280 Critica Catalougé.[Oct-
lanted by the winds, or by the birds, ſeem to thrive better than
hoſe cultivated by man. Whenever they meet on the ſame ground, the advantage which the child of Nature has over the child of Art, is conſpicuous, There is a kind of coarſe mooriſh ſoil, generally lying upon a thin bed of watery gravel, with an impermeable bot- tom under it, on which no trees will thrive till its faults are cor- reed. While the water below ftarves the roots, the cloſe accumu- lation of heath and moſſes on the ſurface, deprives them of the be- - nign influence of the ſun and air, and they pine and die in a4 few years. To raiſe a plantation, in ſuch circumſtances, it is neceflary not only to give the ground a ſlight draining, but to deſtroy tne obſcene growth upon its ſurface,
« In concluding this part of the ſubjed, it is proper to obſerve, that though woods ſucceed, every other circumſtance being ſimilar better or worſe in proportion to the elevation in the atmoſphere in which they are placed, yet they ſucceed worſe‘on the ſummits 1n low elevations, than they do in much higher ſituations, where there are fill greater heights around, The reaſon of this is too obvious to Téguire explanation.
« HoxsEs aND OxEn ComPraRED.—There are a great num- ber of horſes, of the draught kind, bred ia this county, The num- ber employed in agriculture, with the young ones rearing on the dif- ferent farms, amount altogether to about 8000. The number of thoſe kept for pleaſure, for travelling, for the carraige of goods,&c. is not aſcertained, but is certainly very conſiderable.
€“ The draught horſes of Clydeſdale have long béen in high eſtima- tion, and are o well known, that a description of them would be unneceſſary. Dealers from different parts of England come to the Glaſgow and Rutherglen markets to purchaſe them, and prefer them to the Derbyſhire blacks. Thoſe of the upper ward, where the greateſt number ane bred, are eſteemed the beſt. They have been ſold of late, in the Lanark and Carnwath markets, at three years old, from zol. to zol. and upwards. And of late colts in the ſecond year of their age have ſold at thoſe prices. The older proportionally higher.‘They have been much improved cf late, and are fill im- Proving, especially in ſize and weight.
« Formerly oxen were uſed in tillage, in different parts of this county; but when the progreſs of civilization demanded better roads, and better roads were, of courſe, obtained, huſbandmen began to make more frequent uſe of carriages, and to greater diſtances. From the firít origin of carriages in the county, there ſeems to have been a prediledtion for the fingle-horſe cart, the propriety of which has been jnitified by more experience. In conſeguence of this, the horſe, which was not only the moſt dußile and expeditious animal, but whoſe hoofs were beſt adapted to receive an armature fit to defend them againſt the injuries of rough roads, obtained a general pre- ference. The farms beirg ſmall, one ſet of animals for home, and another for diſtant work, could not be Kept; and thus the ox, being the leaſt generally uſeful, has been gradually dropped.‘The uſe ot oxen in the plough is not yet entirely abandoned. Along the eaſtern border of the counts, they areftill employed in that draught. Bat as a pair of oxen are joined in the ſame plough with four horſes, to