922 



A Modern Hertfordshire Farm. 



[Jan., 



to south and from east to west. The farm buildings and home 

 meadows he centraUy to the east of the road running north and 

 south. Chiefly as a result of the wholesale removal of hedges 

 the farm now presents an appearance very different from that 

 which is general in the neighbourhood and indeed very charac- 

 teristic of much of Hertfordshire. A block of nearly 400 acres 

 of arable land is without a hedge ; except for three self-contained 

 fields of 9, 20 and 56 acres, respectively, the area lies in 

 sections, averaging from 50-60 acres each, which are divided 

 from each other by a furrow only. 



The farm is run as far as possible on commercial, almost on 

 factory lines. Intensive methods of cultivation are adopted, and 

 the general " lay-out " has been planned to facilitate economy 

 of w^orking. The situation within 20 miles of London and near 

 railway stations and sidings has naturally determined to a large 

 extent the choice of crops grown in the rotation. The systems 

 of cultivation followed furnish a very striking example of up-to- 

 date methods of business farming. Full advantage is taken of 

 the opportunity to produce those articles for w^hich there is a 

 constant demand in the local markets, and to obtain in return the 

 material necessary to maintain the fertility w^hich is lost in 

 removing the crops. In the early years of farming under the 

 improved system it was an easy matter to obtain stable manure 

 from London at the low price of 2s. per ton on rail, and its 

 extensive use on the land not only afforded a ready means of 

 replacing the loss entailed by the continuous drain on the plant 

 food materials of the soil but also assisted in putting the land in 

 ^ood heart and working condition. 



The Rotation. — The rotation adopted is the four-course system 

 of cropping, with potatoes occupying the fallow^ break. The 

 order is potatoes, wheat, seeds, w^heat and winter oats. 



In the early years, as already stated, London manure w^as 

 used in great quantity, as much as 40 tons per acre being applied 

 once in the rotation preparatory to potato planting. It was found 

 after eight years, however (i.e., when the land had been twice 

 gone over) that as a result of these high dressings the soft and 

 luxuriant foliage was readily susceptible to potato blight, and 

 that the white crop was very liable to lodge. The system was 

 therefore altered, an application of 20 tons of stable manure, 

 supplemented in the spring, at the time of planting, by a dressing 

 of 7 cwt. of artificial manures, being given instead. A sounder 

 crop of potatoes has been obtained as a result, and the cereals 

 are stiff er in the straw, a matter of importance from the point 



