Herefordshire Agriculture in the 1790s

The major cereal of Herefordshire had been wheat as early as the beginning of the 17th century and almost certainly long before. This contrasted with neighbouring Worcestershire where barley was a major component of the crop. Unlike large areas of the midlands the grain in Herefordshire was not grown in large open fields. Over 90% of the county was enclosed by 1675. This was a marked contrast with Bedfordshire where 75% of land was still unenclosed by the 1780s.

In 1794 John Clarke published a 'General View of the Agriculture of the County of Hereford'. In the 1790s century Herefordshire was was primarily an area of arable farming, pasture being largely confined to areas which could not easily be ploughed.  Ploughs were either horse or ox-drawn, about half each.

Rotation of crops varied from area to area. In the Golden Valley the practice was to rotate in the order - 1 wheat; 2 beans or peas; 3 left fallow; 4 wheat; 5 barley and clover; and then the cycle was repeated.

Turnips, although recently introduced to other parts of the county, were late in arriving in the Golden Valley.  In other parts of the county potatoes had recently been introduced.  These were boiled and fed to pigs or sometimes mixed with flour and baked into bread for human consumption. Generally they were not consumed by the rural population of Herefordshire.

Wheat was sown in the first half of October. At this time it was still generally broadcast by hand in Herefordshire . It was harvested from the beginning of August into the first week of September. At this time much of the wheat in Herefordshire was cut by Welshmen from Ceredigion.  They worked in teams of four or five and shared a horse which they took it it turns to ride. One of them knew enough English to make himself understood.

The following year, between mid February and mid March, the beans or peas would be sown.  These too were broadcast. After these had been harvested the land was left fallow. The year after this wheat was grown again.  In the final year in the cycle the barley and clover would be sown in late April or early May. After the harvest of the barley, sheep would be turned into the clover.

May was when farmers hired their labourers for the year.  Men hired by the year were paid between six to nine guineas, boys from two to three and women from three to four. Farmers always needed additional labour for seasonal work, especially at harvest time.  Day labourers were paid six shillings a week in summer and a gallon of cider per day.  In winter it was five shillings a week and three quarts (six pints) of cider a day.

Working hours were long by modern standards. In summer from six in the morning until six in the evening, and in winter from light to dark.  In harvest time work was done as early late as they could see.

Threshing was done on the threshing floor of the barns, and like the ones at Turnastone Court these could be either stone or timber-framed, and was paid at three and a half pence per ten-gallon bushel of wheat and one and half pence for the same quantity of barley, peas and beans. In addition there was three quarts of cider per man. The grain was then taken and stored in a granary.

To supply the labour force with its accustomed drink, every farm had its orchard and its cider mill. The mill was generally at the end of an old building but was sometimes in an open shed. It consisted of a circular stone trough - the chase - in the centre of which was a vertical post as an axle for the stone runner. The stone runner was pulled in a circle by horse and the apples placed in the trough. When the apples had been reduced to a paste - must - they were put into a screw press to extract the juice.

Cider-making was not entirely popular with many of the farmers although the labourers were always keen to have it done.

A conversation between a farm labourer and a farmer is recorded in the late 18th century:-

labourer "Master, what horse shall I take to drive cider mill?"

farmer "Damn the cider and the mill too; you waste one half of your time in making cider and the other half in drinking it. I wish there was not one apple in the county. You all think of cider, no matter what comes of plough."

Other commonplace practices on Herefordshire farms seem appalling to most people now. Castrating calves was done as follows - 'they open the scrotum, take hold of the testicles with their teeth, and with violence tear them out'.

The local breed was of course the Hereford. Cattle were grazed on the pastures in summer and in winter taken back to the farmyard. There they were fed with hay and 'corn'. Corn in this case meant either barley or beans, ground up and given dry. Some farmers used cakes made from the refuse of linseed.

As oxen were extensively used for road haulage, it was commonplace to shoe them.  Working oxen were later fattened for human consumption. Dairy farming was extremely rare in Herefordshire.  The county was supplied with butter from Wales and with cheese from Shropshire and Gloucestershire. There was little demand for milk - people drank cider or beer, tea was virtually unknown and coffee not much drunk outside the towns.

The local sheep was the Ryeland.  At night in winter, and particularly at lambing time in February and March, they were kept in a covered building called a cot.  There they were fed, sometimes with hay or barley-straw, but more often with peas.

An essential task was the making and maintenance of hedges. New hedges were made of 'whitethorn' - that is, hawthorn. A ditch was dug and the earth from this formed a bank to the side.  The hawthorn was planted in the bank and protected by wooden railings until it was strong enough. Mature hedges would be regularly plached or laid.  This was done by trimming most of the foliage off and cutting the plants almost through. The almost cut through plants were then interwoven to form a solid fence.

Hops were another widespread Herefordshire crop. In the 1790s half the hops were picked by Welsh women. The Welsh seem to have replaced women from the Black Country who had done this job twenty years earlier.

During the early 19^th century the balance between arable and pasture changed as pasture became dominant.

reaping corn with bagging hooks

history of agriculture at Turnastone in the Golden Valley in Herefordshire Hereford cattle Ryelands sheep

Haymaking a century ago