Farming of Surrey. 



409 



manure occurs, the staple of the land is sufficiently good to 

 allow, with the addition of proper manures, of successive crops 

 of corn being grown, with occasionally a crop of roots to be 

 drawn off, for an indefinite period. 



The gait on this farm is of two kinds, one well known as a 

 stiff intractable clay ; the other having been denuded and subse- 

 quently covered with a later deposit of gravelly drift, is less 

 difficult to work : both are comparatively worthless until drained. 

 The true gait is drained by tiles put in 4 feet deep by 12 to 18 

 feet apart ; the gravel drift is laid dry by drains 4 or 5 feet deep 

 by 11 yards apart. After draining the land is trenched with spuds 

 for about 4Z. 12s. an acre, at a depth of 18 or 20 inches ; this 

 operation can seldom be performed by the subsoil plough, in 

 consequence of the treading; when done by hand labour the 



pan" is effectually broken, allowing the water to penetrate 

 freely to the drains ; and although the cost is considerable, one 

 fleet ploughing in the spring leaves the land in a state fit for the 

 reception of the seed. Mangel or swedes is the first crop ; they 

 are drilled with a mixture of 4 cwt. of superphosphate and 15 

 bushels of the ashes from the tanks ; from 2 to 3 cwt. of guano 

 are sown broadcast. This is a dressing which, it must be con- 

 fessed, is sufficiently liberal, but which is amply warranted by 

 the crops produced. The land which is thus described is con- 

 verted from a comparatively worthless to a most productive 

 state; and wet pastures, which (in this highly-rented locality) 

 let for 10s. an acre before draining, have been raised to a rental 

 of 10/. per acre for hop land. 



Another soil on this farm which deserves mention is on the 

 upper greensand ; the surface soil is shallow, it, nevertheless, 

 produces good crops both of hops and corn; a circumstance 

 which is owing to the mineral nature of its subsoil; so that 

 €ven when, for the purposes of experiment, the surface soil has 

 been removed the productiveness of the crops has not been ma^ 

 terially diminished. 



The poor soils of this farm consist of those lying on the lower 

 greensand and the upper chalk : the high system of farming 

 pursued, however, and the rich supply of manure found on the 

 farm itself have enabled the owner, even on this soil, to produce 

 excellent crops. 



It is the custom at long intervals to subsoil the whole of the 

 farm, and to apply occasionally 120 bushels of lime to the acre, 

 which, in this neighbourhood, is found to be a complete preventive 

 of the club in turnips ; the same may be said of marl. 



For turnips, swedes, mangolds, and cabbage, a mixture of 4 cwt. 

 of superphosphate with 15 bushels of ashes from the tanks is 

 drilled with the seed, while from 2 to 3 cwt. of guano are sown 



