10 ON THE AGRICULTUEE OF THE. 



Suffice it to say, that within the present century, agriculture in 

 both Mid and West Lothian has advanced rapidly, in draining; 

 in the deep culture of the soil; in the extended use of machinery; 

 in the introduction and appliance of steam power to many of the 

 most laborious offices of the farm ; in the use of extraneous 

 feeding stuffs and artificial manures ; in the scientific knowledge 

 possessed by the leading farmers ; in a word, in almost every- 

 thing pertaining to the satisfaction of the proprietor, the 

 prosperity of the farmer, the happiness of the labourer, and the 

 welfare of the community at large, as meat and bread consumers. 

 'Not that during the past seventy odd years there have been no 

 depressions ; great lessons are seldom taught without a certain 

 amount of sacrifice on some one's part, and the agricultural 

 panics of the present century have doubtless driven many a help- 

 less, honest, and struggling farmer to the wall 



Climate. 



The climate of the two counties is materially modified by their 

 geographical position. Continually bathed on their northern 

 boundary by the waters of the estuary of the Forth, extremes of 

 heat and cold are for the most part prevented. The mean tem- 

 perature of winter is rarely very low : that of summer never very 

 high. This will be better understood by comparing the climate 

 of Edinburgh with those of Copenhagen and Moscow — places 

 nearly under the same parallel :— 



In winter, therefore, snow seldom continues long upon the ground, 

 except in the vicinity of the mountains, and frosts rarely lock up 

 the soil so as to retard its cultivation. Sometimes a few nights 

 characterised by more than ordinary severity damage the turnips 

 in the fields ; at other times the shaws retain their greenness 

 until the returning spring again awakens the plants into active 

 life. Cold east winds prevail in March and April, and impede 

 vegetation to a certain extent ; and night frosts, even so late as 

 the end of May or the early part of June, have been known to 

 blacken the potato-tops and leave their impress upon the young 

 clovers. As a rule, however, the fields and gardens exhibit a green 

 aspect early in the season, which shows that vegetation is not 

 much retarded by the unfavourable influences just mentioned. 

 Garden produce is brought into Edinburgh market earlier than 

 it can be procured in many parts of England 200 or 300 miles 

 further to the south, and the early strawberries grown in the 

 immediate neighbourhood are justly held in great repute for their 



