32 



Farming of Lancashire. 



rally paid for the cutting and filling. To this must be added the 

 cost of the tiles, which is 19s. per thousand for 2-inch bore, and 

 30s. ditto for 3-inch ditto, and the laying them, which is done by 

 the day. To accomplish the draining on this estate it was found 

 necessary to erect a tilery in the spring of 1845, which has been 

 in active work ever since, the supply of pipe-tiles being by no 

 means equal to the wants of the district. During the last year, 

 1848, 598,617 tiles and 33,029 collars were made there by 

 Clayton's machine. 



The farms vary in size, from 20 or 30 acres to 460, which is 

 the largest on the property, the rent varying from 10s. to 50s. 

 per statute acre ; the majority are held on yearly tenancies or on 

 terms of 7 years, and some have leases for 14 years. 



In the township of Nateby the land has been let on an oatmeal- 

 rent since the year 1822, or, in other words, the rent varies ac- 

 cording to the price of oatmeal ; and at Cabus half the rent is 

 paid in wheat and half in money: these customs are peculiar to 

 these townships. In a farm in Nateby, to which 1 have already 

 alluded, of 151 statute acres, the variation in two years has made 

 a difference of 701. in the rent. In 1848 it amounted to 190Z. ; 

 whereas in 1847 it was only 110/., the rental being reckoned 

 according to the price of oatmeal the previous year. 



Mr. Ford; of Ellel, and Mr. Richard Hinde, of Lancaster, at 

 his farm on Ellel Moor, have both set a good example in their 

 several districts : the latter gentleman deserves especial mention 

 before we leave this division; for in Mr. Dickson's Report 

 (p. 194) it is said of the improvements attempted there, that they 

 had failed: — " Ellel Moor, near Lancaster, notwithstanding lime 

 has been laid on and the ground treated according to the usual 

 custom of improving wastes ; yet, after a few crops taken, seems 

 verging back towards its original state of poverty." Mr. Hinde 

 has kindly favoured me with the following interesting particulars 

 respecting the present state and cultivation of his farm, Newlands 

 Hall, situated 6 miles south-east of Lancaster ; it lies exposed to 

 the west winds, and is about 300 feet above the sea: — 



" Ellel Moor was inclosed by a special Act in 1756, laid out into farms, 

 and brought under cultivation. Draining and trenching have both been 

 carried on from time to time to a limited extent, but not on a regular or 

 fixed system. The soil is from 2 to 5 inches deep, growing in its natural 

 state — rushes, whins or gorse, alder bushes and heather ; it lies upon a 

 yellow bastard clay, full of stones, and frequently containing large quanti- 

 ties of oxide of iron, making it very hard to cut for drains ; the rock is the 

 millstone grit ; the land varies so much, that there are hardly two acres 

 exactly alike. I took possession of the farm, which consists of 77 statute 

 acres, in November, 1843. It has an excellent house and good farm 

 buildings. The tenant had been on it for twenty-two years at a rent of 44/. 

 per annum ; but for want of energy, and from bad management, he had 

 brought himself to a stand still. I commenced draining, trenching, and 



