THE LOWLANDS. 311 



sume a great deal of milk in all its forms. The in- 

 creasing demand for dairy produce has created the fine 

 breed of Ayrshire cows probably just our Brittany 

 race improved' and has changed those ancient heaths 

 into profitable pastures. Dunlop cheese almost the 

 only kind of Scotch cheese which has any reputation 

 is made from the Ayrshire milk. In the space of a 

 century, the rent of land in the county has increased 

 tenfold. One will cease to wonder at this, when it is 

 stated that milk in Glasgow is sold at 3d. per quart, and 

 butter at Is. 2d. per Ib. 



The upper part of the Clyde Valley or, as it is called, 

 Clydesdale is remarkable for another production, which 

 also owes its origin to the commerce and industry of 

 Glasgow * namely, a breed of very powerful draught- 

 horses, well adapted for heavy loads, such as are required 

 for the traffic from the collieries in the district, and for 

 the trade of the port, which, after London and Liverpool, is 

 the most active in Great Britain. 



Finally, the north part of the Lowlands, comprising 

 the low grounds of the counties of Forfar, Kincardine, 

 Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Nairn, and Caithness, and which 

 remained for a long time very backward, because of the 

 unfavourable nature of the climate and greater distance 

 from markets, is, in its turn, making great progress, since 

 railways have reached it, and now unite Aberdeen to 

 London by way of Edinburgh. The two principal towns 

 in the district, Aberdeen and Dundee, have each a popu- 

 lation of about seventy thousand, and carry on several 



* The Clydesdale breed of horses certainly dates earlier than the rise of the 

 commerce of Glasgow. It is said to owe its origin to one of the Dukes of Hamil- 

 ton, who, in the seventeenth century, introduced stallions from Flanders, which 

 were used to cross mares selected from the best Lanarkshire breed. No doubt it 

 has been much encouraged by an increasing demand in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood. J. D. 



