422 HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



provemcnt of the breed of sheep and the management of 

 wool. In particular, it may be remarked that there being 

 some risk of the ancient race of Shetland and Orkney 

 .sheep becoming extinct, the Society in 1823, and subse- 

 quent years, offered premiums to proprietors or tenants for 

 reports on the management of their own flocks. By the 

 offer of these premiums, greater attention was paid to this 

 particular breed, and a report on Sheep Husbandry in 

 Orkney was published in the Transactions in 1824. 



Besides the offer of liberal premiums for wool at the 

 General Shows of the Society from 1835 to 1842, both 

 inclusive, and at the Inverness Wool Fair in 1841, at St 

 Boswells in 1842, at the Perth Wool Fair in 1843, ^^^ again 

 at Inverness in 1844, the Society, during the years 1841, 

 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1845, offered extensive premiums, in 

 a .systematic form, for the improvement of the quality of 

 wool, at general competitions for the whole of Scotland. 

 These competitions were held in Edinburgh, and were 

 conducted by eminent staplers and judges of wool. The 

 first competition was for Leicester, the second for Cheviot, 

 the third for Blackfaced, the fourth for Leicester, and the 

 fifth for fleeces of pure-bred Cheviot, Cheviot crossed with 

 Leicester, Highland or Blackfaced, and Blackfaced crossed 

 with Leicester. Reports of the competitions of 1841 and 

 1844, and on the management of sheep, founded upon 

 the reports of competitors who gained premiums at the 

 competition in 1845, were published in the Society's 

 Transactions. 



In connection with this department, the Society has 

 published numerous reports on the management and 

 diseases of sheep, as well as on smearing and salving, and 

 other relative subjects. The Society also appointed a 

 Committee to enquire into the cause of the low price of 

 British wool, and its proceedings are fully detailed in the 

 Introduction to the Second Volume of the Second Series of 

 the Transactions. 



Stapling of Wool. 



The Society, in the year 1806, offered a premium of 

 thirty guineas for the best and most approved essay or 



