ON THE AGEICULTU15E OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 29 



rented at L.1031 ; and he displays much care and experience in its 

 cultivation and general management. Mr Reid has a promising 

 little herd of shorthorns, but it will be noticed afterwards. 

 Leaving the village of Leuchars and proceeding towards Tayport 

 we pass over " Tents IMoor," an extensive level tract of land 

 covered up with sand, and almost useless for all agricultural 

 purposes. Tayport is reached, and we are now at the end of our 

 tour, a tour which, though accomplished hurriedly, has been both 

 interesting and instructive. And we would fain hope that our 

 hasty notes, imperfect though they be, will not be altogether 

 devoid of interest to others. 



Farming customs generally must now be noticed. The dura- 

 tion of leases is almost universally 19 years. There are a few 

 longer, a few shorter, and a few life leases ; but fortunately 

 this latter period of tenure is now seldom, very seldom granted. 

 Martinmas is the usual term of entry. The first half-year's rent 

 is payable at the term of Whitsunday after reaping the first 

 crop, and the second half at Lammas thereafter, eighteen and 

 twenty-one months after entry. There are a few exceptions to 

 this rule, but only a few; and on the whole the system must be 

 regarded as quite satisfactory to the tenant. 



In the matter of land apportionment Fifeshire is almost all 

 that could be desired. The following table shows the number 

 of holdings in the county of various sizes from under 5 to above 

 100 acres : — 



AT ^^^^^^ 



2241 



Compared with the other counties in Scotland, Fifeshire stands 

 eighth on the list of farms above 100 acres, twenty-fourth of 

 farms between 20 and 100 acres, and sixteenth of holdings below 

 20 acres. The percentage of holdings below 20 acres is 45, 

 above 20 and not exceeding 100 acres 19, above 100 acres 36. 

 It will thus be seen that the holdings above 100 acres are in the 

 majority, but the scale of increase in size from 5 to 100 acres is 

 very gradual, while the number of small crofts is neither too 

 large nor too small, the county being as near as might be in the 

 centre of the other thirty-two Scotch counties in this respect. 

 Of the 808 farms above 100 acres there are only 39 above 500 

 acres, the large majority being between 250 and 350 acres. 

 As in most other Scotch counties a good many farmers hold 

 two or three, and perhaps four pretty large farms. It is 

 very seldom, however, thai two farms, though leased by one 

 man, are run together, but are judiciously kept as separate 

 holdings. 



The system of rotation varies a good deal ; but in l\v far the 



