444 
Sutherland Reclamation. 
of England ; men with a large capital invested in their stock, 
who have been accustomed to leave much of the management in 
the hands of responsible shepherds, while they themselves, like 
other Scottish lairds, find ample time for field-sports and for the 
refinements of society. Although they may not hold the tiller of 
the soil in the same contempt as the Australian squatter does 
the cockatoo,, who scratches the comparatively small plot of land 
he holds, yet it is natural that such a class should be unwilling to 
exchange a life of leisure for one that requires a constant atten- 
tion to the details of farming. At the annual wool-fair at 
Inverness, the proprietor of one of the hotels was asked if any 
of the Sutherland people had arrived. " No," was the reply, 
" some of the farmers of Ross are here, but none of the gentle- 
men of Sutherland." It must be remembered, too, that for almost 
half a century the profits of sheep-farming were great. While 
the green lands retained their fertility, the sheep needed much 
less help than they do now. The landlord in those days did 
not suspect the gradual deterioration of his property, but was 
content with a low rent. The tenants grew rich as the land 
grew poor. Wool and store sheep were constantly sent out of 
the county, but nothing was brought into it to replace what they 
had removed from the land. So long as the owner of the soil 
made no complaint the tenants had every reason to be satisfied 
with an arrangement that, though it could not last for ever, yet 
yielded them a good return for their investment with a minimum 
of personal trouble. Within the last few years, however, there 
has been a considerable falling off in the profits of sheep-farming, 
and many of the tenants have become aware that some change 
must be made in their system of management. The last winter 
especially, 1878-1879, was most disastrous in its severity and 
long continuance. Over the greater part of the county the 
heather was buried under deep snow for weeks together, and it 
was with great difficulty and at very great expense that hay 
was carried out to keep the sheep from starving. At a meet- 
ing of the tenants at Golspie in August 1879, the chief topic 
of conversation was the wintering of sheep. The difficulties 
experienced differed greatly even on farms adjacent to one 
another. On the northern side of the hills there was often 
plenty of heath exposed, while on the southern side everything 
was buried beneatli the snow. There was much diversity of 
opinion, but it was clear that the most prevalent practice was to 
let the ewes fight it out with the storm as long as they possibly 
could ; when they were very near the point of starvation they 
were either driven to the nearest railway station to be fed there, 
or else food was with great difficulty taken to them. As soon as 
the snow melted and there was the first appearance of verdure, the 
