456 
Sutherland Reclamation. 
people are better clothed and fed, consume white bread and 
tea, and the men smoke instead of chew tobacco. 
Sheep at that time could be wintered in Rosshire at Iff/., 
they now cost 4(/. per week, and the owner of the sheep now 
pays for the keep of his shepherd. 
Several farms in the north-western division of the county 
have recentlv had a 'portion of land broken up for cultivation, 
under the superintendence of ^Ir. John Crawford, the factor for 
this portion of the estate, but it is only at Ribigill that steam- 
power has been employed ; in every other case the work has 
been done by hand-trenching to a depth of from 12 to 16 inches. 
At Skelpick, a farm of 22,000 acres, carrying 1700 sheep, 100 
acres have been broken up by hand at a cost of 40Z. per acre for 
trenching, clearing, draining and fencing. At INIelness, a farm 
of 60,000 acres, rented together with Skelpick, by Mr. Donald 
jVIcKay, and carrying from 5000 to 6000 sheep, the arable land 
has recently been increased from 25 acres to 70 acres. At 
Erribol, a farm of 45,000 acres, and 5000 to 6000 sheep, in the 
occupation of Mr. G. G. Clarke, there were 40 acres of arable 
land, but 70 acres have recently been added. At Rhifail, 35,000 
acres, and 3500 sheep, there was no arable land under cultivation, 
but 200 acres are now being reclaimed. All these reclamation 
works have been commenced within the last five years. The last- 
mentioned of them I had the pleasure of inspecting in Sep- 
tember 1878, in company with Mr. Crawford, who has had more 
than thirty years' experience of the reclamation of moor-land, 
and who most kindly afforded me every facility for a thorough 
examination of the work. From his residence, the House of 
Tongue, formerly the seat of the Lords of Reay, whose estates 
were purchased by the Sutherland family, we drove westward to 
Skelpick, obtaining a passing view of those reclamations, and 
then southwards down Strath Naver, once the most populous 
district in Sutherland, until the crofters were removed to the 
coast, and their holdings thrown into sheep-farms. On reach- 
ing Rhifail we were most hospitably received by Mr. Thomas 
Purvis, the tenant, Avho went with us from field to field of the 
reclaimed land. The six fields alreadv done run in a straight 
line from south to north, along the face of a gentle slope having 
a western aspect. Fields Nos. 1 and 2 contain 14 acres each ; 
then comes a considerable area of planted land surrounding the 
farm buildings, house, and garden ; north of this is field No. 3, 
followed by IS'os. 4, 5, and G, each of them containing 21 acres ; 
fields 7, 8, and 9 will be reclaimed further down the slope to 
the west of Nos. 4, 5, and 6. From 70 to 80 men have been 
employed, chiefly during the autumn, winter, and spring; they 
come mostly from the fishing villages along the northern coast, 
