SCOTLAND. 



Wheat and beans alfo are railed fuccefsfully in the heavy 

 loams of Formater, and on the ftill heavier clays of Buchan. 

 BanfFlhire owed much to a diftinguifhed charafter, the earl 

 of Findlater and Seafield, who ^ptroduced an improved 

 fyftem of cultivation in that county, and encouraged his 

 farmers to imitate. his example. Not only near the fea- 

 coaft of the Bogue and the Eurie, where that improved 

 fyftem began, but in the more inland parts, a fpirit of im- 

 provement has now become creneral, and has greatly altered 

 the face of the country. Though nature has done much 

 for Moray, yet the culture of turnips and of fown grades 

 was not, till within the laft thirty years, fo general, as in 

 lefs favoured counties ; but of late, both thefe and corn 

 crops, with the rearing of hve Itock, have been attended 

 to with ardour and perfeverance. 



In the fixth dillritl are included the two extenfive coun- 

 ties of Argyle and Invernefs, comprehending nearly one- 

 fifth part of the whole furface of Scotland. About two- 

 wneteenth parts of this di!trift are cultivated, and produftive. 

 Near Invernefs, at Campbeltown, in Argyiefhirc, and in 

 lome other fpots, wheat and turnips are fuccefsfully culti- 

 vated, but in general the country is unfit for tillage, except 

 on a fmall fcale ; its grazings, however, are extenfive, and 

 well adapted for the rearing of live-ftock. It likewife con- 

 tains a great extent of plantations, and the remnant of the 

 Cocillmore, or great forell of Scotland. The black cattle 

 of this diftrift are in high eilimation as excellent feeders. 

 The hardy breed of Tweedale (heep, and in fome inftances 

 thofe of Cheviot, occupy the hills. This divifion extends 

 acrofs the idand ; and the Caledonian canal is now carrying 

 on direftly through it, from the German fea to the Atlantic 

 ocean, which it is to be hoped will carry indullry and 

 wealth into this remote diftritt, and furniili the means of 

 facilitating and enlarging the commerce of the other parts 

 of the kingdom. 



The feventh diftrift includes the counties of Cromarty, 

 Rofs, Sutherland, and Caithnefs. It is in fome refpcfts 

 fuperior to the former, though more northerly. Eaft Rofs, 

 with a part of Cromarty, contains a confiderable proportion 

 of excellent foil ; and both the wheat and turnip husbandry 

 are carried on fuccefsfully. The caftern coail of Suther- 

 land, and the plains of Caithnefs, are alfo good corn coun- 

 ties. Weft Rofs, and by far the greateft part of Suther- 

 land, of Cromarty, and of that portion of Caithnefs which 

 bounds with Sutherland, arc rugged and unproduftive. Not 

 a tenth part of this diftrift is capable of being cultivated, 

 and only a twelfth part of the people refides in towns or 

 villages ; yet, by the introduftion of fheep-farming, by en- 

 couraging manufadtures, and, above all, by the extenfive 

 fifheries of herring and cod, now fuccefsfully eftabliflied 

 along the coail of Caithnefs ; this dillrift muft foon greatly 

 increafe in value, and the inhabitants become richer and hap- 

 pier. The breeds of cattle have been much improved of 

 late years ; the Tweedale breed of (heep is now fpreading 

 over the weilern parts of this diilrift ; and there are already 

 about 4000 of the Cheviot breed in various parts of it, 

 more efpecially in Sutherland and Caithnefs. The Merino 

 breed, and croffes of them, have been fuccefsfully intro- 

 duced into Rofsfliire, and other parts of this diitrift. Ealt 

 Rofs and Cromarty are ornamented with the feats of the 

 proprietors, and extenfive plantations. Wood alio thrives 

 in Sutherland, and in the more hilly parts of Caithnefs ; 

 but in the plains of Caithnefs, and near the fea-coa(t, it can- 

 not be raifed to advantage, from the nature of the fubfoil, 

 in general a gritty clofe gravel of little depth, incumbent 

 on a horizontal flaggy rock, which keeps the water near 

 the furface. 



The iflands which are included in the eighth diftrift, 

 were formerly denominated Ebudie, but are now better 

 known by the name of the Hebrides, or the Weftern 

 [Hands. They contain about one-tenth part of the total 

 extent of Scotland, with about one-eighteenth part of its 

 population. Of the whole furface, nearly one-feventh part 

 is under culture. Wheat has been raifed in fome of the 

 idands, more efpecially Bute, Iflay, and Coll ; and turnips 

 have alfo been cultivated fuccefsfully in Skyc, and fome of 

 the fmaller iflands. In all thefe ides the breed of black 

 cattle is excellent, though in general fmall. The fiflieries 

 and kelp manufafture are very valuable ; and by proper 

 attention to them, thefe idands may furnidi a great addi- 

 tion both to the wealth and ftrength of tlie empire. 



In the ninth or laft diftrift are the northern idands of 

 Orkney, and Zetland or Shetland. The former contain 

 about 440, and the latter nearly 880 fquare miles, and 

 form one county. Only about one-feventeenth part of the 

 whole furface of thefe illands is in cultivation. Wheat and 

 turnips have both been tried, and not without fuccefs. The 

 pure Merino breed of fheep has been introduced into Orkney 

 recently, and a zeal for improvement has lately appeared in 

 thefe idands, which may be attended vrith the beft effefts ; 

 for they enjoy a very temperate climate, though in a high 

 nortiiern latitude. The ides being fituated low, fnow fel- 

 dom liei many days, and ice is never more than two or three 

 inches thick. 



Forejls and Woods. — That Scotland was anciently clothed 

 with extenfive and luxuriant forefts, is abundantly proved 

 by the concurring evidence of tradition, of hiftor)-, and 

 of the aftual remains of their fpoils. Innumerable places, 

 where fcarcely a tree is now to be feen, derive their names 

 from the circumttance of their having been covered with 

 wood, or from the particular kinds of timber with which 

 they abounded ; as Woodhead, Woodfide, Aikenhead, 

 Afhyhurft. The great foreft of Selkirk, of which fcarcely 

 a trace remains, exifted, as appears from ancient documents, 

 as late as the 12th or 13th century; extending over the 

 upper parts of Ayrdiire, Lanarkfhire, and Peeblesfliire. 

 The foreft of Paidey feems to have communicated with 

 that of Selkirk, extending, without much interruption, 

 through the higher parts of Renfrewdiire, the marches of 

 Ayr and Lanarkdiire by Loudon-hill, to near the diores of 

 Galloway. The Caledonian forelf, of which the Roman 

 hiitorians fpeak, appears to have extended in a fouthern 

 direftion to the Englidi borders ; and in a weftern, from 

 the boundary of Stirlingfhire, by Falkirk and Stirling, 

 (including the higher grounds of St. Ninian, once the 

 royal foreft of Dundaff, ) as far as Gartmore in Perthfhire, 

 covering the great mofs, called Mofs Flanders, through a 

 traft of about twenty miles. Of this no trace remains, 

 except Callendar Wood, and Tor Wood, unlefs we trace 

 it, as we may, in the deep modes, from fix to nine feet 

 under the furface, incumbent on the clay, its original foil. 

 Many other inftances of ancient forefts, long fince loft, 

 might be given from authentic records. In all our modes, 

 from JO feet above the level of the fea, to 500, and even 

 1000 feet above that elevation, the remains of trees of a 

 much larger fize than any which now exifl in a growing ftate, 

 are found in abundance. In the northern modes thefe are 

 principally of the pine tribe. To the fouth of the Forth 

 it does not appear that the fir ever grew fpontaneoudy. 

 The oak is, in that diftrift, to be found every wiiere im- 

 bedded in the modes. In Dalferf paridi, in Lanarkdiire, 

 an oak was lately dug up 65 feet long, which is fo ftraight, 

 and fo equal in girth, that it is difEcult to determine which 

 is its root end. In Mofs Flanders, innumerable trees of 



the 



