Farming of Surrey. 



401 



Appleshaw or Andover fairs, and to sell them off fat after lamb- 

 ing : tbej are kept as much as possible on the leys and pastures, 

 turnips being injurious for them till after lambing, when they 

 are folded on turnips, and receive hay, chaff, and oilcake ; the 

 lambs being allowed to run through the wattles into the feed, 

 where they have as much odcake as they will eat. Oxen are 

 purchased at the autumn fairs of Blackwater, Kingstone, and 

 Knap Hill, and are in general Devons and Welsh. Pigs are of 

 the Berkshire or Chichester breed, and are frequently bred on 

 the farm. 



The system of cropping most followed is the four-course, that 

 being considered the rotation which in the long run is best 

 adapted to the land, and therefore most profitable to its culti- 

 vator, being the one which commands the greatest produce con- 

 sistent with keeping up the fertility of the soil. It is im- 

 possible to lay down any system whatever, which shall hold 

 good under all circumstances, and there are often cases when a 

 departure from the above course becomes both judicious and 

 necessary. Upon this subject no opinion will be offered here, 

 it being considered that the object of these Reports is to give an 

 accurate description of the different modes of farming practised 

 in various localities, that the reader may make his own compari- 

 sons and draw his own conclusions therefrom. 



In the following particulars of the mode of tillage too great 

 diffiiseness of description will be avoided, that the Report may 

 not be swelled by unnecessary details. The common course is : — 



1, Turnips ; 2, Barley ; 3, Seeds ; 4, Wheat. 



A clear fallow through the winter is seldom taken on the 

 light land of tolerable quality ; a portion of the wheat stubbles 

 being ploughed up and sown with rye, vetches, trifolium, or 

 stubble turnips. The " seeds," which form the third year's 

 crop, are a mixture of clover, Dutch clover, trefoil, and rye- 

 grass. There are, however, many departures from this rotation ; 

 peas or beans occasionally taking the place of clover after barley. 

 At other times, on strong loams, when the land is in good con- 

 dition, barley is sown after stubble turnips, the rotation then 

 is : — 



1, Turnips ; 2, Barley ; 3, Seeds ; 4, Wheat, followed by 

 Stubble Turnips ; 5, Barley ; 6, Seeds ; 7, Wheat ; or 



1, Turnips ; 2, Barley ; 3, Seeds ; 4, Wheat ; 5, Tares and 

 afterwards Rape ; 6, Wheat. 



Tares are sown as soon after harvest as the stubbles can be 

 ploughed ; they are consumed by the horses and cattle or folded 

 by sheep. The land is then ploughed and worked with harrows, 

 to get out the couch, after which a second ploughing is gene- 

 rally given, and 1 gallon per acre of rape sown broadcast. 



