2 ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 



or 1517 acres divided amongst tliem; while 1772 have posses- 

 sions exceeding one acre in extent, or in all 302,846 acres. In 

 1872-3, when the return of owners of land in Scotland was taken 

 up by the Government, the gross annual value of the possessions 

 of 1772 large landed proprietors was L.741,379, 10s.; and those 

 of the 8638 small land owners, L. 164,197, 17s. The gross annual 

 value of the whole county, exclusive of burghs and railways, ac- 

 cording to the Valuation Eoll for 1874-5, is L.698,470, 13s. lOd. 

 The total valuation of burghs is L. 208,002, 8s. 4d., and of rail- 

 ways, L. 49, 9 5 7— grand total, L.956,430, 2s. 2d. 



The Board of Trade returns for the present year (1875) state 

 the total number of acres under all kinds of crops, bare fallow 

 and grass, at 243,669 acres, of which 16,748 were under wheat, 

 30,037 barley or here, 37,646 oats, 1304 rye, 2483 beans, and 

 109 peas, being a total under grain crops of 88,327 acres. The 

 average under green crop was 47,460 acres — 28,514 under tur- 

 nips, 17,746 potatoes, 34 mangold, 23 carrots, 88 cabbage, kohl 

 rabbi, and rape, and 1055 vetches and other green crop. Of 

 permanent pasture there is 50,261 acres, and of grasses under 

 rotation, 56,430 acres, and of bare fallow, or uncropped arable 

 land there is 1189 acres. 



Though almost every corner of the county is the scene of great 

 enterprise and no little activity, it cannot be said that the general 

 aspect of Fifeshire is strikingly commercial. On the contrary, 

 it has the appearance of being a quiet, retired rural spot, where the 

 aesthetic has never been wholly lost sight of. Few counties in 

 Scotland, if indeed any, can boast of a larger number of baronial 

 residences and gentlemen's seats than are to be found stud- 

 ding and beautifying the undulating landscape of Fifeshire. The 

 number of landed proprietors is larger than in any other county 

 of similar size in Scotland, and the fact that these worthy gentle- 

 men, with a few exceptions, have all along been in the habit of 

 residing on their desirable possessions in Fife, explains the pre- 

 servation of the county from the modernising hand of trade and 

 commerce. Not that they have hampered the spread of industry 

 and enterprise, — they have encouraged and aided the development 

 of every healthy industry in a manner that reflects upon them 

 unbounded credit, — but they have with equal care and rigour 

 preserved the amenities of their native county. Even in the 

 greatest mining centres where coal-pits are seen to the right and 

 to the left, the scenery is very fine, being beautified by numerous 

 clumps of trees; while in the purely agricultural districts, the 

 carefully cultivated fields are tastefully fringed by thriving belts 

 of wood. The surface undulates considerably, yet there are no 

 high hills, the point of greatest eminence — West Lomond- — being- 

 only 1713 feet above the level of the sea. The Largo Law hill, 

 situated in the parish of Largo, on the south coast, rises to a height 



