n4 ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 



and a few crofters possess leases for nineteen years or a shorter 

 period, but the greater mass of the latter are merely tenants-at- 

 will, with yearly possession fi'om Whitsmiday to AYliitsunday, 

 the rent l;)eing payable in advance at Martinmas. 



Reiit. — The rate of rent paid for the arable land varies con- 

 siderably. The lowest is about 10s., the highest about 35s., and 

 the average probably 20s., or a little over that, per acre. The 

 increase during the past twenty-five years is equal to about 30 

 per cent. The crofters pay from 15s. to 20s. per acre, including 

 outrun, which on an average carries for each a pony, a cow, a 

 (|uey or stirk, and ten sheep. If the crofters have no pony, 

 two cows are usually allowed. The ancient system of papng 

 vent in kind and by service has long since vanished from the 

 county, and its demise need not be regretted. 



Rotation of Cwpimig. — There is perhaps no county in Scot- 

 land in which there is so little variety in the system or rotation 

 i)f cropping pursued as in Sutherland. With a few solitary 

 exceptions, the five-shift I'otation prevails everywhere — first, 

 turnips and potatoes ; second, barley (sometimes wheat and bar- 

 ley) ; third, hay and grass ; fourth, grass ; fifth, oats. The arable 

 farming of the county may be said to be entirely subservient to 

 its more extensive pastoral system. Therefore the five-shift 

 system is pursued, mainly because it affords the greatest possible 

 breadth of grass and turnips, which are indispensable for Cheviot 

 sheep-farming in the nortli of Scotland. Tliis rotation of crop- 

 j)ing is in no respect too severe for moderately heavy land 

 where a good deal of feeding takes place, and where, conse- 

 quently, the substance withdrawn from the soil by the crops is 

 returned to it in the form of farmyard manure. The soil of 

 Sutherland, however, is on the light side for so rapid a course 

 of cropping ; and, as little cake or other nutritious food is con- 

 sumed along with the grass and turnips, the farmers must 

 necessarily purcliaso a considerable quantity of artificial manures 

 in order to maintain the fertilitv of their land. 



(J-rain Crops. 



The following table shows the number of acres under all kinds 

 of grain crops in various years since 1853 : — 



185:3, . 10,529 acres. 

 187(», . 8,644 ,, 



1875, . 9,743 acre?. 



1879, . 10,235 „ 



Decrease since 1853, . . 294 acres. 



Tlie returns collected by the Highland and Agricultural 

 Society were exceptionally full and accurate. On the whole, 



