72G 
On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
turnips  and  of  artificial  manures,  in  a district  containing  two  of 
the  best  markets  in  England,  and  bounded  on  two  sides  by  the 
railway,  are  evils  which  require  no  detailed  discussion  to  suggest 
a remedy.  It  will  be  a more  pleasing  and  useful  task  to  point 
attention  to  the  improvements  which  are  slowly  taking  place, 
and  to  some  shining  examples  of  superior  farming,  which  have 
done  more  to  expose  deficiencies  than  a hundred  essays  could  do. 
The  farming  of  Mendip  (to  begin  with  the  highest  land 
adjoining  the  Middle  district)  has  of  late  years  shown  some  sUns 
of  improvement.  “ The  soil  of  these  hills,”  sa\s  Mr.  Billingslev, 
“ is,  for  the  most  part,  deep,  loamy,  and  of  a good  consistence, 
and,  were  the  climate  more  genial,  could  not  fail  of  being  pro- 
ductive in  all  seasons."  Mr.  Billingsley’s  advice  to  the  land- 
lords was“  to  provide  all  necessary  buildings  for  making  mountains 
of  dung,”  and  to  the  farmer  “to  grow  little  corn,  and  that  little  in 
the  highest  perfection to  “ have  a great  breaddi  of  turnips, 
cabbages,  potatoes,  and  other  artificials,”  and,  consequently,  “ to 
maintain  a great  stock.” 
By  these  means,  he  said,  the  lands  might  be  kept  in  a pro- 
gressive state  of  improvement,  and  if  the  then  “ prices  of  agri- 
cultural produce  were  not  greatly  reduced,  neither  landlord  nor 
tenant  would  have  much  reason  to  complain:”  his  calculations 
were  founded  on  6s.  a bushel  for  wheat,  and  2s.  G d.  for  oats. 
Unfortunately,  the  course  taken  was  the  reverse  of  these  wise 
suggestions;  the  Mendip  enclosures  were  made  under  the  temp- 
tation of  war  prices;  allotments  on  the  hill  were  assigned  to 
homesteads  in  the  vale  below,  already  insufficient  for  the  farms 
to  which  they  belonged  ; and  the  farmers  in  their  turn  grew  oats 
without  manure  as  long  as  the  land  would  bear  it.  It  was  but 
lately  that  a farmer  who  had  taken  three  crops  of  oats  in  succes- 
sion from  one  field,  on  being  asked  what  he  was  going  to  do 
with  it  next,  replied  that  he  wished  to  take  as  many  oat  crops  as 
the  land  would  bear  first,  he  should  then  lime  it,  and  take  only 
two  crops,  as  he  wished  to  lay  it  down  for  grass  in  good  heart ! 
Of  course  this  kind  of  tillage  must  come  to  its  limit  at  last, 
and  so  the  new  enclosures  were  laid  down  in  grass  to  rest. 
After  they  had  been  in  grass  some  fourteen  or  fifteen  years,  another 
system  was  hit  upon  which  supplied  the  great  desideratum  by  en- 
abling the  farmer  to  spend  little  and  go  quick  to  market.  The 
land  was  let  out  at  1/.  an  acre  to  poor  men  for  one  year,  who 
breast-ploughed  it  and  took  a crop  of  potatoes  ; the  farmer  was 
thus  enabled  to  get  a succession  of  oat  crops  in  alternate  years 
at  little  or  no  expense  to  himself,  and  to  have  a good  return  the 
first  year,  often  not  less  than  7 or  8 quarters  per  acre.  Within 
a circle  of  no  great  extent  round  the  Ninebarrows  might  be  seen 
2000  acres  or  more  cultivated  on  this  plan.  Then  came  the 
