276 



Farming of East Lothian. 



Report, the public will be enabled, bj combining and comparing 

 with it the statistical returns, to understand more fullj the pecu- 

 liar features of the systems of cultivation practised in East 

 Lothian. 



The county of East Lothian, more correctly termed Hadding- 

 tonshire, is defined by natural boundaries, that side excepted 

 where it joins Mid-Lothian. The Frith of Forth forms the 

 Northern ; the German Ocean the Eastern ; and the range of 

 the Lammermuir Hills the Southern boundary. The Lammer- 

 muirs, from abutting partly into the county of Berwick and 

 partly into the county of East Lothian, form a portion of the 

 area of both, the smallest portion being embraced in the latter 

 county. The extreme length of East Lothian is about 20 miles, 

 the extreme breadth 15 miles, average breadth under 10. The 

 superficial area is estimated at 150,000 acres. 



The surface of the county presents a curious geological feature 

 in a series of ridges, ranging from west to east. In most in- 

 stances these, which are commonly a succession of gentle undu- 

 lations, run parallel to one another, rising higher as they recede 

 from the Forth and approach the Lammermuirs. Those portions 

 of the Lammermuirs which are under cultivation are generally 

 very steep. In the lower parts of the county, where the trap- 

 rock approaches or comes to the surface, the land is usually 

 uneven, frequently with abrupt ascents and descents. In some 

 instances the trap formation assumes a conical form ; in others 

 that of an abrupt crag. On many farms, partly or wholly of this 

 formation, the surface is broken and rocky. Considerable por- 

 tions are thus waste. Limestone rocks are found in many 

 districts. At the close of the last and the beginning of the pre- 

 sent century, lime was, however, frequently and in large quantities 

 applied to the soils which did not contain it naturally. 



The nature of the rock formation influences but does not 

 determine the character of the soil resting upon it. That cha- 

 racter is partly determined by the constituent elements of those 

 rocks which go to the formation of the groups of hills to the 

 west, mostly situated in Mid-Lothian, and partly to those which 

 bound the county towards the south. The closer the district is 

 to these influencing causes, the composition of the soil is usually 

 less in keeping with that of the rock upon which it rests. The 

 boulder clay also goes to form the constituent elements of a very 

 considerable portion of the soils in the county. In some districts 

 this clay forms both the soil and the subsoil. Where the 

 formation is either red sandstone or trap, the soil is usually in 

 unison with the composition of the rock, partly intermixed with 

 the boulder clay. These rocks are generally only thinly covered 

 with soil. They appear to have been partially denuded by an 



