BERKSHIRE, a midland co. of England, bounded n. by Gloucester, Oxford, and Bucks, e. by Oxford and Bucks; s.e. by Surrey; s. by Hampshire, and w. by Wiltshire. Great est length. 50 tn. ; average breadth, 15. Area, 752 sq.m., nearly one half of which is under titlnge, one fourth in pasture, and one sixteenth in wood. B., which is one of the most beautiful of the English counties, lies in the valley of the Thames, and has an undulating surface, rising in some parts into hills. Older tertiary strata, consisting of the London clay, occupy the e. part of the county; cretaceous strata, the middle; and the west. A range of chalk-hills, or downs, connected with the Chilterns On the e., and the Marlborough Downs on the w., crosses the country into Wiltshire, from Reading to Wallingford, attaining at White Horse Hill (so called from the gigantic figure of a horse rudely defined in the chalk—a relic of ancient times) a height of 893 feet. Between this range—the w. part of which is occupied by sheep-walks—and a smaller oolitic one skirting the valley of the Thames, is the vale of White Horse, the richest part of the county, and drained by the Ock. To the s, of the Downs is the fertile vale of Kennet, drained by the river of that mune, and its feeder. the Lanthourn. To the e. is the forest district, comprising 'Windsor forest, part of Bagshot Heath, etc. The forest chiefly consists of hazel, oak, beech, ash, and alder. The Thames skirts the whOle n. border of the county, winding through a course of 100 m., but in a direct line, only 52, and navigable nearly the whole way. It is the chief river of B., the other rivers of the county being its tributar ies; of which the chief are the Kennet, Leddon, and Ock. The Kennet is navigable for 30 miles. The climate of B. is very healthy, mild in the valleys, add bracing on high lanik. The soil varies greatly: in the valleys, it is generally a fertile loam, with a subsoil of chalk, gravel, or clay. The country between the valleys of Kennet and
White Horse consists chiefly of sheep-walks; and along the Thames, and to the w. of the Ridge War, or Downs, it is chiefly dairy and pasture land. The chief crops are oats and wheat. Double Gloucester" and - pineapple" cheese are exported in large quan tities to London. There is a superabundance of liorSes. Swine are extensively rearM, especially near Faringdon, the breed being one of the best in England. Property is very much divided, and the number of gentlemen's seats and villas is very great. The farms are generally of moderate size. The county is traversed by the Great Western railway and its branch lines. and by two canals. B. is divided into 20 hundreds, 151 parishes. and 12 poor-law unions. It returns 8 members to parliament, 3 for the county. 2 for Read ing (the county town), and 1 each for Windsor, Wallingford, and Abingdon. Besides these towns, there are the municipal boroughs of Newbury (the of two severe eAmilicts in the civil war) and Maidenhead, and the market-towns of Faringdon, Bun gerford. Wantage, Wokingham, East Ilsley, and Lambourn. The pop. of B. in 1871 was 190,475 (97;078 males and 99,897 females). showing an increase of 20,219 since 1801, when the pop. was 176,250, and of 85,995 or 78 per cent since the first CCIIMIS in 1801. The county has no manufactures of any importance. The British and Roman remains are numerous, including Roman roads and many camps and barrdws. Of the old castles! the principal relic is Windsor (q.v.); of monastic establishments, the abbeys of Abing don and Reading. The churches are smart, and, from the scarcity of are often constructed of chalk and flint. There are inany Norman churches, erected in the 12th and 13th centuries.