286 
The Agriculture of Staffordshire. 
The Forest of Needvvood consisted of patches of dense under- 
growth, and occasional tracts which, in the American forests, are 
called " oak openings," where the trees stand thinly with pas- 
turage underneath them. It is said that some of the best pasturage 
at the present time is that which has never been broken up, but 
merely improved by the removal of the wood. The ancient turf 
is a fortnight later in spring, and probably less productive, but it 
is generally preferred by grazing stock. 
In the park of Yoxall Lodge is an excellent specimen of primi- 
tive pasture and of forest scenery surrounding the former residence 
of Mr. Thomas Gisborne, author of the articles on agriculture in 
the ' Quarterly Review.' An adjoining Forest farm was culti- 
vated a Voutrance by his brother, T. M. Gisborne, who made the 
land temporarily fertile by heavy applications of Burton manure, 
and by high feeding. Subsequently, under bad treatment, the 
condition was not kept up, and the land has reverted to its ori- 
ginal state. The fields now wear a sorry look ; black grass has 
got possession of the corn, and the gorse and bramble reappear 
in the pastures. 
The farming of this district docs not differ in character from 
that described under the head of Dairy Farming, but, as usual, 
the worst farmers are on the worst land, and there is here a good 
deal of indifferent farming, and of land unimproved and insuffi- 
ciently drained. There are also veiy many bright spots, one of 
which I am permitted to notice. It is the property of Mr, 
Willoughby Wood, of Holly Bank, whose exceptional manage- 
ment has altered the natural surface of his domain, and has 
almost banished the cowslip and the coltsfoot. 
Mr. Wood's farm consists of 200 acres, 60 acres of which are 
under the plough. There are 100 ewes and 20 dairy cows, some 
of which are pure-bred shorthorns ; 50 or 60 head of cattle, of 
all ages, are wintered. A system of high feeding, v/ith cake, 6cc., 
is pursued in the winter months. 
The Light-Land District, 
Light-land farming, with turnip and barley cultivation, is well 
represented on several important estates in the neighbourliood of 
Stafford. During my journeys I called on Mr. Harvey Wyatt, 
of Acton Hill, who is agent to Lord Lichfield, and who has been 
engaged in land agency and agriculture from the time he was an 
agricultural pupil under Mr. Blaikie, the celebrated agent of the 
late Lord Leicester. Mr. Wyatt wished to show me a district 
principally of light land, where the farming is, as he said, as good 
as in any part of England. For this purpose we drove through a 
portion of Lord Hatherton's estate in the parish of Penkridge ; a part 
