26 ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUKTY OF FIFE. 



with 2| busliels per acre on the best land and with 3| on 

 the inferior land. Mr Prentice generally manures his turnips 

 with a mixture of artificial manure entirely, but when farm- dung 

 can be had he gives about 12 tons to the acre. Most of the 

 potato land is manured on the stubble with 20 tons farm-yard 

 manure, ploughed to as great a depth as possible, and seasoned 

 with from 3 cwt. to 4 cwt. of guano and dissolved bones at the 

 time of planting. The stubble land is generally ploughed 10 

 inches deep, and when the land is steep it is ploughed downhill, 

 the depth of the furrow being about 12 inches. Balbairdie has 

 all been limed and drained within the past twenty years at the 

 expense of Mr Prentice, who has also expended a large sum on 

 buildings. The farm of Balgreggie lies 10 miles inland, and is 

 all under grass. A large number of the cattle required for feed- 

 ing in winter are grazed here, which saves Mr Prentice from the 

 necessity of buying in all his winter's stock at one time. The 

 farm of Grange, adjoining Newbigging, and close to the town of 

 Burntisland, is leased by Mr Walls, and is worked in six shifts. 

 Mr Walls usually keeps about 24 cows, and rears tlieir calves, 

 buying in stirks to supplement the winter's stock at from L.14 

 to L.15 a head. When fat these animals are generally sold at from 

 L.20 to L.28. The soil is good, and good grain and green crops 

 are raised. About 200 lioggs are usually wintered on the farm, 

 and fed or sold off lean as the state of the markets may determine. 

 Leaving Burntisland and proceeding eastwards, through an ex- 

 tremely fertile border of laud facing the Firth of Forth, we rest 

 a little at Kirkcaldy, around which there are several very fine 

 farms. In the parish of Kinghorn, which we have just passed, 

 lies one of the best managed little pro^^erties in the county, that 

 belonging to Mr William Drysdale of Kilrie. Mr Drysdale is a 

 spirited agriculturist, and feeds a lot of very fine cattle, not a few 

 of which do him much credit in the Christmas and other fat 

 shows. The system of farming pursued in the Kirkcaldy district 

 is almost identical with that already described on seaside farms, 

 and therefore we need not waste time or space in detailing it. 

 In the parishes of Wemyss, Scoonie, and Largo the farms are 

 very variable in size. The soil is also variable, and rents range 

 from L.l, 5s. to L.2, 10s. per acre. One of the finest farms in 

 Largo is Buckthorns, occupied by Mr Beveridge. The soil is 

 Ijrincipally rich loam and fertile clay, and heavy crops both of 

 grain and roots are grown. On a field on this farm we saw wlieu 

 passing as fine a crop of oats as we have ever seen anywhere. 

 Inland, a few miles from Largo, principally in the parishes of 

 Ceres, Cults, and Kettle, lie the valuable estates of the Earl of 

 Glasgow. These estates are under tlie able and efficient sujier- 

 vision of Mr M'Leod, banker, Kirkcaldy (brother to the late cele- 

 brated Dr Norman M'Leod), mIiu acts as factor in Fifeshire for 



