376 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— E. 



Chinese character, particularly the li tripod and Black Pottery culture and 

 as having been affected for only a short period by the Yang-Shao or Painted 

 Pottery culture which almost certainly reached China from the West and 

 was long characteristic of the Western or Kansu region, nearest to the source 

 of origin. The Shang civilisation, as revealed by the Anyang excavations, 

 had its centre on the western borders of the Plain, within the loess zone. 

 Its culture undoubtedly composite, including elements which almost 

 certainly reached it from the West, but yet seems in essence to have been 

 a development of the late Neolithic civilisation of the Plain, incorporating 

 all its characteristic features. While many conclusions must still be ten- 

 tative, the view of Maspero and of many Chinese scholars that the Plain 

 enclosed between lat. 31° and 40° N. and long. 113-118° E. (and particularly 

 the Honan-Shantung zone) was the nuclear area of Chinese culture has 

 received considerable confirmation from recent discoveries. 



There is also a case for considering North China as an important inde- 

 pendent centre of early civilisation. This, however, does not minimise 

 the significance of the Kansu-Shensi region both as the medium of cultural 

 influences from the West and as the cradle of distinctive borderland 

 organisations (e.g. the Chou) which later re-invigorated and assimilated the 

 indigenous civilisation of the Plain. 



Afternoon. 



Dr. H. C. K. Henderson. — Our changing agriculture as illustrated by 

 central Derbyshire (2.0). 



While it is generally known that arable land in this country has suffered 

 a decline, this paper endeavours to illustrate that the changes in agriculture 

 in Derbyshire in the last 150 years are more striking than might be thought. 



The limestone area is shown as being to a very considerable extent under 

 the plough at both dates for which accurate maps could be made, namely 

 in the forties and seventies of last century. The records at both dates are 

 incomplete, for varying reasons, but at least the Tithe Rolls of about 1840 

 illustrate that this limestone area was, as it is to-day, primarily a dairying 

 region, and not a sheep-rearing district. 



Each of the soil belts, from the Carboniferous Limestone to the Magnesian 

 Limestone, shows a much greater amount of arable land at both dates than 

 at the present time, while the Millstone Grits, though not at any time well 

 cultivated, bore a much greater amount of woodland in the past. 



The changes in agriculture reflecting industrial development include the 

 decrease in waste land in the lead-mining areas on the Carboniferous Lime- 

 stone, and also the great development of limestone quarrying in the western 

 parts of this zone. The industrial region of the Coal Measures shows an 

 increase in market gardening activities, and in the area of waste lands 

 due to the growth of mining during this period. 



Mr. G. I. Smith. — The agricultural geography of Holland, Lincolnshire, 

 with special reference to potato cultivation (2.45). 



Holland's chief surface materials are Post-glacial Silts, except in the 

 south-west where Peats and Gravels of similar age are found. The Silts, 

 which vary in texture from light sands to clays, give rise to soils which are 

 equally variable, generally becoming heavier in a landward direction. The 

 Peat soils also vary considerably but the small areas of Gravel give rise to 

 fairly uniform sandy loams. Practically all Holland's soils, however, can 

 be used economically for intensive arable cultivation. 



