440 The Agriculture of Worcestershire. 



and north-west from Broadway to Oddingley, including Bredon, 

 Persliore, and Evesham, altogether about one-fourth of the county. 

 Of this upwards of 1400 acres is very profitably cultivated as 

 market gardens, growing plums, &c., in large quantities, while 

 some of the remainder is stiff, unimprovable, and almost worth- 

 less clay. 



Rather more than half the county is of the Triassic, or new 

 red sandstone formation, the Keupar sandstone and new red marls 

 running through the middle of it in a north-easterly direction, 

 and comprising chiefly the districts of Worcester, Droitwich, 

 Redd itch, and Upton-upon-Severn, where valuable land abounds, 

 especially in the neighbourhood of Kempsey and Ombersley. 

 This district produces apples, pears, and hops. 



The districts of Bromsgrove, Stourport, and Kidderminster are 

 of the waterstone subdivision, or the upper soft red. Some 

 portions are first-class sheep land, and in a high state of cultiva- 

 tion, while others are very light. In the neighbourhood of 

 Kidderminster it is a "blowing sand," covered for many acres 

 with gorse. These sands are of the modern marine deposits, 

 and are derived from the Straits which once separated England 

 and Wales. 



The Carboniferous system comprises the coal and mountain 

 limestone in the neighbourhood of Dudley, Bewdley, Pensax, 

 and Rock. This is a poor soil and of little agricultural value. 



The Devonian, or old red sandstone, is found on the extreme 

 north-west of the county, at Tenbury and its districts, where very 

 large oak and larch and good hops are grown, and excellent cider 

 made. Fine herds of Hereford cattle may here be seen. 



The Silurian comprises the Wenlock series, and is an unim- 

 portant formation only cropping out in the neighbourhood of 

 Malvern, Whitley, and a few other places. The same remark 

 applies to the Sienites of the primary formation, which are prin- 

 cipally found in the neighbourhood of Malvern. 



The Climate. 



The climate of Worcestershire is, from its moisture, favourable 

 to the growth of roots, yet the rainfall does not hinder the 

 perfect ripening of wheat ; it thus combines the advantages both 

 of the Western and Eastern Counties, producing, where the soil 

 is suitable, both roots and grain of first-class quality. 



Mr. Thomas Henry Davis of Orleton, near Worcester, who 

 has kept an accurate register of the rainfall for the last 30 

 years, has favoured me with the results of his labours as 

 follows : — 



