HH62/1/AYR/5

Transcription

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The higher parts are, as a rule, towards the inland boundary on the
borders of Lanark, Dumfries, and Kirkcudbright. There is also a
range of hills extending from Ardrossan parish round the north-west
of the county, the highest part being near the source of the Garnock
on the borders of Renfrewshire. Between the Irvine and Doon for
several miles inland there is no elevation of any great height, while
the greater portion of the Carrick District is hilly. The County of
Ayr forms a natural basin by itself, being separated from the neigh-
bouring counties by hills which run along its inner boundary.
In the geological formation of the county are represented the
two great classes of rocks - Igneous and Sedementary. Belonging
to the former are the range of trap hills which extends from Ardrossan
parish round the north and north-east of the county, as well as those
of the granite hills surrounding Loch Doon. Another broad band of
trap rock, lying to the south of the river Ayr, stretches across the
whole breadth of the county, while less extensive trap formations are
met with in various other parts of Ayrshire. The older rocks are
represented by the Silurian system, which occupies the southern half
of Carrick and the neighbourhood of Dalmellington parish, and the
Old Red Sandstone, or Devonian system, which is largely developed
along the shore from Skelmorlie to Ardrossan, and also in the northern
half of Carrick. But the most important system in Ayrshire is the
Carboniferous formation, which covers by far the largest portion of
the county. In this system are included the whole district from
Kilbirnie to the river Ayr, and also the mining districts in the
neighbourhood of Sorn, Muirkirk, Old Cumnock, Auchinleck, New
Cumnock, Dalmellington, and Dailly. An example of post-carbon-
iferous rocks is found in the Permian Red Sandstone which abounds in
the centre of the county, and may be well seen in Ballochmyle
quarries at Mauchline, where the solid rock comes almost to the
surface. Alluvial deposits are chiefly confined to the margins of the
streams, such as the alluvial land through which the Garnock and
Irvine flow.
As to the character of the soil in Ayrshire, it necessarily varies
with the nature of the underlying rocks and superficial deposits.
Thus, over the hills where the igneous rocks come to the surface the
soil formed out of their waste is usually dry and warm, but where
boulder clay forms the subsoil it generally gives rise to a stiff, cold,
retentive soil. Along the coast the soil is generally light and sandy,
interspersed with deep fertile loam; and in the east and south-east
a great extent is moorland and moss. But a very considerable part
of the soil in the county is of a clayey nature, and it may be stated
that there are good grounds for believing that consumption and
certain other diseases prevail more on such soil.
The meteorology of Ayrshire does not differ materially from that
of the other counties on the west coast. The average rainfall for the
county is about 45 inches annually. It varies from about 35 inches
along the low shore between Ardrossan and Ayr to about 50 to 60
inches in the more hilly parts of the county. The mean annual
temperature is nearly the average for Scotland as a whole, but the

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mean daily range of temperature is less, while the relative humidity
of the air is greater than in the counties on the east coast. The
prevailing winds are west and south-west. Although climatic and
seasonal changes greatly influence disease, there does not appear to
be anything peculiar to the meteorology of Ayrshire which is not
common to all the counties on the west coast of Scotland.

POPULATION.

The population of the Registration County - which will probably
be uniform with that of the county as affected by order of the
Boundary Commissioners - was at the census of April last 226,342.
That of the Civil County was 226,222. This population was, in the
Registrar General's interim report of the census, underestimated by
2000. The ratio of persons to the area, according to the recent
census, is .31 individual to each acre, being a little over 3
acres to each inhabitant. When we consider individual parishes, we
find that the distribution of population varies considerably in different
parts of the county. While it exceeds 3 individuals to the acre in
the parishes of Ayr and Kimarnock, it is only .01 person per acre in
the parish of Barr.
Tables I, and II., compiled from the interim report of the
census of 1891, are interesting as showing the growth of the popula-
tion of Ayrshire at each enumeration period since the beginning of
the present century, and also the number of persons to each house in
1881 and 1891.

TABLE I.

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TABLE II.

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