90 
Report on the Farming of the 
the ' Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England,' and 
by him called till or boulder clay. 
*' It forms," as he states, vol. vii. p. 44, " a large geological district, 
in which the superficial deposits, from their extensive development, 
assume an important agricultural ciiaracter. With some interruptions 
from the alluvial tracts of the Humber, the Wash, and the Yare, this 
district extends from the coast of Holderness, in Yorkshire, to the banks 
of the Thames, if not farther to the south." 
This boulder clay is said to be the lowest member of the 
northern drift. It is largely interspersed with fragments of shells 
and rocks derived from older formations, and is of considerable 
thickness. It may be studied with advantage along the whole 
line of coast from Burlington to Spurn Point. 
Occasionally, as at Barmston and Hatfield, a thin covering of 
drift sand is found reposing on the clay ; and in one locality, viz. 
near Brandes Burton, there is a hill of gravel which, though not 
of much agricultural importance, forms rather a singular feature 
in this district. There are several isolated hills in Holderness ; 
none however attain a higher elevation than 100 feet. The 
southern part of Holderness, bordering the River Humber from 
Hull to the Spurn Point, and comprising nearly 20,000 acres, 
is entirely alluvial, and the soil is of great fertility. That 
part of it which is still called Sunk Island, though no longer 
isolated, was first noticed and reclaimed from the tidal waters of 
the Hundjer in the time of Charles I. It appears that at first 
1600 acres were embanked, and leased to certain individuals; 
and that at present it contains within its banks 4700 acres, having 
a chapel and several farmhouses erected upon it. There were 
persons recently living who could remember vessels sailing betwixt 
it and the mainland, to which it is now united by a bridge across 
a very narrow channel. 
Vale of York. — The district thus designated, lying to the west- 
ward of the Wolds, is much of the same external character as 
Holderness. The Wold hills descend on the western side abruptly 
to their base ; and throughout the greater part of the district the 
surface is varied only by a few drift beds of gravel and clay. 
Nearly the whole of this part of the Riding belongs geologically 
to the new red sandstone formation; this rock, however, lies so 
low hereabouts, and is covered by such a thickness of diluvial 
matter, that it may be for all practical purposes dismissed from 
consideration. The north-eastern portion of the district is crossed 
transversely by beds of the oolitic series; and here, consequently, 
considerable diversities of soil and surface present themselves. 
The lias clay extends in a band averaging about two miles in 
breadth from the river Derwent, near Howsham, to the Humber 
