110 ON THE AGEICULTUEE OF THE 



ton keeps just as many cows as supply the farm with milk, and 

 buys in cattle (chiefly Caithness stirks or two-year olds) all the year 

 round. The cattle courts are covered, and very conveniently 

 arranged for feeding ; and for two years back he has been " soiling" 

 a good many cattle. In all, he feeds about 70 cattle, in two lots, 

 sending the one away about Christmas, and the other about June. 

 About 400 Cheviot lambs are bought in about the month of 

 August, grazed till December, fed on turnips from then till 

 April, grazed during the following summer, and fed on turnips 

 and a little cake from October till January, when they are sold 

 fat at about L.3 a head. ISTone of the grass is pastured by cattle, the 

 whole being either eaten by sheep, cut for hay, or cut and carried 

 to the cattle courts for "soiling" purposes. 



The compact, little, but valuable estate of Udale, belonging to 

 Mr George Mackenzie of Poyntzfield, and leased as one farm by 

 Mr James Gordon, lies in this parish. It is beautifully situated 

 on a pleasant slope running down close to the Cromarty Firth, 

 and has for several years been one of the best farmed holdings 

 in the counties. It extends to about 450 acres, of which 270 are 

 arable, the remainder being partly under wood and partly moor- 

 land. The farm faces the north, and rises from sea-level to a 

 height of about 400 feet. The soil varies a good deal. On the 

 fields that lie under a level of about 100 feet, it is principally 

 shingly, with a gravelly bottom overlying the Old Eed Sandstone, 

 which is here covered to a considerable depth. The middle 

 fields, lying between 100 and 200 feet above the sea, consist of a 

 rich deep black loam close to the sandstone. On some parts of 

 these fields the Old Eed Sandstone comes within 3 or 4 feet of the 

 surface, and here the soil is a strong reddish clay, suitable for 

 all kinds of crops, though probably not quite so safe for potatoes 

 as the more gravelly land. On the higher fields the soil is of an 

 inferior class, and consists chiefly of a moorish boulder clay, 

 with here and there an irony pan underlying it. Mr Gordon is 

 an extensive stock farmer, and to suit his cattle and sheep en- 

 deavours to have as much grass in summer and as many turnips 

 in winter as possible. The system of rotation pursued is there- 

 fore rather an exceptional one. He generally allows the land to 

 lie three or four years under grass, and breaks it up for a crop of 

 turni23S, the farm-yard manure being spread on the lea before 

 being ploughed down in winter. After turnips comes either wheat 

 or oats, or oats and tares mixed, the mixture being used for feed- 

 ing stock. Then turnips follow again, and after that wheat or oats 

 sown out with gTass seeds. The system is confined to the hea^der 

 soils. The lighter soils are broken up with either potatoes or 

 oats, followed by turnips, and then oats with grass seeds. A 

 portion of the lighter land on the heights was found unsuitable 

 for turnips, and consequently it was sown down with whin seed 



