Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 7, 1899

THE CELTIC MONTHLY.
IfiO
Before the construction of the Grand Canal
from Dublin to the River Shannon, a portion of
the Bog of Allen called the " Wet Bog " was
originally valued to the promoters of the Canal
at one farthing per acre. It now lets for tillage
and grazing at from thirty shillings to forty
shillings per acre.
I may be pardoned for introducing this
extraneous matter, as I wish to show the bene-
ficial ertect arterial drainage would have on the
swampy lands of the Highlands. Stagnant
waters produce one kind of unprofitable aquatic
plants ; vegetation is aflected by the quantity
as well as the quality of the moisture which it
absorbs for its sustenance ; and the cold damp
exhalations from the swampy hollows have a
most injurious effect on everything in their
\icinity.
The draining of bog land in Ireland has
proved remunerative, and were the Government
to do for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland
what they have on several occasions done for
Ireland in the way of drainage grants, and a
complete scheme of arterial drainage carried out
in the Highland.^, with a judicious planting of
trees, we should have a more fertile soil, a
healthier and finer climate, a more contented and
industrious peasantr)' : and while the canals
served as the means of carrying oflf the super-
abundant waters, they could at the same time
be utilized as a waterway for the conveyance of
the requirements of the districts they penetrated ;
or used as a motive power for mills, which might
be erected along their banks.
The method of letting farms on long leases
was, during prosperous years, considered one of
the distinguishing privileges of Scots farms, but
in recent years matters have entirely reversed.
(;)n the other hand, yearly tenancy has many
objections. The uncertainty of tenure tempts
the farmer to take all he can out of the soil,
while he has the opportunity; or perhaps, when
he has exhausted or impoverished the soil, he
quits the holding. Of the two evils, therefore,
it is difficult to decide which is to be preferred.
The most satisfactory solution of the problem is
the adoption of the principle embodied in the
Crofters' Holdings Act — security of tenure and
rent fixed by a Commission.
XI. — F I s H E R I E s.
Another industry in the Highlands of equal
ira)5ortance with agriculture is the sea fisheries.
The gross ^■alue of the sea fisheries of Scotland,
according to the Fishery Board returns for year
1887, amounted to £1,915,602 10s. Od., of which
sum £1,128,480 8s. Od. were accredited to the
herring fishery. Now, as the herring fishery
is chiefly confined to the Highland waters, it can
be readily seen what an enormous source of
wealth this harvest of the sea yields to the
country. The means of employment it also gives
to the surplus population of the Highlands is
veiy considerable, for no fewer than 49,221 men
and boj's were engaged in the sea fisheries in the
year 18G6. In addition to this number, 50,973
persons were employed in connection with the
summer herring fishery. The estimated capital
invested in boats, lines, nets, etc., is £1,712,349.
The herring fishery has gone on increasing at
an enormous rate since the year 1809, when the
total number of barrels cured was 90,185;^; in
IS.iO, the number increased to .■i44,009|; while
in 1S86 the number of barrels cured amounted
to 1,103,424]. Of this aggregate cjuantity,
8('io,911 j barrels were exported to Germany and
other places on the Continent ; and a large pro-
portion of the balance was sent to America and
to Ireland.
If it wei'e not for this industry, the Highlands
— with its present low ebb in agricultural
matters — would be in a most deplorable state of
starvation and misery ; but the All-wise Creator
has compensated the poor Hebridean for his
bleak and barren land by providing a rich and
inexhaustible store in the precious treasures of
the mighty deep.
Although the fisheries of Scotland have made
extraordinary progress during the last fifty
years, still there is much room for further develop-
ment ; and, to accomplish this, several things
are necessary. State aid must be given for the
construction of harbours and railways;* and
existing railway companies should be compelled
to carry fresh fish at a rate sufficient to pay them
a fair per centage for haulage, without swallowing
up the entire profits of the industry ; and a suit-
able and central station ought to be selected on
the west coast, where boats and steamers could
land their cargoes so as to be dispatched by the
most rapid and economical route to the great
consuming centres of the Empire ; and lastly,
grants should be made to fishermen, on favour-
able terras, for the proper equipment of the
fishing fleet.
The restrictions surrounding sums devoted by
the Treasury under the Crofters' Holdings Act,
have rendered it next to impossible to apply the
money for what it was intended ; and con-
sequently, very few crofter fishermen have
benefited therefrom.
(To he rwiitiani'd. )
*Siuce the above was written, the Government
{^ranted subsidies to the Higblaud Railway and West
Highland Railway for extensions of their systems.