8 



Farming of Lancashire. 



rivers of the county, which with their numerous tributaries empty 

 themselves into the Irish Sea. In the lowlands and valleys 

 watered by these streams are found many parts favourable to a 

 high state of farming, and we will now proceed to consider in 

 order the three great divisions formed by these rivers with 

 reference to the subject of this report, commencing with 



The Southern Division. — (No. 1.) 



The soil throughout the whole tract of country between the 

 Mersey and the Ribble, and between the sea-coast and the first 

 rising of the high hills to the east, is in general of a stiff] sh loamy 

 kind, always excepting Chat-moss and its kindred wastes. Towards 

 the sea-coast, to the west of the old high road from Liverpool to 

 Preston by Ormskirk, there is a district of great fertility, being 

 for the most part of a sandy vegetable loam of considerable 

 depth; and Mr. White, to whose evidence we have already 

 referred in speaking of the general character of the South Lan- 

 cashire land, says, " About two-thirds of it is strong clayey loam, 

 upon a subsoil of clay ; the clay requires under-draining before 

 it can be properly cultivated." Throughout the whole of the 

 lower districts of this Division all sorts of grain are occasionally 

 grown, but oats and wheat are the most prevalent, yet barley is 

 frequently met with near the coast; potatoes are cultivated 

 largely in the neighbourhood of Ormskirk and Warrington, 

 whence great quantities are taken to supply the Liverpool and 

 Manchester markets ; and it is a fact in husbandry worthy of 

 remark^ that the first potatoes raised in England were grown in 

 this county. 



Turnips and the artificial green crops have been introduced 

 within the last few years, and continue to be grown with increas- 

 ing success ; but as yet a regular and scientific system of cropping 

 is rarely met with. Around the large towns the grass-land is 

 mostly preserved undisturbed, and the produce in milk and 

 butter daily conveyed to supply their never-failing wants. 



The only limestone found in this Division lies in the extreme 

 north-eastern corner, in the neighbourhood of Clitheroe : it is, in 

 fact, the western side of the Craven bed, which here runs into 

 Lancashire from Yorkshire, and will become most valuable to 

 the whole of the Southern Division on the opening of the Black- 

 burn. Clitheroe, and North- Western Railway, now in course of 

 construction. 



On the eastern and hilly side of this Division there is not much 

 to interest a farmer : in the neighbourhood of Clitheroe and 

 Whalley there is some excellent land, and the advantages of the 

 limestone on which this district rests are sufficiently apparent 

 both in the aspect of the country and the general produce of the 



