Farming of Monmouthshire. 
211 
jwrtion, spoken of in ancient writings as the " Wilds of Mon- 
jnoutlisliire," may be truly described as all hill and dale, well 
watered and wooded, and comparatively productive. 
A long chain of hills from Bedwellty Mountains runs in an 
almost unbroken line to the Curtain Mountain of Machen. On the 
east of this we have the Mynyddysllwyn Mountain, and a second 
and third range of hills, 1815 feet high, running east and west of 
the river Ebbw ; whilst TwynfFynmonmaison, on the west of Blaen- 
avon, rises to the height of 1980 feet above the level of the sea. 
At Abergavenny are the Blorenge, the Skirrid, and the Sugar 
Loaf Mountains, 1954 feet high. A portion of the Black Moun- 
tain range, and the exceedingly wild bold ridges of the elevations 
of Aberystwith and Llanhilleth, are to the north and west of Ponty- 
pool. The Graig forms the principal height of Skenfrith on the 
north ; and Machen, Tynbarllwyn, and the far-famed Wyndcliffe, 
arc the principal eminences in the south. 
In contrast to these elevations — the principal of which only are 
named — are the narrow valleys running between the higher ranges 
of mountains, and the large broad tracts of the Wentlloog and 
Caldicot levels, lying even below the flood-level of the sea, and 
protected from its encroachments by walls and embankments of 
many miles in extent, which will be moi'e particularly described 
hereafter. 
The total acreage of the countv, being 317,440 acres, may be 
divided geologically as follows 
Upper Silurian : — 
(Jc) Ludlow rocks .. 
Shales and sandstone, 
shales prevailing 
(/() Wenlock limestone .. 
{g') Devonian Conglomerate and 
Sandstone 
(/) Mountain-limestone 
(e) Millstone-prit, Sandstone, 
Shale, &c 
(c) New Red Sandstone ; alternate] 
beds of stone, marl, and[ 
limestone ) 
(&) Lias clay, clayey loam, and! 
limestone ( 
Boulders, pebbles, gravel 
Acres. 
Localities. 
12,000 
5,920 .. 
Centre of the county. 
3,200 . .. -j 
128,000 .. ■ 
26,880 .. -j 
6,400 ,. 1 
67,8-10 .. 
i Usk, Monkswood, 
! Clytha. 
[■Central, Northern, 
j being two-fifths of 
[ the county. 
Chepstow, Magor, bor- 
dering Coal-measures, 
f Bordering Coal-mea- 
1, sures. 
West side of count}'. 
3,840 .. 1 
Portskcwit, Chep- 
stow, and Tintern. 
5,120 .. 
Liswerry, Maesglass. 
3,200 .. ' 
55,040 .. 1 
j Tredegar Park, and 
( vicinity. 
[Wentlloog and Cal- 
dicot levels and 
[ valleys. 
The Boulders and Alluvium (a), are probably under the 
