TKANSACTIONS 



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THE HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND. 



ON THE AGRICULTURE OF BUTE AND ARRAN. 



By Archibald M'Neilage, Junior, Glasgow. 



[Premium — Twenty Sovereigns.'] 



The county of Bute, composed of seven islands dotted over the 

 Firth of Clyde, offers peculiar attractions to men of science. 

 Containing as it does that " epitome of the geology of the globe " 

 — the island of Arran — it is little wonder that it should long ere 

 now have claimed the attention of the votaries of geology and 

 l)otany. The flora and natural history of Arran have often 

 been written of, and few islands, otherwise so insignificant, have 

 received so much attention. Bute has formed the retreat of 

 many whose names are as household words in the world of art. 

 Here Montague Stanley lived and died. Here Edmund Kean 

 tied for repose from the plaudits of the metropolis, and Glas- 

 gow's merchant princes have many of them spent the evening 

 of their days amid tlie salubrious airs of Kothesay, Port-Banna- 

 tyne, and Ascog. Bute has given a premier to Great Britain 

 before now, and Arran is associated with the traditions of the stir- 

 ring times of the Eeformation and the Covenants. Indeed, it 

 must be admitted that the county of Bute presents greater attrac- 

 tions to the man of science, the archaeologist, and the historian, 

 than it does to the agriculturist. A region dear to artists and 

 tourists is not generally much accounted of by tlie practical 

 farmer. AVindiiig ravines, frowning precipices, and rugged 

 mountain slopes are all very tine to look at, but are of little 

 avail towards raising good crops. Nevertheless, the agriculture 

 of these islands is not without a history, and such as we know it 

 to be we will lay it before the reader. 



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