chiefly between London and Sheffield. 435 



Farming. — On the surface of the farm lands, throughout the tract in ques- 

 tion, with the exception of those parts where commons have been enclosed, 

 there is, perhaps, no great change recognisable at a distance. The surfaces of 

 moist meadows are still, at this season, yellow with the blossoms of the crow- 

 foot, an indication that they are not sufficiently drained ; and the dry gravelly 

 surface of grass lands about Lichfield and Shenstone are, at this season, white 

 with the downy seeds of the dandelion, a proof that they have not been suffi- 

 ciently manured, or clayed, or sown down with such grasses and clovers as 

 will form a thick matting on the surface, and subdue, and ultimately starve 

 out, the dandelion. As to agricultural practices from London to Derby, the 

 clumsiest forms of ploughs may still be seen, drawn with from three to five 

 horses in a line, at a snail's pace ; and on gravelly soils, preparing for turnips, 

 more especially in the neighbourhood of Shenstone, the heaps of couchgrass 

 ready to be burned, are as thick as the heaps of dung ready to be spread 

 abroad should be. In short, we saw such very bad farming in the neighbour- 

 hood of Lichfield and Shenstone, that it is difficult to conceive how the farm- 

 ers can pay any rent worth mentioning, and live comfortably. In the whole 

 course of our tour we did not see a single Finlayson's harrow, an implement 

 calculated to work wonders on any soil, but more especially on such as have 

 never been ploughed to a proper depth, or are filled with couchgrass. On all 

 such soils, it is an admirable substitute for the harrow, the plough, and the 

 subsoil plough. 



The Towns, it is almost unnecessary to say, have been wonderfully improved 

 since 1806, and the progress of Birmingham, even since 1831, when we last 

 saw it, is astonishing. The public buildings have been appropriately noticed 

 by Mr. Humphreys, Mr. Godwin, and others, in the concluding volume of the 

 Architectural Magazine, and therefore we shall confine ourselves to noticing 

 the great increase in the number of the villas, in that part of the neighbour- 

 hood of Birmingham which surrounds the botanic garden. There is a great 

 improvement in their exterior architecture, and more choice plants are con- 

 spicuous in their gardens. The botanic garden has already had a considerable 

 effect in improving the general taste of the Birmingham people for plants. 

 Very little change has taken place in Lichfield, as it is neither a place of com- 

 merce nor of manufacture; but the little town of Walsall exhibits some very 

 handsome small villas and street houses, erected within the last seven years, 

 which are not surpassed by any suburban villas in the neighbourhood of Lon- 

 don. Dudley has had the approach from Birmingham widened ; but we were 

 sorry to hear, when in this town, that the lime-works are being extended 

 under the old castle in such a manner, that the fall of that venerable and pic- 

 turesque group of ruins is anticipated by the townspeople. The park at 

 Himley is undergoing the same subterranean operations, and the noble man- 

 sion there, it is said, will, in all probability, be pulled down in consequence. 

 Derby has improved rapidly. There are now building, an athenaeum, post- 

 office, banking-house, and hotel, which will form a splendid continuous eleva- 

 tion. There is also a handsome Catholic church erecting from a design from 

 Mr. Pugin, side by side with an ancient Protestant church ; which is as it ought 

 to be in a liberal and enlightened country, where thought is free as well as 

 taste. In the neighbourhood of Sheffield many villas have been erected since 

 we last saw that town in 1826 ; and the botanic garden and general cemetery 

 are very great public ornaments. In this town and Derby, the exhibitions of 

 the mechanics' institutions display a great many interesting objects, highly 

 creditable to all concerned. But what, perhaps, was more gratifying than 

 anything else that we saw during the whole of our tour, was the marked 

 improvement that we observed in the construction of the roadside cottages, 

 wherever any had been recently built ; and the greater display of fine flowers 

 in the front gardens, both of new and old cottages. There is hardly one of 

 these gardens that does not contain some of the fine plants sent home by 

 Douglas and Drummond, or plants of Mexico and South America. 



Railroads. — We say nothing of the railroads going forward everywhere, or 



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