374 NORTHERN CORN-GROWING 



sale to the maltster he needs to grow his general stock 

 more finely. 



Harvest was just getting into full swing at the 

 beginning of September ; the start had been delayed 

 by the rains, but at that time no harm had been done. 

 The corn crops were heavy, and very generally were 

 badly laid and twisted, worse than we had seen them 

 in any part of Britain ; but the mischief was more the 

 result of a heavy storm when the crops were just 

 earing than of the rains towards the end of August. 

 In many cases the binder could not travel even by 

 cutting only in one direction, and there was a shortage 

 of the extra labour necessary to deal with the crop ; 

 scythe-men, we were told, could command as much 

 as 353. a week. On many farms, especially on the 

 crofts, a little patch of lint i.e. flax was to be seen, 

 grown for the linseed, which is much esteemed for 

 feeding. The root crops were excellent, though the 

 potatoes had begun to show disease and the turnips 

 had rather shut down their growth during the cold 

 weather of August. Moray is, of course, a famous 

 turnip district, the yellow-fleshed hybrids being perhaps 

 more general than swedes. In this district turnips are 

 left in the field until they are wanted, and not pitted. 

 Mangolds are little grown, though they are quite 

 successful ; turnips are preferred for cattle feeding, and 

 even the milk producers find they can feed turnips up 

 to 80 Ib. daily per cow without imparting any taste 

 to the milk. 



Nothing strikes the south country farmer more than 

 the fine buildings that prevail even on small farms 

 in the north ; in Morayshire the steadings were sur- 

 prisingly ample and well built, many of them modern, 

 showing that the large estates thereabouts had not been 

 afraid to expend capital in order to keep up the rent 



