A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



uncleaned) per acre, though one acre of ' indifferent land ' at Knowsley, belonging to Lord Derby, 

 produced in 1793 700 bushels of 'pinkeye' potatoes, and next year 92 bushels of wheat which 

 sold at 71. i>d. per bushel. 



There was a ' general strife between the Kirkdale and Wallasey gardeners,' as to who could 

 produce the first early potato for the Liverpool market, a profitable rivalry seeing that potatoes 

 brought to Liverpool early in May fetched 2s. bd. per lb." 



The breed of horses had within the last thirty years improved considerably owing to advancing 

 prices, but suiEcient attention was not yet paid to the choice of brood mares and stallions. 



The Lancashire long-horned cattle, 'known all over the kingdom,' were found in almost 

 every part of the county, the best of them being found in the Fylde, whither purchasers fi-om all 

 parts resorted, though not with such frequency as formerly, for fattening qualities had been neglected 

 for the milk pail. 



Further, Lancashire breeders had allowed those of the Midlands some years before to choose 

 and purchase the best stock upon which they had made improvements on the ' new principles laid 

 down by Mr. Bakewell,' so that the northern counties were losing their supremacy. 



The dairy, as one would expect from the nearness of so many towns which afforded a splendid 

 market for butter and milk, was the main object of Lancashire husbandry, and the lactometer was 

 just coming into use, 'an ingenious instrument which was yet in its infancy.' Much cheese was 

 made in the county of excellent quality, in some cases superior to that of Cheshire ; that made in 

 the vicinity of Leigh and Newborough, for its mildness and rich flavour, always getting a high price 

 in the market. 



Few pigs were bred in the county, the few that were kept being bought from itinerant 

 drovers from Shropshire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, and the neighbourmg shires, pork not being a favourite 

 food with the Lancastrian. 



Sheep were also few in numbers, even those upon the mountains being half-starved creatures, 

 and there was not a single shepherd properly so called in the whole county. 



Those that were kept on the feeding districts were bred in Scotland, purchased thence by the 

 Westmorland farmer at a year old, and by the Lancashire grazier at four years old ! 



The Warton or Silverdale Crag sheep which was said to be native to the Milnthorpe district 

 in Westmorland was much esteemed for the fine flavour of its flesh, fineness of wool, and tendency 

 to fatten. These sheep, now known as ' crag sheep,' large, white-faced, and horned, are still bred 

 on Clawthorpe Fell, and from an annual exhibition of them held at Burton in Kendal originated the 

 meetings of the Milnthorpe, Burton, and Carnforth Agricultural Society. 



At this period, the end of the eighteenth century, there were in Lancashire 26,500 acres of 

 moss and fen-land, and 82,000 in moors, marshes, and commons ; but few of the old open or 

 common fields, which as late as 1760 formed the cultivation of half England, remained. 



The growth of manufactures which was so striking a feature of the last half of the century had 

 brought gains and losses to the farmer. It is amusing to-day to read that the importation of foreign 

 grain and flour to feed the towns was ' almost incredible ' ; wages, as we have seen, had increased, so 

 had rates, the water was damaged by factories, while the people of the county were already suffering 

 physically from the debilitating effect of modern industrial conditions. On the other hand the value 

 of the land and its products, especially cheese, butter, milk, and fat cattle, had gone up.''' 



Great exertions had been made of late years to improve the roads," and complaints were rife 

 that the public did not contribute as much as they ought to their maintenance in comparison with 

 the farmer, a complaint that is not unheard to-day. 



Yet in spite of these efforts the vast increase of carriages, and the ' general use of waggons, 

 carts, etc.,' with excessive weights, had made it almost impossible ' by any means, at any expense,' 

 to support the public roads, the only durable material being paving stones imported from Wales a't 

 6s. per ton. 



The prices of provisions in 1796 in the township of Bury were, beef 3|^. to ^d. per lb. 

 mutton sd., veal sd. to bd., pork 5^., bacon 8^/., fresh butter n., salt butter ^d. to lod., potatoes 

 bs. bd. tor 253 lb., skim milk i^d. per quart, and new milk 3^." 



The close of the great war with Napoleon brought on British agriculture twenty years of 

 almost unexampled adversity. The unnatural inflation of prices caused by the war was succeeded with 

 astonishing suddenness by extreme depression. So rapidly had the reaction set in that the Board of 

 Agriculture at the commencement of 18 16 sent circular letters to almost every part of England ask- 

 mg for information about the prevalent distress, the replies to which revealed the deplorable state of 

 agriculture. 



" Marshall, Rev. of Rep. to Bd. of Jgric. northern depart. 301. " Ibid 257 



"Young's criticism of the road from Preston to Wigan is well known, 'ruts four feet 'deep and floating 

 m mud only from a wet summer.' ° 



" Eden, op. cit. ii, 294. 



426 



