a county of England, bounded on the south by the English channel, on the north by the Bristol channel, on the east by Somersetshire, and on the west by Cornwall. It is about 72 miles long and 71 broad. The soil is various; in the western parts of the county it is coarse and moorish, bad for sheep, but proper for black cattle. In the northern parts, the dry soil and downs are well adapted to sheep, with numerous flocks of which they are well covered. Tolerable crops of corn are also produced there when the land is well manured. The soil of the rest of the country is rich and fertile both in corn and pasture, yielding also in some places plenty of marle for manuring it. In other places they pare off and burn the surface, making use of the ashes as a manure. It has mines of lead, iron, and silver, in which it formerly exceeded Cornwall, though now it is greatly inferior. On the coast also they have herring and pilchard fisheries. Devonshire sends two members to parliament, and gives title of duke to the noble family of Cavendish. It contains 464 parishes; and in 1811 the population amounted to 383,308. See DEVONSHIRE, SUFFLENT.