ENGLAND. 



703 



Statistic*, that part of the county which lies between the road 

 s Y""*' leading from Hounslow to Colnbrook, on the north, 

 and the Thames on the south ; the subsoil here consists 

 of flints and gravel : loam, with a smaller proportion of 

 sand, occurs to the west of Hounslow, and in the pa- 

 rishes of Chelsea, Kensington, &c. Near Harrow, Pin- 

 ner, and South Mims, on the borders of Hertfordshire, 

 the soil is a strong loam : this soil also prevails in the 

 northern vicinity of the metropolis. Clay occurs in 

 very few places : near Howden, the soil is of this de- 

 scription. From Rickmansworth to Staines, peaty 

 earth, on flinty gravel, prevails : the Isle of Dogs, and 

 most of the ground on the borders of the sea and Coin, 

 consist of a rich mud. 



The counties which compose the south-eastern dis- 

 trict, are similar in the general features of their soil. 

 In Kent, the Isle of Thanet is calcareous : the Isle of 

 Shepey a strong clay. In East Kent, chalk, loam, and 

 stiff clay, are found : rich sandy loam occurs on the 

 sea-coast near Sandwich and Deal. Romney Marsh 

 consists of loam of great fertility. The Weald of Kent, 

 Surrey, and Sussex, has already been mentioned, as 

 containing the greatest extent of clay soil in the king- 

 dom. The richest loam in this county is near Maid- 

 stone: the substratum, through nearly the whole of it, 

 is calcareous. The South Downs in Sussex are calca- 

 reous; the centre and north are occupied by the Weald: 

 the eastern side of the sea-coast consists of a strong 

 soil, inclining to be wet. The western side, especially 

 near Chichester, contains loam of uncommon depth, 

 and which may justly be reckoned among the most fer- 

 tile soils in the kingdom. Besides the Weald of Surrey, 

 this county consists of very rich sandy loam, near Go- 

 dalmin ; of clay, between the northern edge of the 

 chalk hills and the Thames, and to the west of Guild- 

 ford ; of deep calcareous loam between C'roydon and 

 Epsom ; of chalk on the Downs ; and of rich sandy 

 loam about Battersea, Mortlake, Moulsey, &c. Heaths 

 occupy the south-west part of Surrey. 



The southern district of England is composed of 

 Berkshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Dorsetshire; in 

 all of which counties, calcareous soils are very predo- 

 minant. In Berkshire, the most remarkable division 

 is the vale of the White Horse, wliich is bounded on 

 one side by the Thames, and on the other by the White 

 Horse hills : it extends from Buscot to Streathly : the 

 noil of this vale is a strong grey calcareous loam, evi- 

 dently formed by vegetable earth and chalk. In the 

 vale of the Kennett, the prevailing .->oil is gravel : in 

 the forest division, there is gravel, clay, and loam ; the 

 last in the centre, and the two former in the southern 

 parts. Through the middle of the lower part of the 

 county, the chalky hills extend : the substratum of the 

 whole of Berkshire is calcareous. Wiltshire, in respect 

 to soil, as well as in respect to the face of the country, 

 is naturally divided into two districts ; the south and 

 east parts are COIUJKIMC! of chalk hills, which enter the 

 county from Berkshire, Hampshire, and Dorsetshire ; 

 among these hills, however, there are valleys of loamy 

 oil. The west and north parts of the county consist, 

 for the most part, of very fertile loam, which stretches 

 south-east and south-west, under the fitot of the hills: this 

 tract varies a little in its soil, as the ground rises in the 

 north-west corner, where it joins the high land of Glou- 

 cestershire. Below the middle of the county, Salisbury 

 Plain, wliich has been already noticed, begins: the 

 soil is a light loam, naturally fertile. In Hampshire, 

 the woodlands and wastes of Bagshot consist of clay, 

 sand, gravel, and peat. The second division of soil 



stretches from Basingstoke to Winchester, and in Statistics, 

 breadth extends entirely across the county : in this S ""Y"' 1 '*' 

 tract, strong flinty loams and hazel-coloured mould or 

 chalk, occasionally mixed with gravel, prevail : in most 

 of the vallies, peat is found. From Bishops Waltham 

 to Christchurch, light sand and gravelly loams. gene- 

 rally compose the soil ; clay and strong loams, or brick 

 earth, are however occasionally met with : the sub- 

 stratum is argillaceous and calcareous marl: on the heatli 

 and low grounds, peat and turf' prevail. For some 

 miles round Portsmouth, the soil is a strong flinty loam, 

 lying very near the chalk. The Isle of Wight contains 

 principally three kinds of soil : on the north side it 

 consists of rough strong clay, lying on chalk : in the 

 middle downs, and on the south side, loams of diffe- 

 rent qualities and degrees of strength, but almost uni- 

 versally very fertile : some of these loams approach tr> 

 the lightness of sand, but still retaining their ferti- 

 lity. 



The south-western district of England comprizes Of tlic 

 Somersetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall, In Somer- south- 

 setshire, there is great variety of soils, as well as very west ? m 

 different degrees of fertility ; the north-east qviarter is l * lstnct ' 

 in general stony : towards the centre, there are fens 

 and marshy moors of great extent : on the west are 

 downs and open heaths. The low grounds of Somer- 

 setshire in general consist of loam ; on the borders of 

 Dorsetshire, a stone brash soil, of considerable fertili- 

 ty, prevails : perhaps the most fertile parts of this coun- 

 ty, are the vale of Taunton, and the district round 

 Bridgwater. The district of Dartmoor, in Devonshire, 

 consists principally of peat ; where it is not found, the 

 soil is a thin black mould, lying on pale clay, inter- 

 mixed with gravel : the vale of Exeter consists princi- 

 pally of red land, of great fertility ; the same kind of 

 soil, of an equal if not superior degree of fertility, is 

 found iu the district of South Hams ; the subsoil here 

 is a strong clay. In West Devonshire, the prevailing 

 soil is cold clay, on a substratum of rubble. North 

 Devon, in general, is not more distinguished for the 

 romantic character of the prospects it affords, than for 

 the goodness of its soil, except on the summit of the 

 hills, where it is thin. In Cornwall three descriptions 

 of soil predominate : the black growan or gravelly ; 

 the shelfy or slaty ; and the loams. The first, which 

 prevails in the western parts of the county, consists of 

 a light black earth, resembling moss in its appearance 

 and qualities, intermixed with small particles of gra- 

 nite. The slaty soil, which is the most extensive, is 

 formed of schistose matter, mixed with loam ; and 

 when properly managed, is by no means unfertile : but 

 of loams, strictly so called, there is but a very incon- 

 siderable quantity in this county : these lie, for the 

 most part, on the low grounds, declivities, and banks 

 of the rivers. The hills, which run through the mid- 

 dle of Cornwall its whole length, consist of very poor 

 soil in general. 



With respect to Wales, both North and South, the of Walii. 

 soils in general afford so little variety, that it will not 

 be necessary to describe them minutely and particu- 

 larly. In the vales and low grounds, they con- 

 sist, for the most part, of loams of different degrees of 

 fertility and strength. Some of the vales, especially 

 in North Wales, may vie, in natural richness, with the 

 most favoured districts of England. The sea-coast of 

 some parts of South Wales consists of a sandy loam, 

 which, from the moistness of the climate, is often very 

 productive : the soil of the mountains is frequently 

 thin and cold ; but in some places dry and sound. 



