FELL GRAZINGS 241 



Sheep and cattle did not exhaust our host's interest 

 in breeding ; there were one or two foals running about, 

 and he was something of a fancier of both poultry and 

 ducks, of which some well-bred examples wandered 

 about the homestead. 



The grass land varied in price with the elevation ; 

 the meadows by the stream which would fatten cattle 

 commanded as much as 503. an acre an astonishing 

 price when one considers their remoteness and from 

 that high figure the rent varied down to 5s. an acre for 

 the land immediately below the fell. Bones were the 

 chief manure used, and their action was plainly visible ; 

 more recently basic slag had begun to be appreciated. 

 One of the greatest troubles was the extension of the 

 bracken, which threatened to spoil much of the higher 

 land, and no effective method of keeping it in check 

 had been devised. The fells, which, roughly speaking, 

 include all land above the looo-ft. line, are partly 

 heather-clad and partly " white land," which carries no 

 heather and has been to some extent reclaimed, in 

 most cases by liming. An enclosed fell was worth from 

 is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per acre for grazing, and should carry 

 one sheep to the acre ; the shooting rights were worth 

 another half-crown per acre. But many of the fells are 

 held in common, each farm being allowed to run so 

 many " stints " of fifteen sheep each on the fell, and 

 over these rights considerable quarrels arise. The 

 sheep require to be acclimatized and go with the farm ; 

 but they are taken over at market rates, and there are 

 none of the fictitious premiums that have become such 

 an awkward question in the Highlands. 



The whole work of this 4OO-acre farm was done 

 by three men and the occupier, but the men were 

 well paid. Those who lived in got 30 a year and 

 all found; the married men got 2 is. a week and a 



