On l.lic FarmiiKj of Iliuilhujdon. 
255 
newlj-lambed ewes, and, witli a little cake, increases the quantity 
and improves the quality of the milk. Third-year — seeds, either 
grazed or once mown, and afterwards grazed by sheep ; tlie best 
managers use oil-cake in considerable (juantity. Fourth-year — • 
wheat. The whole of the farmyard-manure is applied to the 
roots, and sometimes supplemented by artificial fertilisers. Most 
fen-farms have a portion of upland-pasture attached, which is of 
vast benefit as an outlet for the stock. 
The straw is converted into manure by the farm-horses and 
store cattle : where no upland-pastures belong to the occupation, 
the farmer either purchases young stock in the autumn, and sells 
them again in spring to the graziers of Leicester or Northampton- 
shire, who finish them off on their pastures ; or he takes them in 
for the winter, finding the straw and labour of attendance, whilst 
the owner of the cattle gives them 4 lbs. per diem of linseed- 
cake. The Shorthorn breed is most prevalent ; great numbers 
of Irish Shorthorns being wintered in the fens. A good many sheep 
are bred in the district, and fed off on the heavy crops of cole- 
seed and roots which the land produces. Large quantities of corn 
and cake are also used for sheep-feeding. The principal breed is 
that of the improved Lincolns, which attain to great weights at an 
early age, and yield a heavy fleece ; the soil and climate both being 
favourable to their development. The farm-buildings, though not 
generally on an extensive scale, and in some places only temporary 
erections, are commonly equal to the requirements of the land ; 
the farmhouses are in most instances better than the outbuildings. 
Thrashing is invariably performed by portable engines, which 
move from farm to farm as their services are required. Every 
farm has its chaff-cutter and bean-mill, mostly worked by horse- 
power. The ploughing is light work for two horses. Iron 
ploughs of a modern construction are generally in use, with 
all the modern grubbers, scufilers, and harrows, of the present 
day ; both waggons and" carts are used, but the latter are cumbrous, 
and a better model might easily be substituted. Autumn cultiva- 
tion is practised to a considerable extent. 
The farms are held under a yearly tenancy, at a rent of from 
25s. to 3O5. per acre, the landlord paying the drainage tax, which 
amounts to about 65. per acre. The landlord erects or puts in 
efficient repair all buildings, gates, fences, »Scc., on the entry of 
a new tenant ; and the tenant covenants to keep them in a 
tenantable state on receiving the necessary rough timber at the 
expense of the proprietor. The usual term of entry is Lady- 
day. The incoming tenant pays for the seed and labour con- 
nected with the wheat-crop, and also, where the work has been 
properly performed, for all winter ploughing. 
The recognised tenant-right extends over a period of three years 
