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LAND OCCUPIED BY FAIlMEItS
ers), those rented by the native farmers are from 12 to 50English acres.
In the Hebrides , or 8th district, and in the Northern Isles,or 9th district, the fishery, the kelp manufacture, and thesystem of tacksmen, (an intermediate body of men betweenthe landholders and native farmers), all occasion the occupa-tion of land to be limited to farms of very small extent. Moreare below than above 10 acres of arable land.
On a general view of Scotland , the largest farms are oc-cupied by those who rear live-stock, particularly by sheepfarmers in the south and west; but in the south-east coun-ties, farms are from 600 to 2000 acres of arable land ; in theother lowland districts, farms from 100 to 400 arable acres arepretty general, from the Firth of Forth to the north-east ofthe Moray Firth. On the west coast of Scotland , the extentof arable farms declines gradually from Ayrshire to Suther-land ; and on the east coast, the northern and Highlandcounties have generally small farms of arable land. In re-gard to the size of farms in the islands, the greatest differenceexists in Islay, Bute, Coll, Lismore, Gigha , part of Skye,Colonsay , Mull, Jura, Lewis, and Harris. But, in general,the farms, both in the western and northern isles, are smallerthan on the main land of Scotland , excepting when they arerented by tacksmen.
On the whole, it appears, that in an extensive tract ofcountry, there must be, owing to a variety of circumstances,a considerable diversity in the size of farms ; but at thesame time there is, in some degree, a regular progress in re-gard to their general extent.
At first when the art of agriculture is in its infancy, farmsmust be small, because there is neither capital to cultivate, norskill to manage large occupations. Besides, a feudal chief-tain is desirous to increase the number of his followers; and forwant of other sources of employment, a father has no othermeans of providing for his sons, when they remain at home,than by giving them a share of his farm. In the course of a