4o6 EFFECTS OF CLIMATE AND SOIL ON CONFORMATION. 



richest grass in that country is to be found 



Again in Monmouthshire, where this rock comes to the 

 surface, the sweetest pasture is found. In the Gower of 

 Glamorgan, and also in Pembroke, sweet close pasture is 

 the characteristic of this limestone One not- 

 able point in connection with this is the quahty and 

 keeping power of the milk produced on this as compared 

 with that from other formations. In the London milk 

 trade it is well known that the produce of Derbyshire 

 limestone is considerably richer in composition, and will 

 keep from souring at least a day longer than the milk 

 from the Essex and other clays : the lime seems to have 

 both a productive and an antiseptic effect. This parti- 

 cular limestone formation passes under the great Triassic 

 plain of Central England to appear in the picturesque 

 hills of Derbyshire, the bluffs of the Matlocks, the scarps of 

 Dovedale, and the high ridges of Buxton, in Yorkshire, and 

 the basis of the famous pasturage of Craven. It is rather 

 curious, however, to find that this formation forms the 

 basis of the great ' Central Plain ' of Ireland, whereas in 

 England and Scotland also it occurs always in the hilly 

 or mountain form. In Ireland it has been levelled off to 

 form a huge plain, which is overlaid more or less now by 

 great formations, of which the famous Bog of Allen is one 

 of the largest and most notable examples. In the west, 

 however, as in County Clare, the country is mountainous, 

 the hills composed of bare limestone rock, with scarcely 

 any soil at all. The richest herbage grows in the clefts and 

 furrows of the rooks, and the land is worth a good rent. 

 . . . . In other countries the grazing qualities of 

 the Mountain Limestone soils are just as conspicuous. 

 . . . . This limestone, in common with many of the 

 other forms— especially the chalk— is remarkably dry and 

 free of surface water, even in a wet climate. In the 

 west of Ireland, for instance, there is Uttle or no water 

 on the surface. This is due to the fact that the rock is 

 full of fissures, while the dissolving power of water con- 



