36 Cn the Modern Impro^jcnunt of Farm Stock, Feb, 



If jMr Brodieliis merit for introdiiciiig a fine high-priced breed 

 f Iheop, upon his farm at Upper Keith, it ought aUo to be known, 

 tiiat many other people, in Enft Lothian and Berwick [hire, have 

 purchaied icock. at equal hiirh prices, anil, (houUl the mania for fine 

 breeds, whicti at preler.t ri^^es in England, extend into Scotland, 

 and the gentlemen and f-rmers catch the infeftion, there is not a 

 iioubt but that it will turn out a profitable concern to all thefe 

 gentlemen. Who, however, but thole who are interefled in turn- 

 ing- this falhionable folly to advantage, can hear of the extrava- 

 gant prices given for rams, ewes, bulls, &.c. without laughing at 

 the folly of mankind? For Nature, diilributing her gifts with a 

 more equal hand, by no means countenances fuch disparity in value 

 amongfl individuals of the fame fpecies. Thefe, therefore, who 

 give ^0, 100, or 300 guineas for a ram or a bull, may be juflly 

 ranked with thofe who give fimilar fums for a tulip-root, auricula, 

 or rhieen Anne's farthing, and make the purchaie with the fame 

 view, either to feed their vanity, or advance their intereft. 



Do thefe modern reformers of ftock, with all their art, advance 

 the intereil of the public ? or are our butcher-markets indebted 

 to them, fo as to have their mighty deeds pufied off in newfpapers, 

 and their names tranfmitted to pofterity, as benefaflors of their 

 country ? I fufpecl not. Does the Leicefler ram, or his grandfon, 

 get ftock, producing wool, that can be manufaiflured into broad 

 cloth, of all the glowing colours of the rainbow, when refle6ling 

 the glories of the meridian fun ? No : Alas, almoft when white- 

 waihedwith the fumes of burning brimflone, as a modeft covering 

 to the beauties of nature, it can only be wrought up into a raw 

 blanket, or flannel petticoat, which the unhallowed finger mull not 

 touch, nor the eye look upon. Do they get ftock, whofe flelh is more 

 tender and delicate than that of the fmaller native breeds of our 

 iiland ? By no means : Their carcafes contain a fmaller quantity of 

 fiedi in proportion to the fat, and that flefii is more mufcular, and 

 coarfer grained, and confequently not near fuch delicate eating as 

 ihc llefii of the fmaller animals. Wherein, therefore, does the ex- 

 cellence of this fine, high-priced breed of fiieep confill ? In having 

 their furfaces covered over with a thick coating of oleaginous fat, 

 like a feal or a porpoiie, which cannot be eaten by any man of tafte, 

 and is only fit to glide down the throat of a Newcaftle coal- 

 lieaver. I have not a doubt, when this improved breed is brought 

 to perfc6tion, and becomes general, that the fat will be cut off from 

 the furface, before the carcafes are brought to the butcher-market, 

 and barrelled up for the purpofe of making foap and candle, as the 

 blubber is cut off from the furface of the whale. How different 

 from this is the delicate flefli of the fmall South Down fheep, or 

 thofe of the Cheviot hills 5 the firfl, well adapted for thriving in 



the 



