HERTFORDSHIRE, an inland English county, of great riches, derived principally from its vicinity to the metropolis of the British empire. It is bounded by Essex on the east, by Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire on the north, by Buckinghamshire on the west, and by Middlesex on the south. Its extreme length is thirty-eight miles, and its greatest breadth twenty-eight miles. Its area is about six hundred and twenty square miles. It is divided into eight hundreds, and contained seventeen towns, 134 parishes, and 20,781 houses, at the time of the last survey.

The population, at the four decennial censuses, has been found to amount in 1801 to 97,577, in 1811 to 111,654, in 1821 to 129,714, and in 1831 to 143,300. Of these, the occupiers of land employing labourers were 1518, the occupiers of land not employing labourers 1679, labourers employed in agriculture 1470, those employed in manufactures 290, capitalists, bankers, &c. 1429, labourers not agricultural 2410, other males twenty years of age 1521, male servants 725, female servants 5512.

It is generally a level district, with gentle undulations, no part rising to the height of mountains, though Kings-worth Hill, the most elevated spot, is nine hundred feet above the level of the sea. Though beautifully diversified with ornamented woods, there are no extensive tracts of forest land. The intermixture of pasture and arable fields with the great number of gentlemen’s seats, the pleasing rivulets and the shady hedges, give it a peculiar character of beauty. Notwithstanding the deficiency of forests, the abundance of trees, especially oaks of ancient growth, which the hedge-rows and parks display, gives a richness to the scenery which is not surpassed by that of any county in England.

The rivers of Hertfordshire are, first, the Lea, which rises in Bedfordshire, enters this county at Hide-mill, and passes by Ware to Hertford, where it becomes navigable. Near Hoddesdon it forms a junction with the Stort, and at length falls into the Thames a little below London. The Stort is navigable to Bishops Stortford, at the extremity of the county. In its course it receives the waters of the smaller streams of the Rib, the Quin, the Beane, the Maran, and the Kime. Secondly, the Colne, which rises on the borders of Middlesex, passes through the western part of the county, and falls into the Thames at Brentford. It receives in its course the Gade, the Bulborne, and the Ver or Meuse. This river, in some parts of its course, forms a part of the Grand Junction Canal for several miles, and, afterwards separating from it, continues its course in a parallel direction till it reaches its mouth. Thirdly, the Ivel, a river composed of the inferior streams of the Oughton, the Iliz, and the Pirral. These, when united, pass into Bedfordshire, and at length reach the German Ocean. The river formed by artificial means to supply the metropolis with fresh water, and called the New River, has its sources in various springs in the vicinity of Ware, and is rendered more copious by borrowing water from the river Lea, whose course is parallel to it for many miles. The New River enters Middlesex before it reaches the reservoir, from which by means of pipes it is distributed to the different houses of the metropolis. That extraordinary work, the Grand Junction Canai, passes through a great part of this county in its progress from its union with the other canals to its termination in London.

In almost every part of this county the subsoil is calcareous, consisting of two species, one a pure chalk, the other of a softer kind, mixed with portions of whitish clay, and provincially called marine. The superior soil does not contain any great varieties of species. It is generally a clayey loam, in some parts highly tenacious, and retentive of moisture; on the higher grounds it is frequently mixed with many surface stones. There are some sandy loams intermixed with gravel, and others with clay. Some of the parts on the side of Essex are very wet, and require expensive draining, as well as copious quantities of manure, to render them fruitful. In the neighbourhood of North Mims and Hatfield the soil is very sterile, mixed with many springs of a sulphureous or ferruginous nature, and only rendered productive by expensive improvements. Near Baldock, Hitchen, and King’s Walden, the upper soil is of a chalky nature, occasionally mingled with other earths, but generally rather poor.

The greater part of Hertfordshire is a corn-bearing country. The proportion of meadow land, or good pasture, is very small, if those parts are excepted which are contiguous to the numerous gentlemen’s seats with which the county abounds. There are indeed some very rich pastures on the banks of the river Stort, which extend from Hertford to Hockeril, on the borders of the river Lea, and near Rickmansworth, where they are watered by the Colne. The whole of the meadow land is susceptible of great improvement by irrigation; but the vicinity to the metropolis makes the streams of water so valuable to turn mills, that little of their contents can be afforded to assist agriculture. The rotation of crops on the arable lands is very various, as may be supposed where the soil is so different. The most common course is turnips, barley, clover, wheat, and oats. In the districts where the soil is of a more tenacious consistence, fallows are very generally used for a whole year, and followed by barley, clover, wheat, and peas or beans. The average quantity of wheat sown is two bushels and a half to the acre; of barley, from three and a half to four bushels; and of oats, from four to five bushels. The average produce is, wheat from twenty-three to twenty-five bushels, barley thirty-two, and oats from thirty-eight to forty.

The drill husbandry is very partially introduced, and, from the nature of the soil, does not appear very likely to make any very rapid or extensive progress. It is found beneficial for pulse crops; but its superiority for barley, wheat, and oats, does not appear to be generally recognised. The ploughs now commonly used are small, and have almost superseded the use of the great Hertfordshire ploughs, which required four strong horses to use them with effect. In a great part of the country oxen are used in the plough, and frequently in the waggons; in the latter case they are shod with light iron shoes.

The principal cause of the productiveness of this county arises from its vicinity to the metropolis, and the facility with which abundance of the substances adapted to improve the soil can be furnished, by means of the water carriage, which is extensive. On the land, below the surface, chalk is everywhere found; and this, laid on at the rate of a hundred cart-loads to the acre, improves the heavy lands in a wonderful degree; but the manures brought as back carriage by the barges from London are diffused and applied in a very liberal manner. Soot is spread at the rate of thirty or forty bushels to the acre, ashes from fifty to one hundred bushels to the acre, and ground bones from four to five chaldrons, on the same extent of land. For the pastures, burnt bones are deemed preferable, but for arable land they are merely boiled and crushed. Oilcake, peat-ashes, hair, woollen rags, and other substances, are much employed. In addition to these, the use of the sheep-fold, and the application of farm-yard dung, are as universal as in any part of the island.

In the south-west part of the county there are many orchards of apples and of cherries; the former the most considerable and the most profitable to the growers, from being less expensive to gather, and bearing carriage to London better than cherries. The cherry trees are in full bearing after being planted ten years, and on an average yield about six hundred pounds of cherries annually [7:11:285]They are usually inferior to those of Kent, and sell for l much less in the markets. Each cherry tree is usually allowed nine square perches of ground. The size of the orchards, whether for apples or cherries, is usually four or five acres.

As this is a corn country, less attention is paid to the breeds of cattle than in some others. The cows are either of the Welsh, Devon, Suffolk, or Herefordshire races; the Suffolk breed is generally preferred. The sheep are mostly breeding ewes of the South Down or Wiltshire kind; the former are deemed the most profitable. Of late a species of sheep, from crosses between those of Leicestershire and those of the Cotswold Hills, has been extensively and beneficially propagated. Oil-cake is very extensively used for feeding sheep. The horses commonly employed for agricultural purposes are of the Suffolk kind; for their sustenance, as well as for that of sheep and cows, great tracts of land are cultivated with both kinds of tares, and with clover.

The landed property in Hertfordshire is so much divided that there are few great proprietors, and none so large as in many other counties; few rentals of individuals exceed L.3000 per annum. A large portion of the county is copyhold tenure, with fines in some instances fixed, and in others, such as the lords of the manors and the copyholders can agree upon. The farming buildings are generally neat, convenient, and substantial.

Though principally an agricultural county, yet Hertfordshire has several manufactures which give employment to the poor. In the western and northern part of the county the making of thread-lace gives occupation to the females. On the side towards Bedfordshire the plaiting of straw to make hats employs considerable numbers both of women and children. There are silk mills at St Albans, and mills for spinning cotton at Rickmansworth. Some of the finest writing paper is made at Two-waters by mills on the Colne and the Bulborne. Great quantities of malt are made at Ware, Hertford, Bishops Stortford, and other parts of the country; and the makers of it, as well as the numerous millers, have the advantage of water conveyance to the metropolis. As little wood is used for firing, the barges that convey malt and.flour to London bring back coals, or, when they are not wanted, are loaded with manure. These articles form the principal trade of the county.

A portion of the children of Christ Hospital, in London, are sent to Hertford at an early period of their entrance on that foundation. The building appropriated for this purpose forms three sides of a triangle, at the east end of the town, and contains apartments for 500 children, their master, and attendants.

This county abounds with many antiquities. The most striking is the Abbey of St Albans, a most beautiful Gothic pile, said to have been founded in honour of the first British martyr, in the year 303, upon the site of the ancient Verulam. The vicinity of this abbey was the theatre of many bloody battles during the wars of the rival houses of York and Lancaster. Lord Bacon was buried, not in the abbey, but in St Michael’s Church, near it, where his monument is still in good preservation. The ruins of Sopwell Nιmnery, near St Albans; the remains of Gorhambury Abbey; the Roman Camp at Ravensborough; the Cross at Waltham; the church at Kings Langley; and the castles of Anstey, of Bennington, of Hertford, and Bishops Stortford, all invite and gratify the attention of the antiquary.

By the law of 1832 this county returns three members to the House of Commons; the number of voters is about 4200; and the polling places are Hertford, Stevenage, Buntingford, Bishops Stortford, Hoddesdon, Hatfield, and Hemel Hempstead. The two boroughs Hertford and St Albans return, as before, two members each.

The principal towns and their population are, Hertford,

5247; St Albans, 4772; Hitchen, 5211; Ware, 4214; Hemel Hempstead, 4759; Rickmansworth, 4574; Bishops Stortford, 3958; Watford, 2960; Berkhampsted, 2819;

' Standon, 2272; Tring, 3488.