166
< masters here, consisted of long accounts of their losses by the
< death of bees in bad years, and by the theft of hives in goods ones.’— {Iiep. p. 167.)
4. Dumbartonshire. i
1. Cattle —A small proportion only of the cattle of this coun-ty are bred in it; the greater part are bought at 2 or 3 years old,chiefly from the West Highlands, and partly sold again withinthe year to the Southern counties, and to England, and partlyfattened. Of late some attention has been paid to dairy husban-dry, for which cows are purchased from Ayrshire and Renfrew-shire. According to the situation, the milk is sold as it comesfrom the cow, or converted into butter and butter-milk, or intobutter and skim-milk cheese. The manufacture of sweet-mill;cheese has been almost, laid aside of late years. The number ofcattle in this county, in 1811, is stated at 9120.
2. The Sheep are of the Black-faced or Mountain breed, saidto have been brought from the counties of Dumfries and Lanarkabout the year 1750. The number at present is nearly 28,000,almost all of which are bred on the farms where they are kept.
3. The number of Horses bred in this county at present is veryinconsiderable ; they are of the Clydesdale breed ; and the com-mon practice is to purchase from Lanarkshire at 2 and 3 yearsold, and sell off at 5 or 6. There is said to be about 1500 horsesin the county, of which more than two-thirds may be constantlyemployed in husbandry.
Pigs are kept in sufficient numbers for domestic use; but onlya small proportion of their flesh comes to market. About 2C0•fallow deer occupy two of the largest islands of Lochlomond inthis coimtv. Poultry are not numerous. Bees afford a very pre-carious, and for the most part inconsiderable, return.
IV. T 'he Central District.
1. Fifeshire.
1. Cattle .—The cattle of this county being of a breed some-what distinct, have been described in the 14-th chapter. Accord-ing to the county Report, the number of cows, about the year.1796, was 10,000; and the whole,stock of cattle, including suchas were brought from other counties by graziers, might amountto, perhaps exceed, 60,000. By later information, the annurlsales of the native breed of the county to other districts, are near-ly 3000 cattle of all ages ; of which only about 300 or 400 are |cows or queys, which are chiefly sent to Mid Lothian. Tic iothers are steers or oxen, commonly of the age of 3 years; kraged oxen are no longer to be found here.
2. Sheep do not form an important portion of the live stock (f ]this county. The flocks are not numerous, and the number cf >