COMMONS 55 



other parts of the county the greatest drawback to its apphcation was 

 the expense of carting from the kiln to the common ; to overcome this, 

 lime " boons " were a common custom. A farmer wishing to lime 

 an allotment would invite his friends and neighbours to send him a 

 cart or two on a stated day, the custom being to give a " ribbon " 

 to the first man in the field with his load of lime, a provision being 

 that he should not load at the kihi before midnight — the land was 

 previously marked out with lime " bobs " where the lime was to be 

 deposited. In this way as much as 400 or 500 bushels were led in a 

 day. At such a boon at Crackenthorpe, in April, 1850, no less than 

 100 carts turned out to lead lime from the kiln at Morland, and at 

 Hugill Hall, near Staveley, 500 bushels were led in a day from Plum- 

 garths. Lime kilns have now fallen into disuse, there being scarcely 

 any in working order to-day — the introduction of the railways was 

 a contributory cause of their decay, with their stations at every village 

 through which they pass, together with the formation of large lime 

 companies at Ingleton, Settle, Ravenstonedale, and Silverdale, within 

 a few years of their opening ; these reduced the cost of lime to as low 

 or lower than the local kilns could produce it ; but to this cause of their 

 disuse must be added the primary one — the rapid dechne in the use 

 of lime in agriculture. 



Paring, burning, and liming was the method employed in the first 

 half of the century in reclaiming heath or lingy land, up to an cdtitude 

 of 1000 feet. Fences were first erected with stones found on the 

 allotment, either gathered from the surface or during the process 

 of draining and ploughing — the walls were about 4 feet 6 inches high 

 with two sets of troughs and a cam on the top, built in the country 

 fashion without mortar, the cost of this in 1845 was 8s. per rod of 

 7 yards, including carting and gathering. Draining was then pro- 

 ceeded with, the drains being made with stones found on the land, 

 when these were suitable, otherwise tiles were used, the cost of either 

 being is. lod. per rod. The spring months were usually chosen for 

 paring, in order to get the parings thoroughly dried before the burning 

 took place. The paring spade or push plough, as it was called, was 

 used for this purpose, though some used instead a light plough when 

 the land was suitable, properly rigged and drawn by one horse. The 

 cost of paring with the spade was from 12s. to i6s. per acre, and burning 



