32 ON THE AGRICULTUKE OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 



Fifeshire will not be counted by scores but by hundreds, and that 

 the Irishman's sway of the markets of that county wall become a 

 thing of the past. 



Every year since 1853, when the Crimean war raised the 

 price of potatoes to from L.4 to L.o per ton, a very large breadth 

 of land has been put under this esculent; and considering that 

 the crop, taking an average of a rotation, is now the opposite of 

 a remunerative one, it seems a little surprising that so many 

 should have stuck to it so long. Had the price remained even 

 at L.4 per ton the crop would still have been a profitable one ; 

 l;)ut now that the price has been reduced by nearly one half, and 

 that labour, of which potatoes require so much, has been nearly 

 doubled since 1853, the balance sheet for the potato field pre- 

 sents a very different appearance. Now every acre of potatoes 

 costs the farmer about L.12, and on an average of say six years 

 very little more is realised in the market. With few exceptions 

 farmers themselves admit that the potato crop does not pay; 

 some say it is the worst paying crop in the rotation; while one 

 county agriculturist of very extensive experience declares that, 

 in his opinion, the potato mania which arose in 1853 "has been 

 a curse to the country." The crop, however, has many things 

 to be advanced in its favour. It is peculiarly a speculative crop, 

 and certainly affords a very large return in some seasons. It 

 also prepares the land specially well for wheat, and perhaps on 

 this account, more than any other, it is still retained in the rota- 

 tion by a great many farmers. Eather than run the risk of losing 

 money by planting potatoes, a good many farmers have of late 

 been leaving part of their second shift under "fallow." This 

 enables them to cultivate and clean the land thoroughly, giving 

 labour to the servants during the slack season, and resting the 

 land so as to ensure an extra crop of wheat the following year, 

 a consideration which is often more important than the small 

 profit that might be realised from a potato crop. Potatoes neces- 

 sarily extract much of the richest substance of the soil, and it is 

 generally the case that after a good crop of potatoes comes a bad, 

 or a moderate crop of wheat, and after a bad crop of potatoes a 

 good crop of wheat. Other farmers divide their second shift 

 between potatoes and beans, putting potatoes in the one half the 

 one rotation and in the other half the next; while a few add 

 turnips, and work in a similar way with the trio. 



Tlie time and mode of cultivation in Fifeshire correspond very 

 closely to the time and mode of cultivation in most other coun- 

 ties in the south of Scotland. The whole of the land intended 

 for cropping, with the exception of tlie portion under turnips, is 

 ploughed in the autumn or winter, the depth of the lea furrow 

 varying from 5 to 8 inches, and that of the stubble from 8 to 12 

 inches. Tlie turnip land or clean ground is ploughed as early 



