1128 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



wealds 100 acres. Size on the Downs liiOO to 2000 acres, 

 lithe taken in kind in manj places, m others compounded 

 for. Poor's rates higft. '^"^ . r 



5. Implements. "' ' ", ^'", 

 Plough with two wheels, lar^e aad'sfngufarry clumsy. The 



Kotherham plough introduced, and deemtd a real imprjve- 

 ment. Several excellent new iuiplenieuts introJuced by tlie 

 noblemen ahready mentioned. 



6. Enclosing. 

 County enclosed from earliest antiquity ; fields small ; 



hedges very irregular and broad. Wiite thorn fences at Good- 

 wood, by the Duke of Richmond, trained in a masterly man- 

 ner ; being like walls, or rather hogged manes of verdure rising 

 troin the earth. ^ 



7. Arable land. 

 Tillage bad, three or fbiur horses to a plough with a holder 



and driver ; plough from one half to three quarters of an acre 

 a d ly ; fallowing general on the stitF soils, llotation bad, 

 l>arley often follows wheat. Wheat trod in on the sandy lands ; 

 threshed by flail, and generally cleaned with a shovl and 

 broom ; one or two threshing and winnowing machines. Oats 

 a great deal cultivated on the wealds. Peas much cultivated 

 on tlie South Downs. Hops much cultivated on tl.e eastern 

 part of the county ; but not found profitable. Rhubarb, and 

 the poppy for opium cultivated by E. of Egretnont. The roots 

 ot the rhubsrb, after growing seven or eiglit years, are taken 

 up, washed, dried in the sun, and then cut in slices md diied 

 on the hot-house flues. (6176.) lucikions are made in the poppy 

 heads, and the exuded juice, wluoi dry, scraped off into an 

 earthen vessel, dried in the sun, arid preserved for use. Inci- 

 sions are made as long as milk flows. Andre, the domestic 

 surgeon, uses the hoirje-grown rhubarb and opium, and no 

 other. Saintfoin does well on the chalky soi's, and lucerne 

 near Eastbourne and Brighton. Lord I-'gremont tried 100 

 acres of chiccory, and found it support muc-Ii stock, though on 

 a poor soil. " 



8. Grass Land. 

 Badly managed ; overrun with rubb-sh. One person trLd 



hiy oiled when stacking ; ha.oiled every layer, with a watering 

 pan and rose, lightly with linseed oil ; the'h^v came out moist 

 and clammy; and it is SMid that heists, and sheep were fond 

 of it, but it was deemed too hot for horses. Salt sprinkled 

 o\ hay when a little damaged found a great advantage ; it is 

 done in stacking. 



9. Orchards. 

 Some considerable orchards, and cider made. One or two 



hg orchards at Tarring, near Worthing. (See Encvc. of Gard. 

 Hussex.) 



10. IVoodsand Plantations, 175,000 acres. 

 County celebrated from the remotest antiquity for the grow h 



of its timber, especially oak. Omnty at tlie conquest one 

 continued fore>t, which extended from Hampshire to Kent. 

 Underwoods out at twelve years, for hoops and bop-poles. 

 Ash the most profitable underwood. Finest oak timber at 

 Petworth. 



11. Wastes. 

 Of considerable extent to the north of the county. Some 



hundreds of acres improved by E. of Egretnont answer well. 



\% Improvements. 

 ,jB. of Egremont sent for Elkington to find water to fill a 

 l^kfi. K. undertook to do so ; but all his trials and predictions 

 of the ellect of certain borings and oi>en cuts, which he caused 



7780. 



to be made, proved abortive and false : no water was found, 

 failed in three remarkable instances at I'etworth, but drained 

 a meadow very well. Lord Egremont considers him as not 

 a scientific drainer, but a very good common drainer, and 

 nothing more. 

 13. Livestock. 



Cattle and sheep among the best in the kingdom ,- total 

 aniount of sheep kept is about 0,000; cattle red; little 

 dairymg; generally breeding and fe.dmg. Oxen worked ex- 

 tensively by L. of Egremont and Lord hhetfield ; broken to 

 the yoke at two years and a half; yokes fivj feit long used 

 and preferred by Loid Egremont. Lord Sheffield harnesses 

 the same as tor horses j twelve oxfen and nine horses required 

 to work 200 acres in tillage. ' For hoven cattle one quart of 

 linseed oil given, which vomits them directh , and never fails 

 in giving relief. South Down sheep celebrated. Ellman the 

 first breeder both of cows and sheep; breids from the same 

 race. New Leicester and Spanish breeds introduced to the 

 county by Lord Sheffield. ItabbiU abound and flourish everr 

 where, and are the nuisance of the county. Fowls fattened to 

 great perfection at .North ( happel and Kinsford: food, oaU 

 ground, hog's grease, sugar, pot liquor, and milk, all mixed; 

 or oats, treacle> and suet y al.-o, shiep's plucks; they are kept 

 very wai-m, and cramintd morning and night; put into the 

 coop two or three days before they begin to cram them, which 

 is done for a fortnight, when they weigh 7 or 8 lbs. each, and 

 are sold to the higglers ; average weight 5 lbs., but some weigh 

 double. One of Lord Egremont's tenants crams 2lK) fowls a 

 year ; many capons fed in tiiis manner; great art requisite in 

 castrating them, and numbeis die in the operation. 'I'he 

 Dorking or Darking fowls extensively raised in the wealds of 

 Sussex ; Horsham principal market for them. 



The fish-pmtds on the weald are innumtrable : carp the 

 chief stock ; 1 nt tench, perch, eels, and pike, are raised. A 

 stream shouUl always flow through the pond, and a marly 

 soil is best. Carp fed with peas in marlpits have weighed 

 25 lbs. per brace. Carji kept five years before selling; then 

 twelve to fifteen inches long ; 100 stores, or one-year-old carp 

 will stock an acre. At one year old, carp is three inches long 

 at two years o'd, seven ; at flirce, eleven or twelve inches 

 at four, fourteen or fifteen ; and then they breed. Ixird Egre- 

 mont has breeding and feeding ponds; fishes them every three 

 years. 



14. Rural Economy. 



Labour high, as smuggling attracts away many young men. 

 1.^. Political Ecunoviy. 



Roads bad on the clayey districts, good on the chalkv. Rother 

 river rendert d navigable at Lord Egremont's expens'e. Fairs 

 numerous. Manufacturesof iron, charcoal, gunpowder, paper, 

 bricks, and potash. i.arge court of ixxir-houscs at Eastbourne, 

 of which a plan and elevation is given in the" Report." In 

 1772, a society was established at Lewes for the encourage- 

 ment of agriculture, manufacture, and industry, by John Baki r 

 Holroyd, Esq., now Lo' d SheHield, and premiums offlrtd ; 

 but, on the breaking out of tl e war in 1778, it was dropped. 

 In 1797 Lord Egremont established a society at Lewes, and 

 gave large premiums. This society stiU exists. The patiioiic 

 and charitable exertions of E. of Egremont are most exten- 

 sive. He gives away to proper objects immense quantities of 

 clothes ; food twite a week ; feasts all the labouring classes at 

 Christmas ; and keeps a surgeon, apothecary's shop, and mid- 

 wife, entirely for their service: they are also inoculated, and 

 instructed gratis, &c, 



KENT {Cant or Angle) forms the south-east corner of the kingdom, and extends over <'00,5r0 

 It is diversified by clialky eminences in some places, low marshy grounds on the Thames and part 

 of the sea-coast, and an inland, flat, and woody tract bordering on Sussex, calletl the Weald, or wood 

 (Saxon). It is one of the oldest cultivated counties in England ; it was noted even by Julius Caesar, as 

 " the civilest place of all this isle, and full of riches." Viewed from the great road from Dover to London, 

 it has, with the exception of the Downs near Dover, a more garden-like appearance than any county in 

 Uritain. Its agriculture is various ; and it is celebrated for the culture of hops, fruits, barley, and various 

 g**den crops. {Boy's Kent, 1796. Marshal's Beview, \818. ^.Smith's Gdoloi^'cal Mapj^Si^^ ^^iq.fiaz.^ 



1. Geographical State and Circumstances, 



'Climate. Subject to cold winds; the prevailing are the 

 NiF.'and S.W. ; former In winter, attended bv sevejre froat, 

 twelve inches of ice, and the destruction of turnips. Milder 

 m S.W. part of the county. In Shepjiy and Thanet an eariy 

 Harvest, commences July 20. on the'hills 1st -August. 



SitV. That of Thanet rich on rock ehalk f oflEa^f "Kent 

 very various; obalk, losm, strong loam, hazel mou!d, s;iff 

 clay, fUnf, grayel, sand. Isle of Shejipy Strong stiff clav; 

 WtBt Kent very various, but chalk and loam on chalk rOck 

 prevails; Wefild chieflv clay, but mould, sand, and gravel in 

 a few places. Komfiey Marsh sediment of the sea ; a soft loam 

 and clay. 



^Surface. Gently varied hills of chalk ; Downs not so high as 

 those of Nusstx. 

 'Mineyals, Numerous chalybeate springs, at Tunbridge Wells 

 the chief. 



2. State of Property. 

 Much divided ; number of veomanry on the Sncrense; 9000 



freoholds, and a good deal of church and college lands; soiage 

 and gavelkind tenures prevalent. - 



3. Buildings. 

 Trtenty or thMy noblemen's seats, and many seats of'gen- 



tleMen and citizens, merchants, bankers, &c.; few modern- 

 built farm-houses ; old ones of oak or chestnut, and ill con- 

 trived; Thatched; now improving considerablv. Cottages are 

 in general comfortable, b'..ill with bricks and tiles. 



4. Mode qf Occupation. 

 Si/e of farms greatest on poOr lands; many farms from ten 



to fourteen aCres each, few exceeti '.iOO acres, some 600 to l^'iOO 

 acres. Tithes in many parts collected in kind. Leases for 

 fourteen ycais most common. Mam church leases oh three 

 lives, some on tAveoty-one years, renewaule. 



B. 'Imptemenis. 



Kentish tumwrest plough almost the only one known in the 

 county, drawn by four horses in heavy, and "three in 'ight, ..oils. 

 Corn rakrs in uS;* Afttir AiowH com. Stubble rakes to drag 

 tttbble together ; first threshSng-niadtine erected at Betsh- 

 an(;er liy the reporter. 



X. ^ f 



6. Bnclosing. - a < 



No common-field lands but several commcns ;' fences o'd and 

 bro d, belts of copse more frequent tbiin thorn he<lgos. V\ ati r 

 fences eight to fourteen feet wide, and from three to five fee 

 deep in- the marsh I"nds ; ])o-,t and rail fences pre vajent in 

 Romniy Marsh. Neither fences, drains, nor vater furrows 

 wanted in 'll.anet, w here com is grown, and often, for years i. 

 succession, without manure. 



7. Arable La7ids. 

 Plough for a!l crops from five to seven inches deep. Fallow 



always made on poor lands. Rotations good. Peas of varioi;. 

 kinds for podding are sown from the middle of February to th. 

 end of March. Leadman*s dwarf and the eariy grey' tbbughi 

 the most prolific. Canary seed and radish seed much cultivalec/ 

 in Thanet and East Kent for -the London seedsmen. Radish 

 seeel sown in March, and crofT seldom fit to reap before Octo^er, 

 and is sometimes out on tKe fields at Christinas without receiv- 

 ing any injury from wet weather j-reqttireswwoh- rHii*~t-3Pt 

 the pods that it may thresh ; will produce from eight to tweijtv- 

 four bushels per acre. Spin&ch sown,.hi March In Thantt ; 

 when in blossom the male plants (it being a" dicccions p!*it) 

 are pulled and given to pigs- with advantage. Crop thresied 

 on the field; produce, two to five quarters {>er acre. Kidrjey- 

 beans much cultivated at Sawiwich cnd in Thanet for >he 

 London seetlsmen ; plant from five to ten gal'ons per acreie- 

 tween the Sth and 20th of May ; if earlier in-danger of frosts ; 

 pulled up by roots from A'>gust to October, tied up in bunches 

 and hung on ])o'es to ripen ; produce, ten to twenty bushels per 

 acre. Cress and white m'^sLxd sown at the rate oftwoojr three 

 g illotis jier acre in March ; readied In July and threshed i the 

 field; produce, eigh^to twenty bushels I'er acre. M'eld $own 

 among lieans at the last hoeing in the beginning of July 1 t^-n 

 or twe've lbs. of seed pei^acie; jmlled when in b'oomj'w^hich 

 happens the second jtai;, in Ju'y, and tied in single hanjlfuls 

 to dry ; when dry bo-.ind in buiid'es, Nveighing thirty lbs. .-sixty 

 of these a load ; produce, jfroi^i- one half fg one^nd <v haJJ Ipad 

 per acre. .Sometimes riijncins In stooks jOrliaiiis for ^veral 

 years for want of a market:! at othijr times 212. per load ; gene- 

 raliy bought by speculaliife n^tchjants, who sup)-.ly: the dvers 

 with it as opportunity offers. Madder formerly uAich ciilti- 



