l66 HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



auspices of the Highland Society of Scotland, they have 

 commenced in this metropolis with so much probability of 

 success. Such meetings are of great use in various respects ; 

 they are the means of circulating valuable information — 

 they excite a spirit of improvement, and much advantage 

 is derived from the discussions which they occasion, and 

 from the opportunities which they afford of viewing the 

 various descriptions of stock which a country possesses, and 

 comparing their respective properties and defects. A 

 Bakewell or a Culley, by great skill, ability, and persever- 

 ance, may do much in ameliorating any particular breed, 

 but the improvement of the general stock of a nation can 

 never take place without such meetings as the one which 

 we have this day witnessed.' 



Notwithstanding the success of the shows of Christmas 

 1822 and 1823, a feeling existed in some districts, especially 

 in the north and west, that Edinburgh and neighbourhood 

 were specially benefited by the restriction of the show to fat 

 stock. It was suggested that, if the show were extended to 

 Store Stock, animals might be sent from a greater distance. 

 These considerations determined the directors to offer pre- 

 miums for store oxen. Accordingly, at the meeting of the 

 Society held in the beginning of 1824, a schedule was 

 adopted, in which a prize of five sovereigns was offered for 

 the best pair of oxen of each of the Aberdeenshire, Gallo- 

 way, Fife, and West Highland breeds, the animals to be 

 ready to be put up for feeding. It will be noticed here 

 that, for the first time, separate prizes were offered for each 

 of the Galloway and Fife breeds. There was no prize offered 

 for the Angus breed. The Aberdeenshire cattle might be 

 either Polled or horned. Angus cattle would, of course, 

 have been Polled. The absence of a special class for the 

 Angus is the more remarkable, when it is recollected that 

 the general list, under which the Galloway and Fife breeds 

 were formerly shown, included also the name of the Angus 

 breed. 



At the same time, it was resolved to offer a prize of 

 ten sovereigns for ' the best two cows of any breed for the 



