GORSE 325 



vation both holdings and occupiers are very poor ; but 

 all alike are engaged in the same type of business 

 the production of butter and store cattle. In general 

 the butter is made by the most primitive methods and 

 can only be described as bad ; indeed, it would be 

 hardly saleable were it not for the proximity of the 

 colliery districts, a market which rather favours a highly 

 salted and strongly tasted butter. 



In the north of Pembrokeshire, even more than in 

 the south, it was very evident that a material factor in 

 the comparative infertility of the land was the deficiency 

 of lime in the soil. Except the Mountain Limestone 

 near Haverfordwest there is no material in the county 

 out of which to make lime, and the difficulties of com- 

 munication as well as the lack of knowledge have caused 

 an entire neglect of this very necessary operation of 

 liming. The lack of lime in the soil was also indicated 

 by the abundance of gorse, which covers the broad 

 banks dividing the fields of Pembrokeshire and even 

 intrudes into the fields themselves. As in Brittany, 

 the gorse is made some use of as a fodder, being 

 bruised to destroy the thorns, and fed in the winter. 

 We were informed, however, that the practice is getting 

 less common, and that on the best farms the gorse 

 itself is diminishing, owing to the use of basic slag. 

 Gorse and bracken are good indicator plants, denoting 

 a lack of lime in the soil ; and lack of lime means a 

 low level of fertility and the shutting down of some of 

 the most valuable agencies preparing plant food in the 

 soil. 



