Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

,PERTHSHIREand on the NW point of the Sidlaws ; and on manyof the other hills. A light sandy or gravelly soilthe difl'erent parts of so large a region, but on thewhole, although in the remoter quarters some antiquatedappears in most of the valleys N of Dunkeld and and benighted practices still linger, the agriculturalAlyth, and W of Crieff and Callander, and is found in condition of the shire may be pronounced to be excellent.Nearly all the lowlands and many of thevery abundant quantity all over the county. Moorishand alluvial soUs intemipt its continuity in many parts. glens are in a high state of cultivation. Large tractsMoorland, or a thin stratum of moss upon sand or of moorland and moss have been reclaimed ; others havegravel, has given name to Orchillmoor, Sheriifmuir, been enriched; and draining, special manuring, andMethven, Alyth, Dunsinane, and other moors ; but careful rotation have all lent their aid to improve themuch of these have now been reclaimed for agriculture.farms of 1000 acres or more; 90, between 500 and 1000;soil. According to the returns of 1881 there were 108Climate.—The climate is affected partly by the prevailinginclination of the general surface to the SW, and 124 below 5 acres. The most common term for abut chiefly by the special configuration of the various farm lease is 19 years, at rents which run from £1 toparts. The temperature corresponds to the position of £4, 10s. per Scottish acre. But sheep-farms bring onlythe county between Highlands and Lowlands ; and about 2s. 6d. per acre, or from 12 to 17 bushels of grainstrikes the medium between the northern and southern per acre, the money value being determined by thecounties ; but is, of course, exposed to great local variations.Easterly winds bring rain and unsettled weather the lowest fiars price for the quarter of best wheat wasfiars prices for the year. During the last 20 yearson Cowrie, Stormont, Glenshee, and Strathardle, while 31s. lid. ; ditto best oats, 16s. 2d. ; ditto per boll ofthe weather is dry and serene in Breadalbane. Westerly 140 lbs. of oatmeal, 12s. 8d. The highest prices werewinds on the other hand bring up rain from the Atlantic respectively 64s. 4d. in 1867, 28s. lid. in 1868, andover Menteith, Breadalbane, and Rannoch ; while they 22s. 9d. in 1867. In 1882 the prices were 36s. Id.,leave the eastern regions quite unaffected. Neither 21s. 6d., and 17s. 3d. Ploughmen receive money andclass of winds can advance very far into the interior kind to the annual value of from £43 to £49. Thewithout being in great part disburdened of their bothy system prevaCs to a considerable extent. Themoisture by the mountain-ranges. Northerly winds following table indicates the principal crops and thehave their power much broken by the rampart of mountainsin the N. According to observations made someacreage under each in various years :time ago over a series of five years, west winds prevail1867. 1S73.from 165 1874.to 220 days in the year ; fair weather from1882.189 to 250 days ; rain from 95 to 141 ; and frost from Wheat, 14,060 13,915 14,803 7,49811 to 66 days. The mean height of the barometer Barley, 20,831 22,345 22,572 24,454Oats,was found during three consecutive years to be from.... 63,233 66,494 66,511 71,136Rye29-59 to 29-71 ; and of the thermometer from 41 to 262 295 337 38542J. Pease226 152 108 118The annual rainfall over five years varied between 31 -45 Potatoes, .... 15,606 16,616 17,362 17,723inches and 38 -4.Turnips, etc., .31,628 33,623 32,614 31,837Cabbages, etc.,115 188 205 166Animals.—The deer forests of Perthshire contain Other Green Crops,1,269 962 1,055 947large herds of red-deer ; fallow-deer, though not native, Bare Fallow, .1,941 2,461are found near some of the residences of the nobility Grass, Permanent Pasture,;96,288 84,239Grass, in Rotation, .and roe-deer are also common in some places. The fox,92,943 101,731otter, stoat, weasel, squirrel, and water-rat are among thecommon wild animals of Perthshire ; and the wild-cat The following table shows the amount of farm-stockand badger among those that are almost extinct. at various datesEagles still have their eyries among the mountains ofthis county ; and several kinds of hawks and owls are1868. 1873. 1874. 1881. 1882.also reckoned among its birds, in addition to a verylarge number of the commoner kinds. Game birds are Horses,12,SS5 10,131 :10,997 10,856very numerous ; and the grouse-moors of Perthshire Cattle,78,023 89,342 83,327 1 76,634 74,955afford some of the best sport to be obtained in that waySheep,680,267 684,841 703,969 675,081 684,920Kgs, .9,165 9,838 9,911 ,7,741 9,465in the world. Ptarmigan is found only on the loftiermountains ; and capercailzie, originally a native, butreintroduced from Norway after its extinction in Scotland,is abundant in many parts. The woodcock also are thus adapted to the rearing of a very great diversityThe pastures of Perthshire are exceedingly varied, andbreeds regularly. Perthshire abounds in excellent of stock. The Angus and Fife breeds of cattle prevail insalmon and trout streams ; whUe the salmon-fishing in the Carse of Gowrie, and about Perth and the Bridge ofthe river Tay and in its estuary is of a very valuable Earn ; the Argyllshire in Eannoch, Glenlyon, Glenlochy,Strathfillan, and other places in the west ; thedescription. Scottish pearls are found in the Tay, inthe shells of a fresh-water mussel, tolerably common in Lanarkshire, or those from the lower ward of thatthat river and its tributaries. The county has some county, much akin to the Galloway breed, in Menteithreputation among entomologists for the number of rare and the Ayrshire and Galloway in various parts. Breedsinsects to be found in it.of black cattle have been introduced from Devonshire,Industries.—The industrial sources of wealth of Perthshireinclude agriculture, sheep-farming, the letting of but these have become quite blended with each otherLancashire, Guernsey, and even from the East Indies ;lands and waters for sport, and a small proportion of and the former existing breeds. The stock of sheep has,manufactures and commerce. According to the returns as well as the cattle, undergone much improvement.in 1881, 16,522 persons were engaged in agricultural The old stock was the whitefaced, which in the Highlandsrequired to be housed in cots every night duringemployments, 6794 in domestic, 3801 in professional,3257 in commercial, and 27,694 in industrial; of the winter and spring ; but about 1770 the blackfaced breedlast, 1474 were employed in woollen industries, 2524 in was introduced, and has now, both in the pure breedcotton and flax, 917 in hemp and jute, 60 in coal and and in numerous crosses, almost entirely ousted theshale mining, 6 in ironstone mining, and 69 in shipbuilding.Of the whole, 82,214 were returned as with-way to sheep and tillage. Poultry is, of course, likeformer. Goats were formerly numerous, but have givenout specified occupation, of whom 49,227 were females,and 41,808 children.Only about one-fifth of the entire surface of thecounty is under tillage, the rest being taken up bypasture, woods, and deer-forests. The methods andconditions of agriculture naturally vary very much in196:; ;PERTHSHIRE988, between 100 and 500 ; 865, between 5 and 100swine, ubiquitous. Dovecots are rare in the Highlands,but abound about Perth and Cupar, the Carseof Gowrie, and in Menteith. Game has already beenalluded to.Woods.—Perthshire in early times was densely coveredwith forests, whose remains are still seen in such de-