COUNTIES OF KOSS AND CROMARTY. 177 



is the exception rather than the rule, even in the very finest 

 farms in either county. The fiars prices for barley and here, 

 in Eoss and Cromarty in 1868 and 1874 respectively, were 

 L.2, Os. Shd., and L.l, 16s. 9Jd. ; the average for these and the five 

 intervening years being L.l, 13s. 8 Jd. This average was exceeded 

 by fifteen other counties in Scotland. Barley sowing usually 

 begins about the middle of April, and from 3 to 3 J bushels are 

 given to each acre. The Chevalier is most largely cultivated, 

 but there is also a good deal of common barley sown. The 

 standard weight of barley is 54 lbs. per bushel 



Oats. — This variety of grain is very extensively grown in Eoss 

 and Cromarty. The acreage under oats was in : — 



These figures show that the change in the acreage of oats is 

 greater than in that of any of the other varieties of grain, which 

 may be accounted for by the fact that by far the greater portion 

 of the land reclaimed within the past twenty or twenty-five 

 years is what might be called oat land, or land better suited for 

 the growth of oats than of the finer varieties, wheat and barley. 

 Oats will grow fairly with less manuring than any other variety 

 of grain, and therefore by nine-tenths of the crofters they are 

 cultivated almost exclusively. Eoss and Cromarty stand seven- 

 teenth in Scotland in the acreage under oats, but with regard to 

 the yield they stand much higher up, generally from fifth to 

 tenth, the counties which usually exceed them being Haddington, 

 Ayr, Berwick, Kincardine, Clackmannan, Fife, Forfar, Lanark, 

 and Eoxburgh. Oats are grown chiefly after lea, and the best 

 crops are generally reaped when the land is ploughed early in 

 winter, and thus exposed to the ameliorating influence of the 

 winter's frost. The demand for sheep pasture in winter is so 

 great in Eoss and Cromarty that farmers are often tempted to 

 allow their lea land to lie unploughed till well into spring, but 

 still winter ploughing is pursued to a very large extent. As is 

 the case with wheat and barley the oat seed is changed from 

 distant counties every four or five years, care being taken not to 

 sow the same grain twice in succession on the same land. The 

 yield of oats ranges from 4 to 6 quarters per acre, and the 

 weight from 41 to 44 lbs. per bushel. On a few of the better 

 farms the yield is sometimes over G (juarters, but on the other 

 hand ver>' little of what is grown on the crofters' land yields 

 more than 3 to 3 J quarters. The sandy variety prevails, but of 

 recent years several new varieties, such as long fellow, fine 

 fellow, and other similar kinds have been introduced, and are 

 found to suit very well. From 4 to 4 J bushels of oat seed is 



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