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distance. Along the course of the Tweed, the Whiteadder 

 and Blackadder rivers, there are long tracts of a very fine 

 deep and free loam lying on a substratum of gravel or clay ; 

 and throughout the valleys the good loamy soils prevail. 

 Those which are of a heavier kind are well adapted to the 

 growth of wheat and beans, and the lighter to that ol 

 turnips and barley or spring wheat. The following division 

 of the soil of Berwickshire is given in the agricultural 

 report of the county, drawn up for the board of agriculture 

 in 1 798 by Mr. John Home. And we have no reason to 

 doubt its being tolerably correct : 



Deep loam on the principal rivers 



Clay lands in the how (hollow) of the Merse 



Turnip soil in the remainder of the Merse, in 

 Lauderdale, Westruther, Merton, Ne- 

 thorn, Longformacus, and other arable 

 parts ..... 



Meadows, moss, and moor of Lammermoor 

 and Lauderdale, including some arable 

 patches .... 



Acres. 

 25,410 

 40,380 



119,780 



99,870 



285,440 



What is here termed meadows means coarse marshy pas- 

 tures, which are sometimes mown when fodder is scarce. 

 They differ widely from what are called meadows in Eng- 

 land, which in Scotland go under the general name of old 

 grass land, to distinguish them from the arable lands laid 

 down to grass for a few years, according to the convertible 

 system of husbandry. The old grass lands are seldom 

 mown, but generally depastured. 



This last division is now considerably diminished by the 

 improvements made by draining and cultivation, and we 

 shall not be far from the truth if we take off a fifth part, 

 and add it to the preceding division; or, taking round 

 numbers, we may reckon that there are at least 200,000 

 acres of productive land more or less improved and culti- 

 vated, and about 80,000 in a state of nature, including 

 woods. This, considering the extent of high ground, gives 

 a very favourable idea of the spirit and industry of the 

 proprietors and farmers. The best soils are of a reddish 

 colour, indicating the presence of oxide of iron in that state 

 of oxidation in which it is most favourable to vegetation, 

 and to which it is reduced when clay is burnt which con- 

 tains it. In every part of the county moors occur of 

 greater or less extent, some of which are very poor. The 

 thin black soil of the moors is of a loose porous nature, 

 covering a subsoil of an impervious till or barren clay. 

 Being soon saturated with moisture, which cannot pene- 

 trate the subsoil, it becomes of the consistence of mud. 

 When the water is at last dried by evaporation, it leaves a 

 loose mass without coherence, which is soon converted into 

 dust. Such a soil can never be improved with any prospect 

 of advantage. But where the subsoil is of a more porous 

 nature, and drains can be made to carry off the superfluous 

 moisture, the soil may be made productive, when rendered 

 active by the application of lime and consolidated by culti- 

 vation. 



There are not many very large estates in Berwickshire, 

 although many of its proprietors have extensive estates in 

 adjoining counties, or elsewhere; but some estates of no 

 great extent are very valuable, from the richness of the 

 soil and the improved state of cultivation. Many proprietors 

 reside on their estates, and are their own agents, which is 

 a great advantage to their tenants, who being in constant 

 intercourse with their landlords are stimulated to greater 

 exertions, and feel more confident of being treated with 

 fairness and liberality. The lands in the hands of the 

 proprietors are generally cultivated in the most approved 

 manner, which keeps up a spirit of emulation and improve- 

 ment among the tenants. Several considerable landed pro- 

 perties have been acquired by the profits of agriculture, or 

 have been originally derived from that source. The pro- 

 prietors of these estates continue to feel an interest in the 

 pursuit to which they owe their fortune, and are generally 

 foremost in all agricultural improvements. 



The farms in Berwickshire are generally of considerable 

 size, from 500 to 1000 acres, or more, and tenanted by men 

 of good capital, who pay their rents punctually, and cultivate 

 the land in a regular and scientific manner. Leases, gene- 

 rally for nineteen years, are almost universal ; and this may 

 be considered as one of the chief causes of the high state of 

 cultivation in which the land is kept, and the expensive im- 



provements which have been made by the tenants. All the 

 land is inclosed, or may be so, at the cost of making the 

 fences : there are no common lands, or rights of common. 

 Antiently a great part of the arable land in Scotland was 

 divided into various narrow strips, spread over a considerable 

 extent of ground, and separated by grass baulks, as was the 

 case in the old common fields in England. Land lying in 

 this manner was called run-rig and run-dale, and a most 

 inconvenient arrangement it was, which made any consider- 

 able improvement impracticable. The origin of this divi- 

 sion may be traced to the feudal times, when the lord of the 

 soil parcelled out the land amongst his retainers. The most 

 fertile spots were naturally coveted, and were divided so as 

 to prevent any jealousy ; each had a portion of what was 

 considered the best, and also of what was inferior. These 

 allotments being accumulated, or subdivided by purchase 

 and by inheritance, produced that inconvenient distribu- 

 tion of run-rig and run-dale, consisting of long strips of a 

 few furrows wide up hill and down hill, parallel to each 

 other, every strip having a different owner. When agricul- 

 ture began to he more than the mere means of obtaining; 

 food, and the expenses of cultivation began to be reckoned, 

 the necessity of collecting the dispersed portions of land be- 

 came apparent. The first step to improvement was to lay 

 them into common fields, and to adopt a regular mode of 

 cultivation. The next advance towards a better system,, 

 was a general division and inclosure of properties. For this 

 purpose two acts of the Scottish parliament were passed in 

 1'685 (ch. 23 and 38), which empowerejl proprietors to ex- 

 change their various detached lands and collect them into* 

 large fields for the purpose of inclosure. This was done by 

 a very simple legal process, attended with little difficulty or 

 expense. All common rights were commuted at the same- 

 time, and every one had his land, as much as possible, col- 

 lected together, and freed from all interference. Under the 

 sanction of this law all the lands in Berwickshire, with very 

 few exceptions, were soon divided, and a great part inclosed. 

 They have now been so for more than a century past, so that 

 the remembrance of the old divisions is nearly lost. There 

 are still some common-field lands, which belong to royal 

 corporations, and cannot be divided ; the general act of in- 

 closure excepted them by a special clause. Such is the land 

 that belongs to the royal borough of Lauder, which is di- 

 vided into 105 portions, the proprietors of which, by inherit- 

 ance or purchase, were, before the passing of the Reform 

 Bill, the only freemen and voters in the borough : so that 

 the whole corporation might possibly be vested in a single 

 individual who should become possessed of all the portions. 

 Each of these portions is about two statute acres, and to the- 

 whole is attached a common pasture, or outfield of 1400 

 acres, of which, by common consent, a portion is regularly 

 broken up for tillage, and divided by lot among the free- 

 men ; the remainder is common pasture, subject to a cer- 

 tain stint. A common herd is kept, who takes care of all 

 the cattle, drives them out in the morning, and brings them 

 home at night. 



A considerable inconvenience, and another remnant of 

 feudalism, remained much longer, and i& scarcely yet en- 

 tirely removed. This is the right of tkirlage, as it is called, 

 ar the obligation which a tenant is under to grind at the 

 lord's mill all the corn used in his family, and, in some cases, 

 all the corn grown on the farm ; this was originally in- 

 tended merely to keep up the rent paid by the miller. Old 

 prejudices long retarded the removal of this very impolitic 

 restraint; and the more liberal modern landlords found 

 lhat they gained more in the improved rent of their farms, 

 by the removal of the restraint, than they ever could have 

 done by any increased rent of the mill. The millers, without 

 my monopoly, find that they have fully as much work as 

 before, and the rents of the mills have kept pace with the 

 increased rents of the land. 



The farm-houses and buildings in this county, which were- 

 formerly clumsy and incommodious, or mere cottages and 

 hovels, are now mostly of a very superior order, better 

 adapted to the improved condition of the tenants, and the' 

 more advanced state of agriculture. The houses of the most 

 substantial farmers are not inferior to the dwellings or 

 manses of the ministers, and in many instances far superior. 

 Perhaps the desire of giving accommodation to a superior class 

 of tenants has led to an unnecessary extravagance in erect- 

 ing some of the more modern structures. In the necessary 

 farm buildings, especially those by which a greater quantity 

 of live stock may be conveniently kept, it is scaive f y pussible 



