132 
Farming  of  Gloucestershire. 
cannot  be  expected  under  tlie  ordinary  cultivation  of  our  soils. 
The  general  practice  has  hitherto  been  only  to  plant  a few  acres 
of  wheat  after  turnips. 
About  one-fourth  of  this  district  is  in  pasture  and  meadow.  In 
it  there  are  many  small  dairy-farms,  producing  cheese  and  butter 
of  the  same  quality  as  in  North  Wilts,  which  adjoins.  There 
are  also  some  good  water-meadows  on  the  Coin,  Churn,  and 
other  small  rivers  which  run  through  it.  Those  meadows  pro- 
duce an  early  and  abundant  supply  of  grass  for  ewes  and  lambs, 
and  other  stock,  which  is  exceedingly  useful  in  the  spring.  The 
custom  is  to  consume  the  first  crop  by  keeping  the  sheep  on  the 
land  till  May,  when  other  grass  and  green  crops  are  ready  to 
take  the  stock.  The  water  is  then  turned  on  again,  and  the 
second  crop  is  mown  for  hay  about  the  latter  end  of  J une  or 
beginning  of  July.  The  water  is  turned  on  a third  time,  and  the 
aftermath  which  succeeds  is  fed  off,  which  generally  lasts  until 
towards  Christmas.  The  other  grass  land  is  alternately  mown 
and  grazed,  except  the  cow  pastures,  which  are  always  led  with 
the  dairy  cows. 
There  has  been  a considerable  quantity  of  poor  grass  land 
brought  into  tillage  within  these  ten  years,  and  much  more  of  it 
would  be  thus  more  profitably  employed  under  a good  system  of 
tillage. 
The  Cotswolds. 
Our  second  subdivision  comprises  the  great  oolite,  fuller’s- 
earth,  Stonesfield  slate,  and  the  inferior  oolite.  The  situation 
of  the  great  oolite,  or  Bath  freestone,  will  be  indicated  by  enume- 
rating some  of  the  parishes  contained  within  its  limits.  Bourton- 
on-the-Hill,  the  Swells,  Bourton-on-the-Water,  Hampnett,  Yan- 
worth,  Rendcombe,  &c.,  Daglingworth,  Coates,  Minchinhampton, 
Marshfield,  &c. 
The  soil  on  the  great  oolite  is  a reddish  brown,  locally  named 
stonebrash.  Its  quality  varies.  Part  is  a moderately  deep  loam  ; 
but  the  greatest  portion  is  very  thin,  weak  land.  That  which 
is  nearest  the  rock  is  not  always  the  worst  land.  There  are 
many  patches  of  a deep,  loose,  foxy  soil,  apparently  a good,  deep 
loam  in  the  eyes  of  strangers,  which  is  in  reality  very  inferior. 
A tolerably  sure  criterion  of  the  best  land  is  wben  the  stones 
amongst  the  soil  are  moderately  large  and  hard.  Where  the 
stones  are  small  and  soft,  the  land  is  not  so  good  for  corn,  but 
will  bear  moderate  crops  of  turnips.  The  land  which  is  most 
deceiving  to  strangers  is  where  there  is  some  depth  of  apparently 
good  soil,  free  from  stones,  and  very  mellow  to  work.  It  is 
called  downsy  land,  we  suppose  from  the  fact  of  our  forefathers 
keeping  it  in  downs  for  their  flocks,  in  preference  to  tillage. 
