COUNTIES OF ELGIN AND NAIEN. 81 



good. The extent reclaimed during the past thirty years is 

 about 284 acres. The character of the land before reclamation 

 was soft and marshy, worth about 2s. Gd. per acre, and now, 

 since it has been efticiently drained, it brings from £1, 10s. to 

 £1, 15s. The cost of reclaiming was about £10 per acre. The 

 land is now productive, and gives good crops. It has been 

 profitable to both landlord and tenant. lients are all paid in 

 money, but previous to 1855 they were mostly paid in grain. 

 The five-course shift is universally adopted. The cattle kept on 

 the estate are generally crosses. A good deal of cake is used in 

 feeding. There are no sheep farms on the estate. There are 

 about thirty crofters or cottars on the property. The latter pay 

 small rents, and earn a livelihood by farm work and other labour 

 by the day. Crofters hold the crofts on lease, and pay about 

 £1, 10s. per acre. A great deal has been done in the way of 

 planting since 1855. 



Situated on the estate of Mr Hugh Davidson, and in the 

 parish of Croy, the farm of Cantraydown, occupied by Mr 

 Angus Macpherson, is one of the most skilfully managed hold- 

 ings in the district. The parish was valued at £3033, lis. in 

 1866-67, and in 1881-82 at £3881, 16s. 6d. The farm of 

 Cantraydown extends to 200 acres arable and 600 pasture, is 

 rented at £155, and partly consists of porous haughland with a 

 prevalence of moss and gravel. The five-course shift is pursued, 

 and in good seasons good crops of grain and roots are obtained. 

 The land is always most carefully prepared for seed, more 

 particularly for roots. It is also dunged heavily, and well 

 furnished with artificial manure. Less manure is given for 

 potatoes than for turnips. Mr ]\Iacpherson has reclaimed about 

 100 acres of land during the past twenty-five years, the proprietor 

 cutting a few of the leading drains. Tlie cattle are of the 

 .shorthorn and cross breeds, and are mostly disposed of when 

 two years old. Sheep are kept only during winter. Horses are 

 of the Clydesdale breed, but have not improved much of late. 

 The common allotment to a })air is 70 acres. Servants' wages 

 have advanced about 100 per cent, since 1855, and few cottages 

 have been built. lients have risen about 15 per cent, during the 

 past twenty-five years. 



In the jjarish of Cawdor there is a large extent of mo.s3 and 

 thin soil, but it also contains some fertile lanil. There are also 

 extensive woods surroundincr Cawdor Castle, which is one of 

 the most perfect and time-honoured examples of a feudal 

 fortre.ss in the north. The scenery is truly mauniticent. 

 About tlie centre of the best agricultural district in the palish 

 is the line farm of lirocklea, which is 320 arable acres in extent, 

 and is in the ])Ossession of Mr Jiobert Fraser. The rental of this 

 farm amounts to l)6s. per acre, but the average rental of the 



