398 AYRSHIRE: EARLY POTATOES 



is threshed for seed, and will yield up to 3 cwt. per 

 acre of seed, which may sell as high as 8os. per cwt. 

 The threshed hay, very coarse and stemmy, also very 

 green to an English eye, is always chaffed before 

 feeding, but is locally esteemed as highly as rye grass 

 hay. For his temporary leys for grazing our host pre- 

 ferred a mixture containing a large proportion of both 

 Timothy and cocksfoot; he maintained that cocksfoot 

 obtains its bad name because too little is sown, thus 

 introducing in the pasture isolated plants, which are 

 allowed to run up and become hard. Where the 

 cocksfoot forms a considerable element in the sward 

 it can be kept eaten down and remains tender, where- 

 upon it becomes a most valuable grass. 



On these Ayrshire farms, Irish-bred stores, Galloways, 

 and blue-grey crosses from the country farther south, 

 also Ayrshire- Shorthorn crosses, are tied up and fattened 

 during the winter as much for their dung as for any 

 profit attaching to the beef. A good proportion of the 

 beef, as of the cross-bred sheep fattened on the catch 

 crops, are sent off to London for sale rather than into 

 the local markets. Milch cows are kept on many of 

 the farms near the towns or with good railway facilities ; 

 always the native Ayrshires are found, in many cases 

 also the farmer lets them to a bower. There is a fair 

 amount of breeding of the favourite Clydesdales, but 

 the raising of light horses appears to have died out 

 within the last few years. In this delightful country, 

 easy to farm as it is charming to the eye, with the 

 shapely hills of Arran and Ailsa Craig out across the 

 curving bay, the rents could not be considered ex- 

 cessive, ranging from 305. to 505. an acre, the choicest 

 land a little higher still. Labour was dear and getting 

 scarcer ; the regular men got 2os. a week, with potatoes, 

 milk, and a house free. They were nearly all married 



