Book I. 



AGRICULTURE OF STxlFFORDSHIRE. 



iM9 



Kngland, excepting in Northumberland. It is believed. Loch 

 observes, that they unite as mam advantages with as few faults 

 as any buildings of the sort, and that they will supply useful 

 hints to others. 



It had been at one period the custom to permit huts to be 

 erected in all parts of the estate. These huts amounted in 

 number to many hundreds ; they were inhabited by the poorest, 

 and, in many instances, by a profligate population. They were 

 not regularly entered in the rental book, but had a nominal 

 payment fixed upon them, which they paid annually at the 

 court leet. These cottages were built on the sides of the roads, 

 and ujKjn the lord's waste, which was gradually absorbed by the 

 encroachments which the occupiers of these huts made from 

 time to time, by enclosing that which lay next to them. They 

 gradually fell into the hands of a body of middlemen, who 



underlet them at an extravagant rent to the actual 

 In this manner the poor people were q\ 

 lord wsis in danger of losing his projiert; 



agar 

 In this manner the poor people were oppressed, and the land- 

 ing hi 



To remedy the evils arisiitf; out of this system, f'e cottagers were 

 made immediate tenants to the landlord, and their rents made 

 payable at the half-yearly audits; an arrangement perfectly 

 satisfactory to them, as they were no longer exposed to the 

 vexations of an intermediate possessor, and, in many instances, 

 their rents to their landlord were less Uian they had been accus- 

 tomed to pay to those from whom they had hitherto held their 

 houses. Since they have been placed in this situation, greater 

 attention has been necessarily paid to their conduct and cha- 

 racter, as well as to their wants. As they know that their 

 good conduct will now be noticed by, and meet with the ap- 

 probation of, their landlord, a considerable improvement in 

 their habits has taken place. There can be no doubt but that 

 these important and necessary arrangements were far from 

 being agreeable to those who suffered from them. In alter- 

 ing such a system, not only was the direct interest of the exist- 

 ing middlemen affected, but also the expectant interests and 

 influence of many who conterni>lated the chance of one day 

 benefiting from their favour. These were not few, and it did 

 not always happen that the person who expressed his dissatis- 

 faction loudest, was the one most likely to succeed in his wishes ; 

 and iti proportion as this object was near its completion, was 

 the vexation and discontent of those who were disappointed. 

 To the larger farms some of these cottages have been added, 

 to enable the occupier to put into them married farm-servants, 

 who have thus a great inducement to behave honestly and in- 

 dustriously, and to attend with good will and zeal to the inter- 

 est and the business of their master. It is by giving such 

 inducements as this, and by making them feel an interest in 

 acting right, that this most invaluable class of labourers can 

 alone be maintained and supported. 



Whitt has been done by the proprietor, lias been rvcll seconded by 

 the exertions of his tenants. A more respectable and enterpris- 

 ing body of men do not exist ; and, while they are in a better 

 situation of life than a great body of this class, they have not 

 allowed themselves to forget, that it is by a constant attention 

 to their business, by their keeping in the line of life to which 

 they belong, and never attempting to commit the manage- 

 ment of their affairs to bailiffs, that they have gone on steadily 

 improving and bettering their condition. In the knowledge 

 of stock, in their capacity as excellent market-men, in the man- 

 agement of their grass land, and in the cultivation of and in 

 cleaning their lighter soils, they are surpassed by no f.irmers 

 in the kingdom. The rotation they follow is the Norfolk hus- 

 bandry; and in the cleanness of their crops, and the excellence 

 of thfir drill turnips, they cannot be surfiassed. The breadth 

 of turnip annually sown is very gieat, and the rapidity with 

 which they have adopted the drill system of husbandry is as 

 credit ible to them as it is satisfactory" in the result. 



Except ploughing with too many horses, and not being suffi- 

 ciently active m getting in their harvest, they have fewer prac- 

 tices to abandon, and there are fewer things which they have 

 to adopt from any other of the well cultivated districts of the 

 island, than is generally the case. Every means has been used 

 to explain to them the advantages of ploughing with fewer 

 horses; and there is every reason to expect that their good 

 sense will soon see the propriety of these suggestions, as many 

 of them have already adopted this system. The fact is, that 

 the difficulty consists in being able to persuade the ploughmen 

 to adopt it as the labouy of holding the plough is more severe : 

 it is impossible for one or two individuals to contend success- 

 fully against the feelings of a country ; but when undertaken 

 by so numerous and wealthy a tenantry, supported by the 

 influence of the landlord, these feelings must speedily give 

 way. 



This mode ofphnghing hai made rapid progress at Trentham. 

 The reason of which is, that it is more generally admitted, that 

 this system is calculated to suit the stiff better than the lighter 

 soils, inasmuch as two ploughs, drawn by two horses abreast, 

 do much more work than a double plough, drawn by four 

 horses, can do in such soil : the superiority of the work, also, 

 is very conspicuous. On the other hand it is argued, and with 

 some apparent force, that on light soils the double plough, 

 drawn by four horses, and guided by one man, can do as much 

 work as two ploughs drawn by two horses each, and guided by 

 two men. In this way the labour of one man is saved. It 

 must be admitted that the argument would be in favour of the 

 double plough, were it not that the work it performs is neither 

 so neat, so perfect, nor can it plough so deep as is done by the 

 two-horse system. It is remarkable that this mode of plough- 

 ing with two horses should be confined to the eastern parts of 

 England, from which it was adopted, at no very distant period, 

 in Scotland, where the ploughing with a number of horses 

 yoked along with oxen existed to an extent never practised in 

 any part of this country. 



In order to encourage these men to make this change, an 

 annual ploughing-malch has been instituted, at which prizes are 

 distributed to the best ploughmen. The effect this has already 

 had is very considerable ; and at the exhibition in October 

 1S14, no fewer than fifty ploughs started for the premiums. 

 1 he progress of such a system must be also slow ; as it cannot 

 be expected that the tenants should at once lay aside all their 

 old implements, and purchase new. The difficulty of procur- 

 ing good ploughs ojierated much against the adoption of this 

 mode of ploughing. In removing this inconvenience, there 

 has been established, both in Shroi)shire and in Staffordshire, 

 a manufactory for the construction of the more improved im- 

 plements of modgm husbandry : and it is strongly recom- 



mended to the persons who have been thus established, that 

 tliey should take their apprentices entirely from the lads of 

 the country. 



It is 1/1 the management of tlieir stiff lands that tenants are 

 most defective. Of late, however, they have made so great ex- 

 ertions in draining their lands, that it is hoped they are begin- 

 ning to adopt a lietter system. The defect of their manage- 

 ment consists in their ploughing very shallow ; the effect of 

 which is, that the depth of soil is not sufficient to protect the 

 roots of the plant from being chilled with the cold and wet 

 (which is upheld by the impervious nature of the subsoil), when 

 the ground is wet, and exposes it to the too rapid action of the 

 drought when the weather is dry. To plough deeper is, there- 

 fore, the first, the most simple, and the most important im- 

 provement which can be adopted in these soils. 



They also, until lately, hurt these colil lands by making use of a 

 large quantity of a bad sort of red clay marl, which they dug out 

 of every field. The effect produced was, to increase the tena- 

 city of the soil, and to render it still less fit for the purposes of 

 agriculture. Of t his fact, all the intelligent part of the tenants 

 are themselves convinced, though some of those who are still 

 wedded to their old customs, lament the regulation which 

 prohibits them from using this article. On those farms where 

 the inclosures have been entirely renewed, and where, in con- 

 sequence, a portion of several of the ancient inclosures have 

 been thrown into one close, the bad effects of this system of 

 marling is perceived in a remarkable degree, and a distinct 

 line in the appearance of the crop, points out with precision 

 the land which had been formerly so treated, from that which 

 h 'd not. The consequence of this prohibition has been, that 

 the tenants have applied themselves much more to the use of 

 lime as a stimulant, which has repaid them, as might have 

 been exjiected. It has also put a stop to the rapid deterior- 

 ation of property, which was occasioned by the digging of the 

 pits, which every where disfigure and destroy a considerable 

 portion of the farms of this district. 



To level donm these marl-pits, arul to render them again fit for 

 the purposes of husbandry, has been an object of great atttntion. 

 In this way there was applied the labour of a great proportion 

 of the parishioners, to whom, from time to time, employment 

 had been afforded, in those years when the circumstances of 

 the country rendered such an exertion of the landlord's bounty 

 necessary. This was more particularly the case in 1817; in 

 which year a vast body of men was employed on each of the 

 Marquess's estates. 



In another particular, the managemenl of the stiff soils might 

 be cimsiderably amended ; which is, in the mode ot working the 

 fallows, whii-n are left too generally to grow full of weeds, in 

 place of being cleaned as they oiipht to be. The muck, also, 

 IS laid on at an improper season of^the year, by which its good 

 effects rather go to encourage the growth of weeds, than to 

 improve the crop. At Trentham, the strong soils are of a far 

 superior quality, fit in every respect for the most improved 

 system of wheat and bean husbandry. But the lands wer^ so 

 much subdivided, and the capital of a large proportion of the 

 tenants, until lately, was so inadequate to the right cultivation 

 of their land, that no improvement could take place or be 

 expected, and this estate remained stationary, amidst the 

 general progress w hich was so conspicuous in the other parts 

 of the county. These defects have lieen reme<'ied in both 

 instances ; and the introduction of some skilful farmers from 

 Shropshire and Cheshire, at Trentham, has given rise to that 

 spirit of enterprise which at present characterises the tenants of 

 these estates, and which must prove so beneficial to the 

 country, by the additional surplus produce which will be 

 brought to market. 



The rotation which they followed, on both estates of the stiff 

 soils, was, fallow, wheat, oats, clover. That is now altered, 

 by clover being substitutetl after the wheat ; and an attempt 

 has been made to induce them to try a six-shift course of hus- 

 bandry, by introducing beans into their rotation. Little pro- 

 gress, however, has as yet been made in this exjieriment. 

 To this they have considerable objection, which arises from the 

 defective mode of cultivating tlieir bean-crop. In the first 

 place, they are unwilling to sow them in drills. They are, 

 besides, longer in planting them, and allow them to stand later 

 in the year than they ouglit to do. The consequence is, that 

 their crop is often damaged, and the nutritious matter of tlie 

 bean-straw is entirely lost. They cannot be persuaded, there- 

 fore, that it forms an excellent and nourishing food for horses 

 and cattle ; and the complaint that they make of its being an 

 exhausting crop is quite correct, in consequence of their per- 

 mitting it to stand so long upon the ground. 



One improvement the tenants have paid much attention to, 

 and a more valuable one they could not adopt, which is the 

 construction qf water mi;adows. They have lost no opportunity 

 ii\ making use of whatever water they could obtain for this 

 purjiose. They were allowed the rough materials to construct 

 the flood-gates, and the example was shown them as to what 

 could be done in this respect to a very great extent at Tren- 

 tham. The value of this improvement is well known to 

 every experienced agriculturist in England, and no opportu- 

 nity should be lost in taking advantage of every circumstance 

 to promote its adoption. There has been lately finished a new 

 water-meadow on the home farm at Trentham, at the expense 

 of about twenty pounds an acre, which will now let for near 

 four pounds an acre, besides the advantage derived to the ad- 

 joining upland. This meadow was not worth ten shillings an 

 acre previous to such an improvement. It consists of a small 

 deep dingle, with steep banks, in which a copious spring rises 

 near the top : the upj)er part being formed into a fish-pool. 

 From this head the water is conducted on the different levels 

 on each side, with the proper catch-water drains carrying the 

 water round the various knolls. The whole being adorned by 

 some fine trees, it forms for its extent a very perffect union cf 

 useful and ornamental farming. It shows how much may be 

 made of such a piece of land, incapable of any other sort of 

 useful occupation. 



Much money, howevcr,in this neighbourhood has been thrown 

 away by watering land which has not been previously tho- 

 roughly drained ; this latter improvement is the foundation of 

 all others. Another mistake has also been fallen into, by at- 

 tempting to convert into water-meadows peat soils, without 

 first bringing them to a proper state of consistency by means 

 of rejieated heavy rollings and top-dressings. A proportion of 

 ten acres of water-meadow to every hundred acres of pasture 

 or arable land, adds at least two shillings and sixpence an acre 



