K. however, conceives, that without a most elaborate and expensive survey, no approximation to the truth could be obtained on this last head.He observes however, that there is no chalk whatever, and little absolute sand, though abundance of sandy and gravelly loam. There is peat land, but none cultivated. In regard to the proportion under tillage, our author has given some estimates of his predecessors, which do not, however, appear to be formed on any very precise data. Mr Low reckoned 75,000 acres in tillage, the same number unOder pasture, and 126,000 of moor, moss, wood, &c. Mr John Home reckoned only 65,790 acres of loam and clay; the rest turnip soil, moss, &c. We shall extract the following short sketch given by our author. s; The Merse, or lower divisions, is comparatively an extensive plain, yet much diversified by frequent swells and has several hills of some elevation interspersed, as at Lammerton, Dunse, and Home Castle; the two former being projecting spurs from the Lammermoor range, while the latter is an isolated, lofty knoll. Lammermoor and Lauderdale are composed of an extensive range of lofty hills, dividing this north-eastern portion of the vale of Tweed from the expanded vale of Forth. These hills are mostly flat, or at least very obtuse on their summits, and not precipitous or rocky on their. sides. They are every where intersected by a number of narrow upland vatlies, or dells, through which the numerous feeders or brooks, that combine to form the Leeder, Whitadder, Blackadder, and Eye water, wind towards the lower vale. The summits, in many places, extend into considerable flats, or elevated table lands, which often slope gradually to the lower vales, on the south sides of the hills, the higher parts being moor, but gradually declining into good land. The north sides of the Lammermoor hills are considerably steep, but, as belonging to the,Lothians, require no particular mention here. extensive details of the different sorts of soil, which we recommend to the professional farmer. In regard to minerals, Berwickshire labours under the want of two of the most important necessaries of life; that of coal and lime. The former is imported from the Frith of Forth and the north of England, and the latter from Sunderland and the river Wear. It is equally destitute of metals.There have been some indications indeed of iron and copper, but neither to any great extent. Clay marle was formerly wrought in large quantities, but has now been superseded by lime. On the other hand this county abounds with stone of various descriptions, from the hardest whinstone to the breccia, or pudding stone. It contains also extensive quarries of the finest free stone, which, our author conceives, might even be made an article of commerce. Besides the majestic Tweed, which bounds it, Berwickshire contains a number of smaller streams, all of which, except the Eye, fall into the Tweed. Among these the most considerable are the Whitadder and Blackadder, (white and black waters,) and the Leeder. The Eye falls into the ocean at Eyemouth. This county contains no mineral springs of any repute. The Tweed abounds with salmon, which form an important article of trade; but most of the other streams contain only trout. The lands in Berwickshire are divided among a great number of small proprietors. In the year 1795, Mr Home estimated the number at 294. About the same time Mr Low estimated that none of its estates exceeded 50001. of yearly rent. The immense rise in the value of land which has since taken place, must doubtless have greatly altered this estimate; yet it is still not supposed to exceed double that amount. It is remarkable that the ducal Mr Kerr enters then into pretty family of Gordon derive their titles from lands lands in this county; tho' these, with their property, have since been transferred to more northern districts. The titles of Home and Marchmont (the latter of which is at present the subject of a plea) are now the principal in Berwickshire. The number of gentlemen's seats is estimated at 92, of which 69 are in the Merse, and 23 in Lammermoor and Lauderdale. Mr Kerr now enters into a great variety of matter, which will be extremely interesting to professional men, but very little so, and indeed hardly intelligible, to the general reader. It relates to the mode of tenure, the farm buildings and offices, the cultivation of all the different species of grain, the rearing of the different kinds of live stock, and all the technical details of husbandry. On the subject of enclosing he mentions several instances of the division of extensive commons among the proprietors. Of these the most considerable was Coldingham moor, about 6000 acres, which took place about 1777. The result however did not answer expectation; the ground was found to be so extremely bad, as to defy all attempts at converting it into arable. Mr K. thinks it a subject of regret that the money thus vainly wasted, should not have been spent in enclosing and planting the whole. Since that time, Chimside common, consisting of nearly 2500 acres, has also been divided. After discussing subjects purely agricultural, our author proceeds to others connected with the general objects of political economy. Of these, roads certainly are the most intimately connected with his subject, since without the facilities of transportation which they afford, agriculture will never make any considerable progress. The grand post road between London and Edinburgh passes thro' this country, and is supported by two toll bars at its northern and southern extremities. As this line of road is led over some very steep hills, a new line has recently been devised, by which these obstructions are avoided. Unfortunately however, like many good Scottish undertakings, it has been stopt in the middle, for want of funds. Only the part from Berwick to Ayton has been completed, by which however, a very heavy ascent over the hill of Ayton has been avoided. The formation of this road, every thing included, has cost a thousand pounds a mile. About 900/. was awarded as compensation to proprietors. It is expected that the remaining part from Ayton to Dunglass will be executed at much less expence. The yearly charge of maintaining the post road is at present upon an old contract, only 67. per mile, but must soon be 8lThere is another post road by Kelso and Lauder. Besides these, there are 108 miles of turnpike road, which are supported at 77. per mile, and 490 of parochial road which are supported at 37. 10s. The last however, is so greatly inferior, that it were to be wished that the turpike road were considerably farther extended. Berwickshire possesses no manufacture, except that of paper, which is carried on at Broomhouse, Ayton, and` Allanbank. These three, it is supposed may give employment to 200 individuals, and may produce to the value of upwards of 25,000. It does not seem altogether easy to account for so entire an absence of this branch of industry. In general, the rich agricultural counties of Scotland are not manufacturing. The country may not yet have capital to carry on at once both branches at the same time. Upon the whole, though manufactures ought not to be checked, there is no good policy in attempting to force them, where the circumstances of any district appear adverse to their establishment. Fisheries are a somewhat greater object. The salmon fishery on the Tweed employs 70 boats, and nearly 300 fishermen. The salmon packed in ice at Berwick, and sent to London by the smacks. The commerce of the county is conceived by our author to be so trifling, that he does not devote half a page to it. We must remark however, that without this simple commerce, Berwickshire would with diffi. culty subsist. By it she is enabled to export the surplus of her rude produce, and to receive in return the necessaries of coal and lime, foreign luxuries, and manufactured commodities. The population of Berwickshire by the last returns, amounted to 30,621. Mr John Home, ten years ago, estimated it at 29,708, in regard to which he formed the following curious table, 1. Class.-Landed Interest. 1. Resident proprietors or heritors, with their families and ser If both calculations be correct, a small increase will have taken place, which is not to be despised, in a country so exclusively agricultural. The income tax for the county a mounted, in 1801, to L.10,837, 19s, 11d; in 1807, to L.33,000. The assessed taxes in the former period were L.5692.. 16s .. Od; in the latter L.9277 5s 3id. Unredeemed land tax, in the former L.1387 .. 17s. 4d; in the latter L.1293.. 19s. 3 d. County taxes in the former L.528.. 15s... 5d; in the latter L.743 .. 8s .. 7id. There are no agricultural societies in Berwickshire. Accidental meetings, at market or elsewhere, afford to farmers the only opportunities of discussing subjects connected with their profession. Neither is there any agricultural library, which is certainly a want, though many of the farmers are said to be intelligent, and to procure individually the best books on the subject. By some statistical notices in the appendix, it appears that the value of landed property in Berwickshire has risen, since 1794, from 118,000. to 230,000. This prosperity however has been confined to the landed interest: almost every other branch of industry has been either stationary or on the decline. The linen manufacture, which never extended beyond mere consumption, is now almost entirely stopt by the scarcity of flax. The paper manufacture has also suffered from scarcity of materials and fluctuation of prices. Mr Kerr has given a very curious table of the Berwickshire fiars from 1689 to 1808, from which we copy the following abstract. It is the average price, for the different periods, of the Winchester quarter. Sept. 1809. Reca Recapitulation of the average prices of Grain in the County of Berwick, for 120 years, from 1689 to 1808, both inclusive, divided into periods. ed. There is a good deal of extrajudgment, and is written in as good a style as could reasonably be expectextensive information, considerable Upon the whole, this Report displays Averages. present work is meant as the materials of future works, it was safer to give ficulty of distinguishing, and that the neous matter; but considering the diftoo much than too little. II. New Theory of the Formation of Veins, with its application to the art of working Mines. By Abraham Gottlob Werner. Translated from the German. To which is added an Appendix, containing notes illustrative of the subject.By Charles Anderson, M.D. F. R. C. S. &c. 8vo. 259 pages, 9s.Constable and Co. THE HE name of Werner has long been illustrious in Germany, and possesses now a great and increasing reputation in this country. A translation, therefore, of the only work which has issued from his pen, can hardly fail to be received with avidity. It must be interesting, not only to his disciples, who are numerous, but even to his opponents. The question of the formation of Veins is well known to be of leading importance in the great controversy between the disci ples of Hutton and those of Werner. According as they appear to have been filled by the operation of fire from below, or by chemical precipitation from above, the former or the latter of these must preponderate. It is needless to say that the grand aim of this treatise is to prove the latter position. Independent however of any theoretical considerations, the knowledge of this subject is of essential use in the art of mining, and the practical remarks of so excellent an observer as Werner must be valuable in this country, where mining,as a science has been comparatively little studied. Prefixed is a preface by Werner himself, written in a very peculiar style; with a magisterial air, and an avowed consciousness of his own merits, to which we, in this country, are little accustomed. It is accompanied however with a great deal of candour, and even an apparent anxiety to claim no more credit than is really his due; and is on the whole better than the hypocritical modesty in which some. of our authors think it necessary to dress themselves. He complains that * the substance of his lectures has been repeatedly published, in a very incorrect and defective state, and announces his intention of begining a grand course of geology, orietology and other branches of the science. This plan however has never been executed, and the present work remains the only written production of Werner. The author begins by giving an account of the different theories which had been formed respecting the formation of veins. The names are almost entirely German, and few of them much known in this country.Werner does not seem to have been acquainted with that formed by Dr Hutton. He then illustrates his own theory, adduces multiplied proofs in its favour, and replies to the various objections which have been urged against it. Lastly, which forms perhaps the most important part of the volume, he shews the application of this theory to the working of mines. In order to discover the extent, the direction, and the comparative richness of different veins of metal, it must be most convenient to know the general principles according to which these repositories are arranged. The volume concludes with a description of the mining district of Freyberg. The translator has added an appendix, containing some additional information, particularly regarding the mineralogy of Scotland, which was less known to the German professor. |