2S8 
The Agriculture of Staffordshire. 
of tte finest land in this county — are all adjoining, with the 
exception of Trentham, which is separated bj a single wedge of 
rich land, at Svvinnerton, belonging to a commoner. 
On several of the larger properties the agency of the estate 
has descended in the same family as regularly as the estate has 
passed to its heirs ; and, in consequence of the prevailing prin- 
ciple, many of the tenants, though only yearly holders, have 
handed down their occupations from lather to son for several 
generations. In some instances the land is farmed by widows or 
minors, and sometimes an undesirable tenant holds on year after 
year ; so strong is the reluctance to disturb the occupation. The 
spirit of forbearance exercised by the possessors of so much 
power reminds one of Edward the Confessor's " I cannot hurt 
you!" an exclamation which the king used, in the hunting field, 
when he was checked by a clown, whose " notice to quit " would 
have been summary if the monarch had been less amiable. 
In the light-land district the four-course rotation, common on 
turnip-land, is now very generally varied as follows : — 
1. Turnips ; 
2. Barley; 
3. Seeds ; 
4. Ditto; 
5. Oats ; 
6. Wheat. 
This has the effect of throwing both turnips and clover further 
apart, which is in many cases desirable, from the liability to 
clover-sickness, and to anbury in turnips. 
The practice of growing turnips with artificial manure, and 
saving the dung for seeds, is fast gaining ground. The leisure 
time which succeeds the turnip season in June is chosen for this 
manuring, and the seeds are first eaten close ; they soon push 
through the manure, and absorb it. Italian rye-grass is used with 
the clovers, and in almost all cases for the sake of the early feed, 
wbich is so useful where a breeding flock is almost always kept. 
On light soils, somewhat poor for wheat, the pasturing of seeds 
exhausts the land, and it must always be changed afterwards ; 
in some instances, especially when a dry flock is preferred, the 
seeds are made into hay ; but this, though a better preparation 
for wheat, is a practice not in accordance with general economy, 
and is becoming exceptional. On such land the acreage of 
wheat is generally reduced, and oats are substituted. Rib-grass, 
which is common throughout this county where seeds are grazed, 
is not approved for hay ; it causes the stack to heat, and, by 
spreading out its leaves horizontally, it occupies space out of 
proportion to the produce. 
