294 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF chap. XV* 



ty is removed not more than three or four miles, 

 and no part above eight or nine miles, renders 

 this public accommodation less necessary here, 

 than in many other parts of the kingdom. Dr 

 Campbell, in his Statistical Account of Cupar, 

 has suggested that a navigable canal upon the 

 Eden might be carried as far up as Cupar at no 

 formidable expence, and has stated, in strong 

 terms, the advantages which the town of Cu- 

 par, and the adjacent country, would derive 

 from such a cut. 



The practicability of the proposed canal can- 

 hot, I suppose, be disputed. It must likewise 

 be acknowledged, that it would be a great pu- 

 blic benefit, provided the expence of making it 

 will admit the rate of the canal-duties to be so 

 moderate as to render the carriage of goods 

 cheaper this way than any other. This point 

 must be ascertained, before the elegibility of the 

 scheme can be determined. For that purpose, 

 the expence of making the canal, and its neces- 

 sary appendages, as also the whole cost of car- 

 rying goods along the canal, must be estimated. 

 And the probable quantity of tonnage, which 

 the exports and imports will require, must be 

 calculated. Then it can be known what canal- 

 duties it may be necessary to impose, in order 

 to indemnify the undertakers of the work, and, 

 of course, whether it will be the cheapest mode 

 of conveyance. 



I pretend not to be a competent judge of the 

 matter, and therefore may very readily be mis- 

 taken. But I strongly doubt whether the ex- 

 ports and imports of Cupar, and the whole ad- 

 jacent country, within the reach of the canal, 

 would be sufficient to raise such an ample and 



