86 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF NOTTINGHAM AND DISTRICT 



three open fields system still remains and functions in much the same 

 way as it did right back to Anglo-Saxon times. The rotation under this 

 system is (1) fallow, (2) wheat or barley, (3) beans or peas. 



The customary date of entry to farms in the county is Lady Day. 



Cropping Features 



The total area of agricultural land is 422,697 acres. There has been 

 a gradual decline in the agricultural area since records were first available. 

 This is general throughout the country and in this county results from 

 the extension of coal mining interests and building developments. 



There has been a gradual decline in the acreage of arable land though 

 this is not so marked a feature as in some counties. The proportion of 

 arable to grass is more or less equal, with a tendency for the grass to 

 increase. It may be remarked in this connection that the laying down to 

 grass is not readily accomplished in the typical arable districts in the 

 county, while with two beet factories in the county, considerable attention 

 has been paid to this crop. 



The four course rotation, with modifications, is the custom of the 

 county. The modifications have become more marked in recent years, 

 and particularly since the effects of the depression have driven farmers 

 to grow crops that promised to leave the best financial results. Wheat 

 and oats are the most extensively grown of the cereals. Wheat has 

 proved a standby even on the lighter soil types that at one time were 

 considered unsuitable for this crop. This is largely the result of the 

 employment of varieties like Little Joss and Red Standard that are suitable 

 for light soils. The decline in the cultivation of barley is probably one 

 of the most marked of the cropping features, and there is actually a 

 greater acreage under beans and peas than under barley. 



Of the root crops, turnips, and swedes are still the most popular, but 

 on the suitable soils, sugar beet has played an increasingly important 

 part in the general farming policy, and, as in most arable districts, this 

 crop has proved to be of great value, the area under the crop totalling 

 just over a quarter of the ground devoted to root crops. 



Live Stock 



The outstanding features so far as the livestock interests are concerned 

 are that in the last fifty years there has been a considerable decline in the 

 sheep population and a gradual though by no means marked increase in 

 the number of cattle. It is interesting to note that the sheep stocks were 

 being reduced in the years preceding the war, but they reached their 

 lowest figures from 1920-23. Livestock play a prominent part in the 

 maintenance of soil fertility in this county, especially on the Bunter soils. 

 Many have changed over to dairying, and some very notable herds are 

 to be found in the district. Actually Nottinghamshire possesses no dis- 

 tinctive breeds of its own. The majority of the sheep that are kept are 

 cross-breds, while Shorthorns are the dominant breed of cattle, though 

 some very good herds of Friesians, Jerseys and Aberdeen Angus are dis- 

 tributed throughout the county. Pigs have never been regarded with 

 great seriousness until recent years, and there is little doubt that kept in 



