The West Country shades off into the west Midlands — Gloucester, Hereford and Worces ter, counties growing much hardy fruit and typical producers of cider. Here also is situ ated the other hop-growing area in the British Islands, the acreage under hops in the valley of the Teme and its tributaries tending to in crease, while it diminishes in the southeast. This district is the original home of the Here ford cattle, red with white faces, which have become one of the great cosmopolitan races, famous all the world over as hardy stock fat tening readily upon grass.
The Midlands proper are almost wholly laid down to grass; the broad belt of strong pastures stretching from Devon to Yorkshire, forms the great milk and meat-producing area of England. The cattle are mainly Shorthorns, as being valuable for both meat and milk. but many Herefords, Galloways and Welsh black cattle are also found fattening on the richer pastures. While these Midland pastures largely send new milk into the great towns, a good deal of cheese is made, the best known being the ((Stilton," which is as typical of the English soft-curd cheeses as "Cheddar" is of the hard curd. Eastward the land comes more under the plow, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincoln being typical arable counties. Lin coln possesses a large area of "warp" land com posed entirely of alluvial sediments, and this, of great fertility for all purposes, is very largely given up to the growth of potatoes. On the strong soils of Essex and Suffolk the best Eng lish wheat is grown, wheat being still a profit able crop in this district; while Suffolk and Norfolk enjoy a great reputation for the growth of high-class malting barley. These counties are still, though not to the same extent as formerly, great centres of stall-feeding of cattle. Welsh "Runts," Shorthorns, and Aber deen Angus stores are brought in and rapidly fattened on the turnips drawn from the arable land. Norfolk possesses a native breed in the Red-Polled cattle, valuable for both their flesh and their milk-producing powers, and which are rapidly establishing a reputation outside of England. In Suffolk also is to be found a special breed of heavy horse, the Suffolk Punch, a compact, thickset animal of great value for farm work. All the low-lying country forms a fine breeding ground for horses, which is one of the staple industries of the eastern coun ties. The fen country indeed is the original home of the typical English "greats horse, the Shire horse, the most powerful animal of its kind in the world, particularly adapted to heavy work in cities. Bay, brown, and black are the
commonest colors, and the feet and legs are thickly grown with white hair; the breed prob ably owes its origin to an influx of Flemish blood into the old English draught horse. Lin coln also possesses the chief of the English long-wooled races of sheep; heavy, rapid growing animals, with a great fleece of long slightly lustrous wool. The Lincolns have been exported in large numbers to Australia, New Zealand and the Argentine for crossing with the Merino to yield a sheep equally valuable for both mutton and wool.
Turning to the west again, Wales is a coun try almost wholly in permanent grass; dairying and the raising of store cattle to be fattened in the midlands and east of England being the prevailing industries. The Welsh black cattle are good milkers, and, in addition, have long been esteemed, under the name of "Welsh Runts," as hardy, thrifty grazing cattle, prod ucing beef of high quality. Like all mountain ous countries, Wales has a race of hill sheep, but on the lower lands, and especially in the border counties, the "Shropshire" breed will most commonly be seen. The Shropshire sheep is a short-wooled, small-framed animal, rather large and hardier than a Southdown, but other wise fulfilling the same purposes, producing mutton of the highest quality upon grass land and the lower hill pastures. On the Welsh borders also is to be found one of the native breeds of hill ponies, very slightly different from the two other breeds living upon Exmoor and in the New Forest, but quite distinct from the Shetland ponies, which are doubtless of Scandinavian origin.
Yorkshire provides perhaps the most varied farming in England; on the one hand there is the rich warpland adjoining the Humber, and the elevated arable sheep-farming land of the Wolds, then the highly-farmed general-purpose land of the central plain which merges into the upland sheep walks of the limestone country in the northeast. Horse breeding, stock raising and dairying are the mainstays of Yorkshire farming, and though no breeds of great note are associated with Yorkshire, except the white Yorkshire pigs and the Cleveland Bay Coach horse, it should not be forgotten that the origi nal home of the Shorthorn was just as much the North Riding of Yorkshire as the Durham Tees-side, with which their names is always associated.