62 



Farming of Derbysliire. 



if this active management were followed. Travelling north-west 

 towards Ashbourne, there is some indifference and carelessness : 

 some practices which ought to be exploded, some fine land neg- 

 lected, hedges in a wretched state, a sad deficiency of root-crops, 

 and very few sheep, and little barley grown on the farms. Root- 

 crops are, without doubt, extending in the south as well as the 

 north, but there are some parts oi the county where no efforts 

 are made to accomplish this, and the district above referred to 

 may be pointed out as failing in these praiseworthy efforts. 



Draining on the red marls is going forward : the practice, as 

 usually recommended by the Loan Commissioners for Drain- 

 age, has not been successful. On the old grass-lands the 

 draining twenty years ago was the sod and turf or wedge draining, 

 till the fortunate discovery of the tile -machine. No implement 

 has yet been discovered so useful to the cultivator of heavy lands 

 as the tile-machine. What the steam-engine is to the manu- 

 facturer the tile-machine is to the farmer. By its means many 

 thousands of sheep are grazing in security and soundness, and 

 the natural fertility of the land increased. From 3 to 4 feet 

 deep, 6 or 7 yards wide, and a 2Mnch pipe laid down with 

 exactness, is the common mode of draining the marls. The price 

 of accomplishing this is much the same in the south as that given 

 for the north. Labour is cheaper, but coals are dearer. 



Sheep are of various breeds ; the Leicester prevailing, occa- 

 sionally mixed with the Shropshire Down and the Lincoln. 



The implements are of the common kind ; the ploughs are 

 the ordinary sort, made in the neighbourhood, both single and 

 double. 



Improvements made since the Report of John Farey, senr., in 

 1815, and to lohat extent still required. 



The improvements required are a continuation of those, in pro- 

 gress, which are not few or far between. — The foregoing remarks 

 on the agriculture of Derbyshire will have anticipated much that 

 might be written on this head. In the voluminous remarks of 

 Mr. Farey, it does not appear in his Report of Derbyshire 

 Farming to what extent under-draining had been effected. Elk- 

 ington had been extensively employed as a professional drainer 

 in the northern counties with varied success, but it does not 

 appear that he was equally successful in the conglomerated strata 

 of Derbyshire. Elkington's practice failed, and the Deanstone, 

 though successful in some degree, did not accomplish all that 

 was promised by those who had adopted it in the north. One 

 thing is most certain in the drainage of Derbyshire — that it is' 

 impossible to follow any general plan or rule. Experience can 

 only determine the width or the depth, and it is better to err on 

 the safe side. The dry seasons of the last few years, good trade, 



