Guided Tours of Suffolk's Past
Made in Suffolk
Serving Agriculture
As Suffolk is an agricultural - and mainly arable - county, companies have focused on serving the farmer's need for fertilisers and pest control, as well as for machinery.
The first fertilisers to be used - other than the dung of the farmer's animals - were marl and coprolite. Coprolite was fossilised dung. In |
|
the 1840s it was discovered that, even fossilised, it was still capable of fertilizing the soil.
The first fertilisers to be used - other than the dung of the farmer's animals - were marl and coprolite. Coprolite was fossilised dung. In the 1840s it was discovered that, even fossilised, it was still capable of fertilizing the soil.
As there were bands of coprolite at the coast, between Felixstowe and Orford, it was quarried, crushed and spread until - 50 years later - the seams ran out. Edward Packard of Snape converted a mill, and later opened a factory in Brantham to pursue this calling. In time, his company became another component of Fisons. See also The Farming Year, about marl.
|
