WOODLANDS AND PLANTING.

These relative subjects, as I have before observed, are two of the few topics of enquiry to which the Reporters have paid particular attention. And their third-the State of Appropriation-appears to have been attended to," the more closely, with the view of collecting information that might forward the business of the second.

P. 67. "In the first part of the survey of this county, a full and particular account was given of every common, and piece of waste land, or barren heath, that is to be found in the whole district, marking distinctly, as we proceeded, the quality of the soil, and its aptitude to the growth of oak and other timber; from whence it will be deduced, that there does exist in this county a large tract of land, uncultivated and unemployed, and which, without injury to any person, might, under a proper system, be in part appropriated to the growth of timber, and ultitimately tend to a lasting benefit to this kingdom."

Their opinion regarding "the prospect of a deficiency," is briefly this.-P. 68. "It appears but too visibly manifest, that the prospect of a deficiency does not so much arise from the want of a progressive state of timber, but from the present unfortunate system of cutting it down, as soon as it attains that age and size which would make it so desirable for this country that it should remain, as it is then past all danger; (the size we mean is about eighteen inches diameter.)"

The subjoined is their liberal scheme for preventing such a licentious proceeding.-P. 68. "Might it not be worth while for Government to purchase such timber standing at a fair valuation; and by an agreement with the proprietor to suffer it there to remain until wanted, paying a certain annual rent as might be deemed adequate for the use of the ground they occupy? Every person having oak to sell, in a situation to be conveyed to any of the dockyards, to be obliged to make a tender of it to Government first, and upon their refusal, to be at liberty to dispose of it as he pleased; and no man should be at liberty to cut down one tree without directly planting three in its stead, and which he should engage to protect effectually:"--whether, of course, the land may or may not be proper for that purpose!

The one thing most needful, under the present circumstances of the island, regarding this matter, is to unburden well soiled culturable lands (such as oaks of the sizes mentioned are found upon) from the encumbrance of large spreading timber trees (such as the dock yards of Govern

ment

ment require) rather than to triple the load! The Reporters of Surry, however, are not the only planters that have recommended, aye and practised, so improvident a plan. For more general remarks on this subject, see NORTHERN DEPARTMENT;-County of Westmoreland.

The Reporter's article, headed "Woods and Woodlands," is of considerable length; being a sort of treatise on planting. If therefore it had possessed much merit as such, it would have been improper for a place, here. The subjoined remarks on nursery grounds, may however be admitted;-as they convey the mature counsel of professional men.

P. 40. "And here we beg leave to say a word or two further, that however necessary dung may be to the gardener, to give that stamina to the ground, which such repeated croppings may require, yet no such dressing is at all necessary for the nursery. On the contrary, dung is found to be in some cases injurious to forest trees, and in all superfluous; and the only practice which forty years experience enables us to say is necessary, is to fresh trench the ground as soon as the preceding crop is off; and plant it with some other sort of tree, which, from being different in nature and quality, will thrive as well as if the ground was but just broke up; and it is nothing more than the frequent removals, and careful prunings, that give to the trees raised in the nurseries, that decisive superiority which they are distinguished for, and not by being forced with dung, as has for a long time been erroneously supposed."

FARMS

AGRICULTURE.

ARMS and OCCUPIERS.-P. 26. "Neither are the farms occupied in an extreme, as to extent. Perhaps it may be said, that a great many are too small, being from thirty to forty pounds a year, and very few exceed from 3 to 400 pounds, probably 130 pounds a year may average the county. It is generally observable, that upon these very small farms, every species of bad husbandry is practised; foulness of the land, the want of ability to manure the soil, a poverty of produce, and the occupation in a state little better than that of wretchedness and misery, too strongly evinced by their more wretched habitation."

HOMESTEADS.-P. 60. "Perhaps in no part of the kingdom is the construction and situation of farm houses, and

their respective buildings, less variable than in those of the county under consideration. They are for the most part very ancient, and therefore little in point of superior construction can be expected from them. If they still answer the purposes for which they were intended, it is all that can be required of them."

ARABLE MANAGEMENT.-Under a head, named "District Practices," the subjoined line stands first.-P. 81. "The practices of this district are in no way noticeable." And this is the only line, in the chapter or section, bearing that title, which relates to the established practice of aration, in Surrey!

GRASS LANDS.-P. 26. "From the natural formation of the county of Surry, as well from the information which this Survey has furnished us with, it clearly appears, that the arable greatly exceeds the pasture land; and considered in that light, it is not to be expected, that men will pay so much attention to the quality of their pastures, as to be at all curious about the introduction of new grasses, however strongly recommended by their peculiar good properties; and which in their opinion may not be considered as even secondary. The only pastures of any extent, are those which are to be found in the neighbourhood of the Thames, and these not in the best state of improvement; indeed very little fine hay is to met with in any part of the county."

LIVESTOCK. On this, the remaining subject of rural economy, we find very little more, concerning the best established practices in the County of Report, than on the two preceding divisions of it.

CATTLE. Neither the milking of cows, nor the suckling of calves-popular topics, in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, is noticed in this Report of Surrey.

On the fatting of cattle and SWINE, by the DISTILLERS and STARCHMAKERS, in and round London, some interesting details appear. But these are branches of business which belong to manufactures, rather than to agriculture ↑.

Nor on SHEEP,-even the fatting of house lamb-a considerable article of farm produce, in Surrey,-do we find any thing to instruct or interest; saving the subjoined passage.-P. 29. "That very able agriculturist, Mr. Ducket

of

That is to say, the County; which is not, in the Report under notice, divided into districts.

The numbers of cattle and swine, fatted in that way, are extraordinary. There are bullock sheds, we are told, that will hold 600 head, at once; and that one distiller fats three thousand, and a starchmaker nearly the same number, of large bacon hogs, annually.

of Esher, ranks foremost in his management of this very delicate and useful article: he rears upon an average 500 a year; and for this purpose the Dorsetshire ewes are the only sort he keeps, as he considers them the best nurses, and producing lambs all the year."

"GENERAL VIEW

OF THE

AGRICULTURE

OF THE

COUNTY OF SURREY.

DRAWN UP FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF

The Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement. BY WILLIAM STEVENSON.

1813."*

IN reviewing Mr. STEVENSON'S DORSETSHIRE (afore

going) I was induced by the variety of sources from which he collected his materials, to consider him in the capacity of an editor, rather than in that of an author. In the volume which is now before me, he appears in a more distinguishable character:-not as an author, merely, but as à well qualified Reporter of rural affairs. To the performance of that, he was probably pressed-dragged-goadedinto the service. In executing this he evidently felt his subject, and wrote as an admirer of it.

It is to be observed, however, that much of it reads as an extemporary, rather than as a studied work. But altho it is not uniformly instructive, it rarely offends. To general readers, and especially to amateurs in agriculture, it cannot fail to be interesting; and will be found, in the abstract of it, to convey much useful information.

Of the MODE of SURVEY pursued in collecting materials for this Report, I find no account; nor any notice, by the author, concerning the rise or progress of his work.

Such valuable facts, as arise out of the practice of Surrey, and such instructive remarks as the writer not unfrequently elicits,

Another new title page! The Survey for this Report appears, in different parts of the work, to have been made in 1806, or 7.

elicits, will be incorporated with the other valuable materials that I have been able to extract from the Board's

Reports.

The number of pages-six hundred and seven; with an intelligent index.

A colored map of soils. No other engraving.

SUBJECT THE FIRST.

NATURAL ECONOMY.

EXTENT I

XTENT.-P. 3. "Its area contains 811 square miles, or about 519,040 acres."

SURFACE.-P. 42. "The surface of almost the whole of Surrey, except the Weald, is gentle hill and dale. In some parts of it, the hills rise to a considerable height, and present very commanding and bold views."

Mr. S. has extended this article to several pages; partly from his own observations, and in part with quotations.

CLIMATURE.-P. 19. "The climate of Surrey is deemed very healthy in most parts of it between the Weald and the Thames, particularly near the northern foot of the chalkhills the dryness of the soil and climate in this part of it, and the entire freedom from the smoke of the metropolis, by the prevalence of the westerly winds, have deservedly given it this character."

P. 18. "The spring in this county is early, and is not so often checked and thrown back by frosty mornings, or cold raw easterly winds, as in some other counties more to the south, but at the same time more exposed. The summers are generally very dry and warm-to such a degree, indeed, that even those soils which are not easily baked by the heat, the friable and sound loams, are sometimes rendered as hard as clays are in a less sultry climate. The harvest is early, generally commencing within the first ten days of August; and from the steadiness of the weather at that important time, there is seldom any corn out in the fields after the first week of September. Of course, in a county where the soils and elevations are so various as they are in Surrey, the climate must vary in some degree, not only with respect to moisture, but also with respect to warmth, and the state of forwardness. On the high cold lands about Effingham-hall, the snow often lies a fortnight longer than it does on the adjacent lower-lying grounds; and on the chalk-bills, where they are not broken in their surface, and sheltered, the snow lies longer, and the harvest is later, than

on