The value of a thorough study of the field-names, of which we spoke in the first section of this manual, will now also become apparent. Some names will tell of a change of physical features, of swamps and islands, where all is now dry and far removed from water, or of forests and underwood, where the blade of corn is now the highest vegetation; whilst others will point to the previous existence of the vast common fields, and their peculiar cultivation (concerning which Maine’s “Village Communities” should be read). Some will indicate the foolish ways in which special crops were attempted to be forced by law upon the people, for it is few parishes that have not a “Flax Piece” as a witness to the futile legislation of 24 Henry VIII.; whilst others tell of trades now extinct, or metals long since worked out. Some speak of those early days when the wolf or the bear roamed the woods and fields, the beaver dammed up the streams, or the eagle swooped down upon its prey; whilst others tell of the weapons whereby these fauna were rendered extinct, for scarcely a township can be found where some field is not termed “the Butts,” names that certainly date back as far as Edward IV., when it was enacted that every Englishman should have a bow of his own height, and that butts for the practice of archery should be erected near every village, where the inhabitants were obliged to shoot up and down on every feast day under penalty of being mulcted a halfpenny. It will, of course, be a matter of taste whether the topics here enumerated should precede or follow the manorial and ecclesiastical history. I. Situation--extent--hill and river--caverns and springs--scenic character--climate and temperature. II. Geology--mineral workings--quarries. III. Special vegetable productions, past and present. IV. Special Fauna--mammalia--birds--fish--reptiles--insects. V. Agriculture, past and present. Inclosures of different dates--Inclosure Acts; for the mostly sad effects of these most selfish Acts, which profited the rich at the expense of the poor, for lists of inclosures from time of Queen Anne, and for other valuable information on this topic, see “General Report on Enclosures,” drawn up by the Board of Agriculture in 1808. The Board of Agriculture, in the first quarter of this century, drew up most valuable Surveys of Agriculture for the different counties, many of which are replete with varied and interesting information. On the economic and antiquarian side of this question, read Professor Rogers’s “History of Agriculture and Prices in England.” VI. Trades and manufactures, past and present. VII. Fairs and markets. VIII. Roads, canals, railways, and bridges--past and present. Care should be taken in tracing out disused roads, bridle paths, or pack-horse tracks.