1 1 52 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV 



am advantages bj those who live berids them, md const nth l 

 utelham. Various railways and canals. Manufactures, woof- 



combing, woollen yarn, wanted, ud c.p,-. ,.ilh wet !■ 



jnas; also rotton-works, hats, patent not-laee for veils, ,Vc. 

 The Leicestershire and Kutl widshire agricultural society t-atal 

 bUshedl794, 



in 



II, 



at 



the 



and 



the age in which he lived! Brown'* Derbyshire, 1 



3 vols. 1811 to LSI.",. Marshals lie,: 1812.) 



county report*: it is an example of extraordinary industry, research, and excellent general views 



will be read with great profit by every class of readers. Farcy, indeed, was a philosopher ahead of 



philosopher ahead of 

 I-'arct/'s Agricultural and Mineral Survey, 



1. Geographical Slate and Circumstances. 

 Climate. Chi, I on the hills, but mild in tin- plain 



in the vales 

 winds; rain about 



hoar frosts often Injurious; no p evailins 

 twenty-eljrhl Lnchetpu annum. 



Soil very various, chieflj calcareous. 



l' now. Lead and iron those chiefly worked « also some 

 line, calamine, black jack, manganese, 'sulphur, \, . ; eo.il, 

 lime, alabaster, slate, freestone, paving stone, rolling, grinding, 

 the, and cutlers' slo,i,s, ami a variety of others, both for use 

 .ui,l orn amen t, as sp.tr. flee, vilay in some districts, as at Uv< r- 

 inoor, is burned bj spadefuls, dried, and mixed with small coals 

 In heaps, {at the r<» ids. B. M. .Monday, Esq. of Shiplev, formed 

 his private mails of a sort of bricks, made without the corners 

 to avoid the duty. 



Water. When scarce, drinking ponds made by puddling and 

 paring in the Gloucestershire manner. An artificial pond dis- 

 covered in 1808, concealed under peat, the head of which was 

 puddled in the centre ; a proof that puddling is no new art. 

 Stone cisterns, placed in the lines of neatly cut thorn hedges, 

 serve to supply two fields: the water brought to them in thin 

 7inc pipes, as being cheaper, and perhaps more durable than 

 It ad. 



'J. Estates. 



< if various sizes as in other counties ; managed hv attorneys, 

 at a low salary, who make it up by law business, and other- 

 wise. 



3. Buildings. 



_ Chatsworth, Keddlestone, and some other noble stone man- 

 sions in this county ; some good houses, covered w ith cement 

 (known in London as Atkinson's), made from clay stones found 

 on Lord Mulgrave's estates in Yorkshire, and which Farey con- 

 siders as superior to that made from the clay halls of the London 

 clay stratum. Grottos frequent, fitted up with the spar of the 

 county. At Ashover a frize of a chimney-piece, representing a 

 section of the strata taken across the parish. At Chatsworth, 

 and various places, the spits in the kitchens turned by water- 

 w heels, „i' the overshot kind, supplied by small lead pipes. Hair 

 lines, in covered boxes, placed on drving parts, and the lines 

 wound And unwound by a handle, for drving clothes. Atseveral 

 houses foot lath-wheels, turning spindles, on which were other 

 wheels, dressed with emery for cleaning knives; also brush 

 spindles for boots and shoes, as at the Angel Inn, Oxford ; boot- 

 rack, in which boots are reversed on upright pins and taken off 

 by a stick, which prevents dust settling inside the boot. 



Fbrm-Aoiues as in other counties; a few good ones recently 

 erected. One of the most complete farmeries is that of the 

 fcar. ot Chesterfield, at Bretbj Park ; it is of hewn stone, slated, 

 and combines a general farm-yard, dairv court, and twopoultrv 

 courts, including pheasantries. Buildings in general roofed 

 with grey stone or other slate ; water, in some cases, conducted 

 down from gutters by a light wooden rod, down which the 

 water runs as well as if it were in a spout or tube, and not 

 Mown about by the winds, as it would if no rod were there. 

 r ire proof floors made by arching them with hollow bricks ; 

 in flic cottages, cast-iron ovens by the sides of the fires very 

 ■ minon, and also iron cisterns for hot water; both these 

 about mil J broug,lt int0 n °tice .by the Griffin foundry, 



( ottagtt better than in most other counties ; some good ones 

 erected by the principal manufacturers and noblemen. Virgin's 

 Irawer, or other beautiful flowering creepers, and shrubs, and 

 Plants, ire not uncommon at the cottage deors in this county, 

 among other indications of their attention to neatness and of 

 th.ir comforts, compared with the inhabitants of the miserablr 

 bills in main other districts. 



4. Occupation. 



1 arms generally of small size ; farmers rank higher in intel- 

 igence than those of most southern counties; nothing but 

 leases and larger occupations wanting to render this one of the 

 most improved counties of England. Best farmers also at 

 same lime manufacturers or miners. 



■ implements. 



i ,, Su i'i'„'f- V'"""' 1 ''; :mrl ''' lir : one-horse carts; good harrows 

 (./'(.'• ■<*>•>•) ; weeding sclssars, forclii ' 



lipping otl' weeds among corn 



10015 



t rather under ground; weeding pincers ; threshing- 

 machines; cast-iron rick stands; caitle cribs mounted on 



■ii. h turn round on a pin, so that when the cattle h ive 

 well trodden the litter on the two opposite side, in standing to 



eat from the crib, it is turned half round for them to tread and 

 dung. Sec. m the opposite direction.! fc. Hull.) Turnip. slicers, 

 chaff-cutters, bruisers, slate cisterns as milk vessels, &c. 



1004 



6. Enclosures. 



In setting out fences, less attention paid to separating the 

 different kinds of soils than is requisite; walls frequent ; and 



,..- frequ 

 noire often made in them for passing sheep; to be closed when 

 not wanted by a Hat stone; slacked lime plastered on the face 

 of a newly planted hedge (as clay is in Norfolk), to prevent the 

 weeds from rising. Young thorn hedges, with a northern 

 aspect, do best, as the morning sun in spring injures the bud of 

 those facing the south when previously covered with frost, 

 Hoots of thorns, sometimes planted as sets with success ; old 

 thorn-hedges effectually renewed by cutting off the shoots 

 below the surface of the ground ; the roots then throw up 

 vigorous shoots. Neatly dipt hedges at Ashbourne. alagnc- 

 sian, limestone, and marly soils found to suit the holly better 

 than any other. 

 7. Arable Land. 



Only one fifth of the countv in aration ; formerly six horses 

 were generally employed in ploughing, now only two ; turnips 

 drilled in the Northumberland manner in various places ; some 

 wheat dibbled; oats a good deal cultivated, and oat-cakes or 

 II aver ( Citr.) cake made, by pouring sour dough on a hot stone : 

 a sprinkling ot parsley sown with clover to prevent cattle hov- 

 injr; sides of oat ricks tucked in with a spade, to leave no loose 

 straws for sparrows to rest on. 



Chamomile " is cultivated to a very considerable extent on the 

 limestone and coal strata near Ashover;" the flowers are 

 picked by children, dried first in the shade and then on a 

 malt-kiln, afterwards packed tight into bags, and sent to the 

 Ixmdon druggists ; the crop stands three years, and then gets 

 weedy and declines." 



Wood cultivated on a small scale. 



Widmv-wort (Genista tinctoria) infests old pastures, and is 

 pull, d when in flower, and dried and sold to the dyers. 



Yarrow (Achillea Jl/illef61ium) is in some places also taken 

 up, tied in bunches, and dried for the dyers. 



Valerian {Valeriana officinalis) is grown at Ashover, and also 

 elecampane (I'nula Heleniutn), lavender, peppermint, and 

 rhubarb, on a small scale, in one or two places. 



Truffles (Tuber cibarium) collected in various places, espe- 

 cially undi r the shade of the beech trees, and on drv hedge banks 

 Koses formerly cultivated lor the flowers, but not at present. 



8. Grass. 



Three fifths of the county under permanent grasses (though 

 it appears by the marks of ridges to have been formerly every 

 where arable), and the application chiefly cheese-making. 

 IJroppings of cattle andhorseson pastures spread by rakes.whjch 

 injure the grass less than any othpr implement. Fern and other 

 weeds collected from wastes, and dried and burned, and 

 their ashes made into balls, and laid aside, to he used as lev for 

 washing. This practice declines with the frequency of enclo- 

 sures. When worms are engaged forming worm-casts in 

 fields, scatter barley chaff, fresh and dry from the winnowing 

 machine, which, sticking to the worms when they come out 

 prick them, and prevent their return to their holes, till rooks' 

 sVc. devour them. ' 



9. Gardens and Orchards. 



Good market-gardens at all the principal towns, and few of 



nil. m '^ ouses , a , n . d cottages without gardens. "Samuel 



Oldknow, i.sq. of Mellor keeps a professed gardener, on three 



acres ot rich sheltered land, by the river Goytc, on the Cheshire 



,P,?I.|', W,0 , n !" ,a,K ,' Bathers, prepares, and delivers all 



™,, n ce, '"! lcs a ", common garden fruits in season to 



■? ■' ■' forln h.°'. 'l° P ' e a ,V d ,ena " ,s > a "d renders an account 



h . • niirch, "oV° the . """-"gent, who deducts what they 



have Purchased from the garden from their several wages ; 



the perfec „„, and utility of his arrangement for these pulses 



cannot hut prove highly gratifying to those who wish tosee the 



V, o'th : r'* S , Wl " ■•'""comfortably provided for from the 



tin t. ot their industry. Proper rooms, for drying, cleaning. 



■ii.. I»-—rv,ng garden-seeds and fruits, and his'woo'l-chfmK 



and other uke olhees, are attached to the gardener's house, and 



