40 ON THE AGEICULTUEE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHEELANP. 



now been transferred to the Board. The school is also used for 

 religious meetings, and a missionary of the Tree Church of Scot- 

 land officiates in it every Sunday. 



The Kildonan Reclamations. 



ISTot daunted by the heavy outlay which had been entailed at 

 Lairg, the noble Duke adhered to his intention to carry his 

 scheme of land reclamation still further. The strath of Kildonan 

 seemed the next most attractive locality, and accordingly the 

 plant was removed thither m the spring of 1877, and operations 

 immediately commenced. Prior to this the Duke's present 

 manager, Mr George Greig, Edinburgh, was uivited l)y His Grace 

 to make a careful inspection of the soil and subsoil in Kildonan, 

 and also to report as to the probable cost of the improvements 

 per acre. The character of the works now being carried out so 

 systematically in that district will be best understood by a 

 perusal of the substance of Mr Greig's report. 



The operations in Kildonan were at the outset confined to the 

 farm of Auchintoul, which was previously occupied as a sheep 

 farm by Major Houston of Kintradwell, who willingly gave iip 

 his lease to enable the Duke to proceed with the reclamations. 

 The farm extends to 30,000 acres, and carries a stock of about 

 5000 head of as fine Cheviot sheep as any in Sutherland. The 

 stock being divided into seven " hirsels," Mr Greig laid off the 

 land to be reclaimed in seven separately enclosed sections, the 

 intention being to provide for each " hirsel " the necessary 

 quantity of winter food for the young sheep, and as. much as 

 would enable the tenants to fatten their wethers themselves, and 

 send them directly to the market. The seven enclosures or 

 sections laid off extend in all to 282 acres, and alongside these, 

 three sections of improved pasture land, measuring 188 acres, 

 were enclosed. These ten sections were laid out Ity Mr Greig 

 with a view to combine compactness with an equal division of 

 the land, and as much facility as possible for working the land 

 by steam power. The surface soil over the whole of the area 

 covered by these sections " may be described," says Mr Greig, 

 " as more or less peaty, and from a foot to several feet in depth, 

 the greater portion of it being of the shallower depth. It lies on 

 an open subsoil of something that might be described as between 

 sand and gravel with a little clay, a subsoil which I look upon 

 as being the very best, if within reach of this class of surface soil." 

 The subsoil was also examined and analysed by Mr Falconer 

 King, Edinburgh, who reported that — "It does not show the 

 usual reactions of subsoils, indicating that it is free, at all events, 

 of the deleterious substances commonly present in these. It 

 does not contain any hurtful soluble salts of iron, and it is very 



