COUJs'TIES OF ELGIN AND NAiKN. 6? 



yards of duuj:^ and from 4 to 6 cwt. of artificial manure is 

 considered a good allowance per imperial acre for turnips, the 

 kinds of manure being of course varied Id accordance with the 

 different nature of soils. Potatoes in the upper districts are not 

 grown to any great extent, in many cases not mote than are 

 required for family use Polled cattle are getting every year 

 deservedly more into favour, as they are better suited to the 

 climate than the more tender shorthorns. Crosses, however, still 

 largely predominate, and tbe majority of young stock are 

 generally kept on by the breeder till they attain the age of from 

 twenty to twenty-four months. Feeding cattle are generally tied 

 up immediately after harvest, aud are usually ready to be turned 

 out fat about Christmas. Many good feeders there certainly are 

 in the county, as the prize lists of all the fat shows annually 

 testify, and never more so than this year (1881), when the cham- 

 pion of Smithfield was bred and sent from Morayshire ; but this 

 is a department of agriculture which is not nearly so well attended 

 to as it ought to be. The breed of horses in some districts could 

 be considerably improved with advantage to farmers, as they are 

 not as a rule equal in quality to that of cattle. Very few really 

 good entire horses come so far north, and they are seldom up to 

 the standard of excellence which the Clydesdale breed is known 

 to possess. Cottage accommodation for servants is still very 

 deficient, though great improvements in this direction are being 

 usually made. The wages of farm servants may be said to have 

 doubled within the last tliirty years, though at present they are 10 

 to 15 per cent, lower than they were three or four years ago. The 

 number of acres allotted to each ploughman and pair of horses 

 varies greatly with the difierent kinds of farms. On steep farms 

 of strong land, 60 to 70 acres is all that a pair can work ; while 

 on a level easily wrought farm, they can overtake abuut 90 acres. 

 Interest of buildings and drainage contribute largely to increase 

 rents, and in many cases a good deal of improvement in this 

 way is still required and will doubtless be soon effected. 



The scenery in Strathspey is magnificent, aud the arable land 

 on either side of the river Spey rises with gentle aclivity, and 

 stretches for a considerable distance up tbe sides of the hills. 

 It is a great resort of pleasure seekers during the summer and 

 autumn, when crops are wearing their richest tint of beauty, and 

 tbe woods clothed in their most gorgeous foliage. Xo where 

 could one better enjoy the charms of mountain scenery uv tbe 

 bracing atmosphere of a harvest morning. 



The jjallindalloch estate lies principally in BanlTshire, but 

 about lU,U0O acres extend into the county of Moray. Ttoughly 

 speaking, 20U0 acres of these are arable, while there are abuut 

 7000 acres of hill pasture and lOuo acres of wood. The valua- 

 tion of the Morayshire estates in 18GG-G7 was £2267, 7s., and 



