ON THE LIVE-STOCK

os

lued for their size, any real improvement was not to be ex-pected. As they were formerly very generally employed inlabour, it seems to have been the first object, to obtain a breedstronger than the native for that purpose. Horses, however,have now nearly superseded oxen in these counties, as wellas in other parts of Scotland , and a large coarse animal isno longer esteemed. The best breeders have recourse to noother means of improvement than selection among the nativeraces, which they are now convinced can be brought to anyprofitable weight by better feeding, and which they find tosell better in the English markets than any cross-breed. Itis observed, that every succeeding generation of the cattle ofAberdeenshire has increased in size for the last thirty years,“ and that by good keeping, the native breed is double itsformer size, (that is, weighs at least double its former weight),since the introduction of the turnip husbandryThese cattle differ from the West Highlanders in their hair,which is much shorter and thinner set,—in their horns, whichdo not taper so finely, nor stand so much upwards, and they arealso of a whiter colour. They are thinner in their buttockin proportion to their weight; and deeper in the belly, in pro-portion to their circumference. The colour is commonlyblack, but there are more of a red and brindled colour, thanamong the West Highlanders.

The weight of the largest breed of Aberdeenshire , (whichseems to have originated from a cross with Fife bulls), whenfive years old, is said to be from 40 to 56 stones; at sevenyears, from 56 to 64; and when full fed, from 80 to 96 f; butthe ordinary weight of middle-sized stots, from four to fiveyears old, when fed with rich grass for one summer, and withturnips the following winter, is from 40 to 48 stone. Theweight, of the cattle of Banff" and Kincardine runs between

Aberdeenshire Report, p. 468. f Ibid, p. 461-17!.