14 ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE 



cuts, particularly those portions where moss occurred. Large 

 beds of limestone are found in the parish of Borthwick, and the 

 land in general is of a hilly character. Some of the soil is thin 

 and moorish, but a great part is well cultivated. Coming back 

 more into the heart of the country, the surface around Dalkeith 

 is beautifully undulating, and the soil, though somewhat light 

 and patchy, rests upon a deep clay, and is highly adapted for the 

 growth of fruit and forest trees. Around Corstorphine village a 

 black loamy soil generally prevails, with traces of clay and sand. 

 This district is literally, and has not inaptly, been termed " the 

 garden of Edinburgh." The meadow ground in the vicinity is 

 largely composed of decayed vegetables, and yields abundantly. 

 Crichton parish possesses a fine, rich, deep soil, most of which is 

 accessible to the plough, and brings forth good crops annually. 

 The high lands are sheltered by belts of thriving plantation. 

 The Fala and Soutra districts, in the eastern division of Mid- 

 Lothian, contain some heath-clad hills covered with a thin gravelly 

 soil, as also some marshy grounds. Fala-Flow is a large moss, 

 extending to several hundreds of acres, from which a very large 

 quantity of peats is annually dug. Among the Pentland 

 and Lammermuir Hills are much moorland and moss, the farms 

 in the neighbourhood being either wholly pastoral, or more com- 

 monly partly pastoral and partly arable. In these notes upon 

 the soils of Edinburgh and Linlithgow, we might have given a 

 much more elaborate and detailed account of what the farmers 

 in each particular district have to work upon, but having fixed 

 upon certain localities, embracing as nearly as possible every 

 class of soil in the counties under consideration in order to illus- 

 trate our remarks, we think it is quite unnecessary to devote more 

 space to the subject. In a future part of the paper, where the 

 system of crop rotation pursued by several farmers is de- 

 scribed, more details of the soils and their capabilities are 

 brought under notice. We may, however, remark that, in general, 

 there are few impediments to the plough, except where the land 

 rises abruptly into mountain peaks of considerable altitude. Here 

 and there boulders are found in the soil within reach of modern 

 cultivation, but in the old reclaimed lands most of these have 

 been removed, and are doing good service either upon the roads 

 or in the drains. Very few of the soils are so thin as not to 

 admit of a good furrow being taken, while they generally, are of 

 great depth, particularly where thorough culture has been prac- 

 tised during several rotations. In many instances subsoiling 

 has been effectually carried out, thus affording a safeguard to the 

 crops in wet weather, by allowing the rain to pass off more readily 

 to the drains ; and also being beneficial in dry weather, as a well- 

 wrought subsoil is a retainer of moisture in the time of drought.' 



