1158 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



perty, but ran It the proper cut, anil finally prepared it for 

 ■he pipe. But .11 lb,- nit of York the cultti iton ot H met 



with less favourable circumstance-, : their tobacco was pub. 



1008 



liely l.umt, and themselves severely fined and imprisoned. 

 Penalties, it was said, were paid to the amount of thirty thousand 

 pounds. I his was enough to put a stop to the illegal cultiva- 



1009 



tion of tobacco; but, perhaps rather unfortunately, it has 

 likewise put a stop to the cultivation of that limited quantity, 

 half a rod, which the law allows to be planted for the purposes 

 ot physic and chirurgery, or destroing insects. 



M ustard grown in considerable quantities in the neighbour- 

 hood of \ ork, and fields of it may be met with in other parts 

 oi the Riding. It is prepared for use in the city of York, 

 where there are in. 1U and machinery- for the purpose" ; and it is 

 afterwards sold under the name of Durham mustard; sown 

 e.t.ier on land pan il and burned, or prepared and manured as 

 tor turnips. Sitd, one to two pecks per acre broadcast, in the 

 early pan of May. No culture whilst growing, except hand- 

 weeding.il necessary. Shorn with the sickle in September, 

 and generally stacked in the field, and threshed out upon a 

 cloth, at the convenience of the fanner. Two quarters per 

 acre is thought a good crop. 



Teasd grown on strong soils ; seed, two peeks a little before 



.^1 n da ; i.rlac-e dug or forked over in .June, October, and 



■ ; re ped in August; 10 pecks an acre a good crop ; 



k 1350 bunches, of ten teasles each; price, 3 to 5 



guineas per pack. 



7 Grass. 



Old pastures and meado-vs very badly managed ; uplards 

 overrun with moss and ant-hills; meadows with rushes: and 

 s<. neglected, that what would be worth 2001. under a proper 

 course ot husbandry, is dear at 7s. ; chietly devoted to the 



8, Gardens and Orchards. 



Hare made but little progress, in this Riding owing to the 

 want of manufacturing town., to create a demand; Tanners' 

 gardens, as mi most places, much neglected. 



9. Woodlands. 



I il mull extent ; a good deal of timber in hedge-rows in va- 

 rious places. 



LO. Live Stock. 



M.ort. horned cattle chiefly prevalent. Stall feeding carried 

 ■ojea extenl than dairying, flows taken mat Martinmas, a id 



■ ""■' gia/iers. 



In the bleaker parts, th, Clevel od breed, large, coarse- 



boned, slow feeders, and the wool dry rsh. All th mew 



meeds introduced, and several professed ram breeders in the 

 vale ot i ork. 



7807. 



Bortet. This Riding long famed for its bona, partial] ,rlv 

 nd. In the northern part of the vale of York 



a light breed for saddle and coach; in Cleveland, a full. I 

 In.rse, very strong and active, and well adapted for either 



Cm coach. In all the other districts horses are generally 

 i the western moorlands Scotch galloways are put to 

 thl Itallions of the country, "and rear a hardy and strong 

 race in proportion to their size." Before the war males wen 

 bred, and sent to the West Indies. Some farmers do not breed, 

 but buy colts and aork them till four or five years old, and 

 then shoe them for the first time, and sell them "to the London 

 dealers tor coach horses 



The farmers nho breed horses, generally lire -d from those 

 mares which are employed in the business of the farm ; these 

 are often worked until the very time of foaling, after which 

 they have usually two or three weeks' rest, before they are 

 again taken to work; the foal, during the lime the dam is 

 working, especially whilst it is JOUng, is shut up in a stable; 

 and it is the practice of some, before she is sullercd to go to 

 the toal, after returning from work, to bathe her udder with 

 cold water, and to draw most of the milk from it, to prevent 

 the milk, which may have been heated by labour, from hav- 

 ing any hurtful effect upon the foal. Some continue this 

 practice as long as the toal sucks : others, af er the foal has 

 got sufficient strength to travel along with t:.e mare, take it 

 along with het into the fields, and frequently- suffer it to suek, 

 from an opinion, that by the milk being frequently drawn, less 

 danger arises of its being heated, or of po.-sessing any quality 

 prcj.dicia' to the foal. The general time of foaling is about 

 May-day (from which day the age of all horses is reckoned;, 

 and that of weaning about Michaelmas, when the foals are 

 put into good after-grass, or the best pasture the farmer pos- 

 sesses : they remain there as long as the weather permits (if 

 there be sufficient food), and, on the approach of winter, have 

 a little good hay given them, where there is a stable, or hovel, 

 that they can go into at their pleasure. The oolts are usually 

 gelded in the spring following, and in summer are allowed 

 only an interior pasture, the next winter they- make their 

 living in the fields, or in the straw-yard, except they are in- 

 tended to work in the spring, which is frequently expected of 

 those of a strong kind : such are rather better kept as the time 

 ot labour draws nigh, and are only put to light and easy work, 

 and generally work only half a day at once. Some keep their 

 colts a year longer, before the operation is performed, and find 

 that such become the stronger and handsomer horses. The 

 foal always receives a great check by being weaned, which it 

 does not well recover before it gets the fresh pasture of the 

 following summer. The foals which are gelded at one vear 

 old receive 3 second check, at the very time thev should begin 

 to recover from the lirst ; whereas at two years o'ld Ihey appear 

 to be in the best condilion for the operation, and recover at 

 least as well as at one year old, and are much improved by the 

 keeping of the preceding year. 



Exportation of horses. The horses which are sold for the 

 London market, if for the carriage, are chiefly bay geldings, 

 with but little white on their legs and faces, those which 

 have much white, with chestnut, roan, and other unusually 

 coloured horses anel mares, generally do not hear an equal price 

 in the London market ; but with other slight and undersized 

 horses, are more sought after by foreigners, and eagerly pur- 

 chased by them for exportation ; or are exported by people of 

 this country, who carry them to the foreign markets, and 

 ultimately obtain a price equal to that obtained for those sold at 

 home- by these means of exportation, contrary- to an usually 

 received but ill-founded opinion, has a strong tendency to re- 

 duce the price of tho,e horses which are calculated for the home 

 market; and since as many fillies as colts are naturally bred, 

 and one third of the colts at least will either have too' mu. h 

 white for the home market, or be of some other colour than that 

 which is fashionable at the time, if the breeder had not a mar- 

 ket for those, which appear to lie tyvo thirds at least of all he 

 unavoidably breeds, he would be c ompelled to put such a price 

 upon the one third which happene I to suit the home market, 

 or variable taste of the moment, as would pay for the other two 

 thirds ; which last would either be unsaleable, or fetch very 

 inadequate prices. The consequence naturally flowing from 

 this would be, that the price of horses used at home would be 

 far greater than at present, when a foreign demand procures to 

 the breeder nearly as good a price for the horses that yi-ould 

 otherwise be useless and unsaleable, as for those which are 

 valued at home. 



Rabbits are kept in one or two warrens ; in one the silver 

 grey is kept, the skins of this variety being worth double 

 those of the greys : not used for felts like the common skins, 

 but dressed as furs, and exported to China to be worn by the 

 Mandarins. 



11. Political Economy. 



Roads in an improving state; bridges better attended to 

 than in most counties; but guide-posts neglected, which an 

 annotate* on Tuke's report justly remarks, is a sort of revert- 

 ing to barbarism ; as an attention to these son of minutiie 

 is one ot the most striking marks of civ.lisation. Various 

 can. lis. 



Manufactures of sail-cloth and cordage at Whitby and 

 Scarborough ; at various places in its neighbourhood,' alum 

 works ; 4000 tons of this article anuallv shipped from Whitby ; 

 linens, cottons, woollen, and paper manufactured in various 

 places. 



East Riding of Yorkshire. 819,200 acres of moderately wavy surface, intersected with mimer 

 179*. Strickland's liew, 1812. 



horse* rot Uh; coach Md'eaddle, and ofthVexcel'tentHoWerak, hrecd of cows. (LeStham's General flew. 



Marshal's Review, 1812. Smith's Geological Map, 1821.) 



1. Geographical State and Circumstances. 



rton.it. ofthe wolds severe and variable; N. and N.K. winds 

 prevail in winter and spring; in the vales milder; mild, but 

 not very healthy, on the Bomber; rain at Hull twain, ■ n 

 inches and -i h ti: yearlj al an average. 



s ,' of ihi- wolds calcareous loam , of Holderness fertile cta> 

 and -ml retentive clay. On the hank- of the liuini 



Paul nearly to Sperm Point, there ire 13 01 14,000 - .- of 

 nd,oi a strong < la.e-v loam, the proeluctivcnc.-s of which 

 can hardly be equalled. 



Snnk Island on the Humber is a modem creation by that 

 estuary, ft first began to show itself about lfio7, at ebbtide-, 

 ; ' no man pretended title to it (it being a detached island), 

 Jgi mi o .1 was made by the crown in the same year. In 1787 

 II on aires of the land were embanked and under tillage, pro- 

 dll g a n ntal of 900J. a year, with a chapel and several farm- 



! """<- lhatpartof Sunk Island which was lirst 



embanked was originally about two miles from the shore, and 



'-.his are still living who recoil, c-t vessels passing be. 



tw-.sii ;: and the mainland, to which it is now united by a 



