44 THE SOUTH DOWNS 



selling them as forward stores in the spring. Only 

 those men whose farms run down to include a " brook," 

 which is the Sussex name for the flat, alluvial pastures 

 bordering the rivers, fatten bullocks at all ; and even 

 this practice has of late years been largely exchanged 

 for dairying, which indeed is extending on to most 

 farms in possession of grassland of more than down 

 quality. 



To one of these dairy farmers we paid a visit ; he 

 held about 300 acres of comparatively heavy land 

 under the hill near Lewes, including some brooks 

 that belonged to the Lewes Level. As this farm had 

 been shorn of the down which once formed part of the 

 holding, our host kept no sheep, but instead milked a 

 herd of some sixty cows and also fattened out bullocks 

 on the brooks. He farmed in the main on a three- 

 field system of roots, wheat, oats, the root shift 

 including mangolds, cabbages, and maize, exchanged 

 for clover seeds at fairly long intervals, for clover was 

 not a success when grown more often than once in 

 every six or eight years. Even then he would hardly 

 grow red clover twice in succession, preferring to 

 alternate with a mixture containing alsike, white, and 

 hop clovers. Sainfoin also did not answer on this stiff 

 land, but we saw a useful patch of lucerne near the home- 

 stead. On this farm the land was clean and the crops 

 heavy, much superior to most of those we had seen 

 on the chalk or on the chalk-marl terrace under the 

 hill ; our host was a strong believer in the value of 

 artificial manures, and could show us a good many 

 experiments he was making with a view to ascertain- 

 ing the most profitable fertilizers for each crop. His 

 fields were all marked out into " cants " of known area 

 for the purpose of assessing piece-work ; for he let out 

 as much as possible of the field work to his men, and 



