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TJic Countrv Gcntlanaiis Magazine 



the former, not a single one of the latter was ob- 

 served on any of the Minto crags. Leaving which 

 we had a pleasant walk through the grounds and 

 gardens, and particularly admired many un- 

 usually fine old larch, silver fir, spruce, beech, 

 hemlock spruce, and other trees, some of the two 

 first of which were pointed out by the Earl of 

 Minto's intelligent forester, Mr J. Ballantine, as 

 being above loo feet in height, and of these, as 

 well as others, we hope to be furnished with par- 

 ticular dimensions. The kitchen garden here, 

 although in fair condition as to crops and keep- 

 ing, is in a too low and damp situation, as well 

 as too closely surrounded by high trees; and the 

 same may be said of the arboretum, which, how- 

 ever, contains some excellent specimens of the 

 leading conifers. The only regret that one can 

 have at visiting this fine place is that of seeing 

 it entirely over-run with rabbits, the mis- 

 chievous effects of which are everywhere appa- 

 rent, from the closely eaten-in plants of the 

 Asplenium septentrionale, wherever they can be 

 reached by them on the craig cliffs, to some of 

 the rarer larger specimens of conifers in the 

 arboretum. May these pests of vegetation be 

 visited with swift and sure destruction. 



In regard to the field crops throughout the 

 district visited, wheat, wherever it is grown, is 

 this year an unprecedentedly bulky and excellent 

 crop ; barlc)' fully an average in quantity, and 

 above that in quality ; oats are deficient in 

 some of the lower and dryer districts, but in 

 the higher parts they are bulky and of unusual 

 excellency. Turnips have, with very trifling ex- 

 ceptions, brairded well, and on the whole are 

 likely to be at least an average yield, although 

 suffering in the lower parts along the banks of 

 the Tweed, Ettrick, and Yarrow, with mildew, 

 which will be partly remedied by the recent 

 heavy rainfalls ; and potatoes were, at the time 

 of our visit, everywhere free from disease, al- 

 though complaints were common of their assum- 

 ing a second growth. In a low part of a field 

 near Hassendean, fully an acre was completely 

 blackened in the foliage by frost, and in several 

 other low waterside fields they had suffered from 

 the same cause, but to a less extent. On the 

 15th stubbles were everywhere cleared, except 

 on about half-a-dozen of fields in the parish of 

 Ashkirk, and on the higher ground between it 

 and Hawick. 



