Farming of Lancashire. 



15 



out — and no knowledge or desire to improve. The evil conse- 

 quences of this system are sufficiently apparent on the surface, 

 and as any of the old leases drop, the farms are now generally 

 re-let on terms of years, and for any outlay in draining by the 

 landlord the tenant is charged 5 per cent. From Knowsley to 

 Ormskirk the road passes through a tract of mosses, Rainford 

 and others ; a great part of this has been reclaimed by his lord- 

 ship, and is about to be formed into a farm of 500 acres around 

 the site of the old Mossborough Castle ; the feudal remains have 

 disappeared to make way for a new and substantial stone farm- 

 house, which, with the buildings proposed to be erected, will soon 

 form an establishment more suited to the habits and wants of the 

 present day ; the plough-share and the pruning-hook have here 

 literally taken the place of the sword and spear of ancient days. 



At Bickerstaffe Hall, Mr. Smythies, a gentleman from Here- 

 fordshire, occupies a farm of 380 acres, which he farms on a six- 

 course shift — potatoes, wheat, turnips, barley, and seeds for two 

 years ; the potatoes having for the most part proved a failing crop, 

 he now proposes to begin with oats, then turnips, &c. : the old 

 fences have been cleared away, and the fields made of proper 

 form and size ; his buildings are large, but not arranged on the 

 best plan, — the old barn being retained, and part of the farm- 

 stead in its original form, they are not so perfect as an entirely 

 new set would be. Most of the farm was drained before he came 

 to it, at a depth of 2 ft. 6 in., and on his first proposing to deepen 

 that to 3 ft. he met with little encouragement ; now, however, 

 both here and elsewhere on the Derby estates the three-feet 

 system is adopted. 



In walking over his young wheat and seeds with him, T ob- 

 served that some four-footed friends from the adjoining covers 

 had been rather busy at his expense ; — in fact, winter vetches, 

 one of the most valuable crops to a farmer, cannot be grown 

 here. 



proceeding northwards, near Ormskirk, there is a farmer at 

 Fairhurst, who, without a lease, merely a tenant from year to 

 year, and occupying about 160 acres, spares no expense and pains 

 in farming it on the best principles. The Earl of Derby, in ap- 

 proval and return for his exertions, has lately erected for him 

 some new buildings (he carting the materials), which are quite 

 deserving of notice as simple in their arrangement and well adapted 

 to the means and wants of the practical farmer: the steaming and 

 boiling-house is not yet built, but this will shortly be done ; and 

 when completed, the whole will form a quadrangle, with a straw- 

 yard for pigs in the centre, paved at the bottom, and about 23 

 yards square, enclosed by flags set upright and fastened together 

 w r ith iron bolts ; this excellent material for the purpose is got from 



