762 



FARMERS' RE G I S T E R 



[No. 12 



Average, per acre, OZ. 19s. 2d. £83 10 6 



This last field is that aHuiied to as having yielded 

 ihirly-six bushels of wheat per acre alter lallovv 

 without manure. 



notation of crops. — All the fields on the farnn 

 having been gone over in the manner already de- 

 scribed, the previously exhausted stale ol'tlie land, 

 fl-om a continued course of bad tarming, rendered 

 it necessary iliat, in the first round of cropping, it 

 should be allowed to remain in grass lor two or 

 more years, for the purpose of recruiting its 

 strength. With that view each field, as im- 

 proved, was sown down with red and white clo- 

 ver and perennial rye-grass, in the proportion of 

 eight pounds of red clover, four of whits, and one 

 and a half bushels of rj'e-grass per acre. 



An easy rotaiion, or such as would least dete- 

 riorate the soil, was therefore fixed on, and is now 

 followed. On that part of the firm, consisting of 

 a deep clay loarn, the course commences with — 

 1. Fallow, a small portion of potatoes and spring 

 sown tares. 2. Wheat sown down with grass 

 seeds. 3. Clover. 4. Pasture. 5. Oats. 



On the lighter division the rotation is-p-1. Tur- 

 nips. 2. Barley, with irrass seeds. 3. Pasture. 

 4. Pasture. 5. Oals. It is probable that this may 

 be the course of cropping which will continue to 

 be pursued. A more profitable one could be 

 adopted by extending tb.e course, and introducing 

 beans, succeeded by wheat, into the rotation ; but 

 as the farm, as already mentioned, is situated con- 

 ?idt'rat)ly above the level of the sea, and in the 

 Immediate neiizhiiorhood of high hills, the bean 

 crop, in most pans of Scotland a precarious one, 

 would, in this situation, be doubly so ; and the fur- 

 ther extension of wheat would also be hazardous. 



Farm offices. — These are conveniently situated, 

 being nearly in the centre of the (arm, and are of 

 the most approved construction, possessing ample 

 shed room lor cattle, granaries, &c., and have a 

 water thrashing-machine of eight horses' power 

 attached. 



Jioads. — Besides a county road, which bounds 

 the firm nearly its Vvdiole length, there arc <'ro?s 

 roads, which intersect ir at convenient distances. 



Shepp walk. — Connected with the arable farm 

 described, there is a ranire of moor ground, inter- 

 spersed with valleys ofrrrecn pasture, on which 

 fifteen hundred sheep are Uept, ol'the pure Cheviot 

 or white-faced breed. Siirliice draining beinij 

 much wanterd in tiie valleys, many thousdndi elis 

 of drains were cut, which have had the efi'ect of 

 increasing the quantity and improving the quality 

 of the pasture. The dim<"!isions of the drains are 

 twelve inches deep and twenty inches wide, and 

 are executed at a firthing per ell. The sod that 

 is cut out is carefully placed at the edge of the 

 drain, with ilie ir^ass side up, to preserve the green 

 Bward. The sheep walk, in consequence of its 

 being joinfd to ihe arable farm, has the advantage 

 of superior wintering fi)r the hogs or lambs, on ac- 

 count of the green fooi! and shelter aH'orded by the 



woods that are attached to the farm, As the wed- 

 der lambs are annually sold, no turnips are given 

 to the eive, lambs, but in lieu of them they are al- 

 lowed the ranire of the clover stubiiles, which has 

 equally the effect with turnips of checking braxy, 

 a disease that often carries ofi a large portion of 

 the Hock where clover stubl)les or turnips cannot 

 be obtained, laxative food being the only preven- 

 tive hitherto discovered. The sheep are manaired 

 by a head shepherd and a boy. 



General charadcr of the district. — The district 

 of" Eastern Koss consists of soil of all the varieties 

 of loam, fioiii a rich deep clay loam to light sandy 

 loam; and as the climate of ihe lower parts of the. 

 district is favorable lor raising wheat, that grain is 

 cultivated to a considerable extent, and ihe quality 

 in general is line. In a few instances the wheat 

 from one farm has brought the highest price in 

 Mark Lane. 



On the first-mentioned soil the system of crop- 

 ping is as follows : — 1. Fallow and a small portion 

 of turnips. 2. Wheat sown down with grass. 

 3. Clover. 4. Oats. 5. Drilled beans, potatoes, 

 and spring-sown tares. C. Wheat. 



On lighter loams the rotaiion is — 1. Tu/nips 

 eaten ofi' with sheep. 2. Spring-sown wheal. 3. 

 Clover. 4. Oats. 5. Beans, &c. 6. Wheal ; and 

 on the light sandy loams the mode otVropping is — 

 1. Turnips eaten off with sheep. 2. Spring-sown 

 wheat and barley. 3. Clover. 4. Pasture. 5. 

 Oats. 



jldvantages of eating off tiir-nips with sheep. — 

 The farmers of the second and last mentioned soils 

 derive very considerable benefit from the neigh- 

 borintr county ol Sutherland, in that county sheep 

 liirming is carried on systematically, and on a very 

 extensive scale; arui it forms [)art of the system to 

 winter on turnijis the wedderhogs or lambs of that 

 season, as well as the weaker parr of the stock. 

 As the turni[)s raised in the county are not ade- 

 quate to feed the proportion of hogs from an ag- 

 •rreixa'e slock of 156,000 Cheviot shee;), toirether 

 with the cattle reared in Ihe country, the farmers 

 have recourse to this district and to Ross-shire 

 generally, to make up the defii'iency. Tlie conse- 

 quence is, that many hundred acres of turnips are 

 annually taken by the Sutherland farmers in this 

 county, the advantages of which to the district are 

 obvious, as I lie land on which the turnips have 

 been eaten by sheep is so enriched as to enable 

 many farmers to grow wheat where otherwise it 

 would not he attempted. 



!t is the general practice to draw off one half of 

 the turnips, tisking every alternate drill, to give to 

 cattle in the straw yards. This is retjuired both 

 on account of the necessity olVonverting t.he straw 

 into manure, and to prevent the land, where other- 

 wise in good condition, from being over enriched 

 by the sheep. 



Another reason maj^ also be stated. As it is 

 only after turnips that wheat, on such soils, is 

 raised, it is important to have the field cleared be- 

 fore the 10th of March — ihe latest period, in this 

 district, at which wheal is sown in spring. 



The raising of wheat on light sandy soils has 

 thus become a practice where, not many years 

 since, it was unknown ; and, as that grain pro- 

 duces more straw than any other, and conse- 

 quently more dung is obtained, a greater breadth 

 ol" turnips is the natural result. 



Size of farms. —The size of the farms in the 



