402 
Sutherland Reclamation. 
about eighteen months to " jell gimmer-land," and not put to 
the ram till they were two-and-a-half years old, while the 
wethers were not sent to the feeder until they were rising 
four, and were not killed until they were four or five years 
old. One of the immediate results of converting the land into 
sheep-walks was, that every plot of land that had been tilled 
by the crofters became covered with nutritious and luxuriant 
herbage. These " green lands," or " town lands," usually in 
sheltered glens and by the side of streams, served for the 
wintering of the sheep that ranged in summer over the neigh- 
bouring hills and moss-land. The herbage on the hill sides 
was greatly improved by sheep-draining and by the periodical 
burning of the heath. Mr. Loch, the Duke's commissioner, 
writing in 1820, states that, although many of the grazings 
were only partially stocked, the number of sheep in the 
county at that time was believed to be about 140,000, the 
annual export of wool 415,000 lbs., and the number of store 
sheep driven south every year 30,000. In this way a vast dis- 
trict that had been barely self-supporting now contributed 
considerable supplies to the manufacturing population of the 
country. While the income of the proprietor was increased, 
and the sheep-farmers found their occupation highly profitable, 
the position of the original inhabitants was improved ; they no 
longer suffered from famines, but were able to add to their 
comforts by the sale of the fish not needed for their own support. 
In 1830 Mr. Patrick Sellar, the leading sheep-farmer of his dav, 
reported the annual exports as being, at the time he wrote, 
180,000 fleeces and 40,000 store sheep. Mr. G. Sutherland 
Taylor, in his general observations on the county of Sutherland, 
written in March, 1841, says that the permanent stock of Cheviot 
sheep maintained in the county was not under 170,000. As 
this was written in March, it is probably an estimate of the 
number of sheep shorn each year, and does not include lambs. 
The Agricultural Returns of Great Britain show that the 
number of sheep in Sutherland on the 4th of June for the last 
three years has been — 
1876. 
1877. 
1878. 
Sheep 1 year old and above 
172,922 
170,907 
172,527 
„ under 1 year old .. 
55,581 
48,600 
62,059 
Total .. .. 
228,503 
219,507 
234,586 
Although there are apparently rather fewer sheep in tlie county 
