342 



Farming of Lincolnshire. 



acre. The fences are well-kept quick hedores and stone walls. 

 A peculiarity of the Cliff, as opposed to the Heath district, is, 

 that a considerable extent of land is sufficiently wet to require 

 nnderdraining, owing doubtless to the greater depth and tenacity 

 of a great deal of the soil. Between Kirton and Lincoln are 

 several extensive plantations ; but this broad tract of gently slop- 

 ing land is generally bare of wood. The Brigg and Lincoln 

 turnpike passes through the midst of it, for 17 miles, in a straight 

 line, having the lighter arable land upon each side ; and most of 

 the surface is well farmed, the system of management presenting 

 as little diversity or digression from a certain line as the road 

 itself does, though the practical application and results of that 

 system vary much, according to the skill and enterprise of the 

 occupiers. 



No comparison between the farming of the oolite and chalk 

 ranges is here attempted. The facts that have been collated are 

 given without the slightest aim of lauding the cultivators of one 

 district at the expense of those in another, and readers are left 

 to form their own estimate of the respective merits pertaining to 

 each ; of course, comparing the modes of husbandry with the 

 nature of the soils, as described in the first division of this Report. 

 It may also be remarked here, that if this account of Lincolnshire 

 farm-practice appears to be devoid of any brilliant examples of 

 particular estates, and deficient in extraordinary instances of cattle- 

 teeding, and minute descriptions of superb farm-buildings or 

 other uncommon objects, it is because the author wishes, if pos- 

 sible, to exhibit, in a necessarily small compass, an outline of 

 Lincolnshire management, as it is most generally and commonly 

 pursued. 



Between the Wolds and the sea- shore is a broad band of heavy 

 soil, that portion next the sea being a rich tract of marsh, and 

 that next the hills an extent of undulating country, named the 

 " Clays." It is proposed to notice the Clays and Marsh as a 

 single district, and to survey separately the methods of farming in 

 different localities. 



Between Barton and Grimsby the clay land adjoins the H umber ; 

 and lying between it and the chalk is a considerable stretch of 

 land, varying in its nature, but chiefly a mixed soil, partaking of 

 the qualities of both wold land and clay, and forming a very good 

 and productive soil, except where the clay is very decided. 

 Unlike the Wolds, although so near, it is chiefly in the hands of 

 freeholders, and the management consequently is very various. 

 Potatoes, beans, wheat, and turnips are grown : sometimes the 

 land is summer-tilled, in other places two white crops are occa- 

 sionally taken together. The general management is decidedly 

 inferior to that of the Wold land. The produce is usually good. 



