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A full and correct discussion of the subjects of soil and sub-soil, would make, by itself, a most important and extensivebranch of inquiry ; for it ought to embrace whatever is cor-rectly known, either by the farmer, or by the man of science,with respect to the component parts, the properties, the faults,and the means of improvement, both of the soils and subsoils.But, for the purpose of the present inquiry, restricted as it isto the section of a General Report, the discussion must becompressed and abridged. It may be proper, however, togive,
1. An idea of the general appearance of the surface ofScotland ;
2. To describe the various Soils in the more cultivatedparts, the extent and the amount of each.
3. To make some observations on that important and hi-therto neglected subject, the Subsoils of the kingdom. And,
4. To explain the advantages that would result from a moreminute and extensive investigation into these interesting par-ticulars.
I.—ON THE GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE SURFACE OFSCOTLAND .
The barren hills and mountains of Scotland , immense insize and number, present the most prominent feature of thispart of the kingdom. A portion of them is clothed with greenherbage, more especially where sheep-farming prevails; butin general they are covered with heath, vegetating above peat,rock, or gravel; and they frequently terminate in mountaincaps of solid rock, or in vast heaps or cairns, of bare andweather-beaten stones. Whether the eye ascends to themountains, or is turned on the vales, the scenery, thoughoften grand and picturesque, is very seldom naturally rich.On the former, the signs of sterility are apparent; and, in re-gard to the latter, as the soil is formed in part of the substances