34 ox THE A.GRICULTURE OF 



Balnacoole lies very flat, and drains are difficult to keep clear, 

 and in most cases have to be renewed every five or six years. 

 Tile-drains were laid at first from 3 to 4 feet deep, but they 

 required to be often lifted because of their frequently choking 

 with iron ore water washed off the hills. To prevent this as 

 much as possible, a plan w^as adopted of letting in a run of clear 

 water from the ditches along the higher ends of the fields during 

 summer, and this helped to carr}^ away the foul matter accumu- 

 lated in the tiles during the heavy rains of winter. Still the cost 

 of lifting and relaying choked drains forms no inconsiderable 

 portion of the expense of farming in Arran. 



At the time of draining, all the land on Balnacoole was limed 

 with Irish shells, from forty to furty-five barrels the imperal acre 

 being put on. The cost of liming new land between 1840 and 1850 

 was al30ut £4 per acre, including the spreading on the fields. 

 Lime is still used on the same land, but in less quantities, not 

 more than thirty-two or thirty-three barrels per imperial acre 

 being now laid on. 



When first brought under cultivation this land raised promis- 

 ing looking crops ; there was great bulk of straw, but not the 

 weight of grain one would have expected. Now, however, the 

 ground is firmer, and the yield of both grain and straw is much 

 better. Generally, it may be said that on account of the humidity 

 of the climate the soil of Arran produces greater bulk of straw 

 than weight of grain. 



Improvements similar in nature to those described, were effected 

 on the farm of Balmichael, bordering on Balnacoole ; and many 

 years previous, the farm of Sheddog, nearer the shore than Bal- 

 nacoole, when in the hands of the proprieter, was greatly im- 

 proved, and is now and has long been considered the best, as well 

 as the best-cultivated holding in the island. 



On the farm of Benecarrigan all the arable land east 

 of the steading, above and below the Lamlash road, was broken 

 out of moorland by the late Mr Spiers about twenty or twenty- 

 five years ago. Tile-drains were laid through the fields at a 

 distance of 21 feet apart, and from 3 to 3|- feet deep. The 

 fields being steep there is a sufficient fall, and the leaders did 

 not require to be laid any deeper than the branch drains. The 

 mossy top-soil has now in many cases been wrought off, and 

 when ploughing the drains are not above 6 inches from the hoofs 

 of the horses. On the older arable portion of this farm, many of 

 the drains, when first put in, were laid in the furrows between 

 the gathered rigs, and not deeper than 18 inches, and consequently, 

 where the soil of these rigs has been levelled down through 

 ploughing, the drains are found very near the surface. 



The farm of Clauchlands, situated at the eastern entrance to 

 Lamlash Bay, and extending westwards past the Brodick road, 



