12 ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 



by about the middle of March, when several farmers commence 

 sowing ; and on the earlier farms harvest commences about the 

 middle of August, being general all along the east coast by the 

 middle of September. Among the hills in the interior of the 

 county the climate, as would be expected, is cold, boisterous, 

 and wet, the winters being long and severe, and the springs late 

 and cold. Though a good deal of snow falls during winter, it 

 does not, as a rule, lie long to a great depth on the ground. Last 

 winter snow lay in the greater portion of the county to a depth 

 of nearly 2 feet for about four months, but it was one of the 

 most severe winters that have ever been experienced in the 

 Highlands of Scotland, and, excepting along the west coast, 

 showed little partiality in its visitation. In the straths which 

 intersect the county the climate is wonderfully mild. The valley 

 of Kildonan, inland and mountainous though that district is, is 

 almost as mild and genial as along the east coast ; and, on the 

 few irregular fields by the river side, oats are usually ready for 

 the sickle at least two weeks earlier than on an average farm 

 in the counties of Aberdeen and Banff. Frosts, however, visit 

 the straths early in the autumn, while, especially in tliose to- 

 wards the west coast, a great deal of rain falls. In the Assynt 

 district the climate is moist, the annual rainfall being about 60 

 inches. Owing to the sea breeze and the influence of the Gulf 

 Stream, snow does not lie long excepting on the more elevated 

 parts. Towards Durness the temperature becomes colder, more 

 particularly northwards from Cape Wrath, wdiere the influence 

 of the Gulf Stream is less felt than south of that bold promontory. 

 Around Tongue the climate is surprisingly dry and mild, the 

 rainfall being only about 36 inches, and the mean temperature 

 45°. Snow seldom lies long near the coast, and the winter, as a 

 rule, is comparatively mild and oj^en, spring bemg generally more 

 severe than winter owing to the prevalence of cold northerly, 

 north-easterly, and easterly winds, which often seriously retard 

 vegetation. In favourable seasons the grain is usually harvested 

 by the middle of September. On the higher lands near the west 

 coast a great deal of rain falls ; but a heavy covering of snow 

 seldom continues long. 



The climate of Sutherland is generally regarded as very 

 healthy for both annual and vegetable life ; indeed. Captain 

 Henderson states that " it is so healthy that one medical man is 

 all that can earn a livelihood from his jDrofession in the county;" 

 while it has been said that, even as late as about 1840, apothe- 

 caries' drugs were almost never called for. But now Sutherland 

 has a larger share of both than in these more primitive times. As 

 already stated, the annual rainfall at Scourie, in the Assynt 

 district, on the west coast, is about 60 inches, and at Tongue, on 

 the northern coast, about 36 inches. The following table shows 



