The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-10-05 00:00:00

SPORT AND WASTE LANDS IN
SCOTLAND.

A Correspondent of The Times gives an interesting letter
on the abOve stbject, from which the following is an ex-
tract :

"I have no intention of discussing the propriety of
devoting wide tracts of country to the rearing of game
for the purposes of sport, or of debating any of the
allied questions, SS that of Men versus Deer, Deer
versus Sheep, and Large Farms versus Small Crofts.
Without taking a side on any of these vexed questions,
it is possible for one to accept the undoubted fact that
the attractions Scotland offers to sportsmen are the
means of putting in circulation in the country year
after year a large amount of money which would
otherwise go elsewhere. I do not refer now only, or
even chiefly, to the large sums paid in rent for moors,
deer forests, and salmon fishings. The rent of a single
shooting is frequently large enough to stand for a very
fair income. There are not a few moors in Argyleshire
and Inverness-shire rented at sums varying from
£l,OOO to £2,000 a year, while one—the famous Black
Mount deer forest in Argyleshire—goes as high, I
believe, as £4,500 a year. The Inverness-shire shoot-
ings, which, as a whole, are the most valuable in
Scotland, yield at a moderate estimate £65,000 a year.
That is the estimated rental, I mean, of moors let to
tenants, excluding those kept in the hands of the
owners. The rental of Perthshire, which stands next,
is £45,000. That of Ross and Cromarty may be put
safely at £25,000, that of Argyle at £20,000, and that of
Aberdeen at £15,000. But this money goes into the
pockets of the landlords, who probably spend a great
deal of it out of the country; and it does not, there-
fore, properly fall within the present calculation.
These sums by no means represent all the money
that sportsmen, who are themselves birds of passage,
spend on their way to or around their temporary
destination. A man who pays a rent of £350 or £5OO
for his shooting may lay his account for having to
spend about as large a sum in other ways; and the
greater part of that incidental expenditure goes into
the circulation of the country. When the rental goes
above these figures the incidental expenditure may be
estimated at a smaller proportion. But the majority of
shootings are on the smaller scale. In the vast number
of cases the cost of the etceteras far exceeds the rent,
and therefore it cannot be amiss to reckon the amount
expended on the establishment and its maintenance as
equal at least to the rental. It is not difficult to
understand how the money is spent, though the
spender may have difficulty enough in tracing it. Pro-
bably a considerable family and a large attendant
establishment has in the first place to be conveyed
to a remote part of the country, and then to be
lodged and fed there for two or three months.
And here I may note in passing that the style of
living and consequently the rate of expenditure, even
in out-of-the world quarters, are becoming evezy year
more extravagant and more absurd. Then horses have
to be kept in good condition. Ponies are required for
hill work. The dogs must be kept up to their work.
Keepers mutt be hired, not for the shooting season
only; and in that season gillies and other extra helps
are required. The patronage is thus well diffused over
the district. Men who have to content themselves
with road-making and peat-cutting at other times
get temporary employment of a higher kind, with
better wages. Neighbouring farmers are laid under
contribution for hay and straw, for corn and milk.
There is hardly a shopkeeper in the nearest village
who has not a running account with "the gentry"
or "the shooters," Odd jobs of various kinds fall
to the lot of the tradesmen, who get their own
prices without the aid of Trade Unions. The post-
man finds it profitable to be attentive andthe constable
to be vigilant. The toll-keepers and the hotel-keepers
profit in their several ways. Railway companies,
coach proprietors, and more humble local carriers are
all sensible of an increase of business. It is quite
possible that the Highland glens and moors might be
more profitably as well as more pleasantly occupied
than by devoting them to the purposes of sport; but it
cannot be denied that sport brings large sums of money
into the country and distributes it widely through all
classes. Even the Churches profit by it, not only in
Increased "collections," but also in more substantial
forms. If a clergyman has a debt-extinction scheme
on hand, or wishes to add a spire to his church, he
must be very " blate " if he does not levy contributions
from the wealthy summer visitors in his neighbour-
hood.

- "The question whether
.it is possible to turn what
are called the waste land i of the Highlands to per-
manent and profitable account for the purposes of
agriculture is, as your readers know, at present being
put to the test of experiment on an e,xtensive scale in
Sutherlandshire. About six years ago the Duke of
Sutherland entered on a great scheme for the reclama-
tion of a wide expanse of moorland and morass in the
neighbourhood of Loch Shin. His main object is to
increase the amount of arable land on his extensive
property, so as to raise sufficient food for the inhabi-
tants in cereals, and sufficient turnips and pasture to
enable the tenants of sheep-farms to feed and fatten
their flocks at home in winter. He hopes thereby,
also, to make the land . capable of maintaining
a larger population of thriving inhabitants than at
present. As matters now stand the sheep.
farmers have to send their sheep to Caithness.
shire or to the sea-borders of Sutherlandshire
to spend the winter and to fatten for the southern
markets. This costs from 6s. 6d. to Bs. per head; and
if that expense could be saved, there would be a great
gain to the farmers. His Grace's estates are estimated
to cover 1,176,837 acres, but of this only 26,837 acres
are at present under cultivation, leaving 1,150,000 un-
cultivated—that is given up to sheep and deer and
other kinds of game. Most of this uncultivated land
is rock and scrub; but it is estimated that at least
50,000 acres are capable of reclamation, and it is on
this portion that the duke has boldly commenced his
operations. He began with the intention of reclaim-
ing 1,000 acres annually, That purpose has not been
fully carried out; but, according to the latest accounts,
at least, 3,000 acres of what was formerly waste wilder-
ness are now laid out in smiling farms laden with
healthy green crops and golden grain. The operations
have been carried on in the best manner con-
ceivable, and with an amount of enterprise, skill,
and disregard of expense that are only possible in
the case of a great and unselfish capitalist. Steam
power is the main instrumentality employed in the
work. Inventive genius has been called into play to
meet the unusual requirements of the case, and many
thousands of pounds have been expended in perfecting
the necessary machinery. Upwards of 20 steam-
engines and 400 men are now continually employed in
the 'work. The land is torn up by steam; huge roots
of trees and great boulders are extracted from the soil,
as if they were colossal teeth, by steam power ; steam-
engines are constantly employed in dragging huge
sledges, laden with stones and roots, across the plain.
Dynamite is used to shatter the boulders and the
roots that are too heavy for transportation in the mass.
After the land is ploughed and broken up it is
drained and limed and manured after the most
approved scientific methods. In short, everything
is being done that science and money can accofh-
plish to make sour land sweet and productive. Of
course, the question remains whether, when all this
has been done, the climate will allow the crops to
ripen and be gathered in. Late harvests must neces-
sarily be looked for; and late harvests in these lati-
tudes often mean poor harvests, and sometimes
disastrous harvests. But the remains of forests
found in the soil indicate that at one time
vegetation was luxuriant there, and it is suggested
that with improved cultivation, the climate itself
may be improved. Of course, these operations
involve enormous expenditure; it was at first ex-
pected that the coat would not exceed £23 per
acre, but it has been found in practice that they
coat £3O per acre at least. On 1,000 acres, an out-
lay of £3O per acre means £30,000 per annum;
and that is a large sum to expend on what has the
appearance of being a hobby. To some Caithness
farmers who inspected the works last week the
duke made a speech, in which he spoke hopefully
of the result, but he can hardly expect the work to
be remunerative in his day, It may yield 1 or 2 per

cent. by and by; but the work is evidently one in
which no person could engage who had not a patri-
monial interest in the property. If he does not
profit by the outlay, his son or his grandson will;
and if he has the money to spend and takes pleasure
in that mode of spending it, neither his successors nor
his tenants will have reason to blame him for indulg-
ing so useful or so patriotic a whim. It is his purpose
to lay out his reclaimed lands in arable farms of
various sizes—from 40 to 250 acres—and to attach
to each a portion of improved pasture land.
Every class of tenants will thus be accomodated, and
even the crofters will find that they have not been
forgotten."
[The writer of the above letter then gives an account
of the fishing in Loch Leven, which has been very
successful this year.]