COUNTY OF STIRLING. 149' 



seldom more than 25 to 40 feet above the level of the sea at 

 high water, and contains beds of shells, moss, and marl. A 

 good deal in the parishes of St Xinians, Airth, Bothkennar, 

 Falkirk, and Polmont has been actually reclaimed from the sea 

 at a comparatively recent date. Lord Dundas began a process 

 of reclamation in 1788, and in twenty or thirty years had made 

 174 acres of land. The Earl of Dimmore, about the same time, 

 reclaimed 170 acres; and other proprietors secured smaller 

 tracts of valuable land. The component parts of carse soil, 

 when analysed, are as follows : — 



w u-rGij ••••«• 



Silica, ...... 



Alumina, ..... 



Carbonate of lime, .... 



Organic matter, .... 



Oxide of iron, ..... 



Soluble salts, ..... 



Soluble matter. .... 



Loss, ...... 



The carse was greatly improved by the thorough draining- 

 which followed the adoption of the system devised by Mr Smith 

 of Deanston. Crops were increased in bulk one-sixth to one- 

 fourth in good seasons on the best land, besides an improvement 

 in weight and quality ; in cold, wet seasons the improvement 

 was still more obvious. A good deal of the land would now 

 require to be drained afresh. Lents of carse lands in the 

 eastern district rise to 60s. an acre, and in exceptional cases 

 higher ; in the central district the best land is from 50s. to 60s., 

 medium land 30s. to o5s., and inferior about 15s. an acre. The 

 lanils belonging to the hospitals in Stirling are let by auction, 

 and go higher than ordinary farms. 



iJry field soil in the county varies in quality. In the eastern 

 district, from Linlithgow to Stirling, it is good in quality, equal 

 to carse or nearly so in value, and very favourable for mixed 

 husbandry. In other districts it is light and of poor quality, 

 but intermixed with patches of rich loam. Dry field soil 

 prevails in the parishes of St Ninians, Polmont, Larbert, Denny, 

 Kilsyth, l>alderii()ck, and parts of Cauipsie, Strathblane, Sla- 

 mannan, and Muiravonside. It comprehends the lower or arable 

 declivities of the hills, and the greater part of the vales in the 

 central and western districts. Along the sides of the hills in 

 the parishes of Lalfron, Killearn, Kippcn, and Clargunnock, 

 there is a tract of land, about L'O miles in extent, which slopes 

 down to the Forth and the Kndrick, increasing in fertility as it 

 approaches the rivers. In the vales of the Kndrick, the Llane,. 



