428 
Sutherland Reclamation. 
to pieces by ordinary harrows. One machine was constructed 
like a cuUivator with half of its tines turned backwards instead of 
forwards and made sharp to cut the land like a knife, while the 
other tines were in the usual position, and tore the ground up- 
wards. This implement, however, left the turf far too much 
exposed to the atmosphere. Among other failures, a piano- 
cultivator was tried, in which the tines were hinged from a centre 
and carried behind on an axle on which they fell. These tines 
played up and down with the inequalities of the surface of the 
land, and were preceded by a disc placed on rollers. 
Almost all the machines tried were apt to get choked by the 
fibres of the peat or turf after it had been loosened. 
In the autumn of 1876 the " Discer " was invented and patented 
by Mr. George Greig, whose name has been mentioned as a 
patentee of other inventions, and who is now superintending the 
great scheme of reclamation which the Duke commenced farther 
to the north as soon as the reclamation of these Lairg farms was 
completed. 
In reclaiming land, the great desideratum is to keep the 
original surface turned down in the bottom of the furrow until 
it is sufficiently rotten to fall to pieces when turned up again ; 
but at the same time it is necessary to comminute enough of 
the inverted surface of the furrow to give soil sufficient for a seed- 
bed. These two results are admirably achieved by the use of the 
" discer." Fig. 7 is an elevation, and Fig. 8 is a plan of this 
implement. A A is a rectangular frame carried upon four wheels, 
with a seat, B, for the steersman ; the two long beams, C C, are 
riveted at right angles across the frame, and the extremities of 
these beams are connected by strong chains. The sharp iron 
discs, D D, revolve free upon the two axles, E E, each eight feet 
long, which are riveted at any desired angle to the chains. The 
discs cut the peat or turf to a depth of from two to five inches ; 
being set at an angle to the line of draft, each disc acts as a 
small mould-board and throws the surface-mould into a little 
furrow. The discs can be mounted upon axles of various lengths 
to suit the angle required for the work to be done.' The 
flexibility of the chains that carry these axles allows the imple- 
ment to accommodate itself to the irregularities of the surface. 
The " discer " is driven at a much quicker pace than the plough, 
and the faster it travels the more effectually it does its work. 
With the largest size implement, the improvement in the work, 
when 16-horse engines were used instead of 14-horse engines, was 
most extraordinary. A " discer " covering a rather smaller breadth 
of ground would be equally effective, and the draft of the imple- 
ment being less than that of the plough, it might be drawn by 
the steel ropes that had become too much worn for use with the 
