STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE, 



Part IV. 



small proportion of stable dung ; or the farmers spread it over 

 their cattle-yards, and it forms most excellent manure. Thus, 

 what is a complete hinderance to improvement forty miles dis- 

 tant, is brought here by the river at no cost, and forms a most 

 valuable addition to the resources of the cultivator. Till 1760, 

 no wheat was grown in this county, though it appears by old 

 abbey rentals that wheat was paid as rent at Cambus Kenneth 

 so early as 1147. Now wheat enters into almost every rota- 

 tion. 



1188 



The carse lands are rerv fertile ; but part of the hilly and 

 moort district of little or n6 value. The agriculture is similar 

 to that of Stirlingshire. After the invention of the threshing- 

 machine, one of the first was erected at Kilbagie, by George 

 Meikle, n 17S7 ; it is driven by water. A curious source of 

 manure is found in this county. The moss floated down from 

 Blair Drummond (2189.) accumulates in the bays, and is 

 mixed as deposited with the sea-weed driven on shore by the 

 tide. This moss and weed is taken out and fermented with a 



7S47 KINROSS SHIRE 47,t)42 acres, of varied surface, but generally low. There are extensive 

 -jiosses and muirs, and not niuch rich soil. Their agriculture is mixed, and of no great interest. ( Ure's 

 General View, 1793.) 



Lochleven occupies 3308 acres ; three small streamlets run 

 into it, and the diflPerence between its highest and lowest 

 surface, at diilerent seasons, is three feet. 1 he trouts of this 

 lake in high esteem ; those of the river Leven larger, weigh- 

 ing five pounds and upwards. , . . ,. .i, 



?' Ur. Coventry, the learned Professor of Agriculture m the 

 University of Edinburgh, possesses an estate in this county. 



where he sets an example of knowledge, industry, and good 

 management to all his neighbours." 



Adam, of Blair Adam, the son of the celebrated architect, 

 the most extensive improver in the county ; draining, enclos- 

 ing, planting, more especially the larch and Scotch pine, and 

 building commodious cottages, extensively and judiciously 

 pursued. 



7848 FIFESHIRK 322,560 acres, exhibiting almost every variety of surface and soil, from the moun- 

 tain to the plain, and from gravel to moss. The climate is generally mild, owing to the surrounding 

 waters and what adds to the value of the county, both for culture and for the formation of country-seats, 

 it is rather drier than that of other counties equally far north. The agriculture is mixed, and may be 

 said to excel both in the corn and cattle department. The reverend reporter displays more than the usual 

 share of adulatory phraseology for that " highly patriotic individual, Sir John Sinclair," our " gracious 

 Sovereign," the Board of Agriculture, and the Government, " chalking out to the people a path by which 

 they may rise to opulence and consideration." {Thomson's General View, 1800.) 



6. Grass. 

 One fifth of the county inaccessible to the plough, and In 



store sheep and cattle pasture; some bog or coarse lushy 

 meadows on peat, and a few spots of good alluvial meadow. 



7. Gardens and Orchards. 

 The remains of an orchard at Lindores, but none of modem 



formation. Some market-gardens near the towns, but most 

 of the inhabitants have gardens of their own. Some good 

 nurseries. Sang, an eminent nurseryman, and manager of 

 gentlemen's plantations, a valuable man to the county, ha 

 introduced an excellent system of planting, pruning, and 

 draining. Some of the first private gardens in Scotland are in 

 this county, as tliat of Keith, Wemvss Castle, (Sec. 



8. Woods. 

 Not extensive, but young plantations very numerous and 



well managed. More cedars and rare sorts of trees in this 

 county than in any other. 



9. Live Stock. 

 Black cattle of Fife long distinguished. The reporter has 



heard an English dealer say, that a Fife bullock of forty stone 

 will bring an equal, and often a higher, price at the London 

 market than an English bullock ten'stone heavier, and equally 

 fat. A good Fife cow will give from five to seven gallons of 

 milk per day, from seven to nine pounds of butter, and from 

 ten to twelve pounds of cheese per week, tron weight, for some 

 months after calving. 



Breweries, distilleries, flour and barley mills, frequent. The 

 linen manufacture extensive. Salt made from the sea. Tan- 

 neries, vitriol, &c. 



The Fife Farming Society and the Inrerkeithing Cliib, sup- 

 ported chiefly by farmers,' are considered useful institutions. 

 The first was formed about six years ago, and at present 

 consists of nearly 200 members. I'lie principal objects aimed 

 at by this institution are, a mutual communication of disco- 

 veries and improvements in husbandry ; common protection 

 against thieves and depredators who shall unjustly invade 

 their property ; and raising a joint stock or capital for the be- 

 nefit of their widows and children, and of members reduced to 

 distress or indigence. Members pay one guinea at their entry, 

 and half-a guinea yearly. None are admitted but men of good 

 character ; and such members as shall be found guilty of crimes 

 and misdemeanors punishable by the laws of the land, are 

 liable to expulsion, and a total deprivation of all benefit from 

 the Society's fund. No member can draw any thing from the 

 fund till it amounts to 500/. ; neither can any one be entitled 

 to any allowance until five years after his admission. The 

 allowance fixed for a member fallen into distress or indigence, 

 is thirty shillings per quarter ; but this allowance is granted 

 upon the express condition, that he has not brought the distress 

 upon himself by drunkenness, or any other kind of disorderly- 

 conduct. And during the time he is receiving the allowance, 

 if he shall be found guilty of dissolute or immoral behaviour, 

 it is put in the power of the managers to deprive him of 

 it. The widow of a member is allowed twenty-five shillings 

 quarterly, so long only as she remains his widow, and main- 

 tains a good character. And the children, when no widow is 

 left, are entitled to draw the half of what their father contri- 

 buted. If a member shall die, and leave neither widow nor 

 children, his next heir, or whoever shall be appointed by him, 

 shall be entitled to the half of what he has contributed, after 

 deducting a proportional share of the expenses incurred by the 

 society since his entry. This society is, at present, in a very 

 respectable and flourishing condition. 



1. Geographical State and Circumstances. 



Coal, lime, and the usual rocks abound ; ironstone and lead 

 and copper ore abound, but none worked. Nearer Burntis- 

 land, upon the shore, and also in some other parts of the 

 county, there are quarries of hard stone, of a dark colour, with 

 the peculiar property of resisting the force of fire. It will 

 endure for many years, without being wasted or broken, though 

 exposed to the most intense heat. On this account it is used 

 for the soles of ovens, and for the sides of chimney grates. 

 Cominon and fire bricks manufactured of an excellent quality. 

 (TImmon't General View, 1800.) 



2. Property. 



Estates moderate ; largest, 8000/. a year. 



-3. Buildings. 



Few counties so richly studded with noblemen and gentle- 

 men's houses ; about a hundred enumerated as deserving of 

 notice. Many magnificent buildings in ruins. Religious 

 houses, castles, and Falkland Palace. Farm-houses and cot- 

 tages formerly very bad, now greatly improved, and superior to 

 those in most counties. 



4. Occupation. 



Farms from 50 to 500 acres of arable lands, and some of 

 mountain pasture twice as large. Some of the largest and best 

 farmers are men who have emigrate<l from other counties to 

 this less improved district ; but the greater number are sons of 

 local farmers, and not a few farms have been in the same 

 family for several generations. The reporter is an advocate for 

 corn-rents, a mode first revived in this county with the im- 

 provement of not taking the com, but paying in money, 

 according to the average prices. Leases for nineteen years ; 

 some formerly for one or more repetitions of the period ; in 

 general the restrictions reasonable, for the managers of estates 

 in this county are generally resident factors, and not Edin- 

 burgh lawyers. 



5. Implements. 



Ploughs with convex mould boards preferred for loose soils, 

 especially when in a wet state ; they free themselves more 

 readily of the earth, and make a neater furrow. An addition 

 to the plough, called a ridder (,fig. ll.TO. a.), adopted in some 

 places, and found to clear away the stubble from the coulter. 



1130 



7849. PERTHSHIRE. 4,068,640 acres, almost everywhere mountainous, but with intervening vales 

 of strong clayey soils, fertile in corn ; some gravelly tracts, and many mosses, bogs, and moors. The 

 mountains on the southern side of the county, where they are less high, are covered with pasture to the 

 summits ; those in the northern parts with pasture, heath, and copse. The minerals are coal, lime, free- 

 stone, slate, whinstone, granite, &c. the metallic ores, iron, lead, and copper, neither of which are at pre- 

 sent worked. This county serves to divide that part of Scotland on the south, which is generally adapted 

 to the raising of grain, from that of the north, which, with few exceptions, is more fitted for pasture It 

 also divides those parts of the kingdom on the north, where firs abounded in former times, and are still 

 found in the mosses, from those in the south, which carried oaks and a variety of other wood, but no 

 natural firs. It is also the general boundary, in regard to coal and granite, though both are found to a 

 moderate extent, the former in the north, and the latter in the south. The husbandry of Perthshire is 

 noted for its clay, or carse land culture, and for its plantations of larch trees. Its great improvers 



