560 DURHAM has been considerably increased within the last few years. The ancient common fields belonging to the townships are now mostly inclosed. Draining having been carried on to a great extent ; there is very little marshy ground left. Near the river Tees, and in some places bordering on the other rivers, the soil is loam or a rich clay. At a farther distance from these rivers it is of an inferior quality, with patches of gravel interspersed. The hills between the sea and an imaginary line from Barnard Castle on the Tees to Alansford on the Derwent, are covered with a dry loam, the fertility of which varies with its depth. From this line westward the summits as well as the sides of the hills are in great part moorish wastes. At the distance of about three miles from Darlington, at Oxeuhall, are cavities in the earth, called " Hell Kettles." There are similar natural pits in the neighbourhood of Ripon, and elsewhere. The diameter of the largest is not less than 114 feet, and that of the least 75. About five miles from Hartlepool is one of the most singular clusters of rocks in the north of England, called " Black Halls," formed by the force and constant action of the waves, which have separated enormous masses of the magnesian limestone, washing some entirely away, but leaving others standing, like vast towers. In some places the rock is perforated so as to form curious arches. The only considerable river, beside those just mentioned, is the Wear, which rises in the western hills and flows past Durham to join the sea at Bishop-Wearmouth and Monk- Wearmouth, which places unite with Sunderland to form one great town. The Team, which gives its name to the Team Valley Railway, is a mere rivulet. Trees are chiefly confined to the parks and seats of the nobility and gentry ; but many plantations have been made of late years. The banks of the rivers and brooks, particularly in the vicinity of Durham, are fringed with wood of long growth and much value, and the deep wooded denes or ravines which open on to the sea-coast, each having a small stream at the bottom, are very characteristic. Castle Eden dene is about four miles in length, and famous for its beautiful trees and wild flowers. Minerals. The western hills are composed of carbonifer ous limestone, succeeded eastward by millstone grit, coal- measures, magnesian limestone, and new red sandstone. The south-east portion of the limestone is covered with sand, resulting from disintegration of the coal-measures and often showing black beds of coal-detritus. The mountain lime stone contains productive veins of lead ore, which are extensively worked, also zinc ore. The beds of coal in the coal-measures are from 5 to 6 feet thick, and have long been source of enormous wealth. The mines are among the most extensive and productive in the kingdom. At Sunderland the coal trade furnishes employment for hundreds of vessels, independently of the " keels " or lighters which convey the coal from the termini of the railroads and tramways to the ships. The seams now worked extend horizontally for many miles, and are from 20 to 100 fathoms beneath the surface. Under almost every seam of coal is a bed of fire-clay, full of roots of primeval forest trees. The basaltic formation known as the " Great AVhin Sill" appears in Teesdale, and is also remark able at Cockfield. A beautiful variety of the mountain limestone known as Frosterley marble, has for many centuries been quarried near Stanhope for decorative purposes, in Durham Cathedral and elsewhere taking the place of Purbcck marble, while in modern houses it is used chiefly for chimney-pieces. Ironstone is extensively worked in the neighbourhood of Swalwell and Winlaton. Some excellent quarries of slate for buildings have been opened in different parts of the county. The neighbourhood of Wolsingham abounds in fine millstones. The Newcastle grindstones are procured at Gateshead Fell ; and firestone of high estimation, for building ovens, furnaces, and the like, is obtained in various parts of Durham, and exported in considerable quantity. Toivns. Besides the city of Durham, the county includes seven ancient boroughs, viz., Hartlepool, Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland, Darlington, Sunderland, Stockton, and Gateshead. The large villages of Staindrop, Wolsingham, Stanhope, and Sedgetield are " market towns." The port of Stockton-upon-Tees is well situated for commerce: Hartlepool, being on a promontory, nearly encompassed by the German Ocean, which forms a capacious bay to the south of the town is advantageously placed for maritime traffic ; Sunderland and South Shields are also well placed at the mouths of the W T ear and Tyne. No county in England presents a closer network of railways than Durham. The York, Newcastle, and Berwick trunk line enters the country south of Darlington, and continues due north until at Gateshead it crosses the Tyne and enters Northumberland. From this a great many smaller lines diverge to the ports and mineral fields. Agriculture, Improvements in agriculture have been pursued with considerable spirit and success. On some spots of gravelly soil, turnips and barley are grown in almost perpetual succession, a crop of clover being sometimes interposed. The manures are chiefly lime and the produce of the fold-yard ; and though abundance of sea-weed might be collected on the coast, as it was in medieval times, the farmers now make but little use of it. The farms are of moderate size, few of them exceeding 200 acres. The largest portion of each is arable, except towards the western extremity of the county, where the whole is pasture. The farm houses are well situated and commodious ; and improve ments in farming and farming machinery keep pace with the age. The cattle of Durham have long been in great repute ; in point of form, weight, produce of milk, and quickness of fattening, there are none better. The cows yield from 25 to 30 quarts of milk daily. The sheep also stand high in estimation, particularly the Tees-Water breed. The Weai- dale sheep are small, but their mutton is finely flavoured. The following figures, taken from the Agricultural Returns for 1873 and 1876, show the acreage of the principal crops and the numbers of the live stock in the county in those years : ( . Oat,. B-jgy and G.een ^ j 1873. ..99,243 37,669 37,631 18,470 32,803 22,153 50,834 1876. ..91, 109 28,359 35,815 23,070 33,616 22,196 58,170 Horses. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. 1873 16,204 62,452 224,714 12,053 1876 17,486 61,028 202,109 12,18?. According to the Owners of Land Return, Durham wa divided in 1873 among 34,317 separate proprietors, of whom tlie large proportion of 91 per cent, owned less than 1 acre the average of England and Wales being 71 per cent. The gross rental of the land amounted to 2,889,152, or an average of 5, 11s. 2|d. per acre as compared with 3, Os. 2d., the average of England and Wales. This unusual value per acre is to be ascribed to the presence of minerals. The proprietors possessing more than 8000 acres were as follows : duke of Cleveland, 55,837 acres ; Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 26,8G8 ; Vis count Boyne, 15,310; earl of Durham, 14,664; marquis of Londonderry, 12,823; earl of Eldon. 11,841 ; John Bowes, 8313 ; dean and chapter of Durham, 8089. Natural History. Except in the moorlands of the west only a few scraps of the county have been left in their natural state ; but these portions are of great interest to the student of natural history. The ballast-hills at Shields and Hartlepool are overgrown with aliens, many of which are
elsewhere unknown in this country. Nearly fifty different