276 
AGRICULTURE IN SCOTLAND, ETC. 
^grintiture in Skotlcmb.—No. 11. 
I propose to occupy this and perhaps another 
letter, by a sketch of a journey between this place 
and Durham, which I made about the middle ol 
June. There are four or five distinct routes taken 
by the coaches from Edinburgh to Newcastle; the 
one which I took was by way of Lauder, Kelso, 
Coldstream, Wooler, and Morpeth, passing through 
the counties of Edinburgh, Berwick, Roxburgh, Nor¬ 
thumberland, and Durham. 
From Edinburgh to the Fala water, nearly twenty 
miles, the cultivation is generally very good, and 
about Dalkeith the pasture fields looked remarkably 
well. But even thus near to the Lothians, there are 
here and there farms, which are almost unimproved, 
whose fields show the baneful effects of indolence 
or prejudice. The noble parks about Dalkeith 
Palace and Newbattle Abbey contribute greatly to the 
beauty of this section. From Blackshiels the road 
rises rapidly to the top of Soutra Hill, one of the 
highest of the Lammermoors. It is, I believe, about 
1,200 feet above the level of the sea. At the top is a 
wide, bleak, boggy tract, tenanted almost entirely by 
sheep, nearly all black-faced. A solitary shepherd’s 
hut and ale-house rises alone in the middle, and tall 
wooden posts by the road-side show that marks are 
necessary during the winter storms. In this high 
bleak region we can scarcely hope to grow grain 
crops in regular rotation, even by the most approved 
methods now known ; but I think that by draining, 
liming, and judicious plantations to form shelters on 
the more exposed points, the pasture might be in¬ 
creased in value many fold. 
From this place to Lauder, and indeed I may say 
almost to Kelso, the farming generally is not good. 
The soil is formed from the slates of the- great clay 
slate formation, which stretches across Scotland, 
from St. Abb’s Head to the Mull of Galloway. The 
different strata of slate differ in composition greatly ; 
but they all form improveable soils. Many,, or in* 
"deed I may say all, of these soils are rather stiff, 
naturally cold, and retentive of water. Draining is 
progressing among the farmers there, but not so fast 
as it ought; the fields are too often thrown up in 
ridges, with a fine crop ornamenting in a narrow 
stripe the top, and contrasting with a yellow dwarfish 
growth in the hollow. One field struck me particu¬ 
larly. Half of it only, the coachman told me, had 
been drained. The crop was turnips, sown on ridges 
across the field, which had a gentle slope. It had 
been raining violently during the night, and the water 
stood in pools between the ridges as far as the un¬ 
drained land went; beyond that it was dry. I never 
saw so perfectly exemplified, the effect of thorough 
draining. 
Farm of Mr. Dudgeon .—On drawing near to 
Kelso the aspect of things changes for the better. 
There are many very excellent farmers m that neigh¬ 
borhood. We stopped half a day to visit Mr. 
Dudgeon, of Skylaw. This gentleman is extensively 
known as a most enterprising farmer. During a 
former lease many improvements were made, ad¬ 
vances, in fact, fully equal to any of the time in that 
region. Now having a new lease and more light, he 
is proceeding with great vigor and confidence. The 
soil is chiefly strong and stiff, some of the clay mak¬ 
ing excellent tiles. The great evil on such soils is 
an excess of water; according to the earlier systems 
of draining it was attempted to remove this by cross 
drains to cut off the springs , but these have been 
found not to accomplish the object. The whole 
plan of draining, therefore, is changed, and every 
field is, or soon will be, drained straight down the 
slope, the drains being 12 yards apart, and never less 
than 36 inches in depth. The effect of the drain,, 
followed after a proper time by the subsoil plow, is 
such, that he is now growing crops of turnips on stiff 
tile clays. In some of the English counties over 
which I have lately travelled, Norfolk, for instance, 
even where the soil is deep, they merely skim the 
surface, 4 to 5 inches being the usual depth, and 
they call 10 inches subsoiling. Mr. Dudgeon does 
not allow his men to go less than nine inches at the 
first plowing, and follows that by subsoiling from six 
to nine inches farther. 
The farm contains about 900 acres, and is laid out 
in large fields, of from 20 to 40 acres. We found 
nearly all of the crops looking well, the turnips 
especially so. Of these there are this year 180 acres. 
In one turnip field, I counted 29 hoes in full opera¬ 
tion. Most of this company were women, they 
being generally quicker and more expert than the 
men. Very few potatoes are grown, merely enough 
for the family, and a certain portion to each laborer. 
The wheat looked very healthy, but is rather thin in 
some fields, owing either to frosts in spring or the 
wire worm. 
We found on one corner of the farm a tile work in 
full operation. It turns out from 4 to 500,009 tiles in 
a year, but is not by any means able to supply the 
demand of the immediate neighborhood. 
At the same time that Mr. Dudgeon is improving 
most rapidly the long cultivated fields, he is bringing 
in others from a state of nature. We saw one of 
about 30 acres, in which the drains are nearly com¬ 
plete. The upper part was a wild moor, overgrown 
with patches of furze, and the lower part a perfect 
morass. The soil looked stiff and unpromising; but 
when once dry and well broken up, it will repay the 
trouble and expense of subduing it. 
Mr. Dudgeon has had three young Germans with 
him this summer, studying practical agriculture ; one 
of them is to remain two years. To show the estima¬ 
tion in which Scotch farming is held, I may mention 
that at the present time no less than thirty young 
men attend Kelso market weekly, who are students 
with the farmers of the neighborhood. They are for 
the most part from England, seme from Ireland, and 
a number from the continent. There should be- 
some from the United States. A year of such tuition 
would be quite invaluable to any of our young 
farmers, and my own experience of Scottish hospi¬ 
tality and kindness would warrant me in promising 
to any who might incline to try it, a pleasant as well 
as profitable year. John P Norton. 
Edinburgh, July II, 1845. 
Large Watermelons.— Mr. Ferriday, of Natchez-, 
Miss., writes under date of 39th July, that he had two 
watermelons sent him from Tensau Parish, Louisiana, 
one- of which weighed 39 s lbs., and the other 42 lbs. 
We should be glad to be the recipient of such favors 
during the succeeding reign of dog days. We have 
seen nothing like their weight in our market tills 
season. 
