i88 BRITISH RURAL LIFE AND LABOUR. 



Throughout these valleys farm lands abound ; and there 

 are to be found not merely pasture of the highest quality 

 for its herds of cattle, but stretching to the summits even 

 of its boldest hills thousands of acres of green crops and 

 corn lands innumerable. The distribution of this plethora 

 of agricultural wealth follows the physical conditions of 

 the region. Countless flocks of sheep graze on the high 

 grounds of Dartmoor and Exmoor ; and the moorland 

 region boasts of a unique production in the classes of 

 cattle for there are bred the hardy ponies which, char- 

 acteristic of the place of their birth, have obtained a 

 world-wide fame : and their cheapness vies with their 

 excellence. In the lower-lying parts of the famous 

 county watered also by abundant streams the 

 grateful and useful moisture being augmented by 

 stretches of sea-line, the region under immediate men- 

 tion includes the South Hams, the Vale of Exeter, and 

 the delightful and fertile districts watered by the Axe, 

 the Exe, the Otter, the Sid, the Taw, the Teign, and the 

 Torridge, nearly all of which give names to adjacent 

 towns ; and extending along and between the lines of 

 seacoast, and the streams and their tributaries, are 

 cornfields, orchards, and pastures innumerable their 

 products including barley, beans, clover, oats, potatoes, 

 pulse, and other cereal and green crops. From the 

 orchards of the county is produced the far-famed 

 " Devonshire cider " : whilst the pastures produce in 

 abundance food which finds its way to many an English 

 meat-market, and the inimitable cream that, by its 

 superlative richnesses enormously in demand: so much so 

 that, both in and beyond the county borders, there is never 

 a glut in its markets. Moreover, not only the sea which 

 borders the Devon coasts, but its inland streams, furnish, 

 in exceptional plenty, fish of the finest quality, including 

 the delicious mackerel, the wholesome and plentiful 

 whiting, the beautiful trout, and that king amongst the 

 finny tribes, the lordly salmon. 



