280 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



and in the flanks. These two types of polled cattle were undoubt- 

 edly blended to considerable extent by the farmers of the district. 



In 1808, Hugh Watson of Keillor, whose name is imperishable 

 in Angus history, started the work of definite improvement of the 

 polled cattle of Northeast Scotland, by selecting from his father's 

 herd six of his blackest and best cows and a bull (all polled). To 

 this nucleus he added the same year ten polled heifers and a bull, 

 purchased in Trinity Muir market in Brechin. These sixteen cows 

 and two bulls formed his foundation herd, and from this founda- 

 tion he built up, by skillful selection and mating a herd, of which 

 Wm. McCombie later wrote, "There is no herd in the country which 

 is not indebted to Keillor blood." McCombie also says, in his work 

 on cattle and cattle breeders : "I may notice some of the noblemen 

 and gentlemen who have distinguished themselves as breeders of 

 Aberdeen and Angus polled cattle. Among them the late Hugh 

 Watson, Keillor, deserves first rank. No breeder of polled Aber- 

 deen and Angus will grudge that well merited honor to his memory. 

 We all look up to him as the first great improver, and no one will 

 question his title to this distinction." 



Watson's great work as a founder was ably seconded by the 

 work of McCombie himself as an improver and advertiser of the 

 breed, and many other good Scotch cattlemen were worthy con- 

 temporaries of these two great breeders and showmen, but the 

 brief time at my disposal forbids mention of these men. 



I have spoken of the origin of the breed, and have done so with 

 a purpose, which would be incomplete did I not also speak of the 

 conditions under which this great breed arose. Northeast Scotland 

 is a hardy land rather rough and none too fertile. Much of the 

 land in Angus and Aberdeen is arable, yet much of it is hilly; and 

 nearly all of it is more or less rocky. The climate is damp and 

 cold — not cold as we know it (for it seldom gets cold enough to 

 drive the mercury to zero mark), but cold because of the damp- 

 ness of the sea winds, so that the rawness of the winter winds is 

 as hard on a man and beast as our coldest winter weather. Corn 

 is not grown there, and while oats and barley thrive far better 

 than they do with us, their value is so high that the canny Scot 

 had need to study closely the art of feeding, for there could be no 

 waste without want to follow. Straw and roots make up the bulk 

 of the rations, therefore, and poor feeding beasts (those that did 

 not do well in proportion to the feed given) were not long kept in 

 the herds, for in the judgment of the careful Scot, they were "poor 

 beasties," not fit to perpetuate the race. Furthermore, it was 



