REPORT ON THE AGRICULTURE OF PERTHSHIRE. 179 



name of dung, and supplies were obtained from London, Dundee, 

 Perth, and anywhere they could be got; heavy crops of potatoes 

 were grown, often amounting to from fifty to eighty bolls an 

 acre, and being all driven off the land, took most of the good out 

 of all the dung that was applied to them ; and though they may 

 have paid the grower at the time for his expense, and left a 

 handsome immediate profit, the condition of the land over which 

 they were grown was not improved by their introduction. 



The next important change in the Carse was the general in- 

 troduction of tile-draining. As there are no stones to be had in 

 the Carse, no drains of that kind had been attempted ; but the 

 clay of the Carse was suited for making drain-tiles, and, when 

 made, they were admirably suited for draining it. Draining in 

 the Carse thus only commenced about thirty years ago, and was 

 carried on with great activity, and was further stimulated by 

 Government loans for drainage, which began in 1846. The 

 greater part of the first drainage was defective in two respects — 

 want of depth and want of soles; but the Government demanded 

 a four feet minimum, and pipes and collars were eventually sub- 

 stituted for horse-shoe tiles with and without flat soles. 



The consequences of this general drainage on the Carse farm- 

 ing were important, for it enabled the tenants to grow turnips on 

 land which formerly was quite unsuited for them, and they were 

 substituted for the bare fallow, which up to that time had been 

 considered essential to good farming. Bare fallow could not 

 stand against a crop of turnips worth from L.8 to L.12 per acre ; 

 and, besides that advantage in favour of the turnips, it was found 

 that the wheat sown on bare fallow, dunged and drained, was 

 very liable to be thrown out in winter. The consequence of 

 increased crops of turnips was, that the feeding of cattle took the 

 place of the mere wintering on straw and water. 



Moreover, about twenty years ago we entered on the epoch of 

 guano, nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, phosphates, and 

 superphosphates. These were found to be important auxiliaries 

 to farm-yard manure in the increased growth of turnips, and 

 necessary to get the weight of grain crop that had been grown 

 twenty years previously, and it was found advisable to give the 

 grain crops and grass assistance from the same stimulating appli- 

 cations. That benefit has been derived from these substances on 

 many farms where liberal applications of more solid manure 

 have also been given, and where a large stock of cattle have been 

 kept, cannot be denied ; but in other instances, through their 

 use, a great deal of land is at this moment in a poorer condition 

 than it has ever been since it was created. 



Having given the sketch of the past history of Carse farming, 

 can it be said for certain that any great improvement has taken 

 place in it ? To judge by the results in the appearance of the 



