Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/161

FIFE 151 pressions met with iu the coal strata are Lepidoden- dron and Stigmaria. A complete list of the crystals and other precious stones will be found in a paper by Professor Heddle in Ballingall s Shores of Fife, but men tion may be here made of the pyropes found in the trap tufa at Elie, which are sold to jewellers under the name of Elie rubies, and are regarded as the most valuable Scottish gem. In the Shores of Fife will also be found a paper on the flora of the county. Climate. On account of the hills diminishing gradu ally in height towards the east, the greater part of the county is fnlly exposed to the blasts of east wind from the German Ocean, which in spring often check consider ably the progress of vegetation, although their damaging effect is somewhat lessened by numerous belts of wood. The rainfall is below the average, and the climate is oil the whole mild, the heat in summer and the cold in winter being modified by proximity to the sea. On the higher ridges, however, the air is often sharp and rigorous ; and at an elevation of from 500 to GOO feet the harvests are on ail average from three to four weeks later than in the valleys and on the low ground near the coast. Snow seldom lies long near the sea, but the hills and higher grounds are sometimes coated for a considerable period. Notwithstanding the extensive drainage of the lakes and marshes, the valleys are occasionally visited by floating mists and hoar frosts even in summer, and grain and potatoes often suffer considerable damage in July from this cause. Aijritnlturc. According to the agricultural statistics for 1877 the total area of arable land was 244,865 imperial acres, of which. 88,012 were under corn crops, 47,742 under green crops, 58,075 under rotation grasses, 49,599 permanent pasture, and 1437 fallow. The acreage under woods was 22,003. Fife is especially a grain- producing county, and the system of cultivation is chiefly directed to that end. The acreage under wheat which was 12,384 in 1877 has, as in other districts of Scotland, decreased considerably within the last tweiity years, the difference being, in Fife, added prin cipally to the acreage under barley. Along the coast the yield of wheat ranges from 32 to 50 bushels per imperial acre, and inland it ranges from 28 to 40. The red variety is now less grown than formerly. Barley, being a less expensive crop than wheat, as well as less trying to the soil, and finding a ready sale, is increasingly cultivated. The acreage under it was 32,265. The variety most largely grown is chevalier. The return on the richer soils is from 40 to 64 bushels per acre, and inland from 32 to 42. Oats the acreage of which was 39,818 are a good crop all over the county, and yield on the richer soils from 48 to 72 bushels per acre, and inland from 36 to 54. Beans grow exceedingly well on the heavy land, but are not extensively cultivated, the total acreage being only 2147. The acreage under turnips was 29,093. About one half of the turnip break is sown with swedes, and a considerable quantity of turnip seed is also grown in the county. The yield in yellows is often as high as 35 tons per acre, and of swedes 30 tons, but the average yield is about 25 tons for yellows and 18 for swedes. The acreage under potatoes was 17,488. The average yield is from 5 to 8 tons, and on the finer soils the quality cannot be surpassed. No other green crops are cultivated to any extent. As a six-crop rotation of oats, potatoes or beans, wheat, turnips, barley, and hay or pasture is the most common one, the acreage under rotation grasses is more than usually small, but within late years a seven- shift has been obtaining favour, and since 1870 the acreage under grasses has consequently been increasing. In some districts, 8, 5, and 4 shifts are severally iu use. The acreage in permanent pasture is considerably below the average. It is chiefly confined to the higher grounds, especially those in the eastern district, and is let by annual roup. As a large number of cattle are fed on most farms there is generally a plentiful supply of farm manure ; the extensive coast line also affords a large quantity of seaware ; and limestone quarries are within easy reach in most districts. The number of cattle in 1877 was 37,305, or an average of about 15 2 to every 100 acres under cultivation as compared with 23 6 for Scotland. The number of cows and heifers in milk or in calf was only 8553 ; and it will therefore be apparent both that a compara tively small number of stock is reared, and that dairy produce forms a very unimportant item in the farmer s returns. On most farms, indeed, with the exception of those adjacent to the larger towns, only a sufficient number of cows are kept to supply the wants of the household and farm servants. As the Board of Trade returns are made up in spring they give considerably less than the full number of cattle wintered annually. These are mostly imported from Ire land, and the county on that account is scarcely ever free from foot-and-mouth disease and pleuro-pneumonia. Except a few short horns and a yet smaller number of polled Angus, the cows aro mostly crosses of a somewhat obscure origin; but a cross between Galloway cows and short-horned bulls has lately been largely intro duced. The number of horses was 10,155, or an average of more than 4 1 to every 100 acres, as compared with 4 for Scotland. Of these 7S21 were used solely for agricultural purposes. They are a strong, active, and hardy breed. The majority have a larye ad mixture of Clydesdale blood, and the number of pure Clydesdales is gradually increasing. There is a large number of excellent ponies and of carriage and hunting horses. The number of sheep was 73,665, or an average of about 30 to every 100 acres, as compared with 149 3 for Scotland. Of these 26,375 were under one year old. As, however, the Board of Trade returns are made up at the end of June they give only the minimum number of sheep iu the county, the majority being bought in at the end of autumn for wintVr feeding. More attention is now paid to the breeding of pigs than formerly, and the old breed has been gradually improved by ihe in troduction of Berkshire boars. The number of pigs was 6593, or an average of about 27 to every 100 acres as compared with 3 3 for Scotland. The breeding and rearing of poultry does not generally receive much attention, but the number of fowls kept on a farm is sometimes considerable. According to the returns, out of a total of 2244 holdings 565 did not exceed 5 acres, 647 lay between 5 and 50, 224 lay between 50 and 100, and 808 were above 100, the great majority of which were between 250 and 350, and only 39 above 500. Leases of 19 years are almost universal except in the case of the smallest holdings. A good many fanners hold more than one farm, but the lease of each farm is usually kept separate. The character of the soil is very various, sometimes even on a single farm, and the differences of rental are consequently very great. In the section north of the Eden, the soil, though generally thin, is sharp and fertile, and thu rental varies from 1, 10s. to 3. North-east of Leuchars it is very sandy, and a large tract is on that account incapable of cul tivation. From St Andrews all along the coast it is very pro ductive, but the most valuable part is that adjacent to the East Netik, which consists chiefly of clay and rich loam, and yields an average rental of from 4 to 5 an acre, and in some cases as much as 8. In the district of Elie the soil is generally light and sandy, but remarkably fertile, and in that of Largo it is mostly a rich clayey loam. The average rental of these districts is from 3 to 4 an acre. From Leven to Inverkeithing the land varies from a light and sandy to a rich and clayey loam, and the average rental is about 3. With the exception of the strath of the Leven, and part of the valley of the Eden, which consist chiefly of a rich and fertile loam, with a rental averaging from 1, 10s. to 2, 10s., the inland part of Fife is mostly cold and stiff clay or a thin loam with a strong clayey subsoil. It has, however, been greatly improved by cultivation, and the rental, which varies from 15s. to 2, is on an average about 1, 10s. Part of the Howe of Fife is light and shingly, and is covered principally with heather. There are a number of small peat mosses in the county, and near Lochgelly there is yet a pretty extensive tract of waste land, partly moss and partly heath. As nearly all the land suitable for cultivation has been reclaimed for about 40 years, the increase in the rental within that period is not so striking as in some other counties, the difference since 1850 being only 93,833. Farm management is everywhere con ducted on the best modern methods, and within the last twenty- five years the land has been nearly all redrained. A great many of the farmers houses and of the farm-steadings have been rebuilt within the same period ; and on most of the farms the servants cottages are commodious and comfortable. About three-fourths of the ploughmen are married, and although the majority are only engaged for a year, not more than one-third change their quarters annually. An addition of milk and meal is made to the money wages, and in the case of the unmarried men this forms almost the sole article of diet. The married servants are generally allowed, besides a cottage garden, a portion of laud for potatoes sufficient to enable them to rear a pig. All the most improved agricultural implements are in use. Steam cultivation, for which most of the land on account of its freedom from stones and its depth and stiff ness of soil is specially well adapted, is being rapidly introduced. Reaping machines are almost universally employed, and most of the grain is thrashed by portable steam mills. Full particulars re garding the whole subject of Fife agriculture will be found in a paper by James Macdonald, published in the Transactions of llic Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, 1876. According to the owners and heritages return, 1872-73, the land was divided between 10,410 proprietors, holding land the gross annual value of which was 905,577. Of the owners 82 9 per cent, possessed less than one acre, and the average value all over was 2, 19s. 6d. There were 11 proprietors holding upwards of 4000 acres, viz., John Balfour (Balbiruie) 10,590; George Johnston (Lathrisk) 10,005 ; Earl of Moray (Douibristle) 7463 ; Colonel