326 REPORT ON THE AGRICULTURE OF DUMFRIESSHIRE. 



REPORT ON THE AGRICULTURE OF DUMFRIESSHIRE. 



By H. Newbt Fraser, Wyseby Hill, Ecclefechan. 



[Premium — Silver Medal.] 



The county of Dumfries ranks as the seventh in extent in 

 Scotland, containing an area of 722,813 acres, or 1129 square 

 miles. It extends fifty-five miles from east to west, and thirty- 

 two from north to south ; and the population at the last census 

 in 1861 was 75,878, allowing almost ten acres for each inhabitant. 

 The county valuation in 1791 was L.117,621 ; in 1841, 

 L.272,217 ; while at present it stands at L.389,561, having thus 

 more than trebled its value in about seventy-five years, a fact 

 which in itself speaks volumes for the improvement which must 

 have taken place in the land, it being, in the strictest sense of the 

 word, a purely agricultural county. The towns are small, and 

 manufacturing only carried on to a limited extent in two of them. 

 So far as regards situation, its advantages are great for the con- 

 veyance of stock, grain, or other agricultural productions, either 

 north or south ; the Caledonian line of railway running through 

 the centre of the county, the Glasgow and South- Western along 

 the west up to the extreme north; while the Sol way Frith, which 

 bounds it partially on the south and west, allows of goods being 

 shipped, principally to Liverpool, from various points on its 

 coast, the chief being Dumfries and Annan. The climate is 

 moist and humid, the rainfall being about the greatest of any 

 county along the west coast, and the rains off the Solway are 

 often exceedingly heavy. The frosts, however, are not so severe 

 as along the east coast of Scotland, nor does the snow, except 

 on the high and cold districts, ever lie long, or to a great depth, 

 which is to be regretted, for most farmers think the winters are 

 too mild. If there were more frost and snow, the land under 

 cultivation would be greatly benefited, both by making it looser 

 and destroying grubs and insects. The county may be said to be 

 divided into three straths or dales, viz., Annandale, Nithsdale, 

 and Eskdale ; the two former running almost north and south, 

 and the latter east and west. Through these straths, from which 

 they take their names, flow the Annan, the Mth, and the Esk — 

 three fine rivers, vieing with each other in the beauty and variety 

 of the scenery through which they pass. The most extensive 

 and richest of these districts is the first named, many of the 

 holms along the banks of the Annan being unsurpassed either 

 for grazing or cropping by any land in Scotland, while the high 

 ranges carry Cheviot sheep of great excellence. The soil of 

 Annandale is heavier and stronger than Nithsdale or Eskdale, 

 that of the latter being generally what is termed sharp — that is, 

 dry and porous, with a subsoil of gravel. Probably the soundest 



