AGRICULTURE IN SCOTLAND — 179I-1796. 59 



county by Mr Webster, who was a farmer in Perthshire, 

 supplying fewer particulars. Mr Wight's reports furnish 

 some details, but they do not differ from those given in the 

 Statistical Account. In the parish of Rerwick, the reporter 

 says that ' a considerable share of attention is still paid to 

 black cattle, which here, as well as all over Galloway, 

 continue to be the staple commodity of the country.' 

 ' The black cattle are the produce of our own county.' 

 ' The horses are mostly Galloways.' The sheep, except 

 those in the hands of a few, are the old breed, of small 

 size, with coarse wool. From'^the parish of Urr, the report 

 records that the best Galloway bullocks, at 30 months old, 

 weigh 30 to 35 stones, and sell at from 7 guineas to £8. 

 Sheep on well cultivated farms are of the English breed, 

 but on the moors are blackfaced. In the parish of Borgue, 

 the farms rent at from 8s. to 2cs. per acre. The grass and 

 temperate climate make the parish one of the finest grazing 

 districts in Scotland. The reporter says — ' The farmers 

 have long been famous for their skill in the management 

 of cattle. Trials have been made of different sorts of black 

 cattle from England, Ireland, and the Isle of Man, but 

 none have been found to answer so well as the true Gal- 

 loways. The farmers here are as attentive to the shapes of 

 cattle as a jockey is to the proportions of a horse. Even 

 an eye or an ear is not to be overlooked.' Regret is 

 expressed that few cattle are kept to sufficient age, or fed 

 out for slaughter. ' When this is done, no beef in the 

 world exceeds it. They are commonly bought up for the 

 English markets at tAvo and three years old. A two-year- 

 old ox or heifer sells at from £s to ;^7 ; a three-year-old 

 from £y to iS^io.' In the parish there were six different 

 kinds of sheep — the Spanish, introduced by Lord Daer ; 

 the Shetland, introduced by Mr Thompson ; the Cheviot 

 fine-woolled sheep, brought from the ' shire of Galloway ; ' 

 the common muir or blackfaced sheep ; the mug and the 

 Bakewell breeds. The three first kinds were only intro- 

 duced in 1793. The mug and Bakewell, or an intermixture 

 of both, constituted the staple of the county. In Balma- 

 clellan parish the crops consisted of oats, rye, barley, and 



