156
3. Horses. —‘ What has been said with regard to other kindsc ' of live stock, will apply also to horses ; very few are bred in‘ the county, not perhaps one in a dozen that are kept. ’ Thefarmers are supplied chiefly from Ayrshire and Lanarkshire.
4. Swine. —Of these there are considerable numbers in thiscounty, though their flesh does not form a general article offood to the inhabitants. The principal markets for them areLeith and Berwick, where they are bought for victualling ships.
There are not many Rabbit-warrens in this county, and thenumber of Bees has much diminished. Poultry and Pigeons areconsidered to be not merely unprofitable, but to occasion a posi-tive loss to the fanner.
4. Mid-Lothian, or Edinburghshire.
1. Cattle. —The breeds and breeding of cattle have been littleattended to in this county. Milk-cows, however, highly deservenotice in so populous a district; yet they consist of almost everykind in Britain. The cows kept in Edinburgh are brought prin-cipally from Roxburghshire, Berwickshire, and East-Lothian .In other parts of the county, Highland cattle are purchased forthe straw-yards, for fattening on turnips, and for grazing.
2. Sheep are almost confined to the hills, and are chiefly ofthe Black-faced breed. The Cheviot and other varieties havebeen introduced into several situations.
3. Horses. —In 1796 the number of horses kept for the pur-poses of husbandry, was estimated at about 5000, of which notone-half was reared within the county. About 600 were pur-chased yearly from the Clydesdale breeders to support this stock.Since that time, breeding has become more common,
4. Swine are not bred to a great extent, except at mills anddistilleries. The Edinburgh market, however, is always well sup-plied with pork ; but the use of it is not yet common among thelower ranks.
There are few rabbits kept in the county. Of poultry,—geese,turkeys and ducks are not reared very extensively. The Edin-burgh poultrymen frequently bring geese from Northumberlandin hundreds, and send them to the corn stubbles to fatten for thesupply of the citizens. Dunghill fowls are much more numerous.‘ The money drawn yearly by the peasantry of the county,’(previous to 1796), ‘ for poultry and eggs, cannot be less than‘ 8000/,’— Mid Lothian Report, p. 162. At the present time,the sum is probably more than twice as much. At that period,there were about 300 pigeon houses in the county, and the pi-geons were supposed to consume as much wheat as would at anaverage, serve as bread to 3000 souls. A few bee hives were tobe met with over all the county; and Mr Bonner, the bee-master,was then taking measures to extend this branch of husbandry.T his ingenious person calculated the produce of each hive at *