34 O^S THE AGRICULTUEE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND, 



of the angle, rising in height towards the west, and from this 

 ridge the land slopes to the loch and the river with an easy and 

 nearly equal gradient, that towards the river being the steeper. 

 Between the Tirry and the range of hills that shut in the valley 

 on the north and north-east there lies a long stretch of deep 

 mossy land richly covered with heath, cotton grass, and other 

 plants. When in its natural state, the surface of the land re- 

 claimed was rather rough and uneven, but still no serious 

 obstacles in this respect had to be contended with. The subsoil 

 varies shghtly, but is good in all parts, the most general being a 

 porous mixture of gravel, clay, and sand, with niimerous con- 

 "•lomerates and sandstones embedded in it. The surface soil 

 exhibits greater variety. In some parts it is of a clayey char- 

 acter, in others loamy, in others shingly and light, in the 

 hollows deep spongy moss, the most general being a mixture of 

 clay, black mossy loam, and shmgle or sand. All over, with the 

 exception of a few of the more elevated spots, it contains a 

 quantity of decayed vegetable matter which, as it becomes de- 

 composed, will form, and has already been forming, a valuable 

 stimulant to the crops. From the fact that Shiness is surrounded 

 by hills, it might be supposed that it lies at a great elevation ; 

 but such is not the case, for the highest point of the new land is 

 only about 450 feet above sea-level — not half the height of many 

 thousands of acres of arable land in the counties of Aberdeen and 

 Banff. The rainfall is stated at a little over 40 mches per 

 annum. 



During the progress of the work there, the Shiness valley pre- 

 sented a novel scene of activity. When the operations were in full 

 force no fewer than fourteen steam engines were "puihng" away at 

 one time, and several hundred workmen and many horses busily 

 employed. Drainage, ploughing, clearmg off stones, harrowing, 

 erecting fences, making roads, building houses, were all in pro- 

 gress at once, creating a stir and bustle which, in a valley 

 hemmed in by hills on all sides, could not have failed to imj)ress 

 the visitor as marvellous. The Duke of Sutherland, while 

 residing in the county, visited the works almost every other day, 

 closely overlooking the progress of every operation, and fre- 

 quently givmg valuable assistance in the surmountmg of diffi- 

 culties. His Grace is well known to possess an extensive and 

 intimate acquaintance with machinery, and not a few of the 

 improvements tliat have made the Sutherland land reclamation 

 implements so thoroughly efficient as they now are were sug- 

 gested by the Duke himself. It may be mentioned that among 

 the noblemen and gentlemen who visited the reclamations was 

 H.RH. the Prince of Wales, who, while residing at Dunrobin 

 Castle in 1876, honoured the Duke by visiting Lairg and 

 minutely inspecting the works. On the occasion of the High- 



