AGRICULTURE 89 



XIV. 



AGRICULTURE 



INTRODUCTION 



BY 



JAMES STR.^CHAN, M.A., B.Sc. 



The aim of this chapter is to supply a few notes on the agriculture around 

 York, which may be of use to members of the Association interested in 

 agriculture. 



York, as indicated in earlier chapters, is built on the great central plain 

 of Yorkshire that lies between the uplands of the Wolds and the Hambleton 

 Hills in the east, and the low slopes of a belt of Magnesian Limestone 

 country in the west that runs almost north and south in a line west of 

 Tadcaster. Behind, still further west, rise the shoulders of the Pennines. 

 This great plain lies so low that the rise and fall of the tides of the sea are 

 felt many miles inland along some of the great rivers that flow through its 

 fertile acres, such as the Ouse, Aire, Don and Derwent. Drainage is 

 often a problem, and in very wet seasons much of the land is liable to 

 become water-logged or even flooded. 



In character the soil is very variable. There are sands, clays, peats and 

 warps, but the lighter types of soil predominate. In this region is grown 

 the bulk of Yorkshire 's potatoes , carrots , peas (for picking green) and sugar- 

 beet. For the first three products a great market is at hand in the 

 industrial area in the west, and for the sugar-beet there are factories at 

 York and Selby. 



Agriculture in the plains differs in some respects from that of the 

 surrounding country. The contrast between its fertile fields and the wild 

 moors of the Hambleton Hills is enormous. The rolling uplands of the 

 Wolds in the east look pleasant enough with huge arable fields of corn, 

 clover and turnips, but the shallow soil is generally not suited for sugar- 

 beet — which is subsidised — nor for potatoes and carrots, which by their 

 bulk are protected to some extent from foreign competition, the full force 

 of which the products of the Wold farmer have had to meet. In the 

 west of Yorkshire there is more grass land and more dairying. The 

 farmer in the plains is usually primarily interested in his crops. 



Marshall, in 1788, in his book The Rural Economy of Yorkshire, writes 

 as follows : 



' The Vale of York is various in fertility. The fens at its base 

 and a heathy plain, part of the ancient forest of Galtres, north-east- 

 ward of the city of York, are drawbacks upon its productiveness. 

 In a general view, however, it has not in this country its equal. The 

 vales of Gloucester and Evesham are more fertile but less extensive. 



