Book I. 



AGRICULTURE OF WEST LOTHIAN. 



1187 



t). Arabic Land. 



Potatoes cultivated better than any other crop in the county, 

 and with the greatest success. They are planted on every va- 

 riety of soil, and thrive even on the stillest clays where there is 

 a sufficient declivity to carry off the surface water ; but a gra- 

 velly loam suits them be»t : about twenty tons of manure per 

 acre is the common dressing. Drilling and dibbling are the 

 common modes in the lowlands, and by l*rge beds in the up- 

 lands ; average produce twelve tons, but eighteen are frequently 

 obtained. 



7. Grass Land. 



Some bog meadows, but no others ; some pasture fields round 

 gentlemen's houses, but none on lowland farms; mountains 

 wholly in natural pasture, mass, heath, bog, and moor. 



8. Woods and Plantations. 



Copsewoods form a very important and prominent article in 

 the produce of this county. They cover some thousands of 

 acres of soil which would otherwise be altogether or nearly 

 useless, and yield an income to the proprietors little inferior to 

 what they derive from their best arable land. The steep s'op- 

 ing banks of Loch Lomond and Loch Long, where the bases of 

 the mountains run into the late, are in many places covered 

 with them. The thin dry soil which appears in small patches 

 among the rocks seems to be particularly adapted to the growth 

 of oak coppice, which, from its superior value, is chiefly en- 

 couraged in such situations, while the moister and more unfa- 

 vourable spots are allowed to be occupied by less valuable trees. 

 These are chiefly ash, yew, holly, mountain-ash, birch, hazle, 

 aspen, alder, crab, thorn, and willow. The seven last kinds are 

 considered inferior in value to the rest, and commonly known 

 by the name of barren timber. 



Copsewoods are cut from the twentv-second to the twenty- 

 fourth year ; after the latter period the bark of oak becomes 

 hard and corky, and of less value to the tanner. 



Plantations very generally formed on the uplands. 1000 acres 

 planted at Luss previously to 1791- The Duke of Montrose, a 

 great planter in Stirlingshire, and p utly in this county, allows 

 200 Scotch pine, 400 larch fir, and 1000 hardwood trees, to an 

 acre; prefers oak plants of several years' growth; and after they 

 have been established several years, cuts them dow n, when they 

 push long and strong shoots. Plants by stellate slits, as already 

 described (5955.), as pits in a retentive soil only serve as a re- 

 ceptacle for water. Firs, pines, and all trees now regularly 

 pruned. In the Isle of Skye, Lord M.cdonald planted, in 

 1821, 47,500 trees, and received the honorary premium of the 

 Highland Society of Scotland. {Trans. Wghl. Sec. vol. vi. 

 p. 258.) 



The finest tree in the county is an ash in Bonhill churchyard. 

 Its trunk is about nine feet high, and, where smallest, upwards 

 of cighuen feet in circumference. < if the three principal arms 

 into which it branches, the largest is eltven, and the smal'est 

 near ten feet in circumference. The branches spread in every 

 direction with uncommon regularity, covering an area of near 



100 feet in diameter, and the general aspect is singularly vener- 

 able and majestic. There are no data from which its age can 

 be conjectured. Nearly 100 years a^o it was remarked by Mar- 

 sham of Stratton, near Norwich, a celebrated phmter.'as one 

 of the first ashes he had seen ; and a tendency to decay in some 

 of the bouirhs seems to indicate that it has 'stood there for se- 

 veral centuries. 



Yew trees and hollies abound on the banks of Loch Lomond. 

 A yew at Kosedoe is twelve feet round, and very high ; one at 

 Stockintibbert twenty-eight feet round, and the* top spreading 

 in proportion. 



9. Improvements. 



Some proprietors have drained bogs, and rendered them 

 tolerable meadows; and drained and planud moors. Mosses 

 sometimes burned, the ashes ploughed in, and the land cropped 

 with oats,&c. 



Irrigation, by means of the rills on the hill sides, tried in some 

 places with success. 



Embankments have t>een made on a small scale, and some of 

 considerable extent might be formed with success. 



10. Livestock 



Highland cattle from Argyleshire in general use; but little 

 feeding, dairying:, or breeding of this species of stock. Sheep 

 of a small black-ficed kind bred in the county, to the extent 

 admitted by the upland pastures. Horses, a small hardy breid. 



Hogt increase as the prejudice against pork disappc lis. 200 

 fallow deer occupy two of the largest islands of Loch Lomond. 

 The stag, or red deer of the mountains, has disappeared since 

 the introduction of sheep. A few roes still inhabit the wood- 

 lands- 



Bees common. 



11. Political Economy. 



]U anufactures of iron, glass, cotton, paper, alkali ; \ r tiring 

 and bleaching works, vtc 



Window glass manufactured extensively, and equal in quality 

 to any in the kingdom. Pay 50,000/. a year of excise duties; 

 employ 10,000 tons of shipping, and consume 1200 tons of kelp. 

 The distillery of pyrolignous acid at Mil burn employs about 

 seven hands, and consumes daily a ton of small timber, chiefly 

 oak, from which the liquor, a kind of coarse vinegar, is ex- 

 tracted. The process beautifully simple. A number of iron 

 ovens, or retorts, are placed in a row, and filled with the timber 

 cut into small pieces. A fire of coals or charcoal is kindkd in 

 a furnace attached to each, and by its heat forces the acid to fly 

 ott'in the form of vapour. This vapour is conducted b. a small 

 tube, proceeding from each retort, into a refrigeratory, or long 

 metal pipe, on which a jet of cold water from above" is conti- 

 nually falling. Here the acid is condensed, and runs from the 

 end of the pipe in a considerable stream, of a reddish brown 

 colour. Besides the liquor thus procured, which is employed 

 in mixing colours for the calico printers, there is a considerable 

 quantity of tar and charcoal produced during the process, the 

 value of which is esteemed equal to the expense of fuel. 



7844. STIRLINGSHIRE. 450,560 acres, much diversified by rivers, mountains, woods, and valleys, 

 containing some rich alluvial soil, extensive peat-bogs or mosses, and some bleak hilly districts. The 

 culture of wheat and beans is the chief agricultural feature. Potatoes first cultivated in the fields in this 

 county by Prentice, a farming gardener at Kilsyth. ^Belsche's General View, 1796.) 



Principal river the Forth, and mountain Benlomond ; the 

 latter a cone, upwards of 3'<i62 feet high, of sheep-walk, be- 

 longing to the Duke of Montrose. 



time, coal, ironstone, granite, whinstone, and freestone 

 abundant. 



The carsc lands cons'itute one of the most remarkable soils 

 in the county. They lie in a low situation on the banks of the 

 Forth, and "extend about thirty miles in length anil two in 

 breadth, at an average. They are elevated from ten to twenty- 

 five feet above high-water mark, and a small portion of them 

 in some places is overflowed at times by the river. The soil is 

 umversally allowed to be the alluvion deposited by the Forth 

 and its tributary streams, and consequently to be the spoils of j 

 the higher grounds, through which the river take-, its course. 

 It chiefly consists of a hazel-coloured clay, a small quantity of 

 sand, and a pretty large mixture of once organised matter. In 

 some places are patches of till of various colours; but not a 

 stone, so large as to obstruct the plough, is to be found. The 



soil of the best quality ; when dug first from the natural bed 

 is of a bright blue colour, and of a substance resemb'ing the 

 richest scap, and sometimes even serves as a substitute for 

 fuller's earth. In many places the clay is excellently fitted for 

 making bricks, tiles, and a coarse kind of crockery ware. The 

 depths are from five to fifty feet. The subsoils are various, as 

 a stiff brick clay, hard till, and sea-shells in a natural state. 

 These beds of shells are from a few inches to four yards in 

 thickness: they are chiefly large outers, with a mixture of 

 ccck'es, whelks, and some other shtils at present found in the 

 frith. These lands are in farms from fifteen to 100 acres each. 

 In tl e higher parts of the countv the extent is from twenty to 

 10(10 acres. 



Of moors above 90,000 acres. 



Copjrice n-oods extensive, and plantations considerable. 



Canon iron-works of great extent, and well known. Large 

 cattle fairs held at Fa kirk. Chief commerce the shipping of 

 Carron articles for London and o.her places* 



7845. WEST LOTHIAN or LINLITHGOWSHIRE. 71,580 acres of gently varied surface, without 

 hills or mountains ; clayey soil, and rather cold and variable climate. The minerals are coal and lime in 

 abundance; freestone, whinstone, and some lead and iron, but the latter are not now worked. The coal 

 at Borrowstonness has been worked upwards of five centuries. In an agricultural view, the county mav 

 be considered on a par with Mid-Lothian. (Trotter's General View, 18] 1.) 



Property is in the hands of about fortv proprietors. 

 Lord Stair is supposed to have introduced the culture 

 of clover, turnips and cabbages at Newliston, in this 

 county, as early as 17*^0 ; and also the Rotheram plough, 

 for which purpose he sent a mechanic to England, to 

 acquire the art of constructing them. A bay drag, of a 

 very simple but convenient construction, is used in this 

 county. Plans ofi more decent form of cottages {^g. 1129.) 

 are given than are to be found in some reports. Each 

 cottage consists of two rooms (a, b) ; the one to be used 

 as a kitchen has a space for two press or close beds (c), 

 and in the other room there is a space for one bed (d) ; in 

 each room is a cupboard {e ), but no closet, which is a great 

 defect. 



The contrivance for making horses draw equally in 

 thrashing-machines (27S6-), was invented in this county, 

 by G. Henderson, of Bonhard. The culture pur>ved is the 

 East Lothian husbandry on the clays, and the Berwick- 

 shire on the turnip soils. The chief commerce is from 

 the port of Borrowstonness, and there is scarcely any 

 manufactures, unless spinning, knitting, and tambouring 

 in private families may be named. 



1129 



ana a 



D 



a 



7846. CLACKMANNANSHIRE. 30,7?0 acres, principally of carsc land, on the north bank of the 

 river Forth ; but partly of hilly district, belonging to Ihe OchiUs. (Erskme't Gem rat 1 1, w, 1795 ) 



•! G 2 



