A • THE AGRICULTURE OF THE 



■other showyard honours, chiefly for cattle, and have also reared 

 many pedigree animals, as well as fattened a large number of 

 the primest beeves, annually for the great southern markets. 



These two counties combined form the north-eastern and 

 larger portion of the ancient province of Moray, which, roughly 

 speaking, extends from Banffshire in the east to Ross-shire in the 

 west, and from Perth in the south to the Moray Firth in the 

 north. Morayshire is by far the larger of the two, and also the 

 more important, from an agricultural point of view. It extends 

 from north to south 40 miles, and from east to west 20 ; has an 

 ar3a of 531 square miles, or, according to the Ordnance Survey, 

 312,378 imperial acres, including lakes, rivers, and fore- 

 shores. In size it ranks eighteenth among Scotch counties, and 

 constitutes g'^th part of the entire area of Scotland. 



This county is bounded on the east by Banffshire, from which 

 it is partly separated by the river Spey, on the south by the 

 upper or hilly districts of Inverness-shire, and on the west by 

 the county of Nairn, while on the north it is washed by the 

 German Ocean. The eastern extremity is in 57° 39' N. lat. and 

 in 3° 7' W. long. ; the western extremity in 57° 17' N. lat. and 

 in 3° 45' W. long.; the most southern point in 57° 17'lSr. lat. and 

 3° 39' W. long. ; and the extreme northern part of the county in 

 57° 43' K lat. and 3° 16' W. long. Towards the centre of the 

 county the K lat. is about 57° 39', and W. long, about 3° 16'. 



It is stated in the Agricultural Returns of 1881, that the total 

 area of the county is 340,000 acres ; and the returns of owners 

 of lands and heritages, drawn up in 1872-73, gives an estimate 

 of 303,168 acres as the property of 2564 owners, 2313 of whom 

 are proprietors of lands less than 1 acre in extent. The gross 

 annual value of the total acreage of property is given as 

 £203,705. Those who possess less than 1 acre have 432 acres 

 in all, while the owners of 1 acre and upwards claim 302,736 

 acres. 



Nairnshire is bounded on the east by Morayshire, on the 

 south and west by Inverness-shire, and on the north by the 

 Moray Firth. Its greatest length is about 22. miles, its greatest 

 breadth about 15 miles; and according to the Agricultural 

 Returns for 1881, its total area is 137,500 imperial acres, in- 

 cluding inland waters and foreshores. The gross ^annual value, 

 according to the Valuation Roll for 1881, is £34,284, 19s. 3d. 

 The most eastern point is in K lat. 57° 38', and in W. long. 

 3° 45'; the extreme western point in K lat. 57° 36', and in W. 

 long. 3° 45'; the point extending furthest southwards — known 

 as Carn Alt Laigh Stone, where the counties of Inverness, 

 Moray, and Nairn all join— in 57° 22' N. lat. and in 3° 48' W. 

 long, ; the most northern point in N. lat. 57° 38', and W. long. 3° 

 51'. This county ranks twenty-ninth among Scotch counties, 



