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XIII. — On the Farming of Cumberland. By William Dickinson. 

 Prize Report. 

 PART I. 



The writer of this report on the farming of Cumberland has 

 thought he could best fulfil the intentions of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society, as laid down for the guidance of competitors for 

 their premium, by treating separately each subject to which they 

 direct attention, but their rules specify no distinct period by 

 which the account of " ancient farming " should be limited ; that 

 subject is brought into notice in various places throughout the 

 work, and the practice of former times is thus given as a parallel 

 or contrast to the subjects of modern farming immediately treated 

 of. As the report is intended to be suggestive as well as de- 

 scriptive, the " improvements still required " (though summarily 

 noticed, as desired, under a separate head) will each be found 

 connected with their proper subject in the body of the essay. 



Though the writer's long connexion with the agriculture and 

 rural population of this his native county has afforded him an 

 intimate and extensive acquaintance with its economy in every 

 branch, yet he considers himself fortunate in having obtained the 

 assistance of a host of agricultural friends, of whose experience 

 and information on many interesting topics he has been happy to 

 avail himself, and to whom he gratefully begs to express his obli- 

 gations. 



He may be pardoned for stating that he is better skilled in the 

 methods of conducting than of describing the practices of hus- 

 bandry, but that his descriptions are faithful. 



I. Description of Strata and Soils of the County. 



Notwithstanding all that has been written by scientific men on 

 the geology of this county, none have satisfactorily shown that 

 the soils^ generally speaking, convey anything like a correct indi- 

 cation of the underlying rocks. Where the rocks are near the 

 surface, of course the connexion is more intimate : but so much 

 of the low-lying parts, and some at a considerable elevation, are 

 so deeply covered with the diluvium conveyed from distant parts 

 that, in very many places, the surface conveys no adequate idea 

 of what rocks may be expected beneath. Where this diluvium 

 prevails, it covers all rocks alike, from a depth of a few inches to 

 some hundreds of feet. Nearly the whole of the new red sand- 

 stone, the coal-fields, the carboniferous limestone of the lower 

 country, and the skirts of the older rocks are covered with it. 

 In most parts of the county, and especially in the west, it is 

 largely intermixed or overlaid with a compact clay, which is very 



