Farming  of  Gloucestershire. 
151 
white  are  more  numerous  now  than  formerly;  some  having  a very 
short  car.  The  red  wheats  sown  are  the  clover,  Spalding,  cone, 
Cobham,  and  the  old  red  Lammas,  which  is  still  the  favourite ; 
and  the  white  kinds  sown  are  Smithies,  Hopetown,  Chidham, 
Essex,  and  Brown’s  10-rowed  prolific.  There  is  more  red  than 
white  wheat  grown  on  this  part  of  the  Vale.  In  wet  seasons  the 
red  wheats  stand  the  winter  better  ; but  all  kinds  of  wheat  suffer 
from  continued  wet  weather  during  winter  and  spring. 
Reaping  with  the  sickle  is  the  general  practice  of  the  county. 
Where  the  crops  are  heavy  the  wheat  is  cut  rather  high,  which 
leaves  the  stubble  of  sufficient  length  to  be  used  for  thatching  the 
ricks ; the  cost  per  acre,  according  to  the  crop,  is  from  7s.  to  10s., 
sometimes  l‘2s.,  and  four  or  five  quarts  of  drink  per  day.  Bagging 
is  being  introduced,  but  it  is  a work  of  time  to  expel  one  system 
and  substitute  another,  even  when  it  is  known  advantage  would 
be  gained  by  so  doing ; and  the  superiority  of  this  method  over 
reaping  is  rather  questionable. 
The  produce  varies  exceedingly  even  on  the  land  drained  and 
well  farmed,  much  more  on  that  which  lies  as  it  were  in  a state 
of  nature,  for  some  question  whether  the  high-ridged  lands 
without  underdraining  are  not  in  a worse  state  than  if  they  had 
remained  flat  as  nature  left  them.  It  has  been  remarked,  that 
the  farmers  have  been  always  trying  to  plough  the  land  out  of  the 
water,  instead  of  getting  the  water  out  of  the  land.  The  produce 
varies  from  16  to  48  bushels,  the  latter  being  the  produce  of  a 
small  portion  of  the  best  land,  which  comprises  not  a fourth  of 
the  district.  The  general  average  is  about  25  bushels  per  acre, 
taking  the  whole  of  the  vale  above  Gloucester,  a low  average  for 
a strong  wheat-land  district,  proving  that  there  must  be  much 
middling  land  farmed  moderately,  or  good  land  farmed  ill. 
Teazles. — Teazles  have  been  grown  in  this  county  probably 
as  long  as  Gloucestershire  has  been  a manufacturing  county. 
The  recent  improvements  in  machinery  for  dressing  cloth  have 
all  but  superseded  the  use  of  teazles,  and  their  cultivation  will 
naturally  be  discontinued,  which  in  an  agricultural  point  of  view 
is  a desirable  thing,  as  the  teazle  produces  little  or  no  manure  to 
be  returned  to  the  soil.  It  has  always  been  rather  a precarious 
crop,  and,  not  coming  to  perfection  in  less  than  two  seasons,  is  ne- 
cessarily an  expensive  one.  It  is  usually  grown  on  stiff  clay 
soils. 
Stock. — The  stock  of  this  district  consists  principally  of  cattle, 
which  are  kept  for  dairy  purposes,  and  for  breeding,  rearing, 
and  grazing.  There  are  few  extensive  dairies,  in  consequence  of 
the  soil,  as  before  stated,  not  being  suitable  for  making  the  best 
quality  of  cheese.  Cattle  are  therefore  kept  for  breeding  pur- 
