On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
713 
of  F.  H.  Dickinson,  Esq.,  at  King  Weston,  and  of  the  Dean  of 
Windsor,  at  Butleigh.  They  have  had  the  good  fortune  re- 
spectively to  obtain  the  assistance  of  practical  farmers  who  are 
gentlemen  of  education. 
Mr.  Dickinsons  Farm. — The  extent  of  this  farm  is  640  acres, 
of  which  366  are  arable  and  the  remainder  pasture  of  very  infe- 
rior quality.  The  soil  of  the  upper  portion  of  the  farm  consists 
of  thin  stonebrash,  whilst  the  lower  part  is  deeper,  being  a heavy 
loam  with  a clay  subsoil,  and  difficult  to  work  in  unfavourable 
weather. 
Mr.  Gray,  who  manages  Mr.  Dickinson’s  farm,  has  had  great 
experience  in  this  county,  and  has  conciliated  the  confidence  of 
his  neighbours  by  his  practical  acquaintance  with  the  wants  and 
capabilities  of  their  soil.  The  following  account  of  some  points 
of  his  management  is  extracted  from  a statement  drawn  up  under 
his  direction  by  one  of  his  farming  pupils. 
“ Our  rotation  of  cropping  on  the  stonebrash  land  is  as  follows  : — 
“ 1.  Wheat.  2.  Winter  beans.  3.  Turnips,  fed  off  with  sheep  eating 
cake  or  corn.  4.  Spring  wheat  and  the  land  laid  down  to — 5.  Saintfoin, 
to  remain  four  years. 
“ Or  as  follows : — 
“ 1.  Wheat.  2.  Winter  beans  or  winter  peas.  3.  Turnips.  4.  Oats 
(barley  not  growing  kindly).  5.  Clover  or  vetches.  6.  Wheat. 
“ We  sow  our  winter  peas  the  second  week  in  January,  and  harvest 
them  the  latter  part  of  June  or  very  early  in  July;  and  the  land  is  then 
prepared  for  turnips. 
“We  bring  the  heavy  land  to  wheat  as  often  as  we  can.  Thus  : — 
“1.  Wheat.  2.  Vetches,  fed;  mustard,  partly  fed  and  the  remainder 
partly  ploughed  in.  3.  Wheat.  4.  Mangold,  highly  manured.  5.  Wheat. 
G.  Clover,  fed  off  wheat- 
“ On  this  description  of  land  we  usually  grow  our  mangold,  which  is 
dibbled  in  on  ridges  27  inches  apart  and  14  inches  in  the  rows.  In  the 
fall  of  the  year  the  land  receives  a deep  ploughing,  another  in  February, 
and  the  scarifier  passing  through  it  in  March  produces  tilth.  The  ridges 
are  then  struck,  and  about  15  loads  of  dung  put  down  an  acre,  covered  up 
and  rolled.  A man  then  passes  down  each  ridge  with  a dibble  four  feet 
long,  making  a hole  large  enough  to  contain  half  a pint  of  manure,  which 
a woman  puts  down  with  a tin  cup,  and  a child  follows  placing  5 seeds  or 
thereabout  in  each  hole,  covering  the  same  with  a portion  of  fine  earth. 
Two  horses  and  two  carts  are  employed  in  conveying  the  manure,  the 
ridge  being  struck  at  such  a distance  as  that  the  wheels  may  pass  down 
them.  A boy  fills  the  baskets  out  of  the  cart  as  they  are  emptied  by  the 
women,  and  the  work  goes  on  very  rapidly  with  6 men,  6 women,  G 
children,  and  2 lads. 
“ We  planted  20  acres  in  the  week,  and  the  cost  of  labour  was  8 s.  per 
acre.  We  prepare  our  manure  some  months  before.  The  superphosphate 
of  lime  is  mixed  with  it  at  the  rate  of  2 cwt.  an  acre.  It  consists  of  rotten 
dung  and  fine  ashes  in  equal  quantities  finely  worked  together.  The 
proportion  of  half  a pint  in  a hole  will  take  four  large  cart-loads  of  this 
compost  per  acre,  each  holding  about  40  bushels.  This  method  produces 
a rapid  growth  of  the  plant.  I estimate  that  we  grew  28  tons  an  acre 
over  30  acres  this  season  ; 20  acres  of  which  had  no  other  manure  than 
