the fine-woolled of Shetland, the black faced of the Highlands, the Cheviots, natives of the hills from which they are named, a favourite breed in the south, though Border Leicesters and other English breeds, as well as a variety of crosses, are kept for winter feeding on lowland farms. The principal breeds of horses are the Shetland and Highland ponies, and the Clydesdale draught.
Table XII.—Illustrating Increase of Live Stock.
| Stock. | Average 1871-1875 |
1905. |
| Horses— | ||
| Used for agricultural purposes[1] | . . | 156,520 |
| Unbroken | . . | 49,668 |
| Total | 178,652 | 206,188 |
| Cattle— | ||
| Cows and heifers in milk or in calf | 392,252 | 437,138 |
| Other cattle, 2 years and above | 267,920 | 276,330 |
| Other cattle, under 2 years | 467,165 | 513,827 |
| Total | 1,127,337 | 1,227,295 |
| Sheep— | ||
| Ewes kept for breeding | . . | 2,918,544 |
| Other sheep, 1 year and above | 4,735,008 | 1,383,200 |
| Other sheep, under 1 year | 2,426,114 | 2,722,467 |
| Total | 7,161,122 | 7,024,211 |
| Pigs | 166,148 | 130,214 |
Orchards and Forests.—The acreage devoted to orchards rose from 1562 in 1880 to 2482 in 1905. The chief areas for tree and small fruit are Clydesdale and the Carse of Gowrie, but there are also productive orchards in the shires of Haddington, Stirling, Ayr and Roxburgh, while market-gardening has developed in the neighbourhood of the larger towns. In 1812 woods and plantations occupied 907,695 acres, of which 501,469 acres were natural woods and 406,226 planted. Within sixty years this area had declined to 734,490 acres, but with renewed attention to forestry and encouragement of planting the area had grown in 1895 to 878,675 acres; by 1905, however, the acreage was practically unchanged. Inverness, Aberdeen and Perth are naturally the best wooded shires. The modern plantations consist mostly of Scots fir with a sprinkling of larch.
Deer Forests and Game, &c..—Deer forests in 1900 covered 2,287,297 acres, an increase of 575,405 acres since 1883. The red deer is peculiar to the Highlands, but the fallow deer is not uncommon in the hill country of the south-western Lowlands. The grouse moors occupy an extensive area and are widely distributed. Ptarmigan and black-cock are found in many districts, partridges and pheasants are carefully preserved, and the capercailzie, once extirpated, has been restored to some of the Highland forests. Hares and rabbits, the latter especially, are abundant. Fox-hunting is fashionable in most of the southern shires, but otter-hunting is practically extinct. The bear, wolf and beaver, once common, have long ceased to be, the last wolf having been killed, it is said, in 1680 by Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochlel. The wild cat may yet be found in the Highlands, and the polecat, ermine and pine marten still exist, the golden eagle and the white-tailed eagle haunt the wilder and more remote mountainous districts, while the other large birds of prey, like the osprey and kite, are becoming scarce. The islands, rocks and cliffs and some inland lochs are frequented in multitudes by a great variety of water-fowl.
Fisheries..—The Scottish seaboard is divided for administrative purposes into twenty-seven fishery districts, namely, on the east coast, Eyemouth, Leith, Anstruther, Montrose, Stonehaven, Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Banff, Buckie, Findhorn, Cromarty, Helmsdale, Lybster, Wick (15); on the north, Orkney, Shetland (2); on the west, Stornoway, Barra, Loch Broom, Loch Carton and Skye, Fort William, Campbeltown, Inverary, Rothesay, Greenock, Ballantrae (10). The whole of the fisheries are controlled by the Fishery Board for Scotland, which was established in 1882 in succession to the former Board of White Herring Fishery. In 1903 the number of fishermen directly employed in fishing was 36,162, there were 17,496 engaged in curing and preserving the fish landed, while 32,201 were employed in subsidiary industries on shore, making a total of 85,859 persons engaged in the fisheries and dependent industries. In 1905 the herring fishery yielded 5,342,777 cwts. (£1,343,080); in 1909, 4,541,297 cwts. The most prolific districts are Shetland in the north, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Wick, Aberdeen and Anstruther in the east, and Stornoway in the west. The principal herring market is continental Europe, Germany and Russia being the largest consumers, and there has been a growing exportation to the United States. In 1905 the total catch of fish of all kinds (excepting shell-fish) amounted to 7,856,310 cwts., and in 1907 (the highest recorded to 1910), 9,018,154 cwts. (£3,149,127). The annual value of the shell-fish (lobsters, crabs, oysters, mussels, clams, periwinkles, cockles, shrimps) is about £73,000. The weight of salmon carried by Scottish railways and steamers in 1894 was 2437 tons, and in 1903 it was 2047 tons. In 1894 the number of boxes of Scottish salmon delivered at Billingsgate market in London was 15,489, and in 1903 it was 15,103, being more than half of the salmon received then from all parts of Europe, including Irish and English consignments. In 1903 the Tay rentals came to £22,902, the highest then recorded. The other considerable rentals were the Dee £18,392, Tweed £15,389 and Spey £8146.
Roads.—In the 12th century an act was passed providing that the highways between market-towns should be at least 20 ft. broad. Over the principal rivers at this early period there were bridges near the most populous places, as over the Dee near Aberdeen, the Esk at Brechin, the Tay at Perth and the Forth near Stirling. Until the 16th century, however, traffic between distant places was carried on chiefly by pack-horses. The first stage-coach in Scotland was that which ran between Edinburgh and Leith in 1610. In 1658 there was a fortnightly stage-coach between Edinburgh and London, but afterwards it would appear to have been discontinued for many years. Separate acts enjoining the justices of the peace, and afterwards along with them the commissioners of supply, to take measures for the maintenance of roads were passed in 1617, 1669, 1676 and 1686. These provisions had reference chiefly to what afterwards came to be known as “statute labour roads,” intended primarily to supply a means of communication within the several parishes. They were kept in repair by the tenants and cotters, and, when their labour was not sufficient, by the landlords, who were required to “stent” (assess) themselves, customs also being sometimes levied at bridges, ferries and causeways. By separate local acts the “statute labour” was in many cases replaced by a payment called “conversion money,” and the General Roads Act of 1845 made the alteration universal. The Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act of 1878 entrusted the control of the roads to royal and police burghs and in the counties to road trustees, from whom it was transferred by the Local Government Act of 1889 to county councils, the management, however, being in the hands of district committees. The Highlands had good military roads earlier than the rest of the country. The project, begun in 1725 under the direction of General George Wade, took ten years to complete, and the roads were afterwards kept in repair by an annual parliamentary grant. In the Lowlands the main roads were constructed under the Turnpike Acts, the earliest of which was obtained in 1750. Originally they were maintained by tolls, but this method, after several counties had obtained separate acts for its abolition, was superseded in 1883 by the act of 1878.
Canals.—There are four canals in Scotland, the Caledonian, the Crinan, the Forth and Clyde and the Union, of which the Caledonian and Crinan are national property (see Caledonian Canal). The Forth and Clyde Navigation runs from Bowling on the Clyde, through the north-western part of Glasgow and through Kirkintilloch and Falkirk to Grangemouth on the Forth, a distance of 35 m. There is also a branch, 2¾ m. long, from Stockingfield to Port Dundas in the city of Glasgow, which is continued for the distance of 1 m. to form a junction with the Monkland canal. This last has a length of 12¼ m., and runs from the north-east of Glasgow through Coatbridge to Woodhall in the parish of Old Monkland. It was begun in 1761 and opened for traffic in 1792. The Forth and Clyde canal was authorized in 1767 and opened from sea to sea in 1790. In 1846 its proprietors bought the Monkland canal, and in 1867 the combined undertaking passed into the hands of the Caledonian Railway Company. The Union canal, 31½ m. long, starts from Port Downie, on the Forth and Clyde canal near Falkirk, and runs to Port Hopetoun in Edinburgh. Begun in 1818 it was completed in 1822, and in 1849 was vested in the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Company, which in turn was absorbed by the North British Railway Company in 1865. The Forth and Clyde canal has a revenue of about £120,000 a year, including receipts from the docks at Grangemouth, and the expenditure on management and maintenance is about £40,000. The Union canal earns between £2000 and £3000, and its expenditure is but little
- ↑ Including mares kept for breeding.
