THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND’S WORKS AT LAIRG.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 243, 30 January 1875, Page 2

THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND’S WORKS AT LAIRG.

(From the Inverness Courier.) Among the great works of improvement carried, on by the Duke of Sutherland, there are none more interesting or important than the gigantic operations undertaken for the reclamation of waste land, on the shores of LochShin. The extension of railways to the extreme North has involved vast expenditure, but the outlay of money gvas almost the sole difficulty ; the reopening of the coalpits at Brora was also to a large extent a pecuniary question ; but the reclamation of land on an extensive scale demanded the exercise of mechanical ingenuity and engineering skill, and possesses the interest of an entirely novel experiment. So far as appears, we may add that it has boon entirely successful. The large number of practical farmers who visited the spot were unanimous in expressing their delight and astonishment. The machinery used is powerful and ingenious beyond belief, yet simple in its mode of operation, and there can be no doubt that it subjects the soil to a very thorough and effective process. The only doubt was whether it would pay. Now', there is every reason to believe that the re-claimed land will meantime yield the ordinary interest (which is not, indeed, very much) accruing to a proprietor from landed property; and, besides this, it will add permanent value to the estate, and yield higher returns in the years to come. With the construction of railways, the improvement of the soil, and other works carried through by his [Grace, we should imagine that the value of the Sutherland estates has been vastly increased during the last eight or ten

The spot selected for the present experiment—if we may still call it an experiment—lies beside Loch-Shin, six miles from Lairg railway station, twenty miles from the county tow’ll of Dornoch, and seventy miles north-east of Inverness. Betw r een Lairg and the West Coast stretches a chain of lakes, somewhat similar to the chain in the Groat Glen connected by the Caledonian Canal. The largest of these is Loch-Shin, twenty miles long by a mile in breadth ; and westwards are the smaller sheets of Loeh-Geam, Loch-Merkland, and Loch-More. It

is a wild Highland district, with lofty mountains and open valleys ; but the valleys are more frequently stretches of heather or pasture than the green, birch-clad straths with which tourists are familiar in other parts of Scotland. Patches of wood occur on the shores of Loch-Shin, but they are thin and scattered—very different from the w’oods of Loeb-Ness or Loch-Oich. The district, however, is a favourite resort of anglers, as the lakes yield an abundant supply of fine trout. Late in summer and autumn the commodious hotel at Lairg, kept by Mr. Crawford, is often so crowded that it is impossible for an accidental visitor to obtain accommodation. Tho main road from L urg forks into several branches leading to various points on the West Coast. One road leads along the side of Loch-Shin and its sister lakes to Scourie, and an other forms connection with Durness, Melness, and StraUnaver. In his “ Schools and SclqJWumsters,” Hugh Miller describes the west shore of Loch-Shin, where ho passed some time as a boy on visits to his friends. The tract, he says, though a primary one, forms one of tho tamer gneiss districts of Scotland ; and he found the nearer hills comparatively low and confluent, and the broad valley w here he lived, flat, open, and unpromising. The same description applies to the east side, whero the Duke’s improvements are carried on. “ Though the loch itself,” adds Miller, “ is by no means one of our finer Highland lochs, it furnished, to at least my eye at this time, a delightful prospect in still October mornings, when the light gossamer went sailing about in white filmy threads, and birch and hazel, glorified by decay, served to embroider with gold tho brow’n hillsides, which, standing up on either hand in their long vista of more than twenty miles, form the barriers of the lake; and when the sun, still struggling with a blue, diluted haze, fell delicately on the smooth surface, or twinkled for a moment on the silvery coats of the little trout, as they sprang a few inches into the air, and then broke the water into a series of concentric rings in their descent.” The district has not always been so destitute of trees as it is at present. Immense quantities of fir are found embedded in the moss, and prove an obstacle in the work of improvement. The river Shin issues from the lake, and falls into the Oykell, after a course of six or seven miles. In its low r er pools it is a good salmon river, but the picturesque falls at Achany are a barrier to the ascent of the fish.

It must not be supposed from this description that the soil is poor. Indeed, the reverse is the case, at least throughout a considerable portion of the district. The land rises by a gentle slope on the east side from the shores of the loch to a low ridge, then falls into a broad, flat valley, stretching away to the foot of the distant mountains. The opposite shore seems rather steeper, hut there are miles and miles of open country, nearly all consisting of good soil, green with flying bent, which receives a brownish tint from a slight intermixture of moss and heather. Generally there are a few inches of peaty soil on the top, beneath which a mixture of gravel and clay lies to a considerable depth. The river Tirry, which falls into the lake, is here about four miles from it. Tho land to be reclaimed forms an angle stretching backwards five or six miles from tho junction of the loch and the river, and about the same width at its widest part. But beyond the river, in the great valley abovementioned, there seems to be a breadth of ten miles, and a length of twenty, equally susceptible of cultivation—unless, indeed, the drainage of this flat may be more difficult than that of the slope above the lake. From the summit of the ridge there is an extensive and noble prospect. The district requires shelter, and when the trees which the Duke has planted spring up, there will be much more warmth and comfort than at present. Tho absence of houses as well as of trees is a striking feature. Buildings are now rising for the new farms, but before these were begun, the only houses to be seen from this ridge, which commands such a wide view, were lodge of Sallachy, the farm-hotmr of Dalchork, and two or three shepherds’ cottages, with a glimpse, perhaps, of white walls at Lairg. The farm-house of Shinness, the only other building at that time in the neighborhood, was not visible from this point.