REPORT ON THE AGRICULTURE OF DUMFRIESSHIRE. 327 



land iii the county, and certainly the finest quality, is found 

 along the slopes of the Tinwald hills, in the parish of the same 

 name, facing the south-west, on which grain of the best quality 

 is grown, while for green crop it is unsurpassed. In the lower 

 districts of Aniiandale, approaching the borders of England, and 

 especially in the parishes of Kirkpatrick-Fleming, Gretna, and 

 Canobie, a great breadth of moss is met with, but the extent, 

 although still large, is much reduced ; and, this, where drained, 

 improved, well cultivated, and manured, makes good land, and 

 yields heavy crops of grain and roots. Eskdale is almost 

 entirely pastoral; the breed of Cheviot sheep in Eskdalemoor 

 being superior to any in Scotland, regarding which more will be 

 said anon. 



Having thus briefly glanced at the natural statistics of Dum- 

 friesshire, its divisions, climate, soil, &c, we shall now proceed 

 to the more important part of our report, viz., the different 

 systems of agriculture practised, which may be divided into 

 three classes or branches — first, mixed ; second, arable ; and 

 third, purely pastoral farming. 



First, then, we shall notice mixed farming as being the most 

 extensively carried out in Dumfriesshire, the farms (especially 

 in certain districts) being better adapted for this class than any 

 other ; and to illustrate our subject we shall take for example 

 farms of 300 acres arable land — that is, land which is or has been 

 under the plough, together with pasture to carry a flock of 1000 

 sheep and some young cattle; this description of farms being very 

 common throughout Dumfriesshire, especially in Upper Annan- 

 dale and Nithsdale, but of course varying in size, &c. On a 

 farm of this kind two regular pairs of horses are usually kept, 

 with young or odd ones to harrow, &c. in spring, and from 60 to 

 80 acres of white crop, and 30 to 40 of green crop grown, leaving 

 from 180 to 200 acres in pasture, on which cattle and sheep 

 are grazed during summer. The straw, and any hay there may 

 be, is consumed by horses, feeding-cattle, cows, and young stock, 

 in the byres and sheds during winter, which also require a 

 proportion of turnips pulled, the remainder being eaten on the 

 ground by sheep. This is the plan usually followed out in the 

 arable department ; and next as to the sheep. Out of a flock of 

 1000, there will be 800 ewes of different ages, the remainder 

 being hogs bred on the farm for beating up stock, which are 

 wintered on the arable or low ground. The lambs of the 800 

 ewes are usually sold in August (except the top ewe lambs 

 which are kept for stock), either privately, or at the lamb fairs of 

 Lockerbie and Langholm, where they are all shown, or at the 

 character market of Sanquhar. The ewes, when six years old 

 (being the general age), are drafted in the beginning of October, 

 and sold, either for taking half-bred lambs off or turnip feeding. 



