1100 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



r-Aiu IV. 



R 



7850 ANOUS or FORFARSHIRE r>::,:i: acres one half, or more, of clayey ami alluvial lowlands, 

 and the remainder mountain pasture, moor, and bog. The climate cold, moist, and variable, it i> both 

 an agricultural and manufacturing county, and in respect to antiquities, facilities of furtner improvement, 



i stural product! ,&c of great interest The botanic familj ol Don are of this county. A most valu. 



reporl hai been furnished by the Rei . James Head] ick, and ia the last of the Scotch reports winch 

 basbeen published. [Headrfclr*$ General View, i v i 



1 a vgrapMical State and Circumstances. 



■ BflpttM mount nut .t hound hi gl >tuI. . which 

 i KM k I rvttuls < >i, in*, 



. and ihdl iii 

 In rarioua places. I 



nurl, wimh is taken oul bj looops, and thrown Into I 



v huh ii i convey i t" ilf shore. Tl i I I i« ■ 



an ■enper, somewhat limilax to the Dutch hoe. which 



. in wooden ban indab ia ol (tro g 



leather i » tened by. w in,*, oi l around its rim. The b i 



Sfai at d l»j mull hole*, to alio I ! - to drain off, and has 



■ then t Its bottom, by which it can be turned over, and its 



dJ barged Into the boat. After the boal Is nrmly 



r . extended from each end, one m ;" forcibly 



down the scoop to the bottom, b) means of a long pole 



■-rii of the boat, while another man, bj means oi a 



windUis, or wheel and axle, tixed In the opposite end of the 



Lga the scoop along the side of the boat, by a rone at- 



ta bed to It, and then raises it up to the boat's side, where the 



contents of the bag are emptied into the boat. When the boat 



red hex Load, tin marl is thrown out upon a wooden 



platform at the side of the loch, to drain. 



■• lag* are very abundant in the neighbourhood of 



th, ind are rniamed and exported in great quantities. 

 Principal quarry, Carmylie; the nags rise from three to six 

 inches of am portable dimensions. '1 hey are called slate-stone 

 m are m feci s mdstone in plates, coated with scales of 

 mi. a or tick, of a greyish blue colour; and this mica occasions 

 their easv separation from each other. With very thin plates, 

 called tlatestoneSf houses are covered ; they are laid in " plaster 

 lime" or moss (Nphagnum palustre), but they seldom make a 

 roof th.it is water tight, and slate is now considered cheaper. 

 A mod valuable property of the flagstone is, that when laid as 

 i iv. mi. ut on wit soil, they never show this on their upper sur- 

 that thev are excellent for paving kitchens, passages, 

 l-uhs In hot-houses, &c. Coal searching for, at the time the 

 report was printing, hut with no great hopes of success, the 

 districl being considerably out of the boundary of the known coal 

 fields of Scotland. No minerals worked: various chalybeate 

 springs. No rivers, but a number of streams that are of mode- 

 rate size. Considerable sea, and some salmon, fisheries. The 

 herring fishery h is been tried in the open sen, and considerable 

 quantities taken in June, July, and August. Those earliest 

 liken were plump anil fat, which shows that a'l former theo- 

 ries concerning this most nutritive and abundant of all fishes 

 are erroneous, and how much it imports the interests of Bri- 

 tain, that the herring fishery should be conducted according 

 to the Dutch method, in the deep sea, and, as in the Isle of 

 Man, from May to September. Garvies or sprats, and spir- 

 lings or smelts, abound in the Frith of Tay. The sprats 

 resemble herrings, though of smaller size, and different flavour. 

 They are taken in great quantities at Kincardine, and other 

 places near the junction of the Forth with its estuary, by nets 

 or wi' leer trans, sunk in the ebb of the tide. The smelts are 

 smaller than the sprats, and when fresh, « mil a smell resem- 

 bling that of green rushes; but when fried, make delicious 

 food. They are caught during spring, along the Forth, often 

 as far up as the Bridge of Stirling, by nets In the form of bas- 

 ket--, fistened to the end of long poles. 



Haddocks, whitings, flee, cured by smoke, a practice first 

 suggested by Headrick, the reporter, in an essay Published by 

 the Highland Society of Scotland. Dempster, ofDunnichen, 

 In this i ounty, hrst suggested the idea or conveying salmon to 

 I .on don packed in ice- Reporter remembers when servants 

 in the neighbourhood of Stirling u-ed to stipulate that thev 

 should not have salmon uftener than thrice a week ; now they 

 seldom have them once a year. 



/ very river u laid to have Us particular breed tjfealmon. They 

 have recourse to fresh water, to escape the attacks of seals, 

 otters, and porpoises, and to get rid of the sea-louse, a small 



black animal, whose attacks seem to inflict upon them excru- 

 cl Iting tortures. A few gulps of river water seem cither to 

 kill the sea-louse, or to deaden the pain it indicts. Salmon 

 never remain longer In fresh water than is necessary to e feet 

 the purposes which brought them there; hut sometimes they 

 ar.- surprised in the rivers by long drought*, and cannot get 

 DVts null it in-., and other obstructions which lie between 



them ami the ten. When this happens, they soon get lean 

 and mangy, and die, then bodies covered with white worms. 

 Hut in fresh water, they take various kinds of bait, and eagerly 

 catch at Hies, and hence become a source of amusement to the 

 angler. D Lumn, the salmon always run up the rivers 



to deposll their p iwn. 



The §panmi»ue tffealmon seems to be a very slow and laborious 

 process; and thei set very lean, and even become unwhole- 



some food, while they are engaged In it- Tl e scene of this 

 operation is generallj where a stream begins to U*ue from a 

 stagnant pool, ova ■ sands bottom. They begin by digging 

 a hole in the bottom, by pushing the -and and gravel before 

 them with their snouts, in the Qirecl on of the current, until 

 ■ it into toe f.u ii of a bank, a I Ich checks the rapidity 

 of the current, while it allows the walei to percolate slowly. 

 The mala Mama n? exert himself most in this work; and he- 

 ft*. ■ its i onimeni eon nt, his snout i vr and harder 



than usual, while, befi r r n ts finished, it is ofti n worn entirely 

 away. Wh.l » dej "smug thi ir spawn, the m tie and female rub 

 their bell,, s upon each other ; the latter throwing ou< her roes 

 . while tin- mate emits among them a milky juice, 

 whl< h eems to effect their Impregnation .\ fter one stratum 

 of eggs is deposited d the art i in ial hollow described, th 

 them with light sand, to prevent them from befog 

 away bv the water; and thus they form alternate layers of 

 eggs and sand, until the hollow W nearly filled Up. 1 



I eing dropp4 d Into a hollow place, are warmed into life by the 

 sun's rays, In early spring* The (W, being then very small, 



easily escape from their covering of loose Band, and BOOTI ac- 

 quire the slxe of small trouts, and are called salmon fry, oi 

 wuolts ; which seems to be a contraction of eamlett. The most 



flood now washes them into the sea ; and they are generally 

 ... pt from our river- before the middle of May. 

 Salmon trout, or grilses, w In !i u send the rivers towards the 

 Close of the fishing sea .on, arc b) some considered a l 



of fish; but some Caithness fish n a ured the re- 

 porter, thai th ■■ proved by experiment, that grilses are only 

 s.i 1 in. hi of one year's growth. («'/»• p. 103.) 

 The tea trout resembles the salmon, and frequents all the 



streams where it abounds. 



Freeh water eete, contrary to tin- practice of salmon, breed in 



the sea, and thrive .mil fatten in the fresh-W itci lakes and 

 ponds. During summer, myriads of their young fry are seen 

 constantly ascending the fresh-water stream-, wh rel 

 near the sides, that they may avoid tin- current. I 

 where thev meet with interruption, such as behind a mill- 

 wheel, they often accumulate in Large masses, and frequently 

 make their way up the crevices of the building, or ov«.r the 

 dry land, until they reach the stream above, in which they 

 continue their course. The larger eels are caught in this 

 county, while thev are descending the streams during autumn, 

 probably to deposit their spawn in the sea. 



The observations of the reporter on various other species of 

 fish, and on salmon and other fisheries, are, like ever) thing 

 which Sows from his pen, new and interesting* 



S. Property. 



Much divided, largest estate 12,000/. a year : property, at an 

 average, changes its proprietor every forty years. During the 

 dark night of superstition, a man could t ike no step r specting 

 his property, or his domestic concerns, without having half a 

 dozen or a score of priests to advise him : and he was obligi d 

 to compound for the safety of his soul, and the stcurity "this 

 property, by amp'e donations to the church. When i man 

 died without granting these donations, it w as presumed to be 

 his intention to do so ; and what was originally an alms, or 

 favour, was claimed as a right. In our davs, a man can hardly 

 venture upon any step of importance without having a posse 

 of lawyers at his elbow ; and, aftei all, often finds himself as 



far from his purpose as if he had not employed them. 



3. Buildings. 



Sixty gentlemen's seats enumerated ; not many with hand- 

 some buddings. Farm-houses and cottages most wretched, 

 and slower of improvement than in most other counties. 

 4 Occupation. 

 •Farms of all sizes, but chiefly small. On the Grampians, 

 estimated by the number of sheep they will maintain. 



5. Implements. 



Old Scotch plough still used in a few remote places, ami 

 found an Instrument well adapted for breaking up waste land 

 that is encumbered with the roots of shrubs', or with stones. 



At no remote period, it was usual to yoke four or six horses, 

 abreast in this plough. The driver walked backwards before 

 the horses, and struck them in the f.-ce to make them come 

 forward. At present this pough is commonly, drawn by four 

 sometimes by six horses, which are yoked in pairs, and the 

 driver walks beside them. But, except for the purposes al- 

 ready specified, the plough which was first invented by the late 

 Small, near Dalkeith, and from him named Small's plough, 

 is universally used. 



A threshing-machine, of a very peculiar construction, adapted 

 to very high falls of water, erected at Howmuir, by Stirling, 

 an ingenious man; but is not yet perfected, and if it were, 

 could never become general. 



A pick or lever with a tread, used in the same manner as a 

 fork or spade, for loosening hard earth or gravel : in fact it may 

 be called a one-pronged fork. 



ti Tillage. 



Fallowing general. Seed-wheat washed with a ley of soft 

 soap, to remove the smut. Potatoes introduced to the gardens 

 in ("'15, but not to the fields for many years afterward*- The 

 late Dr. Walker, Pr ofessor of Natural History in the Univer- 

 sity of Edinburgh, was in the habit, especially during years of 

 scarcity, of using yams in place of bread in his own faun v. 

 He cut them into thin slices, and either boiled them over the 

 fire, or dressed them in the frying-pan with as much butter as 

 prevented the pan from burning. When dressed in this way, 

 their taste was very pleasant ; and they were used in all i ases 

 where bread is commonly used. 



7. Garden* and Orchards. 



A great prejudice in favour of covering wall trees with 

 nets, to preserve the blossoms from the frost ; woollen nets pre- 

 ferred. 



s. Woods and Plantations. 



Few woods, but many plantations. In the mosses the trunks 

 of large trees found. 



1) Rural Economy. 



Farm-servants live chiefly on oatmeal, and potatoes and 

 milk. Their breakfast is porridge, which is made by stirring 

 meal among boiling water, or milk, in a pol over the fire, with 

 .i little salt ; and when it cools it is eaten with m Ik. Or they 

 use hrose, which is matb-by pouring warm water upon meal, in 

 a wooden dish, w ith a little salt, taking care to stir it well. This 

 too is eaten with milk, or with beer which is furnished in 

 place of milk, when the latter is scarce. Sometimes, when 

 they are in a hurry, they mix the liquid with the meal in a 

 i old state. Their usual dinner is oat-cake, with sometimes 

 butter or skim-milk cheese, and milk. Their supper is 

 the same with breakfast, except that sometimes they u-e 



sow-ens or potatoes, in the place of porridge or hrose. Butcher's 

 meat is only used on particular occasions; and fish by 1 1 ■ . - e 

 who BR ne U" the rivers and the sea coast. 



.Much ridicule has been thrown on the Scotch, on account 

 of their immoderate use of oatmeal. This has bi*en repre- 

 sent! d as inflaming their blood, and producing their favourite 

 disease called the Scotch .fid tile , ami other cutaneous eruptions. 

 But oatmeal is as much used in some districts of England as 

 in any part of Scotland; and cuiaueoui erupt:crj ar* much 



