On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
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farm  in  the  occupation  of  the  owner.  The  land  is  unfavourable 
for  green  crops,  and  the  pasture  very  poor,  but  the  farm  is  well 
managed. 
The  numbers  which  follow — from  1 1 to  19 — refer  to  various 
farms  in  the  west  of  the  county,  including  that  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Michel  1,  which  may  be  taken  as  a sample  of  superior  hill-farming 
on  poor  land,  and  that  of  the  Rev.  W.  Bernard,  who  has  endea- 
voured practically  to  exhibit  what  may  be  done  with  cheap 
buildings,  simple  implements,  and  a single  horse,  by  the  cultiva- 
tion of  green  crops,  and  especially  by  artificial  grasses  and  liquid 
manure.  He  grows  no  corn,  because  it  does  not  suit  him  to 
build  a barn  ; but  he  has  manure  enough  to  supply  more  than 
twenty  acres  of  corn  land. 
The  principal  cases  of  importance  in  the  Eastern  Division  have 
already  been  given  in  the  body  of  the  Report. 
At  the  end  of  the  Table  are  a few  instances  of  highly  cultivated 
farms,  to  be  found  in  other  counties;  all  occupied  by  tenant- 
farmers. 
It  appears  that  the  largest  proportion  of  animal  food  produced 
on  any  Somersetshire  farm  in  the  list  (omitting  the  marsh  grazing 
land,  and  Mr.  Bernard’s  experimental  farm)  is  at  the  rate  of 
seven  score  to  an  acre  of  grass  and  green  crops ; and  that  in  the 
only  two  cases  in  the  Table  in  which  so  high  an  amount  is  reached 
a considerable  portion  is  due  to  dairy  produce. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  appears  that  in  certain  selected  cases  in 
Lincolnshire  and  Norfolk,  and  in  one  case  (there  are  not  many 
such)  in  Devonshire,  the  amount  of  animal  food — all  fit  for  the 
butcher — produced  for  every  acre  of  grass  and  green  crops  is  not 
less  than  eight  or  even  nine  score. 
I think  it  must  be  admitted  that  unless  this  contrast  is  capable 
of  some  explanation  which  I do  not  perceive,  it  points  to  some 
deficiency  in  the  farming  of  Somersetshire ; for  it  can  hardly  be 
accounted  for  by  any  want  of  natural  fertility  in  the  soil ; nor  can 
it  be  altogether  traced  to  the  excess  of  hedgerows ; for  the  four 
first-named  arable  farms  are  remarkably  free  from  incumbrances 
of  that  kind. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  consumption  of  od-cake  forms 
a prominent  feature  in  the  management  of  the  farms  selected 
from  the  other  counties,  while  in  none  of  the  Somersetshire 
farms  quoted  in  the  Table  is  it  used  to  any  extent  worth 
mentioning. 
I am  confident  that  the  amount  of  animal  food  produced  and 
of  labour  employed  on  average  farms  in  Somersetshire,  when 
compared  with  the  analogous  facts  in  the  case  of  the  average 
farming  of  Lincolnshire  and  Norfolk,  would  afford  a still  stronger 
contrast  than  that  which  has  been  already  exhibited.  It  is 
