48 ox THE AGfJICULTUEE OF 



an average there was every year 20 per cent, of the Cheviot ewes- 

 barren, whereas with the blackfaced there is not more than live 

 per cent, without lambs. In the severe spring of 1879, the 

 Cheviot ewes only gave 60 lambs per 100 ewes, whereas the 

 blackfaced ewes gave 90. On the other hand, it has to be said 

 in favour of the Cheviots that their wool is worth 50 per cent, 

 more in value than that of the blackfaced, although they give a 

 clip of equal weight per sheep. Cheviot draft ewes are worth 

 about 5s. or 6s. a-head more than the blackfaced, and they live 

 equally well. Of late years blackfaced lambs have been selling 

 fully better than the others through so many Cheviot stocks- 

 being turned into blackfaced, and a fifth more blackfaced than 

 Cheviots can be carried on the same land. 



CatAle. 



When the " Statistical Account of Arran"was written forty 

 years ago, there were in the island three distinct breeds of cattle. 

 These were the native breed, the Arran cow; the improved 

 breed, the West Highlander ; and the imported breed, the 

 Ayrshire. At that time the Ayrshire was fast coming to the 

 front. The admirable milking qualities of the breed, and their 

 w^ell-known adaptability for large arable farms where a dairy 

 was kept, together with the greater profit to be derived from 

 their sale when fattened than from the native stock, clearly 

 pointed them out as the coming breed. Although, therefore, the 

 West Highlander has been almost completely supplanted by the 

 AjTshire, it is open to question whether, in the case of the small 

 upland farms, this has been altogether a wise proceeding. Where 

 good dairy cows, as on the large arable farms, are required, 

 Ayrshires certainly pay best, but on some of the higher farms, 

 with poor pasturage, where the breeding of a few cattle for the 

 grazier is of more consequence than dairy produce, the West 

 Highlander would most likely prove more remunerative. Pure 

 bred Ayrshires are not to be found in Arran except on large 

 arable farms. When the breed was first introduced we have not 

 been able to determine, but that a few Ayrshire cows were to be 

 found in the island forty years ago seems certain. The farm of 

 Sheddog has long been noted for its Ayrshire herd, and the 

 former tenant, Mr Neilson, being a native of Eenfrewshire, was 

 greatly interested in his dairy stock. His successor, the present 

 tenant, a native of Ayrshire, took over Mr jSTeilson's stock, and 

 largely increased it. The bulls employed have been imported 

 from herds in the neighbourhood of Dairy and Kilmarnock, 

 and the stock is now one of the finest in the island. Mr Allan, 

 now of Clauchlands, also an Ayrshire man, introduced good cows 

 and bulls from the mainland, and the late Mr Spiers of Benecar- 



