Plants, &c, of Selkirkshire, by Rev. J. Farquharson. 79 



The only considerable sheet of water in the county is St. Mary's 

 Loch, near the head of the vale of Yarrow, and 800 feet above 

 the sea. Flora does not add a leaf to the laurels of this famous 

 lake ; so far as I have examined them, its waters and shores are 

 destitute of interesting- plants. Nor is there much attraction for 

 the botanist in the numerous small lochs distributed over the 

 bleak moors, and among the featureless heights between the 

 Ettrick and its neighbour valleys on the east. They lie in the 

 most uninviting part of the county, and can scarcely be said to 

 enliven its dreary surface. 



The geological structure of Selkirkshire presents little variety ; 

 and no peculiar species of plants are owing to any peculiarity in 

 the underlying rock. Throughout the whole district the rock is 

 greywacke of the Lower Silurian series. For the most part it is 

 destitute of fossils ; but recently graptolites have been found in 

 the slaty beds at various points. In a few places veins or dykes 

 of f elspathic porphyry occur ; but they are of very limited extent. 

 Along the present river-courses the soil is generally gravelly, oc- 

 casionally loamy. Large masses of drift, which have been 

 moulded into terraces by the action of the streams, are found at 

 many points in the valleys. On the gentler slopes and in hollows 

 there is often a good depth of soil of a strong clayey description ; 

 but on the hills, except where marshes exist and deposits of peat 

 have been formed, the soil is thin, and has been formed by the 

 disintegration of the not readily destructible rock underneath. 



The climate of the county is severe. From the general eleva- 

 tion of the surface we should expect the winter temperature to be 

 low ; and accordingly the station of the Meteorological Society at 

 Bowhill (595 ft.) has frequently furnished readings of the ther- 

 mometer among the lowest recorded in Scotland. There is con- 

 siderable variety in the rainfall of the county. The upper por- 

 tion is very moist ; but the rain-laden clouds coming up from the 

 south-west get disburdened of their load among the heights, and 

 the lower portion towards the north-east is, in consequence, com- 

 paratively a dry region. The district is exposed to gales from 

 the S.W., which sweep unimpeded and with destructive force 

 down the two long treeless valleys. The severity of the climate 

 renders the county a late one for the purposes of arable farming ; 

 and, although there are a few sunny spots on the Tweed where 

 grain ripens early, on an average the harvest is about a fortnight 



