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ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 



ill favour of the operation, Mr Murray makes reference to the 

 ever-increasing demand for arable land as an outlet for capital 

 and industry, and says that he could find no reason of any kind 

 connected with the soil against the operation. " Its character 

 is various, but it is all quite adapted for oats and green crops, 

 except a few hard hiowcs and wet hollows, which are sometimes 

 flooded." Oats and turnips, he points out, are the crops raost 

 required in Sutherland, and he adds, — " The value of turnips 

 has risen so much that it has arrested, I am certain, the pro- 

 gressive value of hill pastures in the north. And more than 

 that has happened. Before the recent extensive reclamation of 

 land in the old districts of Eoss and Inverness, the hill sheep^ 

 used to have outruns of heather or other coarse pasture, to 

 which the turnip was an adjunct merely ; and they not only 

 wintered more cheaply, but the wintering was better for them. 

 Now, penned upon the turnip fields, occasionally getting out 

 only on to short artificial grass, they lose a great deal of the 

 hardiness of their nature, and the result is that a great many 

 have to be sent back again for a second wintering, or they would 

 die. This is a very serious matter — is becoming more so every 

 year — and, in view of these facts, a large reclamation of land in 

 the centre of Sutherland has additional interest. 



As all land improvements must proceed gradually, and im- 

 provement invariably leads to further improvements, I would 

 propose to deal mainly, at present, with the shores of Loch 

 Shin and the immediate banks of the Tirry. I entertain no 

 doubt that for every acre which may be cultivated withm the 

 first twenty-one years, half as many more will be reclaimed in 

 the succeeding lease, and probably at a less expense than those 

 which are made arable now. Experience teaches that over- 

 exertion in the matter of land improvement is a great mistake, 

 and that, in fact, it often annuls for a time the real benefit of 

 what was otherwise a true measure of improvement. Still, 

 from the character of the subject, and the necessity of improv- 

 ing the climate, I hold that this particular operation must be 

 extensive to be successful." Mr Murray indicated that he 

 would propose to make in all 1175 acres of arable land — 575 

 acres of which he would have divided as follows : — 



1 Farm of 125 acres ") Having 1400 acres of pasture 

 1 „ 200 „ > to be conveniently divided 

 1 „ 250 „ ) among them. 



The remaining 600 acres would be laid off into fifteen farms of 

 40 acres each, w^ith 600 acres of pasture in common, and 200 

 acres to be improved by the tenants. He also proposed to add 

 to the arable areas of the farms of Shiness and Dalchork, so as 

 to make these farms self-supporting. Mr Murray then entered 



