THE COUNTIES OF FOEFAR AND KINCARDINE. 67 



was worked as early as 1696. In both counties there are some 

 deposits of conglomerate, or pudding stone, that on the hill ou 

 the farm of West Drums, near Brechin, being considered one of 

 the most perfect in the country. At Dunthill, Marykirk, there 

 is a bed of New Eed Sandstone, but there is not enough to give 

 any hopes of there being coal underneath it. At Cowie and 

 elsewhere in Kincardine, and at several points in Forfar, pipe- 

 clay is found. At Montrose, Arbroath, Durris, Fetteresso, and 

 at other places, there are chalybeate or iron ore springs with 

 medicinal properties. Fossil remains of plants and fishes occur 

 in the sandstone ; but, as might have been expected, all borings 

 for coal have beea unsuccessful, for that valuable substance does 

 not exist under Old Ked Sandstone. Throughout the sandstone 

 districts there is a good deal of iron, to which the Eed Sandstone 

 owes its colour. About 1710 an iron mine was worked for a 

 short time in Edzell. 



With such distinct geological formations, it is only natural to 

 exp3ct that these counties should present considerable variety of 

 soil. The rule that the surface soil corresponds to the rocks 

 beneath holds exceptionally true in Forfar and Kincardine. The 

 extent of alluvial soil — or, in other words, of soil deposited 

 where it now lies by water — is very small indeed, and hence it 

 follows that the great portion of the soil consists of decomposed 

 particles of the underlying rocks, enriched by the decay of vege- 

 table matter, and by a long-sustained system of liberal manuring. 

 It is therefore possible, from the foregoing hurried sketch of the 

 geology of the counties, to form a general idea of the character of 

 the soil in the various districts. In the south-eastern districts 

 of Forfar, those lying between the Sidlaw range and the sea, the 

 soil is, generally speaking, of a light friable nature, well suited 

 for potatoes and turnips. Nearly midway between Dundee and 

 Arbroath there are small portions well adapted to the cultivation 

 of beans ; while in the Invergowrie district there is a good deal 

 of very fine grain land, some parts of which, however, are slightly 

 subject to drought. Close by the sea at Monifieth there is a 

 jDortion of as rich dark brown loam as one could wish to see ; 

 while in Panbride, Arbroath, and elsewhere along the coast there 

 is a pretty large extent of similar soil. On some parts of the 

 southern slopes of the Sidlaws, and along as far as the parishes 

 of Monikie and Carmyllie, the sub-soil is hard and retentive ; 

 but, as a rule, along the coast it is free and easy, with a small 

 admixture of gravel. On the more inland parts of Carmyllie 

 and in that neighbourhood there is a good deal of thin moorish 

 soil ; while along the higher arable parts, on both sides of the 

 Sidlaw range, the soil varies from a very thin " hungry " loam to 

 a pretty fertile loam of moderate depth. As we descend the 

 north-western slopes we find the soil increasing in depth nnd 



