Agriculture of North Wales. 
569 
and 2 are from land situated about 700 feet above the level of the sea. 
I have marked soils, subsoils, and stone, with the same numbers. The 
soil I think you will find strongly impregnated with iron and sulphur, 
whicii shows what benefit lime would be if applied in that neighbour- 
hood ; but the farmers are too poor to pay for lime. It is only in such 
situations as this where you will find the lazy-bed fashion of planting 
potatoes, and that is not followed to the extent it was about seven years 
back. I should say that at present about one-eighth are planted in beds, 
so as to have them ripe about a fortnight earlier, and the other seven- 
eighths are drilled. Many of the farmers will keep the same ground in 
potatoes two or three years in succession ; the same with oats, manuring 
the second crop, but without any to the first and third, which will do 
little more than give them the amount of seed sown, with a very small 
quantity of straw ; after which it (the soil) is left to take its chance. 
I forgot to name, that after taking three crops of potatoes, one after the 
other, they will attempt to grow a crop of wheat, which will not make a 
sufficient return to pay for seed, labour, rent, &c., the quality being very 
inferior ; in fact, I have never seen any but has been injured by mildew 
and rust. Sometimes they will try barley, which answers a great deal 
better than wheat; but let them grow which they may, they leave the 
land in a most filthy and slovenly state, to take its chance afterwards. 
The rents in such localities are principally derived from sheep and black 
cattle, which are inferior to those of Anglesea ; the sheep are of the small 
mountain-breed, and are kept until they are four years old, when they 
are sold off to the drovers, who take them to the neighbourhood of I^on- 
don ; the prices the drovers give for them here are, wethers, 8*. Qd. to 
9.9., ewes 6^. to 7*. Qd. : they make the finest flavoured mutton in 
Wales.* 
" The cattle are generally kept until they are three or four years old, 
when they are sold to drovers, who take them to Barnet fair, &c., to be 
disposed of to the Norfolk, Essex, &c. graziers, who feed them for the 
London market. The drovers are generally men of the immediate 
neighbourhood, who mostly buy partly on credit, paying at the time of 
delivery about one-fourth or halt the amount of sale, by which custom 
the farmers are often great losers. If the drover does not get the price 
in England that he expects, he will contrive to get 5s. per head or so 
allowed him at the time of settlement; and very often false statements 
are made to get such allowances. They often decamp with the produce 
of the sale, or become bankrupts, whereby the poor breeder will only 
get a few shillings or nothing in the pound, the loss often falling even- 
tually on the landlord, the tenant being too poor to meet it. The prices 
the black cattle range at in the fairs here are, 3-years old, from 6^. to 9/. ; 
4-yearsold, 8/. to 12/. or 13/. for very prime. About three-fourths of 
the lots will consist of oxen, and the other one- fourth heifers; the heifers 
are seldom spayed. The breed must deteriorate in quality, as the 
farmers mostly keep the worst calf to rear for their bull. On the small 
* A considerable quantity of mountain thyme grows in the pastures 
alluded to, which is known to give an exquisite flavour to both mutton and 
venison. 
