Some of the Agricultural Lessons of 1868. 
G7 
to landlord as well as tenant which arises wherever a good 
fanner has free scope and liberty, as Mr. Savidge puts it, " to do 
the best he can." 
" Dear Sir, " Cliadlmry, near Evesham, Nov. 13tli, 18G8. 
" Your request that I will describe my farm before 
answering the questions of your circular as to the effects of the 
drought of the past season and the proceedings consequent there- 
upon, seems to involve the necessity for some detail as to the 
changes whicli cultivation has made upon the farm since I entered 
upon it in the year 1839 ; the increased stock, more especially 
of sheep, which those changes have enabled me to keep, and 
consequently the extent to which the drought of this year has 
affected me. , 
" The farm consists of 490 acres, about 90 of which are in 
pasture and meadow, the remainder being arable, divided 
thus : — 
" 100 acres of mixed gravelly soil, fair turnip-land. 
" 180 acres of heavy clay-land of ordinary quality. 
" 120 acres of very poor clay. 
" At the time I entered upon it it was in a very bad con- 
dition. All my agricultural friends cautioned me as to the 
disastrous consequences which would follow my attempts to 
improve it, and the ofFgoing tenant and the old labourers alike 
assured me that, as to the 120-acre portion, ' it never did grow 
a crop, and never would ;' in fact, nearly all the land of this 
description had been entirely uncultivated for several years. 
" Obviously, the first thing to be done was the draining of 
the clay-land ; next, the removal of unnecessary fences and all 
hedgerow timber from the arable land. My excellent landlord, 
Mr. Holland, allowed pipes for the former, and gave his un- 
qualified consent to the latter. Finding limestone under one 
of the fields, I proceeded to burn and apply it to the fallows 
for roots, and after vetches ; but before the expiration of my 
second year I came to the conclusion that it would be cheaper 
and more beneficial to burn clay than stone ; so I commenced 
the process of land burning and burning clay in large heaps 
from the old hedgerows and banks described in a letter 
Avhich appeared in the fifth volume of the ' Royal Agricultural 
Society's Journal.' The effect of this treatment was that in the 
fifth year my flock of ewes had increased from 90- — the number 
on the farm , when I entered — to 300, and my giowth of wheat 
from about 225 quarters in each of the two first years to 1000 
quarters. But, notwithstanding the influence of draining and 
burning in rendering it comparatively easy to produce roots 
F 2 
