The lowest arable land on the banks of the Tweed is about 400 feet above the level of the sea, and cultivation is limited to about 500 feet above this. An average height for the pasture lands may be taken at 1200. The climate is moist, and it is also late. Sown hay is cut from the be ginning to the middle of July, and that from natural grass in August. Corn harvest seldom begins till the second week in September, and it is considered early if every thing is stacked before the end of October.
In the spring months cold easterly winds frequently pre vail, so that there is very little grass in May. On parti cular occasions, the leaves of the trees and the young shoots are destroyed by winds of this kind : an event which has also happened to the potatoe crops as late as the mid dle of June, and even, on one occasion, in July. The win ters are severe, and hence the turnip crop is often lost, unless it is consumed before Christmas. The higher lands are also exposed to partial frosts in the end of Au gust and beginning of September, attended with a low mist. This climate is, therefore, not favourable to fruit trees; as even the hazel scarcely ripens its nut in the higher lands. The vicinity of Peebles is the most favoura ble in this respect, since even the bitter almond has been known to ripen there.
The medium annual depth of rain appears to be about 29 inches, or less ; as the registers do not seem to have been very accurately kept. The west winds exceed the east, in the proportion of four or three. The extreme va cillations of the thermometer marked, are from 81 to-14. The mean temperature of Eshiells, 500 feet above the sea, for 1821, was ; and of Tweedsmuir, about 1200 feet above the sea, The mean of the. temperature of springs for 1821, at Tweedsmuir, as ascertained by Mr. W. Fairlie, was ; and for 1822, We cannot terminate this department without remark ing, that Sir John Hay, who has bestowed much attention on experimental farming, has lately tried, on a great scale, the project recommended in a French Agricultural Re port for obtaining potash from the stalks of potatoes.
The result of two trials on two separate acres was as fol lows :—The first acre was a rich loamy soil at King's Mea dows. The potatoes were drilled, and produced a good
crop. They were cut, as directed in the French commu nication, immediately after flowering, left ten days to dry, and then burnt in a pit. The produce was •221bs. of ashes ; and, on lixiviation and drying, these yielded 551bs. of im pure potash, or mixed salts.
The second acre was a clayey wet soil, with a•retentive bottom ; but the crop, which was also drilled, was considered moderate. These stems were treated in the same man ner, but the burning was more complete, so that they con tained less charcoal than the preceding. They only weigh ed 1121b. and produced 281b. of impure potash.
Now, comparing these experiments with the French, and with some that were made in Ireland by Mr. Rice, the result is as follows :—In the French experiments the pot ash was said to be 20001b. per acre of potatoes ; in that of Mr. Rice it was only 20111b. In Sir John Hay's experi ments, which were conducted with every possible care, this produce was, in one instance, about the fourth, and in the other about the half, of what it was in Ireland. We must add to this, that the mixed residuum, when dry, here called impure potash, does not contain above 10 per cent. of pure alkali, the rest being muriate of potash and other ingredients.
It is impossible to reconcile these results, without con sidering the French trials as a mere fiction. Differences may easily be imagined that will account for the variation between the Irish and Scotch cases ; and to a sufficient ex tent, therefore, they confirm each other, while they throw more than doubt on the French experiments. Under either of these events, it is very plain that there is no temptation to adopt this practice with a view to profit.
There is no salmon fishery in the Tweed within this county capable of paying rent, but they are caught with the rod in and out of season, in all the waters. These rivers abound also in trout, par, and eels, and the latter, in the Tweed, are esteemed of excellent quality. Perch and pike are found in the lochs already mentioned. Tweed dale does not abound in moor game ; but hares and par tridges are abundant in the lower lands, and pheasants have also been cultivated with success.