62 ON THE AGEICULTUEE OF THE 



in taking the medal offered for tlie best turnips in West Lothian, 

 A short walk from this point brought us to Livingston Station, 

 where we took train for Edinburgh, well pleased w^ith what we 

 had seen in a somewhat circuitous ramble. The line of railway 

 passes through a nicely farmed country from Livingston east- 

 wards, but the soil is extremely variable, and the rotations differ 

 on almost every holdiug. The land is well wooded, but wdiile 

 the belts of plantation afford good shelter for stock, they also in 

 some degree impede the progress of the plough, and prevent ven- 

 tilation in the fields. 



Our second outing did not extend beyond the county of Mid- 

 Lothian, and, as in the former one, our attention w^as chiefly 

 directed to the quality of the soil and the j^revailing systems of 

 cropping, with the addition of a few stray notes on other sub- 

 jects thrown in ad libihim; so, in the second tour we mainly 

 confined our attention to sheep farming and dairy manage- 

 ment. As the particulars of several flocks and herds will be 

 found under their respective heads in the body of the report, 

 the notes are not so full here as they otherwise would have 

 been. Takin^r the train to Carrie, we aliojht in a delif^htful 

 country, where the lUile and the chdce are beautifully com- 

 bined. The soil of the lower grounds is rich and under high 

 culture, but the uplands are moorish. The rental of one or two 

 farms has increased 700 per cent, in 150 years. Mr Walter Kidd, 

 Ealleny, has 50 Ayrshire cattle for dairy j^irposes. He has 

 also been a w^onderful land reclaimer, and his oats and tur- 

 nips grown upon portions of the farm originally worth no more rent 

 than Is. per acre were simply excellent. At a little distance is 

 the farm of Mrs Moffat, Kinleith, where a standing flock of 600 

 splendid Cheviots is kept. Proceeding along a mountainous 

 route we arrive at Listonshiels, at the head of the w^ater of Cock- 

 burn. Here Mr Aitken has one of the best blackfaced flocks in 

 Scotland, and has long been a successful honour-taker. Mr Gray, 

 Harper-rigg has also a good flock of this breed. Crossing an 

 elevated tract of country — the high range of the Pentlands — we 

 come to Penicuik. The parish bearing this name is extensive, being 

 11 or 12 miles in length by 6 in breadth. There is a variety of 

 soils, consisting of clay, gravel, sand, and moss, with all their 

 combinations, and the agriculture is as varied as the soil Sheep 

 farming, dairying, and cropping are carried on in all their moods 

 and tenses, and to give a complete account of every branch would 

 be to describe the methods on the generality of the holdings. 

 There is not much wheat grow^n, but oats and turnips, with here 

 and there a field of barley, seem to thrive well. Of the whole 

 parish, about 8400 acres are in tillage, 1000 under w^ood, and the 

 remaining 11,600 in mountain pasture or waste. During recent 

 years a large area of once w\aste land has been reclaimed, and 



