The Management of a Shorthorn Herd. 
391 
years, and the numbers this year, which I cannot state exactly, 
are about the same : — 
Cows. Horses. Total. 
1878 .. ,. 122 .. ., 25 „ .. 147 
1879 .. .. 127 .. .. 27 „ ,. 154 
The staff of men permanently employed on the three farms 
numbers 14, on the farms respectively 6, 6, and 2. On all the 
farms together, 5 men are employed during winter solely about 
the cattle. Of the pleasant relations of master and servants, and 
the interest of the former in the welfare of the latter and their 
children, it would be out of place to speak more particularly 
here, although I would submit that I am quite in order in thus 
briefly referring to a state of things which ensures the hearty 
devotion of the labourer to his employer's interests, a matter of 
no small moment where so much watchfulness and painstaking 
care are required as in the management of a Shorthorn herd. 
Closely similar in detail is the management upon the farm of 
Mr. Alexander Davidson, Mains of Cairnbrogie, Old Meldrum. 
The principal food, however, in lieu of turnips, or to make 
turnips eke out in a bad turnip season, is bran. No cotton- 
cake is used. The bulls are kept in the house, tied up in the 
same byres with the cows, never allowed to run loose with them 
in the field, but led out to them in the field for service. Mr. 
Davidson does not often find any difficulty in getting his suckling 
cows to breed again within a reasonable time after calving. 
My general notes will also apply to the management of the 
herds of Mr. William S. Marr, of Uppermill, Tarves, and 
Mr. Sylvester Campbell, of Kinellar, Blackburn, and the prin- 
cipal variations in particulars are much the same as at the 
Mains of Cairnbrogie. At Uppermill the bulls are not allowed 
to run out with the cows. The chief substitute for turnips in 
a bad season is a mixture of bran and chaff, sweetened with 
treacle. On most of the Aberdeenshire farms is a threshing- 
mill, worked by either water or horse-power. The mill at 
Uppermill is a specially good example, with its ample water- 
power. At Kinellar there is a threshing-machine worked by 
an 8-horse power portable steam-engine, occasionally doing 
duty among the neighbouring farmers. Mr. Campbell's sub- 
stitutes for turnips vary a little from those already specified, 
but are of a similar kind. 
Northumberland. 
The county of Northumberland, rich in Shorthorn historical 
associations, affords examples of management under an altogether 
