514 Farmiiiij of the North Riding of Yorkshire. 
Section of a Potato-pit on Clay Soils. 
Mangold Wurzel is but little cultivated, except by Mr. Van- 
sittart; and potatoes are considered so great a scourge to the soil 
that they are little grown. They are invariably planted with 
% unfermented or fresh 
dung, and when got up 
are stored " in pies " 
on the level surface. 
The difference in pre- 
servation between these 
roots in the clay dis- 
trict and the sand is 
remarkable. In both 
they are placed in coni- 
cal heaps, with straw 
and soil covered over ; while on the clay> they are usually placed 
on the surface, and are found to preserve the best in such a posi- 
tion ; while they are 
stored the safest on 
the light soil district 
by being pitted deep 
in the ground ; in 
the one case they are 
placed above ground 
to prevent the access 
of wet, while in the 
latter they are placed 
deep, to prevent the access of air — both tending to defeat pre- 
servation, the one by promoting premature germination, the 
other decay. 
3. The Grazing Valleys. 
The valleys of the mountain limestone district of Wensley- 
dale, of Swaledale, and of Bishopdale — for the hills are wide 
expanses of bleak barren moorland — lying too high for cul- 
tivation, at least so far as present knowledge extends, have a 
climate considered too cold to admit of cultivation of the 
cereals, and nearly the whole is making so much in grass, that 
there is but little to tempt any parties to withdraw it from that 
mode of production. The valleys of the Ure and the Swale 
appear to have been worn down by these streams which have 
their origin at the extreme norlli-west of the Riding ; and as the 
limestone is al)raded, and is carried by the rills down to the bot- 
tom, this deep accumulation presents a soil richer perhaps than in 
any other part of the county, though less valuable than some in 
consequence of its being far removed from the traffic and popu- 
lation of Yorkshire. Nearer the hill tops the rock is more lightly 
Section of a Potato Pit on Light Soils. 
