508 
The  Yorkshire  Farm-Prize  Competition,  1883. 
chief  factor  in  developing  these  industrial  enterprises,  which 
have  multiplied  to  an  enormous  extent  the  population  of  many 
of  the  hills  and  valleys  of  West  Yorkshire. 
The  mineral  resources  of  the  county  are  as  varied  as  they  are 
extensive.  The  Cleveland  hills  have  been  called  the  “ new  iron- 
fields  of  England.”  Middlesborough  has  grown  as  rapidly  as  a 
Western  American  city,  and  is  now  the  metropolis  of  the  iron- 
trade.  Lead-mines  have  been  successfully  worked  in  the  moor- 
lands and  in  the  dales.  Deposits  of  alum-shale  have  given  rise 
to  manufactures  of  alum  near  Whitby,  Lofthouse,  and  Guis- 
borough.  In  that  district  we  find  what  is  perhaps  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  its  products,  viz.  “ Whitby  jet.” 
The  most  popular  attraction  to  those  who  live  outside  the 
county  is  the  enjoyable  summer  resorts  to  be  found  both  inland 
and  on  the  coast.  Scarborough  is  pronounced  “ the  queen  of 
watering  places.”  Nature  and  art  have  combined  in  rendering 
the  surroundings  of  her  coast  as  charming  and  enchanting  as  the 
most  ardent  votary  could  w ish.  Redcar,  VVhitby,  and  Bridlington 
have  a smaller  radiance,  but  have,  nevertheless,  a fair  quota  of 
admirers.  Harrogate  and  Ilkley  are  famous  for  their  mineral 
springs,  and  are  not  so  much  dependent  on  “the  season”  for 
their  visitors. 
Owing  to  the  great  extent  of  the  county,  it  has  been  divided 
into  three  parts  ; the  East,  North,  and  West  Ridings,  which  are 
really,  for  many  purposes,  shires  in  themselves.  The  name 
of  one  of  the  varieties  of  areas  with  which  England  is  blessed  is 
known  in  the  county  as  a “wapentake,”  of  which  there  are 
twenty-six  in  the  shire.  This  word  is  not  used  further  north, 
nor  have  I heard  of  it  except  in  Lincolnshire.  It  is  said  to  be 
used  in  place  of  “ hundred,”  and  is  derived  from  “ wcepen,”  a 
weapon,  and  “ taecan,”  to  teach. 
Mr.  Coleman,  in  his  exhaustive  report  to  Her  Majesty’s  Royal 
Commission  on  Agriculture,  treats  of  the  county  in  seven 
divisions,  “ according  to  well-marked  surface  geological  charac- 
ters,” viz. : — No.  1,  Holderness  ; No.  2,  The  Wolds  ; No.  3,  The 
Oolite  Series ; No.  4,  Vale  of  York  ; No.  5,  Magnesian  Lime- 
stone ; No.  6,  Coal  and  Iron-fields;  No.  7,  Mountain  Limestone. 
In  that  truly  admirable  report,  the  geological  formations,  physical 
outlines,  and  general  agricultural  features  are  so  well  described, 
that  any  attempt  in  that  direction  in  this  Report  would  certainly 
suffer  by  comparison. 
The  varieties  of  soil,  climate,  and  elevation,  have,  as  a natural 
consequence,  been  productive  of  systems  of  farming  differing 
from  each  other  as  widely  as  any  one  system  of  English  farming 
can  differ  from  another.  The  large  arable  farms  of  the  Wolds  of 
the  East  Riding, — where  sheep  are  looked  upon  as  having 
