[142 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Pari IV. 



i^ 



ter five or six years, he was able to venture horses and cattle on i The harbor, and other works carrying on at Ardrossan, un- 



thew bogs ; but at first every operation was manual. 1 der the auspices of the Earl of Eglinton, and the harbor of 



Troon, and the railway from thence to Kilmarnock, formed 

 almost entirely at the expense of the Duke of Portland, are 

 worthy monuments, no less of the enlightened judgment and 

 energy, than of the wealth of these two patriotic noblemen. 

 The harbor will, when completed, be one of the safest, most 

 capacious, and most accessible on the west coast of Britain ; 

 possessing many advantages over the harbors in the Frith of 

 Clyde, situate in a narrow channel, which can be navigated 

 only when the wind blows from particular points, and which, 

 for upwards of twenty miles below Glasgow, is both shallow 

 and dangerous. A circular pier of 900 yards was finished in 

 1811, and every thing was then ready to begin the wet-dock, 

 which, according to Telford's plan, was to contain from 70 to 

 100 vessels, in water sixteen feet deep. The works have ra- 

 ther languished of late, and are not likely to be completed soon 

 without public aid. It was part of the Earl of Eglinton's 

 plan to raise a neat regular built town at Ardrossan, in which 

 eome progress has been made ; and he has constructed excel- 

 lent baths, which draw to it a number of visitors at the proper 

 season. 



The harbor at Ardrossan was only a part of the general plan, 

 and that from which, viewed by itself, the smallest advan- 

 tages perhaps were to be expected. The leading idea was to 

 open up a direct communication between Glasgow, Paisley, 

 and other large towns in the vicinity and the west coast, in- 

 stead of the present circuitous passage by the Frith of Clyde. 

 A canal was therefore to be cut from Glasgow to Ardrossan, 

 about thirty-one miles and half, at the estimated expense of 

 125,000/. Of this only a third has been yet executed, that is, 

 from Glasgow to Johnstone, and this part has cost about 

 90,000/. 



I- Tt i-f t T> The harbor at Troon, connected, as it now is, with Kilmar- 



7. Pohttcal Economy. nock, by means of an excellent railway, seems to possess almost 



Carpet and other woollen manufactures at Kilmarnock : all the advantages of that of Ardrossan, and promises to be- 



threatt at Beith, cotton at Cathrine, iron at Muirkirk, salt come, in a much shorter period, of vast utility to the populous 



and kelp on the shores, and earthenware and the usual minor country around it. 



manufactures, as leather, hats, &c. at various places. 



7056. LANARKSHIRE or CLYDESDALE. 556,800 acres, in great part mountain, moor, and peat- 

 bog, with a portion of friable loam, and some retentive clays. The climate is cold, moist, and unfavor- 

 able, excepting in the low vales, where vegetation is chiefly injured by spring and autumn frosts. Aver- 

 age of the rain which falls at Glasgow, 30.8 inches. The minerals are lead, ironstone, coal, limestone, 

 freestone, and whinstone, all worked to a considerable extent. The lead mines at Leadhills, have been 

 already noticed under Dumfriesshire. The husbandry of the county is chiefly distinguished for its breed 

 of horses, and for orchards, the latter a rare production in Scotland. John Naismith, the author of a work 

 on Industry, another on the Elements of Agriculture, and also of the Report, seems to have been a native 

 of this county. {Naismjth's General View, 1803.) 



1. Property. 



Three-fourths of the surface, the property of great land- 

 holders ; the rest much divided. Farm-houses and offices were 

 formerly very indifferent ; but in this as in other adjoining 

 counties, when the leases of forms fell in, the landlord gene- 

 rally enlarges or renews the buildings, as a necessary step to 

 getting the full rental value for the land- A good deal of 

 ground feued out to operative mechanics, weavers, &c. for 

 building cottages. 



2. Occupation 



Much the same as in Galloway. Breeding ferms are large, 

 and corn farms moderate. The mountainous district ia occu- 

 pied mostly with flocks of sheep : upon the ridges on the E. and 

 VV. sides, where the ground is marshy, and less proper for sheep, 

 and the exposure too bleak to encourage the cultivation of com, 

 cattle are mostly pastured, and those generally milch cows and 

 their young, many of which are reared ; a small quantity of 

 com only being cultivated, principally for the sake of winter 

 provender. The less rujKed and less exposed parts are more oc- 

 cupied in the culture of com ; and the banks of the Clyde, 

 between Hamilton and Lanark, with orohard& 



3. Gardens and Orchards. 



Glasgow is abundantly supplied with the common culinarv 

 vegetables from market gardens. Otehards are chiefly found 

 in two districts in Scotland, in Clydesdale, and the Carse of 

 Gowrie. " The Clydesdale orchards lie mostly between the 

 bottom of the lowest fall of the river, and the mouth of the 

 south Calder. They are ehiefly of apples, with a mixture of 

 pear trees, and some pltunbs. Cherries are more rarely culti- 

 vated, being much subject to the depredations of birds. Few 

 of the orchards are large, but many small ones are planted up 

 and down the country. The whole may cover 340 acres or 

 upwards, and are on the incKeaae. The produce is very pre- 



pi 

 all 



the fruit being frequently destroyed in the blossom^ by 

 illars. The value of the fhiit is not 



ways in proportion to the niunber and size of the trees. 

 Those who cultivate the ground around the trees, taking care 

 not to injure the roots, and giving manure from time to time, 

 have finer fruit, and a much greater quantity in propor- 

 tion, than those who do not. Much also tlepends on adapting 

 the trees to the soil and exposure. These orchards are mostly 

 planted on very steep hanging banks, and on such they have 

 been found to succeed better than on plains, as subterraneous 

 water flows most quickly away. Most of them stand on soils 



- " cohesive, and on such the trees have been supposed to 



productive. Plumb trees are generally planted round the verge 

 of the orchard, and are profitable, not only for the fruit they 

 bear, but for sheltering the other trees. The'depredations com- 

 mitted on the orchards are become more frequent and daring, 

 as the manufactures of the county have increased, and are a 

 great discouragement to this species of cultivation, particularly 

 that of small orchards, which cannot defray the expense of 

 watching in the night." 



Besides the larger fruit, great quantities of gooseberries and 

 currants are cultivated, and, when well managed, are said to 

 pay very well. The gooseberry and currant trees are dug 

 around annually, kept on a single stem, and dunged every se- 

 cond year. 



Copse, Woods, or native timber trees, are not abundant ; the 

 oldest trees are on the Clyde, in and near Hamilton Park and 

 Bothwel Castle. Many new plantations are forming in every 

 part of the county. 



4. Live Stock. 



Cattle a mixed breed ; the Ayrshire beginning to become ge- 

 neral. Oxen formerly employed in labor, and still used by a few 

 of the amateurs in spite o^ the better sense of their tenants and 

 bailiffs. Few sheep kept, excepting on the mountains, where 

 the black faced sort prevails. 



The draught horses of Clydesdale have long been in high esti- 

 mation. Dealers from different parts of England come to the 

 Glasgow and Rutherglen markets to purchase them, and prefer 

 them to the Derbyshire blacks. Those of the upper ward, 

 where the greatest number are bred, are esteemed the best. 

 They have been much improved of late, and are still improving, 

 especially in size and weight. 



Hogs. " A kind of Jewish abhorrence of swine seems to 

 have taken place, about the rigid times of the Reformation, 

 in the western counties of Scotland. They were unclean beasts ; 

 it was sinful to eat their flesh, and neither creditable nor pro- 

 fitable to keep them. And though these prejudices are now 

 pretty much worn out, pork is not yet, in general, a favorite 

 food, and, of course, the number of hogs kept and fed are not 

 considerable." 



5. Political Economy. 



The roads are in many places bad, but have lately been im- 

 proved ; though the materials be good and abundant, the wet 

 climate is much against them. There are several canals, the 

 river Clyde, navigable to Glasgow, and some railways. The 

 manufactures and commerce of Glasgow are of great extent 

 and well known. There is a corresponding agricultural society 

 there, and some minor societies. 



greatly ( 



be surer bearers than on open sandy soils : yet there are 



stances oforchards, on friable and gravelly soils, uncommonly 



7057. DUNBARTONSHIRE. 147,300 acres of exceedingly irregular surface, in two parts,distant from 

 each other six miles ; possessing little agricultural interest. The arable lands are of very limited extent, and 

 he chiefly on the banks of the Clyde and Leven : the greatest part of the county consisting of lofty moun- 

 tains incapable of cultivation. Coal, lime, freestone, and ironstone abound, and are extensively worked. 

 There is also ochre, schistus abounding in alum pyrites, which are made into copperas, and a large 

 quarry of blue^slate. Lochlomond is well known for its scenery. ( Whyte and Macfarlane's Reporty 181 1.) 



houses. The most magnificent is Roseneath, the Duke of Ar- 



fyle, built by Bonomi, in 1803 et seq. It is 184 feet long, and 

 21 in breadth, with two magnificent fronts, both ornamented 

 with columns of the Ionic order. On his Grace's farm, which 

 is cultivated in a very superior style, there is also a large set o-f 

 farm offices, surmounted with a high tower. (Common farm,- 



1. Property. 

 Two large estates ; one exceeds 30001. a year. One third of 



the county under entail, which greatlv retards its improve- 

 pient. 



2. Buildings. J 

 More than a eommon share of elegant villas and gentlemen's ( 



