The substratum of this county may be said to con sist, in general, either of chalk and other calcareous matter, or of gravel, with clay at greater or less depths, according to the quality of the soil. The Vale is remarkably fertile, and its prevailing soil, is a strong, grey, calcareous loam, in which vegetable mould is intimately mixed with cretaceous earth. Among the chalky hills, there are some intermediate tracks of considerable fertility, where the superficial. stratum is composed of vegetable mould, mixed with chalk, flint, and gravel. In general these hills form excellent sheepwalks, being covered with a fine turf. In the Vale of Kennet, gravel soils predominate, vary ing, however, considerably in their qualities, admix tures, and depths from the surface. In this district there is a peculiar kind of peat, which is equally valu able as fuel or manure. The northern parts of the Forest district are distinguished by a soil of gravel, strong loam, and clay ; the central parts by a tena cious clay; and the southern parts by sand and gravel.
Berkshire can boast of no valuable minerals, nor of any variety of curious fossils. In the chalk-hills no thing remarkable has been discovered, except the substance, from which they take their name. At Catsgrove, near Reading, there is a stratum of chalk, 30 feet in thickness, lying upon a bed of flint. Above the chalk is a stratum of sandy clay, about a foot thick, covered by a layer of oyster-shells, two feet in depth. Above these shells there is a stratum of sandy clay, one foot and a half thick ; next suc ceeds a greenish sand, to the depth of four feet ; over this three feet of a coarse fuller earth ; and ' above all a very deep bed of clay, fit for tiles and bricks. Sim"nr strata of sand, with oyster-shells, are found for two miles round Reading, at various depths, from 15 to 25 feet. Here likewise have been discovered an inferior kind of ochre, and diffe rent species of echini. Fossil shells, sharks teeth, parts of fishes, and other marine productions, are found in various parts of the county ; and bones of animals and branches of birch trees have been dug out of the gravel pits and marshy moss lands in Windsor forest. Pipe-clay and potters•clay are found in considerable quantities ; and shell-marl was disco vered in the_vale of Kennet in 1794., though it does not appear to have been applied to any useful pur pose. Sareden stones are irregularly scattered over the downs of Berkshire. They are composed of a fine siliceous grit, and are frequently blasted with gunpowder, and used for pitching. But the most remarkable mineral substance in Berkshire is its peat, which is almost exclusively confined to the vale of Kennet. It is defined by Mr Kirwan as a " strati fication of fossil trees in all directions, mixed with a reddish, or brownish-red slimy moss, formed of the carbonic particles of vegetables, and united with their astringent juices, and calorific oleaginous fxcu lx." Mr Davy, who analysed this peat, found it to
consist of Oxide of iron 48 Gypsum 32 Muriate of sulphur and potash . 20 100 At Cumner, near Oxford, there is a mineral spring, which possesses a mild cathartic quality: There is another of a mild chalybeate nature at Sunninghill, near Windsor ; and Gorrick well, in the parish of Oakingham, is strongly impregnated with steel, and may be supposed to have some powerful tonic vir tues.
The climate of Berkshire, though somewhat va rious, is in general pure and salubrious. In elevated and exposed situations, particularly. in the central parts, along the course of the White Horse Hills, the air is keen and piercing ; but in the more shelter ed and champaign spots, the atmosphere is equally ex hilarating, and .salutary to the most delicate constitu tions. • • There are few counties in Britain where the land ed property is so happily divided as in Berkshire for the purposes of general improvement. Though its annual rental, including houses, mills, and other pro ductive revenue, arising from, or attached to the soil, cannot amount to less than £500,000, the largest estate in the county probably does not exceed X8000 a-year ; a few more may amount, in annual value, to X 5000, 6000, or X 7000 ; but great landed owners are rare either among peers or commoners. Property is least divided in the lower part of the county ; yet even there the yeomanry is respectable, both in num ber and in circumstances ; and in the upper part are to he seen several handsome seats on estates, not exceed ing 100 acres. One of the happiest consequences of this wide and equal division of property, is, that the scale of rank ascends by almost imperceptible grada tions, from the lowest to the highest ; and all classes. of the community are by close and indis soluble bonds. The yeomanry, depressed by no slavish dependence on superiors, nor overawed by the glare of disproportionate grandeur, feel within them selves all the native dignity of man, and cherish those lofty and generous sentiments of independence which should animate every free-born heart. This exalted character of the yeomanry has a reciprocal influence on the character of the nobility and men of fortune. Aware that no ascendency can be over the minds of their countrymen by the arts of corruption, they chuse the more honourable way of securing their favour, by meriting their esteem. No where, indeed, arc rank and property more impotent than in Berk shire. It was observed on a particular occasion by the late Mr Pitt, whose authority on this subject is unquestionable, that " no minister of this country could command ten votes in Berkshire." A, higher testimony could not be given to the virtuous inde pendence of its inhabitants.