166 
Farming  of  Gloucestershire. 
The  course  of  crops  I intend  for  the  limestone  is  as  follows : — 
No.  1. — 5 acres  of  vetches  and  rye,  to  be  followed  by  late  cole-seed,  to 
be  dunged.  This  crop  to  be  consumed  on  the  land  by  sheep. 
No.  2. — 5 acres  of  barley  with  clover  and  grass  seed. 
No.  3. — 5 acres  of  clover  to  be  consumed  on  the  land  by  sheep. 
No.  4. — 5 acres  of  oats. 
No.  5. — 5 acres  of  globe  and  tankard  turnips,  dunged.  This  crop  to  be 
consumed  on  the  land. 
No.  6. — 5 acres  of  wheat.” 
In  1846  Mr.  Morton  states  that  twelve  men,  seven  women,  three 
boys,  and  extra  hands  in  harvest,  were  employed  on  this  farm  of 
240  acres,  which  was  previously  a poor  dairy-farm  giving  no  em- 
ployment at  all,  and  that  the  wages  of  the  men  were  from  twelve 
to  fourteen  shillings  per  week  and  that  his  crop  of  wheat  on  120 
acres,  being  half  the  farm,  was  575  quarters.  Wheat  is  the  only 
grain  grown  on  the  farm.  He  purchases  annually  20  tons  of 
oil-cake,  20  quarters  of  oats,  5 quarters  of  peas,  and  15  quarters 
of  bailey  and  maize.  When  the  improvement  of  this  farm  was 
first  undertaken  by  Lord  Ducie,  Mr.  Morton  published  his  in- 
tended course  of  cropping,  which  embraces  barley  and  oats  ; but 
on  taking  to  it  himself  he  changed  his  system,  for  on  visiting  the 
farm  in  November  last  we  found  that  half  the  farm  was  regularly 
sown  with  wheat  and  the  other  half  with  green  crops,  which  com- 
prise seeds,  clover,  beans,  carrots,  turnips,  swedes-,  mangold- 
wurzel,  and  kohl  rabi,  &c. 
His  turnips  and  swedes  had  failed,  but  his  mangold  was  an 
excellent  crop,  which  he  was  harvesting  at  the  time  of  our  visit 
on  the  4th  of  November.  He  stores  mangold,  carrots,  and  swedes 
in  long  ridges  between  hurdles,  which  are  thatched  with  straw. 
The  cattle  are  fed  in  boxes  9 feet  square,  but  the  dung  is  re- 
moved occasionally.  Pigs  are  kept  in  a building  and  hurdled  off 
in  compartments,  and  the  litter  allowed  to  remain  under  them  as 
under  the  beasts  in  the  boxes;  and  sheep  are  fed  under  sheds, 
not  boarded.  The  cattle-boxes  have  a passage  all  the  length  of 
them,  from  which  food  is  placed  in  the  cribs,  which  are  movable 
and  ascend  with  the  ascent  of  the  accumulating  dung,  and  a trough 
with  water  is  placed  in  each.  The  stable  consists  of  stalls  par- 
titioned off,  with  a floor  over  and  a store-room  at  the  end,  which 
contained,  when  we  saw  it,  a quantity  of  washed  white  Belgian 
carrots,  ready  to  be  given  to  the  horses  in  a raw  state.  The 
carrots  were  washed  by  a machine.  The  rick-yard  is  situate  on 
the  north  of  the  barn,  and  on  ground  a little  more  elevated.  It 
is  an  oblong  square,  with  a row  of  ricks  on  each  side,  placed  on 
round  staddles,  and  a road  elevated  about  2 feet  above  the 
general  level  forms  a passage  down  which  to  bring  the  loads  of 
corn.  The  ricks  are  not  large  ; Mr.  Morton  states  they  contain 
about  300  sheaves,  and  will  produce  upwards  of  40  sacks  to  a 
