teinds or tithe-rent charge commuted under the Lands Commutation Acts, farm-houses and farm-buildings.
The crofters of the Highlands and islands had their grievances also. During the first half of the 19th century wholesale clearances had been effected in many districts, and the crofters were compelled either to emigrate or to crowd into areas already congested, where, eking out a precarious living by following the fisheries, they led a hard and miserable existence. At last after agitation and discontent had become rife, government appointed a royal commission to inquire into the whole question in 1883. It reported next year, and in 1886 the Crofters' Holdings Act was passed. Amending statutes of succeeding years added to the commissioners' powers of fixing fair rents and cancelling arrears, the power of enlarging crofts and common grazings. Since then political agitation has practically died out, though the material condition of the class has not markedly improved, except where, with government aid, crofter fishermen have been enabled to buy better boats; but in some districts, even in the island of Lewis, substantial houses have been built. After the passing of the act (1886) the Crofters' Commission in 15 years considered applications for rent and revaluation of holdings which amounted to £82,790, and fixed the fair rent at £61,233, or an annual reduction of £21,557; of arrears of rent amounting to £184,962 they cancelled £124,180, and also assigned 48,949 acres in enlargement of holdings. Under the Congested Districts (Scotland) Act of 1897, £35,000 a year was devoted within certain districts of Argyll, Inverness, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, to assisting migration, improving the breeds of live stock, building piers and boatslips, making roads and bridges, developing home industries, &c.
Table IX.—Classification of Holdings above 1 Acre
| Years. | 1 to 5 Acres. | 5 to 50 Acres. | 50 to 300 Acres. | Above 300 Acres. | ||||
| No. | Acres. | No. | Acres. | No. | Acres. | No. | Acres. | |
| 1895 | 20,150 | 65,891 | 33,921 | 608,390 | 22,802 | 2,935,184 | 2766 | 1,284,461 |
| 1903 | 19,560 | 63,961 | 34,018 | 610,669 | 23,075 | 2,970,325 | 2730 | 1,268,843 |
| 1905 | 18,685 | ... | 34,673 | ... | 23,055 | ... | 2718 | ... |
In Table IX. will be found a classification of the holdings in 1895, 1903 and 1905. The figures show that the holdings under 50 acres constituted fully two-thirds of the total holdings and that, though no very decided alteration in the size of farms was in progress, the larger portion of the cultivated land was held in farms of between 50 and 300 acres. The average holding in 1905 was 61.7 acres.
Table X.—Acreage under Cultivation.
| Total Area, including Inland Water, but excluding Foreshore and Tidal Water, 19,458,728 Acres. | ||||||||
| Crops. | Average 1871-1875. |
1905. | ||||||
| Acres. | Acres. | |||||||
| Total area under Crops and Grasses.[1] | 4,560,825 | 4,880,985 | ||||||
| Permanent Pasture— | ||||||||
| For Hay | . . | 148,342 | ||||||
| Not for Hay | . . | 1,302,384 | ||||||
| Total | 1,084,983 | 1,450,726 | ||||||
| Arable Land | 3,475,842 | 3,430,259 | ||||||
| Grain Crops— | ||||||||
| Wheat | 122,513 | 48,641 | ||||||
| Barley or Bere | 252,105 | 212,134 | ||||||
| Oats | 1,007,339 | 962,972 | ||||||
| Rye | 10,480 | 5,598 | ||||||
| Beans | 26,746 | 10,346 | ||||||
| Peas | 2,332 | 910 | ||||||
| Total | 1,421,515 | 1,240,601 | ||||||
| Potatoes | 167,880 | 144,265 | ||||||
| Turnips and Swedes | 503,709 | 445,306 | ||||||
| Mangold | 1,748 | 2,389 | ||||||
| Cabbage, Kohl-Rabi and Rape | 4,656 | 14,725 | ||||||
|
15,828 |
| ||||||
| Total | 693,821 | 617,941 | ||||||
| Clover, Sainfoin and Grasses under Rotation— | ||||||||
| For Hay | . . | 427,686 | ||||||
| Not for Hay | . . | 1,130,591 | ||||||
| Total | 1,338,106 | 1,558,277 | ||||||
| Flax | 731 | 4 | ||||||
| Small Fruit | [2] | 6,493 | ||||||
| Bare Fallow | 21,669 | 6,943 | ||||||
Table X. shows the total area, the cultivated area and the area under grain crops, green crops, grasses and miscellaneous crops. Comparison between 1905 and the average for 1871-1875 clearly demonstrates the change which Scottish agriculture had undergone. Though practically the same amount of land was brought under the plough, there was a considerable fall in the acreage under grain and green crops, but this was rather more than balanced by the increased area under grass, showing that the tendency towards the raising of live stock has become more widespread and more pronounced. Only a little more than one-fourth of the area of Scotland is cultivated, while in England only one-fourth is left uncultivated, but it should be borne in mind that “permanent pasture” does not include the mountainous districts, which not only form so large a proportion of the surface but also, in their heaths and natural grasses, supply a scanty herbage for sheep and cattle, 9,104,388 acres being used for grazing in 1905. Oats remain the staple grain crop, and barley, though fluctuating from year to year, is steadied by the demands of the distillers. Wheat showed a marked decline in most years from 1893 to 1904. Table XI., however, shows that in most cases, even when the acreage occupied by crops is smaller, the estimated yield to the acre shows a distinct improvement, the result of enhanced skill and industry, and the adoption of more scientific methods. In 1905 the yield of hay from clover, sainfoin and rotation grasses amounted to 666,985 tons, or 31.19 cwts. to the acre, and from permanent pasture 209,908 tons, or 28.46 cwts. to the acre, or 876,893 tons of all kinds of hay from 575,220 acres.
Table XI.—Showing Yield of Chief Crops to the Acre.
| Crops. | Estimate Total Produce. | Average Yield to the Acre. |
Average Yield to the Acre. | |
| 1885. | 1905. | 1885. | 1905. | |
| Wheat—Bushels | 1,893,501 | 2,065,381 | 34.33 | 42.46 |
| Barley—Bushels | 8,245,820 | 8,004,446 | 34.72 | 37.73 |
| Oats—Bushels | 33,407,127 | 35,277,807 | 31.93 | 36.63 |
| Beans—Bushels | 709,577 | 364,818 | 30.67 | 36.76 |
| Peas—Bushels | 37,464 | 17,108 | 21.41 | 27.16 |
| Potatoes—Tons | 803,523 | 979,541 | 5.39 | 6.97 |
| Turnips and Swedes—Tons | 6,496,189 | 7,162,794 | 15.39 | 16.08 |
Table XII. shows the number of live stock in 1905, with the average for the period 1871-1875, and illustrates the extent to which farmers have turned their attention to stock in preference to crops. The cattle stock has risen steadily, and a regular increase in the number under 2 years points to the healthy state of the breeding industry. The breeds include the Ayrshire, noted milkers and specially adapted for dairy farms (which prevail in the south-west), which in this respect have largely supplanted the Galloway in their native district; the polled Angus or Aberdeen, fair milkers, but valuable for their beef-making qualities, and on this account, as well as their hardihood, in great favour in the north-east, where cattle-feeding has been carried to perfection; and the West Highland or Kyloe breed, a picturesque breed with long horns, shaggy coats and decided colours—black, red, dun, cream and brindle—that thrives well on wild and healthy pasture. The special breeds of sheep are
