252 RICH WHEAT LANDS ?F THE OLD RED SAND-STONt. 



the Firth of Clyde, is to be discovered in the Island of Arran, and at the Mull 

 of Cantire, and — along the prolongation of the same line — at various places on 

 the northern flank of the great mountain lime-stone formation of Ireland, and 

 especially in the counties of I'yrone, Fermanagh, and Monaghan. In the 

 north of Scotland, it lines either shore of the Moray Firth, skirts the coast to- 

 wards Caithness, where it covers nearly the whole county, and still further 

 north, forms the entire surface of the Shetland Islands, Along the north-west- 

 ern coast, it also appears in detached patches till we reach the southern ex- 

 tremity of the Isle of Sky. 



In Ireland, it occurs also on the extreme southern edge of the mountain lime- 

 stone, in Waterford and the neighbouring counties — and in the middle of this 

 formation on the upper waters of the Shannon, in the south of Mayo, and 

 round the base of the slate mountains of Tipperary. 



Soil. — The soil on the old red sand-stone admits of very nearly the same 

 variations as on the new red sand-stone formation. Where it is formed, as in 

 parts of Pembroke, from the upper sand-stones, and conglomerates, it is either 

 worthless or it produces a poor hungry soil, "which eats all the manure, and 

 drinks all the water." These upper rocks are sometimes so siliceous as to be 

 almost destitute both of lime and clay — in such cases, the soils they form are 

 almost valueless. 



The marly beds and lime-stones of the second division, yield warm and rich 

 soils — such as the mellow lands of Herefordshire, and the best in Brecknock 

 and Pembroke shires. The soil in every district varies according as the partings 

 of marl are more or less numerous. These easily crumble, and where they 

 abound form a rich stiff wheat soil — like that of East Lothian and parts of Ber- 

 wickshire ; — where they are less frequent the soil is lighter and produces excellent 

 turnips and barley. Where the subsoil is porous, this land is peculiarly fa- 

 vourable to the growth of fruit trees.* The apple and the pear are largely grown 

 in Hereford and the neighbouring counties, long celebrated for the cider and 

 perry they produce. 



The tile-stones reach the surface only on the northern and western edges of 

 this formation in England. In Ayrshire, in Lanarkshire, in Ross-shire, and in 

 Caithness, larger tracts of land rest on these lower beds. In all these districts 

 rich corn lands are produced from the rocks of the middle series. The fertility 

 of Strathmore in Perthshire, and of other vallies upon this formation, is well 

 known — Easter Ross and Murray have been called the granary of Scotland, 

 and even in Caithness rich corn-bearing (oat) lands are not unfrequent. Yet 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of these rich lands, tracts of tile-stone country 

 occur, which are either covered with useless bog (Ayrshire and Lanarkshire), 

 or with a thin covering of soil which is almost incapable of profitable culture. 

 In this latter condition is the moor of Beauly on the Cromarthy Firth, an area 

 of 50 square miles, which, till within a few years, lay as an unclaimed common 

 — and in the county of Caithness still more extensive tracts. 



In South Devon and part of Cornwall a very fertile district rests also on tlie 

 middle series of these rocks. Instead of red sand-stones, however, the country 

 there consists of green slates, more or less siliceous, of sand-stones and of lime- 

 stones, which by their decay have formed a very productive soil. These rocks 

 in the above counties abound in fossil remains, and it is chiefly for this reason 

 that the term Devonian has been applied to the rocks of the old red sand-stone 

 formation. 



 The most loamy pf these red soils of Hereford afford the finest crops of wheat and hops, 

 and bear the most prolific apple and pear trees, whilst the whole region (eminently in the 

 heavier clayey tracts) is renowned for the production of the sturdiest oaks, which so abound 

 as to be styled the " weeds of Herefordshire." Th/js, though this region contains no mines, 

 the composition of its rocks is directly productive cf its great agricultural wealth.— ilfwrcAi. 

 •on, Silurian System, I., p. I9a 



