COUNTIES OF EDIXBUilGH A2sl) LINLITHGOW. 49 



volumes for the good understanding wliicli generally exists be- 

 tween landlord and tenant, A glance at the picturesque land- 

 scape from some point of vantage ground may suggest the idea 

 that there are too many hedges, but this idea is dispelled upon 

 closer examination. Xot that there are no irregular fences and 

 small fields, where in bygone times zealous farmers had enclosed 

 the most fertile patches without any further aim; but, as a rule, 

 the fields are large and well laid off. The size varies from 10 to 20 

 acres, while parks of 30 or 40 acres are by no means uncommon. 

 JRoit of Zand. — The valued rent of Mid-Lothian in 1674 

 was L.191,055 Scots, or L.15,921 sterling; the new valuation 

 for 1876-77 is L.oo8,194 (exclusive of railways) ; valuation of 

 railways (less the portion situated within burghs) L.112,G94. 

 The valued rent of West Lothian in 1674 was L.60,880 Scots, 

 or L.5073 sterling ; the new valuation for 1876-77 (exclusive 

 of railways and canals) is L. 18 9,1 9 8 ; of railways and canals, 

 L.47,039. Eents of farms vary much according to quality and 

 capabilities of the land, and its proximity or otherwise to the 

 city of Edinburgh. Fields of pasture, let solely as accommoda- 

 tion land, realise as much as L.6 to L.IO per acre; soil suitable 

 for gardens, L.8 to L.12 ; while for ordinary farming purposes in 

 some localities it reaches L.4 or L.5. These high-rented tracts 

 are, however, not only of first quality, and so situated that the 

 produce is sold at the highest cost, but they are also within easy 

 reach of manure. Approximately, the whole of the arable land 

 in Mid-Lothian may be calculated at 40s. to 55s. per acre, while 

 the hill pastures may average 10s to 15s. throughout. The rent 

 of the parish of Xewton may be put down at L.3 to L.5, and 

 of the parish of Gogar at L.2 to L.3 per imperial acre. Three- 

 fourths of a century ago, good pasture or meadow land in the 

 parish of Dalkeith let at L.3 to L.5 ; whole farms at L.l to L.l, 

 15s. and L.2 ; and gardens at L.3 to L.5, 10s. The rents in the 

 parish of Cranston at the same period ranged from 5s. to 30s. per 

 acre, and some as far as L.2. Since then, the figures have been 

 quite doubled. Taking the whole range of enclosed land 

 seventy-five years back, it will be quite safe to say that the rents 

 have advanced cent, per cent — 60 per cent, in fifty years, and 25 

 to 30 per cent, in the past twenty-live years. After the Crimean 

 War, rents rose rapidly, but the change since then has not been 

 so marked, although there has still been an upward tendency. 

 In recent years, the most advance has been in the hill districts, 

 where improvements in draining, liming, manuring, and other 

 descriptions of land reclamation have been zealously prosecuted. 

 In Linlithgow the farms are not rented so heavily as in Edinburgh, 

 To begin with, the soil is nut naturally so fruitful, the district is 

 further from a good maiket, and the land has not been so higldy 

 farmed and so liberally manured in previous yenrs. Jt is an old 



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