49 



which, in many instances, are allowed to go to ruin. This is 

 especially true when estates are entailed. There are instances 

 where the same man has three farms where formerly three 

 families were nursed, now one man manages or mismanages 

 the lot; there are numbers of instances of two farms 

 joined together, in the majority of the cases to the detri- 

 ment of the farms and the neighbourhood; fewer men are 

 employed than would be if each farm were a separate 

 holding; the result is fences are neglected, tillage land 

 is not cleaned properly, and the whole of the land suffers." 

 He urges the necessity of altering the law of entail and 

 preventing men who have only a life interest in the estate 

 managing it for their own personal benefit. " One large estate 

 in this county," he writes, " is in liquidation and has been for 

 years, and, of course, in the interest of the creditors very little 

 capital is expended on it ; if the tenant farmers had an oppor- 

 tunity of becoming the owners on such estates, it would be for 

 the benefit of all concerned." 



SCOTLAND. 



DIVISION VI. 



Counties of Aberdeen, Banff, Berwick, Clackmannan, Elgin, Fife, 

 Forfar, Haddington, Kincardine, Kinross, Linlithgoiv, Mid- 

 lothian, Nairn, Peebles, Perth, Roxburgh and Selkirk. 



ABERDEEN*. The decline is attributed to the following 

 causes : 



(1) The introduction and improvement of machinery. 



(2) The absorption of smaller holdings. 



(3) Emigration, especially to Canada. 



(4) The attractions of town life and its educational 

 advantages. 



(5) The existence of other more attractive fields of employ- 

 ment. 



BANFF. The principal reason of the decline is stated to be 

 the attraction of the towns compared with the quietness of 

 country life. Mr. Bruce observes : " We require a good 

 reading-room with a well-conducted place of amusement in 

 every other village, which could be made almost self-sup- 

 porting." Mr. Livingstone states that many have left his 

 district owing to the non-renewal of houses and cottages 

 on crofts. These are joined on to adjacent holdings, the excuse 

 being that the owners cannot afford to put up houses for the 

 rent they get. 



35176 D 



