£08 
ef flmty gravel; the furface tolerably 
level; and, within a few miles of 
DownHaw, the land is excellent, pro- 
ducing “wheat, “barley, surnips, clover, 
&c. in abundance; the hedges are 
firaight, and beautifully brufhed with 
thorn, interfperfed here and there with 
trees. Before I reached SwarFHAM 
(a well-built little town) the read, for 
about four or five miles, lay over a cofn- 
mon, overfpread with heath, on which 
A obferved the country people digging 
turf, for fuel. The hay harvef was juft 
commencing at this early period; fown 
gaffes, particularly, were ripe for the 
fcythe. The fyftem of hufbandry which 
prevails in this diftri€t is worthy of gene- 
ral imitation ; inftead of ‘lying fallow, 
the land is cleaned and improved: by a 
turnip crop drilled and hoed, after which 
barley and artificial graffes are fown. 
Farms are large, and the farmers devote 
their principal-.attention to the plough, 
the operations of which are performed in 
a more judicious manner than I had feen 
fince I left Cumberland : two horfes are 
yoked abreaft, and driven by the plough- 
man, by means of cords attached to the 
bridles. The average quantity ploughed 
by one plough, is an acre per day.. The 
rmelioration of that implement, however, 
feems to have been but little confidered 
here, the old two-wheeled plough being 
fill m univerfal ufe, and which, with all 
its unneceflary appendages, will pro- 
bably long remain fo: fo difficult it is to 
eradicate old eftablifhed cuftoms and 
opinions ! 
Clay is much reforted to as a manure, 
“and found exceedingly beneficial, parti- 
cularly on light gravelly foils, of which 
there is a great quantity in this diftriét. 
Folding fheep is alfo practifed with much 
fuccefs: they are penned clofe together 
on fallows during the night, and, while 
their dung and urine powerfully manure 
the land, the weight and motion of the 
animals confolidare the light foil, and 
give it more cohefion. 
‘The Norfolk’ theen ave tall; chinimade, 
and long horned; their faces and legs 
are black, and their belhes frequently 
bare during the fummer; their mutton 
is faid to fetch a higher price than any 
other in the London market, as indeed 
it ought, otherwife the farmer would not 
receive an adequate compenfation for rear- 
ing, or feeding, them, the weight of a car-, 
cafe not being very great, nor are they 
fattened at an early age. Thefe fheep 
are kept in large flocks, with a fhepherd 
conftantly attending them; a precaution 
Tour of England.——Downhat, Dean, Norwich. 
[Aug, 
which, from their natural propenfity to 
rove about, is tidifpenfible. The fize 
and qualities “of thefe fheep form a ftrik- 
ing contraft to the larve heavy Lincoin- 
fhire breed, their next neighbours. The 
fhepherds are ufually dreffed, from head 
to foot, in clothes made of undyed wool, 
as indeed are great numbers of the country 
people in this difirict; they donot fpend 
their time idly while tending their fheep, 
but employ ali their leifure moments in 
{pinning wool, which they do with a 
very fimple inttrument, a fmall wooden 
{pindié, a foot long; they wrap a little 
wool round a finger, and with the other 
hand twirl the fpindle about, while ic 
hangs in the air by the thread: this pro- 
cefs they can perform while walking lei- 
furely along: at the time the thread is 
drawing out, it is fixed in a notch at the 
upper end of the {pindle, and then wound 
about it. This method of {pinning both 
woul and flax is very ancient, having 
been in ufe before the invention of 
wheels, end is praétifed, to ths day, by 
{ome old women in the north of England, 
and in Scotland, who were never habi- 
tuated to fpin on wheels. 
In fome of the villages of this county, 
I obferved the people ~ drefling their 
vittuals over fires on the hearth, not fup- — 
ported by iron bars, in the fame manner 
as is done in fome of the northern coun- 
ties, where turf is burnt for fnel. Here 
much of the fuel is dug from the neigh-. — 
bouring commons ; houfes are commonly 
thatched, although fome are*tyied; the 
walls are partly of clay, but chiefly of 
brick : I obferved a: tew compofed of 
wood, or lath and plafter walls.- This 
is a populous farming diftri&, and the 
inhabitants appear very induftrious. 
‘Dereham is a {mall market town. ~ 
June 20, I went from DEREHAM to 
Norwich, 16 miles.—Road very good, 
made of flinty gravel; the furface pretty 
level, except near Norwich, where fome 
gentle eminences catch the eye; the foil 
light and gravelly, very fuitable for tur- 
nips, barley, and clover, to the raifing 
of which it is much applied. In this 
journey, I noticed feveral gentlemen’s — 
feats, delightfully fituated among groves 
of trees, lawns, &c. The cattle are 
light, of a flender make, without horns, 
and of.a pale red, or yellow, colour; the 
-horfes are black, pretty ftout, and well 
made; they are yoked in pairs to the 
plough, although two, three, or four 
are puttoacart. ‘The houfes are built, 
fome of brick, others of flint ftone, and 
others of wood ; moft of them oe : 
the 
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