22 



Farming of Lancashire. 



two machines at work, Whitehead's and Clayton's, but the latter 

 was used first, and I believe continues to be the favourite for large 

 tiles, though the former is preferred for the smaller kinds. 



From Barton, proceeding westward, we pass into the Fylde, 

 which is divided into two parts by the Wyre ; this river rises at 

 the head of the valley that takes its name from the stream, and 

 flowing by the small town of Garstang, passes thence with a con- 

 siderable detour near the villages of Church Town, St. Michael's, 

 and Great Eccleston, and finally empties its waters into the sea 

 at the south-west corner of Morecambe Bay, forming there a 

 harbour to the modern town of Fleetwood. The southern of 

 these two divisions is much the larger of the two, but nearly all 

 the mosses of this part of Lancashire lie to the north of the Wyre, 

 and their history and present state must form one of the most 

 interesting subjects in any treatise on the farming of the county. 

 These original wastes may be roughly estimated at 20,000 statute 

 acres, and from a state of perfect sterility producing nothing but 

 moor-fowl and snipes, they are now being gradually converted 

 into the most productive lands in the kingdom ; this has been 

 chiefly done by a good system of draining, and it is remarkable 

 that the levels of this country should fall to the north. From 

 within half a mile of the Wyre the water falls to the Lune, and 

 from within two miles of the Ribble it runs into the Wyre, from 

 which it is evident that to drain these districts thoroughly and to 

 keep them in working order, it is absolutely necessary that the 

 beds of these rivers should be kept as low as possible. From the 

 constant washings from the hills and from repeated floods they 

 bring down with them great quantities of sand, which, as the rivers 

 widen towards the sea, and become more sluggish in their course, 

 is deposited in the channel, to the manifest injury of the outfalls 

 above. The natural scour is not sufficient to keep the rivers 

 deep to the sea, and it is very necessary in any general drainage 

 measure that particular attention be paid to this point. It is 

 strange that Ireland should possess the Acts of 1 & 2 Wm. IV., 

 cap. 57, and 5 & 6 Victoria, cap. 105, ' f To empower landed 

 proprietors in Ireland to sink, embank, and remove obstructions in 

 rivers;" and that England should be at this day without the benefit 

 and power of any such laws. It is much to be hoped that this 

 defect will soon be remedied. 



Each division of the Fylde has its great landowner and im- 

 prover : Mr. Clifton, of Lytham, in the southern, and Mr. Wilson 

 Ffrance, of Rawcliffe Hall, in the northern ; and both these gen- 

 tlemen have indeed " deserved well of their country" for their 

 eminent services in the cause of agricultural improvements. 



The climate of the whole of this lowland district is much 

 milder than in the higher parts of the Middle Division situated to 



