360 
SOILS AND AGRICULTURE OF NORFOLK. 
the standard of health for the nation, and the farmer was 
stimulated to improve his breeds of stock. In a very short 
time most of the various breeds known were evolved. The 
old horned Norfolk sheep, now nearly extinct, were crossed 
with improved Southdowns, and the flocks of black-faced, 
bare-legged Suffolks, so typical of East Anjlia were bred 
from the cross. 
The old rough Norfolk red-and- white horned cattle were 
bred with some of the then famous Suffolk duns, and from 
this cross the well-known Norfolk red poll herds originated, 
the red hornless progeny being carefully selected. 
All these improvements made a much higher standard of 
agriculture possible, and the famous “ four course ” rotation 
was imported from Hertfordshire, where it had been in use 
for some time. 
The rotation consists of alternating the cropping of each 
field in such a series that a different crop is taken every 
four years, and so a quarter of the farm area is under each 
crop every year. 
The rotation is : — 1. Wheat. 
2. Roots. 
3. Barley. 
4. Clover and Grasses. 
This arrangement allows the produce of half the farm to be 
sold off every year (the wheat and barley), while the roots 
and “ seeds ” are used as food for the live stock, who in 
turn provide the necessary manure to grow a remunerative 
cereal crop. The sheep also produce wool, and lambs are 
sold. Cattle are brought in from the Midlands or Ireland, 
kept in yards all the winter, and sold fat for beef in the 
spring. Norwich is one of the largest cattle markets in 
England, and much beef is bought there to supply the 
London and Midland towns’ meat trade. 
The four-course rotation, by providing an equal area of 
each crop, distributes the work of the farm over the whole 
