312 FIELD AND FERN. 



Border counties, and none attended so systematically 

 to the beef points. The late Sir James Graham had 

 at one time a herd of thirty cows at Croft Head, 

 which were purchased by Mr. Yule, his steward, and 

 Mr. Wilkin, one of his tenants. They went to Gal- 

 loway to choose them, and instead of medals or 

 money, bull-calves were given as prizes to the 

 Netherby tenants who showed the best lots of five 

 yearlings and as many two-year-olds. Gibbons of 

 Moss Band had once the best herd on the estate, and 

 John Johnson of Pedder Hill was very close up with 

 him. The showers of Galloway cattle at the High- 

 land Society are comparatively small, and it is quite 

 of late years that they have come up in sufficient 

 force to bring the rule into play — that if there are 

 more than three of the breed in a class, they are to 

 be judged separately from the Angus. 



In Wigtownshire they have no Highland Society 

 men among them. The Earl of Galloway used to 

 exhibit, and so did Mr. Stewart of Glasserton ; and 

 now James Gifford of Bladenoch, M^Whinnie of 

 Milton, and Agnew of Balscalloch are generally fore- 

 most at the local shows. Kirkcudbrightshire gets 

 most prizes at the Dumfries Union. The Earl of 

 Selkirk had once a herd at Grange of Kirkcudbright, 

 but it is now kept at Canee, and is not in its old 

 form. The Sproat stock was once most celebrated, 

 but he has not been steady to his early love, and 

 crossed them with Anguses, and then with short- 

 horns. He was the breeder of Borness or Cumber- 



