DUCAL DEVELOPMENT side of the machine. By this means, not
only more and better sheep, but cattle too can be introduced. From the Duke's other estates have come Shorthorns from Cheshire, Gallo- ways from Invernessshire, and Welsh Blacks from Merioneth. All are prospering, but especially the latter.
3. A base farm not too far away; the steep freight charges to which Sir Compton refers would make it hopeless to import fodder from the far South; but by a link with the arable farms of the Eastern sea board, supplies of fodder can be taken to the North West not too expensively, or second best because the manure is lost, the cattle can be taken to the East for the winter.
4. Fishing. It was realised that mere fish in the water and boats and men to catch them were no proposition unless means existed of selling the fish. At the once derelict port of Kinlochbervie the Duke built an ice fac- tory; that got over the immediate freezing problem; then a transport service was provided each night to Aberdeen, over 200 miles to the S. East, and for any fish which could not be sold on the quay, he guaranteed the ruling' Aberdeen price. The project is going well. More and more boats are using the port, many coming right round from the Moray Firth, their crews going home by bus at week- ends.
5. Housebuilding--a self-evident require- ment.
6. Transport. This is a key service on which all the others to a greater or lesser degree depend. It cannot of itself, and in these early years, pay. The Duke bought, be- fore nationalisation, the goods and passenger services in the area, and was allowed to keep them after that date. There can be no per- manent happiness or stability for the lonely houses and hamlets of the far North, unless they are linked daily by road transport. These splendid people, who think of Aberdeen as the Deep South, and particularly the women- folk, cannot he expected to stay if the margin between their amenities and those generally regarded as being normal by the rest of the nation is too wide.
There will be many who are watching this experiment in N. West Sutherland with hope, and with anxiety that the death of the Duke will not interfere too much with the finance available. Certainly it is worthy of bringing to the notice of a wider circle of people than were allowed to know of it in his lifetime, for his enthusiasm about good land owner- ship was only exceeded by his reluctance to allow any attention to be drawn to his achievements. —Yours faithfully, J. A. DUNCAN Home Farm, Landlean, Birkenhead J. A. DUNCAN Home Farm, Landlean, Birkenhead
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