A Short History of English AgricultureCurtler, W. H. R. (William Henry Ricketts)
History
A Short History of English Agriculture
Curtler, W. H. R. (William Henry Ricketts)
Agriculture -- England -- History
custom seems to have been that if they were eaten off by store sheep
they went tithe free, if sheep were fattened on them the tithe was
paid.[381]
Clover, the other great novelty of the seventeenth century, was now
generally sown with barley, oats, or rye grass, about 15 lb. per acre.
This amount, sown on 2 acres of barley, would next year produce 2
loads worth about L5. The next crop stood for seed, which was cut in
August, the hay being worth L9, and the seed out of it, 300 lb., was
sold much of it for 16d. a lb., the sum realized in that year from the
2 acres being L30, without counting the aftermath. At this time most
of the seed was still imported from Flanders.[382] Much of the common
and waste land of England, not previously worth 6d. an acre, had been
by 1732 vastly improved through sowing artificial grasses on it, so
that various people had gained considerable estates.[383]
Carrots were also now grown as a field crop in places, especially near
London, two sorts being known, the yellow and red, used chiefly by
farmers for feeding their hogs.[384] Of wheat the names were many, but
there were apparently only seven distinct sorts, the Double-eared,
Eggshell, Red or Kentish, Great-bearded, Pollard, Grey, and Flaxen or
Lammas.[385] The growth of saffron had declined, though the English
variety was the best in the world, according to Lawrence, and except
in Cambridgeshire and about Saffron Walden it was little known.
Though it was still some time before the days of Bakewell, increased
attention was given to cattle-breeding; it was urged that a
well-shaped bull be put to cows, one that had 'a broad and curled
forehead, long horns, fleshy neck, and a belly long and large.'[386]
Such in 1726 was the ideal type of the long-horns of the Midland and
the north, but it was noticed that of late years and especially in the
north the Dutch breed was much sought after, which had short horns and
long necks, the breed with which the Collings were to work such
wonders. The then great price of L20 had been given for a cow of this
breed. Bradley, Professor of Botany at Cambridge, and a well-known
writer on agriculture, divided the cattle of England into three sorts
according to their colour: the black, white, and red.[387] The black,
commonly the smallest, was the strongest for labour, chiefly found in
mountainous countries; also bred chiefly in Cheshire, Yorkshire,
Lancashire, and Derbyshire, sixty years before this, and in those days
Cheshire cheese came from these cattle, apparently very much like the
modern Welsh breed.[388] The white were much larger, and very common
in Lincolnshire at the end of the seventeenth century. They gave more
milk than the black sort but went dry sooner. They were also found in
Suffolk and Surrey.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account