AGRICULTURE IN SCOTLAND — 179I-I796. 65 



the horses of Ayrshire were short and active on their legs, 

 hard in the hoofs, large in the arm, very deep and power- 

 ful in the counter. Their defects were shortness and 

 coarseness of fore hand, and deficiency of elegance of form 

 and action. Of sheep, a small white-face race, with little 

 and coarse wool, occupied the dry lands on the coast, 

 though on the estate of Mr Kennedy of Denure, in Carrick, 

 there was a sort with fine wool. ' The established abori- 

 gines ' occupied the moors : they were black-faced and 

 black-legged, with large horns, and their wool, of the 

 coarsest quality, seldom weighed more than 2lb. to 31b. 

 per fleece, and not worth 6d. an English pound. 



In Lanarkshire, the report by Mr Naismyth is very 

 meagre, and our dependence is wholly on the Statistical 

 Reports and Mr Wight's survey. In Blantyre, the old 

 Scotch plough was almost universally used. Rye-grass 

 was sown, and potatoes were mostly grown for family use. 

 In Bothwell the Scotch plough, ' upon a better plan than 

 usual,' with three horses, was generally used. Excellent 

 butter and cheese were made in the parish, but the dairy was 

 not carried on to any great extent, owing to the smallness 

 of the farms. In Carnwath, on the extensive estate of 

 Count Lockhart of Lee and Carnwath, turnip farming had 

 been lately introduced, with a certain rotation of crops to 

 follow the turnip course, which the tenants by their leases 

 were bound to observe. In Dalziel, the late Mr Archibald 

 Hamilton had made great improvements in planting. He 

 also helped the improvement of agriculture, enclosing the 

 fields with hedges. He had abolished the feudal custom 

 of exacting carriages and other services from his tenants. 

 The tenants, thus encouraged, began to summer fallow their 

 fields, to straight their crooked ridges, to carry lime, and 

 make composts. In this way the value of the estate had 



Gilmour — ' This is the story told by her family, and it may be correct ; but I 

 never heard that cheese of this kind was made in Ireland more than in Scotland;' 

 and he remarks that the ' adage in the district of unknown antiquity ' respect- 

 ing the superiority of Cunningham for butter and cheese [quoted above] is cer- 

 tainly much older than the Revolution. 



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