64 THE AGRICULTURE OF THE 



oats yield about 5 quarters, barley 4 quarters per acre, but 

 generally in the district barley yields frpni 5 to 5^ quarters. 

 Land is tilled for roots in the common vvav, and about 20 loads 

 of dung and from 8 to 10 cwt. of superphosphates and dissolved 

 bones are given per acre. Potatoes are manured much in the 

 same way. Since 1871 the proprietor, the Earl of Moray, has 

 laid out £300 on draining and about £500 on buildings. Mr 

 Sinclair feeds about 14 cattle every year, tying up in October, 

 and selling off when two years old in April. The last three 

 months, in addition to straw and turnips, feeding cattle get from 

 1 to 1-^ lb. oilcake each per day. Fifty breeding ewes and a 

 Cheviot tup are kept on the farm, are summered in a park 25 

 arable acres in extent, a,nd get turnips in winter. These ewes 

 are bought in in October for about 28s. each, and sold along with 

 their lambs at £3. Mr Sinclair has three active pairs of Clydes- 

 dale horses, which work about 70 acres a pair. The first horse- 

 man has £14, second man £12, third man £8 to £9 per half 

 year. Girls have about £6. Wages have nearly doubled since 

 1855. 



The Earl of Seafield's estates are among the largest in the 

 north of Scotland. They extend to about 149,500 acres, of 

 which about 40,500 are arable and about 109,000 permanent 

 pasture, including wood and ground reserved for plantation. In 

 1808 the acreage of cultivated land in the Strathspey estate was 

 13,000 acres. Properly speaking, the estates in the upper 

 districts of Moray, Banff, and Inverness extend to 124,500 

 acres, and the estates in the " Laigh of Moray " cover a total 

 area of about 25,000 acres, and consist chiefly of valuable arable 

 land, interspersed with old and young timber. On the latter, 

 since 1864, the proprietor expended on improvements about 

 £39,500, irrespective of expenditure in planting wood. Of that 

 sum, £22,500 has been laid out upon buildings, £5800 upon 

 payment to tenants for improvements made by them, about 

 £3660 upon drainage, £2100 upon fencing, £1150 upon roads, 

 £2730 upon church buildings and schools, £660 upon embank- 

 ments, and over £500 in various other improvements. Of the 

 Seafield estates in the " Laigh of Moray," 10,000 acres are 

 arable, above 10,000 acres pasture, and about 5000 under wood. 

 The annual rental of it is £10,500, exclusive of shootings, which 

 realise about £1100. The rental in 1855 was £7000. The size 

 of farms on the estate range from 1651 acres downwards. 

 Buildings on the estate are all superior, many of them having 

 been recently built. One of the finest steadings in the country 

 is that of Linkwood, which cost nearly £2000; and another 

 commodious new steading is that of Dandaleith, which cost 

 £1800. The estate all over is pretty substantially fenced, chiefly 

 with wire, and upwards of £2000 has been expended in fencing 



