Forfar, the county town, has been a royal burgh since the time of David I. It is situated in the fertile valley of Strath-more, not far from the centre of the county, and has a population of 11,031. Duncan Canmore had a castle here, in which he held his first parliament, but no part of it can now be seen. It is said to have been destroyed by King Robert Bruce in 1307. Linen and jute are the staple manufactures. The County Buildings, and the Reid Hall, presented to the town by Mr Peter Reid of "Forfar Rock" fame, are elegant and substantial edifices.

Of smaller towns and villages there is a large number. The more important of these are Broughty Ferry, Coupar-Angus, and Kirriemuir. Broughty Ferry, or Burgh Tay Ferry, lies on the coast, 4 miles east of Dundee, and includes West Ferry in the parish of Dundee. It is a favourite bathing resort, and has a population of 5817. About a hundred years ago Broughty Ferry consisted of only a few fishermen's huts. Its castle, built in the fifteenth century, was held by the English from 1547 to 1550, and was retaken along with the fort on the hill by the Scottish allied army. Coupar-Angus, a tidy thriving town, stands in the valley of Strathmore, partly in Forfarshire and partly in Perthshire. Its inhabitants, according to the census of 1871, number 2149, and of these 303 reside in the Forfarshire portion. It has linen factories, a tannery, farina works, and saw-mills, and important markets for the sale of farm stock and produce are held at it. The ruins of an abbey, built in 1164 by Malcolm IV., remain in the neighbourhood on the site of a Roman camp. Kirriemuir and Southmuir, with a population of 4000, stand on a slope above the Gairie burn, about 16 miles north of Dundee. They form a burgh of barony, and their linen works employ a large number of people. There is a public school in the town, built in 1835 with £8000 bequeathed for the purpose by John Webster, writer and banker.

Stonehaven is the county town of Kincardine. A burgh of barony and a seaport, with a population of over 3396, it stands on a rocky bay at the mouth of the Carron, and at the extreme northern end of the great valley known as Strathmore. Its principal industries are tanneries, and wool, flour, and meal mills, while herring and white fishing give employment to a large number of its population. Only small vessels can enter the harbour. About 1½ mile along the coast to the south-west of Stonehaven stands the famous Dunnottar Castle. The ruins of this castle occupy about four acres on the summit of a rock that rises almost perpendicularly out of the sea, and is almost separated from the mainland by a narrow and deep chasm. In earlier days, considered impregnable, it was stormed in 1297 by Wallace, who is said to have driven the English garrison over the cliffs. It was a place of considerable importance clown to the seventeenth century, when it was used for several months as a prison for 167 Covenanters, male and female. The Earls of Marischall, the founders of Marischall College, Aberdeen, resided here. In 1650 Charles II. visited Dunnottar, bringing the Scottish regalia with him for safety. It is stated that Mrs Grainger of Kinneff secretly removed the regalia to the parish church of Kinneff, and thus prevented their falling into the hands of the English, when, in 1652, the garrison of Dunnottar, under Ogilvy of Barras, surrendered to Cromwell's forces. The ruins are in a wonderfully good state of preservation.

Bervie is the only royal burgh in the county. Situated about 10 miles south-west of Stonehaven, at the mouth of the Bervie Water, it has a population of 1013. The first linen yarn mill in Scotland was erected here in 1790. Flax spinning and weaving are its staple manufactures. Hallgreen Castle, an important stronghold of the sixteenth century, stands on an eminence within the burgh. In the year 1800 some vessels were chased to the shore by a French sloop-of-war, which, however, is said to have "taken fright and sailed away on seeing the muster of the volunteers"! Gourdon, a thriving fishing village with a population of 714, is the port of Bervie.

Laurencekirk, the chief town of the Howe, with a population of 1521, lies 10 miles north of Montrose. It may be said to owe its very existence to a gentleman of the eighteenth century —Francis Garden, a Judge of the Court of Session, under the title of Lord Gardenstone, who raised it from a clay-built hamlet with 54 inhabitants to a substantially built burgh of barony. He erected a town hall, an inn, an Episcopal chapel, a library and museum ; while he also set up a spinning mill with a bleachfield on the Luther, a tributary of the North Esk, and introduced linen manufactures. Johnshaven, with a population of 1077, is an irregularly built fishing village about 9 miles north-east of Montrose. Its harbour is small, capable of admitting only boats and small coasting vessels. One of the most charmingly situated villages in the north of Scotland is Banchory, on the north bank of the river Dee, about 18 miles west of Aberdeen. In 1871 it had a population of 865; but being a favourite summer resort, it has increased considerably since then. In the parish of Nigg, and directly opposite Aberdeen, is the important fishing village of Torry. It has a population of 686, chiefly engaged in fishing. About 5 miles along the coast lies the village of cove, with a population of 450. It is a coastguard station, and has a small natural harbour. The other more important villages are St Cyrus, Auchinblae, and Fettercairn, the older part of the last being a burgh of barony. The Queen and Prince Consort spent a night in Fettercairn, in September 1861,. and an elegant Gothic arch near the hotel where they slept commemorates the royal visit.

The configuration of Forfarshire presents great variety. It combines the wildest of mountain scenery with the softest and most charming of valley landscape. The county forms four natural divisions, the Maritime, Sidlaw, Strathmore, and Grampian sections. The first extends along the coast from Invergowrie to the North Esk, and stretches from 3 to 8 miles-backwards. Between Broughty Ferry and Montrose there is a considerable extent of links, unfit for cultivation, and of little value for pasture, but admirably adapted to the royal game of golf and other sports. It contains several tracts of remarkably rich land ; is in some parts beautifully wooded and undulating; in others rather flat and tame; while, as it rises towards the Sidlaws, the soil is here and there stiff and cold, or thin and poor, with little shelter. The Sidlaws, a range of trappean hills, almost in line with the Ochils, run through the county from south-west to north-east, terminating a little south of Montrose. The range is very clearly defined, and rises to a height of 1399 feet at Auchterhouse Hill, near the middle of the chain. The other higher peaks are the Gallow Hill, in Glamis, 1242; the Gask 1141, and Kinpurnie 1134 feet. At the pass between Dundee and Newtyle, the ridge sinks to about 1000 feet. The Sidlaw division is true to the general characteristics of trap districts. The higher peaks are partially covered with heather and other coarse herbage, and the slopes green and very uneven-Cultivation has been pushed to a great altitude on both sides, the arable land being continued through the pass between Newtyle and Dundee. The third natural division, Strathmore, or the Great Valley, is, from a purely agricultural point of view the most important of the four. In reality, Strathmore consists of a belt of Old Red Sandstone that extends from the west end of the Ochils, where it is about 16 miles in width, to Stonehaven,, where the width is less than 1 mile. This beautiful plain is about 90 miles in length, and it has been truly said that nowhere else in Scotland is there so extensive a reach of perfectly level fertile soil. The Forfarshire portion of this fine strath is hemmed in by the Sidlaw and Grampian ranges, and displays scenery of great beauty. The valley is well wooded ; its farms well laid off and skillfully cultivated, and the soft lowland aspect of its landscape forms a striking contrast to the rugged sterile contour of the heights on the north-west. The Grampian division is by far the most extensive, but the greater part is so mountainous as to be of little value in an agricultural sense. This chain of hills is a continuation of the Grampian range, and includes, in Forfarshire, about 100 peaks over 1000 feet in altitude. The slopes running down to Strathmore are known as the Braes of Angus, the ancient name of the county of Forfar. These slopes are extensive, very irregular in surface, on the whole moderately fertile, in some parts especially so, and are cultivated high up the hill side. The mountain range is intersected by several large glens, the chief ones being Glenesk, Glenisla, Glen Clova, and Glen Prosen. The scenery in these hilly regions is exceedingly beautiful, particularly in Clova, where the hills are steep and picturesque, and where a large number of rare plants are to be found. The higher peaks are Glasmhaol, which reaches an altitude of 3500 feet, and on which the counties of Forfar, Perth, and Aberdeen meet; Cairnglasha, a little to the north, 3490 feet; Cairnbannoch, and Broadcairn, in Clova, each 3300; Tolmount, also in Clova, 3100; Mount Keen, north of Lochlee, 3077. There are 55 peaks between 2000 and 3000 feet, and 12 over 3000.

The Grampian range and the valley of Strathmore both run into Kincardineshire. The former, indeed, make up about one-third of the entire county. The highest peak here is Mount Battock, on which Forfar, Aberdeen, and Kincardine meet, the altitude being 2555 feet. From this point the range gradually descends, until it terminates at Doonie's Hill, on the coast of Nigg, and 214 feet above sea level. In the Glen of Dye, and along the course of the Feugh, there is a good deal of cultivated land; while the slopes running down to the Dee are not only fertile but beautifully wooded and picturesque. The southern and south-eastern division of the county comprises the Howe of the Mearns (the name given to the part of the valley of Strathmore extending into Kincardineshire), the Hill of Garvock, and the coast from the mouth of the North Esk to about Muchalls. The Garvock Hill, like the Sidlaws in Forfarshire, separates the coast from the central plain, which, though rather less fertile, and not so well wooded as the corresponding portion of the Great Valley in Forfarshire, is nevertheless a moderately rich and very well cultivated stretch of land. Around Fettercairn the scenery partakes a good deal of the soft beauty that characterises the most charming parts of the valley farther south. The land sloping towards the sea is, generally speaking, bare and uneven. The coast is extremely steep and rocky, and dangerous to shipping.

There are a good many lochs in Forfarshire, but they are small. The largest is Lochlee, fed by the streams of Lee and Unich. It is only about 1¼ mile in length, and barely half a mile in breadth. It lies in the extreme north of the county. A little to the south-west (in Clova) are the small lochs of Wharral and Brandy, while still further south lies Lintrathen Loch, enlarged by the Melgarn being diverted into it for the purpose of forming a larger reservoir for the Dundee Water Works. It now extends to about 1¼ square mile. The loch of Forfar, which was partially drained for its marl, and for the improvement of the surrounding land, lies on the west of the town, and extends to about 1 mile by ¼ mile. The Fithie, Rescobie, and Balgavies Lochs are in this neighbourhood, while in Lundi there are four lochlets, the largest being Longloch, ½ mile by ¼ mile. Several small lochs, including those of Kinnordy and Logie in Kirriemuir, and Restenet in Forfar, were drained for their skell marl, which was used for agricultural purposes. In Kincardineshire, the lochs are both few and small. The loch of Drum once covered about 300 acres, but has been reduced to less than one-third. The loch of Leys, at one time more than 2 miles in circuit, has been drained. Loirston Loch, 27 acres in extent, lies in the parish of Nigg; and at Fasque there is a beautiful artificial loch, covering about 20 acres.

The chief rivers in Forfarshire are the Isla, the South Esk, and the North Esk. The Isla, rising in the extreme north-west, drains the western districts of the county, and passing into Perthshire near Ruthven, and, after a course of 42 miles, empties itself into the Tay at Cargill. The South Esk has its source in Clova, and flows south-east for the first half of its course, which is about 50 miles in length, and due east the latter. It drains the main portion of the centre of the county, and falls into the sea at Montrose, its mouth forming a large and beautiful basin. Its chief tributaries are the Prosen, the Carity, the Noran, and the Lemno. The Prosen has a course of about 16 miles, and after receiving the burns of Glenlogie, Glenoig, and Lednathy, joins the South Esk below Cortachy Castle. The North Esk or East Water has a course of about 40 miles. It drains the north-eastern division of the county, forms for a long distance the boundary line between Forfar and Kincardine, and falls into the sea about 3½ miles north of Montrose. On the right, it receives the waters of the Effock, the Keeny, and the Mooran, from which, at a cost of £15,000, a daily supply of 500,000 gallons of water was diverted for the town of Brechin. The Tarf, the Turret, the Meallie, and Auch-mull and other streams join the North Esk from the left. The water of Lunan, issuing from Lunan Well, Restenet, and Balgavies, flows in a north-easterly direction for about 17 miles, and empties itself into the beautiful bay of Lunan. The Dighty has a course almost as long, and drains a portion of the eastern slope of the Sidlaws, and falls into the Firth of Tay at Milton. The North and South Esk are excellent salmon streams, while in the smaller waters there is a good supply of trout. In most of the lochs, too, lovers of the piscatorial art find capital sport. The northern and western slopes of Kincardineshire are drained respectively by the Dee and the North Esk and their tributaries, the interior being drained by the waters of Bervie, Carron, Cowie, Finella, and other smaller streams. The Bervie rises in the parish of Fordoun, and after a course of about 14 miles, falls into the sea a little north of Inverbervie. The Finella, with a course of 7 miles, rises at Garvock, and falls into the sea near Johnshaven. The Carron and the Cowie, each about 9 or 10 miles long, rise respectively in Glenbervie and Wodder Hill, and fall into the German Ocean at Stonehaven. The Luther, rising at the head of the Glen of Drumtochty, is the chief tributary of the North Esk in Kincardineshire; that of the Dee being the Feugh. The latter stream, with a course of 15 miles, rises near Mount Battock, and falls into the Dee at Banchory. The scenery at the junction of the Feugh and the Dee is very beautiful, the Falls of Feugh being greatly admired. The Water of Dye rises at the top of Glendye, and after a course of 10 miles, joins the Feugh a little above the village of Strachan. The Sheeoch water rises on the east of Kerloch, and after a run of about 8 miles, joins the Dee near the Church of Durris.

Geology—Soil.

The main features of the geological formation of these counties may be indicated in a few sentences. The Grampian range is composed mainly of primary rocks. The tops are formed almost wholly of granite, but, descending the southern and eastern slopes, we find the primary rocks associated with small quantities of those belonging to the transition formation, layers of gneiss, mica schist, and quartz being interspersed with small deposits of limestone and clay-slate. A slate vein runs along the hill sides, from a little north of Stonehaven to Easdale, Argyle, and is nearly all the way accompanied by a dyke of trap, or whinstone, which gives value to the soil and beauty and variety to the scenery. The slate comes to the surface at several points, and in some parts, notably in Fearn and Lethnot, it has been quarried. The valley of Strathmore is one long bed of Old Red Sandstone. The Sidlaws, in Forfarshire, and the Garvock Hill, and the other lower hills further north in Kincardineshire, are composed mainly of trappean rocks, with several important deposits of greyish blue sandstone slate, which is of excellent quality for pavement, and which at Carmyllie and elsewhere is quarried extensively for local use and also for exportation. At various points throughout both counties there are deposits of limestone. In Forfarshire it exists in Clova; Glenesk; in some of the Sidlaw valleys; at Hedder-wick, near Montrose; and at Bodden in Craig. In Kincardineshire, it is found at Clattering Brig; at Drumtochty and Glen-farquhar in Fordoun; at Whistleberry, Kinneff; at Mathers, St Cyrus; at Kirtonhiil, Marykirk; and at Tilwhilly and elsewhere on Deeside. At several of these places the limestone has been extensively worked for many years. At Bodden it was worked as early as 1696. In both counties there are some deposits of conglomerate, or pudding stone, that on the hill on the farm of West Drums, near Brechin, being considered one of the most perfect in the country. At Dunthill, Marykirk, there is a bed of New Red Sandstone, but there is not enough to give any hopes of there being coal underneath it. At Cowie and elsewhere in Kincardine, and at several points in Forfar, pipeclay is found. At Montrose, Arbroath, Durris, Fetteresso, and at other places, there are chalybeate or iron ore springs with medicinal properties. Fossil remains of plants and fishes occur in the sandstone; but, as might have been expected, all borings for coal have been unsuccessful, for that valuable substance does not exist under Old Red Sandstone. Throughout the sandstone districts there is a good deal of iron, to which the Red Sandstone owes its colour. About 1710 an iron mine was worked for a short time in Edzell.

With such distinct geological formations, it is only natural to expect that these counties should present considerable variety of soil. The rule that the surface soil corresponds to the rocks beneath holds exceptionally true in Forfar and Kincardine. The extent of alluvial soil—or, in other words, of soil deposited where it now lies by water—is very small indeed, and hence it follows that the great portion of the soil consists of decomposed particles of the underlying rocks, enriched by the decay of vegetable matter, and by a long-sustained system of liberal manuring. It is therefore possible, from the foregoing hurried sketch of the geology of the counties, to form a general idea of the character of the soil in the various districts. In the south-eastern districts of Forfar, those lying between the Sidlaw range and the sea, the soil is, generally speaking, of a light friable nature, well suited for potatoes and turnips. Nearly midway between Dundee and Arbroath there are small portions well adapted to the cultivation of beans; while in the Invergowrie district there is a good deal of very fine grain land, some parts of which, however, are slightly subject to drought. Close by the sea at Monifieth there is a portion of as rich dark brown loam as one could wish to see; while in Panbride, Arbroath, and elsewhere along the coast there is a pretty large extent of similar soil. On some parts of the southern slopes of the Sidlaws, and along as far as the parishes of Monikie and Carmyllie, the sub-soil is hard and retentive; but, as a rule, along the coast it is free and easy, with a small admixture of gravel. On the more inland parts of Carmyllie and in that neighbourhood there is a good deal of thin moorish soil; while along the higher arable parts, on both sides of the Sidlaw range, the soil varies from a very thin "hungry" loam to pretty fertile loam of moderate depth. As we descend the north-western slopes we find the soil increasing in depth and quality until, on the banks lying partly on the trap rocks and partly on the Red Sandstone, it becomes very sound heavy reddish loam, well adapted to the cultivation of wheat and potatoes, and rented at from 35s. to 50s. per acre. With the exception of a small stretch of mossy land near the west end of the valley, the soil of Strathmore is, on the whole, true to the character of the formation to which it belongs. On unbroken belts of Old Bed Sandstone, the soil is generally a reddish loam of medium texture, very fertile and not difficult to work, with a sub-soil of sand, gravel, or friable clay. This is as near as might be the general character of the soil along the valley of Strathmore; but while the composition does not differ greatly, there are many degrees of depth and value. It is evident that large portions of the lower-lying parts of Strathmore have been scoured by water, for in several of these parts the soil is very thin and gravelly; in a few spots, indeed, so much so that it is scarcely worthy of being cultivated. On the Mains of Glamis and some other farms in the bottom of the valley, the soil is both deep and sound, but, as a rule, the heavier and richer soil lies on the banks and lower parts of the slopes. In the Guthrie and Farnell districts there is great variety of soil. Indeed, there are few farms on which there is not both very rich and very poor land. The most of the land here lies on a clayey subsoil, some of it rather stiff, and resting on the sandstone. Towards Montrose, the soil becomes easier and lighter, but on many farms it is heavy and fertile, being mixed with decomposed trap rocks. In the Howe of Kinnaird there is some very stiff clay, which, in these untoward times, is proving a rather stubborn subject to work. Part of the Howe lies so low that it has been found almost impossible to drain it sufficiently well to admit of its undoubtedly high productive powers being taken full advantage of. It is understood that the redraining of part of the Howe is being contemplated, and much improvement would certainly result were that carried out. On the rising ground in this neighbourhood the soil is generally a fertile friable loam on a clayey, sandy, or gravelly subsoil. Along the Braes of Angus, which include a large range of country, the soil varies from a thin poor loam, resting on a close red "pan" coming very near to the surface, to good, deep, sound, black loam lying on limestone, trap, sandstone, primary rocks, or a mixture of two or more of these. A friable black loam of medium depth and fertility predominates, the most general subsoil being gravel mixed with clay. Dr Page's graphic description of the configuration of districts adjoining beds of the Old Red Sandstone, applies so truly to the Braes of Angus that we produce it here. He says:—"The hills of Old Red districts, partly composed of traps and partly of soft sandstones and hard conglomerates, present great diversity of scenery, here rising in rounded heights, there sinking in easy undulations, now swelling in sunny slopes, and, anon, retiring in winding glens or rounded valley-basins of great beauty and fertility." A more correct description of this part of Forfarshire it would be impossible to give.

Along the Kincardineshire coast, from the mouth of the North Esk to Stonehaven, the soil varies from deep rich loam to thin poor black earth or stiff cold clay. A medium loam predominates. In the parishes of Benholm and St Cyrus, there is a good deal of moderately heavy fertile loam, which produces excellent crops. In Bervie, there is also some very good loam, but on almost every farm there is considerable variety, part being free black loam, resting on an open subsoil, part red or brown stiff clay, and part thin and moorish. Similar remarks apply to Kinneff and Dunnottar. On the Garvock Hill the soil is cold, stiff, and sour, heavy to cultivate, and even when well cultivated only moderately fertile. The greater part of the Howe of the Mearns is similar to the main portion of the valley of Strathmore in Forfarshire, the soil being, as a rule, a reddish loam, resting on sand, gravel, or clay. Gravel predominates on the north-western slopes, and clay on the southeastern. Generally speaking, the soil of the Howe is not quite equal to the Forfarshire part of the Great Valley, but still near Fettercairn, in some parts of Fordoun, and elsewhere, there is some very rich land. Around the village of Fettercairn the soil is deep, strong, rich loam; but in other parts of this parish, and in Edzell, Laurencekirk, and Fordoun, not a little of the land consists of moderate black loam or stiffish clay. Taken as a whole, Fordoun is an excellent agricultural parish, there being in it a large breadth of really good substantial clayey loam. The soil on the best farms in Fordoun and Laurencekirk is a heavy loam, with an admixture of clay. In some seasons it is not very easily reduced to a satisfactory tilth, but when well worked and liberally manured, it yields abundantly, and is rented at from 35s. to 45s. per acre. Along the slopes on the hill sides the soil is thin friable loam. In the parish of Glenbervie there is some good clay loam, but there is also a good deal of thin reddish land that produces only moderate crops. There are some deposits of moss in this parish. In the parish of Fetteresso, near Stonehaven, the soil is mostly sharp friable loam, but in the more inland and higher parts it is an inferior clayey or moorish loam. Throughout the northern half of Kincardine, the soil consists mainly of decomposed granite, with an admixture of moss and other vegetable substances. In the parishes of Banchory-Devenick, Nigg, and Maryculter, the surface is remarkably stoney, large blocks of granite being very numerous on all uncultivated patches. It would seem that the greater part of the coast-side district between Stonehaven and Aberdeen had at one time been covered with moss. There is a good deal still in the uncultivated parts, though the inhabitants have been carting it away for fuel perhaps for centuries. The soil, too, in the arable parts is impregnated with it, and in this respect the land here differs slightly from that in the Deeside districts of the county, where there is less moss. There the soil is chiefly light, friable, fertile, sandy loam, with subsoil of clay and gravel, or gravel alone. Under liberal farming for a long-period, it has become considerably richer than it was originally, and in a year when moisture is plentiful it yields excellent crops of barley, oats, turnips, and potatoes. In the parish of Durris, back from the river side, there is a good deal of stiff loam lying on a damp clayey subsoil. Exceptionally close drainage has been required here to make the land useful, and although it has, on the whole, been well handled in this respect, it is still of a somewhat damp cold nature. The arable land in Strachan lies along the courses of the Feugh and its tributary the Dye; and in these parts the soil is mostly of a medium loam, friable and fertile in a favourable season, and lying on clayey gravel or on the primary rocks. Away far up on the Feugh side there are some wonderfully rich pieces of land, admirably suited for the raising of barley, oats, and turnips.

The Progress of the past Twenty-five Years.

Before tracing the progress of the past twenty-five years (the period over which this report is required to extend), it would have been interesting to have given an account of the ancient systems of farming, and of the social condition of the two counties a century ago. Such an account, however, would take up more space than could well be devoted to a subject not properly within the range of the report. A few sentences must therefore suffice. As might be expected, from its better climate and more southern situation, the lower part of Forfarshire was earlier brought under a system of improved husbandry than Kincardineshire, and thus the contrast between the farming in Forfarshire now and eighty years ago is less striking than between the agriculture of Kincardineshire at the present day and at the commencement of the century. From the Rev. Mr Rodger's Report on Forfarshire, drawn up in 1794, it appears that wheat was then cultivated in every parish in the lower parts of the county; that Angus oats, still famous, had then a wide reputation; that sown grasses were used on almost every farm; that turnips were freely grown; and that potatoes were cultivated with great success, the yield in some instances being as high as from 50 to 60 bolls of 16 stones per acre. The number of cattle was estimated at 36,499; a small breed, ranging in weight from 16 to 20 stones avoirdupois, occupying the higher grounds, and a larger breed, weighing from 40 to 70 stones, the lower parts. Sheep numbered 53,970, and were mostly of the blackfaced, a few being of the ancient dun or whitefaced kind, and others of mixed breeding. On some of the better managed farms, and around proprietors' residences, there was a good deal of enclosed land mostly under pasture. Farm implements were still primitive, but improvements were fast being introduced. The clumsy old Scotch plough, modernised by metal boards, was still in use, but improved ploughs, chiefly of Small's make, were speedily superseding it. It was not uncommon to see four horses attached to a plough, and oxen were employed on many farms. Ploughmen's wages, without board, averaged about 1s. 3d. per day. There was then a large extent of wood in the county, and early in the present century the area was greatly increased by Lord Airlie, Sir Jamas Carnegie, the Strathmore family, and others. The Rev. Mr Headrick states the number and rental of the farms in 1813 as follows, viz.:—Under £20 of annual rental. 1574; between £20 and £50, 565; between £50 and £100, 682; between £100 and £300, 315; and above £300, 86; making in all 3222 farms.

Agricultural improvement in Kincardineshire would seem to date from about 1760. About that time some important steps of advancement were made by a few enterprising proprietors and farmers, but it was not before the advent of the present century that the spirit of improvement spread throughout the main body of the tenantry. The area of cultivated land about the commencement of the century is stated at 74,377 acres, and that under actual tillage at 45,736, it being estimated that other 28,000 acres were capable of being cultivated. In the better parts of the county, in the Howe of the Mearns, and in the parishes of St Cyrus and Benholm, wheat had been grown as far back as tradition and record stretched; while by 1807, barley, oats, peas, beans, potatoes and turnips, and sown grasses were cultivated with success all over the county. The practice of leaving land in fallow is said to have been introduced into the county by Mr Barclay of Urie in 1761. It spread gradually over the county, and in 1807 the fallow break was estimated at 2619 acres. A pretty regular and well-understood system of rotation was pursued about the commencement of the century. In the wheat districts the older rotation was—1st, fallow and turnips; 2d, part wheat and part barley, usually two-thirds of the former; 3d, beans; 4th, barley; 5th, clover; 6th, pasture ; and 7th, oats. Following this came a six-course rotation, of fallow, wheat, beans and turnips in equal proportions, barley, clover, and oats, in order. On thin outlying soils the rotation was fallow, barley, pasture for two years, and then oats. Mr Barclay for some time pursued with success a rotation of four crops, viz.—1st, wheat, manured after clover; 2d, turnips; 3d, barley; and 4th, clover. In the more hilly parts of the interior the following somewhat peculiar rotation was followed, viz.,—1st, oats; 2d, oats, or oats and bere; 3d, turnips, potatoes, and peas; 4th, part oats and part bere; 5th, green crop as before; 6th, part oats and part bere; 7th, clover and rye grass cut for hay; 8th and 9th, pasture. It is stated that potatoes were first planted in Kincardineshire in 1727 by an old soldier who had brought some tubers with him. from Ireland to the village of Marykirk, where he resided for only one year. He raised a good crop, and it is recorded that, while the villagers were ready enough to steal the strange plant, "none of them had the ingenuity to cultivate it after he was gone." They looked in vain to the stems for the seed. Potatoes were again introduced into the Mearns in 1760; while in 1754 turnips were introduced by Mr E. Scott of Dunninald, and grown by him on the farm of Milton of Mathers, St Cyrus. In 1764, Mr William Lyall, farmer in Wattieston, Fordoun, raised about an acre of turnips, and it is stated that the crop was considered so rare that it was sold in small quantities, at one penny per stone, for kitchen vegetables. This crop was cultivated on only a very few farms till 1775, but by the beginning of the present century it was grown all over the county. Sown grasses were not in general use till about 1770; but it is stated that as early as 1730, Sir William Nicolson of Glenbervie, "a spirited cultivator at an early period," raised hay from sown seeds, "not, however, from the seeds of any of the species of clover now in use, but from such seeds as were found among the natural meadow hay." The number of cattle in 1807 was 24,825, and it is stated that a four-year-old Mearns ox weighed about 45 stones. The best cattle are described as black or brown, or brindled, with spreading horns. There were also some very good polled cattle, similar to, and no doubt of the same breed as, the Buchan "Humlies," the progenitors along with the Angus "Doddies" of the improved polled Aberdeen and Angus breed. The sheep stock numbered 24,957, and consisted mainly of blackfaced sheep and the ancient dun faces. Along the coast there were a few Bakewell Leicesters, and also some South Downs. At the commencement of the century the farm implements were somewhat primitive. The ancient Scotch plough was fast giving way to Small's improved ploughs, which cost about £4 each, and which by 1807 was almost the only sort of plough used in the county. Harrows, with five wooden bills and five iron teeth in each, were coming into use, as also were single carts. During the first ten years of the century about a score of threshing mills were erected in the county at a cost of from £140 to £180 each. Among the noted early improvers, Mr Barclay is mentioned as having been the most prominent. Between 1760 and 1790 he reclaimed over 900 acres, and planted 1000 acres, raising the rental of his estate of Urie from £200 to £1800 in less than fifty years. Early in the century great improvement was effected in houses, roads, and fences.

Coming to speak of more recent times, we are happy to be able to state that the spirit of improvement aroused in the last century has never been allowed to lie dormant. True, during the last twenty-five years, a smaller extent of land has been reclaimed than during either the last twenty-five years of the eighteenth century or the first twenty-five of the present, but that has not been due to any flagging in the spirit of improvement, but simply to the fact that only a limited area of suitable land remained for the proprietors and tenants of the past twenty-five years to bring under cultivation. There has been less done lately, simply because there has been less to do. No reliable data exist upon which to estimate the extent of land reclaimed in the two counties during the first half of the present century. The Rev. Mr Headrick estimated the arable land in Forfarshire in 1813 at 340,643 acres, but it is clear that that far exceeded the actual extent, for the area at present under all kinds of crops, bere, fallow, and grass, falls short of it by nearly 90,000 acres. The statistics relating to Kincardineshire seem to be rather more accurate. The area under cultivation in 1807 was estimated at 74,377 acres, and from this it would appear that during the first half of the present century about 27,000 acres had been added to the arable extent.

Confining ourselves to the last twenty-five years, we find that in both counties there has been a very substantial increase in the extent of arable land. The agricultural returns, taken up at the outset by the Highland Society and ultimately by the Board of Trade, did not at the commencement include holdings rented at less than £10 a year. It is therefore impossible to ascertain the exact extent of the increase. The following table, however, affords a pretty correct indication:—

The percentage of the arable area of Forfar under cultivation in 1870 was 41.8 ; now it is 44.5. In Kincardine, the percentage in 1870 was 47.1; it is now 48.5.

This increase, equal to 1246 acres a year in Forfar and 1117 acres in Kincardine, must be regarded as highly creditable,, especially when it is considered that, as previously stated, agricultural improvement in these counties had been carried to a great length long before the period to which the above table refers, so far, indeed, as to leave comparatively little to be done. In Forfar, the main portion of the new land lies in the Braes of Angus along the foot of the Grampians, but there is also a fair proportion on the Sidlaw range. Throughout all the higher lying parts of Kincardine there has been less or more reclamation since 1854. On the slopes of the Garvock Hill there has been a good deal, and also on the hard heights and mossy hollows of Glenbervie and Fetteresso. Along the foot of the Grampians, in Edzell, Fettercairn, Laurencekirk, and Fordoun, there has been a narrow fringe reclaimed within thirty or forty years; a small portion within twenty years; while in each of the parishes in the northern division of the county there has been a certain extent reclaimed. Strachan and Durris claim the larger portion.

The reclamation of land, however, has not constituted the whole of the agricultural improvement in these counties during the last twenty-five years. Indeed, it is doubtful if it has not in outlay been far exceeded by the improvements in farm buildings,, draining, fencing, road making, and other accessories which tend to develop the resources of the soil. In both counties there has-been a great deal done in the improvement of farm buildings, and these are now on the whole fully abreast of the times. In several parts of Forfar, and also in some parts in Kincardine, re-draining might be carried out with advantage; but still, since 1854, a great improvement has been effected in the condition of" the land in this respect. In the wheat and potato districts there is yet a large stretch of open land, but in the parts where the pasturing of live stock holds a prominent place in the economy of the farm, a great extent of fencing, mostly wire and stone dykes, has been erected within the last twenty-five or thirty years. In service or farm roads, too, as well as in the county roads, there has been considerable improvement; while not a little has been done in the way of straightening watercourses, squaring fields, draining small pieces of lake or swamp, clearing the land of stones, and in other small but useful works.

The progress in the cattle department sustained a most serious check by rinderpest in 1865-66. It was several years after that dreadful scourge before the rearing and feeding of cattle were pursued with the same energy as formerly, but within the past ten years a good deal of the lost ground has been made up. The number of cattle in Forfar has decreased since 1854 by 1699 head, and in Kincardine by 202 head. In the character of the stock kept, however, there has been a considerable improvement since 1854. There is no doubt a greater number of cattle fed than prior to 1854, and it is equally certain that the average weight of beef per head is greater now than twenty-five years ago. Sheep farming has increased greatly in Forfar since 1854, there being a very small decrease in Kincardine. Here also there has been a slight increase in the comparative production of meat, if not likewise of wool.

The valuation roll is perhaps the truest mirror of the development of a county, and in it these counties appear in a most favourable light. The following tables show the valuation of the two counties at various periods since 1674:—

The following tables show the valuation of the different parishes in the two counties now and twenty-five years ago, and also the increase in each, thus indicating the parts in which most improvements have been effected within that period.

Details of Improvements and of Different Systems of Farming.

Before proceeding to indicate in order the general farming customs, we shall give, in as condensed a form as possible, some notes which we collected regarding improvements and systems of management on different estates and farms throughout both counties. And in giving these, we have to acknowledge our indebtedness to many proprietors, factors, and tenants, for much valuable information. Perhaps the best plan would be to make an imaginary tour through the various districts, bring the reader along, and transcribe our notes as we proceed.

Forfar.

Starting, then, where Forfar joins Perth, a few miles west of Dundee, we find ourselves in the parish of Liff and Benvie, which has an area of about 8049 acres, and a rental of £13,824, being an increase of £2310 since 1856-57. The rental in 1683 was £4618 Scots money. Around Invergowrie there is some very fine land rented at from £4 to £5 an acre, this great value being due to the proximity of the land to Dundee. One of the largest farmers in this district is Mr William Smith of Benholm, who manages his land with much liberality and success. He, along with most of his neighbours, drives a large quantity of city manure from Dundee, and in addition uses a good deal of artificial stimulants. A six-shift rotation is the one most generally pursued, that is—oats, potatoes, wheat, turnips, barley, and one year's grass; all the produce, except what is required to maintain the working staff of the farm, being sold. The cow-feeders of Dundee take all the turnips, hay, and grass they can obtain in their neighbourhood. For some time back they have been paying such high prices for both, more especially turnips, that they have been losing heavily by the transaction, and they are now beginning to deal in these commodities with more moderation. Even yet, however, farmers have no difficulty in obtaining from £16 to £22 per acre for a good crop of turnips, according to the situation of the farm. Coming nearer to Dundee we find still higher-rented land, the best land all around it being rented at from £5 to £6 per acre. The rotation pursued here is also mostly the six courses, with one year's grass and two green crops; but some work without any fixed rotation, cropping to suit the markets and the condition of their land. On the farms close to Dundee few more stock are kept than are required for working the land and supplying the residents with milk, it being found far more profitable to dispose of the turnips and grass to the cowfeeders in the town than to consume these on the farm. This, of course, necessitates very liberal manuring, but from the cowfeeders in Dundee an abundant supply of dung is always to be had. The suburban farmers use city manure very freely. The soil around Dundee is mostly an easy rich loam, in many cases worked into a very high state of fertility. In some parts there is stiff clay, and on some of the higher parts thin loam; but, on the whole, it is more than ordinarily fertile, and is fully taken advantage of. The produce per acre on the suburban farms varies greatly. Generally speaking, it is above the average of the county. One of the best managed farms in the neighbourhood of Dundee is Mid Craigie, occupied by Mr Thomas Drummond. Situated almost in the suburbs of Dundee, it is well laid off, has been highly farmed for a very long period, and is in very rich condition. The soil is heavy loam, well suited for wheat, potatoes, and turnips. An eight-shift rotation is pursued—grass, oats, potatoes, wheat, turnips, oats, potatoes, and wheat with grass seeds. There is thus each year one-fourth of the farm in wheat, one-fourth in oats, one-fourth in potatoes, one-eighth in turnips, and one-eighth in grass. Few stock are kept, all the surplus turnips, hay, grass, and straw going to Dundee. The rent per acre is about £6, payable partly in grain; and the increase since 1850 about 12s. 6d. per acre. The valuation of the landward part of the parish of Dundee increased from £8261 in 1858-59 to £12,079 in 1876-77. Proceeding northwards from Dundee we enter the parish of Mains and Strathmartine, which had a rental of £13,982 in 1856, now increased to no less than £25,996. The valuation in 1683 was £3113 Scots money. The chief estates in this parish are—Baldovan, owned by Sir John Ogilvy, Bart.; Balmuir, belonging to Mr James Webster; and Douglas, the property of the Countess of Home. On each of these there are several large well-managed farms. The principal holding on the latter is the Barns of Claverhouse, which has just passed to the third generation of the Bell family, a family that has for over half-a-century occupied a leading position among Forfarshire farmers. Mr George Bell removed lately to the adjoining farm of Mains of Fintray, leaving in the Barns his only son William, who continues to manage it with all the energy and skill which his father and grandfather so successfully applied to it. Mr George Bell and his father effected great improvement on the farm by draining, road-making, fencing, building, and in other respects, the former having expended no less than £2000 on these improvements during his tenancy. Part of a new steading was erected in 1854, while the remaining portion was renewed in 1874-75, making it one of the most commodious and convenient in the district. The greater part of the farm lies low, by the side of the Dighty Water, and there the soil is a clayey loam of a stiffish tendency. On the rising ground on the north the soil is thin sharp loam. On the Mains of Fintray the soil is stiffer, but under the careful and liberal treatment it receives it yields well. It is rented at about £4, 10s. per acre, gives an average of about 4 quarters of wheat per acre, weighing 62 lbs., and about 5½ quarters of barley and oats, the former weighing 54 lbs. and the latter 40 to 44 lbs. per bushel. On the north-east of Mains and Strathmartine lies the parish of Murroes, which contains some very fine and also some very poor land. Overlooking the valley of the Dighty Water, and commanding a magnificent view of the German Ocean, the coast of Fife, the Firth of Tay, and the suburbs of Dundee, stands the old Castle of Powrie. This hoary ruin adjoins the beautifully situated dwelling-house and steading of the farm of Powrie, occupied by Mr Thomas Smith, whose choice herd of polled cattle and equally well-bred flock of English Leicester sheep, give his farm an interest and importance rivalled by only a few in the county. Of the herd and flock more anon. The steading on Powrie was erected in 1806, when the late Mr Smith, father of the present tenant and a man in many ways in advance of his times, entered the farm. It is in the form of a square, commodious and substantial. Part of this farm also lies down on the Dighty valley, and there the soil is pretty strong loam. The greater part, however, is on high ground, and, though sharp and sure, is rather wanting in body. Not far away, in the same parish, is the farm of East and West Murroes, leased by Mr David Smith at a rent of £873, 12s. Situated on the Gagie estate, this farm is maintained in very high condition, and produces good crops of potatoes, wheat, barley, oats, and turnips.. In drains, stone dykes, and other improvements, Mr Smith has expended over £1600 on the farm, and every year uses a large quantity of city dung and artificial manure. He follows a seven-course rotation, which is by far the most general course in all the wheat and potato districts excepting in the neighbourhood of Dundee, viz.:—oats, potatoes, wheat, turnips, barley, and two years' grass. Mr Smith also holds the fine farm of Grange of Monifieth, which lies nearer the sea, and consists of very rich friable loam. Here he produces beautiful crops of wheat and turnips, and also, as at the Murroes, grazes and feeds a large; number of cattle. Mr Smith's father, the late tenant of Leshade in Murroes, was one of the most enterprising farmers in this part of the county. He transformed the farm of Leshade from swamp and moss into one of the best laid out, and most efficiently fenced holdings in the county. The system of drainage which he carried out on the farm is most extensive and unique, and has worked admirably. A great stretch of substantial dykes were also erected at a heavy outlay.

Passing into the parish of Tealing we find ourselves on a higher elevation and in a colder climate. This parish, leading up to the Sidlaws, extends to 7231 acres, and gives a rental of £7832, or £2007 more than in 1856. The rental in 1683' was £1886 Scots. In the lower lying portion of the parish there is a good deal of strong rich land, that yields well when skilfully managed and when the seasons suit. It is a clayey loam with a subsoil of clay and gravel, in some parts rather retentive. In part of the hollows there is also very poor soil, thin, hard, and unproductive, with very stiff subsoil. There are several instances in this parish where the land on the one-side of the road is worth 25s. or 30s. an acre, and not worth more than 15s. or 20s. on the other. On the higher lying parts; there is also a good deal of variety of soil, but in general it is a moderately fertile loam, resting on a clayey or gravelly subsoil which in some parts is not so open as could be wished. Mr Alexander Bell, Kirkton of Tealing, better known as the late tenant of Balnuth,has been one of the leading farmers in Forfarshire for many years. For a long time he has been extensively employed in the valuation of land and farm crops, and has thus acquired a most extensive and accurate acquaintance with the agriculture of the county. Entering Balnuth when a young man, he at once commenced improvements, and in the course of his first lease spent a large sum in reclamation, draining, fencing, building, and other works, bringing the farm into high order and convenient form. A good deal of the land is stiff strong clayey loam, not very well suited to potatoes, but of wheat, barley, oats, and turnips he raised excellent crops. A few years ago he transferred Balnuth to his nephew, Mr William Bell, and now resides on the adjoining farm of Kirkton, which he also maintains in high condition. At Kirkton the elevation is over 500 feet, and from a little beyond that the ground rises fast, so that we soon pass beyond the wheat land, and come into the elevation where oats and turnips predominate. In these higher parts the ordinary five or six-shift rotation is pursued, that is turnips, with a small patch of potatoes, barley or oats or part of both, grass for two or three years, and lastly oats. Immediately to the west of Tealing lie the parishes of Auchter-house and Lundie, in which, as in the higher parts of Tealing, a good deal of land has been reclaimed from moorland within the past thirty years. The soil is for the most part light, sharp loam; and being as a rule well farmed, produces good crops of oats, barley, and turnips. The five and six-shift rotations are also pursued here, and the latter gains ground every year, owing perhaps partly to the greatly increased cost of labour, and partly to the fact that turnips are less subject to "finger and toe" on land worked in six shifts. In these three parishes last referred to, rent ranges from 20s. to 50s. per acre, the main portion being under 28s. A few tenants pay as little as 15s. per acre for the very poorest and coldest of the land. The Earl of Airlie owns the larger portion of the parish of Auchterhouse, one of his lordship's largest farms in this district being East Mains of Bonnyton held by Mr Alexander M'Kay at a rent of £680. In Lundie the Earl of Camperdown is the principal proprietor. On his lands in this parish extensive improvements have been effected since 1850 in the way of reclaiming, draining, fencing, and building, part being done by the proprietor and part by the tenants.

Retracing our steps and proceeding eastwards we pass through the parish of Monikie, in which the Earl of Dalhousie owns a large extent of valuable well-farmed land, and in which a very large sum has been expended on various agricultural improvements during the past twenty-five years. Monikie extends to 9027 acres, and yields a rental of £18,916, or more than £2 per acre. The increase since 1856 amounts to no less than £10,505. The rental in 1683 was £4608 Scots. On the east of Monikie lie the highly cultivated coast-side parishes of Barry, Panbride, and Arbirlot, extending to 6155, 5506, and 6889 acres respectively, and yielding respective rentals of £15,088, £11,419, and £10,895, Barry has increased £7057 since 1856, or more than £1 per acre. A very large part of this increase, however, is due to the rapid growth of the village of Carnoustie, which has sprung up almost entirely within the last fourteen years. The increase in the other two parishes amounts to over 10s. per acre, the greater part of which is certainly due to the development of the land. The principal property in this neighbourhood is that of Panmure, owned by the Earl of Dalhousie, who is by far the largest proprietor in the county. He owns several estates, situated chiefly in this neighbourhood, around Brechin, and away up through the Grampian range. According to the Return of Owners of Lands and Heritages in 1872-73, the total area of his property measures 136,602 acres, the gross annual value being £55,601, 16s. The Panmure estate is one of the most important. It extends into the parishes of Monifieth, Barry, Monikie, Arbirlot, Carmyllie, St Vigeans, Inverkeillor, and Kinnell, all lying along the east coast. Panmure House, a large palatial mansion, is situated in the upper part of the parish of Panbride, about four miles north-west from Carnoustie. The grounds are both extensive and beautiful, while the gardens, which have a very fine situation, are kept in excellent condition. The policies extend in all to 550 acres. The Home Farm or Mains of Panmure, under the charge of Mr George Cowe, Balhousie, consists of about 200 acres of arable land, worked on the seven-course rotation, with two years grass. A large flock of half-bred ewes and a smaller flock of Border Leicesters are kept on the farm, while a good many cattle are also grazed and fed. A few cows are kept for the supply of milk. Each autumn a lot of two-year-old cattle of the best class that can be obtained are bought in and fed on turnips, straw, and cake. They are generally sold off in spring, and for six weeks before leaving, the allowance of cake is very liberal. The soil on the Panmure estate varies from the richest to the poorest of loam, part lying on a red sandstone subsoil, part on a hard irony pan, part on a moderately open mixture of clay and gravel, and part on porous sand. The poorest land lies in Carmyllie, and the richest a mile or two or more from the sea side. On the greater part of the estate it is very good. On the better soil the seven-shift rotation with wheat, potatoes, and two years grass prevails. A few also work on the six courses. In the higher lying districts and poorer soils the ordinary five or six-shift rotation is pursued, no wheat and few potatoes being grown. Latterly, a good many who formerly worked on the five-shift rotation have turned to the six. The Panmure estate is very judiciously apportioned. It contains a good many large farms, rented at from £500 to close on a £1000; a great many medium sized farms rented from £100 to £300; and a very large number of crofts or pendicles and small farms rented at from £4 to £60. In the parish of Carmyllie alone there are over fifty pendicles. Twenty of these are rented below £10 each, the lowest being £4 and the average about £6 or £7. Nine pay between £20 and £40, and the others, on an average, from £14 to £15. Generally speaking these small tenants occupy the poorest land, that on the Carmyllie pendicles being thin "hungry" loam lying close to a hard irony or rocky subsoil. The greater part of it has been reclaimed, mostly within the last thirty years, by the crofters themselves, who have no doubt made the district more productive than larger tenants would have done. They cultivate their land well and raise wonderful crops. They grow oats and turnips for the most part, raising just as many potatoes as are required by the family. The smaller tenants keep one cow each, and the larger ones two or more, the young stock being sold when six, twelve, or eighteen months old. The class of stock raised on. these pendicles is far superior to what it was some fifteen or twenty years ago, and now they meet a ready sale among the neighbouring larger farmers at good prices. The more industrious of these crofters seem contented and comfortable. They maintain their little places in the best of order, educate their families well, and in not a few cases store up as much money as in course of time enables them to step into larger and better holdings. One great advantage in having these small tenancies on an estate is that they provide an excellent supply of labour, an advantage which those having the management of the Panmure property have evidently not failed to recognise. Pendicles have been well named nurseries for farm servants. The rent per acre on the Panmure estate varies greatly, according to the soil and situation. The better land on the coast side is rented at from £2 to £3 per acre, while in the poorer inland parts the rent falls to £1, and in some cases even to 10s. There is also great variety in the yield of the different crops. Wheat gives from 4 to 6½ qrs., weighing from 60 to 64 lbs. per bushel; barley from 5 to 6 qrs., weighing from 54 to 56 lbs.; oats from 4½ to 8 or even 9 qrs., weighing from 40 to 45 lbs.; potatoes from 5 to 12 tons; and turnips from 14 to 25 tons. Since 1850 the increase in the rental of the Panmure property has been great. At that time several of the best farms were held at little more than nominal rents by life-renters; all of whom, with one exception, had died prior to 1870. When brought into the market these farms were readily let at greatly increased rents, one bringing more that four times the sum paid by the life-renter. Other influences, however, have helped the increase. Aided by the proprietor, the small tenants in the higher parts have, within the last thirty years, reclaimed over 500 acres from moor and moss. A large sum of money has also been expended on drainage and building throughout the property since about 1860, and, under wise direction, this expenditure has resulted in substantial improvement. A good deal has likewise been done in road making near Panmure House, while since about 1870 close on 700 acres of wood have been planted. Of these 200 acres were planted about ten years ago; and form an addition to the Mansion House policies, the greater part of which has recently been thoroughly drained. These 200 acres were fenced with a high stone wall.

Balhousie, tenanted by Mr George Cowe, is one of the best managed farms on the Panmure estate. A large part of it has been drained by himself; while it is cultivated and manured to the very highest degree, producing abundant crops of all kinds. A choice small flock of Border Leicesters is kept on the farm, while a number of two-year-old cross cattle are bought in in autumn and fed during winter. One of the largest and one of the best farms along the east coast of the county is Pitskelly, leased by Mr F. Dickson at a rent of £1100. The soil is mostly strong sound loam, not so stiff as some land on other farms in the neighbourhood. Panlathie Mill, in the parish of Arbirlot, is also very carefully and skilfully managed by its enterprising tenant; Mr James Duncan. The soil, mostly black friable loam, is worked in the six shift rotation. Wheat yields from 4 to 5 qrs., and weighs from 59 to 64 lbs.; barley 5 to 6 qrs., weighing from 49 to 55 lbs.; oats 6 to 7 qrs., weighing from 40 to 47 lbs.; potatoes 6 to 7 tons; turnips 14 to 18 tons; and hay from 1½ to 2½ tons per acre. Potatoes receive nearly all the manure that can be made in covered courts, the litter grown on the farm being supplemented by flax dust; and in addition to this 2 or 3 cwt. of artificial manure is allowed to the acre. Turnips are generally manured with artificial stuffs. Mr Duncan has long devoted special attention to the raising of potatoes, in which he has been eminently successful. Latterly, he has been conducting experiments in the producing of new varieties which cannot fail to be of service to the country. Wheat is sown as soon as the potatoes are got out of the ground, generally in November, and sometimes in December. Harvesting of grain extends from the end of August to the middle of October. Turnips are not as a rule stored in large quantities, only as many being kept in store as would supply the stock for a month or six weeks. A number of store cattle, generally Irish stock, are bought in every year, and fed off at various times, on turnips, straw, hay, cake, and meal. A few are fed in the courts in summer on cut grass, cake, &c. With some assistance from the proprietor, for which he pays from 5 to 6½ per cent. interest, Mr Duncan has redrained nearly all his farm, and erected a new dwelling-house, and the greater part of the farm steading. The farm of Inverpeffer, occupied by Mr James Swan, and rented at £645, 10s., lies in a detached portion of the parish of St Vigeans, adjoining Panbride, and is also on the Panmure estate. This farm extends to about 420 acres, 300 of which are arable, the remainder being rough pasture on sea-braes. The soil varies a good deal. About 100 acres are good fertile clayey loam, a like extent easier black loam, somewhat liable to damage by drought in dry seasons ; and the other 100 acres drifting sand and moorish soil. For fifteen years Mr Swan worked the best land in the seven course rotation, and the poorest in six shifts, three years in grass with only one green crop. The thinner land was for a time tried with two green crops after three years grass, and also after two years in grass; and now the whole farm is worked in seven shifts. In one division of the farm, potatoes are grown after two years old grass, and are followed by wheat, oats, turnips, and barley or oats in succession. This course has been adopted with the view of keeping the land free from weeds, and of preventing the oat crop from lodging, which it invariably did, after two years feeding with cake on the pastures. Wheat yields from 4 to 7 qrs. per acre, weighing from 56 to 63 lbs. per bushel; barley from 4 to 9 qrs., weighing from 47 to 57 lbs.; oats from 6 to 12 qrs., weighing from 40 to 44 lbs.; potatoes from 2 to 10 tons; and turnips from 10 to 30 tons. In a very exceptional season, as many as 40 tons of turnips per acre have been grown on this farm. Mr Swan keeps an excellent stock of cross cows, and from these and well bred shorthorn bulls rears a class of beef cattle not surpassed by any and equalled by few in the county. He also has a few pure bred shorthorn cows. He feeds his crosses from birth onwards, taking care to maintain them in a healthy condition, and constantly adding both to their size and cover of flesh. The cattle are sold to the butcher when two or two and a half years old, and on an average for ten years have realised from £24 to £36 a head. Cotton cake is the chief auxiliary during the greater part of the feeding period, linseed or beans or both being given for a month or six weeks before the cattle are sold. About 180 or 200 blackfaced ewes, obtained from the same glen for fifteen years, are purchased in October, and from these and the best of Clark and Stark tups, a very fine stock of half-bred lambs are raised. The lambs are fed on undecorticated cotton cake till from eleven to thirteen months old, and then disposed of. The average price for ten years has been 58s. a head. Mr Swan has effected great improvement on his farm since his entry in 1860. In buildings, draining, fencing, and road making he has expended in all £3500. For improvements in 1868 he obtained £600 at 7 per cent. interest, and £400 in 1877—78 at 5 per cent. The farm is now well appointed in almost every respect. Each field is supplied with water, while there is a sufficiency of cottage accommodation for the servants.

Along the coast here there are many other farms well worthy of special notice, it would be but repetition, however, to detail the system pursued on many more.

Proceeding northwards along the coast towards the thriving town of Arbroath, we pass a number of large well-managed farms, on which the seven-shift rotation is for the most part pursued. One of the best managed and most widely known farms in the neighbourhood of Arbroath is Mains of Kelly, tenanted by Mr Alexander Bowie, the eminent breeder of polled cattle. Mr Bowie is a distinguished general farmer as well as a cattle breeder. He. has conducted many experiments on the growing of grain from thick and thin sowing, and under other circumstances. He uses remarkably little seed (about 2 bushels per imperial acre), and grows beautiful crops of all kinds of grain.

Continuing our northern route, we pass through the parishes of St Vigeans, Inverkeillor, Lunan, Maryton, and Craig, and halt at Montrose. These parishes extend respectively to 13,143, 10,516, 1981, and 3686 acres; and in each there has been a substantial increase in the rental since 1856, though not so much as in some other parishes in the county. The increase in St Vigeans, Inverkeillor, and Craig is equal to about 6s. per acre of the total extent, and in the other two about 1s. less. A leading farmer in Craig states that the soil in his district is mostly black loam on trap, or "scurdy" rock. The cropping is pursued in six and seven shifts. Wheat yields about 4½ or 5 qrs., weighing 62 lbs. per bushel; barley 5½ qrs., weighing 54 lbs.; oats 6 to 6½ qrs., weighing 42 lbs.; potatoes about

6 tons; and turnips from 15 to 24 tons per acre. Potatoes are usually manured with court-made dung, while turnips get dung and from 3 to 5 cwt. of artificial manure per acre. Spring sowing commences about the 18th of March, turnip sowing about the 10th of May, and harvesting about the 1st of September. There is very little difference in the system of farming pursued now and twenty-five years ago. In the system of cropping, the only difference is that no fallow wheat is now grown. Twenty-five years ago most of the farmers in this district bred their own cattle. Now they depend chiefly on Irish stock, which they buy in young, from a year to eighteen months old, at from £7 to £17 a head, and which they feed on turnips and cake or meal. The majority go to the London and Glasgow markets when two or three years old. The greater portion of the land has been redrained since 1850, mainly by money advanced on interest by the proprietors. Farm houses are, as a rule, good, and the supply of water sufficient, but fencing is scarce. Rent ranges on an average from 50s. to 60s. per acre. On the large farms of Gilchorn and Cauldcots, on the Anniston

estate, in the parish of Inverkeillor, and occupied respectively by Mr James Bell and Mr John B. Bell, and on the extensive holdings of East Newton and Rosehill, on the Northesk estate, in the adjoining parish of St Vigeans, and held respectively by Mr E. J. Donaldson and George Miln, steam cultivation has been pursued jointly for several years with success.

Reversing our course, we proceed westwards along the valley of Strathmore, first passing through the parishes of Farnell and Kinnell. These parishes have hardly forty farms between them, and yet the former has a rental of £7379, and the latter of £7862. Since 1856, the one has increased by £1687, and the other £2182. The whole of Farnell belongs to the Earl of Southesk, whose estate is one of the most compact and desirable in the county, extending, as it does, to 22,525 acres, and bringing an annual rental of £21,811. Of the fourteen farms in Farnell, four exceed £700 in rental, while two exceed £1000— East and West Carcary, leased by Mr Robert Lyall at £1078, and Fithie, rented by Mr David Mitchell at £1008. Lord Southesk is also the largest proprietor in Kinnell, in which the Earl of Dalhousie, as already mentioned, also owns a large extent of good land. The soil in this district is mostly a clayey loam, in parts rather stiff and in others of a moorish texture. The subsoil is chiefly clay, mixed with gravel, and resting on the Old Red Sandstone. On the higher parts whinstone shoots up here and there to within a few inches of the surface. On the richer land the seven-course rotation is pursued, but on the thinner soils, and where it is not convenient to grow potatoes, the five-shift rotation prevails. By not a few farmers the six-shift is now preferred. Only a small extent of land has been reclaimed in this district since 1850, but draining and building have been carried on largely; while since wire-fencing was introduced a good deal has been done in enclosing land. In the latter respect, however, there is still much to do. The draining has been done chiefly by government money, for which the tenants are usually charged a percentage sufficient to cover the interest on the loan and repay the principal. In some cases proprietors have given money for draining for interest only. There have been few changes of much importance in the system of farming in this district during the last twenty-five years. For some time the practice of letting turnips to be consumed on the land by sheep has been prevalent. It is the opinion of experienced farmers that more profit is derived from the crop in this way than if cattle were brought in and fed upon it. The average rent of the land in this district affords no real criterion of the agricultural value of the different classes of soil, for on almost every farm there is a portion of poor land worth little per acre. The average rental per acre is thus reduced far below the value of the really good land. Bolshan, occupied by Mr Goodlet, is one of the largest and one of the best managed farms in the county. Situated in the parish of Kinnell, on a slope facing south-west, it extends to 690 acres, of which 670 are under cultivation, the remainder consisting mostly of wood pasture. Mr Goodlet took the farm by public competition, paying a large increase on the former rent, while on the renewal of the lease in 1866 he paid a further advance, making the total increase on the rent since 1847 70 per cent. The soil consists of a clayey loam of a moorish texture on the west, where it adjoins the moorside, and runs into stiffish clay on the south-east. The whole farm lies on a clay bottom, overlying the sandstone formation, with protruding pieces of whinstone on the heights. On 280 acres the seven-course rotation is pursued, and on 330 acres the five-shift, with one green crop and two grasses, while the remaining 60 acres are allowed to lie in pasture, being broken up at intervals and sown down again. Wheat yields on an average 4 qrs., weighing 58 to 62 lbs.; barley 5 qrs.; oats close on 6 qrs.; turnips from 18 to 25 tons; potatoes from 4 to 9 tons; and hay from 200 to 300 stones per acre. Only as much hay is grown as is sufficient to supply the farm horses and sheep, the rest of the young grass being pastured mostly by sheep. The root crops get from twelve to fifteen cart loads of farm-yard manure, and 4 or 5 cwt. of guano and other light manures per acre. Guano has been used latterly on account of Mr Goodlet's having found that his cold-bottomed land was not much benefited by the superphosphates and other artificial compounds which he had tried. For a number of years he has obtained large quantities of Aberdeen city manure for mixing with his farm-yard manure, and from this he has found more benefit than from any quantity of light manures he has ever used. The grass lands in particular, which were formerly poor, have improved very much under this treatment. From 120 to 130 cattle are kept during winter. The majority are bought in, but a few are bred on the farm from cross cows and a well-bred shorthorn bull. The two and three-year-old cattle, which make up three-fourths or more of the lot, are fed on turnips, cakes, and crushed grain, and sold as they become "ripe." The three-year-olds weigh on an average, when sold, from 48 to 54 stones (Dutch), and the two-year-olds from 40 to 44 stones. About 50 young cattle and cows are grazed during summer. In addition to the cattle stock, a large and very good flock of Border Leicester sheep are kept. To these we shall refer again. Since his entry Mr Goodlet has effected great improvement on the farm, not only in the land, but also in the houses and other respects. When he obtained possession the land was run out and full of weeds, and for a number of years he had to farm the whole in the five-shift rotation. He afterwards for a time pursued the seven-shift system alone, but finding potatoes a risky crop, he adopted the present system in order to reduce the area under potatoes and increase the extent under grass. Since his entry in 1847 he has tile-drained upwards of 200 acres to a depth of from 2½ to 4 feet. The landlord built a range of covered cattle-courts, repaired and made alterations on the farm-steading, and erected two new cottages to replace old ones. He also put an addition to the dwelling-house, and built other two cottages, for the outlay on which Mr Goodlet paid interest at the rate of 3 per cent., performing all the carriages over and above. Eight married ploughmen reside in cottages, and five unmarried men in a "bothy," in which there is a separate bed-closet for each, and a sitting room, and scullery or pantry for general use. The "bothy" is cleaned out daily, and the beds made by a woman paid for the purpose. The farm is conveniently laid out in finely shaped fields, well fenced with dykes and hedges, with rows of trees here and there, and is altogether one of the most beautifully situated holdings in the county.

Continuing westwards we pass through the parishes of Guthrie, Kirkden, and Rescobie, and rest in Forfar. These parishes extend respectively to 3824, 5018, 6724, and 8379 acres; and since 1856 the rental of the first two and the last one has increased by about 10s. per acre of the total extent, and that of Rescobie by about 6s. per acre. In each there are several large well-cultivated farms, and a pretty large extent of good soil. The largest holding is the combined farms of East and West Carsebank, held, along with another adjoining farm, by Mr Patrick Fair-weather, and rented at £1285. Situated in the parish of Res-eobie, this fine farm extends to 650 acres arable and 22 acres under pasture. The soil is dark brown loam, with good " body." During the first twelve years of the lease he had liberty to farm in any rotation wished, provided always that he worked the land in accordance with the rules of good husbandry. During the remainder of the lease he was bound to have the land in the seven-shift rotation. Wheat gave on an average 4 qrs. or a little more per acre, weighing 61 lbs. per bushel; barley 5½ qrs., weighing 54 lbs.; oats 6 qrs. or a little more, weighing 42 lbs.; Regent and other early varieties of potatoes 6 tons, Champions and other late kinds 8 tons; turnips from 20 to 25 tons; and hay about 2 tons per acre. One half of the turnip break gets twelve loads of dung and a mixture of artificial manure, generally guano, superphosphate, and dissolved bones, to the value of 40s. per acre. The other half receives a mixture of artificial manure to the value of from £3, 5s. to £3, 10s. per acre. Potatoes get twenty loads of dung per acre, and a small quantity of artificial manure above the dung to start the plants, the value of the doze of light manure being about 25s. or 30s. per acre. Of late years potatoes have sometimes been grown after lea, and in that case no dung is given, a mixture of light manure being left to do the work itself. This mixture usually consists of woollen manure, dissolved bones, superphosphates, guano, and potash, and when given to the value of about £4 per acre invariably produces an excellent crop, generally less damaged by disease than when dung is applied in the ordinary way. Autumn wheat is sown as soon as the potatoes are lifted, commencing about the end of October, and continuing till the first of January when the weather is suitable. Harvest usually commences about the end of August or first of September. A mixed stock of cattle and sheep are kept in this district, a large number being fed off every year. Most of the cattle are bought in at the auction marts at Dundee, Perth, or Forfar. Very few are bred in the district. A good many farmers within the last few years have returned to the old-fashioned mode of cropping, which leaves a greater area under grass, and also lessens the manure bills. There being much variety of land in this district, it is difficult to arrive at a correct estimate of the average rental. It cannot be far wrong, however, to put it at 30s. per acre. Mr Fair-weather took his holding ten years ago at a rent of 50s. per acre. It has now been let to a new tenant at 37s. 6d. per acre, the proprietor undertaking to rebuild all the fence-dykes and erect new steadings free of interest, the tenant performing all the carriages. One of the best holdings in the Guthrie district is that of the combined farms of Newton of Guthrie and Drumhead, held by Mr John Ramsay at a rent of £615. They extend to 378 acres, all arable. The soil is free black loam, with clayey subsoil on three-fourths and gravel on the remainder. The better land is worked in the seven-shift rotation, and the poorer fields in the "easy sixes," that is, three years grass, two grain crops, and one green crop. Barley in this district yields from 4½ to 5 qrs. per acre, weighing 54 lbs. per bushel; oats about 6 qrs., weighing 42 lbs.; potatoes from 5 to 7 tons; turnips 20 to-30 tons; and hay about 200 stones of 22 lbs. As a rule potatoes get all or nearly all the farm-yard manure, turnips getting town manure and artificial mixtures, usually guano, superphosphates, and bone meal, to the value of about £3, 10s. per acre. Harvest generally commences in this district about the 20th of August. Mr Ramsay keeps a stock of 70 or 80 cattle. He rears about 20 calves every year, and buys in the remainder at the principal county markets. They are kept mostly on turnips and straw. When potatoes are cheap a few are given to the cattle, while to finish off from 4 to 6 lbs. of linseed cake are allowed per day. Mr Ramsay has not for a long time made any alteration in the system of cropping. As is the case in the district generally, the cattle he feeds are larger and finer than twenty-five years ago, while they are also fed off more quickly. He now buys in two-year-olds instead of yearlings as formerly. Since he entered,, twenty-eight years ago, he has effected considerable improvement both in the drainage and manurial condition of the land. The rent of land in this district ranges on the average from 25s. to 40s. per acre.

On the west of Forfar lie the Earl of Strathmore's Glamis estates, which form one of the choicest blocks of landed property in the country. Compactly and beautifully situated in the very heart of Strathmore, this property comprises 16,850 acres of arable land, 4000 of natural pasture, and 2000 under wood, making in all 22,850 acres. The gross rental amounts to £25,000, and the average rental of the arable land 27s. per acre. The increase during the past twenty-five years is about 10 per cent. Since about 1860 very extensive improvements have been carried out on this property, involving an outlay of over £43,000 exclusive of from £150 to £180 expended every year on planting for some time back. Between 1862 and 1870 about 200 acres of woodland, mostly near Glamis station, have been reclaimed at a cost of about £15 per acre. The land was drained and trenched by spade, and for two years cropped with potatoes, stimulated by artificial manure, costing about £3 per acre. Both crops did well, and each sold for £15 per acre, thus in two years doubling the cost of reclaiming the land, less the outlay in raising the crops. One crop of grain followed, the land being sown down with grasses, fenced and planted with Scotch fir, larch, oak,, spruce, and other varieties. The soil on the lower lying portion of the reclaimed land is thin, sandy loam, but on the slopes it is a good black loam, lying on Red Sandstone. The greater part of the 200 acres was reclaimed by the proprietor himself; about 40 or 50 acres being let free of rent for four years to a contractor who trenched the land, and drained part of it, the proprietor supplying tiles. During the four years he was allowed to crop the land in any way he pleased. Almost every year since 1860 some building, fencing, and draining has been going on on the property. As leases have expired the land has been drained and fenced where necessary, and new houses built, or the old ones repaired, according to their condition. In the course of the next three years the whole of the estate will have been gone over in this way; and, judging from the portion finished, it will by that time be in a condition equalled by few, and, perhaps, surpassed by none in the county. Covered courts are erected on every farm, and the steadings in all other respects made commodious, substantial, and convenient. The dwelling-houses of the tenants are also made large and handsome, while the supply of servants' cottages is being completed. In the building of new houses alone about £20,000 has been expended since 1860, while betw