Besides The Towns Mentioned Above, There Are Halesworth,
Saxmundham, Debenham, Aye, Or Eye, All Standing In This Eastern
Side Of Suffolk, In Which, As I Have Said, The Whole Country Is
Employed In Dairies Or In Feeding Of Cattle.
This part of England is also remarkable for being the first where
the feeding and fattening of cattle, both
Sheep as well as black
cattle, with turnips, was first practised in England, which is made
a very great part of the improvement of their lands to this day,
and from whence the practice is spread over most of the east and
south parts of England to the great enriching of the farmers and
increase of fat cattle. And though some have objected against the
goodness of the flesh thus fed with turnips, and have fancied it
would taste of the root, yet upon experience it is found that at
market there is no difference, nor can they that buy single out one
joint of mutton from another by the taste. So that the complaint
which our nice palates at first made begins to cease of itself, and
a very great quantity of beef and mutton also is brought every year
and every week to London from this side of England, and much more
than was formerly known to be fed there.
I cannot omit, however little it may seem, that this county of
Suffolk is particularly famous for furnishing the City of London
and all the counties round with turkeys, and that it is thought
there are more turkeys bred in this county and the part of Norfolk
that adjoins to it than in all the rest of England, especially for
sale, though this may be reckoned, as I say above, but a trifling
thing to take notice of in these remarks; yet, as I have hinted,
that I shall observe how London is in general supplied with all its
provisions from the whole body of the nation, and how every part of
the island is engaged in some degree or other of that supply. On
this account I could not omit it, nor will it be found so
inconsiderable an article as some may imagine, if this be true,
which I received an account of from a person living on the place,
viz., that they have counted three hundred droves of turkeys (for
they drive them all in droves on foot) pass in one season over
Stratford Bridge on the River Stour, which parts Suffolk from
Essex, about six miles from Colchester, on the road from Ipswich to
London. These droves, as they say, generally contain from three
hundred to a thousand each drove; so that one may suppose them to
contain five hundred one with another, which is one hundred and
fifty thousand in all; and yet this is one of the least passages,
the numbers which travel by Newmarket Heath and the open country
and the forest, and also the numbers that come by Sudbury and Clare
being many more.
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