epard to Tass, or IN some r Many Of the ‘hedge s been

l that

OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. 21

CHAPTER VII.

Limployment of Land, Arable Land, Cultivation and Rotation of Crops.

SECTION I.

THE employment of land and cultivation depending in great measure upon the nature of the soil of the several distriéts, I apprehend I shall treat of it more distinétly by following it in order through each of them.

In the Forest Distri@, the land being of a convertible nature, very little remains permanently in grass, except in the bottoms near rivers or brooks for meadow, and home- steds about farm houses for convenience. There was al- ways about each forest village a small quantity of inclosed land in tillage or pasture, the rest lay open, common to the sheep and cattle of the inhabitants, and the king’s deer.

Porest Breaks,—It has been, besides, an immemorial custom for the inhabitants of townships to take up breaks, or temporary inclosures, of moré or less extent, perhaps from forty to two hundred and fifty acres, and keep them in tillage for five or six years. For this, the permission of the lord of the manor is necessary, and two verdurers must inspect, who report to the Lord Chief Justice in Fyre, that it is not to the prejudice of the King or sub- ject. They are to see that the fences are not such as to exclude the deer,

Before the introduction of turnips and artificial grasses,