NOTES. 29 



It has been remarked, that lands, covered with fir, by nature, are not of much 

 value for cultivation, but are in general of a barren rocky quality ; and the im- 

 provement is only effected by young trees. 



52 See the Rev. Mr Willis's valuable paper. Communications to the Board 

 of Agriculture, vol. \i. p. 17, and 23. 



53 It is upon this principle that the Flemish acted, wbo have improved such 

 an extent of waste land. They never brought more barren soil into cultivation 

 at a time, than they had abundant manure for. Communications to the Hoard of 

 Agriculture, vol. i. p. 225. 



54 See vol. vii. Part i. p. 127; and Part ii. p. 244. Three premiums of 

 gold medals were voted by the Board for these exertions. 



55 In a valuable account of the improvement of a tract of waste land, by Mr 

 Simpson, upon the Pickering Moors, in Yorkshire, he observes, " That the great 

 error into which many have fallen, is the ploughing out the tough mossy swards 

 without paring and burning, which occasions an almost total failure of crop, and 

 of course a want of manure for the next succession." North Riding Report, 

 p. 223 ; Derbyshire Report, vol. ii. p. 404. 



56 In a moist climate, oats would probably answer better than rye. 



57 Carrots might likewise have been tried. 



58 Communications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. vii. p. 438. 



59 Mr Smith of Swinridge-moor in Ayrshire has derived great credit, for 

 having strongly recommended the application of lime to mossy soils, and having 

 proved its efficacy. 



60 They are described in the Galloway Report. 



61 Preliminary Observations to the Westmoreland Report, by the late Dr 

 Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, p. 8. General Report of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 388. 



62 Mid-Lothian Report, Appendix, No. XI. p. 104. Middlesex Report, 

 p. 107 ; where the advantages of improving wastes, in the neighbourhood of the 

 metropolis, are fully explained. 



63 Caithness Report, Appendix, p. 141. Holt's Lancashire, p. 103. 



64 Aberdeenshire Report, p. 221. In dry soils and in warm climates, the 

 shelter of lofty trees is of no use, to protect the crops from the violence of the 

 sun, and the evaporation it would otherwise occasion. This is found in the 

 Netherlands, particularly in the Pays de Waes, and the same system might 

 be useful in some parts of England. 



65 Perthshire Report, p. 118. 



66 Dr Skene Keith observes, that the difference between inclosures, and 

 the bleak unsheltered lands in the same neighbourhood, is often from five to 

 eight degrees of the thermometer. 



67 General Report of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 276. 



68 Middlesex Report, p. 137. 69 Ibid. p. 108. 70 Ibid. 



71 Derbyshire Report, vol. ii. p. 259, 279 ; and vol. iii. p. 269. 



72 Husbandry of Scotland, vol. i. p. 45. 



73 Husbandry of Scotland, vol. i. p. 48. Derbyshire Report, vol. ii. p. 84. 



74 In the Communications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 1, there 

 is a very interesting Paper on Inclosures, by the late Robert Somerville, Esq., 

 with engravings in no less a number than sixty-four modes of inclosure, some 

 of them quite simple, and others more complex. 



75 Kames's Gentleman Farmer, p. 269. 



76 Middlesex Report, p. 135. Stone fences generally indicate a thin light 

 soil, and, on such land, quickset hedges could hardly be raised as a fence. 



77 Brown's Treatise on Rural Affairs, vol. ii. p. 297. 



78 Husbandry of Scotland, vol. i. p. 447. Where the wall is not built too 

 open below, it is of great advantage, to introduce a little lime between each 

 stone, along with the wedges or pins. General Report of Scotland, vol. i. 

 p. 307. 



79 Communications from Sir George O. Paul, Bart. 



