Fanning  of  Gloucestershire. 
121 
Staffordshire  by  canal,  and  from  South  Wales  by  sea.  But  for  all 
this,  and  the  facilities  of  rivers,  canal,  and  railways,  coal  is  still  so 
expensive  in  the  eastern  hilly  districts  as  to  limit  its  beneficial 
employment  in  the  operations  of  the  farm.  The  prices  range, 
according  to  circumstances,  from  16s.  to  22s.  per  ton. 
The  physical  character  of  the  county,  its  hills  and  valleys,  and 
river  channels,  arise  out  of  its  geological  structure,  and,  owing  to 
the  general  absence  of  local  deposits,  there  is  an  unusually  close 
connexion  between  the  character  of  the  soils  and  that  of  the  strata 
beneath.  The  geological  map  of  this  county  preserves  therefore 
a much  higher  agricultural  value  than  does  one  of  any  of  the 
eastern  counties,  where  the  regular  strata  are  covered  up  by  enor- 
mous and  variable  beds  of  gravel  and  clay,  whose  boundaries  have 
not  yet  been  surveyed.  A glance  at  this  map  will  show  the  dis- 
tricts into  which  1 have  divided  the  county. 
The  section  shows  that  the  strata  of  Gloucestershire  form  two 
larger  distinct  groups,  of  which  the  lower  (and  older)  includes  the 
Silurian  rocks,  old  red-sandstone  and  carboniferous  system,  whilst 
the  newer  secondary  comprises  the  new  red-sandstone,  lias,  and 
oolites. 
The  older  * secondary  strata  occupy  the  western  part  of  the 
county,  and  have  an  aggregate  (maximum)  thickness  of  about  3| 
miles ; they  are  often  highly  inclined,  and  the  hilly  character  of 
their  surface  is  chiefly  due  to  the  action  of  mechanical  forces,  by 
which  they  are  forced  sometimes  into  the  form  of  a dome  (Tort- 
worth  and  Berkeley),  at  others  into  that  of  a trough  or  basin. 
These  older  rocks  are  the  depositories  of  the  mineral  wealth  of 
the  county;  in  them  are  found  coal,  iron,  and  lead  ore,  whilst, 
agriculturally,  they  have  little  comparative  value  (if  we  except  the 
old  red  marls  of  Herefordshire),  because  they  consist  chiefly  of 
extremely  hard  sandstone  and  limestone,  forming  steep-sided 
hills,  where  little  soil  forms  or  accumulates. 
The  newer  secondary  strata  have  an  average  thickness  scarcely 
exceeding  1500  feet  at  the  deepest  part  (Lechlade)  ; but,  owing 
to  their  nearly  horizontal  position,  they  overspread  four-fifths  of 
the  county,  resting  “ unconformably  ” on  the  edges  of  the  former 
rocks,  w’hich  they  overlap,  so  that  the  new  red-sandstone  is  some- 
times found  to  repose  on  its  nearest  relative  (in  age),  the  coal- 
measures  ; at  others,  on  the  old  red,  or  Silurian.  This  is  impor- 
tant to  all  land-owners  to  remember,  as  it  shows  the  extreme 
uncertainty  attending  operations  for  coal  in  untried  districts. 
I will  now  notice  briefly  each  of  the  strata  represented  on  the 
map,  beginning  with  the  lowest : — 
* Usually  now  termed  “ Palaeozoic,’’  as  containing  the  remains  of  the  most  ancient 
animals  and  vegetables  of  the  globe. 
