Farming of Lancashire. 



41 



for general work; at Over-sands, in the neighbourhood of Ulver- 

 stone and Furness, more high-bred horses are found than else- 

 where. Mr. Kennedy, of Ulverstone, has by his enterprising 

 exertions contributed greatly to raise the standard there ;. for this 

 purpose he has brought down thorough-bred stallions from Col. 

 Peel's and other racing studs for the season, and horses are sold 

 out of this country at four years old for 80/., 90/., or 100/. 

 a-piece. The depreciation of value alluded to above, especially 

 in the agricultural horse, is owing to the little care and attention 

 paid by the breeders to the mares, and the miserable parsimony 

 which pervades their practice in this respect — " ex nihilo nihil fit ;" 

 and they seem to forget that it is impossible to breed a good and 

 valuable foal out of a miserable and broken-down mare. 



Pigs — Are generally good throughout the county ; in this re- 

 spect we are above the average of other better-farmed parts of 

 England ; the cottager always finds it an advantage to keep a pig, 

 and it is very seldom that a bad one is seen. At Laihom there 

 is a good breed of the small kind; Mr. Smithies has got some. of 

 the Berkshire breed, and crossed them with Mr. Hobbs's, which 

 has produced a good stock and easily fattened. Mr. Billington, 

 at Preston, has also some of Mr. Hobbs's breed. Mr. Swift, 

 of Lowesbury, carried away two of the prizes given by the Royal 

 North Lancashire Agricultural Society last September at Preston, 

 for a boar and a sow. 



Manures, — The most important manures used are lime, marl, 

 sea-sand, bones, guano, ashes, town-dung, farm-yard dung, and 

 compost of various kinds. Lime is used throughout the county 

 almost universally, and is now mixed with salt, for moss cul- 

 tivation ; marl chiefly on peat and moss lands ; sea-sand on the 

 same kind of land near Cartmel. Bones are becoming very 

 general, and are found most beneficial, both as a top-dressing to 

 grass-lands, especially on the high grounds, and as a manure for 

 turnips ; but guano takes the precedence in this respect. From 

 one end of the county to the other, from Holbeck to Halewood, 

 this foreign manure seems to be valued most highly, especially 

 mixed with farm -yard manure for turnips. On the Barton pro- 

 perty, Mr. Logan, agent for Mr. Jacson, informed me that it 

 had been applied largely and successfully : cwt. to the acre on 

 meadow land in the first year, and half the quantity the second, 

 has produced in both years double the quantity of hay that could 

 otherwise be grown. For turnips 3 cwt. or 3J cwt. per acre 

 is necessary, but a less quantity, mixed with farm-yard manure, 

 is found to answer better than anything. The guano first stimu- 

 lates, and the manure sustains or feeds the plant. Messrs. 

 Myers and Co. have kindly given me the following return of 

 imports of Peruvian guano into Liverpool, viz. : — 



