On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
705 
great  changes  in  the  marsh  aristocracy.  Many  of  their  children 
have  followed  the  higher  professions,  and  the  race  no  longer  ex- 
ists in  its  glory. 
St.  Matthew’s  fair  is  no  longer  what  it  used  to  be,  for  the 
owners  of  the  finest  animals  take  care  not  to  go  into  the  market 
when  others,  who  must  sell,  bring  down  the  price. 
The  best  grazing-lands  are  now  generally  rented  by  west  country 
farmers,  living  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  off,  whose  straw  yards 
and  breeding  farms  give  them  a great  advantage  over  the  resident 
grazier.  Well-bred  stock  are  generally  fatted  by  the  breeder, 
or,  if  sold  lean,  fetch  a high  price.  The  only  remedy  is  to  break 
up  the  inferior  land  in  the  Marsh,  to  farm  it  well,  and  grow  good 
root  crops.  One  eminent  grazier,  who  has  acted  upon  this  plan, 
told  me  that  he  can  fatten  fifty  bullocks  where  his  father  fat- 
tened ten. 
The  second  class  of  grass-land,  the  dairy-land,  is  the  greatest 
in  extent;  and  the  principal  produce  of  the  Marsh  is  cheese. 
The  dairy  farms  vary  in  extent  from  50  to  T20  acres  of  grass, 
with  a small  portion  of  arable  land.  There  are  a few  larger  ; 
but  a dairy  of  thirty  cows  is  of  a convenient  size  for  making  daily 
a good  Cheddar  cheese,  of  about  half  a cwt.,  or  rather  more  in 
May  and  June.  Besides  these  cheeses,  some  small  ones  are 
made,  called  ‘‘  truckles,”  which  probably  sell  in  London  as 
North  Wilts  cheeses.  Each  cow  requires  nearly  three  acres, 
or  about  one  and  a half  acre  of  summer  leaze,  and  one  acre 
of  hay  and  after-grass ; but  as  some  farms  are  managed,  they 
consume  much  more.  Cows,  on  an  average,  yield  3^  cwt.  of 
cheese,  and  on  good  land  nearly  4 cwt.  in  the  course  of  the 
year.  More  than  half  of  this  cheese  will  be  of  the  best  qua- 
lity, and  will  fetch  what  fifty  years  ago  Mr.  Billingsley  called 
“ the  present  enormous  price  of  6 d.  a pound but  in  fact  the 
best  cheese  fetches  a higher  price.  Three  years  ago  70s.  was  its 
current  price  ; and  some  has  been  sold  this  year  for  65s.  per  cwt. 
Say  that  a cow  produces  only  3 cwt.  of  cheese  on  three  acres  of 
land,  at  50s.  per  cwt.,  and  the  price  of  a cwt.  of  cheese  will  be 
about  the  rent  of  an  acre  of  land  ; and  so  the  proverb  runs,  “ the 
pail  (i.  e.  the  cheese)  pays  the  rent.”  The  dairyman  lives  on  the 
produce  of  his  bacon,  calves,  and  some  butter,  which  the  poorer 
ones  make  weekly,  to  the  great  injury  of  their  cheese,  their  poverty 
rather  than  their  will  consenting ; in  order  that  by  the  sale  of 
this  butter  they  may  have  a little  ready  money  to  go  on  with. 
They  have  also  generally  a few  acres  of  land  out  of  reach  of  the 
floods,  on  which  they  grow  a little  corn  for  their  own  consumption. 
A good  deal  of  cider,  not  of  the  best  quality,  is  produced,  and 
consumed  too;  for  the  home  market  for  cider  in  the  Marsh  is 
rather  better  than  it  need  be. 
