jNlVERS 



OF 

 THE LOWLANDS. < 



the Duke of Gordon, in Aberdeenshire, which was almost 

 entirely in a state of nature. The price paid was nearly 

 120,000; and he is laying out upon it, in improvements 

 of all sorts, 25 per acre, or five times its original cost. 

 These operations consist principally of subsoil-ploughing. 

 The property being covered with granite rocks, these are 

 blasted and removed. The ground, after being thus 

 cleared, is levelled, drained, and limed, and laid out in 

 farms of about four hundred acres each. These farms, 

 it is stated, are let on nineteen years' leases, at the rate 

 of 5 per cent on the money expended upon them. 

 The whole operation, when finished, will absorb between 

 600,000 and 800,000. This is the scale upon which 

 agricultural undertakings are sometimes conducted. Eng- 

 lish capital readily finds its way to Scotland, because of 

 its being a newer country than England. 



Even applying the 20 per cent reduction to the Scotch 

 prices, it will be seen that the gross production of the 

 Lowlands gives, in the aggregate, about 100 francs per 

 hectare, divided as follows : 



Proprietor's rent, . 30 francs per hectare, or 10s. per acre. 



Farmer's profit, .25 8s. 



Taxes,* . .3 Is. 



Incidental expenses, .17 6s. 



Wages, . .25 8s. 



100 33s. 



I have already stated that the average gross production 

 of the lands in France may also be reckoned at about 

 100 francs, notwithstanding our immense superiority in 

 both soil and climate. Eents also may be about the 

 same, but the remainder is very differently divided. 

 Owing to the superabundance of hands and limited 



* Taxes in the Highlands that is to say, in the other half of Scotland are 

 very insignificant, which doubles the portion to be allotted to the Lowlands. 



