Agriculture of Nottinghamsliirc. 
3 
but afterwards regales him more liberally on venison, the furtive 
spoils of his own royal demesnes, washed down by a " stoup of 
canary. ' As however none of these heroes have been noticed in 
history as being in their day pre-eminently protective of the in- 
terests of agriculture, and lest we should lay ourselves open to the 
serious charge of playing truant to our subject, we will, with be- 
coming sobriety, devote ourselves to the fulfilment of our proper 
task, by proceeding to show the gradual, and in all points of view, 
greatly beneficial, change which has been almost entirely brought 
about during the present century by means of an improved 
cultivation. 
As the forest was cleared of its stately trees it was left one wide 
waste so naturally sterile, as scarcely to have the power of clothing 
itself with the scantiest vegetation : even in the present day some 
districts remain which bear testimony to its former sterility. The 
fern, the gorse, the heath, and the delicate lichen, divide amongst 
them the soil ; but nature has been forced to yield to art, and a 
noble triumph it has been, as well as (me of great importance to 
the community at large. She has been gradually encroached 
upon and narrowed in her boundaries, until only so much is left 
as may serve to show what she formerly was. Where in former 
times only the rabbit browsed, large flocks of sheep are now fed — 
nutritious j)asturage in the summer and fine crops of turnips in 
the winter, furnishing to them an abundance of food, whilst these 
crops are succeeded every alternate year by cereal ones of the 
best quality. 
The inclosures are divided by quickset hedges, and are for 
the most part large, though varying in that respect for the sake 
of convenience with the size of the farms, which are usually from 
300 to 500 acres each : some few are, however, considerably 
larger, although not many exceed 1000 acres. The great pro- 
portion of the land which is annually sown with turnips, imparts 
to the country at all seasons, and especially so during the winter 
months, as compared with many counties, a pleasing aspect. The 
bright colours of their leaves, with the flocks of sheep spread 
over them, give to the gently undulated hills, as they succeed 
each other over all the western part of the county, a cheerful 
and highly domestic appearance ; an appearance in short which is 
characteristic of England, and can be seen in no other country 
in Europe. 
Unlike the eastern half of the county, which falls gradually 
from the range of hills as they run almost parallel to the River 
Trent, and afterwards shelves down into alluvial beds which form 
the banks of that river, leaving the country nearly level to the eye, 
on the western side the hills assume a more marked character, 
B 2 
