Farming  of  Gloucestershire. 
119 
in  the  others,  as  the  soil  and  climate  differ,  and  in  some  degree  as 
the  wants  and  pursuits  of  the  population  of  each  require.  To  do 
justice  to  the  various  methods  practised  in  those  divisions  will  re- 
quire me  only  particularly  to  describe  the  farming  practised  in 
two  of  those  divisions,  on  the  Cotswolds  and  the  “Vale.”  Many 
of  the  practices  are  common  to  all  the  divisions:  I need  therefore 
only  introduce  a few  remarks  respecting  the  others. 
Few  counties  having  the  same  geological  formations  exhibit  the 
soil  of  the  rock  in  so  pure  a state  or  so  free  from  the  debris  of  other 
formations  as  Gloucestershire,  and  especially  that  portion  called 
the  Cotswolds.  This  may  probably  be  the  cause  of  the  pecu- 
liarities of  management  which  are  so  striking  and  so  puzzling  to 
persons  who  dream  of  the  introduction  of  one  universal  system 
applicable  to  all  soils  and  climates.  The  soils  generally,  with 
slight  exceptions,  have  been  derived  from  the  rocks  or  subsoils  on 
which  they  rest,  and  in  consequence  a geological  map  will  afford 
the  best  index  to  the  character  of  the  soils.  Our  agricultural  divi- 
sion will  but  little  interfere  with  the  geological.  The  vale  of  the 
Isis  or  Thames  includes  the  geological  subdivisions  called  Oxford 
clay,  Kelloway  rocks  and  sands,  cornbrasli  and  forest  marble, 
and  Bradford  clay.  The  Cotswolds  comprise  the  great  oolite, 
fullers’  earth,  and  part  of  the  under  or  inferior  oolite.  “The 
Vale”  comprises  the  lias  and  new  red-sandstone.  The  Bristol 
district  comprises  a mixture  of  lias,  old  and  new  red-sandstones, 
mountain  limestone,  & c. ; and  the  Forest  district,  the  old  and  new 
red-sandstone,  magnesian  limestone,  &c.  The  geology,  agricul- 
tural botany,  and  entomology  of  the  county  will  be  best  under- 
stood from  the  particulars  on  the  following  page  : — 
Geology  of  Gloucestershire. — The  subsoil  of  nearly  all  the 
county  consists  of  secondary  strata,  from  the  Oxford  clay  to  the 
Caradoc  sandstone  inclusive. 
Tertiary  formations  are  entirely  wanting,  and  primary  rocks 
only  met  with  near  Tortworth. 
Modern  deposits  of  marine  origin  (diluvium)  seldom  interpose 
between  the  soil  and  more  ancient  strata,  although  in  most  of  the 
Cotswold  valleys,  and  rarely  on  the  hill,  there  are  accumulations 
of  limestone  gravel,  the  last  traces  of  the  agency  by  which  these 
valleys  were  made. 
Modern  river  deposits  (alluvium)  are  of  considerable  extent, 
and  still  increasing  from  the  marsh  land  bordering  the  Severn,  and 
some  smaller  tracts,  beside  the  Avon,  the  Isis,  and  other  streams. 
These  tracts  are  fertile  in  proportion  to  the  varied  regions  through 
which  these  streams  have  flowed,  and  the  nature  of  the  sediment 
stdl  periodically  spread  over  them  by  floods. 
The  county  includes  two  considerable  coal-fields,  from  which  it 
is  chiefly  supplied  with  “fossil  fuel.”  Coal  is  also  brought  from 
