sidered that much of this was due to geological variations of the soil. He says: Where the excellent husbandry of Kent is mentioned it must always be understood in a very limited sense. From London to Canterbury, and from Canterbury to Sandwich, spreading a little towards Deal and Dover, is a line of very excellent management, which extends to the river Thames and to the sea, and includes the whole Isle of Thanet, but it spreads very little to the south of that road. Exceptions are certainly to be found, but speaking generally the true Kentish management is only in the district thus traced. The Weald of Kent, which comprehends so large a part of the county, is under very bad management.' It is proposed in this sketch to describe the agriculture of Kent in four divisions-East Kent, Mid Kent, North Kent, and the Weald of Kent; and four sub-divisions-Romney Marsh, the Isle of Thanet, the Isle of Sheppey, and the Hundred of Hoo. EAST KENT. Much of the land in the first division, East Kent, consists merely of a more or less shallow covering of mould upon the Chalk; loamy, friable, and kindly in some districts, and in others marly and unkindly, the latter being called "strong cledge" by Boys.2 These features characterise the soil on the south of Canterbury as far as Deal, Dover, Folkestone, and Ashford, and the slopes of the Chalk hills as far as Rochester. The rotation in these districts is the four course-wheat, turnips, barley, and grass; or a seven years' course-turnips, barley or oats, seeds, wheat, barley or oats, peas or beans. The latter rotation is adopted only on the better land. This is varied by sainfoin sown with barley or oats, or by sowing Italian rye-grass and white clover-which thrives well in this district and letting it remain down for two or three years. Barley and oats have taken the place of wheat to a considerable extent. Hops are grown in most parishes here, but there is not much fruit land. Flocks of Kent sheep are kept on many farms. Some of the farmers here also have grazing land in Romney Marsh, which they work in connection with their arable farms with much advantage. It is usual for many farmers to put wether lambs and ewe lambs not required for breeding on corn or cake as soon as they will eat it, and fatten them out before they are a year old. Lambs are bought at the large fairs at Romney and Ashford in the early autumn for this purpose. There is some very useful pasture land on the Gault on the edge of the 1 Annals of Agriculture, by Arthur Young, Esq., F. R.S., vol. ii., 1784. 2 Boys, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Kent. Chalk district between Folkestone and Ashford. Cattle are not bred extensively. There are two or three small herds of Shorthorns near Canterbury. Irish beasts are fattened in some cases, but not to any great extent. No Welsh cattle are now seen here.' Between Deal and Sandwich, and above Sandwich and by the side of the river Stour from Canterbury, there is some useful land of alluvial nature, formed by the gradual filling up of this once wide and important river. This is marsh pasture-land, principally of good quality, though not equal to that of Romney Marsh, and is worked in useful conjunction with the arable land on both sides of the Stour. It will fatten 14 bullocks per acre, and carry 2 sheep per acre during the winter. Fruit is extensively grown near Sandwich. Fruit plantations have of late increased in this neighbourhood. Market gardening, too, is extensively carried on throughout this district, but foreign competition has reduced the profits of fruit and vegetable production. From Sandwich to Canterbury, below the line of the Stour there are deposits of loam and clay loam at frequent intervals, of varying quality and thickness, of the Thanet, Oldhaven, and Woolwich Beds. The cultivation and cropping are much the same in this district as in that south of Canterbury. The crops, however, are heavier generally, and the hop land is decidedly of better quality. The best land in East Kent lies between Canterbury, Faversham, and Chatham, extending widely on both sides of the London, Chatham and Dover railway. It consists of rich deep loams of kindly working nature on the London Clay, and Oldhaven and Woolwich Beds. Large crops of grain are grown here. Barley and oats have in some degree superseded wheat. The barley is of excellent character, well coloured, well shaped, and much sought after by brewers. No regular rotation of crops is followed. The kind of crop is taken which will pay best. Radish seed, turnip seed, mangel seed, and other seeds are grown occasionally. Canary seed was grown formerly to some extent, as in other parts of East Kent, but it is rarely cultivated now, on account of the expense and foreign competition. Potatoes are somewhat extensively produced in parts of this district, which is very suitable for their growth, and large crops are obtained. Fruit is produced in enormous quantities, and of excellent quality, and the extent of fruit land is continually increasing. Among the fruits that especially flourish Buckland says, in his Farming of Kent:-"There are scarcely any cattle bred in the district; what few are fatted are of various breeds, but the Welsh predominate." in this part are greengages, whose flavour is particularly good, and cherries, of proverbially fine'quality, from which satisfactory profit is made. Lambarde remarks of this district of Kent, and particularly of Teynham, a village in the heart of it: "For heere have FIG. 2. A Kent cherry orchard in full flower. wee not only the most dainty peice of all our shyre but such a singularitie as the whole British Iland is notable to patterne.... This Tenham with thirty other parishes lying on each side of the porte way and extending from Rainham to Blean Wood bee the cherrie gardein and apple orchard of Kent." He adds: "our honest patriote Richard Harrys (fruiterer to King Henry the 8), planted by his great cost and industrie the sweet cherry, the temperate Pipyns, and the Golden Renate. For this man seeing that this Realme which wanted neither the favour of the Sun nor the fat of the soile was neverthelesse served chiefly with that fruit from forrein Regions abroad, brought plantes from beyond the seas and furnished this ground with them." Drayton rhymes of this fertile country: 1 Rich Tenham undertakes thy closets to suffice With cherries, which we say the summer in doth bring, Nor pippin, which we hold of kernel fruits the king. There are numerous cherry orchards, which are eminently things of beauty when they are in blossom, some idea of which may be obtained from the illustration (fig. 2) of trees in fulness of flowers, which appear before the leaves; and some landlords are increasing their orchards of this fruit, as the soil and climate suit it so perfectly. Very great improvement has taken place in the management of cherry orchards. They are never mown now. It was the custom to mow them, and Buckland remarks that "mowing the grass in cherry orchards is a most injurious practice, causing the fruit to fall before it attains maturity." 3 It is becoming understood also that grass allowed to grow close round fruit trees is prejudicial to fruit-bearing, and that in all cases it is utterly wrong to take hay crops from orchards, and even to feed animals on the grass without liberal supplies of cake or corn. The finest hops in this county, and, as some hold, finer than in any other county or country, are produced here. Large flocks of sheep are kept, mainly of Kents, which are more suitable for this and other parts of the county than any other breed. There is no district in Kent where there are better flocks and better management of sheep, and there is a wide stretch of good pasture land in its northern part between Whitstable and Westgate, of great advantage to the more inland farms. Not many cattle are fattened, because there are great facilities for getting A Perambulation of Kent, by W. Lambarde, 1576, p. 222. |