370 



The Country Gentlematis Magazine 



produce, and the rent it would yield if occu- 

 pied as sheep farms and grouse shootings, 

 instead of deer forests. 



Of the following figures, the measurements 

 are from the Ordnance Survey Maps, the 

 rentals from the Valuation Roll of the 

 County for 187 1, and the prices are averages 

 of the last three years. 



BADDOCH AND AUCHALLATER. 



The farms of Baddoch and Auchallater, the 

 latter including Newbigging and Coirenaleirg, 

 extend to about 20,200 acres (say 20,000), 

 whereof about 50 are arable. Grain crops 

 ripen on Baddoch — elevation 1400 feet — on 

 the average once in two years ; and on 

 Auchallater — elevation 1200 feet — twice in 

 three years. When the grain does not ripen, 

 the fodder is used for winter keep. The 

 sheep stock thrives well, and the three-year- 

 old wethers are as strong as any on Deeside. 

 The rent paid by the sheep farmers is /735. 

 The grouse shooting on the two farms is in- 

 cluded in a larger extent of moor, and let to 

 a separate tenant. The live stock consists 

 of 6750 to 7000 sheep (say 6800), all 

 wethers, except about 500 ewes, 30 cows 

 and other cattle — whereof about two-thirds 

 are kept all winter — and 3 horses. To tend 

 the stock and work the arable land, 1 2 to 

 13 men, and 3 women, besides the farmers, 

 are employed all the year round, and eight 

 additional shepherds are required from 

 October to May, besides extra hands at 

 shearing and dipping. The sheep, accord- 

 ing to their age and the season, leave for the 

 low country between the middle of October 

 and the end of November, and leave the low 

 country for the hills in April. About 2200 

 wethers (reckoning the few ewes as wethers, 

 to simplify the calculation), are sold an- 

 nually, of the deadweight of 58 lbs. each, 

 and the average clip of wool is 27,000 lbs. 

 The winter grazing of the sheep costs, ex- 

 clusive of shepherd's wages, about 3s. 6d. per 

 head; the sheep which get turnips cost more. 



portion adjoining the village of Castleton, 

 the strip of land between the Dee and the 

 road on the south side of the river, and the 

 factor's farm. The few acres cultivated, 

 within the limits I assign to the deer forest, 

 are more than balanced by the cultivated 

 acres in the land excepted on which the deer 

 feed. The area of the forest as thus defined, 

 called herein Mar Forest, is about 90,000 

 acres, or nearly 140 square miles, and 

 includes, it is estimated, over 200 acres of 

 land once under cultivation. Mar Forest is 

 thus four-and-a-half times the extent of 

 Baddoch and Auchallater ; and, compared 

 with those farms, its capabilities are four-and- 

 a-half times greater. Mar Forest could, 

 therefore, carry in summer 30,600 sheep, 135 

 cattle, and 1 3 horses, and produce in mutton 

 and wool ^11,819. 



The stags and hinds annually killed in Mar 

 Forest do not exceed 400, probably not 300, 

 and yield a certain quantity of venison ; but, 

 as the produce of the 135 cattle Mar Forest 

 would maintain in addition to the above 

 sheep has not been included in the above 

 calculation, nor the extra quantity of grouse 

 killed if under grouse shootings, the sum of 

 ^11,819 is increase in value of the produce 

 of Mar Forest if occupied by sheep instead 

 of deer. This is, however, actually an under- 

 estimate ; for it is assumed (i) that the whole 

 of the stock is sheep, whereas it would be 

 more profitable, instead of fuUy stocking with 

 sheep, to summer a considerable number of 

 cattle, which would be fattened off" on turnips 

 in the low country ; and (2) that none of the 

 sheep would be kept at home over winter, 

 whereas a considerable stock of ewes might 

 be wintered in the Forest. On the whole, 

 then, on a very moderate calculation, Mar 

 Forest, if devoted to pastoral purposes, 

 would yield to the nation annually butcher 

 meat and wool to the value of;^i4,ooo to 

 ^15,000 more than it does at present. 



POPULATION. 



MAR FOREST. Mar Forest might be divided into ten 



The whole of the Braemar estate of the sheep farms, averaging 3000 sheep each, 



Earl of Fife is devoted to deer— except the giving employment to sixty-five shepherds 



