THE COUNTIES OF FORFAR AND KINCARDINE. 83 



of these are rented below £1.0 each, the lowest being £4 and the 

 average about £6 or £7. jSIine pay between £20 and £40, and 

 the others, on an average, from £14 to £15. Generally speaking 

 these small tenants occupy the poorest land, that on the Car- 

 myllie pendicles being thin " hungry " loam lying close to a 

 hard irony or rocky subsoil. The greater part of it has been 

 reclaimed, mostly within the last thirty years, by the crofters 

 themselves, who have no doubt made the district more pro- 

 ductive than larger tenants would have done. They cultivate 

 their land well and raise wonderful crops. They grow oats and 

 turnips for the most part, raising just as many potatoes as are 

 required by the family. The smaller tenants keep one cow 

 esich, and the larger ones two or more, the young stock being 

 sold when six, twelve, or eighteen months old. The class of 

 stock raised on these pendicles is far superior to what it was 

 some fifteen or twenty years ago, and now they meet a ready sale 

 among the neighbouring larger farmers at good prices. The 

 more industrious of these crofters seem contented and comfort- 

 able. They maintain their little places in the best 'of order, 

 educate their families well, and in not a few cases store up as 

 much money as in course of time enables them to step into larger 

 and better holdings. One great advantage in having these small 

 tenancies on an estate is that they provide an excellent supply 

 of labour, an advantage which those having the management of 

 the Panmure property have evidently not failed to recognise. 

 Pendicles have been well named nurseries for farm servants. 

 The rent per acre on the Panmure estate varies greatly, accord- 

 ing to the soil and situation. The better land on the coast side 

 is rented at from £2 to £3 per acre, while in the poorer inland 

 parts the rent falls to £1, and in some cases even to 10s. There 

 is also great variety in the yield of the different crops. Wheat 

 gives from 4 to 6J qrs., weighing from 60 to 64 lbs. per bushel ; 

 barley from 5 to 6 qrs., weighing from 54 to 56 lbs. ; oats from 

 4J to 8 or even 9 qrs., weighing from 40 to 45 lbs. ; potatoes 

 from 5 to 12 tons ; and turnips from 14 to 25 tons. Since 1850 

 the increase in the rental of the Panmure property has been 

 great. At that time several of the best farms were held at 

 little more than nominal rents bv life-renters ; all of whom, 

 with one exception, had died prior to 1870. AVben brought 

 into the market these farms were readily let at greatly increased 

 rents, one bringing more that four times the sum paid by the 

 life-renter. Other influences, however, have helped tlie increase. 

 Aided by the proprietor, the small tenants in the higher parts 

 have, within the last thirty years, reclaimed over 500 acres from 

 moor and moss. A large sum of money has also been expended 

 on dcainage and building throughout the property since about 

 1860, and, under wise direction, this expenditure has resulted iu 



