1 66 THE UPPER THAMES VALLEY 



but the transplanted cabbages gave much the greater 

 yield ; the shade of old William Cobbett, who was 

 never weary of recommending cabbages and their 

 transplantation, might well have smiled on the result. 

 As in Wiltshire, late sowing answered best for the 

 turnips ; we saw swedes that had been drilled as late 

 as 2Oth June, and they were better than those put in 

 at the beginning of the month, while common turnips 

 were rarely sown until July was well advanced. To 

 secure a root crop our host depended on the horse 

 hoe, and he favoured a particular tool with a broad 

 flat share, which pulverized an inch or two on the 

 surface, and tightened up the layer immediately below, 

 the root-principle of all dry farming. But if he kept 

 his root sowing until late he was ahead of the ordinary 

 farmer in his hay-making, thanks to which he had 

 secured that year an abundant aftermath from the two 

 inches of rain that fell in early June but on most farms 

 had merely knocked about the standing crop without 

 inducing any appreciable extra growth. It is as yet 

 far too little recognized that the hay crop in its later 

 stages, even when increasing in weight, is still de- 

 generating in feeding value ; the maximum production 

 of digestible material is reached before the crop is ripe, 

 before even the general filling of the seed. In a 

 droughty season it is more than ever desirable to cut 

 early and win the first growth in a good condition 

 rather than hang on in the hope of rain to make a 

 thicker bottom. When the rain does come it will be 

 turned to better account in the aftermath, as on this 

 farm, where the meadows were carrying the best grass 

 we had seen since our journey began. 



Though not a specially early district, harvest was in 

 full swing, most of the wheat was cut and showed a 

 nice crop, though not particularly heavy ; comparatively 



