ammals. The low-lying Fen beds are marly silt with
abundant peat beds and buried forests; at the bottom is a gravel layer
of marine origin.

_Industries_.--The climate is as a whole healthy, the fens being so
carefully drained that diseases to which dwellers in marshy districts
are commonly liable are practically eliminated. The land is very
fertile, and although some decrease is generally apparent in the acreage
under grain crops, Cambridgeshire is one of the principal
grain-producing counties in England. Nearly nine-tenths of the total
area is under cultivation, and an unusually small proportion is under
permanent pasture. Wheat is the chief grain crop, but large quantities
of barley and oats are also grown. Among green crops potatoes occupy a
large and increasing area. Dairy-farming is especially practised in the
south-west, where the district of the Cam valley has long been known as
the Dairies; and much butter and cheese are sent to the London markets.
Sheep are pastured extensively on the higher ground, but the number of
these and of cattle for the county as a whole is not large. Beans occupy
a considerable acreage, and fruit-growing and market-gardening are
important in many parts. There is no large manufacturing industry common
to the county in general; among minor trades brewing is carried on at
several places, and brick-making and lime-burning may also be mentioned.

_Communications_.--The principal railway serving the county is the Great
Eastern, of which system numerous branch lines centre chiefly upon
Cambridge, Ely and March. Cambridge is also served by branches of the
Great Northern line from Hitchin, of the London & North-Western from
Bletchley and Bedford, and of the Midland from Kettering. A trunk line
connecting the eastern counties with the north and north-west of England
runs northward from March under the joint working of the Great Northern
and Great Eastern companies. The artificial waterways provide the county
with an extensive system of inland navigation; and a considerable
proportion of the industrial population is employed on these. In this
connexion the building of boats and barges is carried on at several
towns.

_Population and Administration_.--The area of the ancient county is
549,723 acres, with a population in 1891 of 188,961, and in 1901 of
190,682. The ancient county includes the two administrative counties of
Cambridge in the south and the Isle of Ely in the north. The liberty of