56 THE AGRICULTURE OF THE 



wrought with a pair fewer horses previous to the potato culture, 

 bat since then three pairs are required on Netherton and two 

 pairs on Greeshop. Nearly all the grass on the poor land is 

 eaten by sheep, and the turnips all consumed on the farm. Mr 

 Phraser rears no cattle, but buys his stock when yearlings, and 

 sells them off when fat, weighing from 5 to 7 cwt. On Gree- 

 shop the only stock of cattle is about 30 dairy cows. They 

 consume grass, turnips, and other food during the winter, to the 

 value of about 60s. eaoh. They are principally Ayrshire and 

 cross bred cows, bought in newly calved and sold off' fat. They 

 are fattened partly in courts and partly in stalls. Byre feeding 

 is generally preferred to that of court. Cattle are seldom fed off 

 without something additional to turnips and straw. Some grain 

 and a good deal cake are used, but two or three months of 

 extraneous feeding is found to be long enough to pay, and if it 

 is used beyond this period the allowance must be reduced. The 

 farm is in the immediate vicinity of Forres, and the milk is 

 called for. 



Eents in the western part of the county vary from 20s. to 60s. 

 per imperial acre, and the average stands between 30s. and 40s. 

 Every acre of first-class land costs the tenant about 50s. Rents 

 have been gradually creeping up, and they are now from 25 to 

 30 per cent, higher than they were twenty five-years ago. This 

 district has, perhaps owing to its low rainfall and open subsoil, 

 suffered less from the past wet seasons than the rest of the 

 country, but notwithstanding, farming has not been paying. 

 The district is pretty equally divided between the five and six 

 shifts' rotation. Though the rotations in the western part of 

 the county are prescribed in the lease, deviations occur, but are 

 generally overlooked. There was one case, however, in the 

 neighbourhood of Netherton, where a tenant had to leave his 

 farm for miscropping. The average returns of the various crops 

 on these farms, and of the district generally, are barley and oats 

 about 5 quarters per acre, wheat 4 quarters. Barley in excep- 

 tional cases yields as much as 7 quarters, and wheat 6 quarters 

 per acre. Turnips yield from 15 to 20 tons per acre ; potatoes 

 about 5 tons, though 7, 8, and 10 tons are not unknown. Less 

 wheat has been grown in late years than formerly. Barley is 

 often substituted for wheat after lea. It does not, however, suit 

 well, being more liable to lodge after grass than after green crop ; 

 besides, barley twice in one shift does not suit. A good many 

 potatoes have been grown in recent years, but the price has been 

 80 low for the past two seasons that the acreage is very likely to 

 be greatly reduced. Potatoes will barely pay the producer at 

 50s. per ton. Three conditions are essential to the successful 

 cultivation of potatoes on a large scale, and these are — first, an 

 abundant supply of dung within a reasonable distance; secondly. 



