Near Aberdeen, a boulder-strewn wilderness was converted into fertile fields. The town feued the lands and the feuars cleared away the stones, which they sold and shipped to London for paving purposes; the process of clearing cost as much as £100 an acre, a fourth of this being recovered by the sale of the stones. This is typical of what was done elsewhere. Gradually the bleak moors were absorbed. A famine in 1782 opened the eyes of all concerned. Hitherto there was not as much as 200 acres in turnips. Hitherto also the heavy work-oxen, ten or twelve of them dragging a primitive and shallow plough, at a slow pace and in a serpentine furrow, had been imported from the south. Now they began to be bred on the spot. By and by cattle grew in numbers; by and by, two horses superseded the team of oxen in the plough. But the chief factor in evolving Aberdeenshire into a cattle-rearing and beef-producing county was the turnip. Till turnips began to be grown in a large acreage, no provision was possible for the cattle in winter. Hence the beasts had to be disposed of in autumn. In 1820, as many as 12,000 animals were sent in droves to England. The advent of steam navigation in 1827 ended the droving. Then began the trade in fat cattle, but it was years before the county gained its laurels as the chief purveyor of “prime Scots” and the roast beef of Old England. The turnip held the key of the position; but turnips will not grow well without manure. The canal between Aberdeen and Inverurie carried great quantities of crushed bones and guano to raise this important crop. [Illustration: Aberdeen-Angus Bull] Cattle-breeding began with M^cCombie of Tillyfour and the Cruickshanks of Sittyton, one with the native black-polled cattle—the Aberdeen-Angus—and the others with shorthorns. By dint of careful selection, great progress was made in improving not only the symmetry of the beasts but their size and beefy qualities. There began a furore for cattle-rearing and prizes taken at Smithfield made Aberdeen famous. Railway transit came in as an additional help, and to-day the Christmas market never fails to give its top prices for Aberdeenshire beef. Every year the beef of 60,000 cattle leaves the county for the southern markets, chiefly London; this in addition to supplying local needs, and Aberdeen has now 162,000 of a population. Cattle-rearing and cattle-feeding are therefore at the backbone of Aberdeenshire agriculture. A recent development is the export of pure-bred shorthorns to America, more especially the Argentine Republic, for breeding purposes. As much as £1000 has been given for a young bull, in this connection. [Illustration: Aberdeen Shorthorn Bull]