276 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



For the New England Farmer. 



RURAL ECONOMY OF THE BRITISH 

 ISLES-No. 12. 



WESTERN COUNTIES. 



SOMERSET, GLOUCESTER, MONMOUTH, HEREFORD, 

 SHROPSHIRE AND CHESTER. 



If the southern region is the zone of the cereals, 

 and the eastern counties the chief domain of the 

 four-course system, the character of the western 

 counties is grass, that primitive wealth of England. 

 The rural prosperity of these counties is of old 

 standing. At one time, the entire agricultural 

 wealth of England was confined to grass, in the 

 western districts and part of the central, and to the 

 ■wheat lands of the south-eastern counties ; the rest 

 of the island was nothing but heaths, marshes and 

 mountains. Later, however, these wheat lands 

 have beeen surpassed by the light lands, worked by 

 the four-course rotation ; but the grass lands have 

 maintained their old superiority. The rain, which 

 falls in the west of England, is three times more 

 than in the east; and, perhaps, the grass lands of 

 western England are nourished by the saline par- 

 ticles, which the sea breezes bring, as well as by 

 abundant rains. 



Now-a-days, ^his grass country, though enriched 

 by manure, which successive generations of cattle 

 have dejiosited upon it, begins to lag behind. Ag- 

 riculturists, of the present day, are not very favora- 

 ble to what is called old grass. But no change has 

 yet taken place, in the management of the grass 

 lands of the western counties; the farmers of the pres- 

 ent day, do just as their fathers did before them ; and 

 probably one-fourth of the United Kingdom is now 

 m old grass. Nowhere else is found a like extent 

 of land, giving such a revenue. The rents or prof- 

 its of these, is half and more of their gross product. 

 The labor bestowed upon them is scarcely anything, 

 the capital required is small, the chances of loss 

 small also ; the whole is nearly sure profit. Thus 

 we see rents given of as much as forty dollars the 

 acre. 



Grass lands may be turned to account in three 

 ways; for breeding stock, fattening, and the pro- 

 duction of milk. Breeding is the least profitable 

 of the three. To this, only the forest pastures are 

 devoted. Fattening is looked upon as more lucra- 

 tive and certain, where the pastures are of a better 

 kind. But it is milk, which carries the day in Eng- 

 land, and the cheese of these counties is highly es- 

 teemed. 



For a few large estates to be met with in the 

 western counties, there are a great many small 

 ones, some of which are worked by their own pro- 

 prietors. Indeed, in grass land districts, the na- 

 ture of the prevailing occupation forbids its being 

 carried on, on a large scale. 



The western counties are Somerset, Gloucester- 

 shire, Monmouth, Hereford, Shropshire and Ches- 

 ter. 



That portion of Somerset which borders on 

 Devonshire, is mountainous and rugged, and con- 

 tains one of the most desolate and uncultivated re- 

 gions in the island — the granite moorland, called 

 Exmoor Forest, rivaling Dartmoor in wildness. 

 It is abandoned to a kind of half-wild sheep, and 

 forms a refuge for the shyest kind of game, such 

 as deer. As a set off to this, the vale of Taunton, 

 bordering on Exmoor, is celebrated for its beauty 



and fertility, and all the country abounds in excel- 

 lent pastures. Rents are very high, averaging 

 .$7 50 the acre, and rising to $15, and even $22 50 

 in the vale. 



A county uniting so many advantages, so near 

 to London, and with such outlets as Bath and 

 Bristol for its produce, favored with that beautiful 

 grass vegetation, and with such high rents, might 

 be supposed to be in a very flourishing condition. 

 The working classes suffer, however, and the mani- 

 fest cause is over-population. This provokes un- 

 due competition for farms, and high rents, and too 

 great division of lands. The population of the 

 county has risen from 280,000 in 1801, to 444,000, 

 Avhile the land has not proportionably increased 

 in richness. The only remedy for this untoward 

 state of things, is either an increased production of 

 land or a diminution of population. 



Gloucestershire, which adjoins Somerset, divides 

 itself into two parts, which are called the Cots- 

 wolds, or high grounds, and the vale or valleys of 

 the Severn and Avon. These two agricultural dis- 

 tricts require to be considered separately. 



The Cotswolds form a series of table lands from 

 500 to 600 feet above the level of the sea, intersect- 

 ed by shallow valleys. The character of the soil is 

 poor, and the climate cold. At one time they 

 were almost entirely devoted to sheep pastures, but 

 now, by means of the Norfolk rotation, and the 

 purchase of extra manure, remarkable results have 

 been obtained. The average rent now reaches 

 $4 00 the acre. The farms are extensive, and far- 

 mers generally, well off. The cultivation begins 

 with turnips, which are eaten off by sheep ; then 

 comes barley with grass seeds ; the third year, 

 clover; the fourth, wheat. The chief stock is sheep, 

 which is the old breed of the country, by modern 

 improvement made one of the best in England — 

 rivaling the Dishley and Southdowns. The agri- 

 culture of the Cotswolds may be held up as a mod- 

 el for Ught and poor soils. 



The vale of Gloucester has been endowed by na- 

 ture more highly than the Cotswolds ; but human 

 industry has done less for it. The average rents 

 reach $7 00. The land is almost entirely under 

 grass, and it holds its ancient and deserved reputa- 

 tion for cheeses. Draining is not much resorted to, 

 and the use of supplementary manures is not com- 

 mon. The small farmers are poor, and the proprie- 

 tors not rich. No actual distress meets the eye. It 

 seems as if comfort and happiness would never fail, 

 in the charming and refreshing valleys of the Sev- 

 ern and the Avon, with their ever-green verdure, 

 their luxuriant hedgei-ows, and thousands of graz- 

 ing cattle ; but the prosperity of the farmer does 

 not correspond with the beauty of the vale. 



The sniall county of Monmouth, situate between 

 the sea and the mountains, presents a great variety 

 of aspects ; towards the west and north, we have 

 the rugged wildness of the Alps ; while the east 

 and south, bordering on the Wye, is a jierfect gar- 

 den. Cultivation by oxen is still sometimes to be 

 seen there ; but this is becoming more rare in Eng- 

 land, every day. On the coast, rents rise very 

 high, but fall as they near the mountains. 



Herefordshire and Shropshire call for but little 

 remark. They are generally hilly, and in the latter 

 are numerous potteries and iron mines. The chief 

 agricultural occupation is the breeding of that fine 

 race of white faced red cattle, known by the name 

 of Hereford. These cattle, which the graziers of 



