422 



Farming of Surrey. 



machinery, are all advantages arising from the possessing of a. 

 central homestead which are now so generally appreciated, that 

 it is hoped the evil mentioned above will gradually disappear as 

 the opportunity for change occurs. The fact that wet and 

 exposure are injurious to manure is now so generally recognized 

 even by those who never heard of ammonia and volatile salts, 

 that much greater care is taken in the making of farm-yard dung 

 and although the construction of yards is still very imperfect, we 

 have ceased to hear of cases in which, as the author has been 

 credibly informed, it was the custom on a rainy day to tie 4 

 horses together and run them over the yards, wet and well tread- 

 ing being all that was considered necessary to make good dung. 



By comparing Stephenson's Report of the agriculture of 

 Surrey 40 years ago with the present state of farming, it appears 

 that (making allowance for the improvements in implements) all 

 the manual operations in husbandry were performed nearly as 

 well by our forefathers as at the present day ; that all the 

 routines of tillage were well understood, and that long experi- 

 ence had suggested rotations and systems which time has not 

 materially improved. This observation, however, will only apply 

 to the most enlightened and intelligent of that day, and it is 

 probable that there existed many instances of ignorance and 

 neglect, which in the present day would not be permitted by the 

 times we live in. Not to mention then those chang-es which 

 have taken place in every branch of farming, and which are of 

 too general and obvious a character to need description ; the 

 principal improvement after them consists in the better cultiva- 

 tion of the small holdings. So that the systems which were 

 formerly practised by the best farmers only are now more widely 

 appreciated ; and the spread of intelligence among the generality 

 of the farming classes is the greatest improvement which can be 

 recorded here. Both the holdings and the inclosures have been 

 enlarged, the buildings have been considerably improved, the 

 farming is generally cleaner, and the spudding of couch in the 

 autumn is more common ; and in the VYeald a much greater 

 breadth of turnips is grown, while draining has introduced the 

 growth of barley upon some of the drier land to considerable 

 advantage, and the roads have been made hard and sound. To 

 this list of local improvements may be added the inclosure of 

 some of those common fields, as at Ashtead and Epsom, which 

 Stephenson mentions as being in a neglected and unproductive 

 state. Several of the proprietors have already availed themselves 

 of the Act which was passed a few years since to facilitate these 

 inclosures ; and it is to be hoped that what still remains un- 

 finished will be speedily accomplished. 



A subject which is worthy of more attention by farmers who 

 are surrounded by such a great proportion of waste land is the 



