ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 37 



possible corn crops. Their whole efforts are directed towards 

 that end; their system of cultivation and general management 

 are arranged to suit it; and hence, the return from grain must 

 necessarily be regarded as the principal item of revenue. The 

 fertility and richness of the soil and mildness of climate fit the 

 county specially for the producing of grain of all kinds ; and the 

 advantages provided by nature are fully taken advantage of In 

 speaking of farming customs generally we referred to the pro- 

 minence given to grain in the system of rotation which obtains 

 in most parts of the county, and therefore it would be needless 

 to enlarge on the subject here. On an average year the grain 

 crop throughout the county is invariably an excellent one, very 

 heavy, rich, and of the best quality, the yield and weight being 

 at least equal to that in almost any other county in Scotland. 

 In colour the grain is generally magnificent, while with respect 

 to form and soundness it is all that could be desired. It is very 

 seldom indeed that much damage is caused to the grain during 

 harvest, though in such years as rainy 72 a good deal of loss 

 is inevitable. The springs, generally speaking, are open and dry, 

 and farming operations proceed without many stoppages. A 

 large proportion of the land intended for cropping is ploughed 

 in autumn or winter, and hence the pressure of work in spring- 

 is not so great as in most other counties. Such a very large 

 breadth, however, is put under grain, that seed time must of 

 necessity be a period of great anxiety to the farmers of the 

 county. Fortunately, the weather seldom interferes very seri- 

 ously, and the seed is generally deposited in a dry, well-prepared 

 bed, a desideratum of the very first importance. Sowing- 

 machines are used exclusively on all the large and many of the 

 small farms — on several holdings in fict not exceeding 50 acres. 

 The land suits the machines well, and they are found to be a 

 most valuable invention. Both drill and broadcast machines 

 are in use in the county, but the former seem to predominate. 

 No labour is spared in preparing the land thoroughly for the 

 seed; while it is equally as well done to after it has received it. 

 Harvest operations generally commence about the end of the 

 third week of August, and seldom extend over much more than 

 a month. In the later districts the grain of course does not ripen 

 so quickly as in the better favoured parts, and here cutting is 

 seldom begun till about the end of August. Machinery is em- 

 ployed still more exclusively in the reaping than in the sowing. 

 In fact, the crop may be said to be entirely reaped by machines ; 

 and, considering the superior character of the work done by the 

 reapers compared with that executed by the now old-fashioned 

 scythe, no surprise need be entertained that it should be so. On 

 many of the larger farms two and sometimes three reapers are 

 kept going at once, and in this way many large fields are often 



