The middle part of Essex rises above the level of the marshy lands, but partakes, in a considerable de gree, of their unhealthiness. Around the town of Colchester, for a considerable distance, the soil is a dry Ipam, well calculated for turnips, and then the most general system adopted is the four course hus bandry of Norfolk, viz. turnip, barley, clover, and wheat. A variation is, in some instances, introdu ced by taking a crop of pease after the wheat, and occasionally tares are sown after the barley instead of clover, as that latter plant will sometimes fail, if too frequently repeated. The greater part of the district is, however, of a clayey loam, on a subsoil of clay, and too tenacious for the turnip system. Much of this is good old pasture land, used solely for feed ing, and to which the plough is never applied. The arable land is highly productive ; the crops of wheat and beans especially are very luxuriant, and their produce of the best quality. The practice of fallow mg is pursued as in the district before described, but so many ploughings are not deemed to be neces sary. The rotation is various, but it rarely occurs that wheat is sown immediately after the fallow. Most commonly the succession is, 1. Fallow; 2. Bars ley ; 8. Beans ; 4. Wheat; 5. Tares ; 6. Barley ; 7. Clover. When the land is more wet, which, in spite of excellent draining, is frequently the case, the ro tation is, 1. Fallow ; 2. Oats ; S. Clover ; 4. Wheat. When manure is abundant the heavy soils are crop pad in the following rotation with great success: 1. Fallow; 2. Beans • 3. Wheat; 4. Tares ; 5. Barley ; 6. Clover ; 7. Beans; 8. Wheat. In this rotation, the clearing the ground from weeds depends on the of the which is applied most carefully to the crops of beans.
The western part of the county, especially where it borders on Hertfordshire, is, in general, land of a very inferior quality, and, without most expensive cultivation, yields but light crops. One extensive district, called the Rodings, still practises a most singular system of husbandry, known now in Essex only, though formerly it was adopted on poor lands in some other counties. It is, 1. A year's fallow, 2. When, 3. Fallow, 4. Barley, and then repeat the same course; thus having one-half the arable land constantly without any crop. The soil is a tenacious clay, of a reddish colour, upon a subsoil of white clay. It is difficult to pulverize, and, with wet, potches so much as not to admit of ploughing when the atmosphere is moist. There are but small parts of this district which produces clover, pease, tares, or beans, and what hay is grown is confined to the nar row borders of the rivulets which run in the valleys.
In the south-western part of the county, the agri culture assumes that system which is adapted to the supply of the wants of the metropolis. A great por tion of the land is in permanent pasture, or grows hay to furnish the markets of Smithfield and White chapel. The arable land is generally cultivated with a rotation of three crops, viz. potatoes, wheat, and clover ; and, as London supplies abundance of ma nure, by applying it very liberally to the young clover, after the wheat is harvested, such culture produces most abundant crops, and the land is clean ed by the potatoe culture. In this kind of husband ry, which, indeed, can only be conducted where manure is to be obtained with great facility, the plough is only used once in the rotation, after the clover ; as the potatoes are planted, and the digging them up sufficiently prepares the land for wheat,.
Essex feeds some sheep, but very few are bred in the county. Calves are suckled to a great extent, and the rearing them to furnish veal for the London market is the principal dependence of many farmers. The whiteness of the veal is produced by a great at tention to cleanliness, by regular periods of suckling, and by giving them a small portion of barley-meal mixed with chalk. The tendency to fatten is pro
moted by administering narcotic drugs, which keep the young animals in a quiescent state. Though the county affords such abundance of excellent pas ture, yet the fattening of calves is so much more profitable than the dairy, that it is supplied with butter from other counties. Epping has indeed been celebrated for its excellent butter; but the greater part of what is sold in London under that denomina tion is the produce of Northamptonshire, Bucking hamshire, and other counties. London is supplied with much of its beef from Essex. The bullocks, in a lean state, are brought from Scotland, from Wales, and some from Devonshire, and are fattened in this county, sometimes on the rich, natural meadows, and sometimes with the addition of oil cake.
Several other agricultural productions are culti vated in Essex. Hops are grown near Chelmsford, and in a few other districts.. Saffron is cultivated near Saffron Walden with great success. Mus tard is an advantageous crop in the islands of Foulness and Wallasea, and on the embanked marshes. On some rich old pasture land, when first broken up, three crops are raised together, viz. carraway seed, coriander seed, and teasels, for the baize manufacturers. The three kinds of seed are sowed together, in the spring of the year. The harvest of the coriander takes place in the following autumn. The carraway is a biennial plant, and the seed is- fit to be gathered in July of the succeed ing year; and, in September of the same year, the teasels are cut. The carraway sometimes produces a crop a second, or even a third year. This cultiva tion is deemed an excellent preparation for the growth of wheat, on lands which are so prolific as to require some degree of exhaustion • as, in the pro cess of this treble cropping, the hoe is very liberally applied, it keeps the ground free from weeds. There are few counties in England, taking the whole of them together, in which the agriculture is so skilful ly conducted, or where the productiveness is so great.
The landed property in Essex, as in other counties near to the metropolis, is very much divided ; there are no overgrown estates, though some of consider able value, belonging to a few individuals; but the greater part is in moderate-sized farms, which can be easily disposed of, and which are frequently pur chased from the savings of the commercial class in London.
The only good harbour in this county is Harwich, whence the packets for Holland are dispatched, and where there is a royal dock-yard, in which some frigates are built and repaired. The river Coln is navigable for small vessels to Colchester, and the Black water river to Walden. The Crouch is navi gable for the largest ships, but passing through an unhealthy country, and having few inhabitants on its borders, it is useless to the purposes of commerce. The river Lea is navigable by barges a distance of 25 miles. There are no canals in this county, but one is projected, to unite the river Lea with the Cam, and thus create internal navigation from Lynn to London.
The seats of noblemen and gentlemen in this coun ty are very numerous, especially on the western side of it, where it approaches to the metropolis, and richer where many of the cher citizens have fixed their country residences. The most remarkable are, Aud ley End, belonging to Lord Braybrooke ; inected Lodge, Peter Duncane, Esq. ; Copped Hall, John ' Conyers Esq.; Dagenham Park, Sir Thomas Neave; Easter Lodge, Viscount Maynard; Felix Hall, Charles Western ' • Gosfield Hall, Marquis of Buck ingham ; Hallingbury Place, John Houblon, Esq. ; Hill -Hall, Sir William Smith ; Langlees, William Tuffnell, Esq.; Mistley Hall, F. H. Rigby, Esq. ; Moulsham Hall, Sir H. C. St John Mildmay ; Roy don, Sir George Duckett; Terling Place, John Strutt, Esq.; Thomdon Hall, Lord Petre ; Wansted