On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
G97 
I should  wish  here  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  which  I have 
received  from  my  friend  Mr.  Henry  Paramore,  of  Park  Estate, 
in  the  parish  of  North  Petherton.  I much  regret  that,  owing  to 
want  of  space,  I am  compelled  to  omit  the  detail  of  the  system 
pursued  on  that  estate,  which  would  have  been  a good  sample  of 
the  best  farming  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  an  instructive  illus- 
tration of  the  benefits  resulting  from  the  investment  of  fresh  capital 
in  the  soil.  It  may  be  stated  generally  that  the  estate,  comprising 
1300  acres  in  a ring-fence  and  including  four  farms,  was  pur- 
chased about  twenty  years  ago  by  a gentleman  who  wished  to 
invest  money  in  land.  Before  he  bought  it,  it  had  been  for  many 
years  in  one  family,  between  whom  and  the  tenants,  Mr.  Paramore 
says,  the  understanding  was  as  good  as  a lease  ; and  yet,  notwith- 
standing this,  the  ordinary  course  of  cropping  was  then  wheat, 
barley,  grass,  repeated  over  and  over  again,  without  fallows  or 
green  crops,  except,  a few  stubble  turnips  on  some  of  the  dry  soils  ; 
for  the  wetness  of  the  soil  generally  prevented  the  adoption  of  an 
improved  system ; pipe-draining  had  not  then  come  into  fashion ; and 
the  buildings,  as  well  as  the  estate,  had  descended  from  old  times. 
“ In  1845  long  leases  were  granted.  Since  then,  the  greater  part  of  the 
wet  land  has  been  effectually  ‘ thorough  drained  ’ by  the  West  of  England 
Land-Draining  Company,  at  a cost  to  the  landlord  of  about  5/.  per  acre, 
the  tenants  paying  5 per  cent,  per  annum  interest  for  such  outlay. 
Cottages  and  other  buildings  have  been  erected. 
‘ These  improvements  by  the  landlord  have  enabled  the  tenants  to 
establish  the  four-course  system  of  husbandry,  and  have  induced  a con- 
siderable outlay  on  their  parts,  in  clearing  off  numerous  old  pollards  and 
worthless  trees,  levelling  many  of  the  old  double  banks  (on  one  farm 
alone  nearly  three  miles  have  been  levelled),  and  substituting,  where  re- 
quired, thorn  fences  planted  in  single  rows  six  inches  apart,  in  the  pur- 
chase of  the  newest  and  most  approved  implements,  investing  more  capital 
in  the  purchase  of  stock  to  consume  the  green  crops,  in  subsoiling  the 
drained  fields,  in  newly  laying  out  the  meadow-lands  for  irrigation  (at  a 
cost  of  about  If.  per  acre),  and  in  bringing  into  good  tillage  by  breaking 
up  and  well  manuring  with  quick-lime  (about  30  hogsheads  per  acre)  old 
and  inferior  pasture-lands. 
“About  25s.  per  acre  is  expended  per  annum  for  labour,  exclusive  of 
the  cost  of  the  additional  improvements  which  have  been  made.” 
On  some  heavy  soils  the  following  rotation  is  adopted:  — 
1.  Beans  on  the  layer.  2.  Winter  tares  fed  with  sheep,  fol- 
lowed by  rape  fed  with  sheep.  4.  Wheat.  5.  Swedes,  turnips, 
and  mangold,  and  a few  potatoes.  6.  Barley,  seeded  out  with 
clover  and  other  grass  seeds.  7.  Clover  once  mowed,  afterwards 
fed  with  sheep  for  two  years.  The  whole  of  the  farmyard  ma- 
nure is  applied  to  the  root-crop,  burnt  ashes  with  small  quantities 
of  guano  and  superphosphate  are  drilled  with  the  seed,  the  dung 
having  been  previously  ploughed  in. 
Mr.  Danger,  of  Turnstile,  the  principal  part  of  whose  farm  has 
