404-
Much has already been done in this way by the liberal and en- ,lightened landlords of the Highlands and Hebrides. Isla, Gigha ,Collonsay, and Coll, and many parts of Mull, Ulva, and Skye,bear testimony to this. And the successors and tenants of MrCampbell of Shawfield, Mr M'Neilof Collonsay, and Mr M‘Nei'1of Gigha , and of many other proprietors, will long feel the be-nefit of their exertions, after they are laid in the dust. In manyof the remotest districts of the Highlands, similar examples havebeen exhibited with similar success ; yet much remains to be donebefore these districts can be improved.
II. But much may also be done by the tenants themselves,and many obstacles to improvement may be removed by theirexertions, especially when combined with those of their land-lords.
1. The lateness of their harvests is one of the greatest evilscomplained of in the Highlands and Hebrides . Indeed this evilis more felt there than in any other district in Scotland ; for, a-bout the time of the autumnal equinox, more violent winds pre-vail, and more rains fall, than in the Lowlands.
Yet this evil may be partly removed by the tenant ; as it isowing in a great measure to his late sowing. A preposterousrule is generally followed by most tenants in these districts, neverto begin to plough till Old Candlemas, nor to sow till after the 20thMarch. In some places no grain is sown till after the beginningof April. Even oats and rye are delayed till the end of thatmonth, and sometimes to the middle of May. And bear is sel-dom sown till the end of that month; yet, when the season isfavourable it is sometimes reaped in August. This is a proof thatthe late harvest is not owing to the soil. It is partly to be a-scribed to the climate, and partly to the tenants delaying to ploughand sow sooner, or not procuring the earliest kinds of seed.
That it is in their power, and that it would be their interest,to perform both these operations four, five, or even six weekssooner, Dr Walker asserts. lie says that their arable lands arein many places low and nearly on a level with the sea: that theirsoil is every'where of a sharp and forward nature: that, thoughdrenched with rain, a few dry days in February and March pre-pare it for the harrow.
He points out the obvious advantages that must be the conse-quence of sowing a month earlier than is commonly done,' thatthe harvest would be early in proportion, and the grain moreplump ; and to prove this, he states that, in the year 1787, afieldof common barley, after being sadly demolished by the weather,was only reaped on the 16th November: but that it was notsown till the 26th of May. And he adds, that in the immediateneighbourhood, another and a better farmer had a hearty crop of^Lincolnshire barley (a much later grain) in his barn-yard on the