1922.] Moorland Grazing in the North of England. 797 



IMPROVEMENT OF MOORLAND 

 GRAZING IN THE NORTH 

 OF ENGLAND.- 



D. A. Gilchrist, 

 Professor of Agriculture, Armstrong College, 

 N e2rcastle-upon-T ij ne . 



The total urea of land in Xuitliuniberland is over 1^ milliuii 

 acres. Of this about 700,000 acres are under crops and grass, 

 and there are about 500,000 acres of moorland pasture and 

 rough mountain land in the county. The object of this article 

 is to deal with the portions of the latter that are capable of 

 economic improvement. Experiments on the improvement of 

 moorland have been conducted for some years on several moor- 

 land farms, in the upper North Tyne, including Kielder (Mr. 

 Thornton), Newton (Mr. John Eobson), and at other centres. 

 The results have been most suggestive, and indicate possible 

 lines of improvement. 



Trials near Beilingham, 1920. — In the autumn of 1919, 

 Mr. Arthur 11. Eidley, Park End, VVark-on-Tyne, offered to 

 have an area of about 14^} acres of moorland at Highfield farm, 

 about 5 miles north of Tarset Station, fenced off and treated 

 with a suitable manure. This area is at about 800 ft. altitude. 

 Part of it w:as under cultivation many years ago, while the 

 remainder is virgin moorland and is typical of very large areas 

 of such. It includes some dry moorland with a little heather 

 and also land on which are growing rough grass and moorland 

 plants. 



Basic slag (38 per cent, phosphates^ was applied at the rate of 

 10 cwt. per acre on most of this area in the early spring of 1920. 

 A portion of the enclosure was left untreated, and to the north 

 a portion of the unenclosed moor was treated with basic slag at 

 the same rate per acre. Mr. Eidley has met the greater part of 

 the cost (over .£100) of this trial. The carting of the material 

 and the application of the slag were done by the tenant. 



When inspected in August, 1922, it was found that the part 

 to the south-east, which was in cultivation many years ago, is 

 not yet responding well to basic slag. The tops of the ridges 

 have no clover plants, very wiry grass, and a good deal of dead 

 organic matter on the surface, underneath which the soil is very 

 drv. In the furrows, where there is more moisture, wild white 

 clover is developing well and is slowly extending towards the 



* See this Journal, January. 1921, p. 928. 



