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"Bedfordshire (or Beds.), a midland county of England, bounded by the counties of Northampton, Cambridge, Herts, and Bucks. Greatest length, North and South , 30 miles; greatest breadth, East and West, 20 miles; area, 297,600 acres, population 149,473. The surface is mostly flat, varied in the South by a spur of the Chiltern Hills, and in the NW by a range of chalk hills. The chief river is the Great Ouse, with its affluent the Ivel. The country along the banks of the Ouse and other streams is highly verdant and luxuriant. The greater part of the surface is under tillage; indeed, agriculture, it is said, is further advanced here than in any other English county. On the heavy soils the principal crops are wheat and beans. The sandy and chalky soils of the middle districts are well adapted for horticultural husbandry, and vegetables are extensively grown for the markets of London, Cambridge, &c. There is excellent grazing ground in the SE., this county being noted for its breeds of sheep and cattle. The principal manufactures are agricultural implements and straw-plait for hats." [Bartholemew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887]