36 ON THE AGKICULTUEE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 



TO 



KENNETH MUEEAY OF GEANIES, 



OF WHOSE DEVOTION TO 



THE CAUSE OF AGKICULTUEE 



AND ATTACHMENT TO 



THE DUKE OF SUTHEELAND 



AND HIS PEOPLE, 



THESE RECLAIMED LANDS 



ARE 



THE BEST MEMORIAL. 



On another side — 



K. M. 



OBT. JULY 23d 1876 



" SI MONUMENTUM QUyERIS 



CIRCUMSPICE." 



On the third side there is a representation of the " Sutherland 

 Plough," and underneath is the following inscription : — 



THE WORKS 



WERE COMMENCED IN 1873 



AND COMPLETED IN 



1877. 



The Modus Operandi. — The first process was to cut large 

 ditches to draw off the surface water from the land to be re- 

 claimed, Erom the passmg liigh-way (leading westwards from 

 Lairg railway station) a service road was run across the Tiny 

 towards the proposed sites of the new homesteads. It was formed 

 of hand-laid stones, cost 2s. 6d. per lineal yard, and, when nearly 

 completed, carried, without being damaged, the ponderous 

 engines used in ploughing, which weighed about 19 tons each. 

 At the same time, suitable belts were planted with Scotch fir, 

 with the view of providing shelter. Wlien it was sufficiently 

 hard and dry, the land was first ploughed, while the more mossy 

 parts were drained and allowed to firm a little before being 

 turned over. Most of the imjDlements used in these imjDortant 

 reclamations have been constructed specially for the work they 

 perform, and therefore deserve to be noticed separately. It will 

 thus suffice to state here that, as worked at Lairg, the plough 

 turned over a furrow about 2 feet deep, and that the " Duke's 

 Toothpick," or the anchor-like hook that followed the plough, 

 loosened the subsoil without throwing it over the furrow. The 

 large stones were taken out by men who followed the plough ; 

 and, when large tree-roots were met with, the wire-rope was 



