On the Farming of Suffolk. 



265 



the words of Arthur Young : — " From the River Deben crossing 

 the Orwell, in a line some miles broad to the north of the River 

 Stour, to Stratford and Higham, there is a vein of friable putrid 

 vegetable mould, more inclined to sand than to clay, which is of 

 extraordinary fertility ; the best is at Walton, Trimley, and Felix- 

 stow, where, for depth and richness, much of it can scarcely be 

 exceeded by other soil to be found in others parts of the county, 

 and would rank high among the best in England." 



The last district, occupying the extreme N.W. corner, is com- 

 posed of fen land, the peat overlaying the clay, though on the 

 borders of the fens the subsoil is often sand. A narrow strip 

 of peaty soil extends along the banks of the River Ouse, and 

 also along those of the Lark ; this is chiefly meadow land, gene- 

 rally producing a very inferior description of grass. 



This small tract of peat land has perhaps undergone as much 

 improvement as any other part of the county. Arthur Young 

 mentions the fens as being partly under water ; they are now well 

 drained by powerful steam-engines. By the application of bones, 

 and by the process of claying, very abundant crops are produced, 

 though the quality of the grain is not equal to that of the ad- 

 joining light land. In the time of Arthur Young the staple pro- 

 duce was oats and coleseed; but the application of clay has com- 

 pletely changed the nature of the soil, and on the best cultivated 

 farms a four-course system is adopted of — 1st year, fallow for cole- 

 seed drilled with bones and the crop fed off by sheep ; 2nd, oats and 

 sometimes barley ; 3rd, layer or beans ; 4th, wheat. Fen-wheat 

 is considered a good change of seed for light land. Timothy 

 grass {Phleum pratense) has of late years been grown on the fen 

 farms, and is considered an acquisition ; it is either sown by itself 

 and allowed to lay down three or four years, or it is sown with 

 clover ; for the latter purpose it must be well suited to this kind 

 of soil. 



One cause of the improvement of the fens is that many of the 

 large light-land farmers are also holders of fen farms, and, being 

 men of education and capital, have raised the cultivation of the 

 soil. 



2. — The Management of the Land on the Various Soils. 



In describing the farming practices of the different soils I 

 shall divide the county into two divisions — the heavy land, in- 

 cluding the greater portion of the county ; and the light land, 

 which may be subdivided into the eastern maritime sandy dis- 

 tricts or sandlings, and the north-west sandy districts or fieldings. 

 The fen district occupying the north-west corner of the county is 

 of so small an extent, and the similar soil of Cambridgeshire has 

 been so lately described by Mr. Jonas, besides being a subject 



