306 
AGRICULTURE IN SCOTLAND*-THE FORCE OF HABIT* 
^grintlUxre in Scotland.—No. 12. 
In continuation of our journey from Edinburgh to 
Newcastle, I next come to the country between Kel¬ 
so and Coldstream, a distance of 12 or 14 miles. At 
the time of my visit the hedges were in full bloom, 
and the air sweet with their perfume. This of course 
gave the country a delightful appearance, but apart 
from it, the cultivation and the crops were very fine. 
The grass was looking particularly well, as also the 
wheat. The turnips were in general, at that time 
(June 14th), not far enough advanced to enable one 
to decide as to the prospects of a crop. 
The Tweed here forms for a long distance the 
boundary between Scotland and England, and almost 
every point of the shore could tell its tale of the bor¬ 
der wars. I might easily occupy my sheet with de¬ 
scriptions of places famous “ in song and story,” but 
restrain my inclination by the remembrance that such 
matters, however interesting, have nothing to do with 
my present subject. 
We crossed the Tweed at Coldstream, entering North¬ 
umberland. The country for some miles on the English 
side is very beautiful and highly cultivated. On the 
fatal field of Flodden, the wheat was waving tall and 
luxuriant. This tract was at one time a barren, bleak 
moor, and in the days of old it was continually beat¬ 
en down by the passage of predatory expeditions, and 
the strife of contending armies. A gentleman told me 
that he remembered when the beautiful country we 
were passing over, was nearly all wild and unpro¬ 
ductive. There is now not a trace of such unim¬ 
proved land to be seen. Some of the farmers in this 
quarter have very large farms. The coachman men¬ 
tioned one to me who pays £2,000 ($9,600) per an¬ 
num of rent. Another near him pays something 
more. Neither of these farmers has less than 200 
acres of turnips. 
The country grows more bleak towards Wooler, 
and from that place to Morpeth it is in many places 
quite neglected, and in others entirely in a state of na¬ 
ture. I may indeed say that from Wooler to Dur¬ 
ham, with exceptions, of course, the country is not 
cultivated as it should be ; far the largest portion of 
it is undrained, the water standing in every furrow 
alter rain. Another bad sign is the abundance of 
weeds, which are seldom thoroughly pulled, or extir¬ 
pated in any way. The soil is for the most part de¬ 
rived from the coal formation rocks, and is therefore, 
naturally rather poor, and in many cases very stiff. 
The farmers near Durham seem to have made up 
their minds as to the impossibility of profitably im¬ 
proving these stiff soils beyond their present produc¬ 
tiveness. Agriculture generally in that quarter is be¬ 
hind the age; the fields are in most cases full of 
weeds and very wet; or if dry, in large lumps like 
pieces of brick. Without venturing any opinion on 
the vexed subject of free trade, I may be allowed to 
state a fact first mentioned to me by Prof. Johnston,and 
since amply confirmed by my own experience. It is 
in our observation, almost invariably the case, that 
where the farming is best, there is the least cry for 
protection. Seeing that protection is gradually being 
withdrawn, like prudent men they endeavor to im¬ 
prove their land, so that if it is entirely withdrawn 
they may still cultivate it with profit. The bad farm¬ 
ers, on the other hand, instead of taking hold with 
fresh vigor at the prospect of difficulties, in too many 
cases content themselves by a great outcry lor pro¬ 
tection. Such is the cry about Durham. The great¬ 
er portion of the land is undrained and cold, yet a3 
they only hold their farms by annual agreements, 
they say that the proprietor should be at the expense 
of draining. They will not take long leases, as in 
Scotland, because they are afraid of the corn-laws 
being further modified. Thus they stand balancing. 
There is no doubt that annual leases are one great 
evil, and another is their incredulity as to the success 
of improvements elsewhere. If a practical man in 
another part of the country, says that his drains pay 
him in two or three years, they shake their heads in 
absolute unbelief. If they are told that by effectual 
draining and judicious subsoiling, turnips may be pro¬ 
fitably grown on clays stiff as theirs, they openly say 
that the thing is preposterous. Even if the personal 
testimony of some intelligent and enterprising Scotch 
or English farmer is brought forward as to his own 
methods of procedure, with opinions and facts, as to 
the profits of his improvements, they still get off by 
expressing their belief that he is going too fast, and 
deceiving himself, and will at last find the fallacy of 
his calculations. Whatever may have been done on 
other soils, they are quite sure that there is some¬ 
thing about theirs—some peculiar circumstance 
which venders such improvements impossible, that is, 
so far as profit is concerned. [ have mentioned these 
excuses and reasons because they are made by a very 
large class in England. A few judicious experiments 
on a limited scale, would set them upon the right 
course for the improvement of their land ; but they 
have no desire to make them. 
There are, however, some farmers near Durham, 
who are improving gradually, and who will, 1 hope, 
induce others to follow. One of the best is Mr. Crof- 
ton, well known as a breeder of Short-Horn stock. 
I rode out to see bis herd, and was much gratified. 
One of his cows last year beat all England, at South¬ 
ampton, and has lately won many other prizes. For 
a cow inferior to his best, he has refused 300 guin¬ 
eas. Much of his stock, he tells me, has gone to 
America; among others his bull Comet to one of the 
western States. 
While at Holkham, in Norwich, a rew days after¬ 
wards, I saw some pure North Devon stock, of the 
beautiful red, so much admired by our New England 
farmers. One bullock just fat weighed about 70 
stones (900 lbs.). Some of the cows showed an 
astonishing aptitude to take on fat. They are not re¬ 
markable as milkers. The breed has long been kept 
in great purity on the Earl of Leicester’s home farm 
at Holkham. John P. Norton., 
Edinburgh, August, 1845. 
THE FORCE OF HABIT. 
My experience teaches me that I fail much oftener 
from inattention to little matters, than for want of 
general knowledge in the practice of farming. And 
this inattention in nine cases out of ten is the legiti¬ 
mate offspring of habit; and the reason why habit 
takes such an erroneous direction arises from the fact 
that our minds are naturally attracted by the magni¬ 
tude of objects, without considering that this magni¬ 
tude is only attained by the accumulation of single 
atoms. 
To illustrate the importance of this idea, we will 
suppose two farmers, A, and B, start at once in the 
business of farming with $1000 capital each. A. 
