where they form a low ridge protruding through the younger strata.
Both the Upper Old Red and Triassic sandstones have been largely
quarried for building purposes. On the shore at Lossiemouth there is a
patch of greenish white sandstones yielding fossils characteristic of
the Lower Oolite.
The glacial deposits distributed over the fertile plain of Moray and
in the upland valleys are of interest. The low grounds were crossed by
the ice descending the Moray Firth in an easterly and south-easterly
direction, which carried boulders of granite from Strath Nairn and
augen gneiss from Easter Ross. In the Elgin district, boulders
belonging to the horizons of the Lower and Middle Lias, the Oxford
Clay and the Upper Chalk are found both in the glacial deposits and on
the surface of the ground. The largest transported mass occurs at
Linksfield, where a succession of limestones and shales rests on
boulder clay and is covered by it, which from the fossils may be of
Rhaetic or Lower Lias age.
_Climate and Agriculture._--The climate of the coast is equable and
mild, even exotic fruits ripening readily in the open. The uplands are
colder and damp. The average temperature in January is 38° F. and in
July 58.5°, while for the year the mean is 47° F. The rainfall for the
year averages 26 in. Considering its latitude and the extent of its
arable land the standard of farming in Elginshire is high. The rich soil
of the lowlands is well adapted for wheat, barley and oats. The acreage
confined to the glens and straths under barley approximates that under
oats. In the uplands, oats is the principal cereal. The breeding of
live-stock is profitable, and some of the finest specimens of
shorthorned and polled cattle and of crosses between the two are bred.
On the larger farms in the Laigh Leicester sheep are kept all the year
round, but in the uplands the Blackfaced take their place. Large numbers
of horses and pigs are also raised.
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