Book I. 



AGRICULTURE OF PEEBLESHIRE. 



1139 



numben of smaJIw oattie are bred upon the lower hills, and 

 are disposed of to f{razier$ in tlie low country for feedini', either 

 on erass or turnips, or by a succession of both ; ana many 

 Highland cattle of various descriptions, are bouf^ht in yearly 

 for consuming straw, or for feeding on turnips during winter, 

 and on grass m spring and summer. 



The sheep bred in Berwickshire are of several kinds. In the 

 most exposed of the Lammermuir and Lauderdale hills, the 

 flocks are mostly of the black faced, or Tweeddale kind, and 

 are there exclusively kept for breeding. In the cultivated 

 tract, the new Leicester breed, in a great variety of degrees of 

 perfection, now universally prevails ; and it is believed that no 

 other known breed, in the jieculiar circumstances of this 

 county, could be nearly so profitable to the farmer. They re- 

 quire, however, always to nave abundance of food, and easily 

 procured ; for, being short legged, heavy bodied, and carrying 

 a great weight of wool, they are unable to undergo much fa- 

 tigue or hardship, and do not thrive unless plentifully sup- 

 plied at all seasons. This supply, the agricultural system of 

 the district amply affords, and is Indeed admirably calculated 

 for providing. On some of the best interior hills, and upon the 

 higher exterior lands, verging on Lammermuir and Lauderdale, 

 called the moor-edges, the Cheviot breed, or long sheep, are 

 An intermediate breed between the Cheviot and Lei- 



kept. 



cester, usually called half bred sheep, is very preraient npoti 

 the best of these situations. As a singular circumstance, the 

 1 ewe of this coun 

 in three succeeding seasons. 

 Horset, as in East Lothian, brought from the west of Scot- 

 land. 



10. Rural Economy. 



Farm servants managwl as in Blast Lothian, and, indeed 

 almost every where in the low country of Scotland. ' 



11. Political Economy. 



Commerce chiefly grain, wool, and salmon; scarcely anv 

 manufactures, excepting the paper-mills. The salmon tishery 

 including Berwick bounds and the English side of the river' 

 employs about seventy small boats, and nearly 300 fishermen.' 

 AH their fish are sold to a very respectable fraternity of traders 

 in Berwick, named coojiers, from their former business of mak- 

 ing kits, and boiling the fish, which is now entirely discon- 

 tinued. By them the salmon are packed in ice, and sent to 

 London, to be disposed of by factors on commission. This em- 

 ployment of ice ;was first assayed by Messrs. Richardson, of 

 Perth, on the suggestion of George Dempster, of Dunnichen 

 Esq. who had accidentally read that such a practice was not 

 unusual in China. 



7050. ROXBURGHSHIRE. 4-30,048 acres, of which about three-fifths, or 288,048 acres, are in sheep 

 pasture, and the remaining two-fifths, or 172,032 acres, are occasionally under the plough, except about 

 8000 acres occupied in woods, pleasure-grounds, and the sites of towns and villages. The surface 

 is exceedingly irregular, being in some places ninety, and in others, 2000 feet above the level 

 of the sea. The climate is equally various, and excessive rains, winds', frosts, and even hail and 

 enow are by no means uncommon in spring and harvest. The soil is chiefly moss or peat, but there is 

 also light calcareous soil, clay, and loam. Limestone abounds in most parts of the district, and coal has 

 been found, but is not worked. The agriculture of the arable lands is in all respects the same as that of 

 Berwickshire, and that of the pastures resembles the store farming of the latter county and East Lothian 

 Dawson, of Frogden, belongs to this county, and may be looked on as one of the greatest improvers of 

 British agriculture. {Douglass Roxburghshire, 1794.) 



peatedly raised, with less reason, against other Acts in no 

 respect so arbitrary and oppressive. 



3. Gardens and Orchards, 

 Thrive better in the lower parts of this county than in those 



on the east coast. At Melrose, Jedburgh, and Kelso, are the 

 remains of orchards planted by the priests several centuries ago 

 the pear-trees of which are very productive. Wonderfiii 

 stories are told of their fertility. A single tree of the thorle 

 pear at Melrose has for these fifty years past yielded the interest 

 of the money .paid for the garden where it stands, and for a 

 house let for seven pounds sterling yearly. Another tree there 

 has carried fruit to the amount of three pounds annuallv 

 at an average for the same period. In the year I793 two 

 trees there brought to perfection about 60,000 pears, which 

 were sold for eight guineas. These'facts are well authenUcated 

 There are also several more recent orchards near the sam 

 places, and I'iO acres of nurseries. Of these one of the oldest 

 and largest in Scotland is that of Messrs. Dicksons, of Hawick 



4. Woods and Plantations. 

 To the extent of 5290 acres ; nearly two-thirds artificial. 



5. Live Stock. 

 Cattle, a mixed breed, as in Berwickshire. Sheep of the 



Cheviot kind greatly improved by a cross with the Dishley 

 breed, introduced about 1/65, by Robson, a pupil of Cullev 

 Merinos and other sorts have been tried, but suffiient time has 

 not elapsed to ascertain the result. 



6. Rural and Political Economy. 

 Farm servants on the same plan as in East Lothian- 



1. Property. ' 



Generally in large estates, and little change of proprietorship 

 has taken place for many years. The largest alxiut 80002. or 

 9000/. a year. 



2. Implements. Arable Land. 

 Fanners, the reporter states, were first made in this county 



by one Rogers, a farmer, of a mechanical turn, near Hawick, 

 in 1733, or at least before 1737, who is said either to have seen a 

 model, or a description of one, which had been brought from 

 Holland. [Report of Norlhum.) 



Aral>le land enclosed, partly by hedges and partly by walls of 

 loose stones, without mortar. 



Ploughing with two horses, without a driver, was practised 

 in this countv before it was in any other. It was taught by 

 Dawson, of Frogden, who introduced the drill culture, to 

 James Macdougall, farmer, at Linton, in Tweeddale, alive at 

 the time of making up the report : it spread rapidly afterwards 

 through the county, and the neighboring ones of Northumber- 

 land, Berwickshire, lEast Lothian, and Tweeddale. Potatoes 

 first planted in large beds alxiut 1754 ; in 1768, in drills in the 

 fields. Tobacco, during the American war, was cultivated to 

 a considerable extent in the neighborhood of Kelso and Jed- 

 burgh, and in some other spots. Its produce was so great, that 

 thirteen acres at Crailing fetched 104/. at the low rate of four- 

 pence per pound, and would have brought more than three times 

 as much, had not an Act of Parliament obliged the cultivator to 

 dispose of it to (iovemment at that price. This county lost 

 about 1500/. sterling by that Act, which passed while the 

 tobacco was growing; yet it excited riot so much murmuring 

 and clamor among the sufferers a nave been elsewhere re- 



7051. SELKIRKSHIRE. 160,600 acres almost wholly of mountainous surface, the lowest part 300 

 feet above the level of the sea ; many houses are 600 and some more than 1000 feet above its level. The 

 highest mountain is 2370 feet These mountains are generally of granite or whinstone, and the surface 

 soil is commonly gravelly and dry. In the vallies are clay, peat, morass, and lakes. The climate is cold and 

 rather moist. There are no metals, nor coal, lime, or freestone. The most remarkable thing attending 

 this county is that its hills and mountains are almost every where clothed to their summits with sound 

 sheep pasture, of which there are estimated to be 148,000 acres ; 8800 acres in aration, 2000 in wood, and 

 the rest in gardens, houses, roads, lakes, &c. (^Douglas's General View, 1796.) 



Property in few hands, and in large estates. The farms are 

 large, and the leases generally shorter than on arable farms. 

 The sheep are a variety of the Cheviot produced by repeated 

 crosses with the native mountain black-faced breed. In all 

 respects the husbandry of this county may be considered the 

 same as that of the mountainous districts of the preceding 



counties. There is a woollen cloth manufactory, and an ex 

 cellent porter brewery, by a pupil of Meux, at Galashiels" 

 Some agricultural societies were attemjited in this and the 

 adjoining counties about 1793, but they were of very short 

 duration. 



7052. PEEBLESHIRE or TWEEDDALK 229,778 acres, mostly of mountain, moor, and bog, but 

 with about one-tenth part arable. The lowest part of the county is 400 feet above sea level, and grain is 

 cultivated to the height of 1000 feet. The climate is late, cold, and moist, and the soil moory, clayey or 

 sandy, according as the water is pent up ; the rocks of the mountains are freestone, granite, trap, or clay- 

 stone. The only minerals worth notice are lime, whinstone, and freestone. The general appearance of 

 the country is wild, and rather dull and dreary, as romantic or sublime. The agricultural survey of this 

 county is by the Rev. Charles Findlater, and it abounds with more valuable matter on political agricul- 

 ture, on leases, prices, restrictions, markets, &c. than any survey that has been pubhshed, without a single 

 exception. In fact, it was found to take such a masterly view^ of the moral incitements to agricultural 

 industry, that it was rejected by the Board, and the author was reduced to publish it himself. It has cer- 

 tainly, through the medium of the extracts from it published in the Farmers' Magazine, been the means 

 of enlightening thousands, both of farmers and landlords. The fundamental principle which Findlater 

 lays down and illustrates under the heads of leases, size of farms, usury, capital, dearth, monopoly, forestall, 

 ing, governmentinterference, tithes, poor, and other topics, is, "That thebestmodeof insuring the invention 

 and prosecution of the most advantageous measures is, an arrangement which shall communicate to those 

 on whom their execution is devolved, a sufficient personal interest in their invention and execution." To 

 some he doubts not such views will be considered as foreign to the report of a county j whilst, to others 

 they will constitute its most essential value. 



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