1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



143 



It was stipulated that twelve acres should be 

 put into a state of cultivation within the three first 

 vears, and four acres every year alter, until tlie 

 whole were broujrht under the plough. The sub- 

 division ot'this part of the arrangement was, that, 

 after the first seven years, the tenant should have 

 eio-ht acres in corn, eigiit in pasture, four in green 

 crops, and four in sown grass, either cut green, or 

 made into hav, and the rotation was to be thus— 

 1. ilUlow, or "green crops; 2. grain, with grass 

 seeds ; 3. grass, either made into hay or cut green; 

 4. pasture ; 5. ditto ; and, 6. oats; and so on till the 

 expiry of the lease. The tenants were also to be 

 allowed at entry a sum of money for enclosing, on 

 finding security for executing the same, according 

 to a pfan laid down; and sheep, being so destruc- 

 tive to hedging, planting, and similar im])rove- 

 ments, it was stipulated, that none should be kept 

 ^Yithout the express leave of the proprietor. 



In a short time no less than fifty fiirms on this 

 plan were laid down, in addition to the tract bor- 

 dering on the old arable fields. Great exertions 

 were^nade to bring this extensive tract into culti- 

 vation; and, even within the first year, considera- 

 ble progress was made. The greatest ditHculty 

 the settFers experienced, consisted in the provision 

 of hay and straw lor their cattle and horses, until 

 they could raise those necessaries themselves. In 

 cultivating extensive wastes, it is tor this reason 

 necessary^that there should be some arable land 

 in the vicinity; and, Ironi this circumstnnce not 

 being sufficiently attended to, many attempts at 

 improvement have been entirel-y frustrated, which 

 niisht otherwise have proved successful. 



The improvements in the parish of Wick and 

 the lower part of the parish of Lat heron were, at 

 the same time, carried on vvith great energy and 

 success by Captain Brodie of Hopeville. Houses 

 were built, mosses drained, villages planned, 

 wastes inclosed, harbors cleared, and roads made. 

 On the grounds of Wester Clyth and Roster, great 

 attention was also paid to the fisheries by Dr. Hen- 

 derson. Where only one boat had been'employed 

 in the herring-fishery, he, in a short time, increas- 

 ed the number to thirty, exclusive of a number of 

 small ones ; and the produce of one year was three 

 thousand barrels of herrings. 



The improvements on the estate of Langwell 

 were on a still more extensive plan, and were car- 

 ried into effect vvith even still greater success. 

 Besides theenclosure of arable, and the improve- 

 ment of waste lands, it was resolved to raise the 

 value of that extensive property principally by con- 

 verting it from cattle into sheep farms. The great 

 difficulty at the outset arose from the estate being 

 occupied by not less than eighty small tenants, 

 whose united rental did not exceed two hundred 

 and fifty pounds per annum. Nothing was bred 

 but a few cattle, and nothing fed but some wander- 

 ing red deer, on the upper part of the property. 

 Humanity, however, required that five hundred 

 ofi'enceless individuals should be provided for; and 

 this was done by adopting the plan of cottage 

 farms, each consisting of two acres of arable land. 

 In reference to this property. Sir John Sinclair has 

 well remarked, that "of' all the means of bringing 

 a mountainous district to a profitable state, none is 

 so peculiarly well calculated for that purpose as the 

 rearing of a valuable breed of sheep. A small 

 proportion alone of such a description of country 

 can be lit for grain; and, in regard to cattle, for 



every pound of beef that can be produced in a hilly 

 district, three pounds of mutton can be obtained, 

 and there is the wool into the bargain. Besides, 

 wool is an article easily transported, of essential 

 use, for which there is in general a regular demand, 

 and which is capable of great improvement- 

 Sheep, also, generally sell with less variation of 

 price than cattle, and are easily driven to market.*" 

 In a pecuniary point of view, the advantages 

 which resulted fiom these improvements on the 

 estate of Langwell were very great, and within a 

 few years raised the rental from under three hun- 

 dred to above sixteen hundred pounds per annum; 

 and, in a moral point of view, were of incalculable 

 benefit to the natives of the district. A spirit of 

 industry and emulation was introduced, and the 

 women had spinning-wheels distributed among 

 them by wheel-wrights, who were set up there 

 for that purpose. Nothing, at first sight, could be 

 more forbidding, more complicated, and operose, 

 than this sj'stem; and yet, by perseverance, it was 

 made to answer beyond the most sanguine expec- 

 tations. A rude, was converted into a civilized 

 district, and the country was improved, without be- 

 ing depopulated. 



In connection with the estate of Langwell, it 

 should be mentioned, that at the time when Sir 

 John purchased it, he had commenced his plans 

 tor the imp/ovement o( British wool; and it oc- 

 curred to him as a most proper place, to ascertain 

 whether a certain breed of mountain sheep, to 

 which had been given the name of C/icviot, would 

 thrive in those more northern districts. Alike in 

 Northumberland and in Caithness, the idea was 

 scouted as visionary. Among the northern moun- 

 tains, sheep had never been kept during winter, 

 except in houses; and it was thought impossible to 

 make them brave the boreal storms. Sir John, 

 however, was determined not to abandon the at- 

 tempt without trial; and knowing that, if he made 

 it on a small scale, and trusted the sheep to the 

 care of native shepherds, they would be allowed to 

 perish, he sent north a flock of five hundred at 

 once, accompanied by the most experienced shep- 

 herds. The succeeding winter happened to be a 

 stormy one, with great falls of snow; yet the flocks 

 prospered, and few suffered either from disease or 

 want. The principal loss arose from the attacks 

 of foxes in spring on the young lambs; and it re- 

 quired great vigilance to keep that nuisance under. 

 In a short time it was found, that instead of pe- 

 rishing, the Cheviot sheep throve fully better in 

 Caithness than even on their native hills, and their 

 numbers had increased to six thousand. 



When Sir John purchased the estate of Lang- 

 well, the rental was only £282, and he bought it 

 for £8000; but so much had he increased its value 

 by improvements of every kind, that when he was 

 subsequently induced to sell it, it brought him the 

 sum of £40,000 — an increase quite unprecedent- 

 ed in the annals of buying and selling. 



Having thus described, in a general way, the 

 plan of agricultural improvement introduced by Sir 

 John Sinclair into Caithness, both as adajjted to 

 the valley and mountain districts, we cannot do 

 more than merely allude to the concomitant im- 

 provements accomplished, in the way of forming 



* Vide Appendix to Henderson's General View of 

 the Agriculture of Caitliness, p. 58. 



