530 The Scouring Lands of Somerset. [oct., 



discussed in this article, arrived at from a different 

 point of view, bear out to some extent the suggestions put 

 forward by Dr. Voelcker. 



The subject was then apparently left untouched until 1896, 

 when the Bath and West Society took up the work again. 

 A series of field experiments was planned and carried out 

 at two centres in the "teart" land district, and analyses of 

 herbage, soils, &c, were made. Owing, however, to the 

 particular weather conditions during those seasons, the fields 

 chosen did not act up to their reputation as scouring lands, 

 and no very decisive results were arrived at. An account of 

 these experiments will be found in the Journal of the Bath 

 and West Society from 1896- 1903. 



The Characteristics of "Teart" Land. — At the outset it 

 would seem important to ascertain the actual acreage of pas- 

 ture land which possesses scouring properties, and the extent 

 to which the value of such land is depreciated. But here a 

 difficulty comes in. The herbage of scouring fields varies 

 greatly in different places with regard to the extent to which 

 "teartness" is developed, so that all fields which are known 

 as " teart" can by no means be put down as of equal value. 

 In certain seasons, too, the same field will scour cattle much 

 less than in others ; indeed, in very dry summers scouring 

 from this cause is only Occasionally heard of. Again, the 

 scouring pastures in most districts are intermixed with per- 

 fectly sound fields; and it is not common to hear of a farm 

 on which the whole of the pasture has the reputation of being 

 " teart." Thus the depreciation in value of the " teart" fields 

 affects the rent of the whole farm, and it is hardly possible 

 to assign the share of the "teart" land in determining what 

 the rent is to be. These facts make any estimate of the actual 

 amount of pecuniary loss due to the presence of scouring 

 land of little or no value. 



Moreover, only the very roughest approximation is possible 

 with regard to the total acreage affected. 



Very roughly, the "teart" land area may be said to be 

 bounded by a line drawn through Glastonbury, Evercreech, 

 Sparkford, and thence a little south of Ilchester, as far west as 

 Hatch Beauchamp, and back through Langport and Somerton 

 to Glastonbury. To this must be added a broad strip of land 



