530 lieport on tlie Farm Prize Competition in 
Sandstone, a bold cliff of whicli formed the site of the old castle of 
Nottingham. This stratum contains a great number of peculiar 
water-worn pebbles, chiefly of liver-coloured quartz rock — or 
" petrified kidneys," as they have been well called. The surface 
of the ancient forest of Sherwood, of which the Judges saw a 
great deal, is completely strewn with them. 
The Soils of the county are chiefly of sand or gravel, of lime- 
stone or coal land, or of clay. The whole of the poor forest land 
is of the first division, and also that by the banks of the Trent. 
The limestone soils are at the extreme west of the county. The 
clay districts are of two kinds, the more northerly being very 
fertile because of an admixture of sand. The southern clays, 
which embrace the Vale of Belvoir, and are less extensive, are 
of a more stubborn and sterile character. 
The banks of the Idle are covered to some distance by large 
deposits of mud, and gypsum is largely found in this neighbour- 
hood, as well as in South Nottinghamshire, where valuable beds 
of it are dug for manure. 
The chief Industries are coal-mining, and the manufacture 
of lace and hosiery goods. A large number of people are 
employed upon them, and the various centres of population so 
collected necessarily make healthy demands upon the produce of 
adjacent farms. There are also considerable maltings in tlie 
neighbourhood of Newark. 
The Climate of Notts is a dry and healthy one, the rainfall 
being very considerably less than that of its western neighbours, 
where the loftier hills attract and hold the passing clouds to a 
much greater extent, whilst, as regards temperature, the fact 
that as many as 1,400 acres of hops have been grown at once 
in the county says much for its mildness in such a northerly 
latitude. The acreage of hops, however, declined to 55 in 1876, 
and to 26 in 1886, probably because recent prices of the plant 
could only be successfully met under the very fittest conditions. 
It has been asserted by some people that the temperature is so 
much higher than that of other counties of equal latitude, as to 
bring the crops to harvest in equal season with those of much 
more southern ones. The only evidence, however, that the 
Judges had opportunity to gather in proof of the statement was 
the late date (May 12 to 14) at which barley might be sown 
with reasonable expectation of its proper maturity. 
There are three very large Estates in the county, whicli 
belong respectively to the Dukes of Portland and Newcastle, and 
to Earl Manvers, and the areas of which are 35,000, 34,000, 
and 26,000 acres. There are four other owners of 10,000 acres 
and abo\ e; so that Notts also may be called a county of 
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