84 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF NOTTINGHAM AND DISTRICT 



unless it is associated with a live stock policy for the production of 

 ' muck ' or unless the season is favourable as regards a frequent supply 

 of rainfall. It would appear that the depression has caused most of 

 these farmers to hope for the best support that the weather can give. A 

 study of rainfall records reveals that even this is a very slender aid, for 

 within the last sixty years nearly two years out of three lacked a suffi- 

 ciency of rainfall during the spring and early summer to ensure safe 

 cropping results. 



A recent survey by the Midland Agricultural College of sand land 

 farming in the Sherwood Forest area, covering farms that had a combined 

 area of just over 12,000 acres, indicated that about 70 per cent was under 

 the plough, while over one-third of the permanent grass was regarded as 

 rough-grazings. There has been a marked change in the character of the 

 cropping in recent years, in that cropping for convenience has tended to 

 displace the conventional rotations. However, 45 per cent of the arable 

 area was found to be devoted to cereals, nearly half of which was oats. 

 Formerly this was a typical barley-growing district, but with lime de- 

 ficiencies becoming more marked, oats and wheat are generally found to 

 be more profitable. The light character of the soil and its workability 

 at all seasons gives rise to very low cultivation costs, though it should be 

 noted that weeds spread very rapidly if neglect occurs. A small acreage 

 of rye is still grown — chiefly because it suits the land, and gives rise to 

 good sheep food and also straw for thatching. Root crops occupied 

 about a quarter of the arable area, and of the feeding crops, swedes and 

 common turnips were the most popular, with a smaller acreage of kale 

 and mangolds. It will be recognised that this in the main meets sheep 

 folding needs. Potatoes and sugar beet are grown under suitable con- 

 ditions, while peas are also an occasional crop. Prior to the introduction 

 of the beet crop it was the usual custom to grow roots on the ridge, for 

 this enabled the dung to be well-covered and this incidentally was always 

 applied in the well-rotted condition. 



2. The Keuper Marl 



As a sharp contrast to the poverty-stricken Bunter sands, there is an 

 equally characteristic stretch of Keuper Marl that runs to the east of 

 the Bunter and almost parallel with it from Normanton-on-Soar in the 

 south and to Walkeringham in the north. The Valley of the Trent 

 divides the Keuper Marl, for on the right of the valley it extends from 

 the river Soar, through Newark to North Clifton. On the left side of the 

 valley it starts at Sandiacre and proceeds through Nottingham, Southwell, 

 Tuxford, to the west of Retford, meeting the junction of the rivers Trent 

 and Idle. The Keuper Marl soils are chiefly very heavy, of a rich red 

 colour, and although they are clays in character are not so 

 in actual fact. They are inclined to be variable however, in respect 

 of ' heaviness ', since free working patches occur, though the typical 

 Keuper Marl is three-horse land. The Keuper soils in the south of the 

 county are generally regarded as being more fertile than those in the 

 north. In general they are well-equipped with potash reserves, as well 

 as nitrogen and organic matter. They are markedly deficient in phos- 

 phates however, while lime is also found to have a marked influence not 



