219 
Botes anb Communications. 
AGRICULTURE IN DERBYSHIRE. 
In view of the fact that the Royal Agricultural Society will 
hold its Sixty-seventh Annual Show at Derby, it is considered 
that some account of the present position of agriculture in 
the county may appropriately be submitted to the members. 
I have therefore prepared these notes in compliance with a 
request of the Derbyshire Agricultural Society’s Council of 
which I am a member. 
No county in England (Cumberland and Westmorland 
excepted) has a more uneven or diversified surface than 
Derbyshire. The soil varies in different places according to 
the strata prevailing in the district. On the shaly gritstone 
about Glossop and the Peak the soil is poor and yields but 
scanty herbage. The southern part is more of a marly nature, 
with patches of gravel, the marly and loamy pastures forming 
excellent land for the feeding of cattle, and the arable land 
for the growth of cereals and other crops. On the coal and 
iron measures the soil is inclined to clay and varies much in 
quality, being in some places good loam, and in others very 
inferior land; these extremes may occasionally be met with 
upon the same farms. In the river valleys the soil is mainly 
alluvial. 
The land is chiefly in meadow or pasture for dairy purposes. 
Considerable attention is given to the breeding of cattle and 
horses, and good stud farms have been established in various 
parts of the county. Derbyshire is well watered by the Trent, 
Derwent, Dove, and Erewash, and their tributaries. 
The county town of Derby, with a population of about 
120,000, not being centrally situated like Leicester, is in a 
measure cut off as a market town from the northern portion 
of the county, except for its excellent railway connections ; 
for, in addition to the Midland Company, the Great Northern, 
the London and North Western, and the North Staffordshire 
Railway Companies have either lines or running powers into 
the town. Electric tram lines have been recently laid down in 
the borough and suburbs, and they run close by the proposed 
entrance to the Royal Agricultural Society’s Showyard. The 
weekly markets at Derby for fat and store cattle, horses, &c., 
as well as corn, fruit, and vegetables, are well attended. The 
