730 
On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
memory , it  is  the  more  important  for  its  owner  to  have  a little  fore- 
sight, and  to  take  care  that  it  should  have  all  the  needful  appliances 
for  keeping  it  “ in  heart." 
A few  miles  from  Mr.  Davis's  estate  is  a farm  of  308  acres, 
the  property  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Society  of  Downside  Col- 
lege, in  their  own  occupation.  When  we  call  to  mind  the  services 
rendered  to  agriculture  by  the  monks  of  the  middle  ages,  even  in 
Somersetshire,  it  may  excite  less  surprise  that  this  is  one  of  the 
best  appointed  and  best  managed  farms  in  the  county.  It  is 
situated  on  the  slope  of  Mendip,  at  Stratton-on-the- Fosse,  ex- 
posed to  cold  winds,  subject  to  severe  frosts  and  fogs.  The  soil 
a sour  loam  on  a hungry  gravel,  with  large  blocks  of  conglomerate 
stone  which  are  very  troublesome. 
The  buddings  are  well  arranged,  with  a steam-engine  and 
good  accommodation  for  stock,  all  but  the  pigs,  w hose  habitations 
seemed  in  much  want  of  ventilation.  I observed  an  useful 
arrangement  for  preservation  of  manure  ; two  catch- pits  side  by 
side  under  a shed  for  the  reception  of  ashes,  to  be  saturated  with 
liquid  manure.  They  are  used  alternately,  one  being  full  of 
ashes  and  receiving  the  liquid,  while  the  ashes  from  the  College 
are  being  accumulated  in  the  other. 
From  90  to  100  head  of  short-horned  cattle  are  constantly 
kept,  including  25  milch  cows,  25  or  30  calves  reared,  and  lO 
beasts  fattened  annually,  besides  250  sheep  and  pigs. 
Mr.  Pippet,  the  manager  of  the  farm,  has  given  me  an  account 
of  its  produce,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  quantity  of  animal 
food  produced  on  this  farm  annually  (allowing  15  gallons  of  milk 
to  be  equal  to  a score  of  meat)  is  considerably  more  than  2000 
score.  This  is  a produce  of  7 score  per  acre  over  the  w'hole  farm, 
or,  deducting  45  acres  for  the  portion  of  tillage  land  in  wheat,  oats, 
and  barlev,  above  8 score  produced  by  the  grass,  'green  crops,  and 
inferior  grain,  without  any  artificial  food.  Moreover,  the  cost  of 
the  labour  employed  on  the  farm  amounts  to  390/.,  or  about  25s. 
per  acre  over  the  whole  farm,  two-thirds  of  which  is  in  grass.  A 
large  portion  of  this  labour  has  been  employed  in  permanent  im- 
provements on  the  pasture  lands. 
In  crossing  the  country  between  the  Mendips  and  Bristol,  the 
traveller  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  goodness  of  some  of  the 
land,  and  the  backward  state  of  the  farming.  The  absence  of 
turnip  crops  and  the  deficient  quantity  of  stock  are  most  remark- 
able, and  even  in  the  fields  of  the  best  farmers  the  hoary  look  of 
the  stubbles  and  clovers  tells  tales  of  overcropping. 
Where  the  coal  strata  are  on  the  surface  the  soil  is  generally 
poor.  But  the  Mendips,  Broadfield  Down,  Dundry  Hill,  and 
the  coal  strata  mark  out  a triangle  of  land,  with  Wrington  for 
its  apex,  and  a line  through  Compton  Dando,  Clutton,  and 
