524 
Typical Farms in East Anglia. 
18. The Farms of Mr. John Symonds, Thistleton Hall, fyc., 
Burgh, near Woodbndge, Suffolk. 
To anyone who has had to farm clay land, a visit to Thistleton Hall 
and the neighbouring occupations could not fail to be most interesting. 
With the space at my command it is quite impossible to do justice to the 
management and work seen during my brief visit. Situated in the 
heart of a country which seems but poorly farmed, Mr. Symonds’s land, and 
the condition it shows, are most striking. Driving along towards the farm 
thistles seem to be the principal crop in the many fields, as they overshadow, 
in a very decided way, whatever crops may have been planted. On entering 
Thistleton Hall farm the hedges, the crops, and their freedom from weeds 
are at once striking and impressive. Large square-shaped, clean fields, 
with low, well-kept hedges, at once attest the careful attention to detail 
and management which are equally evident on closer inspection. I speak 
strongly in this case, being quite aware of the difficulties to be met in 
attempting to keep a strong clay land farm up to the mark, in these days 
when grain makes such a miserable price. 
Thistleton Hall and Heaths farms have been in the occupation of the 
family, as tenants, from 1806 till about 1874, when Mr. John Symouds 
bought them. Their extent is 350 acres, and adjoining them, and leased 
from several proprietors, are Old Tom, Red House, Hatherley, and Church 
farms. The total extent under the holding is 650 acres. 
The soil is a strong clay loam, with a whitish clay subsoil, of a marly 
nature. Tn such a season as last, when the drought caught the land in a 
sodden state, full crops of any sort were out of the question, and failures of 
such crops as clovers and other small seeds were a certain consequence. In 
ordinary seasons this kind of land can bear drought well if a good tilth has 
been obtained and seeds are put in with sufficient moisture to start them. The 
altitude of the farm is from 150 to 200 feet above sea level, and the average 
rainfall is about 2 6£ inches. The whole of the arable land on Thistleton 
Hall and Heaths farms has been drained with 2 inch pipes about 3 feet 
deep and 8 to 9 yards apart. All these drains are shown upon a map 
which is most interesting through its absolute completeness ; not a 
single acre but has been drained, and the plan shows catchwells at all the 
junctions for the collection of sediment and as facilities for periodical in- 
spection. The hired land held under a thirteen years’ lease, expiring in 
1901, is some 300 acres in extent, and is held from three different landlords. 
Much of this land has been drained by the tenant, hedges have been stubbed 
out, and field fences have been straightened. The conditions of the ten- 
ancies are to farm as the tenant may see fit, but in “ a husbandlike manner,” 
until the last year of the tenancy, when “ the land must be cultivated 
according to the four-course shift.” The usual Suffolk customs are meant 
to apply at the termination of the tenancy. 
In the statement made by Mr. Symonds the tithe rent is given on the 
whole 650 acres, and the sum named, 140Z. 4s. 4d., is I expect pretty evenly 
spread over the whole extent of farming. This being so, and putting the 
rent of land owned at the same as that rented, namely 2 os. per acre, the 
following table gives the annual expenses, &c. : — - 
Arable 
Grass 
Rent 
Rates 
Artificial 
manures 
Cake, 
corn, &c. 
Labour 
Labour 
per acre 
acres 
570 
acres 
80 
£ s. d. 
852 4 4 
£ s. d. 
74 12 7 
£ s. d. 
200 0 0 
£ t. d. 
1,142 6 1 
anti £560 
worth of home 
grown grain 
£ 4. d. 
1,022 10 0 
£ s. d. 
1 13 0 
