118 ON THE AGRICULTURE OF 



paid by the tenants. If the drains were put in at the com- 

 mencement of a lease the tenant paid the full amount of 

 interest, which was 6| per cent., but if the work were done 

 during the currency of a lease only 5 per cent, was charged 

 against the tenant. All the recent improvements have been 

 carried out under private arrangements between the proprietor 

 and each individual tenant. Mr Nicolson also owns the smaller 

 estate of Auchterhouse, in the parish of Garvock. Here also a 

 large sum has been expended on permanent improvements. 

 Since 1855 the rental has increased from £500 to £740. As- 

 leases expire on both estates arrangements are made for the 

 improvement of the houses and for other desirable works ; and 

 particularly in regard to building there is still a good deal 

 remaining to be done. The soil varies from good strong, fertile, 

 clayey loam to thin loam lying near the rock or on a hard pan. 

 On the better parts the subsoil is gravel and clay. The hve- 

 course rotation has long been the rule on the estate, but Mr 

 Nicolson, who is a popular and painstaking landlord, has been 

 encouraging his tenantry to grow a greater extent of grass, and 

 devote still more attention to the rearing and feeding of stock. 

 On suitable land, and under good management, he allows two 

 successive grain crops to be grown v/hen the tenant desires to 

 have that advantage. The portion of Glenbervie that extends 

 on to the Grampian Hills, about 2400 acres, is held as a sheep 

 farm by Mr Lindsay, bank agent, Montrose. Mr Nicolson 

 enclosed the whole of this farm by a substantial fence ; and his 

 exj)erience has been that, with the little " hunting " thus required 

 by dogs, the grouse and sheep thrive together most admirably. 

 Under the lease it has been arranged that the heath on one-ninth 

 of the farm shall be burned every year, the tenant giving assist- 

 ance in the burning. The stock kept are of the blackfaced breed. 

 Between Glenbervie and the sea lie the parishes of Kinneff, 

 Catterline, and Dunnottar. The combined parish first named 

 extends to 7249 acres, and has a rental of £8751, or more than 

 an average of 24s. per acre all over. The increase since 1855 

 amounts to close on £2000, or over 5s. 6d. per acre of the total 

 extent. Dunnottar extends to 7884 acres, and has a rental of 

 £11,248, or not far short of 30s. per acre. The increase during 

 the last 25 years is equal to more than 7s. per acre. The soil 

 varies greatly in these two parishes. In some parts there is 

 stiff clay, in others deep rich loam, on the heights thin poor 

 loam, and on what may be called the main body of the parishes, 

 a medium loam, rather light, but sharp, sound, and fertile. The- 

 land is worked mostly on the five and six shift rotations, Matb 

 one green crop. It is, as a rule, well cleaned and liberally 

 manured, and yields comparatively heavy crops. On the Kin^ 

 neff and Catterline properties in Kinneff, on the estate and lands? 



