Edinburghshire abounds in coal, limestone, and sandstone, or, as it is popularly called, freestone. A continued bed of coal extends across the whole county from Carlops, on the confines of Tweeddale or Peebles-shire, in a direction from south-weet tc norther*, =15 mint is length, lam seven toei$6!112 on bath sides of the Math Eat Bat it le dicey towards the lower end of this asks the the cod ie wassight, where these are is some pieces 26 seems, from two to ten feet thick. Some o die seams are herisontal, and others almost per pessificular, from which they are diseiagsiied by the names of fiat gems and alp mom ; and it hen been remarked, that the pommel of the cod car— responds in some degree with the surface of the ground, being level in the valley of the North Esk, and inclined to the horizon on the higher grounds at a &name. Cad hes bees wrought in the pa rids of Loonrade for upwards of two centuries, where it is still so abundant, that the quantity raised is said to be equal to a sitth part of what is obtained from all the coal works of the county. Li nestone is found not only in the sue track with the cod, but stall farther to the egos, and also in the south-west, where coal hen not yet been dig coveted. The greet quarry at Gamete°, in the of Libberton, about four miles from Edin rgh is nmly a mule in length, everywhere open to the light of day, and hes the of a long chasm, advancing obliquely to the surface. Line the sod in its neigithoerbood, the atone rests it an inclined position, which, when removed, leaves a floor of such a moderate as to be descend ed by plebs among the fragments of rock that have been left. At the bottom these is a pool of water. Overhead is a roof of considerable height, comat Mg of a bed of solid rock, supported by pillars of limestone. The prieseips1 freestone quarries are at Craigleith, in the neighbourhood of the city, from which the six columns in the front of the New Col hp were obtained, and st Hairs, in the pariah of Canton, about three miles to the westward. The stone of the former, from its superior whitenesg, has been of late most in request for building, but the latter is still unrivalled for flags and for stairs. A stone similar to that of Craigleith, but easier wrought, is now got at Redbail, also in the parish of Colinton. Mil stones have been wrought in the parish of Pen nictult. Capper has been found in the parish of Cur rie and some other places, but not so rich as to pay for Iron stone abounds in the coal district, and also the shore from Leith westwards, and stones for bedding and paving in every parish of the county. A stone similar to the Chinese Petanue, used in the manufacture of porcelain, has been found in the Pentland Hills, and clay, fit for being made into crucibles, in the parish of Duddingstone. There are mineral waters in different parts, none of which are of much celebrity. St. I3ernerd's Well, to the north-west of the city, rose into some repute a few years ago, chiefly by means of the late Lord Gar denstone, but it is now resorted to rather as the ter mination of an agreeable walk than for its medicinal of Edinburghshire, which appears to have been taken in 1649, is L.191,054, 8s. 9d. Scots, and in 1811, the real rent of the hinds, according to the returns made ands the property-tax, was L.277,827, 19s. ld. and of the houses, L400,004, 5s. 6d. In 1795, the landed property was divided into 542 estates, of which 12 belonged to hospitals and ohm earpaille beams, of the valued vent at L.10,628, 4s 3d. Sato, or ware then an eighteenth pest of the whole. Here, as throughout the rest el Seminal, the land is occupied by tenants an levees for a tenn of yews, caceptmg the campeatively di pardon posorseed by the proprietors themselves, or let in gem for the season. Within a few miles round the city, the cultivation of' farms is conducted with a view to the wants of that great market, we potatoes, turnips, and clovers, are found more profit able than corn. The prier of these ceps, sold the groemd, the porringer taking upon himself all the expense of carry* than to market, or taking them away for his own consumption, may average sham L20 the Soots ter, (about L.16 the F-nglialk) and very fine crops sometimes bring more than L.30. Ear ly potatoes, raised within a mile of the city, have been sold, to the extent of several acres an one farm, at L.50 an acre. The manure fo I is amply 'applied by the streets and ty, , which sells at 3s, a cubic yard or more, scr, r o its qua lity and the demand. A few years ac the street soil was let oat to oni' ought the city a clear revenue of 1....vuo0 a-year. i ms kind or manure, the effects of which are not so lasting as those of stable or farm-yard dung, Ambles the farmers to raise large crops of wheat, and other kinds of corn, after the green crops, upon soils that are not naturally very fertile ; but the seeds of all sorts with which it abounds are unfavourable to the clean ness of their fields. Their straw, 'instead of being consumed or converted into manure on their firms, is carried to the city, and sold at a rate averaging from LS to L5 an acre, or sometimes given to stables in exchange for their dung. The rent of farms, of from 50 to 100 acres, within a mile of the city, is in some instances so high as LS or L.10 an acre. Lime is very little employed as a manure within the circle to which the town dung extends. Beyond this circle, the relies of which may be about five miles, the system of cultivation is nearly the same as we have already described under other Scottish counties. The extent of the natural wood has been estimated at 3000 acres, and of plantations about 14,000, together about one acre in every four teen.
In 1812, 400 acres were employed in raising ve getables for the city, within a circuit of five miles, and 100 acres more were under strawberries. Mr. Neill, Secretary to the Horticultural Society, states the produce of the former at L.45, and the rent from L.8 to L16 an acre. Between 60,000 and 70,000
Scots pints of strawberries (nearly half as many English gallons) are annually sold in Edinburgh, at from Ws. 6d. a pint down to 9d. The produce of an acre is from 800 to 900 pints, thus yielding a re turn not very different from the garden grounds. There are also several nurseries in the immediate vi cinity of the city, some of than equal to any in the United Kingdom for their collection of fruit and forest trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, as well as for the arrangement and keeping of the grounds. About 180 acres are employed in this way.
The manufactures and commerce of this county, exclusive of Edinburgh, and Leith its sea-port, are inconsiderable. None of the three great branches of industry, the woollen, cotton, or linen manufac ture, is carried on here to any extent. Distilleries, paper-mills on both branches of the Esk, iron works at Cramond, potteries and salt-pans at Inveresk, and gunpowder works at Temple, on the South Esk, are the most worthy of notice. From the metropolis of Scotland being situated here, the public roads that pass through it in every direction are kept in the best order, and thus promote its internal trade. A system of railways is now in contemplation from the coal works to the south-east of the city, but with a view to their further extension.
A communication between Edinburgh and Glas gow is now about to be obtained by means of the Union Canal, a work which promises to be of great utility to this county, and the want of which has long been felt. This canal, which is to be five feet deep, and at the surface 37 feet wide, contracting to 22 feet at the bottom, begins at the Lothian Road, on the west of Edinburgh, and, crossing the Water of Leith at Slateford, passes the villages of Ratho, Broxburn, and Winchburgh, and the towns of Lin lithgow and Falkirk, and joins the Forth and Clyde Canal at Lock No. 16, near the village of Camelon, after a course of 80 miles. The principal aqueducts are, one over the Water'of Leith, at Slateford, 500 feet long and 50 feet high ; and anther of 12 arches of 50 feet span, over the river Avon, two miles above Linlithgow Bridge, 835 feet long, and 90 feet in height above the bed of the river. Both of these are to be lined with an iron trough instead of puddle. About 28f miles from Edinburgh, as the line passes Falkirk, there is to be a tunnel through Prospect Hill, a third of a mile in length. There will be nine locks in all on this canal, close together, about a mile west of Falkirk ; and to Glasgow from the point of junction, there are four locks more, on the Forth and Clyde Canal ; but it is proposed to carry a branch from the Union up to the summit level of the other canal, by which four of the Union locks and the four of the Forth and Clyde, will be saved to vessels going directly from Eclinburzli 1 Glasgow, leaving only five locks on that passage. The estimate for the Union Canal was L.240,500, which has been raised in shares of L.50 each ; and it is not expected that the expenoe will be more. It was begun at Edin burgh in March 1818, and in March 1819, 14 miles of the 30 were nearly excavated ; the whole, it is hoped, may be finished by September 1821. It has been found, on survey, that it may be continued on the same level through East Lothian, by Dalkeith, Haddington, &c. A. lockage of 250 feet would carry it down to Leith. One great object of this work is to facilitate the conveyance of coals to the city from the coal-fields near Falkirk.
Edinburghshire sends two members to Parliament, one for the county and another for the city, the only royal burgh in it. The annexed abstract exhibits the state of the population of the county in 1800 and 1811, which there is reason to believe has increased considerably since the last enumeration.—See Ro bertson's Survey of Mid-Lothian—the Statistical Ac count of Scotland—Beauties of Scotland, Vol. I.— Sir John Sinclair's General Report of Scotland—and for the history and antiquities of the county, Chal mers's Caledonia,