MIDDLESEX. 



235 



Middle 



Cow 



t.v !-r.t 

 . ! r..- 



indeed, is carried on this day ; on the fourth day, unless 

 the weather is very unfavourable, it is always carried. 

 The hay stacks in Middlesex are very neatly made, and 

 well secured. In some parts it is put into barns ca- 

 pable of holding from 50 to 100 loads. No cattle are 

 fattened in this county, but a very large number for 

 supplying London with milk. The cow-keepers in 

 general live at Islington, Hackney, Paddii- 

 They breed very few cattle, generally buying them 

 when three or four years old, and in calf. They are 

 the short honied Holdernesse breed. They are con- 

 fined in stalls during the night ; about three in the 

 morning, grains arc given them ; from four to half past 

 six they are milked by the milk-dealers, who contract 

 with the cow-keepers for the miking of a certain num- 

 ber of cows ; they are afterwards fed with turnips and 

 hay ; at eight o'clock put into the cow yard ; at twelve 

 confined to their stalls, and gr i them ; and at 



half-past one they are again milked. In the county of 

 Middlesex there are upward- of 7500 cows kept tor sup- 

 plying London with milk. The quantity given by 

 each cow, on an average, is supposed to be nine quarts 

 a day, or 3285 yearly. The cow-keeper finds the men 

 who attend to the cows ; the cow-dealer the persons 

 who milk them. F.very cow-hou*e is provided with a 

 milk room, where the milk is measured, and openly 

 mixed with water from a pump. 



The m irkct-gardens ir -.-x are of great ex- 



j tent. They ar- ;.t. kitchci* 



nursery garden*. The first a. 



tween Kensington and the western extremity of the 

 county, a , ham, 



I, Islewofth, and Twickenham. Tl> 

 dens have two crop* growing at the same time on the 

 aatne ground, via. apples, pears, cherries, Sec. which 

 form an upper crop ; and raspberries, currants, herbs, 

 Itc. which form an under crop. The manager, 

 these gar.! general, excellent ; a wonderful de- 



if labour and skill are bestowed upon them ; and 

 produce is proportional I- i-alcu- 



lated to average upwards of 1 00 per acre. There are 

 upwards of 3OOO acres under this < 

 re supposed, during winter, to require rive persons per 

 acre, and in summer 10 persons. In summer a great 

 many Welsh women come up to labour in them. 

 far the richest kitchen-garden ground in Middlesex, 

 and perhaps in the whole kingdom, is .lituatrd in the 

 ! ..ning part of Westmin- 



ster near the Thames, called the neat-houses. The soil 

 is a rich black loam, evidently formed by deposits from 

 the river, which is here indent kept off the ground by 

 embankment. In dry weather these gardens can be 

 watered from the Thames by means of sluices ; and 

 their fertility is further secured and increased by at 

 least 60 cart loads of dung laid on each acre annually. 

 All kinds of vegetables] are grown here, but chiefly 

 tho*e which, early in the season, bear a high price. 

 The total annual produce is calculated at 250 an acre. 

 The farming gardeners, a* they are called, from work- 

 ing their land with the plough, are situated at a much 

 greater distance from London ; the crops they cultivate 

 are principally pease for foddering, and turnips, cab. 

 bagcs, carrots, &c. for Covent Garden market. The 

 moat extensive and celebrated nursery-grounds are ei 



:>don, at CbeUea, I 



.1, Fulham, and Hammersmith, or to th- 

 at Hackney ami DaUton ; there are also 

 some at Bow and Mile- end, &c. No sight more rich and 

 beautiful can well lie conceived than the collection of 

 rare Bowers which are to be seen in many of these gar- 

 dens, and the hot-houses attached to them ; and every 



improvement that ingenuity and science can produce, Middlesex. 

 and capital execute, is to be met with, to bring the ~~V~~ 

 plants to the highest state of perfection. F.very kind 

 and variety of fruit-tree, also, that can be cultivated m 

 this country, is to be found in these nursery-grounds. 

 The hedge-row-timber in this county has also been 

 mentioned as abundant ; but the natural woods are very 

 trilling, and are constantly decreasing, and scarcely any 

 timber is planted. On the banks of the Thames, and 

 the small islands in that river, between Staines and Ful- 

 ham, a very considerable profit is made by the cultiva- 

 tion of osiers for the basket makers. 



In describing the cow-farms, the breed of cattle kept Cattle, Ac. 

 on them has been mentioned ; there are few others 

 kept, except on the pleasure grounds of gentlemen. 

 Indeed the quantity of live stock in Middlesex is pro- 

 bably less than in any other county, in proportion to the 

 nninlHT of acres. Few sheep are kept, and those prin- 

 cipally for breeding house and grass lamb. The fann- 

 horses are of a Urge size, of the Leicestershire breed. 

 At the time when there were more distilleries in the 

 county than there are at present, m my hogs were kept 

 and fattened at them ; but now there are comparative- 

 ly few in Middlesex. 



There are few manufacture* except in London and Briek-mtk- 

 its immediate vicinity ; and these have been noticed in tag. 

 our account of the metropolis. In this article, how- 

 .1 may he proper to notice more particularly the 

 manufacture of bricks. These are made in all direo- 

 tionaroun.l but chiefly from the Strong loam 



near Islington, Kin^sland, and Hackney. Upward* of 

 2000 acres have been dui; to the depth of from 4 to 

 10 feet for brick earth ; and each acre is calculated to 

 have paid, on an average, 4000. The sum usually 

 paid to the owner of the .soil for an acre is jtlOO. Th* 

 brick earth is mixed with coal-ashes and sand ; and that 

 bricks are burnt partly by the ashes they contain, and 

 partly by ashes strewed among the layers of bricks in 

 the kiln. Gravel is another very profitable article <lr- 

 irom the ground, it licing the material exclusive- 

 ly employed in making and repairing the roads ; hence Boid*. 

 they are very dusty in summer, and very deep and 

 heavy in winter; and were it not that the county is 

 so fiat, they would be very inconvenient for carriages 

 and waggons. Middlesex is intersected by the three 

 ented turnpike roads in the kingdom, name- 

 ly, the great western road, the great northern road, 

 and the road into Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. The 

 following are the results of the List return to Parliament 

 on this subject, for the year 1814. 



Length of paved rtreeti and turnpike road*. . 304 



Lngth of all other highway* on bkh carrkge* go, . 687 



Tool, ~5ri 



Ettimatad nla*. of the labour employed io the** roads, . 3046 

 CocnpOMUon mnnej- .... 11713 



Monty in>Hi4d in law-rait*, At. . 466 



Total, 98098 



or at the rate of about 100 a-mile. 



Besides the London markets, the principal markets 

 in Middlesex are at Uxbridge, Barnet, Hounslow, &c. 

 That at Uxbridge is one of the greatest corn-markets 

 in the kingdom ; and that at Hounslow generally pre- 

 sents a considerable number of fat cattle. 



The following are the results of the last returns to Poor-rate*. 

 Parliament, respecting the poor rates and other paro- 

 chial rates of this county, for the year 1815. 



Annual *ahM of real property in 1815 

 Poor and other parochial rate* , 



Average rate in the pound 



5,595,138 



675,167 



Of 



