A HISTORY OF HEREFORDSHIRE By the middle of the 19th century, however, it again boasted of innumerable clumps of trees and luxuriant hedgerow timber with a larger number of small park-like inclosures than could be found in any other part of England of equal extent. In 1878 34,885 acres were occupied by woods, coppices, and plantations; in 1905 43,078 acres, 27,122 being coppice, 1,153 plantations, and 14,803 'other woods."" The farm-houses about 1850 were probably not so deficient in out-buildings as in many other parts of England, where a reliance on Protection, according to the agricultural writers of the day, had caused landlords to neglect them. This was partly due to the general size of farms being above the average, to the system of cotting sheep, and to the shelter considered necessary for the manufacture of cider. Still the deficiency of shelter had occasionally to be remedied by employ- ing the orchard as a fold-yard, to the great waste of valuable manure, and what was even then called the * modern system ' of growing heavy root and green crops, with the consequent power conferred on the farmer of maintaining a larger quantity of stock during the winter, had caused the present buildings to fall short of requirements. The drainage of the agricultural land in the county was still in a very unsatisfactory state, though in England there was a general movement in favour of improved methods. The great extent of the orchards and timber was said to present impediments, and in some of the lands, especially the alluvial flats, there was no outfall. But apart from these obstacles much of the heavy soil was not drained, and on the loose soil drainage was scarcely thought of.^^ Yet contrasted with the state of farming revealed by Duncumb's report in 1805 the agriculture of the county had improved in all respects, except in the manufacture of cider and perry, in 1853. The farmer no longer tilled his land for a crop of twelve to fourteen bushels per acre of peas or beans on favourable soil, nor was he satisfied with the wretched crop of 20 bushels of wheat per acre on good land, and the use of green crops in the fold-yard had largely increased. ^^ There had also been a complete change in the species of sheep bred by Herefordshire flock owners, the true-bred Ryelands were by now only to be found in the vicinity of Ross. They had been crossed with the Leicesters, from which had descended a large number of the mongrel animals 'now found in the county.' More recently, however, the Southdowns had come into favour. Summing up, the writer before quoted declares that all that was required by the county to make it equal to any district in England was improved drainage and the suppression of agricultural fraud in the sale of artificial manures. Writing in 1868 Mr. C. Cadle, whose statements were verified by Mr. Duckham of Baysham Court, stated that most of the holdings were from Candlemas though there were a few from Christmas and Ladyday. On Candlemas and Ladyday takings the outgoing tenant was as now entitled to the ofFgoing crop of wheat on one-third of the arable land, and was paid for the acts of husbandry on the young clover seeds. The outgoing tenant kept the house (except two rooms for servants and the stable) and the boozy pasture until i May, and also had the use of the barn and part of the stack-yard until the same date to thrash his corn. The incoming tenant, except as mentioned, had no acts of husbandry to pay for, all the manure belonged to him, and hay and straw could not be sold off. Tenants did the repairs, materials in the rough being found by the landlord, who first put the holding in order.^* This may be compared to a lease of 1906 whereby the incoming tenant ' agrees to pay on entering a consuming price for all clover, hay, and straw of last year's growth and for all acts of husbandry, crops, and seeds, and unexhausted improvements in like manner as he shall be paid at the termination of the tenancy. To do the repairs on being provided by the landlord with materials which the tenant is to haul. In the last year of the tenancy to have, exclusive of the hop-yard, only one-third of the arable land in wheat, one-third in a clean and proper state for the incoming tenant to sow with spring corn, and one-third in clover and grass seeds. To consume upon the farm all hay, straw, clover, fodder and roots, grown on the farm. To allow the next incoming tenant, from and after the I October preceding the termination of the tenancy, to enter upon such lands as shall be in course for spring corn or turnips and do all necessary acts of husbandry thereto. To leave all unused manure upon the premises without any allowance for the same.' The use of the boosey pasture, the house, barn, and part of stack-yard until i May is still customary in Candlemas and Ladyday tenancies; but the Act of 1906 has so modified the cultivation clauses in leases that, except in the last year of the tenancy, they will be of little use henceforth. '» The total acreage only is given in the Agricultural Returns of 1878. Journ. Roy. Jgric. Soc. Engl. (Ser. i), xiv, 4.54. It should be remembered, however, that in 1805 wheat was 10/. a bushel and soon mounted higher, while from 1850 to 1853 it was little more than 5/. a busheL ^^ Boozy or boosey means primarily a division in a cowshed, or manger, so it came to mean the meadow lying near the cowshed. " Journ. Roy. Agric. Soc. Engl. (Ser. 2), iv, 153. 416
