Farming of NortJictmptonsliire. 



49 



east extremity of the county is a small tract of alluvial deposit 

 commonly called fen land ; being- chiefly composed of the driftings 

 of the rivers Nene and Welland, it is very productive land. 



The principal mineral productions are limestone and freestone : 

 the former is very abundant, and is dug in many parts of the 

 county ; the latter is found at Ellsworth and Kings thorpe. At 

 Barnach, near Peterborough, there is a large open piece of ground 

 which has been dug over for building stone, called " Barnach 

 Rag," and which was used in the erection of Peterborough Ca- 

 thedral, some of the colleges at Cambridge, and many of the neigh- 

 bouring churches. Stone is dug in the parish of Helpstone, and 

 conveyed by water to Spalding and the Lincolnshire Fens, for the 

 repairing of roads. Gravel is also sent from this side of the 

 county for the same purpose. In the parish of Stanwick, near 

 Higham Ferrers, are beds of a blueish stone used for ornamental 

 purposes, very much resembling forest marble. At Collyweston, 

 near Stamford, Stonesfield slate is quarried for the purposes of 

 roofing. 



Following the instructions given to competitors, I shall notice, 

 first, the character of the soils and subsoils of the county. They 

 may be divided into the following kinds, varying in the different 

 admixtures : — • 



No. 1. lied stony soil, with a brashy, stony subsoil. 



2. Red sandy soil, with a sandy and clay subsoil. 



3. Gravelly soil, with a loose stony and sandy subsoil. 



^ ,, 4. Limestone and mixed clayey loam, with stony and marl subsoil. 

 5. Stiff clay soil, with clay and marl subsoil. 

 5, 6. Moory or peaty soil, with gravelly and clay subsoil. 



No. 1. Red Stony Soil, loith a Brashy, Stony Suhsoil. — This 

 forms the principal part of the turnip land, and enters the county 

 from Oxfordshire at Chipping Warden, running in the direction 

 of Eydon, Byfield, Maidford, Stowe Nine Churches, and Cold 

 Higham, taking a narrow line of country, midway between Da- 

 ventry and Tovvxester ; it continues from Cold Higham to Ro- 

 thersthorpe on to Northampton, from whence it branches out in 

 the direction of Harborough, Kettering, and Wellingborough, oc- 

 casionally diverging right and left, extending northward as far as 

 Rothweli, eastward to the vicinity of Guilsborough, and westward 

 to Finedon and Irthlingborough. This soil varies in equality 

 very much, some of it being wxak in fertility, owing to the 

 shallowness of the " staple," and the large proportion of brashy 

 stones it contains. The subsoil is nearly always an admixture of 

 red stones and sand, very porous, soon carrying off the moisture, 

 and absorbing the manure. Draining is sometimes necessary, 

 owing to a bed of clay obstructing the water on the side of a 

 declivity and causing the spring water to overflow the surface. 



VOL. XIII. E 



