Agriculture of Hertfordshire. 
301 
are out. The machine is drawn in the opposite direction to the 
wind, so that the creatures may get a sufficient dose of the caustic. 
Without this precaution they would escape on their first irritation 
by the dust. 
At Courson's farm, I noticed that the mangers in the cattle- 
yard, instead of being fixed, were swung by chains or ropes 
to the nearest beam ; a simple plan, which saves the expense of 
posts, and facilitates the raising or lowering of the mangers. 
Several parishes in the north of the county have been only 
recently enclosed, viz. : Therfield and Sandon in 1840, and Ash- 
well, a parish of 4000 acres of good land, as lately as 1862. 
Baldock and Clothall remain still unenclosed. This appears 
strange, since the right of sheep-walks over open fields every 
third year, by preventing the growth of roots, is ruinous to farm- 
ing on light lands, whereas, after enclosure, the produce of land 
is often doubled. 
A singular example of farming at Letchworth deserves men- 
tion. Fifteen hundred acres of good land, which was allowed to " 
run wild to grass twenty-five years ago by the late owner, have 
maintained in the summer months a herd of 400 or 500 oxen of 
various breeds, which, in favourable years, have come up in good 
order for fattening in autumn. 
Farm-Buildings and Cottages have in isolated cases been much 
improved, but nothing has been done on an extensive scale. 
This, therefore, remains a weak point in the agricultural economy 
of the county. 
Good brick cottages, on the model of those erected by Lord 
Dacre on the farm of Mr. Samuel Jonas in Essex, have been built 
on the estate of Mr. Fordham, at Sherfield, and deserve special 
notice when the subject of cottage-building is under considera- 
tion. They are in groups of three, with a common bakehouse, 
oven, and pump. Each cottage has three bed-rooms, and two 
rooms below, besides the usual offices. They were built by 
Mr. James Jacklin, of Royston, at a cost of 225Z. the group, or 
75/. each, and for neatness of appearance and convenience of 
arrangement are superior to any we have hitherto known to be t 
completed at such a price. 
Covered homesteads have been erected by the same builder at 
Kelshall, with cheap and durable roofs of corrugated ' iron, a 
material almost as light as glass, and therefore requiring very 
slight scantlings for support. Homesteads entirely or nearly 
covered may reasonably be expected to pay interest on the cost 
of their erection, more especially where straw is valuable, since 
the saving in litter is only surpassed by the greater gain from the 
superior quality of the dung produced. 
Improvements lately introduced and those still required. — The 
VOL. XXV. z 
