1170 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part IV. 



1115 



-with mud, and left without rough cast, a wWtewoah>toeon. 

 cool the noting colour of the loom." 



4. Occupation, 



Farms ofall stats boa i' '■■ 



to :ami/. a jmr. 



6. Implements. 



Plough ..f the -winn kind, 

 *. :ih .i « ooden mould board. 

 Bcariflcrs* called tormentora. 

 Two mra of fcrubUna mat- 



t-H ks.tr. in UNfJii;.lU. 'i^i.M, 



ono collod too uoa mattock 

 <.<). ind *■ " ,l " r ;i two-bill 

 ov double-bitted naottoi i [b), 



I'.irinu-shovils e HO very 



wdl comtiuctod* <urn-*uckV 

 m horn : torn U 



Hidden end heavy thumb r 

 ihowen to which thli « oun- 

 try ts liable, by canvas cvcr- 

 pags, ill"- - those mod In Mid- 

 dlesex (V»r covering bay rick*. 



i>. Arable Land. 

 BsTurh tool thon the gran 

 land ; nut muchto be learned 



troin its culture; artificial hfrhaga not generally sown, and 

 r.'i.it .iiin bod. 



7. GratS Lands. 



In the low tract* of good quality ; application, breeding and 

 the d. dry ; bottet good, chlMTl indifferent, and generally rcon- 

 miiumI in the county. 



8. Orchards^ Woods, and Plantations. 



Yen abundant In moot pans of the county, and excellent 

 eider made En the Herefordshire manner* Fruit trees rather 

 neglected than otherwise; generally pasture beneath ; often in 

 tl»- hedgerows. 



i,i vrtst of Dartmoor is parcel of the Duchy of Cornwall'; 

 extensive Improvements have lately been proposed, and in part 

 carried into execution, under the direction of Sir J. Tyrwbilt, 

 the steward of the Duchy. Extensive salt marshes on some 

 parti of the coast. 



9. Improvements. 



Draining and Irrigation not much practised. The Rev. M. 

 Froude, of Darlington parsonage, communicated to Vancouver 

 ■ mode of emptying the water from a pond without the ne- 

 cessity of attending to it personally when full. It is more matter 

 of curiosity than Ingenuity or use. The water, when the pond 

 is overflowing, Hows by a gutter into a basin, suspended be- 

 yond the head, which when full, bv means of a lever, raises 

 plug at the bottom of tlie pond. After a time, the box being 

 ■oaky, it becomes empty, and when the pond is nearly empty, 

 the plug re-drops in its place. If the plug were placed nearer 

 the surface of the water, it would in general cases be more 

 useful, and less likely to lose the fish. 



10. Live Stock. 



The North Devon cattle well known for their superior adapt- 

 ation, both for feeding and draught. For the uses of the da ry 

 or for milk, it is a breed by no means held in general estimation, 

 as their aptitude to look well (without being fleshy) isderivid 

 from the peculiar nature of the animal, which disposes its se- 



eretionsin the accumulation of fat, rather than in tne produc- 

 tion of milk. For the purposes of labour, this breed can no- 

 where be excelled for docility, activity, or hardihood, in proof 

 of wini h no stronger circumstance can he adduced, than that 

 it Is a common day's work, on fallow land, for four steers to 

 plough tWO acres with a double-furrow plough J and that a 

 general D00 is thus made of them, and for most of the other 

 purposes of draught iii tin? emmty where they were originally 

 found, and in others to which they have been since trans- 

 pl ultra. 



'1 he rides generally pursued in breeding and raising this va- 

 luable animal, may be 1 onsfderedas follows; --The greatest num- 

 ber of calves fall between Candlemas and May, and some much 

 later; but, among the u-st breeders, such late calves are not 

 so generallj approved of. The usual mode of raising them >s, 



to let the ealf suck as much as it w ill three times a day, for the 

 first woekj then bring it to the linger, and t'^<\ it with warm 

 new milk, in like manner for three weeks longer. This is the 

 • miliary treatment for the lirst month, and the calf is thru 

 fed lor two months longer, twice a day, with as much 

 warm scalded skim milk as it will drink ; when, gradually 

 ■baling iis morning and evening meals, at the end of four 

 months the animal is weaned from ail milk draughts, and left 

 to UodC Small portions of finely pounded linseed cakes ire 

 often used, and recommended to be mixed with the skim- 

 milk, particularly In the first period of its being given in the 



place Of new milk. 



The full -si /.ed North Devon cow, when fattened to its frame, 

 »ill not exceed eight wore per quarter; and the ordinary 

 overage of Its ox, at five years old, and equally well fattened, 

 must not bo rated higher than three score per quarter above 

 the weight of it* fattened mother. 



The u%11.il pi.o til 1 in this district, is to sell the steers, at four 

 OT live vears old, to the L.T.i/iers in the county of Somerset, who 

 feed them for a supph to the hath, Hristol, and London mar- 



kafta, Very saw m the proportion raised are fed in the district, 

 which mey In a (real measure be ascribed to the yreat indif- 

 ference hitherto manifested m the culture of green mod for a 

 winirr suppl% ; and for which, imln-d, .1 sufficient reason may 

 bednwTij nana the deplorable wel itateln which the lands are 

 suffered to remain from the want of draining;. 



In South D ton we And a mixture of the North Devon with 

 ■ larger animal of the same kind, called the Old Marlborough 

 Red. This breed is 1 id to have originated from the South 



Malton slock, although at this time thei ditfer very materially 

 from thom bl tixe, and in having a dirty brown, or rather 



btocUsfa colour at the ears, nose, and encircling the eyes, and 

 in all such parts as the orange hue prevails m tin genuine 



North Devon breed. A croxs w ith tin- br< *-d 1^, however, much 



prefi rred, as ll produces ■ greata aptitude to fatten In ■ given 



time than bl experienced in the South Devon stock, which in 

 .it points is a much coarser animal, and produces a greater 

 oil d. There de<S not appear to be any particular choice with 

 reg.ird to colour m llu» breed. 



tie Exmoot breed, a homed animal, with a moder- 

 ate!) long stapleol wool, which hereto&re, and before the cloth 

 manufacture lied from tins count) into Yorkshire, was mui h 

 used by the « luthh r- of North and South Malton, CoUnnaptonj 

 Thorverton, Tivartoni and other places in the county. 



1 i , gel I approved m the division of Tiverton are the 



Bampton Notts. The first cross of tins breed with the New 



1 1 is growing greatly hi esteem, from its improving the 



form, and bringing the animal three months SOonei to in irket. 



The sheep generally depastured on the moorlands are the 



Exmoor, Dartmoor, and the light hardy breed of the lower 

 oid commons in the county. The autumnal rams fre- 



quentiy Inundating the cold clay lands, are very apt to occasion 

 Uu caw, or rot, among them, and which has been sometime* 



experienced to an alarming extent. 



The .Merinos, Ky viands, iK»wns, and other fashionable breeds 

 have been tried byamateurs ; but Devon is k-ss a sheep than a 

 cattle county. Native breed of hogs large, and long-legged. 



Horses, a small compact breed ; with the exception of the 

 farm-horses in Ireland, those in Devonshire have perhaps a* 

 hard a measure of neglect and ill-usage dealt out to them, as 

 is any where to be met with in the united kingdom. 

 1 1. Political Economy, 



Had the roads of this county been laid out in the judicious 

 manner practised by the Indians of North America, they 

 would have been found to follow the water courses in all cases 

 where thev might lead in their general direction, towards the 

 point assigned lor carrying them. In doing this, infinitely 

 more judgment would have been displayed, and a far greater 

 benefit secured to posterity, than in that which has been 



adopted b) the original projectors of some of the most important 



and most frequented roads m this country. This , is clearly 



I de- 



monstrated by the road between Itarnstaple and ihuinleigh, 

 which, instead of being conducted through the valley of the 

 Taw, is carried over the highest brows of the river hills, where 

 the traveller is unceasingly compelled to ascmd and descend 

 the sharpest hills in the county. The same may be said of the 

 road between Hidelbrd and Torrington, by the great omission 

 of its not being carried along the foot of the river hills, and 

 through the valley of the Torridge river. 



Manufacture* of woollen of various sorts were formerly com- 

 mon; but are at present on the decline; many manufactures 

 and works employing numerous hands at Plymouth. Two 

 agricultural societies, but both ill attended and on the de- 

 cline. 



Education of the Poor, or Loner Classes*. Vancouver concludes 

 lis report by some pages of observations which, happily, are 

 seldom equalled in illiberally ; and, viewing the subject as we 

 do, they compel us to look on him as an enemy to human na- 

 ture, and to turn from his book, his name, and memory, with 

 feelings of dislike. " It is an incontrovertible truth/' he says, 

 " that the restless disposition of the Irish, and their emigration 

 to America, is owing to their being generally instructed to read 

 and write. The disposition of the Scotch and Germans to 

 emigrate arises from the same reason, and the English peasant 

 under the same influence will be acted on in the same man- 

 ner." He " respectfully submits to the consideration of the 

 Honourable Board, the 'propriety of opposing any measure that 

 may rationally be supposed to lead to such a fatal issue." 'I his 

 man, like Charles X. and his ordonnanccs of 1830, and Wel- 

 lington, with his speech against reform of the same year, may 

 have done good \y ithout knowing it. 



Marshal, whose considerate arid humane.spirit justly ohtects 

 to the term Jieasantrv, as at all applicable to the operative 

 classes of Britain, has the following excellent remarks on this 

 suhj*' c t; — 



With respect to the emigration of the Irish, " well it is," he 

 says, *' for Ireland and America, that they do so. The one is 

 overstocked with the class that furnishes work-people; the 

 other wants enlightened workmen. Of slaves and savages it 

 has enow. The Unlettered Irish stay at home, to riot, plot, 

 and murder ; to commit acts of treason, stratagem, and spoil ; 

 or emigrate to England, to revel awhile in outrage, and be 

 handed." 



On Vancouver's ideas on education, Marshal observes, After 

 some other groundless arguments, the reporter sums up in 

 Italics, and with the aid of foreign tongues, in the following 

 ultra-loyal manner: — ' In short, the peasant's mind should 

 never be Inspired with a desire to amend his circumstances 

 by the quitting of his cast* (this, says Marsha', is Hindoo), 

 ' but every means the most benevolent and feeling heart can 

 desire should be employed to make that situation as comfort- 

 able and as happ. to him a^ possible; and to which did nothing 

 more essential could contribute than by exciting a general 

 emulation to excel in all their avocations, even to those 

 of breaking stones for a lime-kiln, or for repairing the high- 

 ways.' ''II ear, hear!' savs Marshal — ' This is English. 

 Ooml heaven! And is there an Englishman (or a Dutchman 

 — thev are brothers in sentiment) with newe enough to write 

 the two first lines alwve quoted ! ! ! He surely could not 

 know that many men of ■ the brightest genius,' and who are 

 much more estimable members of a community,— many great 

 and good men have, in England, been moulded and nurtured 

 in the ' peasant cast.*" 



" Fortunately for society in England, the writer s exotic 

 notions have not taken root. Seminaries, for civilising the 

 children of the labouring classes, have been, and are rapidly 

 Increasing."" 



" In a civilised nation, earlv schooling tends to reclaim 

 children from savage propensities, and to prepare them lor 

 civilised society; inculcates a propriety of behaviour, one of 

 the verv lirst lessons a child should be induced to learn in a 

 civilised nation. In the savage state, savage manners may be 

 deemed B virtue, as being, in that state, conducive to self- 

 preservation." 



" Attendance in a school inures children to a requisite (degree 

 of restraint ; and a division of time employs their minds, and 

 prevents Idleness, and other vicious habits, from taking root; 

 thus tending to raise them to the rank of rational beings. 

 While the unfortunate offspring of indigence, that are suffered 

 to loiter away their earlv days on commons, in lanes, and bye- 

 phftces, at quire habits of indolence and pilfering; give a loose 

 to their own wills and unrestrained tempers; commit acts of 

 mischief, and add to them the guilt of lying (the seed-bed of 

 fraud) to screen them from correction.*' 



'* The discipline of a well-governed school impresses on 

 youthful minds subordination, industry, patience, and its 



