82 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF NOTTINGHAM AND DISTRICT 



Nottinghamshire is one of the counties that has been influenced by the 

 progress of civilisation and the development of an industrial community 

 particularly along its western borders. While there yet remains a great 

 area of the county essentially unaltered, one cannot overlook the influ- 

 ence exerted by the great coal field in the west of the county, and the 

 industrial development around the city of Nottingham itself in the 

 southern portion of the county. Developments of this kind mean a great 

 deal to the prosperity of the agricultural community, for not only are 

 good markets provided for certain agricultural commodities, but it fre- 

 quently happens that the character of the agricultural systems practised 

 undergoes fundamental changes to meet new market requirements. This 

 fact is mentioned because certain districts used to be regarded as favour- 

 able for the practice of particular types of farming. Under the present 

 developments that are taking place, however, close proximity to a good 

 market does not carry as much importance as it did, largely because of 

 the added ease with which markets can be reached from a distance as a 

 result of motor transport. This fact may result in the long run in re- 

 establishing the principle that the agriculture of a district should revert 

 to the farming policy for which it is best fitted by reason of soil and 

 climatic conditions. It does raise another interesting point, however, in 

 that such a course might lead to a new appreciation of values so far as 

 rents are concerned in their application to agricultural land. This is 

 already being felt with regard to the price standardisation that is applic- 

 able to milk under the operations of the Milk Marketing Scheme. 



Situation and Climate 



Nottinghamshire is a long, narrow county, its greatest width being 

 about 27 miles and its length stretches in a north easterly direction for 

 about 51 miles. Its shape and its contact with the neighbouring counties 

 has to some extent influenced the particular agricultural practices so that 

 one can never speak with confidence of a peculiarly local agriculture. 



The dominant geographical feature is the association of the county 

 with the valley of the river Trent, which enters at the south-west, making 

 for the eastern boundary and leaving at the north-east corner. The 

 Trent Valley covers an extensive area, and gives rise to a considerable 

 acreage of low-lying land that in many cases is only a few feet above 

 water level and liable to flooding after heavy rains. The greater part of 

 the county is low lying, as much as two-fifths of the total area being 

 under 100 feet above sea level, and only one-fifty-sixth of the area being 

 over 600 feet above sea level. This higher lying ground is concentrated 

 to the west of the county adjacent to the Derbyshire borders, in the dis- 

 trict around Mansfield. 



So far as rainfall is concerned the county falls within the dry belt, for 

 right throughout the Trent Valley or approximately the eastern half of 

 the county it is 25 inches. There is a rise however up to 30 inches in 

 the district around Sutton-in-Ashfield, while the greater part of the western 

 half averages between 25 and 27^ inches annually — the increases follow- 

 ing the contours. Figures collected at the Midland Agricultural College 

 in the south-westerly corner of the county for the past ten years indicate 



