316 FIELD AND FERN. 



rare as a horn or scur. Once tliey had white backs, 

 and were brindled and horned as well, and some few 

 were " belted," or white in the middle. For some 

 years an advocate of this peculiar branch of " sparki- 

 ness" gave special prizes at South Tyne, and candi- 

 dates came from up the Tyneby Gilsland, Stapleton, 

 and Kingwater. Scarcely a belted or a brindled 

 one is to be found now, but sometimes one with a 

 white forehead. General Sharpe was fond of a sort 

 which were " black with white facings/^ and were 

 sometimes spotted under the eye or mottled on the 

 face, exactly like a Hereford. The General was 

 never without a bull of this sort, and a small herd of 

 them was kept on his Tower of Repentance farm when 

 he died. Many Ayrshires have been put to Galloway 

 bulls, and the calves come with black smooth skins 

 and narrow heads, which seem to grow narrower 

 with age. 



The best old grass in Galloway is supposed to be 

 in the parishes of Kirkcudbright and Borgue -, and 

 Milton Parks in the former, cannot be excelled. 

 The great majority of cattle in Kirkcudbiightshire 

 get hay and straw, with a few turnips under sheds. 

 In Wigtownshire the farmers feed higher, and use 

 turnips and cake more freely, to push them on for 

 the Liverpool market. The softer climate of Dum- 

 friesshire suits the winterers best, but there has been 

 very little loss from disease in Kirkcudbrightshire 

 since the farming became higher. Poor land not 

 broken up makes them very liable to red-water, and 



