ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 21 



which the proprietor, Mr John Balfour of Balbirnie, holds in his 

 own hands. It extends to 378 acres, and is valued at about 

 L.l, 15s. per acre. The soil is strong and a little stiff, while the 

 climate is colder than in many parts of the county. Very few 

 cattle are bred here, or indeed on the whole estate, the majority 

 of the farmers preferring to buy in feeders to rearing them at 

 home. A few shorthorns are bred at Balbirnie, while at Balfare 

 a superior Clydesdale stallion and a stud of mares are kept, Mr 

 Balfour's tenants getting the service of the stallion if desired. 

 This, as might have been expected, has manifestly improved the 

 class of horses in the district, and Mr Balfour deserves much 

 credit for his liberality. The improvements on Mr Balfour's 

 estate during the past twenty-five years have consisted chiefly 

 of draining and fencing, and in providing more accommodation for 

 the consumption of turnij^s and straw than was required in the 

 past century and in the first twenty-five years of the present, 

 wdien only about five or six acres of turnips were grown on the 

 largest farms in the county. 



Taking the road once more, and proceeding in the direction of 

 Dunfermline, that busy commercial town, famous as the burial- 

 place of King Ptobert Bruce, we pass through the parishes of 

 Ivingiassie, Auchterderran, Ballingry, and Beath. The mining 

 interest is very extensive in the district embracing these 

 parishes ; and as mines and agriculture seldom flourish equally 

 together, it could not be expected that this would be the most 

 valuable farming district of the county. Nevertheless there are 

 a number of large and very carefully cultivated farms in these 

 parishes. The soil is not of a very superior character, while the 

 climate is only moderately good ; and thus the rents are lower 

 than in better favoured districts. A few of the farms are as 

 high as L.2 per acre, but, on the other hand, a large number are 

 not much beyond L.l. The principal farms in Kinglassie are 

 Ivininmouth, leased by Mr Blyth, and extending to 452 acres, 

 and rented at L.650; East and West Pitteuchar, tenanted by Mr 

 Gibb (who also holds Lochtybridge, a small farm of about 100 

 acres), and extending to 434 acres, the rent being L.874, or an 

 advance of L.44 during the past ten years; and Fostertown, 

 extending to 300 acres, and rented at L.442. The tenant of this 

 latter farm, Mr Eobert Hutchison, and his father, have by 

 improvements at their own expense, raised its rent in little more 

 than a hundred years from L.70 to the sum above stated. Mr 

 Hutchison is a very careful, liberal farmer, and expends nearly 

 double his rent in cake and manure every year. The farm of 

 Dothan, in Auchterderran, measures 424 acres, and is rented at 

 L.612; while the farm of Lumphinans in Ballingry extends 

 to 803 acres, and is let at L.693. Hilton, in the parish of Beath, 

 is rented at L.375, a few pounds less than in 1864, the extent 



