312 LIAS OF ENGLAND AND WALES : 
influence on the agricultural features, and along the Cotteswold 
Hills its presence is indicated by grassy slopes beneath the 
Midford Sands and Inferior Oolite, the soil being largely made 
up of a downwash of sands from the beds above. On the steep 
western slope of the Lincolnshire " Cliff," the soil over the Upper 
Lias clay is likewise rendered fertile by a downwash from the 
superincumbent strata. 
In the vales formed of Lias, and in the narrow valleys of Lias 
clay that intersect the Oolitic escarpments, we find most of the 
permanent pasture- and meadow-land. These tracts are divided 
by well-timbered hedge-rows, and almost everywhere the charac- 
teristic oak will flourish, while the elm and ash likewise abound. 
The fertility of particular tracts varies according to the nature of 
the clay, whether marly or loamy or very tenacious, the situation 
and elevation of the ground, and according to whether the soil 
is modified by a downwash of material from the adjoining uplands, 
or from scattered superficial deposits of gravel and sand. Where 
the bare clay comes to the surface, the soil is often stiff, cold and 
retentive, and requires much draining and manuring before it 
becomes productive. Much of the Lias clay is calcareous, but a? a 
rule it is too deficient in lime to be employed for marling the land ; 
the Lower and Upper Lias clays are the stiffest, the more loamy 
clays being found in the Middle Lias at the base of the 
Marlstone. 
The Vale of Marshwood in Dorsetshire is a tract formed partly 
of somewhat cold and stiff Lower Lias clay, bordered by more 
fertile lighter lands of Middle and Upper Lias. It includes 
some excellent pasture-land, and yields a good soil for orchards ; 
hence the Dorset butter and cider are noted. 
Among the products of the Liassic and Alluvial pastures of 
Somersetshire, south of the Mendip Hills, may be mentioned the 
Cheddar Cheese ; and of the Vale of Berkeley the Gloucester 
Cheese ; while the famous Stilton cheeses are most largely pro- 
duced from stock fed on the pastures of the more or less Drift- 
covered tracts of Lias, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. 
The Wolds of East Leicestershire, formed of Lias clay with 
cappings of Drift, furnish well-known sheep-walks ; and there is 
rich grazing-land near Market Harborough. Northwards in 
Lincolnshire the soil on the Lower Lias is a cold clayey loam, 
but its character is modified in many places by coverings of 
Drift, 
Wheat, beans and teazels are cultivated in places ; teazels more 
especially in the Vale of Ilchester. Hops were formerly grown 
in places, as at Bitton near Bath. Canon Ellacombe mentions 
that in many parishes there are fields called Hop Gardens, but 
the cultivation ceased to pay when it was cheaper to buy hops 
grown on more favourable soils.* 
* Proc. Bath Nat. Hist. Club, vol. vi. p. 187. 
