in  its  Effect  on  Cultivation. 
49 
The  returns  to  the  Highland  Society  of  competitors  for  the  best 
seed-corn,  show  that  in  1848  all  the  samples  were  grown  below 
250  feet.  In  the  previous  year,  the  greatest  altitude  given  is  only 
40  feet  above  t he  sea,  so  conscious  are  the  growers  of  the  effect 
of  elevation  on  the  quality  of  the  grain  in  Scotland. 
107.  The  Situations  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  proved  by 
experience  to  be  best  suited  for  each  kind  of  Agricultural  Produce 
and  Stock. — The  inquiry  under  this  head  has  been  to  a large  ex- 
tent necessarily  anticipated  in  the  former  parts  of  this  essay.  I 
shall  now  confine  myself  to  an  epitome  of  the  leading  facts,  draw- 
ing only  a strong  outline  of  the  picture,  and  leaving  the  details  of 
light  and  shade  to  be  supplied  by  individual  experience  in  the 
districts  named.  The  nature  of  the  soil  will  of  course  form  an 
element  which  in  practice  cannot  be  excluded  in  the  adaptation  of 
plants  to  different  localities.  My  remarks  will  therefore  only 
apply  to  such  soils  as  are  favourable  to  the  different  crops. 
108.  Wheat  has  been  naturalized,  in  a climate  congenial  to  its 
requirements,  in  the  great  eastern  plain  of  England.  From  the 
Welsh  mountains  to  the  North  Sea,  and  from  the  Isle  of  Wight 
to  Durham,  the  principal  wheat-producing  district  of  these  islands 
is  found.  Some  light  soils  are  more  favourable  to  barley,  and 
others,  from  the  expense  of  working,  remain  in  permanent  pas- 
ture ; but  this  portion  of  the  kingdom  hitherto  has  furnished  the 
chief  supply,  and  must  maintain  its  pre-eminent  adaptation  above 
all  others  for  the  production  of  this  grain.  In  some  parts,  wheat 
is  grown  every  alternate  year,  with  beans  or  a green  crop.  The 
extension  of  such  a system,  if  the  soil  would  bear  it,  in  this 
favoured  district  would  be  of  great  national  importance.  There 
is  land  enough  in  a moist  and  mild  climate  for  barley,  and  in  cold 
districts  for  oats.  The  dry  air  and  greater  heat  and  light  of  the 
middle  of  England  give  a peculiar  colour  and  firmness  to  the 
straw  which  is  not  met  with  elsewhere;  of  which  the  Dunstable 
straw  for  making  bonnets  affords  a familiar  example. 
Another  valuable  wheat-growing  district,  though  with  much 
inferior  capabilities,  is  found  in  the  eastern  counties  of  Scotland 
as  far  north  as  Aberdeenshire,  where  it  ceases,  except  in  a few 
sheltered  spots ; for  wheat  will  not  succeed  in  a light  granite  soil 
in  a boisterous  climate.  The  Merse  of  Berwick,  Teviotdale,  and 
the  rich  alluvial  lands  or  “ carses”  on  the  banks  of  the  Forth  and 
Tay,  have  superior  qualifications  of  soil  and  climate. 
Cumberland,  Lancashire,  and  the  western  lands  generally,  are 
very  defective  in  corn-ripening  properties;  and  this  influence  is 
felt  by  wheat  more  severely  than  other  grains. 
Ireland  generally  has  neither  soil  nor  climate  well  suited  to  wheat. 
The  land  on  the  limestone  is  too  thin  and  hot ; but  there  are  some 
strong  loams  on  the  north  and  the  south,  and  some  superior  low  land 
VOL.  XI.  E 
