Farming of Cumberland. 



209 



Many years ago Professor Liebig predicted that England 

 would some day derive an addition to her agricultural wealth 

 from the remains of an extinct animal world. He has lived to 

 see the phosphoric deposits of the Suffolk crag extensively ap- 

 plied to agriculture in what are called coprolites. The carbon- 

 iferous limestone of Egremont contains a layer of sandy ferru- 

 ginous shale, about 12 to 18 inches thick, which is abundantly 

 interspersed with coprolitic kidney-shaped nodules, and with what 

 appear to be fragments of fossilized bones. The nodules are by 

 far the more numerous portion, and are chiefly of a flattened 

 oval or cylindrical shape, from 1 to 8 or 9 inches in length, some 

 of them contorted and others having indentations like the eyes of 

 the potato. The upper soil * is very strongly impregnated with 

 iron, and the crevices and beds of the limestone, as well as the 

 pseudo-coprolites (or whatever other term may be applied to 

 these nodules), are tinged with the deep red of the hematite iron- 

 ore. No great quantity can be obtained at a time as yet, as the 

 stratum dips to the west along with the heavy superincumbent 

 mass of limestone. But if found of any agricultural or chemical 

 value (of which there can be no doubt) future researches may 

 bring to light other and more extensive deposits in other lime- 

 stone districts, as well as this. 



The limestone soils are generally drier than other soils, from 

 the cavernous nature of the limestone strata, and their produce, 

 especially in herbage, is of good quality. 



Along the edges of the strata on Hartside-fell, Bolton, and 

 other limestone districts, there are numerous funnel-shaped holes,"]" 

 which admit water into the open strata, but do not, in all cases, 

 drain the land. In some places the limestone is overspread, 

 below the soil, by a few inches of fine blue or white marl,^ quite 

 impervious to water, on account of which the chinks of the rock 

 are prevented from acting, and the soil is mostly wet. 



Small patches of limestone are found at different places, as at 

 Dobcross, in the sandstone ; Distington and Hensingham, in the 

 coal-measures ; Hail, on the junction of the slate and sandstone ; 

 Whicham and Millom, on the verge of the greenstone. These 

 detached portions are of some convenience to persons at a dis- 

 tance from the main beds. 



It is somewhat singular that the old red sandstone appears 

 nowhere in the county, either in its legitimate place or out of it, 

 except one small portion at the south-western foot of Cross fell, 



* This soil produces as good crops of all kinds as tlie brown soils of known 

 good quality, though it is red as blood. 



t Provincially, " swally (swallowing) holes." 



X This is mostly of good quality for application to other than limestone soils. It 

 pulverizes, on exposure, like burned lime. 



VOL. xiir. p 



