CORTACHY TO PERTH. 



beech and thorn hedges which lead to the Priory. 

 The wooded hill behind was planted by Lord Kin- 

 naird's grandfather, principally with fir cones from 

 the Forest of the Mar, interspersed with beech, oak, 

 and elm, which were just beginning to wear all the 

 varied hues of September. His lordship farms about 

 1,200 acres, and has also three farms temporarily in 

 hand for drainage and deep ploughing by his Fowler 

 and Howard ploughs. His flock of breeding ewes 

 is kept up to 300 Leicesters and 150 Oxford Downs 

 or rather the dun or grey-faced Cotswolds. The 

 Leicesters date from '36, and come from the ortho- 

 dox Midland combination of Stone, Burgess, and 

 Buckley, with Sanday and the Borderers to follow. 

 At one time he bred Southdowns, but Dundee liked 

 something fatter. The Leicester wedders are fed off 

 at from fifteen to eighteen months, and the tups 

 are sold for breeding. Some of them are reserved 

 to cross the Oxford Downs, of which his lordship buys 

 drafts, as well as rams every year from Clark of Wil- 

 liam Strip, and Smith of Bibury. Most of the lambs 

 are sold from the teat, but 240 Oxford Down wed- 

 ders are put up under cover each year. The lots are 

 fed for about twelve weeks each, principally on tur- 

 nips, bruised oats, and cake, and the mutton is sent 

 to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The turnips are washed 

 below, and sent up a hoist on to the level of the sheep 

 pens, which are all on sparred floors, to be pulped. 

 Nineteen or twenty firsts have already rewarded the 

 plan, and the card for the best pen of any age or 



