COUNTY OF STIRLING. 163 



Mr Dykes, Blairnavid, near Drymen, has a farm of 257 acres 

 nearly all arable, on which are grown yearly 10 to 15 acres of 

 potatoes, for which Glasgow manure is used. The cost at 

 Drymen station is 8s. 4d. a ton, which is Is. 4d. more than at 

 Grangemouth, and as much as at Glamis. beyond Perth. Little 

 artificial manure is laid on carse land. Lime and bones are 

 applied to a limited extent. Mr Simpson, Westmains, has lost 

 faith in artificial manures except nitrate of soda, which is applied 

 as a top-dressing to oats and grass with good results. On dry- 

 field farms there are applied to turnips Peruvian guano and 

 dissolved bones, in addition to farm-yard manure. Special 

 manures are used occasionally for potatoes, wheat, and barley, 

 and nitrate of soda is used for top-dressing oats and hay. These 

 fertilisers are sometimes used at a cost equal to one-third or 

 three-fourths of the rent. Feeding stud's are used on dry field 

 farms to the value of one-half or three-fourths of the rent, but 

 on small and grazing farms the quantity is less. 



A good many farms are worked on the dairy system, especially 

 near towns, and in the south and south-west of the county, and 

 also along the lines of railway, by which the produce can be 

 sent to the neighbouring towns and to Glasgow. In the towns 

 throughout the county, milk is supplied direct to the consumer 

 at Is. 4d. a gallon, in some cases a little less ; to middlemen it 

 is sold at 6d. to Is. a gallon. In Stirling, milk is sold for lOd. 

 to Is. 4d. a gallon, butter Is. 3d. a pound ; in the west of the 

 county less is obtained. In the eastern division of the county 

 most of the farms on the hidi q-rounds are dairv farms, and there 

 are dairymen also in the small towns. The milk and butter are 

 chiefly consumed in the district, the milk being sold half direct 

 to the consumer and half to middlemen, at an average price of 

 lOd. a gallon. In the mining districts there is a good demand 

 for dairy produce. West from Port of Menteith dairy farming 

 is almost universal, and the milk is carried to Glasgow by 

 railway for three farthings a gallon. Cheese-making in the Ayr- 

 shire fashion is conducted by Mr Fleming at Lower Ballaird, 

 near Puchlyvie, and Mr Archibald at Gartfieran, near Loch 

 Lomond. Mr Fleminix has a farm of 304 acres situated well 

 down toward the bottom of the valley. It is mostly cultivated 

 in the seven-.shift rotation — oats, green crop, oats, hay, and three 

 years in pasture. The grass is cut the first year, made into hay 

 and sold. At first Mr Fleming had it pastured with sheep the 

 first year, but found this unprofitable and not beneficial to the 

 pasture. No restriction is placed on the selling of hay in the 

 district, and on some farms a good part of the rent is made up 

 in this way. Some farmers top-dress the hay with nitrate of 

 soda, but Mr Fleming objects to this, as the hay is not so good 

 in quality, and the pasture is not improved. Mr Fleming has 



