On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
731 
Stone  Easton  for  its  base,  requiring' perhaps  as  much  improvement 
and  as  likely  to  repay  for  judicious  outlay  as  any  in  England  ; 
few  possess  greater  natural  resources  or  are  more  favourably 
situated  for  obtaining  manures  and  implements,  or  for  the  dis- 
posal of  their  produce.  I gathered  that  two  of  the  principal 
landlords  in  this  neighbourhood  have  of  late  years  been  em- 
ploying labour  in  draining  on  liberal  terms,  and  agreeing  to  the 
removal  of  needless  hedgerows. 
In  the  centre  of  this  district,  about  Chew,  is  some  land  belong- 
ing to  trustees  of  charities  in  Bristol,  in  a neglected  state;  and  a 
number  of  small  properties  purchased  as  investments  by  residents 
in  the  same  city,  who  are  content,  if  their  rent  is  paid  regularly, 
to  leave  matters  much  as  they  found  them. 
M ore  than  two-thirds  of  the  land  in  this  district  is  pasture  ; in 
some  parishes  the  arable  land  does  not  amount  to  one-fifteenth 
of  the  whole.  The  produce  is  principally  butter  and  inferior 
cheese.  The  cows  are  almost  universally  kept  out  of  doors  at  all 
seasons,  foddered  with  hay,  roots  being  little  cultivated.  It  is  not 
an  uncommon  practice  to  fatten  the  bull  calves  on  a stage  with 
milk,  when  veal  sells  well,  and  the  butter  market  is  dull. 
Between  the  limestone  hills  and  the  sea  lie  the  marshes  which 
have  been  before  referred  to,  stretching  from  Uphill  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Axe,  to  King’s  Road  at  the  mouth  of  the  Avon.  The 
moors  of  Yatton,  Kingston,  Seymour,  and  Kenmoor  are  occupied 
by  yeomen  graziers,  who  supply  the  Bristol  market  with  beef  and 
mutton  in  the  summer  and  autumn.  Tickenham  and  Nailsea 
Moors  are  in  a bad  state,  but  likely  to  be  soon  improved. 
Between  Clevedon  Hdl  and  the  King’s  Road  lie  the  Clapton 
and  Walton  Moors,  of  a peaty  description,  which  are  broken  up 
about  once  in  five  years,  and  laid  down  again  ; they  are  let  in  lots 
of  from  20  to  50  acres  to  farmers,  who  find  them  very  valuable  in 
dry  summers.  Below  them  is  some  fine  grazing  land,  about 
Portbury. 
At  this  point  we  are  close  to  Leigh  Down,  near  Bristol,  which 
in  Mr.  Billingsley’s  day  was  a sheep-walk,  but  is  now  in  part 
occupied  by  Leigh  Court,  the  beautiful  residence  of  one  of  the 
most  practical  farmers  in  this  part  of  the  county,  Mr.  William 
Miles,  who  occupies  430  acres  of  arable  land  and  400  acres  of 
grass  land,  including  the  park,  in  which  there  are  180  head  of 
deer.  The  greater  part  of  the  land  is  an  extremely  thin  laver  of 
clav  on  the  limestone,  with  a few  fields  on  the  new  red  sandstone. 
The  Leigh  farm  is  in  a very  high  state  of  cultivation,  and 
managed  in  a very  business-like  way.  The  accounts  are  kept 
with  great  accuracy  in  a plain  and  simple  form.  The  buildings 
are  well  arranged  and  useful,  without  being  needlessly  expensive. 
The  course  of  crops  is  suited  to  the  soil : — 1 . Mangold  ; 2.  Wheat ; 
