166 
Report on some features of Scottish Agriculture. 
with the exception of 3 acres on the home farm ; but Mr. Hope 
rents the grazing of about 60 acres of old grass in Dirleton Park, 
besides the run of 400 or 500 acres of "links." He also, like 
many other Lowland farmers, has a sheep farm in the Highlands. 
Fcnton Barns. — On Fenton Barns the soil generally rests on 
interbedded felstone, but in parts intrusive greenstone or columnar 
basalt comes to the surface. The subsoil on two-thirds of the 
farm is composed of stiff retentive clay mixed with stones. On 
the southern portion of it, along its boundary, the PefTer burn, 
there is a vast bed of alluvial clay of great depth, mostly covered 
with slightly elevated banks of sand of the colour of dark raw 
sugar, though the clay comes to the surface in a few hollows. 
At the close of the last century this portion of the farm, extending 
to about 150 acres, was uncultivated : it lies from 25 to 35 feet 
above the level of the sea, which is three miles distant. Though 
the whole sandy portions had been early covered with clay, and 
the clay sanded, its cultivation was unprofitable until tile-drained ; 
which rendered it fit for the growth of turnips. Nearly one- 
half of the remainder of the farm is composed of excellent loam, 
and the other half of heavy and lighter clay-land, the last portion 
being the least productive of the whole. As remarked by Mr. 
Stevenson, " the whole soil originally was more or less retentive, 
but has been changed in character by furrow-draining and a 
long course of liberal manurings." I learned from Mr. Hope that 
the whole farm has been drained with tiles six yards apart, and 
almost every ditch has had large tiles placed in it and covered 
up, giving the fields a warm and comfortable appearance. 
Dirleton. — Mr. Hope's father tried the cultivation of about 
150 acres of the Dirleton sands, for they are little else, more 
than half a century ago ; but he found the crops so liable to be 
blown into the air that it is more than forty years since he gave 
up the attempt. Sixteen years ago, when the adjoining 120 
acres came into the possession of the present occupier of Fenton 
Barns, he found that for about a mile along its northern boundary 
there was a bed of fine clay varying in width from 25 to nearly 
100 yards. The whole of the surface of this, to the depth of 
18 inches, Mr. Hope carted away, and spread the material on 
the sandy portions, at the rate of from 80 cartloads per acre to 
as much as 300 on the lightest parts, the carts taking back sand 
to improve the clay. Since the claying was done there has been 
very little blowing until last summer, when an acre or two of 
turnips were blown out of the ground after they had been singled, 
and only a very few plants were left. This circumstance is an 
indication that it will soon be necessary to give the land a second 
dressing of clay ; but Mr. Hope thinks that even the worst^'parts 
will not this time require more than 50 or 60 cartloads per acre,. 
