OF THE U N IVLR.S ITY OF ILLINOIS €30.942 M3£r -I 1/ Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. University of Illinois Library I ni'r : i-. j'u o AMR OCT 1 * m L161 — H41 ♦ fubtishef. In/ Z. o/u/tmi/t,JXurxt,Rre& X • Ormo , Taternoster Jto>v . To 6< hu rut eh tr/eb a- Guard brtt'ro P.it/c j of the B ORTH HR N DEPARTMENT ' , of EJV G LAN U. \ 1 1 f f / I / c i /* * 3! » . i * t i A « « / t t / r i / \ \ \| w \ REVIEW OF THE REPORTS, &c. &c. &C. y K 3 l/"i A J *1 3 <1 * Si tt/T « / 8 flr . . ■ . fc • •* * r b » *■ , - ' ■;£ 0 . 4 Si r. i . . 0 * 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 . v* • v ■ ■' r ' t n a t h oo I? ■ ’ V T { ' t , ' /t ^ • • r 1 . S?‘ St otf -J — :0 - • Cu - *r, a . . . 5 ••**•'• r ‘ _ : ' { .1 ^ —WmjiMS: ■ • ! - . - f t cY wY * — . t W - v « ? r — c ; ; 1 V *' • ‘ ?» 7 - r — c • • i .; Of? «. r t — — ’ : -Y i^.a — >:iu ._•- i * ~ j ■ - Y Vi ; ■ * - ' V — k •' v v • . r: - 1 ." jmJT • T. tq* Hi «fiO— U‘I • - V.MV > ». v b'5 ?/[ 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. ; v cia * ' ■ it. jJ > • >aielqx* : wl •• i tq .. t ' .« •* % -,-r r
o . *• > *>wq ••• • ' . * • 'TUTHil t»oii' ' ■ • ■ . it.no -r - ■ ' • , f>^n<|fnor> .1 t ir r i hi s<*\ 4 Ihd jf^ll . r ■■ r< .'fr^ 7 j. «rf • H or f - : - ► sj ; - c * • • q*_ .1 jjoi # «'>fWy< ; -il ^ o ^!dx {q ^itondq t[ ' - 5 f ' > ioii £' • " rdT . > w ... \ J ‘ ; o\ . ... - ^ J.JI . -Jj a ;_‘i rfe I • 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, an t i Jr- I ’ ^ * - • ; • 1 -T: H -Li: < . ■ «* ! T; ,ir"}T l!W ‘ ' r A i •» . -r r Uj: . . .. : .• : • ^ - ■ •* r iir. -> v ■• • • ■• ; * •* - r >! > i ' : i .* ■■ ■ i - * , ' 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.