294 
Tlie Agriculture of Staffordshire. 
or oat straw. Last season 20 tons of straw were used in addition to 
the ?<0 or 40 tons of mixed fodder ; 25 to 30 acres of meadow, 
and 15 to 20 acres of seeds, is the usual breadth of hay. The 
homestead is provided with a fixed steam-engine and the neces- 
sary machinery. 
Cannock Chase. 
The masses of conglomerate which cover the greater part of 
Cannock Chase can hardly be called hills ; their rounded contour 
reminds one of the shape of Dutch cheeses, or of saucers 
inverted. The surface is covered, for miles together, with 
heather, or with a delicate green carpet of whortleberries. The 
waste certainly looks, at first sight, more like a field for sport than 
for farming ; but the ominous tall chimneys which rise here and 
there, beside the peculiar tackle which, like skeleton arms, over- 
hang the shafts of the coal-pits, and the little villages which are 
springing up around them, bespeak the wealth which lies below 
the surface. The straight roads, newly made, and making, 
prove that the Chase is doomed ; but even an agricultural 
reporter may be allowed to hope that a few fir-clad knolls will 
remain untouched — a few spots too steep for the plough, where 
all innovations and improvements may be baulked, showing 
what Cannock Chase was like when it abounded with grouse 
and black game, and had its native breed of sheep before the 
" mineral line " crossed it, or the populous towns of South 
Staffordshire began to press upon its rude outskirts. 
The Chase consisted of about 25,000 acres, on which several 
enclosures have been effected, and others are in progress. The 
Marquis of Anglesea, as lord of the several manors, has an allot- 
ment of one-fourth of the land, and a further share as owner of 
adjoining property, which had rights of grazing. The remainder 
is allotted in the usual way among the surrounding proprietors, 
and a further allotment falls to the Enclosures Commissioners, 
who sell it to pay the expense of road-making, &c, M'Clean's 
and the Cannock and Rugeley Colliery Company hold extensive 
tracts on lease, parts of which are cultivated by themselves, or by 
their colliers, who hire small plots. Altogether, a vigorous 
attack has been made on the heather, which, with a few patches 
of furze, covers the surface. Mr. Darling, the Marquis of 
Anglesea's agent, to whom I am indebted for much assistance, 
enabled me to inspect the different modes of reclaiming the 
waste. The first operation is burning the heath. The breaking 
up is comparatively easy, on account of the stunted condition 
of the vegetation, from the constant grazing of stock. The 
root-hold is therefore so slight that in some cases the steam culti- 
vator had done the work that is generally performed by a 
