— — — WORKS ON RURAL AFFAIRS, The Book of the Parm. Detailing the Labours of the Farmer, Farm - Steward, Ploughman, Shepherd, Hedger, Cattle-man, Field-worker, and Dairymaid, and forming a safe Monitor for Students in Practical Agriculture. By Henry Stephens, F.R.S.E. Two Volumes, Royal Octavo, £3, hand- somely bound in cloth, with upwards of 600 Illustrations. " The best hook I have ever met with." Professor Johnston. "We have thoroughly examined these volumes ; hut to give a full notice of their varied and valuahle contents would occupy a larger space than we can conveniently devote to their discussion; we therefore, in general terms, commend them to the careful study of every young man who wishes to become a good practical farmer." Times. The Book of Parm Implements and Machines. By James Slight and R. Scott Burn. Edited by Henry Stephens, F.R.S.E. Illustrated with 876 Engravings. Royal Octavo, uniform with the ' Book of the Farm,' half-bound, £2, 2s. The Book of Farm Buildings : their Arrangement and Construction. By Henry Stephens, F.R.S.E., and R. Scott Burn. Royal Octavo, with 1045 Illustrations. Uniform with tbe ' Book of the Farm.' Half-bound, £1, lis. 6d. The Forester: A Practical Treatise on the Planting, Rearing, and Management of Forest-Trees. By James Brown, Wood Manager to the Earl of Seafield. Third Edi- tion, greatly enlarged, with numerous Engravings on Wood. Royal Octavo, 30s. "Beyond all doubt this is the best work on the subject of Forestry extant." Gardeners' Journal. Physiology at the Farm, in Bearing and Feeding the Live Stock. By William Seller, M.D., F.R.S.E., and Henry Stephens, F.R.S.E. Octavo, 16s. Occasional Papers on Veterinary Subjects. By William Dick, late Professor of Veterinary Surgery to the Highland ' and Agricultural Society of Scotland, &c. &c. With a Me- moir and Portrait. [In the press. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London. Price One Guinea. THE BOOK OF THE LANDED ESTATE; CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE RESOURCES OF LANDED PROPERTY; DETAILING THE DUTIES OF THE LANDLORD, FACTOR, TENANT, FORESTER, AND LABOURER. By ROBERT E. BROWN, Factor and Estate Agent, Wass, Yorkshire. In One Volume, royal 8vo, uniform with Mr Stephens's 'Book of the Farm,' with numerous Engravings. Pall Mall Gazette. "Apart from its own substantial merits, Mr Brown's tall and stout volume is emphatically a sign of the times. It is a product of a period of revolution in the ideas and habits of English landowners. ... Mr Brown's book offers minute and ample answers to every possible inquiry which the landowner's ingenuity can suggest." Saturday Eeview. "Mr Brown is always ready with an intelligent reason for whatever, from the vantage-ground of experience, he takes upon him to recommend. Indeed there is not a chapter from which any reader may not gain some- thing. ... It is impossible even to glance at a tithe of the useful information and advice contained in this volume, which will be certain to be the landlord and the agent's vade-mecum." Borth British Agriculturist. " Mr Brown is plain and practical in his remarks ; he is evidently a cautious and sensible land agent, and his valuable work testifies to his having made good use of his opportunities, his observation, and his experience." Economist. "We can heartily commend this book for the instruction of both land- owners and estate agents. It is full of solid practical knowledge, clearly arranged and expressed— a repertory of all that is essential to be known theoretically by the managers of properties." Bell's Weekly Messenger. " A work admirably calculated to produce a better state of things, not only by pointing out to landowners the advantages that must inevitably accrue to them from their estates being properly cultivated, but by show- ing how that object may be attained." "William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London. CATTLE AM) CATTLE -BKEEDEBS CATTLE AND CATTLE-BREEDERS BY WILLIAM M'COMBIE, M.P. TILL YFOUR SECOND EDITION, REVISED WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBUHGH AND LONDON MDCCCLXIX CONTENTS. CHAP. PA0E I. THE FEEDING OF CATTLE, ETC 1 II. REMINISCENCES 3* 67 III. THE CATTLE TRADE, THEN AND NOW, ... IV. BLACK POLLED ABERDEEN AND ANGUS CATTLE AND SHORTHORNS 86 99 V. HINTS ON THE BREEDING AND CARE OF CATTLE, . ) CATTLE AND CATTLE-BREEDERS. I. THE FEEDING OF CATTLE, Etc. (Read before the Chamber of Agriculture. As my friend Mr Stevenson and some other members of the Chamber of Agriculture have expressed a desire that I should read a paper on my experience as a feeder of cattle, I have, with some hesitation, put together a few notes of my experience. I trust the Chamber will overlook the somewhat egotistical ' form into which I have been led in referring to the subject of dealing in cattle. My father and my grandfather were dealers in cattle. The former carried on a very extensive business : he had dealings with several of the most eminent feeders in East Lothian; among others, with the late Adam Bogue, Linplum, John Rennie of Phan- tassie, Mr Walker, Ferrygate, &c. I cannot express how much T reverence the memory of the late Adam 2 THE FEEDING OF CATTLE. Bogue, as one of the finest specimens of a kind- hearted gentleman I have ever met Other friends of my father and of myself in East Lothian I also recall with the greatest respect; among these let me mention William Brodie, John Brodie, William Kerr, John Slate, Archibald Skirving, and Mr Broadwood, farmers, all eminent as feeders of stock. My father's chief business -connection was with East Lothian; but he had also a connection with Mid-Lothian and the county of Fife, and a large trade with England. At one of the Michaelmas Trysts of Falkirk he sold 1500 cattle. He wished to give all the members of his family a good education. I was kept at school, and was afterwards two years at college ; but to this day I regret my inattention when at school. My father was very unwilling _ that I should follow his business, knowing that it was a very precarious one but what ; could he do with me ? I would do nothing else, and he was obliged to yield. I worked on the farm for years, when not away at the fairs, with the servants, and shared their diet. I cut two harvests, and during the season took charge of the cattle. My first speculation was a £12 grass-field. In this I had a partner, an excellent man, who had been a servant to my father for twenty years. It was a good year, and we divided £15 of profit. This gave me encouragement. I yearly increased my spec- ulations, and gradually got into my father's business at the Falkirk markets and Hallow Fair. My father was very indulgent, and sent me away to a fair when a very young man, giving me authority to buy, and money to pay for, half-a-dozen beasts. I exceeded my commission and bought three little lots—about fifteen in all. The owners trusted me the money I was short. I drove them home myself—about six- THE FEEDING OF CATTLE. 3 teen miles—feeling very proud of my drove. My father examined them next morning, and remarked, " They have not the countenance of beasts." Of course, this chagrined me very much. This was about my first appearance as a buyer of cattle, and some of the beasts I remember to this day. I believe there is no better way to train a young man than to put him to market without assistance. If a man cannot back himself, he is unfit for the trade of a butcher, a jobber, or grazier. My father retired with a good name, and I retained his old customers. On one occasion only did Adam Bogue buy a beast from any dealer except from my father or myself, and he declared he was no gainer by the transaction. He purchased 120 cattle yearly. The late Mr Broadwood always bought about eighty beasts at the Michaelmas Fair. I put up the number and the size he wanted, and he bought them from me and my father for many years, always choosing middle-sized three and four year olds, and never going beyond £11 per head. The highest figure at that time for feeding-cattle at Falkirk Tryst was about £13. On Tuesday morning he came to my cattle, and inspected them first of any he looked at, and asked their price. With such a customer as Mr Broadwood I asked close. To some parties it is necessary to give halter. He then went away and examined the cattle of other dealers, but always came back in about an hour ; and I think he never once failed to deal with me. He was a good judge, and did not require any assistance in selecting his stock ; he came alone. I bad also several dealings with Mr Broadwood's son, but only occasionally, and he did not hold so close to me as his father had done, I also retained 4 THE FEEDING OF CATTLE. the friendship of Eobert Walker, the Messrs Brodie, and Archibald Skirving, and secured for myself that of Mr Buist, the late William Kerr, the late John Slate, and John Dudgeon, Almondhill. My father and I always had about the best cattle at Falkirk Tryst. There was then a great trade with Cumberland at the Michaelmas Tryst for horned Aberdeen cattle. The animals were sent from Cumberland to Barnet in spring, and sold off the marshes fat in July and August.