KENT. 



nation were gradually brought to acquiefce in the claim of 

 primogeniture. 



The law of gavel-kind comprehends the joint inheritance 

 of all the fons to the ellate of the father ; and (hould the 

 fither furvive his fons, the inheritance devolves to his 

 grandfons, or to his daughters. The partibility of this 

 cuftom is not reftrained to the direft Hue of confanguinity ; 

 for all brothers may jointly inherit the ellate of a deceafed 

 brother ; and, ag;reeably to the fame ru!e, nephews and 

 nieces, by the right of repn-fentation, are, in their degrees, 

 intitled to the fame divifioji of property. So predominant 

 is gavel-kind in Kent, that all lands are prefumed to be fub- 

 jeft to that ufage, till the contrary is proved ; and formerly, 

 fuch lands only were exempted from it, as were holden by 

 knight's fervicc. See Gavei.-kind. 



The general afpeft of Kent is very beautiful; arifing 

 from the inequality of the furface, the diverfity of the fce- 

 nery, and the variety in the verdure. " The whole county," 

 Mr. Halted obferves, " excepting the m.arlhes and the Weald, 

 is a general clufier of fmall hills; two chains of which, 

 higlier than the rell, run through the middle of Kent, from 

 well to eaft, in general at about eight miles diftance from 

 each other, (though at fome places much lefs,) and extend- 

 ing from Surrey to the fea." Thefe are called the Upper 

 and Lower Hills, and are inofily covered with coppice and 

 woodlands. The northern range, and, indeed the wlio'e 

 north fide of the county, is compofed principally of chalk 

 and flints, as well as a large tradt on the eallcrn coaft : the 

 fouthern range is chiefly of iron-ftone and rag Hone : to 

 the wedward, clay and gravel prevail on the eminences. 



Mr. Boys, in the Agricultural Survey of this county, 

 has divided it into eight diftridls, according to the nature of 

 the foil and produce : thefe refpedlively comprehend the 

 Ifle of Thanet ; the upland farms of Eafl; Kent; the rich 

 flat lands in the vicinity of Faverfliam, Sandwich, and Deal ; 

 the hop-grounds, &c. of Canterbury and Maidftone ; the 

 Ifle of Sheppty ; the upland farms of Weft Kent : the Weald 

 of Kent ; and Romney Marfli. The Ifle of Thanet forms 

 the north-ealUrn angle of Kent, from the main land of which 

 it IS fparated by the river Stour and the water called 

 the N.-thergo;ig ; its length is about nine miles, and its 

 breadth about live. This diftridl is in a very high 

 flate of cultivation, and of very remarkable fertility ; its 

 foil, though origmally a light mould on a chalky bottom, 

 having been greatly improved by the inexhauttible ftore of 

 manure fupplit-d by the fea. The whole ifle contains about 

 Jjoo a.res of excellent marlTi land, and 23,000 acres of 

 arable; thole of the latter, v^hich border on the marlhes, 

 are the moll produdlive ; thongh even the uplands are 

 rendered extremely fertile by the excellent modes of cultiva- 

 tion. The general routine of crops on the lighter foils is 

 fallow, barley, clover, and wheat ; but a crop of peas is 

 occafionally introduced inltead of the fallow; and fometimes 

 beans in the place of the clover. Where the round-tilth 

 courfe is purfued in the rich fandy loam lands, the general 

 routine is btans, wheat, and barley. Canary-fceds are hke- 

 wife grown here in great quantities, as well as radiih, fpinach, 

 multard, cabbage, and other efculent plants for the Lcndon 

 markets. The marfli lands are princijjaily applied to the 

 fattening of flieep and cattle. The upland farms of Eaft 

 Kent may be defcribed as including an open and dry traft of 

 land, lying between the city of Canterbury, and the tow.- s of 

 Dover and Deal ; and another traft, inclofed with woods 

 and coppice, extending from Dover, by Elcham and Afliford, 

 to Rochefter, in length ; and from the ifle of Sheppey to 

 Lenham, &c. in breadth. The former tract includes a 

 great variety of foi'.s, fcarcely tliofe of any two farms being 

 Jiniilar. Stitf clays are principally met with on the tops of 



the higheft hills about Dover ; flinty trafts occur in the val- 

 lies in the fame neighbourhood, and about Stockbury near 

 Maidftone. The woodlands in Eaft Kent are difperfed 

 chiefly between the great road from Rochefter to Dover, 

 and the chalk hill that runs from Folkftone, by Charing to 

 Dethng. Thefe furnifli the adjacent country with fire-wood, 

 and the dock-yards with timber for fliip-building ; but the 

 nioft material part of their produce, is the immenfe quantity 

 of hop-poles cut out for the neighbouring plantations. The 

 wood is generally cut at from ten to foiuleen years growth, 

 and its value is eftimated by the quantity of hop-poles pro- 

 duccd. The rich flat lands in the vicinity of Faverfliam, 

 Sandwich, and Deal, lie nearly on a level, are extremely 

 fertile, and excellently managed under a general fyftem. 

 They are almuft entirely arable ; the foils are a rich fandy 

 loam, intermixed with fand, and a ftift wet clay. In the ' 

 vicinity of Sandwich are many orchards, which in fome years 

 produce large quantities of good apples, the greater part of 

 which is conveyed by the coal veflels to Sunderland and 

 Newcaftle. The hop-grounds, extending from Maidftone 

 and Canterbury to Sandwich, are very produdlive, and 

 under a good fyltem of management; though the foils are 

 different, as well as the kind of hops cultivated. The plan- 

 tations have of late years been greatly increafed, particularly 

 in thofe parts contiguous to Maidftone, Fuveilham, and 

 Canterbury ; the plantations called the City Grounds, extend 

 through a circuilt of two miles and a half round Canterbury, 

 and are eftimated to include from 2500 to 3000 acres. The 

 hops grown here, and in the grounds runnnig hence to Sand- 

 wich, are very rich in quality, and in much requeft for their 

 great ftrength ; if well managed, they are alio of a good 

 colour. Thofe grounds are found moft productive, which 

 have a deep rich loamy furface, with a fub-foil of deep loamy- 

 brick earth ; and this kind of land forms the principal part 

 of the plantations of Eaft Kent ; though there are fome 

 good grounds where the furface is very flinty. The pro- 

 duce is fubjeCl to great fluftuation ; in fome years amount- 

 ing to fourteen or fifteen hundred weight per acre; in others 

 not exceeding two hundred. In drying hops, a fmall quan- 

 tity of briuiilone is fometimes ufed, in order to iuffbcate the 

 infers, and occafion a more fpeedy evaporation of the fuper- 

 fluous moillure: by the ufe of the fulpiiur, the hops are 



thought alfo to be improved in colour. In the plantations 

 - jyj^j ■ ■ 



grown ; but they are inferior in quality to thofe of Canter- 



)f Maidftone, and 



of 1 



vicinity, very great crops ot liops 

 ilit 

 bury and Eaft Kent. The foil is what is locally termed 

 ftone fliatter ; that is, where there is a mixture of fmall 

 pieces of ftone and fand : the fub-foil is called Kentifli rag, 

 and burns into good lime. The hop plantations afford em- 

 ployment to great numbers of the poorer dafles, not only of 

 this, but of other counties ; and the motley groups that 

 aifemble to aflill in hop-picking are truly amufing. Hops 

 are generally regarded as having been introduced into this 

 country about the time of Henry VI. ; and in the year 1428, 

 they were petitioned againft as -wkked lueed. This, how- 

 ever, can only refer to the ufe of them, for they are found, 

 wild in almoll every part of Bri'ain. They came into more 

 general ufe in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth. 

 Nearly one-fourth of the whole produce of the hop-duty iij, 

 England, is paid from the plantations of Eaft Kent. Be- 

 fides the hop-grounds, the neighbourhood of Maidftone is 

 celebrated for apples, cherries, and filberts ; many fmall 

 fields, of from one to fifteen acres, being planted with 

 different fpeciea of thtfe kinds of fruit ; it is alfo a common 

 practice to plant hops, apples, cherries, and filberts, all 

 together. The apples intended for cyder, are generally 

 gathered towards the end of Odober, and after being laid 

 in heaps to ripen, under cover, arc inanufadured iox ule. 

 3 . In 



