Mr. Smith on the Native Agriculture of the Lews. 211 



of which are, in some cases, three or four feet thick, composed of stones 

 ami turf, to give at once strength and imperviousness to the wind and 

 rain. The cattle and the people are together in the same apartment, 

 which, to those who have been accustomed to a better system of lodging, 

 may appear objectionable, but to these people, in their primitive con- 

 dition, it has many points of convenience and economy to recommend it, 

 although it is to be hoped that in the improvement of their condition, the 

 I •liirf points of economy may be retained, whilst their household condition 

 shall be vastly improved. 



In this long apartment, the space which is provided for the cattle 

 occupies the greater portion. The earth is taken out to a depth of two 

 or three feet below the level of the surface of the end occupied by the 

 people, and the space serves to contain a large quantity of manure — 

 indeed it holds the whole manure of a year's making, and is exactly upon 

 the principle of the box-feeding system now being recommended by the 

 English Agriculturists. 



The dung is never removed from its site, until it is taken to be put 

 into the ground at seed time, consequently, it is never exposed to the 

 weather, to the winds, and to the rain, until it is deposited in the soil 



The cattle are tied to their respective positions by ropes made of 

 heather, attached to stakes of timber driven into the ground or into the 

 wall, and they are arranged with plenty of room, so that they can move 

 around freely in all directions within the walls. A bed is prepared for 

 them all over the floor, consisting, sometimes, of turf and broken peat- 

 moss, with heather, and coarse grass pulled from the moor, and with such 

 straw of the crops as may, by casual damage, have been rendered unfit to 

 eat as fodder. Layer upon layer of this material is added as may be 

 required, so as to form a clean dry bed as the dung accumulates ; and 

 from the freedom of motion allowed to the cattle, their droppings, both 

 liiiuid and solid, are pretty equally distributed through the body of the 

 litter. The moisture descending through the manure, becomes generally 

 absorbed — keeping the whole mass moist, which prevents that dry 

 fermentation and rapid change, which is so destructive to ordinary dung 

 heaps. All the slops and refuse from the dwelling end of the apartment 

 are likewise thrown into the general receptacle, so that not an atom of 

 the debris of the domestic economy is lost. 



The floor of the living division is formed of clay, and being so far 

 above the level of the floor of the cattle portion, is at all times dry. The 

 fire, which is of turf, is placed ia the middle of the floor, which keeps the 

 clay floor always warm, and as the clay is a non-conductor, only a small 

 portion of the heat escapes into the earth ; whilst it is diffused all around, 

 and affords a comfortable warm circle for the family, however large; and 

 in a country where the people are constantly walking through the wet 

 mossy ground around their dwellings, it affords the immediate means of 

 drying thrir pfethea and warming their bodi' 



There is generally id inner room, apart from the living one, in which 



