COUNTIES OF ELGIN AND NAIRN. 31 



It is now in excellent condition, both as regards the cultivation 

 of the land and the coQvenience and superiority of the farm 

 houses. The holding extends to 420 acres arable, and about 

 650 acres of links and rough pasture. The present rental of 

 the arable land is £500, and of pasture £80, being about £180 

 in advance of the rent paid in 1857. The average rental in the 

 lower part of the parish is about 25s. per acre. The soil 

 consists chiefly of sand and clayey loam. On this farm the 

 seven-course shift is adopted, viz., two grasses, oats and barley, 

 potatoes, wheat, turnip, and barley sown with grass seeds. 

 Wheat yields on an average 4 quarters per acre, and weighs 62 

 lbs. ; barley 4| quarters, and weighs from 56 lbs. to 57 lbs. per 

 bushel ; oats 5 quarters, and weighs on an average 43 lbs. per 

 bushel. Barley is grown partly after grass and turnip, and 

 when on two years' old grass a little artificial or farm-yard 

 manure is applied immediately before the seed is sown, in order 

 to insure a good braird. Mr Euxton, until a few years ago, 

 gave a good deal of artificial manure to all the cereal crops, but 

 he finds it of mors value to the following crops, when given to 

 potatoes or turnips instead of cereals. Oats are generally grown 

 after lea, wheat, and potatoes. A good proportion of the land 

 for the corn crops is turned by a steam plough in autumn, and 

 is allowed to lie in this condition till spring, when it is ploughed 

 with a common plough and grubbed and harrowed. Besides 

 dividing the farm-yard manure between the turnips and 

 potatoes, Mr Euxton gives them artificial manure to the extent 

 of 8 cwt. per acre. He habitually grows wheat after potatoes, 

 because he finds that they prepare the land better for it than 

 turnips do. His shifts contain about 60 acres in each. From 

 40 to 50 acres of one shift is grown in potatoes, and the rest of 

 it in beans and sometimes turnips. About 12 cwt. of potato 

 seed is planted in an acre, from which about 5 tons are yielded. 

 The yield of turnips average from 15 to 20 tons per acre. The 

 farm has been wholly fenced, partly drained, and houses built, 

 at the tenant's expense, to the extent of £700, during the past 

 ten years. Cross cattle, from shorthorn bull and cross cow, 

 constitute Mr Buxton's herd. From 20 to 25 calves are bred 

 every year, in addition to which the tenant buys in as many o£f 

 the grass as completes his feeding stock, which is usually about 

 40 two-year-olds. The cattle are mostly fed on turnips and 

 straw. Last year, when potatoes were cheap, they were fed 

 partly on them. To feeding animals from 3 lbs. to 4 lbs. of 

 cake per day is allowed, and about 2 lbs. to each yearling. The 

 money expended in cake usually exceeds £100 per year. Two- 

 year-old cattle when fat weigh about 7 cwt. each. Mr Kuxton 

 lets his pasture for sheep during winter. His horses are of the 

 superior Clydesdale breed, and have improved immensely iu 



