354 



Farming of Lincolnshire. 



to the Ancholme river the flow of innumerable springs violently 

 thrown out by the clay stratum of the hills, many parts of its sur- 

 face are wet, and demand considerable pains and cost to secure a 

 good drainage. Underdraining in such a loose running soil as 

 this is no easy task ; the best kind of drain is found to be that 

 made by common tiles and flats, the ends of the tiles being held 

 '• flush '* with each other, so as to prevent the ingress of the sand. 

 The main difficulty attendant on the efforts of the drainer here is 

 the slow but inevitable choking of the drains by an irony incrus- 

 tation ; this generally occurs in the period of almost 6 or 7 years, 

 and new lines of drains are then laid down, it being not worth the 

 time and labour to take up and cleanse out the old ones. 



Both chalk and white marl are productive of beneficial results 

 when applied to the sand, but the principal material used for admix- 

 ture is the blue clay, which, forming a ridge of low hills west of 

 this tract, is found beneath the sand at various depths, and 

 nearest to the surface in the western portions. It is spread upon 

 the land and mingled by harrowing, at the rate of 100 cubic 

 yards per acre. At pits of it, near Caistor, the clay is sold at 

 8(f. per yard, costing the purchasers also 2d. per yard to dig and 

 fill. 



Turnips, barley and seeds are the chief crops, but if there be 

 any regular course pursued it is most commonly the 4 or 9 course, 

 as on the Wolds. The turnips are always eaten off by sheep ; 

 and it is usual to make the land solid after it has been sown with 

 grain by the treading of a flock of sheep. Much of it is pressed, 

 but more is trodden in this manner. As it is but a poor soil the 

 produce is proportionablv scanty, the average yield per acre of a 

 number of years being estimated at 2 quarters 6 bushels of wheat, 

 and 3 quarters 6 bushels of barley ; though of course much 

 heavier crops than these are often obtained. The sand is pecu- 

 liarly infested with willow weed. 



On the clay land, west of this flat, is a long but narrow line of 

 good pasture land stretching through Owersby, Kelsey, &c., 

 towards Brigg ; and on the east is a tract of grass on the red clay 

 which caps the lofty sandstone hills from Claxby to Nettleton, 

 and stretches also north of Caistor, through Grasby and other 

 villages. But the quantity, when compared with the arable land, 

 is small, the proportions in this neighbourhood being estimated 

 at eight-tenths in tillage and two-tenths in grass. The larger 

 sheep are made fat upon the richest land, which is to be found of 

 the best quality here and there ; and the Leicesters are " turniped " 

 during two winters. The usual course of cropping on the clay is 

 a four course, viz., 1. fallow, without a crop; 2. wheat; 3. seeds 

 and red clover alternately ; 4. beans, peas, or oats, or sometimes 

 wheat again. Swedes are occasionally grown on the clay and 



