608 = 542 
Practical Agriculture. 
The Eastern 
counties. 
Essex. 
Kotations 
Mr. Mechi's 
wheat aftei' 
wheat. 
Suffolk. 
4 acres ; clover-swedes, 5 acres ; pea-rape or cabbage, 9 acres 
and bean-rape, 6 acres. The land is kept in a cleanly con 
dition by diligent forking out of couch and by turning unde 
the surface, by the plough with skim-coulter, the seedlings ( 
weeds introduced by the hay ; and the repetition of crops is kej 
up w ithout an excessive bill for manual labour. 
In the drier climate of the Eastern counties the courses < 
husbandry prevalent upon different descriptions of soil hav 
been considerably altered during the last quarter of a century. 
Essex is a county of predominating strong lands and loam 
on the London and plastic clay formations, and on the thai 
marl ; there are heavy clays in the northern and central districts 
gravelly and mixed soils, with some light loams, in the east ; an 
heavy clay again in the south. 
In the adhesive chalky-clay district the old rotation of bai 
fallow, wheat, and barley, has been replaced by the improve 
one of (1) fallow, (2) barley, (3) beans and clover, (4) wheal 
and on a considerable proportion of the fallow, mangolds an 
tares are universally grown. The difficulty of harvesting tl 
mangold crop on such land is very great ; but deep steam tilla' 
is effecting a change in the texture of the sticky soil, while tl 
facility it provides for prompt cleaning tends to extend tl 
practice of growing green and root-crops upon larger portioi 
of the fallow-break. On the loams and lighter lands the fou 
course rotation is superseded in great measure by the five-cours 
that is, introducing two white-straw crops in succession ; a si: 
course being preferred on the stronger soils. Mr. JNIechi, by h 
celebrated system of high farming, has so enriched his Tiptn 
Farm, that he is obliged to take barley after wheat, and tl 
heavy-cropping red rivett wheat after white wheat. 
In the Romford district, and bordering upon Middlesex, tl 
farming partakes to a large extent of the nature of markc 
gardening, — potatoes, cabbages, and onions, being grown 1 
the metropolis ; early white peas, followed by late turnips 
rape, have taken the place of swedes in the fallow year, ai 
mangold and kohl rabi are much more largely cultivated of la 
years. 
Suffolk has five characteristic divisions of soil, namely, stroi 
loams, sometimes on chalk marl, sometimes on drift cla 
occupying the major portion of the county and known as t 
" Woodlands ;" the eastern sand and heath district known 
the " Sandlings," extending along nearly the whole coast lin 
the western soil or " Fieldings," consisting of light soil on cha 
and gravel, with some good lands ; a small tract of rich loam 
the south ; and a smaller portion of peaty or Fen land in t 
south-west. 
