COUXTIES OF EOSS AND CROMARTY. 83 



In Kincardine granite and whinstone abound, while with few 

 exceptions the formation among the hills on the west is gneiss, 

 mixed or alternating with mica schist, quartz rock, ironstone, and 

 mountain limestone ; tlie latter exists in great abundance, and is 

 extensively used for agricultural purposes. The Old Eed, how- 

 ever, is not altogether wanting even on the west, for at Apple- 

 cross, Lochcarron, Gairloch, and Lochbroom considerable quan- 

 tities of it are seen. Iron was at one time quarried in the 

 Gairloch district ; but the only fuel at hand was the natural wood, 

 and when it became exhausted the work was abandoned. 



True to the general characteristics of Old Eed Sandstone dis- 

 tricts, the surface of Koss and Cromarty is diversified and irregular. 

 Around Tarbatness, for instance, where the strata are pretty 

 complete and unbroken by trap upheavals, the surface is flat and 

 bare, and the soil light and fertile ; while in the Black Isle, in 

 the parish of Nigg, and in other parts where there are marks of 

 trap eruptions and heights of hard conglomerate, the surface is 

 very irregular and uneven — in the words of Dr Page, '' here 

 rising in rounded heights, there sinking in easy undulations; 

 now swelling in sunny slopes, and anon retiring in winding glens 

 or rounded valley-basins of great bea^uty and fertility." The soil 

 which usually overlies the Old Eed Sandstone is light loam, 

 almost approaching clay, and invariably the subsoil is composed 

 of sand, gravel, and friable clay, these in fact being the debris of 

 the formation. Speaking generally, the soil of Eoss and Cromarty 

 corresponds closely to what might be looked for above their 

 geological formation ; but as it is not the underlying formation 

 alone that regulates the soil, it is only natural to expect several 

 deviations from the general rule. On the Black Isle the soil 

 varies a good deal. On the centre ridge, on what was once 

 Mulbine Common, the soil is very light and gravelly, and on 

 many j)arts the underlying rocks come very close to the surface. 

 Dry seasons do much damage here ; in fact, in a very dry year, 

 such as 1868, almost every well aloog the top of the isle becomes 

 dry. In the basins between the ridges, and along the coast the 

 whole way round, the prevailing soil is rich black loam and fine 

 clay, lying on sand or gravel on the lower flats, and on firm clay 

 on the slopes. A hard irony pan divides the soil from the sub- 

 soil in some parts, but where it could possibly be done this has 

 been cured by substantial trench ploughing. A good deal of the 

 laud facing the Cromarty Firth lies on a bed of stiff reddish clay, 

 reaching in some places as much as lOU feet in dt'pth. On the 

 land sloping south-west towards Dingwall and Conan, the soil is 

 principally a light sandy loam on an open bottom, very fertile 

 and easily cultivated. On the land around Dingwall, and be- 

 tween the town and Conan, there is a deep deposit of loam with 

 a large admixture of clay, very suitable for the growth of wheat, 



