FARMERS' REGISTEiR, 



113 



into oblivion tofrether, to be remembered only as 

 the relicp ofa clumpy, iCnot a barbarous age. 



In fine breeds ol' horses, iiorned cattle ami slieep 

 suited to the diderent cliniates and pastures — and 

 in tile c--»relul manner in vvliich these distinct varie- 

 ties are kept .separate, Great Britain takes the lead 

 of the world. The black Caced sheep of Scotland 

 differs so widely from the varielies i'ound in the 

 downs and low countries ofKiigland, that they 

 would scarcely be recoirnized as the same species. 

 The same may be said ol' ihe bjack cattle driven 

 from the hishlands to the markets oTEdinburgh 

 and the northern counties of England, vvhen 

 compared with the various l)reeds Ibund in the 

 level rii-h counties of England. Each variety is 

 confined to localities suited to its size and habits. 

 The mountain cattle and sheep would not succeed 

 well in the low countries, nor would the breeds of 

 (he downs thrive on the mountains. No traveller 

 jn England who knows a horse Irom a donkey, 

 can tail to admire the distinct breeds of horses 

 each in their nature admirably adapted to the 

 services required of them. The carriage-horse, 

 <he hunter, the dray-horse, and the racer, can be 

 distinguished at a single jjlance. The dray-horse 

 in Ihe streets of Liverpool and London, unwieldy 

 as the elephant, with a foot of the size of a peck 

 tub, could scarcely be conceived to be the same 

 species as the little Shetlanil pony, that is seen 

 carrying the groups of gay travellers to the top of 

 Ben-Lomond, climbing over the rocks and up the 

 mountains like so many squirrels. I witnessed at 

 Ratisbon, in Bavaria, one of the finest collections 

 of horses i ever beheld. They were owned by the 

 prince of Taxus, whose expensive stables were 

 more magnificent than many of the palaces of 

 Europe, — fitted up v/ith marble troughs — fbun- 

 <ains Ibr bathing — the name, country, and pedigree 

 of each placed in gilt letters on the wall. The 

 number of grooms, and careful attendance, and 

 other fooleries, reminded me of what I had read of 

 the honors paid to the sacred bulls of India, or the 

 while elephants of Ava. Among these were 

 horses not only from Mecklenburg, Saxony and 

 France, but from England and Arabia; and tome 

 the English courser appeared not only the most 

 elegant m form, but was admitted by belter judges 

 than myself, more active and fleet than those of 

 Arabia itself. 



In ihe preservation of seeds of grain and vegeta- 

 bles, infinitely more pains are taken to preserve 

 the varieties distinct and unadulterated than with 

 us. In the mountains of Scotland, there are certain 

 districts appropriated solely to the cultivation of 

 garden seeds — and no two varieties, that are in 

 danger of becoming adulterated by beinir placed 

 near each other, are allowed to he cultivated in the 

 same .district. I noticed, at Edinburgh, in the 

 collection of Lawson & Son, seedsmen and nur- 

 serymen to the Highland and Agricultural Society 

 of Scotland — 83 varieties of wheat, 62 of peas, 51 

 of turnips, 146 of potatoes, and an immense 

 number of species and varieties of grass seeds, 

 some of which may probably be adapted to our 

 southern country. In a subsequent number, I 

 will endeavor to recur to this latter subject, and 

 point out those species on which it would be ad- 

 visable to make experiments. 



The benefits of societies fur the promotion of 

 agriculture, in stimulating industry and ambition, 

 1 saw exemplified in Scotland, England, and at - 

 Vor- VIII-15 



the fairs of Germany. The Highland Society 

 of Scotland has existed sixty-one jears, and from 

 one of the bleakest and most sterile countries of 

 Europe, Scotland has, with all its disadvantages, 

 risen to a state of agricultural prosperity, fiir be- 

 yond any ihing which could have been expected 

 from a soil and chmale ; and some of the counties, 

 esprcially the Jjoiliians are not inn'rior, in point of 

 cultivation and pioduci, to ;he i idlest in EnL'iand. 

 At a meeting of that society, held a lew weeks pre- 

 vious to my arrival, 177 members were added at one 

 lime, payiiiir three guineas entrance, and one gui- 

 nea annually, and ihet-e included the names oflhe 

 most respectable men in the country. At this meet- 

 inir, there was an additional sum of £1,500 

 (.^7,000) subscribed, to promote ihe interests of 

 the society. Every agricultural county makes an 

 annucd report, and thus thirty-three reports, em- 

 bracing every object of agricultural interest, are 

 annually submitted to the society.* 



English agricultural societies, althouch with less 

 unilbrraity, are sedulously engaged in the same 

 cause, and the result has been the jreneral diffusion 

 of agricultural knowledge. The different soils have 

 been analyzed — the kinds of manures and modes of 

 cultivation adapted to each have been pointed out. 

 The steam engine has been introduced in ihrashinff 

 and for other agricultural purposes, and Great 

 Britain, (including Ireland and .Scotland) which 

 formerly averaged only nine bushels of wheat to 

 the acre, last year produced in the agaregate, 19^ 



* This society was founded in 1784, by a few gen- 

 tlemen, who "formed themselves info a whole and 

 corner club, in a coffee house called the Exchange," 

 in Edinburgh. From a most wretched state they have 

 raised the agriculture of Scotland, until it has reached 

 the very topmost rank. The means which were em- 

 ployed by tiiis society, are thus detailed in the Edin- 

 burgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture : 



" In tlie days of its youth and feebleness, the High- 

 land Society sent the leaven of the turnip husbandry 

 into all the glens and siraths of the north, by offers of 

 small prizes to certain Highland parishes; and the 

 same may be said as to the growth of clover and the 

 finer grasses. As it advanced in strength (as to num- 

 bers and to cash.) attention was paid to premiums for 

 stock ; then came ofi'ers of reward to men of science to 

 discover better implements and machines, to diminish 

 friction and consequently draught, such as in the 

 thrashing mill and other parts ofagricidtural machinery. 

 Still advancing in the scale of intellect and of science 

 premiums were offered for essays to bring to light the 

 facts connected with chemistiy and natural philosophy; 

 and, under the auspices of the society was set up the 

 'Quarterly Journal of Agriculture,' a work which has 

 been the vehicle of conveying so much useful informa- 

 tion to the a2;riculturist, that we humbly venture to 

 say it ought to appear on the table and book-shelf of 

 every farmer's parlor. Afterthis, the great stock shows 

 were resolved upon, as another link of union between 

 the society and the practical farmer, at the same time 

 throwing aside all paltry feeling, and making them 

 open to stock from both sides of the Tweed, [i. e. from 

 England as well as Scotland.] How well they have 

 succeeded, let the last one at Glasgow bear witness. 

 (This was the most splendid show of fine cattle ever 

 exhibited.) Nor has the society forgotten the beauty 

 of the country, as the premiums offered in regard to 

 planting trees and such like subjects fully testify ; and 

 to sum up all, it may be said, the Highland society has 

 been a pomt d'appui, a rallying point, to which the 

 agriculturists of Scotland might look, and a fostering 

 mother to all who, although strong in talent, were weak 

 in interest to make it public. 



