“ Roughly speaking, one-fifth of the total area is under cultivation. Oats are the chief grain and turnips the chief root crop. The hill pastures are better suited to sheep than to cattle, but both flocks and herds are comparatively large. Cheviots and half-breds are preferred for the grass lands, the heathery ranges being stocked with black faced sheep. Crosses of Cheviots, black-faced and half-bred ewes with Leicestershire rams are common. The favourite breed of cattle is a cross between Ayrshires and shorthorns, the cows being Ayrshire. Many of the horses are Clydesdales bred in the county. ”

“ The south-west extremity of the Edinburgh coalfield just enters this county over the north-west border where a slice of Carboniferous strata is found let down between Silurian and Old Red rocks by two important faults. Both Calciferous sandstone and Carboniferous limestone occur, with useful beds of coal, limestone, ironstone, fireclay and alum shale. An outlier of Carboniferous limestone, surrounded by Lower Old Red Sandstone, lies south of Linton. Much glacial boulder clay with gravel and sand rests upon the higher ground, while morainic deposits are found in the valleys. ”

“ The low-lying lands consist generally of rich loam, composed of sand and clay. The farming is pastoral rather than arable. The average holding is about 200 acres of arable land, with pasturage for from 600 to 800 sheep. ”