rAllMERS' REGISTER— EXTRACTS. 



S65 



not the object of the nitre, I will briefly state its 

 use. By the addition of a small quantity of it, the 

 meat is prevented from absorbing- a far greater 

 amount of common salt, while, at the same time, it 

 is equally as liable to " keep," and in consequence 

 of this diminished quantity of salt, the meat is ren- 

 dered more tender, and retains its original sweet- 

 ness to a far greater degree than it otherwise would. 

 I would not, however, recommend a large quantity 

 of saltpetre, as it would thus prove injurious instead 

 of beneficial. About four ounces to every 100 lbs. 

 of meat will be amply sufficient. At the same 

 time a small quantity of refined sugar will mate- 

 rially add to its sweetness. 



The very respectable source of the communica- 

 tion referred to above has induced me to be some- 

 Avhat more lengthy in my remarks than I other- 

 wise would have been, but I trust that tlie impor- 

 tance of the subject will be a sufficient apology. 

 Yours, &c. siEDicrs. 



EXTRACTS FROM MARSHALL'S "RURAL ECO- 

 NOMY OF Norfolk" — and "rural eco- 



NOBIY of GLOCESTERSIIIRE." 



Cost of Marl. 



The farmers of Woodbastwick, in the southern 

 part of this district, have their marl chiefly from 

 Norwich, in boats round by Yarmouth 40 or 50 

 miles. Sometimes tliey bring it, by way of back 

 carriage, from Thorp-next-Norwich, [by land,] 

 about 6 miles ; at other times from Ilorstead, and 

 other neighboring pits, convenient for back car- 

 riage : none within 5 or 6 miles. 



The usual quantity set on, is 8 or 10 middling 

 loads an acre. At Norwich they pay one shilling — 

 at Horstead I8d. a load, uncallowed.* 



The carriage (as back carriage) is reckoned 

 worth about 3 shillings or 3 shillings G pence; so 

 that it costs them about 4 to 5 shillings a load ; or 

 50 to 60 shillings an acre, [or from :^11 66 to .^16 

 33.] 



The marl brought by wherries, is worth, at the 

 staith, [where landed] about 4 shillings the mid- 

 dling load. 



* * * * # 



Yesterday, procured the following particulars of 

 the expenses upon Norwich marl, brought round 

 by Yarmouth, and landed at the staiths, at Wood- 

 bastwick. 



Cost of a chaldron (^iL'cigJiinga clialdron of coals) 

 at Thorp, and putting it on board the lighters, 8 

 pence; ligliterage to Woodbastwick, round i)y 

 Yarmouth, 50 miles, 16 pence; together, 2 shil- 

 lings a chaldron. Two chaldrons make a middling 

 cart load ; 2^ chaldrons, a good load : 7 or 8 large 

 loads are esteemed sufficient for an acre — the ex 

 pense upon which stands thus : 

 The marl, (suppose 18 chaldrons,) at 2 shil- 

 lings, £1 16 

 Filling it at the staith — carting to a medium 

 distance, and spreading about, 15 pence a 

 load, 1 2 6 



Expense per acre, 



£2 18 6 



* These piices are for marl as it lies in the pit. " Uu- 

 callow," ill JsTorfulk language., means the earth which 

 lies over tlie " j.im," or body of marl. It may be gath- 

 ered elsewhere from the author, that this marl is highly 

 calcareous — [Ed. 



With the marl ought to be, and frequently is 

 laid on, a quantity of Yarmouth muck, equal in 

 expense to the marl. 



After this dressing, for about 10 years, the soil, 

 (a sandy loam, but stronger and deeper than the 

 Norfolk soil in general) throws out very great 

 crops ; and with the usual teathe* and ordinary 

 dungings, will feel tlie effect of the marl for 10 

 years longer. 



Before tlie use of marl, (whicli has not been 

 brought by water, I apprehend, above 10 or 15 

 years,) the farmers could grow no turnips ; the 

 land letting for 10 or 12 shillings an acre : now the 

 turnips upon it are remarkably fine; and the land 

 lets at full 20 shillings an acre ; a rent the occupi- 

 ers could not pay, were it not for marl. 



The distance between Woodbastwick and the 

 marl pits at Thorp-next-Norwich is not, by land, 

 more than 6 or 7 miles; yet the farmers rind it 

 cheaper to fetch their marl 50 miles by water, and 

 then carry it, jierhaps, half a mile from the staith 

 to the ground, than fetch it these 6 or 7 miles by 

 land. What an advantage, in some cases, is water 

 carriage to a farmer, and consequently to an es- 

 tate. 



Unproductiveness of a Falrstead. 



The Bidlock Hill, at St. Faith's, is said to re- 

 ceive no benefit from the teathe of the bullocks, 

 which every year are shown on it daily, during a 

 fortnight or three weeks. 



This year it was in wheat ; andif one may judge 

 from the stubble (notwithstanding the wheat was 

 dunged for,) the crop was a very inditrcrcnt one. 

 The soil a lightish sandy loam. 



This is an interesting fact. It is said to be ow- 

 ing to the worthlessncss of the teathe of " drove 

 bullocks." This I much doubt, however ; for the 

 bullocks, being many of them in high case, and 

 kept in grazing grounds about St. Faith's, some of 

 them perhaps, within a quarter of a mile of the 

 Hill, the driving is little more than the driving of 

 sheep to a fold. Some of them may, no doubt, come 

 on to the Hill immediately from Scotland; and 

 they are all of them, of course, driven more or 

 less ; and there may be some truth in this opinion. 



That the teathe of lean stock, and more particu- 

 larly of cows, is much inferior to that of fatting bul- 

 locks, is a fact universally acknov/ledged through- 

 out this country ; and this may in some measure 

 be accounted for from the oleaginous matter carried 

 off by tlie milk of cows, and imbibed by the vas- 

 cular carcasses of lean stock in general. On the 

 same principle, if stock be hard driven, and much 

 exhausted by perspiration, and want of regular 

 nourishment, their teathe may become insipid and 

 of little use to land ; consequently, this reasoning 

 may in part be applicable to the Bullock Hill at 

 St. Faith's: but, as before has been observed, 

 there are numbers that come in good condition, and 

 from good pastures, at a very small distance from 

 the Fair-hill, and there is no obvious reason why 

 the teathe of those should not be nearly equal to 

 that of other fatting cattle: therefore, upon the 

 whole, it seems that driving alone does not produce 

 this interesting fact. 



May we not venture to think it possible, that 



* " Teathe" is a provincial term used to express the 

 dung and urine derived from the penning or grazing of 

 iMttle on arable land. — [Ed, 



