COUNTIES OF EOSS AND CROMARTY. 153 



almost as close and retentive as a block of hardwood ; and 

 when water collects on the hollows of the fields, which it often 

 does in consequence of the low level at which the estate lies, a 

 considerable time usually elapses before it wholly disappears. It 

 is no uncommon thing in a wet harvest to see the sheaves of 

 grain submerged in a flood of water. 



The majority of farms in the parish of Tain are small, and 

 in Edderton there are very few large farms. The larger portion 

 of the latter parish is on the estate of Balnagown, which has 

 already been noticed pretty fully. The largest farm in the 

 parish is Ardmore, occupied by Mr George Cruickshank, and 

 situated on the Balnagown property. It extends to about 400 

 acres of arable land, and 400 pasture, and is rented at L.662. 

 The soil generally is light, and the climate very dry. The five-shift 

 rotation is pursued, and very fair crops are raised. Mr Cruickshank 

 has reclaimed close on 150 acres during the past nineteen years, 

 mostly at his own expense, and has otherwise improved the 

 farm. No cattle are bred on the farm, but a good many are 

 bought in and fed off during the winter with turnips and from 

 2 to 6 lbs. of cake per day. Mr Cruickshank also holds the 

 large sheep farm of Strathbran, in the parish of Contin, and here 

 he keeps a stock of Cheviot sheep. 



The parish of Kincardine contains an immense stretch of 

 pasture land and only a few large arable farms. On the little 

 estate of Invercharron, around Bonar Bridge, there is a small tract 

 of very fine arable land, worth about L. 2 per acre. The farm of 

 Mains of Invercharron is occupied by Mr James Davie, a native 

 of Aberdeenshire, and is rented at L.400. The soil on the most 

 of the farm is rich alluvial land, and under Mr Davie's liberal 

 treatment it yields excellent crops, both of grain and turnips. 

 Wheat often yields as much as 5 quarters, and the average is 

 about 4 quarters. Oats average about 5 quarters, while as many 

 as 30 tons of turnips are grown on an acre. Mr Davie breeds 

 very few cattle, but he feeds a good many, selling them off as 

 two and three-year olds. A small portion of the Ardross estate 

 lies in this parish ; here also improvements have been executed 

 by Mr Matheson. In 1847, when the potato-disease left so 

 many Highland homes destitute of food, Mr Matheson organised 

 a scheme whereby the starving natives were tided over their 

 difficulties, and his own estate and the country generally very 

 considerably benefited. Plans were drawn out and arrangements 

 made for the reclamation of large stretches of waste land, and at 

 these works the natives were employed and remunerated for 

 their labour l)y meal and money for the maintenance of them- 

 selves and their families. In this way the greater ])ortion of the 

 farm of Up])er Uledfield was brought under cnltivation. It 

 extends to 1 80 acres, and is leased by Mr George Anderson at a 



