AGRICULTURE 



Woodlands, Hedges and Fences. — Kent is a well-wooded county. Its woodlands 

 occupy 99,000 acres, or rather more than one-tenth of the whole surface, and they are better 

 cared for than in some counties in consequence of the demand for hop-poles. Fully three- 

 fourths of the area consists of coppice of which a larger extent is found here than in any other 

 county. Marshall observed that the Kent yeomen excelled in the management of coppice 

 woods, £^0 an acre being sometimes realised for ten years' growth. The price of hop-poles 

 then (about 1790) ranged from 14/. to 40J. per thousand, and as they were not creosoted, and 

 consequently were of shorter duration, the demand for them was far greater than at present, 

 and in some parts woodlands were the most valuable estates in the county. Near Maidstone 

 £^0 an acre was made for some eleven years' growth on a poor soil, while a plantation of chest- 

 nut, the most valuable of any sort for hop-poles, made ^£104 per acre for a fall of only nine 

 years' growth. Buckland, in 1845, mentions woodland in the Weald which was worth £^0 

 to ;f45 per acre for every fall of ten years' growth. Thirty years later falls of the best planta- 

 tions of ash and chestnut occurring every eighth or ninth year brought from £^o to £60 per 

 acre. The reduction in the hop area, the invariable creosoting of the poles, and the adoption 

 of permanent systems of poling the hops, have combined to cause a great fall in the value of 

 Kent woodlands. The average price of ordinary woodland in hop districts is hardly more 

 than ;fi2 los. per acre, and that of plantation land about £30. On account of the demand 

 for stout poles for wire and string work the timber is not cut so early now by at least 

 two years. The falls are sold by auction every autumn, being frequently bought by ' wood- 

 buyers,' who cut the wood in the winter, sell the poles and other produce, and work up the 

 remainder or make sheep-gates and hurdles during the spring and summer. 



The fences are usually well kept on the best-managed farms, but there is a noticeable 

 difference in this respect in the Weald, where they are often rough, untrimmed and wide- 

 spreading. 



The hedges of Mid-Kent deserve special mention. Buckland observed that this part 

 of the county was unrivalled for hedge management. They are commonly quickset, and grow- 

 ing to a height of 18 to 25 feet serve as lews or shelters for hop and fruit plantations. Yet 

 being kept to a width of but 2 or 3 feet they occupy little more space than a wall would require. 



Technical Education. — An account of Kent agriculture, however brief, would be incom- 

 plete without some reference to the work carried on by the South-Eastern Agricultural College 

 at Wye. This institution is doing good work by educating farmers' sons and others in practical 

 and scientific agriculture. It offers special advantages to residents in Kent and Surrey, and 

 the County Councils of both counties, as well as the Government, make grants for its support. 

 There are at present 99 students. The College possesses a farm of 460 acres, 176 acres of which 

 are arable, a herd of Lincoln Red Shorthorns and typical cattle of other breeds. Romney 

 Marsh, Southdown and other sheep are kept, and experiments are carried on with the view 

 of early maturity and capacity for fattening. Experiments are also conducted in hop-growing, 

 while fruit-growing and glass-house culture, dairying, bee-keeping, poultry-farming, forestry 

 and farriery all form subjects of regular courses of instruction. These, with purely scientific 

 courses, extend over two, three or four years. 



Analyses of soils, manures, feeding-stuffs, etc., are undertaken by the College on behalf 

 of farmers resident in the county, and lectures on all branches of farming are given at about 

 six centres. Recently the College has conducted an inquiry into the soils of Kent and 

 Surrey with the view of ascertaining the most suitable manures for particular crops. 

 Mechanical and chemical analysis have suggested the advantage to be derived from liming 

 the London Clay soils and of adding a phosphate manure for cereal cultivation. The 

 Chalk soils being warm and dry derive speci.il benefit from organic manures. Folding off 

 roots and ploughing in a green crop in the autumn are calculated to effect great improvement. 

 Phosphates and potassic manures are necessary for the proper growth of roots, especially on the 

 soils of the Upper Chalk. The most profitable use to make of the Gault soils is, it is 

 suggested, to lay them down in grass, drain them and treat liberally with chalk, and occasionally 

 with basic slag, the latter being a very valuable manure on these soils. 



With so many and such varied branches of their industry, and with an ever-widening 

 market at their doors, it may be hoped that the farmers of Kent will enjoy an increasing 

 measure of prosperity, and that in adapting themselves, as many of them have done, to the 

 changed conditions of modern times, they may long continue to occupy a prominent position 

 as exponents of the science and practice of agriculture.* 



1 Acknowledgment is due to Sir Charles Whitehead, of whose ' Sketch of the Agriculture of Kent ' 

 extensive use has, by his permission, been made. 



469 



