l8oo. of Paring the Surface, in the Highlands. 409 



their own and the public intereft, no additional ftimulus feems 

 neceflary. 



A hut or hovel, fuch as has been defcribed, is erefted with 

 greater labour, and perhaps expence, than would be required 

 to build one with ftone, and cover it with thatch or tiles. A 

 great deal of foil, that might be rendered produ£tive, is de- 

 prived of its furface, and either entirely deftroyed, or very 

 much injured, in procuring the materials. After all, the ha- 

 bitation is an uncomfortable one, and does not lafl: a tenth 

 part of the time that one conflruiled of (lone and lime ufual- 

 ly does. 



The cafe is the fame with fences made with this material. 

 Thefe, in their mofl perfeft Rate, never look well, and are, 

 for the moft part, found very unequal to the purpofes of con- 

 fining either fheep or cattle, or even of protecting corn crops. 

 They are afFedted by every circumftance of the weather : 

 moifture eafily penetrates them •, froft, in that ftate, fwells, 

 burfts, and throws them down. A Summer fun a£ling upon 

 an earthen fence, that has been thus fwoln, and rendered loofe 

 by froft, parches, and caufes it to moulder down. Its perpen- 

 dicular furface is, by that means, loft ; the fence becomes a 

 Hoping bank, and muft then be either completely rebuilt, or 

 the inclofure abandoned. 



In the Highlands, and indeed over the greateft part of the 

 north, there are at prefent many thoufand fences of this defcrip- 

 tion, that are now nothing but banks and mounds of earth j 

 which, though they are no longer ufeful as fences, and though 

 the fields from whence they were originally taken, continue 

 to reproach the occupier, no attempt is made to render them 

 ufeful, or repair the injury done, by carrying them off. The 

 fame blameable neglect prevails in regard to the ruins of 

 their houfes, it being by no means an uncommon thing to 

 fee the roofs fallen in, and the decayed walls ftanding, of 

 whole groups of cottages, -which, with a fmall degree of la- 

 bour, might be converted into excellent manure ; it being, 

 now well afcertained, tliat when turf has been ufed even for 

 fences, and remained in that ftate for a year, or even for 

 a few montlis, it is found to have acquired fertilizing proper- 

 ties, partly by the decay of the vegetable fubftances it origi- 

 nally contained, and partly by abforption from the atniof- 

 phere. Witnefs the good efFeiSls of fold-dikes, when ufed in 

 that way. 



When turf is ufed for conftrufting the walls of cottageSj^. 

 llublcs, &c. it ia found to have acquired very high fertilizing 



powersj 



