INVERNESSHIRE. By far the greater part of the surface of this Scotch county is covered with heath ; but a good deal of the heathy ground is arable, and a considerable extent of it has been brought into cultivation during the present century. Limestone is found in several districts, and in some districts approaches to the nature of marble. Sandstone is also frequently met with. Some veins of lead and silver have been discovered, and also iron ore in small quantities. The soil is for the most part light and sandy, with a subsoil of gravel or clay : but in the neighbourhood of the town of Inverness it is enriched by a fine loam deposited by the waters which fall into the adjoining firth. Formerly there were a great number of small arable farms only a few acres in extent; but these have much de creased since the introduction of sheep-farm ing. The attention of the farmers is chiefly directed to the rearing of sheep and cattle.
The fir woods in Glenmore and those of Strath spey in the adjoining county of Elgin are sup posed to be more extensive than all the other natural woods in Scotland together. Glen Morrison, which opens into Glenmore, also contains much fine timber. Those which grow naturally are the oak, fir, birch, ash, mountain ash, holly, elm, hazel and the Scotch poplar. Those which are planted. are the larch, spruce fir, silver fir, beech, plane, and fruit-trees. For merly a good deal of hemp, worsted, and linen yarn was made in this county ; but this has greatly declined since the establishment of the large manufactories of the south.
The only important town in the county, In verness, is noticeable rather in a picturesque than an industrial point of view ; there is a small import of hemp, timber, and tar, and an export of oats.