ial return on
their capital and labour. Thanks to this policy and the farmers' skill and
enterprise, the county has acquired a remarkable reputation for its
produce; notably oats and barley, turnips, potatoes and beans.
Sheep--chiefly Leicester and Cheviots--of which the wool is in especial
request in consequence of its fine quality, cattle, horses and pigs are
raised for southern markets.

_Other Industries._--The great source of profit to the inhabitants is to be
found in the fisheries of cod, ling, lobster and herring. The last is the
most important, beginning about the end of July and lasting for six weeks,
the centre of operations being at Wick. Besides those more immediately
engaged in manning the boats, the fisheries give employment to a large
number of coopers, curers, packers and helpers. The salmon fisheries on the
coast and at the mouths of rivers are let at high prices. The Thurso is one
of the best salmon streams in the north. The flagstone quarries, mostly
situated in the Thurso, Olrig and Halkirk districts, are another important
source of revenue. Of manufactures there is little beyond tweeds, ropes,
agricultural implements and whisky, and the principal imports consist of
coal, wood, manure, flour and lime.

The only railway in the county is the Highland railway, which, from a point
some four miles to the south-west of Aultnabreac station, crosses the shire
in a rough semicircle, via Halkirk, to Wick, with a branch from Georgemas
Junction to Thurso. There is also, however, frequent communication by
steamer between Wick and Thurso and the Orkneys and Shetlands, Aberdeen,
Leith and other ports. The deficiency of railway accommodation is partly
made good by coach services between different places.

_Population and Government._--The population of Caithness in 1891 was
33,177, and in 1901, 33,870, of whom twenty-four persons spoke Gaelic only,
and 2876 Gaelic and English. The chief towns are Wick (pop. in 1901, 7911)
and Thurso (3723). The county returns one member to parliament. Wick is the
only royal burgh and one of the northern group of parliamentary burghs
which includes Cromarty, Dingwall, Dornoch, Kirkwall and Tain. Caithness
unites with Orkney and Shetland to form a sheriffdom, and there is a
resident sheriff-substitute at Wick, who sits also at Thurso and Lybster.
The county is under school-board jurisdiction, and there are academies at
Wick and Thurso. The county council subsidizes elementary school