294

whole may be estimated at about 800 acres. Notwithstanding they are in the adjoining parishes to Farnham, yet they have never been able to procure so much at market by 40s. or 50s. per cwt. as those with the Farnham mark, though they are equally good; and the farther from Farnham, the greater the difference in value."

HORSES.-P. 26. "This county is not remarkable for the breed of good horses. The farmers in general breed their own horses for teams, but not for the saddle. A great number of small horses are bred upon the forests, where but little attention is paid to their shape or size, as they run promiscuously together; and from the barrenness of the soil, for want of cultivation, they are extremely small, having scarcely any thing to feed on but heath, from which they have very properly derived the appellation of heath croppers."

DAIRY.-P. 27. "The breed of cows, in Hants, is in general very indifferent. The Welch breed has been introduced of late, and found to answer very well; but as there are few dairies in this county, very little attention is paid to the breed."

SWINE.-P. 27. "This county is particularly famous for hogs. The farmers encourage the largest sort, as most profitable for large families. The hogs in the neighbourhood of the forests, feed principally upon acorns and beech mast."

SHEEP.-Breed.-P. 23. "The original Hampshire sheep is horned, and for the most part with a white face, though some few have speckled faces; they were formerly longlegged and narrow, but are now much improved, and are short legged and well carcassed; they are an excellent kind for fatting; their wool is also much improved."

The Number in Hants.-P. 23. "Hampshire is considered as a great breeding county, and the stocks in most parishes are very large, although they are supposed to be reduced one-third, on account of the downs having been broken up, and the inclosures which have lately taken place. The following is a particular account of the stock in the following parishes in this county, which may afford some information to the Board upon that interesting subject."

P. 25. "From the best accounts we have been able to get, we conceive the number in the whole county to be about 350,000."

Market for Sheep.-P. 11. "A very considerable fair is held at Weyhill once a year, which is particularly famous for sheep, and it is supposed that upwards of 140,000 are sold there in one day."

"GENERAL VIEW

OF THE

AGRICULTURE

OF THE

ISLE OF WIGHT,

(Forming a Part of Hampshire.)

WITH

OBSERVATIONS ON THE MEANS OF ITS IMPROVEMENT.

REGARDI

BY THE REV. MR. WARNER.

1794."

EGARDING the qualifications of the writer of this Report, I say nothing. It is a mere sketch, a slight topographical account of the islet. The twenty pages are suitably written.

EXTENT.-P. 47. "Its superficial contents are reckoned at 100,000 acres."

SURFACE.-P. 48. "The face of the country is various, beautiful, and picturesque; consisting of gently swelling hills, diversified with intermediate vallies, verdant well watered meads and rich corn fields. A chain of bills stretches from east to west through the heart of the island."

CLIMATURE.-P. 47. "The air, particularly in the higher southern parts, is extremely wholesome; frequent instances of longevity occurring, and a general appearance of health and vigour prevailing among the lower ranks of people."

SOIL and FOSSILS.-P. 47. "The soil is extremely different in different parts of the island; and sometimes exhibits a remarkable variety, even in the same parish-Thus for instance, in Brading, the most eastern parish, the following varieties occur: the south part consists of a free, kindworking earth, mixt with a small proportion of sand; the -west, of a light loam, mixed with chalk; and the north and east parts of a stiff clay, scarcely yielding to the operations of the husbandman. In many parts of the island, the soil is gravelly; in others flinty; but its general character is a strong and loamy earth, well calculated for agricultural

U 4

purposes.

purposes. It abounds with marle, both shell and stone; chalk, fuller's and brick earth; tobacco pipe clay; stone of different qualities; and various kinds of sands; of the last, a fine white sort is found in the parish of Freshwater, on a manor belonging to John Urry, Esq. of Yarmouth, esteemed far superior to any other in the kingdom, and used in great quantities for the glass and porcelaine manufactories."

"Its fertility is almost proverbial, having long since been said to produce more in one year, than could be consumed by its inhabitants in eight; an improved husbandry introduced of late years has increased this fertility, and from what I have been able to collect, we may now estimate its annual production to be at least ten times as much as its consumption."-But see Workpeople, ensuing.

APPROPRIATION.-P. 57. "There is but little waste land in the island; and this chiefly exhibits a sandy soil, which would not probably pay the expences of its cultivation.

"Perhaps, indeed, Parkhurst or Carisbrook Forest, lying in the centre of the island, may at present be properly denominated waste land, as it remains in an inactive useless state, without affording any advantages to the Crown, whose property it is; and very trifling ones to the inhabitants who reside in its neighbourhood. This tract of land, which contains 3000 acres, is situated to the north of Newport and Carisbrook; and though called a forest, has long been without a tree of any value; there is, however, a lodge still kept up, and a keeper appointed, whose office it is to preserve the deer and the wood, of which scarce a vestige remains. Notwithstanding the inattention paid hitherto by Government to Parkhurst Forest, the soil is, in many places, extremely good; and capable of being applied to the most valuable purposes."

POOR RATES.-P. 63. "A few years back, great abuses having been experienced in the management of the poor, in the different parishes of the island, the gentlemen determined to adopt some mode of remedying the evil; and açcordingly, in 1770, a general meeting of the respectable inhabitants was held, in which it was proposed that an Act of Parliament should be procured, to consolidate the poor rates of the several parishes, and to erect a House of Industry for the general reception of the paupers.

"The proposal being agreed to, a Bill was accordingly obtained, and a large building erected on part of the Forest of Packhurst, eighty acres of which were granted by Parliament for this purpose."

WOODLANDS.-P. 55. " Timber was formerly extremely plenty in the island, but the inhabitants have had so good a

market

market for it at Portsmouth, and the other dock-yards in and near this district, that little now remains; of this little, the oak and elm appear to be most flourishing."

FARMS.-P. 52. "The farms in the Isle of Wight are of a moderate size; from 100l. to 400l. per annum, with a few at 5001."

WORKPEOPLE.-P. 64. "It is a source of great pleasure to the feeling and reflecting mind, to observe a general appearance of content and decency among the labouring poor of the island, a discription of people, who, in other parts, are too often overwhelmed with want and wretchedness."

P. 65. The rates of wages, as well as hours of work, vary in different parts of the island. In Brading parish, labourers have two guineas for the harvest months, and their board; eighteen pence per day for grass mowing, and their beer; and one shilling per day during the rest of the year, when employed. There hours of work are, in winter, from seven to four; and in summer, from six to five. In the southern and western parts, they get fourteen pence per day, but give an additional hour of labour, viz. from five to five in summer, and from seven to five in winter.

"The crops, however, of the island are so large, (most of the land being in tillage) that the resident labourers are by no means sufficient for the cutting down and harvesting of them. This dearth of hands is supplied from the western counties, and between six and seven hundred labourers annually pass into the island, a little before harvest, and hire themselves to the different farmers for the month. The usual wages for this period are, two guineas if it be peace, and about forty-five or fifty shillings if it be war. They have their board also. For the time they are employed before and after the month, they have two shillings per day, food and liquor.

"During the last harvest, there were near seven hundred Dorsetshire and Somersetshire men employed; and as a warm press was at that time on foot, each of them was allowed a protection from government, during his passage from his own habitation to the island and back again.

"The character of the labouring poor in the isle of Wight, is that of an honest, industrious, and sober people."-Hence, much of the work of husbandry is performed by strangers; who consume the produce of other districts, during eleven months of the year.

WORKING ANIMALS.-P. 54. "The horses are of different breeds, but in general large, and I think black. As there is some emulation among the farmers with regard to the beauty and strength of their teams, the draught horses are fine animals, and kept in good order."

DAIRY.-P. 54. "The cows are mostly of the Alderney breed, though mixed with English sorts; which the farmers think renders the butter better than it would otherwise be."

P. 55. "The dairies produce, in considerable quantities, two sorts of skim milk cheese; the Dorsetshire, and what is emphatically called Isle of Wight Rock; they are extremely hard, can scarcely be cut by a hatchet or saw, are to be masticated only by the firmest teeth, and digested but by the strongest stomachs."

SWINE.-P. 55. "The hogs are of a breed, I believe, peculiar to the island, at least I do not recollect seeing any of the same in other places; they are large and tail, marked with black spots, and have very deep sides. The bacon is excellent."

SHEEP.-P. 53. "The numbers of sheep annually shorn are computed to amount to 40,000. Last year upwards of 5,000 lambs were sold to the London butchers alone; and in August, when I happened to be at Newport, one of these dealers bought 1,500 at a single purchase. The breed, in general use, is the Dorsetshire."

" POSTSCRIPT