308 



On the Farming of Suffolk. 



and therefore we may conclude it was very little if at all culti- 

 vated) and other root-crops. 



TJie Improvement in the Breed of Horses, Sheep, and Cattle. — 

 Suffolk has long stood pre-eminent for its breed of horses^ and 

 the unvaried success it has had in carrying off the prizes at the So- 

 ciety's shows sufficiently proves that the Suffolk horses have not 

 deteriorated in their value as the best for agricultural purposes. At 

 five out of the eight meetings which the Society has held, viz. at 

 Oxford, Liverpool, Southampton, Shrewsbury, and Newcastle, 

 the Suffolk cart-stallions have won the first premiums. At the 

 Cambridge meeting a Suffolk cart-mare and foal, and a horse, 

 bred by a Suffolk farmer, won the first prizes. At the Derby 

 and Bristol meetings I believe none of the Suffolk breed were 

 exhibited. The fact of Suffolk beating all England for six years 

 out of eight must convince the public, if that were now needed, 

 of the invaluable properties of the Suffolk Cart-Horse. 



Suffolk cows, so noted for their milking properties, are still the 

 most general dairy-breed in the county ; but the Suffolk farmers 

 wisely depend on other counties for cattle for grazing purposes, 

 and it may be truly said that the Suffolk farmers of the present 

 day are better feeders than breeders of cattle. But it is in the 

 breed of sheep that the greatest improvement has taken place. 

 The restless Norfolk is now rarely seen, their place being taken 

 by the Southdown, or by the cross between that breed and the 

 old Norfolk — a breed equally hardy, with greater fattening pro- 

 perties than the old Norfolk, though not in the latter respect 

 equal to the first cross between the Leicester and Down, which 

 cross in Norfolk and Suffolk is the favourite for grazing. If we 

 except Mr. Jonas Webb's incomparable flock, some of the South 

 down sheep bred in Suffolk will challenge competition with the 

 best in the kingdom. 



Great improvement has been made by converting pasture into 

 arable land by the bringing into tillage a considerable extent of 

 heath-land, on much of which good crops are now grown ; by the 

 use of artificial manures ; and, in a word, the general manage- 

 ment of all descriptions of land may be considered as greatly 

 improved. 



4. The Antiquity and Extent of Thorough- Draining within 

 the County. 



Evidence has alread_y been collected on the antiquity of drain- 

 ing in this part of the country, which leaves but little to be said 

 concerning it, and reference to works already published, more 

 particularly to the article of the Rev. Copinger Hill, of Buxhall, 

 in the Society's Journal, will give ample information both as to 

 the antiquity and extent of thorough-draining. That the practice 



