430 
Sutherland Reclamation. 
plough. It may be noticed that in its present form the two 
sets of discs do not balance each other, but have a tendency to 
twist the implement round obliquely to the line of draft ; this 
tendency to twist is overcome by the steerage of the broad tra- 
velling-wheels, but the friction of the discs upon their spindles 
thus produced is very great. In consequence of the use of the 
" discer " I did not find upon the Achadaphris farm any of those 
troublesome pieces of light, dry fibrous peat that were seen on 
some of the fields of the No. I. and A^o. II. farms. 
On Achadaphris farm, fields No. 2, 3, 4, and 7 are deep peat, 
drained with pipes at a depth of 4 feet 6 inches ; the drains in 
fields Nos. 1, la, 5, and 6 are about half of them pipes and half 
stones. The pipe-drains cost less per chain, but they require to 
be put close together in the peat. 
Field No. 1 (35 a. 1 r. 24 p.) was in oats in 1876 ; in 1877 
swedes — a good crop ; 1878 Swiss oats — a good crop. These 
oats were the first ripe on the farm, and cutting commenced on 
the 24th of August 1878. The southern side of the field is deep 
peat ; here the oats stood well, and were cut by machine. At 
the northern side the soil is hard : here the oats went down, and 
had to be cut by the scythe. Grass-seeds were sown with the 
oats. As soon as the crop was cleared hoggets were turned on 
to the young seeds, till the heavy snow fell and protected them. 
No stock was turned on to them in spring. The grass was cut 
by machine, and yielded about 25 cwt. of hay, saved in good 
condition. This (1879) is the second year that they have had 
a good season for hay-making. The clover was good, except 
on 3 acres of old crofters' ground, where the natural grasses 
smothered it. 
No. la (34a. 1 r. 33 p.), in 1876, oats; 1877, turnips — a 
good crop ; 1878, Swiss oats — a good crop. In 1879 hay, 
similar in treatment and crop to the last field. 
No. 2 (76 a. 2 r. 25 p.), in 1876, oats ; 1877, stubble, "disced"' 
by steam and sown with Longfellow oats. A description of the 
harvesting of this field may serve as a sample of what occurred 
over the four faims in the disastrous harvest of 1877. The 
number of acres under oats on the four farms being very 
great, the workmen, whose wages had been already considerably 
raised on the reclamation works, seized the opportunity to 
demand for harvesting a price per acre that was considered 
unreasonable : a delay occurred in supplying their places, but 
at length a full staff of hands was procured. The crop in this 
field was very heavy, and so much lodged that the whole of it 
had to be cut by hand. In the middle of the cutting a heavy 
fall of snow stopped the work : as soon as this was gone, as 
many hands as possible were crowded into the field, and at one 
