28 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZIiNE, 



For the formation of tliis angular flint- drift va- 

 rious explanations have been offered, noneofwhicli 

 can be considered satisfactory. It has been already 

 stated that the boulder clay does not extend further 

 south in England than the northern skirts of the viilley 

 of the Thames, when it terminates abruptly at a high 

 level. There are, however, on the southern flanks of 

 the chalk of the North Downs, and on the southern 

 skirts of the South Downs of Sussex, considerable ac- 

 cumulation of gravel, composed of flint, slightly worn, 

 and of pebbles of rounded waterworn-flints, which 

 have been derived from the gravel beds of the eocene 

 or older tertiaries of the London and Hampshire dis- 

 tricts. These were formerly called basins ; but that 

 term conveys the erroneous impression that the ter- 

 tiary deposits of those two areas were formed in de- 

 tached seas. There is evidence, however, in the detached 

 portions of the lower beds, which occur on the summits 

 of the chalk hills of Kent up to the very edge of the 

 escarpment, that the eocene deposits were once con- 

 tinuous over the whole area, and that the fracture and 

 denudation of the Weald took place within the tertiary 

 period. From the abrupt termination of the boulder 

 clay at high levels on the northern skirts of the Thames 

 valley, that denudation would appear to have taken 

 place late in the glacial or erratic epoch. 



Within the wealden area, there are several accumu- 

 lations of similar gravel, generally near the base of the 

 chalk escarpment. The central ridge of the Hastings 

 sands is exempt from them. This area has also its boul- 

 ders, but they are different from those of the erratic de- 

 posits north of the Thames, in containing no blocks of 

 northern origin. They consist of blocks of sandstone, 

 derived from the lower beds of the eocene tertiaries. 

 They are found imbedded in the superficial deposits on 

 the summits of the chalk hills, and they are also found 

 in the wealden area, chiefly near the base of the chalk 

 escarpment, and at the opening of the gorges, through 

 which the waters of the wealden escape into the 

 Thames. The ciomlech called Kitscotty House is 

 formed of them. The i)osition of these blocks at the 

 base of this escarpment, and at the opening of the 

 gorges, is precisely such as they would occupy if they 

 had been floated on ice towards the close of the gla- 

 cial period. On the southern coast, at Brighton, in 

 ■what has been called by Dr. Mantel, the Elephant Bed, 

 and in Bracclcshire Bay, as described by Mr. Austin, 



there are found, in the superficial deposits, boulders of 

 granite and other crystalline rocks, which appear to 

 have come, not from the north, but from the east. In 

 this we have evidence that the glacial period continued, 

 though pi'obably with abated intensity, after the frac- 

 ture and denudation of the wealden area; while this 

 form of boulder deposits skirting on the south gives evi- 

 dence of floating ice on the coast after the fracture 

 and denudation of the weald was complete, and its sur- 

 face converted into dry land, inhabited by the great 

 mammals which had migrated southwards during the 

 period of submerging. Most of the valleys of England 

 north of the Thames were valleys anterior to the erratic 

 period, for they have been filled with the boulder clay 

 through which the streams are excavating channels, 

 which in many cases have cut their way down to the 

 rock. The valley, however, in which Old Father 

 Thames holds his '' silver winding way" is, probably, 

 one of the oldest on the face of the earth. 



While the mamm;ilian remains found in the ancient 

 wide-spread alluvium of the Thames and its tributaries 

 prove a large terrestrial epoch after the desecration of 

 the bed of the glacial, this long epoch, subsequent to 

 that of the erratic tertiaries, was closed by the distribu- 

 tion of the warp-drift, and the disappearance of the great 

 mammals. To this warp-drifr, as we have said, various 

 names have been given, and various causes assigned 

 for its production, none of which appear to be satis- 

 factory. The action which produced it appears to have 

 been transient, violent, intermittent, and suddenly 

 arrested, and with its distribution the disappearance of 

 the great mammals appears to have been connected. 

 It has had considerable influence in modifying the 

 characters which the soil derives from the stratum 

 immediately below, whether one of the regular strata 

 or a member of the erratic tertiaries. 



Kent is one of those districts where, from the total ab- 

 sence, as we have said, of the boulder clay, and from 

 the very limited and partial presence of the upper 

 erratic, the influence of the rock upon the soil is the 

 greatest. Hence, the agricultural map of the county 

 was in effect a geological map, though published long 

 before such maps were thought of; yet even in those 

 agricultural districts dependent for their general cha- 

 racters on the nature of the rock below, there are soils 

 of very different values, and those variations arise from 

 the varying depth and composition of this warp-drift. 



HADLEIGH FARMERS' CLUB. 



In redemption of a promise expressed in our last impres- 

 sion, we return to the proceedings at the Anniversary 

 Meeting of this Club. Mr, Gurdon, judge at the Essex 

 County Court, who has recently devoted much attention to 

 agricultural as well as legal persuits, discoursed pleasantly 

 and ably on bullocks and pleuro-pneiunonia. Mr. Gurdon 

 said : At the Autumn Meeting of the Club some obser- 

 vations were made by Mr. Hawkins and himself on this 

 subject, which had elicited comments from a very kind 

 friend, not, he believed, an entire stranger in this country, 

 and probably therefore known to some of the company 

 present. Their Secretary had been kind enough since he 

 recalled the matter to his recollection, to send for a letter, 

 which he (Mr. Gurdon) then held in his hand. Though it 

 did not pretend to penmanship it was a remedy, and he 

 thought it as well, when they were all assembled, that they 

 should have the opportunity of knowing what the man said. 



He told them therein that he had had thirteen years' expe- 

 rit nee in the management of stock, and had rarely lost an 

 animal. The letter was dated " Stanstead Place," which 

 was in Essex, he believed, and was from Richard Marsh, 

 who described himself as a bailiff. It gave him (Mr. Gur- 

 don) great pleasure to see a man in his position of life 

 taking notice of such things, and recollecting a district with 

 which he was formerly connected, and coming forward to 

 help them, as he expressed his wish to do, merely out of 

 kindness. The letter said : " Seeing the report of your 

 Farmers' Club Meeting in the Mark Lane Express, and that 

 the subject chiefly brought under notice was pleuro-pneu- 

 monia or lung disease in cattle, likewise the remarks of Mr. 

 Hawkins, and the great loss sustained by him from the same 

 complaint, and also the great loss of members with their 

 lambs and young sheep, and having had i ■: rxt experience 

 with all kinds of stock, and wishing to do good to every 



