M:)t 



STATISTICS OF AGRICt'LTTH F. 



Part IV 



profi-wdona! rat cat« hers; mine farmer* V<» p ferrets tor th- rr*. 



. i oi n. M " u « Ik- it. Th. y , « Ith 



«n acre ami a half of garden -grooi d, ,iml vend and keep In 

 order twenty-1 ward land ell iched to the hwiM*. 



The old women mtn Qu to make Unto fbt it" m ol the 

 fun. i* ; the "■ exclusive of thcue engaged I 



• i ■ . ad I ice. 



<iiuM\th or Ua ■ ' the j r li | tothoae 



rkptrj arn ol rrralnlty. The Goi Howe of 



Industry ados, un tha nawered 



the mokl Milium- expectations of the diiactoi ... 



ttahment." 



' * luba- 



16 Obstacles !•> improvement 



U .ml ..i" Ion tioyed h 



HUN riNGDONSHIRE A dull flat surface of above 200,000 acres; till Edward the Firafa 

 tune one continued forest The name of the county is said to be derived from the facility it afforded for 

 hunting. The toil ts almost uniformly good, but injured by water; it is chiefly under tillage, but 

 remarkable for no excellence in agriculture, Rape-eecd and mustard are more cultivated than in most 

 other counties, and timber more rare. [Stow's Huntingdonshire, 1793, Maxwell, 179& Parkinson, lb'll. 

 Marshal's Review, 1813. Smith's Geological Map, 182L Edin. Gax. 1827 ! 



after rape; hemp sown in a few places; mu-tard cultivated 



rerj abundant In Bedfordshire, especially aboot 

 Dunstable, where tin-, are caught In trap-. In quantiuee for 

 the London market. Wirc-we-rim. supposed to be increased by 

 artiiu i.i! grasses. 



17. Miscellaneous, 



An agricultural so«n-ty founded by the Duke of Bedford in 



1801 ; ranou* premiums offered ami paid, to the extent of 



luo/. ■ veai in aomi years, t heap publications on agricul- 



tore, it in thought, wuuld be a considerable means ut iin- 



tenta 



1. Geographical state and Circumstances. 



a» t tolerably healthy, conatdermg that the east part is 

 skirted l» fens, ami but a small part supplied by water from 

 mrtpav- _ 



Sow. Loam prevalent, hut the counto every where spotted 

 with roundiah pub besol clay, sand, marl, fen, moor, or lakes, 

 which, in 'he map of mils annexed to Parkinson's Report, as- 

 ajnta a eery singular appearance. 



Water . -hi'elN supplied from ponds; Ouse and Nene the only 



tit. r\ ; the merea are natural ponds, surrounded by reeds and 



. and a considerable zone of marsh or bog, 



ac ovding as the toil maybe loam or sand. \\ hittlesea Mere 



1570 acres, but is not above two feet deep. It abounds 



*» ith Bah and wild fowl. 



•:. State oj Property, 



(Md enclosed lands in the hands of a few proprietors; half 

 the county freehold, the remainder almost all copyhold. 



3 Buildings, 



Favm-bouaes very inconveniently situated, partly owing to 

 the want of high aiiil dry sites on central parts of farms; some 

 uage* lately erected a* the only means of retaining farm 

 ■ er r a nti rat any length ol time with the same master. 



4. Occupation. 



Many large firms, though small ones predominate; leases 

 frequent ; tithe in kind. 



."'. Implements. 



I Lgh, withone handle, originally from Holland; one -wheel, 

 a circular plate of iron which is kept sharp, acts as a coulter. 



& Tillage. 



Plough, with a pair of horses, or three abreast ; two crops 

 and a fallow the common rotation; chief crops, wheat, oat>, 

 and beans; rape sown on the tens; lands either once ploughed 

 out of grass, or pared and burned; also on uplands; manured 

 ind treated as turnips; seed threshed in the field; straw 

 generally burned, or u*ed for yard fences; wheat succeeds well 



with great success : sometimes pays 40/. an acre *,n land worth 

 not mure than 507.. but v.-rv uncertain. Parkinson tt inks 

 hemp, llax, repe-seea, and mustard, should be encouraged, as 

 they enrich the farmer, and an all good preparatives for 

 wheat. The only way, he says, to enrich the sod, is to enrich 

 the farmer first. 



7. Grass. 



Some good meadows on the Onse and Nene; the pastures 

 lie remote from the farm buildings, but are in genera! rich, 

 though neglected ; require to l« pared and bunud, and 

 brought under aration. 



8. Jt'oods and Plantations. 



A good many pollard willows in the fens, and some osier 

 plantations. 



9. Improvements, 



Great want of a general county drainage, such as that of the 

 Bedford level, in the adjoining counties of Lincoln, ('am hridge, 

 and Northampton. The advantages of such a drainage is ably 

 pointed out by Parkinson. Kinbarkments very extensive, and 

 the soil being in general a loose porous sand, puddle walls are 

 generally made in the middle of the mound. 



10. Live Stock. 



Stilton cheese, now chiefly made at Li'tleDalhy, in Leicester- 

 shire; is no longer made at Stilton, though it is supposed to 

 have been originally made there about 1720; or, accoiding to 

 some, by a Mrs- Orton, in 1730. A good many hordes bred, 

 and a mixture of Lincoln and Leicester; folding sheep much 

 practised. No fewer than 271 pigeon-houses in this county, 

 and a few bees ; one gentleman cultivates rabbits. 



11. Political Economy. 



Bad roads ; a lace manufactory at Kimholton ; a paper mill 

 at St. Neots; two sacking manufactories at Standground ; an 

 agricultural society at Kimbolton. 



TTstl. CAMBRIDGESHIRE, A flat or little varied surface of 4-57,040 acres, generally of pood soil, 

 and having about one third under tillage; remarkable only for the extent of its fen lands, and their 

 embankment and drainage, both very imperfect The valley watered by the Cam is called the Dairies, 

 being almost entirely appropriated to dairy farms. Horses are a good deal bred in the county, and also 

 pigeons Vancouver's Cambridgeshire, 1795. Gooche's Cambridgeshire, 1807. Marshal's Review, lSlo. 



Edin Ga 

 1. Geographical state and Circumstances, 



ctiuuitf. ' On tin- uplanda dry and healthy, but in the fens 



the contrary ; t' ere the inhabitants suffer most when the fens 



are driest. Agues hare somewhat diminished since the fens 

 be betu r drained. 

 SosZi are very irregularly distributed ; loam, clay, and rich 

 hi tck earth extend themselves in irregular masses, and nearly 

 of the same extent. The -oil of the fens, is rich, black and 

 dee)), and may occupy a third of the whole surface. The rich 

 marshes in the rlciniry of VVisbeach consist of a mixture of 

 sand and clay, or silt, a sea-sand, finely pulverised by the action 

 of the waves; and the uplands consist of chalk, gravel, loam, 

 and tender c!av. There are no minerals. 



Rivers. Tie Ouse, the Grant* or Cam. The Ouse and 

 Nene also cross part or the county, and the old and new Bed- 

 ford rhrs ■ '-are navigable tor barges, and are kept 

 open n frost] weather fag ice boats, drawn down the sUxam by 

 eight horses, four on each side. 

 tales. 



Yarv much m sue. Those of Lord Hardwicke, Puke of 

 , Duki of Rutland, ** i M. Peyton, and Thorpe, are 

 the largea! ; greatest pan of the county m estates of from 'toot. 

 to 5007. and 10001. per annum; many from 80i. to Ml. and 

 even fOOL a year, occupied by their owners; tenures of all 

 aorts tod ■ varies] of col leg e-land tenures. 

 Buildings. 



Farm-h'»uses and premises in gen*ral bad and inconvenient ; 

 lay and wattle, the common materials, and 

 . ij walls m general use. .lenyns, of BotUsham, 



haw adopted Arthur Yoong*i plan •>)' building stacks on frames, 

 which run on an htm rsjlwwy, and are pulled into the barn, 

 when ' ksd on to the platform of the threshing 



ne. Cottages " wreU bed j bad," ex< em a few built by 



Jj.rd H "d home uther gentlemen. 



4. Occupation 



I ■ from 90 to 1 OO acres ; mam from 100 to 1000, but few 

 exrci-d the latUT number; tithes taken in kind in m, trj 

 G Implements, 

 I ;ha, with I Sharp iron wheel, or running COUHeT, as in 



flunting'Mnsiure. Shepherd, of Chippenham, has rnrented ■ 

 of [mptementa. Some UTreshing machines, and the 

 i- ( i Min Implements, at Lord Harduuk.'s. The B/jy 

 Uar r.jirr -s an Iron roller, a tth a rmml er ofpsecesof hron like 

 small tpade* fixe<l Into i'. It is us.^1 m the fenny districts for 

 up the w«-»nls, which choke op the stow running rivers. 

 ws walk along the hank, anil draw it s4 rent] times up 

 n the river. The wtvds are thus rooted up, and car- 

 ried down the stream bj the first Hood. 



6. Arable Land. 



Ploughed and cultivated in general as in Huntingdonshire ; 

 hemp is cultivated more extensively ; flax is grown, and mus- 

 tard, near Wisbeach and Outwell; a few lentils, as in Hun- 

 tingdonshire, hut are considered of less value than tares. The 

 reporter savs, a second crop of mustard Ls obtained by what 

 shells from the first, and that mustard springs up in land where 

 it has not been cultivated for upwards of a century. Woad is 

 in cultivation, and for every forty acres a woad mill, it is said, 

 is required. No crop pays equal to the reed, which requires 

 no culture but cutting and bunching; owing to the improve- 

 ment of the fens, they are now becoming scarce. Whiteseed 

 (P6a aquatica), or ten hay, is produced on many parts of the 

 fen lands, and even on such parts as have been dug for peat. 

 The land is inundated till the crop appears above the water, 

 and then, wherever it cm he e ff e cte d, it is let off; in other 

 c.uies the grass grows to a great height in the water, is mown 

 twice in the season, and often pioduces two tons per acr<- each 

 time. The bay is esteemed valuable for cows; causing them 

 to produce much milk, and, it is said, giving the particular 

 flavour to (Tottenham cheese. 



7. Grass Lands. 



Extensive; some under no m nagement, and of little value; 

 others verv productive, both as hav and feeding lands. In 

 the district railed the Wash, they will carry from one to two 

 bullocks, and from five to twelve sheep per acre fed the 

 greater part of the year. 



8. Garden* and Orchards. 



Good market and fruit gardens at K!y, Soham, Wisbeach, 

 &c. which supply Lynn and various places, by water carriage, 

 with apples, cherries, and vegetables. 



9. Woods and Plantations. 



Some young plantations. The Rev. G. Jenyns, of Bottis- 

 ham, u does not cut off the tap root* of oaks in the usual 

 manner, and finds they thrive faster." (That he is mistaken, 

 iee39£7.) Osiers are "grown in various places forthebask«t 

 makers, and found to pay as well as any crop. 



10. Wastes arid unimproved Fen. 

 In 1794, 158,500 acres. 



1 1 . Improvements. 



In no part of the Island draining and embanking so much 

 wanted as in the fens of this county. 



The former state qf the fat lunth,a'ru\ their degradation to their 

 present state, b ejreu at length in the report, cbiefli from a 



pamphlet by Lord Hardw icWe. It was thp opinion of Atkins 

 (a commibMoner of sewers in the reign of James I., 1601) that 



