74 ON THE AGIIICULTUEE OF THE 



good grass and mixed pasture, round low liills, knolls, and loch 

 sides, the greater part of this section is covered with black heath 

 and boggy pasture, and a good deal is simply bare rock. There 

 is very little land here on which the plough could work ; but 

 owing to the suitableness of the sides of the sea lochs for the 

 home of the fisherman-crofter, about one-fourth of the crofters in 

 the island live along the sea-shore on this section. In a word, it 

 may he said that the distinguishing features of Lewis are its 

 large extent of moss and moor, its immense number of lochs, and 

 the thousands of crofters that live on it. 



While Eoss and Cromarty rank very high among other Scotch 

 counties in regard to their sporting importance, they also occupy 

 a most creditable position in an agricultural point of view. The 

 county of Eoss surpasses almost all other counties in Scotland in 

 one feature — it has within its bounds one of the best purely arable 

 districts in the kingdom, and also as large and as fine a purely pas- 

 toral range as is to be found anywhere in the northern counties 

 of Scotland. In the eastern division " nature has done much to 

 enrich the soil and adorn the landscape ; " and the long-sustained 

 and united exertions of an intelligent, enterprising, liberal class 

 of landlords, and of a painstaking energetic race of tenants, have 

 made that part of the county a formidable rival to the Lothians 

 and to the plains of Morayshire. Easter Eoss proper has long 

 been well known as a perfect garden of richness and fertility. 

 The climate is good, the soil excellent, and the prevailing system 

 of farming of the most advanced description. Away in the 

 western districts again we find purely pastoral farming flourish- 

 ing at an equally prominent stage of advancement. The range 

 under sheep is immense, the pasture in many parts very good, 

 and the system of management pursued quite abreast with the 

 times — if not indeed in advance in some points. That the past 

 quarter of a century (the period over which this report extends) 

 has contributed very largely to the attainment of this prominent 

 position these counties now occupy there can not be a doubt ; and 

 of this more anon. 



Probably nothing has been more instrumental in bringing the 

 counties of Eoss and Cromarty to what they now are, than the 

 improved means of conveyance both by sea and land. Without 

 proper outlet no county, however rich its natural resources, can 

 do much in the way of developing its industry, or at least could 

 benefit to any great extent by attempts at improvement ; and like 

 most of the other northern counties, Eoss and Cromarty were for a 

 very long time greatly handicapped in this respect. The districts 

 immediately round Cromarty and Invergorden have for many 

 years been benefited by an outlet by sea, but the further iiiland 

 parts lay neglected for many years. Even to Inverness-shire, its 

 nearest neighbour, the county of Eoss seems to have remained 



