408 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



large fields of strawberries and raspberries are, perhaps, the most notice- 

 able feature. On the Essex side a patch of this rock, about eight miles 

 long, one mile wide, lies to the north of Purfleet, Grays, and Tilbury. 

 Again, in North Mid-Kent, Sittingbourne, and Newington (noted for 

 cherries) overlie this formation. Further west, Teynham and Faversham, 

 which probably produce the finest cherries in the world, are over Thanet 

 sands and brick clay, with chalk some 20 feet below. Higham, near 

 Rochester, another fruit district, is on similar soil. Canterbury, where 

 much fruit and hops are grown, lies over brick earth, gravel and sand, 

 with chalk below at some depth. Bexley Heath (where strawberries are 

 extensively grown), Sidcup, and Chislehurst are over gravel, known as 

 the Oldhaven beds. Eltham and Ruxley are on the clayey rock of the 

 Woolwich beds. 



The London Clay, with beds of the same group, including certain 

 gravels, extends over the greater part of Middlesex, the south-eastern 

 half of Essex, parts of Berks, Hertfordshire, and Suffolk ; also in the 

 north of Surrey and Kent, the southern half of Hampshire, and part of 

 Dorset. It is in general a tenacious soil of bluish or brown colour, 

 liable to crack in summer. It is chiefly old pasture which is rich and 

 abundant. 



In the neighbourhood of Romford, Dagenham, and Rainham market 

 gardening is carried on in a very skilled manner on a large scale. Immense 

 quantities of peas are grown in this district for the London markets, large 

 quantities of London manure making the land very fertile and improving 

 its texture. There are good old orchards in the neighbourhood of Twicken- 

 ham and Isleworth, where the extension of London has not yet supplanted 

 them by brick and mortar. Fruit is well grown near Brentford and Orsett. 

 At Stanford-le-Hope strawberries are extensively grown. Fruit is com- 

 mercially grown at Halstead, in North Essex, and at Tiptree Hall (Mechi's 

 Farm), near Kelvedon, on this formation. Cheshunt and Waltham Cross, 

 noted for roses, are on London clay. The parts of Essex suffering most 

 severely from agricultural depression rest on the London clay ; here 

 winter beans are one of the principal crops, and this is followed by corn. 

 Many of the farms are now in the hands of Scotch farmers and utilized 

 for milk production instead of cultivated for wheat. There are many 

 brick and tile works on this formation. Many millions of bricks are made 

 annually at Sittingbourne, in North Mid-Kent, where the top soil is pre- 

 served and put back after the clay has been dug out. The land seems 

 improved by the process ; excellent cherry and apple orchards grow in the 

 district, usually under grass grazed by sheep receiving cake or corn. This 

 clay extends along the north of Kent, with certain intervals. It is very 

 noticeable in the Isle of Sheppey, where it is used for cement making. 

 Sandy wastes of small agricultural value occur over beds of this forma- 

 tion, such as at Aldershot, Bagshot Heath, and the New Forest. 



In Hampshire (on the Middle Eocene' beds) strawberries are largely 

 grown, chiefly on small holdings, often owned by the cultivators. These 

 are to be seen around Tichfield, Botley, Sarisbury, and Swanwick. Some 

 of the land has a very favourable southern aspect, so that the fruit is a 

 week or more earlier than that of Kent, which gives it a great advantage 

 in price. 



