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37°. A great part of the mountainous district is unsuitable for either pasturage or tillage, and is occupied chiefly by deer forests and grouse moors; but the land in the valley of the Dee, in the "How," and along the coast is very productive, and is cultivated according to the most advanced methods. A considerable portion of the "How" is, however, on account of the difficulty of drainage, still occupied by moor and moss. The land in this district is richer and stronger than that in the valley of the Dee, but the most fertile region is that along the sea-coast, the soil consisting more generally of a deep loam resting on clay, although in some places it is poor and thin, or stiff and cold.
According to the agricultural returns for 1881, the total area
under crops was 120,631 acres, a percentage of 48.6, that for 1870
being 47.1. The area under corn crops was 44,803; under green
crops, 22,476; under rotation grasses, 46,645; under permanent
pasture, 6552 acres. The area under woods was 27,880 acres, while
12 acres were under nursery grounds, and 23 under market gardens.
About two-thirds of the area under corn crops is occupied by oats,
which in 1881 covered 31,430 acres, while 12,120 acres were under
barley, and 577 acres, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the sea-coast,
were under wheat, the area of which has been rapidly declining, 55
under rye, 581 under beans, and 40 under pease. Of green crops
about four-fifths of the area is under turnips and swedes, which in 1881 occupied 18,304 acres, 3696 being occupied by potatoes, 450 by vetches and similar crops, 17 by carrots, and 8 by cabbage. Flax occupied 1 acre, and there were 184 acres fallow. Great improve ments have lately been effected in regard to farm buildings and drainage.
The total number of horses, many of which are well-bred Clydesdales, in 1881 was 4798. Of these, 3893 are stated to be used solely for agricultural purposes, and 905 to be kept solely for breeding purposes. Cattle in 1881 numbered 25,013, or an average of 21 to every 100 acres under cultivation, the average for Scotland being 23.9. Much attention is paid to the rearing of stock, and cattle feeding is carried on according to the most advanced methods. The most common breed is the shorthorn, which are bought in for feeding from Ireland, but a few Canadian cattle have also lately been bought. The more common home-bred stock is a cross between shorthorned and polled; but there are also many valuable herds of the pure polled breed. Sheep in 1881 numbered 24,966, an average of 20.7 to every 100 acres under cultivation, the average for Scotland being 141.3. Blackfaced sheep are of course those chiefly kept on the hill pastures, but on the lowland farms Cheviots or a cross with Leicesters are not uncommon. The number of pigs in 1881 was 1967.
The following table gives a classification of holdings according to size in 1875 and 1880, with the total area under each class of holding: –
50 Acres and under. From 50 to 100 Acres. From 100 to 300 Acres. From 300 to 500 Acres. From 500 to 1000 Acres. Above 1000 Acres. Total. Xo. Acres. Xo. 1 Acres. Xo. Acres. Xo. Acres. Xo. Acres. Xo. Acres. No. Acres. 1875 1880 1,200 1,081 15,604 14.705 301 i 22,583 23,113 362 370 60,730 63,833 41 39 15,254 14,692 10 8 6.281 4,489
... 1,914 1,806 120,452 120,332
It will thus be seen that about three-fifths of the holdings are under 50 acres in extent, but that their number has within recent years been diminishing. According to the Owners of Lands and Heritages Return, 1872-73, the land was divided among 1384 proprietors, possessing 244,585 acres, with a gross annual value of £253,393. Of the owners, 1189 possessed less than 1 acre, and the average value per acre was £1, 0s. 6½d. Sir Thomas Gladstone owned 45,062 acres; Earl of Kintore, 17,370; James Young, 16,659; Viscount Arbuthnott, 13,560; Sir J. H. Burnett, 12,025; R. W. Duff, 8722; Mrs Badenoch Nicolson, 8481; W. N. Forbes, 6528. A comprehensive account of the agriculture of Kincardineshire, by James Macdonald, is contained in the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society for 1881.
Manufactures. – Woollen manufactures are carried on at Stonehaven, and flax-spinning and weaving at Bervie, Laurencekirk, and a few other places. There are several breweries, tanneries, and distilleries. Fishing gives employment to a number of persons in the sea-coast villages. The rental of the salmon fishings on the coast is £7000, and of those on the rivers £1250 per annum. There is some shipping at Stonehaven.
Railways. – The Caledonian Railway traverses the county from Marykirk to the mouth of the Dee, and a branch line runs along the sea-coast as far north as Bervie.
Administration. – The county comprises eighteen parishes and three parts of parishes; one royal burgh, Bervie, which received its constitution from David II. in return for the hospitality of the inhabitants when he landed there through stress of weather; and one burgh of barony, Stonehaven, which, since 1600, has been the capital of the county, the former capital, Kincardine, in the parish of Fordoun, at which there was at one time a royal castle, having now declined to the position of a mere hamlet. The county is now joined to the sheriffdom of Aberdeen, weekly courts being held at Stonehaven. One member of parliament is returned for the county, and Bervie is united with the Montrose district of burghs, which returns one member.
Population. – The population between 1801 and 1851 increased from 26,349 to 34,598. In 1871 it was 34,466, and in 1881 it was 31,460, of whom 16,972 were males and 17,488 females. The population of Stonehaven in 1871 was 3396, and in 1881 it was 3918. Laurencekirk in 1881 had a population of 1454, Johns- haven 1039, and Bervie 1094.
History and Antiquities. – Anciently Kincardine belonged to the district of Pictavia. Cairns and stone circles are frequent in nearly every part of the shire, and there are numerous traces of Roman camps. According to some the county received the name Mearns from having been granted to Mernia, a Scottish king, brother of the Angus who received the neighbouring county of Forfar. The only old building of special interest is Dunnottar Castle near Stone- haven, the old seat of the Keiths, earl marischals of Scotland. The castle stands on a high projecting rock about 150 feet above the sea, by which it is nearly surrounded, and was formerly an extensive fortress of great strength. In the reign of James II. it was used as a prison for Nonconformists. Among the eminent persons connected with Kincardine may be mentioned John of Fordoun the historian, George Wishart, Robert Barclay the Quaker, Bishop Burnet, Dr John Arbuthnott, Dr James Beattie, Dr Thomas Reid, and Lord Monboddo.
See the History and Traditions of the Lands of the Lindsays, 1853; History and Antiquities of the Mearns, 1858; and Memorials of Angus and the Mearns, 1861, – all by A. Jervise.
KINDERGARTEN, a German word meaning "garden
of children," is the name, given by Friedrich Froebel (see
FROEBEL) to a kind of "play-school" invented by him for
furthering the physical, moral, and intellectual growth of
children between the ages of three and seven. Froebel's
observation of the development of organisms and his
fondness for analogies drawn from trees and plants made
him attach especial importance to our earliest years, years
in which, as he said, lies the tap-root of much of the
thought and feeling of after life. Although the analogies
of nature had constantly been referred to before Froebel's
days ("First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in
ear"), and Bacon, speaking of education, had said that the
gardener bestows the greatest care on the young plants,
the Renaissance left the imparting theory of education so
firmly fixed on the mind of Europe that for two hundred
years the developing theory could hardly get a hearing,
and little was done to reduce it to practice before the
attempt of Pestalozzi. Pestalozzi and other great thinkers
(notably Comenius), who attached much importance to the
first years of life, looked to the mother as the sole educator.
But in the case of the poor the mother might not have
time to attend to her children ; so towards the end of the
last century Pestalozzi planned and Oberlin formed day-
asylums for young children, the benefit of which was
intended no less for the mother than the child. Schools
of this kind took in the Netherlands the name of play
school," and in England, where they have especially
thriven, of "infant schools." But Froebel's idea of the
"Kindergarten" differed essentially from that of the infant
schools. He maintained that there was something to do
for young children which even the ideal mother in the
ideal family could not do. The child required to be
prepared for society by being early associated with its
equals; and young children thus brought together might
have their employments, especially their chief employment,
play, so organized for them as to draw out their capacities
