AGRICULTURE 93 



York is a consuming centre for liquid milk, and there is a number of 

 dairy herds around the city. Pork butchers abound in York, and in many 

 other Yorkshire towns, and so provide an outlet for large quantities of 

 pig meat. It is unfortunate that a co-operative attempt to provide an 

 outlet for bacon pigs at the Sherburn-in-Elmet Bacon Factory has met 

 with comparative failure. 



THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE VALE OF YORK 



BY 



W. S. GIBSON, B.Sc. 



North-west of York extends a portion of the Vale of York about 30 miles 

 long and 10 miles broad, varying in altitude from 50 to 150 ft. above mean 

 sea-level. In most of this area the soil is light and the boundaries are 

 fairly clearly defined. Northallerton, the capital of the North Riding, 

 stands midway along its northern edge, a belt of Magnesian Limestone, 

 continuous except where eroded by such rivers as the Ure, lies along its 

 western side, and the heather-clad Hambleton Hills rise steeply to form 

 a boundary in the east. On these hills are pastured mountain sheep, 

 usually of the Scotch Blackface and Swaledale breeds. 



Beyond Northallerton lies a belt of heavy boulder clay, cold, wet, and 

 difficult to work. Much of it is at present under permanent grass, which 

 responds well to phosphatic manuring, but if neglected, rapidly grows 

 thorns and soon deteriorates. 



The limestone on the western edge is quarried at intervals and burnt 

 for agricultural and other purposes. It is therefore interesting to record 

 that the Lower as well as the Upper Magnesian Limestone occurs near 

 the soil surface. The latter produces when burnt a quicklime containing 

 less than 5 per cent, of magnesia, but the magnesia content of the former 

 may be as high as 40 per cent., and must be used with caution on certain 

 classes of soil. The soils overlying these limestones vary in depth, but 

 the farms have a large proportion of arable land. The thinner soil is 

 ' barley and sheep land,' and is farmed on a four or five course rotation, 

 the sheep often being grazed in summer on special one-year leys, con- 

 sisting almost entirely of clovers, and folded in winter on roots. Clover 

 sickness and ' finger and toe ' are troublesome, and the soil requires a 

 periodic liming despite its origin. On the deeper soils potatoes are an 

 important crop that combine good yield and quality. West of this lime- 

 stone belt lie the foothills of the Pennines. 



The northern portion of the Vale of York is drained by the river Swale, 

 which is joined by the Ure to form the Ouse. The Ouse is later met by 

 the Nidd. Of these rivers, the Swale in particular is liable to rise rapidly 

 after rain in the uplands, and when a rapid rise is accompanied by a south- 

 east wind serious flooding occurs. The Swale is embanked throughout 

 its length in the Vale, and on account of the low level of the surrounding 



