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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 68

[introduction]

It has been frequently stated that clay-lands predominate in England; and perhaps it is quite as well for British agriculture, as, page 78 unless they are unusually stiff and almost unworkable, they are generally able to produce larger crops than soils of a lighter character, Clays, however, do not predominate in the chief dairy-districts to which reference is made in this report. The County of" Somerset is, as regards acreage and the number of dairy-cattle it owns, the most important dairy-county in Groat Britain. There were in Somerset in 1887 110,000 cows and heifers, in milk and in calf. The county is hilly, although the hills do not reach a higher elevation than from 700ft. to 800ft. The cattle are chiefly Devons, bred for milking purposes, and not of the feeding-type exhibited at such large meeting as Smithfield and Birmingham. They graze principally in the marshes and valleys lying between the hills, which are chiefly upon the new red sandstone, although in some instances the magnesia limestone is found rising to the surface.

Acreage of Somerset 1,049,300
Cultivated 868,000
Permanent and rotation grasses 693,000
Cows 110,000

Cheshire is the next in importance as a dairy-county. The cultivated portion of Cheshire is chiefly composed of a sandy or clayey loam, but there is a range of high lands which are composed of sandstone. The climate, like that of Somerset, is moist: the meadows, especially those near the rivers, are often flooded, and drought seldom lasts for any length of time. About two-thuds of the cultivated land in the county is above mediocrity in quality. The arable land is much smaller in extent than the pasture, in which the poa and fescue grasses are very prominent. The drainage upon Cheshire farms is generally good.

Total acreage 705,000
Total cultivated 541,000
Permanent and rotation grasses 418,000
Cows (chiefly Shorthorns) 103,000

Leicestershire may be taken as a typical dairy-county of the Midlands, this being the home of the Stilton-cheese industry. The formation is partly oolite and lias, but the principal part of the best grazing-land of the county rests upon the new red sandstone. Lei-cestershire, like Cheshire and Somerset, is chiefly composed of grass land.

Total acreage 511,000
Cultivated acreage 473,000
Permanent and rotation grasses 366,000
Cows 41,000

Buckinghamshire is referred toon account of its fame as a butter producing county, although its reputation for butter is gradually decreasing, the principal part of the milk produced in the Vale Aylesbury being sent to the Anglo-Swiss milk-condensing factory.

page 79

Buckinghamshire is nearly half arable, the north and east divisions of the county being composed of poor and chalky soils. Good land is found upon clay, sandstone, and limestone respectively. The Vale is a particularly fertile grass country. The cattle are chiefly grade Shorthorns of a good type.

Total acreage 467,000
Cultivated acreage 406,000
Permanent and rotation grasses 256,000
Cows 32,000

Ayrshire, a famous Scotch dairying-county, is very hilly, rising sometimes to nearly 2,000ft. The county forms a natural basin. Nearly half the acreage is clay, and about one-fifth of the county is a light sandy soil, and the remainder moorland. Distributed amongst this, however, are some fertile loams. The climate is a moist one.

Total acreage 729,000
Cultivated 316,000
Permanent and rotation grasses 243,000
Cows 47,000

Wigtonshire is one of the most important dairy-counties in the United Kingdom. It is hilly, but the climate is mild, and more than half the cultivated acreage is pasture. Although chiefly composed of moorland there is plenty of good loam.

Total acreage 313,000
Cultivated 147,000
Permanent and rotation grasses 90,000
Cows 21,000