_Climate and Agriculture._--On the whole the climate is healthy and
favourable to agricultural pursuits. The mean temperature for the year
is 47.3 deg. F., for January 38 deg. and for July 59 deg. The average
annual rainfall is 34 in., the coast being considerably drier than the
uplands. In the low-lying districts of the south the harvest is nearly
as early as it is in the rest of Scotland, but in the north it is often
late. The principal wheat districts are Strathmore and the neighbourhood
of Dundee and Arbroath; and the yield is well up to the best Scottish
average. Barley, an important crop, has increased steadily. Oats,
however, though still the leading crop, have somewhat declined. Potatoes
are mostly grown near the seaboard in the higher ground; turnips also
are largely raised. The northern belt, where it is not waste land, has
been turned into sheep walks and deer forests. The black-faced sheep are
the most common in the mountainous country; cross-bred sheep in the
lowlands. Though it is their native county (where they date from 1808),
polled Angus are not reared so generally as in the neighbouring shire of
Aberdeen, but shorthorns are a favourite stock and Irish cattle are
imported for winter-feeding. Excepting in the vicinity of the towns
there are no dairy farms. Horses are raised successfully, Clydesdales
being the commonest breed, but the small native garrons are now little
used. Pigs also are reared. Save perhaps in the case of the crofts, or
very small holdings of less than 10 acres, farm management is fully
abreast of the times.
_Other Industries._--The staple industries are the jute and flax
manufactures. Their headquarters are in Dundee, but they flourish also
at other places. Shipbuilding is carried on at Dundee, Arbroath and
Montrose. The manufactures of jams, confectionery, leather, machinery,
soap and chemicals, are all of great and growing value. Sandstone
quarries employ many hands and the deep-sea fisheries, of which Montrose
is the centre, are of considerable importance. The netting of salmon at
the mouth of the North Esk is also a profitable pursuit.
Two railway companies serve the county. The North British, entering from
the south by the Tay Bridge, follows the coast north-eastwards, sending
off at Montrose a branch to Bervie. The Caledonian runs up Strathmore to
Forfar, whence it diverges due east to Guthrie, where it again resumes
its north-easterly course to Dubton and Marykirk; it reaches Dundee from
Perth by the shore of the estuary of the Tay, and sends branches from
Dundee to Kirriemuir via Monikie and Forfar and to Alyth Junction via
Newtyle, while a short line from Dubton gives it touch with Montrose.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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