644 
Report on the Fann-Prize Competition 
500 ft. contour line to that of 600 is 12 chains, a rise of 
1 in 79, and it is just on the verge of this line that the farm- 
house and a portion of the steading are placed, the remainder 
of the farm buildings being at a little distance on the other 
side of the road. At the back of the house rises Chubden 
Hill, the highest point, 916 '6 ft., being about 25 chains to the 
N.E. of it. 
The 600 contour line is practically the limit of cultivation, 
though the plough has been driven up to 700 ft. or above, but 
only about 120 acres lies above 500 feet. The farm is thus 
on the southern slope of a fairly lofty hill which defends and 
shelters it on the N.N.E. and N.W. Southwards the house 
looks over the greater part of the arable and pasture lands, the 
latter running down to the river. 
The house is a good, roomy and substantial one. The 
buildings are not at all equal to the farm. Those on the 
farther side of the road are in a very dilapidated condition, 
and we understood that they were to be pulled down and a new 
range built. The position of this steading is fixed by the water 
supply. A little burn which comes down from the hill is 
dammed up and forms a pond, from which the water is led 
to a wheel which drives a threshing and winnowing machine, 
a chaff-cutter and a mill. 
The barn stands on sloping ground, and the stackyard is on 
a level with the table of the threshing drum. At the back 
of the house are some more modern byres, stables, (Sec. There 
are 9 cottages on the farm, one of which is let off; the others 
accommodate a steward, shepherd, groom, blacksmith and 
four hinds. Those we entered contained one room on the 
ground floor, a pantry, one bed-room above, and a small 
landing open to the stairs, on which, however, a bedstead Avas 
placed. The cottagers have pig-styes and a comfortable byre 
for their cows, five of them having a cow of their own. The 
cottage gardens were in excellent order, one of the cottagers 
being a frequent prize-winner at local shows of vegetables. 
The soil of the arable and pasture lands varies, some being 
light and stony, some sandy loam and some strong clay. The 
higher land is on wjiinstone, which is generally considered to 
have a fertile soil. A good deal of the stronger land on the 
lower side of the farm has been kept down in pasture for many 
years past, perhaps not laid down deliberately, and the tenant 
retains the power of breaking it up again ; but, though classed 
as arable land, it is in fact pasture. This fact may explain 
the difficulty which there seems to be in making the quantities 
of the entry certificate and those of the maps agree. 
