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Farming of Surreij. 



hereafter more particularly described in relation to the character 

 of their soil and the peculiarities of their culture.* 



The topics put forth for the notice of competitors are the 

 following : — 



" 1. The character of the soils and subsoils of the county.^' 



" 2. The use of lime as a manure, to what soils {if any) it is 



confined, and whether its employmejit is at all diminished by high 



farming^ 



" 3. Interference of small inclosures with improved husbandry.''' 

 " 4. Effect of soil on the growth of timber trees ^ 

 ''5. The suitableness or othericise of the farm buildings to im- 

 proved husbandry.^' 



" 6. The extent of underdraining effected in the county T 

 "7. Improvements made since the Report of William Stephenson 

 in 1813, and to what extent still required.'^ 



The information upon these various topics will necessarily 

 be scattered over the whole of the succeeding pages, but for the 

 greater convenience of the reader each will be discussed as far 

 as is possible under its separate head. 



" 1st. The character of the soils and subsoils of the county.'* 



As may be supposed from the number and proximity of the 

 various strata, the soil is extremely various ; the most extensive 

 area of land of a tolerably uniform character is in the Weald, 

 which occupies the southern portion of the county, on the 

 borders of Sussex, and forms a strip varying from 3 to 6 miles 

 in width. It is well known as a pale, stiff clay, with a subsoil 

 similar in character, and which requires a long exposure to the 

 atmosphere, and frequent tillage, to render it productive. 



Running in a line nearly parallel with the Weald is the range 

 of chalk downs, but between them is a tract of soil formed by 

 the outcrop from the chalk of the lower members of the cre- 

 taceous formation, viz. the upper and lower greensand and the 

 gait. The latter, as has been already noted, forms a strip of 

 insignificant breadth ; it is an exceedingly tenacious clay, 

 generally of good depth on a subsoil of blue clay, bearing large 

 crops of wheat and beans, and luxuriant oak and elm timber ; it 



* For a more detailed account of the geology of this part of the country than 

 the limits of the present essay or the capabilities of the author will admit, the reader 

 is referred to the notices which have appeared in the Transactions of the Geolo- 

 gical Society of England (see vol. iv. 2nd series, ' On the Strata below the Chalk/ 

 by Dr. Fitton), and to the ' Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales,' by 

 Messrs. Connybeare and Phillips, 1 vol. 8vo., 1822; and to the numerous other 

 geological works, where an account may be found of those wonderful revolutions 

 which have laid bare the ancient deposit of the Wealden, and elevated the super- 

 imposed chalk-formation to its present position. 



