15 30.7

creaſed; and labourers for country work more difficult to be had, yet theſe apparent loſſes are fully recompenſed by a ſpeeay influx of working people from every quarter;==by a ready ſale of all commodities from the farm, at prices great= 1y advanced above their former rate;->by a ſuperior ſpirit and taſte forinduſtry and ad&tivity, widely difſeminated through the country;--and by a generous openneſs and liberality of mind that is not ſo generally to be found in the ſequeſtered and unpoliſhed abodes of the ruſtic. Exceptions, however, muſt be admitted in every general rule; but, happily for Scotland, it has, on fair inquiry, been found that manufac- tures, inſtead of hurting the real intereſts of agriculture, have greatly contributed to promote its beſt and moſt durable ad Vantages.

The principal manufaCure in this courity is that of coarſe linens, commonly called Sileſias, woven from 27 to 30 inches in breadth, ſome coarſe?zweels, Zarns, and Praikens.

A great deal of linen is woven for private uſe, as the peo- ple in general are very induſtrious, and make al! their cloth for ſhirts, bed-linens,&c. of yarn ſpun in their own houſes, and moſtly of lint raiſed in the county. From the ſtatiſtical accounts of the pariſhes; it appears that about 400 looms are employed in the weaving manufaCure, Every three looms uſually require the attendance of a perſon to wind yarn and warp the webs,&c. for them; ſo that the whole employed in this branch amounts to about 530 perſons: Eſtimating their earnings at the moderate average ſum of a ſhilling a day each, the annual income will amount to about 82151., which is wholly the reward of manual labour, excluſive of the profits from the raw materials, and from the ordinary courſe of trade to the manufa&urers. Suppoſing each loom to weave, at an average, four yards of cloth a day, which is a very moderate ſtatement, eſpecially when the chief part of is trade is coarſe linens, at 2d. the yard for weaving, the

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