Farming of Cumberland. 



215 



minutes the wind blows so violently as to break down trees, 

 overthrow stacks, and occasionally even to overturn a horse and 

 cart. The noise accompanying it is terrific, and when it happens 

 about the ripening of the corn crops the loss is immense. At 

 any season the grass is beat down and all vegetation injured. 



It is somewhat remarkable that the western sides of nearly all 

 the Cumberland hills (part of Bewcastle excepted), where they 

 have a full western exposure, are almost devoid of heath, what- 

 ever the formation of the rock or the nature of the soil may be, 

 whilst many of the other sides are clothed with that plant. The 

 sea-breeze would seem to be acting here, and yet the heath 

 covered large extents of those moors which w^ere in the immediate 

 vicinity of the sea,* previous to their enclosure. 



All the trees and hedges exposed to the west and within a few 

 miles of the coast show the effects of the storm, and incline inland. 



III. Effect of Elevation on the Farming of the County. 



Without attempting to account for all the causes, it may be 

 sufficient here to show where the " effect of elevation" operates to 

 the disadvantage of the husbandman, and how it affects his 

 interests. 



The principal effect of elevation on the produce of the earth 

 is to retard its vegetation in the spring, and to shorten the period 

 of its summer growth. The average of 600 feet above the sea- 

 level is given as the limit of elevation at which wheat can be 

 grown to yield a reasonable produce. This may be correct as 

 generally applied, but over most of Cumberland the profitable 

 culture of wheat ceases at a degree of altitude ranging very little 

 above 500 feet, and in some parts below that height. In the 

 southern part of the county, where the distance is short from the 

 mountains to the sea, and the land exposed to the fury of the 

 south-western gales, wheat is hardly attempted to be grown so 

 high as at 400 feet above the sea. At any greater elevation the 

 storms which usually occur about the beginning of June, and at 

 the end of July or beginning of August, sometimes render the 

 whole crop nearly worthless ; and on the lower levels it often 

 happens that much harm is done by what the inhabitants call 

 " the sea-blast." These blasts seriously injure the crops of corn,, 

 loosening their roots, and, if the grain is ripe, or approaching 

 towards it, beating out the earliest and best portions ; and it is 



* There is a tradition that a fox, of very destructive habits, was often hunted to 

 the top of the rocks near St. Bees lighthouse, and there lost, no one could tell 

 how. A boat had been several times stationed below with men to watch his arrival, 

 and at last he was seen to take a piece of heather in his mouth which grew on the 

 edge, and swing himself down to a ledge of rock. The twig was cut off, and his 

 next run was fatal ; he was dashed to pieces down the precipice. 



