colour or skin. On the whole it may be said that the farming on these high grounds is not of a very advanced kind, and is certainly not improved by the very general habit of picking stones and selling them to the highway authorities. In the spring the teams are frequently on the road carting stones when they ought to be cleaning the land. Moreover many good judges condemn the excessive picking of stones as being distinctly injurious to the good farming of the land.
In the Vale of Aylesbury, which may roughly be said to extend from beyond Buckingham to Amersham, the conditions are very different. A rich, kindly working land rests on strong blue clay, and is capable of making a splendid return for any outlay. Experience has taught the farmers of that favoured district that grass is the natural product of the land, grass of a quality, both for milking and feeding purposes, hardly surpassed in any district in England. Consequently one may travel mile after mile and hardly see a ploughed field. Many acres have been laid down to grass, and are being laid down every year ; for, though the land will yield fine crops of wheat and beans, it is found that grass gives a better return. It is delightful to see the great broad- backed oxen in the pastures, and the whole vale has a pleasing air of prosperity. There is a good deal more arable land at the Amersham end of the vale, which is, in the bottoms, capable of growing any ordinary farm crop in the most satisfactory way. A stroll along those pleasant valleys, with their snug farmhouses, and well filled folds and stackyards, is a delightful experience in thesedays of agricultural de- pression. There is another fine stretch of country on the high ground dividing the Thames and Ouse watersheds. The road from Waddesdon through Winchendon and the pleasing village of Long Crendon to Thame traverses some excellent land, suitable for both roots and corn. With the advent of the Great Central Railway this country will soon become better known.
In giving a description of the system of cultivation in Buckingham- shire, there is not the four-course shift which was all but universal for years in the Eastern Counties to start with as a base. Any deviation from that course used to be looked upon by a Norfolk or Suffolk farmer as flat heresy, which nothing but extraordinary circumstances could in any way justify. There does not seem to be any corresponding feeling in this county. No very strict routine is observed, but so far as there is a regular shift it takes the character of a five-course one, namely rst, fallow or roots ; 2nd, barley or oats ; 3rd, clover or peas ; 4th, wheat ; 5th, barley or oats. The greater part of the turnips is eaten on the land by the sheep, and the plough is kept going as close to the fold as may be. Mangolds, which grow extremely well in many parts, are kept in clamps for the stock in the yards and for the sheep in spring. The c Yellow Globe ' and the ' Golden Tankard ' are the most popular varie- ties, and, owing to their early maturity, many growers do not hesitate to use them in December or even earlier. Oats come well and gener- ally yield a heavy crop after roots, but barley is apt to be coarse and not
399
