FarmiiKj of Yorkshire. 
103 
assistiri!? tlio growth of the ])Iant, as well as enriching the soil. 
Many tenants in this district expend annually in artificial manure 
and oilcake a sum equal to their rent. 
The hni)rovemcnts re(juired of the landlord in this district 
have been limited to imj)rove(l house accommodation, and to the 
erection of those new farm-buildings which tlie recjuirements of 
the times made almost compulsory ; there is yet much to be 
done in these respects, which it is hoped will, ere long, be fully 
carried out. 
A marked improvement has taken place with regard to the 
waste of straw which prevailed so late as the year 1848. As the 
farmer increased the number of his cattle he became more alive 
to the value of his straw to supply his fold-yard witli better 
manure, and aUo to be used as food when mixed with more 
costly nutriment. The quantity of linseed-cake used throughout 
this district is at least doubled within the last few years. 
The scythe is giving way to the reaping-machine, as in 1847 
the former had almost superseded the ancient sickle. The loco- 
motive steam threshing-machine supplants the old horse thresh- 
ing-machine ; and lastly, the steam-plough and cultivator will, 
ere long, cause the modern horse-plough to be discarded, which, 
in its day, was a great improvement over the heavy implemeiits 
used by our ancestors. 
Extensive marling and liming of the Wold district has also 
been accomplished within the period assigned to this Report. 
The lime is obtained from calcareous rocks, the substrata of this 
district, at a cost of 4s. 6fZ. a chaldron ; half the price it would 
reach if it liad to be brought from a distance. The Wold farmers 
have of late been more than ever alive to the importance of this 
outlay, the effects of which commonly last for twenty years ; though 
if bv deep ploughing the subsoil is stirred and brought into 
action, the land will not require a repetition of this dressing 
■when that time has expired. 
Admirably adapted as the four-course system is to the Wold 
district, on some farms it is found too exhausting, and here a 
variation is found beneficial. To sustain the powers of the soil 
a five, six, or even seven course is then resorted to, by the intro- 
duction of beans, peas, or an extra year of grass-seeds ; still the 
disease, called " fingers and toes " in turnips, and the failure in the 
clover crop, too frequently put the ingenuity and skill of the in- 
telligent farmer to a severe test. Experience teaches that marling 
and liming the land is the best and most certain remedy for the 
turnip disease, but many farmers in consequence have been 
induced to try mangold-wurtzel, and with the best results ; the 
change is found so beneficial that, in all probability, they will be 
