588 
Rejiort on the Farrri'Prize Competition 
purposes, and rich in lead — other bands of shales, limestone, 
sandstone succeed. The series includes a number of coal seams, 
some of which are worked. Between the limestones and the 
coals are sandstones and grits, which in certain districts con- 
tribute largely to the features of the scenery. Of these are 
the bold cliffs sloping towards the Tyne near Corbridge and 
Haltwhistle, the Simonside Hills near Rothbury, the high 
moors between Redewater and Coquetdale, and the sandstone 
crags at the head of the Rede and North Tyne, Many basalt 
dykes cross the county, the most noticeable being the Great 
Whin Sill, which extends from the Cumberland border to the 
Kyloe hills, between Belford and Berwick. The soils on the 
Whinstone are generally fertile. 
The Cheviot Hills are eruptive rocks of various kinds, 
granite, porphyry, quartz, felspar, &c. 
The geological characteristics of the stratified rocks have an 
important influence on the agriculture of a district — they affect 
the elevation and the dip of the land, the drainage and the 
water supply. Where these rocks are exposed, they determine 
the character of the soil, its natural fertility, and its texture or 
working qualities. They also largely determine the composi- 
tion of the alluvium on the valleys of the rivers, where the 
deepest and richest soils are generally found. But very fre- 
quently and over large tracts of country, the original strata are 
thickly covered with drift brought from great distances by 
glacial action, and compounded of many geological formations. 
Wherever this is the case, the nature of the soil is determined 
by the composition of this superficial deposit. 
The soils of Northumberland were described by Bailey and 
Culley in their report to the Board of Agriculture (3rd ed., 
1813) as mainly consisting of "a strong fertile clayey loam 
occupying a level tract along the coast :" " Sandy gravelly and 
dry loam turnip soil " on the banks of the Tyne, on the Coquet 
about Rothbury, and the Aln from its mouth to Alnwick — on 
Tweedside, and in the vales of Breamisli and Till : » " Moist 
loams on a wet cold clayey bottom," occupying a large portion 
of the county — prevailing most in the middle and S,E. : " Black 
Peat " in the mountainous districts. 
Climate. — The agriculture of every district is as much deter- 
mined by its climatic conditions as by the nature of the soil. 
The writer has been unable to obtain much reliable informa- 
tion on this point. The mean summer temperature of the east 
of the county is said to have been for four years 52 9 at Alnwick, 
and 55'1 at North Shields, while at Greenwich during the same 
years it was SD'O. In winter the records for the same places 
were, Alnwick 38-9, North Shields 39 0, Greenwich 39'4. 
