290 Farming of Leicestershire. 



The annual rental of the real property in tlae county, including 

 land and buildings, as assessed to the Property and Income Tax 

 in 1851, was 1,3G4,270Z. ; and as assessed to the relief of the 

 poor, 970,375/. In 1861 the assessed yearly rental of the county 

 to the Police and County Rates was 849,504/. 



Climate. 



Inland situation, moderate rainfall, and absence of bogs and 

 mountains, renders the climate mild, and healthful, and the 

 inhabitants frequently attain to great ages. In 1841 there were 

 living in the county five persons each over 100 years old, and in 

 1851, 13 persons were returned in the census as above 95 years, 

 65 above 90, and no fewer than 1080 above 80 years of age. 



According to Symons's Tables the rainfall as registered at 

 Wigston, in the centre of the county, during a period of ten years, 

 gives an average of 26'39 inches. 



Physical Featukes. 



The surface-configuration of the county is beautifully diver- 

 sified, consisting almost entirely of gently rising hills and retiring 

 vales. The only high-lying land is in Charnwood Forest, where, 

 though the elevation of the hills is inconsiderable, yet they pos- 

 sess a rugged and truly mountainous aspect. 



" Bardon Hill," the highest of the group, rises 853 feot above 

 the sea-level. 



Though well watered by numerous rivulets and small streams, 

 the county cannot boast of any large rivers. The Soar, the 

 most important, has its sources on the south side of the county, 

 and flows north through its centre by Leicester and Loughboro' 

 (from the latter forming a natural boundary between Notts and 

 Leicester) to near Sawley, where it joins the Trent. 



The drainage-water from the east and north-east of Leicester- 

 shire finds its way by the Great Wash and the Humber to the 

 German Ocean ; while that from the south-west is by junction 

 with the Severn conveyed to the Atlantic. 



Geological Featukes. 



The geological deposits of the county comprise the granite and 

 trap rocks of the non-fossiliferous system, the Cambrian rocks of 

 the Silurian, the coal measures of the carboniferous, the sand- 

 stones and marls of the triassic, and the lias and oolite of the 

 oolitic series. 



The earlier formations, the igneous and Cambrian rocks, are 

 confined to the Charnwood Forest district, where they form a 



