ow 
i 
a797-] , — Englifh Tour—Suffulk, 
TOUR OF ENGLAND. 
(CONTINUED). 
Journal of a Tour through almoft every county 
in England, and part of Wales, by Mr.- Joun.. 
HovsemMan, of Corby, near Carlifle; who 
was engaged to make the Tour by a gentle- 
man of diftinétion, for the purpofe of col- 
le&ting authentic information relative to 
the itate of the poor. This Journal com-. 
prifes an account of the general appearance 
of the country, of the foil, furface, build- 
ings, ‘&c. with objfervations agricultural, 
commercial, &c. 
oO’ the firft of July, I proceeded from 
WaANGFORD (a petty inn) toa 
{mall village half a mile from Woop- 
BRIDGE, in Suffolk, 25 miles. Great 
famenefs in the country ; the furface has 
fome gentle rifes and falls, but all the 
views are fhut out by high hedges and 
trees. The foil isa fine loam, and very 
fertile in the produétion of wheat, barley, 
peas, beans, &c. ‘The crops have the 
) moft luxuriant appearance of avy I ever 
faw ; wheat 1s. almoft univerfally dib- 
bled or fet by the hand, at the expence 
of about eleven thillings per acre, which 
the faving in, feed will nearly pay; and 
fo great is the quantity fer, that, it is 
faid, no’ lefs than 3000]. was paid lat 
year for dibbling that grain alone, in 
the~Hundred of Buyruine, in this 
. county. The quantity of feed fowed, the 
'-employment which dibbling affords to 
» poor women and children, and the ge- 
) neral fuperiority of the crops, are confi- 
’ derations deferving the notice of farmers 
in other counties, as well as the nation at 
large. But wheat is alfo much cultivated 
here as a fallow crop—Rent of land 
about fifteen or fixteen fhillings per acre. 
—I obferved no commons or common- 
fields in this diftriét; indeed I have not 
feen much of the latter, either in Norfolk 
rSuffolk. In fome parts of Suffolk, I 
am told, a great deal of hemp is grown. 
. WoopsrinGe is furrounded witha 
moft delightful country, and the fertility 
of the foil is evinced by the fine tall beau- 
‘tiful hedges. The fields are large and 
Fegular. The road continues exccllent, 
formed of fine gravel. 
July 2d. This day proceeded to Ips- 
WICH, in Suffolk, nine miles. I paffed 
over fome traéts of pretty good foil, but,- 
i general, this diftri€t feems rather 
barren. The road croffed different com- 
_ Mons, producing much furze. This was 
’ one of Ipfwich race days, and the country 
people were flocking there to fee the 
aces. The town ftands ina hollow, is 
irty and difagreeable ; the market place, 
owever, and fome of the ftreets are 
MontruLty Mac. XXIV. 



Woodbridge, Ipfwich. 363 
wide and pleafant enough: though at a 
diftance from the fea, the river is navi- 
gable up to it, but the trade is much de- 
cayed. Ipfwich is a very large town, 
but confiderably diminifhed in, fize: it 
now contains twelve churches, and is faid 
to have formerly had twenty-one. In the 
evening I took a walk to the race ground, 
which is diflant about a mile ; found the 
company very great,-among which were 
a confiderable concourfe of gentry of 
both fexes ; but there were fo many two 
and four wheeled carriages and horfes, 
particularly the former, and fo little 
room for the fpetators, that a perfon on 
foot had fome difficulty to avoid being 
trampled upon or run over.—The race 
‘ground is a very indifferent one, and in 
no refpeé fuited to the purpofe; being, 
inftead of a fmooth plain, a colle&tion of 
fields, with the courfe for the horfes very 
uneven, 
The county of Suffolk, taken generally, 
feems to poffefs a fertile loamy foil, wel} 
adapted for the growth of wheat, peas, 
and beans, but particularly for the for- 
mer; the farmers depend moftly on the 
plough for the payment of their rent, &c. 
though it is noc without grazing diitriéts. 
The very bigh rents of land in the north 
of England, confidering its inferior qua- 
lities, is, perhaps, the reafon why, 1 have 
always thought that the territory of thefe 
diftriéts was let much beneath its intrinfic 
worth. The Norfolk mode of plowing - 
is generally, though not univerfally, 
adopted in this county, The air appears 
to be mild, and not unwholefome. The 
country is rather low and woody, and the 
lords of manors are fo tenacious of the 
game, that in many parts of the county, 
and particularly about Woodbridge, the 
hares, pheafants, &c. are fo numerous 
that, J] am credibly informed, nearly one 
third of the crops are deftroyed! As a 
palliation, however, of this hardfhip upon 
their tenants, moft of the wealthy land. 
lords make them a pecuniary compenfa- 
tion: the lofs, however, to the public is 
a very ferious evil.—Suffolk is almof 
wholly an agricultural county ; the in- 
habitants are well informed, and live in 
avery genteel way. ; 
On july 3d, I proceeded from Ipf- 
wich to COLCHESTER, in Effex, eighteen 
miles. The country is quite level ; once 
or twice only I paffed a {mall hollow, 
where a brook alfo croffed the road. The 
foil is rather ftrong, and extremely pro- 
ductive of corn, grafs, and roots. ‘The 
roads are remarkably fine, {pacious, and 
well gravelled, but bordered with fuch 
3B - high 
