AbQ = l90 
Practical Agriculture. 
English cli- side of England is much wetter than the eastern side ; that the 
mate. j^jj. ^[^q western side is more constantly humid than that on 
the eastern ; that cold increases in England with every degree of 
north latitude, and that commonly, though not invariably, the 
differences in the extremes of heat and cold are greater as the east 
is approached ; that the high grounds of the western and northern 
parts of England are more exposed to prevalent winds than the 
eastern and southern parts ; and that the hygrometric state of the 
atmosphere on the eastern side being nearly at all times such as 
to absorb a great quantity of moisture, the evaporation is more 
active than on the western side of England, — from a sheet of 
water it actually exceeds the rainfall. 
Hydrography. The principal watersheds and main outfalls for the drainage 
of England and Wales require a few words of description. 
The directions of the hill and mountain chains influence both 
the lines of the rivers and the quantity and force of the water dis- 
charged. The Cumbrian, Welsh, and other western mountains, 
occasion a fall of rain in the western counties some 50 per cent, 
greater than in the midland and eastern districts. Some im- 
pervious rocks shed off the rains and melting snows in torrents ; 
while fissured strata, cleaved slate, and absorbent chalk or sand- 
stone, imbibe a large portion of the downfall, much of it to be 
thrown out again upon porous declivities, or clay plains, or deep- 
lying valleys. The great surplus of water, not lost by evapora- 
tion, which escapes from the western or central watershed, runs 
towards the sea in a generally eastern direction ; for the largest 
English rivers, except the Severn, empty themselves upon the \oy\ 
east coast. The principal points of discharge are the estuarie; 
of the Humber, the Wash, the Thames and the Severn ; thei 
respective drainage areas being very large. Then the Yorkshire 
Ouse, the Trent and other Humber rivers radiate into Westmorc 
land, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, including al 
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire ; the sluggish Wash riven 
the Ouse, Nene, Welland, with minor streams, embrace in tliei 
system of flat valleys parts of Lincolnshire, Rutland, Leicestci 
shire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hun 
tingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk; the Thani( 
and its feeders extend inland into Buckinghamshire, Oxfon 
shire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, bcsidt 
Surrey, Middlesex, Kent and Essex; and the Severn stretche 
back through the counties of Gloucester, Worcester and Salo). 
into Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Montgomeryshire ; whi 
the Wye and other tributaries ramify through the counties of Moi 
mouth, Hereford, Radnor, and Brecknock. In addition to the 
chief arteries of the central counties, there are innumerable streaii 
from the Lake district, the Welsh highlands, and the souther 
