THE INFLUENCE OF GEOLOGY ON HORTICULTURE. 403 



in the valleys of the rivers Soar and Wreake. Small fruits, particularly 

 strawberries, are well grown in the neighbourhood of Leicester. In 

 Nottinghamshire good orchards are seen on the marls of this formation 

 in the neighbourhood of Tuxford, of Southwell (the home of 1 Bramley's 

 Seedling Apple'), of Halam (the birthplace of Mr. Bradley, who raised 

 two most valuable varieties of strawberries, 1 Sir Joseph Paxton ' and 

 1 Dr. Hogg '), also at Edwalton and Ruddington, near Nottingham, and 

 at Chilwell, where there is an orchard of over 100 acres of standard trees 

 in grass, some of the pear and apple trees in which are of great size. 



The Lias is composed of a blue clay of great thickness (500 to 

 1,000 feet), alternated with thin beds of marl and limestone, the whole 

 full of shells and remains of large extinct reptiles (Ichthyosaurus, 

 Plesiosaurus). It forms a strip five to thirty miles wide from Lyme Regis, 

 in Dorset, to the mouth of the Tees, in the north of Yorkshire ; it is 

 found in the valleys of the Oolitic hiUs, having consequently a very 

 tortuous outline near this formation. Much of the soil resting on the 

 Lias is a cold, wet, grey clay, though where lime and sand occur it 

 becomes a clayey loam. The principal part of this formation is in 

 old pasture, including the celebrated dairying districts of Somerset, 

 Gloucester, Warwick, Leicester, and Stilton, and the best grazing and 

 pasture land in Nottingham and Yorkshire. Between Sherborne and 

 Yeovil on this formation is perhaps the best apple district of Dorset. 

 Excellent cider apples are produced in Somerset, in the neighbourhood 

 of Glastonbury, on the middle and lower Lias. South Petherton, in 

 Somerset, noted for its parsnips, is on this formation, so is Kingsbury, 

 where its best orchards are said to be. Somersetshire has a large 

 orchard acreage ; the county contains so many different formations that 

 it is somewhat difficult to say which is the most favourable to the apple. 

 There are many orchards around Wells, which is on the marl of the 

 new red sandstone ; there is also a considerable area of fertile land 

 covered by alluvial soil, including Langport and Bridgwater. The great 

 plum and market garden districts of Evesham, Pershore, OrYenham and 

 Tewkesbury overlie the lower Lias, improved by the admixture of 

 glacial drift deposited on the surface of the clay, and thereby increasing 

 its fertility. In the favoured spots, close to Evesham, the fruit and 

 market garden land commands a high price. 



There are large orchards in the Chipping Norton district, in Oxford- 

 shire, at the junction of the Lias and lower Oolite formations. 



The Oolites stretch as a broad band from Dorset to Yorkshire. 

 This formation includes a large group of rocks varying in' character, 

 though chiefly varieties of limestone with two important clays. The 

 name Oolite is given because of the rounded grains forming these 

 limestones. 



The Loiuer Oolite, which includes the Bath Oolite, occupies much of 

 Gloucester (Cotswold Hills), Oxford, Northampton, and Rutland, the 

 heaths of Lincoln, and much of the moorland of North Riding and the 

 Cleveland Hills. The soil varies considerably ; much of it is light, 

 calcareous, free-working soil of rather inferior quality. Around Trow- 

 bridge (Wilts), at the junction of the lower and middle Oolite, a 

 considerable quantity of various fruits is grown. On the border of the 



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