16 



Farming of Lancashire. 



quarries in that part of the country. Between the straw-yard and 

 the buildings there is a space of 5 or 6 yards paved all round ; 

 the shippon and stables are well ventilated at the top. When I 

 visited this farm, four horses were at work thrashing with a ma- 

 chine, which the tenant has put up at his own expense. 



The soil throughout the whole of this district is loamy and 

 tolerably easy to work ; still farther to the westward it becomes 

 gradually lighter, till in the neighbourhood of Formby and 

 Southport it is almost all sand. In many fields at Formby, near 

 the shore, there is soil two feet below the sand, that lies beneath 

 the greensward : it would seem that this soil, which is about four 

 inches thick, was originally the surface, and has been buried at 

 some former period by sand-drifts. 



Near Rufford we get into the mosses again ; which, however, 

 have in a great measure been reclaimed : large fields, intersected 

 with open dykes and watercourses, produce good crops of potatoes 

 and oats, or are now to a large extent laid down in permanent 

 pastures and meadows. 



The cart-horses throughout the whole of the western side of 

 this division still preserve the character they bore in Mr. Dick- 

 son's time ; the farmers take a pride in their teams, and as they 

 were improving in his days they have continued to do so, till now 

 it would be difficult to surpass them in any district of the 

 kingdom. 



Throughout the greater part of this division the manufacturing 

 population predominates very much over the agricultural, and 

 hence the tendency to small farms and holdings. The farmers 

 as a class are inferior in position and education to those of other 

 parts of the kingdom. The habit of taking two white crops in 

 succession still prevails very generally amongst them, and the 

 practice of laying down the land in narrow butts, often after wheat, 

 and in many instances allowing it to grass itself over, cannot be 

 too strongly condemned. The evils of the bad system which has 

 prevailed for the last 50 years or more, are so manifold, and the 

 prejudices of the people so deep-rooted, that it will take many- 

 years to eradicate them, and raise the agriculture of this part of 

 the county to its proper position. 



Middle Division. (No. 2.) 

 On crossing the Ribble to the north, and passing through 

 Preston, we at once leave the manufacturing districts ; they belong 

 to the Southern Division, for, excepting Preston with a population 

 of 50,000 souls, and Lancaster with 15,000, there is no town of 

 importance between the rivers Ribble and Lune. Preston is 

 of course a manufacturing place, and, being situated on the extreme 

 southern verge of the Middle Division, may fairly be allowed to 



