COUNTIES OF EDINBUEGH AND LINLITHGOW. 51 



In a word, there is little to be found fault with in the character 

 of the fences ; generally they are in keeping with the well-farmed 

 fields they enclose. 



Drainage. — At a very early period in the history of agriculture 

 drainage was in part attended to. Not that it was attempted 

 upon any large scale, but the wet portions of the arable land had 

 a few cuts made in them to take off the water. These were 

 filled with stones, and did a certain amount of good in clearing 

 off the surface water. Later, wet fields were entirely stone- 

 drained, but the cuts were not deep enough to be effective. In 

 the majority of cases, the covers were barely out of the reach of 

 the plough, while the best of the drains were only 2 to 2|- feet 

 in depth. Their outlet was into a ditch or open course, 

 which, if not regularly scoured, had an injurious effect in prevent- 

 ing the water from getting away. By the middle of the present 

 century, quite three-fourths of the land requiring draining had 

 been gone over in this way. Even earlier than this, many farms 

 had been efficiently drained with tiles, but it is mainly within 

 the range of the past twenty or twenty-five years that thorough 

 drainage has been carried out. In stiff, retentive clay soils 

 drains had to be laid down pretty closely, and the expense 

 was something considerable. The cost of cutting alone was from 

 Is. to Is. .3d. or Is. 6d. per rood of 7 yards. Government money 

 was taken in some cases, in others the tenants did the cuttinjir 

 and the landlord found the tiles, while occasionally the work was 

 exclusively performed by the landlord or tenant alone. During 

 recent years, the drains have been cut to a depth of 3 or 4 feet, 

 and the water run off into a main drain provided with tiles of 

 larger dimensions. A part of the cutting was done by means 

 of a drain plough drawn by horses, but by far the greater portion 

 was executed by extra labourers, engaged at so much per 

 rood. In one way or another the whole of the two counties 

 has been drained, and a large breadth of land twice over. 

 Gravelly or sandy subsoils rarely required any expenditure in 

 this way, but improvement m the soils overlying clay could only 

 result after perfect drainage, which is rightly considered as the 

 foundation of successful farming. Since the land has been 

 thorougldy dried, there is a marked amelioration in the climate, 

 whicli is now far more healthy and bracing. 



liuaih. — An elaborate road system renders access to every part 

 of the counties comparatively easy. From the city of Edinburgh 

 nine excellent roads radiate, leading to dill'erent towns in the ad- 

 joining counties. In Linlithgow are three principal roads extend- 

 ing throughout the whole length of the county. All the roads 

 are kept in creditable repair. Broken whinstone is used for 

 covering, and is found, from its hard nature, to be very durable. 

 About 2s. 6d. per yard is paid for breakage, and it requires an 



