ɪn wˈɜːld wˈɔːɹ ɹˌoʊmən tˈuː ɐtˈɛmpts wɜː mˌeɪd tə plˈænt kɹˈɑːps ɔnðə kˈɑːmən, bˌʌt ðə kˈɑːmən jˈiːldᵻd lˈɛs ðɐn hˈæf ʌvðə pɹˈɑːduːs pɜː jˈuːnɪt ˈɛɹiə æz ˈʌðɚɹ ˈæɹɐbəl lˈænd, dᵻspˈaɪt hˈɛvi jˈuːs ʌv fˈɜːɾəlˌaɪzɚz.
In World War II attempts were made to plant crops on the common, but the common yielded less than half of the produce per unit area as other arable land, despite heavy use of fertilisers.