172 ox THE AGKICULTUEE OF THE 



pair of High] and roads and bridges. In this way the principal 

 thoroughfares were overhauled and thoroughly repaired, and by 

 local efforts the district roads were also greatly improved. In 

 1866 an Act was obtained for the maintenance and repair of the 

 roads in both counties — the Eoss and Cromarty Eoads Act, 

 1866 — the local roads especially having been put into much 

 better order than they had ever been before. An assessment is 

 annually imposed under this Act for the maintenance and repair 

 of the roads and bridges, and that assessment this year is a 

 little over 5d. per pound upon proprietors, feuars, and tenants. 

 Much as has been done in this way of providing local or district 

 and farm accommodation roads during the past twenty-five 

 years, there is still room for improvement in this respect. The 

 value of thoroughly good service roads throughout a farm is 

 imdoubtedly of very considerable importance, and over the 

 county generally too little attention has hitherto been bestowed 

 on the subject. 



Fences. — Twenty-five or thirty years ago little more than 5 per 

 cent, of the farms of Eoss and Cromarty could boast of anything 

 like complete fencing, and probably as many as 70 per cent, were 

 entirely devoid of these modern conveniences. Now there is not 

 a single farm in either county entirely without fencing, and 

 more than three-fourths of the whole are completely enclosed. 

 It is not very easy to calculate the real value of thoroughly 

 efficient fencing to a farm, but where the grazing of cattle or 

 sheep is pursued to any great extent we would not be inclined 

 to put it down at less than 3s. 6d. per acre. The advantages of 

 fencing seem to have been early recognised by the Eoss and 

 Cromarty proprietors and tenants, and neither labour nor expense 

 has been spared to make the supply complete. A good many 

 farms, especially in Easter Eoss, are enclosed and subdivided with 

 hedges, while others are fenced with dry stone dykes, but wire 

 fences predominate to a very great extent. 



Drains. — \sq believe it is no exaggeration to say that four-fifths 

 of the whole arable area of Eoss and Cromarty have been drained, 

 a great extent twice over, within the past thirty or forty years. A 

 good deal of the land was naturally very wet, and consequently 

 it was only after most thorough draining that it was got into 

 anything like a remunerative crop-growing condition. The ex- 

 penditure on draining alone on some of the larger estates within 

 the past twenty-five years has been enormous, but still there can 

 be no doubt the money was economically expended. For some 

 years back tiles have been extensively used in drains, but in early 

 days stones alone were applied. Even yet where they can be 

 had conveniently stones are used, and in most cases they are 

 found to suit exceedingly well, quite as well as the best tiles that 

 •can be had. Like every other variety of labour, draining has 



