EEPOET ON THE RECLAMATION OF WASTE LAND. 437 



The cost of the road ought not fairly to be charged against 

 the 43 acres, as it will afford access to the loch solum and iSyster 

 ground beyond. 



The parallel drains in No. 5 field were put in 20 feet apart, 

 and in No. 6, 30 feet apart, 5 acres of the middle of it being done 

 at every 15 feet. The depth of the whole drains is stated in the 

 detailed account, which shows that the drains in No. 5 were cut 

 down through the rock to a depth of 2 feet 6 inches in the shal- 

 lowest, and to an average depth of 3 feet. The leader drains in 

 tins field had to be cut 3 feet wide to get down against the lay 

 of the rock; and on this account, and the impossibility of jointing- 

 large tiles perfectly on a rock bottom, built conduits were put in 

 them, which increased the expense greatly. 



The heather ground in field No. 5, and all the ground in field 

 No. 6, was ploughed in summer 1865. Both fields were drained 

 in winter 1865-6. The whole of field No. 5, was shell-sanded 

 and subsoil-ploughed, after being drained and wrought in for 

 turnips last year. The importation of raw bones being prohi- 

 bited on account of the cattle-plague, the manure given was 1| 

 cwt. Peruvian guano, 14 cwt. superphosphate, and 2 cwts. dis- 

 solved bones, costing 44s., along with 15 tons of farm-yard 

 manure per acre. The produce was 16 J tons of turnips per acre, 

 which were eaten on with sheep, and the field is to be laid down 

 to grass with an oat crop this year. 



No. 6. — 15 acres of field No. 6 were sown with 5 bushels oats, 

 getting 1 cwt. Peruvian guano, and 2 cwts. superphosphate, cost- 

 ing 24s. 6d. per acre. The other 5 acres were sown with beans, 

 tares, and oats for soiling, and same manure, the whole on the 

 first furrow. The produce of oats, when thrashed out for seed, 

 amounted to 69| qrs., weighing 42 lbs. per bushel ; about 4f qrs. 

 per acre. The field was shell-sanded after harvest, and has since 

 been subsoil-ploughed for turnips. 



The rotation not being completed, a statement of cost and 

 produce of crops cannot be made in this case. 



No charge is made in the statements of cost for cartages, which 

 were very heavy. The tiles were carted from Castle Hill Har- 

 bour, 6 1 miles distant. The marl from the Loch of Durran, 

 which was drained by the reporter's father in 1850, on the pro- 

 perty of George Traill, Esq., M.P., who kindly granted the privi- 

 lege of lifting it there, about 6 miles distant. The shell sand 

 from Dunnet Sands, about 5 miles round by the road. The 

 rubble stones for drains, roads, &c, and the flags for fences, were 

 raised from a quarry on the farm immediately above No. 5 field. 



The corn crops had to be thrashed with the horses, which 

 impeded the work very much, and prevented the extra turnips 

 on the new land from being got down in time. However, on 

 entering into the agreement for the extended improvement, a 



