COUNTIES OF ELGIN AND NAIRN. 119 



in each case of about 6 bolls of meal (140 lbs. per boll), 24 cwt. 

 of coals, and 1 ton of potatoes per annum, and a quart of milk 

 daily. Grieves get from £30 to £40, and more if any extra 

 responsibility devolve upon them ; but average wages would be 

 about £32, with the same allowance or perquisites as the horse- 

 men. In many cases the wages in 1880 were double those of 

 1855. Married men in cottages have also a garden in most 

 cases. In every case single men do not get potatoes in " bothies," 

 but the principal meals are oatmeal porridge, oatmeal brose, and 

 cakes. They usually sell a good deal of the meal allowed them, 

 which is invariably more than they can consume, and purchase 

 other commodities, such as tea, coffee, butter, bread, and fish, 

 &c. Harvest hands, like ordinary farm servants, are paid 

 according to their undertakings and capabilities. Including all, 

 the wages of married men would range from £46 to £49 in the 

 year. The ploughmen are, as a rule, an industrious, trustworthy 

 class of people, and usually take a great interest in furthering 

 everything that tends to benefit their masters. Women for 

 kitchen work get from £6, 10s. to £8, 10s., and outdoor girls 

 get from £4, 10s. to £6, 10s. There are very few w^omen 

 engaged for outwork now, because it is found more advantageous 

 to engage young men. Taking all in all, it cannot be said tliat 

 wages are at present too hfgh. 



Sheep Farming. 



In the lowlands of these counties sheep farming does not con- 

 stitute an important industry, although there are many large 

 flocks of cross and half-bred lambs fattened during the winter 

 season. An occasional breeding Hock is to be seen where there 

 is a run of links or waste land attached to the arable holding. 

 Twenty- tive years ago, perhaps, the breeding of sheep received 

 more attention, but now tlie breeding and feeding of cattle have 

 superseded it to a certain extent. Farmers find it most lucrative 

 to buy in lambs at the weaning season, when, after a good himb- 

 ing season, they are to be got in all parts of the country. If 

 grass is found to be plentiful, the lambs are bought in as early 

 after weaning as possible, and kept in parks during the fall, by 

 the end of which there is almost invariably a patch of turnips 

 laid oil" for them. In addition to turnips, feeding tlocks get hay 

 or straw daily, which is supplied in hurdles on the field. Where 

 there are commodious open courts, Hocks are sometimes fed in 

 them with cut turnijis, straw, or hay, and when well advanced 

 in fattening, they receive a little cake or corn. The ordinary 

 allowance of cake and corn, besides a liberal su])ply of turnips 

 and fodder, is from ^ lb. to 2 lbs. per sheep per day. It is not 

 lambs only that are fed. Large numbers of wethers and eild 



