14 Development on a 1,500- Acre Farm. [Apr.. 



drive in piles through the layer of peat to the gravel below, and 

 on these piles to make a concrete platform on which the building 

 was erected. 



Hand in hand with these developments went the work of 

 bringing the land into a profitable state of cultivation. As new 

 buildings were erected the head of stock on the farms was 

 increased and more dung became available. In addition, large 

 quantities of London dung were imported, as well as hundreds 

 of tons of artificials. Early potatoes were at first grown on a 

 large scale, but owing to the late frosts, which are a characteris- 

 tic of this part of the fen country, rheir culture was abandoned in 

 favour of main crop varieties for which conditions are particularly 

 suitable, about 1,500 tons having been produced during the 

 season of 1921. 



When the estate was first taken over in 1909 there were three 

 orchards, 30 acres in all, one having been recently planted. 

 This last showed such promise that it was decided to plant others, 

 each with top and soft fruit. These have proved very successful, 

 and fruit growing is now a feature of the estate. 



Even the " washes " which are under water during the winter 

 for weeks at a time have been utilised. Three varieties of 

 willows are grown on them, and these s apply more than enough 

 osiers for the manufacture of all the baskets needed by Messrs. 

 Chivers, and a large surplus is available for sale. In the season 

 1920-1921 nearly 150 tons of osiers were produced. 



Present Condition of the Estate. — There are now nine farms 

 on the estate, each with its own staff under a foreman, the whole 

 nine being under the control of a resident manager whose office 

 is in telephonic connection with each farm. Two of the farms 

 are devoted entirely to fruit, four are fruit and arable farming 

 combined (one of these has in addition a herd of dairy cows), 

 two are ordinary arable farms, and one is a poultry farm. 



The number of cottages has been increased from 13 to 42, and 

 there are two houses ; 300 people can be housed and fed in the 

 present dormitories and mess rooms, and an electric laundry, a 

 bakery and a co-operative store render this colony of workers 

 to a large extent independent of the outside world. This inde- 

 pendence of the estate is also emphasised in another direction by 

 the presence of a carpenter's shop and a blacksmith's shop, where 

 all repairs necessary to implements and buildings can be carried 

 out. 



The idea of growing chicory on the estate had been entertained 

 from the first, and a factory for chicory roasting was one of the 



