CHAPTER XXX. 

 THE WEST COUNTRY GENERALLY. 



No tracts of England are more purely agricultural than 

 the district which comprises the counties of Devon, 

 Dorset, Somerset, and Wilts. Alternations, here and 

 there, throughout this large and important region, of 

 chalky hill or down, and of barren and rocky moorland, 

 do not appreciably affect the general agricultural char- 

 acter. Corn land and pasture largely predominate ; 

 but orchard and other fruit areas, and green crop spaces, 

 are also abundant. The geological formation of the 

 district and the moisture of the atmosphere lend them- 

 selves, in combination with the general and exceptional 

 richness of the soil, to abundant agricultural produce ; 

 and these, in turn, promote the raising of cattle and the 

 production of poultry of a quality which stands high in 

 the order of excellence. The extensive coast-line and 

 the proximity of the sea are also conducive to the refresh- 

 ing and prevailing moisture which is a factor of extreme 

 importance from an agricultural point of view. 



A brief sketch of the characteristics of each of the 

 four counties named will be important and interesting. 

 Beautiful Devon, with its two thousand five hundred 

 and eighty-five square miles of country, has a reputation 

 of its own for scenic loveliness quite apart from its high 

 character as a food-producing area. Below the granite 

 tors of Dartmoor and the uplands of its abounding hills 

 lie valleys of surpassing richness, watered by sparkling 

 streams rarely dry during the worst periods of drought. 



