Agriculture of Northumherland. 



427 



Cow-grass and Italian rje-grass have only lately been intro- 

 duced. The former is found to be exceedingly valuable, as it 

 Vvill grow on land which is tired of broad clover, though it does 

 not produce a good aftermath. 



The common vetch grows very well on the wheat stubble, and 

 is used as green food for the farm cattle. 



The hay-harvest is slower than in the south of England, as the 

 weather is more changeable and liable to frequent showers. The 

 swathes are not broken up until the hay is sufficiently dry to keep 

 in small temporary stacks containing 1 or 2 cart-loads, in which 

 it is allowed to remain until in a fit state for the large stacks. 



On the descripti(m of land now under consideration, neither 

 turnips, tares, nor clover are consumed on the ground ; they are 

 either made into hay or eaten by the stock in the farm-yards or 

 stables. 



4. The Tartar, Hopetown, and Potato oats are all cultivated in 

 this district. On the high land adjoining the sheep pastures, at 

 the west side of the county, oats are sometimes sown, after turnips 

 or fallow, it being found that they will ripen when wheat cannot 

 be profitably cultivated. With this exception, they are sown after 

 beans, peas, or clover. 



When the rotation that we are describing is followed, there is 

 not much stock kept, the permanent grass, of which every farm 

 has a proportion, being either made into hay or employed in rear- 

 ing young cattle. A tract of land near Stamfordham is, however, 

 an exception to this remark, as the grass-land is of such good qua- 

 lity that considerable quantities of heavy stock are yearly turned 

 off it, fat. 



B. Barley and Turnip Rotation. — The low price of grain for 

 the last few years has caused more attention to be paid to this 

 system of farming than that which we have been describing. The 

 part of the county where this rotation is mostly practised, has been 

 already described, and, as it is in the hands of men of capital, 

 presents a striking contrast in the style of management to the 

 wheat-farming already alluded to. The farm-buildings are also 

 erected in a style of elegance and convenience which will bear 

 comparison with those of any part of the kingdom, perhaps of the 

 world. The northern part of the county especially, has long been 

 justly praised. 



A dry porous subsoil is an essential requisite for this descrip- 

 tion of farming; where this is found, throughout the county the 

 rotation is — 



1. Turnips — 2. Barley — 3. Clover and grass seeds — 4. Ditto 

 ditto — 5. Oats. 



1. Turnips. — So much has the cultivation of this valuable root 

 increased smce the general use of bones and guano, that large 



