M8 
Report on some features of Scottish Agriculture. 
therefore, we have the explanation of a very striking feature, viz., 
that sheep are not often, except as a matter of fancy, bred on 
the arable farms of Scotland, particularly on land of high fertility. 
No such broad generalization can be drawn with regard to 
cattle. In the Lothians cattle are not bred, nor are they in the 
strip of arable land on the west coast ; but in Aberdeenshire 
and the Angus district, as well as in the more or less elevated 
regions of Galloway, Ayrshire, and the Highlands, the dif- 
ferent native races are bred in considerable numbers. Herds 
of pure Shorthorn blood are distributed about the country, but 
they have more influence on the quality than on the number of 
the feeding cattle raised in Scotland. It has been justly remarked 
by an agricultural writer that, while many Scotch farmers prefer 
to buy cattle in England, English feeders, on the other hand, 
often prefer to get their supplies from the north side of the 
border. Lothian farmers, however, are still chiefly supplied with 
lean cattle from the northern districts, though not so abundantly 
as heretofore ; they are, therefore, more dependent on supplies 
of imported Irish cattle, and on what they can buy at the 
northern English fairs. Two causes have combined to produce 
this result: — firstly, more cattle are fattened all over Scotland, 
especially in the north, than was formerly the case ; and, secondly, 
fewer cattle are bred in consequence of their displacement by 
sheep. 
The paucity of breeding flocks and herds on the arable farms 
of Scotland is accompanied by a rarity of permanent grass. The 
two features can hardly be associated together as cause and effect, 
in consequence of their existence not being coincident in all 
cases. Even in Aberdeenshire, where, as I shall show, a large 
number of beasts are annually bred on arable farms, there is com- 
paratively little old grass except in private parks. The reason 
is simply that it pays better to keep the land under the plough, 
allowing the seeds to remain two years, and in some cases three. 
But it does seem remarkable that in Aberdeenshire these 
" seeds " can keep heavy bullocks in good and improving con- 
dition, while in the Lothians, on the contrary, they are distinctly 
more profitable when pastured by sheep. 
The dependence of arable farmers on hill farms, for their 
supply of feeding sheep, is to a certain extent counterbalanced, 
in some districts, by the dependence of hill farmers on occupiers 
of arable land for winter keep for hoggs. The system will be 
described more particularly under its proper heading ; but it is 
necessary here to mention that most hill farmers find it desirable 
to send their hoggs on some lowland grass during the first winter, 
at a certain price per head for the season. This consideration 
has a great influence on the price of farms both on the hills and 
