102 Ten Years of East Lothian Farmiufj. 



were damag-ed by drought, whilst in 1861 a great portion of 

 the potato crop was lost by disease. Of the price of grain it 

 is unnecessary to speak ; and potatoes, which at one time pro- 

 mised to be the farmer's sheet anchor, were almost unsaleable in 

 1863, and were given in large quantities to cattle. The London 

 market, to Avhich the bulk of the crop had hitherto been sent, 

 was over-supplied, and the prices obtaineol would not pay freight 

 and other expenses. One farmer on opening his agent's account 

 of a truck sent to King's Cross, found, when all charges were 

 made out, a balance of 2^. iHd. against him. 



In spite of all this the struggle for land, which has sensibly 

 slackened in other parts of Scotland, is but little diminished in 

 East Lothian. Cold clay lands, ill-drained and in bad condition, 

 have indeed ceased to attract ; but for all good, well-cultivated 

 farms there is still a competition sufficient to drive the occupy- 

 ing tenant from the field, unless in rare instances when he is 

 specially favoured by the landlord. It is difficult to suggest any 

 satisfactory explanation of this strange phenomenon. Hope, con- 

 ceit, ignorance, disgust of some other trade, and the absence of 

 any professional education, or the memory of former profits, may 

 induce those who have little to lose, to risk their all ; but among 

 this crowd of adventurers are mingled men of capital and prac- 

 tical experience, and these, though never the highest bidders, are 

 sometimes chosen by judicious landlords. Time will do much 

 to correct, but probably not to remove this anomaly, which the 

 apparent ease, wealth, and independence of rural life, the crowded 

 state of all professions, and the limited area of our soil, all tend 

 to maintain. 



Purchased Food and Manures. 



In spite of bad times, agriculture has in many respects made 

 material progress since 1853. It is true there are iew " model " 

 farmers now-a-days. Hedges are not so regularly pruned, walls 

 are kept in worse repair, weeds are less carefully eradicated, and 

 fields in general may have a less tidy appearance ; but the great 

 essentials of deep and thorough cultivation and liberal manuring 

 have not been neglected. The quantity of purchased manure 

 has largely increased. In the article of 1853, a leading farmer, 

 Mr. Hope, of Fentonbarns, is quoted as purchasing 1/. worth of 

 manure for every acre he farmed ; but noAv, besides a large 

 increase of artificial food consumed by stock, the manure-bill 

 has risen upon all the best managed farms to nearly 21. per acre. 

 In the evidence before the Royal Commission already alluded 

 to, Mr, Henderson, of Longniddry, stated that on 750 acres he 

 expended from 1200Z. to 1400Z. on portable manure, and 1000/. 

 on feeding stuffs, being together from 2400/. to 2500/. 



