166 ox THE AGETCULTURE OF 



old wethers. Shepherds' wages have almost doubled durmg the 

 past twenty-five years. In the whiter season each shepherd has 

 from 400 to 500 sheep under his charge, the " hirsels " in 

 summer rancjinc^ from 500 to 1000 each. The duties of the 

 shepherds have been lightened greatly since 1855 by the erection 

 of a large stretch of ring fencing, erected mostly by the pro- 

 prietors, the tenants paying interest on the outlay. Many 

 of the grazings have also been greatly improved within the past 

 twenty-five years by surface draining, effected partly by the 

 proprietors, but mostly by the tenants. Very few sheep are 

 lost by drowning, and both counties are on the whole remarkably 

 healthy for stock. It is seldom that disease of any kind breaks 

 out among the flocks, but occasionally braxy causes loss when 

 great care is not taken to shift the hoggs and wethers in good 

 time for winterino\ At Lanark the wether lambs cost from lis. to 

 15s. a head, and when sold at three and a half years old bring £2 

 or more, while they weigh on an average about 58 lbs. Some 

 of the better stocks, such as those of the Messrs A^liyte, Mrs 

 Kennedy, Glenmoy, and others, often reach 64 lbs. a head. In 

 Glendye, Sir Thomas Gladstone, Bart, of Fasque, has the largest 

 single sheep stock in either county. It numbers about 4000 

 head, from 700 to 800 being ewes and the remainder hoggs 

 and wethers. The large majority of the surplus wether stock go 

 to the southern counties to be finished for the butcher ; but 

 during the last fifteen or twenty years a pretty large number are 

 fed on arable farms in Forfar and Kincardine, on grass, turnips, 

 hay, cake, and grain. 



Throuo'hout the arable districts of both counties a larsje 

 number of sheep of different kinds are reared and fed. A good 

 many arable farmers also hold grazings ; and in addition to 

 wintering their hoggs on their arable land, also feed on it a 

 number of their wethers. Other farmers, who have no hill 

 grazings, buy in wethers for feeding ; while a still larger number 

 breed for themselves a lot of cross-bred lambs. Some buy in 

 cast blackfaced ewes early in autumn, and from these and 

 Leicester tups, rear greyfaced lambs, which they fatten and 

 send to the butcher in June and July, The ewes are also highly 

 fed all the time, and are usually fit for slaughter within a month 

 after the lambs leave them. " A number of farmers have for 

 some years been rearing a very fine class of lambs from half- 

 bred ewes and Shropshire tups. With this kind of stock Mr 

 Buttar, Corston, has been exceptionally successful. He buys in 

 about 200 cast half-bred ewes (crosses loetween Cheviot ewes and 

 Leicester tups) at the St Boswell sales about the middle of 

 September, taking care to select those hailing from high-lying 

 sound land. When taken home they are dipped and put on 

 clean pasture, not too luxuriant at the outset. For about a 



