XIX 

 NORTHERN FRUIT-GROWING 



THE fine arable farming of the Lothians by no means 

 ended at Dunbar ; all the way into Edinburgh and 

 along the shores of the Firth beyond much the same 

 class of agriculture was to be seen, but the soils are 

 more diversified and their cultivation never attained the 

 pitch of excellence that characterizes the red lands of 

 Dunbar. Across the Firth into Fife again some very 

 well-managed land was to be seen, but the surface is 

 somewhat rugged, the moorland is never far away, and 

 cultivation cannot extend to any great height above 

 sea level. With the poorer land grass began to be 

 more prominent and stock contributed a larger share 

 to the farmer's returns, even when they did not become 

 the leading feature of the farm. The best of the 

 arable farming is to be found in the alluvial valleys, 

 particularly in the comparatively broad strath which 

 extends from Cupar to the sea. In Perthshire the 

 agriculture is also of a very advanced type ; there are 

 two well-defined areas of arable farming, the Carse of 

 Cowrie an alluvial flat of somewhat heavy soil along 

 the head of the estuary of the Tay and Strathmore 

 the wide valley that runs from Perth to Montrose 

 with the Sidlaw Hills on one hand and the foothills of 

 the Grampians on the other. We were taken to see 



one or two important farms, and, though each man 



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