Argyleshire cannot boast of any important manufac tures. The chief are the formation of salt from sea water, near Campbeltown ; the spinning of woollen yarn, by machinery, near Invcrary ; tanning of leather at Oban ; and the manufacture of pig-iron at the Bunaw furnace. The ore employed at Bunaw is conveyed by sea from England, and, after being smelted by charcoal, is export ed to the English manufactures.
About twelve years ago, the benevolent Mr Dale, of Glasgow, made an attempt to establish, in Lorn, some branches of the manufacture of cottons ; but, from causes of which the writer of this article is ignorant, the un dertaking failed completely. Since that period, the weav ing of cottons for the Glasgow merchants has been spontaneously introducing itself.
Previous to the year 1745, the obstacles to improve ments of all kinds were insuperable. The chieftains, by having the power of inflicting arbitrary punishments on their followers, held them in a state of absolute depen dence and slavery. The property of the vassal was ex posed to the pillage of neighbouring tribes, and the un controuled extortion of a rapacious master. In such a state of society, the motives to agricultural improvement were extremely feeble. The only roads to wealth were the favour of the chief, or the plunder of some neigh bouring clan. The country was accordingly ill cultivated, and the lower ranks of its inhabitants, ignorant, depen dent, poor, and wretched. We have heard and read en comiums on the feudal system, on the filial affection which the clans bore to their chieftains, and the parental kindness exercised by the chieftains towards their clan. But there have been also equally warm eulogies on the happiness of West Indian slaves, and the tender superin tending care of their masters.
By the abolition of the feudal system, the payment of rent in kind being no longer necessary, the landlord, for his own convenience, converted it into money, permitting the tenant to raise those kinds of produce which he found most profitable, and to dispose of them in the manner most advantageous. These changes, so favourable both to landlord and tenant, took place almost immediately after the act for disarming the highlanders. But ano ther oppressive custom continued till a very late period : The ancient lairds, accustomed to regard the welfare of their vassals as a very secondary consideration, had uni versally laid down a rule, that, whatever might be the .state of the tenant's own crop, he must, on a regular summons, appear, with his servants and horses, to make the landlord's peat, or to cut and house his hay and corn. This practice, so palpably absurd and unjust, has, within the last twenty years, been almost completely abandoned. Immediately after the rebellion, the inhabitants of Ar gyleshire embarked to a very great extent in smuggling, by which several individuals made considerable fortunes. This traffic, though generally injurious to a country, had, in the present instance, a beneficial effect. By its simi larity to their former predatory mode of life, it was peculiarly suited to their habits, and excited among them a spirit of enterprise, to which the subsequent introduc tion of the excise laws gave a more laudable direction.
Since this peiod, Argyleshire has improved with a rapidity almost unexampled. Roads have been formed, intersecting the country in every direction ; the kinds of grain best adapted to the soil and climate are carefully cultivated ; a proper rotation of crops is very generally followed ; villages have sprung up, and a spirit of in dustry and enterprise has diffused itself through the county. These improvements are all in a progressive state. Exclusive of the roads constructed at the ex pence of private individuals, and by assessments upon the county, there are six roads, whose aggregate length is 90 miles, and five expensive landing quays, to which government have contributed, nearly completed, under the direction of Mr Telford. Five other lines of road and a harbour have been surveyed by the same engineer, but not yet executed. When, with the present progres sive state of Argyleshire, we combine its peculiar local advantages, possessing, in its numerous waterfalls, a cheap moving power for machinery, bounded by an ex tensive sea coast, indented with excellent harbours, situated in the vicinity of the best fishing grounds, and in the track of vessels coming either from the north seas, or through the Caledonian canal, having an easy communication with Ireland, the west coast of Britain, and with the West Indies, to which its fisheries would seem particularly to connect it, we may safely predict that this county will shortly be one of the most valuable in the British empire. The chief obstacle to improve ment in Argyleshire, is the general moisture of its cli mate, and especially the frequent occurrence of early autumnal rains : These often lodge the crops be fore they have ripened, and prevent the ear from filling ; or, if the grain has, before their commencement, arrived at maturity, delay the period of cutting and securing it, till the over-ripe crops are shaken by the equinoctial gales, leaving but a scanty return of unsound seed, and damaged straw. This danger is the more discouraging to the industrious farmer, as the heaviest crops are al ways the most liable to sustain injury. The same pe culiarity of climate is, however, favourable to the rearing of green crops, such as the grasses, turnips, Ste. to which the soil is also particularly well adapted. These, there fore, ought to receive the principal attention of the agriculturist, as presenting the best prospect of remu nerating him for his trouble. Another serious obstacle to improvement is the scarcity of coal, by which the most valuable: part of the season, which should be em ployed in making hay, is wasted in cutting and drying peat, for winter fuel. This scarcity has been somewhat relieved of late years, by the abolition of some absurd re gulations against carrying coal coastwise, but is still a serious evil.