OA 2k SUITED roil SCOTLAND. 



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bouring moor-land. Often, indeed, it consists of the 

 identical blue clay or till which has been mentioned 

 above, and whose productive powers are commonly 

 deemed of so indifferent an order. Upon the whole, 

 it may be safely asserted, that the quality of the 

 soil in which remains of oak are now found, is decid- 

 edly inferior to at least two-thirds of our land 

 which at present lies entirely waste, and which, 

 therefore, might be planted with wood, without in 

 the least degree injuring the interests of agriculture, 

 or any other interests whatever. 



That large oak trees, then, did in former times grow 

 plentifully in Scotland, — that they prospered on land 

 which at present is not better in quality than many 

 hundreds of thousands of acres which are still unim- 

 proved, seems to be clear beyond the possibility of 

 doubt. Has our soil, then, become worse than it 

 was formerly ? That it should have done so is as 

 improbable as it is unaccountable on any known 

 principle. The surface of high hills indeed, is liable 

 to reduction from the action of frosts and rains ; 

 but granting that elevated ground should, from 

 such causes, be now much deteriorated, the same 

 does not hold good with regard to the valleys and 

 plains. These, on the contrary, ought to be en- 

 riched, in the same ratio as the mountains are im- 



