44 ON THE AGPJCULTURE OF 



per boll is about lOs. Clover seed is sown in the proportion of 

 o or 6 lbs. to the imperial acre. In a good season clover grows 

 well on the deep soils of the Southend, but in Lamlash and 

 Erodick districts a good crop is the exception, not the rule. 



A good market for winnowed hay is found in Brodick and 

 Lamlash, wdiere the inhabitants keep more cows than their hold- 

 ings can well carry, and consequently have to buy in fodder for 

 winter feeding. In 1879, hay carted to the purchaser's door was 

 selling at £4, 10s. per ton. One of the farmers in Shiskan 

 supplies the proprietor with the fodder necessary for the main- 

 tenance of the stud and deer kept at Brodick Castle, and at the 

 various lodges throughout the island, and this always ensures a 

 ready market for the greater portion of the surplus farm produce. 

 The average weight of winnowed hay produced per Scotch acre 

 of 5 imperial roods, is about 32 or 33 cwts. 



For storage of hay the round stack is most in use ; the large 

 square stack so well known in some parts of the mainland is 

 rarely met with, but on one or two of the larger farms sheds 

 have recently been put up, which hold as much hay as the 

 ordinary square stack. These sheds can be erected for about 20s. 

 per foot of length ; they are open all round, and are covered in 

 by a roof of galvanised iron or felt, supported by wooden posts 

 12 or 14 feet high. The hay is built up under the roof in a 

 square, the size of the shed, and thus the time and material used 

 in thatching are saved. 



Another very common sort of fodder is what is known as 

 " sprits " — long grasses which grow on the moorlands, especially 

 where the soil is somewhat deep and damp, and which are cut 

 and winnowed in the sun like meadow hay, and stacked either 

 in the moors or in the stackyards. The cattle relish this kind of 

 fodder immensely, and in a place like Arran, where fodder is 

 scarce, such hay forms an excellent substitute for rye-grass or 

 straw. Liberty is given by all the farmers to the cottars and 

 very small farmers to cut these " sprits " on the moors, and large 

 quantities are , annually winnowed. Pasture in Arran is good 

 during summer, but in winter it becomes foggy. 



Sheep-Farm ing. 



As would naturally be expected from the mountainous 

 character of the island, sheep-farming forms no inconsiderable 

 part of the rural economy of Arran. It is interesting to drive up 

 the wild glens which intersect the island, and to compare the 

 varieties of pasturage to be found on what, at a distant view, 

 seem sterile hills, only remarkable because of their rugged 

 grandeur. The pasture on all the hills is not uniform, and much 

 has been done to improve it in one part which has been left un- 



