40 



Farming of Derbyshire. 



tinguishable, and from 20 feet to 30 feet thick, composed chiefly 

 -of mica, quartz, and feldspar, granular and fine-grained, from the 

 destruction of igneous rocks, and washed and spread on the floor 

 of an ancient ocean, till lifted by volcanic power to their present 

 position. These mountains are the fountain-heads of the Der- 

 went, the Wye, and the Dove ; the two last flowing from the 

 base of Axedge. The Wye finds its way through the grit to 

 Buxton ; then, penetrating the rocky vale of the carboniferous 

 lime, joins the Derwent at Rowsley. The Dove is the county 

 boundary on the west, and after two miles divides the Derby- 

 shire limestone from the Staffordshire grit, and, when near 

 Hartington, cuts through the limestone hills in Milldale and 

 Dovedale. It then emerges from the limestone west of Ash- 

 bourne into the lowlands of the red marls and gravels. 



The Derwent, and its tributaries, traverse an entirely grit and 

 shaly country, more liable to destruction, carrying down the 

 wastes from the shales in its peaty, brackish waters. Originally 

 the meadows and lowlands in its course are indebted for their 

 fruitfulness to the gravels, shales, sandsoils, &c. washed down in 

 earlier ages. The soils on the grit from their nature are chiefly 

 of a sandy kind, and sometimes of great depth, especially where 

 the grits and shales occur- But where the outcrop of the more 

 compact beds appears the soil is thin, and the rock the subsoil. 

 In many parts the grit on Riber Top, Lea, and Tansley, the sub- 

 soil is of clay, and requires draining. The great difficulty of 

 ^cultivating the grit is its clearance, and the removal of the rocks 

 and blocks everywhere presented to the surface. Vast tracts 

 have been cleared and taken in, and cultivation has encroached 

 on the moor and the waste. In no part of the county has this 

 encroachment been more judicious or better applied than a dis- 

 trict west of Dronfield, towards Owler Bar, on the road from 

 Sheffield to Baslow. 



Mr. Haywood's analysis of this soil is as given below, and 

 taken from land in the occupation of Mr. Greaves of Rowlee, in 

 the woodlands of Hope, and near to the place where are the 

 Temains of ancient and unfinished millstones. 



Mechanical analysis of millstone-grit soil : 100 parts contain — 



Coarse silicious sand 33 "380 



Fine soil 26*000 



Impalpable clay , 33'000 



Organic matter of the nature of humus . . . 7*620 



Chemical analysis of the above : — 



100*000 



