ROXBURGHSHIRE. 



JRoxburgh. 

 shire. 



Leases. 



Size and 

 rent of 

 farms. 



when property became tnore secure. But it was not till 

 after the revolution of 1686, and especially till after the 

 union, that property acquired real stability. Since that 

 time the change has been wonderful indeed, and this 

 county, which has taken a lead in agricultural improve- 

 ments, may now be ranked among the best cultivated 

 parts of the kingdom ; and the valued rent of it is be- 

 lieved to be greater in proportion to its extent than that 

 of any other in Scotland. It amounts to ,3 14, 663, 6s. 

 4d. Scotch. The principal proprietors are the Dukes 

 of Roxburgh and Buccleugh, the Marquises of Lothian 

 and Tweeddale, Lord Minto, and the families of Scot, 

 Ker, Douglas, Pringle, Rutherford, &c. The num- 

 ber of freeholders at present on the roll is 139, a 

 great majority of whom possess real property in the 

 county. 



Leases of arai>le lands are in general of nineteen or 

 twenty-one years duration. Pasture farms, admitting 

 comparatively little improvement, are still sometimes 

 let for a shorter period. In the leases of arable lands, 

 provision is in general made for preventing them from 

 being impoverished by injudicious or severe crop- 

 ping, especially toward the close. The common re- 

 strictions are, that a certain portion of the farm shall be 

 left in grass or in fallow ; that the straw and manure 

 produced during the currency of the lease, shall be con- 

 sumed on the ground ; and that two white crops shall not 

 be raised without the intervention of a green crop or 

 fallow. The enclosure of lands occasions special stipu- 

 lations in leases. The fences are sometimes kept up at 

 the mutual expense of landlord and tenant, sometimes 

 formed by the landlord, who is entitled to receive a cer- 

 tain rate of interest for his outlay, and they are then 

 kept in repair by the tenant. Practices somewhat si- 

 milar apply to the lime laid on the land, of which 

 the quantity amounts to about eight single horse cart- 

 loads, or 160 bushels per English acre. The time of 

 entrance to farms is generally at Whitsunday, and to 

 such parts as are in crop at the separation of the corn 

 from the ground. The rents are generally made pay- 

 able at Martinmas and Whitsunday, but are rarely ex- 

 acted till near Candlemas or Lammas following. Leases 

 for one or more lives, though they sometimes occurred 

 formerly, are now very rare. The size of arable farms 

 may vary from 50 to 1500 acres, and may average 

 from 300 to 400 acres. Several farms bring from 

 1500 to 2000 per annum ; one gentleman, indeed, 

 occupies land to the extent of above 5000 per annum. 

 Farm-houses and offices, which are now generally 

 made very commodious, are usually put in good re- 

 pair by the proprietor at the commencement of the 

 lease, and kept up by the tenant. 



An improved system of draining, enclosing, and 

 cropping, is said to have been introduced by Dr. John 

 Rutherford about eighty years ago. At a late period, 

 viz. about 1750, Mr. William Dawson commenced 

 farming in the county of Roxburgh, was among the 

 first to introduce turnip and drill husbandry from Nor- 

 folk, and exhibited a most useful and successful exam- 

 ple in all the branches of agriculture. Still more re- 

 cently, the present four-break system of husbandry 

 became general in this county, 



In 1813 the Border Agricultural Society was formed, 

 which have a spring and autumn meeting in Kelso, for 

 the exhibition of stock and machinery, and for the dis- 

 tribution of various prizes. It has been conducted with 

 remarkable spirit and success. In 1820, this society 

 formed adjunction with another institution of the same 

 kind, whose meetings were held at Coldstream and Corn- 

 hill, and which was called the "> Tweedside Agricul- 

 tural Society." The name of the association after the 



junction was the " Union Agricultural Society," whose Roxburgh- 

 meetings are now held two years in succession at Kel- 

 so, and one year at Coldstream or Cornhill. Regular 

 cattle markets under its auspices, have been established ^"'(l",.^ 

 at Kelso and Coldstream during part of the winter and g oc i e ty. 

 spring months ; and these have tended both to im- 

 prove the stock, and to add to the profits of breed- 

 ers. Distinguished amateurs in the higher ranks fre- 

 quently attend the exhibitions of the society ; and the 

 show of home-reared cattle, especially of the short- 

 horned breed, excites admiration botli for number 

 and excellence. The small hook, sometimes with a 

 smooth, sometimes with a serrated edge, still continues 

 to be the general instrument for reaping over all this 

 part of the country. The common long scythe is only 

 very partially employed. 



Weekly markets for the sale of grain, are regu- Market 

 larly held in Kelso, Jedburgh, and Hawick, in for grain. 

 which places corn is sold by sample on short credit. 

 The Kelso market is by far the most numerously fre- 

 quented, and is generally attended by corn dealers 

 from the port of Berwick, who purchase for exporta- 

 tion to London, &c. Most of the grain produced in 

 this fruitful district is delivered at Berwick, though a 

 considerable proportion is conveyed to Dalkeith by 

 land carriage, where it is always sold in bulk, and paid 

 in ready money. One advantage of this distant con- 

 veyance is, that the superior coal and lime of Mid- 

 Lothian are brought home in the carts. In particular 

 seasons, some portion of the corn sold in Kelso market, 

 which includes a considerable part of the produce of 

 Berwickshire and Northumberland, is sent to the in- 

 terior of the county westward for consumption. 



There are various fairs held periodically in the coun- Fairs. 

 ty, the greatest of which is that of St. Boswell's, on the 

 18th of July, on an extensive plain near the Tweed, 

 for lambs, sheep, black cattle, horses, linen, and wool- 

 len cloth. The price of wool, with the staplers who 

 come from Yorkshire, and other parts in the south, is 

 generally fixed here, as well as at Yetholm and the 

 Rink fair, near Jedburgh. St. James's fair is held on 

 the fifth of August, on the green of ancient Roxburgh, 

 now a part of the farm of Friars, opposite to Kelso. A 

 great deal of linen and woollen cloth is here disposed 

 of; numerous horses and cattle are exposed to sale; 

 and bargains are made between farmers and labourers, 

 either from the neighbourhood, or from the Scotch 

 Highlands and Ireland for harvest work. 



Considering the distance of most of the inhabitants 

 of this extensive county from fuel and markets, it is 

 not surprising that different projects have been con- 

 certed for diminishing this inconvenience. A plan 

 was formed above thirty years ago for making the 

 Tweed navigable from Kelso to Berwick. But besides 

 the objections to this measure on the part of the pro- 

 prietors of the valuable fisheries near the mouth of the 

 Tweed, the rapid inundations to which it is sometimes 

 liable, were thought such as to render the measure in- 

 expedient, if not impracticable. In the year 1811 an 

 act of parliament was obtained for carrying a rail-road 

 from Kelso to Tweedmouth, chiefly through the ex- 

 ertions of Hugh Scott, Esq. of Harden. Its estimated 

 expense was about L.100,000, of which more than one 

 half had been subscribed in snares of L.tOO before the 

 act was passed. Various unforeseen obstacles have 

 since prevented the accomplishment of the measure. 

 But in 1 824, when speculations of every kind were so 

 much afloat, from the overflow of unemployed capital, 

 the subscription list was more than filled up, and plans 

 and estimates were ordered. A new survey of the 

 ground has been made during the present season (1825) 

 3 



