A PRACTICAL DUKE.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2991, 26 October 1882, Page 3

A PRACTICAL DUKE.

The Dube of Sutherland has just decided to make an experiment, the result of which will he watched with interest by< agriculturists and others interested in land. The sheep farm of Rimbniee. extending to shout 44,000 acres, has been broken up into nine, separate holdings, which are to be let under very favorable conditions. It has long been a standinggrievance among middle class and small farmers that the hill grazings of Scotland are almost all laid out in holdings of from 20,000 to 70,000 acres, which are only accessible to the capitalist. With a view to remedy this state of things : His Grace has resolved on making the above experiment at Kimbrace, The farm was taken over by,His Grace in 1877, when, the well-known series of land reclamations was effected upon it, f r om 1300 to 1400 acres having been brought thoroughly into cultivation, and now bearing excellent crops of oats, turnips, and grass. Altogether a sum of £4O 000 has been spent by the Duke of Sutherland in reclaiming the land and putting it in its present condition. Part of the letting conditions is that His Grace will supply all the capital needed to meet the requirements of the nice farms in the matter of bouses and fences, leaving the capital of the tenants free to be devoted to stocking the farms and like purposes.