90 Agriculture of Durham. 



yet the most of it is poor. On this range we have Dalton-le-dale, 

 about 800 acres, let on an average of 13s. ; Hawthorn, 1500 acres, 

 on an average of 1 5s ; and lands near Easington, about 6000 acres, 

 let on an average of 19s. per acre. Continuing by the coast, after 

 passing Hartlepool, we get on to the red sandstone, the easternmost 

 portion of which is a melU)w loam, partly on gravelly subsoil. 

 Of this there is about 13,000 acres, extending from Greatham 

 and Claxton round by Newton Bewley and Wolviston to Port 

 Clarence, worth on a general average of the whole 20s. per acre. 

 Of the interior j)ortions of the county, lying to the west of the 

 districts just referred to, it is more difficult to give a correct idea, 

 as the good and bad land is still more irregularly distributed. 

 Proceeding westwards from Hartlepool, we have first the El wick 

 district, where a large proportion of the land lets on an average 

 of 19s.; then Morton, averaging about 21s. ; next (keeping direct 

 west) we have Hollin Carr and other grounds, a great deal of 

 which is not worth more than 10s. South-west of them we liave 

 the Sedgefield district, let on an average of 25s., most of it strong 

 but friable — good potato and turnip land, and very capable of 

 being raised to a higher average by judicious draining. That 

 portion of the Sedgefield district which lies round Hardwick 

 Park has been much improved by draining and good manage- 

 ment. The whole of the district I have referi'ed to as lying to 

 the west of Hartlepool is on a clay subsoil of different degrees of 

 tenacity, the strata beneath being the new red sandstone. A short 

 distance to the south-west of Sedgefield is a tract of land, called 

 Morden Carrs, containing about 3000 acres, which Mr. Bailey 

 refers to in 1809 as being then of little value, but which he says, 

 " if properly drained, would in a few years be worth three pounds 

 an acre," Not a few only but forty-five years have passed away 

 since that opinion was expressed, and Morden Carrs still remains 

 in its undrained and almost valueless condition. It is all in grass, 

 and, though some improvement has been made by cutting open 

 stells, it is still very often covered with water, though it might 

 apparently have been easily drained into the river Skerne, which 

 runs through it : the soil is a deep peat. In the construction of 

 the York and Newcastle Railway, that part of the line which 

 runs through this ground sunk and the rails disappeared ; and they 

 say in the neighbourhood that rods 30 feet in length were put 

 down without arriving at sound ground. To the south of Sedge- 

 field and Morden there is a district of a deeper loam, but not 

 rich, and still on a clay subsoil. This includes Bishop top. Stain- 

 ton, Redmarshall, Sadberge, &c. Continuing to the south, we 

 come to another tract of land, comprising the westernmost portion 

 of the red sandstone. Here the soil is stiffer, being on a strong 

 clay. There are also evident signs of water hanging in the rock 



