Sutherland Reclamation. 
477 
Achintoul, No. II. farm. Two-thirds of the field were done 
before winter, and in the following April the field was finished. 
The engines then worked up the roadside, taking the fields 
in the following order : — 
Nos. 12, 10, 7, the greater part of No. 4, and three-fourths of 
No. 1, the south end of No. 11, and the triangular field 
No. 9, were done the same year. The improved form of mould- 
board was put on to the subsoil-tine in the middle of No. 7, and 
has been employed in all the subsequent work. 
The only steam work done on this farm in 1879 has been the 
"discing" of the fields, Nos. 12 and 10 ; the other six fields are 
left as they were last autumn, so far as human agency is con- 
cerned, but Nature has been silently doing a great work upon 
them, and the severe frosts of last winter have greatly loosened 
and shaken the turf ; the benefit derived is not, however, always 
greatest where the land has been turned up longest, for the best 
effect of all is found in the No. 9 field, ploughed late in the 
autumn of 1878. Here the sun had no opportunity to dry the 
furrows, but the frost caught them when full of moisture, and has 
so thoroughly shaken them that, although they still retain their 
furrow-shape, a slight kick is sufficient to knock them to pieces, 
and no amount of subsequent drying in the sun could now convert 
them into peats fit for burning. The action of the large turn- 
furrow of the subsoiler is most valuable in spring and summer 
■work ; and although the sand or gravel that it brings up from 
below may need to be exposed for some time to the atmosphere 
before it will be fit for the growth of a crop, yet it prevents the 
turf from getting too much dried up, and so helps its disintegra- 
tion. The No. 1 field contains only a few stones, but, while 
watching the plough at work in it, I saw a very large one fairly 
torn up and brought to the surface. It measured 4x4x2 
feet, and must have weighed about 2 tons. This is of course an 
exceptional size, but it is astonishing to see what huge stones 
the plough will commonly lift. When such a monster as this 
is caught by the tine, the common effect is that the plough is 
pulled up dead, and the engine is stopped. Great care has been 
taken to ensure that the strength of each part of the tackle is 
greater than the power employed. At such work as this, one 
naturally expects to find that the engines are quickly worn 
out or knocked to pieces; yet the first pair of fourteen-horse 
engines supplied to the Duke in 1871 are still at work, and in 
very good order. 
No. 7 is the most stony field yet worked at Bannockburn ; 
the stones are very numerous, but few of them are too large to 
be lifted into a cart. The method adopted for clearing this 
field was very good. At intervals of a chain apart the stones 
VOL. XV. — S. S. 2 I 
