14 



ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 



six — Inverness, Argyll, Ross, Perth, Aberdeen, and Sutherland- 

 being close on four times its size; while other four — Dumfries, 

 Ayr, Lanark, and Kirkcudbright— are nearly twice as large. In 

 1815 rife occupied the proud position of fourth highest in Scot- 

 land with regard to valuation, the three higher counties being 

 Lanark, Perth, and Ayr, while Forfar came fifth, and Aberdeen 

 sixth. Now it stands fifth, Aberdeen having not only made up 

 to its spirited little rival in the south (for little it may be called 

 when compared with Aberdeen, a county four times its size), but 

 passed it by about L.17,158— a comparatively small sum, how- 

 ever, taking into account the difference in the size of the two 

 counties. The following table shows the position Fife occupied 

 in 1815 and occupies now, in comparison with the sixteen 

 counties that exceed it in gross acreage : — 



Inverness, 

 Argyll, . 

 Eoss (including Cro 



marty), 

 Perth, . 

 Aberdeen, 

 Sutherland, 

 Dumfries, 

 Ayr, 



Lanark, . 

 Kirkcudbright, 

 Orkney and 



land, 

 Forfer, 

 Caithness, 

 Banff, . 

 Roxburgh, 

 Elgin, . 

 Fife, 



Acreage. 

 2,72.3,501 

 2,083,126 



2,016,375 



1,664,690 

 1,260,625 

 1,207,188 

 705,946 

 735,262 

 568,868 

 610,343 



^^*^^" I 598,726 



^ 



569,840 

 471,763 

 439,219 



428,494 

 340,000 



328,427 



Rental in 1815. 



L.185,565 

 227,493 



121,557 



555,532 

 325,218 

 33,878 

 295,621 

 409.983 

 686,531 

 213,308 



20,938 



361,241 

 35,469 

 88,942 



254,180 

 73,280 



405,770 



Rental in 1874-75. 

 L.310,118 



429,384 



256,402 



846,285 

 763,281 

 76,720 

 453,298 

 884,994 

 1,634,780 

 339,855 



91,194 



648,340 

 117,687 

 209,609 

 409,648 

 208,167 

 698,471 



It will be seen from this tabulated statement that Fifeshire's 

 comparative position was a little more prominently to the front 

 in the early days of the present century than now. It cannot be 

 expected that a large annual increase of rental can go on for ever 

 at the same ratio. A certain point once reached, then'the increase 

 must be limited; and we are of opinion that at 1815 the county 

 of Fife had attained a higher elevation in the steep hill of advance- 

 ment than most other counties between the Firth of Forth and 

 John O'Groats. Hence the recent apparent gaining of ground 

 by these other counties. They have done more than Fife, simply 

 because they had more to do. The honour of having the highest 

 annual valuation per acre in Scotland belongs to Lanark, but 

 Fifeshire follows very closely. The total valuation of Fifeshire 

 for 1874-75, exclusive of railways and royal burghs, is equal to 

 no less than L.2, 2s. 6d. per acre, a fact that places the county 



