20 ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 



holding in this neighbourhood, and are leased l)y one of tlie 

 leading agriculturist of the county, Mr William Dingwall. The 

 six-shift system, so general in the best grain-producing districts 

 of the county, is the rotation pursued by Mr Dingwall, but we 

 understand that he contemj)lates changing into seven shifts, 

 taking two years' grass instead of one as at present. The soil on 

 these farms is partly heavy retentive clay, partly light loam, 

 and partly sand, and some parts moss. The heavy clay and 

 moss were troublesome to cultivate, and difficult to " make," so 

 as to allow the braird to come aw^ay properly, and some fourteen 

 years ago Mr Dingwall drove quicksand on to these parts, 

 mixing the clay and moss and the sand together. A whole field 

 was gone over in this way, about 1000 loads being spread on 

 every acre, and now the land, formerly yielding indifferently, 

 produces excellent crops of all kinds. The experiment was a 

 pretty expensive one, but Mr Dingwall expects to be fully repaid 

 for his outlay in a few years. He intends breeding a number of 

 cattle as soon as he can turn his farms into seven shifts, but for 

 many years he has raised only a few. His cows are Galloways, 

 or first crosses between Galloways and shorthorns, and his stock 

 bulls are carefully selected from the best shorthorn herds of the 

 day, Mr Cruickshank, Sittyton, being frequently patronised. 

 The calves are suckled and fed off as two-year olds, when au 

 average price of L.28 is generally obtained. Mr Dingwall feeds 

 liberally with turnips and cake, of which latter commodity he 

 consumes a very large quantity — about L.500 worth every year. 

 He takes parks in the grazing districts of the county, chiefly in 

 the neighbourhood of the Lomonds, and buys in stirks or two- 

 year olds to graze on them, but does not find the system a \eYj 

 remunerative one. He thinks that the more profitable system 

 would be to graze on his own farm. He, like a large number of 

 Fifeshire farmers, buys in half-bred hogs, and feeds them on 

 grass, turnips, and cake. He seldom sows beans, but plants a 

 considerable breadth of potatoes every year, and averages a 

 return for the market of four, five, to six tons j)er acre, the refuse 

 being given to the cattle. Oats range from five to seven quarters, 

 barley from four to si.x, and wdieat from three to five per acre. 

 The farm-steadings are good, the cattle courts being covered, and 

 very conveniently constructed. jNIr Dingwall keeps seven pairs 

 of horses, and allots about sixty-two acres to each pair. The 

 farms of Eamornie and Balmalcolm were at one time very lialjle 

 to flooding by the overflowing of a small Avinding stream; but a 

 good deal of money has recently been spent in widening and 

 deepening and embanking the course of the water by neighbouring 

 proprietors and Mr Dingwall himself, and now no damage is 

 suffered in this way. Proceeding a little further on, and passing 

 a number of large farms, we next visit the home farm of Balbirnie, 



