542 MULL. AGRICULTURE. 



It may be said in general that Mull is among the islands 

 least adapted for the cultivation of grain, and its po- 

 pulation, estimated at 10,000, of which the chief agricul- 

 tural occupation consists in grazing, is consequently 

 compelled to exchange the cattle in which it abounds, 

 and of which it consumes but little, for imported corn. 

 The absence of commercial habits, and the want of a 

 steady and well regulated demand for that commodity, 

 produce at times considerable inconveniencies, as might 

 be expected ; since the supply cannot always be pro- 

 cured at the moment the demand occurs ; and these 

 accidents, unavoidable in such a state of things, have 

 here as elsewhere produced the usual clamour, even 

 among those whose superior education should have 

 taught them where the real cause of the evil lay. 



Since the climate of Mull is principally adapted for 

 grazing, the opulent and enlightened proprietors and 

 tenants who reside there, have lately turned their attention 

 to this object, with the usual result of an essential augmenta- 

 tion in the quantity, and an amelioration in the quality, of 

 their stock. The number, both of black cattle and sheep, has 

 been increased, and the breed of the former materially 

 improved. The Tweedale breed of sheep has been uni- 

 versally substituted for the ancient Highland one, which 

 is now rarely to be met with except in St. Kilda and the 

 other remote isles. A few of the Cheviot race are also to 

 be found in the low farms, but their supposed delicacy has 

 hitherto prevented their extensive adoption in a climate 

 so boisterous. The introduction of green crops, an im- 

 provement so little known in the islands, has been com- 

 menced; and time, which makes the philosophy of one 

 age the prejudice of the succeeding, will at some future 

 period establish that as a system which is now considered 

 as an innovation. 



The horses of Mull have been long noted for hardiness, 

 but the breed has been lately much thinned in conse- 

 quence of the allotment of farms, the improvements in 



