53 



Walkerburn to the tweed mills, where they make good wages 

 and have the evenings to themselves." Mr. Ritchie adds that 

 Canada attracts many of the best among the young men. 



PERTH. The decline in the agricultural population is thus 

 accounted for by Mr. Craig: 



(1) Land which is below average quality or is difficult to 

 work or inconveniently situated cannot, at present prices of 

 farm produce, be cultivated to advantage, and is consequently 

 laid down to grass. " Hill farmers who used to cultivate suffi- 

 cient land to supply their own wants now find it as cheap to 

 buy in grain and other feeding stuffs, so there is now more 

 pasture on almost all farms, and on high-lying lands and poor 

 soils there is practically no cultivation at all." 



(2) The increased prosperity of the towns, the great advance 

 in wages there, and the social advantages of town life, have 

 attracted not only the surplus agricultural population, but a 

 good deal of labour that is badly wanted in the country. 

 " Large numbers of the relatives and friends of country people 

 have risen to good positions in towns, whilst they, working, as 

 they imagine, much harder and under less desirable conditions, 

 have only been able to exist. Every opportunity for employ- 

 ment in town is, therefore, eagerly taken advantage of. This 

 continual looking to town life for something better than what 

 they are at present employed at has begotten a spirit of unrest 

 amongst farmers' sons and farm labourers which does not augur 

 well for their continued settlement in the country." 



The system of education and the ease and cheapness of com- 

 munication between town and country foster this spirit of dis- 

 content with the present conditions of country life and en- 

 courage the desire for office and mercantile pursuits. 



(3) The Colonies, also, are attracting many of the best among 

 the farmers' sons and farm labourers. 



Mr. Campbell and Mr. McDiarniid state that the formation 

 of new deer forests is partly responsible for the decline. Mr. 

 McDiarmid says that this is the principal cause in his district. 



Mr. Hutcheson attributes the decrease partly to the use of 

 machinery, while Mr. Campbell states that there is a want of 

 proper housing accommodation. 



ROXBURGH. The causes assigned for the decrease are : 



(1) The lessening of the area of land under cultivation owing 

 to the low price of grain. 



Mr. Smith writes : " More land would have been laid to grass 

 had it not been necessary to grow turnips for wintering the 

 large stocks of half-bred ewes which are the mainstay of the 

 high-lying arable farms in this country." Mr. Caverhill 

 corroborates this statement. " The reduction of labour," adds 

 Mr. Smith, " operated first on those ploughmen who could not 



