A peck of March dust is worth a king's ransom

[worder]

meaning, please, thanks.

[Quizmonster]

I'd guess that, since March is a very windy month in Britain, all dust is normally blown away. So, if there is dust about, it would suggest calm weather. I'm neither a farmer nor a gardener, but perhaps calm weather is good for planting crops or whatever.

[FredPuli]

It's much easier than that QM ! March is the name of the principal agricultural town in the fenland of East Anglia. The Fens have the most fertile, most valuable soil in Europe. It is black; the 'black gold of the Fens' It was so right from the time in the C17 when they were first drained of their lakes and marsh and the soil exposed. It could be jested that a peck ( a very small measure) of the soil around March was as valuable as the ransom to free a captured king. I expect that dust here means 'soil' or 'earth' but the saying would be true of the dust blown about from the fields, too, of course.

[worder]

now, I think, both of you are encyclopedias!

[Plantmadnige]

Both the answers above are open to question. The true meaning is this: Early sowing of farm and vegetable crops results in bigger yields and better quality. But it is not possible to drill seeds into arable ground until it has become dry enough to be able to work into a tilth fine enough for the seeds to germinate. Thus, if the weather is warm enough and dry enough in March, to result in a little dust when the land is tilled, sowing can be early, large yields are more likely and profits, therefore, should be greater.

Another popular saying relates to this topic: The difference between a good farmer and a bad farmer is a fortnight. Media URL: http://silvertreedaze.blogspot.com/
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