18 ON THE AGEICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 



from Falmouth — the farthest extremity in the other direction to 

 which this establishment extends ; joming as it were by one 

 common bond of intercourse the two most distant parts of the 

 island, — the one situated at the extremity of the English Channel, 

 the other on the coast of the frozen ocean." 



The county having thus been opened up, it may be interestmg 

 to glance back at the condition in which, in an agricultural and 

 social sense, the explorer would then have found it. Captain 

 Henderson estimates the area of the arable land m the county 

 in 1808, that is to say, land under wheat, here, oats, pease, pota- 

 toes, turnips, and sown grasses, at 14,500 acres. It appears that 

 by far the greater portion lay on the south-east coast, in the 

 parts that form the mam centre of the arable farming at the 

 present day, while along the straths intersecting the county, and 

 now under sheep, there were several thousands of acres under 

 cultivation. The total annual produce of these 14,500 acres 

 was estimated at £62,781, 2s. 8d., or a little over £4, 6s. 7d. per 

 Scotch acre. The yield per Scotch acre of wheat is stated 

 at 7 bolls, worth 30s. per boll or £10, 10s. per acre; here, 

 5 bolls, worth 20s. per boll or £5 per acre ; oats, 5 bolls, worth 

 15s. per boll or £3, 15s. per acre; pease, at 4 bolls, worth 

 20s. per boll or £4 per acre; potatoes, 12 bolls, worth 8s. per 

 boll or £4, 15s. per acre ; turnips, worth £6 per acre ; sown 

 grasses, 200 stones, worth 8d., or £6, 13s. 4d. per acre. A 

 thousand acres of natural meadows, haughs, &c., are estimated 

 to be worth £1, 6s. 8d. per acre, while pasture for 4291 horses 

 is estimated at 10s. each or £2145, 10s. ; ditto for 17,333 cattle 

 at 10s. each or £8666, 10s. ; ditto for 94,570 sheep at 2s. each or 

 £9457 ; ditto for 1123 goats at Is. each or £56, 3s. ; and ditto for 

 270 swine at 3s. each or £40, 10s. ; — in all for pasturage (ex- 

 clusive of £150 charged for 500 red deer in Eeay Forest), 

 £20,365, 13s., wliich brings the total value of what is called the 

 agricultural produce of 1808 up to £84,630, lis. 8d. 



The same authority states that the farmers of Sutherland at 

 the period referred to were as diversified as the size of their 

 farms. None of them were bred to farming in a regular manner 

 from their youth, — the more opulent class were gentlemen 

 who had been in the army, navy, or some respectable line 

 abroad, who farmed partly for pleasure and convenience, and 

 derived their jDrofits from what they subset to the lower class of 

 cottars or small tenants ; by far the most numerous class were 

 those whose fathers and grandfathers for many generations had 

 followed the plough, or the black cattle and the goats in the 

 mountains, men who never thought of changmg or improving 

 their condition, and whose means and professional knowledge 

 were too limited to admit of change or amendment. The soil, 

 climate, and short leases discouraged them, and, until the sheep- 



