The Parochial History of Cornwall, Volume 3 (of 4)
History
The Parochial History of Cornwall, Volume 3 (of 4)
Cornwall (England : County) -- History; Geology -- England -- Cornwall (County)
But the great artificial ornament of this place is its extensive
plantations. Mr. Humphrey Mackworth Praed displayed on this
comparatively trifling subject, the same acumen which distinguished
him in matters of importance, throughout a long life. Having observed
a single pinaster fir, the Pinus Pinaster of Linnæus, growing in an
exposed situation, and braving the violence of our west wind, Mr.
Praed immediately conjectured that this tree might be rendered
available not merely for ornament, but as affording a shelter for
better trees; the experiment was immediately tried, and with complete
success.
The pinaster loses all its beauty when it gets beyond the dimensions
of a shrub: its wood in this climate is almost useless, and no tree
ceases to live after so short a period; but it grows rapidly at first
in all situations, and almost in any ground, so that mixed with
deciduous trees, and planted round the exterior, it acts as a nurse,
and the office is fully performed long before the termination of its
short existence.
By this use of the pinaster fir, Cornwall is now acquiring valuable
and decorative plantations of the best timber trees, for all which it
is indebted to the example given by Mr. Praed.
Lelant measures 3,279 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 3165 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 462 15 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 1083 | 1180 | 1271 | 1602
giving an increase of 48 per cent. in 30 years.
GEOLOGY, BY DOCTOR BOASE.
The western part of this parish rests on granite, which is generally
coarse-grained and crystalline, often with large porphyritic crystals
of felspar; here and there it contains beds of porphyry (elvan
courses), and also of shorl rock, sometimes in masses, but more
frequently in the form of large and irregular veins. This granite has
been productive of metallic ores, and more particularly of tin. The
eastern part is composed of rocks belonging to the porphyritic series.
The principal varieties are felspar rock, both massive and schistose,
and green-stone. The soil derived from these rocks, as is often the
case near granite, is on some spots very fertile. Some land near the
entrance into Hayle is covered with testaceous sand, so common in the
vicinity of all the bays and inlets of the sea on the north coast of
Cornwall, and which, whenever it is unprotected by vegetation, is
drifted by the winds over the uncultivated lands. Nature has pointed
out the remedy for this evil to be the diffusion and increase of
arenaceous plants.
THE EDITOR.――Whele Reath, a mine on the extreme western border of this
parish, where it joins Towednack, has proved more productive of tin
than any other mine except Whele Vor; and it has been prosecuted to a
depth unexampled till within these few years, even in mines of copper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account