ON THE AUllICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAlsD. 79 



well able as formerly to witlistand the rigorous climate of the 

 county. Tlie milder and l)etter way of introducing fresh blood, 

 which most Sutherland farmers now pursue, is to mate a few 

 of the best bred' ewes in the flock with tups of the finest 

 stamp and breeding from the better suited stocks wherever 

 situated, and then, from the lambs thus raised, select tlie tups 

 to be used in the general stock. Some of the best farmers 

 in Sutherland never go beyond the northern counties for 

 tups, and it is pretty certain that thereby they have better 

 preserved the hardy character of their stocks. On some farms 

 that have arable land attached, tlie ewe hoggs are wintered at 

 liome on the " hogging " part of the grazing farm with a small 

 supply of turnips and hay, and grain if necessary ; a good many 

 farmers, on the other hand, have latterly found it expedient to 

 send the weaker of their dinmonts and gimmers to wintering 

 on arable farms, — a step rendered necessary by the deterioration 

 of the green pastures in Sutherland. It is estimated by com- 

 petent autliorities that 60 per cent, of the stock of lambs is 

 wintered out of Sutherland, mostly in the counties of Caithness, 

 Eoss, and Moray ; 32 per cent, on arable farms on the south- 

 east coast of Sutherland, including the arable farms at Lairg ; 

 and the other 8 per cent, on the sheep farms and on the patches 

 of arable land on the north and west coasts. 



Export of Sheep and Wool, and Bent of Land. 



Export of Sheep. — There was so great a mortality among sheep 

 last winter, particularly on the eastern side of the county, that 

 it is not easy to estimate the number of ewes and wethers sold 

 and sent out of Sutherland this year. In average years the 

 drafts of each would number from 20,000 to 25,000 ; but this 

 year they must have been very much smaller. One of the 

 largest farmers in the county estimates this year's sales of 

 wethers at about 15,000, and of ewes 11,000. Wlien delivered 

 at three and a half years old Sutherland wethers would weigh 

 from 58 to 65 lbs. dead weight, the average being about 60 lbs. 

 This year the wethers from the county tjrought from 40s. to 

 44s., cast ewes from 26s. to 38s., and lambs at from 18s. to 2os. 

 Last year the prices for wethers were higher by from 3s. to 4s. 

 a-head, and for ewes about Is. a-head. 



Wool. — The average number of fleeces of wool clipped in 

 Sutlicrland in each of the last ten years would have been about 

 170,000. The average weight of the fleeces may be taken at 

 4 lbs. each, whicli would make the total annual yield of wool 

 680,000 lbs. or about 28,333 stones of 24 lbs. This year the chp 

 is far sliort of that, and lias been estimated by a competent 

 authority at 18,392 stones of smeared wool, worth 15s. per 



