Ten Years of Ea.st Lothian Fannimj. 107 



the English breetls of sheep might with advantage he introduced 

 into East Lothian. 



Southdowns have long been bred ^ in the county, several flocks 

 having been carefully cultivated for half a century ; but though 

 Avell adapted to the -soil and climate, they are not on the increase, 

 and the rams are chiefly used to propagate cross-bred lambs for 

 spring consumption. Lincolns, which were tried to a small 

 extent, have been abandoned ; butCotswolds in limited numbers 

 may be said to have made good their footing, whilst several 

 farmers have resolved to try the handsome Down sheep of Shrop- 

 shire. Last autumn, tempted by a temporary cheapness caused 

 by drought in the south, several flock-masters brought 300 or 400 

 Hampshire Downs to East Lothian, in order to try their merits. 

 As regards the ewes, the experiment is still in progress ; but the 

 wethers have been sold at a fair profit. Being strcjng sheep, they 

 fetch large prices ; but their appetite seems quite in propf)rtion 

 to their bulk, and their personal appearance is certainly not 

 prepossessing. It is, indeed, difiicult to imagine how this breed 

 could establish itself in countries so near the home of the South- 

 down, of which it seems but an uncouth imitation. 



The sheep most prevalent in East Lothian are Cheviots and 

 half-breds. The former are chiefly fed during winter, being pur- 

 chased in autumn from mountain districts. The half-bred (the 

 produce of a Cheviot ewe by a Leicester ram) is the sheep which 

 dots the summer pastures, and supplies the chief part of the ewes 

 bought for breeding, though pure Cheviots are also used. Pure 

 Leicester flocks are kept in considerable and increasing numbers, 

 the rams of which are readily sold by auction, though at prices 

 much below those obtained by fashionable breeders in other 

 counties. Leicester sheep, fat for the butcher, are almost unsale- 

 able at home, and are sent to Newcastle, where the colliers do 

 not object to a little tallow. It is the general opinion of farmers 

 that no stationarv breeding-stock will pay unless the males can be 

 sold for rams. Half-bred ewes are bought each September and 

 October for about 40.f. from breeders in pastoral districts who 

 have already reared crops of lambs from them, and are sold fat 

 during the following summer, leaving generally a shilling or two 

 of profit for their keep, as well as their fleeces and lambs. The 

 profit from feeding sheep during the present winter is large ; 

 Cheviots folded on turnips, with an allowance of cake or corn, 

 leaving about l^-., and in some instances Is. Ad. per week. 



Implements. 



Scotland, in all that pertains to its agricultural implements, 

 the cerealia arma of the husbandman, is thoroughly utilitarian ; 

 and as a rule the machines of the farm are simpler and cheaper, 



