rit in improving marshes and bogs; and so has Mr Campbell of Ensay in Harris, and Mr Chapmann near Stornoway in Lewis.

It is impossible to state with precision the present value of the lands thus reclaimed; for an acre of good, arable, and easily managed ground is of more importance in this part of the empire, than any rents hitherto paid for land in the Hebrides would warrant us to imagine. But we certainly do not appreciate it too highly when we fix the average value at 15s. an acre. The circumstance which renders the discussion of this matter important is, the contrast between the former and the present value. It must always be remembered, that marshes and bogs in the Hebrides differ very essentially in present value from those of England or the south of Scotland, where they are turned to considerable account in raising reeds, willows, bulrushes, &c. so as to approach nearly in rent to their extent of improved land; whereas these wastes in the Western Isles are completely lost, or even pernicious to the farms which they encumber, by destroying weak cattle and horses which attempt to pasture on them. The difference of their former value and that of their present improved state may, without exaggeration, be stated at one to twenty, or even one to twenty-two at a general average. The expence of improving bogs and marshes, &c. it is impossible to ascertain per acre, as it varies on every farm, and even on the same farm, and in the same field, according to a thousand different circumsances of soil and local situtaion. In general, it rarely exceeds L. 10. or L. 12. per acre; and sometimes the two first crops pay the whole expence.

Here we need not dwell upon the causes of that apathy and improvidence which prevent so many hundred thousand acres of reclaimable land from being improved for the benefit of our country. The same arguments which we would urge have been bandied about for ages; and until the efforts of enlightened patriots, and the illumination which the institution of a Board of Agriculture is calculated to pour over our kingdom, shall have roused both landlords and tenants to a full conviction of their joint interests, we can expect very little good to result from the calculations of experience or the suggestions of prudence; and we shall continue to meet with the same apology from tenants for poverty and indolence in the Hebrides, as we do in Cornwall, Derbyshire, and Ireland,-" "Tis not our fault that our wastes are unimproved ;-Give us feus or long leases, and melioration for what we do, and you shall see no more wastes in the Highlands than you do near Edinburgh or Glasgow."

CHAPTER

CHAPTER XII.

IMPROVEMENTS.

SECTION I.-DRAINING.

NEXT to roads and inclosures, draining is the most necessary improvement in the Hebrides, but unfortunately very little attention has hitherto been paid to it. Neither grass nor corn can thrive on a wet bottom; and such quantities of both as may with great difficulty be raised, must be of bad quality and late in harvesting. The effect of manures, of whatever description, is also lost upon such soils, and they cannot possibly be dressed in any respect in a proper manner. So sensible of this are the best Hebridian farmers, the proprietors of Islay, Collonsay, and Gigha, that they have, for several years past, carried on a systematic plan of drain

ing their estates at a very considerable expence, and exhibit that species of improvement in as high perfection as any agriculturists in the kingdom.

The larger isles are, at certain seasons of the year, annoyed by such tremendous deluges of rain, that the surface water furrows and tears up the best fields in a cruel manner, and the largest open drains can scarcely contain the overwhelming torrents: Covered drains or sivers are entirely out of the question. In consequence of this inconvenience, many farmers despair of doing any good to their lands by draining, and therefore content themselves with helping the waters to as smooth and uninterrupted a course or passage as they can, hopeless of deriving any benefit from opposition or restraint. To persons in this situation, the minor scientific modes of draining are of secondary importance, however useful and proper these may prove in other cases; and they cannot make any progress in the great improvement under review, without having recourse to fencing their drains and the divisions of their fields with suitable bulwarks against the floods, as is done in other parts of Europe, such as Styria, Carinthia, and Switzerland, which are frequently visited by similar inundations. In those countries, the drains, on sloping grounds near the sides of mountains, are built with stones or wood at the sides and bottom, and strong posts of the same materials are driven into the banks for the purpose of strengthening and consolidating them. Stones are abundantly plentiful in the greater number of the Hebrides, but there is such want of wood that the Styrian and Carinthian modes cannot soon be adopted; and therefore we proceed to the dif

ferent

ferent subdivisions of this section, on which any thing worth notice occurs in the Hebrides.

1. To any person acquainted with the surface and climate of these isles, it must be sufficiently obvious, that Mr Elkington's boring process for removing latent water, or rather water which, though palpable enough in its effects, is not always easily traced on the surface, does not admit of application in this district: And accordingly we do not enter upon the description of it, which occupies considerable parts of so many other agricultural reports.

2. Open cuts.-These will always constitute the main part of Hebridian draining. They may frequent

ly

Dr Walker's advice on this species of Hebridian improvement may prove useful in many cases.

"There is a simple and easy operation, not generally practised, which ought always to be performed previous to the draining of any land whatever.

"Before any attempt is made to drain a field, it is certainly of consequence to be as well informed as possible concerning the state of the water under ground. The easiest and the most effectual way for this purpose, is to dig a number of small pits, about three feet deep, in different parts of the field. These should be suffered to remain open for a whole year.

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By these pits the depth of the soil and the nature of the subsoil will be exposed to view.

"They