6S 



FARMERS' register:. 



to them for dinner and rest. They dine at eleven; 

 on.l most frequenliy sleep behind their horses liom 

 tivelve 10 nearly two o'clock, when iliey begm iheir 

 Becond yoking ol' five hours. By nine o'clock 

 they lire all in bed. 



Atiliisiime the green crop pecd-iime begins, 

 and vvnh ii ilie two journeys increase to eleven, 

 ni)d sometimes twelve hours, the liorses getting 

 three leeils each per day. The people, at this 

 time, siart, leeii, and breaklasl at lour, yoke at 

 five, rest at eleven, when they dine, and rest till 

 two. At this hour they begin ilie second journey, 

 which lasts until seven, hall past seven, or eight, 

 accoidiniT lo circumstances. These seeds are all 

 got ill beibre the Isl ol July. The horses are 

 then put 10 irrase: young horses allowed to amuse 

 lliemsclvt's for ihe season, and the remaining five 

 pairs restricted to two leeds of corn and ten hours' 

 work, uiitd ihe cold iiighis of autumn bring ihem 

 baik to il!ecomlbr:s of their stable ; and the short 

 day of Novf»n)ber to the arrangement which was 

 Ibllovved in that month of the previous year. 



The yearly e:jpense ol' one man and pair, fed 

 and wrought according to the above method, is 

 80/. For ihe whole six hundred and filty acres, 

 and other cartage, six pairs, being at the rate of 

 one hundred and eiiilit and a lialf imperial, or 

 about eighty-six old Scotch acres per pair. The 

 grieve never leaves these teams: he sees them 

 dressed and led, and he sees ihem wrought; 

 and the master's eye lb!!ows hin» in every step. 

 The fields are ploughed iti regular divisions, the 

 sircngih concentrated almost peipeiually to one 

 object in one field, and the cariage perlormed 

 to lime, by regular yokmjrs ; and llie writer does 

 not ihud{, that a mm h better extent of work couUI 

 be perlbrnsed, at the same cx|jense, with justice 

 to the men and caille. At the same lime he is 

 nwure of imperlectiuns ; and if tieller farmers will 

 give a minute detail of iheir mmle of working, he 

 will gladly borrow from their better jud«riiient. 



Piece or task work, except in small deiached 

 jobs, has not yet Ibuiiil iis way much into till- 

 age work in Sutherland. To greater exertions 

 than time-work it ceriainly leads, and to greater 

 irretrularilies than is admissible in a well-reuulaied 

 Bys'em; bui it saves ihe trouble of su|)criiilendence. 



Tne duly of ihe second grieve is to attend the 

 tlirashiiigd that are peil()rmed tiy the miliwrin-lit 

 and eight women at each orisiead ; to vvaich over 

 tlie care of one hundred and sixiy winlerinir cat- 

 tle under the superinleiidence ol three lads; to hand 

 weed the iiillow breaks, mid lo hoe better than one 

 hundred and twenty acres of rap>e and turni|)s; and 

 with ten or eleven bandwiii or bands of reapers to 

 cut, bind, and stock the crops. 



In thrashing, the first rope ofthatch is loosened, 

 and the sluice drawn at eight o'clock : one of the 

 women, wiih a boy aiiil horse, carts in the corn • 

 the miller leeds ; the seven ijirls attend, each her 

 pan.cular part of ihe macliinery ; and by Ibiir 

 o'l-lork, the Ibdder ol' two ten quarier stacks is 

 thoroughiy sep;iraied fiom the corn, and strewed 

 for ihe caitle, the corn separated from the chaff, 

 and measured over by the second (meve and' 

 ni Ker to ihe granary-keeper ; and ihis person's re- 

 ceipt lor the quantity in the master's pocket. The 

 expense may be as Ibilows : 



_-.„ . , £. s. d. 



Millwright, two-thirds of a day - 18 

 Second grieve - - . . i o 



Eight women, say eight hours, 64- 



days .... 



One lad and cart - - . 



-say 6J 



Say 5|(/. per quarter - 8 11 



This, for oais, barley, and wheat, may cost ee- 

 venpeirce to eightpence per quarter. 



No other general remark occurs, except on the 

 subject of manure. On Culmaily-larm there is 

 a very considerable supply of sea-ware, of very 

 excellent quality; on Morvich, which ia more in- 

 land, there is great abundance of lern or breekan 

 (lilices), which grows luxuriantly on the soil com- 

 [)osed of the debris of the lelspar rock, and yields 

 potash. It is the practice to mix the sea-weed 

 with the court-dung, in alternate strata. The 

 dunghills so Ibrmed being hard trampled down by 

 the carts and the leet of cattle, the mass is found 

 in the beginning of May to be stronijly saturated 

 with an infusion of the muriate of soda. It ia 

 turned over and slightly covered with mould, for fer- 

 mentation, preparatory to its being applied to the 

 soil, and it Ibrms a manure of the very first (lualiiy. 

 The li^rns are cut green, brought together into a 

 great stack, where they ferment to a considerable 

 decree; they are subsequently trampled down 

 under the sheep's feet at sortings, smearing, and 

 at shearing time ; and being mixed and further 

 fermented in the mass with court or Ibid dung, they 

 are therewith applied to the naked fallows about 

 to be sown with wheat. 



The first; and most important part of the rotation 

 employed, is the growth of ihe green cro[), that is 

 cole and turnips ; lor they are managed in precise- 

 ly the same manner. This species ol'crop is most 

 important in two respects ; first, as the pharmaco- 

 pcpia (or ihe whole slock on the farm, and second- 

 ly as the key-sione of the system of tillage farming 

 employed — and that on which the quantity and 

 quality of each succeeding crop of the rotation de- 

 pends. 



Green crop. — The green crop, of course, suc- 

 ceeds a culmiliiious or corn crop. The first ope- 

 ration is the furrow, in the direction of the former 

 ridires, given immediately after harvest and the 

 conclusion of the wheat seed : ihe ground is cast 

 into breaks fifteen yards broad, and the ploughing 

 s^ deep as lo leave some of the lime visible tielow 

 the plouirh sole. When this work has been com- 

 pleted, the field is neaily water-fijrrowed, and left 

 10 receive the fertilizing effecis of winter. 



On fields ofliglit soil, when the crop is intended 

 to be sown on bonedust, the gates remain shut 

 until after the conclusion of the oat-seed in March. 

 On loams of heavier quality, where dung is to be 

 employed, four dunghills are founded on the head- 

 ridge, two at each end of the field. The foun- 

 dation is composed of virgin mould or ditch scour- 

 inir?, two feet deep ; over this are placed, in alter- 

 nate strata, (bur layers of Ibid dung, and four of 

 sea-weed ; and the mass, when completed, is 

 neatly spaded up, covered on the sides and lop 

 with mould, and the field shut up to wait further 

 procrressat a more advanced period. 



When the oat-seed has been completed, the 

 jiaies are opened, the waier-furrows shut by the 

 plouL^h, the field thoroughly harrowed and hand 

 weeded, cross ploughed in wide breaks, and again 

 harrowed to perfection, and every weed gathered 

 into heaps, burned, and the ashes spread. This 

 done and the dunghills being at the same time 



