The  Yorkshire  Farm-Prize  Competition,  1883. 
511 
system  of  cattle-raising  and  general  farm  management  could  not 
fail  to  be  interesting.  These  dales  are  watered  by  the  tributaries 
of  the  Ouse,  running  nearly  east  and  west.  The  valleys  are 
most  fertile,  the  hillsides  afford  good  grazing,  and  the  high 
lands,  which  stretch  out  to  the  heathery  watersheds,  make  excel- 
lent sheep-runs.  These  sylvan-shaded  streams,  which  purl  so 
sweetly  in  the  ear  of  the  summer  tourist,  occasionally  behave 
like  roaring  madmen,  and  carry  havoc  and  destruction  through 
the  generally  peaceful  valleys.  The  river  Swale  gives  its  name 
to  one  of  the  richest  of  these  dales.  The  flood  which  swept 
through  Swaledale  in  the  beginning  of  this  year  will  be  long 
' remembered.  The  following  account  is  taken  from  a local 
paper,  and  is  not  overstated  : — 
“ The  remains  of  a heavy  fall  of  snow  had  been  lodged  in 
masses  on  the  distant  hills.  On  the  28th  of  January  the  rain 
began  to  fall  heavily,  swelling  the  hillside  rivulets  and  gills  to 
streams ; and  the  river  crept  stealthily  over  the  low-lying 
meadow-lands.  A south-west  wind  sprang  up,  driving  the  rain 
into  the  bedded  masses  of  snow,  percolating  through  them, 
tossing  their  sides,  struggling  and  forcing  its  way  beneath 
them,  till,  with  a roar  and  a rush,  they  entered  the  gills  and  becks 
like  miniature  avalanches,  and,  like  wild,  seething  rivers,  came 
tearing  down  the  hills,  sweeping  thousands  of  tons  of  massive 
boulder-stones,  gigantic  mounds  of  hillock,  deposits  from  the 
lead-mines  which  abound  in  the  dale,  millions  of  tons  of  debris — 
consisting  of  sand,  soil,  timber,  trees,  roots,  rubble,  and  tangled 
grasses — into  the  Swale,  making  it  into  a boiling  ocean,  which 
rushed  and  roared  triumphantly  over  the  rich  meadow  fields, 
hurling  down  miles  of  strongly-built  stone  fencing,  and  adding 
to  its  heterogeneous  freight  of  debris  by  tearing  at  the  stout, 
massive  bridges,  till  with  a fiendish  roar  it  swept  them  away. 
When  the  waters  sank  in  the  evening,  the  inhabitants  beheld 
their  dykes  demolished,  hundreds  of  yards  of  land  had  dis- 
appeared, flocks  of  sheep  were  missing,  and  over  all  the  inun- 
dated meadows  a pernicious  deadly  settlement  of  sand  and  soil 
was  deposited,  which  for  years  to  come  meant  ruin  to  their  land. 
The  poisonous  nature  of  this  deposit  is  caused  by  the  lead- 
mines.  Fields  that  have  never  been  flooded  before  have  a 
•deposit  of  sand  not  less  than  three  feet  deep.  Over  one  field 
is  strewn  a huge  shoal  of  stones,  the  size  of  large  turnips.” 
A portion  of  the  valley  of  the  Swale  is  exceptional  in  its 
land  division.  There  are  a number  of  large  landowners  in  the 
valley,  but  a considerable  quantity  of  land  is  in  small  holdings, 
varying  from  1J  to  10  acres.  A field  containing  2 acres, 
which  took  the  hard-earned  savings  of  an  ordinary  lead-miner 
to  the  amount  of  404/.  to  purchase,  is  so  covered  with  layer 
