39 



covered with heath ; but even were the surface grassy, I 

 do not like to encounter a fibrous soil; nor have we any 

 necessity for engaging in difficulties, for few mountain 

 grazing farms will occur, in which suitable sites for 

 meadows will not be found, in far greater abundance than 

 can be required. 



Many, no doubt, will start at the thought of finding 

 luxuriant meadows at great elevations ; I have already 

 touched on this subject, and shall add a few words for the 

 encouragement of timid gentlemen. 



In my geological pursuits, I have for many years been 

 in the habit of ascending every mountain I came near ; 

 and from the time I discovered florin, I have always looked 

 for it wherever I went ; and affirm, that on every mountain 

 I went up, I found florin more abundant the higher I 

 ascended ; and at the summits of the two highest, Bessy 

 Bell and Knock laid, I found no other grass. 



My friend the Earl of Selkirk, on his return from a 

 visit to me, was to pass near Knocklaid, and intended 

 to go to its summit; I requested his Lordship when 

 there to look for florin ; — he wrote to me, that he had found 

 it in abundance at the very top, and carried some roots 

 home with him. 



At the request of the Irish Farmimg Society, I 

 went to the summit of the ridge above Dublin, separating 

 that county from Wicklow ; I was accompanied by some 

 members of the Society: — as we ascended, we found spon- 

 taneous florin every where, but, to our surprize, more vi- 

 gorous as we approached the summit. I pointed out this 

 curious fact to the gentlemen who accompanied me, and 

 who entirely agreed with me in my mode of accounting 

 for it ; which was, that in the lower regions, florin had 

 rivals to contend with; but these, unable to bear the se- 

 verities of great elevation, could not exist beyond a certain 



