1162 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



of innii.il achievements! " " This," Martha! o!>scrve*, w most 

 assuredly mwnti nol him, hut rite. ' 



ie prdtmitutry obiervatfoiu to this report by Wat o n t 

 B.Shop nt li.iiul Ml, ..re suggestions for settling p w p p 

 cott igea on the wastes, as has been done In Spain, an : 

 advant i tea which would result from planning ttu in, i 

 wttfa the larch and oafa 

 -J. Geographical State and Circumstances. 



Climate. Healthy, though tubjeci t<> ■Teat and frequent fells 

 of rain, especially In autumn, which renders harvest late and 

 precarious : snow on the mountains for six ox eight months. 

 Average rain at Keswick seventy Inches. 



Soil. Clays and loams on the better parts of the valleys and 

 hill tides, and peat earth on the mountainous dhtrfi ts< 



Beautifully and greatly diversified, chiefly moun- 

 tainous, and incapa l< oi being improved by the plough; but 

 part of the va lej and u sins are cultivatable soils. 



1/ h rail, I I fij coalj lime, and lead ore; there are also 

 black lead, copper, gypsum, lapis calaminaris, and excellent 

 nd freestone. 



Water*. Blxq seven miles of sea-coast, several large and 

 small rivers, ami the lakes well known for their beat ty, and 

 the excel ent char, trout, and other fish which some ot them 

 i .-. 



3L Property. 



Fe t counties where land Is in such small parcels, and these 

 occupied by Iheii owners. The annual value of these tene- 

 ments vary rrom M. to 50/. a year; generally from 15/. to 30/., 

 some few "loo/. Largest estate in the county 13,000/. a year. 

 Tenure of bj far the greater part of the county •■ customary 

 tenure," a species of vassalage, by which the holder is subject 



to tines, heriots, and various services to the lords ot manors. A 

 i al has been enfranchised. Copyhold and leasebotd are 

 rarely mei with; what is not customary is freehold. 



4. Buildings, Implements, Arable Land, Sfc. 

 Approaching to that of Northumberland. A great many 



young plantations rising on the sides of the mountains. 



5. Lift' Stock. 



Cattle of various kinds; breed of the county a small long- 

 homed kind ; but the most improved varieties are now intro- 

 duced. 



SAeep bred in the county the Herd wicks, a hardy mountain 

 sheep. Some horses bred by the farmer, and bees very com- 

 mon. In every parish the taking of moles is let at a certain 

 sum, and defrayed by a parochial rate per acre ; a plan which 

 will soon eradicate this animal from the county. 



6. Improvements. 



Various kinds, as draining, watering, planting, &c. made by 

 Watson, bishop of Llandarf, at Colgarth I'ark. Those of 

 J. ('. Curwen, Esq , of Workington, especially in feeding and 

 fatting stock, have made a distinguished figure in agricultural 

 writings; but their practical merits have been questioned.^ 

 We paid a high compliment to Curwen in the first edition ot" 

 this Encyclopaedia, on which a scientific and practical man, 

 who was personally acquainted with him, made the following 

 note: — "I doubt if Curwen has any right to the compliments 

 here paid him. If I may judge, both from h)s writings and 

 conversation, he is certainly not a first-rate farmer, and, what 

 in his situation is worse, not very much the friend of farmers. 

 He admitted to me, indeed, that his management was not 

 profitable, which is saying all in one word." 



7811. WESTMORELAND. 540,160 acres, chiefly of mountain and moor, but with some few tracts of 

 vale lands, cultivated or capable of cultivation. On the whole it is naturally the most 'unfavourable county 

 t»t agriculture or comfortable living in England, owing to its wet and cold climate, ungrateful soil, and 

 i ugged surface. [Pringle's General I'iciv, 1794. Marshal's Review, 1808. Smith's Geological Map, 18-4. 

 Bdin, Gaz. 1827.) 



1. Geographical State and Circurn tanccs. 

 Climate. S. W. winds and rains prevail fur eight months in 



the year: in 1792 eighty-three inches, medium forty-five or 

 fifty inches, which is twenty inches above the medium quan- 

 tity that tails in Europe. Air pure and healthy ; winters long 

 and severe. In 1791-2 thirty six pounds were paid for cutting 

 in the snow ten miles of horse tract between Snap and Kendal. 



The soil most prevalent on the low lands is a dry gravelly 

 mould, and peat on the mountains. 



s rjfttce. Mountainous and hilly, and in most places incapable 

 of cultivation by the plough. Large tracts of black barren 

 moors, called the Fells. 



Minerals. Some triflinir veins of lead; limestone in abund- 

 ance inmost p rt> of the county ; excellent blue slates; gypsum 

 used for laying floors; freestone, and marble near Kendal. 



Water. Several rivers and some lakes, corresponding in 

 lenity and products with those of Cumberland. 



2. Property. 



As in Cumberland; land-owners called statesmen (for 

 estatesmen), as in Ireland. 



3. Buildings. 



Very indifferent ; few mere cottages ; the labourer and 

 mechanic generally reside in a small farm-house, and occupy 

 more or less land. 



4. Occupation. 



Farms small ; and farmers, who are generally proprietors, 

 " live poorly and Labour hard," in the fields in summer, and 

 weaving in winter; wear clops, the upper part of leather, and 

 the soles of birch, alder, or sycamore. The culture of arable 

 land is very limited, and, like that of grass bind, was in a very 

 b Lckward state at the time the reporter wrote, but gradually 

 improving. Dairying in a small way is generally practised, but 

 little attention to the sort of cow or bleeding. The Earl of 

 Lonsdale, and Watson, Bishop of Llandarf, were among the 

 first to set the example as to planting. 



5. Manufactures. 



Woollen cloth, or Kendal coatings, stockings, silk, gun- 

 powder, &c. A private carpet manufactory at Lowther, by 

 the Kari of Lonsdale. 



7812. LANCASHIRE. 1,150,000 acres; (1,155,840, Brook's Gaz. 1809, 12,000,000! Edin, Gaz. 1827), 

 included in a verv irregular outline, extending above a degree, or about seventy-four miles from north to 

 south, containing' mountainous and moory surface, and a large portion of low, flat, or moderately varied 

 lands, of good quality. The soil in great part sandy, and chiefly in pasture. The early introduction and 

 .successful culture of the potato distinguishes this county, and also the immense extent of its cotton 

 manufactures, and verv considerable foreign commerce from Liverpool. It is also the country of Brind- 

 ley, the engineer. {Holt's General J'lew^Yi^b. Dickson's General View, prepared by Stevenson, 1815. 

 Marshal's Review, 1808.) 



1. Geographical State and Circumstances. 



CUmaUm Air every where pure and salubrious, but on the 

 elevated parts cold and sharp; protected, however, by the 

 northern and eastern ranges of mountains form the N. and E. 

 winds; not much snow or long continued severe frosts. In 

 1S19-'^U. when the thermometer in gardens near London had 

 faiiea i«.'*t degrees below zero, th it in the botanic garden at 

 Liverpool never fell to zero. Average of rain in the county 

 ! about forty-two baches: in 1792, sixty-five; and in 

 fcome years fifty. From a register of the times during a series 

 of years, at which potatoes, aspiragus, and gooseberries were 

 1 1 r "t brought to the Liverpool market, H appears that thedif- 



. - between an early and late spring is not less than six 

 i- .. 



Sail. On the mountains and moors rocky and peaty ; on the 

 h m part of the lowlands moist, cold, and rushy silt; on 

 t e real i hiefij b indy loam. 



Minerals. Principally coal, copper, lead, and iron ; the first 

 and 1 tst fery abundant: there is also slate, grey-slate, and 

 i . [ itonc . fi ■ ■■ tone, nd limestone. 



Seventy-five miles and upwards of sea-coast, and 

 several rivers and meres. 

 l J Property. 



Very variously divided; a considerable number of yeomanry 

 from lOf . to 700J. per annum: a general spirit for possessing 

 bind ;md agricultural improvement; tenures, as usual, chiefly 



.>. Buildings 



( thl farmeries the work of chance and random ; houses often 

 I] i . former!) " i upled by proprietors, and offices without 

 oi ri or design, but various new erections on the most approved 



plans; cotl '■■:' Ratable, v th good gardens, 



ii. those occupied by operative manufacturers and me- 



I h mlcs. Those in the less improved parts of wattled studd 

 work, plastered or wrought in with tempered clay and straw; 

 pi ■.■.■mi i illy " <at and clay." 

 I Occupation. 



Farms La general small; education and knowledge of most 

 of the small occupiers very circumscribed : larger formers more 

 « nUghtened, and having more command of capital, are improv- 

 ing the culture of their farms. 



5. Implements. 



Little improvement, hut the Northumberland plough and 

 Merle's threshing-machine introduced; horse pattens are 



almost peculiar to this county, and are used in cultivating 

 light peaty soils. 



6. Arable Land. 



i,ess prevalent than grass ; but great attention paid to the 

 culture of potatoes, both b\ farmers and cottagers; the former 

 general I v cultivated in drills, and hor s e-hoed ; the latter in beds 

 or dibbled in rows, and hand-hoed. The method of growing 

 early potatoes, and several crops on the same soil in one season, 

 has "already been given. [5321.) Onions are cultivated exten- 

 sively near Warrington, and rhubarb and madder have been 

 tried, and grown to very great perfection, but not so easily 

 dried and prepared for sale as to induce a continuance of the 

 practice. 



7. Grass Lands. 



Extensive, but chiefly coarse up'and pastures; some good 

 meadows and productive marsh lands. Application chiefly for 

 the dairy for home consumption of milk and butter ; not much 

 cheese made, excepting on the Cheshire side of the county. 



8. Gardens and Orchards. 



Excellent market gardens near most of the large towns. 

 Liverpool remarkably well supplied: great quantities of cab- 

 bages and onions used by the shipping, and of dried Verbs and 

 onions exported ; the dried herbs sent to Africa. " There is a 

 certain farm in Kirkbv, about eight miles north-east from Liver- 

 pool, the soil of a small part of which is a black loamy sand, 

 and which produces great quantities of early and strong aspa- 

 ragus, and another farm, a part of which is of the same na- 

 ture at a place called Orrel, about four miles north-west of 

 'Liverpool : both which produce this plant with less attention 

 and less dung than requisite in the rich vale of Kirfcdale, about 

 two miles from Liverpool, where the greatest quantity of land 

 n any pi ice of this neighbourhood is appropriated solely to 

 horticulture.** 



Gardi ns of Mechanics. ** A small patch of ground appended 

 to his cottage furnishes the weaver, smith, or carpenter with 

 health and pleasure, and contributes to his sobriety ; intempe- 

 rance not unfrequently proceeding from want of recreation to 

 fill up a vacant hour. Th { s small space is devoted to nurtur- 

 ing bis young seedlings, trimming his more matured plants, 

 contemplating new varieties, in expectation of honours through 

 the medium of promised premiums. Thus, starting at inter- 

 vals from his more toilsome labours, the mechanic finds his 

 Stagnating fluids put in motion, and his lungs refreshed with 

 the fragrant breeze, whilst he has been raising new flower! 



