sect i. 'THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 8j 



state of improvement, naturally points out the 

 propriety of a diversity in the size of farms. 

 There is, no doubt, a point on both sides be- 

 yond which we ought not to go. No arable 

 farm, perhaps, ought to exceed 400, or at the 

 utmost 500 acres : and none should fall below 

 60 or 70 acres. Between these two points, 

 farms may be of all different sizes, without pre- 

 judice to the public, or to the individual, vary- 

 ing, however, in this respect, according to ex- 

 isting circumstances. If the ground be all a- 

 rable, of a rich quality, and in a high state of 

 cultivation, 60 or 70 acres may, in some cases, 

 be sufficient, and may enable the occupant to 

 rear his family, and to live in a decent, respect- 

 able style. But if the land be in a state of na- 

 ture, or hath, as yet, received no substantial 

 improvements, this size would be, by far, too 

 small. No man of stock, enterprize, and abi- 

 lity, would sit down upon such a farm. He 

 could have no room for exertion, no opportu- 

 nity of a profitable application of his talents, 

 and no prospect of receiving ultimately any re- 

 turns corresponding to the capital and skill 

 which he is able to employ. Farms, therefore, 

 consisting of land of this kind, ought to be 

 much more extensive. Three or four hundred 

 acres might be sufficiently small. In like man- 

 ner, ground that is not only arable, but, at the 

 same time, best adapted to the cultivation of- 

 grain, may be let in much smaller proportions 

 than would be proper in cases where the land 

 is either not arable, or more applicable to the 

 purposes of grazing and rearing cattle, 

 I, 2 



