ON THE AGEICULTUEE OF THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 47 



small indeed, consisting mainly of cows and young cattle. The 

 total number of cows and heifers in milk or in calf in this year's 

 returns is 8494 (or about 1000 less than in 1856), 'and the 

 number under two years of age 16,768, the remainder, 14,278, 

 being above two years. Fifeshire stands thirteenth in Scotland 

 with respect to the total number of cattle of all kinds, and 

 seventeenth with regard to the number of cows in Scotland — 

 Aberdeen and Ajv have upwards of five times as many cows as 

 Fife ; Lanark has four times as many ; Argyle and Perth nearly 

 three times ; and Dumfries, Inverness, Eoss, and Wigtown fully 

 twice as many. This shows what has been already stated, that 

 Fifeshire's strength — and unusual strength it is — lies elsewhere 

 than in its live stock. There are in fact only a very few breed- 

 ing stocks in the county, the 8494 cows being made up chiefly 

 by small lots which must necessarily be kept at every farm to 

 supply the residents with milk. Some of the larger farmers keep 

 fifteen or perhaps twenty cows, but by far the majority retain 

 only as many as will afford a sufficient supply of milk. The 

 calves of these few cows are generally reared and fed off as two- 

 year olds ; but so strong is the dislike which several Fifeshire 

 farmers have to the rearing of young stock that they dispose of 

 their few calves as soon as ever they are in a fit state to be re- 

 moved. This undoubtedly saves a good deal of trouble, but the 

 system we confess seems a slightly strange one. With so very 

 few cows, and with such a large l}readth of turnips to be con- 

 sumed, it becomes incumbent upon the Fifeshire farmers to 

 appeal to the markets for a large stock of wintering cattle. The 

 number of cattle bought into the county of Fife every year is 

 enormously large, larger in fact than in any other county in 

 Scotland. The number of calves reared in the county cannot be 

 laid down at more than 8000 ; and when it is mentioned that 

 upwards of 22,000 acres of turnips are consumed by cattle every 

 year, some idea will be had of the number of cattle that must 

 necessarily be introduced. The greater number of these animals 

 is bought in wdien yearlings, a small proportion being introduced 

 when about two years old. By far the majority are Irish bred 

 cattle ; and w^e cannot help remarking that this is one of the few 

 phases in the agriculture of Fifeshire with which we do not 

 entirely coincide. A large number of very good animals are 

 brought over to us from the Emerald Isle, animals that very often 

 yield their feeders handsome profits, but, on the other hand, a 

 very considerable percentage is of an inferior character. We 

 have seen a few Irish cattle that were carefully treated from their 

 youth upwards (which many of them are not) bring a good deal 

 more money when fully ripe than the average price for home- 

 bred cattle of the same age ; and lately we handled a very fine lot 

 of three-year old Irish oxen, which have been moderately fed 



