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REVIEW
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A
REVIEW
O F
THE REPORTS
TO THE
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE
' V
FROM THE
NORTHERN DEPARTMENT
O F
ENGLAND:
COMPRIZING
NORTHUMBERLAND, WESTMORELAND,
DURHAM, LANCASHIRE,
CUMBERLAND, YORKSHIRE ;
AND THE
MOUNTAINOUS PARTS of DERBYSHIRE, &c.
By Mr. MARSHALL.
gojfc:
Printed by Thomas Wilson & Son :
For Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster-Row, London.
1808 .
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CONTENTS.
\
Natural Districts.— Nor. 3.— Bur. 117.— Cum. 150 — »We*.
204.— Lan. 242— W. Yor. 327.— N. Yor. 414.— E. Yor. 497.
— South Mount. 522.
Reporters.— Nor. 10— Dur. 1 29.— Cum. 160.— West. 206—
Lan. 240. — W. Yor. 327.— N. Yor. 424. — E. Yor. 499.
natural economy.
Extent,— Nor. 13.— Cum. 161— Wes. 208.— Lan. 248.— N. Yor.
426.
Elevation — Dur. 131.— Cum. 162,—Wes. 210.— W.Yor. 336.—
N. Yor. 426. — South Mount. 526.
Turn of Surface — Nor. 13.— Dur. 131.— Cum. 162.— Wes. 210,
— LaU. 249.— W. Yor. 336. — South Mount. 526.
Climature — Nor. 15.— Dun 132.— Cum. 162— Wes. 210—
Lan. 249.— W. Yor. 336— N. Yor. 427.
Waters — Nor. 16— Cum. 163— Wes. 210— Lan. 252— W. Yon
337— N. Yor. 430.
Soils — Nor. 13— Dur. 131— Cum. 163— Wes. 211.— Lan. 249.
W. Yor. 338.— N. Yor. 430.
Substrata. — Nor. 14. — Cum. 163— Lan. 249.— W. Yor. 338—
N. Yor. 430.
Fossils.— Nor. 17.— Dur. 132.— Cum. 164— Wes. 211— Lan.
252. — W. Yor. 338. — N. Yor. 434. — S^uth Mount. 526.
Minerals. — Dur. 132. — Wes. 211.— W. Yor. 338— N. Yor. 436*
— South Mount. 527.
Coals — Nor. 18. — Dur. 133. — Cum. 165 a$d 171.
A 3 POLITICAL
! 203290
VI
CONTENTS.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
State of Appropriation of English Territory.
Unappropriated Lands — Nor. 27.— Dar. 140.— Cum.
166. — Wes. 212. — Lan. 253. — W. Yor. 340 N. Yor. 437.
— E. Yor. 501.
Their present Value. — Cum. i66>
Their improvable Value. — Cum. 167.— Wes. 213. —
E. Yor. 501.
The Means of Appropriation — Cum. 168.— W. Yor.
341.— N. Yor. 437.
State of Society.
Habitations — Cum. 18 1. See Homesteads and Cottages.
Provisions. — Nor. 28. — Dur. 142.— Cum. 169. — Wes. 214.
— Lan. 254. — W. Yor. 344.
Fuel. — -Nor. 29. — Cum. 169. — Wes. 216. — Lan. 255.
Employments.
Agriculture — See Occupiers and Workpeople.
Manufactures — Dur. 143— Cum. 170.— Wes. 216.— Lan.
255. -W. Yor. 344.— N. Yor. 440.
Commerce.— Dur. 142.— Wes. 216.
Local Taxes.
County Rate.
Road Rates. See Roads. .
Poor Rates.— Nor. 31 — Cum. 170.— Wes. 216.— Lam
259. — W. Yor. 347 N. Yor. 440.
Church Rates.
lithes.— Nor. 30. — Cum. 170 Wes. 217 Lan. 260. —
W. Yor. 348.— N. Yor. 443.
Public
CONTENTS.
vii
Public Works, which concern Rural Affairs^
Forming Marshes. — Lan. 27 1.
Embanking and Draining watery Lands.—
Cum. 170.
Inland Navigations.— Nor. 32.— Wes. 217.— Lari. 260.
— W. Yor. 337. — N. Yor. 445. — E. Yor. 503.
County Bridges. — *N. Yor. 44$.
Railways.— Nor. 32.
Roads. — Nor. 33.— Dur. 144.— Cum. 171.— Lan. 261—
W. Yor. 352. — N. Yor. 446. — E. Yor. 503.
Markets. — Nor. 33.— Wes. 217.— Lan. 269.— W. Yor. 353—
E. Yor. 505.
Weights and Measures. — ^Nor. 35 W. Yor. 354,
Intercourse of Districts. — e. Yor. 505.
Corn Laws. — W. Yor. 354.
Victualling Office at Hull. — e. Yor. 507.
Present marketable Products. — Cum. 17 1.
Surplus Products how vended. — -Cum. 171.
Institutions for the Advancement of Rural Know-
ledge. — Nor. 35 W* Yor. 354, and 411. — E. Yor. 509*
Game Laws. — w. Yor. 411.— N. Yor. 439.
'V V& .'iv *< * I. ✓
RURAL ECONOMY.
TENANTED ESTATES.
Estates.— Nor. 35.— Cum. 172.— Wes. 218— Lan. 270 — W.
Yor. 355. — N. Yor. 449.
Proprietors. — Dur. 143— N. Yor. 456.
Sizes. — Nor. 35. — Cum. 172. — Wes. 218.— Lan. 270<—
W. Yor. 355 — N. Yor. 449.
Tenures. — Nor. 36. — Cum. 172. — Wes. 218.— Lan. 27 1— r
W. Yor. 355. — N. Yor. 449,
A 4
Improvement
CONTENTS.
Improvement of Estates. — Nor. 36.— Dur. 143— Cum. 174.-.
Wes. 219.— Lan. 271.— W. Yor. 355.— N. Yor. 449— E.
Yor. 519. ^
By laying out the Lands judiciously. — Dur. 143.
By suitable Buildings. — Nor. 40.
By reclaiming wild Lands. — Nor. 38.— Dur. 143.
Cum. 174 Wes. 220. — Lan. 274 W. Yor. 355. — N.
Yor. 449. — E. Yor. 509.
By Reclaiming Watery Grounds. — Nor. 36.— Lan.
271, and 274.
By Watering Grass Lands. — Cum. 176.
By Establishing Markets. — Cum. 176.
On Introducing and Establishing Improvements.
— Nor. 87. — Cum. 177.
Executive Management of Estates. — Nor. 42.— Dur.
144. — Cum. 177. — Wes. 221. — Lan. 274. — W. Yor. 357.
N. Yor. 456.— E. Yor. 510.
Managers — W. Yor. 357.— N. Yor. 456.— E. Yor. 510.
Species of Tenancy.— Nor. 43— Dur. 144.— Cum. 177,
and 178. — Wes. 221. — Lan. 274. — W. Yor. 357, and
366. — N. Yor. 459- — E. Yor. 510.
Covenants of Leases — Nor. 43. — Dur. 144. — Cum.
177 . — Wes. 221.— Lan. 277.— W. Yor. 360, and 41 L—
N. Yor. 463.
Rents of Farm Lands — Nor. 45.— Cum. 179.—' Wes.
221. — Lan. 278. — W. Yor. 368. — N. Yor. 464.
Modes of Letting — Nor. 42.
Choice 6f Tenants.— n. Yor. 465.
Time of Entry Lan. 278.— W. Yor. 369.
Receiving Rents Nor. 45.— W. Yor. 369.
WOODLANDS.
CONTENTS.
h
WOODLANDS.
Natural Woods.— Nor. 46. — Dur. 146. — Cum. 180. Wes
222.— N. Yor. 465.
Plantations.— Nor. 47. — Dur. 147. — Cum. 180. — Wes. 230.
Lan. 279.— N. Yor. 466.
Disposal of Timber Nor. 465.
AGRICULTURE.
Farms.— See Sizes.
Sizes of Farms — Nor. 47. — Dur. 148. — Cum. 181;— Wes.
231. — Lan. 280. — W. Yor. 370. — N. Yor. 467.— E,
Yor. 512.
Plans of Farms w. Yor. 370.
Draining Farm Lands Nor. 38.— E. Yor. 513.
Fences and Gates, in use Nor. 40.— N. Yor. 467.—
E. Yor. 512.
Homesteads. — Nor. 40— Dur. 148 Cum. 181.— Wes.
231 Lan. 280.— W. Yor. 370.— N. Yor. 467.— E. Yor.
514.
Farm Cottages. — Nor. 40.— Cum. 181.— Wes. 231. — W.
Yor. 370.
Occupiers. — Nor. 48. — Dur. 148. — Cum. 181. — Wes. 231.—
Lan. 280.— W. Yor. 371. — N. Yor. 469. — E. Yor. 514, and
516.
Plans of Management most prevalent. — Nor. 48, and
113. — Dur. 148. — Cum. 182. — -Wes. 232. — Lan. 281. — W. Yor.
372. — N. Yor. 471.— E. Yor. 514 and 516.
Workpeople, or Farm Laborers. — Nor. 51.— Dur. 149.—
Cum. 183.— Wes. 234.— Lan. 283.— W. Yor. 375. — N. Yor.
474.— E. Yor. 516.
Working
CONTENTS.
Working Animals, in use on Farms. — Nor. J3. — Dur.
14.9. — Cum. 184. — Wes. 235. — Lan. 284. — W. Yor. 378. —
N. Yor. 475. — E. Yor. 517.
Implements of Husbandry, in use. — Nor. 62.— Dur. 150.
— Cum. 185. — Lan. 284. — W. Yor. 379. — N. Yor. 476. — E.
Yor. 5 IS.
. Manures, in use. — Nor. 67.— Dur. 1 50.— Cum. 190. — Wes.
235.— Lan. 285.— W. Yor. 384— N. Yor. 477.— E. Yor. 519.
Management of Arable Lands.
Tillage. — Nor. 70— Cum. 190 W. Yor. 39 5.
Manuring. — -Lan. 289.
Semination. — Nor. 7 1.— Cum. 191-
Growing’ Crops — Nor. 72.— Cum. 191.
Harvesting. — Nor. 73.
Homestall Management. — w. Yor. 407 *.
Culture of Arable Crops.
Wheat.— Nor. 73.— Dur. 151.— Cum. 191— W. Yor. 396.
— N. Yor. 478.
Rye. — Nor. 76.
Barley. — Nor. 76.— Dur. 151.— Cum. 191— W. Yor. 397.
Meslin. — Nor. 76.
Oats. — Nor. 78. — Dur. 151. — Cum. 1 9 1 N. Yor. 478.
Beans. — Nor.78— Dur. 151— W. Yor. 397.— N. Yor. 479.
Peas. — Nor. 80.— Dur. 151.— Cum. 192;
Flax. — w. Yor. 398— N. Yor. 479’.
Teasels N. Yor. 479.
Turnips.
* On the Winter Management of Store Cattle, — on the Thrashing or Dress-
ing of Corn, on the Expenditure of Hay or Straw, or on the raising of Manure
therefrom, — not a word ! t (excepting the item here referred to, and excepting
what may have been incidentally mentioned under other heads). Indeed,
those very important' concerns of the arable Farmer, appear not to have been
thought of, by the framer of the plan of the Board’s Reports.
CONTENTS. xi
#
Turnips — Nor. 80, and 113.— Cum. 192.— W. Yor. 399.
Bulbous Rape — N. Yor. 482.
Potatoes — Nor. 80.— Lan. 292 N. Yor. 480.
JLiquonce W. Yor. 401.
Herbage — Nor. S8— Dur. 151.— Cum. 192.— Wes. 2 35
Lan. 304.— W. Yor. 401.— N. Yor. 482.
Management of Grass Lands — Nor 89.— Dur. 15L— Cum.
193 Wes. 236.— Lan. 305.— W. Yor. 402.— N. Yor. 484.
Orchards — Dur. 152.— Lan. 310.
Livestock, and their Management Dur. 152.— W. Yor.
403.— E. Yor. 509.
Horses. — Nor. 91. — Dur. 153.— Cum. 195. — Wes. 237. —
Lan. 311 W. Yor. 404 N. Yor. 485. — E. Yor. 520.
Cattle — Nor. 91 — Dur. 153. — Cum. 195 Wes. 237.
Lan. 313 W. Yor. 404. — N. Yor. 487. — E Yor. 520.
Dairy Management — Nor. 96.— Cum. 197.— Wes. 23s.
— Lan. 314. — W. Yor. 405. — N. Yor. 488.
Sheep — Nor. 97, and 115— Dur. 153— Cum. 197.— Wes.
238 Lan. 323 W. Yor. 406 N. Yor. 489 E. Yor.
520.
Goats — Nor. 105.
Rabbits — Nor. 105. — Wes. 240. — Lan. 324.
Swine — -Nor. 105. — Dur. 154. — Lan. 321.
Poultry — Nor. 106.— Wes. 241.— Lan. 324.— W. Yor. 408.
Pigeons — w. Yor. 409.
Wild Fowl Lan. 324.
Bees — Lan. 325.
ADVERTISEMENT.
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ADVERTISEMENT.
Having, in the introduction to this vo-
lume, explained its plan, what I have to at-
tempt, here, is to point out its utility.
*
The Reports at large, seeing the magnitude
of their bulk, and the comparative smallness
of the useful matter they contain, may well be
deemed a heavy tax on the time, if not on the
purse, of the agricultural public. Their vo-
luminousness certainly debars many practical
men from profiting by the useful parts of their
contents*.
If it shall be found that I have comprized
rnore useful information, in one volume than
is contained in eight, my endeavors wiil surely
have some claim to utility ; and will, I trust,
be entitled to the approbation of the Board
whose labors I have thus been rendering su-
periorly prof table to the public.
The transactions of the Royal Society have
been abridged with valuable effect. The volume
I am
( 14 )
I am now offering, however, is not merely an
abstract or abridgement of the Reports to the
Board of Agriculture, or I should have pub-
lished it, as such. I have not only concen-
trated their valuable parts, but have pointed
out, — and I believe rectified, — their more dan-
gerous errors ; and may have thus rendered my
work useful to those who have, as well as to
those who have not, the Board’s Reports.
Should it be said that I have left many er-
rors, if not absurdities, unnoticed, I would to
ply — every thing that I have left unnoticed is,
I conceive, either erroneous or futile, and, to
practical men (especially those who are in pos-
session of my former publications) of no con-
sideration or avail.
I have a further claim on the agricultural
public : — I have not merely separated the better
parts, from the confused masses in which I
found them dispersed, but have, by appropriate
arrangement (as being at once natyral and
practical) rendered them, I trust, intelligible
at sight, and easily to be referred to : and have
thus placed them in the most convenient form,
not only for perusal , but for study and reference .
For,
( 15 )
For, by following each section of the general
subject through the several Reports, (by the
prefixed Table of Contents) the valuable in-
formation, relating to each individual topic,
may be read with nearly equal facility, and
with the self-same profit, as if the whole were
re-cast and arranged systematically. And, al-
low me to add, the student, by this fresh read-
ing, will inevitably, though perhaps impercep-
tibly, receive additional advantage from the
information collected by the Board.
Lastly, I will venture to prefer a claim on
the public at large : — in having (as far as I
have yet proceeded) unfolded a view (hitherto
unnoticed) of the face of the country, as it re-
lates to TERRITORIAL CONCERNS; and have
thereby furnished an ample field of substan-
tial natural facts, which cannot fail to become
of the first utility, whenever the Government
of this fair Isle may find it expedient to attend,
in some efficient way, to the amelioration of
its own territory.
May 8 , 1808 .
INTRODUCTION,
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INTRODUCTION.
Section I.
The ORIGIN and PROGRESS of the BOARD of
AGRICULTURE .
T>EFORE the Memoirs of the Board can be entered upon
with sufficient intelligence, it will be requisite to lay
before my reader the rise and progress of my own u Plan for
promoting Agriculture and the subsequent proposal for
a “ Board of Agriculture — the former of which was publicly
offered six years, and the latter three years, before the
Institution, whose transactions form the subject of the present
work, took place.
In a public address, prefixed to the Rural Economy of
Norfolk (first published in 1787) I stated the following par-
ticulars -which I here reprint for the use of those who may
not have that publication at hand.
* The utility of full and faithful Registers of the present
practice of Husbandry, in well cultivated Districts, occurred
to me about ten years ago *, — when, in a journey of four or
five hundred miles through the central parts of the Island, I
experienced the inutility of a transient view ; but at the same
time, clearly saw the advantages which would accrue from a
twelvemonth’s residence in the immediate District of the
practice to be registered. At that time, however, I was too
busily employed in registering my own practice * to think of
extending my Register, in any way, to the practice of others.
But
* See Minutes of Agriculture in Surrey,
a
INTRODUCTION.
xv iii
But being fortunately released from my connexion in Surrey,
and having prepared for publication my Experiments and
Observations concerning Agriculture and the Weather, I
found leisure to reflect more maturely on the means of per-
fecting the system, which I had, with much deliberation,
sketched out, and which I had in part filled up, from my own
practice.
‘ In February 1780, I submitted to the Society of Arts in
London, as the first Society, professedly Agricultural, in the
kingdom, the following Plan.
Plan for promoting Agriculture.
* The knowledge of Agriculture either results from ex-
perience, simply *, or is acquired through the united efforts
of experience and theory.
* Theory may facilitate, by analyzing the subject, and
giving a comprehensive view of the science in general ; — eluci-
date, by commenting on the experience already acquired; —
accelerate, by proposing fit subjects for future investigations; —
but cannot convey any certain information without the aid and
concurrence of experience.
* The experience of Agriculture is acquired through adequate
observation, either on self-practice, or on the practice of
others.
‘ The practice of an individual, however, is generally li-
mited to some particular branch of management, on some cer-
tain soil and situation ; and a general knowledge of Agricul-
ture must not be expected from the practice of any one man.
‘ A man, nevertheless, who has spent a long' life in the
practice of some certain department, must necessarily have
acquired a considerable share of knowledge of that particular
department : and it is probable, that were the knowledge of
the individuals who excel in the several departments of hus-
bandry, — were the knowledge of the ablest farmers in the best-
cultivated parts of the island collected — —English Agriculture
would
INTRODUCTION.
xix
Would be found, at this day, to be far advanced towards
perfection.
4 But the individuals who excel in agriculture are unknown
to each other ; and, if associated, could not probably com-
municate their knowledge, with any degree of precision : for
their art, being the result of habit, is too familar to be
minutely described* Their far/ns are the only records in which
it is registered, and even there it is as fleeting as the hour in
which it is performed. Nothing but actual observation,
and immediately registering, in writing, the several opera-
tions, as they pass throughout the year, can render the prac-
tice of individuals of extensive service to the Public.
4 In short, the art of agriculture must ever remain imperfect
while it is suffered to languish in the memory, and die with
the practitioner: Record, only can perpetuate the art; and
System, alone, render the science comprehenfive*.
4 Mr. Marshall has already submitted to the Public a register
of his own practice during five years; comprehending a pirn
for acquiring agricultural knowledge, systematically, from self-
practice f; which plan is equally applicable to the practice of
others; provided the observations be performed without re-
mission, and by one who is accustomed to agricultural obser-
vation. He has also endeavoured to trace out the foundation
of a system, so far as his own practice has extended.
* H is present Plan is, to extend his observations to the
practice of others ; more especially as it appertains to the
breeding, rearing, and fatting of cattle — to the dairy manage-
ment — to the management of sheep, — to the draining and
watering of meadows, — and to the grass land, or ley-manage-
ment in general. After he is become proficient in these de-
partments,
** What Dr.. Johnson says of Language is applicable to Agriculture
“ Diction merely vocal is always in its childhood. As no man leaves his
“ eloquence behind him, the new generations have all to learn.” — Journey to
the Western Islands of Scotland .’
f See Experiments and Observations, as above.’
XX INTRODUCTION.
partmenfs, his intentions are to extend his $urV"T oe pro-
vincial agriculture to the arable or plow-management.
* His intended mode of observation is this : Having pitched
upon the branch of management to be studied and the district
which excels in the practice of that particular branch, he pro-
poses to fix his place of residence, during twelve months,
in a farm-house ; — if possible, in the house of the best-inform-
ed farmer in the district pitched upon ; and there, with daily
attention, minutely observe and register the living practice
which surrounds him : not the practice of theoretical, but of
professional farmers; or rather the provincial practice of the
district, county, or country observed; nevertheless attending
to improvements and excellencies, by whomsoever practised.
* Nor is his plan confined merely to observation: he means to
acquire by self-practice a competent knowledge of the manual
operations incident to the department of husbandry which is
the immediate object of his study ; as also to collect such im-
plements and utensils as may appear peculiarly adapted to
the purposes for which they are severally intended ; not
sketches nor models, but the instruments themselves which he
has seen in common use ; and of whose uses he has acquired,
by manual practice, an adequate knowledge.
‘ In order to furnish himself with every advantage which
may forward his general design, his further intentions are to
employ his leisure in taking a complete Review of written
Agriculture, from Fitz-Herbert, in 1534, to the present
time (excepting the works of such authors as may be living at
the time of closing the review); and, after his judgment ha9
been matured by a survey of provincial practice, to compress
into a3 narrow a compass as may be, the useful information
relative to British Agriculture, which has been already re-
corded ; whether it appears in incidents and experiments
sufficiently authenticated, or in hints which may furnish sub-
jects for future experiment.
‘ Briefly, — his plan is, reciprocally to receive and to offer
information ; — to communicate provincial practice to the Public
at
INTRODUCTION. xxi
at large;— to collect and compress the useful information which
is at present widely scattered in almost numberless volumes; —
and to reduce these joint accumulations of agricultural know-
ledge to systematic science: consequently, to offer to the
present and succeeding generations a comprehensive System
of English Agriculture, as it now stands and to raise it
on a basis so ample and scientific, as that future acquisitions
may be added to it from time to time.’
In the Rural Economy of the Midland Counties, — the
first edition of which was published in 1 790, — in speaking of
Societies of Agriculture, and the inefficiency of those which
had then been established, I made a further statement of facts,
and ventured to bring forward a proposal which naturally re-
sulted from them 5 and which, also, I think it right to insert
here.
* In the Digest of the Minutes of Agriculture, on the sub-
ject Public Agriculture, I proposed an establishment of Agri-
cultural colleges, to be distributed in different districts as semi*
naries of rural knowledge.
* It is now more than twelve years since that proposal was
written ; during which time my attention has been bent, un-
remittingly, on rural subjects; and the result is that I now
see, still more evidently, the want of rural seminaries.
* The seminaries there proposed, are, however, on too large
a scale for any thing less than national establishment, and com-
merce, rather than agriculture, appear? to engage, at present,
the more immediate attention of Government ; and this, not-
withstanding^ the present scarcity of corn is such, that we are
aslring even the Americans for a supply ; and notwithstanding
a very considerable part of the cattle, which now come to
market, are the produce of Ireland.
‘ I have already said, in the course of this work, that it is not
jny intention to obtrude my sentiments unseemingly, on na-
tional concerns. But possessed of the mass of information,
which, in the nature of my pursuit, I must necessarily have
accumulated, —no man, perhaps having had a similar oppor-
a 3 tunity, —
XXII
INTRODUCTION.
tur.ity, — I think it a duty I owe to society, and an inseparable
part of my present undertaking, to register such idea?, whether
national or professional, as result aptly and fairly ou^ of the
subject before me ; and, in this place, I think it right to inti-
mate the probable advantages which might arise from a Board
of Agriculture, — or, more generally, of Rural Affairs:—
to take cognizance, not of the state and promotion of agricul-
ture, merely, but also of the cultivation of wastes and the pro-
pagation of timber ; — bases on which, not commerce only, but
the political existence of the nation is founded. And. when
may this country expect a more favorable opportunity, than
the present, of laying a broad and firm basis of its future pros-
perity V *
In December J 7 Q 0 (a few months after the publication of that
Proposal) the first President of the Board of Agriculture did me
the honor of making himself known to me. He was then
eagerly employed in collecting materials for & statistical ac-
count of Scotland, and in endeavoring to establish a society,
there, for the improvement of British wool. He was of course
too much engaged, at that time, in Scotland, to make any at-
tempt at the Presidency of a Board of Agriculture, in England \
anxiously as he might then eye it, as an honor in reserve.
It was not until the spring of 1793, that the (afterward) first
President apprized me of his intention to bring the proposed
Board before Parlianient. He showed me his plan, and, during
my short stay in London, repeatedly consulted me on the sub-
ject.
At the time of my leaving town, there did not appear the
smallest probability of the measure being adopted : even its
promoter assured me that he had no hope of its being, then,
carried into effect. Nevertheless*, I had barely reached my
temporary residence in the central Highlands, before the public
prints announced the appointment of a Board of Agriculture ;
together with the names of the President and Secretary !
How was this mystery to be explained? To me, at five hun-
dred miles distance from the scene of the mysterious transaction,
it
* Edition 1790, page 13 J. Ed. 1796, p. 87.
INTRODUCTION.
XXJ.fi
it was impossible even to conjecture the cause of so sudden a
change in the sentiments of Ministers, on so plain a subject.
Upon the spot, however, as I afterwards found, there were
only two opinions respecting it ; and these two led to the same
point : namely, that it turned on what, in the familiar language
of politicians is termed a job ; and the only doubt that re-
mained appeared to be, whether the measure (weighty as it
might be) was adopted to avoid the importunities, and quiet
the still more ambitious cravings of the President, or to em-
brace a fair opportunity of rewarding a recent chang-e of po.-
litical sentiments, in the Secretary.
Thus fled my hope of credit (which I really expected) and
all chance of profit (which I had not entertained) from my
proposed Board of Agriculture. But as it did not appear, in any
direct way, to interfere with my other plans, but might in one
way or other assist in promoting them, its appointment gave
me not much concern : — until I found, by a note from the Pre-
sident, in September following, that he had adopted my plan
of provincial surveys : and, with a firmness of nerve which few
men are endowed with, inclosed a list of surveyors,— myself
among the rest ! urging me to take a share in his attempt to
supersede a work, in the prosecution of which the most valuable
part of my life had been expended ! !
My indignation having abated, I returned the following
answer : — Mr. Marshall’s compliments, &c. &c. ** It gave
him great satisfaction to hear of the establishment of a Board
of Agriculture : an institution which Mr. M. has long been
anxious for ; as it will give a degree of sanction to rural pur-
suits, which hitherto they have not had *, and may prove useful
to the general work which he has now been so long and la-
boriously executing. It will of course give him great pleasure
to aid the laudable exertions of the Board, in any way that will
not clash with his own undertaking. But to render this in-
complete, by tearing from it any part of his General Survey of
the Rural Affairs of these Kingdoms, would he thinks be alto-
a 4 gether
XX1Y
INTRODUCTION.
gethcr improper. If, as he intimated in London, his general
knowledge of the practices of the island (Wales excepted) can
be rendered beneficial in revising the collections of the raw
observers whom the Board must necessarily employ, he shall be
happy in lending his assistance.* Taymouth, n Sept. 1793.”
On jnore maturely considering this evidently insidious at-
tempt, it occurred to me that the proposed plan of the Board
might become subservient to my own design ; by affording me
valuable assistance in carrying it into effect. Hence, on further
importunity (and a highflying lure thrown out !) I complied
with the request to furnish an account of the mountain dis-
trict, in which I then was residing.f Several of the proposed
surveyors were respectable ; and I now began to consider them,
not as rivals , nor even as fellow laborers , but as a numerous,,
band of assistants , which unforseen circumstances had thus
fortunately thrown in my way ; to aid me in the more perfect
cultivation of my own field ! and I am now about to reap the
fruits of their labor: — not for myself; but for my country.
Before I quitted the Central Highlands, I made excur-
sions into the more recluse and sequestered parts of them
(having previously examined the more fruitful and habitable
districts, in going over the widely extended estates of the
Earl of Braedalbane, in that strongly featured and in-
teresting part of the island); in order to be the better enabled
to draw up the promised report ; which, in February 1794,
I had the honor of presenting to the Board ; of which I was
soon afterward chosen honorary member; and, during a
short stay in London, attended its meetings ; as well as the
more private consultations of the President.
In
* The above noticed intimation related, not to agricultural , but to statistical,
snrveys ; which alone were held out, in London.
f And this notwithstanding a man (who ought to have judged better) tra-
velled far out of his way, to persuade me to the contrary; and to prevail on
to join him id opposing the Board.
INTRODUCTION*
In August following, I was first apprized, by a letter from
the President, himself ! that, during my absence from town, he
had declared war against another and more important part of
my avowed design. It was not enough to try to overrun, with
his levy en masse , my provincial registers; but he must
attempt, with another posse comitatus , to overthrow my general
work ; which, for twenty years preceding, I had not only been
progressively laboring to accomplish; but which I had been
undisguisedly, and unsuspectingly promulgating; so that it was
impossible for the President of the Board of Agriculture to be
ignorant of my intentions.*
Nevertheless, in that happy unembarrased manner which
exclusively belongs to the fitst President of the Board of Agri-
culture, he sent me his chaotic syllabus; requiring to know
how many of its chapters I could conveniently undertake !
I remonstrated with him on the folly of attempting any thing
in the shape of a general work, while the Board remained des-
titute of materials, of its oivn y for such an undertakihg ; many,
or most, of the Reports being extremely deficient ; and to com-
pile from books would ill become the Board.
But no matter. The order was issued : — u make books : good
ones if you can: if not, make books.” And, in truth, this
order was operated upon, until the rooms of the Board had
more the appearance of booksellers warehouses, than the offices
of a public Board ; which might then have been well entitled
the Board of Bookmaking, rather than of Agriculture, t
The two chapters, which I was perseveringly urged to un-
dertake, were those of the dairy and of semination , — or a com-
parative view of the drill and the broadcast modes of husbandry.
My reply was “ I am still clearly of opinion that a general
work, at present, must fall very short of being worthy of the
Board. To instance the articles you have been pleased to allot
me
* And see page xxiii.
f The books of the Hoard were poured in so fast upon a certain personage^,
that he ttas heard to exclaim — “ I shall be beggared in the binding of them.**
XXVI
INTRODUCTION.
me : — in the reports of the two first dairy counties, Glocester-
shire, and Northwiltshire, the reporters are in a manner silent
on the subject ; alledging that it has been already fully treated
of by myself ; and the only thing I can do or say, with pro-
priety, in a general Report, will be to refer to my own books.
Again, with respect to drilling, the provincial Reports afford
little information which has not been foisted into them by
drill-makers, &c. &c. &c. Nevertheless, if you think it right
to hold out a, general Report, and will favour me with some
guide, as to quantity and quality, I will endeavor to say
something to the purpose on the subjects you have assigned
me”
In consequence of this reluctant compliance, I set about com-
posing a general article on the subject of the dairy : — not that
I saw much probability of its ever appearing as a part of the
projected scheme of the President of the Board ; but because,
should that prove abortive, my time would not be thrown away ;
as it might, eventually, form a section of my own general
work : — otherwise, I should have been highly culpable (as an
accepted laborer in the service of the public) to have spent,
even a few months, on so ill-judged and unpromising an un-
dertaking.
During the whole of 17 95, — for it was little more than one
long session of the Board, — I was pretty constant in my at-
tendance; — not only at the public; but in the more select
meetings : offering my advice, and answering enquiries, with**
out reserve ; and, I must add, receiving great civility and po-
liteness from the President : for reasons, however, which were
too obvious not to be perceived. But I was willing, while I
saw any hope of the Board’s becoming permanently useful , to
give it every assistance in my power.
At length, however, seeing, in the wildness and instability
of the plans of the President, and the undisguised opposition
that was constantly given to the proceedings of the Board —
whether wrong or right — by the very power which gave it
birth ! —
INTRODUCTION*
xxvii
birth ! — that there was no hope left of its being under such cir-
cumstances advantageous to the public , my attention, to it, be-
came relaxed, and reverted to its wonted channel ; from which
it had been unfortunately led astray.
Nevertherless, I stiil continued to attend, occasionally, the
meetings of the Board : — particularly while the general in-
CLosure bill was first agitated, in 1797 : this appearing to be
by far the mor>t laudable measure which the Board of Agri-
culture had adopted.
Still, the President persevered in his bookmaking plan ; and,
though I had long withdrawn my assistance, sometimes sent me
crude productions to be criticized: — thus still wiling me on,
to assist him in the destruction of my own design ; which he
now began to acknowledge he had adopted ; and proposed a sort
of compromise : offering, if I would fix any time for bringing
out my general work, he would bring his out, before or after
that time !
This I smiled at : seeing, in the sort of materials he was col-
lecting, no probability of his rivaling me in a general work.
Yet the inundation that he was causing, by the quantity of
books about Agriculture, which he was throwing into the
market, operated of course in lessening the diffusion and sale
of my own works , — hard as I had labored to produce them :
and I now had to contend with a hired corps (paid by that pub-
lic whom I had long been gratuitously working for) single
landed.
For all this, however, I could have granted him forgiveness,
had he not afterward interfered with what I have more at heart,
even than my general work : I mean a rural institute, or
seminary of rural economy. But the base attempt which
he unsuccessfully made to rob me of this too ! is a crime which
it would be a crime in me to forgive.
Section 2 .
WriQ
INTRODUCTION.
Section 2.
The PLAN and EXECUTION of the REPORT#.
THE prosecution of the surveys (or the supposed surveys)
was by counties ; each county (Yorkshire excepted) being the
subject of one separate Report.
This plan of survey, however, is demonstrably wrong for
reasons which I trust will plainly appear, in the following
extract, from the Rural Economy of the West of England \
which was originally published in May 1796 ; that publication
giving me the first convenient opportunity of stating them,
after the surveys of the Board commenced.
‘ This popular appellation (the West of England) is usually
given to the four most western counties, namely Cornwal,
Devonshire, Somersetshire, and Dorsetshire.
* But, in examining a country, like England, with a view to
the existing state of its agriculture, and the other branches of
its Rural Economy, the arbitrary lines of counties are to be
wholely disregarded. For if any plan was observed in deter-
mining the outlines of provinces, in this island, it certainly had
no reference, or alliance whatever, to agriculture ; unless it
were to divide, between opposing claimants, the natural dis-
tricts, which required to be studied, separately, and entire.
Natural, not fortuitous, lines are requisite to be traced, agricul-
tural, not political, distinctions are to be regarded.
* A natural district is marked by a uniformity or similarity,
of soil and surface, whether, by such uniformity, a marsh, a
vale, an extent of upland, a range of chalky heights, or a
stretch of barren mountains be produced. And an agricultural
district is discriminated by a uniformity, or similarity, of prac-
tice i whether it be characterized by grazing, sheep farming,
arable management, or mixed cultivation, or by the production
of some particular article ; — as dairy produce, fruit liquor,
tic. tic.
‘ Now
INTRODUCTION.
* Now it is evident that the boundary lines of counties pay
fio regard to these circumstances. On the contrary* we fre-
quently, find the most entire districts, with respect to nature
and agriculture, severred by political lines of demarcation.
The midland district, for instance, a whole with respect to
soil, surface, and established practice, is reduced to mere frag-
ments by the outlines of the four counties of Leicester, War-
wick, Stafford and Derby *. Again, the fruit liquor district,
of the Wye and Severn, includes parts of the counties of
Hereford, GJocester, and Worcester f. And the dairy district
of North Wiltshire receives portions of the counties of Gloccs-
ter and Berks, within its limits, and extends its practice to the
eastern margin of Somersetshire p
* Hence, it may be truly said, to prosecute an agricultural
survey, by counties, is to set at naught the distinctions of
nature, which it is the intention of the Surveyor to examine and
describe ; and to separate into parts the distinguished practices,
which it is his business to register, entire.
‘ Such a mode of procedure is an impropriety, not only in
theory, but in practice. It destroys that simplicity of execution,
and perspicuity of arrangement, which alone can render an
extensive undertaking pleasurable to him who prosecutes it, or
profitable to the public.
‘ Another practical objection, which lies against surveying by
counties (beside the repetitions or references it requires) is the
unnecessary labor it incurs, and the superfluous volumes to
‘ which it necessarily gives rise. For it is not the practice of
every township or farm which can be registered, nor that of
every hundred or county which requires it.
* It is the superior practices of distinguished natural districts,
in different and distant parts of the island (thus separating, ^and
thereby showing in the most intelligible form, its more distinct
practices) —
♦ See Midland Counties.
+ See Glocestershire ; Section Fruit Liquor,
X See GiocesteRshire; Section Dairy .
XXX
introduction.
practices) — and these only, that are necessary to be fixed, — as a
firm basis, on which to raise future improvements, — and still
more enlightened practices.*
The plan of the original Reports of the Board — if plan they
can be said to have — most of them being, literally speaking,
“ without form and void** — was what may be conceived from
some of the heads, of the provincial surveys which I had then
published, being turned in a wheel, and arranged in the order
in which they happened to be drawn out. They were evidently
mine; but so deranged and disfigured, as not to be easily
Tecognised. Some idea of them may be formed from the im-
proved plan of the reprinted Reports ; which will presently be
shown.
The originals were printed on quarto paper, in narrow
columns or pages, with very wide margins, to receive the addi-
tions or corrections of those who might think fit to make them :
- — a well judged method ; by which, in some instances, much
additional information was gathered.
Those of the thirty nine counties of England (proper) of
which, chiefly, I mean to speak in the present work, were
printed in, or nearly in, the following order of time.
Dorsetshire, by Claridge, in . . . 1 793
Huntingdonshire, by Maxwell,
, by Stone,
Sussex, by Young,
Cumberland, by Bailey and Culley, . Jan. 1794*
Essex, by Griggs,
Kent, by Boys,
Norfolk, by Kent,
Oxfordshire, by Davis,
Suffolk, by Young,
Warwickshire, by Wedge,
Wiltshire, by Davis,
Glocestershire, by Turner,
Feb. 1791
INTRODUCTION.
sxsi
Lancashire, by Holt, Feb. 1794
Leicestershire, by Monk,
Lincolnshire, by Stone, —
Middlesex, by Foot,
Northumberland, by Bailey and Culley,
Rutlanshire, by Crutchley,
Yorkshire, east, by Leatham,
— , north, by Tuke,
, west, by Brown, &c
Berkshire, by Pearce,
Cheshire, by Wedge,
Devonshire, by Frazer,
Nottinghamshire, by Lowe,
Surrey, by James and Malcolm,
Buckinghamshire, by the same, *
Cornwall, by Frazer,
Herefordshire, by Clark,
Shropshire, by Bishton,
Cambridgeshire, by Vancouver,
Bedfordshire, by Stone,
Derbyshire, by Brown,
Durham, by Granger,
Hampshire, by Drivers, Sec.
Northamptonshire, by Donaldson,
Somersetshire, by Billingsley,
Staffordshire, by Pitt,
Westmoreland, by Pringle,
Worcestershire, by Pomeroy,
Hertfordshire, by Walker, . . • Jam 1795
Essex, by Vancouver, . . . Feb. 1795
In June 1795, the first reprinted Report was published,
in the octavo form, and on the following “ plan;’* which has
been uniformly adhered to, I believe, in the several reprinted
Reports that have hitherto been published.
Mar. 1794
May 1794
* June, 179 4
. July, 1794
. Nov. 1794
“PLAN
INTRODUCTION.
xxxii
« PLAN OF THE REPRINTED REPORTS *
(Holt's Lancashire, p. iv, v and vi.)
Preliminary Observations.
chap.
I. Geographical State aad Circumstances.
Sect. 1. — Situation and Extent.
2 . — Divisions.
3. — Climate.
4. — Soil and Surface.
5. — Minerals.
6. — Water.
II. State of Property.
Sect, i . — Estates and their Management.
2.^-Tenures.
III. Buildings.
Sect. 1 . — Houses of Proprietors.
2. — Farm Houses and Offices; and Repairs.
3. — Cottages.
IV. Mode of Occupation.
Sect, k— -S ize of Farms — Character of theFarmers.
2. — Rent— in Money — in Kind — in Personal
Services.
3. — Tithes.
4 Poor Rates.
5. — Leases.
6. — Expence and Profit.
V f Implements.
VI. Inclosing — Fences — Gates.
VII. Arable Land.
Sect. Tillage.
2. — Fallowing.
3. — Rotation of Crops.
* Profesgvdly, “ by the President of the Board of Agriculture.”
Chap,
INTRODUCTION.
XXX11I
Chap. VII. continued.
Sect. 4. — Crops commonly cultivated*, their Seed,
Culture, Produce, & c.*
Chap. 5. — Crops not commonly cultivated.
VIII. Grass.
Sect. 1 — Natural Meadows and Pastures.
2. — Artificial Grasses.
3. — Hay Harvest.
4. — Feeding.
IX. Gardens and Orchards.
X. Woods and Plantations.
XI. Wastes.
XII. Improvements.
Sect. 1. — Draining.
2. — Paring and Burning.
3. — Manuring.
4. — Weeding.
5 . — Watering.
XIII. Live Stock.
Sect. 1. — Cattle;
2.— Sheep.
* Where the quantity is considerable, the information respecting the crops
commonly cultivated, may be arranged under the following heads :
1. Preparation £
2. Sort.
3. Steeping,
4. Seed (quantity sowji.)
5 . Time of sowing.
C hoe,
6. Culture whilst growings weeding
7. Harvest.
8. Threshing.
9. Produce.
10. Manufacture of bread.
In general the same heads will suit the following grains:
Barley. Oats. Beans. Rye. Pease. Buck-wheat.
Vetches Application.
{ feeding.
Cole-seed
Turneps
5 Feeding, ?
f Seed. ^
C Drawn
J Fed
Kept on grass ..
■■■ ■ • in houses
i
3
xxxi r
introduction.
Chap, XIII. continued.
Sect. 2. — Sheep,
3 . — Horses, and their Use in Husbandry,
compared to Oxen.
4. — Hogs.
5. — Rabbits.
6. — Poultry.
7. — Pigeons.
Chap. 8. — Bees.
XIV. Rural Economy.
Sect. 1. — Labor — Servants — Laborers — Hours of
Labor.
2. — Provisions.
3. -Fuel.
XV. Political Economy, as connected with or
affecting Agriculture.
Sect. l. — Roads.
2. — Canals.
3. — Fairs.
4. — Weekly Markets.
5 . ~ Commerce.
6. — Manufactures.
7. — Poor.
8. — Population.
XVI. Obstacles to Improvement; including general
Observations on Agricultural Legislation and Police.
XVII. Miscellaneous Observations.
Sect. l. — Agricultural Societies.
2. — Weights and Measures.
Conclusion, — Means of Improvement, and the Measures cab
ealated for that Purpose.
Appendix.”
If it were requisite to bring forward an example, to show the
incapacity, or unfitness, of the firft President of the Board of
Agriculture,
INTRODUCTION.
XXXV
Agriculture, to take a lead in the rural concerns of a country,
this plan might be produced.
Rural Economy (the subject he is evidently aiming at) natu-
rally divides into three distinct branches; which have long
been conducted by three different professions, or descriptions of
men: namely. Estate Agency, Qr the management of landed
property, which pertains, exclusively, to proprietors and their
several agents and assistants; Planting , and the management of
Woodlands , which are incident to nurserymen, plante’rs, and
woodmen; and Agriculture , or the management of farm lands,
— a branch of rural economicks that has ever been under the
care of husbandmen, farmers, yeomen, or other agriculturists.
Yet these three distinct branches of the general subject are here
seen conjoined and entwined in the most unnatural embraces.
Lest, — if I were to touch on every jarring of arrangement
which the foregoing Prospectus contains, — such of my readers
as have paid mature attention to the subjects, should expert
ence sensations, similar to those of Hogarth’s enraged musi*
cian, — I will only mention a few of its many faults.
Chapters 1, 2, 3, it is true, have a claim to propriety of
disposition. But Chap. 4. (as if the planner had suddenly re-
collected that he was treading too plainly in the steps of another)
is a very monster. It is entitled ** jYlode of Occupation:'*
otherwise, the method of occupying; otherwise, the plan of
Farming : together with (Section 6) the " Expence and Profit’*
arising therefrom. Yet most of its Sections, as may be plainly
enough seen, relate to the management of Estates ; which
forms the first Section of his second Chapter.
Chap. 7. “Arable Lands.” Here, we find many parti*
culars that belong to the mode of occupation ; though they may
be preposterously placed. Thus u Rotation of Crops” suc-
ceeds “ Tillage” and u Fallowing.” But what farmer can
properly determine on the tillage which a field ought to re-
ceive, until he has previously determined on the crop, or th*
rotation of crops, that is to succeed ? further, in a single
b 2 Section
XXXVI
INTRODUCTION.
Section of this Chipter, 7. is crowded more than one half of
the almost numberless particulars that belong to the profession
of the arable farmer; under the Section, “ Crops commonly
cultivated.” It is true, that in a Note — that is to say, in a
sort of aukward Section of a Section — a few of these parti-
culars are set down ; — and these may be said to be all my own:
—excepting the last, — on Baking: — a subject, this, which a
syllabus maker should well study, before he send his batch
to the public market.
Chap. 12. “ Improvements — including Section 4. “ Weed-
ing” ! — which is, or ought to be, the most common and or-
dinary operation in the routine of husbandry.
Chap. 14. “Rural Economy.”— Ha ! ha! ha! Sect. 1,2, 3, —
“ Labor” — “ Provisions” “ Fuel.” How could this creature
of absurdity gain a place there ? Is it possible that the first
President of the Board of Agriculture, — a travelled man, and a
man of language, — could be ignorant of the true acceptation and
meaning of the word economy? — A word which has long been
in ordinary use, as a term of science, throughout Europe. Is it
possible that he could imagine economy to be synonymous with
frugality ; and that he could mean to set down Chap. 7 . Rural
Frugality ! His footman might have fallen into such a mistake:
himself could not*.
What, then, shall we conjecture to have been the motive
to, or the cause of, this mysterious title of Chap. 14? It is
morally
* Economy, in the language of science and the useful arts, implies arrange-
ment, disposition of parts, order, organization, as well as general manage-
ment, and the operations that result from it. Thus, the animal economy
comprizes, not only the arrangement of the several parts ~>f the animal frame,
but includes their various functions and operations. Moreover, the word
economy may, without excessive impropriety, be substituted for frugality, —
when this is the effect of either of the above means : but not so when it is merely
the result of parsimony or saving. In the latter application it is a vulgarism.
Economy may bo good or bad ; but who ever heard of good frugality, or bad
frugality. Economy and frugality have widely different roots, and let them
not be confounded.
INTRODUCTION.
XXXVll
morally impossible that the first President of the Board of
Agriculture, after having adopted the design of a work, and
mutilated its plan, by way of disguise, could then attempt to
damn it, by subjecting its general title to the degrading office
of heading one of his own ragged Chapters, — and thus attempt
to add murder to robbery ! Not the veriest Charlatan, nor
even the Prince of Plagiarists himself, could be guilty of so base
a crime. We have, therefore, only one way left to account
for this curious phenomenon. The pen of the President must
have put down Househoi b Economy (having Xenophon’s
Book on the right ordering of things in his mind’s eye) and
the compositor changed household into rural. Not, how-
ever, that household economy can be properly placed as a
head over the three Sections of Chapter the fourteenth: for
labor, even to a proverb, belongs to the field ; — and, in truth,
forms one of the most important branches, not of husbandry
only, but of most other useful arts and operations.
Chap. 15. “ Political Economy.” Among the Sections of
this Chapter we find, not improperly placed, — “ Weekly
Markets:” yet the subject M Weights and Measures,” (an im-
portant concern in the political economy of England, “ as
connected with or affecting Agriculture,”) is coupled with
“ Agricultural Societies, — in Chap. 17,-^entitled “ Miscel-
laneous Observations.”
From this view of the foregoing chaos of Chapters and Sec-
tions, it is evident that to make use of it, in reviewing the
Reports, of which it is given out as the plan, would be al-
together vain, or impossible. And seeing, further, “ the con-
fusion worse confounded” by the Reporters ; who have not
^infrequently, and no doubt inadvertantly, spoken of different
subjects in the same Section; and, sometimes properly enough,
brought forward topics that are not to be found in the plan
delivered to them *, — I had no alternative, but that of consider-
ing the whole as a series of miscellaneous remarks, without plan or
order ; and to mark, in the margins of the several Reports, the
b 3 proper
rtxxviii
INTRODUCTION.
proper subject of which each remark belongs; as I have ever
done in digesting my own miscellaneous minutes. See Minutes
in the Southern Counties, Norfolk, Midland Counties,
&c.
It is, now, more than twelve years since the first reprinted
Report (in the octavo form) was published. Yet, when this
volume was put to prefs, not one half of the English Reports
had met the public eye : — for the quarto editions (the original
Reports) could not be properly' said to be published; the im-
pressions being chiefly distributed, gratis.
Some of the octavo editions are little more than literal copies
of the original Reports : others are enlarged by additions and
notes ; and a few are the productions of fresh Surveyors : in
which particular instances, there are of course two or more
distinct Reports of one and the same county.
Section 3.
QUALIFICATIONS of a REPORTER .
The utility of a work principally arising from its plan and*
execution, and the plan of the Board’s Reports having been
already considered, it remains to examine into the qualifications
that are requisite to the twofold task of Surveying, and Report-
ing, the rural practices and improvements of a country.
Before a man can be fully qualified to survey, appreciate,
and report the established practices of a district or county,
as they relate to rural affairs, and to point out the means of
its improvement, it is essentially requisite that he should pos-
sess a practical knowledge of the several branches of the rural
profession. It is not enough that he has practised Agricul-
ture, in all its branches, and in different districts, to mature
his judgement, dispel local prejudices, and prepare his mind,
by due expansion, to form just conceptions of the varying
methods
INTRODUCTION.
xxxix
methods and proceedings of other men ; — he should likewise
be practically acquainted with the business of Planting, and
still more with the proper Management of Woodlands (a
subject of high importance to the lasting welfare of this
nation); — as well as with the subject of Landed Property, —
the right distribution and Management of Tenanted
Lands, and the proper Government of their Occupiers;
such as will enable them to exert their respective talents, and
cultivate the lands committed to their charge, with full profit
to the community: this being a branch of rural economicks,
by the improper management of which the public loss, I appre-
hend, is greater, even than that which is annually caused, by
errors in Agriculture.
It is also to be required of him, that he should have a com-
petent knowledge of the different Sciences which are inti-
mately connected with rural subjects : particularly Natural
History, as it relates to fossils and vegetables ; to assist him in
registering, intelligibly, facts already known, and in making
discoveries that may lead to further improvements; and with
mechanics, to enable him to appreciate, with greater ease and
certainty, machines and implements in use. Some knowledge
of the higher branches of the mathematics, to form his mind
to method, and to teach him to think with precision, and
decide with clearness, on the subject before him. Moreover
it is required that he should possess an intimate acquaintance
with the language in which he is to draw up his Report; with
some practical knowledge of Composition: in order that he
may be enabled to convey his ideas to others (as well as to
form them in his own mind) with clearness and precision.
But not those, nor any other, acquirements can qualify a
man to make a Report of a county or district, until he has
maturely studied, and become fully acquainted with, the natu-
ral and economical facts which belong to it. If he has been,
for some length of time, a resident practitioner, on a sufficiently
ample scale, in the best cultivated part of it, and was previously
b 4- possessed
INTRODUCTION.
*1
possessed of the foregoing attainments, he might be deemed
preeminently qualified for the undertaking. If, with those
acquirements, he has spent two years, in studying its natural
and acquired properties, as well as its established practices, and
the means of its improvement, — by taking a judicious station,
in the best managed part of it, by deliberately surveying the
whole, — by mixing freely with practical men, — by daily ob-
serving their practices,— and cautiously registering facts as
they occurred, — he may be considered as being competent to
the task. By one year’s residence, industriously employed, a
man, — who has acquired, by practice, sufficient skill, in survey-
ing districts, and in ascertaining and registering facts — may be
allowed to make a public Report, or to publi ;h his Register.
A mere tourist, it is true, may catch certain facts which pass
under his eye in travelling: and, in this way, he may gather
some general ideas of the nature of a country, and a few par-
ticulars of practice that may happen to be going on, at the time
ef his tour ; and such facts may be entitled to public notice, as
far as they go. But let him not claim, on such slight pretensions,
a right to make a general Report of the nature and practice of
the country or district thus passed over: even though he may
be fully possessed of the qualifications set forth aforegoing.
For what a man, even of such acquirements, can collect from
enquiries , is beneath public attention. An enquiring tourist,
without a large portion of practical knowledge to assist him in
directing his judgement, must be liable to be led into error at
every step, and to be imposed upon by every one with whom
he may happen to converse.
Section 4.
PLAN of REVIEW.
This subject, so far as it relates to the plan of the Reports,
and the arrangement of the matter therein contained, has been
incidentally
INTRODUCTION.
xM
incidentally touched upon, aforegoing. What principally re-
mains to be spoken of, here, are — the manner of reviewing by
depart ments, and the arrangement of the materials, thereby
collected.
Reviewing by Departments. — In the first extract, afore-
going, p. xx, it appears that my original design was to station
myself in different Agricultural districts, exemplary for rural
kno w ledge. In another, p. xxviii, I have defined an Agricultural
district , and shown the impropriety of surveying by fortuitous
lines. And I, here, sketch the outlines, and distinguishing
characters, of the six Agricultural Departments, into
which the kingdom naturally separates: — beginning, geogra-
phically, with
The Northern Department; the outlines of which are
shown in the following sketch, and will be spoken of, pre-
sently.
Among its natural characteristics are a coolness of climature,
and a backwardness of seasons, comparatively with the more
southern parts of f he island. But its most striking natural
feature, — that which distinguishes it from the rest of this
kingdom, — is given by its Mountains : — this being the only
part of England, in which the mountain character can be said
to prevail *.
Viewed as a field of Rural Economy, it bears strong marks
of distinction. On the western side of the department, Manu-
factures may be said to be in possession of the country.
Agriculture, there, is a subservient employment: while, on
the eastern, it florishes in all its branches; being, there, carried
on with a degree of skill and industry, and with a rational ,
•well moderated spirit of improvement that is not equalled in any
other department of this kingdom.
The
* Those, in the West of England, mostly rise in detached masses, and are
of comparatively small extent.
xlii
INTRODUCTION
The western department. This extends from the banks
©f the Mersey, to the Somersetshire Avon and its banks. On
the west, it is bounded by the Welch mountains; on the east,
by the minor hills of Staffordshire, and the uplands of "Warwick-
shire, and Oxfordshire ; its southern bounds being given by
the chalk hills of Wiltshire, and the Sedgemoors of Somerset-
shire,
It comprizes an almost uninterrupted succession of vale
Pistbicts; which accompany the Mersey, the Dee, the Severn,
and the Avon, to their respective confluxes with the sea. Thus,
by natural character it is discriminately marked.
And it is not less so, by Agricultural produce. The entire
department,— except the higher lands of Shropshire, and Here-
fordshire, the Cotswold hills of Glocestershire, and the higher
parts of the Mendip hills of Somersetshire, maybe said to be
almost wholly applied to the produce of the dairy : cheeses,
of different qualities, being its common production. Fruit
liquor, however, may be mentioned as another product that
signalizes this natural division of the kingdom.
The Midland department. This part of the kingdom,
too, possesses an aptly distinguishing natural character. When
compared with the great variety of soil and surface, which most
of the ether departments exhibits, this may be considered as
one widely extended plain of fertile lands, which are almost
uniformly suitable to the purposes of mixed cultivation;
and wishout a single eminence within its extensive area ex-
cepting the Charnwood hills ; which form an insulated moun-
tain height, from whence almost every square mile of the de-
partment may be discerned, from the mountains of the
northern, to the chalk hills of the southern, department ; and
from the rising grounds that separate it from the western, to
the banks of the marshes where the eastern, department com-
mences.*' As ,
* See Midland Counties, Vol. I. p. II.
INTRODUCTION.
xliit
As a wide field of Agriculture, in which every branch of the
profession is highly cultivated, it has long been popularly known.
Here, not only the spirit of improvement, but of enterprize , may
well be said to inhabit. The art, science, and mystery of
breeding has here been carried to a height which in any other
country, probably, it has never attained ; — the same enter-
prizing sprit, which led to this preeminence, still continuing,
with little if any abatement.
The eastern department is marked by its fens and
marshes-, as well as by the light sandy quality of its up-
lands : — joint natural qualities that belong to no other ex-
tensive division of the kingdom.
The agricultural pursuits of this department are directed,
in a singular manner, to grazing, — to the fatting of cattle and
sheep : — not only in the marshes and lower grounds ; but on
the uplands ; on which the turnep husbandry has long been,
and until of later years exclusively, practised.
The southern department. The chalk hills, which
occupy the principal part of this division, strongly mark its
natural character.
It agricultural distinctions arise, in a great degree, out of its
situation with respect to the metropolis : — a vortex, this,
which not only draws much of its produce in a summary way,
to market; but causes a demand for particular objects of
husbandry.
The southwestern department. The situation of this
extremity of the island is remarkable. It stretches away from
the main body, in a narrow headland, or peninsula, nearly
two hundred miles in length, into the western sea ; which is
its common boundary ; unless where it joins the extremes of
the western and southern departments.
The
INTRODUCTION.
xVir
The natural characters of its area are likewise singular. The
midland and the western parts of it, are chiefly composed of
sla iE- rock hills : a species of country which is unknown,
in the rest of the kingdom ; excepting a compviratively small
district of its northern department ; and excepting the insulated
hills of Chamwood, which rise near its center ! Indeed, the
surface, almost throughout the department (its northeastern
angle excepted) is of a singular cast : namely, tall, steepsided
hills, severed by narrow vailies ; the hills being, in most in-
stances, productive to their summits.
Its agricultural distinguishments are not less remarkable.
The damnomax husbandry is as foreign to the practice of
the kingdom at large, as the lands on which it has been nur-
tured are to those of its other departments. See the rural
ECONOMY of the WEST of ENGLAND.
No one can be more aware, than I am, of the want of per-
fection, in the foregoing division of the kingdom into depart-
ments that are at once natural and agricultural ; each having
its distinguishing character. But whoever will maturely con-
sider the subject, cannot fail of being struck with the degree of
perfection by which they are severally marked. To find the
kingdom at large separating into six divisions — of nearly eqnal
extent, and uniform distribution, and which, in a very con-
siderable degree, are at once natural and agricultural, — is
more than any man, without previous examination, could have
reasonably hoped for, much less have expected.
The ADVANTAGEsto arise from reviewing the Reports of the
Board, by departments, though in a degree obvious, will be
here enumerated.
Each department may aptly be considered as a distinct
country, having its own association of natural and acquired
fa&s, — and its own objects in view ; but with varying means
of obtaining them. By bringing the different methods to-
gether,
INTRODUCTION.
xly
, gether, they will be easily compared, and the most eligible se-
lected : — not only by the practitioners of that particular de-
partment ; but by those, of the empire, at large, who have
similar objects before them. For, although each department
has its prominent natural characters, and leading objects of
practice, the latter, at least, are not wholly confined to that
particular department ; but are many of them more or less
sought after, in almost every district ; though, it must be ad-
mitted, in a less eligible manner, than where they are pursued,
on a large scale, in the established and leading prac-
tice OF A COUNTRY.
Thus, an occupier of mountain lands, in Devonshire or
Cornwall, may see, in the northern or mountain department,
what useful matter the Board has collected in the management
of alpine districts. In like manner, a dairy farmer of York-
shire, by examining the western or dairy department, will
find the useful ideas that have been drawn together on the
management of dairy farms. Any man who is desireous to
encrease his information on the subject of breeding Livestock,
will of course turn his attention to the midland or breeding de-
partment. And, for marshland grazing and the turnep hus-
bandry, to the eastern or grazing department. A wold farmer
of Yorkshire or Lincolnshire, by referring to the southern de-
partment, will find what has been usefully adduced by the Board,
on the management of chalk hills: and the occupiers of lands in
the vicinities of great towns, may there find what relates to
established practices, in the neighbourhood of the metropolis.
Finally, in the southwestern department, any occupier of
lands, that lie out of it, may find practices foreign to his own,
and therein will see that the same objects may be obtained, by
different means ; yet perhaps with nearly equal propriety of
management, and, in contemplating these facts,-— whether in
the southwestern cr other department, — will imperceptibly lose
his provincial prejudices.
I now
atlvi
INTRODUCTION.
I now proceed to explain my plan, more fully, respecting the
Arrangement of the Materials that may arise in execuring
it; by pointing out the principal branches into which the main
subject before us, naturally separates.
The General Economy of a country, — which is under
efficient government, and whose lands are appropriated, — is
composed of three obviously differential parts, or separable sub-
jects: namely,
1. The Natural Economy of the country itself ;— -its situ-
ation, extent, and conformation; — the materials of which it is
formed, — their arrangement and natural characters.
2. Its Political Economy; — comprizing whatever relates
to public concerns, connected with
3. Its Rural Economy; — including what belongs to private
property and its management, relative to rural concerns.
The last, in like manner, naturally separates into three divi-
sions (as noticed above, p. xxxv.j : namely.
Landed estates and their management.
Woodlands and their management.
Farm lands and their management.
In reviewing the Board’s Reports, I propose (for reasons
assigned in p. xxxvii.) to arrange what may be found entitled to
notice, under its proper head, in one of those divisions of the
general subject ; — in conformity with the plan of my own pro-
vincial Registers.
Before I close these remarks, on the plan of my present
undertaking, I think it prudent, — lest the prosecution of it, at
present, should be deemed premature, as the Board I understand
are still going on with the plan of publication, — to say, that it
is my intention to proceed, geographically, with the original
Reports, and with such of the reprinted editions, or fresh sur-
veys, as may be published at the times of my going through
the respective departments; and that should the Board stil\
continue their labors, I mean to persevere in appreciating their
works.
INTRODUCTION.
xWii
works, and to publish my remarks upon them (should they
claim public notice) as additions to the review of the depart-
ment to which they may respectively belong thus continuing
to keep, distinct, whatever may relate to each.
ERRATA.
tq i
Jr- ,1 t. '
Jj ted? vs*
kij'j/-? :
+ 111 ?, ;133 I
■
d'jnoiri: *• " •• -
/Li? bTsoS
jtedj Qmiz.j?' 1 . .
•gilQW
n
ERRATA.
P. 16. Dele the turned commas, line 17; and the whole of the
Quotation, 1. 18 to 28.
P. 132. L. 13 from bottom, after Quarries, insert p. 13.
P. 144. The paragraph, 1. 15 to 34 should close the Division,
Political Economy, p. 143.
P. 278. L. 22. Before Covenants, insert p. 23.
P. 483. L. 12. For set, read sown.
THE
NORTHERN DEPARTMENT
OF
ENGLAND.
This DIVISION of the KINGDOM includes
the principal parts of NORTHUMBERLAND and Dur-
ham; the whole ©f Cumberland, Westmoreland,
Lancashire, and Yorkshire (excepting the fens
and marshes, bordering on Lincolnshire) ; — with
parts of Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Derbyshire.
It contains the following NATURAL DISTRICTS;
which are situated as in the annexed map*.
The District of Wooler.
The Seacoast of Northumberland.
The Cheviot Hills.
The “ Moors” or Heathlands of this county.
The Cultivated Uplands.
The Valley or District of Hexham.
The Seacoast of Durham.
The Central District of Durham.
The Morelands of t he five counties.
The District of Carlisle.
The Seacoast of Cumberland.
The
* Sketch of the northern department. The sketch, which is
here offered, is merely intended to convey a general idea of the re-
lative situation, and the extent, of each district. Nothing but
actual, and deliberate, survey can determine their outlines, with
precision* *
B
NORTHERN DEPARTMENT.
The Slate-stone Mountains of Cumber T and, &c.
The Valley of Appleby.
The District of Kendal.
The Cultivated Lands of Lancashire.
The Morelands of Lancashire.
Craven.
The Western Morelands of Yorkshire.
The Manufacturing Districts of Yorkshire.
The limestone Lands of West Yorkshire.
The Vale of York.
The Vale of Stockton.
The Northern Seacoast of Yorkshire.
The Eastern Morelands.
The Limestone Lands of East Yorkshire.
The V ale of Pickering.
The Wolds of Yorkshire.
Holderness.
The Southern Mountains of Lancashire, York-
shire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Derby-
shire.
These districts, collectively, comprize the objects of
the Board’s Surveyors, and form the subjects of
the several REPORTS, for the NORTHERN DEPART-
MENT; which are these :
Northumberland; by Bailey and Culley.
Durham ; by Granger.
Cumberland; by Bailey and Culley.
Westmoreland; by Pringle.
Lancashire; by Holt.
West Yorkshire; by Brown, &c.
North Yorkshire; by Tuke.
East Yorkshire; by Leatham.
Cheshire, by Wedge.; Staffordshire, by Pitt;
Derbyshire, by Brown.
NORTH-
NORTH IJ M B E RL AN D.
JjY the preceding MAP, it will be perceived that
I have abandoned the extreme northern point of the
kingdom : having resigned it, rich and highly culti-
vated as it is, to the more immediate promoters of the
Rural Economy of Scotland; to which, by situation, as
well as by established practice, it projperly belongs.
It is in the plain of Wooler, an Englishman is first
struck with the rural appearances of the south of
Scotland; the style of management being similar, to
some distance, on both sides of the Tweed.
Nevertheless, the DISTRICT OF WooLER being the
STATION, or district of residence, of both the RE-
PORTERS of the practice of Northumberland, it would
be an impropriety to exclude it out of a review of
their joint report. But “ Tweedstde” — as the more
immediate banks of the river are emphatically named
—being, in natural character, and rural management ,
the same on either bank, and partaking much more
of Scottish than of English husbandry, I forbear to
separate them.
The northern extremity of England belongs, not to
Northumberland ; but to the" town of Berwick, and
the county of Durham *.
Therefore,
* “ About 72 square miles of well enclosed, cultivated country,”
belong to the latter.
4 NATURAL DISTRICTS.
Therefore, what are to be brought forward, here,
as the NATURAL DISTRICTS of NORTHUMBERLAND,
are the. following : namely.
The District of Wooler.
The Seacoast of Northumberland.
The Cheviot Hills.
The Morelands, or Heaths, of this county.
The Cultivated Uplands.
The Valley, or District, of Hexham.
But, before I attempt to define those several dis-
tricts, or to oifer my opinion on the merits of a report
which is founded on them, it will be proper to declare
my pretensions to so arduous, if not presumptuous,
an undertaking.
In May 1 7 9^> I viewed the line of country, be-
tween Newcastle and Alnwick; and from thence pro-
ceeded to the district of Wooler; where I spent a
week, agreeably and profitably, in viewing, not only
that district, but also the Cheviot Hills, and Tweed-
side to its extremity at Berwick, — as well as its op-
posite banks - and in conversing with the enlightened
occupiers of this favored part of the island*: receivings
marked civilities, from agriculturists of every class:
and among whom I have the pleasure of naming
Messrs. Bailey and Culley, — authors of the Northum-
brian Report.
In April 1793, 1 crossed the county, by a some-
what different route; proceeding from Morpeth, by
the direct line, to the district of Wooler : thus passing
through the middle of the cultivated uplands, and
•over the eastern skirts of the morekmds.
And, in November 1793, I took a deliberate view
of the country between Berwick and Alnwick ;
therein gaining some knowledge of the seacoast dis-
trict; and making good my general view of the
midland, northern, and eastern, parts of the county.
# In
* The extraordinary .sale of farm stock, belonging to Mr. Wilkie
of Dorrington (one of the largest occupiers ih the island) furnished
r e with a singular opportunity of seeing them, drawn together.
NORTHUMBERLAND. $
In August 1798, I took a cursory survey of its
south-western quarter: entering it by the great road,
between Carlisle and Newcastle, at Glenwhelt ; and
following the southern branch of the Tyne (down
South Tyndale) to Hexham: — where I stayed a few
days, to examine its rich and beautiful environs. By
an excursion from thence, I penetrated the wider and
better parts of North Tyndale; and traced its lofty
banks, until I gained an ocean view, not only of the
moreland mountains of Northumberland, toward the
north, but of those of Cumberland and Durham, to
the west and south : commanding, from an eminence,
one of the most extensive and barren circle of views
(some cultivation to the eastward excepted) which
England— if not the Island — contains. From Hex-
ham, I proceeded, by the upper road, to Newcastle;
and thereby compleated my general view of the culti-
vated uplands.
Finally, in March 1799, I examined, with much
interest, the lovely bason of Belford ; and traced the
vale lands of the coast, from Bamburgh castle, to-
ward Alnwick ; and, from thence, by W ark worth,
and Witherington castle, to Morpeth : thus finishing
my general view of the county.
In these several excursions and examinations, I
made travelling notes; and also registered, analytically,
such evident facts as a stranger may safely collect, —
wherever I remained in any way stationary.
These various notices are now before me: and
from them I will give a sketch of each of the six dis-
tricts that are above enumerated : by which the reader
will be enabled to form a just conception of the na-
tural features of the county ; and I may thereby be
better able to appreciate and explain the report which
is given of it, than I might without such data to
refer to.
The reporters (in this and other instances) have
divided the county according to its political , not its
natural , or agricultural, lines of separation: — an er-
B 3 roneous
6
NATURAL DISTRICTS.
roneous plan of proceeding, which is similar to that
of surveying, by counties. Sec INTRODUCTION.
Sect. 2.
The District of Wooler. — ’ This is incident to
the river, Till, which falls into the Tweed, a few miles
below Coldstream. Its principal area is formed by
a remarkable flat of low absorbent land, some miles
across, called <£ Midfield Plain ;” — whose margins
spread irregularly, in various directions; following
the different branches of the Till ; particularly its
main branch, whose valley extends several miles to
the southward. As a district, however, it is but of
small extent.
The soil appears to be pretty uniformly of a- sandy
or gravelly nature, what in Scotland is termed “ sharp
land ;” and is frequently seen incumbent on a pebbly
substratum; such as abounds in various districts of
that kingdom : in other parts, however, there are evi-
dences of a more retentive subsoil, and cooler land.
The Seacoast of Northumberland. — This well-
defined natural District extends fiom Bamborough,
on the north (being there cut oft* from the more
northern coast bv a ridge of rock) to the southern
bank of the Wansbeck, below Morpeth, on the
south: — an extent of about thirty miles. Its width
is remarkably uniform, considering its length. If
we include the lower skirts of the western banks,
which rise with an easy slope to the upland district*
we may. lay the mean width at five miles; and if we
further add the mouths or lower ends of the valleys
which open into it 5 -^as those of the Ain, the Coquet,
and the Wans, — we may fairly, I think, estimate the
contents or the whole district, at more than one
hundred and fifty square miles.
Its elevation and surface are perfectly those of a
low lying vale district. Some of the lower lands are
barely out of the tide’s way ; and the higher grounds
of the area are seldom more than gentle swells.
Viewed
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Viewed lengthway, from various points, it has every
appearance of half a rivered vale.
In soil, too, it strictly bears the vale character.
It is almost uniformly of a retentive nature, and of a
productive quality; but varies in fertility. Toward
the northern extremity, there is much deep strong
land, of a superior quality. But near the midway of
the district the most fertile lands are found. Between
the Ain and the Coquet, and on the eastern banks of
the former, lie some of the most valuable lands in the
island ; westward of the Coquet, the surface is flatter,
and the soil of a paler color, and a cooler nature.
The Cheviot Hills. — These remarkable moun-
tain heights are situated “on the borders;” part of
them stand within the political bounds of Scotland.
But the whole being, by nature and agricultural
management the same; and the principal hill, “ the
Cheviot” — from which they take their name — being
situated in Northumberland, I consider the whole
as a district of the northern department of England.
The extent of these hills would be difficult to es-
timate ; as they unite with the moreland district to
the southward, and are continued, to the westward,
by similar green hills in Scotland. Admitting that
their bases occupy a circle of about fifteen miles in
diameter, their contents may be set down at one hun-
dred and fifty, to two hundred, square miles.
The surface or form of these hills is extraordinary.
Many of them are of a conical mould; — some of them,
nearly perfect Cones; others of irregular shape; but
generally pointed ; with smooth steep sides ; and
with their bases nearly in contact with each other.
The soil, on the lower slopes, has every appearance
of considerable fertility ; and, with a better climature,
might doubtlessly be rendered productive, in a state
of mixed cultivation. On the higher steeper ac-
clivities, points of rock, and loose stones appear.
i he produce, at present, is grass, — a continued
B 4 sheet
NATURAL DISTRICTS.
8
sheet of greensward, — from base to summit ; except-
ing where stones prevail; and excepting the heads
of the higher hills, especially of the Cheviot, — whose
upper regions are maculate with blotches of heath.
Formerly, many or most of the lower grounds, where
any degree of flatness would easily admit the plow,
have evidently been cultivated ; — probably at a time
when these borders were fuller of people, than they
are at present ; when a few very large sheep farmers
(each perhaps holding a parish of several thousand
acres in extent) and their shepherds, are the only in-
habitants : and, even to supply these few, the arable
crops, that are at present grown, are insufficient.
The Morelands, or Heathy Wastes. — I have
had little opportunity of examining these unprofitable
lands ; which occupy, I apprehend, much more than
one third of the surface of the county. From the
summit of one of the more elevated and western of
the Cheviot hills, I had an extensive view of the north-
west quarter of these barren tracts. From the com-
manding point, mentioned aforegoing, page 5 , I
probably completed my general view , — not only of the
western, but of the southern, morelands of Northum-
berland ; the latter being incorporated with those of
Durham, &c. Moreover, in travelling the Coldstream
road, between Framlington and Whittingham, I had
an opportunity of seeing something of the natural
character of those w ild lands : And my observations,
in these superficial views, corresponding with the cur-
sory remarks of the reporters, which will presently
appear, it is unnecessary to say more, in this place,
respecting them.
The cultivated Uplands. — These, it is probable,
extend over one fourth of the county ; occupying the
more central parts of its area.
Their elevation and their extent being jointly con-
sidered, they may be said to be peculiar to this part
of the island. They are not confined to Northumber-
land,
NORTHUMBERLAND.
9
land, but extend to the adjoining county of Durham; —
whose cultivated upper lands are of a similar nature.
In low lying vale districts, we frequently meet with
lands of a like description ; particularly, in the wealds
of Sussex and Kent : and with contracted plots of up-
land, in various parts of the kingdom.
The surface, notwithstanding its elevation, and its
extent, approaches nearly to flatness ! — unless where
it is grooved or furrowed by tjie rivered vallies which
cross it; and which, I believe, are uniformly of a
more fertile nature.
The soil of these high lying lands is mostly of a
pale color; in some places, approaching to white-
ness : in others, it is variegated. But it is uniformly,
or nearly so, of a cold weak quality. The substrata
are of course retentive ; and, beneath them, coals arc
perhaps invariably deposited.
The District of Hexham. — This consists of the
principal valley of the Tyne, and its two branches ;
namely, north and south Tyndales ; which divaricate
a few miles above Hexham.
The immediate environs, the bason of Hexham
(the appearance, in almost every point of view, is
that of a deep oval dish) is formed by a dilation of
the principal valley ; which, here, partakes of the
vale character. Its length may be nine or ten miles;
its greatest width, including the feet of its tall banks,
three or four miles. South Tyndale is nearly of an
even width — namely about a mile wide — for more
than ten miles. North Tyndale is wider, above the
conflux of the two branches of the river; but does not
continue its width, more than four or five miles ; con-
tracting, above, to a moreland dale.
The lands of tliese vallies are of a friable loamy
nature. In south Tyndale, and in some parts of the
valley of Hexham, the soil is of a sharp sandy or
gravelly quality, incumbent on a pebbly, water-
formed base: such as is commonly found in mountain-
skirt situations. But the prevailing soil, especially
10
NATURAL DISTRICTS.
in the principal valley, is a rich deep loam, on lime-
stone: limestone land of the very first quality. No
sooner, however, is the rim of the bason (of Hexham)
surmounted, on either side, than pale, weak, cold-
land heights, and coaf pits, meet the eye.
HAVING now endeavored to clear the ground,
and smooth the way, to my present undertaking ;
by removing obstacles, arid explaining difficul-
ties, that might otherwise have interrupted its pro-
gress ; I will not longer delay to enter upon the exe-
cution.
“ GENERAL VIEW
OF THE
AGRICULTURE
OF THE
COUNTY
OF
NORTHUMBERLAND ;
•WITH
OBSERVATIONS ON THE MEANS OF ITS IMPROVEMENT.
DRAWN UP FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF
THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE
AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT.
BY J. BAILEY AND G. CULLEY,
THE THIRD EDITION V*
1805 ,
»
The AUTHORITY of a work of this kind depending
wholely on the ability and application with which it
has been executed, the primary tacts to be ascer-
tained relate to the skill and judgment of the author,
and the sort of attention wherewith he has employed
them.
In
* The second reprinted Edition. See the Introduction.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
11
In the present instance, I am happy in being able
to speak, from personal knowledge, respecting the
QUALIFICATIONS of the REPORTERS.
Mr. CULLEY is publicly and well known, as an au-
thor on the subject of LIVE STOCK. He is, I believe,
of South Durham — from the banks of the Tees — a
district which has, for some length of time, taken a
distinguished lead in English agriculture. He was,
moreover, in early life, a pupil of Mr. Bakewell of
Leicestershire : — joint advantages which few men can
claim. Add to these, Mr. C. has for many years
been an extensive occupier in the county under re-
view ; namely, in the district of W ooler, and on the
southern bank of the Tweed. His breed of sheep are
known, even to the “ farthest Thule/’ by the popular
name of the ‘ c Culley breed.” Mr. Culley is also an
arable farmer of high distinction ; and has perhaps,
as much or more than any man, been instrumental
in raising the agriculture of Tweedside to its present
eminence.
Mr. Bailey, too, has long been resident in the
district of Wooler ; as manager of the extensive landed
property of the Earl of Tankerville, in that neigh-
bourhood. His practical knowledge of the manage-
ment of tenanted estates, and woodlands, must of
course be considerable ; and his scientific acquire-
ments are evident in different parts of the REPORT ;
of which, from expressions that occur in it, Mr. B.
is to be considered as editor. Mr. Bailey’s practical
knowledge as an agriculturist, I cannot so well ap-
preciate. But this was the less required, as the ma-
ture experience of his able coadjutor, rendered it in
a manner unnecessary.
Jointly, Messrs. Bailey and CULLEY were pecu-
liarly qualified for the task they undertook. I gladly
embrace them and welcome them to a field in
which I have long been laboring.
Their MODE of SURVEY, or the QUANTITY of AT-
TENTION bestowed upon it, does not appear, indeed,
from their long residence within the county, the
northern
12 REPORTERS.
northern and eastern parts of it, at least, must have
been sufficiently familiar to them, without much fur-
ther examination. What we learn from their pub-
lication, respecting its execution, is contained in the
following modest “ PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.”
p. 19.
“ In drawing up this Report, according to the plan
laid down by the Board of Agriculture, we have en-
deavoured to be as concise as possible, except in those
articles which are in a great measure peculiar to this
district; some of which, we have reason to think,
may be adopted with advantage in others.”
“ It is scarcely possible, in an undertaking of this
kind, to describe all the minutiae of practice, or to
notice ever} 7 local improvement ; bu we hope that
the most prominent features of tne Agriculture of
Northumberland, as existing in 1793, will be found
faithfully recorded in the following sheets.”
A MAP (by Mr. Bailey) distinguishes the cultivated,
from the uncultivated, lands, by appropriate en-
graving.
This intelligible and permanent method of distinc-
tion may, perhaps, have been taken from a sketch
which I had previously given of the county of York,
and in which I endeavored to separate the lands of
the county, by different modes or colors of engraving,
agreeably to their natural divisions, into MOUNTAIN,
UPLAND, and VALE : modes of discrimination which
strike the eye at once, and show the surface of a
country with nearly the same effect, as that which
could be produced by a model or mold. (See the
map prefixed to the Rural Economy of Yorkshire.)
Mr. B. however, has distinguished the morelands,
only; having left the whole of the cultivated surface,
indiscriminate.
SUBJECT
NORTHUMBERLAND.
IS
SUBJECT THE FIRST.
the NATURAL ECONOMY of
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Situation. In defining a NATURAL district,
is requisite to describe its boundaries. But not so, in
s peaking of a COUNTY, — whose outlines appear in
every map of the kingdom.
The EXTENT is estimated, by Mr. Bailey, at 1980
square miles, or 1,267,200 acres; 817,200 of which
he thinks “ are or may be cultivated by the plough
the remaining 450,000 he considers as incident to
“ mountainous districts, improper for tillage.” p. 2.
Supposing the whole of the six natural districts,
described aforegoing, to contain 1850 square miles,
they may be divided, in round numbers, to convey a
sufficiently intelligible idea of the extent of each, in
the following manner.
District of Wooler 100
Sea Coast 150
Cheviot Hills 200
Morelands 800
Uplands 500
District of Hexham 100
1850
Ail that we find in the Report, relating to the na-
ture of the SOIL, the SURFACE, and the CHARACTER-
ISTIC APPEARANCE, of the six natural districts that are
sketched, aforegoing, is included in the following
extract.
P. 4. cc A strong fertile clayey loam occupies the level
tract of country along the coast, and reaches as far
up in general as the great post-road. It is well
adapted to the culture of wheat, pulse, clover, and
gracing.
called a Newcastle coal-waggon ”
Having thus been informed of the method of raising
coals, and conveying them to the ships, we are led
down the lengthened shaft, and shown, not only the
different seams of coals, but the intermediate strata,
by which they are separated from each other. For
the latter part of this interesting information, how-
ever, I am obliged to have recourse to a former
edition ; the seams of coals, only, without the inter-
mediate strata, being given in the last.
P. 12. “ It has been asserted, that “ the coals in this
county are inexhaustible — Mr. Williams, in his Na-
tural History of the Mineral Kingdom, is of a different
opinion, and thinks it a matter of such importance as
to deserve the serious attention of the Legislature.
Towards elucidating this point, it may be of some use
to estimate what number of acres are wrought yearly
in this county to supply the above quantity of coals.
In order to accomplish this object, the thickness and
number of workable seams of coal must be first ascer-
tained ; for which purpose we have been favoured
with sections* exhibiting the thickness and depth of
the various strata, in some of the deepest pits in the
county; which will not only be useful for the present
purpose, but we hope will be acceptable to many of
our readers, who are curious in researches of subter-
raneous geography.”
As a valuable fact in geological science, I copy
one of those sections, from the first reprinted edition,
of 1797.
P. 11. “ At St. Anthon’s Colliery (3 miles east of
Newcastle) the strata from the surface to the Low
Main coal, are:—
Soil
“ * One at St. Anthon’s, about three miles below Newcastle, by
Mr. Johnson ; the other of Montague Main, about three miles above
Newcastle, by Mr. Thomas.”
C,3
22 NATURAL ECONOMY.
Yds. Ft. Iiw.
Soil and clay 100 0*
Brown post ------ 24 0 0
1. Coal 0 0 6
Blue-metal stone - - - 520
White girdles 410
2. Coal -------- 008
White and grey post - - - 12 0 0
Soft blue metal stone - - - 10 0 0
3. Coal - -- -- -- - 006
White post girdles - - - - 6 0 0
Whin - -- 316
Strong white post - - - - 6 10
4. Coal - 010
Soft blue thill - -- -- - 320
Soft girdles mixed with whin - 7 2 0
5. Coal - 006
Blue and black stone - - - 7 10
6. Coal - -- -- -- - 008
Strong white post - - - - 3 0 0
Grey metal stone - - - - 3 10
7. Coal 008
Grey post mixed with whin - 8 10
Grey girdles - -- -- - 610
Blue and black stone - - - 4 2 0
8. Coal 0 10
Grey metal stone - - - 4 0 0
Strong white post - -- -1200
Black metal stone with hard girdles 6 0 0
0. High Main Coal - - - - 2 0 0 — 152
Grey metal - -- -- - 900
Post girdles - -- -- - 020
Blue metal ------ 110
Girdles - -- -- -- - 012
Blue metal stone -----1000
Post - 0 10
Blue metal stone - - - - 6 0 0
Carried over 179 2 4
Whin
* llenci?; no doubt, the peculiar coldness of the land.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Yds.
Brought over 179
"Whin and blue metal - - - 0
Strong white post - - - - 7
Brown post with water - - - 0
Blue metal stone with grey girdles 4
10. Coal 1
Blue metal stone - - - - 6
White post ------ 1
11. Coal o
Strong grey metal with post girdles 4
Strong white post - - 2
Whin - -- -- -- - 0
Blue metal stone - - - - 2
Grey metal stone with post girdles 5
Blue metal stone with whin girdles 3
12. Coal - -- -- -- - o
Blue grey metal ----- 1
White post ------ 4
White post mixed with whin - 4
White post ------ 2
Dark blue metal and coal - - 0
Grey metal stone and girdles - 4
White post mixed with whin - 6
Whin - -- -- -- - 0
White post mixed with whin - 2
13. Coal 1
Dark grey metal stone - - - 1
Grey metal and whin girdles 3
Grey metal and girdles - - - 3
White post ------ l
14. COAL - - - r - - - - 1
Blue and grey metal - - - 1
15. Coal - - o
Blue and grey metal - 4
White post mixed with whin - 1
Grey metal ------ 2
Grey metal and girdles - - 2
16. Low Main Coal - - - * 2
Total 270
Ft. Ins.
2 4
1 6
0 0
o 7
2 O
0 0
0 3
1 O
0 6
0 6
1 o
1 o
2 7
1 5
1 3
1 6
0 8
o 7
O 0
2 O
2 2
2 0
0 7
1 0
0 6
0 3
0 6
1 10
0 0
0 0
0 2
1 0
0 9
0 0
1 6
0 6
0 9
0 6
1 S
24
NATURAL ECONOMY.
“ Iii the above pit or shaft, which is nearly* the
deepest in the kingdom, there are no less than 16
seams of coals. But many of these, from their thin-
ness, are not workable. The 9th, called the high
main coal, and the 16th, the low main coal , are the two
principal seams for affording quantities of coal, being
together 121 feet thick, and are those most generally
wrought. But the 10th, 13th, and 14th, are all
workable seams, and will afford considerable quanti-
ties of coal; the aggregate of the three making nearly
9l feet thick; so that the total thickness of the work-
able seams in this colliery amount to 22 feet.”
The other Section I take from the last Edition.
P. 14. “ In Montague Main colliery (three miles
west of Newcastle) the different seams of coal are as
follow:
Seams.
Thickness of
each seam.
Ft. In.
Depth to each
seam.
Yds. Ft. In.
1.
Coal
.... 0
4 ....
5
2
0
2.
Ditto
.... 0
6 ....
44
1
0
3.
Ditto
.... 0
9 ....
63
2
9
4.
Benwell Main
.... 5
3 ....
69
1
10
5.
Coal
... 1
0 ....
79
2
10
6.
Ditto
.... 0
8 ....
133
1
6
7.
Ditto
4 ....
137
1
10
8.
Ditto
.... 1
6 ....
143
1
3
9.
Ditto
.... 1
3 ....
147
2
2
10.
Ditto
.... 0
8 ....
162
2
6
11.
Low Main Coal ..
.... 2
11 ....
176
0
4
12.
Lower Main Coal
.... 2
10 ....
199
2
10
13.
Coal
.... 0
6 ....
226
0
10
14.
Ditto
.... 0
5 ....
233
1
5
15.
Ditto
.... 0
3 ....
241
1
10
“ In this shaft there are 15 seams of cbal, of which
only four are workable, viz. the 4th, 7th, 11th, and
12th, making together four yards, one foot, seven
inches of workable coal. If the medium be taken
betwixt this and St. Anthon’s, it will be nearly six
ff * A pit has been lately sunk at Willington, 5 miles north-east
from Newcastle, which is 280 yards deep, to the low main coal.”
NORTHUMBERLAND.
25
yards thick of workable coal, from which may be
formed
A calculation of the quantity of Coal in an acre of ground,
supposing the aggregate thickness of the carious seams
amount to six yards.
An acre of ground contains 4840 square yards
which, multiplied by the thickness, 6 yards,
gives 29040 cubic yards
in an acre.
From which deduct * for waste, ^
and the part or pillars necessary r 968 0
to be left in working )
there remains 19360 cubic yards
to be wrought.
And as three cubic yards of coal, when wrought, afford
a Newcastle chaldron,
therefore 19360 ^ g - veg 5453 Newcastle chaldrons
divided by 3J per acre.
“ The coals exported yearly from the rivers Tyne
and Wear, with Hartley and Blythe, amount to about
825.000 chaldrons *, which, with the home consump-
tion of the two counties of Northumberland and
Durham, will make the quantity of coals raised yearly,
about 1,000,000 chaldrons.
And the chaldrons raised yearly, 1 ,000,000 j gives 1 55
> acres near-
divided by the chaldrons per acre 6453 ' \y peryear,
cleared of coal
6 yards thick.
tc And by estimating the breadth occupied by the
caking coals to be on an average eight miles broad,
and twenty-five miles long, in the two counties, we
shall find there will be about 200 square miles, or
128.000 acres of coal proper for exportation.
Then
* From Newcastle, — — 510,000 chaldrons.
Sunderland, — — 315,000 ditto.
In all
825,000
NATURAL ECONOMY.
55
Then the whole area 1 28,000 ) gives 825 years, the time-
divided by the yearly > before this space will
consumption 155 ^ be wrought out.
“ But there are some reasons to think that a thick*
ness of seam, equal to six yards, will not be obtained
over an extent of 200 square miles; probably not
more, on an average, than four yards; in which case,
the coal will be exhausted in 550 years: and if the
aggregate thickness of the seams to be obtained,,
should prove only three yards, then little more than
400 years will be the term of continuance; but it is
probable that, before the half of that time be elapsed,
the price to the consumer will be considerably in-
creased, from the increased expense of obtaining
them, and the increased length of carriage from the
pits to the river. This last, we presume, may be
reduced in some situations, by adopting canals instead
of waggon-ways, which, we have often wondered,
have never yet been attempted. 5 ’
Those calculations I copy on the faith of the sur-
veyors: and the following geological facts I insert^
Jiere, on the same authority.
P. 16. “ Of the coal found all through Bamborough
ward, Islandshire, and those parts of Glendale ward east
of the river Till, the seams are very thin, mostly from
one to three feet thick, and of a very inferior quality,
yielding a great quantity of ashes, and neither caking
in the fire nor burning to a cinder: they are used only
for home-consumption, and for burning lime; for the
latter purpose they are well adapted, by their pro-
perty of neither caking nor burning to a cinder; and it
luckily happens, that through all this district, the
coal and lime are generally found together; a circum-
stance which greatly facilitates, and lessens the ex-
pense of, burning lime.
“ If a line be drawn from Alemouth to a little west
of By well, on the river Tyne, very little of this kind
of coal and limestone will be found to the east of it;
and from this line to the sea-coast, no limestone
whatever appears, except a small patch of a different
lfinestotyj
NORTHUMBERLAND.
2 ?
limestone that puts in at Whitley, near Tynemouth,
and runs from thence in a south-westerly direction,
through the county of Durham, &c. In this space,
betwixt those two ranges of limestone, lie the caking
coals of superior quality above-described; and the
same breadth of coal may be traced through the
county of Durham, stretching in the same direction,
and bounded on the east and west in a similar manner,
by stretches of limestone of different kinds,”
SUBJECT THE SECOND.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
Political divisions, p. 2. « The county of
Northumberland is divided into six Wards, viz. Tin-
dale Ward, Coqueidale Ward, Glendale Ward, Ram-
borough Ward, Morpeth Ward, and Castle Ward.
The three first are situated in the western part of the
county, and include the whole of the mountainous
district , with a considerable portion of enclosed cultivated
country: the three latter adjoin the sea-coast, and,
being exempt from mountainous district, have been
long under cultivation*; the vast resources of coal,
which Castle ward in particular possesses, and the in-
creased population the coal trade occasions, give
them a decided preference in point of riches and
population; though in point of magnitude, consider-
ably the smallest, occupying less than one-fourth of
the county.”
State of Appropriation. P. 127. “ The Extent, of
Waste Lands , or open mountainous districts, incapable
of affording profit by cultivating with the plough, is
very great, as we have before stated; considerable quan-
tities of which are private property, and, of course, may
be depastured by sheep, or other stock, to the greatest
advantage; of those that are common, it would cer-
tainly be best for every man to know his own share.”
P. 126.
But include Uplands and Vale, within their respective limits.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
58
P. 126. “ The commons — in this county capable of
being converted into profitable tillage land, are now
very trifling, the greatest part having been enclosed
within the last 30 years; the whole amounting to
near 120,000 acres. Of this, the commons belonging
to the manors of Hexhamshire and Allendale con-
tain 50,000 acres, a great part (35,000) of which
are high, exposed, heathy mountains. These are
to be converted into stinted pastures, being thought
incapable of any other improvement.”
State OF Society. The only particulars, relating
to this subject, which appear in the Report before me,
are the subjoined notices, respecting provisions, and
fuel, in this extreme northern part of the kingdom, in
1794.
Provisions. — P. 167- “ The average prices of grain at
Berwick, in 1792, were:
s. cl.
Wheat 5 0 per bushel.
Rye 3 4 ditto.
Barley 2 6 ditto.
Oats 2 2 ditto.
Peas 3 6 ditto.
“ Fat stock being easily driven from one place to an-
other, keeps the price of butchers’ meat more upon
an equality in all the markets of the county.
“ The average price of butchers’ meat is from four-
pence to fivepence per pound; but in May and June,
it generally gets to livepence halfpenny; and the tw#
last years has been sixpence and sevenpence.
s. d.
Butter 0
Skim-milk and ewe cheese 0
Fat goose 2
Turkey 3
Duck 0
Chicken 0
Eggs, per dozen ...: 0
Potatoes, per bushel 1
6 a pound, of 16 ounces.
Si- ditto,
0
0
8
6 5 . d
3 to 0 6
0—1 i
P. 80,
NORTH tTM BE RL A NB. 29
P. 80. “The principal part of the rye grown in this
district, as well as considerable quantities imported
from abroad, is consumed in the southern parts of the
county, it being the most general bread of the labour-
ing people in that quarter. After being leavened,
until it gains a considerable degree of acidity, it is
made into loaves, and baked in a large brick oven, or
made into thick cakes, one and a half, or two inches
thick, called “ sour-cakes,” and baked on the girdle:
the bread is very firm and solid, dark coloured, and
retains its moisture or juiciness, longer than any other
bread we know.”
P. 821. “ Barley, or barley mixed with grey peas or
beans, is the common bread of labouring people in
the northern parts of this county: previous to grind-
ing, they are mixed in the proportion of two parts
barley, and one of peas or beans ; after being ground**
the meal is sifted through a fine sieve, made of wood,
to take out the rough husks and coarse bran ; it is
then kneaded with water, made into thin unleavened
Cakes, and immediately baked on a girdle.
“ In this district, barley or mixed meal is seldom,
if ever, leavened and baked in loaves .”
P. 85. Oatmeal is “ a principal articleoffood with the
great mass of inhabitants, not as bread, but in crow-
dies , or hasty -pudding (provincially “ meal-kail”), fbr
breakfast and supper, eaten with butter, or more
commonly skimmed-milk: the latter is an agreeable,
nutritive, and healthy food, and is the general breakfast
and supper of the labouring people in the northern
parts of the county.”
Fuel.— P. 168. “ Upon the edges of the moors, to-
wards the western parts of the county, a few peats are
burnt ; but in every other part, we believe, coals are
universally used.
cc The quantity consumed by a poor family, is from
5 to 7 cart-loads a vear.”
Local Taxes. Under this head are to be classed
the subsequent remarks on tithes and poors rates.
Tillies ,
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
SO
Tithes. — P. 31. “ Of this burthen of agriculture, we
do not find any thing peculiar to this county, which is
not common to the rest. In some parts, the tithes
are collected with moderation; in others, with severity
of law : some' lef for a term of years at a fair rent,
whilst others value and let every year.”
So far, as to the gathering of tithes, in Northumber-
land. In a subsequent chapter, entitled “ Obstacles
to Improvement,” are the following sensible and dis-
passionate observations, on their political operation ,
in the present state of society.
P.178. “ The payment of Tithes in kind is universally
agreed to be a material obstacle to the advancement of
agriculture. According to the present mode of collect-
ing tithes, it is not a tenth of the natural produce of
the land, but a tenth of the capital employed in trade.
If a man employs 100/. in trade, he receives his
profits without any deduction: but if he should lay
out this 100/. on a speculation of improving a piece
of land (say, draining a bog), he finds, if his scheme
succeeds, that the produce is not all his own; the
tithe-owner comes, and takes away one-tenth (which
is probably all the profit, after deducting common in-
terest for the money expended), and this from off
land that never afforded any tithe since the creation,
nor ever zvould have done , had not this spirited im-
prover laid out his 100/. on improving this bog, rather
than employing it in trade, where he could have
received at least 10/. per cent, for his money: the bog
would then have continued unprofitable, and the
tithe-owner would have received no injury; for neither
he, nor any of his predecessors, had ever reaped any
advantage from it. — Such a payment, so often the
source of dissentions betwixt the clergy and their
parishioners, should, if possible, be removed, either
by purchase, commutation, or any other means, by
which a fair equivalent can be rendered for it; for so
long as it exists, it is impossible to expect that agri T
cultural improvements will be carried to the extent of
which they are capable. — In the above instance we
2 have
NORTHUMBERLAND, 3%
liare shewn the great uncertainty of employing
money in speculations of improving land, and that
the tithes, in such cases, are a large portion of a man’s
capital in trade, and not a tenth of the natural pro-*
duce of the earth, which some have thought was all
that was intended by the original imposers, who, no
doubt, meant them for a good purpose; but if,
through a succession of ages, a change of manners, of
sentiments, and of cultivation, has taken place, and
the ill effects of tithes be universally felt, and acknow-
ledged to lessen the quantity of food obtainable from
a considerable portion of this kingdom, a change in
the mode of paying them would also be desirable;
for the proprietors of such lands are not only losers,
but the community at large. It is surprizing that
this matter should have so long escaped the regula-
tion of the Legislature, and that it should be always
so strenuously opposed by the clergy, there never
having been a wish to take any .thing from them, but
to render a fair equivalent for what is their due, and
which there would be little difficulty in doing, not-
withstanding the many objections that have been
invented to perplex this most interesting question.”
Poor Rates. — P. 31. “ In Newcastle, they vary from
2s. 6d. to 4 s. 6d. in the pound, in times of peace; but at
present, All-Saint’s parish is as high as 6s. per pound,
owing to the seafaring people living* mostly in this
parish ; and the sailors being impressed, their wives
and children come for support upon the parish. —
At Hexham they are 2s. 6d. — Morpeth 3s. 6d . —
Alnwick Is. 10 d. — Belford 2s. 6d. — Berwick 2s. Sd . —
Wooler Is. 6d. ; and in other parts of the county we
find they vary from 6d. to 2s. per pound. In 1804
/the above rates are increased at least one-third” *.
Public
* General Remark on Poors Rates. These particulars, as
isolated facts, are not of much public import. But, by continuing to
register such facts, as they may occur in other Reports, (when they
can be relied upon, as in the present instance) they may, collectively,
be found useful, in meliorating, on rational principles, the condition
indigent.
32 POLITICAL ECONOMY.
Public Works. Relating to the public works of
Northumberland, I find little collected that requires
to be concentrated, here.
River Navigation. P. 21. “ The Tyne and Tweed
are the most eminent for their navigation, the tide
(lowing up the former sixteen miles, and up the latter
eight or ten. The navigation of the other rivers is
confined to a small distance from their mouths : of
these, the Blyth and Alp are of the most importance,
from the convenience which the first affords to its
neighbourhood, for the exportation of considerable
quantities of coals; and both of them for corn, &c.
and the importation of timber, iron, and other useful
articles.”
Of navigable canals the country is, at present, I be-
lieve destitute. One between Newcastle and Carlisle
has been proposed; and, to the eye of a traveller,
paying some attention to the line, it is evidently and
aptly practicable: thereby to join the eastern and
western seas. But, through the clashing of interests,
the misapprehensions of land-owners, and the rival-
ship of surveyors, the plan, I understand, still remains
unexecuted.
The Railways of the Newcastle collieries have
been mentioned. — They are constructed with cc long
pieces of wood, about four inches square, laid length-
way, upon sleepers of wood.” The cost about “'five
shillings, a yard, or 440/. a mile.”
P. 12. “ A gently-inclined plane is the most de-
sirable position for those waggons-ways ; but few
situations will admit of this. Upon levels, or easy
ascents, a single horse draws the waggon : on such
parts of the way where the declination is sufficient for
the waggon to move by the power of gravity, the
horse is taken out, and follows behind ; and where
the descents are such that the waggon would move
with too great rapidity by its own weight (or “ run
a-main,” ) the motion is regulated by a crooked piece
of wood (called a convoy,) coming over the top of one
of the hind wheels ; upon whicn the waggon man
presses
NORTHUMBERLAND. 33
presses with such force as he finds requisite, to regu-
late the motion of the waggon.’'
In a note, the editor adds — which answered the purpose, and soon
after it was adopted on the haughs of Turvilaws,
Doddington, Ewart, &c.; by which the lands that
could not be let for more than 15.?. per acre (from the
great hazard of losing the crop,) are now let for more
than double the sum.”
The editor has given a section of the bank. It is
not, however, necessary to its explanation. The
height four feet; the base fifteen ; the inner face or
slope five feet ; the outer, toward the water, thirteen
feet : the two slopes forming an angle or sharp ridge
at the top of the bank : — a frail mode of finishing,
that cannot be well recommended. In this bank, I
perceive nothing of excellence, except the flatness of
the outer slope. And whether this be properly
adapted to given circumstances, we are unable to
judge; as neither the sort of resistance required, nor
the natural propensity of the flooding water, is men-
tioned. And, unless these be particularized, any de-
scription of an embankment, or the materials with
which it was formed, must be vague ; because on
those given circumstances the proper form and ma-
terials entirely depend.
In the instance under notice, the bank was formed
with earth, taken from a ditch or excavation along
the inner or land side of the bank ; the inner slope
being faced with sods removed, previously to breaking
the ground on that side ; and the outer, with turf
taken off the intended base or site of the bank. But
the editor, in a note, (138) says — “ In some situations
it is best to cut the ditch on the side next the river,
leaving checks at proper intervals, to prevent the run
of the water. These cavities fill up in a few years,
with mud brought by the floods; and the bank is in
less danger of breaking when there is no ditch at the
back of it.”
In one situation, and in one only, I conceive, that
method can be safely practised: namely, where the
weight of stagnant or very slowly moving water, alone y
D 3 requires
38
TENANTED ESTATES.
requires to be resisted. Where much current is liable
to take place, and especially at a bend in its course,
it would be very imprudent to trust to a bank con-
structed in that manner. This, by way of caution.
P. 128. €C Draining — -is one of those improvements
that has lately made its way into Northumberland,
and is now mostly practised in the middle and northern
parts of the county; the theory is pretty well under-
stood in those districts, and the practice is becoming
more prevalent every year. Hollow-drains are gene-
rally used , filled with stones, where they can be got;
where they cannot be obtained (but, at a great ex-
pense), sod-drains are the only resource, especially in
the northern parts, where there is little wood. Of
late years, great improvements have been made upon
the sheep-farms of the Cheviot hills, by cutting surface-
drains, about one foot wide, and as much deep, in an
oblique direction to the declivity of the ground.”
Reclaiming wild Lands. In the Section “ Wastes,”
P. 126. “ The value of such enclosed commons
depends upon the system of cultivation pursued.
Upon Bulbeck common there are lands which,
in a state of common, were not worth more
than Is. an acre, a part of which has been in
ploughing 2 5 years, and grown three white crops
successively, between one fallowing and another : this
land is now dear enough at As. an aqre ; while Mr.
Hopper’s of Black Hedley, is worth 10.?. or 12.?.
His system is, when first broke up from heath, to
pare and burn, and plough in the autumn; next
spring, plough across, lime, and sow oats; then fal-
low and lime, 73 bushels per acre, and sow turnips ;
after which, oats and grass-seeds, four pounds red
clover, five pounds white, and one bushel of ray-grass,
and continue in grass six or seven years; then to
plough for oats — turnips — oats — and sow up with
grass-seeds as before. There are instances, where the
increased value is in the ratio of twelve to one, or
even more; but these are, where the commons were
6
/
NORTHUMBERLAND. 39
of little or no value to the proprietor, which is too
often the case*.”
On Sod-burning we, have some well judged ob-
servations ; intimately agreeing with my own senti-
ments on the subject. P. 128. “ Paring and burn-
ing is not much practised in the eastern and northern
parts of the county: in the midland and southern
parts it is most prevalent, but even there it is con-
fined to old swards, and coarse, rough, rushy and
heathy lands; for the first breaking up of such ground,
it is certainly very convenient, and preferable to any
other mode we have ever seen; but though we are
fully convinced of its beneficial effects- in such situ-
ations, yet wc have our doubts whether it could be
used with advantage upon lands that have lain a few
years in grass, and that would produce good crops of
grain immediately on being ploughed out , which is not
the case with coarse, rough heathy lands, or even very
old swards on rich fertile soils.
“ P. 129. It is the injudicious cropping , more than the
ill effects derived from paring and burning, That has
been the chief cause of bringing such an odium on
this practice, which is certainly an excellent one in
some situations , and properly' conducted.
“ The popular clamour against this practice, ee that
it destroys the soil” we can by no means admit; and
are inclined to believe that not a single atom of soil
is abstracted, though the bulk of the sod or turf be
diminished: this arises from the burning of the roots
or vegetable substances.” P. 130. “ The succeeding
crops of corn are so very luxuriant, as to tempt the
injudicious cultivator to pursue it too far; who, for the
sake of temporary gain, may be said to rip it up ; as
the boy did his goose that laid golden eggs.”
Farm
“ * The stinted common of Holy Island was divided in 1790; the
allotments that were gotten for a right, which never lett for more
than 21. are now lett for 14-1. or 15 1. per aim. and in a few years
will be worth upwards of 20 1.”
D 4
40
TENANTED ESTATES.
Farm Buildings *. Pn this subject, the Northum-
brian Report affords little information that demands
particular notice, here. A diagram of a modern farm-
stead is explained; and homestalls on the plan offered,
I doubt not, are preferable to those of former times.
The modern cottage-stead is simplicity itself. It
consists of “ one apartment, 15 feet by 16, to dwell
in, with a small one at the entrance, for a cow, coals,
working- tools, &c. 9 feet by 16, and are only one
story high.” p. % r J.
These huts are built in rows, of lengths propor-
tioned to the number of “ servants” employed upon
the different farms; and generally at a short distance
from the homestall: the arrangement and general
appearance of aTweedside farmstead being very much
the same as those of a West India plantation.
Fences. The Northumbrian and south of Scotland
method of planting live hedges has its peculiarities;
but has nothing of excellence to recommend it to
general practice; although it may claim some parti-
culars in its favor. The quicksets are planted at the
foot of a flatly sloping bank of naked earth; — a sort
of half mound; the back part of which is carried up,
perpendicularly, with sods, to about four feet high.
The loose materials of the mound shelve, from the
top of this sod wall, to the line of hedge plants;
which, in ordinary practice, are judiciously set upon
or behind a sod that has been turned upon the natu-
ral soil.
The
* In a didactic treatise cm landed property, homestalls belong
to the head of improvements and repairs. But in a register of pro-
vincial facts, relating to agriculture, as well as to tenanted estates,
a description of farm buildings and fences more aptly comes under
the section Farms. Hence, in going through these Reports, when-
ever I find anv thing of instruction arise, that may be useful or
interesting to the managers of estates (as in the present case, in re-
gard to fences) I will register it under the general head of Im-
proving Estates,- — and refer to it from the section Farms. But
when merely the practice or custom of the district is reported,
l will place it, at once, in that section.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
it
The Northumbrian Reporters, however, think tins
too low a situation for the plants; as they pastured with sheep, and a small propor-
4. ) tion of cattle;
5. Oats,
6. Beans, or pease, drilled at 30 inches intervals,
horse and hand-hoed ;
7- Wheat, drilled from 9 to 12 inches intervals,
horse and hand-hoed.
cc Sandy and dry light loams — after being ploughed
out from grass:
1. Oats,
2. Turnips, drilled at 30 inches intervals.
3. Barley or wheat, drilled from 9 to 12 inches
intervals, hoed and sown up with clover and
grass-seeds, depastured with sheep (and a
small proportion of cattle) for three or more
years .
c< This last rotation has been practised of late years,
and is becoming more general, not only upon the tur-
nip soils, but upon the strong clayey lands, substituting
naked fallows, or beans drilled at 30 inches intervals,
instead of turnips; and those who have tried it on
such strong lands find, that after two or three years
clover and grass-seeds, depastured with sheep, the
land will grow good crops of oats, which they could
never get it to do under their old system.
“ Those who have practised the Norfolk system on
thin light soils, find their crops grow worse, especially
the turnips and clover, and many have been obliged
to adopt this system, by which they find their lands
renovated; and, instead of having to complain that
their soil was “ tired of turnips and clover they now
find
NORTHUMBERLAND. 51
find that it produces abundant crops, and that every
rotation brings it nearer its former fertility.' ”
I have copied Mr. Bailey’s remarks, at length, as
they appear to have been made with a degree of con-
sideration. But, I suspect, Mr. B. is not well ac-
quainted with the Norfolk husbandry, which be indi-
rectly condemns; for the Norfolk system and Mr. B’s.
system are the very same; except that the Norfolk
farmer takes three crops of corn and two crops of
herbage, in six years; Mr. B. two crops of corn and
three of herbage; and, in this respect, his plan may
be allowed (in spirit at least) to have a preference;
provided his land will lie three years in profitable
herbage. But, in regard to “ turnips and clover” the
two systems are precisely the same. Each of them
comes round every six years, and in the very same
succession of turnips — barley — clover.
Work People. The following particulars relating
to the NortliMiibrian Pesantry , will afford matter of
amusement, if not of aston ishment, to English farmers.
The practice of Northumberland is, doubtlessly, a re-
lick of the vassal system, which still prevails in the
more northern parts of Europe, where farm laborers
belong to the land; — make part of the live stock of
the farm.
The practice of paying laborers, in kind , originated
in the same necessity as that of paying landlords and
the clergy, in kind : practices that once prevailed, no
doubt, throughout the island, and all Europe. How
far it may still be right, in very recluse situations ,
where farm work people are a sort of fixtures to the
soil, though they do not belong to it, I will not at-
tempt to decide; but merely transcribe the Reporters
account of the Northumbrian practice, at the close
of the eighteenth century.
P. 164. “ Through the greatest part of this county,
and especially upon the large farms, there are very
few servants kept in the house; seldom more than
two men and two maids; but the ploughman, carters,
E 21 barnmen,
52
AGRICULTURE.
barnmen, shepherds, kc. have each a house and
garden, or yard, to themselves, and are generally
married. The conditions of servitude for one year
are:
£.
s.
d.
i l Cows kept, or money in
lieu, at 31 . each 6
0
0
3 Bushels of wheat, at 5 s.
per bushel ....
.... 0
15
0
33 Ditto of oats, at l.v.
Sd. ditto
.... 2
15
0
12 Ditto of barley, .. at 2 s.
6 d. ditto
.... 1
10
0
12 Ditto of rye, at 3 s.
4 d. ditto
.... 2
0
0
10 Ditto of pease, ... at 3 s.
6 d. ditto
.... 1
15
0
24 lb. of cast wool, . at
6 d. per lb. ...
.... 0
12
0
1 Bushel of potatoes planted, a pig tether - ) ^ 4 q
ed, keeping hens, &c )
Carriage of coals, six cart-loads 1 0 0
In all 18 11 0
“ They are bound to find a woman laborer to
work for the following wages: for harvesting 6 a. per
day; for hoeing turnips, hay-making, scaling, weed-
ing com, &c. used to be 4 d. per day, but was last
year raised to 6 d. per day.
“ In addition to the above conditions, the shepherd
generally has as many sheep kept as are worth four
or five pounds a year; but, if he has any under-
shepherd to keep to assist him, the number is, in-
creased accordingly. In the hilly districts, their
sheep sometimes amount to hundreds, besides six or
eight neat cattle.
“ An overseer, or head servant, has, in addition to
the above, as much money as to make his place worth
from 20/. to 30 1 . a year.
and are flattened at the top by drawing a piece of
wood over them, instead of a roller or a harrow.
“ About the year 17-56, or 17-57, Mr. Pringle,
formerly a surgeon in the army, who had an estate
near Coldstream, in Berwickshire, was the first per-
son in that neighbourhood who cultivated turnips in
this manner : his drills were at three feet and a half
distance. ” p. 101.
But it was left for the superior ability of Mr.
Dawson of Frocden, near Kelso, in Scotland (one
of the most accurate managers, whose practices I
have had opportunities of observing) to ESTABLISH
the PRACTICE.
P. 101. “Mr. William Dawson, who was well
acquainted with the turnip culture in England, having
been purposely sent to reside in those districts, for
six or seven years, where the best cultivation was
pursued, with an intention not only of seeing, but
of making himself master of the manual operations,
and of every minutiae in the practice, was convinced
of the superiority of Mr. Pringle’s mode over every
other he had seen, either in Norfolk or elsewhere ;
and in 1762, when he entered to Frogden farm, near
Kelso, in Roxburghshire, he immediately adopted
the practice upon a large scale, to the amount of 100
acres yearly. He began by drilling at three feet
distance ; but a few years after, trying various widths
of intervals, he reduced it to two feet and a half,
which he still continues. As far as-we have been able
to obtain information, he was the first that used
a roller for flattening the tops of the one-bout ridges.”
The
NORTHUMBERLAND.
87
The Reporters add, p. 102, — and I cordially thank
them for it, — “ it may not be improper to remark,
that Mr. PRINGLE pursued this mode for several
years, yet none of his neighbours followed the ex*
ample; but no sooner did Mr. Dawson (an actual
farmer) adopt the same system, than it was imme-
diately followed, not only by several farmers in his
vicinity, but by those very farmers adjoining Mr.
PRINGLE, whose crops they had seen for ten or twelve
years so much superior to their own. It is also de-
serving of notice, that when Mr. Dawson settled at
Frogden, the whole of that district was under the
most wretched system of cultivation, and the farmers
unacquainted with the value of turnips, artificial
grasses, and lime. At first, his practice met with
many opponents, and was ridiculed by the old, the
ignorant, and the prejudiced; but his superior crops
and profits soon made converts: the practice in a few
years became general; and this district is now amongst
the best cultivated in the kingdom, the land trebled
in value, and the aspect of the^ country greatly im-
proved. It is a pleasing reflection, that the example
and exertions of one man, have been capable of pro-
ducing so great, so lasting, and inestimable benefits;
and it is more than probable, that this mode of cul-
tivating turnips would have died away with Mr.
PRINGLE, and the practice been lost to this district,
had it not been for the discernment and intelligence
of this individual. ”
This powerfully corroborates what I have long
been desirous to inculcate; well knowing the ground
of my motive. It belongs to the higher order of
PROFESSIONAL MEN, to a DAWSON, to ESTABLISH
IMPROVEMENTS. Plow wise, then, in men of fortune,
to introduce and encourage on their estates, men
who are .so useful to their prosperity. Re it the
amusement and ambition of landed gentlemen to be
instrumental in discovering and promoting improve-
G 4 ments
8S AGRICULTURE.
ments that may be profitable to their estates and the
community*
Cultivated herbage. In this section of the
Report under review, though of some length, we find
nothing that is peculiarly entitled to notice. Never-
theless, a few of the remarks it contains may serve to
corroborate, if not enrich, what I have already col-
lected, on the subject.
P. 112. “The Artificial Grasses* most commonly
cultivated in this county are, Red Clover ( trifolium
pratense), White Clover (trifolium repens ) y and Ray
Grass (loliian perenue). With these some people
mix Rib-Grass (plantago lanceolata ), and upon -sandy
soils. Hop Medic ( medicago lupulina ) is sown with
success. Few of these grasses are ever grown alone,
except red clover, when intended to continue only one
year; and even then, a small portion of ray-grass
(from one to three gallons per acre) is generally sown
with it, we think with much propriety, as it not only
comes early in the spring, but thickens the crop, and
facilitates making the clover into hay.”'
P. 115 . “ Bay-Grass , is universally sown through
every part of this county, and its merits justly ap-
preciated. The seed from the London market used
to be held in high estimation ; but, of late years,
great quantities of an annual variety have been intro-
duced from that quarter, and considerable losses oc-
casioned.
* Artificial Grasses. I do not mean to censure the Northum-
berland Reporters for this unnatural phrase; because it was put into
their mouths. It was probably first used in antithesis to natural
rrasses: and I find that I have, but not of late, unthinkingly
Written it. We have, to be sure, artificial flowers; and artificial
grasses, too, might doubtlessly be picked up in Bond-street.
When speaking of the food of animals, the most proper epithet
to be used, in contradistinction to natural, is cultivated. : — and, when
nothing but grasses were raised, the phrase cultivated grasses would
be most applicable. But the trifolia are legumes, not grasses.
Both of them, however, produce herbage. When a term, or a
technical phrase, is to be used, one which is appropriate ought
certainly to be preferred to one that is absurd.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
89
tasioned, by the ground being left totally bare, or
without a single plant of ray-grass, the second year :
this having so frequently happened, has induced many
principal farmers to grow their own ray-grass seed,
which they know to be of the true perennial kind.”
P. 116. “ In order to ascertain which of the above
plants were most grateful to sheep, the following ex-
periment was made, in a field (of good dry loam)
sown w r ith a mixture, of red clover 1 01b. white 31b.
yellow 31b. rib-grass 21b. and ray-grass 1 peck per
acre; - five parcels of ground, adjoining each other,
were selected, for sowing each of the seeds separately :
the result was, that the red and the white clovers, and
the rib-grass, were eaten perfectly bare, while the
yellow was in a manner untouched, and got to such
a length as to be obliged to be mown ; — at the same
time, it was eaten equally with the other plants in
those parts of the field where they were sown pro-
miscuously as above.”
A precaution that is used, by the Reporters, on
turning cattle upon a full bite of clover, is valuable. — •
P. 114. “ When cattle are turned into a fresh clover
iC fog,” especially in wet weather, they are sometimes
hove, by the sudden fermentation of the clover : to
prevent this inconvenience, cattle are put upon it in
the middle of the day, when it is free from dew, or
any moisture, they being first filled with natural grass,
which hinders them from eating so greedily as if put
on hungry : if the clover once pass, they seldom take
any harm afteiwards. By using this precaution, we
have not had any cattle hoven for several years.”
Natural Herbage, or Grass Land. — P. 111.
What is generally understood by natural meadows,
are such lands as are overflowed by rivers*, and pro-
duce
* No : Meadow is applied, in most parts of the kingdom, to low
lying moiving grounds ; whether they are, or not, liable to be over-
flowed ; in distinction to marshes, grazing grounds , and other
Pasture Lands,
AGRICULTURE.
90
duce a crop of hay every year, without any returns
of manure. Of this description of meadows we have
very few in this county : what are called meadows
here, are such old grass lands as are employed for
growing hay almost every year, the greatest part of
which are uplands. To enable them to . stand this
severe cropping, they are, or ought to be, manured
on the surface every third or fourth year ; if this
operation be neglected, they impoverish very fast.
Where they cannot conveniently be dunged as above,
they are depastured one year, and mown the other \
or, what is better, depastured two years, and mown
the third : the produce, from one to a ton and a half
per acre, a fair crop.”
Meadow Haymaking. Of the Northumbrian me-j
thod, the Reporters speak slightingly. “ The mowers
cut from half an acre to three quarters a day, and
that very ill : the haymakers are equally indolent and
inactive.” (p. 117.) The best practice of North-
umberland, as described in the Report, is, however,
no way inferior to the par practice of the kingdom.
It, in most respects, resembles that of YORKSHIRE >
which I have described. The only particular that
has struck me as requiring notice here, is the method
of conveying the load cocks, pikes, or stacklets, to
the aggregate stack in the field. — P. 118. ‘‘When
the large stack is madp in the field, the “ pikes” are
drawn to it, by putting a strong rope round their
bottom, the two ends of which are fastened to the
hind part of a cart, in which are yoked three or four
horses. This saves the trouble of forking and loading
them in carts, and is done in much less time.”
Grazing Grounds. — P. 112. “ Natural pastures, or
old grass land, are most prevalent along the sea coast :
these are depastured with both sheep and oxen ; the
general mode of stocking being two acres to an ox,
and the same quantity of ground to eight or ten
sheep, through the summer, and from one to two
sheep per acre through the winter j the latter are
either
NORTHUMBERLAND.
either the store flock, or ewes for fat lambs. Some-
times Cheviot wethers, three years and a half old, in
good condition, are put in those pastures after the
fatting cattle are taken out, and pay well, if they
get sufficiently fat to be sold to the butchers about
Christmas.”
P. 120.
pendicular, which cuts the one side of the furrow in
a slope, while the coulter, being bent at a right
angle, immediately un*ar the plough beam, to the
land side, an inch and a half, and then again to the
furrow a little acutely, and descending obliquely to
its point, where it meets the perpendicular, cuts the
other side of the furrow likewise in a slope, and
under proper management turns out a sod six inches
deep, four inches and a half broad at the bottom, and
six inches bread at the top.”
Orchards — P. 52. ‘‘Orchards are uncommon,
unless in the southern parts of this county, where
they are general and profitable.”
These, I believe, may be considered as the most
northerly orchards, of any considerable extent, in
England.
Livestock. The Reporter having bad the per-
mission of “ Mr. Gulley, (p. 33) to insert in this
work his accurate description of the horse, bull, and
ram of the county of Durham, as stated in his Obser-
vations on Live Stock,” — there was the less occasion
for his own obseryations on the subject; — cc A few
additional
DURHAM.
1 53
additional reflections, however, (continues Mr. G.)
have occurred, and will follow after the descriptions,
for consideration. Stock being the peculiar boast of
this part of the north of England, it seems a duty to
give it that attention which it deserves ;” And, after-
ward (willing that his countrymen should lose no part
of the credit they have gained), he further adds, p. 38,
“ Although, perhaps, there may be in this part of the
kingdom some favourable peculiarity of soil or climate,
we have also traditional assurance, that our ancestors
were careful in the selection of the animals from
which they bred, in the several kinds of stock, to
which attention, the pre-eminence of character it still
bears in the market, is perhaps principally to be
attributed.” Mr. G/s descriptions are as follow :
HORSES. — P. 36. “The horses are fit for the
field, the saddle, and the harness, and sold at good
prices to the London dealers.”
CATTLE. — P. 36. “ The cattle are short-horned of
a good kind, still improving, by the attention of some
breeders to a judicious selection of bulls and cows ;
and perhaps upon every consideration of form, weight,
produce of milk and butter, and above all, quickness
of grazing, not inferior to any in England.”
Sheep.— P. 36. “ The sheep are large, with long
wool. They have of late been crossed by some, with
the Leicestershire kind, and several think with ad-
vantage; others are of opinion that the cross hath
been disadvantageous, because, although it must be
allowed that the form has been improved, the weight
certainly hath been found to be diminished ; and tiiat
in those of the age of a year and a half, the usual
time of sale, diminishes the value, perhaps not less
than a crown per head; nor hath the pasture ad-
mitted of greater number, nor have they fattened
sooner to compensate that, loss; nor hath it been
found, that by keeping them longer, a greater in-
crease of profit hath accrued from them than from
the other. They wish therefore to preserve the old,
/ ' which
AGRICULTURE.
154
which hath acquired the name of the Tees-watcr
breed, and hath been long most deservedly in high
esteem; and they recommend, in order still to im-
prove it, a careful attention in the choice of ewes
and rams in the propagation. In Weardale, where
the sheep is of a small kind, weighing, when fat, from
fourteen to eighteen pounds a quarter, part homed,
with mottled faces, the wool fine, care is taken to
preserve the breed pure; the ewes are constantly,
in breeding time, brought off the moors, and put to
approved rams, in their inclosed pastures. Those
that run at large upon other wastes, are a promis-
cuous kind, and in a perpetual state of degeneracy.
It is usual for our farmers of water-shaken ground, in
the lower parts of the county, to purchase from the
north-western moors, ewes in the latter end of harvest,
and putting them to rams of the Tees-vvater breed,
to sell them with their produce the summer follow-i
ing, it not being safe, on account of the rot, to keep
them longer/ *
Swine. — P. 37. 4. “ Grain
of all kinds is generally very high ; the average price,
in 1793, was,
s. d.
For wheat, 6 6 per bushel.
Barley, 3 8 ditto.
Oats, 2 8 ditto.
Butchers' meat, from ..0 3 to 4 d. per lb.
Butter, from 0 6 to 8 d. per lb.
Skimmed milk cheese, 0 3 per lb.
Potatoes, I 0 to l.y. 4 d. per bush.
Poultry. — A stubble goose, 2s. ; duck, 8 <7. ; a foyvd,
6d. ; eggs, from 3d. to 6d. per dozen.
Fish. — Salmon, 6d, per lb. ; trout, 3d.”
Again. “ The Bread generally used in this county,
is made of barley, or a mixture of barley and rye :
oatmeal is made into hasty-puddings, and eat with
butter, treacle, milk, or beer, for breakfast, and often
for supper.”
“ Potatoes , for several years, have been in general
use, as a principal article of food ; few families dine
witiiout them ; and we believe many a dinner and
supper are made of potatoes, with a little butter, or
cream, for sauce, and in many cases only milk, or,
where this cannot be had, a little salt.”
Fuel. — P. 255. “ Coals are cheap and plentiful in
mbst parts of the county; in several places, from
1 5s.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
170
15^. to 30 .l will procure a year’s fuel for a small
family .’ 9
“ Peat and turf also abound, and are used instead
of coals in some districts.”
Employments. P.261. “The Manufactures are
not extensive ; printing cottons at Carlisle, and a
check manufacture (on a small scale) in most of the
market-towns, with four or five cotton-mills erected of
late years near Carlisle, Dalston, and Corby, with a
small factory of corduroys at the latter place, is all
this county has to boast of.” Four or five cotton-
mills to boast of 1 Their effects on the morals of Car-
lisle, at least, have been, for some time, notoriously
ascertained.
Local Taxes. — Poor Rate. In 1797? the poor
rate, “ at Carlisle, 2.s\ ; Wigton, c 2s. 6d. ; Aldston,
Ss . ; Harrington, Is. 6d. ; Kirkoswald, Is. 8d. ; and
in many of the country parishes, they vary from 6d.
to 10 d. per pound.” p. 210.
P. 262. “ In most of the country parishes the poor-
rates are low, from 6d. to 9 d. per pound, which, we
believe, is partly owing to a sort of pride existing
amongst the lower classes, of not applying for paro-
chial relief till they cannot possibly subsist without
it ; and also to the number of friendly societies which
have been established, and we hope are still increas-
ing. Such useful institutions are deserving of encou-
ragement by every person whose property is charge-
able with poor-rate.”
Tithes. P. 210. “ Tithes are mostly taken in. kind ;
a few parishes pay a modus in lieu of tithes, and others
are tithe-free, in consequence of a portion of common
being given to the impropriator.”
Public Works. Oil this prominent subject, in a
Report to a public Board, we find little to notice, in
that of Cumberland.
Embankments (public I take for granted) are re-
commended, P. 2 /2, “ on the marshes of Burgh,
Rockclitfe, Abbey- Holm, and the mouth of the
4 Duddon.”
CUMBERLAND.
171
Duddon.” And, in a note, “ the Lancaster, Cart-
mel, and Duddon Sands,” are mentioned. But of
these in their proper place.
Roads. What the Cumberland Surveyors say on
this subject (p. 256.) serves to show that cursory ob-
servations on the existing state of roads, at any par-
ticular time, must be in some degree vague. The
condition of a road is continually varying. The
states of the Cumbrian roads, as mentioned by the
Reporters, in 1794, might be said to be the reverse, in
1798; when I found the great road, between Car-
lisle and Newcastle, in high condition : while many
of the less public roads were unsufferably bad : — not-
withstanding the great plenty of good materials that
abound in most parts of Cumberland (not in all) ;
and notwithstanding the carriages of burden which
travel upon them are, invariably, single horse carts.
My journals, in 1798, 1800, and 1801, are full of
complaints, on this subject : amounting to a proof,
that the road surveyors of Cumberland are negligent
of their duty ; or that single horse carts are not so
favorable to roads, as theory aptly suggests.
Market Products of Cumberland. A valuable
produce of its waters are salmon ; of which great
quantities are sent to the metropolis.
The products of its soils are those of Woodlands
and Agriculture, which will be mentioned. The sur-
plus that is shipped off, from this county, consists of
WESTMORELAND.
consisting principally of oak, ash, alder, birch, and
hazel. These underwoods are usually cut down
every sixteenth year ; the uses to which they are
applied are chiefly two, hoops and charcoal. The
hoops are sold iu the wood, at 51. a thousand ; they
are generally manufactured in the country, and sent
by sea to Liverpool ; the charcoal is sent to the iron
furnaces in the neighbourhood. The value of a
statute acre of coppice wood of sixteen year’s growth,
is variable, from 10/. to 15/.; and if it consists alto-
gether of oak, its price may amount to twenty
guineas, 61. for the charcoal, and 15/. for the bark; it
being the custom here to peel the bolls, and all the
branches of the oak, which are equal to the thickness
of a man’s thumb.”
In continuation, his Lordship remarks. — “ It is an
extraordinary thing to see any trees left to stand for
timber in these underwoods, the high price of bark
being a temptation to cut the whole down. Fine
saplings, from nine to twelve inches in circumference,
at five feet from the ground, and with bark as splendid
as polished silver, are felled by the unfeeling pro-
prietor with as little regret as if they were thorns or
briars.”
But we are not informed, respecting the soil and
situation, where those young sapling oaks are felled.
Are they adapted to the growth of timber? If they
are, and it can be foreseen that timber will pay better
than coppice wood, then, in a private light, ought the
entire ground to be appropriated to timber; and,
instead of one hundred and fifty, more than four times
that number of standards an acre, should be left, — IN
the Sussex manner.
Offering general remarks and calculations, on this
Subject, might be said to be, at best, spending time
un profitably ; and may be productive of much evil,
when undertaken by men of acknowledged talents
and great authority; as will presently be shown.
The proper management of woods, the advancement
and
224
WOODLANDS.
and progressive value of their produce, the most pro-
fitable state of growth, and the most suitable appli-
cation, depend on the given soil, substratum, and
climature, aad the market to which the produce can
be sent with the greatest profit.
In alpine districts, — in Devonshire, in Wales, and
in Westmoreland, — woodlands are mostly confined to
the sides of vallies or other steep surfaces. The
highest parts of the hills,— being generally thin ©f
soil and exposed to cutting blasts,— produce even
coppice wood of a stunted growth : while in the
middle regions, coppice wood thrives with luxuriance.
But, there, timber trees are forbid to flourish. At
twenty or thirty years growth, their tops often begin
to wither, and frequently before they are half a cen-
tury old, they are seen in a state of decay: while on
the low r er hangs, and at the feet of the slopes, timber
trees of size, and of luxuriant growth, are found.
Hence, it is the practice of judicious managers, in
such situations, and in districts where coppice w r ood
and timber are both of them in demand, to keep the
upper parts entirely in coppiced, the lower wholely
in timber : a practice that I am desirous to impress
on the minds of the woodmen of Westmoreland.
If the larger proprietors of Westmoreland, stimu-
lated by a laudable regard for the future prosperity of
the island, &re emulous to supply it with ship timber,
in time to come, — be it their’s to propagate the larch ,
not the oak , for that purpose. It may, I think, be
safely averred, that, unless on the lower slopes of steep
narrow dells in which neither the plough nor the sithe
can operate with due effect, and excepting perhaps
a few cold lands in the valley of Appleby, there ought
not to be an oak, of sufficient size to be used in build-
ing ships of magnitude, in the country. Every acre
of land within it, which is capable of maturing such
an oak (except as before excepted) should be applied,
for reasons above suggested, to the purposes of
agriculture.
It
WESTMORELAND.
225
It makes no part of my present views to enter, on
ordinary occasions, upon general topics, and specu-
lative discussions. But as I cannot hope, in exploring
the barren tracks I am now traversing, to meet fre-
quently with men of Doctor Watson's compass of
inind, I am willing to pay every attention to the sug-
gestions he has thrown out.
The subject of ship timber, for the future navy of
England, is of so much interest, and so connected
with rural concerns, that any light which may be
thrown upon it, cannot be indifferent to my readers.
I therefore register, here, the liberal proposals con-
tained in the subjoined extracts, with great readiness.
P. 290. “ It is a general opinion in this, and, I
believe, in other countries, that it is more profitable
to fell oak wood at 50 or 60 years growth, than to let
it stand for navy timber to 80 or 100. According to
the price which is now paid for that commodity,
either by the Navy Board, or the East-India Com-
pany, I believe the opinion to be founded in truth.
The following observations contain the reason for this
belief.
“ If profit is considered, every tree of every kind
ought to be cut down, and sold, when the annual
increase in value of the tree, by its growth, is less
than the annual interest of the money it would sell
for*: this being admitted, we have only to inquire
into the annual increase in the value of oaks of
different ages.”
In prosecuting this inquiry, the Bishop of Llandaff
quotes Mr. Marsiiam’s paper, formerly published in
the Philosophical Transactions : a paper which, in-
genious and well intended as it doubtlessly was, has
been, I fear, the cause of considerable injury. — The
site of Mr. Marsham’s plantations (I speak from my
own
* Togetherwith the annual value of the land it grows upon: —
of more consideration, perhaps, than the interest, of the money. Brx\
226
WOODLANDS.
own knowledge of it) is of a peculiar nature: namely,
a weak sandy soil, resting upon deep rich clay, which
is singularly affected by the oak consequently, for
the growth of which, lands of that description are pre-
eminently suited; while, for the purposes of agricub
ture, they are of very inferior value. Hence, the
PROFITS of PLANTING were, in that case, very great,
when compared with those of AGRICULTURE. And,
in consequence of Mr. M’s fair statements, and the
misguided encouragement of well-meaning but ill-
informed men, millions of oaks, probably, have been
planted, on sites of an opposite description!— on lands
whose surface soils were profitably employed in
agriculture, and whose substrata are ungenial to the
growth of trees ; especially oaks: thousands of acres
of valuable lands having thus been laid waste; or
diverted from their natural, and most profitable use.
But even on Mr. Marsham’s site, and of course
with Mr. Marsham’s market, young oaks were found
to be the most profitable. That superior planter,
speaking, from the result of bis experience, says —
“ I have fixed upon thirty shillings as the value of
trees which should be cut down: if they are cut
sooner or later, the proprietor will be a loser.”
The Bishop of Llandaff’s remarks on this result
show that his Lordship has paid considerable atten-
tion to the subject.
P. 291. “ It must not be supposed, however, that
great precision can attend this observation ; since
particular soils, or the greater or less thriving con-
dition of the wood, may render it useful to cut down
trees before they are worth 30s. or to let them stand
a while longer. It ought to be remarked also, that
large trees sell for more per foot than small ones do,
yet the usual increase of price, is not a compensation
to the proprietor for letting his timber stand to a
great age. This may be made out from the follow-
ing experiment :
On the 27th October, 1792, I measured, at six
feet
w^stmokeLand. 2$7* :
feet from the ground, the circumference of a very
fine oak, of eighty-two years growth, from the time
of its being planted, and found it to be 107 inches i
on the same day of the mouthy in 1793, it mea-
sured 108 inches. — There is not one oak in fifty
(at the age of this) which gains an inch in circum-
ference in one year. The length of the boll of this
tree was about 18 feet; it contained about 84 feet of
timber, and was worth at 3s. a foot, 12/. 1 2s. It
gained in one year very little more than a foot and
one half of timber, at 4 sj 6d. in value ; but the interest
of 12/. 12s. at 4/. per cent, amounts in one year, to
above twice the value of the increase, even of this
tree, which is a singularly thriving one'.” — And here,
likewise, is to be added the rental value of the land
whether for agricultural produce, or for a crop of
young timber or coppice wood.
The Bishop continues, p. 292, “ I have been flic
more particular oh this subject, from a public con-
sideration. Many men are alarmed, lest our pos-
terity should experience a scarcity of oak timber for
the use of the Navy ; and various means of increasing
its quantity have been recommended with great judg-
ment. In addition to these means, the making a
much greater than the ordinary increase of price rit
timber of a large scantling, might be not improperly
submitted to the consideration of those who are con-'
cerned in the business. If the Navy Board would
give Si. or 9/. a load for timber trees, containing 100
cubic feet or upwards, instead of 4/. or 57. every man
in the kingdom would have a reasonable motive for
letting his timber stand till it became of a size fit for
the use of the Navy ; whereas, according to the pre-
sent price, it is every man’s interest to cut it down
sooner.”
Having had many opportunities of deliberately
observing the state of growth, and the decay, of timber
trees, and having already ventured to publish my
opinion, respecting the proper ages of felling different?
Ql 2' species
228 WOODLANDS.
species (in Midland Counties, Minute 149) I will
confine my remarks, in this place, to the suggestion of
the Bishop of Llandaflf, relating to the advance of price
for oak timber, for the use of the navy.
Supposing Government were, now* to issue an order
to that effect, let us consider in what manner it would
operate. To the few who have, at present, upon their
estates trees of the size proposed, it would be highly
advantageous. In those who have trees which are
approaching that size, and which, in ten, fifteen, or
twenty years, would be able to claim that advance of
price, it might be an eligible speculation to let them
stand. But would it be prudent, in the proprietors
of younger timber, to play so high a game ? We need
not hesitate in asserting that, even on oak la?id } it
requires a hundred and fifty years, or upward, to
grow oaks, in number, to a hundred cubical feet, a
tree. That above-mentioned was, doubtlessly* cf a
singularly thriving one.” Suppose a man to be pos-
sessed of an unentailed estate, stocked with oak
timber of fifty to a hundred years growth, — would it
be right, even in a man so circumstanced, to look for-
ward, for himself and his successors, fifty or a hundred
years, in expectation of a high price, without any
other certainty of reaping it, than an order, or a law*
which, in any sitting of Council, or session of Par-
liament, might be annulled ?
If oak timber, in quantity, and of a size equal
to a hundred, or even eighty, cubical feet, each tree,
will hereafter be necessary to the salvation of the
country,— let not Government depend on individuals
for a supply. A supply that requires several gene*
rations of men— with different, perhaps opposite*
views, propensities, opinions, or wants— to bring it
to the required market !
Much of the land on which oak timber has here-
tofore been raised, is become too valuable— too neces-
sary-fox the uses of agriculture, to be employed*
again, in the growth of timber. Nevertheless* there
is
WESTMORELAND.
229
is land, as has been shown, which is peculiarly
adapted to the growth of the oak 3 yet is of inferior
value to husbandry. Let Government purchase lands
of that description, — already stocked with timber,
where such is to be had, — or to be seeded with acorns,
if at present unwooded ; and, in this plain and ob-
vious manner, provide, with certainty, a continual
supply of oak timber, for the British navy, — with the
least injury, possible, to the supply of human suste-
nance.
Let it not be said that the plan here suggested,
would become abortive, through a want of due execu-
tion : as that would be a libel on Government *. A
very small portion of the organization and discipline,
by which ship timber is preserved, in the state of manu-
facture, would be -sufficient, not only to preserve, but
to train it, in the state of growth.
I cannot allow myself to quit the Bishop of IJan-
daff’s remarks on Woodland produce, without copy-
ing the concluding passage. It is fraught with in-
teresting information, which may, hereafter, be pro-
ductive of practical advantage ; in tire way already
suggested, in page 133.
P. 293. “ May I be permitted to hazard another
conjecture, respecting the use to which coppices
might be applied, without injuring either the quantity’
or the quality of the charcoal obtained from them ?
Pit coal yields, by distillation, about a twenty-fourth
part of its weight, of a thick tenacious oil, resembling
tar. All sorts of wood yield a similar oil by the same
process : I do not know whether the oil from wood
be of an inferior or of a superior quality to that from
pit coal ; but I suspect it to be fitter for cordage. See.
In
* Yet there are who bring this as an objection against the most
obviously profitable plans of improvement : — judging, no doubt,
other men’s exertions and integrity by their own. But the
exertions and integrity of the Commissioners of Public Accounts
•may happily put a stop to such treasorfable insinuations;
Q 3
£30
WOODLANDS.
In the ordinary way of making charcoal, the whole
of this oil is dispersed in the form of smoke : may it
not deserve to be inquired, whether this oil might
not be saved with profit ? The process which is used
in America, for extracting tar from the pine tree, is
little different from that by which charcoal is made in
England. Whether the quantity of oil which might
be obtained from a pit of wood, when converted into
charcoal, would exceed in value the expense of pro-
curing it, can only be decided by experiment. The
reader may form some guess at the quantity, from
the following statement : the black part of guiacum
wood yields a tenth, the sappy part a thirteenth part
.of its weight, of thick black oil. Sassafras wood, oak,
ash, alder, birch, &c. give by distillation (and making
charcoal is a species of distillation), from a twenty-
fourth to a twelfth part of their respective weights, of
this oil. The difference in quantity arises from a
diversity in the texture, age, and dryness of the
woods. 1 suppose that a cord of coppice wood would
weigh a ton, and that four cords would make one
cloven of sacks of charcoal, and that wood of this sort
would yield a twentieth part of its weight of oil : on
these suppositions, there is dissipated in making one
dozen of charcoal 448lbs. of oil, or one ton in every
five dozen/’
Plantations.— P. 319. “ The Bishop ofLANDAFF
has planted, on some high ground near Ambleside,
above an hundred acres with oak, ash, elm, beech,
sycamore, Scotch fir, and larch. He is doubtful
whether the climate be not too cold for any sort of
•/
wood except the fir and larch ; the other kinds, after
seven years growth, are alive, but stunted; they
shoot a little in the spring, but that shoot perishes,
as to its greatest part, in the winter. Some of them
have been cut down, but the new shoots do not pro-
mise well. The firs and larches, but especially the
larches, thrive as well as he could wish.”
DIVISION
WESTMORELAND.
231
DIVISION THE THIRD.
AGRICULT U R E.
F ARMS. — Sizes. — P. 302. “ Farms, in general, are
so small, that it is rare to meet with one of 100/. a
year of rent, though there are some of even 200/. or
250/. a year.”
Homesteads . — P. 300. "The lands of the statesmen
and farmers in this county lie so intermixed, that
their habitations and offices, which are often built to-
gether in little straggling villages, must of necessity
be very inconvenient for farming purposes ; but con-
venience has been little studied, even on those farms
whose fields lie unmixed. The principal structure is
a barn, which, at the same time that it has a stable
and cow-house underneath, is frequently large enough
to contain the whole crop of both corn and hay, so
that it is rare to see a stack of either.”
Farm Cottages. — P. 301. “ There are very few-
mere cottages in the county; the labourer and
mechanic generally reside in a small farm-house, and
occupy more or less land.”
OCCUPIERS. — Mr. Pringle's remarks, on this head,
are creditable to him, as a man of observation and
reflection ; and as a writer possessing liberal sen-
timents.
P. 302. “ It might be useful to know what pro-
portion of the lands in the county is possessed by that
numerous and respectable yeomanry already men-
tioned as occupying small estates of their own, from
10/. or 20/. to 501. a year. These men, in contra-
distinction to farmers, or those who hire the land
ihey occupy, are usually denominated statesmen.
They live poorly, and labour hard ; and some of
them, particularly in the vicinity of Kendall, in the
intervals of labour from agricultural avocations, busy
Q 4 themselves
AGRICULTURE.
232
themselves in weaving stuffs for the manufacturers of
that town. The consciousness of their independence
renders them impatient of oppression or insult, but
they are gentle and obliging when treated by their
superiors with kindness and respect. This class of
men is daily decreasing. The turnpike-roads have
brought the manners of the capital to this extremity
of the kingdom. The simplicity of ancient times is
gone. Finer clothes, better dwellings, and more
expensive viands, are now sought after by all. This
change of manners, combined with other circum-
stances which have taken place within the last forty
years, has compelled many a statesman to sell his
property, and reduced him to the necessity of work-
ing as a labourer in those fields, which, perhaps, he
and his ancestors had for many generations cultivated
as their own. It is difficult to contemplate, this
change without regret ; but considering the matter
on the scale of national utility, it may be questioned
whether the agriculture of the county will not be
improved as the landed property of it becomes less
divided.”
Plan of Management. — What is entitled to
notice, on this head, in the Report under conside-
ration, relates to the succession of crops. To this sub-
ject Mr. Pringle has paid more than ordinary atten-
tion. The general practice of the county he de-
scribes in the following circumstantial, yet com-
pendious, manner.
P. 310. When a field of grass is overgrown with
moss, which commonly happens in seven or ten
years, it is broken up with the plough in the begin-
ning of March, and sown, about the 1st of April,
With oats, at the rate of seven and one-half Winches-
ter bushels upon the customary acre of 6,760 square
yards. The crop is reaped about the middle of Sep-
tember, and 60 bushels are reckoned a tolerably good
return.
Second
Crop . — The land is ploughed for the se-
WESTMORELAND ,
%3&
£oncl crop as soon after Candlemas as the weather will
permit, and 80 or 100 cart-loads of stable-yard dung
are laid upon the acre. It is ploughed again in
April, and sown with four bushels of barley or bigg*.
The harvest is earlier than that of the oats, and 54
bushels are reckoned a good crop. Some farmers
plough three times for barley, but it is the general
practice that is here described.
“ Third Crop . — After the barley, the land is plough-
ed in April, and eight bushels of oats per acre are im-
mediately sown upon it. The harvest is commonly*
in September, and the crop is usually as good as
the first was.
This is the most ordinary succession of crops,
though it is sometimes broken through by taking two
crops of oats before the barley, which, in that case,
is followed by another of oats. The land is then left
to itself, and the first year it produces a light crop of
hay, of bad quality. In the third year the crop is at
the best with regard to both quantity and quality.
In seven, or in ten } T ears, it is again mossed over, and
is again ploughed up to undergo a similar treatment.”
Some exceptions to this prevailing plan of manage-
ment are enumerated, and remarked upon. But no-
thing of interest arises in the discussion.
In the “ Conclusion” of the Report, this subject is
again adverted to. — P. 350. — cc It is the general opi-
nion of farmers in Westmoreland, that their lands are
better suited for grass than for bearing crops of corn,
and they are ploughed for three or four years, not
with an expectation that the corn will be more profit-
able than the grass, but in order to renovate them for
grass, and to destroy the moss, which in a few years-
over-runs all their ley grounds: but there are some
who are persuaded, that the neat profits of the three
or four years the lands are under crop, usually exceed
the profits of any other three or four years while the
same lands lie in grass, and they think that their fer-
tility for the production of either grass or corn, would
be
234
AGRICULTURE.
be injured by ploughing for a longer term, or after
shorter intervals of rest.”
Proposals, for the improvement of the established
practice, succeed. But still we find nothing that is
new or interesting. The turnip husbandry, with cul-
tivated herbage, if properly pursued, could scarcely
fail to become a beneficial change for the stubble-
grass practice. Nevertheless, seeing the high rents
that are paid for land, we may safely conclude they
are not unproductive, under the existing management;
which prevails, or recently prevailed, along the west-
ern coast, from the Firth of Solway, to the estuary
of the Merey*.
Work People. P.333. — “Labor is dearer in
Westmoreland than it is in almost any of the coun-
ties either to the north or south of it. This probably
is owing to the great number of small landholders, or
statesmen above-mentioned, who doing the work upon
their own estates, with their own hands and those of
their families, are perhaps disinclined to labor for
other people.”
In p. 303, the uncivil treatment of the female ser-
vants of Westmoreland, is thus feelingly reported:—
“ It is painful to one, who has in his composition the
smallest spark of knight-errantry, to behold the beau-
tiful servant maids of this county toiling in the severe
labors of the field. They drive the harrows, or the
ploughs, when they are drawn by three or four horses ;
nay, it is not uncommon to see, sweating at the dung-
cart, a girl, whose elegant features, and delicate nicely -
proportioned limbs, seemingly but ill accord with such
rough employment.” What must have been Mr.
Pringle's feelings, to have seen those elegant nymphs
- — loaded by unfeeling swains — carrying the dung on
their own fair backs to the field j* !
Working
'* And see the ensuing article. Cultivated herbage.
•j- See West of England, Art. Winnowing. .
WESTMORELAND.
235
Working Animals. — P. 331. “ There being only
one person in Westmoreland who uses ox teams, it
may be justly inferred, that the general opinion of
farmers in the county is in favor of horses. The
writer of this Report has not such information upon
the subject, as to be able to draw the desired compa-
rison between these useful animals.”
On IMPLEMENTS, I find nothing that particularly
claims notice. One-horse carts are in use.
Manure. — Lime. P. 323. “ It is sometime laid
upon the land when it is in tillage, but for the most
part it is spread upon the surface of grass fields; and
it has been found to sweeten such as are coarse and
bent, amazingly.
Compost — P. 324. amps from obstructed water; .pestilential air from
crowded rooms ; — effluvia from acids and different
preparations down from cotton ; all operate as
pestilences to the human constitution.
“ On the other hand, the advantages that have
been held forth, have been an increase of population ;
as that which constitutes the riches and strength of a
country.
“ Increase of the value of lands, and also of pro-
visions. The farmer particularly has an advance on
the price of his cheese, his butter, his fatted cattle,
his milk; also straw, which, in 1790, sold at the ad-
vanced price of 8d. per stone in the spring at Liver-
pool ; dearer, probably, than ever was known, even
in the London market. Hay is little dearer than
thirty years ago, except on extraordinary occasions;—
hay is, at present about 8 id. per stone, owing to a
slight crop ; — thirty years ago 6d. per stone.
“ Capitals, labour, ingenuity, and attention are in
this county diverted from agriculture.”
Yet the agriculture of this very county was singled
out, by the Board, to make the first impression on
S the
258
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
the public mind — and astonish “ the three estates of
parliament” — with their important collection of local
knowledge, for the improvement of British agri-
culture.
Let us listen again. — Note, p. 21 1 . — “ The following
arc the observations of a practical farmer upon this
important subject. — 4 From various circumstances it
evidently appears, that trade is injurious to agriculture,
and in the end to landed property, unless it could be
restricted ; for whenever a stagnation in trade hap-
pens, Lhe poor rates rise, and the land pays for it.
Poor rates and other taxes in West Houghton have
amounted this year to 16,?. in the pound. Corn is
not so much grown, for though the farmer can get in
his grain, he cannot raise hands but at an enormous
price to reap it : if mowing corn were more practised,
it would be better.’
“ Another farmer says, c Never inquire about the
cultivation of land, or its produce, within ten or
twelve miles of Manchester ; the people know nothing
about it : speak of spinning-jennies, and mules, and
carding machines, they will talk for days with you.’
“ There are people about Ashton that give 61. for
a summer’s grass for horses to work carding engines,
and will give Lorn 12/. to 15/. for hay and after-grass,
that they may not be troubled with cultivating land
to hinder them, as they say. If land were attended
to, and improved, for ten to fifteen miles round Man-
chester, as it is in Derbyshire, the lower parts of
Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, &c. it would be as pro-
ductive as any land in any part of England ; for it all
inclines to marl, and is naturally a strong soil, not
only tit to carry manure of any kind, but hold it for
a sufficient time.”
And again, — p. 212.— “ There needs little to prove
the importance of manufactories in a national view ;
and their effect upon agriculture, theoretically speak-
ing, seem immense, in as much as they form the best
and
Lancashire. 25$
ahd most certain markets : — But, practically Speakings
they are baneful to agriculture.
“ The immediate wages to be obtained in the'
manufactories rob agriculture of its most valuable
supporters ; — the yeoman and the laborer are both
tempted from the plough ; — all competition is pre-
cluded. — Who will work for Is. Gd. or 2s. a day at a
ditch, when he can get 3s. Gd. or 5s. a day in a cotton
work, and be drunk four days out of seven? — But
their most destructive effect are the increase of the
poor rates. In winter many hands are turned out of
employment, who must be supported by parish rates ;
the laborer at cotton must, when sick, or ill, or aged,
be supported by taxes levied upon agriculture. —
Manufactories encourage settlers of all descriptions.—
Above 5000 Irish were settled at Manchester in the
year 1787? and I am told that number was afterwards
doubled. — The poor laws in this circumstance are
extremely defective. ” — And, finally, p. 213 ,
posed to sale, and may be purchased any day in the
week, Sundays excepted.”
In p. 206, Major Atherton says, — r be consumed i\\
it in two weeks.” !
— c<: 111 most townships*
there is one farm, still distinguished by the name of
the Old Hall, or Manor House (the residence for-
merly of the great proprietor of that district) which is
of larger extent than any of the adjoining or neigh-
bouring farms. Few of these farms, however, exceed
600 statute acres: many do not extend to the amount
of 200. But the more general size of farms is from
50, 40, 30, down to 20 acres a-piece ; or even so much
only as will keep a horse or cow only; or one of these,
as is most convenient.*’
This passage, 1 have pleasure in observing, is writ-
ten in the best style of agricultural Report. It appears
in the original, and is probably Mr. Holt’s.
Homesteads. — P. 16. — cc Farms Of sixty pounds a
year, in Lancashire, have offices frequently as large
as would be thought to suffice, in other counties, for
farms of three or four hundred per' aim. where it is the
custom to stack their corn, which is not the general
practice in Lancashire.”
Occupiers.— P. 13. — cc The yeomanry, formerly
numerous and respectable, have greatly diminished
of late, but are not yet extinct; the great wealth
which
“ * The parishes of Lancashire are again subdivided into town-
ships.”
LANCASHIRE;
281
Which has in many instances been so rapidly acquired
by some of their neighbours, and probably heretofore
dependants, has offered sufficient temptation to ven-
ture their property in trade, in order that they might
keep pace with these fortunate adventurers.
“ Not only the yeomanry, but almost all the farm-
ers, who have raised fortunes by agriculture, place
their children in the manufacturing line.-^-The farmers
in this county mostly spring from the industrious class
of laborers, who, having saved by great economy a
sum of money, enter upon small farms, and afterwards*
in proportion to the increase of their capitals, take
larger concerns.” — Nevertheless, we are told, p. 19*
that notwithstanding “ farmers in general arc charged
with being stupid, obstinate, and attached to old cus-
toms. In this county they do not altogether merit
these harsh accusations.” — Admitting this, however,
%Ve cannot reasonably expect from the farmers of
Lancashire, if they really are what they are here re-
presented to be, much valuable information for the
improvement, or accurate cultivation, of the rest of
the kingdom. We will not, however, condemn them
unheard; but take the evidence of their practice; as
their general character may have suffered by the too
great modesty of the Reporter.
Plan of Management. — On due examination,
however, the following accounts, I find, are not cal-
culated to remove the impressions of the last.
P. 71. “ Although there is a mixture of arable and
grass land, yet the latter must greatly preponderate,
and that to such a degree, that it has been frequently
asserted, that the corn raised in Lancashire would
not support the inhabitants more than three months
in the year; so that the easiest way of obtaining corn,
until the county is improved, is to purchase it at other
markets.
“ The lands in the immediate vicinity of the great
towns are chiefly employed in pasturage; at a re-
moter distance, in pasturage and meadow, immense
quantities
282
AGRICULTURE.
quantities of hay being requisite for the number of
horses and cows kept therein. Near some places,
such as Bolton, besides the demand for lands under
hay and grass, a great number of acres are occupied
as bleaching grounds; and throughout the whole of
the county there are, in different places, many acres
of rich land, covered with yarn, or cloth, under vari-
ous operations.
“ These several causes have had a tendency to
change the system of the agriculture of the county, and
to convert the arable grounds into grass lands; and
this system of management seems yearly increasing,
even in those parts which were formerly considered
as the corn districts; such as that fertile soil under
the denomination of the Filde, a tract of land from
the north of the Ribble along the coast as far as
Cockersands, to the turnpike road on the east.
pear Liverpool
4
A comparative
284 AGRICULTURE.
A comparative Price of Labour 9 and other Articles , in
the course of thirty years, taken April 1/91.
In the year l?6l. In the year 1791.
1 lead-man servant
wages per ann. -
Maid servant - -
Masons and car-
penters, per day
Laborers waees
£. s. d.
10
0
1
0
£.
9
4
2 — 0
10 Is. Gd. 1792, 0
s.
9
10
2
1
d.
0
0
2
8 *
Working Animals. P. 172. “ Oxen have been
made use of formerly, but always upon a contracted
scale. Horses at present are universally preferred for
husbandry business. The paved roads of this district
do not agree with the feet of oXen.”
Implements. This section, though of considerable
length, affords nothing of public utility ; one new
ahd valuable instrument excepted. Whether it is the
invention of Mr. EGGLESTON does not clearly appear.
Whoever conceived the thought is entitled to public
gratulation.
P. 33. — “ Another instrument has been lateh r in-
troduced, which Mr. Eccleston, with propriety, calls
the miner ; which is a plough-share fixed in a strong
beam, without mold- boards, and drawn by four or
more horses, and follows in the furrow the plough has
just made, and, without turning up the substratum,
penetrates into, and loosens the soil, from 8 to 12
inches deeper than the plough had before gone.”
For the purpose of loosening a firm earthy subsoil,
tolerably free from obstructions, and thereby forming
a receptacle for superfluous moisture in a wet season,
tiiis implement (which is not particularly described)
appears
* And an attempt to raise them in the spring of 17p3 to 2s. per
day ; but the calamities, which cajrte on at that period, produced a
great change, and every effort was made to procure employment for
the industrious.”
LANCASHIRE.
285
appears to be well calculated ; and, in that respect
at least, may answer the end of deep plowing, — with-
out the attendent evil of mixing the crude substratum
with the fertilized soil.
As a preparation, for sowing the seeds of woodland
plants, or for planting out seedlings, the operation of
this instrument could scarcely fail of being valuable.
Six or seven pages of this Report are filled witii
descriptions and remarks on thrashing machines , — in
Lancashire ! where they had been, at the time of
reporting, but just introduced; and were n<* doubt
objects of curiosity . Descriptions of the “ Spinning
Jennies” of Lancashire might have been more in
place, in the Lancashire Report,
Manure. Town Manures. — P.127. “ Resides the
dung got from the farm-yards, there are great quan-
tities raised by the cowkeepers and stablekeepers in
the large towns. At Liverpool horse-dung sells at
about 5s. 6d. per ton, cow-dung from As. 6d. to 5s. 6d.
per ton, butchers’ -dung 6s, per ton, the ashes mixed
with privies, scraping of the streets, &c. under the
denomination of night soil, about %s. \d. per ton*.
Liverpool also occasionally has the dregs of blubber
from the whale fishery after boiling the oil, which
mixed with soil, is a rich manure, but not lasting.
Soap ashes also, if put upon old lays, have been
found very advantageous, and very durable in pastures,
but not so durable either on ploughed land or in
meadows f/*
P. 21. “It was in the memory of a worthy and
experienced farmer J, who only died the present year,
that the first load of night-soil brought from Liver-
pool towards the north was by his father ; who was
paid
■" * At Manchester, cow and horse dun? are about I-s. ptr ton
higher.”
“ f Quantity 40 to 50 ton per acre, from 8s. to 10 s. per ton at
Liverpool.”
% Mr. John Harper, late of Bank Hall.”
AGRICULTURE.
286
paid for carting the same the price that heretofore
had been paid for carting away this nuisance, and
throwing it into the river Mersey.’’
Marl. — P. 111. j
pof ataes.”
“ X The conveyance of milk has of late years been in wooden
vessels in carts, instead of the backs of horses,, as formerly. One
horse can convey a greater quantity in a cart, with more ease, than
on
LANCASHIRE.
315
amount of 5 or 600. A single field, for an outlet in
the day-time, is procured at a very advanced rate ;
but the principal food is hay, and grains from the
breweries. — In the town of Manchester, at the pre-
sent juncture, there are not more than six cows kept
within the precincts of the town, for the supply of its
inhabitants. There comes a quantity every day by
the Duke’s canal.
“ Those who are supposed to follow the best
system of management, with a proper capital, seldom
keep the same cow more than ope calf, except some
particular favorite. They are purchased at the time
of calving, and the calf is immediately sold to feeders
for the market, and who keep cows for that purpose,
and dispose of their milk, and procure a livelihood
that way. The cows, when they fail of yielding a
certain quantity of milk (about 6 quarts per day)
are, if in proper condition, disposed of to the
butcher.”
P. 151. “ The Liverpool cowTeeper does not aim
at making butter; his system is, to sell milk and
cream ; but in the summer season, when milk flows
into the towm from many quarters, a market sufficient
to take off the whole may not always be found, and
then he is under the necessity of churning it, and
making butter, or disposing of it in cheese, or some
other way ; but the consumption of milk and cream
is universal ; and to these two articles his greatest at-
tention is directed.
“A good cow should give daily quarts, and
,the price of cream is generally 14 d. per quart ;
new
on his back, besides affording more comfortable accommodations to
the good woman, who also can carry along with her milk some
little garden-stuff) according to the season of the year; and there
are but few milk-carriers that do not take a few greens, &c. from
their gaidens, which they can dispose of amongst their customers,
whilst they are selling off' their milk. Of late these milk-carts
have been covered with painted canvas upon hoops, affording a
very good screen from the severity of the weather."
316
AGRICULTURE.
new milk Qd. per quart, and inferior milk \d. per
quart*. A cow stands the keeper in about Is. per
day, for food, attention, &c. so that with contingen-
cies, and losses that frequently happen to the stock,
there is but barely a living profit f left to a business,
which requires much attention, and not a little skill
in purchase and management.”
P. 154. “ The system at Manchester is nearly the
same as at Liverpool. It does not, however, appear,
that so many cows are kept within that town, it
being supplied by a whole circle of surrounding coun-
try; whereas Liverpool has only half the quantity of
land, from its maritime situation. The price of labor
too, about Manchester, is such, that the milk passes
through the hands of retailers, who buy it wholesale
from the farmers, — who carry it generally upon horses,
and whose servant, upon discharging his load, can im-
mediately return and become useful at horrid.”
Lactometer . — P. 160. “ A lactometer, to try the
different qualities of milk, has been invented by Mr.
Dicas, mathematical-instrument-maker, in Liverpool,
and patentee of a neat, simple, and accurate instru-
ment to try the strength of spirituous liquors and
worts.
“ This lactometer ascertains the richness of milk,
from its specific gravity, compared with water, by its
degree of warmth taken by a standard thermometer,
on comparing its specific quality with its warmth:
on a scale constructed for this particular purpose, and
by which, if the principle be right, may be discovered
not
“ * Dearer at Manchester market a trifle; probably the quality
may be superior.”
“ f In calculations we too frequently find that no allowance is
made for contingencies, or falling off of quantity. Twelve quarts
per day is the prime milking quantity ; and though some cows may
have given more at the first, these kind of stock more rapidly fall
off in quantity, whilst, at the same time, the quality was of less va -
lue, in proportion to the excess of quantity.”
LANCASHIRE.
317
not only the qualities of the milk of different cows,
pastures, foods, as turnips, potatoes, grains, &c. but
also probably which may be the best milk, or best
pastures tor butter, and which for cheese. This in-
strument, however, is yet in its infancy.” — This is a
very ingenious instrument, which may not, even yet,
be sufficiently matured.
P. 163. cc Instances wherein the LACTOMETER may.
he useful.
€t In discovering what breed of cattle are most ad-
vantageous.
“ Wnat food in the winter season, whether carrots,
turnips, potatoes, &c. are best.
<£ What the effects of different pasture^ may be.
“ How far particular farms are best adapted to
making butter or cheese.
How far the inconvenience of large cheeses in
some dairies being too rich to stand, may be pre-
vented, by discovering when this redundancy of rich-
ness exists in the milk.
“ And in fixing a standard for the sale of this use-
ful article of life.
“ A standard for skimmed milk may readily be fixed
by saying what strength the common saleable skim-
med milk shall be by the lactometer.” — £< From a
number of experiments and observations, the common
saleable skimmed milk in Liverpool is from 52 to 64
of strength, and that of new milk from 70 to 80.”
Butter. — P. 155. — cc The practice of managing the
milk for butter in this county, might be of service, if
followed in other places. Except in the county of
Chester, it should seem (as the surveyor understands)
peculiar to this district. The mode is, dividing the
milk into two parts ; the first drawn, being set apart
for family use, after being skimmed; the cream of
which goes into vessels appropriated to receive it; as
also the whole of the second, or last, drawn milk,
•provincially
AGRICULTURE.
318
provincially called after mgs * ; these two being mixed
together, are stirred, but not a great depth, to prevent
the bad effects of foul air accumulating on the sur-
face: and kept, according to the season of the year,
exposed to the fire, to bring on fermentation and
sourness; which is accelerated by that which may
remain in the pores of the vessels; to prepare this
fermentation, they are not scalded, except after
having contracted some taint: and then to accelerate
it (the quicker it is the better) the vessels are some-
times rinsed out with sour butter milk; in which state
the milk is ready for the churn; and, in consequence
of this treatment, more butter is obtained, and of a
better quality, than if the milk was churned sweet.
And the butter-milk, as it is called, after the butter is
extracted, instead of being given to the hogs, as is
generally the practice in many counties, becomes,
under this process, an excellent food for man, both
wholesome, and pleasant, as before-mentioned. This
is the sort of butter-milk which, it has been remarked,
is necessary for such laboring poor as live on pota-
toes/’
P. 153. ct The average milk of Mr. Harper’s stock
is seven quarts of milk per day the year through ;
although some prime cows in their full perfection, and
in the height of grass, may yield when fresh calved
eighteen, twenty- four, or even thirty quarts, of milk
in a day; but this superabundance is but of short
duration. — From every twelve quarts of milk is pro-
duced one pound of butter, of 18oz. to the lb.”
Mr. Wakefield of Brook Farm, near Liverpool, in a
course of experiments, on a large scale, concerning
the process of churning, found that — (p. 158.) “ A
short-horned cow, upon an average of twelve months,
yields nine quarts of milk per day, and 41 lb. of butter
per week. “ A Lan-
“ * About one half from each cow, each meal ; but the quantity-
taken first in some measure depends upon the consumption of milk
in the family.”
LANCASHIRE.
$19
xi A Lancashire long-horn yields eight quarts of
new milk per day, and four pounds of butter per \veek
for twelve months.” And p. 159. “ Upon his farm
at Aughton Mr. G. Green observes, that the average
milk by his cows has been nine quarts of milk by the
short-horn, and seven quarts of milk per day by the
long-horn cows; and of butter eight pounds per week
by the former, and seven pounds per week by the
latter. This quantity is three pounds per week more
than either Mr. Wakefield’s or Mr. Harper’s cows
yield, which are equal in quantity, namely each 41b.
per week. The two farms are about equal distances
from Liverpool, e . g. Bank Hall, two miles north west.
—Brook Farm two miles south east.” — -What non-
sense — to be gravely commented on, — and published!
On the whole of this evidence * we may conclude
that Lancashire cows, in the environs of Liverpool,
yield, on a par, from seven to eight quarts of milk,
one day with another, the year round; and that the
par produce of butter, from that quantity of milk, is
four pounds, a week, — or two hundred and eight
pounds, a year, or season; — which is only sixteen
pounds short of four firkins of 561b. each: whereas,
in the dairy districts of Yorkshire, three firkins are
reckoned a full produce. But the Liverpool cows
are mostly or wholely in their prime; and are forced ,
all the year.
P. 35. “ A churn has been lately introduced,
which seems very useful for its neatness, cleanliness,
and economy (as it occasions the less waste of milk;.
The churn, or vessel, instead of being round, has four
corners, and the milk is put in motion by turning a
handle, upon which are fixed boards which move
horizontally in the manner of a reel within side the
vessel, by which the operation of churning is some-
thing
* Which, however, is by no means — quite satisfactory : as nei-
ther tire “ quart” nor the " pound” is sufficiently defined.
S20
AGRICULTURE.
thing easier, and the work expedited.” — The contain-
ing vessel being square (if I understand the loose de-
scription) renders this a new variety .
Mention is also made of a “ milk cistern formed out
of a black close-grained stone, somewhat similar to
black marble,” p. 154.
Cheese. — P. 145. “ There is much cheese made in.
this county, and also of excellent quality; in many
respects equal to the Cheshire, in some superior. The
cheese made in the vicinity of Leigh, Newborough,
&c. for its mildness and rich flavour, always bears an
advanced price at market; and it is somewhat re-
markable that the very best dairy (as is usually
reckoned) is the very worst land; the soil not being
above two or three inches deep.” — Again, p. 148.
* c The land round Leigh is chiefly barren, being ebb
of soil and clay under, which makes it cold and wet,
A few years since some of the farmers, encoraged
by the high price of corn, marled and ploughed their
farms, which had been grazed time immemorial; the
consequence was, the plough soon wore them out,
and left them poorer than ever. The grass that came
was coarse and dry, and the cheese made off these
ploughed farms of an inferior quality, which had like
to have brought the whole into disrepute. But since
the plough was laid by, the pastures have come about,
and the cheese made upon them begins to fetch as
much at market as the others do.”
On cheese making , all we find in this Report is
contained in cc a Letter to the Surveyor on the
Subject of Leigh Cheese : ” and, in this, only one
passage demands particular notice, here. In Cheshire
we must look for general information respecting the
mysteries of this art.
P. 147. “The curd is broke down, and, when
separated from the whey, is put into a cheese vat,
and pressed very dry, and after that broken very
small, by squeezing it with the hands; the new curd
used is mixed with about half its quantity of yester-
LANCASHIRE.
321
day’s, and which has been kept for that purpose;
and a part of this new curd is put by for to-morrow,
if it can he spared; if not, all to-morrow’s is put by
to mix with new, as convenience suits, for the best
cheese is always made with part old curds. Some
mix the old and the new together, after both have
been worked very small : others put the old curds in
the middle of the cheese : either of which ways will
do very well, as I have often noticed. When the curds
have been thus mixed, and well pressed and closed
with the hands in a cheese- vat, till they become one
solid lump, it is put into a press.”
Some speculative remarks, however, on toasting
cheese may serve to agitate the most mysterious part
of the art : namely that of “ putting the milk to-
gether.”
P. 148. cc The cheese is mild; and when toasted it
keeps all its butter within it, which makes it eat soft
and rich. This property of its mixing together
when hot, is said to be owing to its being put to-
gether cool when made, for this makes the curd
mild and tender, and likewise the cheese, so that its
more solid particles, when heated, are easily sepa-
rated, and the whole so loosed and broken, that room
is made for the butter, which adheres to the small par-
ticles of cheese, and forms one pulpous consistence.
Not so when the cheese is overheated in making, for
then more of the butter runs out, and the curd is
faster bound together than before; and when toasting,
the parts are loosened, the butter is run out, and the
remainder of the cheese is left hard and dry.”
SwiNE.— P. 174. <£ Pork is not an article of great
consumption with any class of people in this county.
The application of the best and most farinaceous kinds
of potatoe being chiefly for the food of man, the
refuse alone, and the coarser kinds, such as ox-noble,
champion, and Surinam *, are given to the cows,
horses,
“ * It is supposed most of these coarse kinds have been raised from
Y the
S22
AGRICULTURE.
horses, and poultry, and to the hogs which may be
kept on the farm, which seldom amount to above
four.
“The idea of hogs being numerous in a potatoe
country is very natural; but the fact is not so: few are
bred here, and those few that are kept are bought
from itinerant drovers from Shropshire, Yorkshire,
Cheshire, &c. Pork does not seem to be a favorite
food with any class of people in this county, though
more is used than formerly. In short, the potatoes
generally grown by the lower people are of the best
farinaceous kinds, which they are particularly nice in,
and consume in their families, or sell to advantage in
the market. Some gentlemen and farmers, who grow
the ox-poble and other coarser potatoes, use them in
general for cows, horses, and poultry, scarcely any
one keeping more than three or four hogs, which,
however, are kept in good condition, and in some
degree fatted with the help of potatoes, but are fatted
off at last with damaged ship’s wheat, India corn, &c.
which can often be procured upon reasonable terms
from the corn warehouses . Boat loads of ox-noble
potatoes are brought to Liverpool from Cheshire,
which are bought up for the use of cattle, &c.
“The stock of swine are in general purchased
from herdsmen w T ho travel about the country, and
who bring them from Cheshire, Shropshire, Wales,
and Ireland.” All this in one breath ! What a
jumble of ideas and waste of words.
A “ Lancashire Hog,” however, has at length
made its appearance. It can certainly claim high
descent : being half blood to the wild hoar : as if
tame pigs were not savage enough, without that vilest
admixture. Cadishness is a cardinal virtue in a farm
hog.
P. 175. “Pigs” (says the Surveyor) “should
during
the seeds of the Surinam, and of which they are only varieties;
indeed they bear strong resemblance to the Surinam, in leaf.*'
LANCASHIRE.
during the stage of their growth, be regularly turned
out to graze, where there is a convenience, This,
besides the advantage of grass, which is nutritious
and helps digestion, by the fresh air and exercise,
causes a disposition to take their rest, and sleep after
a meal, contributes to their cleanliness, and renders
their flesh of superior flavor.”
Sheep. — Breed. P. 166. “ This is not a sheep
district, therefore they cannot be any where numerous
in the county. — There are flocks (but flock is an un-
determinate number) it is true of half- starved crea-
tures upon the mountains, but in such proportion, that
Mr. Eceleston is of opinion that there is not a single
shepherd, properly so called, in the whole county.
“ Those which are kept upon the feeding districts
are bred in Scotland, and purchased by the West-
moreland farmer from thence at a year old, and after-
wards by the Lancashire grazier from Westmoreland
at four years old, fatted and sold for slaughtering.
“ There is a singular custom prevails in the northern
part of the county, and which is universal amongst
the mountains and waste lands, which is as follows;
Whenever a tenant enters upon a farm upon which
there is a heavy -bred flock of sheep , that the sheep are
separated and sorted; viz. the wethers aged, ewes,
one year old (provincial!}^ hogs) two years old (tvvinters)
and then valued at certain but different prices; and
the tenant by r covenant in his lea.se to leave an equal
number of each sort upon his farm when he quits, or
to pay the value in money, according to the defici-
ency which may appear in each sort; but if proved,
on stating a balance, that it is in favour of the tenant ;
he either paid for the overplus number, or his land-
lord takes them at a proper valuation.
cc The sheep are generally delivered to the coming-
on tenant about Martinmas.” * P. 168.
* la alpine districts, where the value of farms depends mostly on
mountain stock, and where tenants of property are difficult to be
Y 2 " met
AGRICULTURE.
324
P. 168. “ There is also a breed called the Warton,
Or Silve -dale cragg sheep, which is much esteemed
for the fine flavor of its flesh, fineness of its wool,
and tendency to fatten. They pasture upon very
rocky lime-stone land. Their wool commonly sells
at about twelve shillings per stone, of 141b.” See
Westmoreland, p. 238, aforegoing.
P. 167- tc There are but few sheep kept in the
southern part of the county, except those purchased
in distant parts, by the butchers, and kept a few
weeks on grass for their own convenience — or, by a
few gentlemen.” In travelling through the cultivated
districts of Lancashire, scarcely a sheep is seen: ex-
cepting a few Scotch wedders.
Rabb’TS. — P. 175. “ There are some lands alongg
the coast, employed as rabbit-warrens.”
DLCOYS. — P. 10. “ It is believed, that the only
decoy pond is at Orford, the seat of John Black-
burne, Esq.”
Poultry. — P. 176. “The Filde is the principal
district in this county which keeps a surplus stock of
poultry. Poulterers also collect the chief part 6f
what is brought to the Ormskirk market on Thurs-
day, from the cottagers and farmers, and retail them
out again at the Liverpool market on Saturday.
“ On Martin Mere, are turned a number of flocks
of geese, on a certain day, brought from different
parts of the county. These flocks are so marked, as
again to be k own. Upon this Mere they continue
til! bout Michaelmas, and on this water they can
■find sufficient of food for their sustenance from the
different grasses, aquatics, fishes, and insects. The
proprietor of he wate claims half of the stock that
remains alive for their summer’s keep.” BEES.
rtfet wit* , it <»•••• ars to be pidicious in proprietors to provide sheep
i : loir farm ; as, < therwise, thev might frequently be under-
go • g through want of sufficient capital, in their occupiers;
r p •: !.s ci-.y, ill consequence* be liable to be interrupted.
8ee p. 199.
LANCASHIRE.
325
Bees. — The following fact is worth registering.
P. 178. “ An accident happening to a hive of bees,
belonging to Thomas Dug lale, of Walton, 1714-, the
honey was taken, and after being cleared from the
combs was weighed, winch amounted to the asto-
nishing quantity of 18 lb. in the space of twenty-one
days after swarming.”
The incidental observations that have spontaneously
risen, in appreciating the m r • of this extraordinary
production, supercede the Utility of any RETRO-
SPECTIVE REMARKS which could be offered upon it,
here.
YORKSHIRE
I HE face of this extensive county is strongly fea-
tured ; and abounds in well defined Natural
Districts*.
In pursuing the several districts of Yorkshire,
geographically, from those of Lancashire, see p. 24 5,
the first we enter is CRAVEN ; — a singular passage of
country ; beset on every side with eminencies ; ex-
cepting where the Kibble and the Aire have their
outlets : — the former into Lancashire, the latter into
the central parts of Yorkshire.
To the eastward of Craven, rise the WESTERN
MORELANDS ; — and, at their southern skirts, lie the
MANUFACTURING DISTRICTS of Yorkshire ; — which
are bordered, on the southeast, by the LIMESTONE
Lands of West Yorkshire!.
On
* Having already offered an analytic view of this county,
according to its natural districts, in “The Rural Economy of
.Yorkshire/’ it may seem unnecessary to go over the ground a
second time. But having been occasionally led across the county,
in different directions, since that work was written, and thereby
improved my knowledge of its several parts, and it being my
wish to render my present work entire, I have deemed it better to
pursue the general plan laid down, than to refer, in this or any
other instance, to mv former publications; unless to corroborate, or
farther explain,' what I may have occasion to advance in this. I
forbear, however, in the present case, to particularize the routes
that I have at different times taken across this county. 1 have
traversed it in almost every direction.
p The last being an agricultural — rather than a manufacturing —
passage, and bearing a distinguishing natural character, I separate
it as a natural district.
YORKSHIRE.
3 % 7
On the east of the three last mentioned districts,
the Vale of York extends; — from the marshes of
Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, nearly to the
county of Durham ; — wh§*re it unites with the VALE
of STOCKTON i-^-and attached to this is the NORTHERN
SEA-COAST of Yorkshire ; situated between the Bri-
tish ocean and the EASTERN MORELANDS ; which are
embraced, on the west and north, by the vales of
York and Stockton.
On the southern skirts of those morelands, and on
the eastern margin of the vale of York, are situated
the LIMESTONE LANDS of EAST YORKSHIRE ; — which
inclose, on the north, the west, and the southwest,
the VALE of Pickering ; — on the southeast of which
rise the wolds of Yorkshire ; and, between these
and the sea, lies HOLDERNESS.
Finally, to the west of the manufacturing districts,
are situated the SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS of Yorkshire,
Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Derbyshire.
The Board of Agriculture, in the prosecution
of their plan, divided this county into three distinct
Surveyorships, according with its Ridings ; each of
which is the subject of a separate Report.
The WEST RIDING of
YORKSHIRE.
To this division of the county belong, wholely,
or in considerable part, four of the NATURAL DIS-
TRICTS, above enumerated : namely. Craven, the
western morelands, the manufacturing districts, and
the limestone lands of West Yorkshire.
Craven. Its situation has been mentioned. Its
outline is most irregular : being given by the basesr
of the hills which nearly surround it, and the vallies
Y 4 that
328
NATURAL DISTRICTS.
that branch out of it. Concerning the limits of
Craven, popular , (if any precise limits are assigned it)
I have no information*. The natural district, to
which I have assigned this name, extends from
Settle, at the northwestern extremity, to Keighley,
on the southeast ; and from the skirts of the western
morelands of Yorkshire, to those of the northern
morelands of Lancashire ; including the valley of the .
Kibble to whence it enters between the two divisions
of the Lancashire hills. It includes, of course, a
small part of the county of Lancaster. Its extent
would be difficult to ascertain, or even to estimate
near the truth. I will suppose it to contain a hun-
dred and fifty square miles.
The surface of Craven is very uneven; in some
parts, beautifully varied. Near the banks of the
Aire and the Kibble, both of which pass through it,
there is much low vale land. But the prevailing
characteristic is upland ; some of it of considerable
elevation. Yet the soil is mostly of a productive
quality. Much of it is sound limestone land. Some
of the higher swells are of a cooler clayey nature.
The whole country may be said to be covered w ith
grass, and full of livestock : — -mostly cattle ; but
many sheep' are observable, oil the limestone heights.
The lower lands are mowing and grazing grounds.
Together, a very valuable passage of country.
The Western morelands. The limit of this
tract of black heathy mountain, on the north, has
been
* Excepting what is contained in the following vague account
of it, by “a gentleman in that neighbourhood,” App. p. 51. “The
extent of the vale* of Skipton cannot be accurately ascertained ;
indeed, a very small part bears that name, being generally in-
cluded in the vale (valley) of the river Aire which extends from
Leeds, in a north-west direction, to the source of the river, about
thirty-five miles, is upon the average about a mile broad, in some
places more, yet not so much (I think) as to add a quarter to the
average.” — Are we to understand, from this, that Craven com-
mences at Leeds !
WEST RIDING.
329
been mentioned, p. 128, aforegoing. Its boundary,
on the south, is formed by the manufacturing dis-
trict, — and by the valley of the Aire; - by which it
is cut off from the more southern mountains. On
the northwest, this main link of the mountains of
England extends, into Westmoreland; w-here it joins
the shistus Alps of Cumberland, &c. The boundary
on the west and southwest, is formed by Lonsdale,
Craven, and the plain before-mentioned, which con-
nects them ; except where the line of low grounds is
broken by the narrow ridge of limestone, above Gig-
gleswick. On the east, these morelands shelve down
to the cultivated lands which form the western bank
of the vale of York.
The elevation of these wild lands is very consider-
able ; especially?’ on their more western confines ; but
they are in no part, I believe, equal in loftiness to
the Cumbrian mountains. Their surface in general
is tame, — merely swelling ; except on the western
margin, which is ipuch broken, and strongly fea-
tured; and except where their sides are furrowed,
by dells or wider vallies. In the northwest quarter,
they are severed, nearly to their summit, by the
vallies of the Swale and the Ure (still, provincially,
and no doubt anciently, f< Yor”) which open into
the vale of York: — the latter, named Wensley dale,
being of considerable width, and containing an ex-
tent of valuable cultivated lands.
The MANUFACTURING DISTRICTS of Yorkshire.
This large portion of the West Riding is well defined.
On its north, the western morelands, — on its south,
the sandy lands of Nottinghamshire, — on its west,
the southern mountains, — and on its east, the lime-
stone lands of West Yorkshire — are situated. Its
length 1'rom north to south, may be estimated at
forty miles, and its mean width, at twenty miles ;
together giving an area of eight hundred square
miles.
This
330
NATURAL DISTRICTS
This area naturally separates into two divisions r — *
the northern, which is occupied by the woolen
manufacture ; and the southern, in which the
different branches of the iron manufacture are carried
on. The former, unless on the batiks of the principal
rivers, as in the neighbourhoods of Leeds and Wake-
field, is naturally a mean, mountain-skirt country.
The kitter, on the contrary, is one of the most habit-
able parts of the island the surface well turned,
w r ell soiled, and well wooded; a clean, productive,
charming country; though, here and there, it is dis-
figured by manufactures. Nothing, however, of that
squalidness and apparent penury, which obtrudes
itself in the northern division, is here observable.
The LIMESTONE LANDS of WEST YORKSHIRE.
This fine tract of country extends from Doncaster to
Wetherby : a distance of thirty miles. The width,
however, is narrow, and very irregular. The manu-
facturing district forms its western — the vale of York
its eastern — boundary. The surface is much varied ;
rising in some parts to heights of a mean elevation.
But it mostly enjoys a better climature; and, in
many parts, a deep fertile soil, on a sound calcareous
base ; forming arable land of the first value ; — capable
of maturing the most valuable productions of this
island. The liquorice grounds of Pontefract are
situated within this district.
" GENERAL
WEST BIDING.
33l
“ GENERAL VIEW
OF THE
AGRICULTURE
OF THE
WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE.
SURVEYED BY
Messrs. RENNIE, BROWN, and SHIRREI-'F, 1793 .
WITH
observations on the means OF ns IMPROVEMENT,
AND
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SINCE RECEIVED.
BRAWN VT FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF
THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND INTERNAL
IMPROVEMENT.
By ROBERT BROWN,
FARMER AT MARKLE, NEAR HADDINGTON,
SCOTLAND.
1799 .”
The ACQUIREMENTS of the above-named SUR-
VEYORS, — as Agriculturists , — rank high among the
qualifications of the Board’s Reporters : each qf
them, I believe, being a considerable occupier, in the
county of East Lothian ; a highly cultivated district,
in the South of Scotland.
From Mr. RENNIE I am happy in saying I re-
ceived civilities, about the time that the Survey under-
notice was taken ; and had great satisfaction in
accompanying Mr R. in walking over bis farm ;
which,
332
REPORTERS,
which, as far as the judgement could determine, at
that season of the year, the twentieth of November,
appeared to be' conducted in an exemplar* manner.
Of Mr. Brown, the ostensible AUTHOR of the
REPORT, I can only judge, from his work : from
which it is abundantly evident that Mr. Brown is an
ARABLE FARMER of a superior class. — As a WRITER,
too, Mr. B. evinces sufficient ability, — had he been
more patient in study, and less ready to write, — to
have furnished a masterly Report.
Respecting the MODE of SURVEY, Mr. B. has
been amply explicit : having not only furnished us
with the Surveyor’s ROUTE ; but with an abstract
of their JOURNAL. By this it appears (in Appendix,
page 1.) that he and his colleagues commenced their
“ Survey, at Boroughbridge, on the 24th of October,
179$.” And, by a SKETCH of their route, given by
dotted lines between the places which they visited,
they proceeded from thence to Copgrove (Mr. H.
Duncomb’s), Knaresborough, Harrowgate, Ripley,
Settle, Sedbergh, Skipton, Otley, Leeds, Bradford,
Halifax, Pontefract, Bretton Hall (Col. Beaumont’s),
Barnsley, Penniston, Sheffield, Rotherham, Went-
worth House (Earl Fitzwilliam’s), Park Hill (Mr.
M. A. Taylor’s), Bawtry, Doncaster, Thorn, Snaith,
Ferrybridge, Scarthingwell Hall (Lord Hawke’s),
Selby, Sherborne, Tadcaster, Harewood (Lord Hare-
wood’s), Wetherby : and made excursions to York,
and to Ripon. The time spent in those journies does
not appear. No dates are given ; either in the re-
printed — or the original Report.
In looking over their Journal, or, as it is styled —
c ‘ a selection of the principal articles contained in the
Journal” — the reader must be disappointed in regard
to its intelligence. It reads more like the Journal of
hasty Travellers , than of public Surveyors. Unless in
some few instances, their mode of gaining information
appears to have been that of posting from place to
place, generally from town to town, often from one
manufacturing
WEST RTDTNG.
333
manufacturing town to another, there to make ..en-
quiries after the state of Agriculture, and other coun-
try concerns.
For instances: — App. p. 13. “ Arrived at Leeds.”
(Respecting the line of cpuntry between Gtiey and
Leeds — not one remark.) “ The following are the
most accurate accounts we could procure of the state
of husbandry near Leeds.”
P. 15. “ Arrived at Halifax — the whole country
from Bradford to this place, being almost a continued
village; roads bad ever since we left Leeds, and ma-
terials very scarce.”
P. 19. 44 From Wakefield to Pontefract, the soil is
much drier, and corn fields more numerous. Passed
a large common field, which appeared in very bad
order. Arrived at Pontefract, and met with a num-
ber of intelligent farmers, from whom w T e received
much information.”
From those and innumerable other instances, it is
evident, that the principal part of the information
gained was collected by them, in the character of
ENQUIRING TOURISTS*/ For the reader is told, p. 34?.
“ When we entered upon the business of surveying
the husbandry of the West Riding, we were totally
unacquainted with the practices and customs of the
district.”
It is to be remarked, however, that Messrs. Rennie,
Brown, and Shirrelf, in whatever related to the arable
management of the district, were less liable to be im-
posed upon, than men who might want their superior
knowledge of the subject. It is true, that, in passing
between town and town, the nature of the soil is some-
times, yet by no means generally, noticed: — But re-
specting the substrata, which may frequently be
detected in travelling, and the turn of surface which
may always be seen (by day light) scarseiy a remark
occurs : —
* See the qualifications of a Reporter, — in the Introduction.
534
REPORTERS.
occurs: — although every arable farmer must know that
the value of land, for agricultural purposes, depend®
on these, rather than on the specific quality of the
soil.
The following is Mr. Brown’s official account of the
tour. I lit rod. p. iv. “ Under the authority of the
Board, my friends, Messrs. Rennie, and Sherri If, and
I, surveyed the West Riding of Yorkshire ; and,
during our progress, scarce a difference of opinion
occurred respecting the matters which underwent
our examination. We remained about five weeks in
the district, and, during that time, used every means
in our power to gain an intimate knowledge of the
different modes in which husbandry was carried on,
as well as the general and local impediments to its
improvement.”
Regarding the reprinted Report , now under Review,
Mr. B. informs us, p. vii. <£ When the Board signified
their desire, that we should undertake the task of
preparing the work for re-publication, application
was immediately made to almost every person, who
had formerly favored us with intelligence, and they
were particularly requested to point out any errors in
the original copy respecting facts, which we consi-
dered as of the utmost importance. In consequence
of these applications, a good deal of additional infor-
mation was received, which is incorporated with the
text, where it did not militate against the sentiments
formed in our progress. The copies, returned to the
Board with marginal remarks, were also consulted;
and every thing favorable or unfavorable to our opi-
nions has been inserted, either in the body of the
Work, in the Appendix, or by way of Notes. In
some cases the latter were so hostile, that we have
thought it necessary to follow them with suitable
answers.”
Mr. Brown concludes his Introduction in a way
which every reader will approve ; if not admire.
P. xi. “ We trust that our observations will be can-
didly
VTK ST RIDING.
335
didly considered, and that unintentional defects will
be forgiven. We are not conscious of having mis-
represented a single fact, or of having offered an opi-
nion, which, to the best of our judgement, would
prove disadvantageous to the public. Others might
have executed the work with greater ability, but we
must be pardoned for declaring that few could have
been more anxious to present to the Board a Report,
which would communicate a faithful account of the
present state of Husbandry in the district, and at the
same time describe the obstacles to improvement,
and how they might be removed.”
The Annotators, and other Contributors, to
the West Riding Report, are numerous. The original
having been circulated with singular industry, and
containing many positions that were new to the gen-
tlemen and farmers of the district, their remarks are
almost endless; — and Mr. Brown’s answers to them
are neither few, nor short.
Those notes and answers are inserted at the ends
of chapters; — -an arrangement which renders them
troublesome to be referred to; and to refer from the
notes, to the text, is still more, irksome to the reader,
{and hard labor to a Reviewer!); who may have
twenty or thirty pages to go over, in search of a.
diminutive d , e, or f! Had the page of the text pre^
ceded the note which belongs to it, this aukwardness
would have been avoided. The other contributions
are either inserted, as quotations, in the body of- the
Work, or appear as Appendices.
Of the Contributors some are anonymous, and
many have used their initials, only. Among those
who stand conspicuously forward are^ —
Mr. Payne of Frickley, near Doncaster; whose
remarks are generally interesting and valuable; ex-
cepting when his judgement is borne away by his
liberality and goodness of heart.
Mr. STOCKPALE of Knaresborough is a large con-
tributor:
336
REPORTERS.
tributor: be appearing to have taken uncommon
pa ns to’ assist the Surveyors.
Mr. Day of Doncaster is also a contributor : and
the late
Lord Hawke has furnished a valuable paper.
Among the more frequent ANNOTATORS are —
Mr. YORKE, — Mr. Fox, — and a Yorks! ire farmer , —
who complains of the haughtiness and insolence of
laborers , without seeming to be aware of his own,
when he speaks of landlords.
SUBJECT THE FIRST.
NATURAL ECONOMY.
this subject, the Reporter's
remarks are
brief.
Elevation and Surface. — F. 5. — thly, Another advantage is, that by being thus
disposed in villages, the manufacturers are nearer to
the fulling mills, with which the different rivers are
occupied ; and it is this dispersion which has occa-
sioned so many fulling mills to be erected, to the
great advantage of the owners of the different falls
upon the rivers, which otherwise would have been
almost useless.
Gthly ,
346
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
ec 6lhhj y The manufacturer of cloth in particular,
requires roomy buildings, which are obtained upon
much lower rents in the country than in towns.
254, “ an extract
of a letter from a worthy friend in the West Riding
setting forth a hard case, no doubt. But all the letter
writer complains of is a breach of faith, or, in other
words, a breach of covenant , by the manager of an
estate ; who, after encoraging him “ to go on with
spirited management, and assuring him that no ad-
vantage should be taken thereof,” sent a “ land
doctor,” who “ charges so much per pound for
valuing, and the more he advances, the more he re-
ceives and who, valuing the improvements made
subsequent to the promise, raised his rent, accord-
ingly. Acts, like this, naturally point out to tenants
the necessity of legal promises.
But what engagesmost of the Reporter’s attention,
in this part of his work, p. 256, is the covenant or
restriction against “ subsetting, underletting, or
assigning over, the lease to a third person, at the
pleasure of the lessee, or tenant” ! — To borrow his own
phraseology — tc it gives us always pain to notice,” a
man of natural and acquired abilities wasting his
time and bestowing his talent, unprofitably. This
attack on the rights of proprietors can be excused,
only, by the Reporter’s want of experience in the
management of landed property. He could not have
been aware, at the time he wrote, that, on every
well managed estate, the proper CHOICE of TENANTS
is a matter of the very first consideration. On this
one point, its prosperity may be said to turn. The
writer, I am certain, will, on reflection, immediately
see
WEST RIDING.
363
see the propriety of such a conduct ; and, knight-
errant as he is, in the cause of tenants, he assuredly
would not advise a man of bad moral character,
desiring a farm, but without capital* skill, or industry
to manage it properly, — to repair to a proprietor,
having one to let, and .insist upon taking possession of
it (at a fair rent) — without his , the proprietor's consent.
But if such a man should offer an improving, un-
restricted tenant a full — or somewhat more than a
full — -value for his improvements, he has no counter
interest, like that of the proprietor, to dissuade him
from accepting the offer. For, taking care to receive
his money, before he assign over and part with pos-
session, he has for ever done with the farm ; and
with the tenant whom he has forced upon it ; — of
course, against the proprietor's consent.
The transaction closed, the spirited improving
tenant, with his pocket full of money, and another
farm in view, takes it on an improving lease, and pro-
ceeds to meliorate its condition ; — in hopes of another
good offer. — While the tenant, with whom he has
saddled his former landlord, is committing acts of
rascality and ruin : and thereby reducing the farm,
of which he has been iniquitously put in possession,
to a state, perhaps, tenfold worse than that in which
it lay at the time it was let, to the former WELL
CHOSEN TENANT ; — provided he had been prudently
restricted from subsetting without consent.
In all the leases which I have had occasion to
examine, the restriction which the Reporter so flatly
objects to, runs in these words, or in words of the like
import “ shall not underlet, or assign over, the
whole or any part thereof, without licence in writing,
from the said lessor his heirs or assigns/’ — And we
may safely say — no lessor, heir, or assign, possessed
of common sense and ordinary uprightness of cha-
racter, would withhold his licence, in any of the cases
which the Reporter has ingeniously imagined ; — pro-
vided a proper tenant, — a sufficient substitute — were
offered.
364
RURAL ECONOMY,
offered. I acknowledge, with concern, that theft?
are estates under foolish and profane management;
and had the Reporter, in his zeal, cautioned his
hrethern against trusting their alls, on estates under
such management, he would have deserved well, not
only of tenants, but of the community.
The third attack which the West Riding Reporter
makes on English leases, we find in a chapter enti-
tled “ Means of Improvement in which he explains
himself deliberately, and intelligibly, concerning that
species of contract, entered into by a landlord and
Ms tenant, which is termed a lease!
P. 265. “ Our ideas of a lease are, that it is a mere
bargain betwixt landlord and tenant, wherein the
former, for a valuable consideration, to be paid annu-
ally, conveys over to the latter, all his right in the
premises ( ! ) for a specified number of years, and that
during their currency, it ought to be left, to the wis-
dom and abilities of the farmer, to manage the land
m such a manner as he may think most proper for
enabling him to make good his engagements to the
landlord. If leases were granted upon these princi-
ples, a great deal of unnecessary trouble would he
saved to both parties, improvements would increase
with rapidity, and the peace, comfort, and happiness
of that useful body of men, the farmers , would he
materially promoted/’
The writer then enumerates some ordinary clauses,
or covenants : — prudently, however, leaving that of
44 sdbsetting” to be understood , and proposing one
which improves his former position, p. 361: — as, by
it, he allows the tenant to agree, not only to leave,
at the expiration of the term, 44 one fourth of the
farm in grass, at least three years old but “ like-
wise a sixth part of the remainder, as fallow, to the
incoming tenant.” If by this expression be meant —
in a stale of dean fallow, the incoming tenant would
not want land for spring corn and ley herbage. But
still
WEST RIDING. 36S
still the farm would Jbe left destitute of wheat, and of
spring feedage.
If, however, the writer had here finished his disser-
tations concerning this subject, he would probably
have left more favorable impressions on the minds
of his readers, than after “ more last words” — in
addenda to Chap. 4. “Mode of Occupation:”—
where, after combating an objection made by Mr.
Donaldson, author of “ The present State of Hus-
bandry, in Great Britain,” against the remarks of the
West Biding Surveyors, in the original Boport, he
thus proceeds — p. 290 ; — “ If we had wished to
answer this unprovoked attack, in the manner it de-
served, we could easily have refuted Mr. Donaldson
with words, extracted from his own book. As for
instance, he says, p. 232, same volume, 4 That the
Legislature, the Board of Agriculture, and the pro-
prietors of the country, may adopt what measures in
their wisdom may appear proper to improve the na-
tional territory; but unless they go to the root of the
evil; unless they adopt such measures, as will tend
to place the British farmer in a more comfortable
situation, and more on a footing with merchants and
manufacturers, the object will not be attained.’ Now
what do we say more? Is not the whole scope and
intention of our Report to place the farmer in the
comfortable and independent state recommended by
Mr. Donaldson ? The merchant and manufacturer
certainly lies under no restriction in the management
of their affairs. They may carry on trade in the
manner which w ill return them the greatest profit, or
manufacture such commodities as the market requires.
We contended for similar liberty being given to the
farmer, and decidedly join Mr. Donaldson in thinking
that unless it is granted, the national territory will
not be improved to its greatest height.”
Now, is it possible for a man of the Reporter’s
extent of mind, not to perceive the wide difference
which exists between the profession of the farmer,
and
366
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
and that of the manufacturer ! And the unalterable
relation which they severally have in society! The
raw materials of the manufacturer are his own: he
may burn, destroy, waste, or work them up, in any
way he will. But those of the farmer — of a tenant —
are his landlord's! He has only the use of them, du-
ring the term of his occupation; and is obliged, by
the general law or constitution of his country, to
return t hem, at the end of his term, “ without waste,”
to their owner. Yet strange, hut true, to tell, the
Reporter is indignant against the proprietors of West
Yorkshire, — -for restricting their old grass lands from
being broken up,— ^at their tenant’s pleasure! ! — Or,
in other words, (well understood by manufacturers)
for refusing to receive damaged unsaleable goods, in
return for those of a good quality entrusted to their
care. Take the following taunt as a specimen.
P. 40. “ In other leases we saw, the tenants were
expressly prohibited from breaking up all grass lands
that have lain 6 years, which renders the situation of
the pasture and meadow fields as immutable as the
laws of Media and Persia were of old.” — Until, let us
add, their owners , for a suitable consideration, consent
to their being broken up*.
If IT were required, in this place, to speak, gene-
rally^ on the subject of TENANCY, and the COVENANTS
of LEASES, w T e might say, — if all tenants w r ere strictly
honest, nicely honorable, covenants to bind them
would be useless. If, in the nature of their profes-
sion, they had no other object in view, than the ad^
vancement of husbandry, and the improvements of
the country, covenants might, in truth, be injurious
and
* I say nothing of the numerous objections of annotators,
against those foreign doctrines; nor of the powerful answers that
are annexed to them, by the Reporter. I am weary with com-
bating the text. But if it should be that 1 have fought a good
fight, I shall not regret the attention I have thought requisite to
bestow upon it.
WEST RIDING,
367
and improper. But such a sublime theory of things
rural being altogether imaginary, it behoves the pro-
prietors of tenantable lands* whose interests are not
always precisely the same as that of their tenants, to
institute some rational and practical regulations, to
secure their property from spoil, by those tenants who
may prefer their own interest to that of their landlord
In England, I much fear, where there is one to im*
prove, there are three to deteriorate.
Regarding covenants to regulate a tenant’s plan of
management, much depends upon the state of hus-
bandry, in the given district. In a country like East
Lothian, which is, or rather has been, rising from an
abject state of culture, to a superior style of manage-
ment, under the laudable exertions of men of liberal
minds and integrity, it would have been ill judged in
proprietors, to have trammelled such tenants with
restrictive clauses ; unless toward the expiry of their
leases. But, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, or in
any other district where agriculture is below par, yet
in a degree stationary, and where the generality of
tenants require a stimulus to improvements, cover-
nants, to teach such tenants the way they ought to
go, so as to bring up their practice to a level with
that of the best managed districts of the island, could
scarcely be injurious to either of the three interests
concerned in the agriculture of the country. Hence,
we may add, the covenants of management, through-
out the kingdom, should keep pace with the state of
agriculture, in its best managed districts. And,
under the triennial form of tenancy, such a plan of
progressive improvement may be practised.
Even the West Riding Reporter is an advocate for
this principle of management ; — in other words, is a
friend to restrictive, if not to compulsory, covenants.
Thus, p. 98, “ In order that drilling of turnips
and horse hoeing may be generally practised, we pre-
sume that no method could be more effectually taken,
than for proprietors to refuse taking broad-cast ones
as
563
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
as a fallow crop. It is a mock upon fallow, to con-
sider some of the crops we examined as such ; and wo
are confident, that unless a very great expense is laid
out, a broad-cast crop will never allow the ground
to be cleaned in a manner equal to where they are
horse and hand hoed/’ This is in the true spirit of
dictatorial management. If the above, and several
others, of the Reporter's favorite practices were urged,
in a similar way, bv the proprietors of the West
Riding of Yorkshire, their country, I doubt not, would
thereby be greatly profited. Because there are many
absurd and injurious clauses inserted in leases, through
the ignorance of those who are entrusted with the
important charge of framing them, let not this be
produced in argument against the GENERAL PRIN-
CIPLE of REGULATIVE COVENANTS, in LEASES.
Rent. — P. 20. “ It is difficult for us to say what
may be the real rent of land. We could not with
propriety, push the farmer upon this point, when he
was ignorant what use we were to make of his
answer ; and even where we got sufficient informa-
tion of what was paid the landlord, we found there
was a long train of public burthens, over and above,
which could not be easily ascertained. There is, in
the first place, the land tax, which is uniformly paid
by the tenant, and generally amounts to Is. per
pound upon the real rent. 2dly, The tithes which
are levied in so many various ways, that it is impos-
sible to say what proportion they bear to the pound
rent, much depending upon the actual state of the
farrp, and not a little upon the character and disposi-
tion of the drawer. Upon arable lands, where they
are annually valued, the payment of money may be
from 5s. to 8s. per acre, in some cases more. 5dly,
The roads, the expense of which to the tenant is
about 7 /. per cent, upon the rent. 4thly, The poor
rates, for which no fixed sum can be set down. The
lowest we heard of was 18d. in the pound; and the
highest 8s. ; but from the very nature of the tax they
are
WEST RIDING.
3G9
are continually fluctuating, and since our survey was
made are greatly increased. 5thly, The church and
constable dues, which are about Is. in the pound. —
From all these things it may be supposed, that in many
places the sums payable by the farmer to the church,
the public, and the poor, are nearly as great as the
nominal rent paid to the landlord.”
Those remarks tend to lessen our Surprise at the
excessively high rents that we hear of being given
for lands, in Scotland, — where there are few or none
of those additional payments. Therefore, according
to the above statement, forty shillings, an acre, in
England, is nearly equivalent to four pounds, in
Scotland.
What follows the above extract will make an
Englishman smile.— “ It will appear surprising to
many, that rents are higher for grass fields than for
those under the plough. This is however actually
the case.” — And the writer proceeds to account for
it. But of this under GRASS LAND, or perennial
herbage.
The time of entry — upon the lands*- Candlemas —
to the house — Mayday: — (p. 39.)
The times of receiving rents . — “ Whitsuntide and
Martinmas (p. 40.)
DIVISION THE SECOND,
WOODLANDS.
/
There is nothing in this Report, sufficiently in-
telligent or instructive, on “ Woods and Plantations,”
to engage particular notice.
370
AGRICULTURE.
DIVISION THE THIRD.
AGRICULTURE.
Farms .— s 7 zes. — P. 16. cc The majority of farms
are comparatively small, and few are of that size as
would he considered in other parts of the kingdom as
large ones. Upon the arable lands we heard of none
exceeding 400 statute acres, and for one of that
extent there are a dozen not fifty acres. In the grass
division of the county they are still smaller, and we
often heard the occupier of a hundred acres of ground
styled a great farmer.” — P. 18. “ With regard to the
question, whether large or small farms are generally
best managed ? we apprehend very few words w ill
suffice. Who keeps good horses, and feeds them well ?
Who makes the completest fallow, takes the deepest
furrow, and ploughs best? Who has the greatest
number of hands, and sufficient strength for catching
the proper season, by which the crop upon the best
of grounds is often regulated? Who purchases the
most manure, and raises the weightiest crops? We
believe, in general, these questions must be answered
in favor of the large farmer.”
Plans of Farms. — P. 9. “The farm houses and offices
are, in most cases, very inconveniently situated, being
generally crowded into villages or townships, and not
placed on the lands the farmer has to cultivate.”
Homesteads . — After describing Lord Hawke’s farm
offices, the Reporter explains his own ideas of a home-
stead. But I perceive nothing that requires to be
noticed, here, excepting what relates to
Cottages. — P. 1L “A row of cottages for farm
servants, should be built at a little distance, say a
hundred yards, from the suite of offices.” — Again,
p. 13. “ We venture to recommend, that proper
houses should be built for farm servants, contiguous
.tivA ' * d * tq
WEST RIDING.
371
to every homestead. This will not only promote the
welfare and happiness of that class of men, by giving
them an opportunity of settling in life, which is not
at present an easy' matter, but will also be highly be-
neficial to the farmer himself, as he will at all times
have people within his own bounds, for carrying on
his labor ; and have them of that description, that are
generally esteemed mo^t regular and careful.* : *
But, in these, as in other parts of his Report, on
Agriculture, the Reporter’s desire for the didactic has
led him to transplant East Lothian ideas into West
Yorkshire ; without having duly considered, whether
the existing circumstances of the situation will permit
them to take root. When the large farms of East
Lothian were first laid out, and new farmsteads
erected, it might be perfectly proper to build rows of
cottages in their respective neighbourhoods. The
habitations of the cc acre men” and “ run-rig tenants
who, I apprehend, previously occupied the lands,
were probably of turf — <( Feal and Divot” — and were
taken down, after a stated time, for manure for
their lands ; and fresh ones raised in their stead a
practice which is still prevalent, in some parts of
Scotland.
But in England, where not only most farm houses,
but almost all the cottages t^f farm laborers , have
been, for ages, what they are at present, — many of
them having gardens, and some of them orchards,
attached to them, — such a procedure, as the Reporter
recommends, would be improper; there being, in
most districts, enow of these permanently fixed ha-
bitations, for the reception of married farm laborers.
Occupiers. — P. 16.
the right of deciding on their comparative merits. All,
therefore, I have to do, here, is to collect the prac-
tices and opinions of those who have some knowledge
of both, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
In the neighbourhood of Selby, — App. p. 42.
“ Ploughs
WEST RIDING.
379
Ploughs of the common kind, drawn by two horses
are used; but a number of oxen are wrought in the
waggons/’ — Doubtlessly, in the deep roads of that
district.
App. p. 4 5. — “ Lord Hawke ploughs with two
oxen a-breast, without a driver, and sometimes with
horses, but depends principally, and almost entirely
on oxen, for his ploughing and harrowing.”
Mr. Payne’s account; App. p. 57. “ The work is
almost entirely performed by horses; very little use
is made of oxen at present; though where they are
employed, they are found to answer very well, and I
have no doubt of their superiority over the heavy
draft horses in point of real utility to the farmer. I
have used a pair of oxen several years in harness like
that of the horses, working them at the plough and
on the road, in every respect as we use our heavy
draft horses; and as far as I can judge, they are equal
to them for use, though the pride of the drivers will
never allow it. However, in the stage of fattening
them, we are all agreed, that their beef is prefer-
able to the carrion of an old horse. The advantage
to the community of working oxen on farms is beyond
dispute, or calculation.’'
Implements. Respecting the Yorkshire plow , Mr.
Brown brings forward (on what authority is not men-
tioned) some interesting particulars, which I had not
before met with. P. 51. — “ The Rotherham plough
has been heard of over the whole island, and was in-
vented by Mr. Joseph Foljambe, of Eastwood, in
this Riding, about seventy years ago. Mr. Foljambe
got a patent for this plough, which he afterwards sold
to Mr. Staneforth, of Firbeck, who at first gave the
liberty of using it to the farmers for c 2s. 6d. each. Mr.
Staneforth afterwards attempting to raise this premium
to Is. or Is. 6d. the validity of the patent was com-
bated and set aside, on the ground of its not being a
new invented plough, but only a plough improved.”
On its introduction into East Yorkshire, it was called
the “ Dutch plow,” The
280
AGRICULTURE.
The Thrashing Mill. Details of the history, con-
struction, and uses of this valuable invention may
seem to be entirely out of place, in a Report of the
practices of West Yorkshire ; as it was barely intro-
duced, and of course little understood, in that district,
at the time the Surveyors went over it. But as
Messrs. Rennie, Brown, and Shirred* were residents in
the country of its invention, and possessed mature
knowledge of its construction and use, it would be
improper to neglect so favorable an opportunity of
endeavouring to add to the information already ob-
tained on the subject (see p. 64, aforegoing); espe-
cially, as the Board’s Reports may not afford us
another, equally favorable, of making the desired
additions.
On the history of the thrashing mill, we have the
following particulars; which, I think, it is right to
insert, entire; though some of them may have appear-
ed in the Northumbrian account.
P. 57 . — “ The first attempt which we know of with
certainty, was made by an ingenious gentleman of
the county of East- Lothian, Mr. Michael Menzies,
who invented a machine that was to go by water,
upon the principle of driving a number of flails by a
water-wheel, but from the force with which they
wrought, it was found the flails were soon broken to
pieces, and consequently the invention did not suc-
ceed*.
0 loads of manure
at Christmas, chiefly from this fold, which he says is
in as fine a state of fermentation, as any he, ever
had ”
D d 4
408
AGRICULTURE.
had.” — This Report, even at the third or fourth hand,
is worthy of attention, by sheep farmers, in some
situations.
Fatting Sheep. — P. 186. — “ There are great quan-
tities of Scotch sheep from Teviotdale, &c. fed in the
country ; numbers of ewes are also brought annually
from Northumberland, which, after taking their lambs,
are fed that season for the butcher. Many two years
old of this kind are also fed upon turnips.’*
The references prefixed to the preceding extracts,
on sheep, will show how loosely the information, col-
lected on that subject, is dispersed, in the volume
under Review ; and perhaps will suggest to the mind
of the reader, that some little attention has been em-
ployed, in reducing the scattered parts to their na-
tural order; and, of course, to the most intelligible
form.
POULTRY. P. 198. — “ It is really diverting to
read the modern declamations against inclosures, and
the increased size of farms. The authors alluded to,
take it for granted, that these measures lessen the
number of poultry, and that the only way of getting
the markets plentifully supplied with that article, is
to lessen the size of farms, and to keep the waste
lands of the kingdom in their present unproductive
state. At this time we shall not enter upon these
topics, being convinced that such a discussion is
wholly unnecessary. We may only say, that where
poor people, laborers or others, get poultry supported
at the expense of the farmer, it may be a material
object to them, seeing that they are fed by others ;
but, considering the question, so far as respects public
advantage, t he breeding and feeding of poultry ought
never to be ranked as an object deserving the farmer’s
attention.
“ It might also be a question, whether the benefit
said to be derived by poor people is not in many
cases imaginary. We have heard, that in some
places,
WEST RIDING.
409
place?, (not in the West Riding,) a man would spend
a day in going to market to sell a pair of chickens,
the value of which did not compensate for the loss of
time spent in disposing of them. ,,
This circumstance may equally tend to silence the
“ declamations’* about LABORERS KEEPING COWS,
and each having a few pounds of butter to carry to
market ; as to show the impropriety of their breeding
POULTRY, to annoy their neighbours, get habits of
idleness, and spend their time unprofitably.
PIGEONS. The following pointed remarks are in
the Reporter’s best manner ; and are highly creditable
to him as the farmer’s friend.
P. 199. “ Whether the farmer has a right to shoot
pigeons, when committing depredations on his pro-
perty, is a question which has been disputed in several
parts of Britain. To us it appears clear, that if he
has not such a right under the present laws, he ought
instantly to be invested with it. Shall a man be ba-
nished when he steals a certain part of my property,
and hanged when he takes a larger portion, and must
I patiently submit to greater depredations, merely
because they are committed by a pigeon ? What is it
to me, whether the owner of the pigeon takes my
property with his own hand, or keeps these animals
to pigeon me out of it ? The law protects me in the
one case, and certainly ought, and probably does,
protect me in the other also.
c< Several attempts have been made in the northern
parts of the island, to punish persons who shot pigeons,
which in general proved unsuccessful. Some old ob-
solete laws have, in these cases, been founded upon,
which are a disgrace to our statute books. The
matter has not as yet, to our knowledge, received a
fair investigation, such complaints being usually set
aside upon previous points, or dismissed, because the
complainer had either no legal right to keep pigeons,
or could not identify his property. for our parts,
4 we
I
410 AGRICULTURE.
we decidedly think, that no man can have a just right
to feed his live stock of any kind, upon the grounds
of another ; and, that where pigeons are kept, the
owner should either coniine them in the house during
seed-time and harvest, or submit to their execution
upon the spot, when they are allowed to fly about at
large, and destroy the corn of other people at these
important seasons.”
IMPROVEMENTS,
SUGGESTED BY THE REPORTER.
M R. Brown appropriates his concluding chapter
to the <£ Means of Improvement, and the measures
calculated for that purpose.” The following is a
summary of the improvements proposed, p. 265.
cc ly/, That the nature of the connexion betwixt
the landlord and the tenant should be changed, and
that leases of a proper duration should be granted.
“ Qdly, That the arbitrary and injudicious co-
venants generally imposed upon the tenantry, should
be discontinued, and conditions more favorable to im-
provements substituted in their stead.
“ 3dly, That tithes should be commuted.
“ 4 thly, That a general bill should be passed by
the legislature, for the division of the common fields
and waste grounds.
“ These are the leading means of improvement ;
without which no material encouragement can be
given to the husbandry of the district. In hopes that
the Board of Agriculture will consider them in the
same light, we proceed to recommend,
“ 5 thly, More improved rotations of crops.
“ Gthly,
WEST RIDING.
411
" Gthly, Breaking up the old pasture fields, and
frequent changes of corn and grass.
“ 7 thly, Drilling and horse- hoeing beans and
turnips.
“ Sthly, Planting the waste lands which are im-
proper for cultivation.
And, toward the close of the chapter, p. 278,
Mr. B. enumerates four additional items of improve-
ment : namely,
“ 1st, It would be no injury to the proprietor, and
save much trouble to the tenant, if all public taxes
were paid by the former ; besiflbs, the tenant is very
apt to conceive an idea, that these burthens are not a
part of the rent, but that he is paying heavy taxes,
while his landlord is free. We confess, that we would
not be fond of signing a lease, which obliged us to
pay all parliamentary taxes already imposed , or to be
imposed, which, in the present state of our national
finances, might prove a serious business.” All this
would be very convenient, and save much trouble — -
to tenants.
“ 2 dly. It would be of material advantage to agri-
culture, that some alteration was made upon the
game laws, and that the privilege of hunting was
used in a more lenient way. It really shocks the
feelings of a farmer, to notice the injuries committed
by a parcel of people mounted on horseback, and
galloping like madmen after a poor fox, or an in-
nocent hare.” This, too, might be a very pleasant
thing— to tenants.
“ 3dly , It has been suggested to us, that it would
be of public advantage, for the Board to take into
their own hands, experimental farms in different parts
of the country ; and, that if this measure was adopted
upon every variety of soil, and the management, for
which they are naturally disposed, steadily adhered
to, real knowledge in husbandry would increase in
course, and substantial improvements be rapidly dis-
seminated.”
AGRICULTURE.
412
semina ted.” The Reporter enlarges on this sug-
gestion, as if he believed it to be new !
“ 4 thly. It would be very conducive to agricultural
improvement, that encouragement was given for in-
creasing the number of farm servants and laborers.
This can only be done by amending the poors’ laws,
and by building cottages contiguous to every home-
stead.” This has been spoken to, in p. 370.
On these several topics, particularly the first eight,
the Reporter expatiates at full length ; repeating
many of his former arguments, and adducing other
evidence in favor of his positions. But I perceive
nothing that would convey useful information to my
readers.
In a RETROSPECTIVE VIEW of this Report, the
paucity of the materials, collected by the Surveyors, —
and immediately pertaining to the established practice
of the district of Survey, — compared with the size of
the volume, — forms one of its most striking features.
The communications, notes, and answers, fill, it is
true, some considerable portion of it. But the great
body of the work may, with much truth, be said to
be composed of general remarks, that are not pe-
culiarly applicable to the West Riding of Yorkshire ;
and that might have been written with nearly equal
propriety, before the Surveyors left East Lothian, as
after their return. Sometimes, it must be allowed,
they grow spontaneously out of the matter of Survey.
But, more frequently, they read as parts, or passages,
of a didactic treatise on rural subjects, rather than of
a report of local practices.
In these observations, however, I do not mean to
convey that Mr. Brown’s remarks are generally fri-
volous and of no value. This would be doing an act
of injustice, not only to Mr. B. but to myself; — as I
have repeatedly quoted them, as being appropriate
and valuable. I rather wish to intimate how much
it
WEST RIDING.
413
it is to be regretted that Mr. B’s time and talents
were not employed more profitably, than in reporting
the state of agriculture , in a district possessed by
manufacture ; — and in a country in which he was a
stranger. If Mr. Brown's experience and general
knowledge had been fortunately engaged in a Report
of the practice of East Lothian,- 5 — or in consider aleh /
composing a general work on the present state of
agriculture, in the southern counties of Scotland, I
am convinced li£ would have deserved welt of the
British public.
j
THE
NORTH RIDING
OF
YORKSHIRE.
Within this division of the county are included,
wholely, or in great part, the following natural
DISTRICTS : — namely, the vale of York, the vale of
Stockton, the north coast of Yorkshire, the Eastern
Morelands, the limestone lands of East Yorkshire,
and the vale of Pickering.
The VALE of York. This is the first of rivered
vales in the island. The waters of the Swale and the
Wiske pass down it, from its northern extreme, until
they fall into the Humber, at its base ; mixing in
their way, with the other waters of the county.
It is situated, mostly, within the North Riding ;
but extends into the West and the East Ridings,
toward its southern extreme. Its northern limit is
given by the separation of the waters of rains, which
fall between the Tees, and the Swale and W T iske ;
where, owing to the levelness of the surface, in this
part, a number of shallow meers, or lakelets, are seen ;
especially in a wet season :-~-a circumstance that fre-
quently occurs, where rain waters divide, and take
contrary courses. — Its southern boundary is formed
by the marshes of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire : the
vale of York terminating with the vale lands. Its
western limits have been mentioned to be the lime-
stone
NORTH RIDING.
415
stone lands of West Yorkshire ; and the line of
uplands that form the skirts of the western morelands.
— The eastern boundary is less regular ; but equally
definite ; being given by the morelands and limestone
heights of East Yorkshire, — and the wold, hills.
Its length, from north to south, is about sixty
miles. Its width varies. Its medial breadth may be
estimated at sixteen or seventeen miles ; and its area,
or entire contents, at more than one thousand square
miles of valuable territory.
The towns, situated in the area of the vale, are
North Allerton, Thirsk, Borough Bridge, York,
Cawood, Selby, Howden, Snaith, Thorn : — On its
western margin — Richmond, Bedal, Ripon, Knares-
borough, Wetherby, Tadcaster, Doncaster: — On its
eastern — Easingwood, Pocklington, Weigh ton. Cave.
The surface of this extraordinary tract of country
is cast in the true vale style. It is sufficiently diver-
sified to give richness and beauty to its appearance ;
without any thing of steepness, to interrupt the
plow and sithe ; or any low flat lands that are liable
to floods — unless, on the immediate banks of its
rivers and brooks.
Its soils are greatly varied. The upper parts of
the vale are mostly occupied, by cool strong lands,
varying in color and fertility, from pale cold clay,
to rich red loam. Round Borough Bridge, lands of
the very first quality, — deep red loam on absorbent
rock, — are found. Oil the margins, as near Ripon
and Easingwood, passages of sandy lands of a fertile
quality occur. And, in the eastern quarter of the
vale, as well as in its more central parts, weak, sandy,
heath! ands occupy some considerable space. It is
small, however, comparatively with the whole ex-
tent.
I forbear to say more of the soils of this vale,
though I find on my journals many particulars rela-
ting to them. But Mr. Take having, it may be pre-
sumed, gone deliberately over tiie county, as a
Mapist,
416
NATURAL DISTRICTS.
Mapisfc, — if not as a Reporter, — and being, moreover,
a professional landsurveyor within the vale ; and,
particularly, as he has given a detail of its soils, so
far as they are included within the North Riding, —
his account of them is, of course, much fuller than
mine.
The vale of Stockton. This valuable natural
district has been already adverted to, in examining
the Report of the county of Durham ; in which a
considerable portion of this vale is situated : — it being
composed of the lower vale lands of Durham, and the
district of Cleveland in Yorkshire; which, together,
form one homogeneous rivered vale. The Tees,
which is the boundary between the two counties,
winds through the middle of it.— The lands and their
management, however, are similar, or the very same,
on both sides of the river.
This vale accompanies the Tees, from the more-
lands of Durham, &c. in the neighbourhood of Bar-
nard Castle, to its mouth : — an extent of near forty
miles. Its width, between the eastern morelands,
which bound it to the south, and the rising grounds of
Durham, its northern confine, (see p. 126.) is not
less than fifteen miles. But its upper part, above
Darlington, is narrow. It may, I think, be com-
puted to contain about four hundred square miles*.
The
* The upper part — the southwest margin — of this vale imper-
ceptibly unites with the upper part — the northern extreme — of the
vale of York ; the waters of rains being (as above-mentioned) the
only guide to accurate discrimination between them. The swell
by which nature has divided them (see p. 414,) is so inconsider-
ably elevated, as to elude the eye, in a general view of the coun-
try : — the soil and its products being the same, on both side s of it.
Thus, we have an uninterrupted continuance of wide-spreading
vale lands, from the mouth of the Tees, to the estuary of the
Humber: a distance of almost a hundred miles. In approaching
these sister vales, by the great road from Carlisle, their combined
richness, and oceanlike extent, are most striking.
NORTH RIDING.
417
The towns of Barnard Castle, Darlington, Yarm,
Stockton and Stokesley, are included in its area.
Those of Hartlepool and Gisborough stand on its
margins.
The surface of the vale of Stockton is remarkably
flat -even as a vale district. But the whole, except
its water-formed lauds, lie well above the level of
floods. On the margins of the river, below Stockton,
there are marshlands of considerable extent, and great
fertility.
The soil of this vale is singularly uniform. Whe-
ther on the north — or on the south — side of the
river, a light colored clayey loam, of considerable
tenacity prevails : — differing, however, in degrees of
fertility. Cleveland being situated at the feet of very
high and steep clifs, and these standing to the south-
ward of it, may tend to render its lands in general of
a cooler nature, than those which lie on the north
side of the river.
The NORTHERN SEA-COAST of Yorkshire is notice-
able, only, as occupying a small space in the county
which does not properly fall within any of its larger
districts. It forms an irregular scroll, which runs
between the eastern morelands and the sea.
It may be said to extend from Gisborough to Scar-
borough. It is separated from the vale of Stockton,
on the north, by the hills that run northeastward
from Gisborough ; its southern extremity terminating
in a narrow point, which unites with the eastern
extreme of the vale of Pickering. Its width is most
irregular. The lower stages of the morelands reach,
in some places, to near the sea.
In the environs of Whitby, there is a rich and
interesting, but small, plot of country ; being formed
by a dilation of the valley of the Eske. Bat the
more honorable distinguishments, of this mountain-
skirt district, are the ports of Whitby and Sear-
E e borough ;
418
NATURAL DISTRICTS.
borough ; and the manufactories of English all uni ;
which, I believe, are peculiar to it.
The EASTERN MORELANDS. These, as has been
noticed, are bounded, on the west, by the vale of
York ; on the east, by the sea-coast district ; on the
north, by the vale of Stockton ; on the south, by the
limestone lands of East Yorkshire.
Their extent, including the cultivated vallies, by
which they are deeply indented, may be estimated at
four or five hundred square miles.
The elevation, of this minor mass of English moun-
tain, is inferior to that of the western division of the
Yorkshire morelands. The surface, also, is tamer ;
and the soil of a meaner quality. In natural economy,
it resembles the morelands of Northumberland and
Durham, rather than those of West Yorkshire.
The soil or covering, of the hills, is mostly the black
vegetable mold of heaths ; and the prevailing subsoil,
a yellow grout : namely, a mixture of infertile clay,
sand and gravel*.
The LIMESTONE LANDS of EAST YORKSHIRE.—
These lands, collectively, afford a remarkable passage,
in the geology, or natural economy, of England.
They form a narrow line of uplands, stretching, west-
ward,
* Hence, the fortuitous roads, which cross this mountain tract,
and off which the black mold has been worn, or washed away,
take a yellow appearance ; so as to be seen at a great distance.
And hence, probably, the ancient name of the whole, or a consi-
derable part, of tho.se hills: namely, Blake-way Moon: — a term
which has probably been corrupted by writers unacquainted with
the provincial Lnguage of the country, into Blackamoor ; as
ee also p. 27, aforegoing.
NORTH RIDING.
m
I CANNOT allow myself to quit the vale of Picker^
mg, before I have exposed a crime, which the North
Riding Report has wantonly committed against it.
For, notwithstanding the remarkable entirely of this
natural district, we find it* there, frittered into par-
cels! — or, what is worse, spoken of partially, under
the appellations of “ Ryedale,” and the “ East and
West Marishes — meaning, by the former, the mud-
lands, and, by the latter, the marshy lands, of the
vale ; leaving undescribed, and unnoticed, the upper
grounds, — the true vale lands, — by which it is cha-
racterized !
Now, “Rydale” is the name of a wcapontake, or
hundred, which includes, not only the mud banks in
the west end of the vale, but a portion of the lime-
stone heights, together with a large portion of the
morelands, within its limits ! And the “ Marishes’'
are merely the lower outskirts of the parish of Picker-
ing, (whose extensive limits reach to the center of the
vale) and of other parishes, situated in the habitable
parts of the vale.
Had not the Reporter previously surveyed the
county, for a map, or had he not read my lleport of
it, or had he not adopted the other new names which
I have given to its several districts, (together with
their relative situations in a map of the county) 1
should have concluded that he was uninformed, as
to the facts above stated, or that he had refused to
acknowledge every “ innovation” with respect to
natural districts and their appropriate appellations.
After having experienced the facilities that arose
from the terms — Western Morelands — Vale of York — -
Eastern Morelands — Howardian Hills — (ail of them
names that had no existence before the Rural Economy
of Yorkshire was written*) one would reasonably
have
* Previously to that lime, the grouse-shooters of theva!e of York
might speak of the “Eaa Moors,”' auci the '‘West Moors/’ as
E e 3 objects
422
NATURAL DISTRICTS.
have expected some intimations of gratitude for that
of the vale of Pickering. Why did not the Board’s
Reporter, in speaking of the two first named districts,
introduce the appellations — “ Hang East” and “ Elang
West” — (other names of weapontakes) or, in ham-
mering out a partial account of the third, talk of
“ Blackamoor” — “ Kemp-Swidden” — “ Wheeldale’*
and “ Shunnorhow — as well as of their equals in
propriety — “ Ryedale” and the “East and West
Marishes ?”
If the Reporter , in friendship, or gratitude, gave
way to the childish jealousies of the minor gentlemen
of the west end of the vale*, surely the Board,, or
whoever had the charge of editing the Report, ought
to have rectified the impropriety.
To resolve an extent of country, into natural dis-
tricts — with any degree of success — requires much
time, and travelling in the country ; as well as a matu-
rity
objects of diversion ; but Eastern Morelands , and Western Morelands,.
as terms of science, Were never before used. Nor was the vale of
York. Some portion of the upper part of it was formerly known
by the name of “the vale of Mowbray.*’ But the natural dis-
trict, described aforegoing, had no general appellation assigned it,
had probably never been seen, much less defined, before that time.
* Whose mud banks, probably, had not yet shown their heads,
when the district of Pickering was of royal distinction. The
forest laws of England, are principally formed from decisions
recorded in the courts of the forest of Pickering. — M anvvood, —
Author of “ a Treatise and Discourse of the Lawes of the Forrest;’*
printed in black letter, in 1598, — says, “whosoever will he learned
in the forrest- lawes must diligently studie the assises of the forrest
of Pickring and Lancaster: in which assises there are plentiful
examples and presidents of matters airedie adjudged and tried, yea
almost for every matter that can be spoken of or come in question
touching farrestes. And therefore the assises or iters of Pickring
and Lancaster are, as it were, the bookes of yeeres and terrnes,
unto the forrest lawes, even as the bookes of yeeres and terrnes,
that are printed, are unto those that studie the common lawes of
this realme.” (p. 16.) The said examples and presidents being
principally taken from the assises of the forest of Pickering.
9
NORTH RIDING.
423
rity of study and discrimination. Allowing that the
Board had no fit means, within themselves, — in town ,
—to execute so difficult yet valuable an undertaking,
could it be right, in a public institution, ostensibly set
on foot to throw light on the rural science, to be in-
strumental in frustrating the endeavors of an indivi-
dual, in performing so arduous a task ?
But leaving these matters to the reflection of those
whom they properly concern, I will here beg leave to
express my gratification, on finding, in the writings
of another, the advantages which arise from giving
due discrimination, and names, to natural districts.
There is a distinctness, and a degree of intelligible-
ness, in most parts of the North Riding Report, which
are not observable — cannot take place — where large
tracts of country, comprizing districts of dissimilar
natures, are spoken of, in a general way, without
accuracy of discrimination. If, therefore, in going
through the North Riding Report, I should find
occasion to make extracts relating to the vale of
Pickering, generally , I shall use its proper name ; in-
stead of the jargon of the Report : — if, partially , under
the name of <£ Ryedale,” or the “ East and West
Marishes,” I will substitute for the former, the mud-
land quarter , and for the latter, the marshland quarter
of the vale of Pickering *.
* For asketch of the vale of Pickering anti its adjacent hills, see
the Rural Economy of Yorkshire. Also a sketch of the county :
in which the singularity of its situation more distinctly appears.
Also the sketch affixed to this volume.
E e 4
“ GENERAL
424
REPORTER.
“ GENERAL VIEW
OF THE
AGRICULTURE
OF THE
NORTH RIDING OF YORKSHIRE.
DRAWN UP FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF
the board of agriculture and internal
IMPROVEMENT.
By JOHN TUKE,
LAND-SURVEYOR.
1800 .”
Uf the qualifications of the Reporter, in this
case, I cannot speak from personal acquaintance.
Mr. Tuke, I understand, is not only a land surveyor,
but an estate agent, of some considerable practice : —
facts to which his Report bears witness. But so far,
and no farther, Mr. T’s practical knowledge of rural
affairs appears to extend. His remarks on Agricul-
ture are those of a man who is conversant with the
practice of others, rather than of one who speaks
from his own matured experience. His manner of
writing is well adapted to the business of Report ; to
which a land surveyor is professionally habituated.
And although Mr. Tuke is said to be a Quaker, little
of formality, or stifness, is observable in his style.
Mr.
NORTH RIDING.
% Q5
Mr. Ts Mode of Survey is not expressed.
Having previously surveyed the county, for a map of
it, he thereby of course acquired a comprehensive
idea of its natural economy ; and some evidences
appear, in the course of the work, of his having made
further examinations, as a Reporter. Beside, in the
ordinary pursuits of his profession, his acquaintance
with the district assigned him would necessarily be
considerable; especially with that of the vale of
York, in which Mr. Tuke resides. His Introduction
is dated at “ Lingcroft near York.”
The CONTRIBUTORS, which appear in this re-
printed Report, are chiefly Annotators ; who
though not so numerous, as in the West Riding,
exceed in number those of any other of the foregoing
Reports : — a circumstance that shows the attention
w^iich is paid to rural concerns, in this county.
Mr. CLEAVER of Nunnington, in the vale of
Pickering, may claim a preference, whether for the
number or the intelligence of his notes. Mr. C. pos-
sesses extensive practical knowledge ; both of estate
agency and of agriculture.
The next that claim attention are the long and
labored notes, signed W. S. — in which we find much
ingenuity, and some information. But they savor too
much of the closet. They are evidently the effusions
of a studious mind, — the remarks of a man of read-
ing, — rather than of one possessing much practical
knowledge.
Mr. STEELE, and Mr. Smellie also have furnished
numerous remarks ; together with several other per-
sons, whom I may have occasion to mention, in ex-
amining the volume under Review.
In his Introduction, Mr. Tuke says — ”
NORTH RIDING.
4 35
P. 21.
NORTH RIDING.
iS 7
SUBJECT THE SECOND.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
STATE of Appropriation. Lands unappropriated *
P. 90. — “ In the best parts of this Riding, few open
or common-fields now remain, nearly the whole having
long been inclosed; the moors and mountainous parts
still remain in their original state; but such is the
spirit for improvement, that were the many obstacles
removed that oppose inclosures, no waste lands would
long remain neglected, that were capable of cultiva-
tion: and even under all the present difficulties,
several inclosures, under acts of parliament, have an-
nually taken place. But since this Report was first
drawn up, an almost total stop has been put to all
improvements, and not more than one or two acts for
inclosure in this Riding have been passed in 1797*
1798, and 1799.” For the estimated quantity of un-
appropriated lands, see p. 340, aforegoing.
Mode of Appropriation . P. 201. — “ The principal
obstacle to the improvement of the moors, is the great
expense of obtaining acts of parliament for their in-
closure, and the difficulty of settling with the tithe-
owners and lords of the manors.
“ An instance occurs in a township on the verge
of the Eastern Morelands, where two-thirds of the
number of freeholders, and considerably more in value,
desirous of an inclosure of their commons, amounting
to about 800 acres of fine sward land, and about
12,000 acres of high moors, 4000 of which are capa-
ble of very great improvement, had agreed with the
tithe-owners, and signed a petition to parliament;
but the lord of the manor, who possessed very little
other property there, being determined to oppose it,
F f 3 the
438
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
the business was dropped, from an apprehension of
the expense and trouble attending an opposition in
parliament.
“ An inclosure of open fields, amounting only to
about 2.50 acres, in a township near to the above, \vas
made a few years since; the expense of obtaining the
act alone, and without any opposition, cost the pro-
prietors, 370 /*.”
In a note signed W. Sadler, a detail of an interest-
ing decision, respecting the rights of stocking common
pastures , is given. The following extracts will suffi-
ciently show the substance of it. — P. 199. — “ It has
become a prevailing practice, for the occupiers of
small firms (some of which occupiers frequently .re-
sided in distant townships, and took single fields,
which were entitled to common-right) to stock their
commons with great numbers of cattle, and without
any regard to- the smallness of the farms, in respect of
which these cattle were turned on.
“ This evil of surcharging had increased to an
alarming degree, but will now, in a great measure,
be crushed, by a late legal decision, of which the fol-
lowing is a statement: At the York Lent Assizes,
1793, an action was tried before judge Heath and 1 a
respectable jury, which had been brought by John
Bywell, who occupied a farm of about 150 acres,
entitled to common-right in Thornton Rust, against
Thomas Baines, who occupied a house and about
five acres of land, entitled to common-right in the
same township, for surcharging Thornton Rust com-
mon/’ — P. 200. — • c The learned judge approved much
of the action, and was clear in his opinion, c that the
defence set up was insufficient; that the surcharge
had been fully proved * y and that comparing the yearly
value
“ * The expense of this act of parliament?, viz. 370 /. perhaps
would have improved the whole of the land inclosed; it would have
allowed 1 /. 7 s. per acre for improvement. — J. Sfneddle”
4
NORTH RIDING.
439
value of each person’s farm with the yearly value of
all the farms* and then calculating the stock a com-
mon would fairly carry, was a proper rule for regu-
lating the common-rights of persons entitled.’ — The
jury, without hesitation, found a verdict for the
plaintiff.”
Game Laws . — The Reporter, in speaking of <( Ob -
stacles to Improvement,” heavily exclaims against
the mischiefs committed by city sportsmen; which,
however, he probably much over estimates. — P. 334,
— cc What I particularly allude to, is the excessive
injury done to neighbouring farmers by tradesmen,
who, in most considerable towns, keep packs of
hounds; and, residing myself in a situation to expe-
rience them, I am qualified to speak feelingly upon
the subject. Were it possible to form an estimate of
the loss suffered in my own neighbourhood, by such
trespassers, in breaking down hedges, riding over
young wheat, trampling the first year’s grass-seeds,
damaging the turnips, chacing ewes heavy with lamb,
and mixing the several stocks of cattle and sheep, by
leaving gates open, and breaking gaps in the fences,
he could not state it at less than several hundred
pounds a year — and all this for the cruel sport of
chacing a hare! This calls for redress; but the agri-
culturist, as laws and customs at present prevail, has
not the means of obtaining it.
“ Hares and pheasants, where they abound, are
very destructive to the corn in spring, and the turnips
in winter; many of the last, being wounded by them,
are lost to the farmer, as they rot, unless consumed
immediately after receiving the injury.
“ To prevent these and other inconveniences, might
not the game be made, with advantage to all parties,
the property of the occupier of the soil? He now un-
doubtedly feeds them; and should the owner of the
soil wish to reserve a power to hunt, shoot, or course
over his estate, he might have it, by its being made
440
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
a condition in the lease dr agreement between him
and his tenant.”
State of Society. Manufactures. — P. 313.—
1 he linen manufactory in the eastern part of the
Riding, and the woollen manufactory” (chiefly of
stockings) “ in the western part, are, in their pre-
sent state, rather an advantage to agriculture, without
being very prejudicial to the individuals who carry
them on, by corrupting their morals, or impairing
their health; but instances have already occurred, of
serious illnesses having prevailed in some of the
cotton-mills;” — recently erected in the North Riding.
Local Taxes. Poor Rates. On this subject we
meet with some valuable items of information: by
whom, does not appear. I do not find them in the
original Report. The subjoined extracts contain
what is particularly interesting.
P. 50. — 44 This Riding is favored with various cir-
cumstances which ought to operate forcibly in keep-
ing down the expenditure on account of the poor, the
most material of which, the general residence of the
principal landed proprietors on their estates, and an
almost total absence of manufactures, need only be
enumerated as adequate to the purpose. Fortunately
m this instance, the reasoning appears fully to be
borne out by the fact. There is reason to believe
that; the average of the poor-rates of the Riding arc
still moderate,, compared with those of many other
places, notwithstanding a late and great , increase
brought on by the war; but this addition caused by
the war, it is to be hoped will cease, whenever the
country is blessed with a return of peace.”
P. 52. — “ An account of the assessments for the
relief of the poor in twenty-two townships in the hun-
dred above referred to,” (not named) 46 in the North
Riding of Yorkshire, during thirty- five years, from
the year ending April 1758, inclusive, to April 1793;
the average being taken in each seven years, extracted
from the books of the parish officers of as many town-*
NORTH RIDING. 44 1
ships ill the hundred as had books of accounts going
back to the year 1758 :
From 1758 in-
clusive to 1760 .
From 1765 to
1772.
From 1772 to
1779.
From 1779 to
1786.
From
17
1786 to
93, ,
1
X. 176 3 3 |
1
| l. 214 17 10
X. 33 6 3 9
L. 449 13 1
L. 6 T
J 19 9.”
P. 53. “ Sum total of the return made by the over-
seers of the poor of the hundred above referred to, in
the North Riding of the county of York, of the assess-
ments raised for the relief of the poor in their respec-
tive townships, in the years 1783, 1784, and 1783, in
pursuance of the act of 26 Geo. III. b. 56.
Money raised by
assessment.
No. of
constant
poor.
No. of
occasional
poor.
Expences of
journeys and
attendance on
magistrates.
Expended in
entertain-
ments.
Law business,
orders,
certificates.
1783
X.1202 14 7
188
251
X.21 3 1
.
X. 7 17 1
X.69 5 7
/ 1784
X.1149 17 10
201
252
X 14 18 3
X. 6 17 1
X.50 1 11
1785
L. 1370 8 8
207
240
j X.30 5‘ 2
X. 7 15 3
X.83 8 0.”
P. 54. “ At the period when the above return was
made, (1785) it appeared, that in the above hundred,
the highest rated parish paid under two shillings in the
pound poor-rate, and that five townships had never
yet raised any assessment for the poor, and were en-
tirely exempt from any charge on their account ;
and it is a circumstance deserving of much attention,
that the three market towns in the hundred were much
higher rated than any other parish , and that the rate of
assessment generally increased in proportion to the . size
and population of the parish or township ; and that the
five tozvnships that had never yet levied a poor-rate. \ were
Among the smallest in the hundred ; and also , that the
poor were best attended to, and the least numerous in
v ✓ proportion
442
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
proportion > in the smallest and least populous townships ;
strong arguments these, against uniting great districts
in the general maintenance of the poor, under the
plea of their being better attended to, and maintained
at less expence.
Speaking of Provident Societies , Mr. Tuke, or some
one for him, says, p. 316, “Many of these societies
have long been established in the Riding ; and their
affairs, excepting some few instances of embezzle-
ment, have generally been well conducted. Fifty-one
societies have already been enrolled under a late act
of* parliament ; forty-five societies in 1794, three in
1796, and three in 1797 ; and their number is likely
to increase by fresh associations.”
Tiie following observations on free schools confer,
on whomsoever wrote them, very much credit. They
appear to have recently found their way into a great
assembly. P. 317- “ It is an undoubted fact, that of
many of these schools (it is believed of a majority of
them) in this Riding, the doors are shut , and the sti-
pends evaporate in the hands of sinecure masters : the
gentry of the Riding are thus put to a great and un-
necessary expence and inconvenience, in sending
their children to remote schools for their education ;
and the inferior orders, for whose use these free-
schools were more especially founded, suffer an irre-
parable injury, in being depHved of* every means of
education. The reign of ignorance in the latter class
of society, has been sufficiently long, and the fruits of
it have nothing in them commendable : to it may be
ascribed much of the licentiousness, and much of the
unsettled principles of the times ; it is now fitting to
counteract these evils, by the practice of an opposite
system. Let it be tried what education can do;
enable the lower orders to think ; place before them
the advantages that will arise to themselves, from
order, from sobriety, and industry ; and having learnt
in what their happiness consists, they will not turn
their backs upon it.”
Tithes .
NORTH RIDING.
443
Tithes. — P. 50. “ The greatest part of this Riding
is subject to tithes in kind, both rectorial and vicarial;
but in many parishes they are compounded for*
especially the hitter ; this mode, however, of provision,
fortunately for the clergy and the public, is annually
declining, by means of acts for inclosure; while
tithes in lay-hands are becoming gradually extinct,
by purchases made of the lay-impropriator by the
owner of the soil. — Wherever tithes are taken, or
liable to be taken in kind, they become the sure
cause of strife, frequently of scandal to the church,
and of ill-will and hatred to it on the part of those
from whom they are exacted ; an evil which, in this
instance, has a far more extensive range, and a far
more injurious tendency, than any dissention between
mere individuals, or the lay-impropriator and the
occupier of the soil : to the credit, however, of the
tithe-owners of this Riding, a rigid mode of exacting
them does not generally prevail/’
In the chapter, cc Obstacles to Improvement,” the
subject of tithes is re-entered upon,, and spoken of,
at some length : — calculations being made, to show
their operation on the profits of the farmer, to the
advantage of the tithe owner. But neither the above
extract, nor those strictures, appear in the ORIGINAL
REPORT. All that is there said of tithes is contained
in the following short notice ; which, considering Mr.
Tuke’s persuasion , shows his good sense and modera-
tion. O. R. p. 96. “ The taking of tithes in kind,
or advancing the rent of them as improvements are
made, are” (is) “ a great obstacle to improvements.
Though most of the parishes of this Riding, are liable
to tithes in kind, yet there are many which are
exempt from them; and where taken in kind, it does
not appear that a rigid mode of exacting them is
generally practised by the tithe owner.”
In the reprinted Report, however, this passage Lt>
east afresh, and dilated; until, with the notes upon it,
it fills six or seven pages: — whether by Mr. T. or
some
444
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
some other hand is not said. But, from an appending
note, signed J. T. the whole, perhaps, is his own.
The extracts, subjoined, will show its tendency.
P. 322. “ Tithes, by being a tax not only upon
the land, but on every exertion of industry or expence
laid out in the cultivation of it, operate as a powerful
obstacle to improvements in agriculture, and are the
cause of much land remaining in a state of unprofit-
able sward, which, by ploughing, and proper cultiva-
tion, might be increased to more than double its
present valuer Though in some cases the farmer
might, notwithstanding the payment of tythe, improve
the land with some profit to himself, yet the reflection
that he would, at the same time, increase the interest
of the tithe-owner to three or four times its present
value, induces him rather to forego' his own profit,
than thus, at his own expence, increase that of
another, with whom, in general, he is not likely to be
on the most friendly footing.
“ The following calculations will sufficiently shew
the oppressive tendency of tithes, and, in the im-
provement of lands, what a great proportion of the
farmer’s profit must go to another, who in equity
cannot have the least claim to it.
“ Suppose a farmer is possessed of ten acres of land,
in a state of nature, or nearly so, and of the value of
2 v. 6d. per acre, subject to tithes in kind, which, in
the present state of the land, will not be worth more
than 3d. per acre : this he ploughs out with a view
to improvement ; the expences and profits of which
will be nearly as follows
I have already intimated that complex calculations,
on agricultural subjects, are liable to gross fallacy.
The result of those, now under notice, is thus set
down. P. 327. “ Thus, it clearly appears, that the
farmer’s profit for five years, in the improvement and
cultivation of ten acres of land subject to tithe in
kind, only amounts to. 30/. 1 9 w. 2 d. while the tithe-
owner’s profit amounts to 1 51. 7 s. 2 Id. and the land-
lord’s
NORTH RIDING.
44 5
lord’s rent is only 6/. 5 s. and this where the land is
supposed to be already fenced, and not to want
draining : if these are necessary, the farmer will for
many years be considerably out of pocket, while
the tithe-owner will be reaping a profit equal to the
above.”
Public Works. — Canals. — Mr. Steele, in a well
written note (too long to be wholely inserted) impres-
sively recommends a line of inland navigation, be-
tween the upper parts of the vale of York, and the
collieries of the county of Durham.
i know no instance in which an undertaking of
that kind could he set about, with fairer prospects of
advantage, to the country, and the undertakers. —
Mr. S. truly says, note p. 26, “The prospect of ad-
vantages to this country” (the vale of York) “ to be
derived from such a navigation, far exceeds any thing
1 am able to describe. Our servants and horses
would be beneficially employed at borne; less force
of both would perform the farming business; and, as
observed before, we should have coals of the best qua-
lity at a very easy rate. By this conveyance the
Durham lead and lime, and AVestmorcJand blue slate,
would pass into this, and adjoining counties, upon
moderate terms ; and I believe even the city of York,
by a junction of the Wiske canal with the Swale, or
by some other means, might be supplied with Dur-
ham coals at an easier rate than the inhabitants of
that city are at present served with that article, and
of a quality vastly superior.
“ By this navigation, our butter, cheese, and barley,
would in return, go up by Darlington and Barnard
Castle, into the dales and western country, and there
always find a brisk and profitable market. The de-
struction of. our principal roads (some of which, not-
withstanding the high tolls, are in an insolvent state),
wouid .be prevented, and the public would derive
innumerable advantages.” — A communication might
thus
446
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
thus be easily opened, between the Humber and the
Tees.
County Bridges. — P. 304. “ Perhaps in no district
in the kingdom, of equal extent, are the bridges
maintained by the Riding, commonly called county
bridges, equally numerous or better attended to ; the
nature of the country, covered in great part with
lofty mountains, some of them among the most lofty
in the island, among which various rivers have their
sources, will probably account for both ; certainly
for their number, and the number probably for the
care exerted in their maintenance.’ 9 — Again, “ Their
number is supposed to amount to about 130, many
of them of great extent, and erected in very danger-
ous situations. The Surveyor cannot help pointing
out the little circumstance of their being marked
with the initials of the Riding (Y. N. R.), in large
characters. Where public works are so conducted as
to do credit to those w T ho have the direction of them,
that credit the directors have a right to receive from
the public ; and the public knowing from whom they
receive an accommodation, will not fail to acknow-
ledge the debt. The mark is moreover highly useful
to the magistrates, by pointing out what bridges are
under their jurisdiction, and thereby affording the
opportunity, through that knowledge, of pointing out
any repairs or alterations that may be necessary/ '
Roads. With this subject the Surveyor is particu-
larly conversant. Several of his remarks are worthy
of preservation.
P. 296. c< The tolls which have hitherto maintained
the turnpike-roads, are no longer adequate to their
intended purpose, not only on account of the increased
price of late universally demanded for labour, but also
on account of all that supply of materials being ex-
hausted, within a reasonable distance of the roads,
which used to be gathered from the surface of the
ground, and which was always the cheapest. in ihe
NORTH RIDING, 447
first instance, and of the hardest and most durable
quality.”
P. 297* “ The tolls of several of the turnpikes in
this Riding have lately been doubled, and all will
require a considerable increase when the present acts
expire. Few pay an interest upon their debt of oL
per cent. ; many of 4 /. per cent. ; and some only 31 .
percent. : and it has not occurred to the Surveyor*
that the trustees, in any instance, by having paid oft’
their debt, in whole, or in part, have been able to
lower the toils under their direction.”
P. 30d. “ Guide-posts . — There appears to have
been more attention paid to the fixing of guide-posts
in times past, than to keeping them in repair at pre-
sent : many of them have their arms broken oft’, or
are so defaced as not to be legible, and many more
are entirely wanting. Without their assistance, it is
very difficult for a stranger to find his way in almost
every part of the Riding.”
The regulations which permit mail coaches to tra-
vel free of tolls does not escape Mr. d uke’s severe
censure.
The subjoined remarks on repairing roads by tenure ,
are well entitled to a place, here. P. 298. “ In the
lower part of the vale of Pickering, the parochial
roads are in as bad a state as possible : good mate-
rials are scarce in some parts of these districts, but
care and attention, much more so in them all. Many
of these roads are upon the natural soil, and in winter
not passable without great danger and difficulty, if
passable at all. No part of England produces worse
roads, either turnpike or parochial. This, however,
may be in part attributed to many of these roads
being repaired by tenure ; a system which experience
explodes. However adequate it might have been to
its ends in former times, when there was little inter-
course betwixt place and place, and roads conse-
quently were little frequented or injured, it no longer
answers its purpose ; and magistrates and passengers
now
448
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
now rather suffer a road to become impassable, than
compel an individual to repair it, at an expence *
beyond bis means, or amounting to his ruin. This
now would be frequently the case ; for however ex-
tensive the land liable to the repair, might formerly
have been, it is, at this time, frequently reduced into
a narrow stripe, on each, or at least on one side of
the road, perhaps into the little tenement and garth
of a cottager. Under these great changes of circum-
stances, where roads remain liable to repair by pre-
scription, and the individual bound to repair, is un-
equal to the burden, the law ought to allow some re-
dress ; for he cannot perform an impossibility ; and it
is not desirable that any one should be ruined with
performing even what is possible. Without this alter-
ation of the law, many roads will long continue in a
ststte almost impassable.” In ordinary cases of this
kind, a sum of money paid down, or an annual pay-
ment made, to the parish or township, would seem to
be the most eligible method of relieving individuals
from such disagreeable burdens ; — and providing tra-
velable roads for the public.
The following may serve as a valuable hint to the
formers of roads across mountains. P. 299. “ Over
the eastern morelands, between Kirby-moorside and
Egton, for eleven miles, a road has lately been cut :
the earth is taken from the sides of the road, so that
the barrel is formed without any of it being thrown
upon the crown, but it is laid in heaps on each side of
the road, which enables the traveller more easily to
trace the line of it during storms of snow, to which
this dreary tract is so liable in winter.
“ This practice ought to be generally followed upon
both the morelands, where snow in winter, and many
extensive mosses, render travelling at all times dan-
gerous to such strangers as are under the necessity of
traversing them. ,,
SUBJECT
NORTH RIDING.
449
SUBJECT THE THIRD.
RURAL ECONOMY.
DIVISION THE FIRST.
LANDED ESTATES ; their IMPROVEMENT
and MANAGEMENT.
ESTATES and Tenures. Sizes of Estates.— P.
“.The size of estates in this Riding is very variable;
about one-third of it is possessed by yeomanry ; the
remainder of it is divided into estates of various sizes,
from 5001. to 17 or 18,0001. per annum ; to which
last amount a single instance of an estate occurs,
though it is thought no other nearly approaches it..
Much the largest proportion of the dales of the more-
lands is in the possession of yeomanry, rarely amount-
ing to 1501. per annum.’'
Tenures. P. 3 1 . — “ The tenure of the country is
freehold, with some few instances of copyhold pro-
perty, and some of leasehold for 1000 or other
long term of years, and some instances of leases for
three lives, renewable at the fall of every life; these
last are chiefly held under the church, or other cor-
porate bodies; are seldom occupied by the lessee*
who generally leases the whole estate at the place,
but are farmed out again by him to others.”
Improving Estates.— Reelaiming- Wild Lands.
In the different Reports of the Mountain Depart-
ment, it was reasonable to expect that circumstantial
accounts of the present state, and the management,
of the mountain lands comprised within each county,
would have been laid before the public ; together
with the most successful means of reclaiming them
from their wild state. Rut, hitherto, I have been tin-
G g able
450
LANDED ESTATES.
able to detect much satisfactory evidence, on any one-
of those three points ; excepting what relates to the
operation of sodburning.
In the Report now under notice, however, many
remarks are brought forward, on the general subject
of Reclaim : — several of which are deserving of
notice.
The first that arrests attention is a paper of Mr.
Simpson of Saintoft Grange, near Pickering; con-
taining an account of his improvements on a tract of
wild lands, situated between the limestone heights
and the morelands, of East Yorkshire.
P. 207. — “ Entering on the above farm in the year
1787, it was evident that the nature of the mossy
herbage, intermixed with patches of ling/* (heath)
P. 7- — -
^ All the rivers above mentioned” (the Humber, the
Ouze and the Derwent) • •• « • r * -5|
>J ‘- • «\ it •; . : • • nl
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m •'£ • •iifuvf
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V VI
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'• . 'J « i ■>/ ;n A r *
i j 4 i V rn'b ^iliirr,! *fti : * \W
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“tort 14 C. flf
INDEX.
A.
Alnmouth, Corruption of, 31.
Appleby, District of, 205.
Appropriation, see State of Ap-
propriation.
Artificial Grasses, see Cultivated
Herbage.
Artificial Grasses, the Term cen-
sured, n. 88.
B.
Barley. Nor. 70. Dur. 151.
Cum. 191. W. Yor. 397.
Beans. Nor. 78. Dur. 151.
W. Yor. 397. N. Yor. 479.
Beasts of Labor, see Working
Animals.
Beer, see Barley,
Bees, 325.
Big, see Barley.
Bones, 3 80.
Bulbous Rape, 482.
Butter, see Dairy.
C.
Canals, see Inland Navigation,
Carlisle, District of, 157.
Cart Horses, see Working Ani-
mals.
Cattle.— Nor. 91. Dur. 153.
Cum. 195. Wes. 237. Lan.
313. W. Yor. 404. N.Yor.
437. E. Ypr. 520.
M
Chalk Hills of England, 497.
Cheese, see Dairy.
Cheviot Hills, 7.
Choice of Tenants, 46,5.
Climature. — Nor. 15. Dur. 132.
Cum. 162. Wes. 210. Lan.
249. W. Yor. 336. N. Yor.
427.
Coals. Nor. 18. Dur. 133-
Cum. 165 and 171.
Coal Pits, 21.
Coal Tar, J 34.
Colts, on putting, 486.
Commerce. — Dur. 142. Wes,
216.
Corn Laws, 354.
Cottages. — Nor. 40. Cum. 1$L
Wes. 231. W. Yor. 370.
Covenants. — Nor. 43. Dur. 1 44.
Cum. 177. Wes. 221. Lan.
277. W. Yor. 360 and 4 IU
N. Yor. 463.
Covenants, General Remarks on,
366.
County Bridges, 446.
Course of Crops, see Manage-
ment of Farms.
Craven, 327.
Cultivated Herbage. Nor. 88.
Dur. 151. Cum. 192. Wes.
235. Lan. 304. W. Yor.
401. N.Yor. 482.
Cumberland, Mountains of, 159.
Dairy, — Nor, 96.
na %
Cum. 197.
Wes.
INDEX.
33 f
Wes/238. • L an. 31 4 W.
Yor. 405: N. Yor. 488.
Decoys, 324.
Derbyshire Mountains, 527.
Disposal of Timber, 465.
Drainage, Public, see Reclaim-
ing Watery Grounds.
Draining Farm Lands. — Nor. 38.
E. Yor. 513.
Draining Spade, 513.
Drilling, see Semination.
Durham, Central District of, 127.
E.
Eastern Morelands of Yorkshire,
418 .
Elevation. — Dur. 131. Cum.
162. Wes. 210. W.Yor.
336. N. Yor. 426. South.
Mount. 526.
Embanking, 170.
Estates. — Nor. 35. Cum. 172.
Wes. 218. Lan. 270. W,
Yor. 355. N. Yor. 449.
Ewes, on Milking, 103.
Executive Management.— Nor.
42. Du,r. 144. Cum. 177.
Wes. 221. Lan. 274. W.
Yor. 357. N. Yor. 456.
E. Yor. 510.
Extent. — Nor. 13. Cum. 161-
Wes. 208. Lae. 248. N.
Yor. 426.
F.
Pairs, see Markets.
Farms. — Nor. 47. Dur. 148.
Cum. 143 and 181. Wes.
231. Lan. 280. W. Yor.
370. ‘N. Yor. 467. E. Yor.
"512.
Farm Yards, see Homesteads.
Farm Yard Management, 407.
Fences. — Nor. 40. N. Yor.
• 467. E. York. 512.
•Flax. — W. Yor. 398. N. Yor.
479. '
Forest of Pickering, n. 422.
Fossils. — Nor. 17. Dur. 132.
Cum. 164. Wes. 211. Lan.
252. W.Yor, 338. N. Yor.
434. South. Mount. 526,
Freestones, see Fossils.
Friendly Societies, see Poor
Rates.
Fuel. — Nor. 29. Cum. 169.
Wes. 216. Lan. 255.
G.
Game Laws W. Yor. 411.
N. Yor. 439.
Gardens of Lancashire, 311.
Gates, see Fences.
Goats, 105.
Grass Lands. Nor. 89. Dur.
15!. Cum. 193, Wes. 236.
Lan. 305. W. Yor. 402.
N. Yor. 484.
Grazing, see Cattle.
Grazing Grotinds, see Grass.
Lands.
1 Growing Crops. Nor. 7-2.
Ctim. I9L.
Gypsum, 307 and 435.
H.
Harvesting, 73.
Hay Grounds, see Grass Land*.
Hay-making, see Grass Lands.
Hedges, see Fences.
Herbage. Cultivated, see CultL
vated Herbage.
Herdwick Sheep, 198.
Hexham, District of, 9.
Hogs, see Swine.
Hoin'g, see Growiiig Crops.
Holderness, 498.
Homesteads. Nor. 40. Dur.
1 48. Cum, 181. Wes. 23 1 .
Lan. 280. W. Yor. 370.
N. Yor. 467. E. Yor. 514.
Horses. — -‘Nor. 91. Dur. 153.
Cum. 195. Wes. 237 Lan.
INDEX. 5*3
311. W. Yor. 404. N. Yor. Livestock.— Dur. 152. W. Yor,
485. E. Yor. 520. 403. E. Yor. 509.
Hull Victualling Office, 507. Livestock, Shows of, 509.
I.
Implements. Nor. 62. Dur.
150. Cum. 185. Lan. 284.
W. Yor. 379. N. Yor. 476.
E. Yor. 518.
Improvement of Estates. — Nor.
36. Dur. 143. Cum. 174.
Wes. 219. Lan. 27 1. W.
Yor. 355* N. Yor. 449.
E. Yor. 519.
‘Improvements, introducing, see
Introducing.
Inland Navigation. Nor. 32.
Wes. 217. Lan. 260. W.
Yor. 337. N. Yor. 445. £.
Yor. 503.
Institutions, Rural. Nor. 35,
W. Yor. 35 4, and 411. E. Yor.
509.
Intercourse of Districts, 505.
Introducing Improvements. — —
Nor. 87. Cum. 177.
Iron Stone, see Fossils.
Irrigation, 176.
K.
Kendal, District of, 205.
L.
Laborers, see Workpeople.
Lactometer, 316.
Lancashire, Cultivated Lands of,
243.
Lancaster Sands, 272.
Letting Estates, Modes of, 42.
Lime, see Manures.
Limestone, see Fossils.
Limestone Lands of East York-
shire, 418.
Limestone Lands of West York-
shire, 330.
Liquorice, 401.
Ms
Managementof Farms. — Nor. 48,
and 113. Dur. 148. Cum.
182. Wes. 232. Lan. 28!.
W. Yor. 372. N. Yor. 471.
E. Yor. 514, and 516.
Managers. — W. Yor. 357. N.
Yor. 456. E. Yor. 510.
Manufactures. — Dur. 143. Cum,
170. Wes. 216. Lan. 255.
W. Yor. .344. N. Yor. 440-
Manufacturing Districts of York-
shire, 329.
Manures. — Nor. €7. Dur. 150.
Cum. 190. Wes, 235. Lan.
285. W. Yor. 384. N. Yor.
477. £. Yor. 519.
Markets. — Nor. 33. Wes. 217.
Lan. 269- W- Yor. 353. .£,
Yor. 505.
Marl, see Manures.
Marling, 289.
Marshes on Forming, 271.
Meadows, :see Grass Land.
Meslin, 76.
Milking Ewes, 303.
Milthorp Sands, 272.
Minerals.- Dur- 132. Wes.
21 1. W.Yor. 338. N. Yor.
436. South Mount. 527.
Moles, 193.
Morelands of Northumberland, 8.
Morelands of the Five Counties,
128.
Morelands of Lancashire, 245.
Morelands of Yorkshire; see
Eastern and Western.
Morrasses, see Reclaiming.
Mountains of Cumberland, J 50.
Mountains, Southern, 522.
N.
Natural Districts.— Nor. 3. Dur.
1 17,
INDEX.
W
117. Cum. 156. Wes. 204.
Lan. 242. W. Yor. 327.
N. Yor. 414. E. Yor. 497.
South Mount. 5 22.
Newcastle Fair, 3 4.
O.
Oats. Nor. 78. Dur. 151.
Cum. 191. N. Yor. 478.
Occupiers. — Nor. 48. Dur. 148.
Cum. 181. Wes. 231. Lan.
280. W. Yor. 37 1 . N. Yor.
469. E. Yor. 51 4, and 5 1 6.
Orchards.— Dur. 1 52. Lan. 3 1 0.
Oxen, see Working Animals.
P.
Paring and Burning, see Re-
claiming Wild Lands.
Pastures, see Grass Lands.
Peas. — Nor. 80. Dur. 151. Cum.
J92.
Pickering, Forest of, n. 422
Pickering, Vale of, 419.
Pigeons, 409.
Pigs, see Swine.
Plan of Management, see Ma-
nagement of Farms.
Plantations. Nor. 47. Dur.
J47. Cum. ISO. Wes. 230.
Lan. 27Q. N. Yor. 466.
PoorRates. — Nor.31. Cum. 170.
Wes. 216. Lan, 259. W.
Yor 347. N. Yor. 440.
Potatoes. — Nor. 80. Lan. 292.
N. Yor. 480.
Poultry. — Nor. 106. Wes. 241.
Lan. 324. W. Yor. 408.
Profit of Farming, 106.
Proprietors. — Dur. 143. N.Yor.
456.
Pro\ ident Societies, see Poor
Rates.
^Provisions. — Nor. 28. Dur. 1 42.
Cum. 169. Wes. 214. Lan.
2S)4. W. Yor. 344.
R,
Rabbits.— Nor. 105. Wes. 240,
Lan. 324.
Railways, 32.
Rain, in Westmoreland, 210.
Rain, in Lancashire, 25 L
Rape, Bulbous, 482.
Receiving Rents. — Nor. 45. W.
Yor. 369.
Reclaiming Watery Grounds. —
Nor. 36. Lan. 271, and 274.
Reclaiming Wild Lands. — Nor.
38. Dur. 143. Cum. 174.
Wes. 220. Lan. 274. W.
Yor. 355. N. Yor. 449. E.
Yor. 509.
Removals. — Lan. 278. W. Yor.
369,
Rents. Nor. 45. Cum. 179.
Wes. 221. Lan. 278. W.
Yor. 368. N.Yor. 464.
Reporters. — Nor. 10. Dur. 129.
Cum. 160. Wes. 206. Lan.
246. W. Yor. 327. N. Yor.
424. E. Yor. 499.
Rivers, see Waters.
River Navigation, see Inland Na-
vigation.
Roads. Nor. 33. Dur. 144.
Cum. 171. Lan. 261. W.
Yor. 352. N. Yor. 446. E.
Yor. 503.
Rotation, see Management of
Farms.
Rotherham Plow, 379.
Rough Grounds, see Reclaiming.
Rural Institutions, see Institutions.
Rushes, to Destroy, 305.
Ruta-baga, 482.
Rye, 76.
S.
Salt Springs, 139.
Seacoast, Northumberland, 6-
Seacoast of Durham, 118.
Seacoast, Yorkshire, 417.
Sea Slutch, see Manures.
INDEX.
535
Sea Weed, see Manures.
Semination. — ‘-Nor. 71. Cum.
191/
Sheep. — Nor. 27 and i 15. Dur.
153. Cum. 197. Wes. 238.
Lan. 323. W. Yor. 406. N.
Yor. 489. E. Yor. 520.
Sheep, Remarks on Breeds, 200.
Shell Marl, see Manures.
Shows of Livestock, 509*
Single Horse Carts, 185.
Sizes of Farms, see Farms.
Smut, on preventing, 478.
Societies of Agriculture, see In-
stitutions.
Sodburning, see Reclaiming.
Soils. — Nor. 13. Dur. 131. —
Cum. 163. Wes. 211. Lan.
249. W. Yor. 338. N. Yor.
430.
Southern Mountains, 522.
Sowing, see Semination.
StalFordshire Morelands, &c. 525.
Stagshawbank Fair, 34.
State of Appropriation. — Nor. 27.
Dur. 140. Cum. 1G6. Wes.
212. Lan. 253. W. Yor.
340. N. Yor. 437. E. Yor.
501.
Stockton, Vale of, 416.
Substrata. — Nor. 14. Cum. 163.
Lan. 249. W. Yor. 338.
N. Yor. 430.
Succession, see Management of
Farms.
Sunderland Lime, l2l.
Surface, Turn of. Nor. 1§.
Dur. 131. Cum. 162. Wes.
210. Lan. 249. W. Yor.
336. South Mount 526.
Swedish Turnips, 482.
Swine. — Nor. 105. Dur. 154.
Lan. 321.
T.
Teasels, 479.
Tenancy. — Nor. 43. Dur. H4.
Cam. 177 & 178. Wes. 221.
Lan. 274. W. Yor. 357 and
366. N. Yor. 459. E. Yor.
510.
Tenancy, general Remarks on,
366.
Tenants, Choice of, 465.
Tenures. —Nor. 36. Cum. 172.
Wes. 218. Lan. 271. W.
Yor. 355. N. Yor. 449.
Thrashing Mills, see Implements.
Tillage.— Nor. 70. Cum. 190.
W. Yor. 395.
Timber, see Woodlands.
Timber, Disposal of, 465.
Tithes. — Nor. 30. Cum. 170.
Wes. 217. Lan. 260. W.
Yor. 348. N. Yor. 443.
Turnips.— Nor. 80 & 1 13. Cum.
192. W. Yor. 399.
Turnips on Ridges, History of,
85.
U.
tJplands of Northumberland, 8.
V.
Vale of Stockton, 416.
Vale of York, 414.
Vale of Pickering, 419.
Vale, &c Definition of, n. 14.
Victualling Office, Hull, 507.
W.
Wages, see Workpeople.
Waggon of the Wolds, 518,
Warping, 38.7.
Waters.— Nor. 16. Cum. 163.
Wes. 210. Lan. 252. W.
Yor. 337. N. Yor. 430.
Watering Lands, 176.
Weeding, see growing Crops.
Weights and Measures.— Nor.
35. W. Yor. 354.
Western Morelands of Yorkshire,
328.
Wheat. —
33 6 INDEX.
Wheat. — Nor. 73. Drcr. 151.
Cnim igi. W. Vo r. 396.
N. Yor. *47 S.
Wild Cattle, 92.
Wild Fdw l, 324.
W T iId Lands, see Reclaiming.
Wnmowmg Mill, 66.
"Wolds of Yorkshire, 497.
Woods. — Nor. 46 . Dor J46.
Com. ISO: Wes. 222. N.
Yor 465 .
W ooier, District of, 6.
Working Animals. — > — Nor. 53.
Dor. 149. Cum. 184. Wes.
235. Lan. 284. W. Yor.
378. N. Yor. 475. E. Yor.
517.
Workpeople. — Nor. 51. Dur.
149. Cum. 183. Wes. 234.
Lan. 283. W. Yor. 375. N.
Yor. 474. E. Yor. 516.
Y.
York, probable Etymon of, n.337.
York, Vale of, 414.
Yorkshire, Districts of, 326.
Thrinted at the Office Of
THOMAS WILSON & SON,
High-Ousegate, York.
.4- " .foOf
.
Hade in Italy
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