AGRICULTURAL SURVEY

here. Oak, firs, beech, and elm, would thrive in all(hé Yl parts capable of tillage. And a very large proportion of thé | whole needs but the ſpirit, and the fortune, of ſome one or more of our wealthy gentlemen in England, whoſe atten- tion, if turned this way, ſanétioned by the royal proprietor, / would render the foreſt of Exmoor, in a few years, as fair

Il| a proſpect as the ſurrounding country; and not an uſeleſs and void ſpace, as it now is, in the map of the county of Somerſet.‘The term x#ſeleſs, however, may be ſaid by ſome to be miſapplied, when the quantity of ſheep is mentioned that is depaſtured on it. From the be(t information to be had, twenty-two thouſand are ſummered here, beſides the| four hundred horſes beforementioned; but the race is ſo|\ ímall, and their value ſo trifling, that little profit accrues to| the owner. Veins both of copper and iron have been diſ-| covered, that might be worked to advantage, conſidering how convenient the fituation is for ſhipping of the produce;|| Porlock, Lymouth, and Combmarten, all ſea-ports, not

being more than nine miles diſtant from the centre of the/ foreſt. 1

From each of thoſe places, and alſo from Ilfracombe ánd w Barnſtable, veſſels are every week paſſing to Wales(where de founderies have been long eſtabliſhed) in ¿allaÆ. A large bo

vein of lime-ſtone is known to paſs from Eaſt to Weſt near| the centre of the foreſt, and proper ſtone is found for build- y ing on almoſt every patt. And to compleat the whole, fate y

of a good quality has been dug up in large quantities not far

from Simonſbath; and there is every reaſon to think it may; be found in other places. Water 1s in plenty in every part,| as beforementioned: and ſeveral market-towns are within a few miles of the foreſt. Large tras of land are welt adapted for the tillage of flax, which is Known to thrive beſt on old or unvegetated ground, with a ſtrong deep ſoil. ‘The