Plalangium Opilio, LONG-LEGGED SPIDER.-Eyes on the top of the head; this genus bear a considerable resemblance to the Aranea. Spiders shoot their webs about the middle of January, on which means their existence entirely depends. Aranea Domestica, HOUSE SPIDER. The fore part, containing the head and breast, is separated from the hinder part or belly by a very slender thread; through which, however, there is a communication from one division to the other. The fore part is covered with a hard shell, as well as the legs, which adhere to the breast; the hinder part is clothed with a supple skin, beset all over with hair. They have several brilliant and acute eyes all round the head; some have six and others eight in number. Like all other insects, their eyes are immoveable, and are without eyelids: but this organ is fortified with a transparent horny substance, which at once secures and assists their vision. As the spider procures its subsistence by the most watchful attention, so large a number of eyes are necessary to give it the earliest information of the capture of its prey. The females lay six or seven hundred eggs, in bags which they make for that purpose, lined within by a down which they pluck from their own breast. These eggs are generally deposited in August or September, and in about sixteen days the young are hatched. They have all eight legs, jointed like and similar to those of lobsters. VERMES. Worms, according to the Linnæan System, are divided into five orders: viz. intestinal, molluscous, testaceous, zoophyte, and animalcules. The testaceous worms are subdivided into three classes: viz. multivalves, bivalves and univalves; to the latter of which belong all the individuals of the snail tribe. Earth-worms make their casts most in mild weather about March and April; they do not lie torpid in winter, but come forth when there is no frost; they travel about in rainy nights, as appears from their sinuous tracks on the soft muddy soil, perhaps in search of food. When earth-worms lie out a-nights on the turf, though they extend their bodies a great way, they do not quite leave their holes, but keep the ends of their tails fixed therein, so that on the least alarm they can retire with precipitation under the earth. Whatever food falls within their reach when thus extended they seem to be content with, such as blades of grass, straws, fallen leaves, the ends of which they often draw into their holes. Lands that are subject to frequent inundations are always poor; and probably the reason may be because the worms are drowned. The most insignificant insects and reptiles are of much more consequence, and have much more influence in the economy of nature, than the incurious are aware of; and are mighty in their effect, from their minuteness, which renders them less an object of attention than their numbers and fecundity. Earth-worms, though in appearance a small and despicable link in the chain of nature, yet, if lost, would make a lamentable chasm. For to say nothing of half the birds, and some quadrupeds, which are almost entirely supported by them, worms seem to be great promoters of vegetation, which would proceed but lamely without them, by boring, perforating and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains, and the fibres of plants, by drawing straws, stalks of leaves and twigs into it; and, most of all, by throwing up such an infinite number of lumps of earth called worm casts, which, being their excrement, is a fine manure for grain and grass. Gardeners and farmers express their detestation of worms; the former, because they render their walks unsightly, and make them much work; and the latter, because, as they think, worms eat their green corn. But these men would find that the earth, without worms, would soon become cold, hard bound, and void of fermentation, and consequently sterile; and besides, in favour of worms, it should be hinted that green corn, plants and flowers, are not so much injured by them as by many species of coleoptera (beetles) and hipula (long-legs) in their larva or grub state; and by unnoticed myriads of small shell-less snails, called slugs, which silently and imperceptibly make amazing havoc in the field and garden. Instances are recorded of slugs having entirely destroyed whole fields of wheat. Worms work most in the spring, are hermaphrodites and very prolific. Lampyris Noctiluca, GLOW WORM.-Numerous about Matlock Bath, on the banks of the Derwent. The light arises from two specks under the tail. They shine from the 1st of May to the middle of June. These little creatures are said to put out their lamps between eleven and twelve, and shine no more for the rest of the night. BLOOD-WORMS.—Appear in the water in March. Anglers use the following worms as baits: viz. dew-worm, dock-worm, lob-worm, palmerworm, straw-worm, cockspur-worm, &c. as also grubs and gentles. Gordus Aquaticus, COMMON HAIR-WORM.-Frequent at Duffield. Hirudo Sanguisuga, HORSE LEECH.-Ditches. Hirudo Medicinalis, MEDICINAL LEECH.-Wardlow mires, near Tideswell. Limex Ater, BLACK SNAIL OR SLUG.-Abound in moist shady places towards the end of April. Helix Nemoralis, SHELL SNAIL.-Comes forth about the middle of April, and not only lays itself up pretty early in Autumn, in places secure from frost, but also throws out round the mouth of its shell a thick operculum, formed from its own saliva; so that it is perfectly secure from all inclemencies of the weather. Blackbirds feed much upon them. Limax, SHELL-LESS SNAIL OR SLUG.-Are in motion all the winter in mild weather, and commit great depredations on garden plants, and much injure the green wheat, the loss of which is imputed to earth-worms. The reason why slugs are able to endure cold so much better than shell snails is, that their bodies are covered with slime, as whales are with blubber. Snails deposit their eggs in the mould, by running their heads and bodies under ground about midsummer. Hence the way to be rid of them is, to kill as many as possible before they begin to breed. Large grey shell-less cellar snails lay themselves up about the same time with those that live abroad; hence it is plain that a defect of warmth is not the only cause that influences their retreat. To the more transient observer, says an eminent naturalist, the snail appears to be little more than a lump of inactive matter, loaded with a crustaceous covering, and totally insensible to all the objects with which it is surrounded; but upon a more close inspection, it will be found to be possessed of every faculty that can possibly be requisite for the life it is formed to lead. Their sizes are hot less various than the countries and places in which they are found. They fill up all the intermediate gradations of magnitude, from that of an apple or egg to the minuteness of a grain of wheat; and in that diversity of size, exhibit all the colours of the rainbow, with the polish of ivory or marble. The eyes of snails are lodged in their horns, which are four in number, one at the end of each horn, which they can protrude or retract at pleasure. Snails are great destroyers of wall fruit. Lime and ashes, sprinkled on the ground where they resort, will drive them away and destroy the young brood of them; it is a common practice to pull off the fruit they have bitten, but this should never be done, for they will touch no other until they have wholly eaten that they have began of, if it be left for them. They produce a great number of eggs, which are round, white, and covered with a soft shell. On quitting the egg, the animal has a very small shell on its back, with only one convolution; this very soon enlarges, and the circles increase with the growth of the animal; never, however, exceeding four rounds and a half in the garden snail. They chiefly subsist upon the leaves of plants and trees, but are very delicate in their choice. Heliz complanata, FLATTENED SNAIL-SHELL.-Water, Duffield. Helix Auricularia, WIDE-MOUTHED SNAIL-SHELL.-Makeney shallows, Duffield. Tellina Pusilla, MINUTE TELLEN.-Derwent. Having given an imperfect sketch of the various subjects composing the three kingdoms of nature, so artfully contrived, so wonderfully propagated, and so providentially supported by their Allwise Creator for the use and convenience of man, to whom He has rendered every thing subservient, upon earth and in the waters, we shall conclude this chapter with the following extract from Dr. Darwin's Works: "To insects, and many smaller animals, their colours contribute to conceal them from the larger ones that prey upon them. Caterpillars, which feed on leaves, are generally green; and earth-worms the colour of the earth which they inhabit; butterflies, which frequent flowers, are coloured like them; small birds which frequent hedges have greenish backs like the leaves, and light coloured bellies like the sky, and are hence less visible to the hawk, who passes under them or over them. Those birds which are much amongst flowers, as the goldfinch, are furnished with vivid colours. The lark, partridge, hare, &c. are the colour of the dry vegetables or earth on which they rest. And frogs vary their colour with the mud of the streams which they frequent, and those which live on trees are green. Fish, which are generally suspended in water; and swallows, which are generally suspended in air, have their backs the colour of the distant ground, and their bellies of the sky. In the colder climates many of these become white during the existence of the snows. Hence there is apparent design in the colours of animals, whilst those of vegetables seem consequent to the other properties of the materials which possess them." CHAP. 4. Observations. CHAPTER IV. Preliminary observations on the agriculture of Derbyshire. Estates, value of land, leases and rents, farms, cottages, tithes, &c.; implements of agriculture; inclosures; fences and hedges; hedge-row timber; gates.Tillage; courses of crops; meadow and pasture; grasses; dairy farms; cattle, &c. &c. Preliminary THE Agricultural character of the county of Derby is as varied as its surface, and is to be found in all its varieties, from the rich meads on the banks of the Trent, the Derwent, the Wye, and the Dove, to the scanty herbage on Kinder-scout, Axe-edge, and Combs moss,—and from the productive red marl and gravel, in the arable district, south of Derby; or, from the occasional patches of rich loam, upon the coal-measures more northerly; to the sterile limestone in the north-east, and the cold thin hill sides on the north-western corners of the county. No fixed data can, therefore, be assumed, as characteristic of the agriculture of the whole county; but, on examination, we shall be able to detect a few peculiarities, though chiefly arising from the difference in soil, situation, and climate, before alluded to. Those parts of the county which lie nearly north and south of the town of Derby, present a striking contrast in geographical features; the former abounding in hill and dale, whilst the latter is chiefly flat and unvaried. The southern district is, however, more generally fertile than the other, and the appearance and culture more uniform. With respect to those parts of it which are arable, no general rule can be laid down for the course of cropping; so much will ever depend on the opinion which each occupier entertains of his own knowledge. The necessities of some induce crosscropping to so great an extent, as to defy all reduction to system, as well as all restrictions by yearly agreement or lease. Indeed, there is a sufficient tie, with good farmers, in fair times, to manage well, without restrictions. The hope of self-advantage, the future benefit of children, or other relatives, together with the spirit of emulation, excited by the improvements of neighbours; these, and other motives, combining, would go far to keep up the agricultural spirit of the country. But it is now so long since the capital and industry, employed in agriculture, yielded a fair return, that the patience of the great body of the occupiers of land is nearly worn out; and, but for the feeling of unfitness, in the majority of them, to take up any other business, the relinquishment of farms would, we fear, have been numerous. It is often the case, with the cultivators of the best arable land, that, as the incentive is not so great, so the exertions put forth, and the capital employed by them, fall short of what are bestowed, where nature has been more niggardly. And if we were to risk a contrast between the two districts alluded to, as to the cultivation of the arable land, we should say, that the occupiers of the more fertile district are not so liberal in the use of adventitious manures, as the less fortunate cultivators of inferior soils. This remark applies particularly to the Hundred of Scarsdale. There, by means CHAP. 4. of bones to the spring-fallows, they are enabled to obtain a crop of turnips; Preliminary and with Peak-lime to their summer fallows, to raise a crop of wheat; and Observations. thus they have it in their power to reserve the yard-manure for the grass land. By this mode of management, they are brought nearer to an equality with their brethren of the south, who generally confine themselves to the manure arising from the produce of the farm. The difference lies here: —in the latter case, the additional capital is found by the proprietor in the superior quality of the land, and refunded by the occupier in an additional rent; while, in the former, the additional capital is furnished by the occupier, in the great outlay required to make his land productive, which is, naturally, much inferior. On this account, however, he pays less rent. To the culture of wheat and barley, and occasionally of beans and peas, the southern district is for the most part applied, as far as respects the growth of grain. Turnips are produced wherever practicable, but chiefly with a view to their being pulled off; the land, generally, not being dry enough to admit of their being eaten upon the ground where they are grown. From the difficulty of obtaining a good crop of turnips, of late years, cabbage and mangel wurzel are much more largely cultivated than formerly. Upon the stronger soils, the practice of naked summer fallows still prevails, and it is founded, we think, in good judgment. Occasionally a crop of winter or spring vetches may be taken; and if the land be previously cleaned and limed, or manured, the preparation for the succeeding wheat crop will be found a good one. Great crops of red clover, and other artificial grasses, are raised; but consumed principally by the husbandry horses. An economical custom has lately been introduced, of soiling this part of the farming-stock in the yards, in summer, and chopping hay or straw for them in winter. The great features in the southern and western parts of the county, are the dairying and grazing systems, which are carried to a state bordering closely on perfection. Of the truth of this, the demand for, and the high character of Derbyshire cheese, in the London market, and the sea-port towns, afford sufficient testimonials; whilst no town in the kingdom presents a finer show of well-fed butcher's meat, than is weekly exhibited at Derby. In the spring of the year, the markets and fairs, at this place, are distinguished by very great collections of milch cows, supplied from Yorkshire and the north-eastern part of this county; and are from hence dispersed amongst the occupiers of the dairy farms, to a great distance. Nor are the markets and fairs at Chesterfield and Ashbourn, less celebrated for the abundant supply of cattle for grazing, which are brought thither, in great droves, from the north, and thence distributed into the surrounding country, into Leicestershire, and still further south. The quantity of sheep kept in the county is very large, and the southern part may boast of as good flocks, of the improved Leicestershire breed, as any county in the kingdom. And, taking into account the height and bleakness of the hilly parts, and the consequently increased exposure to the severity of the weather, the great improvement in the flocks of sheep in these exposed situations, reflects no ordinary credit on the spirit of the The long-woolled breed of sheep prevails, in this county, to the almost total exclusion of others, except the horned or moorland sheep; of owners. CHAP. 4. which (though of late years decreased, in consequence of the inclosure and Preliminary cultivation of many of the moors) the number is still considerable. For Observations. farming horses, Derbyshire, and particularly the Hundred of Scarsdale, has long been celebrated, and furnishes, annually, a considerable number of black colts for the metropolis, and the south of England, where they are well known by the name of Scarsdale blacks. It is to be feared, that the breeding of heavy, or teaming horses, has not been properly attended to of late years; a mongrel race having been too generally substituted, which will bring neither profit nor credit to the breeder. Some years ago this county was famed for possessing many fine herds of long-horned cows; now they are much diminished; and although nothing has been lost to the public, by the introduction in their place, of the improved short horns, yet many persons regret their decline, and it must be confessed that they possessed excellent properties, both for the grazier and the dairyman. Both these descriptions of occupiers, however, having partaken of the advantages derived from putting to the short-horn cows, which this county and the west-riding of Yorkshire did possess, bulls of the purest blood from the north; there is now considerable anxiety manifested to purchase animals still nearer to perfection in breed. All admit the superiority of these animals, on account of their earlier maturity, for the grazier's purpose; and if good milking properties be combined with this excellence, there is no doubt of the breeder being ultimately recompensed for his perseverance, or of a general adoption of the improved short horns. The breed of pigs varies much; but many excellent animals, with qualifications calculated to recommend them both to the farmer and gentleman, are to be met with in every part of the county. Upon some of the moors the improvement, of late years, has been very great, in consequence of the numerous inclosures furnishing a field for the industry of the spirited husbandman; and lands, which before were of the most unsightly appearance, presenting nature in her wildest garb, now bring abundant crops of oats, and in a few instances, of wheat. The removal of surface stones, stubbing, paring, burning, draining, and the free use of Peak-lime have effected this. The difficulties presented by the still higher and more mountainous parts, as well as by the bogs and peat-fields, are not likely, for the present at least, to be assailed by the industry of man. The corn harvest in the Peak is much earlier than formerly, in consequence of earlier sowing, and using seed from warmer districts, and of forwarder kinds. Within the last twenty years we have witnessed whole fields of corn, both standing and in shock, nearly buried in snow, and others that would never come to maturity. Comparatively speaking, little wheat is grown in the Peak, the principal grain cultivated being oats. On the eastern side of the vale of Scarsdale, commencing near Hardwick Hall, is a narrow strip of land upon the magnesian limestone, joining Nottinghamshire on the east, and Yorkshire on the north. Some of this land is of fair quality; and by the judicious use of bones, and eating the crop of turnips upon the ground, very fine crops of barley, clover, and wheat are obtained. Other parts are so sterile as to be considered not worth cultivation. Although a considerable quantity of limestone is burnt at several places, all differing a little in quality, and carried some miles for use upon |