284 
Farming of Kent. 
before he steps very far out of the beaten path of cultivation. It 
is generally found that those who have been brought up to farming 
in the Weald succeed much better than strangers. Ransome's 
Essex swing-plough, however, drawn by two horses abreast, is 
sometimes employed on the heavy soils of this district for sum- 
mer working : and in favourable seasons might, I think, be gene- 
rally adopted with advantage in most parts of the county. 
In speaking of agricultural improvement, it is but right to men- 
tion Mr. Thomas Paine Hilder, of Kingsworth, who occupies a 
farm consisting of upwards of 500 acres, belonging to the Haber- 
dashers' Company. The soQ is superior to the Weald clay, 
occupying the margin of that and the green-sand formation. The 
debris, or admixture of two formations, may be observed in many 
localities of this county as forming the most productive soils for 
general purposes ; and this circumstance will in some measure 
account for the peculiar fertility and range of crops of Mid-Kent. 
Mr. Hilder's farm lies mostly on low ground adjacent to the 
eastern branch of the Stour. W hen he took possession of it about 
twelve years since much of it had been subjected to inundation 
during the winter; it consisted of small enclosures, with wide 
bush hedges (called m county outruitnings), unsightly pollards, 
and "was comparatively worthless. By grubbing old hedges and 
pollards, and by cutting sewers and drains, the land has been 
changed from a wilderness into a highly valuable and productive 
farm. From a literal swamp, draining has brought it to a state of 
perfect dryness, even to bear the tread of cattle without injury in 
winter. Upwards of three miles of open water-course have been 
cut from 9 to 20 feet wide and 5 to 6 feet deep, for out-fall. Most 
of the land has been drained with tiles 3^ feet deep, and from 2^ 
to 3 rods asunder. Upwards of 20 acres occupied by hedges have 
been grubbed, deep ditches everywhere cut, with fields averaging 
20 acres each — formerly only 6 or 7. There is a prime plantation 
of hops, comprising 60 acres, on land a few years since almost 
worthless. There are at least 2000 acres adjoining of excellent 
soil, which admit of equal improvement by the same means. The 
soil, when dry, is a loose and poroiis mould, from 1 to feet 
deep, below which a stiff' substratum is readied. The rotation 
which Mr. Hilder adopts is the four-field cotirse, — 1. Tares; 
2. Wheat; 3. Clover; 4. Oats. In the next rotation half after 
oats is devoted to beans and peas, instead of tares, as preparatory 
for wheat: a portion of turnips is likewise introduced. Rents of 
the district, about 20*. ; rates, 2*. 6c?. ; tithes, 5s. per acre, ex- 
clusive of hops, which are 15.9. 
W'ithin the last few years the management and cropping of land- 
in the Weald have undergone a material change, ])artly in consc- 
qu(!ncc of the general extension of draining, wliich, with the 
