292 
Farmin(j of BiicMvgliamshire. 
Giuss Land. 
Without any reliable source of information as to tlie propor- 
tions of grass and arable land, it has been calculated, apparently 
■\vitli much justice, that four-tenths of the available land of Buck- 
inghamshire are in pasture. The grass-lands of the county may 
be divided into three heads : the rich grazing-Iands of the Vale 
of Aylesbury ; the greater extent of dairy-land, which includes 
the cold clay pastures of the north ; and the alluvial meadows 
that border the various streams which water the county. The 
fertile pastures in the neighbourhood of Aylesbury, whose cele- 
brity has been already noticed, are principally devoted to the 
grazing of cattle, but there are numerous patches of land included 
within the V ale which are not sufficiently good for feeding cattle, 
and these are devoted to dairying. As a rule, these best lands 
are never mown ; but the meadows by the river-side, which are 
liable to be flooded, are saved for hay. On the dairy-grounds it 
is common to keep some grass for feeding, and other lands are 
constantly mown, being, of course, suj-plied with some farm-yard 
manure, compost, or other dressing. Some farmers like to vary 
this, and mow one ground one year and feed it the next. This 
api)ears the most natural way of treating pastures, yet there are 
some which would be greatly injured by being mown, while 
there are a few meadows now mown which deteriorate by being 
fed. Haymaking is well understood in Bucks, and the amount 
of labour expended on it in the Vale costs generally lO.y. or 12s. 
per acre. Tedding-machines are common, and great care is taken, 
by constantly keeping it in cocks, to preserve its green colour. 
The produce of the best land may average 2 tons of hay per 
acre ; other pastures much less, till it dwindles down to 15 cwt., 
which is the usual crop of the worst meadows of the Oxford clay. 
The hay from some of the best meadows is of very excellent 
quality, and will alone fatten an ox ; its peculiar clammy touch 
and exquisite perfume will at once test its goodness. Little of 
this superfine hay is sold, but a great deal from the other meadows 
is sent to London, as well as most of the clover hay. Indeed, the 
quantity of hay that goes from the Vale, and the little manure 
that is imported, speaks more for the natural fertility of the soil 
than it does for the high state of its agriculture. The meadows 
which border the Thames in the south of the county produce a 
fine quick herbage, and mow very excellent hay. These lands 
are not subject to summer floods, and, having a gravelly subsoil, 
are nicely dry in winter, when the water is moderately low. 
Quick winter-floods do much good, and the high level of the 
river is much advantage to these light-land meadows in summer. 
The Thame stream, which runs through the Vale of Aylesbury, 
