164 ox THE AGEICULTUllE OF 



keep small flocks of blackfaced ewes, and from these and 

 Leicester tups they raise a very good class of greyfaced hoggs, 

 whicli they generally sell to be fed on arable farms in the lower 

 parts of the county. A few of these small tenants rear pnre- 

 bred blackfaced lambs, and of these the wethers are sold to 

 larger farmers to make part of their stock, while the ewe 

 lambs are retained by themselves to replenish their ewe 

 stocks. On the lower and greener parts of the larger grazings, a 

 few ewe stocks are also kept. The largest breeding stock belongs- 

 to Mr William "Whyte, Spott, who, with his father and brother,, 

 also owns the largest general flock. Mr Whyte's flock of ewes 

 numbers about 1000 head, and they are of a very high character. 

 He is careful to use good tups and also feeds well, and thus 

 rears a class of wethers that are invariably about the best 

 reared in the northern half of Scotland. The system of manage- 

 ment will perhaps be best understood from a brief sketch of the 

 treatment a flock receives from the time it is bought in till it is 

 sold off as two and a half or three and a half year olds. When 

 taken home from Lanark the lambs are washed or dipped. For 

 a short time they are kept on clean land preserved specially for 

 them, care being taken not to give them too rich pasture at the 

 outset. If commenced on moderate pasture they are usually 

 hardier for the winter, than wdien they are fed highly at the 

 outset. In the first or second week of October they are taken 

 down from the hills, and kept on grass in the lower parts of the 

 county till February, when they get a daily supply of turnips, 

 the cost of this system of wintering ranging from 4d. to lOd. a 

 head per week. They are returned to the hill about the second 

 week in April, and are clipped about the 20th of June, being taken 

 down again about the first or second week of October, and 

 wintered on grass as the first winter, excepting that if they are 

 not to be sold three and a half years old they receive no 

 turnips. When they are to be sold off* when two and a half 

 years old, they are wintered almost as well as when hoggs, 

 receiving a liberal supply of turnips. In their second and 

 third years they are dipped before being sent to the wintering. 

 A much larger number is now sent off' when two and a half 

 years old than formerly, which is in the main the result of a 

 more liberal system of feeding during winter, and of the early 

 maturing properties of the breed being made the subject of more 

 special care. When sold the large majority are in pretty high 

 condition, many almost fit for slaughter, the general time for 

 selling being about the middle of October. The large majority 

 are sold at local markets, some being sold at home by auction 

 and others sent to auction marts. From the higher reaches 

 the whole stock have to be withdrawn during from six to twelve 

 weeks according to the character of the weather ; but on the 



