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been brought to great perfection; and within my own recollection a revolution has been effected in agricultural machines. The water and horse-power thrashing-mills were a great improvement, and in the early part of this century a vast number of them were erected throughout the north and west of Scotland. Now there are not only stationary thrashing-mills driven by steam, but also locomotive steam. thrashing-machines which can travel from end to end of the country, and operate wherever they are required. While, instead of sowing grain and other seeds with the hand, there are now various kinds of sowing-machines; and instead of cutting with the hand-hook or scythe as of old, there are cutting machines and reaping-machines in endless variety. Instead of the wooden plough, with its point of iron, which only scratched the soil, although it was drawn by twelve oxen, there are many kinds of iron ploughs drawn by horses, and also steam ploughs. Such contrasts show the advance which has been attained.

The enclosing of waste lands for pasture was begun in the district of Galloway about 1720, by the cattle dealers, who bought and pastured live stock which they drove to the English markets. In course of time their example was followed by some of the landholders in different parts of the country. The Earl of Haddington, Cockburn of Ormiston in East Lothian, the Earls of Stair and Eglinton in Ayrshire, and others became improvers of husbandry upon their estates. In 1733, they formed the plan of a Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, and in a short time three hundred of the principal landowners in Scotland joined it. This society continued in vigour for twenty years, and contributed to diffuse a spirit. of improvement over a considerable part of the country. It is re

"Infinite good was done by this society to their country, particularly by receiving memorials, and answering queries, concerning husbandry and manufactures; by their proposals relative to the public funds, drawn up by a committee of their number; by their application to the royal burghs for their concurrence; by their joint application to parliament; by the acts in consequence of that application, and by the king's patent following thereon, naming trustees for the fisheries and manufactures, almost all chosen out of this society. Before this society commenced, we seemed to have been several centuries behind our neighbours in England; now, I hope we are within less than one of what they are, either with regard to husbandry or manufactures." Maxwell's Practical Husbandry, Edinburgh, 1757. The appointment of the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of the Fisheries, Arts and Manufactures, spoken of in the quotation, arose from the Treaty of Union. In the 15th article it was stipulated that a sum of money, termed the equivalent, should be paid by England, and applied to public purposes in Scotland; thus the duties of the Board were to administer this fund.

ported that Cockburn was among the first landlords in Scotland who granted nineteen years' leases to their tenants.

At this time, however, a large part of the land in the best parts of the country was occupied by a number of small holders who shared the ground among them by alternate ridges; this custom of runridge possession was inconsistent with good farming, and retarded improvement. As clearer and wiser ideas of agriculture were gradually formed, this system decayed and died out, excepting in some remote parts of the Highlands, where it was practised till recently.

After the battle of Culloden, the forfeited estates were placed under the management of a Board of Commissioners, of whom Lord Kames was one; and his duty as a member of this Board gave him an opportunity of considering plans for the improvement of those large domains, of which they had the charge for the public benefit. The first step was to obtain a correct report of the actual position of those estates, the soils of the different farms, the modes of culture in use, the crops usually raised, the manures used, the prices of labour and provisions, and, in general, every kind of information which might tend to suggest the best modes of improving the lands. Mr. Andrew Wight of Ormiston, an active and intelligent man, was proposed by Lord Kames, and appointed by the Board to proceed under a set of instructions and make a survey. His reports were issued in 1773 and 1774, and they were deemed so satisfactory that the Commissioners adopted from them a number of wise regulations for the management of those estates, and carried out the most effective improvements of the lands. With the view of extending those advantages to the whole country, they engaged Wight to continue his surveys and to draw up similar reports of the actual state of agriculture in every quarter of Scotland. The result was, the collection of a vast body of useful information, which was printed in six volumes, from 1778 to 1784, and contributed much to raise the spirit of improvement, which from this date has been continually progressive -insomuch that before the end of the century the state of agriculture in the Lowlands was completely changed, and the face of the country had assumed a new aspect.

4

But in the Highlands and Islands the changes which were effected with regard to the relation of the people to the land, in the latter part of the last century and the early part of this one, were of a

4 This Board was of course superseded when the forfeited estates were restored in 1784.

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questionable and less beneficial character; but I have elsewhere discussed this part of the subject, and deem it unnecessary to enlarge on it here.5

The Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture in Scotland, formed in 1733, referred to in a preceding page, was the first Society of the kind in Britain. The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland was instituted in 1784, and established by Royal Charter in 1887. It has thus had a continuous life of one hundred and twelve years; and has directed attention to the important matters of breeding cattle and horses, and stimulated the improvement of agriculture in many ways. In the present century, agricultural societies and associations have been formed in every county and district in Scotland, and have attained a high stage of development. Their chief object is the improvement of live stock of every description, and also the improvement of all kinds of cereals which may be advantageously cultivated on farms, and all kinds of vegetables useful and profitable for animal and human food. That these societies have done incalculable good, and contributed greatly to the progress of civilisation in Scotland, cannot be questioned; because they have been instrumental in improving the quality and increasing the quantity of the prime necessaries of existence.

In the present century one of the most remarkable changes in agriculture has been the extension of the cultivation of turnips. Prior to this century they were but little cultivated in Scotland: but when the modern method of feeding cattle for sale in the great centres of population began to be developed, it became necessary to put a larger portion of the cultivated land of the country annually under this crop. In the north-eastern counties of Scotland the most common modes of rotation of crops on farms are these:-(1) The farm is divided into five shifts or divisions, one of which is under turnips, excepting a small proportion of it usually under potatoes; (2) two out of the five divisions are under grain crops; and (3) the remaining two are under grass. Under this mode of farming there is always nearly one-fifth of the entire extent of the farm under turnips. Again: (1) The farm is divided into seven shifts, one of which is under turnips, excepting the small fraction under potatoes; (2) three

5 Celtic Magazine for January, 1887.

6 The history of this society has been admirably written by Dr. Ramsay, the editor of the Banffshire Journal, in a work which was published in 1879.

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out of the seven equal divisions of the farm are under grain crops; and (3) the remaining three are under grass. Under this mode of rotation a seventh part of the farm is always under turnips.

I have seen farms worked under six shifts, but this mode is not common in Scotland. The common grain crops are oats, barley and wheat.

Breeding, rearing, and feeding cattle have attained a high degree of development within the present century in Scotland. As a consequence of this the rent of cultivated land has also risen greatly; and I may repeat what I stated elsewhere not ten years ago — "The sharpest period of competition in farm-letting was during the second and third quarters of the present century. From about 1830 to 1876 the rent of agricultural land in Scotland rose at least from 30 to 40 per cent., and there were several causes which enabled farmers for a time to pay this rise of rents :-(1) There was a marked change and improvement in the modes of culture; (2) there was a notable change in the system of feeding cattle, and an immense increase in the number of cattle thus fed ; (3) greater attention and care were paid to the important matter of breeding; (4) there was an almost continuous rise in the price of fat cattle during this period. Thus it was, and especially owing to the latter cause, that farmers were able to pay such high rents.

"This period was also one of great commercial activity and prosperity, unapproached before in the annals of Scotland. But this brought outsiders into the number of those competing for farms; as many men who had made fortunes in trade and commerce desired to have farms, and offered high rents-often more than they were worth. This for a time tended to raise rents still higher. But eighteen years ago it became manifest that the rents of land in Scotland were too high, for the price of fat cattle had fallen about 15s. per cwt., which represents a sum of from £6 to £7 per head on ordinary fat cattle. This fall in the price of fat cattle is mainly owing to two causes :-(1) To the long-continued depression of trade throughout the civilised world; (2) to the importation of preserved meat and live stock, chiefly from America. Thus it has happened that at the present time many of the farmers in Scotland cannot continue to pay the rents which they may have contracted to do before the fall in the price of fat cattle."

Thus far I have indicated the improvement and progress of agriculture in Scotland, and pointed out its prime and fundamental importance in relation to the advancement of civilisation. I have also

indicated the real state of the question of land rents as it at present stands in Scotland.

In conclusion, it may be remarked that in the early part of the eighteenth century the common wage of day labourers was fivepence a day in winter and sixpence in summer. And within my own recollection, the most capable farm-servant acting as foreman only received six pounds of wages for the half year, and second and third class men five and four pounds, youths from two to three pounds, and boys from one pound to two pounds according to their strength and appearance. In regard to the quality of food there was not much difference between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, so far as farm-servants were concerned.

In the present century horticulture began to receive more attention, and within the last sixty years it has attained a considerable development. Horticultural societies began to be formed in the first quarter of the century, and such societies now exist all over the country, and form a source of enjoyment to a large number of people.

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