with sulphur and ginger: I never saw this treatment fail. Paralysis is
a more serious matter: in that case the firing-iron must be applied,
and after the most skilful treatment the results are often very
unsatisfactory. Cattle of all ages that are confined are liable to
paralysis of the hind quarters; the complaint, however, is most
prevalent among young bulls, and although removed, they generally lose
from six to twelve months' growth. Cattle that have been confined to
the stall, and even straw-yard cattle, are utterly unfit for the road,
on account of the softness of their hoofs, and when put to it at once,
are very apt to take paralysis if not carefully prepared by previous
exercise. A certain season of the year is more especially to be guarded
against--viz., from the middle of March to the middle of May. Cattle
that have been two weeks at grass may, however, be safely droved.
Every one who has been in the cattle trade will recollect the losses he
has sustained in spring, in the transit of cattle, by the animals
throwing their hoofs; and we can all remember how often we have seen
our beasts, especially in dry warm weather in spring, lying on the
roads, and how we had to cart them home or to the nearest slaughtering
shop. If there be a separation of the hoof at the top from the skin,
and if a white frothy substance oozes out at this break, it is a sure
sign that irreparable injury has been done. The beast will pine on for
six months, and at last throw the old hoof when a new one has grown up.
This is a more teasing case to the owner than when the hoof is thrown
at once. The animal should be slaughtered immediately, if at all in
condition, as it will not only lose condition every day till the hoof
comes off, but be a bad thriver ever after. Five or six miles of bad
driving at this season is enough to do the whole business. If cattle
should cast their hoofs, or even one hoof, suddenly, if at all in
condition, they should also be slaughtered without delay, as they will
pine for six months and be a daily grievance to the owner. If it be a
young or valuable breeding animal, however, it should be bled, and get
two or three doses of cooling medicine to remove the inflammation; then
soiled in a loose-box, and his feet well bound up with tow and tar. If
animals are not slaughtered, I would recommend soiling in all cases, if
possible. But "prevention is better than cure;" and all this can be
avoided if we will only take proper precautions. I shall state the
method I adopt in my practice, and I have paid dearly for my
experience. I generally buy a good many beasts in spring in Morayshire,
and sometimes winter a lot or two there. Until within a few years we
had no railway conveyance, and the cattle all came by road. Before the
time appointed for lifting the cattle, I sent across three or four
able-bodied men who were acquainted with the dressing of the feet.
Beginning their operations at the most northern point of the county,
and going from one farm to another where the cattle were wintered, they
dressed every hoof of every bullock that required it. By dressing, and
by the proper training of the cattle before starting, I have brought
home thousands of them safe and sound. Proper attention was no doubt
paid to the droving, the men who had charge of them being trained to
the occupation. Short stages and plenty of food are indispensable to
their safe arrival. It is of great importance, in order to cattle
thriving upon grass, to have their feet properly dressed; and many of
our careful farmers have their cattle's feet dressed every year before
they are put out to grass, even although they are not sent from the
farm. The general method adopted in dressing is to take up the leg with
a rope run from the couple; this, however, must be a severe strain on
the beasts. The method I adopted when I was in the lean-cattle trade
was different: the bullock was driven to a wall; a man, or two men,
secured him by the nose and the back of the neck. The fore feet were
easy to hold up--one man could generally manage them; but the hind feet
were not so easy a matter, and it always required two, and sometimes
three, strong men to hold them up. It is done entirely by method: not
allowing the beast to stretch out his legs is the whole secret. The
bullock has no power if his legs are kept close to his hind quarters;
but if he is allowed to stretch them out, he will throw off any number
of men. Two men, one on each side, put their backs close to the hind
quarters of the bullock, and keep in his leg, not allowing him to
strike it out. There he is fixed; and the topsman, who is generally an
adept at the business, dresses the foot.
Before the introduction of railways shoeing was sometimes required, but
more frequently in autumn than in spring. In bad weather many of the
cattle had to be shod, else they never could have performed their
journeys. In wet weather their hoofs wore through to the sensitive
parts, and they got lame; but when properly shod, they immediately
recovered and took the front of the drove. The following may appear
incredible, but it will show the proficiency some men attained in the
art. Robert Gall of Kennethmont on one occasion shod seventy cattle to
me in one day, near Perth, and no rope ever touched them in the field.
It should, however, be remembered that cattle, after being driven a
distance, get more easily handled. Robert Smith, one of the few of the
old race of drovers now alive, and who is still in my service, assisted
in this great performance. I should explain, for the sake of the
general reader, that the inside hoof of the fore foot is generally the
first to wear through. Many of the cattle had only one or two hoofs
shod, others perhaps three or four, and an exceptional beast would have
every one of the eight done. The shoes were made at the Crossgates of
Fife; they were sent by coach to different cattle stations, and the
men, by rotation, had to carry a supply upon their backs. It may seem a
strange fact that no other blacksmith could make nails equal to those
made at the Crossgates. The men would not hear of any others; they said
they would not drive. The Crossgates blacksmith not only supplied the
Scotch drovers, but also the English lean-cattle jobbers.
As to fat cattle for market, after they are trained, they should not go
a yard except by rail or steamboat. As to trucking store cattle, this
must be regulated entirely by the season of the year and the weight of
the cattle, &c. I have always had a reluctance to truck store cattle if
I could possibly avoid it, not only for the expense, but for the risk
incurred from dirty and infected trucks. I would recommend, if the
cattle have a distance to travel in March, April, and May, and until
they have been fourteen days at grass, that they should be trucked. But
I have often been astonished at the recklessness of farmers buying
cattle in a fair, going straight to the nearest station, and turning
them into any dirty truck they can get--(when are trucks other than
dirty?) The danger is great; despite the utmost circumspection, even
the most careful may sometimes be caught. If those who act so escape,
it is not owing to their good management. I would recommend my friends,
when they go to a fair for the purpose of purchasing cattle, to take a
confidential servant of their own along with them, or else make it a
part of the bargain that the owner keeps the cattle for a certain time,
till the buyer can get the trucks properly cleaned--which I find no
difficulty in getting done--so that before they allow their cattle to
be trucked they may be satisfied the trucks are thoroughly cleaned.
They should be washed over with chloride of lime, or, what is still
better, given a fresh coat of paint. Three to four shillings will paint
a truck; that is a small matter--say sixpence a-head; but care must be
taken that the paint is dry before the cattle are put into the truck,
else the beasts will be poisoned. If this is neglected, there is great
risk of bringing home foot-and-mouth disease, or even the lung disease.
Some say that it was impossible to attend to such an operation--that
business called them home, and that people would not take home their
cattle. I have never found any difficulty in my own experience; but I
must allow that some sellers are too distant to send the cattle home.
In such an emergency the beasts should be laid past upon a little hay
or straw for a day in the neighbourhood; there is always a field to be
had, or the market green. What is a day, or a man or two, and a night's
hay, if your beasts come safe? Disease has been carried in this way to
hundreds of steadings, and the results have been most disastrous. The
day's rest will be a great advantage to the cattle after the fatigue of
standing in the market. The main object with store cattle should be to
keep them sound on their feet and free from disease. If their transit
is to be by rail, the quality of their food for a day or two is of
minor importance; they will soon recover.
It would be foolish to truck store cattle after they have been at grass
for a few weeks. Their feet get hardened, and in the end of May, and in
June, July, and August, there is no risk of injuring the beasts by
driving in easy stages from ten to fourteen miles a-day. At that season
cattle can hedge it; they will live almost on what they pick up on the
roadsides as they go along. Your cattle arrive safe and sound, and free
from all trouble and risk as respects trucks.
In the dead-meat trade there has now sprung up a new trade and almost a
new race of men. The quantity of dead meat sent from Aberdeen regulates
the Newgate market. Mr Bonser, the great dead-meat salesman, states in
his evidence before a committee of the House of Commons, "that there
are no others that know the beasts for the London market equal to the
Aberdeen butchers, and from no other place does it arrive in the same
condition; and this may be owing to the cold climate." Mr Wilson of
Edinburgh put the question to the Chamber of Agriculture, "What is the
reason that the Aberdeenshire cattle proved better and carried more
good flesh than any other cattle?" Mr Wilson's question is perhaps not
very easily answered, but I should give as some of the reasons the
following:--The Aberdeenshire farmers have turned their attention
almost exclusively to the breeding and feeding of cattle. They have
continued for a long period, without regard to price, in many cases, to
introduce the best blood into their herds. By a long-continued infusion
of first-class animals, and weeding out inferior animals, they have
established a breed unequalled for meat-producing qualities in Britain.
The Aberdeenshire turnips have been proved by analysis to be of a very
superior quality, and it is likewise a good grazing county. Another
point is the great attention paid to calves after weaning, and not
allowing them to lose the calf-flesh, which, if lost, can never be
regained. But the indomitable perseverance of the farmers in selecting
good and weeding out inferior animals is, I think, the main cause.
It will be seen by the following table that the dead-meat trade has
become one of the great institutions of the country. There are
hundreds engaged in the business, and it is yearly increasing. Amongst
the greatest senders are Messrs Butler, Skinner, Wishart, and Wisely,
and White of Aberdeen; but a great deal of dead meat is also sent from
the rural districts. When the supply is short, some of our most
enterprising butchers attend the Glasgow market, bring down cattle, and
slaughter them in Aberdeen, and send their carcasses to London. I have
known Mr Butler bring down fifty in one week. The following table shows
the number of cattle and tons of dead meat sent to the London and other
markets during 1865 and the six previous years; it also shows what was
sent by rail and sea respectively:--
CATTLE. DEAD MEAT.
Year. Rail. Sea. Rail. Sea.
1859 13,130 7,282 6,905 tons. 48 tons.
1860 13,993 3,782 5,769 tons. 53 tons.
1861 8,852 8,324 8,041 tons. 127 tons.
1862 6,281 4,518 9,392 tons. 76 tons.
1863 9,623 4,163 9,395 tons. 58 tons.
1864 7,624 3,551 9,840 tons. 2 tons.
1865 9,031 4,558 10,074 tons. 61 tons.
Taking the year 1865, there were 10,074 tons of dead meat sent by rail,
and 61 tons by sea. Calculating that 6 cwt. was the average weight of
the cattle, this will show that 33,783 cattle were sent away from
Aberdeen as dead meat, against 9031 live cattle by rail and 4558 by
sea, so that 20,194 more were sent away dead than alive. The live
cattle would weigh 7 cwt., or 1 cwt. more than the dead.[4]
[4] Since the amalgamation between the Caledonian
Railway and the Scottish North-Eastern took place, the returns of
cattle and dead meat sent to London and elsewhere have not been
given to the public. The Caledonian Company refused repeatedly to
give them, and when pressed by myself, offered to let me have
access to the accumulated pile of forwarding-notes for the last
four years! The following valuable statistics, compiled by Mr
James Valentine, Aberdeen, show that the proportion of dead meat
sent to London is on the increase:--
1. The _cattle and dead meat sent by sea_ during the past
three years stood:--
CATTLE. DEAD MEAT.
Year. Number. Tons.
1866, 5483 499
1867, 2770 487
1868, 6313 380
2. _Of dead meat booked "through" per Great North of Scotland
Railway_, the amount for five years was:--
Year. Tons.
1864 1848
1865 2874
1866 3346
1867 3414
1868 3544
3. The number of _cattle-hides_ passing through the hands
of the dealers in Aberdeen during 1867 was, in whole, 49,181.
In 1868 the number was 42,115, besides 13,167 from the county,
and 3125 from Kincardineshire. If we set down each animal
slaughtered at 6 cwt., this would give a total of 17,500 tons;
or, deducting the town's consumption (say 2500 tons), 15,000
tons sent south for the year. Probably, however, though hides
to this amount dealt with in Aberdeen, represent meat as
stated, part of the meat may be included in the category
"booked through per Great North." Supposing, therefore, that
the whole amount of dead meat despatched from Aberdeen from
every quarter, in 1868, was 15,000 tons, we may assume that, in
addition, 7500 cattle were sent south. The tendency of late
years has undoubtedly been to send fewer live stock and more
dead meat to the London market, and also to send more cattle by
sea and dead meat by rail.
I have stated that almost a new race of men has sprung up within the
last forty years. Very few are now alive that were prominent in the
cattle trade at that time; there are, however, some alive that I may
name: Mr Anderson, Pitcarry; Mr Lumsden, Aquhorthies; and Mr Stoddart,
Cultercullen. These must always hold a prominent position in the cattle
trade of Aberdeenshire, as Mr Anderson was the first man that shipped
cattle from Aberdeen, and Messrs Lumsden and Stoddart distinguished
themselves in Aberdeenshire as two of our best judges, and were amongst
the first to see and take advantage of steam communication. They are
now the oldest of the Aberdeen shippers of cattle. They were some of
the first to develop and mature that system of feeding which has made
Aberdeenshire celebrated through Britain. The Aberdeen butchers have a
higher standing than can be claimed by their brethren in any other part
of the kingdom. The butchers in other cities are generally only
purveyors, and never dispute the honours of the show-yard with the
grazier or breeder. They buy their weekly supply at their weekly
markets; but many of the chief Aberdeen butchers do not depend upon the
market for their supplies, but feed large lots of fine cattle and sheep
themselves to meet emergencies, upon which they can fall back. They do
more than this; they are the largest and most successful exhibitors at
our great annual fat shows. They are not only great purveyors
themselves, but they supply a good proportion of the Christmas prize
animals to the chief butchers of London, Birmingham, Liverpool,
Newcastle, York, Darlington, Edinburgh, Glasgow, &c. The names of
Martin, Stewart, Knowles, &c., are celebrated not only in Great
Britain, but in France. Such men are public benefactors, and entitled
to the gratitude of their country. Messrs James and William Martin
(butchers to the Queen) kill and retail 40 beasts and 100 sheep weekly.
Messrs Knowles, Stewart, and Milne, have grand retail trades, but Mr
White perhaps retails as much as, if not more than, any of them. It is
a great sight to see the display of meat and the immense crowd of
purchasers in his shop on a Friday forenoon. Mr White is a man who has
raised himself to the highest position by his steadiness and
persevering energy. He is one of those men who cannot be kept down.
These butchers are also great senders of live cattle to London. At the
great market they stand pre-eminent. The Messrs Martin, who stand at
the top, send as many as 100 or 150 cattle, worth from L35 to L50
a-head. Messrs Stewart, Knowles, Wishart, and Wisely, &c., send yearly
splendid lots. Messrs Wishart and Wisely, as feeders and dealers, are
gradually drawing to the top. They feed a great many superior cattle,
and put an immense number through their hands. Many of them they send
alive to London, but they also send an enormous quantity of dead meat.
No men in the trade know their business better. Mr Martin, however,
must still stand at the top. As an example, I may mention that he
exhibited a four-year-old Highlander at Birmingham, London, and
Liverpool in 1868, which gained the first prize at each of these
places. His head now adorns Mr Martin's shop in New Market, alongside
of the royal arms, the firm being butchers to her Majesty. It is a
perfect model of what the head of a Highlander should be. Deacon Milne,
however, surpassed them all for several years, if not in numbers, in
the quality and value of the animals he forwarded to the great
Christmas market. For several years Mr Skinner, Woodside, has sent
about 100 valuable animals to the Christmas market. He is one of the
greatest senders of dead meat, and he also feeds a large lot of
bullocks. To speak of all the senders of dead meat, butchers, and
jobbers, in the city and the provinces, would be a hopeless and an
endless task. I believe there cannot be fewer than 500 in Aberdeenshire
alone; and, long as I have been connected with the cattle trade, I
could not name one in ten.
I have briefly noticed the cattle trade in connection with the Aberdeen
butchers: let me now glance at the shippers and jobbers of the
provinces, as it is from them that the raw material is furnished. The
following remarks apply to Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray shires: our
provincial jobbers are a host in themselves, and are a very
heterogeneous multitude: from the man who can pay thousands, through
all the intermediate stages, down to the man that buys a beast and
cannot lift it unless he can sell it there and then for a profit. We
have a large class of the first, who can not only pay their hundreds
but their thousands. We have an intermediate class that job, generally
occupiers of two and four horse farms. There is no end to their
peregrinations, toil, and industry; in summer, in winter, in fair and
foul, by night and by day, by moonlight and by starlight, they scour
the country, and collect cattle from all points of the compass, and
sell them at the fairs to farmers, butchers, and dealers. We have also
the dealer of smaller pretensions, who can only afford to buy a beast
or two, which he drives to market himself; such a beginning, however, I
have known end in becoming the proprietor of L25,000 worth of landed
property. We have the cow-jobber, and it is sometimes a very lucrative
business; many have been very successful in the trade. Mr Forrest was a
cow-jobber: he rented all the grass land round Hamilton Palace for many
years from the Duke of Hamilton. He bought nothing but cows, and it was
said he would ride 100 miles to buy a farrow cow. He died worth a
fortune, and proprietor of a good estate. We have the jobber who buys
only lean store cattle, and the jobber of fat cattle alone. Banffshire
can claim a Stoddart, and Morayshire the two M'Kessocks, the Laird of
Ardgay, and the tenant of Balnaferry; and I do not know which to admire
most, the daring and skill of the laird, or the caution and skill of
the tenant, Macdonald of Blervie, through whose hands three-fourths of
the store cattle in Morayshire pass. We have in Aberdeenshire Mr Reid,
Greystone, in the Vale of Alford; Mr Stoddart, Cultercullen; the Messrs
Bruce in Alford, Clova, and Strathbogie; and Mr Mennie of Huntly. Mr
Reid, Greystone, has attained the highest position as a feeder and
grazier amongst British agriculturists. His stock have for many years
taken a most prominent place at our national shows at London,
Birmingham, Liverpool, York, Newcastle, Leeds, Edinburgh, &c. &c.
IV. BLACK POLLED ABERDEEN AND ANGUS CATTLE & SHORTHORNS.
It is not my purpose to treat of shorthorns: I may, however, glance at
some of the principal breeders of that kind of stock in the north. Mr
Alexander Hay, Shethin, was the first who introduced shorthorns into
Aberdeenshire. He bought the celebrated bull "Jerry" from the late Mr
John Rennie of Phantassie; and he was the first shorthorn that crossed
the Dee. I should have mentioned his brother, the late William Hay,
Shethin, the celebrated breeder of shorthorns, and one of the greatest
feeders in the north. He was the first man in Aberdeenshire who gained
a prize at the Smithfield Club Show, the animal being a Hereford ox;
and he was also the first that sent cattle by railway to London. He and
the Messrs Cruickshank, Sittyton, had everything their own way in the
show-yard for years. The late Mr Grant Duff of Eden was one of the
greatest and most systematic breeders of shorthorns in the north. He
paid 170 guineas for "Brawith Bud," and she made his "herd's fortunes."
He astonished the country by his crosses between the shorthorns and
West-Highlanders. He was dead against the system of forcing for the
show-yard.