DAIRIES. 2 



from any aliment : it might be planted on a dung- 

 hill ; but if this had no moisture in it, no nutriment 

 would be yielded ; but as long as the soil preserves 

 a moisture, either by its own constituent parts, or 

 by means of a retentive substratum, vegetation 

 goes on. Continue the moisture, and increase the 

 aliment, and the plant will flourish in proportion ; 

 but let the moisture be denied by soil, substratum, 

 or manure, and vegetation ceases ; for, though 

 certain plants will long subsist by moisture obtained 

 from the air, yet, generally speaking, without a 

 supply by the root, they will languish and fade. 



Our dairy processes, I believe, present nothing 

 deserving of particular notice. From our milk, 

 after being skimmed for butter, we make a thin, 

 poor cheese, rendered at a low price, but for which 

 there is a constant demand. Some of our cold 

 lands, too, yield a kind greatly esteemed for toast- 

 ing ; and we likewise manufacture a thicker and 

 better sort, though we do not contend in the market 

 with the productions of north Wilts, or the deeper 

 pastures of Cheshire or Huntingdon. 



The agriculture of a small district like ours 

 affords no great scope to expatiate upon : great 

 deviations from general practice we do not aim at ; 

 experimental husbandry is beyond our means, per- 

 haps our faculties. Local habits, though often the 

 subject of censure, are frequently such as the 

 <{ genius of the soil" and situation render neces- 



