COUNTIES OF ROSS AXD CROMARTY. 147 



have been reclaimed, by trenching to a depth of from 15 to 

 18 inches, within the past thirty years. A large portion of 

 this land, before being reclaimed, was worth only Is. per acre per 

 annum, while now each acre yields a rent of from 20s. to 30s. 

 The cost of complete reclamation, inclusive of draining to a depth 

 of 4J feet with tiles, was from L.lo to L.20, and the prospects of 

 remuneration are good. For a few years new land is let at a 

 nominal rent, which rises in regular gradation every five years 

 until it reaches its real value, when it proves profitable to both 

 owner and cultivator. A considerable extent of old land has 

 been drained, and great care is taken in the cleaning out of out- 

 falls and open ditches. All tenants paying upwards of L.20 of 

 rent have leases 5f nineteen years' duration ; but the majority of 

 the crofters are simply tenants at will. Generally speaking, the 

 proprietor executes all improvements himself ; and unless other 

 arrangements are made in the lease, the tenant pays interest on 

 the outlay. The average rent of arable land is about 25s. per 

 acre, the extremes being 5s. and 42s. The rise in the acreage 

 rental of arable land since 1850 varies from 5s. to 10s. The 

 supply of labourers' cottages is almost complete, though some of 

 them are of limited dimensions. Servants are mostly all mar- 

 ried. The system of rotation generally pursued on the estate is 

 the five-course shift. Few cattle are reared, but a large number 

 of crosses is bought in and fed. The proprietor himself holds 

 the Forest farm, an extensive stretch of valuable pasture land, 

 away up in the parish of Kincardine, on which he has a large 

 and very excellent stock of Cheviot sheep. A considerable 

 breadth has been planted since 1850, and every year so many 

 acres are cut down and so many planted. 



The home farm of Balnagown is occupied by j\lr John For- 

 syth, factor on the estate, and it is worked on the five-course 

 sliift. A few cross cows are kept, and the home-bred cattle are 

 supplemented by stirks bought in at convenient times. A 

 few are tied up for feeding about the 1st of September, and sent 

 off about Christmas ; while the others are stalled in October, and 

 Bold off in spring. A large quantity of cake is used in feeding. 



One of the finest holdings on the Balnagown estate is the farm 

 of Balnagore, occupied by Mr William Kelman. It extends to 

 a little over 300 acres, all arable, is rented at L.G25, and is pro- 

 bably one of the l)est lying, most compact, and neatest laid-oiV 

 farms in the county. In 1848 the proprietor took it into his 

 own hands for the purpose of improving it, and on the 13tli of 

 June of that year o})erations were commenced in earnest. Tlic 

 greater portion of the land has been under a sort of cultivation 

 for hundreds of years. At the time the imi)rovements com- 

 menced there were, in the words of a talkative inhal»itant of the 

 parish, no fewer than " thirteen reeks on the farm," mostly tlie 



