On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
725 
cottage  on  it:  he  has  added  six  cottages,  and  employs  twelve 
men,  besides  many  women  and  children.  There  used  to  be  5 
acres  of  turnips ; there  are  now  55,  and  next  year  there  will  be 
80.  I saw  a field  of  swedes  and  another  of  turnips  on  the 
ground.  The  crops  were  good  over  the  whole  of  the  fields.  He 
has  at  the  present  time  75  head  of  horned  cattle,  and  270  South 
Down  breeding  ewes,  besides  1 10  ewe  hoggets  from  last  year,  and 
20  pigs,  15  horses  and  colts.  The  wages  paid  amount  to  500/.  per 
annum,  and  one  result  is  that  there  are  no  labourers  out  of  em- 
ployment in  the  neighbourhood. 
As  Mr.  Beadon  is  only  in  his  fourth  year  as  a practical 
farmer,  it  would  be  premature  to  form  conclusions  as  to  the 
results  of  his  experiment.  He  himself  is  satisfied  with  the  past, 
and  hopeful  for  the  future. 
Eastern  District. 
The  eastern,  or  rather  north-eastern,  hilly  district  is  very 
different  in  its  character  from  the  hill  country  of  the  west.  It 
does  not  consist  of  distinct  lines  of  hill  divided  by  deep  stream 
valleys,  but  it  gradually  slopes  away  from  the  top  of  the  limestone 
ranges  to  the  rivers  Avon  and  Frome.  Its  combes  are  often  dry, 
instead  of  bubbling  with  watercourses,  and  the  appearance  of  its 
pastures,  its  ponds,  its  stone  walls,  and  thorn  hedges,  indicate  a 
difference  in  the  soil  and  agricultural  management. 
The  geology,  instead  of  being  simple,  presents  a greater 
variety  than  perhaps  any  other  district  of  equal  size  in  England, 
and  yet  it  is  remarkable  that  various  circumstances  have  tended 
to  perpetuate  an  uniform  system  of  dairy  farming  over  the  lower 
ground,  without  much  regard  to  the  varieties  of  soil,  a system 
under  which  less  capital  is  invested  in  the  land,  either  by  land- 
lord or  tenant,  and  more  rent  paid  in  proportion  than  under  any 
other.  The  consequent  deficiency  of  employment  for  agricul- 
tural labourers  is  not  felt  as  much  as  might  be  expected,  on 
account  of  the  number  of  men  who  work  in  the  collieries. 
It  will  not,  therefore,  be  worth  while  to  trace  out  minutely  the 
connexion  between  the  varieties  of  the  subsoil  and  the  traditional 
practices  pursued  on  the  small  proportion  of  land  which  is  under 
the  plough.  The  full  account  of  these  practices  given  by  Mr. 
Billingsley  50  years  ago  makes  it  the  less  necessary  to  go  over 
the  same  ground.  I am  afraid  I may  incur  the  charge  of  pre- 
judice or  presumption  for  the  remark,  as  all  my  knowledge  of 
the  east  of  the  county  is  derived  from  recent  inquiries  ; but  the 
details  of  the  ordinary  farming  of  a district  appear  to  possess 
little  interest,  when  the  state  of  things  is  one  for  which,  in  the 
natural  resources  of  the  soil  and  climate,  there  is  no  justification. 
Overcropping  with  grain,  fields  full  of  weeds,  the  neglect  of 
