Tour In England* 
9 
TO OUR READERS. 
In communicating as we shall often do to our 
readers, narrative memoranda in the form of tours, 
journeys, &c., connected with instructive remarks and 
observations on whatever Agricultural subjects and 
its kindred associations come under our eye, we have 
thought it a pleasanter method of diversifying our 
information, and thus occasionally make it more 
agreeable than in the graver and possibly duller style 
of the mere essay. In all such papers however, we 
shall confine ourselves closely to Agricultural subjects, 
and incidents connected with them; hoping by these 
means to give as great interest to our work as in any 
other manner. 
Agricultural Tour in England* Wo. I. ( 
LONDON, RAIL-ROAD, COUNTRY SCENERY, 
ENGLISH FARMERS, BIRMINGHAM, MANCHES¬ 
TER, LIVERPOOL, MEETING OF THE ROYAL 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
It was on the morning of the 18th of July, 
that we found ourselves at the magnificent Rail¬ 
road depot, fronting with its noble pillared 
portico on Drummond-street, and taking our 
tickets, were soon snugly ensconced in comfort¬ 
able seats in the cars. Punctual to the hour, 
nine o’clock, the coach doors were locked, 
the signal was given, and away we sped. As 
this letter will be sufficiently iong without it, 
we shall, in some future number, describe the 
solid Rail-roads of England, and their superb 
appurtenances; suffice it to say now, therefore, 
that our pace the whole way was nearly that of 
the flight of a strong bird, averaging full twenty 
five miles the hour. The air was damp and chill, 
but flushed with excitement and the novelty of the 
scene before us, and wrapped up in thick Mac¬ 
intoshes, we heeded it not, but at once set our¬ 
selves with even more than a stranger’s privi¬ 
lege, to staring on every side with all our might. 
Regent’s Canal and Park were soon passed, 
and as we neared Primrose hill, casting a ling- 
eringing look behind, the mighty city of Lon¬ 
don appeared but a huge mass of buildings at the 
west end, shrouded beyond in a dim impenetra¬ 
ble cloud of mist and smoke. We had scarcely 
made this observation, when the shrill unearthly 
shriek of the engineer’s whistle thrilled in our 
ears, as the advance warning of our coming, 
and into a cold, damp, dark, caverned tunnel, 
of about three-fourths of a mile in length, the 
engine dashed with its fiery lightening mouth, 
followed by a long train of cars with a loud re¬ 
verberating noise like continued rolling thunder. 
What an entrance thought we, to grim old 
Pluto’s dark domain. 
But from this we soon emerged, and then 
came a country of gentle hill and dale, the ru¬ 
ral beauty of which, must be seen to be appre¬ 
ciated. Though the Rail-road was compara¬ 
tively of recent construction, nearly all newness 
was obliterated. In the deep cuts, unless 
through ledges of rock, the banks were ob¬ 
liquely graded and overlaid with sod of the 
deepest verdure, and along the edges of the 
road were stone faced ditches for the water to 
run oft’ the embankments again were neatly 
sloped from the iron rails, and planted with a 
variety of deciduous and evergreen trees of a 
dwarfish growth, while all along the line rose 
the thick hedge, now nicely trimed and plashed, 
and anon left to flourish in all its natural beauty 
and wildness. Hedges and ditches also divided 
the different fields that we were continually pas¬ 
sing, some of hawthorn, gorse, or holly alone, 
others with rows of trees interspersed, and to¬ 
gether with now and then a park, and thick 
plantings of some rugged, and otherwise barren 
hill side, greatly relieved the aspect of the coun¬ 
try from anything like the monotony of a too 
general cultivation. 
The cottages, farm houses, barns, and out¬ 
buildings were of brick or stone, generally old 
and antiquated in appearance, but at the same 
time neat and substantial, with thatched and 
tiled roofs, now and then one of a more modem 
erection of slate, and all with a soft grass plot, 
or garden around, kept in the nicest manner 
and tire ivy, the honeysuckle, or rose tree, 
trimmed up the walls, giving beauty and loveli¬ 
ness even to the humblest peasant’s tenement. 
We saw little of the towns and villages, saving 
their red tiled roofs, as we usually passed them 
at a distance, or only on their outskirts, but at 
the various stations on the road, others of a 
plain modern architecture are fast springing up, 
all substantial, and as soon as completed, if a 
foot of ground will admit of it, enshrouded in 
shrubbery. The old embattled church peeping 
out from embowered trees, with its square grey 
tower, gothic minarets, or pointed steeple was 
not wanting in the landscape, while frequently 
rose to view the massive .aristocratic hall or 
castle, with their extended parks or preserves, 
dotted with deer, and filled with wild game. 
It was in the midst of hay harvest, and scores 
of women and girls neatly clad, and with wide 
bonnets, were following the mowers, spreading 
the grass, or raking up such as was sufficiently 
dry to be stacked. The grain crops waved 
thickly and abundant, the earliest of which 
were just begining to ripen, potatoes were most¬ 
ly in flower, some of the turnips had been once 
hoed, others again were peeping from the 
ground, while later fields were ploughing and 
manuring still to be sown. A few horses were 
out grazing, but large flocks of sheep and herds 
of cattle were most abundant. Nearer London 
the South-downs were most abundant, but further 
on, and especially as the lands grew heavier 
