550 



77/6' Country Qaitkinaiis Magar:inc 



this deficiency, but tli2 lo.ss of these, vy-hich arc thj 

 basis of stock husbandry and productive corn crops, 

 will seriously trench upon farming capital. 



The potato crop remains to be considered. There 

 is an increase upon it of 80, ooo acres — somewhat more 

 than one-twentietli of the whole extent. It will prove 

 an average crop, the second growth, which began after 

 the rains in July and August, having added greatly to 

 the bulk. Both first and second growth seem to bj 

 sound ; but as the first crop has ripened earlier than 



the second, there will be some risk in storing, to pre- 

 vent which the potatoes should be left as long as they 

 safely can be to ripen fully before being taken from 

 the ground. 



On the whole, the harvest of 186S will prove a pro- 

 ductive one of wdieat and piotatocs— the main food of 

 the bulk of the population — wliicli will thus be sup- 

 plied at a moderate price. But there will be a great 

 deficiency in the food of live stojk, and a very serious 

 In.^s in that branch of as^ricullural industrv. 



IMPROVEMENT OE SNAP EELL. 



MANY persons in different parts of the king- 

 dom doubtless remember the cold and cheer- 

 less ride which, before the days of railways, travellers 

 encountered over the dreary mountain waste of Shap 

 Fell, a tract of about 6000 acres, the property of the 

 Earl of Lonsdale. No operation in recent times better 

 deserves record than the extensive drainage, liming, 

 and other improvements recently carried out there by 

 his lordship. 



The portions operated upon are from 1200 to 1600 

 feet above the sea-level. This ground was previously, 

 in Westmoreland phrase, mere " room out of doors," 

 i.e. of insignificant value, carrying little beyond grouse 

 and blackfaced sheep, but never looked upon as 

 capable of, or worth improvement. The design of 

 draining and liming this class of land at such an eleva- 

 tion was thought by many a costly and hazardous 

 experiment. In some measure an experiment it un- 

 doubtedly was, there being no previous guide to point 

 out what could, and what coitld not, be successfully 

 and profitably accomplished. 



Interspersed with the heath, with the advantage of 

 being intersected by good roads (the old and nev,'gi-eat 

 north turnpikes), were considerable stretches of "white 

 land," i.e., producing decent grass with bent and 

 rushes, while still better pasturage was found in grassy 

 and sheltered dells and dishes. The upper portion of 

 the Fell is naturally a mountain aheep walk and grouse 

 ground, and must remain so. 



Under the skilful superintendence of Mr I'arkes the 

 first operation was to tile-drain the wet portions, and 

 this was carried on from year to year, advancing higher 

 and higher up the hill side, till upwards of 1200 acres 



were drained. Limestone being on the ground, kilns 

 were built, and about 1500 acres have been limed. 

 The lower lying, sweeter, and limed portions were 

 enclosed with 6 feet walls, and sheds erected in suit- 

 able situations for sheltering stock. 



Numerous were the hostile critics and foreboders of 

 failure ; any attempt to invade these regions in such a 

 way being contrary to all previously received opinion 

 and precedent. Some parts of the work, doubtless, 

 might have been better done, and with the experience 

 gained would be done differently if started afresh. 

 The returns may not have been so certain and uniform 

 as in. more favoured situations, but on the whole the 

 result is a great success, and beyond expectation. 



The ground was partly stocked with the proprietor's 

 cattle and sheep (bought on in the spring, and sold off 

 by auction in autumn), and also thrown open to the 

 public for agistment on the following terms: — Aged 

 cattle, 40s. ; two-year-olds, 32s. ; yearlings, 23s. 

 This privilege was eagerly taken advantage of by the 

 low country farmers, and extensive herds of fine cattle 

 covered the ground every summer, in numbers be- 

 yond expectation, coming off in capital condition in 

 autumn. The ground, however, ^\■as found to be too 

 high for successfully wintering " hoggs." In the dry 

 hot summer of 1S59, when all the pastures in the Vale 

 of Eden were parched, and the watering-places dried 

 up, the herbage on Shap Fell was succulent and 

 plentiful, and the supply of fine water unlimited. In 

 the cold wet summers, such as too frequently occur, 

 the results, of course, were less favourable. 



This tract is now let to a tenant at a rent of about 

 ^Soo per annum. 



