AMOS CRUICKSHANK OF SITTYTON. 585 



drainage, but he went to work with a will; 

 the necessary improvements were provided 

 and an immediate start was made with Short- 

 horns. Some ten years later the herd had in- 

 creased to proportions that made it necessary 

 to take a lease of the neighboring farm of 

 Clyne, rendering about five hundred acres of 

 land available. This sufficed for a time, but 

 the breeding operations were carried forward 

 on such an extensive scale that it was found 

 desirable to increase the holding still further 

 by leasing another adjacent tract of about one 

 hundred and thirty acres, known as Longside. 

 Still their ambition was unsatisfied, and in 

 1855 the brothers obtained control of the fine 

 farm known as Mains of Udny, some five 

 miles distant, bringing the total area under 

 their control up to 900 acres. The herd at- 

 tained a membership of more than three 

 hundred head during the period of its greatest 

 expansion, say between the years of 1860 and 

 1870, and a lease of the small tract known 

 locally as Middleton gave them possession of 

 fully 1,000 acres. About 1873 the lease of 

 Longside terminated and a few years later 

 that of Mains of Udny, necessitating a large 

 reduction of the herd. In the latter years of 

 Mr. Cruickshank's life he was tenant of about 

 600 acres, the herd numbering at the time the 

 last complete catalogue was issued 1 20 head . 



