Book I. 



AGRICULTURE OF SCOTLAND. 



11S5 



cultivated or improvable, and highly favorable for most branches of agriculture. Though 

 Scotland, as elsewhere observed (771.) > vvas far behind England in cultivation, till the 

 middle of the last century ; it has now greatly outstripped that country, especially in 

 arable husbandry : a proof that this is the general opinion of enlightened men may be 

 deduced from the notices just given of the English and Welsh counties, in which it ap- 

 pears that the improvements introduced or attempted to be introduced on arable land, 

 are with few exceptions the implements and practices of Scotland. In the manage- 

 ment of meadows or old pasture, Scotland cannot be conspicuous ; as the climate 

 is not naturally calculated for that kind of husbandry. The winters are too long and 

 severe and the surface too irregular. In regard to live stock, the palm of improvement 

 is undoubtedly borne away by England ; but though there is not that enthusiasm in 

 Scbtland, nor such large prices given for capital specimens, it may be safely asserted 

 that breeding and feeding are conducted as systematically and successfully there as in 

 England. We shall glance at the different counties in the order of their proximity, begin- 

 ning with that containing the capital. It may be sufficient to mention here that leases 

 are universal in Scotland, most generally for nineteen years, often for twenty-one, some- 

 times for fourteen, but seldom for a shorter period. The poor are supported by volun- 

 tary contributions at the church doors, though an assessment on property, half paid by the 

 proprietors, and half by the tenants, may be made if necessary, which is very seldom the 

 case. Tithes were commuted for their value in land, and land's produce at an 

 early period. Every parish has a schoolmaster, who is paid jointly by the proprietors 

 and the farmers. There is a professorship of agriculture in the Edinburgh University, 

 ably filled by Dr. Coventry, a man of whom it may be truly said, that he is universally 

 esteemed and beloved. 



7047 MIDLOTHIAN. 230,400 acres, one third hilly and inaccessible to the plough, and two thirds in 

 tillaee pasture or wood. The store sheep farming is practised on the hills, and a mixed agriculture on 

 the low grounds. Green crops and potatoes are extensively cultivated for the Edinburgh market, and most 

 farmers are more indebted to the manure they receive in return, than to the soil, or superior skill ; many of 

 them are townsmen, amateurs, and speculative cultivators. The Dalkeith Farmers' Society, one of the 

 most useful that has been formed, and which still exists, belongs to this county j and in it also was 

 founded the BritishWool Society, now extinct. {Robertson's Survey, 1795.) 



1. Geographical State and Circumstances. 



Climate ftee from extreme heaU or colds snow seldom falls 

 on the low parts of the country before December, lies from 

 three to ten weeks. In eight vears, the greatest quantity of ram 

 that fell |in any year was 36.8. inches, and the least quantity 



^'ItrfTmrch diversified; lands hanging to the north always 



%^r^!'*A'bed of coal extends across the county from 

 S W. to N.E. from seven to eight miles in breadth ; worked 

 for two centuries. Limestone, freestone, granite, and whmstone 

 very abundant. Millstones in the parish of Pennycuick, a so 

 marble. Some copper and iron ore, marl and jasper pebbles 



" VJ<m"Sms inconsiderable. Esk ( Vk, Gael.) the largest 

 river; few fish from the rivers or streams, but abundance 

 from the firth or sea. 



Q J^rojyerty 



About 540 estates in the county, divided by the reporter into 

 seven classes ; first class from two to 300W. or upwards ; fifth 

 class \m. and upwards ; sixth class, least properties ; seventh 

 c aS. properties of corporate bodies. Total rental m 1795, 

 191,000/. r Duke of Buccleugh the first proprietor. 



5. Buildiners. . , ., j 



Many gentlemen's seats, and some fine ruins of castles and 



"l^ft Wr,^in., as it is here called, consisted formerly of a 

 set of low buildings, in the form of a square, one side was cxxu- 

 ^ed by the mast^ himself, whose habitation was composed of 

 two or three dismal apartments, on an earthen floor, having a 

 iJw ceiling and a few diminutive lights. On another side stood 

 thIbrrn,Tn which the roof timbers, from the idea of giymg 

 more sTrength, were built into the wall from the foundation ; 

 the wall itsllf Aot being more than five feet in height. Op^- 

 ite to the bam were the stables and the byre, or cowhouse. 

 The stables were totally without division, and the horses fed 

 in common; but the neat-cattle less P='^>Yf^^" ,^^^?" 

 fined to their stakes. The cottages occupied the remaining 

 sidlr in thf midst of all lay the dunghill. Th^ buildmgs 

 were made of turf and stone alternately, or with stone, and 

 Tlay for mortar: the roof of thatch, orot thatch and d,vct (turf 



"'pWrnOTi^Tow^' the first style of commodiousness. An ei- 

 ample given of Gogarbank farm. 



Cottwes formerly very mean, now much improvl. 



Farms vary from 100 to 300 acres. Farmers divided into 

 three classes ; speculators, converts from other profes-sions ; 

 industrious laborers who have acquired some property , and 

 farmers sprung from farmers. . . .^ c .v .^ tVo 



SpecuUUors. " In the immediate vicinity of the town, the 

 greater part of the lands are cultivated, not by actual fanners, 

 but what may be more properly termed speculators m agricul- 

 ture, people with whom farming is but a secondary object , 

 their chief employment being still what was their original pro- 

 fession, as bakers, brewers, innkeepers, or some other distinct 

 occupation; and who are oftener to be found m their town 

 lodgmgs, or in their compting houses, than in the midst ot 

 th^r farms, attending to the operations of husbandry. One 

 certain effect, which the speculations of this class produce, is, 



that the rent of land is raised above its natural level ; for, as 

 they have always some other business to live by, they are en- 

 abled to afford more rent ; and in fact give more than an actual 

 farmer, whose sole dependance is upon husbandry, is able to 

 pay ; while their exertions in agriculture, though in general 

 founded on good principles, commonly end in disappointment 

 to themselves, for want of that unceasing attention which is 

 indispensable to good cultivation, but which their other avoca- 

 tions prevent them from bestowing." 



The moor-land farmers, as if in conformity to the soil, which 

 has undergone very little melioration, and to the climate, which 

 is naturally severe, seem still to retain astrong cast of the'man- 

 ners of their forefathers, and to live and toil under the same 

 uncomfortable circumstances. Their houses are damp, smoky, 

 and diminutive ; their fare simple and limited, and their 

 labors hard and even oppressive. But they have days of relax- 

 ation, in which they enjoy themselves at fairs and markets ; 

 their marriage festivities are almost boundless, and their fune- 

 rals are pompous and ostentatious. Religion is maintained 

 in all the austerity of Oliver Cromwell and the covenant. 



These farmers are the only ones in a county containing a capi- 

 tal town, who are likely to better their condition. Being inured 

 to the practice of the most rigid economy, they will, when 

 translated to a warmer climate and more genial soil, very 

 forcibly feel a melioration in their circumstances ; and if they 

 have fortitude enough (as the first race of them generally will) 

 to persevere in their original habits of firugality, they may, by 

 dint of mere saving, at the rate, perhaps, of two and a half per 

 cent, yearly on their capital, accumulate, in a life-time, a sum 

 that may be esteemed considerable. But this thriving state 

 will only last during the first generation. Their sons, habitu- 

 ated in time to an easier mode of life, will, amid the great 

 luxury with which they are surrounded, lose their primitive 

 simplicity of manners, and with it the faculty of saving, on 

 which alone their prosperity depends. 



4. Implements. 



Old Scotch plough, long and heavv, and drawn by four or 

 six horses or oxen, and till about 1768, when Drs. Grieve and 

 Carlisle, clergymen, tried wheel ploughs of a lighter construc- 

 tion, which they had seen in use in Dalkeith Park. Soon 

 afterwards Small's improved plough came into notice. 



5. Enclosing. 



No commons or common-fields. Hedges first planted about 

 1760. 



6. Arable Land. 



When ridges are raised high, they should not be laid Mnt> 

 and north, as the crop on the east side of .such ridge is com- 

 monly found very defective. The same thing holds in th 

 county of Lancaster. 



7. Grass. 



Very little permanent grass exclusive of the hills and moor 

 lands. Alluvial lands on the banks of streams so liable to 

 immense floods, bringing down soil, &c. that if in grsss it 

 would often be much injured ; considered therefore more 

 profitable to keep them in com, 



8. Gardens and Orchards. 



Henry Prentice, who died about 1786, was the first who cul- 

 tivated white peas, potatoes, turnips, and sundry other culln- 



