Z ox THE AGRICULTUEE OF 



The position occupied by Bute amongst tlie counties of Scot- 

 land is unique. Everyone has heard the story of the Cumbrae 

 minister who prayed for the wellbeing of the *' inhabitants of the 

 Greater and Lesser Cumbraes, and the adjacent islands of Great 

 Britain and Ireland." No part of the mainland is included in 

 Buteshire, and the islands of Bute, Arran, the Greater and Lesser 

 Cumbraes, Inchmarnock, the Holy Isle, and Pladda, form the 

 county. The whole lies between 55° 32' and 55° 56' N. lat., and 

 4° 52' and 5° 17' W. long. According to the agricultural 

 returns for 1879, the total area of the county is 143,997 acres, 

 and the total acreage under crops, bare fallow, and grass, at 

 the same period, was 24,986 acres, being 72 acres less than in 

 1878. 



Few parts of Scotland, considering its size, offer such a variety 

 of landscape scenery as this county. Viewed from the north one 

 sees in front the island of Bute lying long and flat along the 

 waters of the firth, while in rear of it there rises with over- 

 shadowing vastness the rugged peaks of Goatfell in Arran. The 

 remarks in this paper made on Bute must be considered as applic- 

 able to Inchmarnock and the Greater Cumbrae, and those made on 

 Arran will apply to the Holy Isle and Pladda. The Lesser Cum- 

 brae contains 700 acres ; it is owned by the Earl of Eglinton, and, 

 although included in the county of Bute for parliamentary pur- 

 poses, it forms part of the parish of West Kilbride in Ayrshire. 

 Its geological formation is Secondary trap, which seems to rest 

 on a substratum of Ijrown sandstone. The cultivation is confined 

 to a few patches growing potatoes and the ordinary garden pro- 

 duce. A great number of rabbits are reared on the island ; but, 

 in fact, the Lesser Cumbrae with the other two small islands — 

 Pladda and the Holy Isle — may be said to derive all their import- 

 ance from the fact of lighthouses being erected on them. 



As the modes of agriculture pursued in Bute and Arran differ 

 in many particulars, and the prices of the farm produce in each 

 are ruled by different markets, we think it better to treat of the 

 two islands in separate sections, and to detail the progress of farm- 

 ing in each under distinct headings. In order, however, to give 

 an idea of the agricultural progress of the whole county during 

 the past twenty-five years, we here subjoin two tables of statistics 

 compiled from reliable resources. The first table shows the 

 acreages of the various crops in Bute and Arran in the year 

 1855, compared with the acreages of the same crops as sown in 

 1879. The second table shows the numbers of live stock kept 

 in the islands in the former year, compared with the numbers 

 kept in the latter year. And we have no doubt that a slight 

 study of these tables will convince the reader that great progress 

 in an agricultural respect has been made by the county during 

 that interval. 



