104 ox THE AGRICULTUEE OF 



good crop. For potatoes, from 17 to 20 tons of farmyard manure, 

 and from 6 to 7 cwt. of artificial manure, consisting of |ths of 

 bone meal, |tlis of superphosphates, and ^th of muriate of potash, 

 are allowed per acre. Swedes get the same quantity of dung and 

 light manures, the mixture of the latter being changed to |rds bone 

 manures and ^rd guano. Yellow turnips usually get about 12 

 tons of farmyard dung, wdth 6 cwt. of bone manures. No super- 

 phosphates are used for turnips. A few cows, usually six or 

 seven, are kept ; and from eight to ten calves, sometimes as 

 many as twelve or fourteen, are raised. A large and good stock 

 of feeding cattle is kept. The majority are bought in when 

 fifteen or eighteen months old, and sent to the beef markets 

 tw^elve or fifteen months afterwards. At times a lot of cattle 

 two and a half years old are put in, and fed off in from four to 

 eight months. The greater number are Irish bred animals, and 

 Vfhen the tw^o and a half vear old cattle bouo^ht in come direct 

 from Ireland, they generally require double the length of time 

 to prepare for the butcher they would take when they have for 

 some months previously been kept on this side of the channel. 

 No sheep are kept, and only as many horses are bred as supply 

 the farm. Mr Mustard has drained a good deal since the com- 

 mencement of his present lease in 1868, and has also expended 

 a pretty large sum in altering and covering cattle courts and in 

 erecting wooden sheds. About twenty years ago the proprietor 

 erected two new cottages, on the cost of which the tenant paid 

 an easy rate of interest. A few years thereafter about 37 acres 

 of moorland were reclaimed, the proprietor advancing on interest 

 the cost of the tiles and the cutting of the drains, and the tenant 

 doing all the other work. This land has since been attached to 

 another farm for which it is more conveniently situated, at a rent 

 of 30s. an acre. The fields are as a rule well watered, but defi- 

 cient in fencing. The steading is old, and not very convenient. 



Between the parish of Brechin and the Grampians, mostly in 

 the parishes of Menmuir and Stracathro, there is a large extent 

 of land, not a little of which has been reclaimed within the last 

 forty or fifty years. 'Since 1856 the rental of Menmuir has risen 

 from £5833 to £8487 this year; and that of Stracathro from 

 £4335 in 1856, to £6614 this year. These are very substantial 

 increases, and are due in a large degree to the transformation of 

 moorland into productive fields. The soil varies greatly. It is 

 generally a light loam, of moderate depth and fertility in some 

 parts, and very thin and poor in others. It lies partly on red- 

 sandstone, limestone, trap rock, slate, and primary rocks ; and is 

 rented at from 15s. to 30s. per acre. The new^ land reclaimed 

 since 1850 consists for the most part of small patches taken in 

 here and there by tenants, but in a few cases the extent exceeds 

 a hundred acres. Perhaps the most extensive scheme of re- 



