igo BRITISH RURAL LIFE AND LABOUR. 



ness of sprouting wheat and barley. Then there are 

 squares of blood-red trefoil, and the alternation of green crops 

 vetch and turnip, ' mangel ' and swede give pleasant 

 variety to the agricultural features of the country. Towards 

 the north stretch the bold crests of the Mendip Hills, whilst 

 between them and the great cities of Bath and Bristol lies 

 an undulating and fertile district. To the west are the 

 Quantocks, which are the outposts of the hilly country 

 that terminates in the rugged expanse of the beacon-crowned 

 ' forest ' of Exmoor. But between the Mendips and the 

 Quantock Hills lies the beautiful vale of Taunton Deane, 

 rich in leanness, and green and beautiful by the presence 

 of orchard, and cornfield, and meadow. Cattle are largely 

 bred upon the Somersetshire pastures, and as sale-stock 

 form an important feature of the agricultural industry 

 of the district, whose area exceeds sixteen hundred and 

 forty square miles. Dairies, too, are everywhere, and 

 the cream, butter, and cheese, manufactured from the 

 abounding milk, are famous throughout the west country, 

 and find their way into the London market, and to many 

 another distant city and town. The fame of its Cheddar 

 cheese has reached even to the opposite shores of the 

 Atlantic, and has so stimulated the cheese-producing 

 ambition of our American cousins as to induce them to 

 imitate the quality of this favourite and well-known product 

 of the green western shire of the mother country, and 

 regardless of the belief that ' there is nothing in a name/ 

 to export to our shores large quantities of their own manu- 

 facture under the ingenious designation of ' American 

 Cheddar.' Nor must the orchards of Somerset be for- 

 gotten, for they produce what forms a very large con- 

 tribution of the ' raw material ' which furnishes the far- 

 famed west country cider. From its bordering port of 

 Bristol the produce of Somersetshire finds its way to a 

 wider market than that which is furnished by its own 

 substantial towns, or provided even by the important line 

 of railway that passes through it on its way from London 

 to the Land's End." 1 



Unlike Devon, Dorset, and Somerset, Wiltshire has 

 not the advantage of a seaboard ; but, like Dorset, much 

 of its substratum of rock is chalk. It has an area of 

 thirteen hundred and sixty-seven square miles, and may, 

 roughly, be said to be divided into two parts for a 

 range of hills, from the north-east to the south-west, 

 traverses it about midway. The northern or north- 

 western division is watered by the rivers Avon, Kennet, 

 i " Peasant Life in the West of England." 



