84 NORFOLK BULLOCK FATTENING 



Now this is less of a paradox than it seems ; an 

 element of speculation or of estimate does enter into 

 any system of farm book-keeping which aims at really 

 disentangling the various interests involved in growing 

 a crop or feeding out a bunch of beasts, and the truth 

 that lies behind his remark is the dependence of 

 Norfolk farming on good dung and plenty of it. The 

 soils are all light and sharp, the climate warm and 

 dryer than in any other part of the country ; in no 

 other land does the humus vanish so quickly, nor is its 

 abundance so important in order to ensure an early 

 start and a continuous growth for the crop. The 

 Norfolk farmer must fatten cattle in order to trample 

 his straw down into the indispensable dung. What 

 has still to be learnt is whether it is better to do this 

 expensively with the aid of unlimited cake, or whether 

 the cheaper method which feeds little besides the 

 home-grown roots and hay will not produce a more 

 profitable return. The humus the land needs will be 

 supplied by the straw and the roots ; the extra rich- 

 ness in nitrogen of the dung produced by heavy cake 

 feeding could be purchased more cheaply in the shape 

 of fertilizers. 



We could not help suspecting that the Norfolk 

 farmer had been losing money over his bullocks, 

 though the losses had been disguised by the handsome 

 returns he had been making on his corn. For by 

 common report Norfolk farming had been prosperous ; 

 farms ran large (these sands seem to offer few tempta- 

 tions to the small-holder) ; yet rents were not low, 

 155. an acre for farms with a large proportion of 

 thin gravelly land that seems ruinous stuff to a 

 stranger, 2os. for the better qualities of land; moreover, 

 land was scarce and almost impossible to get. The 

 farmers struck one as full of confidence and yet eager 



