Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/48

 38 KENT able to Fordwich, near Canterbury. The Little Stour rises in the Lower Chalk near Lyminge, and joins at Stourmouth that branch of the Stour which falls into the sea at Pegwell Bay. The Dour, a small stream which gives its name to Dover, has a course of little more than 3 miles from Ewell to the sea. The Rother, which has its source iu Sussex, forms for some distance the boundary between that county and Kent, and along with several of its branches insulates the Isle of Oxney. The only canals at all in use are that which runs along the borders of Romney Marsh, connecting the Rother with the sea at Hythe, but now partly filled up; and that between Grravesend and Rochester, which is partly occupied by a line of railway. Climate, Soil, and Agriculture. The insalubrity of certain portions of the county caused by extensive marshes has been almost wholly removed by draining. In the north-eastern districts the climate is a little uncertain, and damage is often done to early fruit blossoms and vegetation by cold easterly winds. In the large portion of the county sheltered by the Downs the climate is milder and more equable, and vegetation is somewhat earlier. The soil is very various in character, but on the whole rich and under high cultivation. The methods of culture and the kinds of crop produced are perhaps more widely diversified than those of any other county in England. Upon the London Clay the land is generally heavy and stiff, but very fruitful when properly manured and cultivated. The marsh lands along the banks of the Thames, Medway, Stour, and Swale con sist chiefly of rich chalk alluvium. The Chalk formation is in some cases overlaid by London Clay, alluvium, or brick- earth, but in the higher chalk districts the soil is often poor and thin, and in some places much mixed with flints. In the Isle of Thanet a light mould predominates, which has been much enriched by fish manure. The valley of the Medway, especially the district round Maidstone, which has been called the garden of England, is the most fertile part of the county, the soil being a deep loam with a sub soil of brick-earth. On the ragstone the soil is occasionally thin and much mixed with small portions of sand and stone ; but in some situations the ragstone has a thick covering of clay loam, which is most suitable for the pro duction of hops and fruits. In the district of the Weald marl prevails, with a substratum of clay. The soil of Romney Marsh is a clay alluvium. According to the agricultural returns for 1881, the total area under crops comprehended 745,215 acres, a percentage of 73 9 instead of 71 7 in 1870; corn crops had an area of 224,211 acres, a percentage of 22 - 3 instead of 25 1 in 1870; green crops 85,614 acres, a percent age of 8 &quot;5 instead of 7 4; rotation grasses 53, 421 acres, a percentage of 5 &quot;3 instead of 6 2 ; permanent pasture 327,079 acres, a percentage of 31 8 instead of 28 2. The area under permanent pasture thus exceeds that under corn crops by nearly a third. The area under woods in 1881 was 82,849 acres, under orchards 16,673, under mar ket gardens 4221, and under nursery grounds 670. Of the corn crops the most largely grown is wheat, which in 1881 occupied 84,388 acres, oats coming next with 52,177 acres, and barley and bere occu pying only a little less, 50,010 acres. Beans and pease were grown on 17,453 and 19,762 acres respectively, and rye on only 421 acres. In Thanet mustard, spinach, canary seed and a variety of other seeds are raised. Of green crops, turnips and swedes were grown on 27,254 acres, vetches and similar crops on 22,179 acres, potatoes 17,815, mangolds 12,070, cabbage 5843, and carrots 452. Part of the area under green crops is occupied by market gardens, which are very numerous in the neighbourhood of London. The principal orchard districts are the valleys of the Darent and Med way, and the Tertiary soils overlying the Chalk, between Rochester and Canterbury. The county is specially famed for cherries and filberts, but apples, pears, plums, gooseberries, and currants are also largely cultivated. In some cases apples, cherries, filberts, and hops the special crop of the county are grown in alternate rows. 41,476 acres were under hops in Kent in 1881, and in the United Kingdom only 64,943 acres. The principal hop districts are the countiy in East Kent lying between Canterbury and Faversham, the valley of the Medway in Mid Kent, and the district of the Weald. The area under hops in these several dis tricts in 1881 was 11,718, 17,353, and 11,986 acres respectively, other districts contributing only 419 acres. Much of the Weald, which originally was occupied by a forest, is still densely wooded. There are many fine woods scattered throughout the county, especially in the valley of the Medway, oak and beech being the trees principally grown. A large extent of woodland is ash and chestnut plantations maintained for the growth of hop-poles. The following table gives a classification of holdings according to size as returned on the 25th June 1875 and the 4th June 18-80, with j the acreage of each class of holding for these years : Class of holdinc ... 50 Aci es and ler. 50 to 100 Acres. 100 to 300 Acres. 300 to 500 Acres. 500 to 1000 Acres. 1000 Acres and upwards. Total. Years .1 1875. 1880. 1875. 1880. 1875. 1880. 1875. 3880. 1875. 1880. 1875. 1880. 1875. 1880. ! Numb :r i 6700 7,281 98,228 1,285 92,7.58 1,301 93,511 1,814 311,188 1,848 320,974 368 136,379 375 142,269 119 76,545 108 70,646 16 18,587 13 18,920 10,361 728,114 10,!I26 744,548 Area in Acres .... .. ! 92 657 i About two-thirds of the holdings are less than 50 acres in extent, but the largest area about two-fifths of the whole is in farms between 100 and 300 acres. The number of horses in 1881 was 29,450, an average of 3 9 to every 100 acres under cultivation, the average for England and also for Great Britain being 4 4. The number of horses used for. agri cultural purposes was 24,177. The total number of cattle in 1881 was 73,409, an average of 19 9 (England 16 9, Great Britain 18 &quot;4) to every 100 acres under cultivation. The number of cows in milk or in calf was 29,485, and of other cattle 43,924. Cattle are grazed in large numbers on the marsh lands along the estuaries of the rivers, and of course dairy farms are very numerous in the neighbourhood of London. The number of sheep in 1881 was 952,311, an average of 128 &quot;9 (England 62 &quot;4, Great Britain 76 -3) to every 100 acres under cultivation. The number one year old and upwards was 627,124, and below one year 325,187. A breed of sheep peculiar to the district, known as Kents, is grazed on Eomney Marsh, but Southdowns are the principal breed raised on the uplands. Pigs in 1881 numbered 55,896, or an average of 7 5 (England 7, Great Britain 6 &quot;6) to every 100 acres under cultivation. According to the landowners return, 1872-73, the land, exclusive of that in the metropolis, was divided between 34,683 proprie tors, and its gross annual value was 3,357,057. Of the owners, 26,925, or more than 77 per cent., possessed less than 1 acre, and the average value per acre over all was 3, 10s. 7d. There were four proprietors possessing above 10,000 acres each, viz., Viscount Holmsdale, 15,162 acres; Lord Sondes, 14,446; Sir H. Tufton, 13,639 ; and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, Whitehall, 10,591. Other seventeen possessed more than 5000 acres each. Manufactures and Trade. At one time there were extensive iron works in the Weald of Kent, and woollen cloth was also largely manufactured, but the former industry is now wholly extinct, and the latter is only prosecuted to a very small extent. Next to the occupations connected with the Government establishments at Dept- ford, Woolwich, Chatham, and Sheeruess (see DOCKYARDS, vol. vii. p. 310), the most important industry of the county is that of paper, which is carried on on the banks of the Cray, Darent, Medway, and other streams in the west of the county. Shipbuilding by private firms is also prosecuted at Greenwich, Gravesend, Dover, Xorth- fleet, and Ramsgate. At Greenwich there are engineering works, soap works, and chemical works ; and the carriage and engine works of the South-Eastern Railway are situated at Ashford. Manufac tories of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and ribbons give employment in various towns and villages. Bricks, tiles, pottery, and cement are fabricated, especially on the banks of the Swale and Medway. Lime-burning and whiting-making are also carried on. There are powder-mills at Dartford, Faversham, and Tunbridge. The principal ports besides those on the Thames and Medway are Whitstable, Herne Bay, Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Sand wich, Deal, Dover, and Folkestone. The watering-places are Erith, Greenhithe, Xorthfleet, Gravesend, Herne Bay, Margate, Westgate, Broadstairs, liamsgate, Deal, Dover, Folkestone, and Sandgate. Tunbridge Wells is a favourite spa. Fishing. Deep-sea fishing is largely prosecuted all round the coast of Kent. Shrimps, soles, and flounders are caught in great numbers in the estuaries of the Thames and Medway and along the coast of Whitstable and Margate as well as at Ramsgate. The prin cipal oyster beds are at Queenborough, Rochester, Milton, Faver sham, and Whitstable, and whitebait frequent the Thames in immense shoals below Greenwich. Railways. As the main pathway of communication between London and the Continent lies through Kent to Dover, the county