On the Farming of Suffolk. 



313 



-J4.- 



than 



IS 



dug and filled into carts ; the digging proceeds in a sloping direc- 

 tion downwards, so as to form a mouth to the pit of a gradual 

 descent, for if very steep the horses are liable to be strained in 

 drawing the loaded carts from the pit. As soon as a sufficient 

 depth is obtained the plan of operations is altered ; for instead of 

 picking and digging they now proceed to make what are termed 

 falls," in a manner that is well known to all excavators : this is 

 done by picking or undermining at the bottom for a sufficient 

 distance along the side, and at the extremities of the undermined 

 part, a perpendicular crevice is picked out from the top to the 

 bottom. This having been completed, clay wedges shod with iron 

 are driven in at top with a heavy mallet or beetle, and this being 

 continued for a short time the clay splits down per- 

 pendicularly. In this manner as much soil is " raised " 

 as will be filled into carts by three men in a day's 

 work. Men employed in filling usually raise" (if 

 falling down may be called raising) the clay when the 

 horses are resting, or after they have left off for the 

 t^ay. 



Fig. 1. Clay beetle, with iron hoops 1^ inch diameter 

 put on v/ith nails ; made of tough elm ; the handle of 

 ash. This is a clumsy and heavy tool, but not more so 

 required to drive the wedges. 



Fig. 2. Clay wedge, 45 inches long, 5 inches 

 diameter at top, with IJ-inch iron ring round it. 

 Iron part of wedge (shaded in the drawing) riveted 

 through the wood. 



The labour of filling clay is generally paid for 

 by the cubic yard or load : for filling and spread- 

 ing from 2Jc?. to 3(i. per yard is paid. The work 

 is sometimes done by men who contract at so much 

 a yard (measuring the pit when the work is done) ^ ' 



for filling, spreading, and carting, finding carts and horses : the 

 price is about 7d. per yard if carted one furlong, 1 d. being added 

 for every additional furlong, but this has been already described 

 in the report on Measure Work. Ten yards a-day is reckoned 

 a fair day's work for one man. 



The season generally chosen for carting is during the win- 

 ter on fallows, and occasionally on layers ; clay is carted at 

 any period of the year for bottoms of manure heaps. 



Carting clay or marl is an operation that will afford ample em- 

 ployment during the frost of winter, and it can then be done with 

 the least injury to the land. When carted in the winter, it is ex- 

 posed to the frost, by the action of which the hardest clods are 

 broken. Spreading should be done as soon as possible after cart- 

 ing, because in the event of wet weather this becomes a trouble- 



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