1839] 



F A U M E R S ' R E G 1 S T E K 



763 



district is, ofcourse, various, depeiitlintj on the ex- 

 tent of capilal of the tenants; in general they run 

 Irom two to lour hundred im|)erial acres. The tiest 

 description of lands iet as hi^h as two pounds per 

 acre, while the inferior sorts arc as low as fifteen 

 shilhuiis. 



Very few cattle are fatted for the butcher, as the 

 small towns and villages aifurd a limited consump- 

 tion; but a spirited farmer from tlie south of Scot- 

 land, who rents two extensive liirmsin the district, 

 has ibr several years been in the habit of feedinij 

 a considerable number of sheep, which he drives, 

 a distance of about two hundred miles, to the Ed- 

 inbur<rh market. 



This tedious land journey will soon, it is hoped, 

 be rendered unnecessary, by the adoption of a 

 mode of conveyance to be afterwards noticed. 



No dairies are kept, as, on account of the great 

 distance Ir-om large towns, it is found more profita- 

 ble to rear cattle on farms where a considerable 

 portion is kept in pasture. 



A considerable number of cattle are reared in 

 the district, but as these are not sufficient Ibr the 

 consumption of the winter keep, the additional 

 numbers are supplied from the Highlands of Suth- 

 erland and Rossshire. 



Almost all the farmers rear their own horses. 

 At an earlier period, and before good stallions were 

 introduced into the country, the local fiirmers' so- 

 cieties ottered premiums for the best horses from 

 Clydesdale and other southern districts of Scotland; 

 but of late years, good stallions are annually sent 

 north without any other encourairemcnt tlian is 

 atibrded by the number of mares they obtain. A 

 few are bred and kept in the country, but they are 

 generally of inferior stamj). 



On well-regulated farms, where the working 

 stock are kept in full employment, it is usual that 

 the ploughmen or carters do little other work 

 than that in which their horses are engaged. All 

 other work is performed by laborers, either by the 

 day or by the job ; the latter, in all cases where the 

 nature of the work admits of it, being the preferable 

 mode of employlng.them. 



Method of working and feeding the horses. — In 

 the spring and summer months the horses are 

 worked ten hours per diem. The ploughmen are 

 in the stable a little after lour o'clock, a.m., to 

 clean it out and to dress and feed their horses. 

 They are read}- to start at five ; between seven 

 and eight their breakfast, consisting of porridge 

 and milk, is sent to the field, and after a ihw min- 

 utes, they are again in motion. At ten the horses 

 are unyoked, and remain in the stable until (wo, 

 when they again start for the afternoon yoking, 

 which lasts until seven. 



These hours of working are considered the best, 

 as ihe horses are at rest and feeding durinij tlie 

 heat of the day. In the interval, the ploughmen, 

 by turns, cut clover or tares for tlie hoises, which 

 are carted home by a supernumerary horse that 

 is generally kept for that and other purposes. Du- 

 ring hay-time and harvest, or when the corn is 

 carrying, no specified hours of working the horses 

 are kept. In winter, when the weather admits oi 

 it, the horses are in the yoke, except an hour and 

 a half in the middle of the day, as long as there is 

 daylight. 



The mode of feeding the horses varies accordinjj 

 to the ideas of the farmers, but the general method 

 IS as follows. During the spring months they get 



one feed of oafs in the morning at ten oxlock ; 

 when they come in to the stable they get a mash of 

 boiled hght grain and turnips. Before they start 

 airaiii ai two, another feed of oats is siven, and 

 when they cease working at seven the mash is re- 

 peated. Some fiirmers substitute Swedish or yel- 

 low turnips for the mash of boiled grain, wliich is 

 found equally to answer the purpose of keeping 

 the horses fresh, and in a good working state. 



In summer, when the horses are led on cut 

 clover or lares, it is not usual to give them oats, as 

 unless tliey are bruised, a practice not sufTlciently 

 attended to, it is not supposed they could be much 

 benefitted by them. In the winter months the 

 horses get one feed of oats in the morning, and 

 either mashes or raw Swedes in the Ibrenoon. At 

 eight, P.M., they are dressed and littered, and 

 get a repetition of the mash. When there is 

 much cariiniT, as in driving lime, &c., the quantity 

 of oats is increased. Hay and bean-straw form 

 the rest of the food ; and as there is little demand 

 for the former, it is probable the horses get a larger 

 proportion of it than they would otherwise obtain. 

 Hay or straw-cutting does not prevail hgre as in 

 England. 



General remarks. — Improvements, such a& 

 [iractised in the south of Scotland, commenced in 

 this country about the bcginnincr of the nineteenth 

 century, previous to which period judicious man- 

 agement was Ibllowed only by the more enlight- 

 ened i)roprietors on their home firms. A few of 

 the respectable native firniers studied agriculture 

 in the improved counties in the south of Scotland, 

 and the example v.rhich they showed in the im- 

 provement of iheir liiims was gradually followed 

 by (heir neighbors. 



The rent of lands in the southern districts hav- 

 ing considerably advanced at this period, induced 

 liirmers from these quarieis to look to this coundy. 

 Tfie proprietors being sensible of the advantage 

 that might be expected from the example which 

 (hey would set (o their other tenanty, granted 

 leases considered at the (ime mutually beneficial 

 in regard to enclosures, &c. These men imme- 

 diately commenced the improved system of fallow- 

 ing and sowing turnips, &c., and brought with 

 (hem superiorimplements of husbandry. Althouo-h 

 notiinilbrm in their success, fi-om the circumstance 

 of their taking farms of an extent beyond their 

 capital, by which a ihw became bankrupt, the 

 native farmers saw the success of a portion of them 

 and observed that their crops of wheat, beans, &c., 

 were brought to maturity. They also perceived 

 tiie great superiority of their management in hav- 

 ing turnips for their cattle in wiiter, by which so 

 much additional uianure, and of better quality, 

 was profiuced, and the cattle kept in a growino-, 

 healthful s(a(e, instead of being, as by their own 

 system, kept barely alive during the winter months. 

 The improved mode of farming having grad- 

 ually extended to the larger native tacksmen, the 

 smaller tenants, and even the rrofiers, took the 

 hint, and at (his period (1831) a crofter who only 

 pays a rent of five pounds has his patches of wheat 

 and turnips. 



The opening of (he country by the Cidedonian 

 canal has ma(erially contribu(ed to i(s improve- 

 ment ; as, independautly of what may be expected 

 from it for the general |)urposes of commerce, it 

 affords (he means of transporting (he wheat of this 

 district and of Morayshire, to the Liverpool market, 



