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The north part of the Leny hills on the Queensferry road, and most of the oppolite coaft of Fife, are compofed of a fimilar ftone. It has a quantity of cal careous matter in its compofition, which is probably the caufe of its crumbling down. In many of the fragments, fine fpecimens of zeolite are alfo feen. On the fouth end of the hill, fine quarries of free-ftone have been wrought for many years. There is a mixed kind of ftone here, which is fomewhat fingular; it feems to be a compound of fhiftus and fand-ftone; it is very hard, and rifes divided into thin flabs or layers. This ftone is of a very dark colour, and contains alfo a quantity of mica, in fmall fhining particles. What is remarkable, both fides of the flab are very rough, and regularly honeycombed, the prominencies of the one correfponding to the depreffions of the flab that adhered to it. This ftone is fo hard, that if pulverifed, and properly prepared, it would certainly anfwer many of the purposes of emery. FENTLAND HILL, BRAID & BLACKFORD

HILLS.

times the fragments are fhapeless, but they are alfo found feparated in layers about three quarters of an inch thick, and bended as if they had been foftened by heat. Nodules appear, too, very generally in the rock, about the fize of peas, which are of the fame compound as the rock itself. This fingular ftone contains fuch a proportion of the two ingredients which compofe china and earthen ware, viz. clay and fand, as to be capable of being manufactured into that fort of ware without any addition.

The fountains from whence water is conducted, in caft-iron and wooden pipes to fupply the city, rife near the foot of this hill.

BRAID HILLS

BLACKFORD HILLS.

The

Are next to the Pentland. higheft is 690 feet above the fea. Tho' the petunfe rock runs through them, and appears now and then in different parts, yet there are feveral other compound rocks here, but none very remarkable. In fome places, to the fouth-eaft, we find the petro-filex. At the fouth corner, fpecimens of terra ponderofa have Braid and Blackford hills are fituat- been found, and of zeolite, both in coned about two miles fouth of Edinburgh. fiderable maffes. Specimens of black From the materials which compofe lead have been found on thefe hills too, them, they may be confidered as a con- in detached maffes. There are fome tinuation of the Pentland hills. The veins of agate difcovered in the rocks, higheft of the Pentlands is Loganhouse but too thin to be of use. hill, being 1700 feet above the fea. The eaft end is fomewhat abrupt; on Thefe lye nearer Edinburgh, and are the north part of the fummit, the naked feparated from Braid hills by a small face of the rock appears of a pretty live- ftream called Braid's burn. They rife ly white, when feen at a distance. Its to a more conical top than Braid hills; height is 1450 feet above the fea. This the fummit is 550 feet above the ftone has got the name of Petunfe Pentlandica, from its refemblance to the materials which are employed in China for the manufacture of their porcelain. As it is the only example of this compound ftone in the island, or fo far as we know in Europe, a fhort defcription of it will not be confidered as fuperfluous. This rock is compofed of filiceous and argillaceous earth; fome fpecimens are pure white, others have a flesh colour, and others, again, are cream coloured, with fmall spots of a bright red; fome

fea. The materials are, fo far as we know, much fimilar to thofe of Braid hills, above defcribed. But there is found, on the fouth fide of this hill, a greenifh earth, intermixed with sparry matter, which would indicate the prefence of copper. There is no timber upon any of thefe hills, which gives them a very naked appearance. The corner of that part of Pentland hill we have noticed, is covered with a very thick mofs, and coarfe benty grafs, which makes but indifferent paftur. Black

ford

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ford and Braid hills are much overgrown with whins. Between thefe hills there is an opening, which has been improved to great advantage, and where a very fnug house stood, which, from is fituation, was called the Hermitage of Braid. The prefent proprietor, Charles Gordon, Efq; has built a moft commodious houfe on this fpot, after the Gothic ftile, which affords a very a greeable summer retreat.

CRAIGMILLAR.

This is but a fall rifing ground, though, owing to the gradual afcent from the fea, its height is 360 feet above that level; on its top ftands the ancient caftle of the fame name, a favourite refidence of Queen Mary. It makes a most venerable appearance, and the view from the windows is highly delightful.

The rock compofing this eminence is chiefly free-ftone: but to the fouthweft of the caftle there is a ftratum of indurated clay, forming a fort of fhiftus, which contains a good deal of copper, not in veins but intermixed in an irregular manner through the stone.

CRAIG-LOCKHART.

This hill rifes from the weft fide of the Linton road, about two miles fouthwest of Edinburgh. It is beautifully wooded, and forms a romantic fitua. tion for the country refidence of Baron Gordon, the proprietor. This fmall range is covered with fine foil. It di. vides by a hollow near the middle. Where the rock appears to the northweft, it exhibits bafaltic columns much fimilar to thofe of Arthur's feat, but rather more regular and determined in their shape, forming a fort of femicircle. On the fouth-eaft, another set of bafaltic pillars appear still more diftinct than the former, and of confiderably faller diameter. They are not in up

The heights we have given are from Loles made out by Mr Laurie and another Fileman, both from actual survey. In thefe les, the hills now mentioned differ confirably.

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ST CUTHBERT'S, OR WEST CHURCH parish, which comprehends a great part of the fuburbs of Edinburgh. It is by far the most populous in Scotland, containing 32,947 inhabitants. This parifh contains about 9000 acres, of which may be estimated at L. 22,500 Sterling. There are feveral excellent free-ftone quarries which fupply the ci ty and contribute to its elegance. The 6 columns in front of the New College, meafuring each 23 feet, by 3, the largest. perhaps of one entire ftone in the island, were prefented by the proprietor of Craigleith quarry. There are also ex-. cellent quarries of whinftone working. at Bells mills for pavement. Next to this, is the parish of

CRAMOND, part of which lies in the county of Linlithgow. It is washed by the Frith of Forth on the north, and rifes gradually from the fea, the grounds being varied by beautiful and gentie fwells. The river Amond is the boun- . dary on the welt, the banks of which are beautifully ornamented with wood. There is an iron-work carried on in this parifh to a confiderable extènt, and faid to employ a capital of about L. 30,000 Sterling. Steel, rod iron, nails. hoops, fpades, bolts for fhips, and fuch articles, are made here. This parif contains 3890 acres, the rent of

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France, the finances and the people of which kingdom were in a miserable state, he obtained fome countenance, and was permitted to erect a bank: the effects of which, on the induftry and trade of the nation, were fo beneficial, that, as had been firft propofed, it was refolved to take it into the king's hands. Though, by thefe means, it received confiderable detriment, it continued useful, and Mr Law began to develope the great pro

which may be reckoned about L. 6700 Sterling. Its population is 1112 fouls. There is little doubt but coal may be found in this quarter; all the accompanying metals are difcovered croping upon the coaft. Confiderable quantities of iron ftone are collected on the fhore and carried to the Carron works. Granite, of various kinds, and freeftone, are in abundance. On the lands of Marchfield is a mineral fpring, which is faid to have purgative qualities. In ject on which he had long meditated, this parish lye the lands of Craigcrook, known by the name of the Miffippi mortifyed in 1720 by John Strachan, fyftem*; which in fome meafure turned of Craigcrook. The rents, about L. 300 per annum, are ordered to be employed in the fupport of poor old men, women, and orphans. Several very eminent men have been connected with this parish, either by birth or property.

Of thefe may be mentioned, John Law of Laurifton, who feems to have aftonished all Europe, by his projects, his fuccefs, and his ruin. He was born at Laurifton in this parish, upon the 21ft April 1671. He appears to have been a man of education, of wit, of engaging manners, and of ability: his calculating genius is faid to have affifted him in gaming, and his gallantries produced fome difficulties which obliged him to leave his country: but about the year 1700 he returned, and then published "Reasons for conftituting a council for trade," and "A propofal for fupplying the nation with money;" both relative to Scotland. His propofitions gained the attention of parliament, as well as of the court, and of the most confiderable people in the country :but his fcheme, though faid to be fixed on found and incontrovertible principles, was rejected; and juftly fo, if the apprehenfion be well founded that, had it taken effect, all the estates in the kingdom would thereby thave been brought to a complete dependance on government.-Difappointed as to his plans, he abandoned his native country. To other minifters and princes he propofed his arrangements; and at length in

the heads of the French people, but which, his biographer thinks, had it been carried into full execution, would in all probability have exalted France to a vaft fuperiority of power and wealth over every other state. It niust be mentioned to his honour, that he voluntarily gave up the whole perquifites as well as falary annexed to his office, was remarked for plainnefs and fimplicity of dress, and for order and ftrict propriety in the management of his household. Mr Law concluded the chequered courfe of his life at Venice, in the year 1729, and the 58th of his age, dying in a state but little removed from indigence.

John Elphinstone, fecond Lord Balmerino, noted for his fpirited oppofition to the tyrannical proceedings of Charles I. and being one of the best friends, that the covenanters ever had; Sir Thomas Hope of Grantoun, an able Scotish lawyer; George M'Kenzie, firft Earl of Cromarty, a voluminous author; and George Cleghorn, an eminent physician in Dublin, are also among the eminent men belonging to this parish.

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OBSERVATIONS ON THE GRAFTING OF TREES.

IN A LETTER FROM T. A. KNIGHT, ESQ. TO SIR J. BANKS, BART. P. R. S. SIR,

I AM encouraged to addrefs the following letter to you, by the opinion you were last year pleafed to exprefs of part of my experiments and obfervations, on the difeafes and decay of thofe varieties of the apple and pear which have been long in cultivation. The difcafe from whofe ravages they fuffer moft is the canker, the effects of which are generally first feen in the winter, or when the fap is first rifing in the spring. The bark becomes difcoloured in fpots, under which the wood, in the annual fhoots, is dead to the centre, and in the older branches, to the depth of the laft fummer's growth. Previous to making any experiments, I had converfed with feveral planters, who enter tained an opinion, that it was impof ɓble to obtain healthy trees of thofe varieties which flourished in the beginning and middle of the prefent century, and which now form the largest orchards in this country. The appearance of the young trees which I had feen, juftified the conclufion they had drawn; but the filence of every writer on the fubject of planting, which had come in my way, convinced me that it was a vulgar error; and the following experiments were undertaken to prove it fo:

apple-trees which grew from cuttings, and others from the feed of each kind of fruit afterward inferted on them; I was furprifed to find that many of these ftocks inherited all the difeafes of the parent trees.

The wood appearing perfect and healthy in many of my laft grafted trees, I flattered myself that I had fucceeded; but my old enemies, the mofs and carker, in three years convinced me of my riftake. Some of them, however, trained to a fouth wall, efcaped all their diseases, and feemed (like invalids) to enjoy the benefit of a better climate. I had before frequently obferved, that all the old fruits fuffered leaft in warm fituations, where the foil was not unfavourable. I tried the effects of laying one kind, but the canker deftroyed it at the ground. Indeed I had no hopes of fuccefs from this method, as I had obferved that several forts which had always been propagated from cuttings, were as much difeafed as any others. The wood of all the old fruits has long appeared to me to poffefs lefs elafticity and hardness, and to feel more foft and fpongy under the knife, than that of the new varieties which I have obtained from feed. This defect may, I think, be the immediate caufe of the canker and mofs, though it is probably itfelf the effect of old age, and therefore incurable.

The

I fufpected that the appearance of decay in the trees I had feen lately grafted, arofe from the difeafed ftate of the grafts; and concluded, that if I Being at length convinced, that all tock scions or buds from trees grafted efforts to make grafts from old and in the year preceding, I fhould fucceed worn-out trees grow, were ineffectual, in propagating any kind I chofe. With I thought it probable that thofe taken this view I inferted fome cuttings of the from very young trees, raised from feed, best wood I could find in the old trees, could not be made to bear fruit. on young ftocks raifed from feed. I event here anfwered my expectations. again inferted grafts and buds taken Cuttings from feeding apple-trees of from thefe on other young ftocks, and two years old were inferted on stocks wishing to get rid of all connection with of twenty, and in a bearing state. Thele the old trees, I repeated this fix years; have now been grafted nine years, and each year ting the young fhoots from though they have been frequently tranfthe trees laft grafted. Stocks of dif- planted to check their growth, they ferent kinds were tried, fome were have not yet produced a single bloffom. double grafted, others obtained from I have fince grafted fome very old VOL. LVIII. M m

trees

trees with cuttings from feedling apple trees of five years old: their growth has been extremely rapid, and their appears no probability that their time of producing fruit will be accelerated, or that their health will be injured, by the great age of the ftocks. A feedlingapple-tree ufually bears fruit in thirteen or fourteen years; and I therefore conclude, that I have to wait for a bloffom till the trees from which the grafts were taken attain that age, though I have reafon to believe, from the form of their buds, that they will be extremely prolific. Every cutting, therefore, taken from the apple (and probably from e very other) tree, will be affected by the ftate of the parent stock. If that be too young to produce fruit, it will grow with vigour, but will not bloffom; and if it be too old, it will immediately produce fruit, but will never make a healthy tree, and confequently neveranfwer the intention of the planter. The root, however, and the part of the stock adjoining it, are greatly more durable than the bearing branches; and 1 have no doubt but that fcions obtained from either would grow with vigour. when thofe taken from the bearing branches would not. The following experiment will at least evince the probability of this in the pear-tree: I took cuttings from the extremities of the bearing branches of fome old ungrafted peartrees, and others from fcions which fprang out of the trunks near the ground, and inferted fome of each on the fame ftocks. The former grew without thorns, as in the cultivated varieties, and produced bloffoms the fecond year; while the latter affumed the appearance of stocks joft raised from feeds, were con vered with thorns, and have not yet produced any bloffoms.

The extremities of thofe branches, which produce feeds in every tree, probably fhew the first indication of decay; and we frequently. fee (particularly in the oak) young branches produced from the trunk, when the ends of the old ones have long been dead. The fame

tree when cropped will produce an almoft eternal fucceffion of branches. The durability of the apple and pear, I have long fufpected to be different in different varieties, but that none of either would vegetate with vigour, much, if at all, beyond the life of the parent ftock, provided that died from mere old age. I am confirmed in this opinion by the books you did me the honour to fend to me: of the apples mentioned and defcribed by Parkinson, the names only remain, and thofe fince applied to other kinds now alfo worn out; but many of Evelyn's are ftill well known, particu larly the red-ftreak. This apple, he informs us, was raised from feed by Lord Scudamore in the begining of the last century*. We have many trees of it, but they appear to have been in a state of decay during the laft forty years. Some others mentioned by him are in a much better state of vegetation; but they have all ceased to deferve the attention of the planter. The durability of the pear is probably fomething more than double that of the apple.

It has been remarked by Evelyn, and by almost every writer fince, on the fubject of planting, that the growth of plants raised from feeds was more rapid, and that they produced better trees than thofe obtained from layers or cuttings. This feems to point out fome kind of decay attending the latter modes of propagation, though the custom in the public nurferies, of taking layers from ftools, (trees cropped annually close to the ground) probably retards its effects, as each plant rifes immediately from the root of the parent stock.

Were a tree capable of affording an eternal fucceffion of healthy plants from its roots, I think our woods must have been wholly over-run with thofe fpecies of trees which propagate in this manner, as thofe fcions from the roots always grow in the first three or four years with much greater rapidity than feedling plants. An afpin is feldom feen without a thousand fuckers rifing from its

Probably about the year 1634.

roots;

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