East Riding of Yorkshire. 
119 
the Wolds, sainfoin has lost its original value. A field or two of 
it may here and there be seen, distinguishable from afar in the 
month of June by its beautiful scarlet flower ; but it is of rare 
occurrence, and confined either to very gravelly soils, or bare and 
craggy knolls. The late Sir W. Strickland was an extensive 
sainfoin grower, and a zealous advocate for its extended cultivation. 
By his treatment of it he was in the habit of obtaining as much as 
two tons of sainfoin-hay per acre : he greatly deprecated the prac- 
tice of eating the after-growth of it bare in the autumn, either by 
sheep or any other animal ; because it was found that by this 
means the crown of the plant was exposed to winter frost, and 
that the crop would not thus survive more than six or seven years ; 
but that, on the other hand, by being content with the produce 
obtained from the scythe only, it would flourish for twenty years 
or more. 
Wold Ponds. — In a wide area like this, destitute almost entirely 
of land-springs, pond-making is considered a very important art. 
There is no part of the kingdom perhaps where it has received 
more attention than in this ; it therefore demands notice. 
These ponds are always made circular.* The common dimen- 
sions are from 18 to "20 yards diameter: there are some even more 
than this; one, in Sledmere Park, is 30 yards diameter. If, how- 
ever, the diameter be 20 yards, the central depth should be 8 
feet ; and so in like proportion, the slope being gradual. The 
ordinary locality selected for a pond is by the side of a road, for 
the sake of catching the water flowing down the ruts in heavy 
rain. This plan, however, is condemned by experienced men : 
a better way, they say, is to construct the pond where there can be 
no such influx, and where its filling is made dependent entirely 
upon the fall of rain or snow from the heavens — that the land- 
floods bring with them a great quantity of larvee of insects of 
various sorts, worms, &c., which eventually penetrate through the 
clay bottom, and destroy the pond, besides the deposit of silt, 
sand, and gravel, which tends to fill it up. The spot selected 
should be such as to serve three or four fields, if possible, on the 
table-land of the hills. When the necessary excavation has taken 
place and the proper depth been obtained, the first thing is to cover 
the whole surface with clay, well rammed down to the thickness 
of 4 inches, then cover with an inch of quick-lime, then a layer 
of straw, and then broken chalk over the whole from 18 to 24 
inches in thickness. In general ponds thus made are considered 
complete; an improvement, however, has been made in them 
lately, which may be mentioned, viz. the making a trench, or cess 
* They are said to have been first constructed, according to this form, 
by Robert Gardner, a native of Kilham, in the year 1775. 
