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LAND OCCUPIED BY !■ AIIJIEIIS

T78

to the narrowness of the straths or glens, farms of still smallerdimensions are frequently found, not planned by a land-mea-surer, but divided by rivers, lakes, and other natural bounda-ries. These are best adapted for rearing cattle. The lowlandsof Scotland , from Berwickshire to the great valley of Strath-more, are divided by hills and rivers, into portions of arableland of considerable dimensions. The breadth of the valleys,and the course of the rivers which flow through the straths orglens in the counties of Kincardine, Aberdeen and Banff ’, and,in general, along the east coast—have assigned various limita-tions to the size of farms; and the intermixture of arable anduncultivated land, has adapted these districts both to the rear-ing of cattle and the raising of corn. Even Berwickshire,Roxburghshire, and the Lothians, where the largest arablefarms in Scotland are to be met with, do not contain so manylarge farms of this description, as are found in Norfolk , andin other English counties; and the north-east Lowlands ofScotland , are so much divided by hills and rivers, that theyrarely contain such an extent of land in one farm, as is fre-quently seen in the south-east division of North Britain.

2. Size of estates .—The landed property of Scotland is di-vided into very unequal portions. The number of proprietorsamount to about 7800, whose possessions are of various sizes,from a few roods to above half a million of acres. Whereestates are small, it is impossible that any number of farmscan be large. No person would possess 300 acres of arableland, if he could obtain no more than five or ten acres fromany one individual; nor would thirty proprietors agree to lettheir small portions to one farmer. When property thereforeis much subdivided, there must be a corresponding subdivi-sion of occupancy.

3. Capital , skill and industry of the farmer .—Without asufficient capital, a large farm cannot be successfully culti-vated. Without skill in husbandry, even capital will not en-able a farmer to prosper; and without industry, no large con-cern, more especially in a business so complicated as that ofagriculture, can be managed to advantage.