THE WESTERN COUNTIES. 239 



per acre. The land is almost entirely under grass, and 

 it holds an ancient and deserved reputation for its cheeses. 

 Notwithstanding these advantages, it is admitted that 

 the system of agriculture might be improved, and the 

 production easily increased. Draining is little resorted 

 to, and the use of supplementary manures is not very 

 common. This backwardness is usually attributed to 

 the too great division of property and farming. The 

 crisis, which in general did not affect grass districts, was 

 severely felt in the Vale of Gloucester. The general 

 fall in prices affected cheese as well. The small farmers, 

 already poor, and reduced by competition to the bare 

 necessaries of life, were unable to stand such a fall. 

 Proprietors, on the other hand, needing all their incomes, 

 found it difficult to lower their rents, or to make advances 

 for improvements in order to increase production. Such 

 is the unfortunate involvement of affairs, from which, 

 however, escape must be found. 



Under this accidental poverty lies a large amount of 

 real wealth, for the gross produce is still there. No actual 

 distress meets the eye. One seldom sees a more charming 

 country than those refreshing valleys of the Severn and 

 Avon, with their ever-green verdure, their luxuriant 

 hedgerows, and thousands of grazing cattle. It seems as 

 if comfort and happiness should never fail in such a 

 country. 



Among the six western counties, three form the grass 

 district, the other three belong to the mountainous region 

 which separates England from Wales. The small county 

 of Monmouth, the most southerly of the three, situated 

 between the sea and the mountains, presents the greatest 

 variety of aspects : towards the west and north, we have 

 the rugged wildness of the Alps ; while the east and 

 south, bordering on the Wye, is a perfect garden. Culti- 



