Agriculture of Shropshire. 7 



once proceed to divide the county into districts and notice each 

 in succession. 



In the division of Shropshire into districts it has seemed desir- 

 able to group together such tracts of land as possess similarity of 

 character. This, hovv^ever, in Shropshire is by no means easily 

 done, in consequence of the rapid variations in the soil. It has 

 seemed best to notice it under three districts, which are shown in 

 the accompanying map. 



District No. I. 



This tract of land is commonly known as the Wheat-land district. 

 It extends over an area of about 120,000 acres, and is inclosed 

 by a line passing through the following places. It commences 

 on its western side at the border of the county, near Tenbury, 

 then passes to Great Cairnham, 2 miles east of Ludlow, 1 mile 

 west of Middleton, thence to Hope, Lower and Upper Hayton, 

 (jreat Sutton, Stanton Long, 1^ miles east of Monk Hopton to 

 Bourton,and half-way between the latter place and Much Wenlock. 

 This terminates its western boundary. It then takes a south- 

 easterly direction towards Astley Abbot, and passing thence to 

 Morvil we describe a circle around Bridgnorth at a radius of 

 about 3 or 4 miles until we reach Chittor, thence through 

 Chelmarsh to Alverley, and the river Severn completes the boun- 

 dary to the edge of the county. 



The surface is exceedingly undulating in its general character, 

 and from amongst these minor elevations the Clee Hills stand 

 boldly forward at a considerable elevation. There is scarcely 

 any part of the district which is not characterised by this con- 

 tinuous succession of round -topped hills. Numerous valleys 

 are consequently formed, and a great variety of aspect is thus 

 often obtainable even on a small farm. This is often taken 

 advantage of for the purpose of shelter, by judiciously planting 

 belts of wood, and thus some pieces of land are nicely sheltered 

 from cold and severe winds, and are consequently of increased 

 value during inclement weather. The soil generally varies from 

 a strong loam to clay upon a subsoil of marly clay. The quality 

 is seldom good, and as a general rule is scarcely of a medium 

 degree of fertility ; but in some parts the soil is of better 

 quality, such as the tract of land stretching across the central 

 portion of the district from west to east at Burwarton, Wrickton, 

 Bould, Botterill Aston, West Cleobury, Middleton, Scriven, and 

 Billingslee, and especially when the land is in close proximity to 

 the Ray Brook, for there we find some very useful grass-land. 



To the north and also to the south of this belt of land we have 

 a cold clay of inferior character existing very generally to the 

 extreme limits of the district. Amongst it are many spots ot 



