460 
Farming of Devonshire. 
contains 160^000 acres of land, very much intermixed and con- 
tinually apjjearing in various stages from a heavy clay to a light 
calcareous soil ; with such frequency do these changes occur that 
any account of its particular parts would rather confuse than 
edify the reader. If its extent and fertility be collectiveltj con- 
sidered this part certainly surpasses all in the county. This 
district, with the land between it and the county of Cornwall, is 
principally devoted to the breeding and rearing of cattle, con- 
sequently we find all the farm operations conducted so as to 
further this special object. I must notice the improved character 
of the farming near Tavistock. I consider that in no other part of 
the county have equally rapid advances been made, and if con- 
tinued it will soon be an example for the county to follow. In 
the neighbourhood of ihe copper mines much land remains in an 
uncultivated state which arises from an absolute poverty of soil 
rather than from injuries resulting from working these minerals. 
Proceeding northwards we pass over an extensive district of 
land, of very inferior character. It occupies the whole extent of 
the carboniferous deposits, and its distinguishing soil is a poor 
yellow (occasionally white) clay, on a subsoil of clay or shillet 
(shale). The whole requires drainage, and until this is effected 
little hope can be entertained uf its being better cuhivated. It 
is now the most sterile, dreary, and worst cultivated tract of land 
in Devonshire ; its extent is very considerable, occupying nearly 
one half of the county. In the immediate neighbourhood of 
Bideford and Torrington, also from the latter place to South 
Molton, the land is of better quality, and under more correct 
management. The soil is a clayey loam, and when well drained 
fairly remunerates the cultivator. Occasionally we meet with 
other pieces of land of better quality : these are generally very 
limited in extent, and the variation is attributable to local circum- 
stances. In such cases we generally find in the soil a mixture of 
the decomposed portion of a neighbouring rock or of the adjacent 
geological formation with the soil ; which, by supplying the clay 
with bodies in which it was previously deficient, affords to the 
plants growing on it a superior nourishment. 
It is very interesting to observe how distinctly the boundaries 
of this district and those of the red sandstone soils are defined. 
The road from Exeter to Crediton shows it very plainly for 
several miles, and it is also quite evident in passing through 
Hatherleigh towards Bideford. It is at the former of these 
towns that these formations meet, and the traveller is astonished 
at the change here observed ; for, after passing through the very 
fertile and well-wooded country from Crediton to Hatherleigh, 
he suddenly enters on a dreary and barren expanse of land of the 
nature before described. On the north of this barren district 
