Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 5

PERTHSHIRE
and on the NW point of the Sidlaws ; and on many
of the other hills. A light sandy or gravelly soil
appears in most of the valleys N of Dunkeld and
Alyth, and W of Crieff and Callander, and is found in
very abundant quantity all over the county. Moorish
and alluvial soUs intemipt its continuity in many parts.
Moorland, or a thin stratum of moss upon sand or
gravel, has given name to Orchillmoor, Sheriifmuir,
Methven, Alyth, Dunsinane, and other moors ; but
much of these have now been reclaimed for agricul-
ture.
Climate. — The climate is affected partly by the pre-
vailing inclination of the general surface to the SW,
but chiefly by the special configuration of the various
parts. The temperature corresponds to the position of
the county between Highlands and Lowlands ; and
strikes the medium between the northern and southern
counties ; but is, of course, exposed to great local varia-
tions. Easterly winds bring rain and unsettled weather
on Cowrie, Stormont, Glenshee, and Strathardle, while
the weather is dry and serene in Breadalbane. Westerly
winds on the other hand bring up rain from the Atlantic
over Menteith, Breadalbane, and Rannoch ; while they
leave the eastern regions quite unaffected. Neither
class of winds can advance very far into the interior
without being in great part disburdened of their
moisture by the mountain-ranges. Northerly winds
have their power much broken by the rampart of moun-
tains in the N. According to observations made some
time ago over a series of five years, west winds prevail
from 165 to 220 days in the year ; fair weather from
189 to 250 days ; rain from 95 to 141 ; and frost from
11 to 66 days. The mean height of the barometer
was found during three consecutive years to be from
29-59 to 29-71 ; and of the thermometer from 41 to 42J.
The annual rainfall over five years varied between 31 -45
inches and 38 -4.
Animals. — The deer forests of Perthshire contain
large herds of red-deer ; fallow-deer, though not native,
are found near some of the residences of the nobility ;
and roe-deer are also common in some places. The fox,
otter, stoat, weasel, squirrel, and water-rat are among the
common wild animals of Perthshire ; and the wild-cat
and badger among those that are almost extinct.
Eagles still have their eyries among the mountains of
this county ; and several kinds of hawks and owls are
also reckoned among its birds, in addition to a very
large number of the commoner kinds. Game birds are
very numerous ; and the grouse-moors of Perthshire
afford some of the best sport to be obtained in that way
in the world. Ptarmigan is found only on the loftier
mountains ; and capercailzie, originally a native, but
reintroduced from Norway after its extinction in Scot-
land, is abundant in many parts. The woodcock also
breeds regularly. Perthshire abounds in excellent
salmon and trout streams ; whUe the salmon-fishing in
the river Tay and in its estuary is of a very valuable
description. Scottish pearls are found in the Tay, in
the shells of a fresh-water mussel, tolerably common in
that river and its tributaries. The county has some
reputation among entomologists for the number of rare
insects to be found in it.
Industries. — The industrial sources of wealth of Perth-
shire include agriculture, sheep-farming, the letting of
lands and waters for sport, and a small proportion of
manufactures and commerce. According to the returns
in 1881, 16,522 persons were engaged in agricultural
employments, 6794 in domestic, 3801 in professional,
3257 in commercial, and 27,694 in industrial; of the
last, 1474 were employed in woollen industries, 2524 in
cotton and flax, 917 in hemp and jute, 60 in coal and
shale mining, 6 in ironstone mining, and 69 in ship-
building. Of the whole, 82,214 were returned as with-
out specified occupation, of whom 49,227 were females,
and 41,808 children.
Only about one-fifth of the entire surface of the
county is under tillage, the rest being taken up by
pasture, woods, and deer-forests. The methods and
conditions of agriculture naturally vary very much in
196
PERTHSHIRE
the difl'erent parts of so large a region, but on the
whole, although in the remoter quarters some antiquated
and benighted practices still linger, the agricultural
condition of the shire may be pronounced to be ex-
cellent. Nearly all the lowlands and many of the
glens are in a high state of cultivation. Large tracts
of moorland and moss have been reclaimed ; others have
been enriched; and draining, special manuring, and
careful rotation have all lent their aid to improve the
soil. According to the returns of 1881 there were 108
farms of 1000 acres or more; 90, between 500 and 1000;
988, between 100 and 500 ; 865, between 5 and 100 ;
and 124 below 5 acres. The most common term for a
farm lease is 19 years, at rents which run from £1 to
£4, 10s. per Scottish acre. But sheep-farms bring only
about 2s. 6d. per acre, or from 12 to 17 bushels of grain
per acre, the money value being determined by the
fiars prices for the year. During the last 20 years
the lowest fiars price for the quarter of best wheat was
31s. lid. ; ditto best oats, 16s. 2d. ; ditto per boll of
140 lbs. of oatmeal, 12s. 8d. The highest prices were
respectively 64s. 4d. in 1867, 28s. lid. in 1868, and
22s. 9d. in 1867. In 1882 the prices were 36s. Id.,
21s. 6d., and 17s. 3d. Ploughmen receive money and
kind to the annual value of from £43 to £49. The
bothy system prevaCs to a considerable extent. The
following table indicates the principal crops and the
acreage under each in various years :
Wheat, ....
Barley, ....
Oats, ....
Rye
Pease
Potatoes, ....
Turnips, etc., .
Cabbages, etc.,
Other Green Crops, ,
Bare Fallow, .
Grass, Permanent Pasture,
Grass, in Rotation, .
1867.
1S73.
1874.
1882.
14,060
13,915
14,803
7,498
20,831
22,345
22,572
24,454
63,233
66,494
66,511
71,136
262
295
337
385
226
152
108
118
15,606
16,616
17,362
17,723
31,628
33,623
32,614
31,837
115
188
205
166
1,269
962
1,055
947
1,941
2,461
96,288
84,239
92,943
101,731
The following table shows the amount of farm-stock
at various dates :
1868.
1873.
1874. 1881.
1882.
Horses,
Cattle,
Sheep,
Kgs, .
78,023
680,267
9,165
12,SS5
89,342
684,841
9,838
10,131 : 10,997
83,327 1 76,634
703,969 675,081
9,911 , 7,741
10,856
74,955
684,920
9,465
The pastures of Perthshire are exceedingly varied, and
are thus adapted to the rearing of a very great diversity
of stock. The Angus and Fife breeds of cattle prevail in
the Carse of Gowrie, and about Perth and the Bridge of
Earn ; the Argyllshire in Eannoch, Glenlyon, Glen-
lochy, Strathfillan, and other places in the west ; the
Lanarkshire, or those from the lower ward of that
county, much akin to the Galloway breed, in Menteith ;
and the Ayrshire and Galloway in various parts. Breeds
of black cattle have been introduced from Devonshire,
Lancashire, Guernsey, and even from the East Indies ;
but these have become quite blended with each other
and the former existing breeds. The stock of sheep has,
as well as the cattle, undergone much improvement.
The old stock was the whitefaced, which in the High-
lands required to be housed in cots every night during
winter and spring ; but about 1770 the blackfaced breed
was introduced, and has now, both in the pure breed
and in numerous crosses, almost entirely ousted the
former. Goats were formerly numerous, but have given
way to sheep and tillage. Poultry is, of course, like
swine, ubiquitous. Dovecots are rare in the High-
lands, but abound about Perth and Cupar, the Carse
of Gowrie, and in Menteith. Game has already been
alluded to.
Woods. — Perthshire in early times was densely covered
with forests, whose remains are still seen in such de-