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Farm Live Stock

Great Britai

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Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive

in 2010 with funding from

University of British Columbia Library

http://www.archive.org/details/farmlivestockofOOwall

Farm Live Stock

Great Britain.

BY

ROBERT WALLACE, F.L.S., F.R.S.E.,

Etc.,
prokessok of agriculture and rural economy in the

UNIVERSITY OK EDINBURGH;

AUTHOR OF "INDIA IN 1887."

Second Thousand.

EDINBURGH :
OLIVER AND BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT.

LONDON: SIINIPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.
1889.

PRINTED BV OLIVER AND BOVD, EDINBURGH.

To THE FOLLOWING PATRONS

OF THE

Institute of Scottish Teachers of Agriculture

THIS NEW EDITION OF

Farm Live Stock of Great Britain

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

His Grace The Duke of Argyll, K.G., K.T., Inveraray Castle,

Argyllshire.
His Grace The Duke of Portland, Welbeck Abbey, Worksop.
His Grace The Duke of Rutland, G.C.B., St Mary's Tower, Birnam.
His Grace The Duke of Sutherland, K.G., Dunrobin, Golspie.
The Most Hon. The Marquess of Tweeddale, Yester House,

Haddington.
The Right Hon. The Earl of Aberdeen, Haddo House, Methlick.
The Right Hon. The Earl of Elgin, Broomhall, Dunfermline.
The Right Hon. The Earl of Hopetoun, Hopetoun House, South

Queensferry.
The Right Hon. The Earl of Rosebery, Dalmeny Park, Edinburgh.
The Right Hon. The Earl of Southesk, K.T., Kinnaird Castle,

Brechin.
His Excellency Lord Reay, G.C. I.E. , D.C.L., LL.D., Governor of

Bombay.
The Right Hon. The Lord Provost of Edinburgh (J. Boyd, Esq.)
The Right Hon. .Sir James King, Bart., Lord Provost of Glasgow.
The Right Hon. Sir Lyon Playfaik, K.C.B , F.R.S., M.P., 68 Onslow

Gardens, South Kensington, London. S.W.
.Sir David Baird, Bart., Newbyth, Prestonkirk.
Sir Archibald Campbell, Bart., M.P., Blythswood, Renfrew.
Sir James H. Gibson-Craig, Bart., Riccarton, N.B.
Sir Archibald Orr Ewing, Bart., M.P., Ballikinran Castle, Killearn.
Sir John Innes, Bart., Edingight, Keith.

Sir G. Graham-Montgomery, Bart., Stobo Castle, Peeblesshire.
Sir John Bennet Lawes, Bart., F.R.S., LL.D., Rothamsted, St Albans.

vi DEDICATION.

Sir Hkrbekt E. Maxwell, Bart., M.P., Monreitli, N.B.
Sir MiCH.VEL Robert Shaw Stewart, Bart., Ardgowan, Greenock.
Sir Thomas J. Boyd, F.R.S. Edin., Ex-Lord Provost of Edinburgh.
Sir Donald Currh:, K.C.M.G., M.P., 13 Hyde Park Place, London, W.
SirWiLLLVM MuiR, K.C.S.L, D.C.L., LL.D., I'rincipal of the University

of Edinburgh.
The Right Hon. A.J. Balfour, ALP., Whittinghame, Prestonkirk.
The Right Hon. Hugh C. E. Childers, M.P., 6 St George's Place, Hyde

Park Corner, London, S.W.
The Right Hon. Edward Marjoribanks, M.P., Ninevvells, ( 'hirnside.
John Baird, Esq., of Knoydart, Isle Ornsay, N.B.
J. G. A. Baird, Esq., M.P. (Glasgow, Central), 33 Wilton Place, London,

S.W.
Alex. L. Brown, Esq., M.P., Rowantree Butts, Galashiels, N.B.
James W. Barclay, Esq., M.P., 5 Clarendon Place, Hyde Park

Gardens, London, W.
Henry Craik, Esq., C.B., LL.D., Dover House, Whitehall, London,

S.W.
James Alex. Campbell, Esq., M.P., Stracathro. Brechin.
Very Rev. John Cairo, D.D., LL.D., Principal of the University of

Glasgow.
J. Donaldson, Esq.. LL.D., etc., Senior Principal of the University of St

Andrews.
J. H. Gilbert, Esq., F.R.S., LL.D., Harpenden, St Albans.
R. B. Haldane, Esq., M.P. (Haddington), 10 Old Square, Lincoln's

Inn, London, W.C.
Peter M'Lagan, M.P., Calderhill, Mid-Calder.
C. Eraser Mackintosh, M.P. (Inverness-shire), 5 Clarges Street,

London, W.
R. W. Cochran-Patrick, Esq., LL.D., of W^oodside, Ayrshire.
Principal W. Peterson, M.A., LL.D., University College, Dundee.
R. G. Wardlaw Ramsay, Esq., Dalhousie Grange, Bonnyrigg, Mid-
lothian.
Hon. Walter G. Hei>burne-Scott, Master of Polwarth, Mcrtoun

House, St Boswells.
M. H. Shaw Stewart, Esq., M.P., Carnock, Larbert, Stirlingshire.
A. Craig Sellar, Esq., M.P., 75 Cromwell Road, London, S.W.
Mark J. Stewart, Esq., M.P., Ardwell, Wigtownshire.
Walter Thorburn, Esq., M.P., Kerfield, Peebles.
F. E. Villiers, Esq., of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire.

[ORIGINAL DEDICATION.]
TO

PEOFESSOR JOHN WILSON. F.Pi.S.E., Etc..

WHO P'OR THIRTV'-ON'E YEARS

MOST ABI.V FILLED THE CHAIR OF AGRICULTURE IX THE

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH,

THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED,

AS A TOKEN OF THE AUTHORS GRATITUDE TO HIM AS A TEACHEi;
AND RESPECT AND ESTEEM FOR HIM AS A FRIEND.

\_Emeritiis- Professor IVilson died al Tunbi-idge IVells in March 1888.]

Preface to the Second Edition.

T N bringing out the Second Edition of this work
it has been necessary to introduce numerous
changes which are beheved to materially add to the
value of it as a Text-book for Students of Agriculture,
and at the same time to increase its interest in the
hands of the general reader. Besides the addition
of numerous electroplates in the body of the letter-
press, lOO pages of illustrations have been introduced.
These have been executed by Angerer & Goschl
of Vienna, and are derived, with only two or three
exceptions, from photographs taken from life of
picked specimens of the various breeds of live stock
in the British Isles. It is true that photographs in
some ways fail to do justice to the animals or to
the breed : in the specimens of pigs, for example,
they are defective on account of the awkward posi-
tions the animals usually assume while standing,
and the constancy of their motion while they remain
on their limbs.

The amount of labour expended in securing lOO
photographs of typical animals of the various breeds
IS more than one could at first imagine, and 1 must
ask to be excused if I have had to accept and repro-

X PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

duce photographs which do not represent a number
of them in their best h'ght. Photographers do not,
as a rule, seem to understand the importance of giving
both the hind and forequarters of the beasts an equal
prominence; and, again, all lenses are not alike good
in maintaining a proper proportion between the
dimensions of the limbs and of the body.

Though the plates as they at present stand do
not quite come up to the standard which I feel
confident can be ultimately obtained by repro-
ducing photographs taken from life, yet a sense of
satisfaction is derived from the fact that the pictures
do represent real life. Though the balance of parts
may be more or less defective, there are present the
natural expression and the little differences of form
and features which unmistakably distinguish one
breed from the other. The eye has been so long
educated to look at drawings of animals which have
been improved by the pencil of the artist till they
are quite unreal and unnatural, that I can easily
realize an amount of dissatisfaction being ex-
pressed at the method of reproduction adopted
in this work. I feel confident, nevertheless, that
pictures reproduced as the following have been
will grow upon the observer as works of art,
and will prove of special value as means of
instruction.

The letterpress of the work has been revised and
greatly extended. Short sketches of the histories of
the various breeds have been added — full enough to
give a general interest, and, it is hoped, to encourage

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. XI

special research into the exhaustive records which
are from time to time referred to in footnotes. I
have endeavoured to acknowledge in suitable terms
the sources of much of my information, but I should
also add that I am indebted to the " Stock," " Herd,"
or " Flock " books relating to the various breeds.
I would also refer my readers to the following works,
which treat generally of farm stock, and which
discuss fully various subjects of interest which could
not conveniently be dealt with in an exhaustive
manner in the following pages : —

(i.) Youatt's various works on Live Stock. (2.)
Coleman's " Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs of Great Britain."
(3.) Low's " Domesticated Animals of the British
Isles, 1845;" (4- J The same; with a selection of
illustrations produced from the collection of lOO oil
paintings by W. Shields, R.S.A., belonging to the
Agricultural Department of the University of Edin-
burgh, and presented by the author, who was for
over thirty years Professor of Agriculture and Rural
Economy in the University. (5.) Pringle's "Live
Stock." (6.) Wrightson's work on the same subject ;
and (7.) Sheldon's " Dairy Farming."

Without naming any, I desire most heartily to
thank all who have been good enough to lend me
assistance in the accomplishment of the work entailed
in the reproduction of this volume. I have, as has
always been my wont, discontinued the use of the
prefix Mr. I trust that each authority named will
fully understand that this is done from no lack of
courtesy, but because I believe that in a book of this

Xll PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

sort, it is right and proper to name men as authorities
and not as private individuals.

I have every reason to be gratified with the
success of the First Edition, and I now leave the fate
of the Second in the hands of those who are interested
in the subjects with which it deals.

R. W.

The University,
Edimsurgh, April 1889.

ERRATA.

Page 35, first line of text and fourth line of footnote, for "Kirk-
leavinglon," read " Kirklevington ; " and sixth line of
footnote, y^r " Ecclesham," read " Eccleshall."

Page 45, first and third lines, for "John Ilewar," read "John
Hewer."

Preface to the First Edition.

'T^HE object of this volume is to lay before the
student, in the shortest possible form, the many
interesting facts about Farm Stock which ought to
be known to every one who takes an interest in
Agriculture.

The defect of some text-books on this subject is,
that they are too voluminous, so filled up with much
unnecessary book-makers' padding that it is often a
waste of time to read them. The most skilful farmers
are not usually of a literary turn of mind, and
consequently much valuable information, the result
of years of successful experience, is constantly being
lost.

I was struck with the concise, clear, and thoroughly
business-like style of "The Chemistry of the Farm,"
by R. Warington, F.C.S., published in Morton's
" Handbook of the Farm " series, and I have
endeavoured, as near as possible, to make my pro-
duction fill the same position on the subject of Farm
Stock as has been secured in that of Agricultural
Chemistry by the volume in question. The subject
matter has been selected and arranged with the
main object of making it a students' text-book, con-
taining all that is necessary in this special branch

XIV PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

for the important examinations of The Royal
Agricultural College, Cirencester, The Royal Agri-
cultural Society of England, The Highland and
Agricultural Society of Scotland, The Royal Agri-
cultural Society of Ireland, and The Surveyors'
Institute. [Since the first edition of this work was
published, arrangements have been made by which
the Edinburgh University now grants a degree of
B.Sc. in the Department of Agriculture. The
Examinations in connexion with it should also be
included in the list] This accounts for the unusual
number of intricate though very necessary calculations
which occur here and there, and which will require
much close attention and study. It is hoped, how-
ever, that all those of the farming community who
may think the book worthy of their patronage may
find the time taken up in reading it profitably spent,
as, besides a record of the many common facts known
almost instinctively to many practical men, it contains
descriptions of the causes, prevention, and remedies
of the common diseases of stock, given in the ordin-
ary language with which a farmer is familiar.

R. W.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction, ....... i

CHAPTER I. — Pkincu'les of Breeding.

Family Resemblance — Force of Inheritance — Constitutional
Weakness — Imagination — Crossing and In-and-in-Breeding
— Atavism, in Pure Breeds and in Crosses — Domestication
— Barrenness, . . . . . .5

CHAPTER II.— Wild Cattle.

Aboriginal Cattle of Great Britain — Bos iiriis or Primigenius —
Another Distinct Species, Bos longifrons — Relationship of
Bos urus to Wild Park Cattle — The Home of the Forest
Cattle — Domesticated Animals — The Wild Cattle at Chilling-
ham Park — Bos scotictts — The Hamilton or Cadzow Park
Cattle — Chillingham Cross — The Chartley Herd, . . 14

CHAPTER III. —Breeds of Domestic Cattle — The
Shorthorn.

Points generally applicable to Cattle kept for Beef Production —
The Shorthorn — Colour — Horns— Descent from the Old
Tees- Water Breed — Milking Qualities — Inferiority of White
Specimens — Tradition relating to History — Charles and
Robert Colling — Milking Powers lowered by " In-and-in-
breeding " — Influence of Change of Country or Locality
on Constitution — Two great Branches of Shorthorns,
"Booth and Bates" — The Booths — Thomas Bates — Com-
parison of Booth and Bates Cattle — Commingling of Booth
and Bates Blood — Recent Breeders — Aberdeen Shorthorns, , 23

XVI CONTENTS.

I'ACK

CHAPTER IV.— Breeds of Domestic Cattle— The Lom;-
HORN, Hereford, Devon, and Susse.x.

The Longhorn Breed — Low on its Habitat — Bakevvell — General
Points — Colour — Distribution of Hereford Cattle — Relation-
ship to other Breeds — Points of Special Interest — Origin of
the Colour of the Modern Hereford — Benjamin Tomkins —
John Hewer — Herefords poor in Milking Qualities— Here-
fords as Work Oxen— The Devon Breed : Two Branches —
The North Devon— Early Ilistoiy — The Somerset Type —
The South Devon — The Sussex Breed — Low's Explanation
of their Geographical Position — The Cattle of the Interior —
Similar Conditions in India — The Sussex Breed — Size —
Influence of Soil and Climate — Bullocks as Work Oxen —
Distribution of Breeds in this Country ant! in India, . 40

CHAPTER v.— Breeds of Domestic Cattle— The Wesi
Highland, Welsh, and Shetland.

The West Highland — Habitat and Descent — The Bullocks —
Points of Form and Colour — The Wild Nature — Crosses —
Importance of a Hardy Constitution — Welsh Cattle —
Varieties — The South Wales or Pembroke — Points — Feed-
ing and Quality — As Milkers^ — North Wales or Anglesea —
Compared with Castle Martin — Cows as Milkers — The
Bullocks— Herd Books— Suitability of Welsh Cattle for
America — Old Castle Martin White Breed — The Glamorgan
Breed — The Old (jloucesler Breed — Orkney and Shetland
Cattle, . . . . . . .51

CHAPTER VI.— Polled Breeds.

Somerford Park White Herd — Milking Powers — The "Missing
Link"— Blickling Hall and Woodbastwick White Polled
Herds — Red Polls — How Descended — Points — Improve-
ment— Low on the Breetl — A Herd Book — The Aberdeen-
Angus Breed — Home Locality Relationship to other Scotch
Breeds — Absence of Horns — Black and other Colours —
Buchan Cattle — Breed of the present Day — In-and-in-

CONTENTS. XVll

Breeding — Hugh Watson — William M 'Combie — Recent
Performances of the Breed — Characteristic Features— Com-
pared with the Galloway — The Polled Herd Book — The
Galloway Breed — Distinctive Characters — The Head —
Origin of Polled Condition doubtful — Connexion between
the Galloway and the West Highland Breeds — Additional
Proof of the Influence of the Galloway in Crossing — Gallo-
ways as Dairy Cattle — The Establishment of a Galloway
Herd Book — Galloway Crosses with other Breeds, . . 59

CHAPTER VH. — Milking Breeds of British Cattle —
The Ayrshire — The Channel Islands (Jersey,
Guernsey, and Alderney) — and the Kerry.

Introduction — The Ayrshire Breed — Habitat — Early Records —
Ayrshires of the Present Day — Breeds imported for Crossing
— Influence of Locality on the Breed — Points of an Ayr-
shire Cow — The Typical Characters of Milking Cows for
various purposes — Ayrshire Bullocks and Crosses — -Practice
of Killing Calves and its Consequences — Herd Books —
The Channel Islands Breeds — The Jersey — Origin — Un-
improved Form — Association with Druidical Remains —
Remnants of Ancient Civilisations — Purity of Jersey Cattle
— Revival of the Breed — The Jersey Island Herd Book
— American Demand — Distinguishing Points — Docility of
the Cows — Produce yields — The Guernsey — Compared with
the Jersey — Effects of Climate — Guernsey Butter — In-
feriority of Islands Cows for Cheese-making— The Alderney
— The Old and New Forms — The Kerry Breed — Other
Cattle in Ireland — Points of the Common Kerry — The
Dexter Kerry — Kerry Crosses — Sale of Kerries in England, 76

CHAPTER VHI. — The Breeding and Management and
the Grazing oe Cattle.

Breeding and Management and the Grazing of Cattle — Calves —
Methods of Rearing — Diarrhoea — White Scour — Treatment

XVlll CONTENTS.

PAGE

of the Growing Calf — Ringworm — Lice — Grazing Cattle —
Karly Maturity — Points of Feeding Animals — Grazings in
this Counti-y — Symptoms of Disease in Grazing Cattle —
Acorn Poisoning — Tlie Warble Fly, . , -94

CHAPTER IX.— IIouse-Feedinc ok Cattle.

Methods of Housing — Dishorning — Time to House — Regularity
in Feeding — Roots — Concentrated P'ood — Necessity for
Grooming — Amount of Food to give — M'Combie's Method
of I'eeding — Cost of Feeding per Week — Lawes and
Gilbert's Experiments — Calculation showing Food and
return in Beef — Conclusion dealing with the Relations of
Live-Weight to Dead-Weight — Function of Live Stock,

CHAPTER X.—Dairvinc— Pasture and Food.

Conditions, Suitable and Unsuitable — Best Dairying Localities —
Cow Pasture — Water Supply — Natural and Artificial
Herbage — Weeds — Extent of Dairy Land — Data for
Calculating the Amount of a Cow's Food — Plan of Arrange-
ments for Feeding loo Cows on 300 Acres, . . .126

CHAPTER XI. — Dairying — Cows and their Mana(;e-
ment.

Treatment of Dairy Cows — Milking — Milking Machines — Period
of Lactation — Guenon's Escutcheon Theory — De-sexed Cows

— How to put a Cow Dry — Three Points with regard to
Purchased Food — Effects of Common Food Stuffs — Hoven

— Good Permanent Grasses as Food — Breeding and Calving
for the First Time — Signs of Pregnancy — of Parturition —
Calving — Protracted Labour — Premature Labour — Means of
Preventing Abortion — Straining — Cow Breeches — Protrusion
of the Vagina — Milk Fever — Trembling or Loupin' 111 —
Weed — Inflammation of the Udder — Choking — Lameness, . 139

CONTENTS. XIX

CHAPTER XII.— Pigs.

Pigs — Siis scrofa and Sus indiciis — General Show Points of
Improved Breeds — The Bacon-curer's Pig — Changes in
Feeding and in Curing — Distingiiishing Characteristics —
Yorkshires — Large, Small, and Middle Breeds — Scotch
White Pigs— Black Breeds— The Berkshire— The Essex—
The Tamworth or Staftbrdshire Breed — General Manage-
ment— The Breeding Sow and Her Treatment — Fattening
Pigs — Feeding — Cooked v. Uncooked Food — Warington's
Estimates of Dead and Live-Weight— Berkshire Crosses
and their Yield — Cost of producing One Stone of Pork —
Number of Pigs kept in a Dairy — Diseases of Pigs, . .168

CHAPTER XIII.— The Horse— The Fossil Horse— The
Wild Horse— C.^rt Horses — The Clydesdale, the
Shire, and the Suffolk Punch.

The Horse — Early History — Fossilised Remains — Sub-genus
Eqiius and Asinits — Przevalsky's Wild Horse — Effects of
Climate — Farm Horses — Clydesdales — Prices and Pedigrees
— Points of a Clydesdale— The Shire Horse — Differences
between Shires and Clydesdales — Names and History —
Quotations from Walter Gilbey — The Shire Horse .Society
and Stud Book — The Sufiblk Punch — Its Origin and Char-
acteristic Points, . . . . -191

CHAPTER XIV.— The Horse — The Thoroughbred,
Hackney, and Cleveland Bay.

The Thoroughbred — Racecourse and other .Selection — Early
Improvement — Importation of Roman, Spanish, Arabian,
and other Horses — Failure of Early Crosses — In-and-in-
Breeding — The Hackney — Origin and Development — The
Modern Norfolk Trotter — The Original Trotter — Yorkshire
Trotters — The American Trotting Horse — Export of
Hackneys, ....... 204

XX CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER XV.— The Horse— Breedinc., and Breaking.

Breeding — Selection of the Mare — Treatment of a Farm Mare
— She takes the Horse — Difficulties about Conception —
The Foal — Young Cart Horses — Castration — Breaking —
The Age of a Horse from his Teeth, .... 212

CHAPTER XVL— The Horse— Management of Farm
Horses.

Winter Season — Work and Food^Medicines — Water — Mud-
fever — Litter — Summer Season — The Soiling and the
Grazing Systems of Feeding Horses — A Stallion — Possi-
bility of Improvement, . . . . .221

CHAPTER XVH.— Sheep— British Breeds.

Sheep — Classification — Fecundity — General Points — Char-
acteristics of Different Breeds — Long-wools — Border
Leicester — English Leicester — ■ Lincoln — Long-woolled
Devon — Cotswold — Wensleydale — Kent, or Romney
Marsh — Roscommon — Short-wools — South Down, or
Sussex — Shropshire Down — Hampshire Down — Suffolk
Down — Oxford Down — Clun Forest — Dorset and Somerset
Horn — Ryeland — Mountain Breeds— Cheviot — Black-
faced Highland — Herd wick — Lonk — Welsh Mountain —
Old Tan-face Welsh — Exmoor, .... 230

CHAPTER XVHL- Manac;ement of Sheep on Culti-
vated Land and Low Country Pasture— The Ewe
and Lamb.

Tupping Time — Winter Pasture — Ewes not in Lamb — The
Lambing Pen— Parturition — Early Treatment of the Lamb
— Food of the Ewe— Lambs' Food — Castration— Washing
— Shearing — Weaning, . . . . .252

CONTENTS. XXI

PAGE

CHAPTER XIX.— Management of Sheep Continued -
Feeding.

Penning on of Sheep on Roots and Forage Crops — Troughs —
Urinary Disorders — House Feeding — Amount of Food —
Experiments by Lawes and Gilbert — Calculations of Yield
per Week according to Food consumed, . . . 264

CHAPTER XX.— Management of Sheep Continued-
External Parasites.

Dipping — Ticks or Kades — Grass Ticks — Sheep Lice — Black
P'lies— Maggot Flies — Scab Mites— Winter and Summer
Dips — The Dipper — Dipping Materials — Pouring — Smear-
ing, ........ 272

CHAPTER XXL— Management of Sheep Continued-
Internal Parasites.

Internal Parasites — Tape-worm producing Gid — Liver-fluke pro-
ducing Rot— Diarrhoea resulting from Worms — Husk or
Hoose, . . . . . . .281

CHAPTER XXIL— Management of Sheep Continued-
Diseases.

Lung Disease — Trembling, or Loupin' 111 — Braxy — Temporaiy

Bhndness— Foot-rot — Blotches — Dew-rot, . . . 287

CHAPTER XXIIL — Two Typical Examples of the
Stocking of Farms in Southern and Midland
England.

Data of Use in the Calculations, ..... 297

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

"Mario," 51,713, . . Frotitispiece

Bred by Wm. Duthie, Collynie, Aberdeenshire.

Skull and Horn Cores of the Bos urus or
primogenius^ in Dr Grierson's Museum
Thornhill, Dumfriesshire, .

The Wild White Cattle at Chillingham Park
Northumberland, ....

The property of the Right Hon. The Earl of Tankerville.

Wild White Cows — Cadzow Forest, Hamilton
Wild White Bull Calves — Cadzow Forest

Hamilton, .....

3 and 4 the property of His Grace The Duke of Hamilton.

5. Chartley Park Wild White Cattle, .

The property of the Right Hon. Sewallis-Edward Shirley
Earl Ferrers.

6. Bgoth Shorthorn Bull, " Royal Stuart," 40,646

Bred by Booth, of Warlaby, Northallerton.

7. Booth Shorthorn Heifer, " Bracelet," 4030,

The property of Her Majesty The Queen.

8. Bates Shorthorn Cow, " Duchess of Leicester

II-,"

Bred by T. Holford, Castle Hill, Cerne.

9. Bates Shorthorn Bull, " Duke of Barrington,"

15, 52,745' • • • •

Bred by H. J. Sheldon, Brailes, Shipston-on-Stour. The
property of T. Holford, Cffltle Hill, Cerne.

14
16
18

21

25
26

35
35

xxiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

I'LATE PAGE

10. Mixed Booth and Bates Heifer, " Augusta IV." 36

Sold to Hope, Bow Park, Ontario.

11. Aberdeen Shorthorn Bull, "Field Marshal,"

47.870, 38

The property of Her Majesty The Quekn.

12. Longhorn Bull, ...... 40

13. Longhorn Cow, ...... 41

14. Longhorn Cow, . . . . . . 41

12, 13, and 14 were the property of His Grace the late Duke
of Buckingham and Chandos, G.C-S.I.

15. Hereford Bull, " Rare Sovereign," . . 42

The property of the Right Hon. The Earl of Coventry.

16. Hereford Cow, " Mabelle," 4028, ... 43

The property of Her Majesty The Queen.

1 7. Hereford Heifer, " Primrose," ... 44

The property of Edward Caddick, Caradoc, Ross.

18. North Devon Bull, " Lord Wolseley," 2063, . 46

The property of the Right Hon. Lord Viscount Falmouth.

19. North Devon Heifer, "Flower H.," 9355

D.D.H.B., 46

20. North Devon Cow, "Fairmaid," 9351

D.D.H.B., 47

19 and 20 the property of Sir W. R. Williams, Bart.,
Heanton, Barnstaple, North Devon.

2 1. Sussex Bull, "Gentleman," 814; Sire "Gold-
smith," 391, ...... 48

The property of W. B. Waterlow, High 'I'rees, Redhill,
Surrey. Bred by E. & A. Stanford, Eatons, Ashurst,
Sussex.

2 2. Sussex Ox, Grandsire, W. S. Forstei's Famous

Bull, "Goldsmith," 391, .... 49

The property of W. S. Forster, Gore Court, Maidstone.

23. West Highland Bull, "Seumas a Ghlinne,"

482, 51

The property of the Right Hon. The Earl of Southesk, K.T.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XXV

PLATE PAGE

24. West Highland Bull, " Calum Riabhach," . 52

Bred by His Grace The Duke of Athole, K.T. The pro-
perty of the Right Hon. Lord Kinnaird.

25. West Highland Heifer, " Lady Flora," . . 53

The property of the Right Hon. The Earlof Southesk, K.T.

26. Black South Wales Bull, "Zulu," No. 129.

Vol. IV., 54

27. Black South Wales Cow, "Lenora I.," 245.

Vol. HI., 54

26 and 27 at one time in the herd of the Right Hon. The
Karl of Cawdor, Stackpole Court, Pembroke, South
Wales.

28. North Wales Bull, "Tom," .... 55

The property of Captain J. C. Best, Vivod, Llangollen.

29. Black North Wales Cow, . . . . 55

The property of Colonel Plate, Haufairfechan, North Wales.

30. Old Castle Martin White Breed, . . . 56

The property of Charl-es Mathias, Lamphey Court, South
Wales.

31. Glamorgan Bull, . . . . . . 57

The property of J. T. Davies, Tyla Gwyn, Pontlanfraith,
Mon.

32. Shetland Cattle, 58

The property of the Most Hon. The Marquis of London-
derry, K.G.

;^^. Somerford Park White Polled Cattle, . . 59

The property of Sir C. W. Shakerley, Bart., C.B., Somer-
ford Park, near Congleton, Cheshire.

34. Norfolk White Polled Prize Bull, "Tom," . 60

The property of the Most Hon. Constance, Marchioness
Dowager of Lothian, Blickling Hall, Aylsham.

35. Norfolk and Suffolk Red Poll Cow, " Emblem,"

L. 3, 2782, ...... 61

36. Norfolk and Suffolk Red Poll Bull, " Didling-

ton Davyson II.," 657, . . . . 61

35 and 36 the property of W. A. Tyssen Amherst, M.P.

XXVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

I'LATE I'AGE

37. Polled Aberdeen-Angus Bull, "The Black

Knight," 1809, 62

38. Aberdeen-Angus Cow, "Waterside Matilda

n,"63i2, 65

37 and 38 the property of Geo. Wilkeii, Waterside of Forbes,
Aberdeenshire.

39. Aberdeen-Angus Fat Cow, "Young Bellona,"

5630? 66

The property of Clement Stephenson, Newcastle-on-Tyne>.

40. Galloway Bull, " Kinsman the Second," . 69

The property of His Grace The Duke of Biiccleuch, K.T.,
Drumlanrig.

41. Galloway Heifer, "Clara VI.," 10,513, De-

scended from " Clara," 1375, . . . 70

Bred by, and the property of Thomas Biggar & Sons, Chaple-
ton, Dalbeattie.

42. Group of Cross-Bred Cattle, ... 74

The property of James Smith, Pittengardner, F'orfarshire.

43. Ayrshire Bull, "Cock a Bendie," 1204, when

Two Years Old, 76

The property of J. Osborne, Drumjoan, Ayrshire.

44 Ayrshire Cow, "Bertie II. of Clockston,"

3217, 80

The property of Mark J. Stewart, of South«ick, M.P.

45. Ayrshire Two Year Old Heifer, " Nellie of

Barcheskie," 81

The property of And. Mitchell, Barcheskie, Kirkcudbright.

46. Jersey Bull, "Queen's Messenger," 1206

E.I.H.B., 84

Sold by George Simpson, Wray Park, Reigate, to Dr A.
Meadows.

47. Jersey Heifer, "Flora IV.," Fol 50, J.H.B., . 85

Bred by G. Falle, St Martin's, Jersey.

48. Jersey Cow, " Her Majesty." Vol. III., p. 235, 87

The property of George Simpson, Wray Park, Reigate,
Surrey.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XXVll

PLATE I'AOE

49. Guernsey Bull, " Climax,' 14 E.G.H.B., . 88

50. Guernsey Cow, " Ladybird II.," 388 E.G. H.B., 89

49 and 50 the property of the Express Dairy Company,
Limited, College Farm, Finchley.

51. Alderney Cow, " Beauty," 76, ... 90

The property of P. Herivel, Magistrate, Alderney.

52. Pure Kerry Bull, " Moonlighter," Aged Two-

and-a-Half Years, . . . . . 91

53. Pure Kerry Cow, " Plora,'' . . . . 91

54. Dexter Kerry Bull, " Paradox," Four Years Old, 92

55. Dexter Kerry Cow, "Rosemary," • • • 93

52, 53, 54, aixi 55 the property of Martin J. Sutton, Readinj;.

56. Large White Boar, Fourteen Months Old,

" Holywell Windsor," by " Holywell King,"

509, out of " Holywell Gem," 708, . . i 73

'ITie property of Sanders Spencer, Holywell Manor, St Ives,
Hants.

57. Small White Yorkshire Sow, '' Pride of

Oxford," 174

Bred by Sanders Spencer, Holywell Manor, St Ives.

58. Middle White Boar, 175

The property of Sanders .Spencer, Holywell Manor, St Ives,
Hants.

59. Berkshire Boar, . . . . . .177

The property of Russell Swanwick, Royal Agricultural
College Farjii, Cirencester.

60. Tamworth Boar, . . . . . . 1 78

Reproduced from " Stephen's Book of the Farm," by James
M'Donald. The propea'ty of the Aylesburj- Dairj' Com-
pany, near Horsham.

61. Clydesdale Stallion, '' Darnley," , . .194

Bred ty Sir William Stirling Maxwell, Bart.

62. Clydesdale Stallion, " Prince of Albion," 6178,

Aged Two Years and Six Months, . . 196

63. Clydesdale Mare, "Moss Rose," 6203, . . 197

62 and 63 the property of John Gilmour, Montrave, Leveii.

XXVlll

LIST OK ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATE I'AGE

64. Shire Stallion, " Staunton Hero," . . . 200

The property of Walter Gilbey, Elsenham Hall, Elsenham,
Essex.

65. Suffolk Punch Stallion, " Queen's Diadem,"

1721, ....... 202

The property of A. J. Smith, Rendlesham, Woodbridge,
Suffolk.

66. Thoroughbred Horse, " Foxhall," . . . 204

Bred in America, and got by " King Alfonso," by " Phae-
ton," son of " Stockwell," out of "Jamaica."

67. Hackney Stallion, " Rufus," 1343, • . 207

Thepropertyof Henry Moore, Burn Butts, Cranswick, Hull.

68. Hackney Mare, "Ladybird," 177, . . 208

Owned by J. A. Mather, Thornhill, N.B.

69. Cleveland Bay Horse, " Fidius Dius," . . 209

The property of H. V. Webster, Northallerton.

70. Half- Bred Gelding, at Fifty Years of Age, . 220

Belonged to S. F. Petrie, Leith.

71. Border Leicester Ram, . . . . 232

'J'he property of the Right Hon. The Earl of Dalhousie.
Bred by Clark, Oldhamstock Mains.

72. Border Leicester Ewes, . . . .232

The property of the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P.,
Whittinghame, Prestonkirk.

73. English Leicester Ewes, .... 233

74. English Leicester Ram, .... 233

73 and 74 the property of T. H. Hutchinson, Manor House,
Caterich.

75. Lincoln Ram, ...... 234

76. Lincoln Ewes— Four of a Pen of Five Shearlings, 234

75 and 76 the property of Robert Wright, Nocton Heath,
Lincoln.

77. Devon Long- Wool Two-Shear Ram, . . 234

78. Devon Long-Wool Ewes — Three out of a Pen

of Five, ....... 234

77 and 78 the property of Sir J. H. H. .Amory, Bart., of
Knightshayes, Devon.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XXlX

I'AGE

79. Cotswold Ram Lamb, . . . . -235

80. Two-Shear Cotswold Ram, with Two Months'

Growth of Wool, . . . . • ^35

79 and 80 the property of Russell Swanwick, Royal Agri-
cultural College Farm, Cirencester.

81. Wensleydale Ewe, . . . . .236

The property of T. Willis, of Carperby, Bedale, Yorkshire.

82. Wensleydale Ram, Ten Years Old, . 236

The property of J. Barker Maythorn, Leyburn, Yorkshire.

83. Southdown Ram, "No. 24," .... 237

Bred by Hugh Penfold, of Selsey, Chichester.

84. Shropshire Down Ram, " Webton Prince," . 239

85. Shropshire Ewes, . . . . . .239

8.> and 85 the property of Edward Caddick, Caradoc, Ross.

86. Hampshire Down Rams, .... 240

From the flock of the College of Agriculture, Downton,
Salisbury.

87. Suffolk Ram, " Sailor Prince," . . . 241

The property of Edward Gittus, Snailwell, Suffolk.

88. Suffolk Ewes, . . . . . .247

The property of Joseph Smith, Thorpe Hall, Hasketon, Suffolk.

89. Oxford Down Ram, " Liverpool Freeland," . 242

The property of John Treadwell, Upper Winchendon, Ayles-
burj-.

90. Somerset and Dorset Horn Ewe Hoggs, . 243

The property of H. Davis, Preston Farm, Milverton.

91. Ryeland Ram, in Full Wool, . . .244

The property of Frank Shepherd, The Brook, Colwall,
Malvern.

92. Cheviot Ram, ...... 245

93. Cheviot Ewe — As One of a Group of Three, . 245

92 and 93 the property of J. A. Johnstone, Archbank, Moffat.

94. Highland Black-Faced Ram, '' Potiphar," . 247

The property of Archibald of Overshields.

95. Scotch Black- Faced Highland Ewes, . . 248

The property of John Craig, Innergeldie, Perthshire.

XXX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

96. Herdwick Ram, " Disraeli," and Ewes, . . 249

I'he property of James Spencer, Murrah Hall, Penrith.

97. Two-Shear Lonk Ram, "Captain," . . 250

98. Two-Shear Lonk Ewes, . . . .250

97 and 98 the property of Mrs Dawson, Weston Hall, Yorkshire.

99. Colhe Dog, " Steeple Jack," 18,193, • • ^5^

The property of R. Barrett, Cecil Street, Strand, London.

Electrotypes.

Typical Ideal Specimen of Aberdeen- Angus Cow, . 63
Professor W. O. Williams's Intratracheal Injection

Syringe, . . . . . . . .101

Small Biting Ox-Louse {^Trichodectis scaiaris), . 102

Large Sucking 0.x- Louse [Hcematopimis eiirysternus), 102
Ox Warble Fly, ]\Iaggot, and Chrysalis, . . 109

Breathing Tubes of Warble Maggot, . . . 110
Bistoury, . . . . . . .145

Trochar and Canula, . . . . .151

Cow- Breeches, . . . . . . .161

Model Sides of Bacon, . . . . . .171

Shelter Shed on AVheels, . . . . .183

Forty Points of a Horse, . • . .193

Points of a Clydesdale (Figs, i, 2j, . . .198
Side View of a Lambing Pen, . . . .255

Net Breeches for a Ewe, . . . . .257

Maps.

Orographical Features — British Isles,
Distribution of Cattle, ....
Distribution of Sheep, ....
Distribution of Agricultural Population, .

XXXI

105
230
297

Prof WaUwxD Farm. Luc Stack

BRZTISE ISIiXS

f^^^' i

OROGRAPHICAL FEATURES

*b«vi t<.iu r*|

mfttJICC TO tOKtflMttt

"■? -j L3nd3E(id,

ffe/^'"-^**^.

ENGL I

TIm Zdinibu*^ Gvograflilea} Iixstitulr

Key to the Figures indicating the Locality of
each Breed of Cattle on Map shoiving
OrograpJiical Features.

Name of Breed.

1. Orkney and Shetland.

2. Aberdeen -Angus Black Poll.

3. West Highland.

4. Hamilton, or Cadzow Park Wild White.

5. Ayrshire.

6. Galloway Black Poll.

7. Chillingham Park Wild White.

8. Shorthorn.

9. Somerford Park White Polled.

10. Chartley Park White Polled.

1 1 . North Wales Black, or Anglesey.

12. South Wales Black, or Pembroke.

13. Old Castle Martin White.

14. Glamorganshire.

15. Devon.

16. Hereford.

17. Longhorn.

18. Red Poll.

19. Sussex.

20. Kerry.

FaPiM Live Stock of Great Britain.

INTRODUCTION.

A proper knowledge of the habits and treatment
of the animals of the farm is, without doubt, the
most important branch of a farmer's education. It
is the one, too, which is found to offer the greatest
difficulties to men who take to the profession of
farming late in life. In fact, few men who, as boys,
have not been intimately associated with animals,
can ever hope to attain to the first rank as judges or
managers of stock. For the same reason we never
find a rcall}' first-rate shepherd in a hill district — the
place where superior knowledge and intelligence is
most wanted — who has not as a boy seen and assisted
in all the man\^ little details of the management of a
flock. He drinks in the information, as it were, with
his mother's milk, and does not know in after life
that he was not born with much of the knowledge
he possesses.

It is not only a knowledge of animals that a boy
gains by associating with them, but an interest in

2 FARM LIVE STOCK.

them. The)' are the playthings of his youth, and
the objects of his affection as he grows in years. A
first-rate judge and prize winner — it does not matter
in what class of stock — is invariably found to spend
many hours of his time gloating over the points of
his favourite beasts. It is only in this wa)', and not
from books, that a man can ever master the details
of structure and the peculiarities of breed and con-
stitution, the knowledge which alone can lead to
victory in the show-ring.

A servant intrusted with the management of stock
must make his charge his hobby if he is to be a
success. A man is quite as happy in the enjoyment
of one hobby as of another, provided it be his own
choice; and it is much better for himself on account
of his own comfort, as well as of the permanency of
his employment and amount of remuneration for the
same, if the hobby is that by which he wins his
daily bread. One of the weak points in the present
education system, so far as agricultural labourers are
concerned, is, that no adequate provision is made for
their learning, while young (the time when all the
deepest and most lasting impressions arc formed),
the business by which they are to live. Agriculture
all round — but more particularly in the stock branch
— whether it be the knowledge required by the
farmer, or that by the labourer, is not like an
ordinary trade or profession, which admits of hard
and fast rules being laid down, and of being learnt
in so many years, even after a man reaches maturity.
It has to be taken in little by little, and through a

INTRODL'CTION. 3

long period of time, which must embrace a consider-
able proportion of the boyish days. The knowledge
must come, as it were, instinctively. It cannot be
learnt by rote. It would be wrong to deny the
necessity of giving every working man in the
kingdom a good plain education. Putting aside
all considerations of sentiment towards our fellow-
man, and the necessity of having everyone educated
who is to ha\'e a voice in the government of the
country, there is an undoubted advantage in having
work performed by the aid of that intelligence which
accompanies education. But what calls loudly for a
protest is the virtual prohibition of boys learning, at
the only time when they can do that perfectly, the
one branch of their business by which they them-
selves shall live and in time rear families. The
present system is too much one-sided. It is the
extreme into which we have fallen after a long
period of deficiency in the branch which now receives
too much attention. Youth is spent in the acquiring
of book-learning solely. Interests and inclinations
which must develop are led into channels far away
from the employments of the future life. Work,
when it has to be done, is performed as a drudgery
and with a heavy heart. The frame is not trained,
as it is being built up by Nature, to dexterity and
efficiency, nor yet is it strengthened and enlarged
by that practice which always precedes efficiency.
Why should not our educational system provide
for the training of our labouring classes in both
its branches, manual and mental, when it would

4 FARM LIVE STOCK.

conduce so much to their future happiness and
the public good ?

In treating the subject, "The Principles of Breed-
ing" will be discussed first, followed by the different
branches of stock in order, viz.: — Cattle, pigs, horses,
and sheep ; and a number of farm stocking and other
calculations will be given.

Darwin's work on " Animals and Plants under
Domestication " treats of nearly all the trustworthy
principles of breeding that have yet been propounded,
so that originalit}' in this branch must not be ex-
pected to any large extent. The writer, however,
avoids reiterating anything which he has not been
able to verify in an experience which has extended
over more than a quarter of a century.

PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING.

CHAPTER I.— PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING.

Family Resemblance — Force of Inheritance — Constitutional Weak-
ness— Imagination — Crossing and In-and-in-Breeding — Atavism,
in Pure Breeds and in Crosses — Domestication — Barrenness.

'T^HE strong family resemblance which is seen
both in the human species and amongst animals
related to each other, is a direct consequence of the
existence of the first law of breeding, which is not
constant in everything, but always holds good as
regards general characteristics, viz., that " like begets
like." Other laws are in operation at the same time ;
consequently, when we come within the immediate
sphere of their action, this and various other laws
have to be modified so as to harmonize with sur-
rounding conditions. The influence of a parent, as
such, in his or her first function, is not always
exerted under exactly the same conditions, and con-
sequently we have differences between individuals,
alike in many respects, which distinguish them from
one another.

To the uneducated eye, every member of a herd
of Galloway cattle, or of a flock of Southdown ev/es,
looks exactly like its neighbour, and a townsman
stares when he is told that some shepherds know
individually every member of a flock of sheep
amounting to perhaps 200 or 300.

6 FARM LIVE STOCK.

The force of inheritance is strongest in old and
well-established pure breeds, but even among the
best a very inferior animal (as the American *' skelly-
wag " among cattle) may appear at times. This
degenerate specimen should never be allowed to
breed. It is by getting rid of all such inferior or
even moderately good animals that our breeds are
improved. Weeding by the hand of the breeder, or
artificial selection, acts much in the same way
among domesticated animals as the law of the
survival of the fittest does among wild ones. A
well bred, though plain looking bull, if he has no
deformity or no very objectionable points, usually
breeds much better stock than a more handsome
one without a good pedigree. In selecting, it is
much more important to have the sires than the
females good, because, besides the greater potency
of the male, one bad one may affect a large number
of offspring, whereas an inferior female only has to do
with her own young. This becomes a most important
matter when taken in connexion with the fact, that
" the influence of the first male by which a female
produces young may be seen in her future offspring
by different sires." Everyone knows, that should
his English terrier bitch get lined for the first time
by a Dandic Dinmont, she will years after throw
puppies with some of the Dandie characters. The
same holds, though perhaps not to such a marked
degree, with the larger animals. Eor this, and the
other reasons which induce people to keep good
stock rather than bad, a mongrel bull should not be

PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 7

put to good cows. The best bred animals are often
far from perfect in some points. It is most important
if ever a bull (or sire of any breed) with a special
defect has been used, say a hollow or weakness
behind the shoulder, that all succeeding sires should
be specially strong in the particular point, whatever
it was, else there might in time be a general defect
established in the whole race of descendants. Males
are more variable than females. For instance, say
in a mountain breed of sheep, it is much more easy
to select a large number of ewe lambs than of ram
lambs fit to be exhibited in a show-yard.

Animals with constitutional weaknesses amount-
ing to unsoundness should not be used for breeding.
Defects resulting from accidental injuries are some-
times transmitted to the young — more especially
when disease follows an injury — and may, or may
not, be hurtful. The tendency to bony exostoses on
the leg bones of a horse, from the parents contract-
ing these through hard work on the road, \vould be
a case of the first kind. The following is an illustra-
tion of the second : A black spaniel bitch, belonging
to Commander Harrison, R.N., had the tip of her
tail caught in a door ; white hairs grew from the
injured part, and she bore various puppies with
white tipped tails afterwards, never having done so
before.

Imagination sometimes comes into play in breed-
ing, especially with regard to colour. The colour of
an object at which an animal looks while conceiving
sometimes governs the colour of the young. A

8 FARM LIVK STOCK.

perfectly pure bred A}Tshire cow at Auchenbrack,
Dumfriesshire, gave birth to a dark dun calf, the
same colour as her mate, which was a cross from a
Channel Islands cow. The peculiar dun was not an
Ayrshire colour. It is recorded of JMCombie, of
Tillyfour, that he succeeded in preventing his black
polled Anguses from breeding red calves by putting
up a high black fence round the field, thus preventing
them seeing the red cattle of his neighbours. A
well-lighted byre, with whitewashed walls, is supposed
to make calves lighter. How far the colour of the
sire is transmitted to his offspring by inheritance,
and how far by the imagination of the female, we do
not pretend to know, but are inclined to believe that
inheritance has most sway, especially in some crosses
between two distinct breeds.

Certain colours can be, as a rule, depended upon
to produce other and altogether different colours in
the young ; for instance, a black Galloway cow and
a pure white shorthorn bull almost constantly throw
a very dark roan or blue-gra}'. A light roan might
give the same result ; but a dark roan or red bull
will get cither black or red colours, which are not so
much desired. In the same way, when Ayrshire
cows are crossed w^ith a shorthorn, a light coloured
bull throws more of the shorthorn character into the
colours of the calves, which bring better prices, as
they are usually wanted for fattening purposes.

PRINCirLES OF BREEDING. 9

Crossing and " In-and-in-Breeding."

Crossing families not related to each other usually
gives increase of vigour and larger size, though some-
times the distance between the characters is so great
that the result is much like a cross between two
distinct breeds. For this reason some object strongly
to mixing up the blood of Booth and of Bates short-
horns.

Too close " in-and-in-breeding," or pairing of
animals related to each other, causes great loss of
constitutional vigour, loss of size and fertility, and
sometimes malformation — as in the case of a pig at
Twiglees, Lockerbie, which had a part of the back-
bone Avanting. Pigs show the bad effects sooner
than any other farm animals. Darwin points out
that this is perhaps on account of their comparatively
solitary habits. Gregarious animals do not suffer so
much ; they have been more accustomed to it, and
Nature has accommodated herself to the circum-
stances.

Shorthorns are not so much the worse for in-
breeding as most other stock. Their distinct type
has been stamped upon them by in-breeding. The
most prominent advantage of in-and-in-breeding is
this stamping of family characters or types, and it
cannot well be dispensed with in the formation of
new breeds or the improvement of old ones.

Crosses between two distinct breeds mated the
proper way make the best fattening animals. The
sire, in virtue of his greater potenc}', should 'be of

lO FARM LIVE STOCK.

the more improved breed ; for example, the short-
horn bull breeds well with cows of milking breeds,
or slow maturing sorts, as Kerrv^ West Highland,
Ayrshire, or Galloway. Crossing the reverse way is
a failure. Of late years, since the Angus breed has
been so much improved, farmers cross shorthorn
cows successfully with Angus bulls.

In farm stock it is considered that the male gives
the external form, the female more of the vital and
internal organs. This does not belie the fact that a
calf has often a very strong likeness to its mother.

With a thoroughbred horse on a mare of another
breed, the resulting offspring has generally a sym-
metrical form. The other way, the cross is often
stronger and more useful, but plain, usually about
the hind quarters and head.

Sheep come under the same rule. Any of the
improved varieties of Leicesters or Downs may be
used with advantage, under certain conditions, to
put to the various mountain breeds.

The first cross between two breeds is intermediate
between them ; but after the first cross, it cannot be
calculated how the tendency may run.

The first cross is the strongest. After-crosses get
smaller and weaker, and all the more so the longer
crossing is continued. This necessitates going back
now and then to one of the pure breeds for a sire to
infuse new vigour. This so far explains the success
of crossing mongrel cows with a pure .shorthorn bull.

Atavism, or " throwing back," or " reversion," is
the reacquiring by an animal of some character

PRINCIPLES OP^ BREEDING. II

which the immediate parents had not, but which
existed in its ancestors.

This may occur in two classes — (i.) In Pure-bred
Stock. (2.) In Cross Stock.

1st, Reversion in Pure Breeds. — The aboriginal
species of domestic cattle and sheep no doubt had
horns for defence and attack ; now many are without
them. Sometimes, however, a ram of a polled breed,
as the Cheviot, has small horns. In cattle this is
also the case, as imperfectly formed horns at times
appear in both Red and Black Polls.

Sheep, for their better protection when wild, were
original!}^ brown or dingy black. Now and then in
the best flocks reversion is shown by the appearance
of a black sheep ; and so frequently is this corre-
lated with poor quality, that it has become pro-
A-erbial to describe the unfortunate member of a
family as the " black sheep."

2nd, Reversion in Cross Animals. — This is much
more common. When two distinct breeds are
crossed, the offspring has a strong tendency to
revert to one of the pure forms, or rather to an
inferior ancestor of one of them ; and this lasts for
generations. The young often take the colour of
one parent, and in time change it for the other.
The calf from a black cow by a red bull is often
born red or brown, becoming black afterwards ; and
the mouse coloured foal of a chestnut mare may
become chestnut.

"The act of crossing in itself gives an impulse
towards reversion," as seen by characters appearing

12 FARM LI VI-: STOCK.

in the young that had not been seen in either pure
breed for generations. Calves are sometimes pro-
duced white with dark ears, like the ancient wild
cattle, by a red shorthorn bull on West Highland
cows.

Cross-breds are often wilder than purc-breds.*
This is noticed particularly in cattle and sheep.
Cross sheep are not so easily fenced, and a dairy of
cross cows is much more difficult to train to stand
for milking in the field than pure shorthorns.

Domestication increases the fertility of animals,
if properly bred and not overfed. Being in an
improving condition at the time of conception in-
creases the number of twins. In a flock of ewes the
largest number of twins is got the first few days the
ram is out. The first young of most animals run
slightly more to the female than to the male side.

Barrenness or uncertainty may be caused by,
1st, Over-feeding in the case of either sex, thus load-
ing the reproductive organs with fat. The remedy
is judicious starving, or working in the case of cattle
or horses. Some foods cause uncertainty in breed-
ing more readily than others. Sugar, molasses, and
lin.seed are as bad as any, but are nevertheless often
used to get beasts up for show or sale, because they
give a smooth and glossy skin, as well as lay on fat.
These foods would not do damage if given in
moderation with ha)' or straw, but it is when given

* This rule refers to pure breeds possessing tlie same degree of
wildness. If a wild and a docile breed are mated, tlie progeny will
be intermediate in its degree of wildness.

PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 1 3

in addition to a full feed of other concentrated food
that they do injury. Foods for breeders should be
particularly rich in phosphates, and should have
more albuminoids to fat-formers than in the case of
fattening animals ; such foods are — beans, peas,
lentils, gram, etc. Fat animals do not come often
in season, and consequently settle better and feed
faster.

2nd, Too low condition, especially if combined
with exposure to cold and wet, as with cattle wintered
outside on poor food, or heavy milking cows sucked
down by a large calf, or perhaps by two calves.
This occurs most frequently in heavy milking breeds
\\hen the calves run constantly with their mothers.

yd, Constitutional weakness from in-breeding.

4///, Being a free-martin or dumb-martin, that is,
a heifer born one of a pair of twins, the other being a
bull. In this case the external as Avell as the
internal organs of generation arc imperfectly formed
and contracted. There is usually also a more or
less masculine appearance about the head.

Sheep or horses do not answer to this rule. Twins
from a mare are very rarely seen, — because when
they occur they are usually born too soon, or die if
they do come to full time.

14 FARM LIVE STOCK.

CHAPTER II.— WILD CATTLE.

Aboriginal Cattle of Great Britain — Bos tints or Primigenius —
Another Distinct Species, Bos longifrons — Relationship of Bos
tints to Wild Park Cattle — The Home of the Forest Cattle
— Domesticated Animals — The Wild Cattle at Chillingham Park
— Bos scoticiis — The Hamilton or Cadzow Park Cattle — Chilling-
ham Cross — The Charlley Herd.

'T^HE Aboriginal Cattle* of Great Britain, in
common with those of the continent of Europe,
belonged to the Bos Jirus or, to use the more recent
and more common name, the Bos primigenius. Al-
though it has been asserted that the original colour
of this species was black or mouse coloured, it is now
pretty generally believed that the original colour was
white, with black or brown points, such as may be seen
in the more or less degenerate representatives of the
species in the parks at Chillingham, Hamilton, and
Chartley — the only places in the United Kingdom
where wild cattle exist. In the pristine form it
approached to the size of an elephant, as may be
gathered from the enormous dimensions of a con-
siderable variet)' of remains dug up from time to
time and preserved.

* For an exhaustive account see Tlie Wild White Cattle of Great
Britain, by the Rev, John Storer. Cassell, Petter, (\: Calpin. To
this excellent work I am indebted for part of the historical matter I
have adopted.

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Another distinct species, the Bos longifrons, with
small and slender form, short horns, and hair of a
dark colour, was found to be the prevailing domes-
ticated bovine animal before and up to the date of
the Roman conquest. Their descendants are now
to be seen, after crossing to a greater or less extent
with the Bos nnis, in the Scotch West Highland,
the Welsh, the Devon, the Sussex, the Kerr\% and
the old Irish breeds.

There is a strong- presumption that the ancient
forest cattle, the descendants of the Bos tiriis of
Cjesar, were the immediate progenitors of the wild
park cattle of the present time, and also of the
many herds which in comparatively recent years
existed in various parts of the United Kingdom.
As population increased and encroached upon the
vast forests that covered the surface of the country,
the numbers of wild cattle declined with those of
wild beasts generally, and to preserve them from
extinction, the great lords enclosed and protected
the decreasing remainder. The small numbers and
the confinement within restricted areas subjected
them to an undue amount of in-and-in-breeding,
and the large majority of the herds in question have
bred themselves out and disappeared ; while those
that remain, by their diminished size, refined bone,
and tendency to barrenness, show that whatever
they have gained they have also suffered from
close interbreeding.

The home of the forest cattle, at least during the
latter period of their freedom, was the north of

l6 FARM LIVK STOCK.

England and Scotland, more especially in the dense
forests covering the hilly regions. It is supposed
that they were all horned and of one race, of a
similar colour — white, or at times creamy white,
with black or dun points, though some of their
descendants are in an unaccountable manner with-
out horns.

Domesticated animals of a similar type were also
to be seen, and these were noted for their milking
qualities.

The wild cattle in Chilling-ham Park, the property
of the Earl of Tankervillc, are said to be the most
characteristic descendants of the forest breed, though
they only differ in minor points of detail from those
in Hamilton Park— the only other unmixed repre-
sentative of the Bos scotkus. Storer gives it as his
strong opinion that these cattle were not so per-
.sistently in-and-in-bred for hundreds of years as
is usually supposed ; but that until not very long
ago fresh blood was brought from other herds, and
in this way their existence has been prolonged.
Ramage, in " Drumlanrig, and the Douglases
(1876)," quite unintentionally tends to confirm this
view by saying " there is a tradition that about
100 years ago the whole stock " (meaning the
Drumlanrig herd) " was sold and driven off to
Chillingham."

The presence of a rash (no doubt of a scrofulous
character) is one of the visible indications of the
close-breeding which has nevertheless taken place.
A tendency to barrenness points to the same cause.

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Domesticated animals of a similar t) pc were also

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lies.

The wild cattle in Chillingham Park, the property
of the Earl of Tankervillc, .f mM to be the most
characteristic descendants of . ' breed, though

they only differ in minor points ;> those

in Hamilton Park — the only oth> . .,

scntative of the Bos scoticus. Storer ^rjves it
strong opinion that these cattle i-

sistently in-and-in-bred for hund.^v.., .. ....... as

is usually supposed ; but that until not very long^
ago fresh blood was brought from other herds, and
iii th'N way their existence has been proV-n ■< '
Kiim.'je, in " Drumlanrig, and the Dc'
iStO, quite unintentionally ter
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WILD CATTLE. IJ

The rate of annual increase of the breed is only one
in five.

At one period the bulls possessed a mane which
developed with maturit}', but decreased with old age.
It is also noticed that the tendency to show black
spots on the skin, most seen, perhaps, about the
neck and head (and to a greater degree among the
Hamilton than among the Chillingham cattle), also
increases with age." Black or dark brown and white,
and also black calves assuming a brown tinge,
have from time to time been dropped in both herds
named, but these have been destroyed to maintain
uniformit}-. In this is clearly seen the link connect-
ing the white with the allied black or dark breeds.
The skins are thin, and under the white hair they are
white in colour, and thus differ in a most important
characteristic from the black-skined and white-haired
animals belonging to the zebu race or humped cattle
of India, the Bos indicus.

Storer says : " The tongues of the Chillingham
cattle are slate-coloured above, and of a reddish-
brown colour on the under side ; the teats of the
cows, unlike those at Chartley, are white ; and
although the muzzle is black, tJie under lip is white."
And again : " Besides the red ears, a faint line of red
hair exists, as if drawn by a pencil, immediately
above the dark and hairless muzzle." Quoting from
Lord Tankerville, he adds : "In form they are
beautifully shaped. They have short legs, straight

* A parallel to this is to be noticed in the dark spots which
develop on the ears of Border Leicester ewes as they get old.

C

l8 FARM LINK STOCK.

back, horns of a very fine texture, thin skin, so
that some of the bulls appear of a cream colour ;
and they have a peculiar cry, more like a wild
beast than that of ordinary cattle."

The best bullocks feed to about 40 stones' weight
under natural treatment, and the resulting flesh is of
specially fine flavour and cjuality — the lean muscle
being mixed or marled with fat. The proportion
of offal to carcase is remarkably small.

Naturally these cattle are wild and timid, and try
to escape from the presence of man. They are,
however, extremely ferocious and dangerous when
in close quarters and at bay.

Their instincts are essentially those of wild animals.
Their keenness of scent, and the habit they possess of
liiding their young for a few days after birth, are
good illustrations of the fact. Domesticated cattle
which have recently been reclaimed from the wild
condition, such as West Highlanders and members
of the South Wales breed, retain this practice for a
time.

The milking tendencies of the early white cattle
of the country must have been strong, because in
reviewing the history of the formation of our milking
breeds it will be .seen that they derived their powers
of milk-production almost invariably from their wild
ancestors. I refer specially to the Ayrshire, the
South Wales, the Red- Polled, and the Cumberland
non-pedigreed shorthorn breeds.

The Hamilton or Cadzow Park* cattle, which

* Said to be a remnant of ihc primeval forest of Caledonia.

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WILD CATTLE. 19

numbered 44 in the spring of 1889, are less timid
than they were a generation ago, and not nearly so
shy as those at Chillingham. Nevertheless, they
cannot be driven from one field to another, but have
to be trapped within a narrow space shut off by
folding gates when they require to be moved. When
seriously disturbed they show their nervous excite-
ment by passing faeces of an abnormally liquid
character ; and, if the cows are suckling calves, by
the derangement or death of a number of the calves,
due to the heated and poisonous milk produced
while under the influence of fear.

When shot (the method adopted in destroying
them) they dress to about the same weight as their
rivals at Chillingham, both being smaller than an
average specimen of the Ayrshire breed. The
smaller sized cows killed in their natural condition
after breeding weigh as little as 16 stones.

In contrasting the two breeds, it is found that the
Hamilton cattle as compared with those at Chilling-
ham stand higher on their legs ; their horns are
lower set on their heads, and are mostly inclined
downwards through a part of their length, lessening
the space left between the ear and the horn ; and
the white hair on the body is purer or less creamy.
The jet-black tips of the horns, the eyes, the eye-
lashes, the black muzzle and surrounding ring
of hair, knee-caps, hoofs, and stockings almost
reaching the knee in front, give a more defin-
itely marked appearance to the animals than the
less prominent and less varied red-brown of the

20 lAR.M LIV1-: STOCK.

Chillingham breed. It is well authenticated that till
quite recentl}' the Hamilton cattle were without
horns. One old servant on the estate recollects that
the late Duke Alexander would not allow any calves
that tended to grow horns to be preserved. There
is sufficient evidence to show that the points and
characters of the various herds of wild cattle have
been kept constant or altered to suit the wishes of
individual owners by artificial selection, viz., by kill-
ing those that did not conform to a certain standard.
How far the present horned condition or the late
polled condition of the Hamilton cattle can be
attributed to this interference cannot now be deter-
mined. There is a tradition that a West Highland
bull broke into the park, and that through his
descendants, by selection, the cattle reacquired
horns.

The numbers were reduced in 1866 b\- the Rinder-
pest to 13 cows and a bull. In breeding up the
existing herd, it has been impossible to kill off all
animals with im,perfect markings, so that in appear-
ance they are not now so uniform in type as it will
be possible to make them within a few }-ears. No
doubt the herd has also suffered on account of closer
in-and-in-breeding than before, due to the reduction
of the numbers. This is to be inferred from the low-
condition they get into during winter in spite of
the liberal feeding and care bestowed upon them.
The constitution seems to have suffered more in the
matter of hardiness suitable to resist the inclemency
of the weather than in the powers of breeding, as no

WILD CATTLE. 21

fewer than 21 cows out of a total of 27 brought
calves in 1888.

Chilling-ham Cross. — For the purpose of infusing
new blood, a Chillingham bull was imported in 1886
and put to a selected number of cows. The products
of the cross show some points of great interest to
the breeders of stock. Of six calves, the first pro-
duce of this connexion, four were almost pure white.
In place of the black or red markings seen in their
parents, the}^ had extremely small fringes of coloured
hairs — not more than } in. broad on the tips of the
cars — and were in consequence destroyed as unsatis-
factory. One of the two remaining was black, and
the other was red in its points like the sire. In the
following year, 1888, two well-marked bull calves
were secured, and it is thought they will in time
exercise a salutary influence on the herd. The first
cross shows a decided increase in size and also in
the amount of hair as compared with the pure-bred
cattle of a corresponding age. The horns are also
more upright, resembling the horns of the Chilling-
ham herd. There is little doubt but that the step
taken at Hamilton is one in the right direction.
Storer had, after a careful study of the whole question
of breeding, excellent grounds for making the asser-
tion, that he was of opinion "that no wild herd, if
imprisoned in a park and interbred for several
hundred years without a cross, could be in existence
now."

The Chartley Herd, now (1889) 35 in number, is
located in Staffordshire. The cattle in form, sub-

22 FARM LIVE STOCK.

stance, and general appearance strongly resemble
the longhorn breed, which, at one time, was largely
represented in the English Midlands. The colour
of skin and hair, including the udder and the tip of
the tail, is white. The teats are black, and so are the
points corresponding to those of the Hamilton cattle,
but not quite so extended. The horns, which are
long, white with brown or dark tips, descend in the
manner of the horns of the longhorn breed. From
the crown between the horns hangs down a top
knot of long white hair.

The herd further resembles that at Hamilton in
not being so wild as the herd at Chillingham. The
animals, however, exceed those of both northern
herds in size and substance. Black calves are
at times dropped by cows of this breed, but are
destroyed for the reason already stated in connexion
with the other breeds of wild cattle, viz., to preserve
the characteristic colour markings.

DOMESTIC CATTLE — GENERAL POINTS. 23

CHAPTER III.— BREEDS OP DOMESTIC
CATTLE— THE SHORTHORN.

Points generally applicahle to Cattle kept for Beef Production — The
Shorthorn — Colour — Horns — Descent from the Old Tees- Water
Breed — Milking Qualities — Inferiority of ^^Tlite Specimens —
Tradition relating to Historj' — Charles and Robert Colling —
Milking Powers lowered by " In-and-in-breeding " — Influence of
Change of Country or Locality on Constitution — Two great
Branches of Shorthorns, "Booth and Bates" — The Booths —
Thomas Bates — Comparison of Booth and Bates Cattle — Com-
mingling of Booth and Bates Blood — Recent Breeders — Aberdeen
Shorthorns.

OEFORE describing the distinguishing character-
istics of the different breeds of domesticated
British cattle and to avoid repetition, the general
points applicable to those kept for beef production
shall be briefl}' described.

General Points.

Head broad between the ej-es, flat across the
crown (with a few exceptions in polled breeds) and
down the nose, v/hich should be neither dished nor
Roman, and of medium length ; init::zle broad, full,
distinct, and dewy ; eyes large, full, and clear ; horns
none, or varying in length, colour, and strength,

24 FARM LIVE STOCK.

according to breed, set on the crest of the head ;
cars full and sensitive, well covered with hair, and
varying slightly in position in the different breeds.

Neck lengthy, full at the " neck vein," or where it
joins the body, broad (muscular in the male), but
fine, and tapering to the head — to which it should
join without thickness or chokiness — and straight
from the shoulder tops to the roots of the horns,
excepting when it rises into the crest of a bull.

Body long and deep, equally balanced before and
behind ; back broad throughout its length, and
straight from the top of the shoulders to the tail
head ; \hQ frame \\q\\ and equally covered with flesh,
not patchy on the hooks, tail-head, rump, shoulders,
or other parts (when prime, a little pit may be felt
on the point of each hook). The trunk looked at
from any point should resemble as nearly as possible
a parallelogram ; the under and upper lines straight
and parallel ; brisket forward and wide, so that
the fore legs stand well apart ; tail thin, set on well
back (but not too high), and falling perpendicularly.

Ski)i moderately thick (not papery), loose, and
mellow or mossy to touch ; hair abundant and
covering all parts well.

Shoulders laid well back o\-cr the ribs, so that the
natural depression behind them in the region of the
girth line should not be too pronounced ; broad above,
between the upper edges of the shoulder blades.

Chest full, wide, and deep.

The Forearm and Lci^ straight and short; muscle
large and broad ; bone strong, though fine and flat

- 3

DOMESTIC CATTLE— GENERAL POINTS. 25

(small bone shows tcndenc}- to diminished size) ;
legs well under ; Jioofs clear and oily.

Hind Quarters full and well pn.cked, lengthy from
hook bones (which should not rise above the back
level) to tail-head ; thighs broad, thick, and well
down towards the hocks.

Tii'ist or inner thigh full and large.

Kits well sprung and deep, filling up deficiency
behind the shoulder and in front of the hooks.

Fore Flanks and Hind Flanks full and deep.

The Lines of the body flowing, not sharp or abrupt,
and a general balance of parts to please the eye.

A Brief Histoi'ical Sketch of Breeds mainly
valued for Beef Production, together with
their Characteristic Points and Qualities.

The Shorthorn

Is the most widely distributed and numerously
represented of all British breeds, not only in the
United Kingdom and her colonies, but also in the
American States. It has among its many good
qualities a marvellous power of adaptation to
climatic and other local surrounding conditions.
In connexion with the form described under the
previous heading " general points," the following
characteristics are worthy of special notice.

In colour the breed is represented by roans and

26 FARM LI\ K STOCK.

reds of various shades, light and dark, and also by
red and white as well as wholly white specimens.
The latter and also the light or yellowish-light
reds are out of fashion, particularly with American
buyers, who, on account of their numbers, tend
to regulate custom in such things. Brindled colours
are not seen in shorthorns, and the same may be
said of black, although the latter was at no very
distant date a colour possessed by certain of the
ancestors of the shorthorn race. The skin, eyelids,
and the inner ears are of a creamy yellow. The
nose, palate, lips, and eyelids should be flesh-coloured,
and free from dark markings ; the nose ought not
to be bright red, that being held as an indication of
delicac)-, just as black is now considered to denote
impurity, — this, too, in spite of the acknowledged
fact that black or dark noses existed in some of the
best strains of blood mentioned in the early record.s
of the breed. " Foljambe," a descendant of the famous
bull " Hubback," had, on the authority of Bates, a
dark nose ; and another good bull was designated
the "black-nosed." It is also further recorded by
Allen that at one time '* farm stock was nearly all
black-nosed."

The characteristic horns are short and blunt, more
or less curved in a downward direction, of a waxy
yellow throughout (free from black tips), laterally
flattened, and set on wide apart.

It is essential that the special male or special
female characters should be naturally represented
in cither se.x.

DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE SHORTHORN. 2/

Shorthorns are descended from the old North-
East of England breed, variously designated the
"Durham," " Tees- Water," " Yorkshire," or " Holder-
ness." It was probably originally formed, though
perhaps several centuries ago, by crossing the
aboriginal British cows with large -framed bulls
imported from the Continent — Holland and Den-
mark. The dark noses referred to were no doubt
due to their relationship with the ancient white cattle.
Early shorthorns were good milkers, and it may be
presumed they in part inherited that quality along
with the shortness of horn from their Continental
ancestors.

The "Alloy" blood, which was represented by 13
animals of good appearance at the retiring sale of
Charles Colling, was descended from the produce of
the calf (Lady) of a red Galloway cow, repeatedly
in-and-in-bred with the best shorthorn bulls. The
distinct Galloway characteristics rapidly disappeared
in the full flood of shorthorn blood, still the animals
retained a roundness of form, roughness of coat,
heaviness and uniformity of flesh, and deficiency in
their milking powers not usually found in the short-
horns of that time.

The colours of the early shorthorns were much
like those now prevailing. Among red varieties the
yellowish-red is perhaps waning before the deep or
darker red colours. This yellowish tint seems to
have been more or less correlated with good milking-
powers possessed by the early shorthorns, and to
have disappeared with the increasing tendency in

28 FARM LIVK STOCK.

the breed to produce fat at the expense of milking
qualities. The fact that the light red cows with a
slightly orange tinge arc, as a rule, more highly
thought of by dairy people than dark reds, goes to
support the accuracy of the views expressed.

The milking shorthorns (not pedigreed, though
^vell bred) necessary for the milk supply of Edin-
burgh are largely drawn from Cumberland. They
are excellent milkers, and possess, in many cases in
a marked degree, the light red or yellowish-red
which is held to be associated with milking powers.
Thornton's "Circular" says that in the Lake district
"the yellow roan and red were" (in the early part
of this century) " looked upon as the pure breed,
the dark red being held in no favour." The colour
of " Hubback," the famous bull from which all the
best shorthorns have been bred, was "yellow-red and
white ; " and Carr, writing of the first of the straw-
berry tribe, says the)^ were " (jf that yelloiv-red and
ivhite /lue, which, though out of favour at the present
day, was thcti the prevailing colour of the shorthorn."

That colour is to some degree an indication of
milking qualities is beyond reasonable doubt. A
careful inquiry among " town " dairymen, whose
cattle are treated by forcing in a manner calculated
to try the weak points of all constitutions, shows
that it is a pretty widely accepted belief that white
shorthorns are not so hardy nor so good as milkers
as those of other colours.* The fact that a white

* Storer, in speaking of England, Scotland, and Ireland, says :
"The white cow is despised and charged with delicacy."

DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE SHORTHORN. 29

COW may in a rare and special case be second to
none in a whole herd does not interfere with the
general belief in the principle laid down. It is a
parallel to the old story of the black sheep of a flock
being either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad.

This point is of special interest when considered in
connexion with a statement in Thornton's " Circular "
(1869) in reference to the effects of the Collings'
system of breeding, that " in all cases of close affinity
there was a tendenc}' to white, with red ears and
spots." Is it possible that many of the pale cattle
of the present time are suffering not from the effects
of close-breeding of recent date, but from the effects
of it in the past, in virtue of the relaxation of the
intensive accumulation of good qualities which are
associated with judicious in-breeding when recently
carried out ? If this is so, we have one explanation
of the decided preference of American and other
purchasers for roan or for dark colours. It may be
also that light-skinned cattle are more liable than in
this country to suffer from sunburning in the United
States, where solar influences are more powerful.*

Little is known of the breed, except from the
uncertain authority of tradition, down to the early
part of the eighteenth century, though it is only
right to infer that long before this time great care,
and even skill, had been bestowed upon it. The
earliest records show that purity of breed was fully

This subject of tlie impoitance of the natural colouring of the
skins of cattle is exhaustively dealt with in the author's work on
" India in 1887."

30 FARM LIVE STOCK.

appreciated, and this important fact could not have
been uni\crsal without previous experience and
attention. Though the first volume of the " Short-
horn Herd Rook" was not published till 1822, yet,
for well-nigh a century, pedigree records, of a more
or less imperfect kind, had been kept of a few of
the best bulls.

Charles and Robert Colling,* who have been
called rather mislcadingly "the founders of the
shorthorn breed of cattle," did much to improve the
quality and to extend the fame of this hitherto
local breed by what may be termed Bakewell's-f*
method of breeding, which might be briefly defined
as a persistent system of " in-and-in-brecding" with
specially selected and carcfulh' mated animals of
good blood.

The brothers, although admittedly excellent
judges and managers of stock, yet owe their success
and the name they have handed down to posterity
in a great measure to their methods of bringing
their animals to the notice of the public. Two
famous beasts — the " Durham Ox," with a live
weight of fully i ^l tons, and the " White Heifer that
travelled," weighing considerably over i ton — were
carried about the country for a number of years,
and exhibited as marvellous specimens of the
wonderful breed with which the name of Colling
became familiarly associated. The hiring out of
bulls, a common practice of the present clay, though

* Charles, Ijorn 1750, died 1836; Kobeit, horn 1749, died 1820.
+ Robert liakewell, born 1725, died 1795.

DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE SHORTHORN. 3 I

new at their time, kept them in communication
with the best breeders, who, no doubt, were satisfied
with the results, as regards fattening qualities and
form, upon their stock of the cross with the in-and-in-
bred Collings' bulls that had acquired, in virtue of
•consanguinity, an intensified power of impressing
their qualities upon the ordinary shorthorn of the
country. And, fi'nally, the sales * held by the
respective brothers circulated their names and dis-
tributed their famous strains of blood among the
important breeders of shorthorns.

Thoug-h in-and-in-breeding has admittedh^ done
much to raise the standard of the shorthorn breed,
there is a strong presumption that close-breeding of
itself, apart altogether from its tendency in this case
to develop flesh, has to do with the acknowledged
lowering of the power of milk production. It is a
well-established fact, that persistent in-breeding
leads to impotency in the matter of conception. It
is true that shorthorns are not so liable to suffer in
this way as some other classes of stock ; yet Charles
Colling must have felt its influence when, after trying
his cow " Phoenix " with good bulls without success,
it is recorded that as a " last resort " he fell back on
a bull which was one-fourth Galloway and three-
fourths shorthorn, and attained his end. This was
at one with a common custom, viz., that of putting a
good country or common bull to a well-bred stock of

* That by Ch.irles at Fulton in 18 10, and that by Robert at
Brampton Farm in 1818, besides a displcnishing sale at the latter
place in 1820, after Robert's death.

^2 FARM LIVE STOCK.

COWS which have throuL,fh close-breeding become weak
in their powers of reproduction. It is admitted that
close-breeding lowers the power of animals to pro-
duce }'oung. It is not more wonderful to find
it also influencing the power of providing suffi-
cient milk to support them should they come
into existence. On the other hand, it would be
extraordinary if the reproductive system were
seriously affected as regards its first functions, and
left in a normal condition in the matter of what
should follow at a later period.

There were several circumstances in the manage-
ment of the early shorthorns which made it possible
to carry in-breeding to its greatest length with the
minimum of bad results. Animals were kept in
moderate condition and in a natural state. Their
food was mostly grass in summer, and hay or straw
in winter. The system of letting out on hire lent
renewed vigour of constitution through change of
air, food, and general surroundings., llie influence
of such change as a precaution towards the preserva-
tion of health is universally admitted in the human
species ; and in the matter of consanguinity, it has
been shown that the marriage of cousins is not in
consequence associated with either mental or physical
weakness if the individuals in question have been
reared in parts geographically distant from each
other. The shipment of cattle to America and other
countries, and the return of their progen)-, has un-
questionabl)- increased their constitutional vigour.
The influence is not one which shows itself merely

DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE SHORTHORN. 33

in the members of a race of descendants, but it is
conspicuous in the individual. Numbers of highly-
bred barren cattle have been exported to America
at low prices, and found to conceive after the change
without difficulty.

It may be safely asserted that nearly all the well-
bred shorthorns which have become famous within
the period of which there is any written history * of
the breed, have been descended more or less directly
from a few famous bulls, notably " Hubback " (calved
about 1775), the father of the improved shorthorn,
and his much in-bred descendants, " Favourite " (252)
and "Comet" (i55).t

In " Animals and Plants under Domestication,"
Darwin says of " Favourite " (who was himself the off-
spring of a half-brother and sister from " Foljambe"),
that he "was matched with his own daughter, grand-
daughter, and great-grand-daughter, so that the
produce of this last union, or the great-great-grand-
daughter, had fifteen-sixteenths, or 9375 per cent.,
of the blood of ' Favourite ' in her veins."

The two great branches of the shorthorn breed,
the "Booth" and the "Bates," had a common origin
in " Hubback." This animal had a marvellous power
of stamping his special characteristics upon his off-
spring, and besides was possessed of certain qualities

* George Culley, who wrote on the agriculture of Northumberland,
and also "Observations on Live Stock, 1786." is one of the first historians
of the breed. He was an intimate friend and adviser of the Collings,
and an enthusiastic disciple in the methods of breeding practised by
Bakewell.

t These were descended from " Studley bull " (626), calved in 1737.

D

34 FARM LIVE STOCK.

now highly appreciated among shorthorns, and which
were not prominent features of the older shorthorns
before his time, — viz., low-legged and compact in
form and moderate in size ; * a wonderful aptitude
for laying on flesh, which, contrary to the usual law
of in-breeding, he seems to have inherited from his
dam ; and a superior quality of skin and hair, ex-
hibited in the matter of touch.

The name of Booth has been associated with the
breeding of shorthorns since 1777 in the person and
in the descendants of Thomas Booth, the father of
Richard and of John Booth, and through the latter
grandfather to Thomas C. Booth of Warlaby, North-
allerton, and great-grandfather of the present repre-
sentative in the direct line, Richard Booth.

It was not till some time after the Collings' career
that the name assumed the importance which it ulti-
mately attained in the shorthorn world. " Killerby,"
" Warlaby," and, in earlier times, " Studley," were
the centres from which the various members of the
Booth family distributed their surplus stock to all
quarters of the globe where shorthorns are to be
found. The Booths, like the Collings, continued the
system of in-and-in-breeding, and also that of letting
bulls out on hire for a time to distant parts of the
British Isles — that system which has been acknow-
ledged as of so much advantage when close-breeding
is practised.

* Various records of ihc weights of large-boned and coarse-fleshed
early shorthorns, prior to the days of high pressure in feeding, put the
dressed carcases at over 150 imperial stones.

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DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE SHORTHORN. 35

Thomas Bates (1775 to 1849) of Kirkleavington *
in the Vale of Cleveland, got the progenitors of his
best cattle from the Collings.

He was a man of means, and had an education "f*
superior to his farmer neighbours. His cattle breed-
ing was carried out more for his own pleasure, and
to establish a distinct breed and name, than for
profit. His name is most familiarly associated with
the " Duchess " tribe, for which was claimed all the
qualities, including that of milk production, which
the shorthorn breed possessed. The " Oxford " and
*' Duchess " tribes are the two important branches of
the Bates blood, and most intimately related through
frequent intercrossing by bulls taken from the one
to the other. Even a more perfect system of in-and-
in-breeding was followed by Bates and continued by
his successors than in the case of the Colling or of
the Booth cattle. The colours of Bates cattle are
red, red and white, and roan. It is asserted by
Bates breeders that white specimens more rarely
appear in this than in the Booth line, so it would
seem that the tendency to whiteness through close-
breeding is overbalanced in this instance by some
other influence- — possibly the greater attention of

* A rather over-drawn and laudatory account of the cattle bred by
him is to be seen in a book published in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, N.E.
Farmer Office, and entitled " The History of Improved Shorthorn or
Durham Cattle and of the Kirkleavington Herd, from the Notes of
the late Thomas Bates, with a Memoir by Thomas Bell of Brochton
House, Ecclesham, Staffordshire."

t He spent a number of years at the University of Edinburgh, with
the original intention of going in for the Church.

36 FARM LIVE STOCK.

Bates breeders to select dark-coloured bulls for
service. The " Stanwick " cow, which was the
mother of all the best of the Bates breed, was a
yellowish-red roan. Though good milking power
has always been considered a point of importance in
Bates cattle, the fact that the common non-pedigreed
shorthorns surpass them in this particular quality is
an indication of the influence of close-breeding on
the alimentary part of the organs of reproduction.

In comparing Booth with Bates cattle, we find
that the Booth breed exhibits a greater number of
light colours — white and light roan ; a thicker and
less silky skin ; a more substantial and massive
frame more deeply covered with flesh ; the head
and neck set on lower, and the style and expres-
sion more sombre than in the case of its stately
ri\'al. The best specimens of the Bates bulls
possess a wonderful presence given by the arched
crest and stylish head. The breed is particu-
larly liable to the defect of a hollowness or
falling away at the heart girth : this is made
all the more apparent by the high neck and the
frequently perpendicular shoulder.

Commingling of Booth and Bates blood is strongly
objected to by some on the ground that they arc
now so distinct that the drawbacks of an ordinary
cross with animals of entirely different breeds arc
liable to appear. It is acknowledged that, where
inter-breeding does take place, the most successful
match is a Booth bull with a Bates cow. This
result implies that Bates cattle have suffered more

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DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE SHORTHORN. 37

from in-and-in-breeding than Booth cattle, because
had consanguinity not been carried too far, we
should have expected greater potency to remain
with the Bates which are most in-bred.

It would be impossible to enumerate all of the
many hundreds of breeders who have followed in
the lines laid down by the Booths and by Bates, but
particularly the former. It is a fact that the Booth
cattle are much more widely appreciated in this
country than their rivals, in spite of the milking
qualities claimed for the latter, and that even in
recent years when an increased supply of milk for
our large centres of population has been the rage.
In America the prices paid for Bates cattle have been
quite wonderful.*

A few •f the ni«re prominent shorthorn breeders
of Booth cattle in the native districts of the shorthorn
— in addition to the Booths of Warlaby,"!* whose herd,
though not often represented in the show ring, still
maintains the position of excellence to which it was
raised by its late owners, Richard and T. C. Booth —
are, T. H. Hutchinson, Manor House, Catterick ;
Thomas Willis, Manor House, Carperby, Bedale ;

* When in Canada in 1879, the author saw in the possession ot
M. H. Cochrane, Compton, Prov. Quebec, the famous "Duchess"
cow, which at that time had (speaking from memory) bred stock sokl
at ^^27,500, and which lived to add over ;:^250o to that enormous
figure.

t The Killerby herd was sokl off in October 1886 after the death
of its owner, J. B. Booth ; and I may be excused for adding, from
personal experience, on one of the wildest days of wind and rain
that recent years have seen. — R. W.

38 FARM LIVE STOCK.

Geo. Yeats, Studley, Ripon ; H. Fawcett, Old
Bramhope ; and Christopher Cradock * Hartforth,
Richmond. Bates breeders are less numerous, but
are well represented by the Earl of Faversham,
Duncombe Park, Helmsley, and Col. Gunter, M.P.,
Wetherb}-.

The Aberdeenshire shorthorns — with which
the names of Cruickshank, Sittyton ; William
Duthie, Collynie ; W. S. Marr, Upper Mill ; and
J. Bruce, Inverquhomery, are intimately associated
— have been rapidly growing in the favour of
North American importers, and in importance in
the show-yard. Though "Mario" (5 171 3), who
took the Champion prize at the English Royal
Agricultural Society Show in 1888, might not be
selected as a typical shorthorn, nor yet meet the
touch of a South country breeder with perfect
satisfaction, yet he had much of the substance and
quality that butchers appreciate. It will be inter-
esting to mark the career of these North country
cattle. They have arrived at their present position
by another course than that of persistent in-breed-
ing, and it remains to be seen if the constitutional
gain is not thereby of greater value than we at
present anticipate. Much of the Booth blood has
no doubt been from time to time absorbed by the
northern breeders, but this does not necessarily
imply close-breeding, and, in addition, the animals

* This gentleman has still in his possession the dcscemlants of the
old "Cherry" tribe, perhaps the only trilie muliially "recognised"
by Booth and Bates breeders.

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DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE SHORTHORX. 39

selected had the invigorating- influences of the change
of cHmate and surroundings. Cruickshank, writing
on this question, makes some remarks well worthy
of notice and consideration. He says : " Aberdeen-
shire breeders have in nearly all cases been tenant
farmers who are dependent on their skill and success
for their daily bread ; their customers have generally
been their own neighbours, who are raising cattle
for the butcher, and hence the breeders have been
pulled up in any course which has been proved
to result from an error of judgment by the most
imperative of all necessities."

40 l-AKM LI\E STOCK.

CHAPTER IV. — BREEDS OP DOMESTIC
CATTLB-THE LONGHORN, HEREFORD,
DEVON, AND SUSSEX.

The Longhorn Breed — Low on its Habitat — Kakewell — General
Points — Colour — Distribution of Hereford Cattle — Relationship
to other Breeds — Points of Special Interest — Origin of the Colour
of the Modern Hereford— Benjamin Tomkins — John Hewar —
Herefords poor in Milking Qualities— Herefords as Work Oxen —
The Devon Breed : Two Branches — The North Devon — Early
Histoiy — The Somerset Type — The South Devon — The Sussex
Breed — Low's Explanation of their Geographical Position — The
Cattle of the Interior — Similar Conditions in India — The Sussex
Breed — .Size — Influence of Soil and Climate — Bullocks as Work
Oxen — Distribution of Breeds in this Country and in India.

The Longhorn Breed,

A S now seen in thi.s country, is a remnant of a
"^^ breed which at one time held a position of
considerable importance as a milking breed and as a
producer of large carcases of coarse beef

Low, in his " Domesticated Animals," says, " The
true longhorns seem to have been the inhabitants of
the western parts of the British Isles." In early
times they were spread not only over Ireland, but
throughout the English Midlands and the northern
counties, extending in virtue of their hardiness on to
the exposed hilly regions. The district of Craven

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DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE LONGHORX. 4I

in Yorkshire has been specially mentioned in the
records of the early improvement of the breed as
noted for the production of good specimens, though
Low says " Lancaster was the nursery of the breed."

Robert Bakewell of Dishley, Leicestershire, the
great originator of the system of improvement of
live stock by in-and-in-breeding, selected the long-
horn among cattle upon which to carry out his
operations. His object was to increase the rate at
which they come to maturity, to improve the quality
of flesh, and to reduce the size and coarseness of
bone. In this, so far as his own cattle were con-
cerned, he succeeded admirably, but at the expense
of the powers of milk production.

He died at the age of 70 in 1795, without trans-
mitting the secrets of his system, or recording the
lessons he had learnt from the experiences of his
extensive breeding experiments, and consequently
the work which he had so successfully begun was
not carried to a successful issue. The breed which
he made famous has been, since his death, seriously
worsted in competition for public favour by its short-
horn rival, Avhich has threatened it with extinction.
The unique characters which are peculiar to the long-
horn breed will, however, retard or prevent their
disappearance by creating a demand for them as
more or less fancy animals. The existence of a
Herd Book will now also tend to maintain their
purity.

In g-eneral points, including size, form, and mild-
ness of disposition, they strongly resemble shorthorns.

42 FARM LIVE STOCK.

They differ from the latter in beiiiLj coarser in bone
and in the quaHty of their flesh, in possessing less
aptitude to fatten or come to maturity, and in the
greater length and strength of horn. The long,
irregularly shaped, and sweeping horn forms the
most striking difference, and one the origin of which
is not easily accounted for or explained. It would
seem that the longhorn inherits its horn development
from the Bos priniigenhis through its more immediate
ancestors, the wild forest cattle, as represented in the
Chartley Park breed — probably from a variety with
exceptionally long horns. The shorthorn, on the
other hand, no doubt derives the characteristic form
of horn from its imported European ancestors.

The colours of the longhorn may be said to be
those of the shorthorn with " brindles " added. There
is also a decided tendency to the appearance of a
white ridge up the back.

The Hereford Breed*

Is not only one of the most picturesque, but also one
of the mo.st valuable, and in a cosmopolitan sense
one of the best known Briti.sh breeds. Although in
this country it is distinctly a local breed, yet in
America it has become widely distributed and highly
and justly appreciated. It appears that all the
highest authorities are agreed that on at least one

* All the more interesting points cfninecled with tiie breed and its
liistor)' have been focussed in the work on Hereford Cattle by Mac-
(lonald and .Sinclair. Vinton & Co.

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DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE HEREFORD. 43

side of its ancestral descent the Hereford breed is
closely connected with other British breeds — such as
Welsh, Devon, and Sussex — which still possess
certain characters in common with that under con-
sideration.

The points of special and peculiar interest in
the Hereford are that the face, forward part of the
back, also the throat, belly, inside and lower parts of
the legs and the tip of the tail are white, the greater
part of the body being red or brown, varying from a
light to a dark shade. The shoulder is particularly
neat and well covered with flesh. The twist is also
good. The great defect of the Hereford breed is its
want of internal condition in proportion to its ex-
ternal appearances when fat — defective in internal
" making-up." The setting on of the tail is also
frequently defective as compared with that of the
shorthorn. The muzzle is flesh coloured. The horns
are black tipped, of medium length, and in the female
they incline slightly upwards.

There is a strong presumption that the original
breed was "self" or "whole" coloured, being brown
or red, shading off into black on the head and points.
A breed (small in numbers) of this description has
been associated with Montgomeryshire.*

The modern Hereford is also pretty certainly

* A number of these cattle were till recently in the possession of
the Aylesbury Dairy Company on the farm near Horsham, but were
disposed of for beef at the sale in 1888, to make room for the present
Sussex herd. They were handsome animals, and in all respects
resembled Herefords, with the exception of the colour of their
extremities.

44 FARM LIVE STOCK.

related to the ancient white forest cattle of Wales,
from which it originally inherited the tendency to
develop and perpetuate the " broken " coloured
character exhibited in the white markings. The
special form of these markings, according to what
seems the best authority on the subject, was given
by the introduction from Flanders by Lord Scuda-
more (who died in 1671), of a number of white-faced
cattle of superior size and quality ; and also by a
red Yorkshire bull with a white face, which was used
in the Hereford district soon after 1750. The
circumstances which gave rise to these historical
records, and also the natural tendency in the original
red Hereford to sport back to the white ancestor, —
as is even now the case with such decidedly distinct
and different breeds as the Scotch polls,^arc sufficient
to account for the bald head and white underline
and extremities of the Hereford.

Benjamin Tomkins (born 1745, died 181 5) occupies
in the history of the improvement of this breed a
corresponding place to that assigned to Bakewell
in regard to longhorns, and to the brothers Colling
in connexion with shorthorns. Tomkins adopted
Bakewell's system of in-breeding, and it is recorded
that the best of his famous herd sprang from two
cows and one bull.

The name of Hewar will be for ever associated
with the history of the improvement of Hereford
cattle. Macdonald and Sinclair say " that the diffi-
cult}' is to find a single animal of note in the present
day that does not inherit Hewar blood." The refer-

DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE HEREEORD. 45

ence is made to John Hewar, whose active career as
a breeder extended over 70 years, from 1803 to
1873. The influence of the Hewar cattle was
exerted upon surrounding breeds by the system of
letting out bulls, a practice which had then become
prevalent among the owners of superior herds of
various breeds.

Herefords as milkers have never been in the
first rank. Although an effort is now being made to
develop their milking powers, yet as a breed they
cannot be classed as dairy cattle, though it is
claimed that the milk is of superior quality. The
practice of allowing the cows to suckle their calves
has prevented the improvement of the breed in the
matter of quantity, by the artificial selection of the
best milking cows from which to breed bulls.

The main object for which the breed was kept until
recent times was the supply of work oxen for land
cultivation. The chief object of the present day,
viz., beef production, was during last century quite
a secondary consideration. In certain parts of
Gloucestershire and surrounding district, bullocks
(frequently Herefords) are kept as work animals, and
used mostly in ploughing and working land, but are
also employed in the cart. The Earl of Bathurst
still employs some 30 selected Herefords in the
working of his home farm near Cirencester. When
out of work they form quite a feature of interest in
the adjoining park.

46 farm live stock.

The Devon Breed

Is primarily di\-icled into — (i) North, and (2) South
Dcvons.

The North Devon is the original true and hardy
t}'pe belonging to the elevated region in the north of
Devonshire. As represented by the best specimens,
this division of the breed is unsurpassed for com-
pactness and symmetry of form. It is smaller than
the Hereford or the Sussex, two breeds to which it
is allied. The colour of hair is a deep blood-red,
and of the skin orange-yellow ; inside the ears
it is orange-red. The yellow is specially notice-
able by its appearance round the eyes and
muzzle. A small patch of white hair is a common
marking on the belly in front of the udder of
the cow or the scrotum of the bull. At times it
extends till it reaches the forelegs, and by this it
may be recognised as corresponding in a limited
extent to the white under-line of the distantly
related Hereford. The white hairs, sometimes mixed
with the natural red brush of the tail, and also in
patches on the body, are further proofs of the ten-
dency to develop white markings. The head is
adorned, in the case of the female, with particularly
elegant, creamy-white, .sharp-pointed, black-tipped
horns of medium length, having a good elevation at
the junction with the head, and curving upwards.
In the bull, as compared with the cow, they are
shorter in proportion to thickness, straighter, and
less raised. The shoulder is specially neat and well

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DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE DEVON. 47

formed, the barrel coming on behind, with scarcely
a depression at the region of the heart-girth — a point
so defective in many breeds. The quality of the beef
is excellent.

The early history of the breed is lost in obscurity.
The brothers James and John Ouartly, of ]\Iolland,
North Devon, filled the position in the improvement
of this breed which the Collings did in that of the
shorthorn. After them may be mentioned John
Tanner Davy (the original compiler of the " North
Devon Herd Book"), James Davy, and Moggridge of
Holland.

The Somerset type of North Devon has in recent
years been coming to the front and growing in
favour, on account of the increased size due to the
richer and deeper soil and better climate which
prevails in that region. With an increase of size of
this description there is a tendency to coarseness. A
parallel example is to be seen in numbers of the Ayr-
shire breed reared away from their home conditions
and highly fed ; and Somerset breeders strive to
counteract this by using bulls reared in the north of
Devonshire. The horns of the Somerset type are
more inclined to droop than those of the original
North Devon. There is a growing demand for
these cattle, not only in America and Australia, but
also in our South African colony.

The South Devon, or South Hams division of the
breed, differs materially in form from cither of the
types of North Devon. The members of it are
larger, coarser, and not so deeply coloured as the

48 FARM LIVE STOCK.

North Devon branch. They acquired these differ-
ences and also their greater milking powers by
crossing with Channel Islands' cattle.

Being originally a mountain breed, the Devon is
hardy, strong, and active. It was long famous for
supplying useful oxen for farm work. Their employ-
ment in this way is now much restricted.

As a breed for milk production, it has been, and
still is inferior. The cows give but a small quantity
of rich milk, and tend to go dry early.

The Su.s.sex Breed

Ranks among the largest classes of British cattle.
It belongs to the old race which gave origin more
or less directly to the West Highland, the various
Welsh breeds, the Hereford, and the Devon. To the
latter it bears a very striking resemblance, and no
doubt it has this in virtue of a collateral descent
from the " red cow " that at one time occupied the
southern districts of England. The influences of
the soil and climate of the weald country has con-
siderably modified the form and character which, it
may be presumed, were at one time similar to the
Devon. The horns are longer, stronger, and more
irregular in form, with a strong similarity to the
style of the horns of the longhorn breed. The
colour is dark red, though not, as a rule, of so deep
a shade as that of the North Devon. The Sussex
is also superior to the Devon in size and strength,
but with this it sacrifices something of the neatness

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DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE SUSSEX. 49

which belongs to the latter. The cows are inferior
milkers.

The bullocks of the breed, which combined in
a marked degree strength and activity, supplied
an excellent class of animals suitable for working
the heavy land of the weald on which they exist in
Sussex and the adjoining counties. It is not at
all certain that it was an improvement in practice
to discontinue to the full extent the employment
of oxen in favour of horses in working some of
the heavier classes of clays. It is quite certain
that the land suffers much more from the trampling
of horses than from that of work cattle.

Low aptly explains why representatives of the
cattle of the ancient Celtic inhabitants of these
islands were preserved in certain parts. Wherever
the region was difficult of access to the invaders, as
in the case of mountainous tracts or large areas of
forests, there the original inhabitants found shelter
and safety for themselves and their cattle. Thus in
the hilly localities we have preserved the Highland
Scotch, Welsh, and Devon ; and in the instance
before us the dense forests of the weald afforded
the necessary security.

The cattle of the interior of the country — the
accessible parts of it — were either supplanted alto-
gether, or much altered in form and character by
imported blood.

In India exactly the same condition of things
exists, where the small, dark-haired, and inferior
breeds have been driven away into remote and

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50 FARM LINK STOCK.

out of the way corners, and the more valuable
tracts of country, the highways of conquering
armies, and more recently of trade and commerce,
have been supplied, probably repeatedly, by im-
portations of the larger and finer white-haired
varieties. The parallel is not quite complete, as in
some of the breeds in this country emerging from
obscurity (and notably among these is to be found
the Sussex) arc animals of great size and substance
and wealth of constitution.

\

DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE WEST HIGHLAND. 5 I

CHAPTER V. — BREEDS OF DOMESTIC
CATTLE— THE ^WEST HIGHLAND, WELSH,
AND SHETLAND.

The We^t Highland— Habiiat and Descent— The Bullocks— Points
of Form and Colour — The Wild Nature— Crosses — Importance
of a Hardy Constitution — Welsh Cattle — Varieties — The South
Wales or Pembroke — Points — Feeding and Quality — As Milkers
— North Wales or Anglesea — Compared with Castle Martin —
Cows as Milkers — The Bullocks — Herd Books — Suitability of
Welsh Cattle for America — Old Castle Martin White Breed — The
CTlamorgan Breed — The Old Gloucester Breed — Orkney and
Shetland Cattle.

The West Highland Breed,

/^R, to be more accurate, the South-West
^"■^^ Hisrhland breed, belongs to the Western
Islands, to Arg)'leshire and the adjoining counties.

It is the remaining selected representative of
the different varieties of Scottish mountain cattle,
the semi-domesticated descendants of the ancient
breed of the forests. At one time, before the land
was stocked with sheep, it occupied the wild pastures
of the true Scottish Highlands. The mild or open
character of the climate of the extreme west, along
with the careful selection in breeding followed by

D-

FARM LIVE STOCK.

the Dukes of Argylc, all tended to foster that
superiority of quality which has enabled it to
successfully supplant the inferior sorts inhabiting the
inland uplands. This is the hardiest of all British
breeds, and from an artistic point of view, the most
picturesque.

The bullocks are, when 3 or 4 years old, highly
and justly appreciated as park cattle in all parts
of the kingdom, where their long and elegant black-
tipped horns, variety of colour of hair, and the long
and silky, shaggy, and uncommon appearance of
their coats, render them objects of universal interest
and admiration. As beef-producers, they are, while
young, slow in coming to maturity, but the ultimate
product is unsurpassed in the leading markets of
the kingdom.

The body is massive, well-formed, well-fleshed,
and supported on low and powerful limbs. From
the under part of neck is suspended a dewlap, and on
the top of it is a hairy fringe or mane. The colour
varies from black to a creamy-yellow or white
through all shades of dun, red, brown, and at times
brindles. Black has been thought to indicate hardi-
ness, though some of the lighter-coloured animals
with the tendency to an orange tint of skin feed
better under artificial treatment.

The calves are allowed to follow their mothers,
and are not handled or trained to close contact with
man. They con.sequently develop wild instincts
and practices. The cows do not excel as large
producers of milk, although the quality of it is good.

DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE WEST HIGHLAND. 53

When milked by hand, the flow does not continue
late in the season.

West Highland cows cross admirably with bulls
of the finer breeds. Full advantage can thus be
had of all the good qualities of the breed, even
under the system of early maturity, without necessi-
tating the sacrifice of the native hardiness of con-
stitution, so invaluable in a mountain country, in the
endeavour to induce early maturity in the pure
breed. Unless the constitution is maintained, advan-
tage cannot be taken of the supply of natural food,
which costs little, and cannot be utilized except as
food for such animals. The cost of producing a
four-year old Highland bullock on his natural food
is very much less than the cost of producing an
animal of the same weight at two years old, because
the food of the latter is expensive to grow, and
expensive to bu}'.

To substitute the early maturity animal, either by
importation or refinement induced by in-and-in-
breeding of the existing breed, for the real Highland
ox in his home quarters, would lead to a loss of
profit to the farmer, and the loss of the natural food
produce of the district to the community.

Welsh Cattle,

Although usual!)' spoken of as consisting of a num-
ber of distinct breeds, are yet closely allied to each
other, and interbred without the results of cross-
breeding appearing. The two best known breeds,

54 FARM LIVE STOCK.

each with a Herd Book of its own, are — (i), The
Sottth Wales, Pcjnbroke, or Castle Martin black breed ;
and (2), TJie No7'th Wales or Anglesea black breed.
In addition to these, are (3), The Glamorgan breed ;
and (4), The Old Castle Martin white breed.

The South Wales black breed is sometimes sub-
divided into — {a) Castle Martin, and {b) Dewsland
breeds.

Points. — Although the prevailing colour is black,
white markings on the belly or white hairs in the
brush of the tail or other parts of the body now and
then appear. A russet, chocolate, or brown-black
colour is considered good.

The horns are long, yellow, and black-tipped. As
in many instances already noticed, the horns of the
male are not only lower set, but they are stronger
and shorter than in the female. South Wales cattle
have wonderfully hardy constitutions. In this and
in their long, though straight, coats of hair and their
hardiness of constitution they strongly resemble
West Highlanders. As ought naturally to follow
under the circumstances, they have no great aptitude
to fatten at an early age. When allowed to come
to maturity they finish admirably, both as regards
internal fat and external condition.

As milkers they are superior dair\' cattle. This
quality they possess by descent from the white
forest cattle of Wales, in common with the instinctive
practice of hiding their young. Calves are, as a rule,
only left with their mothers for a few days, or in
special cases two or three weeks, then they arc

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DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE WELSH. 55

weaned and reared on skim milk with some additional
food to raise the standard of feeding.

North "Wales or Anglesea black cattle resemble
in many respects the South Wales breed. From
Anglesea they extend southward along the coast till
they meet and mingle with the black South Wales
breed. From the latter they differ in being smaller,
and having shorter legs, heavier heads, thicker necks
(denoting good constitution), thicker, shorter, and
whiter horns, finer and more silky coats of wavy
hair (neither curh' nor bristly), thinner skins, and a
better touch. In colour they are appreciated when
as black as possible, though there is a greater ten-
dency to white markings. They are not so inclined
to be wild, but resemble more the shorthorn in dis-
position.

The cows are good milkers, but not quite equal
to the Pembrokes. As beef producers they are the
better of the two, having broader backs and better
flanks and thighs. There is a tendency in the breed
to be high at the rump and tail head and slack at
the loins, but these defects are being gradually
eliminated by selection.

The bullocks have been long and highl}- appreci-
ated as grazing cattle in the English ^Midlands under
the name of " Welsh Runts." They weigh at 4
years old 50 to 60 stones of dressed beef, which
ranks in the London market with the best Scotch.
Heifers have also been sent in considerable numbers
to graze in Kent, Leicester, and Northampton.
Each of the breeds has a Herd Book, and the

56 FARM LIVE STOCK.

cattle are improving rapidly under the greater care
devoted to their selection. They have begun to be
appreciated in America, and on account of their
wealth of constitution will, no doubt, grow in favour.
American ranchers have had a severe lesson, show-
ing the absurdity of breeding stock too fine and too
soft on the exposed prairies of the far West. Had
they been fortunate enough to select black Welsh or
Highland cattle, and been contented to manufacture
beef at a slower but surer rate, they might have saved
themselves the serious consequences of disaster.

The Old Castle Martin white breed is now
being rehabilitated by selecting and mating to-
gether those specimens of the South Wales breed
which have "thrown back" in the matter of colour to
their white forest ancestors. In every other respect
they are distinctly Pembroke cattle. Their colour
is chiefly white, but there are, frequently, black spots
over the bod\'. The muzzles, ears, and eyelashes
are black, and the feet and fetlocks should also
be black, though this detail is not yet quite fixed.
Charles Mathias of Lamphey Court, to whom the
bull shown in the accompanying Plate belongs, is
endeavouring to raise this off-shoot of the South
Wales breed to a position of importance.

The Glamorgan breed has narrowly escaped
extinction by the encroachments of the early maturity
shorthorns, Devons, and Herefords. It is one of
the most ancient in the country, and is supposed to
have been formed from the old Welsh breed by
crossing with imported Normandy cattle. The cows

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DOMESTIC CATTLE — THE WELSH. 57

are good milkers, but the fattening properties of the
breed are defective. In colour the bulls arc black,
with a white belly and a line or ridge of white along
the full length of the back. The cows are similarly
marked with white, but on the body the)- vary from
black to a deep brown or red. The tail-head is
liable to be too high, like that of the Welsh breed.

The only remaining herd of the Old Gloucester
breed of cattle, belonging to the Duke of Beaufort
at Badminton, are identical in their special points
with the Glamorgan breed. This fact leaves no
reasonable doubt but that the two breeds had a
common ancestr\'.

Orkney axd Shetland Cattle

Belong to the Norwegian race, and Low says
they are quite different from the race found on the
Scottish mainland, though identical with that of
Iceland. More recent authorities do not indorse
this opinion.

A distinction is drawn between the cattle on the
two groups of islands, although it is well known that
crossing has gone on between the two varieties.

These island cattle are small, and, as a rule,,
irregular in their appearance and points, though the
best of them may be called handsome. The\' lay on
flesh readily, and produce excellent beef They are
also good milkers. The colours of hair are extremely
various — usually broken, and of a light shade. The
horns are short, irregular in form, and insignificant.

58 FARM LIVE STOCK.

These cattle are hardy, and able to withstand the
cold and trying weather they have during genera-
tions been accustomed to. They cross well with
good bulls of other breeds, but improvement of the
breed by importing alien blood has not proved a
.success.

0, n

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POLLED BREEDS. 59

CHAPTER VI.— POLLED BREEDS.

Somerfoid Park White Herd — Milking Powers — The "Missing Link"
— Blickling Hall and Woodbastwick White Polled Herds-
Red Polls — How Descended — Points — Improvement — Low on
the Breed — A Herd Book — The Aberdeen- Angus Breed — Home
Locality Relationship to other Scotch Breeds — Absence of Horns
— Black and other Colours — Buchan Cattle — Breed of the present
Day — Li-and-in-Breeding — Hugh Watson — William M'Combie
— Recent Performances of the Breed — Characteristic Features —
Compared with the Galloway — The Polled Herd Book — The
Galloway Breed — Distinctive Characters — The Head — Origin of
Polled Condition doubtful — Connexion between the Galloway
and the West Highland Breeds — Additional Proof of the Influence
of the Galloway in Crossing — Galloways as Dairy Cattle — The
Establishment of a Galloway Herd Book — Galloway Crosses with
other Breeds.

Polled Breeds.

n^HE Somerford Park White Herd, located in
Cheshire, numbering about 35, are the most
important representatives now extant of the hornless,
domesticated direct descendants of the ancient white
forest cattle of this country. In general appearance
(including colour) they strongly resemble the Chartley
cattle, the great difference being the want of horns.
In some minor details the resemblance is striking, —
for example, both breeds have the top knot of long
white hair, white tail, and udder with usually black

6o FARM LINE STOCK.

teats, and black spots most numerous about the neck
and head. The Milking powers of certain members
of the breed are quite extraordinary. The herd
averages daily over three gallons of milk each when
at full flow on the grass, but individual cows appear
now and then which give, when in bloom, as much as
fourteen quarts at a milking, or seven gallons in the
day. The best specimen of the present time yields
six gallons daily when she is at her best. When not
giving milk, the cows are not deficient as beef-pro-
ducers. The breed, approaching in size to the short-
horn, is well fleshed and massive, with the exception
of the hind-quarters, which are rather light in propor-
tion to the fore-quarters and trunk. They possess
this defect in common with our wild cattle and with
the cattle of India. The head is specially handsome,,
and the whole style of the animals is striking and
attractive. The rudimentary mane present in the
bull when in full coat is not only an ornament, but
also an additional indication of the connexion of the
breed with the ancient " wild beasts " of the forest.
This is one of the most interesting breeds of British
cattle, as it forms (with the remnants of the Norfolk
polled whites) the "missing link" between the wild
cattle and the breeds under domestication, and
supplies a connexion between the horned and polled
varieties. It also tends to prove the existence of a
superior power of milk production in the aboriginal
races of our Islands.

The Blickling Hall Herd and the Woodbastwick
Herd, both in Norfolk, arc the remaining branches

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POLLED BREEDS. 6l

'of an old Lancashire breed of domesticated white
cattle with black or brown ears, which were first
taken to Gunton Park. They have been crossed
with shorthorns and red polls which have changed
their external form. They are said to have visibly
degenerated in size, though they are yet animals of
good dimensions. In milking qualities and in their
powers of breeding they are proficient.

The Red Polled Breed,

Or the Norfolk and Suffolk breed, is descended
within comparatively recent times from the little,
old, red-horned cattle of Norfolk and the dun or
mouse coloured polled animals of Suffolk. The
latter, though coarse and ill-formed in appearance,
was noted for very superior milking power, which it
now maintains, though not in the perfection that
ancient records would have us believe it once pos-
sessed. In going still further back, we find that
polled cattle were introduced for breeding purposes
by importations from the original white breed of the
country, and also from the Galloway bulls brought
south with the annual droves of grazing cattle.
About the beginning of this century the deep blood-
red specimens were collected by some, and owing to
fashion changing in favour of red and to its being
intensified and perpetuated by close-breeding and
selection, it has steadily replaced the old colour of
the breed.

Points. — The head is small, neat, and well and

62 FARM LIVE STOCK.

"cleanly" joined to the neck. In general appear-
ance and refinement of parts the breed strongly
resembles that of North Devon.

Improvement. — The rate at which the red poll
has come to the front and taken its place among
the most important breeds in this country is quite
remarkable.

Low, writing in 1845, after giving the breed under
the name of Polled Suffolks a poor character in
respect of almost everything except milking powers,,
suggested the great probability of its immediate
extinction. Recent years have seen not only im-
provement in quality, but a large extension of the
numbers of good herds and of first-rate animals.

The existence of a well-conducted Herd Book
will stimulate interest in and firmly establish the
best blood which ought to be bred for milk pro-
duction as well as the laying on of flesh.

The Aberdeen- Angus Breed from Aberdeenshire*
and the district around, largely embraced within the
adjoining counties, is the result of the amalgamation
of a number of very different local polled and also
horned breeds, associated with careful selection and
in-and-in-breeding, together with, it is asserted, the
infusion, within comparatively recent times, of a
greater or less degree of alien blood. In common
with the only other domesticated breeds of the
Scottish mainland — the Galloway, the West High-

* I am indebted for much hi.slorical matter to the exhaustive work
on Polled Cattle by Macdonald and Sinclair, Blackwood & Sons, Etlin-
burgh.

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THE RED POLLED BREED.

6^

land, and the Ayrshire — there is a strong probability,
if there is not absolute proof, that it was originally

Typical ideal Specimen of Aberdeen-Angus (from the
Herd Book, i5

1. Forehead and Face.

2. Muzzle.

3. Nostril.

4. Eye.

5. Kars.

6. Poll.

7. Jaws.

8. Throat,
g. Shoulder.

10. Chest.

Index of Points.

11. Bosom (or Brisket).

12. Fore Ribs.

13. Back Ribs.

14. Crops.

15. Loins.

16. Back.

17. Hooks.

18. Rumps-

19. Hindquarters.

20. Thigh.

21. Twist.

22. Tail and Setting on.

23. Udder

24. Underline.

25. Flank.

26. Legs and Bone.

27. Hocks.

28. Forearm.

descended from the native wild cattle of the country.
The difference of climate and surroundings, together
with the influence of the artificial selection of man.

64 FARM LIVE STOCK.

and probably the importation of fresh blood from
abroad, are sufficient to account for the difference of
existing appearances in all of those allied varieties.

The absence of Horns, and the prevailing almost
uniformly black colour, although ranking among the
most persistent characteristics of the Northern Scotch
polls, were by no means uniform features in olden
times. Black animals without horns did exist lOO
years ago and more, but long after the beginning of
this century very many of the cattle from which the
existing breed sprung had horns. Their colours were
extremely variable ; some were yellow, red, or brown,
others brindled (red and black, sometimes along
with white mixed or broken in an irregular flaked
fashion), black and white, " belted " and " rigged,"
the latter black with a white or brown stripe along
the back. Certain herds had a brown ring round the
muzzle associated with the brown ridge. According
to the early records, the largest and best varieties of
the polled cattle were to be found in the low country.
The smaller horned cattle resembled the old High-
land breeds and occupied the uplands.

Buchan cattle, about half of which were polled at
the end of last century, justly claimed superiority.
They did so as far back as the time of the Romans.
They have been represented from time immemorial
by two polled breeds possessing good milking powers,
but of very different size. These were locally termed
" humlies," while the early polled Angus variety
were named "doddics." In the "General View of
the Agriculture of Angus," published in 1 813, it is

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THE RED POLLED BREED. 65

stated, with regard to the general stock, that " Httle
attention was then paid to the selection of the males
or females by whom the breed was propagated."
The good qualities of the cattle of the present
day, we may therefore conclude, have been either
developed in recent years, or have been selected and
moulded from the superior herds of those proprietors
who, before that time, took an interest in the im-
provement of live stock.

The Aberdeen- Angus of the present day occupies
among Scotch cattle very much the same position
as the Devon does among English breeds for
equality of flesh, refinement of type, perfection of
symmetry, and, it might be added, for the excellent
flavour of its marbled beef; yet it must not be
forgotten that these qualities, like the qualities of all
British breeds, however distinct and however per-
manent they may be, are the results of the com-
mingling of blood of various kinds. No single breed
is pure if we go back for but a few generations.

It is recorded that less than 100 years ago, cross-
ing was carried on with Ayrshire, Guernsey, Fife,*
shorthorn, and Galloway cattle. How much of this
blood has been maintained in the best animals of the
present day is a matter for conjecture. It is true
that the well-known attempt by Lord Panmure to
introduce a Galloway cross was not attended with
success ; but, on the other hand, there is good reason

The Fife homed breed is now extinct. They were large, black
cattle, rather slow at coming to maturity at an early age, but unsur-
passed as grazers after they were 3 years old.

F

66 FARM LIVE STOCK.

to believe that the ver}' extensive and successful
use of shorthorn bulls in breeding grazing cattle
for the southern markets led to the incorporation
of shorthorn qualities into the breed during the early^
years of its improvement.

At times very distinct shorthorn characters appear
by atavism in polled cattle of good blood and long
pedigrees, and disappear in the next generation.*
The use of a shorthorn bull on virgin polled heifers
has also been accredited with the power of stamping
shorthorn qualities upon their future calves by bulls
of their own breed.

In-and-in-Breeding has been adopted to fix the
good qualities which have from time to time been
spontaneously produced b}' Nature under the in-
fluences of the tendenc}' to change brought about
by crossing. In the matter of consanguineous
relationships, the Aberdeen-Angus is not an excep-
tion to the rule which applies to the shorthorn and
other well-known breeds.

Hugh Watson, of Keillor, in Forfarshire (born
1789. died 1865), was the Colling of the northern
polled breeds, carrying out the principles laid down
by l-5akewcll and his followers.

It was reserved for William M-Combie, of Tilly-
four (born 1805, died 1880), to make the breed
known to the outside world. After a long and
successful show-yard career, at the Paris Interna-

* The aullior remembers having seen a l)lack and white cow of this
kind some years ago, wliich had well-developed horns, and quarters un-
niistakal)ly like those f)f a shorth(jrn. ] ler immediate ancestors as well
as her descendants were animals of the i)iire type, and f)f superior (pialily.

^ n s

THE RED POLLED BREED. 6y

tional Exhibition in 1878 he quite eclipsed all the
previous performances of the breed b}' carrying off
two champion prizes of ^"100 each — (i). For the best
group of foreign cattle ; and (2), For the best group of
beef-producing animals — both bred by the exhibitor.

During recent years, no breed has been so suc-
cessful as the polled Aberdeen-Angus in competing
for the highest honours at the London and Bir-
mingham Christmas fat shows, and at similar
" expositions " in America.

In this country the names of Clement Stevenson,
Newcastle, George Wilkin, Waterside of Forbes, and
Robert Walker, Altyre (agent to Sir G. Graham
Montgomery), are closely associated with these
honours.*

As a breeding herd of old standing, that of Sir
George Macpherson Grant at Ballindalloch occupies
the premier position in Scotland.

Only a few characteristic featuresi* call for

* Full details of the wonderful show-yard perfonnances of this
breed on both sides of the Atlantic up to 1886 may be seen in Auld's
work, " The Breed that Beats the Record," by Aldine Co., Detroit.

t Standard of Excellence for Aherdeen-Anc;us Bull.
From the Herd Book.

" Registered Pedigree.

Colour. — Black. White is objectionable, except on the underline
behind the navel, and there only to moderate extent : a white cod is
most undesirable.

Head. — Forehead broad ; face slightly prominent, and tapering
towards the nose ; muzzle fine ; nostrils wide and open ; distance from
eye to nostril of moderate length ; eye mild, full, and e.\]-)ressive ; ear
of good medium size, well set, and well covered with hair; poll well
defined, and without an)- appearance of horns or scurs ; jaws clean.

68 FARM LIVE STOCK.

special mention to point the application of the
general description given at the opening of Chapter
II. Though the nominal colour is black, the rusty-
brown referred to in varieties of the old breeds, and
also white patches of moderate dimensions about the
udder and belly, are tolerated. Though to appear-
ance an animal of this breed looks small, yet owing
to its short legs and compact and rounded form its
weight classes it among the larger breeds. The

Throat. — Clean, without any development of loose flesh underneath.

Neck. — Of medium length, muscular, with moderate crest (which
increases with age) ; spreading out to meet the shoulders, with full
neck vein.

Shoulders. — Well laid in, covered on the blades and on the top,
which should be on a line with the back, and moderately broad.

Chest. — Wide and deep.

Bosom {or Brisket). — Standing well out between the legs, and moder-
ately covered with flesh and fat.

J^ibs. — Well sprung from the back bone, arched and deep, neatly
joined to the crops and loins.

Back. — Broad and straight from crops to hooks ; loins strong; hook
bones moderate in width, not prominent, and well covered ; rumps
long, full, level, and rounded neatly into hindquarters.

Hindquarters. — Deep and full ; thighs thick and muscular, and in
proportion with hindquarters ; twist full.

Tail. — Fine, coming neatly out of the body on a line with the back,
and hanging at right angles to it.

Underline.— Ah nearly as possible straight ; flank full and soft.

J.egs. — Short, straight, and squarely placed ; hind legs slightly in-
clined forward below the hocks; forearm muscular; bones tine and clean.

Flesh. — Even, without bumps or patchiness.

^•^/„._0f moderate thickness and mellow touch, abundantly
covered with thick and soft hair.

General Appearance.— i^dcj, well-bred, and masculine."

[With the exception of those relating to sex, the points of the
female are identical with the above.]

THE RED POLLED BREED. 69

hook bones are not so wide or prominent, and the
quarters not so square as in the shorthorn. The
absence of patchiness and the equaUty and level-
ness of flesh is proverbial. The milking qualities are
low as regards quantity, the result of breeding for
beef and the prevailing custom of suckling the calves.

As compared with the Galloway, the breed
weighs heavier at an early age, owing to its greater
rapidity in coming to maturity, though a difference
in the size of breeding stock is not marked. The
bones are finer, the skin thinner, the hair shorter and
more silky, and the poll more pointed than in the
Galloway.

The 1st volume of the "Polled Herd Book"
was published in 1862, and the 2nd in 1872 after
the formation of the Polled Cattle Society for the
improvement of the breed. After the publication of
the 4th volume, the Galloway portion was withdrawn,
to be published separately.

The Galloway Breed

Derives its name from a district in the south of
Scotland, comprising Wigtonshire and the stevvartry
of Kirkcudbright. At one time it was the most
prevalent breed in Scotland south of the Forth and
Clyde.

Distinctive Characters. — Though Galloways are
now polled and of a black colour, with a brown
tinge on the tips of the hair, particularly at that
stage when it is long and inclined to be curly or

JO FARM LIVH STOCK.

wooll}', \-ct within the last hundred \'cars many
animals of pure blood had horns of considerable
length, and not a few were red-broun in colour.
These characters even now appear in specimens
bred from the best strains. White patches on the
udder or belly and also belted markings are com-
mon, and are not seriously objected to unless they
are large or prominent.

This tendency to revert to white on the under-Hnc,
which is most pronounced when two animals of very
distinct types are mated together, indicates the
descent from the ancient wild cattle, similar to that
already pointed out in the case of other breeds.

The head of a Galloway should be wide and
short — a long head is one of the prominent characters
by which a black Galloway cross can be distin-
guished— the distance from the eye to the nostril
short ; the forehead broad and square between the
eyes, carrying the width well up tp the crown, which
should be low and rounded, not peaked like the
crown of the polled Angus. The car is set on rather
back, and should point upward and forward, resting
on a short shank. The lobe or flap should be wide,
rounded at the top, and abundantly fringed with
hair.

The origin of the polled condition is veiled in
doubt. It ma}- be said that the early written history
does not even speculate upon its cause. It is known
that the characteristic was preferred by the English
buyers who, since a time soon after the iKc\ of
Union of the two countries was signed in 1707, have

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■THE GALLOWAY BREED. /I

carried bullocks of the Galloway breed to graze in
the southern counties, notably to Norfolk and
Suffolk.

The injury which half-wild cattle with horns were
capable of inflicting upon one another, and possibly
on the men in charge of them during a walk of
some hundreds of miles, seems to be a sufficient
excuse for the preference of the southern drovers
for the condition of hornlessness, which was taken
into their calculations in the purchase of their droves,
and a higher price was given to secure it. It would
not be possible to induce the polled condition as a
hereditary character, but once present, it could be
carried to perfection by selection. No doubt a
tendency, however slight, was inherent in the original
horned Galloway, and passed down through the line
of descent from their remote ancestors, but the com-
paratively sudden change which took place in the
matter of losing the horns seems to point to a
stronger and probably an imported influence.

At the time which is now referred to, the wild
cattle in Hamilton Park, in common with others now
extinct, were hornless, and then, as now, what are
termed black calves, but which really are tinged
with brown, like Galloways, were dropped. History
does not say anything of wild black polled bulls
being used, but the possibility, as well as probability
that they were so used is strong. Even the white
polled bull, with his tendency to throw black calves
if used on the dark cows of the countr\- — and we
have G^ood reason to believe that Gallowa\-s at one

72 FARM LIVE STOCK.

time extended as far north as Cadzow Forest —
would be capable of accomplishing the result.

Country cows were both accidentally and inten-
tionally admitted to wild bulls in other parts besides
Hamilton. It is consequently not necessary to
restrict the possibility of a cross of this kind to the
Bos scotica, but to admit the likelihood of it taking
place with the larger white polled breeds in the
north of the English Midlands, possibly about the
same time, with the same object in view, and under
the same influences.

The Galloway and the "West Highland breeds
are universally considered to be descended from
the same original stock. The former are said to be
" Highlanders without the horns." This admission
associates them directly with the wild forest
cattle.

There is yet one other apparent proof of a
recent connexion with the wild breed. Galloways
are known to possess great power of stamping certain
characters upon their crossed descendants — for ex-
ample, the colour and the polled condition. They
did not acquire this quality, as improved cattle have
usually done, by close-breeding on both the male
and the female side. Close-breeding has only been
practised within recent years, as may be gathered
from the wonderful hardiness of constitution possessed
by the breed, and also from their being rather slower
than some in coming to maturit}'. No great so-called
" improver" ever rose to do the work of the Collings
upon the Galloway breed. The old breeders knew

THE GALLOWAY BREED. 75

well that to improve them on the lines adopted by-
shorthorn men, to increase their size and shorten the
period spent in coming to maturity by close-breeding,
meant ruin to the constitution of the breed in the
matter of withstanding the cold and inclement
weather to which they are exposed under natural
conditions in their native country. It is impossible
to attain to excellence in regard to rapid maturity
by the usual course, in-and-in-breeding, and retain the
hardihood necessary in mountain cattle. This coun-
try already possesses an abundance of breeds that
fatten quickly, and it would be a misfortune if a
breed of animals that now produces the finest
quality of beef, often on inferior food and under
adverse climatic surroundings, were thoughtlessly
and ignorantly sacrificed in the rush for early
maturity.

We have not yet seen the final results of the
system of in-and-in-breeding which has been going
on more or less closely for a hundred years, but the
time may come when it will be necessary to go back
to such breeds as the Galloway to recruit the ebbing
strength of some of the greatest sufferers from the
consequences of the practice. Tubercular disease,
so prevalent, and which is on the increase, is one of
the signs that should warn us of the peril of a heed-
less course of inter-breeding.

As dairy cattle Galloway cows are not noted.
The quality of the milk is excellent, but the quantity
is, as a rule, deficient. Individual instances of cows
giving large quantities of milk occur, though

74 FARM LIVE STOCK.

calves are generally allowed to follow their mothers,
but, as a breed, they have never been managed
like dairy cattle. The rage for the extension of
dairying during the Ic^st half-century has brought
about a great diminution of the numbers of this
breed, and an increase in the better milking Ayr-
shire. It is asserted, too, that during that time, in
spite of increased attention, the best animals are
no improvement on the best specimens of former
times.

The establishment of a Galloway Herd Book
in 1877 * has given an impetus in the direction of
improvement.

A Cross, bred from a Galloway cow by a bull of
one of the favourite or improved breeds, such as
shorthorn or Hereford, is usually an excellent
butcher's animal. The prevailing colour of calves
produced by a shorthorn, especially if he is white or
light in colour, is a blue-gray or uniform mealy roan,
polled, and much more like the Galloway than the
shorthorn. At times the colour is black, sometimes
red or patchy.

The Hereford crosses are also, as a rule, polled, with
a white head and a red or dark gray body, l^oth pro-
duce beef of the finest quality ; the Herefords, which
are the smaller animals, arc perhaps the finer of the
two. Crosses by the Galloway bull on cows of other

* The editor is ihc Kev. J(jlin (Jillespie, Mouswald Manse, Dum-
friesshire, who is also the writer of a valuahlc article on 'I'lte
Gallo-vay Breed of Cattle \w the "Transactions of the Highland and
Agricultural Society for 1878."

THE GALLOWAY liREED. 75

breeds arc, on the average, distinctly inferior, though
an in-bred and well-bred bull has been known to be
the sire of cattle by shorthorn cows that have nearly
equalled the performances of crosses by Galloway
cows. Galloway crosses from Ayrshire cows are
slow and unsatisfactory feeding animals while young,
though they are good light-weight butcher's beasts
when finished.

^6 FARM LIVE STOCK.

CHAPTER VII. — MILKING BREEDS OP
BRITISH CATTLE-THE AYRSHIRE— THE
CHANNEL ISLANDS (JERSEY, GUERN-
SEY, AND ALDERNEY) — AND THE
KERRY.

Introduction — The Ayrshire Breed — Habitat — Early Records — Ayr-
shires of the Present Day — Breeds imported for Crossing —
Influence of Locality on the Breed — Points of an Ayrshire Cow —
The Typical Characters of Milking Cows for various purposes —
Ayrshire Bullocks and Crosses — Practice of Killing Calves and
its Consequences — Herd Books — The Channel Islands Breeds
— The Jersey — Origin — Unimproved Form — Association with
Druidical Remains — Remnants of Ancient Civilisations — Purity
of Jersey Cattle — Revival of the Breed — The Jersey Island
Herd Book — American Demand — Distinguishing Points —
Docility of the Cows — Produce yields — The Guernsey — Com-
pared with the Jersey — Effects of Climate — Guernsey Butter —
Inferiority of Islands Cows for Cheese-making — The Alderney
— The Old and New Forms— The Kerry Breed — Other Cattle
in Ireland — Points of the Common Kerry — The Dexter Kerry
— Kerry Crosses — .Sale of Kerries in England.

INTRODUCTION. — Though certain strains of
cattle already described — notably in the short-
horn, the Welsh, and the red polled breeds — are
good milkers, yet they could not be properly classed
among those essentially kept for milk production.
We shall find, on the other hand, that some of those

THE AYRSHIRE BREED. ^7

-which are distinctly and unmistakably milking
breeds are also capable of producing excellent beef.

The Ayrshire Breed

Has come into prominence in comparatively recent
times.

Its natural habitat was Cunningham, or the
upper of the three divisions of Ayrshire — Carrick,
Kyle, and Cunningham — occupying that part of the
country which lies to the north of the river Irvine.

The records* of the early history of the breed
fix the date of the beginning of improvement from
1750 to 1780. Before that time the native progeni-
tors of the Ayrshire were small, inferior, irregularly
shaped, short and irregularly horned, dark animals, of
a black, black-and-white, or brown colour, but hardy,
and suited to the humidity and inferiority of the
country in which they were placed. The descriptions
of this early condition of the breed clearly indicate
its descent from the Bos longifroiis.

The Ayrshire of the present day, however, is very
different, the change having been brought about by
crossing with other breeds and subsequent careful

* Colonel Fullarton's "Survey of Ayr.shire ; " Aiton's "General
View of the Agriculture of the County of Ayr, 181 1 ; " Aiton's " Dairy
Husbandry of Ayrshire, 1825;" Low's "Domesticated Animals,
1845 ; " Farrall's Essay on the Ayrshire Breed of Cattle in the
"Transactions of the Highland Society for 1876." Ortelius, writing
in 1573, speaks of a superior class of oxen in Carrick ; but his
remarks, no doubt, refer to the ancestors of the Galloway breed,
not to Ayrshire cattle as the term is now understood.

yS FARM LIVK STOCK.

selection in addition to the natural tcndcnc)-, which
soil and climate admittedly have, to develop or
maintain certain qualities or characteristics.

The breeds definitely mentioned as having been
imported and used in crossing with the native cattle
are the Teeswater, or early shorthorn, and the
Alderney,* besides " stranger cattle " of unknown
or unrecorded breeds, which were imported by Dun-
lop of Dunlop, " Orr of Barrowsfield, and other
dairy farmers." The extraordinary resemblance of
the Chillingham Park wild cattle to the Ayrshire
breed — in horn, in colour, and in form, as may be
seen by comparing the accompanying Plates — clearly
points to an introduction of blood from some direct
descendants of the wild forest breed, possibly crosses
from the cattle of Cadzow Park. The improvement
in the milking qualities was no doubt largely due to
the cross, whatever it was. To it also may in some
measure be safely attributed the distinct tendency
among improved Ayrshircs to become lighter in
colour than Ayrshires of a generation ago ; indeed,
the result is a most natural one to expect when the
broad lines of the facts before us are considered.

A little, inferior, dark-coloured, poor-milking breed
of cattle is found in a given district : it is improved
in size and in milking qualities by crossing with an
imported breed, which gives greater variety of colour

* Piobahly more correctly termed the Jersey, ns cattle were sent
to Scotland, according to Colonel de Conteur, by two successive
fjovernors of Jersey — Field-Marshal Conway and Lieutenant-General
Andrew Gordon.

THE AYRSHIRE RREED. 79

and a greater admixture of \\hite. During subse-
quent selection, carried on with the main object in
view of increased milk production, it is most natural
to suppose that the animals possessing large propor-
tions of the new blood would be favoured and pre-
served on account of form, size, and good milking
qualities, and that along with these would be
associated the tendency to whiteness, one of
the correlated original attributes of the imported
blood.

There are indications that although the Ayrshire
is now accepted as a pure breed, all the character-
istics contributed by the various breeds used in its
formation have not yet been thoroughly distributed
and blended. Proof of this may be seen in the fact
that strains of Ayrshires, that are most successful as
prize winners in the " eild " classes (for bulls and
heifers), seldom produce animals which are very
successful when shown in the milking classes.

These cows may give as much milk as those
belonging to the strains celebrated for producing
successful winners in the classes for animals Gfivinsr
milk, but their udders are rarely symmetrical enough
to enable them to carry off the prizes, although they
have an advantage over the others in style and in a
more perfect form of bod}'.

Some of the improved breed, w hen reared under
circumstances of soil and climate suitable for beef
production, fall away from the true Ayrshire charac-
teristics, assume strong bones, heavy and fleshy
forequarters and chest, and also decline in milking

80 FARM LIVE STOCK.

powers ; but these changes are subservient to laws
which are dependent upon local surroundings, and
which have been already fully explained.

The best preventive of the worst results of the
tendency to coarseness through high feeding is to
arrange that the heifers .shall calve at two years old
in place of three years, the ordinary calving time of
the breed. Should the calf arrive when the quey is
two years old her milking powers are developed, and
the tendency to produce flesh is held in check.

The following are the points of the Ayrshire
cow and their values in judging in the show-ring,
taken from a report by a committee of the Herd
Book Society. The points of the bull vary only in
the matter of masculine characters, which, according
to the general rule, ought to be distinctly defined.

" I. //ead short ; forehead wide ; nose fine between the muzzle
and eyes ; muzzle large ; eyes full and lively ; horns wide set on,
inclining upwards, . . . . . .10

2. NecJt moderately long, and straight from the head to the
top of the shoulder, free from loose skin on the under side, fine
at its junction with the head, and enlarging symmetrically
towards the shoulders, . . . . . .5

3. Forequarters — shoulders sloping ; withers fine ; chest suffi-
ciently broad and deep to insure constitution ; brisket and whole
forequarters light ; the cow gradually increasing in depth and
width backwards, . . . . . -5

4. Back short and straight ; spine well defined, especially at

the shoulders ; ribs short and arched ; body deep at the flanks, . 10

5. Hindquarters long, broad, and straight ; hook-bones wide
apart, and not overlaid with fat ; thighs deep and broad " [but
thin of flesh on the inner thigh or twist]; "tail long, slender,
and set on level with the back, . . • . .8

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6. Udder capacious, and not fleshy, hinderpart broad " [and
rounded like the side of a cheese]. " The whole firmly attached
to the body ; the sole nearly level, and extending well forward ;
milk veins well developed ; teats from 2 to 2\ in. long, equal in
thickness, and hanging perpendicularly ; distance apart, at the
sides, equal to J of the length of the vessel, and across to about
\ of the breadth, ...... 33"

[Small teats are now considered most objectionable, both
in the market and the show-ring.]

" 7. Legs short in proportion to size ; bones fine, and joints
firm, ........ 3

8. Skin soft and elastic, and covered with soft, close, woolly
hair, ........ 5

9. Colour red, of any shade, brown, or white, or a mixture of
these — each colour being distinctly defined. Brindle, or black
and white is not in favour, . . . . .3

10. Average live weight in full milk about loi cwts., . 8

11. General stylish appeai-ance 2inA n\o\'evaen\., . . 10

Perfection, 1 00"

The Ayrshire is unquestionably the most im-
portant and the most typical example of a milking
cow in the British Isles. She shares with the Kerry
the credit of being able to yield a greater return of
dairy produce on poor land and inferior food than any
other cow. She is essentially a cheese-dairy cow,
on account of the comparatively small-sized butter
globules of the milk and the abundance of curd-
making material which it contains. The Channel
Islands breeds supply, on the other hand, the true
butter-dairy cows, owing to the large-sized globules
which the specially rich and highly-coloured cream
contains. In the same way the milking shorthorn
is the typical cow for towns' dairying, for the supply

G

82 FARM LIVE STOCK.

of large quantities of milk of moderate quality for
immediate domestic use, and for the accumulation
of beef of second quality as a bi-product during the
latter portion of the milking period.

The bullocks feed well after they are three years
old, and so do crosses with the shorthorn bull at an
earlier age, and produce excellent quality of beef;
but the former are not often met with, as the bull
calves are usually sold as "slinks " for a few shillings,
and killed when a day or two old. Many are not
allowed to drink milk, but are killed immediately
after birth, and sent for consumption into the large
centres of population.

This practice has led to the destruction of much
of the finest Ayrshire blood in the country, notably
in the case of calves from the herds of great land-
lords, who, with the object of improving the breed
among their tenantry, got together herds of superior
quality, but who at the same time unwittingly put a
premium on the destruction of surplus stock by
giving their managers, as perquisites, the prize-money
earned at show-yard competitions. The result has
been that the managers referred to have bought from
farmers the best animals in this as in some other
breeds, so that the tendency has been for much of
the finest blood to gravitate towards a number of
main centres, and for competition in the show-yard
to be taken in a great measure out of the hands
of the tenantry and left in those of the managers
of men of means who were ignorant of the injury
done by the .system to the stock of the country. It

■ THE AYRSHIRE BREED. 83

is a manager's direct interest, by way of smothering
opposition, to prevent the progeny of the beasts in
his possession circulating back into the farmer's
hands, unless at what is, to most men of moderate
means, an altogether prohibitive price, and the con-
sequence has been that in the case of the Ayrshire
breed in some localities calves of the finest blood
have regularly been killed, and sent to the butcher
for 7s. 6d. or less each, because the average farmer
would not submit to be blackmailed to the extent
of having to pay something like iJ"io for what he
knew was not worth lOs. in the dead meat market,
to which, as the one alternative, it would be con-
signed.

There is a Scottish Ayrshire Herd Book and also
an American Herd Book, which no doubt tend to
improve the quality of the breed, and also to main-
tain its purity.

ChxVNNel Islands Cattle —
Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney.

These cattle have for many years been imported
into England under the generic name of Alderney,
although the animals from that island have been
throughout the least important. The misnomer is
supposed to have originated either from Alderney
cattle having been the first sent to England, or
through English officers being stationed in Alderney,
and thus identifying all of the kindred breeds by
the name most familiar to themselves.

84 FARM LIVE STOCK

The Fowlers, who have been the great exporters
of stock from the Islands, perpetuated the custom by-
naming all their Islands cattle Alderneys.

TJie Jersey *

This is the most numerously represented and
most important of the three breeds which at some
distant date sprung from a common origin, in which
the Brittany breed of the adjacent French coast
participated. Some specimens of these animals so
strongly resemble Channel Islands cattle, although
very inferior in milking qualities and the develop-
ment of good dairying appearances, that they have
been sold in large numbers in this country as Islands
cattle, to the detriment of the good name of and
injury to the trade in the genuine animals. The
"whole" colour or "self" colouring, and the light
shades which prevail in the improved Jersey are of
comparatively recent date, and have been encour-
aged by American demand.

The ori^nal unimproved Jerseys described by the
early writers -f- were variously coloured, "commonly
red or red and white, occasionally cream-coloured or
cream mixed with white, black with a dingy brown-

* Yox much information the Author is indebted to the exhaustive
treatise on the history of the Jersey breed of cattle by John Thornton,
being the Introduction to the first volume of the English Jersey Herd
Book, 1880.

t Thomas Quayle, author of "The general View of the Agricul-
ture, etc., of the Islands on the Coast of Normandy, 1812 ;" Garrard
on " Varieties of Oxen common to the British Islands."

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CHANNEL ISLANDS CATTLE. 85

red about the nostrils and on the back ridge," also
" black, and black and white."

Thornton calls attention to the similarity of colour-
ing, and to the correspondence in the appearance
of the older forms of the Brittany, Kerry, Welsh,
Cornish, Shetland, and Ayrshire breeds. He further
points out that these are usually located in the
vicinity of ancient Druidical remains, and that there
is a strong presumption that they are the most direct
descendants of the small-sized, shorthorned, dark-
coloured descendants of the Bos longifrons, which
being the earliest domesticated of the aboriginal
cattle of Great Britain, no doubt was the milk cow
of the Druids. This is a most ingenious and feasible
suggestion. They are found clinging to existence
on the fringes of civilisation in out of the way
corners, where they and the associated Druidical
remains would naturally meet with least interference
during the many disturbances that overwhelmed,
altered, and destroyed the features of the more
accessible interior of the country. This may be
styled the remnant of the iirst wave of civilisation,
with the improved Jersey as the most perfect
thorough-bred specimen of it. The second wave
seems clearly to be represented by animals which
occupy an inner circle bordering upon the extreme
fringe, and here and there, as in the case of the
Welsh and Ayrshire breeds, mingling with it.
Within the inner ring are the Norfolk and Suffolk
red polls, Sussex, Devon, Hereford, Welsh, West
Highland, and the two black Scotch polled breeds,

86 FARM LIVE STOCK.

which, in common with the Ayrshire and Welsh
breeds, bear distinct marks of their descent from
the Bos urns. Within these rings came the long-
horn, finally supplanted by the shorthorn.

Jersey cattle have been bred pure for a longer
period than any of our British varieties, on account
of the importation of foreign cattle being forbidden
by law. In 1789 the "Act of the States of Jersey "
detailed severe prohibitive penalties against the
fraudulent importation of cattle from France,
which effectually enforced the already long-stand-
ing regulations dealing with the importation of
cattle.

During the first three decades of this century
Jersey cattle degenerated.

The great revival of the breed was brought about
by the formation, in the autumn of 1833, of the Agri-
adtural and Horticultural Society^ to the efforts of
which, through its stringent regulations as regards
the qualities which an animal must possess before
receiving the stamp or decoration of merit, are due,
in the first instance, the marked improvement which
took place soon after that time.

The Herd Book, begun in 1838, no doubt materi-
ally contributed to the gratifying results. The
unshapely form of the old-fashioned Jersey wa.s
.soon changed to the symmetrical and handsome
creature of the present time.

The milking qualities, which were always good,
were also improved by careful selection of bull
calves from the best milking cows.

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About 1853 a demand sprung up in America
for Jersey cattle, and one leading endeavour of the
Board of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society-
has since been, owing to the increase of this demand,
to encourage breeders to keep, at least for a time,
their best stock in the Island, so as to secure the
retention of a share of the best blood.

The following are the points in which Jersey
cattle differ materially from the general form and
characteristics of the Ayrshire, already stated in
detail : —

Points taken from the Descriptive Part of the
Ratio Scale for Cows and Heifers in the
Jersey Herd Book.

1. Muzzle dark and encircled by a light colour —
what is termed " mealy mou'ed " in Scotland.

2. Horns small, crumpled ; yellow, and black
tipped.

3. Ears small and thin, and of a deep yellow
colour within.

4. Chest broad and deep.

5. Hide thin and mellow, and of a yellow colour.

6. Teats yellow.

7. Hair fine and soft, and of various, usually though
not invariably, whole colours of fawn, silver gray,
dun, cream, or white, in addition to rare specimens
which are more or less black.

The whole form is handsome and deerlike, and
the shades of colour bcingr bright and uncommon.

88 KARM LIVE STOCK.

they are, irrespective of their milking powers, favour-
ite park or policy cattle.

The milk, though not usually so abundant, is noted
for a large proportion of cream of peculiarly rich
quality and colour, which makes the cows favourites
in many private household dairies throughout the
country. A few are also kept in ordinary farm
dairies, where butter is the manufactured product,
to make the churning of cream more easy, and to
give the Jersey tint and flavour to the butter.

The cows are extremely docile, owing to their
being constantly tethered at pasture in the Island,
while the bulls arc remarkable for their bad temper
and ferocity. No doubt this is one explanation of
the old custom which involved the destruction of
bulls before they were three years old, as a precau-
tionary measure of safety to human life. Another
reason advanced to account for the practice is that
the bulls had so many cows put to them that they
became used-up and worthles.s.

The general average of produce during the best
part of the milking season may be stated at lO to
12 quarts of milk per day, yielding from 7 to 9 lbs. of
butter per week, although it is not unusual to find
individual cows in this country which will double
the average ; and in America, owing to the extra-
ordinary cramming with milk and butter-producing
foods, even treble it. In reaching the extraordinary
height of butter production, amounting to over 30 lbs.
per cow per week, the life of the animal is frequently
by over-forcing sacrificed in the effort to reach a

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CHANNEL ISLANDS CATTLE. 89

record which will afford a good trade advertisement
for the sale of the descendants of her living produce.

TJie Giternsey.

This is a larger, stronger-boned, and coarser animal
to look at than the Jersey. Its outlines are not so
regular or symmetrical, but in addition to good
milking qualities — the sole possession of the Jersey
beyond its good looks — the Guernsey adds no mean
capacity for beef production when not giving milk.
The meat is not of first-rate quality, being yellow
in the fat like that of the Jersey.

Guernsey colours are more broken than Jersey
colours, patches of white appearing on the pre-
dominating light yellow, brown, or fawn. The
muzzle is flesh-coloured.

The climate of the island is not so genial as that
of Jersey, and consequently the cattle are hardier,
and more inured to cold and exposure than those
from Jersey on their arrival in England. The latter
become acclimatized in a few years, and their de-
scendants are likewise hardier, but they also lose
the refined delicacy of skin and form, and become
stronger in frame and altogether coarser.

Guernsey butter is, like Jersey butter, deeper in
colour than that of ordinary milking cows when they
are at grass. This quality, along with the possibility
of selling the calves at a better price than Jersey
calves, owing to the thin condition of the latter, has
raised the Guernsey in favour with dairy farmers.

90 FARM LIVE STOCK.

A further inducement is the greater weight of the
animal, as compared with the Jersey, when dry and
fed for beef But in estimating the various quah-
ties of the breeds some overlook the fact that five
Jerseys can be kept on about the same amount of
food as four Guernseys or three shorthorns.

For cheese-making purposes, the milk of the
Islands cows, owing to the quality of the cream, is
inferior to the milk of the Ayrshire or shorthorn.

The Alderncy.

This animal in its genuine form, which corre-
sponded much to that of the Jersey, does not now
exist. It was darker than either of the other
varieties, the hair being dark brown or black, and
the nose, tongue, and teats black. It was then
smaller than the Jersey, but now, since the use of
Guernsey bulls, the breed in colour, size, and
relationship is more nearly allied to the Guernsey,
but of smaller size.

The Kerrv Breed,

From the mountainous region in the south-west
of Ireland, is the only pure remaining Irish breed.

The predominating cattle of Ireland are short-
horns more or less mixed with the ancient Irish that
at one time, to a large extent, belonged to the long-
horn breed. The last twenty years has seen an
enormous improvement in the feeding qualities of

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THE KERRY BREED. QI

the general run of Irish bullocks brought over in
large numbers, and sold at fares and markets in both
Scotland and England.

In some secluded districts, such as a poor tract
of moory and unreclaimed land lying to the west
of Cork, the old Irish milking cow, a breed anterior
in time to the longhorn in the island, is yet to be
seen in a form which does not appear to be much
changed by the introduction of foreign blood. These
animals are thin fleshed and slow to feed, but give
on inferior fare a considerable quantity of poor milk.
Their horns are of medium length, thin and " spaley."
The hair of the body, usually brown, has more or less
of single white hairs mixed with it, and also forming
a ridge of white along the line of the backbone : a
characteristic which is now intimately associated
with Irish cattle other than the purest shorthorns
or their best-bred descendants. The longhorn breed
possessed it, and when Low wrote it was an acknow-
ledged point of the Kerry, though it has disappeared
from the best Kerry blood of recent years.

The Kerry is " the poor man's" or the Irish cottier's
cow, especially in cold and inferior districts, but the
breed also possesses the power of beef production in
an eminent degree.

Points. — The true Kerry colours are orange skin
with black hair, though specimens with red-browTi hair
do occur in the purest blood, but more frequently,
perhaps, in the Dexter variety than in the other.
White patches also appear from time to time. In
general outline the Kerry has much in common with

9^ FARM LIVE STOCK.

the Jersey and also with the Ayrshire, though in size
it is, under its home conditions, smaller than either
of the two. Its spare form indicates its superiority
in milking rather than in beef production. The horns
are fine and waxy, yellow or white, with sharp black
tips, and curving gracefully upward in the cow.

The Dexter variety, though now distinctly, in all
senses of the term, a pure Kerry, whatever may have
been its origin, is a much more compact, more sub-
stantial, and lower set animal than the Kerry proper.
Its toes turn in after a peculiar fashion, and it tends
to walk over the outer digits, especially in the case of
the hind feet. The leg bones arc shorter and more
substantial, the neck thicker and shorter, the horns
heavier, not so elevated and airy, and the head
heavier and not so deer-like as in the case of the
original Kerry.

Low, in 1845, states the prevailing belief as to
its origin to be that it was introduced, whether
through crossing or selection was not known, by
an agent of Maude Lord Hawwarden called Dexter,
but some considerable amount of doubt exists as to
the accuracy of the statement. The author, while
travelling in Kerry some years ago, found the word
Dexter used in a generic sense of all animals which
correspond to the above description, even of men
who are low set and bandy legged ; and also that
the term was in the first instances applied to short-
legged sheep kept by a resident Coast Guards officer.

Kerries cross remarkably well with other breeds ;
with the British flesh-producing breeds for fattening

3 r.

1 2

S: ^

> S 2

10 -J

in ^

THE KERRY BREED. 93

cattle, and with the milking breeds — Channel Islands
and Ayrshire — for dairy cattle. The cross animals
when at a little distance often strongly resemble
West Highlanders. This is an additional proof of
the common origin of the breeds,

Kerries have in recent years attracted great
attention in England as fancy cattle, and have on
more than one occasion been specially taken notice
of by Royalty. James Robertson, of Malahide
near Dublin, has, as a recreation and a change from
the ordinary routine of business, been largely in-
strumental in bringing the breed into prominence by
exhibiting good specimens of it at the Royal Agri-
cultural and the London Dairy shows, and finally by
carefully selecting the young and undeveloped mem-
bers of the purest and best sorts at the Killarney
and other western fairs, and shipping them as they
come forward to sale condition to supply a growing
demand in this country.

94 FAR^[ LIVE STOCK.

CHAPTER VIII. — THE BREEDING AND
MANAGEMENT AND THE GRAZING OP
CATTLE.

Breeding and Management and the Grazing of Cattle — Calves —
Methods of Rearing — Diarrhoea — White Scour — Treatment of
the Growing Calf— Ringworm — Lice — Grazing Cattle — Early
Maturity — Points of Feeding Animals — Grazings in this Country
— Symptoms of Disease in Grazing Cattle — Acorn Poisoning —
The Warble Fly.

T N a system of good management it is essential
to have stock of good quality, though for ordinary-
purposes not necessarily the strain of blood most
run upon, and consequently commanding the highest
prices. Dealing in fancy animals and fancy prices
is more or less of the nature of gambling, and is not
for the ordinary farmer.

A calf, however reared, should have its mother's
milk, and that only, for the first three or four days.
Beastings or first milk is the best food for the calf,
and it is unfit for other purposes. It often con-
tains streaks of blood, especially in the case of heifers
of the first calf Good butter can be made from
" green milk " rather sooner than good cheese.

Calves may be — (i), tied by the neck; (2), kept
in small cribs singly ; or (3), let run together, loose.

THE BREEDING, ETC., OF CATTLE. 95

in a large, dry, well-ventilated place. When loose
they often suck each other about the navel, which
causes enlargement and often sores. To prevent
this, they are sometimes muzzled by putting on a
bridle with sharp prongs over the nose, to prick other
calves and prevent them standing to be sucked. It
is better to give artificial food, as cake, immediately
after the milk, to take up the attention until the
strong instinctive desire to suck passes off. Hay-
racks and small boxes for cake should be fitted up
on the side of the wall of the crib or calf house at
convenient heights.

Concrete makes the best floor for all cattle houses,
being easily cleaned. Sufficient fall should be had
into gratings opening over covered drains, to prevent
urine standing in pools. The drains should be
regularly swilled out to prevent the occurrence of
sour or putrid smells, which are specially objection-
able in a calf house.

Three Methods of Rearing- Calves. — ist, Allowing
the calf to suck its mother. This is the most natural
way, and it makes the best calf, but is expensive,
and the calf grows up wild unless frequently handled.
There is greater mortality when foot and mouth
disease breaks out among sucking calves than among
hand-fed ones, as a change to healthy milk cannot
be made if the mother becomes affected, and the
virus of the disease in milk acts as a blood-poison.
Bulls and pedigree show-stock, especially in beef-
producing breeds, are often allowed to suck. Less
milk given in this way suffices ; " farrow " cows

96 FARM LIVI-: STOCK.

with little milk may rear good calves. Two calves
are often fed b)- the same cow when she has a
plentiful supply of milk. After the first two are
weaned, another pair may be put to the cow, and
again a single one as the flow of milk lessens at the
end of the season. Sometimes the last of the milk
is drawn away by hand. This is richer in cream
than the first part. A cow which suckles a calf, say
this year, is none the worse for milking next, although
some dairymen are prejudiced against cows which
have been so treated. Should a cow be sucked for a
number of years, the milking qualities arc at last
impaired.

2nd Method. — Giving full milk alone, newly drawn
from the cow, when the milk is about 90" F. A
calf is taught to drink from a pail by giving it a
finger and keeping its lips down in the milk, so that
while sucking the finger it draws in the milk. In a
few days it will drink without the finger. An ordinary
shorthorn calf should get for a day or two \ gal.
divided into three meals. Representatives of smaller
breeds require smaller quantities. Milk should be
given in moderate amounts at first to encourage the
calf's instinctive desire to .satisfy the cravings of hun-
ger to develop and thereby train it to drink freely.
Increase should be gradual. Some only feed twice a
day, although it is better to do so three times. From
the .second week, the amount should be increased to 2
gallons by the end of the fourth week, and 2i at three
months ; then the calf may be weaned by gradually
reducing the amount. Some go on, especially with

THE BREEDING, ETC., OF CATTLE. 9/

bulls, for six or even nine months. Dry cake and
long food are given in gradually increasing quantities
when the calf is old enough. This method is also
expensive and not much practised. Fattening calves
should have as much milk as they will drink, and be
kept quiet and in the dark.

yd Method. — Giving the full milk of the mother
for six or eight days. The calf should be rubbed
with straw, or simply covered up with straw to keep
it warm until it dries, and the cow not allowed to
lick or even see it, as this unsettles her when removed.
Many allow the calf to suck for three or four days
and then take it away, but the cow is apt to fall off in
milk, which does not always " come back " to the full
amount. When the calf is ten days to a week old,
the new milk may be gradually reduced, and skim-
milk made up to the standard of full milk by artificial
substitutes, as boiled gruel, at a temperature not
exceeding ioo° F. Begin with a tablespoonful of
boiled linseed until the stomach gets accustomed to
digest solids, a larger quantity would cause indiges-
tion. An excellent mixture is half and half linseed-
meal and pea-meal. Linseed-cake ground to meal
may be used, and then it may form two-thirds of the
mixture. Oatmeal is good, but it is more liable to
cause acidity if the feeding is not well and regularly
attended to. Cotton-cake kills young calves ; they
cannot digest it. One gallon of skim-milk per day
with mixed meal gradually increased to one pound
and then to two pounds, is enough for an ordinary
calf before weaning. In the last stage — sweet whey is

H

98 FARM LIVE STOCK.

sometimes substituted for milk, or one-quarter of the
meal may be Bowick's Lactina. Calves are fond of
the latter, but it seems to be rather dear, and requires
great care, so that the water in mixing is quite boiling,
else calves fed on it scour and get thin in condition.
Much less milk than that stated above is often made
to suffice. One Ayrshire cow, aided by artificials,
has been known to rear sixteen calves in one summer,
and in the summer of 1884 a good shorthorn covv^, in
the neighbourhood of Horsham, supplied all the
milk given to twenty-four shorthorn crosses. This
was carrying the use of milk substitutes rather far.
However useful the.se may be when an animal is a
few weeks old, there is no doubt but that to follow
Nature's plan of feeding largely on milk in the early
stages of the life of a calf is the most economical.

A deadly diarrhoea, which often assumes a con-
tagious form, is not uncommon among calves, if the
cows are highly fed, or if the food is impure or in-
ferior to such a degree that the animal system is
fevered, and an abnormally large proportion of
albumen is present in the milk. The albumen
becomes precipitated in the calf's stomach and
made hard and indigestible by the acidity which
develops. The irritation throughout the alimentary
canal, no doubt intensified by some alkaloid poison-
ing, induces death within a few hours.

Treatment must be directed towards restoring the
normal condition of the cow, and while this is
progressing, treating the milk so that the excess of
albuminoids and other deleterious matters are ren-

THE BREEDING, ETC., OF CATTLE. 99

dered innocuous. This may be to some extent
accomplished by a favourite local but successful
method of burning the milk, by stirring each pailful
with a red-hot bar of iron.

"White scour (and tympanitis or "hoven" from indi-
gestion) often breaks out even in sucking calves, when
they begin to eat hay. The calf's stomach is too small,
and unsuited for digesting such food. Green food
or silage in place of hay is better, or a very little fine
hay. In hand-fed calves the milk should be given
oftener than twice a day. The undigested curd
gives a light colour to the faeces ; the acid in the
stomach having expelled the whey, and made the
ourd hard like cheese.

Remedies : — In young calves, diet by feeding often
and reducing the quantity of food supplied, giving
boiled starch and less cream if the milk be rich.
Administer a stimulant and purgative, as a mixture of
powdered rhubarb and magnesia, 4 drachms, along
with 15 to 30 grains of ammonium carbonate, two
or three times daily in flour gruel. Two to 4 oz.
of castor oil may at times be substituted for the
rhubarb and magnesia ; and when calves are older,
give 4 to 6 oz. Epsom salts, and \ oz. gentian and
ginger powder.

All calves should be taught to eat linseed-cake
before weaning, so as to make the change as slight
as possible at that time ; and each may be allowed
I lb. per day all summer, especially when the land
is subject to black-leg. The cake keeps the animals
thriving all the time, and they are less liable to

100 FARM LIVE STOCK.

disease. A seton put into the dewlap is also widely
believed to be a preventative. Castration should be
done when the calf is about a month old ; if much
older it goes off thriving for a time. When the opera-
tion is not performed till strong masculine character-
istics develop, the animal (then called a "seg") is
reduced in value in the market owing to its bull-like
appearance and coarseness of flesh.

Bulls should be taught to lead, before they are a year
old, by "bulldogs" or "humbugs," or by a ring put
through the gristle between the nostrils. At a year
they may serve heifers or small cows, but if not quite
large enough should not be allowed to take an advan-
tage, say on a hill side or slope, as a bull, under such
circumstances, is liable to fall and injure his back.
Bulls are now more docile than of old, owing to their
being more gently treated. While at service they
should be maintained in good store condition, and
each may have daily, according to size, up to 5 or
6 lbs. of mixed meal or bruised grain. With this
they are usually more sure, and get better calves,
than when fed on cake.

Calves should be housed for the winter early in
October, as soon as cold nights come, to save flesh
and prevent "hoose," or render it less severe. Treat-
ineiit of " husk " or " hoose " (which is recognised
by the unthriving appearance of the animal, a husky
cough, and a discharge from the nostrils) : keep
warm, feed well, and give turpentine (i oz. to i oz.)
soaked into dry meal and then mixed with cold
gruel ; repeat once, or perhaps twice, after an interval
of a few days. When given in this way the risk

THE BREEDING, ETC, OF CATTLE.

lOI

of choking from turpentine is reduced
to a minimum.

Another effectual remedy is Intra-
tracheal Injection, consisting of —

Olive Oil, . . lOO parts.

Oil of Turpentine, . ^

Chloroform, . . V- 2 parts of each.

Pure Carbolic Acid, )

The sharp point of the syringe is
thrust through the skin and the wall
of the trachea (windpipe) in the
middle of the neck, and 2 to 4
drachms of the mixture injected into
it. The operation may require to be
performed 3 times, with an interval of
3 days between two operations.

Young cattle are particularly
liable to ringworm in winter if in
poor condition, as imported Irish
often are. White scaly patches with-
out hair appear (most abundant about
the head and neck) as the result of
the growth of a vegetable parasite
itrichopJiytoif), which may be de-
stroyed by applying red mercurial
blistering ointment made up with a
double supply of lard ; carbolic acid ;
hot lime made into a thin paste and
spread on with a flat-pointed stick ;
or even treacle smeared carefully over
the surfaces of the affected parts. It
is well to prepare the patches for the
dressing, either by scraping off the

102

FARM LIVE STOCK.

white scurf or by washing the spots with paraffin oil
a day or two before the dressing is used. The inside
walls of the cattle-shed must be whitewashed with
lime after an outbreak of ringworm, else the cattle
wintered in it next year will take the disease.

Lice of two common species appear on British
cattle — (i), the large or broad-bodied, or sucking ox-
louse {HcEmatopinus eiirystci'mis), which lives by pierc-

Small Biting Ox-Lousk Large Sucking Ox-Louse

( Trichodectes scalaris). {Hccmatopimis eurystermis).

{After Dra-ivings made by Professor Allan Harker, Cirencester. )

ing the skin and sucking blood ; and (2) the small
or biting ox-louse (^Trichodectes scalaris), which has
biting jaws in place of a sucking mouth, " and feeds
on the decaying portions of the cuticle and hairs," and
not on blood. Both arc insects with six legs, and
both do injury by causing irritation, the sucking one

THE BREEDIN(i, ETC., OF CATTLE. I03

to the greater degree. If cattle of any age are allowed
to get too lean, kept too hot in a close house, or fed
for a time on insufficient food, as barley-straw
or flying-bent {molinici) hay, they are liable to
become infested with lice, usually both varieties
together, most abundantly about the rump, head,
neck, and shoulder tops. Lice may be destroyed
by one or two dressings, well rubbed in, of train-oil,
sour buttermilk, black soap, or any of the various
carbolic dressings. Paraffin oil is effectual, but
requires care. Anything that would poison the
animal through its licking the skin, which it should
do regularly, must be avoided. Serious losses have
at various times occurred among stock through
poisonous dressings being applied to the skin.

Weak cattle kept back from feeding by the others
thrive badly, and should be removed and placed
apart.

During the first winter a moderate amount of cake
may be continued, say i or 2 lbs., if straw is the
fodder used. If plenty of good roots is given, the
cake may be reduced or omitted.

Grazing Cattle.

It is more difficult to judge store cattle than fat
ones. The most important rules for this cannot
be learned by reading. A man must come to
understand animals instinctively through long ex-
perience, to be able to judge of the outcome from
the appearance at any time. In buying, one

I04 l-ARM LIVE STOCK.

ought to learn how the beasts have been kept for
some months previous, and never take those from
a better climate or better food than is to be had
in their new quarters. Cattle moderately fed, and
not kept too warm in winter, do better by the
end of the grazing season than tho.se well fed but
kept in close byres, where the hair tends to fall or
rub off early, leaving them too little cover when
turned out in spring. Those that lie out all winter
often do best, if not too lean at the beginning of the
.season : the extra constitution gained by being out
enables them to make up more than the winter's
I0.S.S. To those not fed on cake in winter, a few
pounds per day, given for five or si.x weeks before
turning out, affords a good start, and "comes out"
afterwards in extra condition. Cattle three or four
years old come more quickly to maturity than two-
year-olds, and kill better than they look, having
more internal fat, or are " better made up," though
they do not necessarily lay on more beef during the
time. These ages are difficult to procure unless
from poor or cold districts, where it would not
pay to force by feeding, and where maturity is
more slowly reached.

Early maturity.— The propriety of making beasts
prime at two years, or of allowing them to be three
or even four before finishing, must be determined
entirely by the quality of the natural products of
the farm, the climate, and the tendency to the laying
on of flesh by the animals suited to those surround-
ings. It would be absurd, and would never pay, to

SLr^lL>M ISIilES

Tka I^tklru*^ 09»frmfhi^»l lAftii

GRAZING CATTLE. I05

try to force a Galloway or West Highland to maturity
at two years, when kept in its native conditions.
Time must be allowed for overcoming local natural
disadvantages. It would be equally poor practice,
with the best of everything at hand in the way of
food and climate, where animals of a breed accus-
tomed to mature rapidly would do best, to keep
them a year longer than necessary. A large pro-
portion of food (and in this instance expensive food)
is burnt up to supply the waste of the system ; so
that keeping animals till three years old, when by
proper management they could have been off at two,
increases the loss in the shape of food substance
burnt up in the system by at least one-third.

The points of a good feeding animal are very
much those already described, under general points
applicable to all flesh producers. M'Combie says,
the following denote slow feeders : " Deep neck ;
thick legs [' trousery '] and tail ; thick skin, with
hard hair and hollow eyes."

Grazings in this country may be divided into
three qualities — (i.) First-i^ate pasture, which is
rented at 3 guineas per acre, more or less, having
been reduced from about 4, or in some instances
5 guineas a few years ago. The extent of this
land is not great, and much of it is annually
let by auction. It is found in Leicester, Notting-
ham, Somerset (the marshes), the fen land in Lin-
coln and Cambridge shires, on parts of the Old
Red Sandstone of Herefordshire, and in many
small areas along the banks of rivers. These pas-

I06 FARM LIVE STOCK.

tures feed large bullocks without cake, and often
somewhat less than an acre per bullock is sufficient.
Sometimes an extra sheep per acre is put on, but
the practice is not to be commended : the sheep do
well, but the cattle would be better without them.
The grass season is from ist May till 1st November.
At first, if grass is not fully come, a little hay is
given. Thistles, nettles, and all large weeds are cut
regularh' before seeding ; tufts of coarse grass are
also mown. Dung is either spread or carried off to
prevent the growth of dark green " tathy " patches.
It is considered a sign of good land to have a per-
fectly even surface, and a very close cover, which
should not be allowed to get too long. Very fine
pasture has a velvety feel under foot.

Shelter is either natural, as trees and hollows ; or
artificial, as stone walls, hedges, and shelter-sheds.
In Leicestershire, straw is sometimes thrown under
the hedges to make a comfortable bed. Two lots
can be made prime fat on the same land in one
season — the first going by the first and second week of
July, having put on, without being caked, from 8 to
lO stones of beef The land is cleaned by resting
for ten days. In spring, the second lot would not
be so good as the first, and would have been kept
for a time on pasture slightly inferior to that
described. These require a few lbs. of cake, as
the grass begins to fall off in quality at the end
of September and in October. Some think it pays
to give cake to cattle even on the best pasture
throughout the whole season.

GRAZING CATTLE. lO/

A few rough beasts (perhaps one to four or five
acres) bought to clean up rough grass, run out all
winter, and do remarkably well, if sheltered from
cold winds, and if a little fodder be given in time
of storm.

(2.) Second quality pasture^ rented at from £2 to
£2, los. per acre, suited for keeping the lighter breeds
or smaller animals. If these are being finished they
should have cake all the time (beginning with 3 or
4 lbs., and ending with 6 or 7 lbs.) given in troughs
moved regularly to distribute the manure equally.
By feeding cake, beef is produced faster, and of
better quality ; the land is also gradually improved
by the increased amount and value of the droppings,
and will keep more stock.

(3.) Third quality pasture, rented at from nearly
£2 down to a few shillings per acre, only suited for
keeping store cattle or sheep, or, in some localities,
for dairy cattle. The land is often good, but the
climate unsuited for fattening beasts. Besides hill
and mountain lands the various downs belong
to this class.

Symptoms unnatural in healthy Cattle at Grass,
and which may be seen without handling : —

(i.) An animal away by itself, if accustomed to
go with others, and perhaps cowering behind a wall
with its back up.

(2.) Not stretching itself on being quietly raised.

(3.) Hair standing on end, " Staring."

(4.) The absence of lick-marks on the hair.

(5.) Saliva flowing from the mouth.

I08 FARM LIVE STOCK.

(6.) Not feeding or chewing the cud for any length
of time.

(7.) Thin condition of body.

(8.) Blown out by gas forming through stoppage
of digestion.

(9.) Hollow sides consequent from want of food.
(10.) Quick breathing, or a cough.
(11.) Peculiarity of movement of the head or
limbs.

The hollow condition of a heifer " a-bulling,"
from want of settling to feed, must not be mistaken
for disease. She will then stand quietly while
another jumps on her, and will try to jump on
others which, however, do not stand.

In addition to visible signs, the extremities, in-
cluding the horns, may be cold, and the skin tight
and cold to the touch : the temperature may also rise
from the normal state (100° to 102° F.) to 105"^ or
106' in the more ordinary forms of disease, such as
pleuro-pneumonia or foot-and-mouth, or even to no''
in a case of rinderpest.

Acorn poisoning- takes place when large quan-
tities of green acorns arc blown down early in the
sea.son from oak trees growing in pasture. Serious
loss by death often occurs among young stock through
the irritation produced in the stomach and bowels
by their consumption of immature acorns as food.
After a storm of wind the cattle must be moved to
pasture away from oak trees, and the acorns collected
for the use of pigs during winter, before the animals
can be safely returned.

GRAZING CATTLE.

109-

Yew tree leaves at certain periods of the year are
deadly poison to cattle and horses, and the same
remark may be applied to the foliage and pods of
the laburnum.

I. Ox; Warble Fly ; 2. Maggot ; 3. Chrysalis.
{After Drawings hy Miss Orinerod.)

The Warble Fly or Bot Fly (yHypodernia bovisy
Dc Geer) is the source of great discomfort to cattle,
and enormous annual loss, estimated at millions of
pounds, to the farmers of this country. Miss
Ormerod, who has so ably brought its evil con-
sequences and the means of prevention before the
British public, sa)-s —

"It is a two-winged fly, upwards of lialf an inch in length, so
banded and marked with differently coloured hair as to be not unlike
a humble bee. The face is yellowish ; the body, between the wings,
yellowish before and black behind ; and the abdomen whitish at the
base, black in the middle, and orange at the tip. The head is large,
the wings brown, and the legs black or pitchy, with lighter feet."

The female possesses a long ovipositor, with which
during summer she most probably pierces the skin
and plants an &^%, which " is oval and white, with
a small brownish lump at one end."

Subcutaneous irritation begins in carl}' winter.
The young warbles are placed with the head down

no FARM LIVE STOCK.

and the tail up in connexion with breathing tubes,
which open on the surface of the skin. They are
easily destroyed, and the earlier the
better, by the application of some
liquid such as M'Dougall's Dip or
strong salt brine, which will run down
the tubes and poison the inmates, or
the mouths of the tubes may be closed
up by some sort of greasy material.
„ ...If this were largely practised, the

Breathing - Iubes & y r ' ^

«fWarule Maggot injury resulting from the flies existing

MAGNIFIED. . , "^ 1 • 1 ^ L

m such enormous numbers might be
undone in a few years. The flies can be prevented
from striking by applications rubbed in once a week
along each side of the backbone, the favourite seat
of attack, such as train-oil, or a mixture of linseed
oil, sulphur, and carbolic acid. Paraflin and kero-
sene arc useful only for a short time, as the smell
goes off rapidly. Mercurial ointment, unless applied
with great caution, is liable to produce poisoning,
through the animals licking it off.

As the weather becomes warm, the maggots force
themselves out from beneath the skin and drop to
the ground, where they assume the chrysalis form,
of a dark colour. The fly appears in about three
or four weeks if the season is warm and favour-
able.

HOUSE-FEEDING OF CATTLE. Ill

CHAPTER IX.— HOUSE-FEEDING OP
CATTLE.

Methods of Housing — Dishorning — Time to House — Regularity in
Feeding — Roots — Concentrated Food — Necessity for Grooming —
Amount of Food to give — M'Combie's Method of Feeding — Cost of
Feeding per Week — Lawes and Gilbert's Experiments — Calcula-
tion showing Food and return in Beef — Conclusion dealing with
the Relations of Live Weight to Dead Weight — Function of Live
Stock.

'T^HERE are three methods of arranging cattle

in a house to feed —

1st, Tying by the neck in a byre, either in stalls
or without divisions between them.

2nd, Putting them in loose boxes, one in each.

T^rd, Leaving them untied, several together in a
shed, with an open door and an outside (uncovered)
court.

In a byre, they may be arranged, if in more than
one row, either with the heads looking towards the
centre of the house, or the heads facing the side walls,
with or without a feeding passage in front. It is a
mistake to have stalls more than /i feet wide to
hold two, even when they are large cows ; for smaller
ones 7 feet is sufficient, and for Ayrshires 6 feet.
Six feet is long enough for the largest stall, with 2

1 I 2 FARM LIVE STOCK.

ft. 6 in. additional space in front for a manger to
hold fodder. When the stall is too long the animal
lies in its droppings, and gets matted with dung on
the thighs and legs. The manger should be placed
low down, so that it will not interfere with the animal
in rising, or prevent the head resting comfortably
during sleep. The bottom ought to slope towards
the stall, so that cake when given may be within
reach of the animal, to prevent it trying to put its
fore feet into the trough, which may be of glazed
earthenware, i8 inches wide. Ventilation is of special
importance, and can be secured by holes low down
in the walls together with openings in the roof
Where the heads are close to the wall, it is well to
have a li-inch pipe through it, low down between
every two cows in a double stall, and inclining
upward, so that the current of cold air passes over
the cattle.

Boxes (each lo ft. square, to hold one) are best for
all kinds of stock, except young .stores, only this
arrangement is expensive, as it takes up much sur-
face area. Litter, cut if convenient to lengths of 6
or 8 inches, is given to each animal in a box, at the
rate of 20 lbs. per day, while for those kept in an
open yard the rate is 40 lbs. each. In a byre it is
not positively necessary to allow any. Cattle keep
rather cleaner behind with it than without it, and if
properly attended to, it also protects the leg joints
of heavy cattle from injury on the floor.

Open sheds, with uncovered courts, may be —

1st, Large, sufficient to accommodate 10, 12,

HOUSE-FEEDING OF CATTLE. 113

or more animals, and sometimes designated a
" Reed."

2nd, Small (called a Hummel in some parts), to
contain from two to four.

Sheds are best for stores or for feeders in very hot
weather. The great objections to them are — (i.)
The loss of manure by rain washing, which, however,
may be prevented if the water from the eaves of the
houses adjoining the court is removed, and an ample
layer of bedding spread on the floor. Contrary to
the general belief, surplus moisture tends to rise to
the surface through the animals puddling, and a
comparatively dry layer is found at the bottom of
an open court-yard. (2.) The extra straw required ;
and (3.) Strong cattle starving the weak ones.

Dishorning should be practised on all cattle that
are to be housed in this way, as they persi.stently
torment each other and frequently inflict severe
injury by horning their neighbours. When the horns
are well developed and strong, the sharp tops
should be nipped off by a pair of powerful shears.
This method is quicker, more simple, and less painful
than that by sawing the horn. In the cases of calves
and young animals, the horns should be wholly
removed in the early stages by a knife as they arc
budding ; and when delayed for twelve months or
more, by means of a fine saw: in both instances getting
well down underneath the base of the core of the
horn. When this is properly and skilfully executed,
the pain and bleeding are reduced to a minimum, the
gain to the owner and the reduction of the sufferings

I

114 FARM LINE STOCK.

of the animals from the savage dispositions of their
stronger companions are simply enormous. It is
estimated that no less than 200,000 cattle and horses
are killed annually in the United States of America
by horning, which must be accompanied by an
enormous amount of suffering on the part of the
unfortunate victims. It is a relict of barbarism of
the worst kind, for which there is no excuse, -to shut
up in a close place where escape is impossible, a
number of fully armed beasts to deliberately maim
and maltreat each other. This is a matter which is
well worthy of the consideration of the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Polled
cattle have been appreciated on the American
prairies because of the immunity they enjoy from
the enormous losses resulting to cattle from goring
by their horned neighbours, and because horns are
liable to become frost-bitten and diseased, and the
animals bearing them in consequence worthless.

Dishorning is practised in the case of some Irish
cattle, but it is capable of, and worthy of great
extension in the Irish branch of our live stock trade,
owing to the close confinement of animals during
shipment. It has been estimated upon good authority
that there is an average loss of 5.S. per head, due to
horn wounds and bruises, on Irish cattle brought
over to this country.

Cattle should be housed in the north by the end
of September. In the south they should be in before
the beginning of November. It is a fatal error to
leave feeding beasts out after the weather becomes

HOUSE-FEEDING OF CATTLE. II5

cold and stormy. Not only do they lose flesh
rapidly, but when housed they take a considerable
time to recover from the shock or " backset " before
they begin to thrive. A man at 15s. or i6s. per
week can tend 30 to 40 bullocks tied in stalls if the
food be close at hand. He can undertake 60 to 70
if they are untied.

Regularity in feeding is the first consideration.
Do not give too much at one time, and carefully
remove any food that is left. Each feed should be
eaten before the animal leaves the trough. This
allows time to rest and chew the cud, and to prepare
for the next meal. All changes of food should be
gradual. Large allowances of turnips given suddenly
and without preparation cause scour. Clover, if wet
and in excessive quantity, produces hoven, and often
death from suffocation on account of the pressure of
the distended stomach suspending the action of the
diaphragm.

White and yellow turnips should be used first,
as swedes are sweeter and keep better. With fatten-
ing cattle one can never go back with success to an
inferior food. Of the various roots mangels keep
best, and are best for spring use. Roots should be
stored in good time in autumn, for if frosted they are
bad for all animals, especially when they are kept in
the house. Roots are now only given in quantity to
supply water, — i cwt. per day to an ox is about the
limit, while f cwt. is often sufficient. Potatoes should
not be washed (as earth in this instance acts as a
corrective or aid to digestion), nor given in large

Il6 FARM LIVE STOCK.

quantities, as the\' arc on account of their starchy
nature difficult of assimilation.

Roots are given whole to amuse the animals,
sliced to save waste of energy (some bullocks with
a specially anxious or greedy disposition are liable
to leave their troughs in a disagreeably wet condition,
due to the escape of saliva while consuming whole
roots), or pulped and mixed with chaff the day
before, so as to ferment slightly and raise the
temperature in cold weather. Some feeders think
cattle like the mixture best when newly prepared.
Others object to the practice except with young
store beasts, saying that the quality of flesh in cattle
coming into prime condition is reduced in market
value by giving pulped roots.

The concentrated food should be chosen accord-
ing to what is cheapest in the market, and may con-
sist of a selection from the following or other common
food stuffs : — cotton or linseed cakes, maize-meal,
Indiana or Paisley meal, wheat, oats, barley, beans,
peas, gram, lentils, or linseed, all ground into a fine
state of division, to be more easily digested. Whole
grains, which have escaped the action of the teeth,*
come through cattle undigested. All the above sub-
stances may be given dry, spread on the top of the
chaff in the feeding-troughs ; the rough and short
food then go down together. When the fodder is
inferior, as in the case of barley straw in Norfolk,

* In the Western States of America, pigs, two to each bullock, are
often kept solely on Indian corn which they pick out of the drop-
pings of cattle. In other cases when the corn is bruised they eat
the dung.

HOUSE-FEEDING OF CATTLE, 11?

the chaffed straw and meal may be mixed in a heap
on the floor, and boiHng water thrown over it suffi-
cient to wet it, though not to drain away. By
covering up the heap and leaving it till next day
the whole mass is well cooked, and made palatable
and more digestible.* A little locust bean-meal
may be added to the mixture to sweeten it, but not
too much, else it makes the animals neglect the
unsweetened food. Treacle is a good fattener, and
may be used, when cheap {£6 o^ £7 per ton), as a
relish. It is useful in moderate quantities, say i
to 2 lbs. daily to each animal, for maintaining the
digestive organs in a healthy state, and it is quite as
effectual, when necessary, in restoring] them to a
natural condition if given once or twice in quantity,
6 to 8 lbs., slightly dissolved in a little hot water.
Cane sugar -f- is, if possible, better liked by cattle
than treacle, and is more easily manipulated, but it is
too expensive for ordinary feeding. As a rule, the
mixture is half cake and half mixed meal. Some
prefer giving pure cake for one feed in the day to
make greater variety of food. Having begun with
a little, say 2 lbs. per day if given for the first time,
gradually increase every few weeks. A fixed quantity
of concentrated food loses its effect. Eight or lolbs.
per day is a good average amount to get up to with
an ordinary bullock near the finish ; more than lo
lbs. is a waste. The return after a certain point is

* For full details of the wonderful .success of this system of feeding,
-see a lecture by the author, printed in the Journal of the Newcastle
Farmers' Club for i886.

t See a paper by Sir J. B. Lawes in the Royal Agiicultural
Society's Journal, 1885.

Il8 FARM LIVE STOCK.

in inverse proportion to the amount supplied. Much
forcing of young animals, even for fattening, is a
mistake, and it is much worse in the case of breeding
stock. It is best simply to keep them thriving
throughout. Heifers feed faster than bullocks, espe-
ciall}- when young. The great drawback is their
coming in season and not feeding for a day or two
each time, and, if loose, keeping others that jump on
them from settling to feed properl}'. The ancient and
excellent practice of "spaying" heifers for feeding
purposes has been discontinued in this country.

Tied-up cattle ought to be groomed regularly,
especially about the rump and neck, where they
cannot lick themselves. They should be kept quiet,
and at a uniform temperature of about, but not over,
60° F. If the hair be very rough when first put up (as
is often the case when the animals are kept the first
part of the winter in a straw-yard, until room is got
in the stalls by sale of those first made prime), the
back, half-way down the ribs, the thighs, and tail,
may be clipped bare. This prevents excess of sweating,
which would take place at first on their being intro-
duced into a warm shed from an open court, and they
can be more easily kept clean, and consequently fed
faster, but in some markets where the practice is not
common the appearance produced might be a draw-
back in selling.

A heifer or bullock that would, if killed, weigh
40 to 45 St. dead-weight if put up to increase I4'4 lbs.
of dressed beef per week, should get on an average
6 lbs. of cake and meal mixed per day (beginning
with 4 lbs. and finishing with 8 lbs.), f cwt. roots,

HOUSE-FEEDING OF CATTLE. II9

I J St. straw (partly chaffed), or a small portion of
this replaced by hay of equal money value — a small
foddering once a day. It will not pay to feed much
on hay worth £4 or ;^5 per ton.

M'Coinbie's method. — At 6 a.m., or earlier, give
half the artificial mixture ; when this is eaten, in an
hour or so, one-third of the roots. At 12 o'clock
give another one-third of the roots, and at 5 P.M.
half the mixture of cake and meal ; at 9 P.M. the
remaining roots, and perhaps a little rough hay in
the racks. Uncut straw should be provided during
the day as well as chaff. Depending on the condi-
tion at first, three to five months may be taken to
finish prime, — giving an increase of from about 15 to
28 stones.

Calculation showing Cost of Feeding- per Week.

S. I).

^3 lbs. cake* and 3 lbs. meal, or 42 lbs. a

week, (a^ |d. per lb. . . . . = 24

f cwt. roots, or ^^ cwts. per week, (? 4d.

i j per cwt = 19

^ I I5 St. straw, or 8 1 st. per week, (a lid.

I per St. . . . . . . = 11

Attendance, . . . . . .06

^

Cost of producing 1 4'4 lbs. of beef, . 5 8
Or about 5s. 6d. per imperial stone of 14 lbs.

* Cake or meal at id. per 11>. = £g, 6s. 8d. per ton ; at fd. per 11).
'=■£>!'■• at ^d. per lb. =: £b, 4s. 6d.; roots (consuming value) at 4(1.
per c\vt.= 6.S. 8d. per ton ; straw and litter averaged at lid. per st.
= £\ per ton.

I20 FARM LIVE STOCK.

Sir J. B. Lawes and Dr Gilbert showed by ex-
periment many years ago that it required from 12
lbs. to 13 lbs. of dry food to produce i lb. of increase
of live-weight in oxen, but their more recent investi-
gations make this amount of dry food too high by
a few pounds, and the proportion is more correctly
stated at 9 or 10 lbs. to produce i lb.

Applying this reduced rule (of say i lb. live-
weight per 10 lbs. of dry food) to the following
calculation : —

Calculation showing the amount of Food con-
sumed and the resulting product in lbs. of
Beef.

(r.) Concentrated Food —

Cake 3 lbs. — 12 p. c. water ) average, 13 p. c. water,

Meal 3 lbs. — 14 p. c. water j leaving 87 p. c. dry.

6 lbs. per day, or 42 lbs. per week.
100 : 87 : : 42 : 36-5

, , . (lbs. natur.-il cake libs, dry cake

(p. c. dry;. ^^j ^^^,j 3„j „,g3,j

Dry cake and meal, . . . = 36*5 lbs.

(2.) Roots.

f cwt. = 84 Ib.s. per day, or 588 lbs.
per week — 89 p. c. water,
leaving 1 1 p. c. dry.
100 : II : : 588 : 64-68

p. c. dry rootsj. (roots, natural;, (total dry roots).

Dry roots (say) . . . 64*5 lbs.

Carry forward, loro lbs.

HOUSE-FEEDING OF CATTLE. 121

Brought forward, loro lbs.
(3.) Straiv.

i\ St. per day = I7'5 lbs. per day,
or 1225 lbs. per week— 14 p. c.
water, leaving 86 p. c. dry.
100 : 86 : : 122-5 : I05'5

(■p- c dry), (lbs. straw, natural), (lbs. dry straw).

Djy Straw {near/}'), . . 105-5 lbs.
Total dry food, . 206*5 lbs.

2065 -^ 10 = 20'6 lbs. increase of live-weight.
Live-weight brought to dead-weight at 70 * p. c.
= 100 : 20-6 : : 70 : 14-4 lbs. of dressed beef laid on
per week.

Conclusion. — Since artificial feeding stuffs became
so reduced in price, the value of the life of the well-
bred animal has been proportionally increased, as will
be noticed when it is realized that the price paid for
the flesh of a year-old store bullock, costing 4s. 3d-
per stone live-weight, is equivalent to nearly 8s. 6d,
per stone, estimating it at 50 per cent, dead to
live-weight.

The practice of selling fat and store animals, and
€ven at times horses, by live--weig'ht has long been

* Warington gives 60 p. c. as the proportion of dressed beef from
a prime fat bullock's fasted live-weight, and Lawes says 50 p. c. from
a store bullock if killed at the time of putting up to feed. The
ordinary butclier's animal, it should be remembered, is only " moderately
fat," and will not give more than 57 p. c. of dressed beef, or even
less. The increase of dead-weight during the late stages of fattening
rnay be approximately estimated at 70 p. c.

122 FARM LIVE STOCK.

successfully carried on in America, and in this
country it is making slow but sure progress. It is
now made possible by the facilities which Govern-
ment has recently offered through the passing of an
Act which makes the erection of machines for weigh-
ing live stock compulsory in all places where tolls are
charged The scales form a ready means by which
the farmer can satisfy himself of one of the most
important factors in the question which he puts to
himself, as to how much money his beasts are worth.
This is an extremely important point gained, as
without such help the farmer with his small experi-
ence in the market is placed at a great disadvantage
by the middleman with his wide experience. No
one believes that a knowledge of the weight of an
animal will alone indicate its value, but that, along
with a settled conviction of the quality according to
the breed of the bullock and the stage of forward-
ness of his condition, makes the calculation not only
easy, but certain to show accurate results. The
elaborate and excellent handbook of computing-
tables by Sir John Lawcs * now supplies a key to
the farmer in the estimations pertaining to the
weight and value of his live stock. It may be
roughly estimated that bullocks which are in prime
fat condition will yield 60 per cent, of dressed beef
from their "fasted live-weight." f Three-year-old

* Published by the Royal Agricultural Society, 12 Hanover Square,
London.

t The expression "fasted live-weight" in America means that
an animal has consumed no food for twelve lioiirs, but the British
acceptation of the term is here adopted, viz., that the fast has lasted
for twenty-four hours.

HOUSE-FEEDING OF CATTLE.

125

stores should give 56 per cent., two-year-olds 53 per
cent, and one-year-olds 50 per cent.

When cattle are weighed at home, allowance should
be made in accordance with the following data for
the loss which is sure to occur while animals are
being taken to market. Sir John Lawes estimates
the loss by fasting 24 hours at about 5 to 5^ per
cent, of the gross live-weight =50 to 55 lbs. on an ox
weighing 1000 lbs. John Swan & Sons, of Edin-
burgh, from their extensive experience in weighing
live cattle, estimate the loss at about 5f to 7 per cent.
= 80 lbs. from a bullock of 1400 lbs., or if come by
rail a long distance in addition to fasting, the loss
would amount to 100 lbs. The difference is easily
accounted for by the greater rapidity at which a
bullock is " emptied " when excited by travelling.
The loss of original total live-weight may fairly be
estimated at 5 up to about 7 per cent., according to
the treatment the animal has undergone during the
period of fasting.

The following- table shows the relative proportions
and prices of animals in various stages of development
at the Edinburgh sales in the spring of 1889 : —

Store Cattle.

Fat
Cattle.

1 2
year old. years old.

years old.

Estimated percentage dead

to fasted live-weight,
Price per Imp. stone of

fasted live-weight, .
Price per Imp. stone, or

estimated price,

50 S3
4s. 3d. 4s. 2^d.
8s. 6d. 7s. il^d.

56
4S. lid.
7s. 4^d.

60
4s. 9d.
7s. lod.

124 FARM LIVE STOCK.

The figures show that at current rates the market
price of the flesh of young animals is higher than
the market rate of beef on an animal ready for the
butcher. This is most distinctly so in the case
of one-year-old cattle. The flesh of two-year-olds
approaches more nearly in price to prime beef, and
in the case of three-year-old store cattle, which are
well forward but not quite ready to place in the
market, the tendency has carried the price of rough
beef below that of butchers' beef It must be ad-
mitted that these figures and relations vary from
time to time with the condition of the market, but
for the moment they go to show the extent of the
advantage that the breeder has over the feeder.

So long as the price paid by the feeder docs not
exceed the market rate of dressed beef he ought
not to complain, as it has been shown that the
production, if that is done entirely from the best
of food materials, can be most economically accom-
plished during the last stages of fattening.

When the animal is young and growing it requires
more exercise to keep it in health, and there is in
consequence greater waste of food material than
when it is finally shut up to finish. Against this
must be put the fact that the food consumed by
the young and growing portion of the stock of the
farm is or ought to be the least costly. Again, in
comparing the two sets of figures — (a) the price of
the estimated beef on a store animal, 8s. 6d. per
stone, with (d) the cost, 5s. 6d., of producing i stone
of beef during the last stages of fattening, it should

HOUSE-FEEDINO OF CATTLE. 1 25

not be forgotten that {a) represents the cost plus the
feeder and middleman's profit, while {b) is simply
the net cost.

Should an animal in store condition be killed,
the beef being unfinished will bring a low price.
It is therefore, as previously stated, the life of the
animal which is valued, in the light of the prospect
of what it will ultimately produce when the fattening
process is completed.

The market value of life in this sense varies
according to quality, as the value of beef varies
for the same reason, and we find well-bred animals
sell at higher prices, weight for weight, than ordi-
nary beasts — the presumption as regards their
possible performances is worth so much more to the
purchaser.

The great function of live stock on a farm is not
the making of so much profit on so many stones of
beef, as this, unless side issues and secondary advan-
tages are estimated, is frequently absent, but {a) the
formation of a home demand for the crude, bulky,
and unmarketable farm produce, and {b) the making
of farm-yard manure to maintain the fertility of the
land.

The Author's attention has been called to a most ingenious little
instrument, a "Live Stock Computer," patented by G. H. Meire,
Eyton-on-Severn, Shrewsbuiy, which gives at sight the values of
animals : — (i), by comparison ; (2), at a live-weight price ; and (3), at
carcase price.

126 FARM LIVE STOCK.

CHAPTER X.— DAIRYING — PASTURE AND
FOOD.

Conditions, Suitable and Unsuitable — Best Dairying Localities — Cow
Pasture — Water Supply — Natural and Artificial Herbage —
Weeds — Extent of Daiiy Land — Data for Calculating the
Amount of a Cow's Food — Plan of Arrangements for Feeding
lOO Cows on 300 Acres.

/CONDITIONS, suitable and unsuitable. —The
^-^ climate is the only limit to success in dairy-
ing in this country, and that on account of wet
and cold on the higher of the hilly regions. All
other difficulties, as deficient rain-fall and clay
soil (such as the heavy clays near to London),
that were at one time (and not so long ago) thought
to be unsurmountable, can be overcome by adapting
to the prevailing circumstances one of the many
varied systems which are practised. There is a
choice (i), of "soiling," viz., keeping the cows en-
tirely indoors and carrying all food, whether green
or otherwi.se, to them ; or (2), pasturing during
summer : besides many combinations or variations
of the two plans.

Dairying is more remunerative in some locali-
ties than in fathers, owing to the presence of

DAIRYING — PASTURE AND FOOD. 12/

favourable conditions ; but the absence of some
of these does not necessarily exclude the practice
of this industry. The districts of most renown
are — parts of the counties of Cheshire, Derby, York,
Leicester, Gloucester, Somerset ; and in Scotland,
Wigton, Kirkcudbright, Ayr, Renfrew, and Lanark.
Such places have the soil and climate suitable for
growing good grass, which is the best and cheapest
main supply of food for dairy cows — grass being
used for summer, and hay for the winter months.
Roots were at one time considered indispensable,
and it was thought that, if roots could not grow,
dairying need not be attempted ; but now that
the smell and taste of the products are more looked
to, roots, for reasons to be explained later, are not so
popular, and the success of silage in many places too
high for the growth of roots, has increased the feeling
against them. Extremes of either heat or cold are
disadvantageous, but these are not so great in this
country, except on high cold mountain ranges, but
that they can be easily overcome by providing
shelter. Summer shelter is necessary against the
sun and flies in warm weather, and from wind and
rain while stormy, and this may be got from high
hedges, belts of plantation, high stone walls, or
cheap low-roofed shelter-sheds. The winter shelter
given is usually by housing, except in a few of the
milder districts — as in Cheshire, where cows lie out
all winter, and where the shelters provided in
summer prove valuable. Extreme cold reduces
the flow of milk ; and excessive heat, with its

128 FARM LIVE STOCK.

various accompanying irritations, lowers both quality
and quantity. There is no animal product of the
farm so easily affected by adverse circumstances as
milk. Materials for its secretion are only provided
b\' the cow after every other want of the animal
system has been supplied ; consequently the maxi-
mum of milk production can only be attained when
the cow is free from all annoyances or discomforts,
so that she may settle to the consumption of a
proper quantity of food and then make the best
use of it. Moderate exertion, as browsing in a field,.
is advantageous to animals that are to be retained
as dairy stock from year to year, by keeping the
limbs and the constitution generally in a good
healthy condition, and preventing running to fat,
as cows tend to do if tied up all the time. An
immediate reduction in the quantity of milk follow.s
any excess of exertion ; this may occur through the
cows "startling," and running frantically from the
gad-fly {Tabajuts boviiius), and the little gray horse
fly or cleg, also one of the Tahiniidcu {Hcemntopa),
which appears in July ; it occurs also when they
are in season ("for bulling"), or if they are hunted
in any way, or even driven a long distance to pas-
ture, especially if not allowed to go at the slow pace
natural to a cow. More food is necessary under
these circumstances to make good the extra waste
of the system, and all is deducted from what should
have gone, under more settled conditions, to the
formation of milk. The milk secreted is also in-
ferior in (juality, being poor in heat-producers.

DAIRYING — PASTURE AND FOOD. 1 29

especially butter-fat (cream), and more liable to
spoil in keeping or in the manufacture of its pro-
ducts ; this is supposed to arise from the presence
of an alkaloid which appears in the systems of all
animals that are excited or over-heated; as in a fit of
bad temper or after being hunted. The amount of
milk given by a cow in the morning as compared
with the evening (twelve hours elapsing in each case
after the previous milking), varies with varying
conditions. When cows lie out all night, and when
day and night are both mild, there is usually more
milk at the evening meal than in the morning.
When the nights are cold this is more marked ;
but should the nights be warm and comfortable,
and the days too hot and the cows unsettled, there
will be a greater yield of milk in the morning. In
moderate weather cows feed more by day than by
night, and the result of this is immediately seen in
the milk production.

A cow-pasture is better undulating than flat —
the banks not being so steep as to cause accident.
It is a mistake to have it all thoroughly drained as
if it were arable land — unless it be arable land that
is soured by stagnant water. It ought to be suffi-
ciently dry to enable cows to walk over the surface
without breaking and poaching it, but the hollows
should be left moist enough to encourage the growth
of food-plants and grasses different from those seen
on such land when thoroughly dried. These parts
provide a variety of food, in conjunction with the
drained land, during the whole grass-season, and

K

130 FARM LIVE STOCK.

are particularly serviceable in a scorching hot
summer, and at all times in autumn. Deep drains
are better than open surface-drains where the land
is good enough to bear the expense of their con-
struction. Large open ditches, especially with steep
banks, are most objectionable in cow-pastures, as
there is always a danger among horned cattle of their
being pushed or horned (Scotch — dunched) into them.
The water supply is of extreme importance, as
animals giving daily .such large quantities of fluid
produce require to drink deeply. The smallest
inconvenience from want of water is seen imme-
diately in the diminished flow of milk. It must be
pure as well as abundant, as with contaminations
from decaying organic matter, more particularly if
it be of animal origin, the milk and its products do
not keep so well, and are liable to objectionable
tastes and smells ; besides, outbreaks of typhoid
fever have been traced to sewage in cows' drinking
water. A pure running stream, with a hard bottom
and gradually sloping sides, is the best possible
watering-place ; but where drainage or river water
is not plentiful, rain-water should be safely stored
in ponds or in underground tanks in times of rain
against the dry season, and in such a way as to keep
it clean. A stagnant pool which cows can walk
into and stand in is undesirable. Droppings are
left in it, and it soon becomes filthy. Cows are
fond of standing in water in hot weather, which is
not only injurious, inducing rheumatism, but is a
waste of feeding time, and a cause of loss of produce

DAIRYING — PASTURE AND FOOD. 13I

in the end. They follow this practice for the double
purpose of cooling themselves and of escaping from
their insect enemies.

Natural herbage from good old pasture, being a
mixture of the best matured grasses and leguminous
plants, makes the finest quality of dairy produce ;
forced grass from high manuring or irrigation is
watery and imperfect ; and when that and young
" seeds " grass are used alone, perhaps because there
are fewer varieties of plants represented in it, there
is often a difficulty in the manipulation of the pro-
ducts, more especially in the case of cheese. Young
grass has one advantage in coming earlier in the
season, and it is good for encouraging the flow of
milk in conjunction with old pasture. There are
many hill grasses and plants, on which mountain
sheep live, that must not be considered inferior for
dairying ; as light hardy cows often do well on wild-
looking pasture in upland districts, rented at 6s. to
los. per acre, if plenty of room is given, so that
they may have a choice of food — say between 3 and
4 acres of pasture, and the aftermath of 2 acres cut
for hay. This hay meadow should produce a little
over 2 tons, or sufficient fodder for a small cow
during winter, without roots or any artificial food,
till after calving in spring, when each cow would
require a quantity of mixed meal and cake up to
the value of 20s. to 25s., to keep up the flow of milk
until the grass was sufficiently grown to support her.

Of weeds that give a taste and smell to milk or
butter, the different species of garlic {Allmui) are

132 FARM LIVE STOCK.

perhaps the worst and most common, besides being
very difficult to get rid of. Garh'c mustard {Alliaria
officinalis), and several other varieties of wild mustard,
also camomile {Aiit/ionis), and ivy {Hedera), give a
taste to milk. As several of the latter grow mostly
in the shade and shelter of fences, the injury may
be minimized by frequently cutting the weeds along
such places. Buttercups {RajtunailacecE) are thought
by some to give a rich golden tint to butter, and by
others to produce an acrid taste in milk. Most
probably both ideas are wrong. Grass-butter in
May and June, the buttercup season, is naturally
yellow from any good pasture, even when free from
them. The change to the yellow colour is more
noticed at this time, coming in contrast with the
pale house-butter of winter and spring. Cows do
not, if they can avoid it while grazing, eat the
flower stalks and heads of ranunculus, though cases
of poisoning have been traced to the consumption
of acrid species. Buttercups are said to be an
indication of good land, but they appear abundantly
on both good and bad. As a rule, the quality of
land is not indicated so much by the presence or
absence of weeds as by their size and habit of
growth ; for instance, a well-developed thistle {Car-
duiis), or a large cowslip {Primula veris), will not
grow on poor land : small and inferior specimens
only, although often in great abundance, are to be
seen there.

Extent of Dairy Land.— Three acres of good
grass (rented at not over £2 per acre, including

DAIRYING — PASTURE AND FOOD. I 33

taxes) is sufficient to set aside for the keep of eacli
cow during both summer and winter : rather more
than an acre would be cut for hay, and the remainder,
along with the aftermath of the hay land, would be
grazed.

About one-tenth of an acre of roots is often made
to replace so much grass, but there is a danger of
milk-fever, if roots are provided along with a full
supply of hay, if this is of very fine quality. ,

If roots are given without concentrated food in
autumn before cows go dry, more milk is produced,
but the cows are thus made much leaner and are more
difficult to winter. The average return of a well-
managed dairy of good shorthorn cross-cows should
be about 550 gallons of milk under the treatment
described, with some artificial food in spring. Really
good Ayrshires on such land are not far behind.
The ordinary Ayrshire on poorer land should give
about 450 gallons or upwards. Pure bred short-
horns do not, as a class, even taking only milking
strains, milk quite so heavily as their crosses and
non-pedigreed, though often well-bred, relations,
which are usually found in English dairies.

When the " soiling " system, and higher feeding
and farming generally, are adopted, the yield of
milk may be raised by 150 gals, or more each,
which will repay the extra labour should conditions
necessary for such a system be present.

Data for calculating- the amount of cow's food in
a mixed system of summer pasturing and soiling.
As in the grazing example, 3 acres go to one cow,

134 FARM LIVE STOCK.

but the grain grown is sold, if it is not thought
advisable to use it as concentrated food which, in
the other case, had to be bought. Each cow
requires, besides summer pasture, 2 tons of straw
and hay for fodder, amounting to 25 lbs.* per da}'-,
during the six winter months, besides concentrated
bought food given in spring, as cake and meal,
which might cost from £1 to £2, or more if cake
is continued on the grass. In addition, the follow-
ing roots and forage crops may be given at the
various seasons throughout the year : —

(i.) One-third cwt. roots per day for 4 winter
months (18 weeks), given mostly when cows are dry
( = 2 tons 2 cwts., or i acre for 10 cows — swedes 15-
ton crop, mangels 27 tons — average 21 tons per
acre).

(2.) One-half cwt. of rye per day for 3 weeks in
April (= 10 cwts. per cow in 20 days, or i acre for
10 cows, with a 5-ton crop).

(3.) One-quarter cwt. per day of crimson clover,
rape, vetches, etc., for 21 weeks in summer ( = 37
cwts., nearly, per cow, or roughly, 5 cows to i acre,
with a 9-ton crop).

(4.) One-half cwt. cabbages per day for 10 weeks
in autumn ( = 35 cwts. per cow, or 15 cows per acre,
with a 26|-ton crop).

* Sir J. V>. Lawes and Dr Gilbert in their pamphlet on " Experiments
on Ensilage (1886)," Harrison & Sons, page 28, give 25 lbs. of "dry
substances " of food as the daily amount necessary for an ordinary
cow.

DAIRYING — PASTURE AND FOOD. 135

Plan of Arrang-ements in feeding 100 Cows on 300
acres by the above System.

lOO acres arable on a 4-course rotation.
150 „ permanent pasture grass.
50 „ permanent grass-meadow, cut for hay.

Animal Crops on the Arable Land.

(l.) 25 Acres.

(4. ) 25 Acres.

Wheat or Oats, followed by 20

" Seeds " cut for hay, 20 acres

acres winter catch-crops and 5

latter-math pastured, and 5 acres

acres winter fallow.

cut for forage.

(2.) 25 Acres.

(3.) 25 Acres.

Roots and forage crops follow-

Oats, as a "nurse" for the

ing catch crops, etc.

grass ' ' seeds. "

Analysis of Root and Forage Crops, including Catch
Crops.

10 acres roots.
6| „ cabbages.
10 „ rye.
20 „ vetches, clover, and rape.

465 „ Total root and forage crops.

136

FARM LIVE STOCK.

Winter Catch Crops and
Fallow after a Grain Crop.

5 ac. cleaning for man-
gels to be sown
next spring.

lo ac. trifolium and

vetches.
lO ,, rve.

Root, Green, and Forage

Crops in the Regtdar

Rotation.

lO ac. roots (5 ac. man-
gels and 5 ac.
swedes).

cabbages,
vetches and rape.

20 ac. Tot. catch crops. 25 ac. Total.

The above totals make 45 acres of root and
forage crops including catch crops, but 46I acres are
required, and can be made up by taking a second
cut off 5 acres of" seeds " land, which is an equivalent
of i§ acres of vetches. A second cut of "seeds"
will give 3 tons per acre, or one-third of a good
vetch crop.

House Feedings as pi'aclised in the Pj'oduction
of Milk for a Town Milk Trade.

Wiien good non-pedigreed milking shorthorn
cows are kept at all seasons in the house, and fed
to the highest degree possible, the yield per cow
can be made double of that obtained under the
natural .system described — the produce can be
raised from 550 to iicx) gallons. This syiitem is

DAIRYING — PASTURE AND FOOD. 1 3/

not compatible with calving down the cows a second
year. Animals at their prime, viz., after the third
or fourth calf, are selected, and they go directly to
the butcher, usually after milking for nine months,
without being put quite dry, although the yield of
milk is naturally reduced, so that it would not pay
to keep them longer. This is a severe drain on the
supply of the best milking cattle, and it has unques-
tionably, since the great increase of the milk trade
in towns, tended to reduce the numbers of cattle in
this country.

The amount and cost of food per cow per day is
as follows : —

s. d.

j\ lbs. cake and meal, '\ , r^ ^ \

2 lbs. treacle. " | (i:6,.os.perton), = o

\ cwt. brewers' grains,

f cwt. roots (;^i per ton, towns' prices),

lo lbs. oat straw (^£2 per ton, semi-do.),

Refuse straw for litter.

Labour, tending, and milking (3 times),

Total cost per day,

In summer the turnips, straw, treacle, and part of
the brewers' grains are replaced by grass from
.sewage meadows or by green forage — frequently rye-
grass forced by dressing with nitrate of soda. The
cost of this should be rather under its equivalent of
winter food.

The yield per cow while in milk will average 4

0

6|

0

6

0

8

0

2

0

a

0

2

2

2

138 FARM LIVE STOCK.

gallons per day = 1105 gallons in nine months. As
each cow is replaced at the end of that time by a
" green " or fresh newly calved cow, the average of
milk given annually per stall is raised to 1460
galls. The reduction in value of the cow may be
estimated at £4 between the " laid in " and selling
price, but this is balanced by the value of the
manure.

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 1 39

CHAPTER XI. — DAIRYING — COWS AND
THEIR MANAGEMENT.

Treatment of Dairy Cows — Milking — Milking Machines — Period of
Lactation — Guenon's Escutcheon Theory— De-sexed Cows — How
to put a Cow Dry — Three Points with regard to Purchased Food
— Effects of Common Food Stuffs — Hoven — Good Permanent
Grasses as Food — Breeding and Calving for the First Time —
Signs of Pregnancy — of Parturition — Calving — Protracted Labour

— Premature Labour — Means of Preventing Abortion — Straining

— Cow Breeches — Protrusion of the Vagina — Milk Fever —
Trembling or Loupin' 111 —Weed — Inflammation of the Udder —
Choking — Lameness.

T^REATMENT of Dairy Cows.— It is of the
utmost importance to have the cows, byres,
and everything connected with them kept scrupu-
lously clean, not only because produce is so easily
spoiled by the presence of any dirty impurity or
smell, but on account of the necessity for perfect
health and comfort in the animals to attain the maxi-
mum of production. Good ventilation keeps the
temperature a few degrees below 60° F., which
prevents cows losing their hair and being too bare
and susceptible to cold when turned out for water in
winter or to grass in spring ; and it also keeps the
atmosphere pure and sweet. This may be aided by
swilling the gutter daily with water, where means

I40 FARM LIVE STOCK,

admit of the practice. Regular grooming during
winter is necessary with cows, as with all animals
that are tied up, and are thus prevented from rubbing
or licking themselves, or getting licked by others on
tickling or itchy parts. General comfort means more
produce, or better condition, with a given amount of
food. March and April is the usual calving time for
cheese or butter-making summer dairies, so as to
have cows coming to their " flow " within two months,
on getting a full supply of grass : May, June, and
July being the three best months for abundance.
Heifers calve, usually, a month later. Pedigreed
cows calve at any time, but the best period is
.soon after the New Year, to give the young ones
as much time to grow as possible. Where milk is
sold, more cows than in other systems are " calved-
down " in autumn, to provide for the winter demand.
Milk-making is then expensive, and in a country
dairy does not pay at ordinary prices for milk, but
it is arranged for by milk companies in their yearly
contracts with farmers. Cows go to pasture for good
either before or after ist May, depending upon the
climate, having been gradually prepared by a short
daily run over young grass, which is usually early.
The amount and kinds of forage crops sometimes
given while cows arc being milked have been already
stated. Three pounds or four pounds of cake sup-
plied to each animal daily while on grass no doubt
increases the amount of produce, but, unless in
special cases, where the pasture is insufficient or
wants manuring, it is a question if the practice pays

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. I4I

when dairy produce is at ordinary prices ; for cows
thus treated are more difficult to keep up to the
mark in winter, and age more rapidly.

Milking- is usually done twice a day, in the house
if possible, as cattle are there more at rest in the
shade and free from flies, besides milk is kept
cleaner, especially in wet weather, when rain would
wash dirt into the pail from the skin. All dirt
adhering to the udder (more usual in winter than
in summer) should be wiped or sponged off to pre-
vent taint in the milk. The only sufficient excuse
for open-air milking is when cows pasture at a great
distance from the farm buildings ; and, again, if cows
are milked in a very close, warm byre, they run the
risk of being chilled when turned out at night in
autumn.

It is sometimes necessary to milk three times a
day, when the vessel is hard and swelled soon after
calving, when there is an excessive secretion and
milk running from the teats, or when mid-day milk
is wanted in a local trade. More milk can thus be
got on the whole, but the additional expense debars
the practice, unless when the cow's comfort or the
circumstances of trade urgently demand it.

Cows are kept in the house over night, as autumn
frosts and cold or stormy weather come on, to pre-
vent the quantity of milk falling off rapidly, except
in those districts where cows are wintered out of
doors. Then they rapidly go dry and cease to give
milk. For the first few nights the yield is less, but
it increases as the animals become accustomed

142 FARM LIVE STOCK.

to the change, and remains pretty constant for
a few weeks.

During winter they are only let out once daily,
or better twice if their fodder is salted, to drink-
water and lick themselves, unless when the ground
is frost-bound and slippery, when water should be
carried to them. A walk of a quarter of a mile
before drinking, and the same back afterwards,
prevents shivering, which occurs frequently when
cold water is given in the house. The exercise also
keeps the limbs in good condition, and helps to
maintain the constitution of the cow in a healthy
state.

If cows are constantly milked by one person for
a length of time, they often " keep up their milk,"
or " do not let it down," should another milker try.
It is a usual rule in dairies to change the milkers
regularly each time to avoid this. The custom has
other advantages : it gives each milker the same
share of the "stiff" or difficult, as well as of the
cows easy to milk, and prevents an inferior milker
"putting the milk off," or "drying" certain cows by
bad milking, carried on regularly.

Cows get into the habit, especially if going always
on the same pasture, of finding the way towards the
milking place generally at the right times, which
should be regularly kept, and should divide the
twenty-four hours equally. Each knows her own
place in the byre, and if not disturbed will usually
go directly to it unless she is induced at times to
steal food from a neighbour's allowance by the way.

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. I43

Milking should be done as quietly, quickly, and
thoroughly as possible. If all of these requisites
are not attended to, the quantity of milk soon falls
off One of the greatest difficulties of the dairy
farmer is to get good milkers. A cow must not be
struck or frightened in any way ; as, in addition to
the small quantity given, the quality is so injured at
times that it has been known to affect the milk of a
whole dairy when mixed with it.

A calf takes about three or four minutes to suck
a cow dry. Milking by hand should come as near
to this as possible. A good man (or a woman in
Scotland) milking ten cows (a usual and ample
number) will finish in an hour, if the work is done
by contract, except for a week or two when the full
flow of milk is on. When milking is done in the
ordinary way, on the master's time, nearly two
hours are taken up. An hour and a half may be
stated as a good average.

A milker sits on a stool close to the animal, and
holds firmly between the knees a "handy" or pail
large enough to contain all the milk, to do away
with the necessity of rising to empty a portion of
it into the receiving or carrying can before the
operation is finished. The hand next the cow's
hind leg should be kept close to it, to be ready to
hold it back should she attempt to kick. Some tie
the hind legs together at the hocks. If it were
always done without pain this would be harmless,
but there is the risk of workpeople doing it roughly.
It is better to " dry milk " or handle young cows

144 FARM LI\E STOCK.

for some weeks before calving to break them in, and
to treat them gently and coax them to stand
quietly. Special care is necessary at first while
the udder is hard and painful. Sometimes a
nervous or wicked cow, or one with sore teats,
from cow-pox, hacking with cold east winds, or
raw from flies, will stand in no other way than with
a man holding her head, with a finger and thumb
in her nostrils. After a time, in many cases, the
presence of a person near the shoulder, without
holding, is sufficient, show^ing that if care had been
bestowed at first this unnecessary expense might
have been avoided. Sometimes such a cow is
secured by " bulldogs " or " humbugs " put in the
nostrils, and tied up by a rope.

There is no right and wrong side on which to
milk. In double-stalled byres the milker gets
between two cows, milks one from the right side,
and turns round and takes the other on the left.
It is well to train a cow, especially a show animal,
to milk from both sides. This keeps the vessel
hanging "square." It usually gets heavier at, and
hangs to the milking side. The near-hind and far-
fore, and far-hind and near-fore teats should be
milked together alternately. Cows with very small
teats, especially when swelled after calving, are very
difficult to milk, and tiring for the hands of the
milker, as only the forefinger and thumb can be
used.

Others are "stiff" to milk, from the passages of
the teats being small. These can be widened by

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 145

inserting a form of bistoury which opens hke a glove
stretcher. The cutting surface is on the outside of
one of the blades, and after inserting it into the

Bistoury.

teat the incision is made by opening and suddenly
withdrawing it. When this operation is overdone,
milk flows without the action of milking, causing
loss. A safer method of improvement, in ordinary
hands, is that of using a small ivory cone, which is
left in the canal of the teat to distend it between
milking times. The cutting instrument is sometimes
used, but not often successfully, when a cord forms
at the neck of the teat, through the contraction or
growing up of the milk diaphragm, usually the
result of suppuration. Sore teats should be well
greased, before and after milking, with vaseline.
If the skin of a teat is very tender, the milk may
be withdrawn for a few days by a silver milking-
tube or syphon, while the sound teats are being
milked. A piece of red yarn or tape ought to be
tied to the tube to prevent its being lost if dropped
among the litter.

Milking- Machines are all unsatisfactory, as the
rubbing action of the calf, which encourages milk-
secretion, has not yet been properly imitated. There
are many varieties following one or other of two
principles — ist, Letting the milk flow by means of
syphons inserted into the teats : these are too slow

L

146 FARM LIVE STOCK.

in action, apt to do injur}-, and troublesome to fit
on.

2nd, Sucking the teat in imitation of the natural
method. This is likely to draw blood at the finish,
and thus requires much care ; it also necessitates
finishing the milking by hand.

The usual period, of lactation is between nine
and ten months, giving the cow a rest of two or
three months to prepare for the next milking period.
Cows naturally take this time, more or less ; they
are also affected by the kinds and quantities of food
given, and by the general treatment. Some would
yield milk right through till the next calving, but
these do not milk so well the following year.

M. Guenon's "Escutcheon" or "Milk-Mirror"
theory* holds that the extent of surface of the

* The system was instituted by Mons. Francois Guenon of Lis-
bourne, the son of a poor gardener, and a great student of Nature as
represented in the vegetable and animal kingdoms. As far back as
l8i4he, while tending the household cows, believed he could trace a
relationship between the yiekl of milk and the form of the gravure
or escutcheon. After making further inquiries, which teniled to
strengthen his belief, he began business as a cattle dealer in 1S22, and
dealt in cows of different nationalities. The result of his long and
careful observations led him to classify animals in three groups accord-
ing to size — large, middle, and .small : the signs he divided into eight
classes, and each of these classes into eight onlers. From an intimate
knowledge of their variations he could indicate the f|uantity and quality
of milk a cow would give daily, and the length of time she would con-
tinue to give a good yield. In 1S37 he stated his results before the
Bordeaux Agricultural Committee, and in 1838 to the Agricultural
Society of Auriliac. II is views were accejited after test trials of the
system, and by the few who have undertaken the great labour of
ma.stering the details it is pronounced to be an excellent guide in the
.selection of cows possessed of good dairying qualities.

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 147

udder and thighs that is covered with hairs turning
up and out, in place of down hke the rest of the
body, is an indication of the amount of milk the cow
will give. If the surface covered by the reversed
hair is large and broad above the udder, extending
far on to the thighs, the cow should be a good
milker, and if it be broad and smooth up near to the
setting on of the tail, the flow should last well out at
the end of the season. Great attention is paid to it
in America and in France, where it has been studied
for over sixty years, but it is little regarded in
England. The explanation given seems a very
doubtful one, viz., that the arteries supplying the
udder terminate in the skin and turn up the hairs,
and if there is a large surface, this shows there are
larger arteries which have abundant terminations.
The size of the milk-vein, taking away the refuse
blood which passes through the udder in the process
of milk secretion, is a much more reliable indication
of the " depth " of a cow's milking.

De-sexed or "Spayed" cows milk on constantly
for years, and give, on the aggregate, a larger yield
than in the usual way. They are specially suited to
outlying districts in the colonies, where there is
grass all the year, and where settlers' single cows are
many miles from a bull. The milk resembles that
of farrow cows, being richer than when cows are
some months gone in calf

The best way to put a cow dry, without risk of
losing a quarter through suppuration, is to stop
milking and reduce the supply of food for a time.

148 FARM LIVL STOCK.

Milking once a day, every second day, or after a
few days when the vessel swells up, is now found to
be a mistake. The action of milking causes the
secretion of milk which would otherwise never form,
and only retards the drying process. Bleeding is at
times adopted, and a dose of 16 oz. of Epsom salts is
not infrequently administered. This is the only time
that salts may be given to a cow in milk, as they
most effectually reduce the quantity, and in a great
measure permanently for that season. These ex-
treme measures arc most applicable to cows with
a considerable flow of milk, or that have been put to
grass. Inferior fodder should be used up when cows
arc not in milk. If the fodder is very bad, a few
roots may have to be given as well, or it might
be necessary to sprinkle it with treacle-water from a
rose-can if the taste and smell are objectionable.

There are three points that a farmer should
satisfy himself upon before choosing food stuffs : —
I J-/, That the price, according to feeding value of the
suitable food which he selects, is as moderate as that
of any equivalent he could find in the market. This
is too often neglected b}^ the farmer, and accounts
at times for the prices of certain well-known feeding
stuffs being far above their real values. Farmers
are slow to learn and loath to make changes, especi-
ally in matters where scientific advice has to be
called in to determine the quality.

2nd, lie should employ those foods that do not
produce a disagreeable taste in milk or butter — as
cabbages, mangels, and the more common meals

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 149

and cakes — and avoid using turnips. Swedes are
not quite so objectionable. Soft turnips, especially,
give a disagreeable taste and smell to milk and its
products. The proper time to give turnips is when
the cows are dry, or, in a case of necessity, in small
quantity immediately after milking ; then they are
thought to be less hurtful. It is asserted that cutting
off the crown of the bulb close to the base of the
leaves is a preventive. Palm-nut cake or meal,
unless given in small quantities, flavours milk, but
not very objectionably.

"i^rd, He should use the proper foods to suit the
condition under which an animal is placed. Cotton-
cake given in quantity to cows in calf will at times
cause the death of most of the calves when they are
about ten days old. Three pounds per day may be
given with safety, — undecorticated if on grass, as it
has astringent properties and counteracts the ten-
dency to excessive looseness of the bowels. Decor-
ticated cake ground into a fine state of division,
as it is hard to chew if in lumps, is better in
winter, or mixed with maize-meal when used on
the grass.

Effects of a few common Food Stuffs. — Bean-
meal, perhaps to a greater degree than anything
else, increases the flow of really good milk. Meals
of leguminous seeds have a binding or costive
tendency, being deficient in oil. Bran counteracts
this, and is itself excellent for milk production.
Treacle is now increasingly used to fulful the function
of bran. Brewers' grains, costing 4d. to 5d. per

I50 l-ARM LIVE STOCK.

bushel (a full allowance for a day), are also opening,
and greatly increase the flow of milk, but the quality
is very poor, unless the animal is otherwise liberally
fed. When used freely they injure the breeding
powers, and are in consequence of most service in
town dairies, where cows are being fattened off. A
small quantity of malt dust in a mixture gives it
relish, and as a food it is also a first-rate milk
producer. Clover, green and wet, unless in small
quantity, is most dangerous for cattle not accustomed
to eat it, producing hoven, especially in the case of
cows which are ravenous feeders. The giving of
clover should be begun gradually, and when it is dry.
Hoven results from the stoppage of digestion. It
may be acute, due to some sudden ailment, and
dangerous to life, or chronic, the result of a derange-
ment of long standing. In the acute form, digestion
stops and gases are evolved in the process of fer-
mentation which .sets up in the food contained in
the stomach of the animal, more especially if the
food is of a green or succulent nature. Pressure is
thus brought to bear upon the diaphragm, which is
unable to act, and ultimately, if not relieved, the
animal dies of suffocation. Treatment. — With a cow
not giving milk, i oz. of turpentine soaked into dry
meal and administered in cold gruel or cold water
may overcome the disorder if given in good time.
As turpentine permeates the whole system and
flavours the milk, cows "in profit" should be drenched
with 2 quarts of hot beer, or a pint or more of
whisky made into hot toddy. In a case of urgency,

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 151

instant relief is got by puncturing the rumen with a
trochar and canula at a point on the left side equally-
distant from the anterior spine of the ilium, the

4

Trochar and Canlta.

transverse process of the lumbar vertebrcTe, and the
last rib. The canula is left in the wound for a
little to form a free vent for the escape of gas.
On its withdrawal, the wound in the stomach con-
tracts on account of the opening having been
made when that organ was greatly distended.
A clean pocket knife may be used in a case of
extremity ; but as there is nothing left on its
removal to preserve the channel, a portion of the
food blown out by the gas is liable to lodge under
the skin and in course of time produce a suppurating
sore. The chronic form of the ailment should be
treated by the administration of repeated doses of
treacle along with Jy oz. of carbonate of ammonia or
turpentine as tonics, or salts with 2 oz. of a mi.xture
of ground gentian and ginger.

A mixture of good permanent grasses and other
plants, grown on soil naturally fertile, but in a state
of Nature, is by far the best food for making the most
perfect dairy products. Grass or forage crops from
highly improved land or irrigation meadows, although
they may increase the quantit\% diminish the quality
of milk, and more particularly its products, and
make it often much more difficult to manipulate in

152 FARM LIVE STOCK.

manufacture. The same remark applies to cakes
and most other foods given to cows while on the
grass. If there is not inferiority of taste or smell,
the natural conditions are changed in some other
way, and ma}' appear, for instance, in the altered
texture or keeping power of the butter, or in a greasy
condition of the cheese.

Breeding, and Calving for the first time.— The
ordinary dairy farmer should not buy but always
breed his own stock if possible, paying the greatest
attention to selecting the calves of the best milkers,
both for bulls and heifers. When that is done there
is then less risk from imported disease ; and as a man
can usually breed better cattle than he can buy, he
can produce animals of better quality than arc to be
found in the market. The milking powers of a herd
can be vastly improved within a few years by this
means. To fill up the places of old cows, and those
that have proved unlucky or unsuitable, young
heifers, to the number of between one-fourth and
one-third of the total of the dairy, should be available
each year. Whether it is right to calve-down at a
little over two years old or a little over three years,
is simply a question of feeding. If cattle are kept in
thin condition, as the ordinary Aynshire is in its native
county, the best results are got by calving at " three
years off" At two years an animal, if poor, is too
small, will not milk satisfactorily the first season, and
is very likely to miss the bull and remain farrow the
second. If heifers are well fed, and made to calve at
two years off, as in the case of Channel Islands' cows

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. I 53

and well-bred milking shorthorns, then the natural
development and growth which go on for even years
after are led into the lines of milk production, and
the organs which are then most active are not allowed
to become stunted from want of use, or gorged with
fat in the attem.pt of Nature to get rid of a super-
abundance of material in the circulating system.
Nature giv'es an indication of the proper course to
follow, in well-fed animals if not over-fat coming in
season sooner and more regularly than poor ones.
Very fat cows are most uncertain breeders, and
when this is overcome they usually produce small
calves.

The usual period of gestation is nine calendar
months.

Signs of Pregnancy.

1. A cow does not come a bulling when pregnant,
otherwise she should do so at intervals of three
weeks. The exceptions to this rule are, that ex-
tremely poor, or, on the other hand, very fat " eild "
cattle may not come a bulling so often, while some
few continue to bull although they are in calf This
latter peculiarity has been noticed during the early
stages of tuberculosis.

2. The right side of the belly becomes enlarged,
and after a time the calf, as a hard lump, can be felt
with the hand near to the flank, and seen to "jump"
or " quick " at times, especially when the cow drinks
cold water.

154 FARM LIVE STOCK.

Signs of approaching Parturition.

1. Enlargement and firmness of the udder and
teats.

2. Fluid may be drawn from the teats more milk-
like and less watery than that found in the teats of
eild cows.

3. Loosening and enlargement of the hinder parts,
as the external portions of the organs of generation,
and relaxation of the pelvic ligaments. Large heavy
cows then find it difficult to rise or walk about.
These indications often last for days.

4. Within a short time of calving, which might
extend to a few hours, a cow becomes restless, lies
down and rises frequently, and whisks her tail, as if
in pain.

5. The right side becomes flatter as the calf goes
into the pelvic bones.

Calving-. — It is wrong to assist a cow too soon, and it
is equall}^ bad to leave her in difficult labour until she
is worn out and the pains become weak. The young
within the mother has its head and legs doubled up,
and takes the form of a ball enclosed within a bag
called the " amnion," " clean," " foetal-membrane," or
" after-birth." The bag contains a slimy fluid in
which the calf floats. The fluid lubricates the passage
on the membrane being broken. When assistance
is given, the hand and arm should be well rubbed
with carbolic oil before being inserted. The right
position for the calf is with its head and fore-legs
" forward," in the position of a man diving. When

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. I 55

the hind legs come first, there is considerable diffi-
culty, but it is not often so necessary to turn the
calf before pulling, as with many other false pre-
sentations.

The cow should lie on her side, and the pulling,
which is done by the fore-legs, should not be straight,
but inclining slightly towards the houghs of the cow:
one man distending and freeing the os vagina with
his hands. A cow should be raised immediately
after calving to prevent after-straining. If the animal
is exhausted and there are no symptoms of straining
she may be overlooked, and left to rest for a few
minutes. She may have a small drink (say i gallon)
of cold water with a little oatmeal thrown into it,
and this repeated every few hours until thirst is
quenched. It is an unnecessary precaution and a
mistake to warm the water, as a cow will often not
drink it. All that is necessary is to beware of giving
too much at a time to chill her.

In protracted labour stimulants are necessary, as
one pint bottle of whisky, a quart bottle or more of
beer, or ^ oz. of carbonate of ammonia. A mouthful
of cold water is often beneficial.

Coininon Causes of Protracted Labour.

1. False presentations.

2. Death or deformity of the calf, at times neces-
sitating the cutting and removing of it in pieces.
Sometimes it becomes mummified and remains in
the animal for years : the cow coming a bulling,

156 FARM LIVE STOCK.

but unable to breed. At other times it rots and
comes away gradually in small pieces or as putrid
matter. In this case the animal gets into a very
lean condition and poor state of health, and may
even die of blood-poisoning.

3. Disease, or abnormality of any of the internal
reproductive organs.

The "cleansing-" hangs for a time, but should
come away within a few hours. Treatment — Give
opening food stuffs, as linseed (made into tea), bran-
mashes, and treacle.

Abortion. — When a cow calves before her time
she is said to " cast," " slip," or " pick " calf The
calf is usually dead, but it may be alive and live
even if so early as the seventh month. In any case
the loss is great, as there is usually no adequate
preparation by the cow for milking.

Causes of Premature Labour.

1. Eating ergotized grass in autumn.

2. Injury, as from horning by other cattle, hunt-
ing by dogs, crushing out of narrow doorw^ays,
shaking and bruising on a railway journey, etc.

3. Walking through a dung heap, or over boggy
or soft land, and getting strained.

4. Very cold or foul water, or too many frosted
turnips, especially if given in the house while the
animal is not moving about.

5. Superpurgation, either natural or induced by
physic.

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 1 57

6. Any contagious, febrile disease, of a serious
character.

7. Contagion arising from association with newly
aborted cows which are affected with contagious
abortion, or from bad animal smells.

The last is perhaps more common and dangerous
than all of the others put together, because its
work is being done unseen, and it often can-
not be easily avoided, even when its presence is
detected.

Symptoms are usually seen for some days, or
even a week or two, before the crisis comes. A
cow should be taken out of the lot, whenever this
is noticed, which may be done by taking the tem-
perature if a man is on the outlook for it. The
normal temperature of a cow in a byre is not over
102' F., even when kept too warm and close, but it
goes higher as abortion approaches if the affection
is of a contagious nature. Quiet and proper dieting
may sometimes avert it, if the calf is not dead.

In cases of abortion the after-birth usually adheres
firmly to the button-like connexions (cotyledons)
with the uterus, and part of it often remains rotting
for weeks. The cow falls off in condition, and if
not attended to there is danger of absorption of the
foetid matter into the circulation, blood-poisoning
and death. Should the opening-food treatment not
succeed in two or three days, the bulk of what is
left is sometimes removed b\- the hand, which should
be well smeared with carbolic oil before being intro-
duced to sever the connexions. Tepid water, con-

158 FARM LIVE STOCK.

taining i per cent, of pure carbolic acid, should be
injected to wash out twice a day. This is not a
practice to be recommended at any time, but is most
dangerous if rapid decay of the "cleansing" is going
on and putrid matter is present. The points of
attachment to the uterus are left more or less open
sores, by which poison may get into the blood. Cows
that have been thus treated do not readily conceive.

Means of Preventing Abortion.

1. Cut over in the pasture the seed stems of grasses,
like rye-grass, liable to ergot.

2. Prevent fright or injury of any description.

3. Whitewash the inside walls of byres twice each
year with fresh lime, and disinfect now and then
with carbolic acid, chloride of lime, or hot lime.

4. Remove all decaying animal matter that is
within reach of the cows.

5. Have the floors of the stalls as nearly horizontal
as possible.

6. Remove at once from among the cows any
animals that have aborted, and those that threaten
to go wrong.

7. Get quit of all such unlucky specimens before
another calving season.

Professor W. O. Williams, writing on the Pre-
vention of Epizootic Abortion, sa)'s : —

" I'rof. Nocard, of the Alfort Veterinary School, who has made the
stiKly of epizootic abortion in cattle a speciality, formulates the
following measures for its prevention : —

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 1 59

" a. Every \s eek the cow-shed floor should be thoroughly cleansed
(if unpaved, the soil should be scraped), and sprinkled with a solution
of sulphate of copper (10 drachms to ig pints of water).

" l>. The inilividual treatment of the cows is more complex, and
should consist of —

" I. Vigorous vaginal injections of the following fluid (with a horse
enema syringe), which ought to be tepid : —

Distilled or Rain Water, . 35 pints.

Glycerin, . . )

Alcohol at 36° . I of each, ^iss.

Bichloride of Mercury, . grs. 75.

Dissolve the mercury in the alcohol and glycerin, mix them thoroughly
with the water, ami keep the fluid in a wooden vessel away from
animals and children.

" 2. Every morning, when cleaning the cows, with a sponge dipped
in the fluid, carefully dress the vulva, anus, and anterior surface of the
tail of all of them.

"3. When a cow aborts, she should l^e delivered at once by hand,
and the fn:=tus and its envelopes immersed in boiling water, or
destroyed by fire.

" The uterine cavity should then be irrigated with twelve to fifteen
pints of the above fluid, by means of a long piece of india-rubber
tubing passed into the organ by the hand.

" The intravaginal or intrauterine injection always causes, especially
in young cows, apparently violent expulsive eftbrts, but these, in
reality, do no harm. As to the cows in which the contagium has
already reached the interior of the uterus, nothing can be done. The
trealtment does not produce any good effects until the second year.
In the first year there are always some abortions, though they are less
numerous.

" Nocard has obtained the best results from the employment of this
method, and- he is of opinion that a single vaginal injection, given at
the commencement of the treatment, will establish asepsis, but only
when the daily sponging of the vulva, anus, and tail is strictly
carried out."

"Pressing," "straining," or "after-pains," pro-
ducing inversion of the uterus, are very frequent
after difficult parturition, being caused by injury or

l6o FARM LIVE STOCK.

irritation. Injecting laudanum and carbolic oil, —
carbolic i to 7 or 8 of oil, — if taken early, suffices
to allay it. Carbolic oil used alone has been known
to increase the irritation in the case of a scratch or
injur}', and to drive the cow almost frantic.

When the displacement of the uterus is noticed
before it is far out, it may be easily replaced by
closing the hand, to prevent injury by the finger
tips, and pressing gently but firmly. If necessary,
the uterus may be washed previous to replacement,
tepid water being used as giving less pain than
cold. The hand is withdrawn after the right posi-
tion of the uterus has been secured. The most
effectual way to prevent its reappearing is to stitch
ov'er from each hip, so as to pass over the lips of
the vulva and give support, clean, white tape or wire
drawn through three holes made by a pen-knife in
the skin on each side. The treatment appears cruel,
but is the only effectual remedy in serious cases.
Amputation is the only course when the ailment is
allowed to go very far. To insure safety, before any
symptoms of pressing appear, and also in mild cases,
cow-breeches are of great service, but are of little
use when it is severe, as they cannot be put on very
tight.

Cow-breeches are made of ben leather, with four
strong canvas terminations, in a form shown in the
accompanying figure. They are put on to prevent
expulsion of the womb : openings are left for the
escape of the solid and liquid excrement. The tail of
the cow rests in the bifurcation of the two upper ends \.

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT.

l6l

Cow-Breeches.

these cross over the back, and are carried forward
and tied to a strong band or girth fastened tightly-
round the body in the region of
the heart, while the other ends
conducted past the udder (one
on each side) cross on the belly
and are similarly fastened below.

Protrusion of the Vagina (or
the " body " in common lan-
guage) occurs both before and
after calving, when some animals
that are in high condition and
well fed lie down. The proper
treatment is to bathe for the
purpose of cleaning, and wash
with a solution of chloride of
zinc to stimulate the relaxed parts and to prevent
smells. The floor of the stall should be a little
higher at the heels than at the knees of the animal,
and the food should be concentrated rather than
bulky.

Milk-Fever or Parturient Apoplexy occurs not
so much in fat cows as is usually supposed, as among
cows that are being well fed, and are full-blooded
and thriving rapidly at the time. Many fat cows
are in this condition, but very many that die of
milk-fever cannot be said to be fat. Deep milkers
are more liable to it than others, but only in the case
of cows of more than one calf It usually appears
within three days after calving, but sometimes,
though rarely, before it. Digestion stops, there is

M

1 62 FARM LIVE STOCK.

high fever, with pressure of blood on the brain, and
consequent loss of power. In severe cases there is
little chance of recovery unless bleeding is resorted
to in time. Eight lbs. of warm treacle and a tea-
spoonful of saltpetre (nitrate of potash) should be
given as soon as practicable. This acts quite as
quickly as Epsom salts, and is more suitable for a
cow in milk. Stimulants (as a pint of whisky, or, if
not at hand, an equivalent in strength of beer) are
indispensable ; turning three or four times a day
should be practised ; and friction, ironing, or a mild
blister, mustard or turpentine, applied to the back
along with cold water to the head ; and the milk
should be very frequently drawn. The whites of
eggs broken up and rubbed on the back is a
favourite remedy with some. Milk-fever is often
induced by giving cows their own milk to drink
at first, when it is of little value, especially if not
mixed with an equal amount of water. With poor,
weak cows, however, this is a good and safe
practice.

An attempt at prevention is best, though at times
all precautious fail, and it is difficult to see why.
It is advisable to restrict, as by shutting up at night
without giving anything, the amount of food for
.some time before calving, and to keep the bowels
open by bran or gras.s. Green food in moderation is
less to be feared than that which is hard, woody,
and indigestible, as rye-grass hay, which perhaps
has been over-ripe when cut. If the udder is very
large and troublesome, milking .should be done

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 163

regularly, even ten days before calving. Should
these preventives not prove sufficient, as would be
shown by one cow of a number similarly treated
becoming affected, the animals most likely to be-
come ill may be bled and physicked a day or two
before delivery, or only physicked with 14 to 16 oz.
of Epsom salts, followed, in fourteen or fifteen
hours, by a pint of linseed oil to counteract the
costive after-tendency of the salts. This may be
repeated. All the above treatment is directed to
the reducing of the plethoric condition of the blood,
and the keeping of the digestive system in good
working order, without at the same time doing
anything to permanently reduce the natural flow
of milk after calving.

Trembling or Loupin' 111 in cows is very like milk-
fever in symptoms and treatment, though the cause
is quite different. The disease is described under
sheep.

Weed. — Lean cows often go down within a few
days after calving, especially if exposed to cold or
draughts, and are quite as helpless as those in milk-
fever. The great difference as compared with milk-
fever is, that there is no fever and no flow of blood to
the brain, and the animal often eats and drinks well,
and will even milk heavily for a time. The method of
nursing is the same, only part of the other treatment
is varied to suit the different condition : bleeding, or
the application of cold water to the head, is
unnecessary. Weed is altogether prevented by
keeping a cow in a warm and comfortable place after

164 FARM LIVE STOCK.

calving, and covering the back with a sheet for a
few da}\s.

Inflammations of the Udder. — isf, Udder- Clap
is an affection which attacks cows that have given
milk, but are at the time yeld or dry. Heifers with
fleshy udders, but which have never bred, have been
known, but rarely, to take it. It is thought to be
produced by the " .striking " of a gad-fly, and that
this .sets up inflammation, which is followed by
suppuration. It appears usually in or after hot
weather in August. One-quarter of the vessel swells
and becomes painful. If not treated in time, two
or more quarters may become affected, high fever
is set up, and a hind limb may become involved.
At times the enlargement extends along the belly
and down the fore-legs. Death is often the result
in extreme ca.ses, and there is at least the loss of
one-quarter of the udder, and from one-third to one-
half of the value of the animal.

The Treatment is to give a dose of salts, rub,
bathe, and draw the quarter every day until pus
disappears. Should it be too far gone, or if daily
attention cannot be paid, the teat is either cut off
by the neck, or a good opening made with the knife
in the flesh of the udder near to it. The only diffi-
culty after that would be from flies on the wound,
unless the weather became cold for a few days. This
form of disease is effectually prevented by rubbing the
vessel, at least three times, at intervals of two weeks
with a mixture in equal proportions of Archangel-
tar and butter or grease. By beginning in July, the

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 1 65

fly is kept off, and, besides, the tar acts as a stimulant,
although the grease dilutes it sufficiently to prevent
blistering.

2nd, Coiiniion Inflammation or " garget " of the
udder comes when cows are in milk, and have been
badly managed or injured in some way, the gland
being swelled, red, hot, and painful. It most fre-
quently follows " hefting " for sale or show, or it
may result from cold immediately after calving ; it
is then called catarrh of the udder, weed, or garget.

The Treatment is to apply mustard and rub with
grease (this stimulates and softens the part), milk very
frequently, and foment with hot water, or, in an ex-
treme case, use bran poultices, slung up against the
udder by means of a broad band of strong canvas
passing over the back. Give oil or treacle to open
the bowels.

Impaction of the Rumen or first stomach is not
uncommon when cattle are in poor condition. It
may be caused by unsuitable food, as when they are
fed solely on cut straw and pulped roots, when much
use is made of dry, concentrated rich food, such as
cotton-cake or bruised grains ; and again it may
occur when cattle are turned out to bent land on
the hills in spring. Treatment.— \V\t\\\\o\d bulky food,
and give gruels, which digest without necessitating
chewing the cud ; give stimulants also, and repeated
doses of oil or treacle to keep the bowels open.

Persistent impaction may be caused by something
hard, like a piece of old shoe leather, which has
been swallowed. This can onl)- be got rid of by

1 66 FARM LIVK STOCK.

cutting a hole on the left side into the stomach and
removing the foreign substance, and giving very little
food for a few days till the wound heals.

Choking is most frequent when animals are fed
on whole potatoes or small turnips. A lump of the
unchewed root slips over the throat and sticks there,
the gullet spasmodically closing before it. A "pro-
bang " is a dangerous means of relief unless in very
skilled hands, the gullet being so easily ruptured if
force is applied. The most simple and most effec-
tual practice is to gag the animal by fastening a stick
across like a bit, to keep the mouth open to avoid
choking by saliva which then runs from the mouth,
and also to prevent the formation of gases in the
stomach. Choking may be prevented by keeping
down the heads of the animals while feeding on
roots, by letting down on the backs of their necks a
long pole about four inches in diameter, hinged on
to and suspended from the rail supporting the
upper ends of the stakes to which the cattle arc
tied.

Lameness may be caused by something hard, as
a small stone picked up and fixed between the digits,
or by scalding in wet seasons. A hind-leg can be
held up for examination and treatment by a man on
each side standing in close to the cow, and lifting by
means of a stick, about the length and strength of a
single-horse whipple-tree, which is put across between
them in front of the hough.

A strip of strong canvas, drawn backward and
forward between the hoofs, clears away all dirt or

cows AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 167

foreign matter ; thereafter footrot- mixture,* or some
other acid stimulant, should be applied by means of
a thin splinter of wood.

Cows or bulls which are not allowed much exer-
cise get lame through the hoofs growing very long
and turning up at the toes. The surplus horn may
be removed by sawing, and then using a pair of
long-handled povicrful shears for the purpose of
finishing.

* As that of Joseph Ewing, Dumfries.

l68 FARM LIVE STOCK.

CHAPTER XII.— PIGS.

Pigs — Sns scrofa and Sus indiais — General Show Points of Improved
Breeds — The Bacon-curer's Pig — Changes in Feeding and in
Curing — Distinguishing Characteristics — Yorkshires — Large,
Small, and Middle Breeds — Scotch White Pigs — Black Breeds —
The Berkshire — The Essex — TheTannvorth or Stafturdshire Breed
— General Management — The Breeding Sow and Her Treatment
— Fattening Pigs — Feeding— Cooked v. Uncooked Food — War-
ington's Estimates of Dead and Live-Weight — Berkshire Crosses
and their Yield — Cost of producing One Stone of Pork — Number
of Pigs kept in a Dairy — Diseases of Pigs.

TDIGS ai'c divided into two groups — Siis sci'ofa
and Sus indicus.

The latter, or Chinese pig, is by far the more im-
proved (refined) of the two.

The Scrofa, or the European pig, is sprung from
and resembles the wild boar. As compared with
the Indicus type, it is longer, leaner, narrower,
coarser in bone, in hair, and in every way ; the
nose is longer and the forehead narrower, but these
defects in form are associated with a hardier consti-
tution.

Improved pigs in this country are usually divided
into two classes, White and Black, but the chocolate-
coloured Tamworth deserves now to be mentioned
in such a classification.

The Whites prevail in Scotland and the north of

PIGS. 169

England ; the Blacks in southern England. Between
the two, in central England and Wales, are to be
found the russet colours and the mixtures of the
three colours, the result of crossing. All have been
improved by crossing the ancient native pigs with
the improved Indicus, and by selection. The Berk-
shire and Essex breeds, for instance, were improved
about half a century ago by the use of a number
of imported pigs belonging to an Italian breed,
the Neapolitan, which had been dashed by Indicus
blood.

Improved breeds have a much greater tendency
to fatten, have finer forms, but are not so active and
hardy of constitution as the older kinds. Close-
breeding shows itself by want of sufficient hair,
inability to breed, or deformity of structure.
There are many mixed or small local breeds in
Britain, but only a few of the leading ones need be
described.

Points applicable to all Improved Breeds.

{S/ioz^'-yard Standard. )

In judging it is best to begin at the feet and legs ;
these are most important, as they have to carry the
weight when the animal is fat and heavy.

Feet small and neat.

Legs perfectly straight, fine boned, and fleshed
down as far as possible in both fore and hind-
quarters.

I/O FARM LIVE STOCK.

Back broad before and behind, not drooping too
much at the rump when walkini^ out. Pij^s arc all
liable to arch in the back and droop at the rump
when .standini^^. Back-line straight and extending
over the neck ; belly-line parallel, and continued
below the jolc.

Ribs well sprung and deep.

Neck thick and of medium length.

Ears, in most, not too large or flapping.

Head small, broad between the eyes ; nose short ;
the under jaw shorter than the upper; cheeks very
full ; eye not too small, quick, but mild.

Tail long, and a tuft of long hairs on its tip.

Body well covered, all over, with flesh, and of a
rectangular shape from all points ; deep and wide
before and behind.

Skin medium in thickness, and covered with an
abundance of hair.

Though the points enumerated arc those looked
for at shows, it has been most forcibly pointed out
by Sanders Spencer,* one of the most successful
breeders of white pigs in England, and also by those
interested in the bacon-curing trade, that the most
economical pig to breed, and consequently the one
which ought to be encouraged in the show-yard,
should be long in the body, a good medium depth
in the ribs, light in the neck and forequarters, and
heavy and deep behind in the hams or gammon ; or,
as A. \V. Shaw of Limerick has tritely put it : " What

* Paper read at the Irish Conference of the British Dairy Farmers'
Association, May 1887, by S. Spencer, Iloliywell Manor, St Ives.

riGS.

171

Model Sides of Bacox.

Current Prices

Current Prices

No.

per lb.

N(

per lb.

I. Streaky Quarter .

lid.

10.

Fillet

lod.

2. Rib Quarter .

iid.

II.

Shoulder .

6d.

3. Middle Quarter .

8id.

12.

Prime Streaky

iTd.

4. Ham Quarter

8id.

13-

Thin Streaky .

8id.

5. End of Neck .

7^d.

14.

Flank

bid.

€. Middle of Neck .

Hd.

15-

Middle of Gammon

lid.

7. Thick Back and Sides

lod.

16.

Knuckle of Gammoi

7d.

8. Prime Back and Ribs

iid.

>7-

Fore-End .

6d.

9. Loin

lod.

Reproduced from the paper mentioned in footnote, page 170. Though the prices
are not changed they fairly represent current rates, which vary according to local
circumstances in different places, or localities ol the same place.

172 FARM LIVE STOCK.

is really wanted is a pig that is neat in the head,
light in the neck and shoulders, deep in the heart,
thick in the loin, stout in the thighs, and short in the
legs," — the reason being that changes in the curing
trade and the pork market have resulted in certain
parts of the animal being of greater value per lb. than
other parts, as will be seen from the accompanying
Plate after an original diagram shown by A. W.
Shaw. The shoulder and neck being of least value,
it is shown that it is a waste of food substance ta
transform it into flesh of inferior quality, if by select-
ing animals with tendencies to greater development
in the more valuable parts a greater amount of
material of higher market value can be produced.

A great change has come over the system of feed-
ing pigs, as well as of curing their carcases, within
comparatively recent times. A generation ago it
was the custom to kill pigs about two years old, at
enormous weights, after the flesh had become coarse
and inferior. The method of curing left the lean
flesh gorged with salt, hard, indigestible, and un-
inviting : then it was an advantage to have a large
proportion of fat to lean. Now, however, the systems
of mild-curing leave the flesh sweet and juicy, and
all efforts are directed towards the production of as
great a proportion of lean to fat as possible. The
large increase of the consumption of fresh pork has
also encouraged the demand for young lean bacon ;
and, on the other hand, the change of fashion which
has put young and tender pork on the market has.
helped to increase its consumption.

PIGS — AVHITE BREEDS. 1/3

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS.
White Breeds.

The Large Yorkshire is the largest breed of pigs
in the United Kingdom, and one of those directly
descended from the original pig of the country, and,
it is asserted, without having been crossed with
foreign blood. It has been vastly improved within
recent years, still it inclines, even in its modern
form, to exhibit the points of the wild pig, viz., a
hardy constitution, more or less drooping hind-
quarters, large head, long nose, large, overhanging
ears, strong bone, flattish sides, and proportional
narrowness as compared with the Berkshire, when
the great length and weight of the Yorkshire are
taken into account. The size to which the animals
are now reared has been much reduced within the
last generation, but this is more a matter of change
of system of management than a change of
breed. It was no uncommon sight at the Royal
Agricultural Society's shows a few years ago to see
large Yorkshires estimated to weigh over 50 im-
perial stones, or as much as a bullock.*

The tendency towards early maturity, arrived
at by greater care in breeding and better feeding
and management, has yet left as an attribute of

* Sanders Spencer's boar, Sampson VI., winner at the Royal
Society's shows at Carlisle and Derby, weighed 9 cwts. as he
walked.

174 FARM LIVE STOCK.

the breed the propert}- of lean flesh production as
against fat production, — aquahty which continues to
grow in favour with bacon-curers and in the pubhc
taste.* It is thought that the general improvement
of the large breed of White Yorkshires was initiated
by crossing with improved Leicestershire white pigs,
which had been themselves improved by Bakevvell,
who applied to pigs the system of breeding already
explained under cattle.

The Small Yorkshire is descended on one side
from the same native ancestors as the large York-
shire, nevertheless the two breeds resemble each
other in nothing but colour. The small breed
is noted for its refinement and beauty, its small
bone, and great tendency to run to fat, — qualities
which have been acquired through its ancestors
crossing with Chinese pigs.

The small white occupies among pigs the position
which the Southdown sheep holds among the Down
breeds. It is not so much a tenant's pig as a land-
lord or gentleman's pig, when bred pure. It pro-
duces excellent fattening animals by crossing with
any of the common pigs, or even with the Berkshire.
It has been used for crossing in the improvement of
inferior breed.s.

* Refeninf; to the foreign trade, Santlers Spencer, writing to me
in 1889, s.iys that during the last four years breeding jMgs (l)oars
especially) have been sent by liim to many important centres of bacon
curing in Ireland, Canada, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden,
and quite recently to Russia, where the government are assisting in
the establishment of bacon-curing factories.

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PIGS — WHITE BREEDS. 175

Points.— The body is rounded, plump, and sym-
metrical ; the head small ; the ears small, erect, and
inclining forward ; face excessively dished ; nose
straight while still young, but becoming much con-
tracted and quite turned up after a time — like the
nose of a pug dog.

The leading drawbacks to the breed are the small
numbers of young usually got at a birth, and the
general delicacy, requiring extra care and attention,
especially while young. Both points of weakness
are no doubt due to close-breeding, but in the matter
of hair the animal does not seem to have suffered
in at least one of the ways in which the injury from
in-breeding usually shows itself The small breed
is quite famous for a profusion of long and fine hair.
Its refined character of flesh suits it best for pro-
ducing porkers, but the want of a due proportion
of lean flesh to fat, besides a want of balance of
parts in the animal according to the demands of the
cured-bacon trade, excludes it from being a favourite
with bacon-curers.

The Middle-bred Yorkshire breed is the produce
derived from a cross between the large and the
small Yorkshire breeds. As might have been
expected, in accordance with the general laws and
principles of breeding, the small refined and so-
called improved breed has stamped its likeness more
fully on the produce of the cross than the large and
less refined Yorkshire. The middle breed is little
more than a large variety of the small white, being-

1/6 FARM LIVE STOCK.

only slightly modified in form through its relation-
ship with the larger animal.

Theoretically, it ought to combine the good quali-
ties of the two distinct breeds, but as yet the want
of uniformity of type and the uncertainty as to the
character of its produce are not fully overcome.
The recent changes of fashion in the market have
been rather in favour of those qualities which are
produced in the most perfect form by the large
white and the Tamworth breeds as against the
quality for which the small breed is prized, of pro-
ducing at a rapid rate quantities of over-fat meat.
Had the middle breed taken more after the large
than the small variety, it might have secured
even a greater share of good favour than has
fallen to it.

Lincolnshire Lop Bars are large, rather coarse
pigs, but they are good feeders. They have long
straight noses, with an abundance of curly hair.
They are often a little heavy in the forequarters,
and in this they do not tend to conform to the
fashion of the times.

The Common White Pigs of Scotland have some
of the characters of the large Yorkshire, but are
hardier than those of improved pure breeds ; they
have longer noses and longer legs. They are slower
feeders than south-country pigs, but milk well, and
breed excellent cros.ses by the more highly improved
boar, .such as the Berkshire or the Yorkshire. The

PIGS— DARK BREEDS. 177

crosses when fat, and weighing about 12 stones,
have about i stone less offal than the pure Scotch
P'g-

Dark Breeds.

The Berkshire is dark brown or black, with a
pinkish skin ; a little white on the nose, forehead,
feet, and tip of the tail ; the nose straight, only the
face a little "dished," as is the case \vith all pigs ;
in size it is intermediate between small and middle-
bred Yorkshires.

Defects that are frequently met with : —

TJie Quarters droop from being too short, and the

Tail is then consequently too low set.

The Ribs flat, causing deficiency of girth.

The Skin furrowed, with deep lirks down the
sides.

The Flank light, and the animal leggy.

The Absence of white on the tail indicates the
presence of Essex blood.

The Hair, when too hard and strong, shows want
of breeding ; when not abundant (especially in the
boar), want of constitution.

Berkshires are great favourites, the boars being
valuable for crossing. They are widely distributed
throughout both England and America. Crosses
by the Berkshire boar on white pigs are often
partially red in colour, showing that they have de-
scended from the chestnut-coloured native pig from

N

178 FARM LIVE STOCK.

which the Tamworth has also sprung. The pro-
duce of a Berkshire sow by a white boar is almost
invariably white, though dark colours frequently
appear in after crosses.

The Essex pig is much like the small Yorkshire
and the Berks pig, but is altogether black. Though
not so widely known, it is well bred and has good
points, including a fine head. It, like other varieties
of the same black type, Dorsets, Devons, Shrops,
has become by natural selection well suited to sur-
rounding conditions in its own district. All these
breeds are improvements on the old forms of the
localities which give the names.

The Tamworth or Staffordshire Breed from the
Birmingham district seems to be the most direct
descendant of the aboriginal pig of the country.
If crossed with the imported Neapolitan and Chinese
pigs, which were used in the improvement, or, more
correctly stated, the refinement of nearly all the
existing breeds of this countr)-, the influence of the
cross has not been so distinct as in the case of other
breeds, as may be seen from the greater length of
snout and the greater tendency to grow a good
proportion of lean bacon. In this respect the Tam-
wortlV resembles the large Yorkshire, and is in con-
-sequence, in its improved form, a favourite with
bacon-curcrs, who object to a great proportion of
fat, a heavy jole, and excessive breadth of back.
The common uncared-for specimens of the breed are

PIGS — DARK BREEDS. I79

undoubtedly leggy and ungainly in appearance and
slow maturity animals, but these defects have, within
the last 5 or 6 }'ears, been greatly modified, it is said,
by crossing with the Yorkshire breeds. The im-
proved pigs still retain the great length of nose and
hardiness of constitution, and are through selection
attaining the power to lay on flesh rapidly. The
great function of the Tamworth breed ought to be
to produce crosses by animals of the Berkshire or
Yorkshire breeds. By this means good pigs for
fattening purposes can be secured. The colour of
the breed is reddish or chestnut, sometimes a tawny
gray with black spots. This is a breed which has
come but recently from local obscurity into public
favour, and is likely to have a successful career in
the immediate future. Separate classes for Tam-
worths have been formed for the last four years at
the shows of the Royal Agricultural Society. At
the Nottingham show in 1888, the competition was
unusually keen and the quality superior to that of
former years ; of the ten prizes offered, seven went to
the neighbourhood of Birmingham, two to North
Lincolnshire, and one to Sussex.

General Management.

The Breeding- Sow should be lengthy rather than
short, yet not out of proportion, and should possess
the characteristic points of her breed. She may be put
to a young boar for the first time when big enough,
say six months old. If " missed," she will come back

I So FARM LIVE STOCK.

in exactly three weeks. The period of a .sow's
gestation is sixteen weeks. Breeders should run
out till near farrowing to take plenty of exercise
and to get green food, and also to .save expense.
There should be six or eight pigs reared the first
litter, and ten to twelve, or even more, in after litter,
if there are teats enough. A bad milker, or one that
kills her young, ought to be fattened off Sows kept
to breed pigs for fattening pay best to feed for bacon
after the second or third litter. Usually two litters
are got in a year. Pigs are weaned about six to
eight weeks old, and a sow comes in season for the
first time after breeding (according to condition) about
three days to one week after the pigs are removed.
Forty-six to fifty weeks are thus occupied, according
to the age of weaning. They may be made to have
five litters in two years by beginning to feed the
young on milk at two or three weeks old. Gradually
thicken the milk with oatmeal porridge, a^id, after a
little, turn the mother out during the day, and feed
her liberally. She should then take the boar before
the pigs are weaned, when they arc about five weeks
old. When milking very heavily, an animal is not
in that condition in which she is most likely to come
in season or conceive.

All pig-houses should be warm in cold weather.
Xo animal of the farm is more injuriously affected
than the pig with cold or damp. " Sows " should be
managed so as to have the young ready at the
season of the year when there is most food for them,
and when the weather is mild.

PIGS— GENERAL MANAGEMENT. l8l

A few days before farrowing, a sow should be put
by herself into a place about lo feet square, which
has been fitted round with strong planks placed
horizontally, projecting 8 or 9 inches from the
wall, and elevated the same distance from the floor,
to keep the sow from lying close to the wall and
killing the young pigs by overlying them. The
planks also form a protection against cold in frosty
weather. One corner should be floored by a raised
wooden platform of i-inch boards to keep the bed
dry. The person who is to attend at farrowing
should take charge from the first, and the place
should be well bedded with straw. The sow takes
up straw in her mouth and makes a nest within a
(qw hours of farrowing. The operation may extend
over hours, but the sow requires no assistance : she
is very sick and quiet, and should lie all the time.
It is rare to see a pig dropped while the sow is
standing. • When restless, she is very troublesome.
Sometimes the young are put at once into a warm
basket to be safer than by the mother's side. They
should have a suck as soon as possible, and be
watched day and night for three days. A good
stable-lamp may be left hanging at night after this
for some time. The food of the mother should be
sloppy, and for the first two or three weeks largely
composed of sharps and bran, but afterwards made
more nutritious by the addition of barley, oat, wheat,
or rye meal. If whey is given to the mother with-
out being boiled or soured it produces diarrhcta
in the young pigs. The young grow very quickly

N 2

1 82 FARM LIVE STOCK.

for the first few days. The ones sucking nearest
the forelegs are usually the largest and strongest.
Each has its own teat or teats, although they steal
from each other when possible. They cannot draw
milk at all times ; only when the sow permits it.
Then she lies flat on one side, and utters every now
and then a subdued grunt.

Fattening Pigs. — A farmer or dairyman should
breed his own pigs, then he secures the whole profit
and reduces the risk of importing hog-cholera, or
other diseases, which, as in the case of foot-and-
mouth, might extend to his cattle. Young pigs vary
much in price — I2s. to 30s., or more, at weaning:
I guinea is' a good average, and breeding pays well
at such rates. Pig-houses should face the south
and be in a sheltered and dry position, and have an
inner compartment and outer court, each 8 to 10
feet square, to hold five or six pigs. Six pigs, of 12
stone estimated dead-weight each, can feed at one
time from an 8-feet trough. It is better to feed in
the outer court rather than inside, as pigs then keep
the place they lie in cleaner, by leaving their
droppings outside. No bedding is required if the
floor is smooth concrete with a fall inside of 2 inches
to 3 inches towards the door, and if swept out every
day. The outer court floor should have more fall
into a sinkhole in the centre over a covered drain.
Another floor is made by paving a layer of mov-
able open jointed bricks above a good layer of dry
sand, which drinks up the liquid that finds its way

PIGS — GENERAL MANAGEMENT.

183

into the open joints. Feeding-troughs are best
made of fire-burnt clay, with a division for each pig,
to prevent the weak being driven out and starved by
the strong. At dairy-factories, where fifty or sixty
pigs are placed in one large house and fed from long
troughs, some weak ones are always kept back till
the others finish, and in consequence do not thrive.
Male pigs are castrated when about four weeks old
and after fasting for 12 hours, but not when there is
frost. Those for breeding are turned into a yard or
field, and left for a few months to grow. A ring is
put through the gristle above the nostrils to prevent
their digging. Roots, cabbages, clover, vetches, or
silage may be given uncooked and alone, or with a
limited supply of other food.

Pigs g-oing- at large away from the homestead
should be provided with a shelter shed. A con-
venient form is shown in the accompanying figure,

Shelter Shed on Wheels.
9' X 5' X 3' to the Eaves. • Cost al)out £2,.

capable of accommodating five or six well-grown
pigs. It can be easily moved to a new site when
necessary, and placed so that the one opening shall
be on the lea side to secure warmth.

Feeding. — After weaning, which should be done

1S4 FARM LIVE STOCK.

gradually, as before described, pigs can be fed for
months on sour whey as the only food, and do fairly
well. Skim-milk should also be soured by being put
into a tank or barrel tainted with the natural acidity
which arises in a vessel left unwashed after containing
milk. Sweet milk causes constipation. It pays well,
while feeding with these or with buttermilk, to
thicken with meal, boiled or steamed. A mixture
of meal is best, and may be of beans, peas, gram,
lentils, vetches, wheat (including bran, germs, and
pollards), barley, oats, maize, indiana — the refuse
from corn-flour works, viz., the outside or best part
of the grain. The selection should depend on which
are cheapest at the time. Usually small and inferior
grain is taken. Costiveness is avoided by mixing
bran with the food. The dung of a thriving pig
should be soft and unformed. Roots are given, as
small potatoes, mangels, turnips, carrots, parsnips
(specially good), also cabbages. All should be
cooked for fatteners, and raw potatoes should never
be given to a pig of any kind. A little common salt
is a necessary seasoning. Any " fallen " flesh (horse
or other animal of the farm) improves the boiled
mi.xture ; but if there is much of this (as at a
slaughter-house), or if the other foods are given
without enough of meal, the pork will be soft and
inferior. Leguminous seeds, particularly, make the
flesh .solid. Maize when given alone is an in-
ferior food stuff, although when cheap it forms a
suitable ingredient in a complex meal-mixture. All
should be given slightly sour, and cool, but not cold.

PIGS — GENERAL MANAGEMENT. I 85

Some extensive breeders disapprove of boiling the
meal in preparation for pigs, and prefer to give it
dry or after- boiling water has been poured over it.
Meal given uncooked must be supplied in a much
drier condition than usual, else it will be swilled
through the stomach too rapidly. It is difficult to
find any sufficient arguments against cooking : that
of greater mastication of dry food is not good enough.
Fattening pigs arc fed at least three times a day, but
it is better to feed four times, and when newly
weaned, five or six times daily. As much as is
eaten up, and no more, should be given. Some coal
ashes or earth thrown now and then into the
outer yard for the pigs to eat improves their
powers of digestion. Sometimes pigs are washed
or brushed once a week. When kept perfectly
clean they will not roll in the mire, unless for
the sake of coolness when very hot. They go
into mud to clean themselves. The mud cakes
when dry, and in falling off carries scales and dirt
with it.

Warington says that " 83 per cent, of the fasted
live-weight of a pig (fattened for pork) should be
butcher's carcase;" and also that "91 per cent, of
the increase from 100 lbs. to 200 lbs. will be carcase."
About 5 or 6 lbs. of meal eaten should give i lb.
increase of live-weight. Pigs are the most economi-
cal meat producers on the farm. They consume
more food per 100 lbs. live-weight than cither sheep
or oxen, and have much greater capacity for assimila-
tion in the intestines, though their stomachs are

1 86 FARM livf: stock.

small. They consequently require concentrated and
digestible food.

Crosses between the Berkshire and Scotch pig
will, if properly fed and managed, in summer time
when the weather is mild, weigh each 6 stones dead-
weight at four months old ; and at six months, 12
stones. They are usually killed for small bacon when
they dress to 12 or 14 imperial stones, and sell
at from 6s. to, at times, 7s. 6d. per stone. A good
twelve months' pig should weigh 24 stones, about
i6| score, or 14 lbs. less than i lb. of increase per
day, for the last six months (182 days : 168 lbs.) ;
while for the sixty-one days, between four months
and six months, it lays on vyj"] lbs., or roughly,
\\ lbs., per day, of dead-weight (61 days : 84 lbs.)

A pig lays on flesh fastest when from about 9
stones to 12 stones weight, and will then take per
day about 10 lbs. to 12 lbs. of meal, and increase
over 2 lbs. live-weight, or nearly 2 lbs. dead flesh.
It is thus most profitable to kill when a pig is about
12 to 14 stones dead-weight. Any of the improved
breeds should do about the same as the above, though
it is the usual practice to give them rather more
time, and allow them to run freely about while grow-
ing, and to feed upon home-grown green food, and
thus be eight months old when at last, after closer
confinement and feeding off, they reach the weight
of 12 stones.

The price of mixed pig-meal, exclusive of grinding,
should not average more than id. per lb. (^4, 13s. 4d.
per ton), which gives the following cost of producing

PIGS — GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 1 8/

a stone (14 lbs.) of pork, with labour estimated at
7s. 6d., on a 12-stone pig : —

Cost of producing a Stone of Pork.

Labour yhd., and cooking food lAd., . ^o o 9
14 lbs. X 5 lbs. = 70 lbs. grain at id.
— 2s. I id. ;

^^'S^> 83* '■ 100 : : 2s. iid. : . .036
Grinding grain per ton 8s., and carriage,
say 6s. 6d. = 14s. 6d., or per stone
of pork, . . . . . . o o 6h

Average price of a young pig,

£1, IS. = 3 stones live-weight

= 2| stones of pork at 6s. = 15s.

2 is. — 15s. = 6s. for the life ; 6s. -^ 12

(the number of stones) = cost of life

per stone, . . . . . .006

£o 5 3j
Deduct for offal is. per ^i of the price
(12 stones at 6s. = £^, 12s.), viz.,
3s. 6hd. -T- 12 (stones), . .003^

Average cost per stone, . . . £0 5 o

This calculation leaves a net profit to the pro-
ducer of IS. per stone, or 12s. per pig, in addition to
the manure. The great advantage in feeding pigs
is in the utilization of light or inferior grains which

* The 83 p. c, of dead to live-weight is chosen in place of the 91
p. c. of increase of carcase, as the calculation is intended to show the
average cost of producing pork at all stages.

1 88 FARM LIVE STOCK.

cannot be marketed unless at a price below their
feeding value, small or injured potatoes, or the refuse
produce from the dairy, more especially whey or
butter-milk. It ought to be possible to get a greater
price for skim-milk in large towns or on rail than id.
per gallon, which is all its value for feeding pigs.

One gallon of sweet-milk whey is worth ^d., and
is equivalent in value to i lb. of meal if given to pigs
along with solid food. Say that 550 gallons of milk
are taken as a good yield per cow in a dairy. One
gallon of milk weighs 10 lbs. 4 oz., and i lb. of curd
is removed in cheese-making from i gallon of milk.
About IS is left in whey, or 495 gallons x ^d. =
20s. 7 id., or roughly, £1 per cow. When meal for
pig feeding was rated at f d. per lb., whey was worth
30s. per cow, and would be so again should a rise
take place in the prices of grain stuffs.

The number of Pigs that may be kept with a
dairy of 60 cows, giving sufficient meal to make good
pork, is about 70, killed at six months old, weighing
12 stones each ; 50 finished in the summer half-year,
and 20 in spring and autumn ; 10 young breeders
and a boar. The extra pigs not required to feed
should be sold at si.x to eight weeks old.

Diseases of Pigs

Are not so numerous as in the case of most animals.
Pigs are much more difficult to treat when ill than
other farm stock. If fat, they should generally be
killed on the first symptoms appearing, if the flesh

DISEASES OF PIGS. 1 89

IS fit for food, as, at the best, there will be no
improvement in condition for a time.

By improper housing, or exposure to cold and wet,
pigs take rheumatism, inflammation, and cold.

Diarrhoea often follows bad feeding. Treatment
— change to good food ; give a purgative (Epsom
salts 3 oz.) and 5 or 6 drops of oil of peppermint.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease is got by contagion from
cows or other farm animals, to which pigs can also
communicate it. It is not dangerous, though a
heavy loss through retarding progress. The hoofs
are cast. Salicylic acid lotions or carbolic acid and
glycerine — h dr. of acid to 10 or 12 oz. of glycerine —
are applied to the feet, and Epsom salts (2 to 3 oz.),
with soft food or milk, given.

Scrofula. — Tubercles form in the lungs, and the
animal dies of consumption. This is most seen when
pigs are in-and-in bred. It may be prevented by
importing fresh blood.

Protrusion of the Rectum, from having too much
flesh diet. Wash well and return ; stitch across the
anus from each hip ; and feed altogether on milk
and treacle for a time.

Measles, also called " pig typhoid," is the most
common disease, noticed by a red rash, a cough,
fever, and from the animal not feeding. Keep warm,
open the bowels with castor or linseed oil, and the
skin with sulphur (i oz. daily), and act on the
kidneys with 2 drs. of sweet spirits of nitre.

Hog Cholera or Swine Fever is the great scourge
of the breeder or rearer of pigs not only in America.

190 FARM LIVE STOCK.

but also in this country. It is most contagious, and
extremely destructive of life. By a little energy in
the application of the system of stamping out by
immediate slaughter as soon as it is discovered, the
country might be freed from the disease.

Symptoms. — Costivencss in the first, and diarrhoea
in the second stages, with dulness, shivering, great
thirst, and listlessness, the skin covered with red and.
black patches.

Treatment. — Slaughter without delay, and effectu-
ally bury the carcases with an abundant supply of
quick-lime about them. Disinfectants must be
liberally used to destroy all germs of the disease.

It is difficult to administer a drench to a pig.
A ready and simple method of administration is by
an old shoe with the toe cut out, and then pressed
well into the mouth to keep the jaws open. The
drench is poured in at the shoe mouth and passes
easily into the throat of the animal from the opening
made at the toe.

THE HORSE. 191

CHAPTER XIII.— THE HORSE—THE FOSSIL.
HORSE— THE WILD HORSE-CART HORSES
—THE CLYDESDALE, THE SHIRE, AND
THE SUFFOLK PUNCH.

The Horse — Early History — Fossilised Remains — Sub-genus Eqitiis
and Asimis — Prze\alsky"s Wild Horse — Eftects of Climate —
Farm Horses — Clydesdales — Prices and Pedigrees — Points of a
Clydesdale — The .Shire Horse — Differences between Shires and
Clydesdales — Names and History — Quotations from Walter
Gilbey — The Shire Horse Society and Stud Book — The Suffolk.
Punch — Its Origin and Characteristic Points.

nPHE early history of the horse is written only on
the pages of the rocks and of ancient deposits.
Remains of the ancestor of the domestic horse have
been found in the Swiss lake-dwelHngs, showing that
it must have existed at very remote times.

Fossilised remains from the Eocenes in North
America exist of animals belonging to the family of
the EquidiV, and variously estimated to have been
about the size of a fox or of a sheep.

The most ancient forms had four toes on the fore-
foot and three behind, all touching the ground.
More recent specimens exhibit three toes both before
and behind, with an increase of size in the central,
as compared with the lateral ones, still all formed
for action in walking. Those of a later date have

19- FARM LIVK STOCK.

the two lateral toes functionally useless, and carried
up from the ground with the middle toe well devel-
oped. In the horse of the present day, as well as in
that of the fossilifcrous remains of Pleistocene and
recent times, the lateral toes are still further reduced,
being represented by splint bones, which do not
appear externally.

The true horse is specifically termed liqiius. It
is distinct from another sub-genus of the family
EijuidiC, viz., Asinus^ to which asses and zebras
belong ; there are in all seven well-known genuine
wild forms of this sub-genus. Asinns is distin-
guished from Equus by the absence of warts or
callosities on the hind-legs, by the contracted hoofs,
and by the long hair of the tail being confined to a
terminal bunch.

All wild horses, with one exception, have broken
away from civilisation.

Przevalsky's wild horse,* Equus Przcvalskii, is
the only genuine one. It was found in the wild
deserts of Central Asia by the famous traveller
whose name it bears, and was described in 1881.
In colour it is "whitish gray, paler and whiter
beneath, and reddish on the head. The legs are
reddish to the knees, and thence blackish down to
the hoofs." Its head is large and heavy in propor-
tion to its small stature. The long hairs of the tail
begin half-way down from the base, being inter-
mediate in appearance between the tail of a domes-

* See an account of it, "Nature," 2ist .\ug. 1884, and also in
Nicholson's "Manual of Zoology," 7th edition.

THE HORSE.

193

^^Oi

EoRTY Points of a Horse.

I 22, 22. Girth or Chest Measurement.

Hoof.

Coronet.

Heel.

Fetlocl^ or Pastern Joint.
B. The Pastern.

Cannon-Bune.

Back Sinew or Tendon.

The Hock.

Point of Hock.
. Second Thigh.

Haunch or Lower Buttocks,
to 20. The Quarter.

The Stifle.

The Sheath.
. 14. The Flank.
. The Hip Joint.
. Koot of I'ail or Dock.
. 'Jhe Rump.

The Croup.
, The Loins.
, Point of Hip Bone.
. The Back.

Seats ok Co.m.mon Diseases

.Side Bone. I C. Wind-gall. I E. Spavin.

Ring Bone. | D. Splint. | F. Thoroighpin.

23. Withers.

24. 24. Shoulder Blade (.Scapula).

25. 25. The Crest.

26. The Poll.

27. The Forehead.

28. The Muzzle.

29. The Nostril.

30. The Jaw.

31. The Throat or Windpipe.

32. The Neck.

33. Point of .Shoulder.

34. Shoulder.
35> 35- Front Ribs and Back or Short

Ribs forming the Barrel.
36. The Chest or Breast.
37 to 34. The True Arm (//umerus).

38. The Elbow.

39. Arm (so-called) or Forearm.

40. The Knee.

41. The Chestnut.

O. Curb.

H. Capped Hock.

o

194 FARM LINE STOCK.

ticatcd horse and that of the ass. The cars arc
horse-hkc, but there is no forelock, and only a short
erect mane. It has warts on the hind-legs as well
as on the fore-legs, and its hoofs are broad and
rounded. In disposition it is timid, shy, and diffi-
cult of approach, and has been rarely seen. One
specimen exists in a museum in St Petersburg.

A horse can endure great extremes of cold and
heat. When the ground is covered with snow it
scrapes with its fore-feet to get at its food, showing
that its ancestors must have originally belonged to a
cold country, where the habit must have been acquired
as a matter of necessity. [European cattle do not
scrape with their feet. Nevertheless West High-
landers are enabled to get at food covered up by
snow when other breeds would starve.] Arabs have
come to great perfection under very different condi-
tions of temperature.

FARM horses-
Clydesdales, Shires, and Suffolk Punches.

British work horses arc usually classed as belong-
ing to three breeds, — the Clydesdale, the Shire, and
the Suffolk Punch.

Clydesdales

Arc the Scotch agricultural horses, and vary much
in size— large or small ones being kept in the various
districts according to the nature of the land or the

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FARM HORSES — CLYDESDALES. 1 95

kind of work expected of them. Though the in-
ferior and medium specimens are not so dear as they
were a few years ago, higher prices than ever are now
got for really good blood.

Prices and Pedigrees. — It is reported that Col.
Gilmour paid ;^3000 for Prince of Albion (6178), son
of the Prince of Wales {6"/^), a horse sold to the late
Lawrence Drew of Mcrryton for i^i 500. The Prince
of Albion is by the mother's side related to Darnley
(222), perhaps the greatest rival of the Prince of
Wales for the premier place as the best Clydesdale
horse and sire of his day. The Macgregor (1487)
and Flash wood (3604), two of the most celebrated
horses of the present time, were got by Darnley.
Darnley is said to owe much to the wonderful quali-
ties of his dam, a debt frequently owed by great
men as well as by famous horses.

Although foreign demand, resulting in an increas-
ing number of horses being shipped abroad, has raised
the prices of good Clydesdales, yet the owner of a
really good horse has great inducements offered to
retain him in this country. For example, the
Glasgow Society prize horse of this year, Sir Everard
(5353)) rnay be calculated as follows to earn £'joo
to his owner during the coming season — May, June,
and July : —

The Society's premium, . . . ^150

Service fees of say lOO mares @ £2,, . 300

50 mares estimated to prove in foal, @ ;^5, . 250

£700

196 TARM LIVE STOCK.

The exportation of so many entire horses has
reduced the natural supply of the best kinds of dray
horses in the market, and complaints are now made
that certain classes of horses are only to be got with
the greatest difficulty.

Points of a Clydesdale.

6y?/<?7/;' usually bay or dark brown, sometimes black
or gray, more rarely chestnut.

Height, average, about 16 hands in the case of
mares, and \6\ in that of horses.

Temper mild, with plent}' of muscular vigour and
nervous energ}-.

Head, medium size ; the face and jaw-bones not
too large or loaded with flesh.

Nose bones, if not straight, slightly arched ; not
" dish-faced."

Nostrils wide.

Eye bright and dark, full and prominent.

Forehead broad.

Ears a good size, neither hanging, showing slug-
gishness, nor "prick-eared," but with frequent motion,
indicative of a good disposition.

N^ech, medium length and thickness and slightly
arched in the male ; and also in the female when she
is in high condition.

Back straight and broad, and not so long as to
make it weak.

Tail not too drooping.

Ribs well sprung, barrel-like ; the last one a good
length.

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FARM HORSES — CLYDESDALES. 1 97

Hindquarters long, well packed, and rounded.

Second thigh well developed and broad.

Girth round the heart good ; the body is then
deep, and the height is greater than it looks.

Chest broad and deep.

Shoulder {scapula) oblique, though not necessarily
so much so as in a hunter.

The hinnerus should form a very obtuse angle with
the scapula, else the animal cannot get its leg well
forward in moving. The position is indicated in the
accompanying Fig. 2, which, however, shows the
humerus {p) to be rather too perpendicular ; and that
to be avoided where the horse stands over its fore-
legs in Fig. I.*

Forelegs straight, not bending back at the knee
— " calf-kneed." This defect, however, minimises the
bad results of short pasterns. The legs should also
be strong, and not too far back under the body,
showing that the humerus is rightl)' placed.

Knee-joints and hock joints large.

Muscle of the arm broad and well developed.

Bones in both fore and hind legs short, flat, clean
(not knotty;, but with plenty of substance.

Feathering, or long hair on the back parts of the
legs, neither deficient nor too abundant, as spreading
round in front ; if fine, long, and silky, it is an indi-
cation, along with a fine skin, of good breeding.

* The figures are copied from a paper by James Howard, M.P.,
of CLipham Park, Bedford, in the "Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England " for 1884, who there first drew attention to the
importance of the position of the Incinerus in the shoulder of a cart-
horse.

Fig. I.

a, SCAILLA ; /', HlMEKl"

FARM HORSES— CLYDESDALES. I99

White fttt, though common, are objectionable,
being softer than the others, though they are now
so prevalent that some authorities go so far as to
say that a white foot is an essential for a Clydesdale.
The feet cannot be too large, if not thin and flat or
down in the soles.

Fore and hind legs and ftct all set on straight ;
they look better and are stronger. It is better to
have a toe pointed slightly in than out when strength
for work is the object. For show-yard purposes the
opposite is the case, as an in-toed horse on being
trotted out is apt to throw his feet outwards in
moving. The tendency- is to exaggerate the defect,
whereas an out-toed horse when trotting " in a man's
hand " tends to show to the best advantage.

The hocks broad in front and not too straight, else
there is liability to thorough-pin ; nor too crooked,
as they do not look well although they are quite
strong. Any defect in a hock constitutes unsound-
ness.

Pasterns medium length. If long, they are weak ;
if short, they are more liable to bony exostoses.
Splints often exist without producing unsoundness.

The miction is quite peculiar, being verj* free and
active.

Step long ; the animal walking, when unloaded,
4 miles an hour. Young horses will at times surpass
this rate, but for an ordinary- work horse it is quite
quick enough.

The sole should be almost inverted each time it is
lifted in either trottinij or walkitiiT.

20O FARM LIVK STOCK.

The SniKE

Is the largest British breed of horses. The larger
sorts, bred in the Fen country, are better suited to
dray-work than to agricultural work. The points of
the best specimens are very much like those of the
Clydesdale horse. The ordinary varieties of the
two breeds differ more in appearance than the better
sorts, which have now been acknowledged in many
cases to be crosses of good specimens of the two
original breeds. The late Lawrence Drew believed
in crossing Clydesdales with good Shire horses, as
among the resulting advantages it remedied one of
the greatest defects of the Clydesdale, viz., the want
of size, and the want of depth of rib or body. Such
a practice is quite in accordance with the best usages
in the improvement of all breeds, equine or bovine.
The fact that it has been practised on a considerable
scale for many years explains why it may be
continued with advantage : the results are not like
those that follow crossing between two distinct
breeds.

The differences in the ordinary form of Shire
horse as compared with the Clydesdale are : —

Lower and more sluggish action; the belly or
middle larger, the animal being a greater feeder ;
the quarters shorter, more like the Belgian horse,
and the /Ar/^i- consequently steeper and flatter; the
Jiocks wider between than in the Clydesdale, in which
they usually incline slightly inwards ; the leg-bones
rougher and not so straight ; the pasterns shorter,

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FARM HORSES— THE SHH-IE. 20I

and the Jioofs more upright, giving a stilty look.
Long pasterns are now sought for in the best horses,
no doubt to try to counteract the general weakness
in this point. The space bcticecn the eyes is frequently
not so wide, and the eyes are not so prominent as in
the Clyde. Roans and chestnut colours are most
prevalent in the Shire.

There is more long hair on the legs, and it extends
round in front. James Howard's paper in the Royal
Agricultural Society's Journal for 1884 points to this
as a defect, being more or less detrimental to the
animal in certain kinds of work.

Names and History. — The Shire horse or its
prototype, we are told by Walter Gilbey in his
handsome little volume " The Old English War
Horse,"* was written of 1 000 years ago as "The
Oreat Horse." It has been subsequently named the
"'War Horse," " Old Enghsh Black Horse," and the
■'•Strong Horse."

It is within but comparatively recent times that
horses have all but supplanted bullocks in the working
of land, the original object of the English horse being
as a help in the time of war. Caesar's account of it
shows that even at that early date the breed was
maintained in a high state of proficiency, not only as
regards the physical form and qualities, but also in the
matter of training. At a later period it was necessary
to maintain the size and strength of the war horse, to
enable the animal to carry the heavy armour of the
mounted soldiers of the time. To the efforts made

* Vinton ..\; Co., 8 New IJridge Street, London.

202 FARM LINK STOCK.

to attain this object \vc arc indebted for the massive
frames and powerful limbs of the Shire horse of
to-day. Records dated i i6o exist of the importation
of horses with the object of improvint^ the native
horse of ancient Britain.
Gilbey says : —

"During ihe reign of King Jolin — 1 199 to 1216 — there exist
distinct particulars of the importation into England, from the low
lands of Flanders, Holland, and the banks of the Elbe, of a hundred
stallions of large stature, and it is from the blending, nearly 700 years-
ago, of these animals with the English breed that some strains, at least,
of our heavy draught horses must be said to date their origin."

He further points out that the so-called "Shire"
horse, because belonging to the SJiirc counties in
the middle of England, —

" Has for centuries, beyond a doubt, been distributed in numbers
through the district between the Humber and the Cam, occupying the
rich fen lands of Lincoln and Camliridgeshire, and extending westward
through the counties" {■^■'""'0 " f>f Huntingdon, Northampton, Lei-
cester, Nottingham, Derby, Warwick, and Staflford, on to the Severn."

The Shire Horse Society, and the Shire Horse
Stud-Book, which is comprised in 10 volumes, have
done much for the advancment of the breed. The
foreign demand for Shire horses to go to Germany
and America has steadily developed, and with it the
price has increased.

The Suffolk Punch

Is named from its count)-, and from its compact and
rounded form. The colours are chestnut (dark and
light) and more rarel}- iron gray or sorrel. It is said

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FARM HORSES — THE SUFFOLK TUNCH. 203

that the colour was derived through a cross with
imported Norwegian horses, brought Hke certain of
the progenitors of the trotting hackne}-s by the early-
Norse invaders. The form and action of certain
of the Norfolk hackneys of the day leave no reason-
able grounds for doubting that however the Norfolk
trotter and Suffolk Punch may now differ in size,
style, and general appearance, they must have been
intimately connected with one another at some
distant period. Arthur Young, writing in the end of
last century, mentions the Suffolk Punch as being
one of two pure-bred varieties of cart-horses — the
large black or old English horse being the other.
The body looks much too heavy for the limbs, which
are clean and fine, with little long hair. The back
is at times hollow, but this allows of a finer style of
neck and shoulder. Suffolks are slower in their
movements than Clydes, and twist their legs and
feet more when moving. They are steady pullers,
and suited alike to farm and dray work.

204 1 ARM LIVK STOCK.

CHAPTER XIV.-THE HORSE-

THE THOROUGHBRED, HACKNEY, AND

CLEVELAND BAY.

The Thoroiighliied — Racecourse and other Selection — Early Improve-
ment— Importation of Roman, .S]:)anish, Arabian, and other
Horses — Failure of Early Crosses — In-and-In-Ureeding — The
Hackney — Origin and Development — The Modern Norfolk
'J'rotter — The Original Trotter — \'orkshire Trotters — The
American Trotting Horse — l-'xport of Hackneys.

The ThoroL(;hi!KE1)*

T S in .some respects perhaps the most interesting
^ of our Briti.sh live stock. It has been bred
without admixture of ah'en blood for more than lOO
years, and during that time it has been subjected to
the most rigorous .system of selection through indi-
vidual trials of strength and endurance. No breed
has been .so effectually tested for the special quali-
ties required of it than the thoroughbred. The
show-yard test of the cart-horse is very different
from this. The merits in that case are determined
by external appearance and by inference, not by

* One of the most valuable ami practical works on this breed is
that by Wni. Day, "The Horse: how to Breed and Rear Him,"
Hentley i\: Sons, 1 888, to which I acknowledge my indebtedness.

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THE HORSE — THE THOROUGHBRED. 205

trial in the work for which the animals ought tO'
be most prized. The endeavour to judge the quali-
ties of a thoroughbred by external appearances only
ends in failure and disappointment in most instances,
even when attempted by the most skilled. An
additional selection ov^er and above this process of
natural selection is apparently necessary when we
realize that since 1877 the Derby has been won on
five occasions by an unsound animal. Racing i.s
recorded as far back as the beginning of the 13th
century.

Of the early improvement and management of
horses little is known with certainty. The Romans
imported horses of lighter build than the native
English horses, with the object of improving
them for road-work after the formation of good
roads. Athelstan got running horses from German)'.
Spanish horses were next used before Arabians.
What were called the " Royal mares " were im-
ported by Charles II. About the end of the 17th
and beginning of the i8th century the most famous
of the Eastern sires were introduced, viz., the Godol-
pJiin Arabian, Bycrly Turk, and the Darley Arabian.
These horses mated with the Royal mares, and with
the best of the native English horses of the time had a
very large share in the establishment of the English
thoroughbred. Going still more closely into the
origin of the best thoroughbred horses of the pre-
sent day, it will be found that nearly all can claim
relationship with one or other of the three famous,
sires — Herod, Eclipse, and MaicJievi.

2o6 FARM LIVE STOCK.

The superior qualities of the few have been taken
advantage of in the improvement of many. The
improvement has been great in the special direction
and for the special purpose for which the racehorse
is kept. It is true that the length of a race, which
in olden times extended over 3 or 4 miles, has now
been much shortened, and horses are trained to do
.short distances at high speed ; but there is little
doubt, nevertheless, that the staying power of the
breed is as good as ever, and the pace in later years
has greatly increased.

The first or early crosses with Turkish, Arabian,
or Barb horses did not prove a success as regards
the production of winners, but the improvement due
to the impetus given by the cross became distinctly
apparent in later crosses, and appeared after a time
in the form of animals superior to either the Arab
or the English horse of the day. Though this is
admitted, no advantage could now be gained by
crossing with Arabs, which are supposed to have
remained at much the same stage of improvement
for the last 200 years, while the English thorough-
bred has greatly advanced. The differences between
the two breeds are now too great for a cross to " nick "
satisfactorily.

In-and-in-breeding of a close kind is not success-
ful in the thoroughbred, being derogatory to pluck ;
but, on the other hand, there is no breed wherein
the advantages of a good pedigree are more invari-
ably seen.

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Tin: HOKsi-:— Tin; iia( knev breed. 207

TnK Hackney ok "Norfolk Trotter"
Breed

Is said by Lawrence to have sprung on one side of
its ancestral descent from the Norwegian horse. It
is consequently found in Norfolk and Yorkshire,
where the Norse invaders had their strongholds in
this countr}-. The peciiliarit}- of its action as indi-
cated by its name is the most important difference
between the hacknc)' of the present da}- and the
thoroughbred. They have for hundreds of years
been crossed b}' imported horses from the same
foreign stocks. The form, however, has also differ-
entiated with difference in surroundings, and the
difference in the objects in view held b\' their
breeders. It is to the original native mares in
each case that the trotting habit in the one and
the running habit of the other are due.

The modern Norfolk trotter was remodeled
from the earlier trotter of Norfolk and the fen
country about the end of last centur\- b\- the use
of Shales' or Shield's horse, or Scott Shales 692,
which infused much of the thoroughbred Arab
and Harb blood, and gave fine bones, pace, and
staying power to the heav)-, round boned, and more
or less cart-horse shaped trotter of the beginning
and middle of the century.

The oriGrinal trotter varied in size from the
farmer's market cob to the regular cart-horse of
the countr\-, to which the Suffolk Punch is no doubt

208 FARM LIVE STOCK.

directly related. There arc no reasonable ground.^
for doubt, but that the free action of many of our
cart-horses and the action of the hackney had a
common origin in an early British horse. It was at
one time a custom in Norfolk to trot the cart-horses
when returning with the empt}- cart or waggon, — a
fact which indicates that they were at one time
lighter and more active than those of the present
day. Their increase of weight can, however, be
accounted for b)' the crossing which took place be-
tween the original breed (described as "small, brown-
muzzled, and light boned "), and Lincolnshire and
Leicestershire black horses.

Among the Yorkshire trotters the same process
of improvement was carried out about the s^Nae
period. Thoroughbred Arabian blood was largely^
used through the employment of a good horse
named "Sportsman" and his descendants. It is owing
to the presence of an abundance of Arab blood in
the hackneys of Yorkshire and of Norfolk that it is
now possible to cross the two varieties with sati.s-
factory results, and to maintain them as they now
exist in the same stud-book. At an earlier date,,
but so late as 1775, crossing in this way was not
advisable, as it is recorded * in reference to Norfolk
horses, that " not a single hor.se of any repute has
been produced from these half-bred horses brought
from Yorkshire or elsewhere."

The American trotting horse is now practically

* In the first volume of the Hackney Stud-Book, 1884, to which I
nni also indebted for many of the details of the early history.

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THE HORSE — THE HACKNEY BREED. 20g

a thoroughbred, but it derived its action from
an origin common to the English hackney and
itself.

Hackneys have been largely exported to all
parts of the world, and in recent times have been
taken to India as stud horses for breeding army re-
mounts by the native horses. The Yorkshire variety
seems to possess the necessary quality for the pur-
pose in a greater degree than the Norfolk, having
less of the cart-horse in its form and substance.

The Cleveland Bay.

The old coaching or chapman horse is now
mainly to be seen in Yorkshire, although at one
time its habitat covered a much wider region. The
breed was in a most flourishing condition for about
two decades subsequent to the middle of last cen-
tury, after which it declined. It, however, sustained
its worst blow at the time when railways caused the
reduction of the demand for stage-coach horses, and
when it became fashionable to breed carriage and
other light-legged horses by mating a thoroughbred
horse with a farm mare. By this means also the
breed became stained to some extent by the im-
portation of foreign blood. Within recent years
much greater attention has been paid to the pre-
servation and improvement of the breed. The Stud-
Book — the first volume of which was published in
1884 — has proved a distinct source of interest, and
a means by which the best qualities of the original

2IO FARM LIVE STOCK.

old breed may yet be brought prominently to the
front. There is a tendency — due, it is said, to in-
breeding, but no doubt also to the thoroughbred
cross — to a lighter condition of bone than that natural
to the old form of the breed.

Descent is claimed for the Cleveland from the
war horse, and Cajsar's account of the British
chariot warfare is quoted as referring to it. Those
who are interested in the Shire horse are equally
certain that the passage refers to that breed. The
probability is that both claims arc equally well
founded, and that the differences which now exist,
admitting that they arc great, have been produced
since Ca.'sar's time by crossing in different directions
and with different objects in view.

Loyd's description of the Cleveland horse, quoted
from the Cleveland Stud-Book, sa}-s : —

"From l6 hands I in. to i6 h. 2h in. in lieijjht, he should he
possessed of good, sloping shoulders, a short back, powerful loins,
and long quarters. His head is rather plain than otherwise, and on
the large side, but it is well carried, and his general appearance de-
notes actisity and strength combined in a manner not seen in any
other breed. His action is not remarkably high, but it is the kind of
action for getting over the ground. In colour he is bay — eitlier light
or dark — with black legs, clear of hair ; and black zebra-like stripes
on the arm and above the hock are sometimes seen. These are known
as the black points, and are supposed to denote special purity of
breeding. White, save a small star or a few white hairs in the heel,
is not admissible, a blaze or while fool proclaiming al once the admix-
ture of foreign blood."

The Stud-Book * points out that nearly every

* Edited by \Vm. Scarlh Dixon, and published by the C. B. H.
Society, Marlon, near .Middlesbrough.

THE HORSE — THE CLEVELAND BAY. 211

horse of note belongs to one or other of three great
famihes, — the descendants of Dart (83), Barley Har-
vest (447), and The Hob Horse (316). Those who
have carefully followed the previously detailed his-
tories of many other breeds of live stock will
remember that this is in no way an unusual circum-
stance, but is one of frequent occurrence.

212 FARM LI VI-: STOCK.

CHAPTER XV. —THE HORSE-
BREEDING AND BREAKING.

Breeding — Selection of the Mare — Treatment of a Farm Mare — She
takes the Horse — Difficulties about Conception — The Foal —
Young Cart Horses — Castration — Breaking — The Age of a Horse
from his Teeth.

/^~^OOD and sound animaLs of the right blood and
^"^ with good tempers should be selected to breed
from.

Three years old is young enough to put a mare to
the horse ; if she is younger, or if she is too old, the
foal might be small and weakly. The period of
gestation is about 1 1 months. May is the best
month for foaling, as there is then an abundant
supply of green food, and the weather is mild enough
for brood mares to lie out in the fields. At going
out, shelters ought to be provided for a few nights
to prevent their taking cold. Small but increasing
amounts of green food should be given for a few
days before, to accustom the digestive system to the
change, and thus prevent colic.

A farm-mare should continue at moderate work,
as ploughing, on till the day of foaling, but should
not be put between shafts for some months before
that event, as, owing to the enlarged size of the belly

THE HORSE — BREEDING AND BREAKING. 21 3

as parturition approaches, there is risk of injury.
The quantity, of concentrated or rich food ought to
be restricted in the case of a mare in high condition
some Httle time before this. Wax is seen on the
teats within twenty-four hours of foaling ; after
that the mare should be regularly watched, to
prevent her doing injury to the foal at birth by lying
down with her tail against the wall : beyond these
precautions she rarely requires assistance. A roomy
loose box is the best place for her occupation.

The foal should be got to suck immediately.
If this is not possible, a little milk must be drawn
into a spoon and put into its mouth, as a foal
cannot live long without food. To see that the anus
of the foal is open, and to give the mother frequent
small drinks of cold water with a little oatmeal
thrown into it, along with a suitable amount of
digestible food, is all the further treatment that is
necessary under ordinary circumstances.

No nursing mare ought to be put to work : this
precaution prevents scouring and rickets in the foal.
In any case, she should have a clear month before
going to work, and each time after working she should
be milked a little before the foal is allowed to suck.
The milk which collects in the udder while at work
changes in character from natural milk, and an alka-
loid is developed which is injurious to the young.

A mare takes the horse from seven to ten days
after foaling, and is then most likely to conceive. If
" missed " the first time, she comes in season every
three weeks during the summer, remaining in use

214 ] ARM LIVE STOCK.

from four to ci<;ht daj-s. By the second time she
is in season there is a large flow of milk, which so
far reduces the system and makes conception less
certain. When going out of season she is most likely
to "hold." One good jump is better than several,
and she should be kept quiet and away from other
horses for a few days. If this is attended to there is
no necessity for douching her with cold water, which
appears to be an unnatural and unnecessary practice
under any circumstance. It also appears to be
wrong to put a mare to two horses within two days.

As a mare approaches 20 years of age it is often
a difficult matter to get her to conceive if she has
never bred, or if she has not bred for some year.s.
Conception is made more likely by the use of a cart
horse on a thoroughbred mare, or of a thoroughbred
horse upon a cart mare.* When a mare is in the
habit of breeding regularly she will sometimes con-
tinue to do so till she is very old. f

A foal brought up by hand should have cows' full-
milk. It is often spoiled through being played with,
and thus becoming too familiar with its attendants,
and losing the natural and neces.sary regard for the

* Cowc of Mains, Chirnsidc, possessed a mare (nearly thorough-
lired) which in 1886, at the age of 23 years, "held" to a cart horse,
after rejjeated trials extending over some years with thoroughbreds.
In 1887, however, she was successfully served by a thoroughbred.
Had it not been for a broken leg which ended fatally she might have
continued to breed for a number of years.

+ \Vhen at l:iosl)y in 1886 the author saw a cross-bred mare, be-
longing to \V. MouM of the Harrington Arms, which was breeding
at the age of 32, and had bred 20 foals in 20 consecutive years. All
M'cre said to begorxl ones, and a number were weight-carrying hunters.

THE HORSE — BREEDING AND BREAKING. 215

authority of its masters. In Norfolk after the foal is
two weeks old, it is fed sometimes on skim-milk,
boiled linseed and bean meal, getting up to two
gallons of milk and four pounds of the mixture per
day.

A foal is weaned when it is five or six months old,
say early in October ; then it should be housed at
night, and a halter with a short dependent end
should be put on its head, and left to lead by. The
operation of haltering is attended with danger to the
animal, due to the resistance which is usually made,
and requires great care. A cattle-shed with bare
walls and a few inches of dung under foot is the best
place. A cart rope should be fastened round the
neck, and the animal drawn up to a fixed point —
such as a hole in the outer wall through which the
rope is passed — and made to know that he is held.
The struggle at first is often severe, and perspiration
flows freely with the fright and the exertion. The foal
must be kept in a warm place till thoroughly cooled.
Gentle treatment and constant handling are necessary
to give confidence. Leading should be done as often
by the "off-side" as by the "near," to accustom him
to turn as readily to the one side as to the other.

Young cart horses should never be too highly
fed, as this softens the constitution, and they get too
fat and heavy for their legs. They should at all
times be kept thriving to encourage growth, and to
prevent disease and injury from internal parasites.
A little linseed cake mixed with the oats is an
improvement upon a feed of oats alone, and salt

2l6 FARM LIVE STOCK.

should be within reach of all young stock, which
should also have plenty of exercise to develop
muscle. In the case of the thoroughbred the highest
authorities say that they cannot be too liberally fed
pro\'ided they have sufficient exercise.

Castration is usually performed when a colt is
about one year old, and then there is least risk ; or
it may be done at two years if a more masculine
appearance is wanted. In some districts of England
from four to six weeks old is considered a safer and
better time. Sometimes the operation is done with
the animal standing on its feet and simply backed
into a corner, but he is more commonly cast by
means of ropes. The great danger in this is the
possibility of injury to the back, brought about by
the animal struggling when down. The testicles are
usually removed by firing, but sometimes by means
of clams, or by torsion, or they may be simply cut
away after the seminal arteries have been tied.
Bathing well with warm water should be resorted
to next day if the animal is stiff.

Breaking is attended with danger from rearing,
kicking, bolting, or sulking on the part of the
horse ; and carelessness, drink, or bad temper on
the part of the man. Horses are more easily broken
while quite young than when a few years older.
They ought to run out the second winter, and be
taken up for breaking in autumn, when about
2h years old. Heavy work strains and stiffens
young horses. The backbone often gets bent and
stands up, if an animal is made to draw too heavy

THE HOPSE — BREEDINCi AND BREAKING. 21/

loads. Harrowing or light ploughing is a suitable
and safe form of work for a young horse ; but not
so carting on the hard road till after he is five years
old. Horses ought to be broken to ev-ery description
of farm work when about three years old, or even
before that time if convenient.

Mouthing is done by tying a horse up with a large
bit and side-reins, but is far too little practised among
draught-horses. After this has been done at intervals
for some days, the horse should be taken out
to an open field and long ropes fastened to his
collar in the position of draught chains, so as
to be pulled by men placed well behind, to
accustom the animal to the chains rubbing against
its hind legs while turning in the plough. It should
be next yoked to a log by ropes, and when accus-
tomed to this, put in double yoke with an old, steady,
but active-stepping horse.

Breaking to the cart must come after all this, as it is
often a difficult task, especially with nervous animals.
The greatest care should be taken with all horses,,
although reputed to be quiet. A man on each side
of the head should hold a long rein to keep the
horse, if startled, from jumping on the top of one or
other of them. Two additional men, one on each
side, should fasten the attachments, the draught
chains first. The kicking strap or rope should cross
over above the root of the tail, and each end be made
fast to a shaft. This is far more effectual than when
it is located in the usual place, further along the top
of the hind-quarters. A fifth man lets down the

2l8 FARM LIVE STOCK.

cart behind when the horse has been got into posi-
tion. A long pole is placed between the body of
the cart and the axle-tree, and projects well behind
to prevent the animal rearing.

A wild or intractable horse may be subdued by the
Australian method of tying his head round to his tail,
and driving him round until he submits to be guided.
By adopting this method any horse may be more
quickly and safely put through all the various stages
of the operation of breaking, but time must be given
in any case to allow a young and inexperienced
animal to get accustomed to what is required of it
and to practise it.

A young hor.se should be tired, but never fagged
by too much work, else he may develop bad temper.
In a display of this an animal which urinates is
usually difficult to overcome. The mouth should
not be subjected to sudden checking or tugging.
An animal which has been thus ill-treated indicates
it by trying to move away, and holding up its head
on the approach of a man.

The shoulder and back, under the pressure of the
collar and saddle, often get " fired," hot, and painful,
especially in warm weather. Remedy. — Bathe after
work is over with tepid water, rub dry, and soak
with whisky, or white lotion — i oz. sugar of lead
and I oz. sulphate of zinc dissolved in a quart bottle
of water. This is the best common remedy for
broken or irritated skin.

A paste of fuller's earth plastered over any irri-
tated or superficially injured part makes a service-

THE HORSE — BREEDING AND BREAKING. 219

able, stimulating, and healing dressing, provided it
can be left on till the cure is effected. This debars
it from use, however, when the injury is the result
•of the rubbing or pressure of the harness, unless
when the horse is laid aside from work.

While teething a young horse often has a tender
mouth and refuses to eat. The gums should not
be cut or fired as if the animal were suffering from
lanipas.

A young horse should not be fed too highly. If off
food through being feverish from work, it is neces-
sary to coax him by giving varieties of food, little at
a time, and always new and fresh.

Young horses pastured along with cattle gallop
after them at times and prevent their thriving.
Some cattle get into the bad habit of eating the
hair from the tails of horses and from those of the
other members of the herd.

In the case of horses with small feet, paring the
edges of the hoof now and then, and blistering the
coronet, encourage the growth of horn.

Idle horses rub, bite, and break gates, and escape
from their own pastures to do damage to growing
crops. A few strands of barbed wire nailed along
the upper bars of a gate form a safe and simple pre-
ventive of the evil.

The age of horses able to do work may easily be
determined by the teeth, if not more than eight
years old.

At 3 years the two central permanent incisors
are up.

220 FARM LIVE STOCK.

At 4 years the next pair, or lateral ones.
At 5 „ the two corner ones are come, making^
a full mouth ; also the tushes in
the male.
At 6 „ the hollow on the top of each tooth

of the first pair is worn out.
At 7 „ the second pair is levelled.
At 8 „ all have usually got w'orn nearly
level, or " mark of mouth " is lost.
Indications of greater age are gray hairs about the
head and deep hollows above the eyes.

To make an animal look young, the teeth arc
sometimes " bishoped " by low dealers — that is^
artificial hollows are made in the crowns of them.

„ M

2- •<

MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES. 221

CHAPTER XVI.— THE HORSE-
MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES.

Winter Season — Work and Food — Medicines — Water — Mud-fever —
Litter — Summer Season — The Soiling and the Grazing Systems
of Feeding Horses — A Stallion — Possibility of Improvement.

^X /"INTER Season. — Full work in the case of
Ofdinary farm horses lasts for about seven or
eight months in the \-ear : three months, on from the
latter part of August, including harvest, and autumn
ploughing and cleaning, and nearly four months,
beginning in spring, including part of February and
on into June — this embraces spring cultivation and
ploughing, planting of grain crops, and the pre-
paration of the root land. In many instances the
busy season extends throughout the whole year.
This is now more often the case under recent
practices, which adopt greater variety of crops in
the rotation and an extended use of horse-power
machinery, such as reaping-machines. On light
land 280 working days per annum may be taken
as a good record of work, and with a clay-land farm
260 days of full work is satisfactory.

The average cost of feeding a farm horse may
be estimated at £2^ per annum. The charge on

222 FARM LIVIO STOCK.

a farmer for the support of a man and a pair of
horses, taking into account wages and sundry ex-
penses,— farrier's and saddler's bills, and interest on
capital invested in the horses and the implements
they workj — amounts to about ^loo to ;^i lo yearly^
or a cost of about 7s. 6d. to 8s. 6d. per pair per work-
ing day. Fourteen to 16 miles per day is a sufficient
distance for a horse to walk on a hard road if work is
constant. An animal will do its work more easily on
a road with here and there moderate hills than on
one which is level throughout, because the work
done is then varied, and additional muscles come
into play at times to break the monotony of the
constant strain upon those which bear the burden
upon a level road.

The food should be full and liberal, and consist of
a mixture made equivalent to three bushels of dressed
oats (40 lbs. per bushel) per week. Grains should
be all bruised or broken, especially for old horses.
Unless extremely dry and kept in a dry place, only
a little should be prepared at a time, as the in-
gredients, especially oats, mould and spoil. The
mixture should consist of several kinds chosen from
the following, according to what is cheapest in the
market : — Oats, beans, peas, lentils, barley, maize,
a little malt or desiccated brewers' grains to assist
the digestion, along with bran or linseed cake (re-
stricted to one pound per day) to keep the bowels
open. Dry bran prevents a horse bolting its food
too fast. Though beans when given in large quanti-
ties tend to produce costiveness, a small amount

MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES. 22^

added to a food mixture has the opposite tendency,
A little fenugreek meal acts as a relish or spice, and
is a valuable adjunct.

Indian pulses are now more or less used as in-
gredients in the mixed purchased foods of the
various farm animals. It is not safe to include
them until they have been thoroughly washed, as
Principals Williams of Edinburgh and M'Call of
Glasgow have traced a disease to the use of some of
them in the food of horses.*

The diseases, or at least one disease resulting
from the consumption of the Muttar pea, — Williams's
Liverpool horse disease, — is no doubt identical with
the anthrax of India. It is a blood-poison, with the
rod-like microbes of anthrax present.

As a horse has a small stomach, it should be fed
at least three times a day — morning, noon, and night.

Cold bran mashes are better than boiled food,
which is dangerous for colic, although it produces a
fine glossy skin. Saltpetre (2 to 4 drachms) is given
at times in a mash on a Saturday night, to prevent
stocking of the legs, or Monday-morning-evil, in
hard-worked and highly-fed horses.

The food for the slack season, whatever is the
length of it, may be averaged at one bushel of oats
per week.

A large horse at full work will eat, in addition
to short food, 18 to 24 lbs. per day of "seeds"
hay. A few lbs. may be saved if it is chaffed. Hay

* Described in the " Veterinar)' Journal" for 1885 and 1S86 under
the title of " Lathyrus-poisoning. "

224 FARM LIVE STOCK.

is dusty if much heated in the stack, and then it
injures a horse's wind. Heated oats are Hable to
produce the same result, and, besides, horses do not
care for them.

When clover hay is given ad lib., 2 to 2\ bushels
of oats, or the mixture, is considered to be enough.
New oats are not good for horses till after the
New Year ; they make impure blood and produce
liability to grease. Straw (usually oat, but at times
wheat or bean) is often given during winter, and hay
in spring when hard work comes on ; but the best
results are got by using a chaffed mixture of the two
throughout the winter .season.

Chaffed straw should be allowed to lie for some
time before it is fed to horses, as when recently cut
it is liable to produce internal irritation, which may
result in diarrhoea.

It is good practice to give a few raw swedes,
carrots, or mangels at night. Potatoes are apt to
cause colic, and should not be given to horses.
Furze or whin is sometimes grown as a forage
crop to provide green winter food for horses, but
it requires to be chaffed or thoroughly bruised
between rollers ; 30 lbs. may be given to each per
day.

Medicines. — Two drachms of powdered sulphate
of iron, mi.xed in a full feed once or twice a day, is
a good tonic for a horse, and is frequently required
along with careful feeding in the "fall," after he goes
into the stable. The physical system of the horse
seems to go down at this season with the change of

MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES. 22$

food. It is owing to this peculiar condition that
roadsters often become weak, and fall on and injure
their knees. Tonics are better than physic in the
correction of ordinary derangements, unless worms
have to be cleared away. If a horse does not thrive
when put to grass, the presumption is strong that he
is affected by internal parasitic worms in the alimen-
tary canal. To destroy w^orms, ih oz. of the oil of
turpentine should be soaked thoroughly into dry
meal, and administered along with 2 drachms of
the extract of male fern and i pint of raw (unboiled)
linseed oil. The ordinary purgative for a horse is
a ball of aloes — 6 or 7 drachms made up with 2
drachms of ginger. A horse should be prepared
by feeding him entirely upon cold bran mashed
for fully twenty-four hours before a ball is given.
At times the preparation treatment alone is suffi-
cient to restore a horse to its natural state. One
of the safest, most simple, and effective drenches
for a horse is i or 2 quarts of fresh yeast or
barm.

Water should be given when an animal comes in
from work in a pure and fresh condition, though not
too cold, and before feeding, to encourage eating,
and to prevent colic and the w^ashing away of the
food out of the stomach. It is safer to give it when
an animal is warm, if not over-heated, than after he
has been allowed to stand till cold and until the
circulation becomes less active.

When horses are at rest in the stable they should
have pure water within their reach at all times.

(.)

226 FARM LIVE STOCK.

There is danger of inflammation if a horse's belly
is wet when the animal is not accustomed to it.

Mud-fever is the result of too frequent washing of
the legs, adopted because it is the easiest way of
cleaning. If practised, the legs should be thoroughly
dried, or the animal be made to walk a mile or two
before going into the stable, so as to quicken the
circulation and prevent chilling of the skin through
the rapid evaporation of the water. If neglected,
the irritation, which begins about the heels, may
extend to the skin of the body, and make it neces-
sary to throw the animal out of work for a few
weeks.

The Grooming of farm-horses is far too little
practised. They should be well rubbed down with
dry straw on coming in, and thoroughly groomed
when the hair has dried, to get rid of dust, which is
to a large extent the remains of dried-up sweat.
Good grooming, by increasing its comfort, is as
good as an increase of food to an animal. To make
it more easily performed, and to add to the animal's
comfort, the hair from the under part of the body and
the legs above the knees and hocks may be removed
with advantage by clipping. The extremities, which
require protection to a greater degree than other
parts of the body, should be left with their natural
covering. Horses thrive best when thus relieved
of the surplus coat of hair. It is no uncommon sight
to see an undipped horse, which had got warm in
the yoke, still wet on the following morning. This
is an unnatural and unhealthy state of matters.

MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES. 22/

Litter. — Barley straw is objectionable as litter ;
12 to 14 lbs. per day of wheat or oat straw is
much better. Bedding should never be stored during
the day under the manger. When a good market
can be got for straw, moss litter may be substituted
at a much cheaper rate. This costs about 35s. per
ton, in 4-ton lots, carriage paid ; and i cwt. is
sufficient per horse per month while in the house.
If moss is allowed to become too wet before it is
removed, there is danger of injury to the hind feet
through the ammonia produced from the urine act-
ing upon the weaker parts of the horn, and causing
sores to break out about the heels.

Summer Season. — If horses are too highly fed
when on green food and not doing full work, they
are much more difficult to support in winter than
when they are kept in an ordinary way. Along
with green food 7 lbs. of oats, in two feeds per day,
is enough. When at hard work this may be doubled.
Some horses do not care to eat much corn when on
grass ; the teeth seem to get affected in the same
way as those of a man eating green apples.

There are two common summer systems of feed-
ing : First, To soil, or cut and carry home the green
food, and to turn horses when not at work loose into
a large open yard with shelter-sheds. Clover, grass,
vetches, and cabbages are all used in their season
when most abundant. This is the more economical
method if food is not plentiful, but it requires
additional labour to that necessary when horses are
grazed.

228 FARM LIVE STOCK.

The Second system is to turn them out to pasture
at night and while not at work. This is the easier
and more common practice. The disadvantages of
this method of treatment consist in horses, especially
if young, galloping and cutting up the grass, cast-
ing their shoes, and breaking their feet, and rubbing
down fences and gates ; besides the risk of catching
cold or contracting founder in the feet if carelessly
turned out before they have properly cooled.

In the south of England horses often go loose in
yards during winter. They get gentle exercise and
plent}' of fresh air to keep them healthy.

If a horse turn lame, he should not go to work,
else he will become worse. Rest, cold water cloths,
or fire and blister are the usual methods of treat-
ment.

A winter out at grass without his shoes, and being
allowed to get down in condition, but not too far,
renovates an old or any horse of whatever breed.
He takes sufficient exercise and goes so quietly
about, that a weak part is allowed to strengthen.
It is thought that frost also aids in the recovery of
unsound limbs.

A horse highly fed before will become much poorer
when turned out than if he had been moderately
kept, showing the mistake of excessive feeding
during summer.

A stallion will serve 80 marcs in the season, and
get on an average fort)' foals, if he is not made to
travel too great distances to find the mares. Some
valuable horses, when well cared for, may cover a

MANAGEMENT OE FARM HORSES. 229

hundred. A horse with one testicle down can get
foals, but he cannot do so if it is carried out of
sight.

Possibility of Improvement. — The average English
work horse might be much improved if farmers' clubs
would make greater efforts to secure the services of
good horses in special districts, and not leave it to
chance or private enterprise, which in a matter of
this kind is usually selfish.

2 30 FARM LIVE STOCK.

CHAPTER XVII.— SHEEP— BRITISH BREEDS.

Sheep— Classification — Fecundity — (leneral Points — Characteristics
of Different Breeds — Long-wools — Border Leicester — English
Leicester — Lincoln — Long-woolled Devon — Cotswold — \N'ens]ey-
dale — Kent, or Romney Marsh — Roscommon — Short-wools —
South Down, or Sussex — Shropshire Down — Hampshire Down —
Suffolk Down — Oxford Down — Clun Forest — Dorset and Somer-
set Horn — Ryeland— Mountain Breeds— Cheviot — Black-faced
Highland — Herd wick — Lonk — W'el^h Mountain — Old Tan-face
Welsh — Exmoor.

OHEEP belong to the genus Ovis. They have
been subjected to domestication for a very long
period. They are classed in various ways in this
country : Horned and Hornless, Black-faced and
White-faced, Mountain and Lowland, Long-wools
and .Short-wools, Long-tailed and Short-tailed. Ice-
land sheep have remarkably small and insignificant
tails. In the East there are sheep with rudimentary
tails and large masses of fat on the rump. Others,
again, have the fatty development in the tail
itself Two is the usual number of horns, but in
the Western Islands of Scotland remnants of the
ancient polycerated sheep exhibit four horns, or
even a greater number at times. A general char-
acter of the sheep is the presence of only one pair
of teats.

frof Wallace TcirrwLv.-e. Stock

^KiTisir isijas

Tte XdmbiiT^ Gew^apliic ftl Iniititut«

SHEEP — liRITISII BREEDS. 231

Fecundity, or the power of being prolific, differs
much in different breeds, and in different specimens
of the same breed. Some bear single lambs, some
twins, and some triplets, while four and even five
have been known to come at one time. Although
the local surroundings, including the kind, quality,
and quantity of food, have much to do in deter-
mining the issue, )-et there is unquestionably an
inherent propensity in certain ewes to follow certain
habits in the matter of producing certain numbers
of offspring. The tendency may have been in-
duced by similar local conditions favourable to a
particular object being continued through genera-
tions, and thus made accumulative. If sheep are
well fed (but not too fat), and the young of those
bearing twins bred from, the flock after a time be-
comes distinctly more prolific.

Points applicable to most British Breeds
OF Sheep.

{Exceptions zvill be named z^'Jien they ocenr.)

1. A good carnage and springy style of walking.

2. Xeck thick towards the trunk, tapering to the
head, arching slightly, and not too short.

3. Bod}' deep, and projecting well over the fore-
legs ; under and upper lines straight.

4. Back level and broad behind and before, ex-
cept in Cheviots and Lonks, which have sharp
shoulders.

232 FARM LIVE STOCK.

5. Ribs well sprung and rounded.

6. Shoulders well covered with firm flesh. The
parts immediately behind the .shoulders well filled
up.

7. Thighs or gigots and also the foreflanks well
fleshed down.

8. Rump, or part near the dock, well developed,
though not too large, as is sometimes the case in
Cotswolds, Border Leicesters, and other heavy fleshed
breeds.

9. Legs straight, not too long nor the bone coarse.
The hocks are much better slightly out than at all
in or " cow hocked."

10. The Body, and particularly the belly, well
covered with the characteristic wool of the special
breed.

ClIAK.\CTERI.STICS OF DIFFERENT BrEED.S.

Long-iuools, luithoiit Horns, excepting Jllonntain
Sheep.

The Border Leicester was bred at first from Bakc-
well's Leicester by crossing with the Cheviot, but
now ranks as a pure breed, and is one of the best
of the Leicesters.

Special Points.

(i.) Head well set on, long, broad between the
ryes, but not up on the crown, nor too heavy
behind the ears, which would cause difficulty in
lambing.

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SHEEP— BRITISH BREEDS. 233

(2.) Muzzle large, open, and black.

(3.) Hair on face and legs white and hard, but
not so wiry as in the Cheviot, extending well back
behind the ears.

(4.) Ears not too large nor drooping, white inside
and out. Black spots appear sometimes with

(5.) TJie belly comparatively light, said to "carry
little offal," giving a leggy appearance when without
the wool.

(6.) TJie wool long, soft, and in little locks, not too
open coated.

(7.) Fat tegs, at thirteen to fifteen months old,
weigh 23 lbs. to 25 lbs. per quarter.

The Improved English Leicester is the smallest
of the Leicester breeds, and has been longer an im-
proved breed than any long-wool except the Cotswold.
Bakewell did this by in-brceding and selection. It
has been much used in crossing to improve other
breeds.

Special Points.

(i.) Alild tempered, and thus suited to laying on
fat.

(2.) Head not too short, though smaller than in the
Border Leicester ; the face white with a blue tinge,
and hair not so hard as in the Border Leicester.

(3.) Bones very fine.

(4.) Hindquarters often not so large as they ought
to be.

234 FARM LIVE STOCK.

(5.) Great aptitude to fatten early, both in the pure
breed and its crosses.

(6.) Mutton best when not over twelve months old
(weighing under 20 lbs. per quarter), being greasy
and inferior if well fed and not killed till two years,
old.

(7.) Ewes not first-rate milkers, and lambs inclined
to be tender on account of the close-breeding.

The Improved Lincoln is white-faced, and is as
large as any sheep in England, — a shade larger than
the Cotswold, — and got by crossing the old Lincoln,
which was famous for great length and quantity of
wool, with the English Leicester. There is still a
tuft of wool on the forehead, though not so much as
of old. The fattening qualities have improved,
although the wool has shortened in length, lessened
in quantity, and deteriorated in quality and in lustre.
The wool of the breed as it now exists is nevertheless
of superior quality : The staple of well-bred tegs is
about as broad as two of a man's fingers.

The Long-wool Devon is very like the Lincoln,
but is not so large. It is coarser boned, and does
not show so much breeding. The face is white, with
a lock on the forehead, and woolled well on to the
cheeks. It has a mixture of Leicester blood, and it
has at times been dashed with the Cotswold, which
it also resembles to some extent.

The Cotswold is named from the Cotswold Hills,

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and is one of the oldest breeds, with very distinct
characteristics. It, too, has been improved by intro-
duction of Leicester blood, and is now large and
hardy, and well suited to feeding on stiff land, even
when pretty wet. The flesh is coarse when sheep
are aged. At twelve to fifteen months old they ought
to weigh 25 lbs. to 28 lbs. per quarter. Tegs more
moderately fed, and " run over " till two }'ears old,
get up to 35 lbs. or more per quarter.

Points. — Strong faces usually white, sometimes
gray, with legs to match. Dark colouring makes
the Cotswold more like a Down cross, and helps to
sell the mutton. A large tuft of wool covers the fore-
head and ought to hang down almost to the nostrils.
The ewes are fair milkers, and prolific when not too
fat or the rump too large. The clip of wool averages
6 to 8 lbs. for ewes. The staple is long, neither
close nor too open, and rather coarse in quality. The
belly, and particularly the scrotum or " purse," should
be well covered with wool.

Through being an old breed of good size, it is well
suited to crossing with ewes of short-woolled and
smaller boned and finer varieties, provided the heads
of the rams are not too large, to avoid the difficulty
the ewe might experience in giving birth to the
lamb.

The Wensleydale is a large, high-standing York-
shire-Leicester breed, with a characteristic blue
colour in the skin of the face and ears, but which
sometimes extends to the whole of the body, though

236 FARM LIVE STOCK

the shade is deeper on the bare or hairy parts. The
dark colour is cultivated, because in the extensive
use of the rams in crossing with the Scotch Black-
faced breed it is found that dark blue rams throw
dark faced lambs, a point which is considered valu-
able. The lambs bred in this way are called
^'crosses" in Scotland, where they are extensively
kept for " hogging." In the east of Yorkshire and
in Lincolnshire, where many thousands of them are
annually bought and fattened during winter, they go
by the name of " Mashams."

Wool of uniform open character, long, and divided
into little knots or pirls, should cover nearly the
whole surface of the body, including the forehead be-
tween the eyes, round the ears, and on the belly and
scrotum. The back of the hind-legs down to the hoofs,
and at times even the fore-legs, have downy wool on
them. Hairy wool on the thighs is objectionable.

The head is of good size, and well carried on a
long and strong neck, giving much greater style to
the breed than is usual with most Leicesters.

The nose should be wide, and in the ram slightly
arched ; the back of the head flat and the ears large,
but well set on and well carried. The breed is
specially noted for the absence of patchiness or ex-
cess of fat. The crosses bred from it are slower in
coming to maturity than those of Border-Leicester
or the other breeds of long-woolled sheep ; but the
quality of flesh produced, the hardy constitution and
active disposition, enable it to maintain the position
of first favourite in many district.s.

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The Kent or Romney Marsh is a hardy white-
faced breed, which is related to the Cheviot, and
much resembles it in general appearance. It has
been improved much by crossing with the Leicester.
Kent sheep are frequently not fed in winter when
on natural pasture, and do not lamb till April. A
lamb to each ewe is thus a good crop. The wool
is good, and it is one of the closest coated of the
long-wools. The fore-lock is sometimes wanting,
and on account of the various irregularities the
type is not distinct, though the form of the best
class is compact and s)'mmetrical.

The Roscommon is an Irish breed, to be seen in
Connaught. It was improved from the old form by
selection and crossing with the Leicester. It is quite
as large, if not larger than the Cotswold or Lincoln,
and the mutton is said to be of finer quality. The
fleeces are long, heavy, and silky.

SJiort-ii'Ooh ; all Hornless except zvhcre stated.

The Sussex or Southdown is the breed through
which all the other Downs have been improved by
crossing with the old-fashioned varieties of the
different districts. It is short-legged, and all round
most compact and symmetrical, but particular!}- good
in the hindquarters. The present form of the breed
has been attained by selection from the original breed,
which was light in the forequarters, and legg}'.

The head is small and neat, woolled close up to-

238 FARM LIVE STOCK.

the ears and on the forehead ; naked ears are most
objectionable. The face and legs are of a gray-brown
colour.

The fleece from a ewe weighs about 3 or 4 lbs.,
is short, close, and of fine quality, and should be
free of hard projecting fibres. Open, long, coarse
wool has been imported in the attempt to increase
the size by crossing, and it is very objectionable.

The flesh is of excellent quality, but can be easily
made too fat. The average weight for well-kept tegs
should be about 18 lbs. per quarter at twelve months,
and the offal is little in amount as compared with
that of other breeds. Fat wethers rising two years old,
belonging to Lord Bathurst, and sold in Cirencester
market in the first week of December 1884, dres.sed
to 138 lbs. per carcase, or 345 lbs per quarter dead-
weight ; and yielded 65"83 per cent, dead-weight to
live-weight.

The original habitat of this breed was the region
of the low chalk-hills of Sussex and the neighbouring
counties. Away from this they are usually kept as
ornamental sheep in parks, where they are at times
made into five-year-old mutton. They are not good
rent-payer.s, except in their native district, being
small, and also liable to foot-rot.

The Shropshire Down breed of the present time
has been produced by crossing the old form with
Southdowns to give quality, and Leicesters to main-
tain the size. Now any imported blood is objection-
able, as it spoils the type.

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The face is longer and larger than that of the
Southdown ; the nose slightly Roman ; and the ears
larger, and showing a more sprightly appearance.
The face and legs are of a blackish brown ; the latter
often darker than the former, which is usually tinged
with gray (^more at some seasons than at others)
round the nose, eyes, and on the jaw. White spots
on either face or legs are objectionable, and black
spots on the body are equally so. Transparent ears
■are bad, showing a want of the necessary hairy
covering, and a tendency to softness through in-
breeding.

The wool should be free from black, of fine quality,
and closely set, although a little longer than South-
down ; and the skin underneath of a pinky flesh-
colour. A good average fleece in an ordinary ewe
flock weighs 7 or 8 lbs, ; those of ram tegs and
highly fed ewes more. Heavy clips of wool are often
coarse. Dead-weight, 20 to 22 lbs. per quarter at
twelve months old.

This breed has spread quickly in England within a
few years. They were extensively tried in Scotland
(about 1882) to cross with native sheep. The crosses,
like the pure breed, are remarkably well covered on
the back with flesh, and make excellent fat Iamb, as
they come forward early, but they have not been a
success when kept as hoggs, being much smaller in
size than the Leicester cross, which they were
expected to supersede. Another disadvantage of
the Shropshire for the purpose of crossing with sheep
on hill pastures is that their lambs are too bare for

240 FARM LINE STOCK.

the first few days after birth ; they cannot resist the
cold in very storm\^ seasons.

The Hampshire Down breed has its natural
habitat on the chalks of Hampshire and the region
h'ing immediately north and west ; hence called the
West Country Down. It was improved from the
old Wilts and Hants sheep by crossing with the
Southdown and by selection.

It is larger, coarser-looking, and lower set than
the Shropshire, and not easily fed to " handle fat "
when young, though often forced to great weights by
high feeding. The ewes get perhaps i lb. per day
of a mixture of equal parts of linseed cake and peas
or Egyptian beans, until the lambs begin to eat ;
then this is gradually taken from the ewes and given
to the lamb.s. With abundance of natural food in
addition, a ram lamb should increase from 19 lbs. at
dropping, in January, to 150 lbs. live-weight on ist
August. Lambs can be got early, as the ewes come
in season sooner than most sheep. If kept for tegs
in an ordinary way, they should weigh 20 to 22 lbs.
per quarter at thirteen or fourteen months old. The
flesh is of fine quality, and all over firm to the touch.

Points. — Head large, with strong Roman nose,
and free from " slugs," " snags," " snigs," or budding
horns. Faces and legs almost black ; light faces
indicate recent crossing with the Southdown. The
wool should be free from black patches, and grow
close up to and round the ears, close and fine all
over the body, and shed white with a pink skin

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underneath. The average weight of fleece is 4^ to
5 lbs. for ewes.

Ears a good size, and more pointed than in the
Southdown ; of a dark mouse colour behind, and free
from light specks.

The forequarters are particularly good, and the
top of the shoulder extremely broad. A conspicuous
■defect of the breed is a falling away behind the
shoulder.

The Suffolk resembles much the Hampshire, but
it is not quite so compact and low set, and the short
hair on the face and ears is black, and it extends down
the back of the head so that the ears are not sur-
rounded with wool as in the case of the Southdown.

It was bred originally from the hardy, horned,
black-faced Norfolk sheep by crossing with the
South Down to give compactness and early maturity,
and also with the Hampshire, to maintain size and
weight. The breed has been so recently formed that
uniformity of type has not yet been secured. Flocks
in the eastern districts partake strongly of the old
Norfolk characters, viz., dark face, light bone, and
active habits. Those to the west are, as a rule, kept
on better land ; they have lighter faces, greater
aptitude to fatten, and get up to greater weight.

The Suffolk breed was not recognised as of suffi-
cient importance to form a class at the Royal
Agricultural Society's shows until 1886. Since that
time it has made rapid strides of advancement. A
Suffolk Sheep Society has been organized with the

242 FARM LIVE STOCK.

object of protection and improvement. The animal
they have under their care is possessed of great
strength of constitution and character, and abundance
of bone and flesh ; and the objects before them
ought to be to equaHze and refine the type by
judicious selection.

The Oxford Down is a breed comparatively
recently formed by crossing Hampshire ewes with
Cotswold rams. It is the largest Down, although
Hants tegs, being dropped sooner and consequently
older, weigh more at the London Christmas fat shows.
The mutton is good quality, weighing 20 to 23 lbs.
per quarter at twelve to fourteen months old.

Points. — The face is not so dark, nor the shoulder
so broad, as in the Hampshire. The type is not so
well defined, showing more of the crossed origin.
Rams from old-standing flocks cross well with hill-
breeds and inferior sheep, but breeding from the
produce of a recent cross is not to be depended
upon.

Flocks of cross-ewes arc sometimes kept for
breeding fattening tegs. When they get light faced,
a pure Hampshire ram is turned in for a year, and
when rather dark, a Cotswold is used in preference.
A Shropshire ram on a cross-ewe produces a sheep
with a much better covering of flesh along the
back.

Oxford wool is longer and more open or loose
than that of other Down sheep ; fleeces of ewes
average 6 or 7 lbs. each.

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The Clun Forest Breed belongs to the Chin dis-
trict of Shropshire, the south of Radnorshire, and the
adjoining portions of Montgomery. It is sometimes
called in these localities the Radnor-forest or Kerry-
hill sheep. It is bred from the tan-face sheep that
at one time abounded in that region, by crossing
with hard}- Shropshire and black-faced Longmynd
mountain rams. TheLongmynds have been quite sup-
planted by them. The ewes are excellent mothers ;
crossed with a Shropshire ram they produce Easter
fat lamb, which would weigh, if kept till early
summer, 17 lbs. to 18 lbs. per quarter. Ewes and
two-year old wethers get up to 28 lbs. per quarter.
The wether-mutton is sold in the " West End " as
Welsh, dressed with a tuft of wool left on the tail,
which is naturally long, on account of the breed
being semi-mountainous.

The wool is about the same weight as Shropshire,
but a little coarser.

The Dorset and Somerset Horn is a white-faced
breed, with a close, short fleece, weighing 4 or 5 lbs.,
and a tuft of wool on the forehead. The nose, hoofs,
and legs are white. In size it is a little larger than
the Southdown.

The great peculiarity of the breed is, that the
ewes take the ram as early as April, and breed
" house-lamb " ready for Christmas. They tup
again soon after lambing, and thus give two crops
each year. The ewes are often tupped for the
last time by a Southdown ram, so that the lambs

244 FARM LIVE STOCK.

are got sooner ripe, and with dark faces and no
horns.

Downs or Down-crosses are usually supposed to
give the best quality of mutton, and there is con-
sequently a run upon dark faces and legs, as butchers
can more easily dispose of the mutton of dark-faced
sheep.

The Ryeland Breed (named from the Ryelands
of Hereford, a poor upland di.strict) is perhaps the
breed of longest standing in England. Merinos are
said to have been improved ages ago by crossing
with Ryeland rams. The breed resists any attempt
at improvement by crossing with other breeds. It
is compact and hardy, and fattens readily when
liberally fed up to 20 lbs. per quarter at twelve to
fourteen months old. Pure-bred lambs and also
crosses by a Ryeland ram on ewes of other breeds
make excellent butchers' lambs. They are dropped
in a fat condition, and when well managed they
retain it in virtue of their natural hardiness of con-
stitution.

Both rams and ewes are polled, have white faces
and legs, and a tuft of wool on the forehead. The
wool is short and exceptionally fine in quality, more
like the wool of the Merino than that of any other
British breed. The fleece weighs about 7 or 8 lbs.
on an average in the case of well-kept sheep. The
breed is almost free from foot-rot, unless when this
is communicated to them by contact.

The Ryeland sheep were supplanted to a large

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extent some years ago during the rage for Shrop-
shire and other improved Downs, but the tendency
of recent times has been to breed them up again,
and to greatly improve upon the original form by
selection. It is estimated that there are only about
thirty flocks of Ryeland sheep at the present time,
twenty-five of which are located in Hereford and
Brecknockshire, while, perhaps, two or three places
may be found where they are bred in each of the
counties of Monmouth, Gloucester, and Worcester.

Mountain Breeds.

The Cheviot is named from the range of hills on
the Scotch and English border, its native district.
The ewes pasture on the lower and less exposed
green hills all over Scotland. Cheviot wethers and
Black-faced Highland ewes go to greater heights, or
occupy positions on the black or more heathery
land at lower elevations.

The face and legs should be well covered with
short, hard, wiry, pure-white hair, which extends
over the ears and well back behind the head.

Horns in the ram, though not always present, are
not objected to, being thought a sign of hardiness,
if " clean," and not thick like those of the Black-
faced breed. The nose of the ram is highly arched
or Roman. The nostrils are black, and the eyes
dark, very full and bright.

The wool is moderately long, and should be close

246 FARM LIVE STOCK.

set, not open or curly, but straight and free from
" kcmp " or dead hairs, covering well all parts of the
body, including the belly, breast, and legs down to
the knees and hocks. Ewes clip 4^ to 5 lbs. of
washed wool.

The tail is long, and should be very rough. It is
cut so that the point reaches the hough. [The tails
of mountain sheep are left long to protect the udders
in cold weather, and because, on natural food, they
are not so liable to scour and get dirty, as sheep on
turnips and artificial foods. Shetland and Iceland
sheep have not tails long enough to act as a pro-
tection, but there is an unusual amount of wool on
the inner part of the thighs, which serves the purpose
quite as well.]

The shoulders are high and sharp at the withers.

The fashionable form of Cheviot is now shorter,
smaller, and more compact, and the wool closer and
thicker set, since a series of bad seasons, down to
1879, showed that the larger varieties with loose
open fleeces were not so hardy. The old, original
Cheviot was a very close-coated, short-woolled, and
remarkably hardy sheep, — more hardy, it is recorded,
than the Scotch Black-Face, which is far from being
the case in the breed as now represented.

The ewes are good milkers if not starved, as they
are in bad seasons, when the natural food on which
they subsist is late in springing.

Cast ewes fed on turnips for twelve to fourteen
weeks, and wethers from the hills at three years off,
weigh, killed and dressed, 70 to 80 lbs. : wethers a

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SHEEP — MOUNTAIN BREEDS. 247

year younger, and finished on turnips, come up to
about the same weight.

Cast, draught, or cull ewes, at fiv^e years old, go
from the hills into the low country and better food,
to be " milled " or crossed with W'ensleydale, Border
Leicester, or Lincoln rams. The produce is called
*' Half-bred," or Leicester-Cheviot." Those kept for
ewes produce " Three-part-breds."

Half-breds, when fat at twelve to thirteen months
old, weigh 16 to 18 lbs. per quarter, and the
flesh is leaner and of better quality than that of
the Leicester.

The Scotch Black-faced Highland Breed is smaller
than the Cheviot, much hardier, and thrives better
on coarse pasture, as on black, heathery land. The
wool is curly, loose and shaggy, down nearly to the
ground, and more hairy and kempy than Cheviot
wool. It is specially valuable in coarse manu-
factures, such as carpet making ; and as it is less
liable to foreign competition than other wools, it
fluctuates less in price. The fleece averages 3I to
4h lbs. from ewes, and is usually clipped unwashed.
Much is exported to America when the price is not
over 6d. per lb. Then it can be imported with a
much smaller duty than higher-priced wools. Black
or blue spots on the neck, tail, or other parts of the
wool-producing portion of the skin of a black-faced
sheep are objectionable.

The face and legs are black or mottled (but the
colours should be distinct, clear, and free from dun

248 FARM LIVE STOCK.

or brown), smooth and glossy, and no wool among-
the hair.

The nose is strong and prominent, but not so
much arched as the nose of the Cheviot, and the
nostrils are wide and black.

The horns of the ram are large, coming out level
from the crown of the head, not rising above it or
joining together at the base, but taking one or more
spiral turns according to age. The corkscrew-like curl
of the horn is in a forward direction, and should so in-
cline, that room is left between the horns for the face.

In the ewe the horns are small, thin, flattened
and curved, but not spirally twisted.

The ears are short and small, but hidden by the
horns in the ram, and not much looked to in judging.
The back is broad all the way, including the part at
the shoulder. The tail is naturally short, not often
hanging lower than the hock, and consequently does
not require cutting. Old ewes should have rough
tails. When they lose the wool and become " whip-
tailed," they are not worth so much in the market.

The mutton is of the finest quality, especially from
three, four, or five-year-old wethers, or young and
tender lambs. A wether fat from the hill at three
years off should weigh 16 to 18 lbs. per quarter.

The " Black-faced " sheep is wild and active, and
when thriving best must travel about much ; suiting
it to its native pastures better than to a low district,
where it is liable to be affected with foot-rot. The
breed is supposed to have come originally from
the Ettrick Forest.

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SHEEP — MOUNTAIN BREEDS. 249^

The produce of a Black-faced ewe by a Leicester
ram is called a" Cross " or "Mule;" by a Cheviot
ram a " Half-long " — the latter because a Black-Face
is sometimes termed the " short " sheep, and a
Cheviot the " long " sheep. As ewes these sheep of
mixed breed are good milkers.

The Herdwick Breed supplies the hardies of hilT
sheep, and is found in greatest numbers on the
mountains of Cumberland and Westmorland. A
few flocks have been taken to Wales and other parts,
and there is a distinct tendency towards increase in
numbers.

It is recorded that the breed came to this country
about the time of the Spanish Armada, and that
" forty small sheep managed to save themselves from
the wreck of a Spanish vessel stranded on the sandy
coast of Drigg, and were claimed as jetsam and
flotsam by the then lord of the manor."

From these foundlings the present breed has
descended. Any attempt to cross the Herdwick
with other breeds with the object of improving it
has been unsuccessful. Horns may be present or
absent on thie rami, though not on the ewe. They are
rather appreciated, though not considered essential.

Black should be the colour of the heads and legs
of the lambs when dropped, with the small exception
of a white tip to the ears, and possibly a fringe of
white hair round the hoofs. The white gradually
extends from the starting points indicated, and from
a ring which develops round the muzzle, till at three

2SO FARM LIVE STOCK.

years of age the face is left either white, Hke the
hoofs, or steel gray in colour. These colours should
be free from spots or speckles, or from a brown
tinge. The wool is strong and coarse, and inclined
to be hairy about the top of the shoulder. The poll
should be well covered with wool, and the forehead
with the forelock ; the tail bushy and broad. There
are some unique customs in the management of
this breed which are not commonly met with among
other breeds of sheep : ist, Such as smearing the teats
of the ewes with plasters of pitch to prevent the lamb
sucking ; 2;/^', Painting the wool of the ram a bright
red colour, so that the ewes as they come in season
are enabled to find the ram in uneven hilly ground.

The wethers at three or four years old, and also
fat ewes, may weigh from 12 to 18 lbs. per quarter,
and the mutton is of excellent quality.

The Lonk Sheep is a native of the Lancashire,
Yorkshire, and some of the Derbyshire hills. It
most resembles the Scotch Black-Face, but is leggier,
has a larger body and bigger head, a longer and
rougher tail, and in the ewe stronger horns. In
constitution it is not .so hardy as the Black-Face, but
has a shorter, closer, finer and heavier fleece — weighing
4^ to 5 lbs. from ewes kept in moderate condition.

The rams have been used to cross with Black-faced
ewes to try to increase the size and improve the
wool, but it has not succeeded, the constitution of the
produce being softened. The fat weight is slightly
jnore than that of the Highland Black-Face.

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Welsh Mountain Sheep are very hardy, and
equally representative of the breed whether they are
horned or hornless, white-faced or white, with more
■or less of a brown tinge, which is also seen on the
legs. They are very active and difficult to fence, on
account of their jumping proclivities, when brought
down to the low country to breed the last crop of
lambs, as is usually the case with mountain sheep at
five years old. The mutton is very fine, but the
Aveight small — 12 to 14 lbs. per quarter.

The wool is coarse but not very close : weight
per fleece between 2 and 3 lbs. from ewes.

The Tan Face is a very old Welsh mountain breed
yet met with, but in smaller numbers than formerly,
in Radnorshire, about Abbey-cwm-hir * and St
Harmon, and shown as a distinct class at the Rad-
norshire Agricultural Show, annually held at Penny-
bout. A short-legged, hardy little breed, with close
fleece of fine wool on the back and sides, but rather
coarse underneath.

Exmoor Sheep somewhat resemble Dorsets, but
are more hardy. They have white faces, with black
nostrils, and the horns slant more back. The wool
is close and fine, weighing 4 or 5 lbs. a fleece.
Exmoors are larger than Welsh sheep. The mutton
is also very good.

* Cwm-hir (pronounced) cooni here, Welsh for long-valley.

252 P'ARM LIVE STOCK.

CHAPTER XVIII. -MANAGEMENT OP SHEEP
ON CULTIVATED LAND AND LOW
COUNTRY PASTURE— THE EWE AND
LAMB.

Tupping Time — Winter Pasture — Ewes not in Lamb — The Lambing
Pen — Parturition — Early Treatment of the Lamb — Food of the
Ewe — Lambs' Food — Castration — Washing — Shearing — W^ean-
ing.

^ < 'T^UPPIXG " or " Ride " time commences usually^
where the cHmate is moderate, about the
first week of September, or at any later period,
varying with the district, till about 22nd November
(Martinmas), when hill-rams go to the ewes. The
date is often governed by the time the ewes begin to
come in season : for instance, Hampshires will tup in
the beginning of August, whereas hill ewes frequently
do not " come in " before the end of October.

Cast ewes (four-year-old) and " culls," or those
unfit for breeding, are " drawn " out when the lambs
are weaned, or at any more suitable time before the
ram goes among them. By being put on good food,
such as rape or mustard, for ten days before tupping
time ewes get into an improving condition and pro-
duce more doubles. The object may also be accom-
plished by giving each h lb. of oats daily, if the green
food cannot be had.

The ewes and rams should be all arranged together
according to their different qualities and characters,.

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 253

SO that the flock may have a type of its own. One
ram goes to sixty ewes, or more if he is kept by
himself, and a " chaser " or " teaser " lamb, with a
cloth sewed on to his belly, put out to find the ewes
as they come in season.

A shepherd should notice if ewes "come back" at
the end of sixteen days. A mechanical way of
finding this out is to use three colours of paint,
usually blue, red, and black. The breast, or some-
times the inside of one fore-leg of the ram is rubbed
with blue at first for rather more than two weeks,
red is used for the next period of sixteen days, and
black for a third period. The ewe's rump is marked
■while being tupped, and according to the colour of
the last marking the time of lambing is approxi-
mately known. A ewe marked twice should be put
beside another ram for a third trial, as she is less
likely to hold to the first ram than to another. This
is often accomplished by putting several lots together.
Ewes go with lamb between twenty-one and twenty-
two weeks. At the end of six weeks, when the tups
are taken up, the ewes should run over stubbles and
poor pasture, or follow fattening sheep to clean up
the remains of turnips or other rejected food : they
should be kept thriving, but not made fat.

Ewes going on pasture during winter should
have ^ ton of roots per 100 per day up till lambing,
and I ton per day, or 22"4 lbs. each, after lambing,
along with i or 2 lbs. of hay or good oat straw in
racks. This should be slightly increased should
snow cover the ground. Ten days before lambing

254 FARM LIVE STOCK.

begins each ewe should have ^ lb. of a mixture of
concentrated artificial food, — such as crushed peas^
Egyptian beans, and cake, with oats (whole), and
bran, varying in quantity to suit the condition of the
bowels. Heavy milking ewes, those with double
lambs, should have this increased, but not to more
than I lb. The mixture is gradually taken off as the
lambs learn to eat more. Some give no extra food,
and some give too much, and set it down to bad luck
if the lambs do not thrive. It is as great a mistake
to have stock too fat as too lean : there is more risk
in producing young of small size, and there is les.s^
milk for them. On an ordinary farm, 25 lambs to
every 20 ewes is a good crop ; 30 lambs is very good.
With extra care, and by breeding only from ewes that
have been born as twins, even 35, or in the case of
small and exceptionally successful flocks, even 40
lambs may sometimes be got.

Sheep not in lamb (eild) may be noticed near to
or in lambing time —

1. By their jumping and playing in good weather.

2. By being less bulky, and no lamb being felt
when the ewe is turned up, and the tips of the fingers
pressed against the lower part of the belly.

3. By having no " show " or increase in size of the
udder.

4. By the appearance on the bare parts about the
udder of a considerable amount of yellow waxy
excretion that does not look like cleaning off; and

5. By the wool being more firmly attached near to
the udder.

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP.

255,

The lambing pen is an open, well-littered yard
made of hurdles thatched with straw to ^ive warmth

256 FARM LIVE STOCK.

and shelter to the young lambs in stormy weather.
Small covered pens, each 4I feet square, are ranged
round the north, east, and west sides, at the rate of
30 to 35 for 200 ewes. The cost of the labour of
erecting one of the size named is from £2, los. to
i^3. It should be placed on dry ground, in a
sheltered place if possible, and on a slope sufficient
to let surface water run off

Ewes " coming near their work " are brought in at
night, so that they may be more carefully tended.
Ewes do not lamb nearly so frequently at night as
late in the evening and early in the morning.
Lambing is more easy in moist than in dry weather.

The shepherd lives in a wooden house on wheels,
fitted with a stove, and placed close to the pen to
enable him to give his whole attention to the flock.

During parturition assistance by hand should
never be given too soon. Should the head appear,
immediate action is necessary to prevent the death
of the lamb by strangulation. When parturition is
natural, the two fore-legs come first, then the head.
A steady pull is usually successful. In false pre-
sentations lambs have often to be turned round
before they can be got out. Turning is most
easily accomplished when the ewe is held up by
her hind legs by an assistant. The hands, after
washing, should be oiled with carbolic oil, one part
of pure carbolic (Gresser's, not the crude or brown
carbolic) to seven or eight of sweet oil. Half an
ounce to one ounce of the mixture should be put
into the vagina afterwards, to prevent inflammation

managb:ment of sheep.

(the resultof injury,or the presence
of putrid matter, as when the lamb
is dead), which causes " straining."
Inversion of the uterus (com-
monly called the " lamb-bed," or
in Gloucestershire, the " wither "
or "wether") is thus prevented.
When this does occur, it should
be washed with tepid water (cold
water gives pain) and pressed
gently back, with the hand held
flat, taking care not to pierce the
organ with the fingers. The oil
should in such a case have a few
drops of laudanum in it to help
to soothe. To retain it in its
position, a i-inch mesh-net made
of strong twine may be put on
round the hips and covering the
tail, the ends passing along the
sides of the animal, and termi-
nating in fastenings to a rope
tied round the heart-girth after
the fashion of the cow-breeches
already described at page i6o.
If the net is not to be had, locks
of wool may be tied tightly across
from each hip, or the lips of the
vulva may be stitched together.

Early Treatment of the Lamb.
— When it is necessary to bring
into the house lambs that have
been chilled, they should not be

Net Breech f.s for a
Ewe.
S

258 FARM LIVE STOCK.

put too near a fire, because a sudden change of
temperature gives an injurious shock to the nervous
system. The full cows' milk, without water, given
warm (blood heat), .should have in it a little gin or
sweet nitre to aid urination. Stricture, the result of
cold, is most common in male lambs, and is relieved
by gently rubbing the belly with the hand while the
lamb is held up by the fore-legs.

A motherless lamb, while young, should be fed
five or six times a day to prevent scour. The
giving of a little cows' milk to a lamb while it is
sucking its mother often causes diarrhoea or consti-
pation, and results in cold weather in swelled and
stiff joints.

In " twinning on " a double lamb to a ewe which
has a dead one, the skin of the latter is often put on
the living lamb for a day or two to give it the smell
with which the ewe is familiar, and can distinguish it if
she has been allowed to lick her own lamb. Should
she not have licked it, another lamb may be at once
substituted for the dead one without any precaution
further than that of rubbing its body over with the
slime adhering to the skin of the dead lamb. Whisky
rubbed on her nose and on the lamb destroys
her scent sufficiently to deceive her .soon after
lambing, when the instinctive fondness for the
young is strongest.

Food of the Ewe. — About the end of March or
beginning of April, ewes on arable land are removed
from around the ewe-pen, where they have had
sprouting white swedes, or late sown green-round

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 259

turnips, which' stand the winter well, to encourage
the flow of milk. The lambs are allowed to run
loose in front of the ewes by the hurdles being made
so that they can pass through.

One acre (15-ton crop) is usually set aside per
week all winter for every 200 ewes, or 24 lbs. each
per day. Shelter is got from thatched or wattled
hurdles set up thus +. The ewes are put for a week
or ten days on to early pasture (" seeds ") ; next on to
rye for three weeks to finish before the end of April ;
then on to clover, vetches, or some other forage crop ;
swedes or mangels follow, and later on cabbages are
thrown to them on the field to supply a change of
food.

Lambs are allowed to become accustomed to eat
cake and corn before being weaned by enclosing
their troughs within hurdles, through which they
alone can pass. This is most important in feeding
for fat lamb. Store male lambs are castrated at two
or three weeks old, but not during frost, which would
make them stiff ; nor in a very hot sun, which might
cause excessive bleeding if the testicles are pulled.
Lambs at times faint after castration, but soon
recover. Marking by taking nips from the ears, if
not done before, is now performed, and the tail
docked to keep the sheep clean, should the solid
droppings at any time become abnormally thin.

Three coniinon ways of Castration: — 1st, The
scrotum is either slit or the top cut off by a knife,
and the testicles drawn away by the teeth of the
operator.

26o FARM LIVE STOCK.

2nd, By iron clams and the actual cautery after
the scrotum has been cut into. If a lamb is stiff
next day it should be bathed with hot water in the
region of the wounded part.

yd, By hazel-wood clams spread with lard inside,
dipped in powdered sulphate of copper, placed on
to grip the necks of the strings supporting the
testicles, and left on for half-an-hour to prevent
bleeding after the testicles have been cut away. The
top of the purse or scrotum is removed in this
instance.

The two latter methods are not so liable to cause
inflammation, and there is no danger, as in the case
of drawing, of rupture, or bleeding in the region of the
kidneys, causing a lamb to pine, though it does not
die at the time. The third method is the safest, but
takes much more time than the others. It is the
most suitable when old lambs or old sheep are to be
castrated.

Washing, which should be done ten days before
clipping, is usual in the case of most Lowland breeds
of sheep, though not practised with the Scotch Black-
faced breed. It is never done in salt water, as this
spoils the wool for keeping. There should be a
watertight box in the centre of the pond for the man
doing the washing to stand in, in place of in the
water. He gets hold of a sheep and keeps it moving
about until the " yolk " or " eik " is washed out.
Yolk is an excretion from the skin chiefly, but pos-
sibly also to some extent from the wool itself, which
keeps the wool soft and greasy to touch. It contains

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 261

much potash, and is most abundant on the IMerino
breed. Hill sheep, as Cheviots, are simply thrown
into a large pond and made to swim through it once
or twice.

Clipping or Shearing is dependent on the weather,
and, in the case of lean sheep, on the "rise" of new
wool. Unless for special purposes, sheep are clipped
in the new growth of wool.

Eild sheep, or those not giving milk, are shorn
first : on from the beginning of May in the south,
and ewes three or four weeks later. Exposure to
cold by early clipping greatly diminishes the flow
of milk, and might also cause death from inflam-
mation.

The new wool left is not so close as in sheep of
higher condition. Show sheep are clipped in early
spring, but are kept under cover. Fat sheep clipped
for the early spring market have woollen sheets put
on them if the weather is at all cold. Neglect of
this is punishable by a fine.

Lambs are not shorn the first year, except in a
few districts where they are highly kept, and are a
good size when summer comes.

Twenty-five to thirty stock sheep of a large breed
is a good number for a man to clip in a day : the
cost is 3s. per score when done by piecework. If
restricted to twenty per day, as in fat sheep for
market, which have to be clipped over the back,
and done bare and well, the cost is 4s. per score.

At this time the sheep are usually " buisted " or
marked by a large iron letter dipped in hot Arch-

262 FARM LIVE STOCK.

angel tar, darkened in colour with a little lamp-
black. As the wool gets pretty long, these markings
become first indistinct and then unreadable, and
paint or red keel is rubbed on some part of the wool,
after mixing either with water, or, if wanted to be
more permanent, with linseed oil.

After all earth and dung (" clarts ") are removed,
each fleece of wool is carefully rolled inside out,
except in such cases as that of Black-faced wool,
where it is rolled the other way. The neck end is
last rolled on, and made into a band by twisting, to
tie the whole together. The wool, while warm,
should be at once packed in bags, as the operation
is then more easily and better accomplished.

Certain lands and climates produce better and
finer wool than others, whatever be the breed of
sheep. The Australian fine-woolled Merinos im-
ported into this country grow it much coarser than
in Australia, and produce young which grow it
coarser still. Rich and heavy soil grows strong
wool ; light soil, as Down land, a finer quality.
Wool " wauks," " mats," or " felts," i.e., sticks very
close together on the backs and necks of lean sheep
in wet winters, and is thereby lowered in value. The
best wool is got from sheep that constantl)' thrive ;
there is then no break in the staple, as takes place
when sheep get very poor.

Weaning, in the south of England, is done about
the beginning of May and onwards ; in the north, the
time is the end of June and beginningof July and later.
Lambs should have the pastures often changed, if

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 263

turned out in a field at the breadth, and should never
follow ewes or other sheep, as they pick up parasites
which have come from these, and are seriously in-
jured. Sheep doing badly from ordinary causes,
such as grass scour, may almost invariably be " set
going " by a change to sainfoin. Ewes with the
extra feeding taken off run over the poorest and
barest pasture to dissipate the milk, which causes
swelling of the udder for a few days. It is quite
unnecessary to milk afterwards by hand, as was at
one time the custom even in hill districts. Ewe-
milk cheese is very fine, and of a rich green colour ;
but as ewes are milked from behind, the operation is
not one of the cleanest either for the milker or for
the produce.

When lambs are to be fed on a bulk)-, Avell-grown
forage crop, as clover, rape, or vetches, they should
at first go on for a few hours each day, and be turned
out into a grass field at night for a time. This
should also be done in wet weather if possible,
especially if the land is at all inclined to be heavy.
There is risk of hoven, ending fatall}% if the lambs
are put on to wet clover suddenly ; or of impaction,
ending in " stomach staggers," if the clover is very
dry and forms the sole food, or if there is not a
proper supply of water. Sheep drink much in dry
weather, and those giving milk more than others.

264 FARM LIVE STOCK.

CHAPTER XIX.— MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP
CONTINUED— FEEDING.

Penning on of Sheep on Roots and Forage Crops — Troughs — Unnary
Disorders — House Feeding — -Amount of Food — Experiments by
Lawes and Gill^ert — Calculations of \'ield per Week according to
Food consumed.

OHEEP in the south are penned between two
sets of hurdles, the first moved forward at least
once a day, and the ones behind every second day.
The grass is thus eaten off at once, and, if properly
attended to, need not be eaten so closely as to injure
its future growth. It is then left to grow again with-
out any further bleeding and consequent check to
growth, which ensues each time it is nibbled by
sheep. W'hen the crop is of a moderate size, larger
breaks are given, and the hurdles are not so often
Hfted. In Scotland and the north of England,
sheep get all the field at once. No doubt this is
more wasteful, but there is less expense, and Scotch
sheep are more active than the representatives of
the large English breeds, and require to be at liberty
to move about.

In the end of September or beginning of October
(and in some few districts even earlier) fattening
tegs, and on arable farms stock tegs, go on to soft

MA\ACE?kIENT OF SMEEP. 265

turnips, such as whites and graystones. If not quite
ripe, these are pulled a few days before the sheep
reach them. This makes them sweeter and prevents
indigestion, which shows itself in an outbreak of
scour. Soft turnips are followed by yellows, green-
rounds, and swedes, then mangels in spring and
early summer. Roots, unless when thrown on the
grass in spring and summer, should, as a rule, be
cut as they go farther, and the practice pays in the
end. If tegs are made to bite turnips they break
their milk teeth in frosty weather, and cannot then
feed satisfactorily. A mixture of concentrated arti-
ficial food (bruised cake and grain) prevents scour
and other diseases in fattening tegs. It is best to
begin with little, and increase to about ^ lb. at the
New Year (average { lb. to J- lb.), then increase in the
proportion of ^r lb. per 100 lbs live-weight till the time
of sale. Concentrated food is at times mixed with
chaffed hay or straw. One ton of hay may be set
aside per acre of roots, that is, i ton of hay to 1 5
tons of roots, or a little over i lb. of hay per sheep
per day.

Turnip-troughs should be almost square, in cross-
section, and ample in size. There should be a second
set of troughs for the " artificials," and which do not
require to possess such capacity ; the cross section
of the latter might be in the form of a right angle.
Troughs, when not in use, should be turned over to
keep them clean and dry. A length of 8 inches to
9 inches is the necessary allowance of trough-space
for each sheep, in the case of the larger breeds. As

266 V\K\] lAYK STOCK.

sheep stand on both sides of a trough while feeding,
each will have at least i8 inches of space. One
man can easily cut roots for, and take full charge of
200 sheep, or attend to 400 if the roots are not cut.

Stock tegs should have little, if any, artificial
food, which if given in quantit)- would injure them
for breeding.

Urinary disorders appear in some districts among
sheep on roots, especially swedes and mangels, late
in spring. All the food then requires to be changed,
and linseed cake given, along with h drachm of
nitrate of potash per day. And, to induce warmth,
the back should be covered with a piece of strong
canvas cloth, 2 feet to 2^ feet square, which has had
boiled linseed oil bru.shed on to one side of it to
make it waterproof The best preventive of this
affection is a liberal supply of pure water, of which
the animals will drink freely as the dry weather of
spring comes on, and as the proportion of moisture
in the roots decreases.

Sheep feed faster in a well-ventilated house or
shed than in the open, especially in stormy weather;
but the cost of building precludes this, except for
rams or show sheep. When large numbers are kept
together in a house, they are very liable to foot-rot.
In that case it is well to have a platform, a few
inches high, covering most of the centre of the floor,
and to sweep it clean every day.

Two hundred sheep are as many as ought to be
placed together on roots. In Gloucester and some
other districts, where the sheep arc heavy, that nam-

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 267

ber would be. divided into two or three lots by low
hurdles, or a 4-inch mesh-net. Recently an ingeni-
ous and handy adaptation of the " Corrimony " wire-
fence has been added to the means for fencing sheep
folded upon turnips.

Amount of food. — A Cotswold teg, or one of any
of the larger breeds, from eleven months old (ist
January) till fat, will eat, along with the other food
mentioned, 24 lbs. of roots per day, if fed three times
— younger ones eat less in proportion. Lean
sheep eat more for their weight than fat ones.
A Cotswold cast ewe will consume up to 35 lbs. per
day.

One average acre of 15 tons of turnips will keep
200 sheep for one week, at 24 lbs. per day.

Experiments by Sir J. B. La"wes and Dr Gilbert
showed that Cotswolds give the largest average in-
crease per head per week, also per 100 lbs. live-
weight. Hampshires came next, after Crossbreds,
then Leicesters, and last of all Southdowns, — the
increase in all but the Leicesters being in inverse
proportion to the quality of mutton. Under cover,
three sheep, of 100 lbs. live- weight each, consume
approximately the same amount of food as two
sheep of the same age and breed weighing 1 50 lbs.
each. The mixture consumed per 100 lbs. live-
weight per week was 4J lbs. cake, 4f lbs. hay, and
about 70 lbs. roots = about one-seventh of the live-
weight, after deducting the moisture of the food.
The increase was nearly 2 per cent, live-weight = 2
lbs. per week for a 100 lbs. sheep. A usual increase

268 FARM LIVE STOCK.

is I lb. live-weight to 8 or 9 lbs. solid food, moisture
being deducted. About 58 per cent, of the fasted
live-weight of sheep, moderately fat, is butcher's car-
case (W'arington) ; very fat sheep give 6 to 8 per
cent, more in the case of fine breeds, like Southdowns.
Lean sheep give about 50 per cent., and old ewes,
unless of the more fleshy breeds in good condition,
often little over that proportion. In ordinary sheep
passing from store to fat condition, 68 per cent, of
the increase is carcase.

The foUowing- calculation shows the amount of
mutton produced from the food already recom-
mended. The amount is reduced to percentage to
correspond with Lawes's 8 lbs. or 9 lbs. dry food
example. A little more food is allowed for .sheep
kept outside. This drawback is so far made up for
by the advantage gained from giving a inixtitrc of
concentrated food.

Food per day, per 100 lbs. live- weight, would thus
be h lb. cake and corn, 12 lbs. roots, and i lb. hay ;
or per week —

3^ Ib.s. cake.
7 lb.s. hay.

loi lbs. — I ^ lbs. moisture (= 14 p. c.) = 9 lbs. dry.

84lbs. Roots— 76i lbs. do. ( = 90 p. c.) = 7 i „ „

Total, 1 6i^ lbs. dry.

This should give 2 lbs. increase of live- weight = i lb.
in 8J lb.s. dry.

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 269

By adding 50 per cent to the foregoing figures, we
get about what a Cotswold teg would do from ist
January till it is killed at thirteen to fifteen months
old, weighing 25 lbs. per quarter. With 150 lbs. live-
weight the increase would be 3 lbs. ; and if we apply
the 68 per cent, rule in passing from store to fat
condition, the mutton would equal about 2 lbs., — a
good performance per week for a sheep of one of the
larger breeds.

Cost of feeding- a Hampshire teg for 16 weeks
during the finishing process.

Food.

(•)
per day.

per week.

(3)
m 16 weeks.

Cake and

corn.

iib.

3h lbs.

^ cwt.

Hay.

I 11).

7 lbs.

I cwt.

Roots. 1

20 lbs.

140 lbs.

I ton.

£6, los. 3s. 3d. I

£3^ 5s- 3s- 3<;1- j
£0, 6s. 6s. od.

Total cost for 16 weeks, . 12s. 6d.

To calculate the return of produce from the dry
food consumed — say an increase of i lb. of live-
weight for 9 lbs. dry material eaten.

Dry Matter —

In 140 lbs. of roots (a^ 10 p. c.

dry, . . . =14 lbs.

In \o\ lbs. ha}', corn, etc., («

86 p. c. dry, . = 9 lbs. ,

■^ ^ ^ Increase of

— live-weight.

Dry matter consumed weekly, 23 lbs. -t-9 = 2^ Ib.s,

270 FARM LIVE STOCK.

To find the yield of mutton :
100

n : —

lbs.

lbs.

68 : :

174

I'ercentage

increase
in finishing.

Live-
weight.

Dressed
mutton.

Weeks, lbs.
T/a(S — Increase in 16 = 27-8 («', Total return in 16 weeks.

5s. per 8 lbs., . . =173. 5d. (nearly).

Cost of feeding, 16 weeks, 12s. 6d.

Net profit, 16 weeks, 4s. iid.

The calculation assumes that the cost of shep-
herding and the average loss from death are more
than counterbalanced by the value of the manure
produced.

The above figures do not show the actual profit to
the farmer by the transaction, as much depends upon
the cost per lb. of the flesh of the lean sheep when
bought ; whether the purchase price was more or
less than the sale price. Here again is to be seen
the importance to the farmer of a knowledge of the
live-weight, in place of trusting to his good lUck to
make a fortunate guess " by hand and eye " at the
weight of the animals. The ordinary farmer only
attempts this guess once annually, consequently he
has little practice, and is most likely to make a
mistake.

Sheep, either rough or clipped, are sometimes sold
by the farmer to the butcher by the lb., " sinking
the offal," viz., 6d., 8d., lod., or is. per lb. of dressed

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 2/ 1

carcase, according to the quality and range of prices
in the market. The butcher gets the head, feet, skin,
and intestines, including " web tallow," all into the
bargain. The web tallow, or store of fat which
surrounds or encloses the bowels and stomach of a
fat sheep, often weighs lo lbs. to 14 lbs., and in the
case of Down breeds even more.

2/2 FARM LIVE STOCK.

CHAPTER XX.— MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP
CONTINUED— EXTERNAL PARASITES.

Dipping — Ticks or Kades — (Jiass Ticks — Sliee|) Lice — Black Flies —
Maggot Flies— Scab Mites— Winter and Summer Dips — The
Dipper — Dipping Materials — Pouring — Smearing.

T'^IPPING i.s practised at various times during
^^^ each of the four seasons ; on a dry day and
with the wool dry, as immediately after clipping, or
better a fortnight later, when the wool has grown a
little, to enable it to retain the material ; lambs
should also go through at the same time. Dipping
is also practised in autumn or spring, depending on
the custom of the district. Ewes and tups should
either be dipped after tupping time or one clear month
before it, to prevent " firing " the rams. The object
is to ameliorate or prevent altogether the attacks of
parasites, viz., — the kade or tick, Melophagiis ovimts ;
the grass-tick, Ixodes ricinns and rcdiivtiis, and per-
haps other species ; the louse, Trichodictes spJicero-
ccphalits ; the black ?iy,AnthrovlyicB{%zv<^x^\ species) ;
the flesh or maggot fly, four species, Mnsca ccBsar,
M. vomitories, M. eanaria, M. eadiverina ; and the
scab-mite or itch-mite. Dennatodietes avis — an acaris.
Ticks rKnglish), Kades or Keds (Scotch), are
slightly-flattened, 6-legged insects, resembling flies

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 273

without wings, which move about in the fleeces of
sheep, and Hve by now and then biting and sucking
blood. They may be kept very much under by
timely dipping, if not got rid of altogether. They
are always most abundant on sheep in poor condi-
tion, and in winter when there is little sun, and they
do not come out to the top of the wool to bask, and
get skaken off. On man they bite a few times and
produce considerable uneasiness and itchiness, and
then die.

Grass-Ticks are 8 legged, and fix themselves by
burrowing their heads into the skins of sheep and
other animals, as dogs, rabbits, etc., and also men.
They do not often move about, but gorge themselves
with blood, increase to the size of a large pea, and
then drop off into the grass to pass one stage of
their existence independently of the sheep as a host.
It is consequently impossible to destroy them alto-
gether, or even to keep sheep quite free from them
at all seasons on land where they exist. This is
more especially the case in spring and sometimes in
autumn, when the young ones are about in the
grass, and find their way to the bare parts of the
skin about the head, neck, and legs.

Sheep Lice are much smaller in size than the two
pests described, and much lighter in colour, except
about the head, which is dark brown. They exist
usually in greatest abundance on the head and hairy
parts of the body, causing great irritation, and pre-
venting sheep from thriving. With a little care,
and the comparatively new practice of dipping

T

274 FARM LI\K STOCK.

sheep over the head, they can be quite destroyed.
Most well-manag-ed flocks are free from them.

Black FHes, such as swarm in thousands about
the hats and heads of people in summer, do not
bite, and cannot break the healthy skin, but live by
sucking any raw surface, as an accidental cut made
while shcarini,^, or the heads of rams that have been
fightin;^. When ver)' numerous they irritate and
unsettle sheep, and prevent wounds healing, especi-
ally if these be about the top of the shoulder, when
the animal can do little to protect itself

Maggot Flies, sometimes called blue-bottle flies,
do damage by laying their viviparous ova, during
warm showery weather, on any part of the wool
which has been wetted or soiled with such sub-
stances as animal excreta. In a few hours after the
sheep arc thus " fly-blown " or " struck," the mag-
gots are hatched, if the day be hot, and immediately
find their way to the skin, which they devour rapidly
— growing in size and strength until they arc enabled
to cause death within a few da)-s. The presence of
maggots may be easily noticed by the wool on the
parts attacked becoming dark and damp on the
surface, by the restless and uneasy movements of
the sheep, including turning round and attemjoting
to bite the affected part, lying down often, then
rising and running a little, and taking shelter by
itself at the back of a wall or among rank under-
growth. A sheep may at times clear itself of its
tormentors by rubbing in a loose sandy bank or
scar ; but the shepherd has usually to dress each

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 275

carefully, at least twice, with a strong smelling- solu-
tion, which at the same time destroys the maggots
without doing injury to the raw parts — no ordinary
dip is strong enough to kill maggots. Sores should
be kept soft with carbolic oil. The spirit or oil of
tar is very useful if there is no broken skin, or to
sprinkle on the top of the wool or on any dirty part
to prevent a second attack in very bad cases ; but
it darkens the wool, and causes much irritation on a
raw surface. Maggots ma}- be almost certainly pre-
vented from appearing through keeping sheep clean
by clipping away all dirty wool from behind, and
dipping in time with a strong smelling solution con-
taining a quantity of carbolic acid and sulphur.
Where it is important to have the scrotum well
covered, ram lambs are not kept in the dip the usual
time, as it has a tendency to make the wool fall off
those parts. Frequently they are not dipped, but a
strong solution of dip material, with a strong smell-
ing fly-powder added, is rubbed over the backs with
a Banbury brush. Sprinkling the backs with a mix-
ture from a rose-can is a common practice when
large numbers of sheep require to be protected.
They are first packed close in a fold, so that the
dipping stuff when showered on cannot fall to the
ground. Maggots have been known to effect much
improvement in a bad case of foot-rot by feeding on
the diseased part, but they must be noticed, and
their cleaning action stopped before they have gone
too far.

Scab Mites are microscopic, and very much

276 FARM LIVE STOCK.

smaller than any of the other parasites. When
they are present, patches of the wool get white, and
the sheep by biting half-pull so much wool, leaving
a rough and speckled surface. When felt with the
hand, there is a hard brittle scab on the skin at the
roots of the wool. This scab must of necessity be
cleared out, to prevent the spreading of the disorder,
which is most contagious, and would ultimately
prove fatal if not attended to. " The Highlands of
Scotland," or north of the Forth and Clyde, was at
one time the stronghold of scab. In some places it
still lurks. There is a fact about it which has not
yet been scientifically explained, and which should
be interesting to farmers buying Scotch Highland
sheep, viz., that after a long drive or railway journey,
where sheep are packed close and heated, scab is
liable to break out in a few weeks, although there
has been no such thing seen for years in the flock
they came from. The rule is, to dip Highland sheep
about ten days after coming off rail, and then there
is not the slightest danger.

TJie common zvinter dips are preparations of
arsenic, and other poisonous substances, — for in-
stance. Bigg's dip is mo.stly sulphide of arsenic, got
largely from the chimneys of chemical works. Com-
mercial arsenic (A.S2O3), boiled with a little bicar-
bonate of soda to make it dissolve, does the work
well, but hardens the wool. Oil, melted butter, or
grease are used to counteract this action and water-
proof the fleece.

Summer dips are mostly carbolic, with an admix-

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 277

ture of sulphur, smelling strongly to unsettle flies.
Carbolic is not only able to kill the living forms, as
other dips do, but to destroy the eggs by coagulat-
ing their albumen. The so-called non-poisonous
dips belong to this class. M'Dougall's and Cooper's
are two commonly used in summer. Most dips
require to be dissolved in hot water, which is an
inconvenience. Little's dip is an example of dips
that dissolve in cold water, but these, as a rule
(Blackie's dip being an exception), are more
easily washed off the wool by rains ; the extra
convenience often overbalances this. Sheep affected
with scab are dipped in a bath containing tobacco-
juice and powdered hellebore-root, which has been
boiled for fifteen minutes, in addition to the usual
dip material.

A dipper consists of a fold, tank, and dripper.
The tank may be built of bricks drawn with cement,
and have a concrete floor. The old-fashioned tub
into which sheep were turned on their backs was a
mistake. Heavy sheep got injured in lifting. Now,
the best form of tank is made wide enough to let a
sheep swim through without being able to turn
easily : a suitable size is 15 to 20 feet long at the top,
5 feet deep at the plunge-end and for one-third of its
length, then slanting out to the dripper at the other
or exit end. Sheep are not lifted, but pushed for-
ward and plunged over the head. They close their
lips and swim slowly through. They should be
in till the wool is thoroughly soaked ; the men
employed are very apt to let them go too quickly.

278 FARM LIVE STOCK.

The excess of dipping solution runs off the sheep
and back to the tank by the floor of the dripper,
which has a fall towards it. For a few minutes
after dripping the sheep should go for a time into
a fold, or bare place where there is no grass, to
avoid poisoning the pasture, especially when an
arsenic dip has been used. The cost of dipping,
which is usually done by contract in southern
England, is about id. each, all over a flock, includ-
ing lambs. The cost of "dipping material for Scotch
sheep is from ;;^5 per 1000 (or a little more than id.
each), down to half that price, but large discounts
are often given by some agents. •

A home-made dip, specially intended for water-
proofing the fleeces, may run up to 3d. per sheep,
as follows : —

20 lbs. of a mi.xturc of equal parts of
soft soap and pitch-oil (the former
boiled before mixing) ^ 2d. per lb.

10 lbs. tobacco powder (cr yd. per lb.
4 gallons Gallipoli oil («■ 4s. per
gallon ......

Cost of material to dip'' 100 hill sheep,

The principle in pitch-oil is carbolic acid and
some chemically-allied substances. The pitch-oil
and soft soap alone make a good, cheap summer
dip.

Pouring is running a concentrated solution of, say.

£0

3

4

0

5

10

0

16

0

£1

5

2

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 279

5 gallons per score, against 20 gallons in dipping,
into " sheds " or partings made by the hand, at
intervals, in the wool along the back, sides, and
belly of the sheep. This is more effectual than
dipping in a case of scab, but is more expensive,
and unnecessary for ordinary purposes.

Smearing* with a mixture of equal parts of
American or Archangel tar, and grease, or better,
butter, is a method of waterproofing the wool and
destroying parasites that was at one time very
largely and successfully practised in exposed hill
districts, especially in the Highlands of Scotland.
It encourages more the growth of wool than any dip
yet used, but w^ool is now so low in price that the
increase will not pay the extra cost of the operation,
and many have given it up. It darkens the wool,
and often gives sheep, especially if lean, a " back-set "
until the tar lifts a little from the skin. Smearing
should not be practised before the middle of October,
as a strong sun melts the smear, and it runs towards
the points of the wool, and, besides, the .sheep
become fevered. In the process the smear should
be laid well to the skin at the bottoms of partings
made in the wool, and as little as possible on it.
The usual practice in preparing the material is to
mix in a tub, a fortnight before the operation, as
much as will be sufficient for 40 mountain sheep,
viz., 9 pints (Scotchf) of tar with 9 pints of

* The writer is indebted for many of tlie facts on this subject to
Stephen Brown of Killilan, Wester Ross.

t A Scotch pint is about equal to | gallon iniiierial.

28o FARM LIVE STOCK.

butter, melted to enable it to mix, and well stirred
together. Tar is a mild blister if applied alone
to an animal's skin, and the grease is intended to
dilute it. Hard grease, such as butter, also gives
it consistency. A man smears 20 sheep per day,
and receives 2s. 6d. to 3s. for the work, besides food ;
the cost of smearing is nearly lod. each, as follows : —

9 pints of tar (a: 8d., .... ;^o 6 o

40 lbs. butter @ 66., . . . 100
Labour (a) 3s. 6d. p. score, including

rations, . . . . . . 070

Cost of smearing 40 sheep, . . £1 13

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 251

CHAPTER XXL— MANAGEMENT OP SHEEP
CONTINUED— INTERNAL PARASITES.

Internal Parasites — Tape-worm producing Gid — Liver-fluke producing
Rot —Diarrhoea resulting from Worms — Husk or Hoose.

INTERNAL Parasites. — Besides these external
pests, sheep are subject to numerous internal
parasites. One stage of the development of Tcsma
ccBiinriis, a tape-worm found in the dog, is passed in
the brains of sheep, causing " gid " or " sturdy." The
remedies are of more consequence to farmers who
keep lean stock, and to ram-breeders, than to those
who can send an affected animal at once to the fat
market without much loss. A ram that has been
cured of " sturdy " is none the worse afterwards for
breeding purposes. The seat of disease is on the
surface of the brain, at its base, or, in the author's
experience, frequently in the " lateral cavities."
These cavities are situated one on each side of the
forward brain, and there, in common language, a
"water-bag" grows, containing many }-oung tape-
worms. This presses against the brain, causing
absorption of the contiguous parts of that organ,
with usually a thinning and softening of the skull in
one or other of the hollows on the crown of the
head immediately in front of a line drawn between the

282 FARM LIVK STOCK.

ears. There the skull is comparatively thin. Partial
paralysis accompanies the formation, and the sheep
gets blind on and turns to the opposite side to which
the " water-bai;" " inclines. Boring with a trochar and
canula, to extract the bleb and its contents, is easy
in this case. When the disease is far back in the
brain the skull is thicker over the affected part, and
there is not sufficient time, before death occurs, for
the bone to absorb and become soft. In Scotland
this form of the disease is known by the special
name of " thorterill." Piercing then leaves little
fractured pieces of bone, from the skull, on the
surface of the brain, which, although the disease is
cured, cause suppuration, usually resulting in death
within a few days. Principal Williams, Edinburgh,
recommends the use of a little circular saw, called a
trephine, to remove a minute round piece of bone.
The skin is bared from the skull immediately over
the spot to which the movements of the sheep direct
suspicion. All detached pieces are washed carefully
out before the external covering of the brain is
broken. Piercing in the usual way through the brain
to reach the bag is then done with comparative
safety. In districts much subject to this disease the
.skulls of dead sheep should be broken up and
buried with quicklime in a compost heap to insure
the destruction of the young worms. The dogs
ought to be dosed regularly with A drachm to i
drachm of areca nut. This frees them from tape-
worms, and lessens the risk of sheep picking the
embryos up wjiile feeding on grass.

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 283

Liver Rot.- — Though there have been enormous
losses in this country from " rot " in sheep, the full
bearing and nature of the working of the liver fluke
{Distomuvi Jiepaticum or Fasciola Jiepatica), which
is the cause of the disease, does not yet seem to be
quite understood. These worms are seldom more
than an inch long, arc broad, thin, and flat, and
attach themselves by a sucker on the under surface.
Sometimes hundreds have been found in the liver
ducts of one sheep. Professor Leuckart in Germany,
and A. P. Thomas in this country, traced, almost
.simultaneously, the life history of this parasite
through all its different stages, and published
accounts of their investigations in 1882.* They
find that it lives for a time, and changes its form
in the body of a minute shell snail (^Linmmis
iruncatubLs), which thrives in an excess of wet.

The sequence of changes in the animal system is
originated by irritation, and consequently inflamma-
tion, beginning in the biliary ducts, and extending"
through the liver, preventing it performing its proper
functions in aid of digestion ; the stomach then be-
comes disordered, poor and imperfect blood is formed,
and time is all that is necessary to exaggerate the
consequences into a persistent anaemia ending in
death.

The great means of prevention are, to drain, and
in stiff clays to lay the arable land up in high
ridges to aid surface drainage, besides keeping sheep
off flooded land, having lumps of rock salt about

* See the Juiiinal uf the Royal Agricultural .Society for that year.

284 FARM LIVE STOCK.

the pasture, and giving liberal feeding. One fact in
connexion with this disease is not generally known.
The presence of flukes in the liver, even in
large numbers sometimes, does not necessitate the
appearance of the serious symptoms described. Few
sheep are killed in Galloway, a large district in the
south-west of Scotland, without flukes being found
in the livers, and frequently in large numbers : yet
" rot " to any extent is very exceptional. Rot cer-
tainly has done much damage, and will continue to
do so in wet seasons, but there are good reasons for
believing that much of the death from so-called
" rot " was from a very different cause, to be described
under lung disease.

Scour or Diarrhoea in sheep, but more especially
in lambs, is often caused by various parasitic worm-s
attaching themselves to the inner surface of the
stomach and bowels. There they set up irritation,
and live by absorbing what ought to go to nourish
the sheep. For a cure, no better or simpler remedy
can be had than turpentine. A sheep is very easily
choked, and turpentine is one of the most dangerous
drugs to administer, not only from its highly irritat-
ing and searching nature (causing death by spas-
modic closing of the mouth of the windpipe should
it enter), but from the fact that it will hardly mix
with any ordinary drench. The administration must
be done with great care. The turpentine (_| to I oz.)
should be thoroughly soaked into a little dry meal,
and this again mi.xed in cold gruel, oil, or even
water, and may be given with perfect safety.

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 285

Should the scour be the result of an over-feed of
succulent grass, or a sudden change of green food,
the purgative and the astringent action of the tur-
pentine is generally what is wanted. Laxity of the
bowels, when there is no positive derangement of
system, is easily remedied by altering the concen-
trated food from cakes which contain large quanti-
ties of oil, to the seeds of leguminous plants, as
beans, peas, lentils, etc., which are deficient in oils,
and have a costive tendency.

" Husk," or " Hoose " is a bronchial catarrh, the
result of the irritating action of a number of long,
white, round, hair-like worms {Strougylus jilaria) in
the bronchial tubes. It is most common amongst
lambs, if they have been pastured on land recently
eaten over by sheep, as they pick up the eggs {ova)
with their food. The attack is evinced by a peculiar
husky cough which exertion makes worse, and by an
unthriving appearance and mucous discharge from
the nostrils, which often contains the worms or their
eggs as direct evidence ; in weak specimens the re-
sult is frequently death. To prevent the occurrence
of this malady sheep should be kept in good, thriving
condition, and young stock should not be put on
land previously soiled by sheep. Reviedial treat-
Dient is directed towards the destruction of the
worms. A turpentine drench has been long con-
sidered efficacious ; \ to \ oz. being given to a Iamb
at a time, and this repeated twice, with an interval
of three days between two administrations. Tur-
pentine is a most poisonous and dangerous drug if

286 FARM LI\1-: STOCK.

given too frequently, or in too large quantities, to
sheep, as it sets up inflammation in nearly all of the
important organs of the abdomen, and most sheep
thus treated will die within a few days after evincing
by dulness, restlessness, and the grinding of their
teeth, that they are suffering severe internal pain.
Ale or any other purgative given only aggravates
the condition, and hastens death. Injections of
tepid water may be employed to allay pain and
relieve the constipated condition which accom-
panies turpentine poisoning.

The recent and more approved method of treat-
ment is the injection, directly into the trachea, of
h to I drachm of a turpentine and carbolic acid
mixture, fully detailed at page loi.

iMANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 28/

CHAPTER XXII.— MANAaEMBNT OF SHEEP
CONTINUED— DISEASES.

Lung Disease — Trembling, or Loupin' 111 — Braxy — Temporary
Blindness — Foot-rot — Blotches — Dew-rot.

T UNG Disease. — Cattle are subject to a con-
tagious lung disease. Goats have also been
found liable to a disease of the same nature at the
Cape, and the writer has proved to his satisfaction
that sheep also take lung disease one from the other,
and die, under certain circumstances, in great num-
bers. It appears to have very much the nature of
a bad cold, and is most severe on old ewes. Should
it break out in a flock in summer time, or in fine
mild weather in winter, deaths are not numerous^
but in a cold and stormy season, which aggravates
it, one-third to one-half is no unusual proportion to
die.

T/ie syjiiptoins are a violent and painful cough,
which seems to give no relief When seriously
affected, the animal falls off from the others, and
gradually stops feeding. The breathing becomes
increasingly heavy and laboured, with heaving at
the flank, and moaning in the later stages, evincing
the presence of acute bronchitis with severe pain.
The ears droop in a peculiar manner, and the head

288 FARM LIVE STOCK.

hangs down, while foam appears at the mouth, and
a tough yellow mucus at the nose and eyes. None
recover after these acute ss-mptoms set in, and death
supervenes generally about the third or fourth day.
T\vQ. post-mortem reveals a highly congested state of
the air-passages, and large portions of the lungs,
usually the upper lobes, arc found to be solidified,
so that they sink on being immersed in water.

TJiemost efficacious treatment \s,\.o inject by the intra-
tracheal syringe, shown at page ioi,2 to 4 drachms
of the injection mixture there detailed, and to cover
the backs by sewing to the wool with stocking yarn
pieces of strong canvas, 2 feet or 2 ft. 3 in. square,
which have been waterproofed by brushing one side
with boiled linseed oil, to keep rain off and heat in ;
the sheep should also be liberally fed and kept per-
fectly quiet in a well-sheltered place. Any attempt
to drug or fumigate simply increases the number of
deaths. A few usually die of consumption some
months after the acute stage of the disease has
passed. It is necessary to state that Principal
Williams and various other authorities believe that
the origin of the disease above described is entirely
parasitic, the special worm being said to be Strongyhis
filaria.

The author freely admits the great injury that
these thread worms produce in an irritated con-
dition of the air-passages, and that they might deter-
mine, in some cases, whether the affection would be
severe enough to destroy life, or mild enough to pass
off after a time, without much or any notice, should

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEr. 289

outside conditions be favourable to recovery ; still,
at the same time, he has not the slightest doubt of
the existence of a contagious lung disease in sheep,
which is, however, so varied in its ultimate results
by other and external influences — as climate, general
treatment, and parasitic action — that it has not been
generally recognised or acknowledged. To the
public the difference of opinion as to w^hether the
disease is solely parasitic or contagious is of little
moment, as the remedial treatment recommended in
either case is the same.

There exist weighty reasons for the statement,
that much of the so-called death from " rot " in the
United Kingdom in 1879 was due to this disease,
and not to the liver fluke at all, although in many
districts the latter was very prevalent and most de-
structive.

Trembling or Loupin' 111 is a deadly disease
which is only known by a Scotch name, although
ailments with much of the same symptoms have
occurred at times in England. It prevails most on
certain grassy hills, land growing hard or mat grass
{Nardiis strictd) being particularly liable to it.
Ziindel, V.S., Strasbourg, describes a disease in
lambs in which an organism is found very similar
to that of Loupin' 111, and which, he says, "re-
sembles the microscopic plant Plcospora hcrbaruvi"

It is spreading in Scotland, not rapidly, but
surely. It has been diagnosed by Professor
Williams as caused by a microscopic organism,
which he found in the fluid around the spinal cord. As

U

290 FARM LIVE STOCK.

in the case of the microbe of anthrax, this form of
lower life can be cultivated under suitable condi-
tions, as in chicken or mutton broth or jelly. By
such cultivation its virulence is gradually attenuated,
and it is hoped that inoculation with the weakened
germs will, in time, prove a preventive of the worst
consequences of the disease.

The sytuptonis arc a loss of power in the limbs and
sometimes high fever, with affection of the brain.
Usually the animal cats, and seems to be perfectly
well in health, but is unable to rise. Others, again,
drop down instantly and die, usually on being sud-
denly started. Spring and early summer is the
most deadly time. The disease has been long
known in many parts, but its cause was quite un-
accounted for till 1 88 1. Principal Williams made
his discovery while working at the instigation of the
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. It
had been noticed that in years when ticks {Ixodes)
were most abundant there was most death from
trembling, and on examination the ticks were found
to contain the same organisms as did the spinal
fluid. This is suggestive, but the full chain of facts
necessary for confirmation of the theory has not yet
been worked out- Brotherston, botanist on the
Highland Society Loupin* 111 Investigation Com-
mittee, advances the theory that it is caused by
ergot, a dark, horn-like, parasitic fungus which
appears on certain kinds of grass present in pasture.

The preventive means which have already proved
useful in practice are advocated by both investigators.

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 29 1

viz., cutting, or burning at the proper season, all ex-
cess of rough herbage, and the pasturing of cattle
along with sheep, especially during early summer.

TJie best treatment of affected animals, not actually
prostrate, is to keep them in a perfectly quiet place,
and to prevent excitement to allow neither man nor
dog to go within sight of them.

When down, fat sheep should be killed at once ;
poor ones may first be bled, if there is brain affection,
then well fed, turned from one side to the other, and
moved on to fresh ground regularly. Very few
recover after becoming unable to walk.

Braxy is a blood disease often described as
Anthrax, although it is quite distinct, as inoculating
with its virus does not cause death in the same way.
It prevails much on certain lands in Scotland,
usually in autumn and sometimes in spring, when
there are sudden and severe white frosts at night,
and the grass is of a rank growth. The succulent
green herbage or " tath " from the droppings of cattle
is very liable to produce the disease. It runs its
course in a few hours, so quickly that no ordinary
remedy is of much use. The blood becomes thick
and dark, and stagnates in certain parts before death ;
so that bleeding, which is usually tried, is often
impossible. Bleeding and moving the animal about
is almost the sole chance, and that only in the early
stages. The flesh of animals that have died of braxy
is very dark-red, particularly in the region of the
abdomen, and has a high and peculiar smell and
flavour. Ham made from the hindquarters of a

292 FARM LIVE STOCK.

braxy sheep is considered to be rather a delicacy by
those who have learnt to appreciate it in }'outh.
Principal Williams considers it to be " nothing more
than an acute form of indigestion, with inflammation
of the bowels, and flatulence, arising from eating
food in a more or less fusted and decomposing
condition." It may be prevented, or greatly lessened,
by not pasturing cattle along with sheep on land
subject to it, or at least doing so only in the early
part of the season ; and by keeping sheep from all
quickly grown grass during times of danger, or only
allowing them into it in the middle of the day, when
there is no frost on the pasture.

Temporary Blindness is most frequently met with
after a long spell of wet, cold weather. A dim,
opaque scum forms over the pupil of the eye. This
would disappear naturally in time, but as the animal
cannot see to feed, it falls off in condition, and may
get into a hole. Bleeding at the eyes is usually
practised, and has the desired effect within a few
days. A pcn-knifc is inserted between the frontal
bone and skin, immediately below the inner corner
of the eye, and a large vein, which bleeds profusely,
is thus severed.

Foot-Rot. — It was noticed that dipping with
arsenic much improved sheep suffering from foot-
rot, and from this sprang the custom, for prevention
as well as cure in mild cases, of driving sheep once
a fortnight through a box containing a solution of
arsenic. The drying and hardening action on the
horn is injurious if repeated oftencr. In very bad

MANAGEMENT OF SHEER 293

cases, all horn that has separated from the inner
part of the foot by suppuration must be carefully
removed with a sharp knife, and the raw, exposed
surfaces, w^hich would grow proud-flesh if not
attended to, dressed with a caustic or acid mix-
ture, such as that of Joseph Ewing, Dumfries,
because arsenic is hurtful to a large open sore.
A flock of sheep may be seriously injured in con-
dition, and made to appear as if they were foun-
dered, if driven through a strong solution of arsenic
when their feet are in a raw state. The arsenic box
should be 12 feet long, i foot deep, 8 inches wide at
the bottom, and 14 inches at the top, but the ends
only 3 inches deep. The sheep then easily step
into it when it is placed level on the surface of the
ground, between two rows of hurdles or paling,
wide enough for them to pass through. The solu-
tion (strength, one pound of arsenic, dissolved by
boiling with a little carbonate of soda, in five gallons
of water) is put in the trough, i to i J inches deep,
so that it cannot rise above the horny part of the
foot, else it would blister the skin, and cause the
hair to fall off The sheep, having first had all long
or loose horn cut away, are driven quietly through
to prevent splashing of the liquid against the un-
covered skin. Crude carbolic acid — strength, 3 or
4 parts to 100 of water — is sometimes used instead.
The box should have a tight-fitting lid to close when
not in use, to prevent the poisoning of stray animals
drinking from it. Lime in the powdery, caustic
state is sometimes laid down to help to maintain

294 FARM LIVE STOCK.

the feet in a normal condition at gateways or places
where the sheep often walk. A common cause of
foot-rot is dung or some foreign matter getting
at the tender structures of the internal foot on
account of some .softening, decay, or weakness of
the outer horny box ; suppuration and fungoid
growth follow.

True foot-rot is not considered to be contagious,
but the writer is inclined to believe that there is
sometimes a derangement in the systems of sheep,
showing itself by symptoms almost identical with
those of foot-rot, which may one day be found to
be contagious, or, at all events, induced, without
any external cause, in a whole flock by unsuitable
or possibly excessive feeding.

The feet of sheep that have been aff"ected are
always more su-sceptible in future ; thus the dis-
ease is very difficult to get rid of when once well
established.

Blotches, causing lameness, originate in wart-like
growths, which in the first stages are hard and scaly
externally, and gorged with blood within. They
appear in some seasons about the coronet and lower
parts of the legs. The affection is not contagious,
although it breaks out in a flock suddenly, and at
times attacks more or less seriously the greater
number of them. It is thought to be produced by
some irritating cause which shows its effect most
frequently when sheep are on pasture in autumn,
and usually disappears when the flock is put on
roots. Sheep fall off much in condition, and in

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 295

some of the more aggravated cases die of blood-
poisoning, pus having found its way into the blood by
absorption of the foetid discharge which comes from
the sores in the later stages of their development.

The remedies are to remove the sheep from the
conditions under which the malady broke out, and
to dress the affected parts in time with strong
caustic, or acid applications, or to apply the hot iron.

Dew-rot is a cause of lameness which appears in
April, and even to a greater extent in autumn, in
damp, foggy weather, or when there are sudden
changes of temperature at night, resulting in frosts
or heavy dews. It appears at first in the form of
white blisters between the digits, or on the anterior
surface of the coronet. The hair falls off the affected
parts and they are left bare, and in a short time
become open sores. If not at once treated by using
a stimulating embrocation, after opening them with
a knife, the inflammation and irritation spread until
the whole foot-structure is involved, and the ultimate
condition becomes something like an aggravated
form of foot-rot, the whole of the horny parts slough-
ing oft". When it takes this serious form, the proper
treatment is to poultice with tar, bran, or linseed
cake (ground and "burst" with hot water) to reduce
the inflammation, allay pain, and keep dirt from the
wounds.

Sheep thus affected fall verj- much off in condition,
but there is no fear of death, if proper precautions
are taken. This disease is reported to have appeared
in Gloucestershire, for the first time, about 1870.

296 FARM LIVP: stock.

Some places are more subject to it than others.
The pastures are frequently worst which have not a
i^ood aspect, as those lying away from the sun.
Instant and constant attention is positively necessary
to prevent the development of the mature form of
the disease ; and the whole flock must be removed
immediately and put on arable land which is not
under pasture. Dew-rot very frequently appears
among ewes that are going with the ram, and are
consequently better fed at the time. A rapidly-
improving condition may make the system more
susceptible to the disease, as is the fact with many
other diseases. Sheep that are being forced, in
cases of high farming or for show purposes, are
always more liable to give the shepherd trouble
than those fed in a moderate way ; and the death-
rate, as a rule, is much higher.

Another common cause of an excessive death-
rate is from allowing sheep, through bad manage-
ment or want of proper food, to get into an un-
thriving condition, or, in common language, to get
a " backset."

If hoggs arc kept, more particularly late into
spring, on a turnip crop which has not been pro-
perly cleaned of weeds while growing, a very
alarming death-rate frequently occurs. There is a
pretty wide-spread belief in Gloucestershire, both
amongst farmers and shepherds, that chick-weed
{Stellaria media), if abundant, is most hurtful to
young .sheep.

H-yf )Va^ticd farm Lbft. Stook

BRITISH I SUSS

n.i rjiB^H^ fwifiiMiii Tiii-

Jofai B«jtkft1ww** & Cc

STOCKING OF FARMS. 297

CHAPTER XXIII.— TWO TYPICAL EXAMPLES
OF THE STOCKING OF FARMS IN
SOUTHERN AND MIDLAND ENGLAND.

Data of Use in the Calculations.*

ZLTORSBS. — 3 are kept per 100 acres arable on
light land ; 4 kept per 100 acres arable on
heavy land ; cost per annum for feeding each
horse, £2^ ; with shoeing and sundry bills extra,
i^30 ; one man and pair of horses cost ;^ioo to iJ": 10
a year.

Grass used at 3s. 6d. per week for 22 weeks,
= £S, 17s., which would pay the rent of i^ or
2 acres. One acre at least of good old pasture should
be set aside per horse.

Hay, 24 lbs. per day for 7 months = nearly 2^ tons
per horse. Consuming value, taken at half the sale
value, = £2 to £2, I OS. per ton ; or use i ton of hay
and i^ tons of good oat straw. (A little straw'
might, if not chaffed, be rejected by a horse accus-
tomed to eat hay.)

* The prices current in 1S85 aie still retained, consequently allow-
ance will require to be made, in adapting the figures to the , present
time, of a reduction of say 12 to 15 per cent, in some instances.

298 FARM LIVK STOCK.

Litter, ih tons to 2 tons for the winter season.
Averaging the yield of oats at 52 bushels per acre,
2 acres are consumed per horse when 3 bushels arc
given per week in winter and one bushel in summer.
So much of this might be sold, and beans, bran, and
other suitable feeding stuffs bought to take its place.

SJiccp. — 2 ewes with 2\ lambs (a fair crop), or 2i-
lambs (a good crop) arc kept per acre on medium
pasture in summer.

Roots, A ton given per day to 100 ewes on grass
till lambing time, and i ton per day after lambing,
or = I ton per day for 4 months, or 120 tons -i- 15
(average in tons per acre) = 8 acres per 100 ewes.

Ewes not on grass, also clipped sheep or hogget.s
after Christmas, consume 24 lbs. per day : therefore
200 eat I acre (15-ton crop) in one week. Be-
ginning with lambs put on in September, it is
approximately right to say i acre will keep 300 per
week on an average during the first root season = 16
lbs. of roots per day, which \\ould not be quite
enough for the larger breeds.

Hay is also allowed = i ton per acre of roots.

Cake = \ lb. to each per day for six months,
comes to 70 lbs. more than 2 tons for 100 sheep. It
is near enough, practically, to say 2 tons.

Bullocks. — I acre of good pasture, or \\ acres to i^
acres, according to quality, should keep one fattening
bullock all summer. One store animal might be
sufficient stock for i acre of second-quality land.

STOCKING OF FARMS. 299

Turnips, J cwt. per day, or 7 tons in 6 months, is
nearly ^ acre for each bullock. If giving i cwt per
day, I J bullocks may be kept per acre of turnips
(15 tons) between 6 and 7 months. The price at
7s. 6d. per ton = 4id. per cwt.

Hay, I stone (14 lbs.) per day for 26 weeks = 22|
cwts. A large-sized fatting bullock should eat
about 1 5 stones = lyh lbs. per day. An ordinary
crop of "seeds" hay = ih tons per acre; a good
crop, 2 tons.

Of natural hay, ih tons is a good crop. Heavier
crops get white at the bottom, and are not of such
good quality, except on some rich, moist meadows
where the larger grasses greatly predominate.

Of straw, a bullock in a yard will eat and trample
down 3 or 4 tons in 6 months ; i or 2 tons more
could be trampled down if necessary.

Of meal and cake mixture, 6 lbs. per day to each
bullock for 6 months gives a total of | ton, less 28
lbs. — say, h ton each.

Cozus. — One cow can be kept summer and winter
on 2| acres of superior dairy grass land, while 3
acres of ordinary quality are necessary, and in a hilly
dairy district up to 5 or 6 acres.

Hay cut from i acre of natural meadow = ih tons,
or 19 lbs. per day per cow for 6 months ; this, plus ^
ton to I ton of good straw, is enough fodder for an
average dairy cow : 24 lbs. of hay per day = 2| tons
in 7 months : 25 lbs. of hay per day = 2 tons in 6
months.

3CO KARM LIVE STOCK.

Mixed concentrated food, given in spring after
calving and before grass comes, may vary in cost
from £i each cow (ordinary feeding) to £2 each
(high feeding).

Cotton cake given in summer on the gra.ss, 3 lbs.
per day for six months = (nearly) 5 cwts. per cow,
and at £6 per ton, costs 30s. per cow.

Root and forage crops for all the year round are
already given at page 134.

Tithe may be none, or varying from 2s. 6d. to 6s.
or 8s. per acre. This should be considered as so much
rent.

Rates and Taxes amount to 3s. to 5s. per acre.

Implemoits. — Total cost per acre, £,\ on a farm
half arable and half pasture, up to 30s. if it is all
arable, or even £2 per acre if many new and
expensive implements are bought, or when the
holding is small. A 500 acre farm might thus have
;^500 to ^750 or i^iooo of capital sunk in imple-
ments.

Capital in an ordinary farm — £(> or ;^8 to ;^I0 per
acre : in high farming it may mount up to much
more.

Example No. i

Is given as an answer to the first three questions set
in the examination for the Diploma of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England in 1884.

STOCKING OF FARMS. 3OI

(i.) " What capital is required for a farm of 500
acres — half arable and half pasture ? The arable
being turnip and sheep land. The grass, 50 acres
good feeding land, the rest suited to young stock.

(2.) " What proportion of capital would you apply
to—

I. Cattle. 2. Sheep. 3. Horses. 4. Implements
and Machines. 5. Tillages, etc ? "
(3.) " State the most suitable course of cropping."

In all farm calculations the rotation is the first
point to settle.

Question (3.) — Rotation for 250 acres arable.

A Five-course Shift.

1. Wheat, 50 acres.

2. Oats, 50 acres (better straw for fodder than bar-

ley). [Catch crops following more or less ; as
rye, trifolium, vetches, rape, etc., for sheep food
in spring.]

3. Roots, 50 acres, mostly eaten on the land by

sheep ; part carted to the yard for cattle.

4. Barley, 50 acres (part might be oats instead).

5. " Seeds," 50 acres, all cut once for hay and the

lattermath eaten by sheep.

Question (2.) — To find the numbers, and affix the
prices, of the Horses, Cattle, and Sheep, that
the foregoing 250 acres of arable and 250
acres of grass-land will keep.

\02

FARM LIVE STOCK.

Cattle.

250 acres, total of grass.
50 „ (the best) keep 50 fatting bullocks worth

iJ"i7 to i^20 each.

left.

keep 50 bullocks i year )'Ounger, i^i i to

£1^ each,
left,
(second quality) to graze 8 horses.

200

75

125

16

109

34

75

left.

cut for hay.

left for sheep.

Horses.

Being light land, 3 per 100 acres cultivated = 8
horses. At ^^30 to ^^40 each, say = i^320.

Sheep.

75 acres of grass loft for sheep.
2 sheep per acre with their lambs.

150 Ewes @ £4* each = £"600 total capital in ewes.

One hundred and fifty ewes get i| tons of roots
per day on grass for 4 months or 120 days =180

* Rather high for an ordinary flock at current prices.

STOCKING OF FARMS. 303

-r-tons 15 (average crop in tons per acre) = 12 acres
turnips required for the ewe flock.

Tegs, 200 eating 16 lbs. turnips per clay consume
18 acres in 6 months or 26 weeks.

Turnips.

12 acres set aside for ewes.
18 „ „ tegs.

30 „ total for sheep.

20 ,, for 50 cattle = 70 lbs. (fully) each per day

— for six months.

50 „ total turnips disposed of

Fodder.

(i.) Straiu.
1 50 acres of grain crops @ i j tons straw per acre.

187 tons straw (50 bullocks eat and trample down

3^ tons each).
175 ., for cattle.

12 „ for horse litter ; to go to the cattle-yard

afterwards.

Some of the straw given to the cattle for

litter would first be usetl for thatching,

which would not spoil it for that purpose.

304 FARM LIVE STOCK.

(2.) Hay.
50 acres seeds ^ i .', tons of hay per acre.

75 tons total seeds hay.

34 ,, cut from the 34 acres of natural meadow
— rather a light crop.

109 ,, total hay.

18 ., for 8 horses = 2] tons each.

91 „ left.

30 ,, allowance of i ton per acre of turnip.s

for sheep.

61 „ left to be sold, or a little more given to

the sheep and a small foddering per

day to the bullocks.

Where a good market for hay cannot be got, it
might pay better to pasture half of the " seeds "
land instead of cutting it.

Capital = Spring Valuation of Stock, etc.
Cattle.

50 bullocks @ ;^20 each, ;^IOOO

50 , „ @ £^1 „ ' 650

£i6sc>

Carried forward, ^1650

STOCKING OF FARMS. 305

Brought forward, £i6so

Sheep.

1 50 ewes, with lambs, @ ;^4 each, . ;^6oo

200 tegs @, 60/ each — a high price, 600

1200

Horses. — 8 @ £ap each, . . . 320

Implements. — £\ per acre all over, . 500

Tillages.

50 acres wheat (« 50/, . . ^^125

100 „ oats and barley @ £2, . 200

50 „ "seeds" @ £\, . . 50

50 „ turnip land (including
catch crops and manures for

the same) @ ^^3, . . 150

525

Half-year's Re?it, Tithe and Taxes

(oi 28/ per acre, per annum, . . 350

Cash in hand to pay wages and expenses, 455

Total capital, ^^5000

Question (1.)
Capital required per acre = irio.

At current rates the above prices might be adjusted
so that the capital required might be reduced by ^i
or £2 per acre.

X

306 farm live stock.

Example No. 2.

The following calculation will show the rotation
which might be adopted on a 300-acre farm in the
south of England, consisting of two-thirds arable
suitable for sheep, and the rest pasture for grazing
or dairy purposes ; it gives also the stock kept, and
the amount of capital required per acre, apportioning
the amount for horses, cattle, sheep, implements, etc.
Besides this will be found the number of labourers
required, their different duties, and the necessary-
amount per annum paid for wages ; together with
a Michaelmas valuation and a statement of receipts
and expenses for a year.

A four-course rotation adopted for the arable land.
50 acres wheat — or part oats to produce better

fodder.
50 „ roots, mostly swedes ; average, 1 5 tons per
acre, — 5 acres of mangel, 20 to 25 tons
per acre, would keep up the above average,
and allow 2 or 3 acres to grow potatoes.
50 „ oats.
50 „ clover or " seeds " all cut once for ha)'.

200 acres, the given amount of arable.

Pasture.
100 acres grass.

75 „ pasture should carr)- 150 ewes and their
lambs (say 200) in summer.

25 „ left (carried forward).

STOCKING OF FARMS. 307

25 acres left (brought forward).
10 „ keep 6 or 7 horses.

15 „ left for 10 cows' pasture = i^ acres each.

Or 5 cows might be kept, and their calves
reared each year ; the heifers coming
into milk at two years off, and the
bullocks of the same age put up to
finish, in the autumn following.

Roots.

50 acres, average 15 tons.

12 „ for 150 ewes = ih tons per day for 4
months during winter while on grass :
by giving half quantity for 2 months
at first, before lambing, the turnips
may be spread over 5 months.

38 „ left.
I „ for 10 cows = 30 lbs. each per day for 4
months in winter, including the time
they are dry.

37 ., left.

20 „ for 200 tegs: 18 acres are consumed in
6 months by 200 tegs going on as
lambs in September = 16 lbs. per day,
beinsT rather little for laree breeds.

17 „ left (carried forward).

308 FARM LIVE STOCK.

17 acres left (brought forward).
^ „ for 7 horses.

i6| „ left.
5^ „ for 50 tegs, bought in autumn, to feed.

1 1 „ left for bullocks : 7 tons arc consumed
by a fattening bullock in 6 months @
f cwt. per day, leaving i ton per acre
over, after feeding 2 bullocks per acre,
which would make up the possible total
to 24 bullocks.

Fodder.

(i.) Strmv.

100 acres grain crops @ i| tons straw per acre:
this is a low average, but it is off light
land.
X i^ tons.

125 tons straw.

20 „ for horses : half for litter, and the re-
mainder for fodder being sufficient with
1 ton of seeds hay for each horse.

105 „ left.
10 „ as part of the cow-fodder: i ton per cow.

95 „ left (carried forward).

STOCKING OF FARMS. 309

95 tons left (brought forward).
10 „ for cow's litter, which could be done
without if necessary.

85 „ for 24 bullocks = 3| tons each, to supply
fodder and litter. The litter is supple-
mented by the rough stable cleanings
being thrown into the open yard.

(2.) Hay.

50 acres of " seeds " hay.
X \\ the average number of tons per acre.

75 tons total of hay.

40 ,j given to the sheep — a little over i ton per
acre of roots consumed (37 ac), or some-
thing more than i lb. per sheep per day.

35 » left.

10 „ for 10 cows, which with 10 tons of straw

allowed provides the necessary 25 lbs

each per day for 6 months.

25 „ left.
7 „ for 7 horses also getting part straw.

18 „ left ; and might be sold at market or sale
value — £Af per ton, more or less.

If there is no market, which is usually the case
when a farm is located away from a large town or

310

FARM LIVE STOCK.

railway station, lo tons given to the sheep would
supply I lb. more for each per day, and a foddering
might go daily to the bullocks.

Michaelmas Valuation — 29th Sept.

1 50 ewes @ £^ each, ;^450

200 home-bred tegs ) ^ , ,
- u u. 1 • ® 40/ each, . . 500

50 bought do. j ^ ^ ' ' ^

7 horses ^ £2iS each, .... 245
10 cows @ ;^20 each, ..... 200

8 pigs (a; 30/ — fed on refuse, grain, and
potatoes, ...... 12

24 bullocks (a), £iy each, .... 408
100 acres grain crops ((a; i^8 to i^io), say

@ £9 per acre, 900

50 acres roots (« ^5, 10/ — nearly y/6 per

ton, ....... 275

75 tons hay @ £2 — consuming-value taken

at half the sale-value, . . . . 1 50

Implements @ £1, 10/ per acre, . . . 450

£3590
Petty Cash, 10

Toia/ capital required, . £t,6oo

£2>^oo -^ 300 (the number of acres) = ;^i2 capital
per acre.

STOCKING OF FARMS. 31 1

Expenses and Purchases other than of stock bought
to fill up the places of those sold that appeared in
the first valuation.

Rent, Taxes, and Labour.
Rent (including tithe), 300 acres, @

30/, A50 o o

Taxes, 4/ per acre, . . . . 60 o o
Labour, 35/ per acre,

arable, . . . ^^350 o o
Labour, 10/ per acre,

grass, . . . 50 o o

400 o o

^910 o o

PurcJiased Cakes and Feeding Stuffs.
For Cows (@ ^ I each), i^io o o
For 24 bullocks, 12 tons

©i:;, 7/,- . • 88 4 o

For 250 sheep, 5 tons

@ £7,7l,- ■ • 36 15 o

134 19 o

Seed.
Rye-grass, home-grown ;

clover, 10/ per acre, . ^^^2500
(Wheat 5/, oats 3/ per

bushel), 225 bush. @

4/= • • • 45 o o

— 70 o o

Carried forward, £\ii^ 19 o

312 FARM LIVE STOCK.

Brought forward, ^1114 19 o

AT a I lit 7' e.

Super, 3 cwts. per ac.
forturnips = 1 5ocwts.
@ 3/6, . . . £26 5 o

Nitrate of soda and sul-
phate of ammonia for
grain crops and pota-
toes, 2 tons @ i^io
(average), . . 20 o o

46 5 o

Shoeing (30/ per horse) phis sundry bills
for repair of harness, implements,
etc. = /"5 each, . . . . 35 o o

Coal, etc., for the engine — a fixture be-
longing to the farm, . . . 1600

Interest on £^600 capital (« 4 p. c. = . 144 o o

Total expenditure for the year
{carried to page 2)14), ■ ■ £^ZS^ 4 o

Receipts from sales of farm produce for a year,
leaving the numbers and value of stock as is
found in the valuation at last Michaelmas.

From Sheep Stock —

Receipts for wool, and death and depreciation
neutralise each other as follows :

STOCKING OF FARMS. 313

Sale of wool (6 lbs.) at 5/ each on 150

ewes, ...... £2,7 10 o

Death, 3 or 4 per 100, and difference

in price of old ewes sold and about

50 tegs bought, . . . . 37 10 o

200 lambs (produce of 150 ewes) @

£2 each, ;i^400 o o

250 tegs sold @ 60/ each, profit ^i

each, ...... 250 o o

0)1 horses there should be no loss if

young ones are broken in and others

sold at their best.

From Cattle —

10 cows (produce 600 gals, milk @,

7d. = ;^i7, 10/ each) = . , , 175 o o
10 calves @ 50/ each, . £2^ o o
Less loss through sale and

repurchase of 3 cows to

prevent depreciation of

the stock,. . . 1500

10 o o

24 bullocks @, 35/ per month of in-
crease (for 6 months) = . , . 252 o o

8 pigs yield a profit of £2 each, food

supplied by the farm, — . . . 1600

Carried forward, ;^II03 o o

314 FARM LIVE STOCK.

Brought forward, ^1103 o o

From Sale of Grain —

( Wheat,4^ qrs. per ac. (« 3 5/ = i;/ 89)
(Oats, 7iqrs. „ @ 2o/=i^7 lO o)
100 acres grain crops.
14 „ off for horses.

86 „ @ £"], 10/ per acre — after
paying market expenses, . . . 645 o o

From Poultry —

50 hens and 20 ducks (o; a profit of

2y 6 each, = 8150

Retiini from prodiice in the year, . £iy^6 15 o
Total expenditure for the year, brought
from page 1\2, 1356 4 o

Total profit, £\Q)0 1 1 o

The loss from death is assumed to be allowed for
in stating the prices obtained. Should grain rise,
say 10/ per quarter on wheat, the profit on the above
farm, due to this item alone, would be increased by
;^200 a year. But, on the other hand, the fall of at
least 5/ per quarter which has taken place since the
time to which the calculations refer, has reduced the
profit on such a farm by i^ioo. The prices of live-
stock cakes, feeding stuffs, and manures are now
(1889) reduced 12 to 15 per cent., and in some

STOCKING OF FARMS. 315

cases even 20 per cent., from the prices quoted
above.

The foregoing- do not pretend to be more than
two of many methods which may be adopted of
arranging the stock and crops on such farms.

The following Balance-Sheet and Revenue and
Expenditure Account will enable the reader to follow
more exactly the figures in the foregoing example
(No. 2), and to verify the results. The accounts are
framed on the footing of a tenant entering into
possession of his farm at Michaelmas of an assumed
year, with stock, etc., as on page 310, carrying on
one year's transactions, as on pages 306 to 314 in-
clusive, and striking a balance at the Michaelmas
succeeding his entry, with stock, etc., then in number
and value exactly the same as at entry. In the
Revenue and Expenditure Account, the value of
grain, roots, and hay consumed is stated on each
side, as well as the other receipts and expenditure
described on pp. 310 to 314.

[Balance-Sheet.

Dr.

BALANCE-

As at Michaelmas {

As at Michaelmas

1898.

1

1899.

C

d. !

£.

s.

d.

To Ewes, ....

450 0

0

450

0

0

„ Tegs, .

500 0

0

500

0

0

,, Horses,

245 0

0

245

0

0

,, Cows, .

200 0

0

200

0

0

„ Pi.^S .

12 0

0

12

0

0

,, Bullocks,

408 0

0

408

0

0

,, Grain Crops,

900 0

0 i

900

0

0

,, Roots, .

275 0

0

275

0

0

„ Hay, .

150 0

0

150

0 0

,, Implements,

450 0

0

450

0 0

,, Cash in hand or bank,

lO 0

0

410

II 0

36CX) 0

0

4000

II

0

Dr.

REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT*

Expenditure.

To Ewes, Expenditure on their account,
,, Tegs, ditto,

,, Cows, ditto,

,, Ditto, Loss through Sales to prevent De

preciation, ....

,, Bullocks, Expenditure on their account, .

,, Horses, ditto, . . i&o | 15 o

,, Rent, Taxes, and Labour, . . . 760 | o o

This after crediting pasture rent, /I150, debited above
under proper heads, — Ewes, Horses, Cows.

,, Seed, . . . . . . 70 I o o

,, Manure purchased, . . . . 46 | >; o

,, .Shoeing, etc., ....

,, Coals, etc., . . . . . ib I o o

,, Interest on Capital, .... 144 ' o o

,, Balance or Profit,

238

s.

10

233
82

0
0

15

0

250
160

14
15

760

0

70
46

0

5

16

0
0

144

0

400

" 1

2451

'5 1

For the arrangement of these facts and figures the

SHEET*

Cr.

As at Michaelmas

i;y Capital, . . ■ 3600

,, Revenue Account for Profit, j

1898-9, . . . j ...

3600 o o

As at Michaelmas
1899.

;6oo

4000

j'. d.
o o

400 II

FOR Year assumed, say 1898 to il

Cr.

Revenue.

£

s.

d.

By Grain Crop, sold or used,

900

0

0

If understated, so far as used on Farm, per contra cor-

respondingly understated, so result not affected.

Same applies to Roots and Hay.

,, Roots, used, .....

275

0

0

,, Hay, ditto, .....

150

0

0

,, Ewes, for Lamb Crop, 200 at 40s.,

400

0

0

,, Tegs, disposed of at profit (subject to Expenditure

per contra) of, ....

250

0

0

,, Cows, for profit (ditto)

Calves, and Milk, ....

200

0

0

,, Bullocks, disposed of, profit (ditto)

252

0

0

,, Pigs, ditto, ditto.

16

0

0

,, Cash, for Poultry sold, ....

8

15

0

2451

IS

0

Author is indebted to Mr A. T. Niven, C.A., Edinburgh.

3l8 FARM LIVE STOCK.

The following Labour Note shows the particulars
of the ;^400 stated as expense of labour on page 31 1.

Labour —

3 carters.

1 cowman.

2 shepherds.

4 labourers.

10 @ 13/ per week, average, . . ^^338 o o
I bailiff® £1 per week, . . . 52 o o

1 1 men, ...... ^390 o o

3 extra hands at harvest for three weeks

@ 24/ per week, . . . . 10 16 o

Total labour, ;^400 16 o

The bailiff, carters, head shepherd, and cowman
are all supposed to have cottage and garden accom-
modation in addition to the above money wages.

In some districts wages are higher, while in others
they are lower. The above may be taken as an
average of the reduced wages of the present time.

INDEX.

Aberdeen-Angus breed of cattle,

62, 65.
Aberdeen-Angus bull, points of,

67.
Aberdeenshire shorthorns, 38.
Aboriginal cattle and sheep,

characters of, 11, 14.
Abortion in cows, 156.

,, means of preventing,

158.
Acom poisoning, 108.
"After-birth," the, in calving,

154, 157-
"After-pains," effect of, in cows,

159-

Age of horses, how determined,

219.
Agricultural labourers, inefficient

education of, 2.
Alton on AjTshire cattle, 77.
Albion, Prince of (a Clydesdale

horse), 195.
Alderney cattle, 78, 83, 90.
America, demand for Jersey cattle

in, 87.
"Amnion," the, in calving, 154.
Animal, points of a good feeding,

105.
Animals, characteristics of fat, 13.

Animals, constitutional weak-
nesses of, 7.

Animals, influence of domestica-
tion on, 12, 16.

Animals, knowledge of habits of,
important, i.

Animals, prices of, at Edinburgh
sales, 123.

Animals, variable features of male
and female, 7.

Anglesea black bullocks as grazing
cattle, 55.

Anglesea black cattle, 55.

Anglesea black cattle, milking
qualities of, 55.

Anguses. black polled, M'Combie
on breeding of, 8.

Anthromyice, 272.

Apoplexy, parturient, in cows,
161.

Asinus, how distinguished from
Equus, 192.

Atavism, 10.

Aylesbury Dairy Company, 43.

Ayrshire blood, distinction of, 82.
,, breed of cattle, 77.
,, bullocks, excellence of,
82.

Ayrshire cow, essentially a cheese-
dairy, 81.

320

INDEX.

Ayrshire cow, milking qualities of,

8i.
Ayrshire cow, points of, So.

,, cows, breeding from, 8.

B.
Bacon, curing of, 172.

,, model sides of, 171.
Bakewell's method of breeding,

30. 41-
Barrenness, how occasioned, 12,

16.
Barrenness obviated by change of

cHmate, 33.
' ' Bates " branch of shorthorns,

33. 35-
"Bates" l^ranch of shorthorns,

colours of, 35.
Balhurst, Earl of, on Hereford

oxen, 45.
"Belted" colouring of .Scotch

polls, 64.
Berkshire breed of pigs, 177.
Bistoury for dilating teats, 145.
lilack-faced Highland sheep, 247.
lilickling Hall herd, 60.
Blindness in sheep, 292.
Blood-poisoning in calves, 95.
Blotches in sheep, 294.
Booth and Bates cattle compared,

36.
Booth and Bates cattle, inter-
breeding of, 36.
" Booth" branch of shorthorns, 33.
Bos indicus, 17.
,, longifrons, 15, 77, 85.
,, ,, the milk cow of

the Druids, 85.
Bos primigenius, 14, 42.
,, scolicus, 16, 72.

Bos urus, 14, 86.

Boxes for feeding cattle, 112.

Braxy in sheep, 291.

Breaking of horses, 212, 216.

Breeding, Bakewell's method of,

30, 41-
Breeding, cattle, food for, 13.

,, CoUings' system of, 30.
,, Darwin on principles

of, 4.
Breeding, effects of in-and-in, 9,

15, 16, 31, 66, 72, 206.
Breeding, effects of imagination

in, 7.
Breeding for fust time, 152.

,, Lord I'anmure and

cattle, 65.
Breeding, peculiarities transmitted

by, 8.
Breeding, principles of, 5.
Buchan cattle, 64.
Bull, a mongrel, objectionable, 6.

,, points of Aberdeen-Angus,

67.
Bull, shorthorn, effects of crossing

with, 10.
"Bulldogs" for securing cows,

144.
Bullocks, food for, 298.
Bulls, features of wild, of Great

Britain, 17.
Bulls, ferocity of Jersey, 88.

,, system of training, lOO.
Butter, qualities of Guernsey, 89.
Byerly Turk (horse), 205.
Byre, arrangement of, in.

Cadzow Park cattle. See Hamil-
ton.

INDEX.

321

Ca?sar, bos iirus of, 15.

,, reference to war-horse by,
210.
Calves, housing of, in winter, 100.

, , hoven in, 99.

,, methods of rearing, 95.
Calving for first time, 152.

,, operation of, 154.
Capital required for a farm, 300.
Carbolic oil in parturition, 160.
Castle Martin l^reed of cattle, 54,

56.
Castration of horses, 216.

,, ,, male lambs, 259.

,, pigs, 183.
Cattle, Aberdeen -Angus breed of,

62, 65.
Cattle, aboriginal features of, 11.

,, ,, of Great Britain,

14.
Cattle, Anglesea black, 55.

,, Ayrshire breed of milking,

77-
Cattle, Blickling Hall herd of,

60.
Cattle, breeding and management

of, 94.
Cattle, British breeds of milking,

76.
Cattle, Buchan, 64.

,, Castle Martin breed of,

54. 56.
Cattle, Channel Islands, 78, 83.

,, comparison between Booth

and Bates, 36.
Cattle, Devon breed of, 46.

,, Dewsland breed of, 54.

,, dishorning of, 1 13.

,, tlistribution of, in India,

49-

Cattle, eflect of imported blood

on, 49.
Cattle, feeding, regularity in, 115.

,, Fife horned, 65.

,, fly affecting, 109.

,, forest, home of, 15.

,, ,, characteristics of, 16.

,, Galloway breed of, 69.

,, Glamorgan breed of, 56.

,, Gloucester breed of, 57.
grazing, 103.

,, grooming of, 118, 140.

,, Hereford breed of, 42.

,, house-feeding of, in.

,, KeiTv, 90.

,, ,, Dexter variety of,

92.
Cattle, lice aff^ecting, 102.

,, longhorn breed of, 40.

,, Low on preservation of

ancient, 49.
Cattle, M'Combie, Wm., a breeder

of, 66.
Cattle, M'Combie, ^Ym., on feed-
ing of, 105, 119.
Cattle, ^Montgomeryshire breed of,

43-
Cattle, Norfolk and Suffolk breed

of, 61.
Cattle on hire, effect of letting

out, 32.
Cattle, Orkney and Shetland, 57.

,, polled breeds of, 59.

,, red polled breed of, 61.

,, shelter, 106, 112, 114, 127.

,, shorthorn breed of, 23.

,, Somerford Park white,

59-
Cattle, Sussex breed of, 48.
,, Teeswater, 78.

Y

INDEX.

Cattle, unnatural symptoms in

healthy, 107.
Cattle, Watson, Hugh, a breeder

of, 66.
Cattle, Welsh, 53.

,, West Highland breed of,

51, 72.

Cattle, wild, 14.

,, effects of in-and-in-breed-
ing on, 15, 31.

Cattle, wild park, their origin, 15.
,, Woodbastwick herd of, 60.
,, young, liable to ringworm,

lOI.

Chapman horse, the, 209.
Chartley, wild cattle at, 14, 17,

59-

Cheviot sheep, 245.

Chick-weed hurtful to sheep, 296.

Chillingham, wild cattle at, 14, 16,
17, 21, 78.

Choking in cows, 166.

Cholera in pigs, 189.

"Clean," the, in calving, 154.

" Cleansing," the, in calving, 156.

Cleveland Bay horse, 209.

,, ,, ,, Loyd on, 210.

Climate of ( juernscy, 89.

Clipping or shearing of sheep,
261.

Clipping of horses, 226.

Clun Forest sheep, 243.

Clydesdale horse, the, 194.

Clydesdale horse compared with
the Shire, 200.

Clydesdale horse, foreign demand
for, 195.

Clydesdale horse, points of a, 196.
,, ,, prices and pedi-

grees of, 195.

Clydesdale horse, scapula and

humerus of, 198.
Coaching horse, the, 209.
Cochrane, M. H., of Quebec, 37.
Cold, effect of, on milk, 127.

,, endurance of, by the horse,

194.
Coilings' system of breeding, 30,

34-
Colour, transmission of, 8, 17, 27,

35. 43, 52, 64, 74.
Concrete as flooring for cattle

houses, 95.
Cotsvvold sheep, 235.
Cow, Ayrshire, j^oints of, 80.

,, breeches, 160.

,, cost of feeding, per tlay, 137.

,, how to put dry, 147.

,, pasture, 129.
Cows, abortion in, 156.

,, ,, means of pre-

venting, 158.
Cows, 100, arrangements for feed-
ing, 135-
Cows, choking in, 166.

,, de-sexed or "spayed," 147.

,, docility of Jersey, 88.

,, effect of insufficient exercise

on, 167.
Cows, food for, 127, 131, 133,

137, 140, 148, 151, 299.
Cows, heavy milking, liable to

barrenness, 13.
Cows, house feedings of, 136.

,, hoven in, 150.

,, importance of water supply

for, 130.
Cows, inversion of uterus in, 159.

,, lameness in, 166.

,, loupin' ill in, 163.

INDEX.

32;

Cows, milk-fever in, 16 1.

,, pasturing of, 126, 140. \

,, period of lactation in, 146.

,, premature labour in, causes

of, 156.
Cows, protracted laliourin, causes

of, 155.
Cows, protrusion of vagina in, 161.

,, rumen, impaction of the,

165.
Cows, signs of pregnancy in, 153.

,, ,, approaching par-

turition in, 154.
Cows, "soiling "of, 126, 133.
treatment of dair)-, 139.
udder, inflammation of, 164.

,, weed in, 163.
Crops on arable land, 135.

,, rotation of, 301, 306.
Cross, effect of the first, 10.

,, Galloway, excellence of, 74.

,, Hereford, excellence of, 74.

,, Kerry, excellence of, 92.
Crossing cattle, effects of, 9, 11,

77-
Crossing pigs, effect of, 174, 186.
Culley, George, on shorthorn

breed, 33.

I).

Dairy cows, treatment of, 139.
Dairying, 126.

,, districts noted for, 127.
,, extent of land requisite

for, 132.
Dandie Dinmont, transmission of

features of, 6.
Darley Arabian (horse), 205.
Darnley (a Clydesdale horse), 195.
Darwin on in-and-in-brccding, 9.

Darwin on influence of domestica-
tion, 33.
Darwin on principles of breeding,

4-
Dermatodictes ovis, 272.
Devon, long-wool, sheep, 234.
,, north, breed of cattle, 46.
,, ,, ,, Somerset

type of, 47.
Devon, South, breed of cattle,

47-
Dew-rot in sheep, 295.
Dewsland breed of cattle, 54.
Dexter variety of Kerr)' cattle,

92.
Diarrhcea in calves, 98.
,, pigs, 189,
,, ,, sheep, 284.
Dip, sheep, constituents of, 278.
Dipping of sheep, 272, 276.
Diseases in horses, 193, 223.
Dishorning of cattle, 113.
Distomum hepaticum, 283.
" Doddies," or Angus cattle, 64.
Domestication, influence of, on

animals, 12, 16, 18, 33.
Dorset and Somerset Horn sheep,

243-
Down-cross sheep, 244.
Drench, administration of, to a

pig, 190.
Drench for a horse, 225.
,, ,, sheep, 285.
Drew, Lawrence, of Merryton,

195, 200.
Druids, the milk cow of the, 85.
"Duchess" tribe of shorthorns,

' 35. 37-

\ Dumb-mariin, 13.

! "Durham ox," the, ^o.

324

INDEX.

Eclipse (horse), 205.

Edinliurgh sales, prices of animals

at, 123.
Etlucation, importance of, 3.

,, necessity of manual

and mental, 3.
Eild sheep, how known, 254.
Eocenes in N. America, remains

of horse in, 191.
Equiis distinguished from Asinus,

192.
P^quus IVzevalskii, or true wild

horse, 192.
Ergotized grass, effect of eating,

156.
"Escutcheon," or "milk-mirror"

iheor}', 146.
Essex breed of pigs, 1 78.
Everard, Sir (a Clydesdale horse),

195-
Ewes, breeches for, 257.

,, cast, 252.

,, feeding of, 253, 258.
Ewing's, Joseph, footrot mixture,

167, 293.
Exercise, effect of insufficient, on

cows, 167.
Exmoor sheep, 251.
Exostoses, how transmitted, 7.

F.
Family resemblance, causes of, 5,
Farm liorses, 194.

,, ,, cost of feeding, 221.

,, ,, grooming of, 226.

,, ,, management of, 221.

Farms, examples of stocking of,

297.
Farrall on Ayrshire cattle, 77.

Farrowing, preparation of sow for,

181.
P'asciola hepatica, 283.
Fat animals, characteristics of, 13.
" Favourite," a shorthorn bull, ^}.
Feeding of bullocks, 298.

,, cart horses, 215.

,, cattle, cost of, per

week, 1 19.
Feeding of cattle, regularity in,

115-

Feeding of ewes, 253, 258.

,, farm horses, 221, 297.

,, horses in summer sea-

son, 227.
Feeding of lamlis, 263.

,, 100 cows, arrange-

ments for, 135.
Feeding f)f pigs, 183.

,, sheep, 264, 266, 298.

Female animals, influence of, in

crossing, 10.
Female animals, variable features

of, 7.
Fife horned cattle, 65.
Flash wood (a Clydesdale horse),

, '95-

Floor for cattle houses, 95.

Fly affecting cattle, 109.

Foal, food of, 214.
,, treatment of, 213.
,, weaning of, 215.

" FfEtal meml)rane," the, in calv-
ing, 154.

Food, concentrated, for cattle,
116, 134.

Food, daily cost of, for a cow,

137, 299-
Food for cows, 127, 131, 133, 140,
148, 151, 299.

INDEX.

325

Food for liorses, 222, 297.
Foods, composition of, 13.

,, effects of a few common,

149.

Foot-and-mouth disease in calves,

95-

P"oot-and-mouth disease in pigs,

189.
Foot-rot in sheep, 292.

,, mixture, appHcation of,

167, 292.
Foreign demand for Clydesdale

horses, 195.
Fowlers, the, as cattle exporters,

84.
Free-martin, 13.
Fly affecting sheep, 274.
Fullarton, Colonel, on Ayrshire

cattle, 77.
Fuller's earth, a dressing for

wounds of horse, 218,

G.

Galloway breed of cattle, 69.

,, cow, l)reeding from a, 8.
,, crosses, excellence of,

74-

" Gid " or "Sturdy" in sheep, Ilerdwick sheep, 249.

281. Hereford breed of cattle, 42.

Gilbert, Dr, on sheep feeding, | ,, ,, ,> ^s milkers.

Grazings, qualities of, 103.
Grooming of cattle, 1 18, 140.

,, horses, 226.

Guenon's "milk-mirror" theory,

146.
Guernsey butter, qualities of, 89.
,, cattle, 89.
,, climate of, 89.

H.

Habits of animals, knowledge of,
important, i.

Hackney or Norfolk trotter, 203,
207.

Harmatopinus eurysternus, or ox-
louse, 102.

Hamilton, wild cattle at, 14, 16.
,, ,, ,, charac-

teristics of, 19, 71.

Hampshire Down sheep, 240.

Hay meadow, amount of produce
of, 131.

Heat, effect of, on milk, 127.
,, endurance of, l)y the horse,
194.

Herbage, natural, suitable for cows,
131-

267.
(iilbey on the horse, 202.
Glamorgan breed of cattle, 56.
Gloucester breed of cattle, 57.
Ciodolphin Arabian (horse), 205.

45-

Hereford breed of cattle as work
oxen, 45.

Hereford breed of cattle, charac-
teristics of, 43.

Grass ergotized, effect of eating, 1 Hereford breed of cattle. Hewer's

1 56- improvement o(, 44.

Grass ticks, 273. I Hereford breed of cattle, Tomkin's

Grasses, mixture oi permanent, as ! improvement of, 44.

food, 151. \ Hereford crosses, excellence of, 74.

326

INDEX.

I [erod (horse), 205.

Hewer's improved Hereford cattle,

44.
Hire, effect of letting cattle out

on, 32.
Hobbies, utilization of, 2.
Horning, effects of, 114, 156.
Horns, absence of, in Scotch polls,

64, 70.
Horse, age of, how iletermined,

219.
Horse, American trotting, 208.

,, breeding and breaking of

the, 212, 216.
Horse, castration of, 216.

,, Cleveland Bay, 209.

,, clipping of, 226.

,, Clydesdale, the, 194.

,, cost of, on a farm, 297.

,, diseases of, 193, 223.

,, distinction of the true, 192.

,, dressing for wounds of, 218.

,, early history of, 191.

,, early improvement of, 205.

,, effect of crossing on, 10.

,, endurance of the, 194.

,, exostoses on legs of, 7.

,, feeding of young cart, 215.

,, ,, in summer season,

227.
I lorse, food for a, 222, 297,

,, forty points of a, 193.

,, fossilized remains of, 191.

,, (iilbey on, 202.

,, great, the, 200.

,, grooming of, 226.

,, in-and-in-breeding of, 206.

,, inflammation in a, 226.

,, litter for, 227.

,, management f)f farm, 221.

Horse, nKtiicines for a, 224.

,, mouthing of, 217.

,, mud -fever in a, 226.

,, Norfolk hackney, 203, 207.

,, old English black, 200.

,, possibility of imjiroving

the, 229.
Horse, Shire, the, 200.

,, strong, the, 200.

,, Suffolk Punch, the, 202.

,, teething of, 219.

,, thornughl)red, the, 204.

,, war, the, 200, 210.

,, water for a, 225,

,, wild, the true, 192.

,, Yorkshire trotters, 208.
House-lamb, 243.
Hoven in calves, 99.

,, ,, cows, 150.

,, ,, lambs, 203.
Howard, James, M.P., on Clydes-
dale horses, 197.
" Hul)])ack," a famous shorthorn

lH.il, 33.

"Humbugs" for securing cows,

144.
Humerus of Clydesdale horse, 198.
" Humlies," or Buchan cattle, 64.
Hummel or cattle shed, 113.
"Husk" or "hoose" in sheeji,

285.
Hyi)oderma bovis atil'ecting cattle,

109.

I.

Imagination, effects of, in breeding,

7-
Implements, cost of, 300.
Inheritance, force of, 6.
Injuries, results of accidental, 7.

INDEX.

327

In-and-in-breeding of cattle, 9, 15,

16, 31, 66, 72.
In-and-in-breeding of horses, 206.
India, distribution of cattle in, 49.
Inflammation in a horse, 226.
Intra-tracheal injection, loi.
Irish milking cow, 91.
Ixodes ricinus, 272.

,, reduvius, 272.

J-

Jersey bulls, ferocity of, 88.

,, cattle, 84.

,, ,, demand in America

for, 87.
Jersey cattle, points of, 87.

,, cows, docility of, 88.

K.
Kades, 272.
Kent, or Romney Marsh sheep,

237-
Kerry breed as fancy cattle, 93-

,, breed of cattle, 90.

,, cattle. Dexter variety of, 92.

,, cow, excellence of, 91.

,, ,, points of, 91.
" Killerby " shorthorns, 34.

,, ,, scale of, 37.

Knowledge of animals, how ac-

cjuired, i.

L.

Labour in cows, causes of pro-
tracted, 155.

Labour in cows, causes of prema-
ture, 156.

Lactation in cows, perioil of, 146.

Lambing pen, 255.

Lambs, castration of male, 259.

Lambs, early treatment of, 257,

259-

Lambs, feeding of, 263.
,, hoven in, 263.
,, weaning of, 262.

Lameness in cows, 166.

Lampas, 219.

Lawes, Sir J. B., on cattle feed-
ing, 117, 120.

Lawes, Sir J. B., computing
tables by, 122.

Lawes, Sir J. B. , on sheep feed-
ing, 267.

Laws regulating family resem-
blance, 5.

Leicester Border sheep, 232.

,, improved English shee]3,

233-

Leuckart, Professor, on liver rot,

283.
Lice on cattle, 102.

,, ,, paraffin oil a remedy

for, 103.
Lice, sheep, 273.
Limnreus truncatulus, 283.
Lincoln, improved, sheep, 234.
Lincolnshire breed of pigs, 176.
Litter for horses, 227.
Live-stock computer, 125.

,, gri-a-t function of, 125.

Live-weight of pigs, 185.
,, of sheep, 267.

,, selling by, 121.

Liver-rot in sheep, 283.
Longhorn l)reed of cattle, 40.
Lonk sheep, 250.
Loui)in' ill, or tremliling, in cows,

163.
Loupin' ill, or trembling, in sheep,
289.

328

INDEX.

Low on Dexter variety of Kerry Meirc's live-stock comjuiler, 125.

cattle, 92.
Low on habitat of longhorns, 40.
,, polled Sufifolk breed of

cattle, 62.
Low on preservation of ancient

cattle, 49.
Lung disease in shee]), 287.

M.

M'Call, Principal, on horse dis-
ease, 223.

M'Combie, Wni.,on cattle l)reed-
ing, 8, 66.

.^^elophagus ovinus, 272.

Milk, amount of, produced, 129,

133-
Milk, average yield c)f, per day,

137.
Milk, efiect of cold on, 127.
,, ,, food on, 127.

,, „ heat on, 127.

,, favouraljle secretion of, 128.
,, fever, 161.
„ mirror theory, 146.
„ secretion of, how reduced,
128.

M'Combie, Wni., on cattle feeding, Milking breeds of British cattle,

119.

76.

M'Combie, Wni., on slow feeding Milking cow, old Irish, 91.

animals, 105.
M'Donaldand .Sinclair on Hewer's

improved Hereford, 44.
M 'Dougall's dip for warble fly, 1 10.

machines, 145.

mode of procedure in, 143.

times for, 141.

cows, heavy, liable to

MacGregor (a Clydesdale horse), [ barrenness, 13.

195-

Maggot flics, 274.

Milking qualities of Aberdeen-
Angus cattle, 69.

Male animals, variable features of, , Milking qualities of Anglesea

7. cattle, 55.

Male, effect of potency of, 6, 10. Milking qualities of Ayrshire cow,

,, influence of the first, 6. 81.

Mare, time of conception by the, ' Milking qualities of (ialloway

213-
Mare, treatment of farm, 212.
Mares, rarity of twins from, 13.

cattle, 73.
Milking (|ualitics of Hereford
cattle, 45.

number of, served by a Milking ([ualities of Jersey cattle,

stallion, 228.

86, 88.

Mario," a chami>ion shorthorn. .Milking qualities of shorthorns,
38.

Matchem (horse), 205.

28.
Milking qualities of Somerford
Maturity, propriety of forcing. 104. I'ark White Herd, 60.
Mea.sles in pigs, 189. Milking qualities of Welsh cattle,

Medicines for hordes, 224. 54.

INDEX.

329

Milking qualities of ^^'t;.st High-
land cattle, 52.
Mites, scab, 275.
Montgomerj-shire breed of cattle,

43-
Mountain l:)reeds of sheep, 245.
Mouthing of the horse, 217.
Mud-fever in a horse, 226.
Musca cadiverina, 272.

,, CiEsar, 272.

,, canaria, 272.

,, vomitoriiE, 272.
Mutton, production of, 268.

N.

Nardus stricta, 289.

Niven, A. T. , on stocking of farms,

316.
Nocard, Prof., on prevention of

abortion, 158.
Norfolk and Suffolk breed of

cattle, 61.
Norfolk hackneys, 203.

O.
Orkney and Shetland cattle, 57.
Ortelius on Ayrshire cattle, 77.
Ovis, the genus, 230.
'"Oxford" tribe of shorthorns. 35.
,, Down sheep, 242.

P.
Pannuire, Lord, and cattle breed-
ing, 65.
Paraffin oil a remedy for lice,

I03-
Parasites, external sheep, 272.
,, internal sheep, 281.

Parent, influence of a, 5.
Parturition in sheep, 256.

Parturition, signs of approaching,

in cows, 154.
Pasturing of cows, 126, 140.
Pedigrees of Clydesdale horses,

195-
Pen, lambing, 255.
Pigs, administration of drench to,

190.
Pigs, breeds of, 168.
,, castration of, 183.
,, dark breeds of, 177.
,, defects met in, 177.
,, diseases of, 188.
,, effects of crossing, 174, 186.
,, fattening, 182.
,, feeding of, 183.
,, improved breeds of, points
applicable to, 169.
Pigs in America, mode of feeding,

116.
Pigs, live-weight of, 185.
,, results of in-and-in-breeding
on, 9.
Pigs, shelter-shed for, 183.
,, susceptibility to cold of, 180.
,, white breeds of, 173.
Pleospora herbarum, 289.
Pork, cost of producing a stone of,

187.
Potency of the male, effect of, 6,

10.
Pouring, sheep, 278.
Pregnancy in a cow, signs of, 153.
" Pressing," effect of, in cows, 159.
Prices of Clydesdale horses, 195.

K.
Ramage on wild cattle of Cireat

Pritain, 16.
Rectum, jirotrusion of, in ])igs, 189.

330

INDEX.

Red polled hrccd of callle, 6l.
Resemblance, causes of family, 5.
Reversion, 1 1.
" ^Jggcd " colouring of Scotch

polls, 64.
Rinderjiest, effects of, 20.
Ringworm, liability of cattle to,

lOI.
Robertson, James, an introducer of

Kerry cattle, 93.
Roscommon sheep, 237.
Rotation of crops, 301, 306.
Rumen, impaction of the cow's,

165.
Ryeland sheep, 244.

Scab mites, 275.

Scapula of Clydesdale horse, 198.
Scotland, white pigs of, 176.
Scrofula in pigs, 189.
Scrofulous rash, result of close-
breeding, 16.
Ser\-ant, how to be a successful, 2.
Sheds for cattle, 112.
Sheep, aboriginal features of, 11.

,, black-faced Highland, 247.

,, blindness in, 292.

,, blotches in, 294.

,, Border Leicester, 232.

,, braxy in, 291.

,, British breeds of, 230.

,, characteristics of, 232.

,, Cheviot, 245.

,, chick-weed hurtful to, 296.

,, clipping or shearing of, 261.

,, Clun Forest, 243.

,, cost of, on a farm, 298.

,, Cotswold, 235.

,, (lew-rot in, 295.

Sh

eep

243-
Sheep,

Sheep

ter.
Sheep,

237.
Sheep

diarrh(L'a in, 284.
dip, constituents of, 278.
dipping of, 272, 276.
Dorset and Somerset Horn,

Down -crosses, 244.
drench for a, 285.
effect of crossing on, 10.
eild, how known, 254.
Exmoor, 251.
feeding of, 253, 264, 266,

, flies affecting, 274.
foot-rot in, 292.
" gid " or " sturdy " in. 281.
Hampshire Down, 240.
Herd wick, 249.
"husk''or"hoose''in, 285.
improved English Leices-

233-

, improved Lincoln, 234.
Jvent or Romney Marsh,

lice, 273.

liver rot in, 283.

long-wool, 232.

long-wool Devon, 234.

Lonk. 250.

lung disease in, 287.

management of, 252.

mountain breeds, 245.

Oxford Down, 242.

parasites, external, on, 272.

,, internal, 281.
))arturition of, 256.
points of, 231.
jjouring. 278.
Roscommon, 237.
Ryeland, 244.
short-wool, 237.

INDEX.

331

Sheep, Shropshire Down, 238.
smear, recipe for, 280.
smearing, 279.
Suftblk, 241.

Sussex or Southdown, 237.
tan face, 251.
treml)Hng or loupin" ill in,
289.
Sheep, tupping of, 252.

turnip-troughs for, 265.
urinar)' disorders of, 266.
washing of, 260.
Welsh mountain, 251.
Wensleydale, 235.
West Country Down, 240.
Shelter for cattle, 106, 112, 114,

127.
Shire horse, the, 200.
,, ,, ,, compared with
Clydesdale, 200.
Shire horse, the, names and history

of, 201.
Shorthorn cattle, 23.
Shorthorns, Aberdeenshire, 38.

,, " alloy " blood, origin

of, 27.
Shorthorns, Collings' system of

breeding, 30.
Shorthorns, colours of, 26, 28.

,, historical sketch of,

25.
Shorthorns, milking qualities of,

28.
Shorthorns, points of, 23.

,, results of in-breeding

on, 9.
Shropshire Down sheep, 238.
Smear, recipe for, 280.
Smearing, sheep, 279.
" Soiling " of cows, 126.

Somerford Park White Herd, 59.

Somerset type of North Devon
breed of cattle, 47.

Sow, breeding, general manage-
ment of, 179.

Sow, preparation for farrowing,
181.

" Spayed " cows, 147.

Spencer, Sanders, on breeding of
pigs, 170.

Staffordshire breed of pigs, 178.

Stage-coach horses, 209.

Stallion, number of mares served
by a, 228.

" Stanwick," the, a shorthorn cow,

36.
Stellaria media, 296.
Stocking of farms, examples of,

297.
Storer, Rev. John, on wild cattle

of Great Britain, 14, 16, 17, 21.
"Straining," effect of, in cows,

159-
Strong}-lus filaria, 285, 288.
"Studley" shorthorns, 34.
Suffolk breed of cattle, 62.

,, ,, of sheep, 241.

,, Punch, the, 202.
Sugar cane as cattle food, 117.
Superpurgation, effect of, 156.
Sus indicus, 168.
,, scrofa, 168.
Sussex breed of cattle, 48.

,, bullocks as workers, 49.

,, or Southdown sheep, 237.
.Swine fever, 189.

Tabanus bovinus, or gad fly, 128.
Taenia ccenurus, 281.

332

INDEX.

Tamworth breed of pigs, 178.

Tan face sheep, 251.

Tankcrville, Earl of, owner of
Chillingham Park, 16.

Tankerville, Earl of, on charac-
teristics of wild cattle, 17.

Teats, l)istoury for dilating, 145.

Teeswater cattle, 78.

Teething of horses, 219.

Tegs, cost of feeding, 269.
,, stock, 266.

Thomas, A. P.. on liver-rot,
283.

Thornton's "Circular "on system
of breeding, 29.

Thornton on Channel Islands
cattle, 85.

Thoroughbred horse, 204.

Ticks, 272.

Tithe, 300.

Tomkins', Benjamin, system of
breeding, 44.

Treacle as cattle food, 117.

Trichodectes scalaris or ox-louse,
102.

Trichodictes sphaerocephalus, 272.

Trocar and canula for hoven, 151.

Tupping, 252.

Turnip-troughs for sheep, 265.

Turnips for cattle, 115.

Twins from mares, rarity of, 13.

Tympanitis in calves, 99.

Typhoid fever through contami-
nated water supply, 130.

U.
Udder, inflammation of cows',

164.
Urinary disorders of sheej), 266.
Uterus, inversion of, in cows, 159.

V.

Vagina of cows, protrusion of the,

161.
Ventilation, good, necessaiy for

cows, 139.

W.
Wales, Prince of (a Clydesdale

horse), 195.
Warble maggot breathing tubes,

IIO.

Warington on dressed beef and
live-weight, 121.

Warington on live-weight of pigs,
185.

" Warlaby" shorthorns, 34.

Washing of sheep, 260.

Water supply for cows, 130, 142.
,, ,, ,, horses, 225.

Watson, I high, as a cattle breeder,
66.

Weaknesses, constitutional, of ani-
mals, 7.

Weaning of foals, 215.
,, ,, lambs, 262.

Weed in cows, 163.

Weeding, or artificial selection, 6.

Weeds in pasture land, 131.

Welsh cattle, 53.

,, ,, milking qualities of,

54-

NN'elsh mountain sheep, 251.

Wensleydale sheep, 235.

West Country Down sheep, 240.

West Highland l)reed of cattle, 51,
72.

West Highland bullocks, excel-
lence of, 52.

West Highland calves, jieculiari-
ties of, 52.

INDEX.

333

Y.

White heifer, the, 30.
,, scour ill calves, 99.

Wild cattle, 14.

Williams, Principal, on lung dis-
ease in sheep, 288.

Williams, Principal, on horse dis-
ease, 223.

Williams, Principal, on operation
for "gid " in sheep, 282.

Williams, Prof., on prevention of

abortion, 158. | Zebu race of cattle, features of,

Williams, Prof , on loupin' ill, 289. 17.

Woodbastwick herd of cattle, 60. j Ziindel on disease in lambs, 289.

Yorkshire, large, breed of pigs,

173-
Yorkshire, middle-bred, breed of

pigs, 175-
Yorkshire, small, breed of pigs,

174.
Yorkshire trotters, 208.

PRINTED BY OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH.

INDIA IN 1887.

By ROBERT WALLACE,

PROFESSOE OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOSIY IN THK UNIVERSITY OF
EDINBCROH.

With 3 Majjs and SO Illitstyatiuns, Sm, 21s.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

"This work, giving the views of a scientific and able observer of

the present condition of agriculture in India, is of great value

■A great deal of valuable information is very clearly set forth in the
chapters on different varieties of Indian cattle, the principles of
breeding, their characteristics, and the possibility of improving the
breeds by selection and crossing." — Bombay <}a::€tte, Aug. 20, 1888.

"An attractive, readable, and suggestive work, which embraces
the whole field of modern agriculture.'' — The Englishman^ Calcutta,
August 13, 1888.

"A work of wide interest and exceptional value. It is the work
of a skilled observer, with an extensive knowledge of agricultural
science, giving bold and unreserved utterance to the thoughts that
were suggested by his Indian surroundings. Professor Wallace
deals in a masteidy way with all general questions of agricultural
improvement." — T}(e. Ewjlishman, Calcutta, August 14, 1888.

"We cannot speak too highly of its usefulness and interest to
those who have at heart the promotion in this country of agriculture
on scientific principles." — 0. Anglo- Lusitaiio, Bombay, Aug. 9, 1888.

"Professor Wallace has I'endered an invaluable service both to
India and to England, by his intelligent observations and the free
expi-ession of his views." — Indian Daily Navs, August 25, 1888.

" Sliould be studied by everyone who has the development of the
resources of the country at heart." — Times of India, August 28, 1888.

"All interested in Indian agriculture — and there are a great
many who are, or ought to be — will find in this work a surprisingly

OPINIONS OF THE PRKSS.

large amount of the most valuable information given by one wlio is
most capable of giving it in the very best way." — Civil h'errice
Ca-cttc, London, .Inly 14, 1888.

" Knglish statesmen, and all who are interested in our Eastcin
Empire, will find much fresh and original information in Professor
Wallace's instructive volume." — Daih) Chronicle, .July 14, 1888.

" The book is an important contribution to our knowledge of the
subject, and its appearance may be expected to mark the dawn of a
new era ; for the inquiry has been systematic, and the facts noted in
every branch of the subject are eminently practical and suggestive."
—Dally News, Sept. 15, 1888.

" Containing a vast amouiit of information of an entirely novel
character, and of some facts that may be of utility to agriculturists
of tliis country as well as of India." — Standard, Feb. 12, 1889.

"A work of conspicuous merit and ability, and one calculated to
throw an altogether new light upon the whole subject of Indian
agriculture."— 3/or/(«H^ /"os^, August 23, 1888.

" In this country we know very little about the cattle of India, so
that in this direction Professor AVallace has been able to turn the
practical training of his early life to useful account, and his remarks

are equally interesting and readable The volume contains

the results of an immense amount of labour, both jihysical and
mental, and as one of the most promising <jf the younger agricul-
turists of the present day, Professor Wallace is to be congratulated
on ])roviding for his countrymen so graphic a picture of Indian
agriculture." — BclVs Wrclchj ^fesscn(|cv, August 20, 1888.

" No unbiassed reader can examine this book without feeling that
it is undoubtedly the work of an intrepid, original, and far-seeing
mind." — North British Agriculturist, July 4, 1888.

"The book must be ranked among the most exhaustive and
practical treatises on Indian agriculture yet produced in our own or
any other language ; and it is certainly a monument of the industry,
perseverance, and activity of observation of the autlior." — Scultish
Lcada-, July 19, 1888.

Edinburgh : Omvek ani> Hoyd.
Lond<m: Simpkin, MARsnAix, and Co.

^•♦'tS Date Due

Oct 10 '36

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0. MB