The rearing of fruit-trees, to the growth of which, the soil and climate seem admirably adapted, en grosses the greatest share of the attention and skill of the Herefordshire cultivators. Although almost every soil and situation in the county is favourable to the growth of apples and pears, yet those spots are preferred which are exposed to the south-east and sheltered to the westward ; as it is found that the winds from that quarter are ungenial to the fruit-trees. Orchards, though planted in Kent as early as the reign of Henry the Eighth, did not extend to Here fordshire till they were introduced by Lord Scuds more and some other gentlemen in the reign of Charles the First, when the discovery of their adapta tion to the soil being ascertained, they quickly spread over the whole county. It is a fact, that many va rieties of apples and pears, which a few years ago were the most highly esteemed, have entirely disap peared ; but new varieties have by care and atten tion been produced, which equal in value, if not in fame, the celebrated Red:, reak and Sane apple, and the Squash pear, the value of whose cider and perry was thirty years ago most highly prized. Some of the proprietors of orchards, who are most attentive to the selection of the fruit, and most skilful in the management of the juice when expressed, have pro duced such exquisitely flavoured cider and perry as to obtain for them a preference over any wines made from the grape. The prices at which the best of these liquors are sold by the growers, far exceeds those that are obtained for the best wines of any vineyards either in France or Germany. They are sometimes sold as high as L. 20 the hogshead direct from the press. Some of the orchards are from thirty to forty acres in extent, and the trees being at considerable distance from each other, the inter vals are kept in tillege. The produce of the orchards is very fluctuating, though less so in Herefordshire than in Somerset, Devon, or Gloucester ; yet the growers seldom expect more than one year in three to be fully productive. In a good year an acre of orchard will produce from 18 to 24 hogsheads of cider or perry. The quantity of apples or pears re quired to make a hogshead varies from 24 to 80 bushels. The greater part of the best descriptions of both liquors is purchased by merchants from Bris tol, who find bottles,. and export it to the East and West Indies, and to America.
Herefordshire has been long celebrated for one of the best races of cows. They are of the middle horned kind, have a large and athletic frame, and, from the silky nature of their coats, have an unusually sleek appearance. The most prevailing colour is a red dish brown, and their faces are white and bald. The heifers fat quickly at an early age, and the calves are highly esteemed. The rearing of oxen for the plough is a common pursuit, and the greater part of the animal labour of the county"is performed by them. After being worked five or six years they are usually sold to graziers from Buckinghamshire, and fattened in the vale of Aylesbury for the con sumption of the metropolis, where their flesh is high ly prized.
The fame of the Herefordshire sheep equals that of its cows. They are best known by the name of the Rylands, a district in the southern part of the county, in which the superior varieties of them are fed. They are small, white faced, and
without horns. In symmetry of shape, and in the exquisite flavour of the meat, they surpass most other kinds ; and, in addition, their wool is by far the finest produced from any of the native Eng lish races. The quantity of wool from them does not average more than two pounds each, but it is usually sold for three times the price of coarse wool. Many experiments have been made to im prove this breed by crossing them with the Merinos ; but it has been found that the flesh has deteriorated as much as the wool has improved by the mixture. The practice of keeping the sheep in houses in cold weather is general, and perhaps the wool may be in some degree indebted to that management for a por tion of its fineness of fibre.
The excellence of the wool has not induced many manufactures, for most of it is sold to the clothiers of Gloucestershire and Somersetshire. Attempts have been made to establish manufacturers of woollen goods in the city of Hereford, but they proved abor tive. At Kington some few woollens are made, and likewise at Leominster, but to no great extent. The river Wye is navigable to Hereford, but either floods or droughts so often suspend the navigation, that the trade carried on by it is very inconsidera ble. Two canals have been begun, one from Led bury to Gloucester, and another from Leominster to Stourport, but neither are yet finished ; nor does the trade of the county give any prospect of success to these undertakings when they shall be completed.
The principal river, the Wye, is celebrated for its picturesque beauties, especially in the vicinity of Ross, and till it enters Monmouthshire. The other streams, the Lugg, receiving the waters of the Ar row and the Frome, the Munnow receiving those of the Dore, and the Leddon, are but inconsiderable, though they tend to fertilize the lands through which they flow.
Few counties are more rich in antiquities than Herefordshire, especially in the remains of those feudal castles, which were probably erected when it was the frontier towards the hostile Welsh. The most remarkable of these are Goodrich Castle, Dore Abbey, Wigmore Abbey, Vineyard Camp, and Bran sil Castle.
The towns in Herefordshire, and their population, are, Two members are returned to Parliament from the county, two from the city of Hereford. and two each from Leominster and Weobley. The towns in Herefordshire are generally worse built than in any other English county, and more nearly approach to those of their adjoining Welsh neighbours. In the villages the buildings are still worse. The con struction of most of the firm houses and barns is rude and slight ; they are usually built of stone, on ly cemented with mud or clay, about two feet high; and upon these imperfect walls the superstructure is raised, composed of timber frame work, with laths intertwined and plastered with mud or clay. They are usually covered with thick flag stones, which increase the weight, and soon reduce them to a most ruinous state.
See Duncomb's Marshall's Rural Economy; Lodge's Sketches ; Clark's General View; and Brayley and Britton's Beauties of England, Vol. VI. (w.w.)