150 THE AGRICULTUEE OF THE 



and the Kelty, the soil is either a fine light loam, clayey till, 

 or a sharp sandy mould. The subsoil consists of an impervi- 

 ous till, or a still more impenetrable rock of reddish freestone. 

 For dryfield land in the eastern district, the highest rents are 

 35s. to 50s. an imperial acre, for medium land 24s., and for 

 poor land 12s. 6d. an acre. Grazings are let on the Ochils for 

 8s. to 10s. a sheep ; other hill grazings are 2s. 6d. to 6s. a sheep, 

 counting average of stock for year according to quality. Hoggs 

 are chiefly sent out of the county to be wintered. On the 

 Campsie Fells is some of the best pasture in Scotland for black- 

 faoed sheep. 



Westward from Stirling, and occupying a large space in the 

 centre of the county, are the hills of Touch, Gargunnock, Fintry, 

 Killearn, and Campsie; and in the parish of Buchanan the 

 hills attain a hish elevation ; and, north from Buchanan Castle, 

 they are covered with short heath mixed with grass. About 

 one-thirtieth part of the county, in various places, is covered 

 with moss, some of which is incumbent on fine clay, as in the 

 parish of Airth, where there are about 300 acres, with an 

 average depth of 12 feet, covering land of excellent quality. 

 Much has been done to remove this encumbrance by the last 

 two Earls of Dunmore, but, at the present rate of wages, it 

 will not pay, as it requires £30 to clear an acre, while the rent 

 of the land would probably not exceed £2. In former days a 

 good deal of moss land was handed over in small patches to 

 cottars, who were allowed to retain the produce on condition of 

 removing the moss and cultivating the land. For nineteen 3^ears 

 they had the land free, for other nineteen at a very moderate 

 rent, and afterwards at a higher rent. They were called " moss 

 lairds," but many of them were poor, and now they are nearly 

 extinct. In the western district of Slamannan parish is a black 

 expanse of poor land which yields very indifferent crops, and 

 several hundred acres of moss from 3 to 12 feet deep, and 

 resting on sand. This would be of no value even were the moss 

 removed. 



Climate. 



The climate of the eastern district is milder than that of the 

 west, partly because of the less elevation, partly on account of 

 the superior shelter afforded by trees and hedges, but partly 

 also because of the higher summer temperature in the east of 

 Scotland than in the west. In spring the east suffers heavily 

 from fogs and easterly winds ; but, on the other hand, the west 

 has more cloud, and a greater rainfall. Crops in the eastern 

 district are about a fortnight later than the early parts of Mid- 

 Lothian. The rainfall is much modified by the direction from 

 east to west, and by the proximity to or distance from hills. 



