46 
Relative Profits to the Farmer from 
I consider that, under ordinary circumstances, the breeding and feeding of 
cattle and sheep combined are most profitable ; and I have found that close 
attention to one kind of breed paj'S best either as regards cattle or sheep. 
During a long experience in the breeding and rearing of horses, sheep, and cattle 
— in horses, from the thoroughbred, Cleveland, Clydesdale, and crosses — I have 
found that the most useful horse for general work has been a cross between the 
Clydesdale stallion and the Cleveland mare. They are generally hardy, and 
go through their work quickly ; the Clydesdales, although more easily kept 
in condition, are slower and cannot go through the same amount of work. 
Having experimented on the breeding, rearing, and feeding of several, or 
almost all our recognised breeds of cattle, and crosses from the pure breeds, 
I have invariably found the Polled Angus — true to their character as handed 
down by their first great improver, the late Hugh Watson of Keillor — 
the most suitable for this district, or I could almost say any district. No 
kind of cattle yields so much fine beef oa the same quantity of food con- 
sumed. As an instance of the healthiness of that breed, I may say that I 
have kept from 40 to 60 Angus cattle during the last thirty years, and I never 
lost but one by any disease — which was a cow, by grass disease. 
Bought-in cattle sometimes leave more money to the feeder per month than 
home-bred beasts, but they are not so sure or safe stock. Home rearing cattle 
•of good sorts, sold off betv;eeu 2 and 3 years old, generally leave 11. per month 
for their keep; if artificial food is given, they leave more. Moreover, until 
foreign and Irish cattle were imported, disease among our herds was unknown. 
Thos. Feegusox. 
31. Eglwtsnuntd, Taibach, South Wales, 
I think farmers could breed more horses, cattle, and sheep with advantage. 
On very poor land, and on arable farms where artificial grasses are not largely 
sown, I think it would be more profitable to purchase the necessary horse 
.supply. On the other hand, on mixed arable- and pasture-farms, horses, I 
believe, can be bred with profit, especially cart-horses. On wholly arable 
farms, it is usually better to buy than to breed cattle. When the climate is 
very wet, and the land iieavy and undi aincd, it is better to buy than breed sheep. 
For farm-work I think nothing can siypass the horses which are bred in 
South Wales. They much resemble the Clydesdales. 
Having kept several breeds of cattle, I find Herefordsdo better than any other. 
In regard to sheep, I would give the preference to Oxford Downs. 
W. S. Powell. 
32. Denbie Mains, Dumfriesshire. 
High-rented land suitable for the fattening of cattle and sheep, and the 
manufacture of dairy-])roduce, is not so well adapted for the profitable 
breeding of horses as that at a lower rate. They are most profitably bred on 
the best class of pastoral farms, whicli produce abundant though coarser 
herbage, and grow horseflesh at a lower cost than arable farms, where work 
is more constant and severe, and the feeding of greater relative cost. Although 
a great many breed hor.ses on high-rentid land, I think the produce could be 
better employed, and a correspondingly increased number reared in the higher 
lands to be substituted for them. 
The best arable farms arc the cattle-feeding ones ; and it is not unworthy 
of notice that, while their occupiers easily turn to breeding, the breeders on 
inferior and pastoral farms cannot well turn to feeding. It follows that both 
