K 110  ) 
VIII. — Farming  of  Gloucestershire.  By  John  Bravendar. 
Prize  Report. 
Character  of  the  Soils  of  the  County,  Farming , Sfc. — Gloucester- 
shire presents  a very  uneven  and  broken  surface.  Its  length  is 
nearly  60  miles,  and  greatest  breadth  about  35  miles.  Its  con- 
tents have  been  stated  by  various  authors  to  be  800,000,  695,252 
(Rudge),  and  1,100,100  acres.  From  a careful  examination  of 
the  Ordnance  sheets  I make  the  total  quantity  to  be  797,500 
acres,  including  roads,  rivers,  waters,  and  wastes,  and  the  Forest 
of  Dean,  containing  about  23,880  acres. 
The  outlines  which  divide  the  soils  of  the  county  are  so  very 
irregular,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  state  accurately  the  quan- 
tity of  each  kind  of  soil.  An  approximate  quantity  is  all  that  we 
can  arrive  at.  The  climate  is  variable.  The  Cotswolds  and  ele- 
vated portions  are  observed  to  be  frequently  covered  with  snow 
when  there  is  none  in  the  vale,  and  in  descending  from  Birdlip  to 
Whitcombe  I have  frequently  been  struck  with  the  great  differ- 
ence in  vegetation  in  the  spring,  and  have  felt,  as  it  were,  a great- 
coat warmer  in  the  vale  than  on  the  hill.  The  more  elevated  posi- 
tion of  the  western  verge  of  the  Cotswolds,  and  the  change  in  the 
quality  of  the  land,  are  sufficient  to  produce  this  marked  difference, 
'l'his  difference  is  seen  more  in  arable  than  pasture  land.  Some 
years  since  the  harvest  was  a fortnight  or  three  weeks  later  on  the 
hills  than  in  the  vale,  but  this  is  rarely  the  case  now,  the  Cots- 
wolds being  somewhat  more  sheltered  and  the  soil  better  cultivated. 
The  introduction  of  bones  has  also  tended  to  bring  the  crops  to  an 
early  maturity,  and  the  time  of  harvest  has  become  more  equalized. 
Gloucestershire,  considered  in  an  agricultural  point  of  view, 
naturally  becomes  classified  into  five  divisions,  as  under: — 
1st.  The  vale  which  lies  south-east  of  the  Cotswolds,  and  com- 
prises a portion  of  the  vale  of  the  Isis  or  Thames,  containing  about 
59,800  acres. 
2nd.  The  elevated  district,  called  the  Cotswolds,  containing 
about  297,800  acres. 
3rd.  The  portion  locally  and  emphatically  called  the  “ Vale,” 
which  admits  of  the  following  subdivisions,  viz.  : — Vale  of 
Evesham;  Vale  of  Gloucester;  \ale  of  Berkeley,  containing 
about  300,600  acres. 
4th.  The  Bristol  district,  including  the  Kingswood  and  Coalpit 
Heath  coal-fields,  containing  about  66,000  acres. 
5th.  The  Forest  of  Dean  and  Ryeland  district,  containing  about 
73,600  acres. 
The  farming  in  each  of  those  divisions  differs  a little  from  that 
