ENGLAND. 



721 



Statistics, ties, it is bagged, that is, struck clown near the ground 

 > -Y" ' with a large and heavy hook. It is universally bound 

 in sheaves. Perhaps no circumstance marks the diffe- 

 rence of climate in the south and north of England 

 more strongly, than the difference in point of time du- 

 ring -which it is necessary to keep wheat and other grain 

 in the field before it is taken home. In the southern 

 counties, it is generally ready in a week or ten days ; 

 whereas, in the north of England, it is necessary to 

 let it stand out for two or three weeks. In the south- 

 ern and midland counties, it is frequently put into 

 barns : in the northern counties, it is almost universal- 

 ly stacked. As this grain is so very extensively culti- 

 vated, and consequently on much inferior soil, and fre- 

 quently after very imperfect preparation, the produce 

 per acre varies very considerably in different counties : 

 as it is also very liable in this climate to be injured by 

 a bad seed-time, a wet winter, or a blight during the 

 period of its flowering (which last is here the common 

 cause of the failure or deficiency of our wheat crop) 

 its produce varies as much in different seasons in the 

 same part of England, and under the same manage- 

 ment, as it does during the same season in different 

 Pr*luc. parts of the kingdom. The lowest quantity of pro- 

 duce, except where an absolute deficiency from blight 

 occurs, may perhaps be rated at 12 bushels per acre ; 

 the highest at six or seven quarters. The latter have 

 been reaped on the deep loams near Chichester in 

 Sussex, on the calcareous loams near Epsom, and in 

 some of the more favoured and highly cultivated spots 

 of Kent, Essex, Lincolnshire, and Somersetshire. A 

 tabular view of the average produce of the different 

 counties of England and Wales, in wheat, barley, oats, 

 &c. will afterwards be given. 



The wheat counties of England are Kent, Essex, 

 Suffolk, liiitland, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, 

 and Herefordshire : that is, these are most distinguish- 

 ed for the quantity, as well as the quality, of tht-ir 

 wheat. In the north of England, this grain i.s of an 

 inferior quality, being cold to the feel, dark coloured, 

 thick skinned, and yielding comparatively little flour. 

 In the best wheat counties, and in good years, the 

 weight of a bushel of wheat, eight gallons to the bushel, 

 is from 60 to 62 Ibs. In the Isle of Shepey, in Kent, 

 (where perhaps the best samples of wheat sent to the 

 London market are produced), this grain, in some fa- 

 vourable seasons, weighs 64 Ibs. the bushel. Where 

 the climate is naturally colder, wetter, and more back- 

 ward, or in in bad seasons, the weiglit of the bushel 

 of wheat is not more than 56 or 57 Ibs. It is calculat- 

 ed that the average weight of the bushel of good Eng- 

 lish wheat is 58 Ibs. yielding 3-1 1 ', His. of Hour for stan- 

 dard wheaten bread ; and 37.3 Ibs. for household. Se- 

 ven bushels of good wheat will make a sack of wheaten 

 flour. 



The culture of rye, which was formerly pretty ex- 

 tensive in some parts of England, h now nearly en- 

 tirely disappeared. This has arisen from the operation 

 of two causes. In the first place, greater experience 

 and improved skill, have convinced the farmers that a 

 very large proportion of very light land, which was 

 deemed fit only for rye, may, by proper management 

 and due labour and expence, be rendered capable of 

 producing valuable crops of wheat ; and, in the second 

 place, the increased wages of the labouring classes of 

 ;he community has naturally led them to a preference 

 of wheaten bread to bread of any other description. 

 Uye, however, is still cultivated in some parts of North- 

 umberland and Durham, either by itself, or along with 



VOL. VIII. PART II. 



Wht 



QiuJitjr. 



wheat ; and in the vicinity of the metropolis. In no Statistics, 

 other part is it cultirated to any extent for seed : but '""'Y "' 

 it is grown in many counties as green food for cattle, 

 coming early in the spring to maturity for this purpose, 

 and afterwards allowing time for a subsequent crop the 

 same year. 



The culture of barley is also on the decline in most Barley. 

 parts of England, owing, of course, to a diminished 

 demand for it, and to the increasing demand for wheat, 

 and consequent high price of this latter grain. The 

 diminished demand for barley arises from the same 

 cause which has produced a diminished demand for 

 rye, namely, the increased wages of the labouring clas- 

 ses, in conjunction with another cause, the stoppage of 

 distillation from this grain, which has frequently taken 

 place in late years. These two causes would probably 

 have diminished the growth of barley to a still greater 

 extent than they have done, were it not for its impor- 

 tance as a crop in the rotation most adapted and bene- 

 ficial to light lands. The barley counties of England Counties 

 are principally Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bed- where prin. 

 fordshire,Leicestershire,Nottinghamshire,andthe upper <aplly 

 parts of Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire. The 6 rown - 

 most common preparation for this crop, where its cul- 

 ture is best understood, and most extensively followed, 

 is turnips : after these are drawn or eaten off, the land 

 is ploughed two or three times, and harrowed repeat- 

 edly. The season for sowing barley extends from the 

 middle of March to the end of April. It is more ge- 

 nerally drilled than wheat, but this mode of culture is 

 by no means common ; when followed, about two bu- 

 shels of seed are sown ; in the broadcast method, three 

 or 3 bushels. There are two leading varieties of this 

 grain grown ; the common barley, of which there are 

 several kinds, and big ; the latter, however, is almost 

 entirely confined to the hilly parts of the northern 

 counties. The barley harvest, in the south of Eng- 

 land, commences nearly about the same time as the 

 wheat harvest, perhaps a little later : in the north, it 

 is often cut down before the wheat. The practice of 

 mowing it, which has long been followed in the south, 

 is becoming "general ; but the carrying it home in a 

 loose state, without being bound into sheaves, is con- 

 fined to the southern counties, and indeed can only be 

 practised there with safety, where the climate is so 

 warm and steady as frequently to render it fit to be 

 carried to the barn-yard in the course of a few days. 

 It is seldom housed in any part of England. The pro- Produce, 

 (luce varies from three to eight quarters: the most 

 usual crop is 3^ or 4 quarters : the usual weight of a 

 bushel of barley is 50 Ibs. : the best Norfolk barley, 

 however, sometimes weighs 53 Ibs. This crop is grown 

 in some places alter pease and tares, as well as after 

 turnips ; and where it is sown on strong land, a sum- 

 mer fallow preparation is sometimes given. The prac- 

 tice of sowing it after wheat or oats is on the de- 

 cline. 



In consequence of the increased number of horses Otis. 

 kept in England for business or pleasure, within these 

 few years, the cultivation of oats has been considerably 

 extended. As, however, they do not suit so well with 

 a warm and early climate, as with a climate more moist 

 and backward, the crops of them in the fonner being 

 neither so abundant nor of such good quality as in the 

 latter : the cultivation of oats is more attended to in 

 the north of England and Wales, than in the southern 

 counties. The counties in which they are most exten- 

 sively grown, are Northumberland, Durham, Cumber- 

 land, Westmoreland, Lancashire ; and the fens of Lin- 



