as to using cake and corn is the following:--On the
different farms where I feed the cattle, I put a fourth part of their
number only upon cake and corn at one time, and six weeks (which is
about my limit of time for cake and corn, &c., paying the feeder)
before they are to be sent to the fat market. When the six weeks are
expired they are sent away; another fourth part of the original number
take their place, and get their six weeks' cake. When they leave, the
other cattle in succession get the same treatment. When turnips are
plentiful the system works very well. The cattle draw beautifully, week
by week, from the different farms, and come out very ripe. I may
mention that almost all the cattle I graze are generally kept during
the previous winter upon as many turnips as they can eat, and are in
high condition when put to grass. I believe, however, that in the south
of Scotland, where there is more corn and less grass land, this method
would not be suitable. Large bills for cake are not easily paid, and
when paid swallow up our profits. When cattle are fed almost
exclusively upon the produce of the farm, the feeders know what they
are about; but this method of feeding requires time and patience, and
there is a long outlay of capital. Still, if the system is adopted and
judiciously managed, upon medium or high-lying and low-rented land, the
cattle treated as above ought to pay the rent and leave a fair profit
to the feeder. There is no doubt that in the north, and especially in
Aberdeenshire, there is a rage for fine cattle; and on my part it has
almost amounted to a "craze." I would have been a richer man to-day if
I had not been so fastidious in my selections; but I cannot endure to
look at, and never will tolerate, a bad beast on my land. The gentlemen
I buy from know my weakness, and they say, if they are anxious to sell,
We must let M'Combie have a "pull." Many are the lots of beasts I have
bought and culled, and I had to pay for it. Sellers have served me
right. Still there is a fatality follows me that I fear it is hopeless
now to endeavour to get over. A good bullock will always be a good one,
and will easily be made ripe--requiring little cake or corn--and come
right out at last.

The following is the system I have adopted in the selection of the
cattle I have wintered. I buy the best lots I can find during the
summer, fit for wintering and keeping on to the following Christmas. I
then cull the worst of the d