410

ON THU AltABLE LANi)

It is a singular circumstance in the history of Scotch agri-culture, that the cultivation of rye should be almost exclusive-ly confined to the Hebrides or Western Islands , where, ac-cording to the late ingenious reporter of that district *, thenatives have probably derived this article from the Norwe-gians, under whose government they continued for a consi-derable period. Probably rye is not, however, well calcula-ted for the Hebrides , as it is an exhausting crop to the soil jand though its struw is well calculated for thatching, yet itis of little value as fodder. For litter, however, from thequantity it produces, it is extremely valuable, and on that ac-count ought to be more cultivated than it is, in other dis-tricts.

In situations, such as those now described, the most favour-able parts of the farm, which must cither be fenced for thepurpose, or merely guarded by herding, are cultivated underthe following course of crops, proportioning the quantity un-der cultivation to the manure which can be supplied to theturnip break. 1. Oats from old ley; 2. Turnips, and thenecessary proportion of potatoes, with the whole muckproduced by the farm; S. Oats, barley or big, sown upwith grass and clover seeds; 4. Hay, and then restored topasture; which is to be continued, according to circum-stances, for three or more years, so as always to have aslarge a breadth every year under turnips as can be effectuallylaboured and manured. For the more convenient conductof this rotation, it were desirable that all the ground, in everyHighland farm, which can be profitably managed in this man-ner, were permanently inclosed by means of stone-walls, toprevent trespass on the cultivated crops by the live-stock ofthe farm, and to enable the farmer to appropriate the impro-ved herbage, to such parts of his live-stock as he thinks pro-per. In the first course of breaking up and improving theseportions of elevated pasture farms, the surface ought to be ef-

Macdonald’s Report of the Hebrides, p. 220.