out-buildings, and have used 

 for the purpose both hemlock and chestnut half- 

 inch boards, cut two feet in length, and laid eleven 

 inches to the weather, unseasoned and fastened 

 with sixpenny nails. Instead of laying by line, 

 I use straight-edged boards, eleven inches wide, 

 and extending the length of the roof. These are 

 kept in place by means of a quarter-inch bit and 

 40d spikes, two to each board, and the holes are af- 

 terwards plugged. With a broom and thick white- 

 wash, in which salt forms an important ingredient, 

 that part of the shingle which lies above the board 

 is saturated. This course is followed with each suc- 

 cessive layer of shingles, until the roof is complet- 

 ed, when the whole surface should be brushed over, 

 beginning at the top. If the above method is 

 adopted there is no danger of the evil consequences 

 which attend painted roofs. I see not why the 

 same method will not be of equal advantage where 

 the ordinary shaved or sawed shingles are used. 



The advantages of whitewashing are — 



1. It prevents checking. 



2. It prevents the rot in the jiart which is not 

 exposed to sight ; and 



3. It prevents the growth of moss on the sur- 

 face. 



I was led to adopt the use of whitewash for the 

 above purpose, by hearing an old mason say, that 

 "where lime mortar had i'allen on the roof in top- 

 ping out a chimney, he had found the shingles that 

 had been thus spattered remaining sound when the 

 rest of the roof was decayed." It is known that in 

 England, timber that is to be exposed to the 

 weather is first saturated in lime-vats. 



Phkehas Field. 



l^asl Charlcmont, Feb., 1856. 



