Book I. 



AGIlICULTUllE OF DEVONSJIIllE. 



11G9 



ornamented v.-ith extensive plantations. In this district, (uiAfhe 

 farm-houses and cottages are for the most part commodious 

 ard contfortalile ; but, on all the dairy farms, a shamefiil inat- 

 tention prevails in respect to outhouses and sheds for thtir 

 tock to retire to in the wintpr months. Cattle are almost uni- 

 versally served with their provender in the field ; and many 

 a dairy farmer, wHh twenty cows, scarcely makes, in the 

 whole winter, a quantity of dun^ suiHcient to manure one acre 

 of land. 



Occupation. Farms seldom exceed 20W. a year ; some of the 

 dairy farms are so small as not to exceed COl. or 70/. per year; 

 and many instances can be produced of such littie f.irmers 

 brinj^ng up a large family in a very respectable way- In such 

 instances, it is generally found that the wife undertakes the 

 whole management of the cows, and the husband goes to daily 

 labour. 



Imph-menh. Plouch with a foot or wheel ; spade with the 

 Made curved in its bread'.li, to prevent adhesion of soil ; it is 

 much narrower and longer than those used in otlier counties, 

 eighteen inches by six inches. 



Aralilt land but in small proportion, and little attended to. 

 Teazles and woad grown for the clothiers ; potatoes cultivated 

 to a very considsrable extent. The reporter has known thirty- 

 two successive crops of potatoes from the same field, and the 

 produce as good at the latter part of the term as at the be 

 ginning, Ihis will puzzle the theorii*, with his pecu'iar sub- 

 stancss of nutrition. A sack of potatoes is equal to a himdred 

 weight of hay. 



Grass the predominating surface. " On the rich marsh land 

 near the Bristol Chamiel, the grazing system prevail?, in the 

 vicinity of Bristol and Bath, the scythe "is in constant use; and 

 at a greater distance nothing is scarcely seen but the milking 

 pail : on the stonebrash, and freestone f.Tit soil, saintfoin takes 

 the lead : next to saintfoin, rye grass, marl grass, and white 

 Dutch c'over are in deserved repute, when the land is intended 

 to remain some years in grass ; but when it is intended to be 

 ploughed again in the course of a year or two, broad clover is 

 pre'erred to all others. 



Hny-tea (1807.) much in use, by which means it is consi- 

 dered as much nourishment is obtained as if the hay were 

 e.-iten, while after boiling the cu'ms may be dried and used as 

 litter ; In some places, however, a prejudice exists against 

 using hay for litter, on the supposition tliat it bree<ls vermin in 

 ccttle. 



Market Gardens for the supply of BristoUnd Bath. A clergy- 

 n an has eight or ten acres of nursery ground, the labour of 

 which amounts to 25/. per acre. 



Orchanh abound throughout the whole district ; tl'e favourite 

 apple, both as a table and cider fruit, is the court of wick pip- 

 1 an, a seedling iVora the golden pippin. 



Woods ami Plantations not numerous. 



Liiie Stock: Cattle mostly short-hnrned ; the long-homed 

 Ireetl of North Wiltshire have lieen tried, but the customary 

 i reed preferred. Both cheese and butter made. 



KiMds prettT good ; some cana's ; woollen manufacture ex- 

 tensive, and thai of knit worsted stockings considerab-e. 

 18'-22. Middle District. 

 Between 4 and 500,000 acres of varied Burf:ice and soil. 



and mild climate ; including a great ex ent of marsh and f n 



land, great part of wlich h: ' 



Half this district occupied by the owners. 



s been drained and embanked. 

 Grass the chief 

 product; farms from 40/. to GOO/, per annum, partly grazed 

 with heifers, but chiefly by cows for the dairy ^ the cows let 

 out to dairymen, as in Dorsetshire. 



Arable Land, iiax and hera^ extensively cultivated, and also 

 turnips. 



Or^rit numerous and very productive ; soil particularly 

 suitable ; plantitions few. 



Live Stock. Small cows, well fed, preferred for the dairy, 

 and the object chiefly chf ese ; that of Cheddar much admired, 

 the others in general sold in London as double Gloucester. A 

 dairy-maid can manage tTie milk of twenty cows. 



Roads excellent, especially from Wells lo Bridgwater ; ex- 

 tensive woollen manufactures, many of hemp and flax, and 

 some of gloves. 



7823. SodTH-WEST District. 



Rough mountainous hills, and rich fertile s'opesand plains; 

 farms rather less than in the last district, but the husbandry 

 much the same ; more land in tillage ; mountains uncultivated, 

 and pasture with sheep and young bullocks; in the viciuity of 

 these hills the principal com "crop is oats. 



Fences. The beech hedges around Dulvevtnn, Dimster, &c. 

 are not only beautiful to the eye, and excellent fences and 

 shelter, but are a source of annual profit to the proprietors. 

 The banks on which they are planted are six or seven feet high, 

 and between four and five feet wide at the top ; the moulder- 

 ing of the sides is frequentJy prevented by a dry stone wall, 

 four feet hijih. There is no olti'h ; and the hedge consists of 

 thr.erows of beech, p'anted on the top of the bank, .at about 

 one foot distancf>. Their growth is very rapid, and they seem 

 todefy rtie destmctive qualities cf the sea breezes, so fatal to the 

 white-thorn, and most other plants ; when at maturity, the 

 middle row is cut to the ground, and the outsivle rows plashed. 

 The quantity of fuel supplied by these hedges is very consider- 

 able ; and the only olijection that can be made to them is, that 

 the earth us( d in the construction of the hanks is so consider- 

 able a quantity, that a large portion of the field is robbed of its 

 vegetable matter, and rendered for some years unproductive. 



.'Mime Norfolk farmers introduced on the Barnard estate, 

 and rl.ubaib cultivated to greit perfection by Br.ll, at Wil- 

 liton, near ^\'atchet. Many orchards, and exiellent cid< r 

 made ; not much wood, but elms attain to a large size in the 

 hedges. 



Live Stock. North Devon cattle and Dorset sheep used round 

 Taunton Doan ; oxen worked chi fly in yokes. Manufactures 

 at Taunton on the decline. A salmon and herring fisherv at 

 Porlack, Minehoad, iind Watchet. 



/824. DEVONSHIRE. 1,505,3C9 acres of strot.glv marked hilly surface, including the vale of Exeter, 

 the garden of the west; " the Forest of Dartmoor, a barren waste; and Nortli, West, South, and East 

 Devonshire, each with distinct features. The county is cclebr.ited for its breed of cattle, its dairy, and 

 Its orchards, and of late years for extensive improvements undertaken in Dartmoor, where is also the im- 

 mense depot for 10,0()0 prisoners, of war. (^^.1114.'* {Tyrtvbitrs Tracts on the Improveineiitsat Dartmoot; 

 ih!9. traser's General Fiew^llQi. Vancouver's J'lew,m(n. Mart/iai's lieview, 1817 .) 



1114 



1. Geographical State and Circumstances. 

 Cl.tniUe in North Devon less mild than in South Devon, but 



SI :1 myrtles are used as garden hedges; in South Devon the 

 <hn r.te is supposed more mild and salubrious than in any other 

 \ It of England. 



SoU in great variety, but in general ca'careous. 



Mxnerats, Some iron and copper worked, also freestone. 

 1.1. tstone, and marble, &c. 



2. Property. 



A^uch divideu, only a few large estates ; formerly l.iting for 

 ui muchm use. It has frequenily hap; rued, that in letting 



>meet 



an estate, t!':e landlord agreed todischarpe tithes and all paro- 

 ci ial payme: ts. About the ytars 1800 and IHOl, the rent of 

 several estate.; in this county was absolutely insuffic:ieiit t 

 such disbursements, and consequently all the estates so < 

 ttanced brought their proprietors in debt. 



3. Buildftigs. 



Houses of proprietors too generally going to ruin from non- 

 residence. " We defy ingenuity to plan and place farm-houses 

 worse than Uiey are." " (iarden-walls, farm-houses, bams, 

 stabUs, liine-kilns, village fences, and cottages, are all bulU 



4 F 



