PARISH OF CAMPSIE

PRESBYTERY OF STIRLING, SYNOD OF PERTH AND STIRLING.

THE REV. ANDREW BROWN, MINISTER.

IV.-INDUSTRY.

Landed Property and Agriculture.-A considerable part of the parish, it is understood, has never been surveyed by the land-measurer, so that the number of acres it contains cannot be accurately stated. Mr Lapslie, in his excellent Account, written in 1793, supposes it to contain 15,000 Scotch acres, but, taking into calculation the contents noted on the plans of some of the principal estates, and estimating the remainder, 13,500 acres are believed to be its utmost extent. Of this the hills or fells on the northern side of the strath occupy about 6000; about 400 are under plantation and natural wood; about 50 in small lakes and ponds. The extent farmed as arable land may be about 6000 Scotch acres. The valued rental, by the county cess-books, amounts to L.6437, whereof the estates of Woodhead, Antermony, Kincaid, and others belonging to J. L. K. Lennox, Esq. comprise L. 2780; Glorat, Sir S. Stirling, Bart., L 868; Bancleroche, J. McFarlan, Esq. L. 536; Craigbarnet, A. G. Stirling, Esq. 420; part of the estate of Bencloich, formerly belonging to Sir. A. Edmondston, now to Charles Mackintosh, Esq. L.333; remainder thereof, now belonging to William Macfarlane, Esq, L. 800; Auchinreoch, formerly belonging to Mr Buchanan of Carbeth, now to Miss McInnes, L. 402; Hayston, and part of Carleston, Thomas Reid, Esq. L. 281. The remainder of the valuation attaches to various small properties, the highest of which is rated at L.80.. The real rental of the parish is not precisely ascertained. In a state made up by a committee of the inhabitants, in 1828, with the view of adjusting an equitable contribution for the poor, the amount is about L. 15,000, of which fully more than half is charged to the principal heritor. All the heritors reside in the parish, excepting Sir S. Stirling, Mr Macfarlane of Bencloich, Miss McInnes, and the holders of one or two very small possessions. The proprietors of Woodhead, Glorat, and Craigbarnet estates are owners of landed property likewise in other parishes. Mr Macintosh occupies Antermony mansion-house, of which he has a lease from Mr Lennox, and to which he has made large additions.

Soil- In few parishes or districts of equal extent is the soil found so various in quality and character. A track along the Kelvin, which, until about the beginning of the last century, had been a morass, is now rich haugh land under regular cultivation, and it would be still more valuable were it not liable to be overflowed, notwithstanding its embankments, in times of very high flood. Small patches of it here and there are deep moss, but arable. From this low level the land rises in gentle hillocks, and at the bases of most of these are beds of gravel and sand, sometimes of great thickness. A considerable extent of light gravelly loam is found in the south-east quarter of the parish, and smaller tracks in the centre of the valley towards the west end and elsewhere. Mr Lapslie supposed the gravelly soil to have been "brought down from the hills in floods ;" but a theory involving more important causes and results than ordinary floods must be referred to in accounting satisfactorily for these extensive and irregular deposits. Nearer the base of the fells, the soil is generally a light clay on a tilly subsoil, both being much infested with boulder stones and fragments of sandstone and trap rocks, small and large. The lower hill, on the south side of the valley, is chiefly clayey, and of similar character, and the slopes betwixt it and the Kelvin are liglit loam, gravelly, sandy, alluvial, and mossy. Excepting about 400 acres covered with heath, and about 200 with woods, the south hill is all arable. There is very little heath on the north hills. On the top of one of them, there are about 300 acres of deep unproductive moss. The rest of these hills, with very trifling exceptions, yield pasturage of first-rate quality, hardly surpassed, indeed, by any hill pasture lands in Scotland.

Leases, Rent of Land, &c.-The leases are generally for nineteen years, the entry being at Martinmas and Whitsunday, and the first year's rent payable at Martinmas and Whitsunday there after. On land fit for green cropping, the tenants are usually bound to the following rotation, viz. 1. crop oats; 2. potatoes and turnips ; 3. barley, wheat, or oats ; 4. hay; 5 and 6. pasture. On the deep alluvial soils, and on the poor wet clay soils, a different course is commonly pursued according to circumstances, as in the one case, taking two white crops in succession, and sowing down, and in the other, breaking up the hay stubbles, &c What may be styled an ordinary sized farm on the best class of arable land here, contains about 120 Scotch acres; a few possessions are greater, and many much less. The rent paid for such a farm is about L. 300. In one or two instances, L. 4 per acre are paid for some fields, in a very few others, L. 3, 15s.; but on the clayey soils, L. 2, and down to L. 1, is the rent for tillage land. The greatest amount of rent paid by any one tenant in the parish is L. 690, the next abont L. 400. On a farm of the size and kind first described, viz. containing 120 acres, the live-stock may be about twenty milk cows, ten young cattle, and five or six working horses, and one or two young horses.

The produce of an inferior farm of say 70 acres may be as follows;

In this case, there may be six milk cows, three young beasts and three horses ; and the rent may be L. 110.

Husbandry.-The district being in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, an active tenant will always lay his account with purchasing considerable quantity of dung, in addition to what is produced on his farm, and in raising as much green crop, particularly potatoes, as possible. Summer-fallowing is seldom practised, nor is there much need of it, as nearly all the arable land in the parish may be made, by thorough draining, to carry green-crop profitably. Lime is to be had prepared at sundry places in the parish, and the soil generally being of a ferruginous quality, it is often  found to act with good effect. It is necessary, hdwever, to employ it with discretion and judgment. The best quality of dung will here, as everywhere, produce the best crops; and it may with some truth be said, the best farmer is he who is the most liberal in its use, the supply being almost unlimited. In our moist climate the earlier kinds of oats are found to be the most suitable. Pease and beans are rarely sown; flax only in very small quantities occasionally; rye never. Carrots have sometimes been successfully tried in small patches of deep free soil. None of the artificial grasses, except rye-grass and red and white clover, have been attempted by the farmers; nor have any of the other more uncommon of the vegetable products for soiling been cultivated. The kinds of turnips raised are the Aberdeen, or Dutch yellow, and the Swedish; and only a small-breadth is sown for the use of the dairy stock, as the ground suitable for growing them can be more profitably employed in potato cropping, than in turnips for other rise.

The Dairy.- This is a branch of chief importance in the husbandry of our district, as a ready and profitable market is found in Glasgow for all its produce. Butter and butter-milk are the only forms, it may be said, in which that produce appears in the market. The Ayrshire breed of cows is carefully cultivated, and no other kinds nor mixed breeds are to be seen here. A very good cow will yield in a year, say 200 pounds of butter, at 1s., = L. 10, and 1600 pints of butter-milk at 1d. = L.6, 13s.4d. - L. 16, 13s.4d. First-rate cows occasionally yield more than the above. The produce of ordinary cows, with ordinary feeding, may be stated at about L12. The wives and daughters of our farmers are very famous for their industry and skilful management of this department and on its success a great part of the rent depends.

Hill Farms -The cattle grazed on the Fells are almost all West Highlanders; the sheep generally the black-faced breed from Tweeddale. On the largest grazing farm in the parish the usual number of live-stock is, 700 sheep, 100 Highland cattle, 12 Ayrshire milk-cows, and 12 young beasts of the same breed, and 12 horses, old and young. The extent of arable land in this farm is 80 acres ; the pasturage has not been measured. On another grazing farm of inferior quality, containing 815 acres, whereor 28 are arable, the stock is usually 300 ewes and lambs, 60 black cattle, 8 milk cows, 6 calves and queys, and 3 horses. In some seasons the stock is greater. The rent charged for grazing a cow is from L.2, l0s. to L.5, and a sheep from 7s. to l0s.

Horses.-There are some good draught horses of the Clydesdale breed in the district, of from L.30 to L.40 value; but by far the greater number are of inferior mixed breeds, which sell at about L.20 to L25 a head.

Farm Buildings and Enclosure &c-The class of tenantry in this district being what is styled working farmers, the size of the farms and the capital employed in them moderate, and the competition in consequence of the dense population and ready markets considerable, extreme personal activity is indispensable, and the farmer is contented with moderate accommodation. The dwelling-houses commonly contain only the kitchen and two small rooms, each having fixed beds, and these often so placed as not to be easily kept free from damp. There are a few instances of a better and more comfortable description.

The enclosures are chiefly thorn hedges, which thrive exceedingly well when duly cleaned, cut and preserved, but they are by no means well attended to and encouraged, except in a very few instances. Many of the "rickle dikes," which Mr Lapslie, in 1793, censured as "totally incapable of keeping the soil warm," and as giving " the parish a cold and uncomfortable look," still remain, or at least others in their stead do.

Rate of Wages, &c.-These are the same as stated in the accounts already published of other parishes near Glasgow.

Obstacles to Improvement.- The chief of these is the small amount of capital brought by the tenant into employment at his entry. His industry, and the chance of a succession of good seasons, are almost all he has to depend upon. When, unfortunately, a series of unfavourable seasons overtakes him, he is sure to take to over-cropping, to redeem his immediate losses, unless the landlord interferes. The consequence is alike injurious to both. Men possessed of the capital, which it is desirable should be brought into a farming speculation on even a moderate scale, are ever ready in this great commercial and manufacturing district, to invest it in pursuits which promise a greater, more rapid, and less uncertain return than agriculture. The importance of thorough draining, wherever the land is damp, begins to be understood; but, unless the landlord finds it convenient to do the work at his own expense, it will proceed slowly, because the tenant cannot command funds, however willing, to sink money in draining,-and however satisfied that it could be most profitably so employed. Occasionally, attempts are made, and the work is for the same reason imperfectly executed. The landlord, seeing this, feels unwilling to give money to assist, believing that it would be expended in work that will not answer the purpose, or will last only a very few years. Time and observation will probably bring about better arrangements. If at the commencement of their leases, the tenants of farms in those parts of the parish, which most need draining, had the means of both thorough-draining and trenching their lands,-the outlay, in every case, great as it would be, would still be amply repaid them in the course of their tacks. Subsoil ploughing and trench ploughing are impracticable in these lands, owing to the boulders and the extreme tenacity of the subsoil. Partly to this same want of disposable funds, and partly to the want of habits of neatness and foresight, is to be ascribed the very imperfect state of the fences. The great numbers of mischievous persons, which, in a' district full of manufacturing establishments, infest the fields and pay no respect to inclosures, make it almost impossible for a landlord, unless at a ruinous expense, to keep the fences in order, supposing he wished to relieve the tenant from the burden of doing so. Wherever a weak place in a fence is seen a gap is made; and then to keep in or out his cattle, the farmer thrusts in a dead branch. Digging farm hedge-rows is hardly ever practised.*

* It is but justice to Mr Macintosh to say, that he has this spring (1841) set the example of extensive improvements in this respect on his estate. He has also laid out a good deal of ground in new plantations, and has furrow-drained a considerable number of acres.

It is to be hoped, that the better practice of other districts in the treatment of live fences will, by-and-by, come to be appreciated, and that greater facilities than now exist, will be attained for checking the propensity to the wanton destruction of property complained of. At present, owing to the great distance from the county town, and the expense and loss of time occasioned by seeking redress for such petty damages, people generally prefer to submit to them.

Plantations.----Since 1794 much has been done in this department of rural improvement, particularly on the estate of Woodhead. A great deal more may yet be done with advantage, both in respect of profit, as the best means of occupying the grounds; or beauty, as improving greatly the appearance of some parts of the district; and of amelioration of the climate, by the warmth and shelter produced, as well as by the interruption to the boisterous east and south-west winds. Forest trees of the common kinds all thrive here exceedingly well. The most profitable are the Scots fir, larch, and spruce, and the sycamore, oak, and ash.

Manufactures -This parish is rich in minerals, especially coal. The supply of water is also considerable. The union of these two has occasioned the establishment here of numerous and extensive manufactures. The principal of these are the printfields and the alum-work.

Of the former, by far the most extensive is Lennox-mill Field, which was first established as a print-work about 1786. About 1790 it contained twenty printing tables and six flat presses. At that period, however, a great many women were employed to pencil on colour. This method is now entirely abandoned. About 1805, Messrs. R Dalglish, Falconer, and Company, became tenants of Lennox-mill, which had, by that time, been considerably enlarged, as it contained fifty tables and eight presses. In 1810, the first surface-printing machine was erected, which was an improvement on block-printing; and soon afterwards a cylinder-printing machine, which was an improvement on the copper-plate printing presses  similar to what the " surface" was on the" block." In both cases, what was formerly on a flat surface, was put on a cylinder of wood or copper. This, continually revolving, furnished itself with colour, which it, at the same time, transferred to the cloth.

At present, almost every description of printing is performed at Lennox- mill and nearly every fabric of cloth printed, from the finest muslin or challis worn by ladies, to the coarsest calico worn by the Pariahs of India.

Lennox-mill now contains seven printing cylinders, and 200 tables. The water-power is equal to about 20 horses, and the steam-engine is 30 horse power. The heating and dyeing are all done by steam, for which purpose about 250 horse power of steam is employed. The coal consumed daily is upwards of 30 tons.

The engraving of the copper-rollers is nearly all performed on the premises, and requires very nice machinery. The stock of copper-rollers is very heavy, amounting in number to 1500 rollers, weighing about 155,000 lbs., valued at is. 6d. per lb.

At present the works give employment to 245 men; 135 women; 169 boys; and 140 girls; total, 689. The wages amount to upwards or L.300 per week, or L. 15,000 per annum.

About 250,000 pieces are produced annually, consisting of garments for home and export trade.*

* A school within this work has recently been established. by Messrs Dalglish, for the instruction of those children who had not learned to read. To afford time for this, and to prevent overworking, an additional number of children are employed.

Kincaid- Field (Messrs Inglis') is an establishment for bleaching and pnnting cotton fabrics. This work was first established in 1785. There are employed about 238 males, and 136 females = 374.

The amount of wages is nearly L. 8000. Last year 70,000 pieces of cotton fabric, 24 yards each, were bleached and printed.

Lillyburn Printfield, the property of Messrs Macfarlane, was commenced in 1831, for the printing of linen and calico handkerchiefs and shawls. The number of persons employed at present is about 150; but when trade is brisk, some thirty or forty additional hands are employed.

The Clachan Bleachfield was begun in 1819. Next year the number of persons employed was 13, tbe number of pieces bleached was 30,900, and the wages amounted to L.345, 3s The num er of pieces bleached in 1836, was 190,883, and the number of persons 35, thus indicating a great improvement in the process; and the business has since increased. The goods referred to were all muslins for exportation, consisting of books, gauzes, tamboured and sewed robes, jaconets and jaconet handkerchiefs, mulls, &c in all their varieties.

Glenmill Bleachfield, the property of Mr Mackinlay, was commenced in January 1831. The work perforrned consists principally of bleaching books of muslins, and a small portion of washing. In the year 1836, 1,273,038 yards were bleached. The number of persons employed last year was 90 on an average, and the wages amounted to L1554, 15s 10d. The rate of wages varies from 2L 6d. to 17s. 6d. per week. Last year 587 tons of coal were consumed.

Connected with Glenmill is a house inhabited by females employed in the work. To the management and education of these persons, Mr Mackinlay pays a degree of attention which is highly honourable to himself, and cannot fail to be very beneficial to them.

The alum-work is the property of Messrs Mackintosh and Co.

In the year 1806, an enterprising company established in this parish extensive chemical works for the manufacture of alum, copperas, prussiate of potash, Prussian blue, &c The alum and copperas are derived from a schist or aluminous shale, which is found in the coal strata in this district, and is imbedded between the coal and the limestone, at a thickness of between eighteen inches and two feet, the limestone being above and the coal below.

The constittient principles of this schistus are various. After the coal has been wrought out, the schist, being exposed to the action or the air, undergoes decomposition. The sulphur it contains is, by the absorption of oxygen, converted into sulphates of the metallic bases with which it is combined, and by its exfoliation readily separates itself from the limestone, and falls down into the space formerly occupied by the coal. When in a state of complete decomposition, the schist assumes a beautiful efflorescent appearance, like that of flock silk, and is very soluble in water. This schistus, as drawn from the coal wastes, is lixiviated at the works in large stone cisterns, and the liquid being afterwards evaporated till it attains the requisite specific gravity, it receives the portion of sulphate or muriate of potash necessary to its formation into the state of a crystallizable salt This is the alum of corn merce. In this process, the copperas, existing in the ore, is separated.

The prussiate of potash manufactory, which was the first, and for many years the only manufactory of the kind in Great Britain, is upon an extensive scale, and well arranged. This salt is the ferrocyanate of potassium of chemists. It is used by calico-printers in blue dyeing, also by wool-dyers, and likewise in the manu facture of Prussian blue. The exquisite beauty of this salt contrasts strangely with the filthiness of the animal matter out of which it is made.*

*Much less of this salt is now manufactured here than formerly, owing to the great reduction of its price in the market.

The Prussian blue manufactory, which is in connexion with the above, produces Prussian blue of the finest quality. This article, as is known to chemists, is the result or mutual decomposi tion of prussiate of potash and sulphate of iron.

In the year 1834, another manufactory was established by the same company for the production of muriate of potash for their alum mantifactory, and of soda ash (a crude carbonate of soda,) for the use of bleachers. These salts are obtained from kelp. From a particular species of kelp; in addition to the above-mentioned salts, iodine is also obtained, which, from the beautiful colour it produces in combination with certain metallic bases, may possibly, at some future period, become a valuable article in the bands of the calico-printer or dyer. It is as yet, so far as we know, used only in medicine.

Coals, to the quantity of 14,500 tons, are turned out by this company yearly for their own use and for sale to the country, also about 450 chalders of lime. Ironstone, which abounds in this district, has been begun lately to be wrought by this company, and at present gives employment to many men. But, as the mining of ironstone here is of recent commencement, and as there seems to be abundance of material in the field, the operations in this department will probably be much extended.

The whole number of persons employed by this company is no? less than iso, and the amount of wages paid annually is from L.8000 to L.10,000.

There are other four coal and lime-works in the parish, at which there are about 20,000 tons of coal turned out annually, and about 2600 chalders of lime burned. The present selling-price of good round coal, (1837,) is 6s. 8d.. per ton of 20 cwt., dross, 3s. 9d. per ton, and that of lime, 15s. 4d. per chalder of 16 bolls, for credit, and 14s. 8d. per chalder for cash sale.

The chalder of lime contains 32 Winchester bushels, each containing 2128.9 cubic inches, and ought, like all other similar articles, to be sold by this standard measure. But a practice has crept in among the lime-dealers in this, as in other places, of competing with each other who shall give the largest measure, so that the measure of lime has become quite vague and unfixed. Justice and expediency evidently require that such a system should be discontinued, from which the public derive no advantage, and the dealers can sustain only loss. The competition should be in the lowness of the price, not in the largeness of the measure, which should be fixed and ascertained.