510 Account of the district of Lammermuir, i£c. Dec, 



considerable quantity of cheese and butter. The cheese is 

 both used at home, and sold to the lower parts of the country. 

 The butter is all needed, t© mix amongst the tarr, for salving 

 the sheep. 



Some cattle are bred in the district ; but not in any consi- 

 derable quantity. They are of various breeds : Some of ^them 

 good, but, in general, little attention ia paid to this article' of 

 farm stock. 



Wages to farm servants are much the same in the nor- 

 thern parts of the district as in the low country, viz. 15 bolls 

 of oats, barley and pease, with a cow's grass, &:c. In other 

 parts, vearly servar.ts have 12 bolls of the dliferent grains, 

 with pasture for ^6 sheep. It is the general opinion, that 

 fewer inhabitants are in Lammermuir at present than in 

 former times. But it is difficult to assign a sufficient cause 

 for any decrease of population. 



The roads leading thro' this district have, till of late, been 

 >ery little attended to. At present, those from Dantskin to 

 Kil-pallet burn, and from Garvald to Dunse, are in tolerable 

 repair. Few of the rest have ever got a shilling laid out 

 upon them, the whole .of the statute money having been ap- 

 plied upon roads situated in the lower parts of the county. 



The above is a short description of the present state of 

 lammermuir, and of the mode of farm management therein 

 practised. We shall now, in a few words, point out the ob-' 

 stacles to its improvement, and how they may be removed. 



As in most of the farms there is some good dry ara- 

 ble land, the first obstacle to improvements arises from 

 a want of inclosures. Some Farmers have of late raised 

 excellent crops both of clover and turnips ; but to their 

 great mortification, have often had them destroyed by their 

 flocks, from the want offences. The common muir pasture 

 are so dead and withered, during the winter months, that 

 the sheep are quite restless, to get any sort of green food; and 

 if they once taste turnips, their avidity increases after every 

 u;ratific:uion. 



The arable land m each farm, which is at present worn out 

 with long tillage, might be greatly improved by being laid 

 in grass a few years, or by raising turnips and clover, for 

 the support of the farm stock. The greatest improvement 

 that can be suggested, is to inclose such grounds, otherwise 

 the tenant must hold, whatever improvement he carries on 

 upon tliem, by such a precarious tenure, that he will scarcely 

 be at the trouble of stepping out of the old beaten path. It 

 is therefore the interest of the respective proprietors, to 

 have all ^uch fields, as are above described, completely in- 



cloicd 



