ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 85 



dition for itiisiiit;- green pasture Ims been constantly grazed by a 

 lieavy, Inuigry stock of sheep, that have browsed upon it all day, 

 and spent the night on the higlier and blacker land, where tliey 

 have also left the richest of their dr()])])ings. Tlie green lands thus 

 received little or nothing of even the droppings of the animals 

 that fed upon tliein. They received no manure, and no artificial 

 nourishing of any kind. They have had to rely solely on the 

 repairing forces of unaided nature, and ever active as these are, 

 in tliis case they have been unequal to the consuming power. 

 As stated in one of the preceding evidences, slieep are fed on tlie 

 green land till from three and a half to five and a half years old, 

 and yet notliing whatever has been done to restore to the soil 

 the great quantity of phospliates withdrawn from it annually for 

 sixty years, in the sha|je of the bone of the animals. Can it be 

 surprising then that at last the soil has become impoverished, so 

 devoid of the elements essential to the growth of green grasses, 

 that these are fast disappearing, and coarser plants coming up in 

 their stead ? It is but the very nature of things that this should 

 be so. Nature will have its due. Green grasses, being finer 

 varieties, require richer soil than heather, bent, ling, moss, and 

 other coarse plants common to the Sutherland hills. Until 

 enriched by cultivation, these green lands in Sutherland grew 

 little but heather, bent, ling, and moss. Having again become 

 poor, they throw off* the new and finer, and take back the old 

 and coarser, vegetation. 



The cure for this growing evil would not be difficult to find 

 were it not that the expense would perhaps exceed the advan- 

 tage derived. It is indicated by a leading farmer in the county, 

 who says : — " The only cure is liming the land with from 

 25 to 30 bolls per acre. But the carriage is so difficult 

 that no tenant could face it. Lime costs 3s. per boll on 

 the coast, and carriage from ten to twenty miles would be equally 

 as much, which would bring the lime to 6s. per boll, and make 

 the cost of the dressing fiom £7 to £9. That may be said to be 

 a prohibitive price. I tried from 7 to 8 cwts. of bones per acre, 

 which had a good effect, making the pasture sweeter. Sheep 

 were fonder of it, and ate it barer than usual ; but it would need 

 double the allowance to put out the fog and do the work of a 

 proper liming. I have no doubt if our lands were limed one- 

 third more sheep could be kept. Our gravelly soil is completely 

 void of lime and wont grow grass without it, even when culti- 

 vated." Another extensive farmer says that he has used lime 

 on the green land, and has seen much benefit result from its use. 

 By some the breaking up and sowing out of the land anew is 

 recommended as the most effective cure. No less an authority 

 than Mr Andrew Hall of Calrossie thinks the best plan would 

 be to plough the land, dress it liberally with bones and lime, 



