712 
On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
slope  of  the  hill  called  “ nidons,"  as  in  this  imaginary  section  ; 
the  hollow  above  ihe  line  A B represents  a “ nidon.’’ 
The  land  on  the  lias  presents  some  of  the  greatest  difficulties 
to  the  practical  agriculturist,  and,  unhappily,  the  tenants  in  too 
many  cases  are  not  provided  with  the  best  means  of  contending 
with  them.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  district  requires  draining, 
without  which  it  is  hopeless  to  attempt  cultivating  the  clays,  and 
the  jjbuildings  are,  generally  speaking,  quite  inadequate  to  the 
requirements  of  the  farmer  who  is  willing  to  expend  capital 
on  the  improvement  of  a soil  on  which  skill  and  capital  are 
absolutely  necessary  for  success.  There  are,  however,  notable 
exceptions  to  this  statement  on  some  properties,  and  the  mother 
of  invention  is  giving  evident  tokens  of  her  influence  on  others. 
The  obstacles  to  the  cultivation  of  roots  are  very  great,  not 
only  on  the  clay  but  also  on  the  stonebrash,  which  is  naturally 
poor  and  suffers  extremely  from  dry  weather.  These  obstacles, 
however,  have  been  in  some  measure  surmounted  by  means 
brought  into  notice  by  Mr.  Huxtable,  and  first  practically  applied 
to  this  soil  by  Mr.  Graburn,  on  the  Butleigh  estate,  of  which  I 
shall  give  an  account  further  on. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  that  farmers  in  this  district  follow  any 
system — “some  one  thing  and  some  another”  was  the  not  un- 
common answer  to  my  inquiries.  In  fact,  there  is  no  fixed 
rotation  ; and  that  is  one  of  the  greatest  desiderata  of  the  district. 
One  of  the  most  common  modes  of  management  on  the  stone- 
brash  is  the  following : — 1.  Wheat;  2.  Barley  or  Oats;  3.  Clo- 
ver; 4.  Wheat;  5.  Winter  Beans;  6.  Vetches. 
The  corn  grown  on  the  lias  is  generally  good  in  quality,  but 
deficient  in  quantity.  But  an  impression  widely  prevails  that 
the  cultivation  of  root-crops  on  this  soil  is  impossible;  one 
farmer  told  me  that  even  if  it  were  possible  it  would  not  do  any 
good.  The  result  of  the  neglect  of  roots  is  a very  insufficient 
quantitv  of  food  for  stock.  The  practice  is  to  buy  lambs  at  the 
Wiltshire  fairs,  to  keep  them  as  a working  flock,  and  sell  them 
“ fresh  ” at  the  end  of  the  summer  for  other  farmers  to  winter  on 
turnips.  Bullocks  are  grazed  by  those  who  hold  Marsh  land, 
but  very  few  are  winter- fed. 
It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  many  of  the  farmers  on 
these  lias  hills  draw  large  supplies  of  straw  from  Sedgemoor  on 
the  north  side.  Some  of  those  who  occupy  land  farther  south 
draw  their  hay  in  like  manner  from  the  rich  grass-lands  on  the 
banks  of  the  He,  the  fertility  of  which  is  sustained  by  the  thick 
water  of  the  floods. 
Spirited  attempts  have  been  made  by  some  of  the  proprietors 
to  grapple  with  the  natural  difficulties  of  this  soil.  Among 
these  attempts  attention  has  especially  been  fixed  on  the  larms 
