Shorthorns  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
57 
this  respect  Shorthorn  breeding  has  been  the  most  active  and 
efficacious  influence.  To  estimate  exactly  the  extent  or  value 
of  this  influence  would  be  impossible.  It  has  certainly  been 
most  powerful  and  valuable,  more  than  sufficient  to  stamp  the 
spread  of  the  Improved  Shorthorn  as  a great  national  boon. 
What  Shorthorns  have  done  in  Scotland. 
Reference  to  some  historical  notes,  given  in  the  form  of 
appendices,  will  show  that  in  Scotland  the  breed  began  its 
work  at  a very  early  date.  Mr.  Robertson’s  herd  at  Ladykirk, 
Berwickshire,  established  more  than  ninety  years  ago,  very  soon 
made  an  impression  upon  the  stock  in  the  Border  districts. 
Mr.  Heriot,  of  Ladykirk,  whose  father  accompanied  Mr.  Robert- 
son on  his  first  tour  of  inspection  into  Durham  and  Yorkshire, 
described,  in  a paper  read  before  the  Members  of  the  Highland 
and  Agricultural  Society  of  Scotland,  at  Inverness,  in  1839, 
the  “effect  produced  on  the  race  of  cattle  in  the  Border 
counties  ” by  the  use  of  pure  bred  Shorthorn  bulls  as  “ most 
remarkable.”  He  adds,  “ I perfectly  recollect  the  time  when, 
generally  speaking,  the  cattle  of  Berwickshire  and  Roxburgh- 
shire, although  of  a breed  of  Shorthorns,  were  kept  to  a great 
age,  and  then  fattened  with  difficulty,  while  now  the  race  in 
these  districts  possesses  all  the  qualities  of  profitable  stock. 
The  Improved  Shorthorns  are  now  spreading  far  and  wide.” 
Mr.  Rennie,  of  Phantassie,  East-Lothian,  more  than  half 
a century  ago  astonished  the  country  with  his  splendid  cross- 
bred oxen,  produced  by  pure-bred  Shorthorn  bulls.  At  a 
time  when  from  15Z.  to  20Z.  would  have  been  thought  a 
very  handsome  price  for  a fat  bullock  four  or  five  years  old, 
Mr.  Rennie  received  as  much  as  33Z.  a head  for  steers  not  more 
than  thirty  or  thirty-six  months  old.  In  many  other  districts 
throughout  the  south  of  Scotland,  Shorthorn  bulls  had,  during 
the  first  three  decades  of  the  present  century,  been  introduced 
and  used  for  crossing  purposes  with  great  effect.  The  native 
breeds  were  of  various  kinds,  but  were  all  deficient  in  size, 
form,  and  quality,  as  well  as  slow  in  growth  and  difficult  to 
fatten.  The  Shorthorn  bull,  wherever  tried,  at  once  produced 
a marked  improvement  in  all  these  points.  Indeed,  the  improve- 
ment in  the  first  crosses  over  the  cows  from  which  they  had 
sprung  was  in  many  instances  so  remarkable,  that  the  fame  of 
some  of  the  earlier  Shorthorn  sires  still  lingers  in  farming-  circles. 
Mr.  James  Currie,  late  of  Halkerston,  referring  to  the  cattle 
of  his  district,  says : — “ I believe  the  general  stock  of  cattle  in 
this  part  ol  Mid-Lothian,  before  Shorthorns  were  introduced, 
were  very  rough  and  bad  to  fatten,  as  compared  with  the  crosses 
ol  the  present  day.  These  crosses,  mainly  owing  to  high 
