Page:What are the causes of the distressed state of the Highlands of Scotland?.pdf/4

4, There is a prevalence of weeds, and the crops have a slovenly and irregular appearance. On inquiring as to the mode of cultivation adopted, it turns out that rotation of crops is irregularly pursued, that economizing of manure is generally neglected, and that thorough drainage, until the recent crisis, was almost unknown.

In looking for the causes of this state of agriculture, one remarkable distinction between the Highlands and the rest of Scotland must be borne in mind. I refer to the difference in the average amount of rent paid for each holding in the two districts. In the improved districts the holdings are all large, consisting of several hundred acres, and the acreable rent being high, the amount of rent paid for each holding is considerable. In the Highlands there are three classes of tenants; the grazing farmers, the large tillage farmers, and the crofters. The holdings of the grazing farmers extend to thousands of acres, and their rent, amounting often to £1,000 or £2,000, is not determined by the number of acres they hold, which is often unknown, but by the number of cattle and sheep on each farm. These grazing farms are generally in mountainous districts, naturally adapted for grazing and planting, and not for agriculture. The large tillage farms situated in the fertile districts near the mountains, or in the vicinity of the mansions of the great proprietors, are held either in conjunction with grazing farms, or by the factors and under-officials of the proprietors.—These farms are held on the same terms, and exhibit nearly the same results as the improved farming in the other districts of Scotland.

But both the grazing and the large farmers, with the labourers and servants supported by them, form a very small proportion of the population of the Highlands.

The greater bulk of the Highland population belongs to the class called crofters, the characteristic of which class may be taken to be that they pay a small amount of rent; for although their holdings frequently extend over a considerable surface, they are of little value, partly on account of the want of natural fertility in the soil, and still more from the great distance of the farms from markets; so that the cost of carriage—always great in a mountainous country—causes a serious diminution in the value of any produce that has to be sold at a distance. This distinction, as to the great value of the holdings in the improved districts, and the small value of the crofter holdings, is of great importance in the investigation I purpose to make, as it is with respect to the distress of the crofters, and the state of agriculture amongst that class, that the whole question arises. How does it happen that the state of agriculture amongst these crofters is so bad?