11)20.] 



Farming ox Bklck-land. 



123 



be served by surrendering land to hares and rabbits, bracken 

 and gorse. Even if the peace of the world had not been broken 

 the experiment at Methwold would still have been carried 

 through, though the need for it would not have been as urgent 

 as it was destined to become. 



The first effort at improvement was to apply chalk very 

 liberally ; the application being 7 tons to the acre. A heavy 

 initial dressing of basic slag and potash salts was also applied, 

 and for each subsequent crop some artificial fertiUser was used. 

 Potash is the " missing word " on this kind of soil ; without 

 potash no remunerative crops can be grown. While it was 

 found that crops were nowhere heavy, the cost of production 

 was nowhere high, because after the first reclamation the land 

 became very easy to work. The price of wheat cultivation 

 per acre is probably the lowest in England. Steam cultivators 

 were used for reclamation. They were followed by motor 

 tractors and horses. After that it was found that the motor 

 plough could cover as much as 4 acres in a day. and that owing 

 to the lightness of the soil it is possble for horses to work on 

 the land for an average of more than 220 days in the year. 



The difficulties have not arisen altogether from the nature 

 of the soil. The increase of wages from i6s. in 1914 to /2 2s. 6d. 

 in April, 1920, presents a serious problem enough, and this 

 advance in cost of production has not been associated with a 

 corresponding increase in efficiency. The reverse is the case. 

 The young men, at least, are quick to leave the fields if there 

 is a local fair or an entertainment a few miles away from their 

 work, and they turn with distinct aversion from overtime. 

 In spite of all the diflficulties, it is clear that we ha\^e in the breck- 

 lands a fair farming j.Toposition. though whether it can be 

 maintained in the face of rising wages and falling output 

 of work done is a question that only time can solve. Down 

 to the present, upwards of 3I coombs of wheat have been the 

 average yield per acre. Potatoes yield nearly 4 tons, or as much 

 as is obtained on some of the heavy clay lands in Essex. Blue 

 peas (Harrison's Glory) yield an average of 4| sacks to the acre, 

 while as main^ as to tons of eating carrots have been sold oft 

 one acre, leaving a residue of the infenor kind to be fed to 

 stock. Bullocks appear to thrive on a mixture of these 

 unmarketable residues mixed with chaft. The yield of man- 

 golds, TO to 12 tons per acre, is admittedly poor, but breck-land 

 is not mangold land and the crop is only sown to meet the 

 necessities of the stock-yard, and may be abandoned altogether 

 on account of the cost of labour. \Miite turnips do extremely 



