29G 
Farming of Kent. 
Draining has been more or less carried on in this district for 
the last thirty years, particularly in hop grounds; and there is no 
part of the kingdom in which better workmen can be found in this 
very important department of rural labour than in the Weald of 
Kent. The great error liitherto has been not laying the drains 
sufficiently deep, and constructing them of a perishable material. 
There is now an increasing disposition to drain deeper, and tiles 
or pipes, in consequence of their reduced price, are generally 
employed. On stiff clays drains should be laid from 3 to 4 feet 
deep, and varying in distance, according to circumstances, from 20 
to 30 feet. For hops on such soils, drains ought not to be more 
than 12 or at most 18 feet asunder. In soils alternating with clay, 
sand, gravel, &c., which is the case with a large portion of the 
Hastings sand formation, draining cannot well be done too deep, 
and I prefer taking the drains directly up the slope of the field, 
thereby cutting through all the imderlying strata. From 100 to 
200 rods of drain per acre would, if properly executed, be found 
sufficient. The cost of labour woidd of course greatly vary accord- 
ing to soil and depth. In soils free from, stones, drains might be 
made from 3 to 4 feet deep for Ad. to Qid. a rod, to which the price 
of pipes, of 1 to 2 inches diameter, being added, would make the 
cost vary from 7d. to lOrZ. per rod. This calculation, however, 
supposes tliat all circumstances are favourable. In manj' situa- 
tions draining must be more expensive; in all it must be a costly 
operation. From the laborious and unpleasant nature of the work 
and the season when it is generally performed, a good workman 
ought to earn at the least half-a-crown a day. It should be remem- 
bered that by exposure to wet and cold during the severest 
weather of winter he runs a great risk of illness ; and I have 
known many instances of chronic complaints being induced by this 
exposure. I have often thought that some suitable waterproof 
garment might be manufactured to meet the peculiar wants of the 
drainer. 
Farms in the Weald of Kent are commonly small, as compared 
w ith other parts of the county ; many holdings not exceeding 50 
acres, and several much less. Some of the smallest lots have 
within tlie last forty years been added to larger farms adjoining, 
1 lie expenses of keeping up separate buildings being too dispropor- 
tionate to the rent. Rents vary from 8s. to I85. per acre; but on 
small estates they are generally higher. Kates, from 5s. to Gs. ; 
tithes, from 3s. to 7s. per acre. Wood-land in the Weald is tithe 
free. In those j)arishes which were not luider a modus, there is 
an extraordinary tithe on hops of about 20s. per acre. In this 
part of the county there is still a large nimiber of small freeholds 
occupied by their owners; but the majority of tenants hold on 
yearly tenures. Yet on many of the large estates particularly, we 
