Book I. 



AGIIICULTUIIE OF LANARKSHIRE. 



1185 



draught ; and (torn the little value attached, in times of tranquil- 

 lity, to horses well calculated for predatorj excursions. As the 

 soil and clinuite of Galloway arepecaliarly adapted far rearing 

 horses, there cannot be adoubt that under proper management, 

 they would in general become excellent, and add much to the 

 value of its produce. Hitherto few more have been bred than 

 what were necessary to supply the demands f the dislrict- 



Srihte incieasing since the introduction of potatoes ; and the 

 prejudice against eating the flesh common to this and most 

 tiistricts of Scotland gradually declining. Ringing not prttc- 

 tiied ; but the two stronp tendons of the snout cut t>y a sii^iX 



7841. AYRSHIRE, 664,960 acres of irregular but not mountainous surface, and clayey or mossy soil, 

 under a moist climate ; half the cwinty bog, hilly pasture, or waste, and the rest chiefly under alternate 

 grass and corn. The agriculture followed is in great part the dairy system; Dunlop cheese, already 

 <lescribed (7063.), being chiefly produced in this county. {Alton's General View, 1811.) 



Incision, about an inch and a half above the nose, when the 

 animal is about two months old. 



Bees of this district protlnce honey equal, if not superior, to 

 any in the world ; its excellence supposed to depend on the 

 profusion of wild flowers, especially white clover and heath. 



Came abundant ; a tew ptarmigans in the highest moun. 

 tains, 



8. Politictd Economy, 



Koads greatly improved of late ; and some cotton, woollen, 

 paper, and other maiiufactuies intioduced. 



1. Minerals. 



Coal and limestone are to be found in most parts of the 

 county, and there are several kinds of building- stone, but no 

 metallic ores warth working, excepting iron. Coal is the sta- 

 ple mineral, and is exported in large quantities to Glasgow and 

 other towns, along the west coast, northward and southward. 



2. Buildings. 



Somcfood castles and mansions, as Culzean, Loudon, Eg- 

 idnton, &c. Farm buildings are improving, though but 

 slowly. Some neat elevaitions, and comfortable interiors on 

 Lord glintoa's estates ; single (^. 1126. a), and double (6). 



Each rf such cotta^^ is surrounded by a neat garden, con- 

 taining a pigsty, pump, and bee-house ; and the house con- 

 taining a porch (1), kitchen, oven, and stair to bed-rooms (2)> 

 parlour (3), store closet <4), bed closet (5), pantry (6), coal 

 closet (7), back entrance (8), tool house (9), and water closet (10), 

 with two garret bed-rooms over. 



3. Occupation. 



Farms small, from 50 to 150 acres, and their culture imper- 

 feet and irregular, though rents are high from the population 

 of the manu^cturing towns. 



4. Livestock. 



Horses are bred and sold under the general name of Lanark- 

 shire or Clydesdale, and are in great demand ; as are the Ayr- 

 (hire.cows for the Edinburgh and Glasgow dairymen. Indeed 

 Ihese cows, as we have seen (6789.), are preferred to all others 

 in most parts of the low country of Scotland. The native 

 horses began to be improved by crosses about 1740. In that 

 year Robert Woodbum, in Mains of Loudoun, sold what was 

 then considered the best stallion in the countv, at the price 

 of five guinea*. The common price of draught horses did 



not then average more than 51. each. Till about 1780, the 

 work usually done by farm-horses was not more than one half 

 of what they now perform. Four liorses were then yoked to 

 every ploufjh, while as much is now turned over by tw 

 horses. (Alton's Dairi/ Husbandry, p, 180.) 



5. Woods and Plantations. 



Most of the proprietors are extensive planters. On the 

 Culzean estate are extensive woods, raised in the face of the 

 west winds; most of the trees lean to the east, excepting the 

 common maple, which is generally erect, or nearly so, and is 

 one df Sie best trees far an exposed sea-coast. There are a few 

 native coppice-woods, and some fine eld birch, afih, emd oak 

 trees round EgUnton Castle. 



6. Improvements. 



Captain Smith, the proprietor of a small jHace abounding 

 with peat bogs, about 1790, began to drain and dig, and lime 

 the surface, and succeeded in reducing the peat to a black 

 mould, and rearing tolerable crops of oats, potatoes, and clover. 

 After five or six years, he was able to venture horses and cattle 

 on these bc^ ; but at first every operation was manual. 



7. Political Economy, 



Carpet and other woollen manufactures at Kilmarnock j 

 thread at Beith, cotton at Catharine, iron at Muirkirk, salt 

 and kelp on the shores, and earthenware and the usual minor 

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



The harbour and other works carried on at Ardrossan, 

 under the auspices of the Earl of Eglinton, and the harbour of 

 Troon, and the railway from thence to Kilmarnock, formed 

 almost entirely at tlie 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 harbour lately completed is one of the safest, most 

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

 possessing many advantages over the harbour in the Frith of 

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

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

 for upwards of twenty miles below Glasgow, is both shallow 

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

 18U, and every thine 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 other works have 

 rather 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 

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

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



The harbour at Ardrossan was only a part of the general 

 plan, and that from which, viewed by itself, the smallest ad- 

 vantages perhaps were to be expected. The leading idea was 

 to open a direct communication between <ilasgow. 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 thirtv-one miles and half, at the estimated expense of 

 125,000/. "Of this a third part was executed, that is, from 

 Glasgow to Johnstone, and this part, it is said, cost about 

 90,080/. 



The harbour at Troon, connected, as it now is, with Kilmar- 

 nock, by means of an excellent railway, seems to possess almost 

 all the advantages of that of Ardrossan, and promises to be- 

 come, in a much shorter period, of vast utility to tlie populous 

 country around it. 



7842. LANARKSHIRE or CLYDESDALE. 556,800 acres, m great part moimtain, moor, and peat, 

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

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

 age of the rain which falls at Glasgow, 308 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 

 native of this county. {Naismith'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, wheie the leases of farms fall in, the landlord gene- 

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

 getting the full rental value for the land. A pood deal of 



f round feued out to operative mechanics, weavers, &c for 

 uilding cottages. 



2. Occupation, 

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



and com farms moderate. The mountainous district is occu- 

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

 W. 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 rugged and less exposed parts 

 are more occupied in the culture of com ; and the banks of 

 the Clyde, between HamUton and Lanark, with orchards. 



3. Gardens and Orchards. 



Glasgow is abundantly supplied with the common culinarr 

 vegetables from market garcftns. Orchards 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 chiefly of apples, with a mixture of 

 pear trees, and some plums. 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 increase. The produce is very pre- 

 carious, the fruit being frequently destroyed in the blossom, by 

 spring frosts and caten'illars. The value of the fruit is not 

 always in proportion to the number 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 proportion, 

 than those who do not. Much also depends on adapting 

 the trees to the soil and exposure. These orchard* art- mostly 

 planted on very iteep hanging banks, and on such tliey htt\ 



4 G 



