[ 93 ] 



MIDDLE DISTRICT. 



THE middle division of the county is the largest, being that 

 part comprehended between the Mendip Hills on the North East, 

 Quantock Hill, and the foreft of Neroche on the South West; 

 parts of Dorfetshire and Wilts on the South East, and the Bristol 

 Channel on the North West. It includes the city and borough 

 of Wells, the boroughs of Bridgewater, Ilchester, and Milborn 

 Port, and the market towns of Axbridge, Shepton Mallett, 

 Glastonbury, Brewton, Castle Cary, Wincaunton, Somerton, 

 Langport, Yeovil, South Petherton, Ilminster, Crewkerne, and 

 Chard, together with their adjacent Parishes and Villages, amount- 

 ing in the whole to between four and five hundred thousand 

 Acres. 



The climate of this district may, for the most part, be pro- 

 nounced mild and temperate, but on so varied a surface an uni- 

 formity of soil cannot be expected. 



On the borders of Wilts, and Dorset, the lands are high, and 

 partake of the soil and management of those counties ; sheep walks, 

 and corn, constituting the principal parts of husbandry. The 

 farms are here large, and folding is unremittingly pursued. Wheat 

 is seldom sown without t-ixio foldings ; and fallowing every four 

 or five years is the general practice. The corn produced is of a 

 good quality, and finds a ready sale at W T incanton, Bruton, and 

 other markets. The next division of this district, namely the 

 country around Shepton, Bruton, Castle Cary, Ilchester, Somer- 

 ton, Langport, Petherton, and Ilminster, is exceedingly fertile, 

 both in corn and pasture ; abounds with good orchards and fine 

 luxuriant meadows, and is altogether as well cultivated, and as 

 productive as most parts of the kingdom. In feme parts flax and 

 hemp are produced in great abundance, which together with wool 

 furnish the raw materials for extensive manufactories. Westward 

 of this, Polden, and Ham Hills rise boldly to the view, and consti- 

 tute some of the inferior lands of the county. The soil on these 



N hills 



