48 



Farming of NorthamjjtonsJdre. 



some very fine specimens of pollard oaks are to be seen on ?yIore- 

 hay Lawn, the property of the Earl of Westmoreland, measuring 

 from 30 to 40 feet in circumference. There are also some fine 

 timber trees in Salcey Forest and Yardley Chace ; and but very few 

 good trees in Whittlewood Forest, which seems to have been much 

 neglected. This forest would be more productive if it were en- 

 closed and converted into pasture and tillage land. Application 

 has been made to Parliament for power to enclose. 



The smaller woods are generally v/ell managed, and produce an 

 annual income from the sales of poles and underwood, a certain 

 portion being cut and sold every year, after 10 or 12 years' growth. 



The principal geological features of the county are the different 

 beds of the lower oolite formations. The Oxford clay, which lies 

 between the middle and lower divisions of the oolite series, is 

 found to the east of the valley of the river Nene, adjoining Hun- 

 tingdonshire and Bedfordshire. The upper strata of the lower 

 oolitic formation comprise the northern part of the county, and 

 the central parts, between the valleys of the rivers Nene and W el- 

 land, extending to the south-west as far as Rockingham, thence to 

 Kettering and Higham Ferrers, running along the south-eastern 

 border from the latter place to Stony Stratford and Brackley, 

 with some portions isolated or jutting out beyond this boundary. 

 The whole of this district is generally fertile : the land is very 

 variable, being com.posed principally of a thin rubbly soil, alter- 

 nating with beds of clay. The middle portions of the county south- 

 west from Kettering, including the district between Daventry and 

 Northampton, and extending in the direction of Stowe Nine 

 Churches and Culworth to Banbury, with the exception of inter- 

 vening portions of the lias formation, are occupied by the lower 

 oolitic series. Those parts of this district where the lower oolite 

 approaches the surface, and where the soil is chiefly formed by 

 the disintegration of the oolitic rocks, are Vvcll adapted for the 

 growth of barley and turnips. 



The lias formation extends along the western border of the 

 county, from the vicinity of Catesby and Fawsley to the neigh- 

 bourhood of Rockingham, running down the valley of the Wel- 

 land to Stamford ; it penetrates into the interior of the county 

 along the valleys of the streams which flow into and form the 

 river Nene, In those parts of the county where the oolitic and 

 lias formations come in contact, the high ground is composed of 

 the oolite and the lowlands of the lias. The position of the land 

 where these two formations unite is generally very favourable, 

 having a slope to the west. The soil overlying the lias, when 

 containing a considerable proportion of the diluvium peculiar to 

 the oolite, is frequently deep and fertile ; it forms the rich grazing 

 land in the neighbourhood of Market Harborough. At the north- 



