GEF1? OF
Miss Sue Dunbar

AGRIC.

P
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BOOKS FOR THE COOWfil

CATTLE:

THEIR HISTORY AND VARIOUS BREEDS;

TO WHICH IS ADDED

THE DAIEY.

BY W. €. JL. '{ IKABVIff.

WIYH ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON:
3BORQE EOUTLEDQE & CO./ FAERINai)0«.STREET.

*<fc

J.R.Jobhuis.

CATTLE:

THEIR HISTORY AND VARIOUS BREEDS.

TO WHICH IS ADDED

THE DAIRY.

BY

W. C. L. MARTIN.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON :

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON STREET.

1853,

CATTLE: UBfi/unr

* THEIR HISTORY AND VARIOUS BREEDS.

TO WHICH IS ADDED

THE DAIRY.

CHAPTER I.

AMONG the various orders of mammalia, from which man has
reclaimed and domesticated certain species — species, the
possession of which, in a state of subjection and dependence,
contribute essentially to his welfare — that of the Ruminantia,
or ruminating animals, affords him the greatest number ; and
those not of the lowest importance. To this order belong
the camel, the llama and its allies, the different species of the
ox, the sheep, and the goat. Since the remotest periods of
history, the ox and the sheep have been regarded in the light
of property ; nor is their intrinsic value less appreciated after
a lapse of ages. Who does not know how intimately the
wellbeing of a nation is connected with its agrarian produce,
whether animal or vegetable ; and how closely the interests
of commerce and of agriculture are inter-blended together?
It has been said by some one, that he who makes two stalks
of corn grow where only one grew before, is a benefactor of
his country ; and by a parity of reasoning, he who improves
the breeds of domestic cattle, feeds two on the land which
before only supported one; and he who devises superior
modes of management with regard to the extension of their
utility, also serves the interests of the community. On topics
like these, however, we need not insist ; let us at once to our
subject.

The Ox, then, is one among the ruminating order of quad-
rupeds. All the animals of this order have certain character-
istics in common, which distinctly mark the differences between

M510432

1

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

them and the animals of all other orders. They have cloven
hoofs ; and they are destitute of incisors, or cutting teeth, in
the upper jaw. With regard to the hoof we may observe that,
as in the horse, the terminal bone of the toe is incased with
horn ; but the horse has only a single series of phalangal
bones, the ruminants two ; and hence the expression — cloven.
But besides these there are, in some groups, as the deer, an
extralateral toe on each side, consisting of three minute pha-
langal bones, supported by a small stylet. As in the horse,
the canon-bone is single, but generally shows, more or less,
by a longitudinal furrow, that in an early stage it consisted of
two portions, first coalescing, and at length becoming ossified
into one.

With respect to the teeth, though there are no incisors in
the upper jaw, the gum is hardened, forming a fibrous and
elastic pad, fitted to sustain the pressure of the lower incisors,
eight in number, the position of which is rather oblique than
vertical. The molars are six in number on each side, above
and below. Of these the first three are preceded by milk, or
deciduous teeth ; the three posterior are originally permanent.
Their surface is marked by two pairs of crescentic ridges. In
the lower jaw, their crescents have the convexity outwards ;
in the upper jaw. the reverse. These crescents, as they wear
down by use, show a centre of bone surrounded by a coat of
enamel. In general, there are no canine teeth : these exist,
however, in the upper jaw of the camel, the llama, the male
of the musk-deer, and chevrotains, and the male of many true
deer.

The act of rumination, or chewing the cud, supposes a
peculiarly complicated structure of the stomach, to be more
fully explained hereafter. We may, however, observe, that
the four distinct cavities, or receptacles, are so arranged that
the coarsely -ground herbage received into the first large cavity,
or paunch, is thence gradually propelled into the second ;
viz., the hood, or honey-comb, through a valvular communi-
cation. Here it is compacted into small balls, which, while
the animal reposes at its ease, and in evident enjoyment, are
returned seriatim to the mouth, by a sort of spasmodic action,
and are thoroughly re-masticated. The aliment thus finely
ground is re-swallowed, but instead of being carried into the
paunch, it is turned aside in its passage down the gullet, or
oesophagus, by a voluntary closure of the muscular edges of
the entrance into the paunch, and so carried into the third,

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

or plicated compartment, termed manyplies, or manyplus,
whence, after compression between the foliations of that re-
ceptacle, it passes through a valvular orifice into the fourth ;
viz. the rud, or abomasuin, which is the true digestive
stomach.

Now, the suckling calf does not ruminate; for, while
nourished by the mother's milk, the process cannot be accom-
plished, and is not requisite. The proportion which the dif-
ferent compartments of the stomach, at this early age, bear to
each other, is, consequently, very different to that which after-
wards obtains, when the aliment is changed from milk to
herbage. The huge paunch, for instance, is, at this early
period, far less capacious than the fourth stomach, or rud,
which is indeed, at this time, the largest of the compartments,
and receives at once the milk as it is swallowed ; here, by the
action of the gastric juice, the milk is curdled previously to
digestion It is the inner membrane of this portion of the
stomach which is salted and dried, and under the name of
rennet, used in making cheese : its effect resides in the gastric
juice with which it is imbued.

In both sexes the head is armed with horns (we of course
except the polled domestic breeds of cattle), and these horns
consist of an external layer of corneous fibres compacted
together, and sheathing a hollow or cancellous bony core,
continued laterally from a bold occipito-frontal ridge. Hence
are oxen termed hollow-horned ruminants; together with
antelopes, goats, &c., in contradistinction to deer : the pro-
gressive increase of the horns is marked by successive ridges,
or rings, at their base ; oxen have neither suborbital sinuses
nor interdigital pits (as the sheep), nor inguinal pores : their
form is heavy and massive ; their stature generally large ; the
limbs are low and strong ; the haunches wide ; the shoulders
thick ; the head is large ; the forehead or chaffron expanded ;
the muzzle, excepting in the subgenus (Ovibos, musk-ox, for
example), is broad, naked, and moist ; the tongue is rough,
with hard, horny papillae, directed backwards, and assists
greatly in the act of grazing; the neck is thick, deep, com-
pressed laterally, carried horizontally, and furnished with a
pendent dewlap ; the spinous processes of the anterior dorsal
vertebras at the withers are very long and stout. All the Ox
tribe are gregarious in their habits ; and no quarter of the
globe (Australia excepted) is destitute of its indigenous spe-
cies, existing in a state of freedom. They roam over hills or

THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

plains, or tenant the glades of the forest. In all the species
the teats of the female are four in number. The skin is thick.
It is agreed by all naturalists, that the domestic ox of
Europe, divided as it may be by the effects of treatment, soil,
food, and climate, into peculiar breeds, is everywhere specifi-
cally identical. But the humped, or zebu race of the East
presents such marked differences from those breeds in form
and voice, that many eminent writers hesitate not to regard it
as of distinct origin.

LARGE ZEBU, OR BUAETMIN BULL.

Narrow, high withers, surmounted by a large, fatty hump ;
an arched back rising at the croup, and then descending sud-
denly to the tail ; slender limbs ; a large, pendulous dewlap
falling in folds ; long, pendent ears, and a peculiarly mild
expression of the eye, characterize the zebu race of India ; a
race varying in size from that of our largest cattle, to a
dwarf and often hornless breed, not exceeding a young calf in
stature. Of both the large and dwarf races specimens exist
in the gardens of the Zoological Society. Between these
breeds there are many of intermediate stature, and one, of
Surat, has the hump double.

The zebu race is not confined to India, China, and the
Indian islands, but is found on the eastern coast of Africa,
and in the island of Madagascar, where, as in India, it is used
for the purposes of draught and burden. In ancient times,
this race, as well as a race destitute of the zebu peculiarities,
existed in Egypt ; the figures of both are plainly delineated
on ancient monuments and temples. An Egyptian painting,

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

in the British Museum, represents two herds of oxen, of
which the foremost in the upper compartment is distin-
guished by its hump and shorter horns from the long-horned,
straight-backed cattle in the lower compartment. Perhaps,
however, it was rather in Upper than in Lower Egypt that
the zebu breed prevailed ; such, at least, is the case in the
present day. In Lower Egypt, as Burckhardt states, it is
almost unknown ; but it begins in Dongola, whence all along
the Nile, as far as Sennaar, no others are seen In the Galla

DWARF ZEBU.

country there is a race of large zebu cattle, generally of a white
colour, high on the limbs, with a small hump ; but, on the
contrary, with horns of great bulk and length, and sweeping
upwards. In Bornou there is a very large white race, with
immense horns, which first bend downwards, and then turn
upwards with a half spiral revolution. According to Clapper-
ton, the corneous external coat of these horns is very soft,
distinctly fibrous, and at the base not much thicker than a
human nail. The bony core is very cellular, and so light that
the pair together scarcely weigh more than four pounds.
The dimensions of one of these horns were as follow : —
Length measured on the curve, three feet seven inches ; cir-
cumference at the base, two feet ; length in a straight line
from base to tip, one foot five inches and a half. This
species, he adds, has a small neck, and is the common do-
mestic breed of Bornou, where the buffalo is said to have
small horns. It is, perhaps, a similar breed that Bruce
speaks of, as occurring in Abyssinia ; only he describes the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

horns as very heavy, and as acquiring their extraordinary
size from disease. His words are, " The extraordinary size of
these horns proceeds from a disease that the cattle have in
these countries, of which they die, and is derived, probably,
from their pasture and climate. When the animal shows
symptoms of this disorder he is set apart in the very best and
quietest grazing place, and never driven or molested from
that moment. His value lies then in his horns, for his body
becomes emaciated and lank in proportion as the horns grow
large. At the last period of his life, the weight of his head is
so great that he is unable to lift it up, or, at least, for any
space of time ; the joints of his neck become callous at last,
so that it is not any longer in his power to lift up his head.
In this situation he dies, with scarcely flesh to cover his
bones, and it is then his horns are of the greatest value. I
have seen horns that would contain as much as a common-
sized water-pail, such as they make use of in the houses in
England." (Travels, vol. vi.)

It is not within our province to enter minutely into the
osteology of the ox, nevertheless we annex a view of the
skeleton of this animal, viz. of a cow of the middle-homed
breed, in order that its general characteristics, which mere
description could not convey, may be seized upon by the eye.

On comparing the skeleton of the ox with that of the horse,
we perceive that the height is less, in proportion to the length,
than in the latter. In the horse, if we remove the neck and
tail, the body and limbs describe the limits of a square ;
not so in the ox, which is shorter on the limbs than the horse,
and has the trunk comparatively more elongated. The head
of the ox is in a line carried from the shoulders, and is braced
up to the spinous processes of the dorsal vertebrae by a pow-
erful ligamentum nuchse. The frontal and occipital bones
are cancellous, the two tables of bone being separated ; and
these cells are continued up the osseous core of the horns, so
that the cranial cavity is really less than from an external
view of the skull might be anticipated ; the scapula, or blade
bone, has its upper edge straight, the angles being acute ; the
ribs are thirteen on each side, eight true and five false ; they
are broader in proportion than those of the horse, and the last
pair are more remote from the pelvis, or haunch. The num-
ber of the vertebrae is as follows : neck, or cervical, 7 ; dorsal,
13 ; lumbar, 6 ; sacral, 4 ; caudal, 16. The pelvis differs
greatly from that of the horse ; the ischial portion is pro-

THE OX AND THE DAIEY.

duced, with the tuberosity truncated, so as to present three
angles, and the haunch, or iliac portion, is more spread;
hence an angularity of the haunch compared to what we see

in the contour of the horse. The spinal column of the trunk
does not fall gently in, as we see in the horse, but is rather
arched, and then carried straight to the set-on of the tail

8

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

without any downward curve. The humerus, or shoulder
bone, forms a considerable angle with the scapula, and is suc-
ceeded by the radius and ulna, or bones of the fore arm ; of
which the latter enters into the structure of the elbow joint,
and, becoming soldered to the radius, is continued to the
knee, composed of carpal or wrist bones, consisting of six
bones in two layers, of which two only form the lower range.
To these succeed the metacarpal, or shank bone, analogous to
the canon bone of the horse, but furrowed exteriorly ; it has
a small splint bone posteriorly, with sesemoid bones at its
lower end, where two articulating processes receive the two
first bones of the digits, or toes. The hinder limbs are on
the same plan ; the small bones of the hock (really the tarsus)
consist of five bones, of which the elevated calcaneum, or heel
bone, receives the tendons of the back of the thigh. The
thigh bone is larger and longer than the humerus, and the
metatarsal bone, or shank, longer and slenderer than the
metacarpal, or shank bone of the fore limbs. The bones of
the toes are also smaller. The annexed cut represents the
fore foot of the ox (A), and the hind foot of the same (B).

HIND AND FORE FEET OF OX.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

We have already detailed the characteristic peculiarities in
the dentition of the ox — peculiarities which distinguish be-
tween the ruminants and all other herbivorous quadrupeds ;
but, as in the case of the horse, there are certain points con-
nected with the dentition of the ox which ought to be under-
stood by every practical farmer, for it is by the characters and
changes of the incisor teeth of the lower jaw, that the age
of the ox may be the most correctly estimated. The regular
number of these incisors, as we have stated, is eight in num-
ber; but the first set are deciduous, being gradually shed,
and replaced by a new series. The new-born calf has gene-
rally two central incisors protruding through the gum, and

more or less developed ; these, like the others about to follow,
are covered with white enamel, and have sharp edges and
slender roots About the close of the second week, a tooth

SECOND WEEK.

10

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

on each side of this central pair cuts the gum, making the
number four ; at the end of the third week, the number will

THIRD WEEK.

be increased to six ; and at the termination of the fourth
week the full number of the deciduous, or milk-incisors, will
be complete. At this time the upper line of the sharp edges
of the two central incisors has begun to wear, the osseous
portion of the tooth appearing where the enamel is abraded ;
this increases, and, in the course of two months, the next teeth
will begin to show signs of wearing, and in about three
months the next in succession ; till in the course of four

FOURTH WEEK.

months or a little more, the whole set show the effects of use,
but the four central teeth by far the most decidedly. At this
time, independently of their wearing down by attrition, the
two central teeth begin to diminish in size ; at first this is
not very perceptible, but in the course of a few months, the
change will be very palpable. This diminution is the result
of a process of absorption, which goes on with increased
rapidity as the new teeth, in their nutrient cells beneath,
become more and more developed ; the worn surface of the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 1 1

teeth in question assumes a triangular form, with an oblique
inclination inwards, the osseous portion appearing as a dis-
tinct central mark. At the age of about eight months the

EIGHT MONTHS.

diminution and wearing down of the two central incisors is
very decided ; and before the close of the twelvemonth, the
next incisor on each side will show the same appearance, and

ELEVEN MONTHS.

the four, instead of being close together, will be separated
from each other, especially at their base : at the close of
fifteen months, the number of teeth thus diminished by

FIFTEEN MONTHS.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

absorption, worn by use, and separated from each other,
will extend to six ; and at the close of eighteen months the

EIGHTEEN MONTHS.

whole eight will appear as little worn rudiments. During

these changes the ox experiences more and more difficulty in

cropping his herbage, and from this cause, and the action

going on connected with the formative process of the perma-

i nent teeth, in their capsules or cells, the animal is subject to

; many disorders, and is liable to become out of condition,

I especially in pasture grounds where the herbage is not

abundant and succulent.

Still these rudiments of teeth remain for some months,
their decrease continuing, first, more especially in the two
central teeth ; till, at the commencement of the second year,

TWO YEARS.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 13

the two central permanent teeth shoot up, and push out the
mere relics of their predecessors. During this process, the
extremity, or alveolar margin of the jaw itself, is growing and
widening, so as to afford room for the development of the rest
of the teeth yet in their capsules ; and the increase of both
teeth and jaw goes on in according harmony. It is not until
towards the close of the second year that the next incisor on
each side takes the place of its temporary predecessor; nor
until the close of the third that the next in rotation succeed.

THIRD YEAR.

The corner milk-teeth, however, are now mere rudiments,
and they give place at the close of the fourth, or beginning of

FOURTH YEAR.

the fifth year, to their successors ; in all these changes some
allowance must be made for the vigour or the weakness of
the animal ; but such is the average routine.

The last teeth obtained are smaller than the rest, and can
scarcely be said to be fully grown until a few months have
elapsed. The whole set is complete, but while the outer

14

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

FIFTH TEAR.

teeth have been growing, the two central permanent teeth
first, and then the next, have been wearing, and show the
marks of attrition ; which, at the age of six years, will have
extended to the whole set. The teeth become flattened at

SIXTH TEAR.

the top, with a dark central mark, bounded by a line of bone,
and this by the layer of enamel. As yet the four middle teeth
are the largest ; but, again, by slow degrees, a change takes
place, and the process of absorption and wearing down goes
on. First, the two central teeth show this, then the next on
each side, till, at the age of ten, the four middle teeth are

TENTH TEAR.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 15

smaller than the outermost two on each side, which, never-
theless, are greatly worn. The animal has turned the grand
climacteric, and the teeth continue more and more to show
the ravages of age ; but, as among other domestic animals,
and the human species, not invariably to the same extent,
the process being slower or quicker, according to circum-
stances. At sixteen the ox is old, but there are many in-
stances in which the cow will give milk to the age of eighteen
or .twenty ; and rare cases are on record in which the cow has
given milk, and suckled a calf, at a later date, even in her
thirty-first or thirty- second year.

With respect to the grinders, or molar teeth, they cannot
be conveniently examined in the living animal ; nor even,
were they accessible, could a very certain conclusion be de-
duced from them.

The calf is born with one or two milk grinders on each
side, above and below ; but by the fifteenth, or twentieth day,
the number is increased to three.

A fourth molar, permanent, appears in the sixth or eighth
month after birth ; a fifth molar, permanent, in the twentieth
or twenty-second month after birth ; and a sixth molar, in
about the fiftieth or fifty- second month. The first milk molar
is shed about the time when the fifth molar appears, and the
second and third, at intervals of ten or twelve months.

It has been usual to judge of the age of cattle by their
horns, but we shall show that this is a fallacious method, and
of course inapplicable to the polled breed.

The calf at its birth has the horns in the form of small
osseous tubercles covered with a corneous layer ; the osseous
tubercle sprouts from the fronto-occipital ridge, and continues
to increase by the deposition of osseous particles, secreted by
the arteries from the blood. The core of the horns is, in
fact, extremely vascular, and the channels of the blood-vessels
may be seen along its extent, as if cut by a gauge ; it is also
multitudinously perforated for the passage of vessels, and,
consequently, a fracture of this part is followed by profuse
bleeding. The core is hollow, or cavernous, communicating
with the frontal sinuses, and is lined, as well as the latter,
with a continuation of the delicate membrane, spread over the
nasal cavity and extensive turbinated bones. The horny case,
like the nails of the fingers, or the scales of the manis, is
formed in the same way, growing by successive additions to
its base as the core developes. Horn may be regarded as

16 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

composed of hairs, agglutinated into a mass ; and in some
animals, as the prongbuck, of the rocky mountains, the fibrous
nature of its structure may be readily perceived.* From its
mode of growth from the cutis, horn consists of layers, or
laminae, placed upon one another, the addition taking place
on the inner, or under surface, so that layer after layer is
carried onwards by the successive deposits of others in rota-
tion. At some periods, a greater secretion and deposition of
horny matter occasionally takes place than at other times, and
this often produces a thickening, in consequence of the addi-
tion of the extra quantity of matter. To such a cause are
the rings at the base of the horns of cattle owing. The cow
generally exhibits one ring at the base of the horn when three
years old; a second is added when at the age of four years ;
and so on for several successive years ; hence, adding two to
the number of rings exhibited, her age is supposed to be
pretty accurately calculated. But this is fallacious ; for, if a
heifer become impregnated at the age of two years, her horn
immediately shows a ring, as it would have done when three
years old ; consequently she may be a year older than the cal-
culation. Again, in some cows the rings are very imperfect,
or not distinctly marked, and run into each other, so that it
is almost impossible to count them. Indeed, after the age of
six or seven, the successive additions are generally very
irregular and undefined, the surface appearing rugose, without
definite annular elevations ; hence the test cannot be applied.
Moreover, an aged cow may be made to appear much younger
than she really is, by having one or two of the upper rings
neatly rasped and scraped down, so as to become continuous
and uniform with the smooth surface beyond

In the bull, which has thicker and shorter horns than the
cow, the first ring does not make its appearance until the
animal is five years old ; and the successive rings are often
irregular and confused. Sometimes, indeed, they can scarcely
be made out at all ; and all attempts to judge of age by this
test are nugatory. The same observations apply to the
bullock.

And here we may advert to the peculiarities in the horns of
the bullock, which exceed, in size and length, those either of
the bull or cow. When the stag, or the buck of the fallow deer,
is emasculated, the antlers are either not reproduced, or are

* It is so in the Burmese oxen with huge horns, described by Captain
Clapperton,

THE OX AMD THE DAIRY. 17

small and malformed ; whereas, in the bullock, on the con-
trary, the horns, instead of being arrested in their growth,
shoot out in length, and very frequently assume a graceful
tournure.

At the base of the horns in cattle, the corneous investment
is very thin, especially where it unites with the cutis : here it
covers a vast plexus of vessels and nerves, rendering a blow
upon the part extremely painful. To one aware of this cir-
cumstance, it is revolting to witness the ruthless manner in
which the drovers use their ashen sticks, striking at the junc-
tion of the horn with the skull, and either almost paralyzing,
or, on the other hand, infuriating the animal with the agony
produced. Heartily do we wish such a weapon changed
for a slight goad, which, used properly, is a far more
humane instrument ; and that blows upon the head (and
the foot also) were punishable. The cruelties of Smith-
field are notorious: there is not room to tie half the
beasts sent there to the rails. The packing of the beasts into
circles within that once extensive and suburban, but now
miserably limited space, is managed during the night; and
the barbarities practised to effect this object are unfit to be
written. Nor are they much diminished when an animal
has been sold, and is to be driven through and extricated
from a mass of fifteen hundred cattle. The time, however,
is rapidly approaching, hastened by the railway mode of con-
veyance for carcases slaughtered at a distance, as well as
of the living animals, in which the nuisance of Smithfield
is to be abolished, and also the slaughter-houses in the most
crowded portions of our metropolis. The danger in driving
cattle to these dens of blood, the cruelties inflicted in forcing
them to enter (for the scent of the gore produces instinctive
horror), the effluvia of putrescent matter exhaled from them,
and the disgusting objects exposed to view, combine to
render them the disgrace of London. In these points, at
least, Paris is far superior. It is to be hoped that, in the new
market to be established, all the acknowledged defects of the
present system will be remedied.

With regard to the senses of the ox, namely, sight, hearing,
smell, and taste, they are respectively enjoyed in that degree
of perfection which is in accordance with the habits and
necessities of the animal.

Sight. — From the earliest times the eye of the ox has been
celebrated for beauty, and the calm tranquillity of its ex-

c

18 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

pression. Homer has applied the epithet, " ox-eyed," to the
queen of the deities of classic mythology.* The eye of the
ox is full and prominent ; it is defended hy long-lashed lids,
and a membrana nictitans. The pupil is oblong, and the ta-
petum lucidum may be seen through it. The sight is diurnal
and acute : like the horse, however, the ox can discern objects
very tolerably during the dusk of evening, and even at night ;
but the latter is a season of repose, during which it chews the
cud at leisure.

We know riot from what cause, but the bull, as is generally
admitted, is apt to become furious and excited at a display of
red or scarlet colours ; a cloak, or mantle, will often rouse his
anger. A red flag is used by the giostratori of the Roman
amphitheatre ; and the matadores of the Spanish arena

" Shake the red cloak, and poise the ready brand."

When the ox labours under inflammation of the brain and
its membranes (phrenitis), the sensibility of the retina is
morbidly increased ; and the sight of a red garment rouses
the animal to perfect madness. Many accidents have hap-
pened to persons, with red about their dress, while crossing
fields in which a bull was grazing at liberty.

Hearing. — This sense is acute in the ox ; the external ears
are more ample than those of the horse, and freely moveable.
In the polled breeds, the external ears are generally larger
than in the homed races ; but we do not know that the sense
is more refined. It does not appear that musical sounds
exert any decided influence on cattle. The sound of the
trumpet, the huntsman's halloo, and the cry of the pack, ex-
cite the horse ; the jingling bells of the wagoner's team are
believed to be agreeable to the animals ; and those also of the
caravans of mules which traverse the rugged mountains of
Spain. It is, indeed, the custom in Switzerland to hang bells
around the necks of the cattle, not, however, with the ob-
ject of pleasing their ears, but as a means of tracing them
when they have strayed among the hills ; the slightest tinkle
being heard, in those still and elevated regions, at a great
distance.

Smell. — The ox enjoys this sense in great perfection. The
nasal cavity is ample ; and there is a free communication
between the internal nares, which is not the case in the horse,
the septum making a complete division. The brain of the

* BOUTTLS Tr6rvLa"Ep7]: Juno, bovinis oculis, veneranda.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 1 9

ox is not more than half the size of that of the horse ; but yet
the olfactory nerves are nearly as large ; and, indeed, com-
paring the volume of the two brains, really larger.

The sense of smell aids that of taste in the selection of
suitable food ; the instinct, guided thereby, impelling the
animal to reject what is noxious or improper.

Taste. — The sense of taste, if not at a high ratio, is, never-
theless, sufficiently developed for the requirements of the
animal, and enables it to distinguish and enjoy the flavour of
such plants as aro suited to its nutriment. We may, how-
ever, observe, that both this sense and that of smell are
liable, in the domestic ox, to be deceived ; especially under
particular circumstances, as when, after being kept on winter-
fodder, they are turned out to graze in the spring, when the
scent of the young herbage is scarcely developed. It is very
doubtful whether wild herbivorous animals are ever so de-
ceived ; they are constantly in the exercise of their instinctive
faculties, which thereby become more acute and discriminat-
ing ; while, on the contrary, the tendency of domestication is
to curb instinct, which, for want of constant exercise, becomes
enfeebled, or less imperious in its governance. Hence it
happens that domestic cattle, introduced into strange pas-
tures, often perish from eating poisonous plants, which the
cattle accustomed to those pastures have learned, by experi-
ence, to refuse. The more an ox is stall-fed, the more likely
is it, if allowed to graze, to crop deleterious herbage.

We are told in the ' Swedish Pan ' (Amoenit. Academ.,
vol. ii.) that oxen eat two hundred and seventy-six plants, and
refuse two hundred and eighteen. Among the noxious plants
most accessible to grazing cattle are meadow sweet (spiraea
ulmaria) ; hemlock (conium maculatum) ; water hemlock (phil-
landrium aquaticum) ; water cowbane (cicuta virosa) ; meadow
saffron (colchicum autumnale); hellebore (helleborus fceti-
dus) ; monkshood (aconitum napella) , foxglove (digitalis pur-
purea) ; and yew (taxus baccata). Happily, however, in our
island, such is the excellence of pasturage, that fatal acci-
dents, from poisonous plants, are not of very common occur-
rence.

It is remarkable, that while the meadow sweet and the
long-leaved water hemlock, or cow-bane, are deleterious to the
ox, the goat feeds upon them, not only with relish but with
impunity.

When Linnaeus visited Torneav he found a terrible malady

20 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

sweeping away the cattle of the district, and which he at once
traced to the long-leaved water hemlock. Scarcely, in fact,
had he crossed the river, and landed from his boat on the
meadow, before he felt convinced of the origin of the mis-
chief. This deadly plant grew there in abundance; and it
appeared that, as soon as the cattle left off their winter-
fodder, and returned to pasturage, they died swollen and con-
vulsed : as the summer came on the mortality decreased, and
still more so with the advance of autumn. " The least atten-
tion," says Linnaeus, "will convince us that brutes reject
whatever is hurtful to them, and distinguish poisonous plants
from salutary by natural instinct ; so that this plant is not
eaten by them in the summer and autumn, which is the
reason that, in those seasons, so few cattle die ; namely, such
only as either by accident, or pressed by extreme hunger, eat
of it. But when they are led into the pastures, in spring,
partly from their greediness after fresh herbs, and partly from
the emptiness and hunger they have undergone during a long
winter, they devour every green thing which comes in their
way. It happens, moreover, that herbs, at this time, are
small, and scarcely supply food in sufficient quantity. They
are, besides, more juicy, and covered with water, and smell
less strong, so that what is noxious is not easily discerned
from what is wholesome. I observe, likewise, that the radical
leaves were always bitter, the others not, which confirms what
I have just said. I saw this plant, in an adjoining meadow,
mowed along with grass for winter-fodder ; and therefore it is
not wonderful that some cattle, though but a few, should die
of it in winter. After I left Tornea, I saw no more of this
plant till I came to the vast meadows near Limmingen, where
it appeared along the road ; and when I got into the town, I
heard the same complaints as at Tornea of the annual loss of
cattle, with the same circumstances."

Hunger will, indeed, often drive cattle to feed upon herbs
more or less unfitted by nature for them ; and it has been
remarked, that when they have suffered the ill effects of their
want of caution, they become more wary for the future, having
learned a lesson from experience. In the "Swedish Pan"
we are told, for example, that the cattle which feed in the
neighbourhood of Fahluna, where monkshood grows abund-
antly, generally leave this deadly plant untouched ; but that
cattle brought from a distant quarter, and introduced into the
same grounds, often venture to eat it, and, if too large a

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

quantity be taken, perish. In like manner, the cattle reared
on the plains of Schonen and Westragothia, have been found
to fall into dysentery when they come to the woodland parts,
from feeding upon plants which the cattle accustomed to
those places have learned to refuse.

In our country, it is from feeding on the shoots of the yew
that cattle most frequently suffer ; it appears to be a tempta-
tion to horses kept almost entirely on dry fodder, and to oxen
put 'upon short allowance. Actions-at-law have, in this
country, not unfrequently been brought against parties, who
from neglect in not enclosing their yew-trees, by a hedge,
paling, or other defence, have permitted the stray cattle of
the plaintiff to gain access to the trees, and there feed until
fatal results ensued. Notwithstanding the poisonous qualities
of the yew, it is given, according to M. Husard, in Hanover
and Hesse, to cattle, in winter and when fodder is scarce.
Small quantities are at first mixed with the other food, and
the proportion of the yew-cuttings is gradually increased until
the latter form the principal portion of the sustenance. This
is a curious instance of inuring the system, by degrees, to a
vegetable poison ; and M. Husard, who was evidently asto-
nished by it, undertook some experiments on the subject.
He gave to an emaciated and feeble horse, a pound and a half
of oats, and half a pound of yew, without producing any
apparently bad effects. He tried the same experiment on a
healthy mare, in good condition, with the same results. He
then took seven ounces of yew, bruised it, and mixed it with
twelve ounces of water, and gave it to a horse which had fasted
four hours, and in an hour afterwards the animal died. In
this case the yew was taken unmixed with other food, on an
empty stomach.

To the plants already noticed as deleterious to cattle, we
may add the henbane (hyoscyamus niger), the wild or hedge
parsley (caucalis infesta), the wild poppy (papaver somniferum),
and various species of ranunculus, or crowfoot.

Subsequently to the investigation by M. Hesselgreeii
(' Swedish Pan '), on the plants of Sweden injurious to cattle,
M. Yvart, in France, investigated the properties of nearly
seven hundred common plants, with a view to their effects
upon our domestic herbivorous animals. Many plants, he
observes, are utterly refused by them all : among the prin-
cipal of these, growing in marshy places, are the following : —
The common butterwort (pinguicula vulgaris), common

22 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

hooded milfoil (reticularia vulgaris), forget-me-not (myosotis
palustris), perfoliate pondweed (potomageton perfoliatum),
long-leaved cowbane (cicuta virosa), long-leaved sundew
(drossera longifolia), water pepper (polygonum hydropiper),
sweet-flag (acorus calamus), water crowfoot (ranunculus aqua-
tilis), great spear-wort (ranunculus lingua), and water milfoil
(myriophyllum spicatum).

There are other plants which either grow in shady spots,
or moist pastures, which all cattle reject. Such are the
common thornapple (datura stramonium), common henbane
(hyoscyamus niger), black-berried nightshade (solanum ni-
grum), dwarf-elder (sambucus ebulus), mountain dryas (dryas
octopetala), black horehound (bdllota nigra), common white
horehound (marrubium vulgare), impatient lady's smock (car-
damine impatiens), common celandine (chelidonium majus),
and the blue erigeron (erigeron acre). It must, here, how-
ever, be noticed, that many of these plants, when very young,
are sometimes cropped by the cattle, without any ill effects ;
and that, on the contrary, some nutritious plants are, when
in seed, refused from their perfume being too strongly dif-
fused. But, after the animals have endured a long-continued
fast, their eagerness interferes with their discrimination.

Some plants are often eaten by cattle, while green and
fresh ; yet, singular to say, they are refused if offered in a
faded or dry state. Among these are cock's- comb (rhinanthus
crista galli), the horsetails (equisetum), the bedstraws (galium),
which spoil the hay, and the common buckbean (menyanthes
trifoliata). Again, there are others, such as the crowfoots
(ranunculus), and the swallow-worts (asclepias), which lose
their noxious properties when dried, and may be eaten by the
cattle without injury.

Some plants are stimulants, or cordials; such are the
garlics (allium), and the docks (rumex).

The goat not only feeds with impunity upon several plants
refused by other cattle, but even eagerly seeks for them. Of
these we may mention the common mare's-tail (hippuris
vulgaris), common prickly seed (echinospermum lappula),
the greater water plantain (alisma plaritago), highly injurious
to other domestic animals ; the wood anemone (anemone
memoralis), the meadow anemone (a. pratensis), the spring
anemone (a. vernalis), celery-leaved crowfoot (ranunculus sce-
leratus), the knotty-rooted figwort (scrophularia nodosa),
and tame-poison (asclepias vincetoxicum), of which it is ex-

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 23

tremely fond. To these may be added, the small water-wort
(elatine hydropiper), box-leaved andromeda (a. calcyculata),
biting stone-crop (sedum acre), snapdragon (antirrhinum lina-
ria), stinking chamomile (anthemis cotula), black-berried
bryony (bryonia alba), marsh lousewort (pedicularis palus-
tris), wood lousewort (p. sylvatica), hemp agrimony (eupa-
torium cannabinum), annual mercury (mercurialis annua),
deleterious to all domestic animals ; corn horsetail (equisetum
arvense), marsh horsetail (e. palustre), and the male polypody
(polypodyum filix mas).

Some plants are eaten solely by the hog ; but it is only
their roots, in general, that are sought after Among these
are the common cyclamen (cyclamen Europseum), common
asarabacca (asarum Europ8eum),the white and the yellow water-
lily (nymphsea alba, and lutea), towards which the horse ex-
hibits a marked aversion ; the water-soldier (stratiotes aloides),
sea-wrack-grass (fostera marina), and maiden-hair (asplenium
trichomanes). The hog also greedily searches the ground for
earth or pig-nuts, the roots of the two species of umbelliferous
plants, buriium bulbocastanum, and b. flexuosum.

A few plants are relished by all domestic herbivorous ani-
mals, and are much sought after ; among these are the com-
mon millet-grass (millium effusum), meadow soft-grass (holcus
lanatus), annual meadow-grass (poa annua), oats, barley and
wheat, the carrot and parsnip, the great round-leaved willow
(salix caprea), the Norwegian cinquefoil (potentilla Norvegica),
the creeping trefoil or Dutch clover, and other species of
clover, lucern, sainfoin, &c. But many of these plants must
be in different states in order to be equally liked by every
domestic species. It is observed of the cotton grasses (erio-
pharum) that they are hurtful to cattle from their hairs, which
are apt to serve as a nucleus to those concretions of extraneous
matters sometimes found in the stomach. The utility of root-
ing up as much as possible all noxious plants from pasture
grounds, and the ditches around them, is palpable, and it
would be well if the farmer attended to this point more than
is usually the case.

It is riot very easy, unless the fact be ascertained from cir-
cumstances, to determine positively that a suffering beast is
labouring under the effects of poisonous plants taken into the
stomach. The general symptoms are stupor, and great swell-
ing ; a refusal of food, a grinding of the teeth, and a rolling
about as if from extreme agony or colic. The first thing to

24 THE OX AND THE DAIEY.

be done is to clear the stomach-bag, and freely washing out
the contents by means of the stomach-pump, plenty of warm
water being used, and the operation being persevered in till
no particle remains behind ; brisk aperients should then be
given, followed by carminatives.

It is a remarkable fact that, although the ox is decidedly
herbivorous, yet in some countries it is fed, during a part of
the year at least, on a proportion of animal diet. In Norway,
for example, the herds and flocks are driven to the mountains,
and are there depastured ; but during the long winter they
are housed and fed partially on the hay grown within the im-
mediate precincts of the farm, and brought from the hills,
and more plentifully on a kind of food which, to our English
farmer, must appear very strange and disgusting, but which
the cattle are said to relish very much. This food consists
of a thick gelatinous soup, made by boiling the heads of fish,
and mixing horse-dung with the broth. The boat of the
farmer in Norway supplies not only himself and his family
with the staple portion of his winter subsistence, but his cows
also. A writer in the * Edinburgh Journal of Natural History*
says : " We are assured by M. Yvart, that in Auvergne, fat
soups are given to cattle, especially when sick or enfeebled,
for the purpose of invigorating them. The same practice is
observed in some parts of North America, where the country
people mix, in winter, fat broth with the vegetables given to
their cattle, in order to render them more capable of resisting
the severity of the weather. These broths have been long
considered efficacious by veterinary practitioners of our own
country, in restoring horses which have been enfeebled
through long illness. It is said by Peall to be a common
practice in some parts of India to mix animal substances with
the grain given to feeble horses, and to boil the mixture into
a sort of paste, which soon brings them into good condition,
and restores their vigour. Pallas tells us, that the Kussian
boors make use of the dried flesh of the hamster reduced to
powder, and mixed with oats, and that this occasions their
horses to acquire a sudden and extraordinary degree of embon-
point. Anderson relates in his history of Iceland, that the
inhabitants feed their horses with dried fish when the cold is
very intense, and that these animals are extremely vigorous,
though small. We also know that in the Feroe Islands, the
Orkneys, the Western Islands, and in Norway, where the
climate is still very cold, this practice is also adopted; and it

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 25

is not uncommon in some very warm countries, as in the king-
dom of Muskat in Arabia Felix, near the straits of Ormuz,
one of the most fertile parts of Arabia fish and other animal
substances are there given to the horses in the cold season, as
well as in times of scarcity."

We may here add, that other herbivorous animals, also,
occasionally partake of animal food, to which they are doubt-
less led by instinct as to a stimulus required by the system,
for the maintenance of a due degree of energy. In Lapland,
for example, the reindeer devours the lemming, a little rodent
animal, allied to the vole or field-mouse, and which often
swarms in myriads in that country. The American reindeer,
according to the assurance of Franklin, are accustomed to
devour mice, and also to gnaw their fallen antlers.

Though not very delicate as an organ of taste, the tongue
of the ox is of great assistance in the prehension and collec-
tion of food. It is shorter than that of the horse, and rough
on the upper surface, with retroverted horny papillae ; by its
action it combs the grass together into a roll, in order to
bring it between the incisor teeth, and the pad of the upper
jaw. During the mastication it disposes the food between
the grinders, and by the assistance of the bars or ridges on
the palate, forms it into balls for swallowing : in the act of
drinking it constitutes a trough through which the fluid
passes ; it is used to clear the naked muzzle from various
impurities, and also as a rasp to rub its own coat, or that of
its companion, in token of friendship. It is from this habit
of rasping each other's coats, that compacted balls of hair are
so often formed in the stomach, where they lodge, to the in-
terference, more or less decided, with its digestive functions.
These matted balls of hair are found in the rumen or paunch,
and also in the abomasum, or true digesting stomach ; they
vary in size, and are often formed at a very early age. In
some cases, bits of straw, wood, and other extraneous matters,
are mixed with the hair ; and occasionally they consist of dis-
tinct layers, with a central nucleus consisting of a nail, a bit
of stone, or some other substance.

While speaking of the tongue, we may remark the os
hyoides, or its bony support, and the larynx connected with
it, differ much from the same parts in the horse ; but these
parts will be better understood by comparing the annexed
figures.

THE OX AND THE DAIliY.

LARYNX OF HORSE.

LARYNX OF OX.

In both cuts the letters refer to the same parts : A. The
spur of the os hyoides. B. The base or greater cornu. c.
The inferior lateral cornu : c'. The middle cornu (wanting in
the horse). D. The superior lateral cornu. E. The epiglottis.
F. The arytenoid cartilage. G. The thyroid cartilage. H. the
cricoid cartilage. K. the cartilaginous rings of the trachea,
with their ligamentous interspaces. L. The rima glottidis, or
entrance into the windpipe, defended by E, the epiglottis ;
long, narrow, and pointed in the horse ; thick, rounded, and
curled in the ox. In the horse the elongated spur (A) binds
the tongue more tightly down, and interferes with its free-
dom ; while in the ox, the short tuberculous spur permits far
greater liberty of motion. The difference in the form of the
thyroid, cricoid, and arytenoid cartilages, is too palpable to
be overlooked.

Intelligence. — Intelligence appears to be more limited in
the ox than in the horse. The brain is comparatively smaller
in the former than in the latter ; and the ratio of intelligence
is probably in about the same proportion. But we must not

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 27

regard the ox as remarkable for stupidity. The working ox
knows its driver, and readily obeys his word of command,
displaying, at the same time, considerable docility and willing-
ness. The cow not only knows, but often evinces decided
affection towards the person by whom she is regularly milked
and fed, and not unfrequently refuses the attentions of another.
Cows, pastured in the fields, draw towards the accustomed
spot, at the usual milking time, and, by their lowing, seem to
give notice of their readiness.

Reproduction. — The heifer ought not to be allowed to breed
until turned two years old ; the reason is obvious : her own
system, before this period, is not sufficiently matured for the
tax upon it — a tax which will be paid, not only by the dam,
but also by her progeny, for both will suffer from a deficiency
in nutriment, the whole of which is necessary for the growth
of the former, which, during the second year, is rapid. It
the bull be kept separate from the herd of cows, the farmer
may regulate the succession of calves almost at pleasure, so as
to suit his pasture, or his arrangements. The best time, as
it respects the mother, the calf, and the free supply of milk,
is when the spring grass is beginning to shoot luxuriantly,
affording a good and sufficient store of nutriment. It is true
that veal and butter yield a better profit at an earlier period,
but the breeder must judge in points of this nature from cir-
cumstances.

The period of gestation in the cow is generally stated as
nine calendar months, or two hundred and seventy days ; but
there is often considerable variation of time. M. Tessier
observes (in a memoir read to the Royal Academy of Sciences
in Paris), that the shortest period, as far as his opportunities
of observation enabled him to ascertain, was two hundred and
forty days, the longest three hundred and twenty-one; the
difference being eighty-one days.* This range of time is very
extraordinary, and appears to depend on the care paid to the
animal, and on its state of health ; by which the development
of the calf is influenced through the sanguiferous system of
the mother.

With respect to the bull, he does not attain to a due degree
of strength till two years old, and is in higher vigour at three ;

* In the Bulletin des Sciences by the Soc. Philoraatique, Paris, 1797,
M. Tessier says, that out of 160 cows, some calved in 241 days, and five in
308 ; giving a latitude of 67 days. — See Sir E. 'Home's Paper on Phil. Trans.
Part i. for 1822.

28 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

but how long the breeder may keep him after that age must
depend upon his own judgment, and a variety of circum-
stances.

The cow seldom produces more than a single calf, some-
times, however, twins, and very rarely three. In the case of
twins, if they be respectively male and female, the female is
generally, but not always, unproductive. Females, thus con-
ditioned, are termed free-martins ; they are evidently the
taurcB of Columella. (Libr. vi.) Varro also uses the word
taura, as applied to a cow of this description. Bewick states,
that the free-martin resembles the bullock more than the cow
in form : an observation also made by Hunter, who adds, that
its flesh is generally considered finer in fibre than that either
of the bull or cow, and to surpass that of the ox or heifer, in
delicacy of flavour ; but there are not wanting exceptions
where the flesh has turned out nearly as bad as bull-beef, and
certainly worse than that of a cow. For an account of the
anatomical peculiarities of the free-martin, by John Hunter,
see Philosophical Transactions, vol. Ixix. p. 289 ; and also
Professor Owen's edition of Hunter's Observations, 1837.

Every twin female, however, is not necessarily barren, even
when the other calf is a male. This has been satisfactorily
proved: it was, indeed, known to Hunter; and, in the Ob-
servations above alluded to, Professor Owen adds a confir-
matory note, from London s Magazine of Natural History,
stating that a cow in the possession of J. Holroyd, Esq., of
Withers, near Leeds, produced twins, a bull calf, and a cow
calf. As popular opinion was strong on the necessary barren-
ness of the female, Mr. Holroyd determined to put it to the
test, and reared both calves up to maturity. In due time this
heifer brought forth a bull calf, and had, regularly, calves for
six or seven years afterwards. In the Farmer's Magazine,
for November 1806, there is an account of a twin heifer,
belonging to Mr. Buchan, of Killingtringham. which pro-
duced a calf: she was very handsome, with a well-formed
udder, and was a good milker. In the same Magazine,
November 1807, another instance of a similar nature is
recorded, and others might be adduced. When the twins are
both bull calves, or both cow calves, they are generally equally
productive.

There is an instance on record in the British Farmer's
Magazine, May 1828, of a cow which produced three calves
at a birth, precisely resembling each other.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 29

In the Nouveau Bulletin des Sciences, a most extraordi-
nary account is given of a cow which produced nine calves at
three successive births. First, in 1817, four cow calves;
secondly, in 1818, three calves, two of them females ; and
thirdly, in 1819, two calves, both females. With the excep-
tion of two, belonging to the first birth, all were suckled by
the mother.

And here we may offer a few remarks on the principles by
which the breeder ought to be guided in the successful
management or improvement of his stock, in whatever points
he wishes it to excel ; whether in those required by the grazier
or the dairy-farmer. Every man, whether grazier or dairy-
farmer, is desirous of turning his cattle to the most advantage ;
nor can this be done, unless the size of the farm, the soil,
climate, the produce, and the nature and extent of the pas-
turage, be well considered ; for the cattle that the farm is best
adapted for maintaining will be the most profitable. It is,
however, essential, whatever the cattle be, whether for the
purpose of the dairy, or for the immediate supply of the
markets with their flesh, that they be well bred, and excellent
of their kind. To the dairy-farmer, the most important points
are, the quantity of milk yielded, its quality, its value for the
production of butter, or of cheese, a freedom in the cows from
vicious habits and ill temper, their character as good and
healthy breeders, the ease with which, when useless as
milkers, they become fattened for the market, and the nature
and quantity of food requisite for this purpose. To the
grazier, the quickness of becoming fat, and at as little expense
as possible, the fineness of the grain of the meat, or of the
muscular fibres, the mode of laying on the fat, the smallness
of bone, soundness of constitution, and congeniality with the
soil and the climate, are the chief points which he takes into
consideration. If he is wise he will never stint keep, nor
transfer his stock from a good to an indifferent soil ; and this
is true also with respect to the dairy farmer.

Contour, or beauty of form, is desirable ; indeed it is more
or less connected with what may be termed utility of form,
that is, a preponderance of those parts in the beast which are
most delicate for the table, and bear the highest price, over
the parts of inferior quality, or offal. This is connected with
smallness of bone, but not a preternatural smallness, and
with a tendency to depositions of fat, which, however, should
not be carried to an extreme, otherwise the quantity of flesh

30 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

is disproportionate, and its fibre is dry and insipid ; nor is
the weight of the beast proportionate to its admeasurement.
Previously to the time of Mr. Bake well,* the cattle in general
were large, long-bodied, big-boned, flat-sided, slow to fatten,
great consumers of food, and often black, or foul-fleshed, or
as it is called in Yorkshire, "lyery." This truly patriotic
breeder, acting upon true principles, energetically set to work
upon the improvement of cattle, and, in defiance of opposi-
tion and a thousand difficulties, lived to see the success of
his long continued efforts. Experience and a close and acute
observation had taught him that " like produces like ; " in
other words, that the qualities of the parents, such as beauty,
or utility of form, disposition to fatness, goodness of flesh,
abundance of milk, and even temper, were inherited by their
offspring ; and that by careful selections on the side both of
the sire and dam, a breed might be ultimately established, to
which the title blood could be distinctly applied. This, of
course, supposes a primary selection, but a selection of such
of the offspring as exhibited the properties which constituted
their perfection, in the highest degree ; and again of the off-
spring of these, and so on progressively. At first, Mr. Bake-
well was necessitated to breed in and in, but as his stock
increased, he was enabled to interpose more or less remote
removes between the members of the same family ; and ulti-
mately he established the Dishley, or New Leicester long
horns, a breed remarkable for smallness of bone, roundness of
form, aptitude to fatten upon a moderate allowance, and fine-
ness of flesh. But while he accomplished this, rendering the
animals admirably suited for the grazier, it was found that
their qualities as milkers were much deteriorated ; the dairy
farmers consequently retained their old breed, noted for the
richness, though perhaps not the great abundance of the milk.
We are not here speaking about the differences or the dis-
tinguishing excellences of the various breeds of cattle, but of
the principles upon which excellences, it matters not of what
sort, may be obtained. " Like produces like," and both
parents must present the same excellences, the same charac-
teristics. It was by following out these rules that Mr. Bake-
well arrived at perfection in his breed ; indeed by some he is
thought to have pushed his principles too far, and the follow-
ing remarks have perhaps some justice in them : — "It was

* Born at Dishley, in Leicestershire, 1725. His father and grandfather
resided on the estate before him.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 31

his grand maxim, that the bones of an animal intended for
food could not be too small ; and that the fat, being the most
valuable part of the carcass, it could not, consequently, be too
abundant. In pursuance of this leading theory, by inducing
a preternatural smallness of bone, and rotundity of carcass,
he sought to cover the bones of all his animals externally
with masses of fat. Thus the entirely New Leicester breed,
from their excessive tendency to fatten, produce too small a
quantity of eatable meat, and that, too, necessarily of inferior
flavour and quality. They are, in general, found defective in
weight, proportionally to their bulk ; and if not thoroughly
fattened their flesh is crude and without flavour ; while, if
they be so, their carcasses produce little else but fat, a very
considerable part of which must be sold at an inferior price,
to make candles instead of food : not to forget the very great
waste that must ever attend the consumption of over-fattened
meat.

" This great and sagacious improver (Mr Bakewell) very
justly disgusted at the sight of those huge, gaunt, leggy, and
misshapen animals with which his vicinity abounded, and
which scarcely any length of time, or quantity of food, would
thoroughly fatten, patriotically determined upon raising a
more sightly and profitable breed ; yet, rather unfortunately,
his zeal impelled him to the opposite extreme. Having pain-
fully, and at much cost, raised a variety of cattle, the chief
merit of which is to make fat, he has apparently laid his dis-
ciples and successors under the necessity of substituting
another that will make lean." — Illustrations of Natural History,
p. 5.

Granting the truth of these strictures, which we scarcely
can, to the full extent, what is the inference as it respects the
system of breeding ? Namely this : that by pursuing the
proper mode, by proper selections, and by joining like excel-
lences and properties in the sire and dam, and not by rashly
crossing distinct breeds, but by making one breed the great
foundation, and working upon it, remembering that " like
produces like," not only will the point aimed at be attained,
but it may even be overshot, thus demonstrating the power
which the judicious breeder possesses.

Since Mr. Bakewell's time, the New Leicester breed has
become degenerated ; by some the stock has been bred in
and in too closely, and by others very injudiciously crossed.
In the meantime, the short-horned breeds of cattle have been

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

gaining an ascendancy, so that few really excellent long horns
are now to be seen. This, however, has nothing to do with
the great principles we have endeavoured to illustrate ; they
apply alike to all breeds of cattle. Every breeder, then,
should well consider the properties of the stock from which
he breeds, investigate their good qualities and their bad
qualities, and while he endeavours to keep up or improve the
former, he should study to remove the latter. His selection
must be strict ; the heifer or cow should have as few of the
bad points as possible, every excellence in perfection, and be
in good health ; the bull should be of the same kind, and if
related, only in a remote degree ; nor should he have been
brought up on a pasturage differing from that of the cow, or
under the influences of a different local climate ; he should
not only possess the good points desired, in all their perfec-
tion, but he should also have the points which the farmer
considers to be the excellences of his own stock, as admirably
developed. Thus acting with judgment, he may expect im-
provement, and if he fail, there is some concealed fault which
has been overlooked, either on the one side or the other, or
some defect in their parents, and which (in accordance with
the tendency there is in families to exhibit, from time to time,
certain peculiarities, latent perhaps for a generation), has
again made itself manifest ; consequently, on both sides there
ought to be what is termed " good" blood." But this is to
suppose a stock already improved to a great extent ; and here
we may repeat the injunctions laid down by the Rev. H.
Berry, which more particularly apply to the farmer commenc-
ing de novo. " A person selecting a stock from which to
breed, notwithstanding he has set up for himself a standard
of perfection, will obtain them with qualifications of different
descriptions, and in different degrees. In breeding from such
he will exercise his judgment, and decide what are indispens-
able or desirable qualities, and will cross with animals with a
view to establish them. His proceeding will be of the 'give
and take kind. ' He will submit to the introduction of a trifling
defect in order that he may profit by a great excellence ; and
between excellences perhaps somewhat incompatible, he will
decide on which is the greatest, and give it the preference.*

* " A person would often be puzzled ; he would find different individuals
possessing different perfections in different degrees : — one, good flesh, and a
tendency to fatten, with a bad form ; another, with fine form, but bad flesh,
and little disposition to acquire fat. What rule should he lay down, by the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 33

" To a person commencing improvement, the best advice is to
get as good a bull as he can, and if he be a good one of his
kind, to use him indiscriminately with all his cows ; and when
by this proceeding, which ought to be persisted in, his stock
has, with an occasional change of bull, become sufficiently
stamped with desirable excellences, his selection of males
should then be made to eradicate defects which he thinks
desirable to be got rid of.

** He will not fail to keep in view the necessity of good blood
in the bulls resorted to, for that will give the only assurance
that they will transmit their own valuable properties to their
offspring ; but he must not trust to this alone, or he will soon
run the risk of degeneracy. In animals evincing an extraor-
dinary degree of perfection, where the constitution is decidedly
good, and there is no prominent defect, a little close breeding
may be allowed : but this must not be injudiciously adopted,
or carried too far ; for, although it may increase and confirm
valuable properties, it will also increase and confirm defects ;
and no breeder need be long in discovering that, in an im-
proved state, animals have a greater tendency to defect than
to perfection. Close breeding from affinities impairs the
constitution and affects the procreative powers, and therefore
a strong cross is occasionally necessary."

The dairy-farmer, however, is less concerned in this high
breeding than the grazier ; yet he is not by any means indif-
ferent in the matter ; for his aim ought to be, to obtain a
breed no less valuable as milkers than for their disposition to
fatten when the milk is dried. These two qualifications are
not to be attained very easily ; yet they may be, and, indeed,
have been attained, and especially among the improved short-
horn breeds, as those of Durham and Yorkshire, or the cross-
breeds between the old Shropshire arid the Holderness. The
breeds most valued in the great dairies around the metropolis
are mixed between the Yorkshire, Holderness, and Durham.
For quality and quantity of milk they are eminent; they
yield, on the average, each cow, a gallon of milk per day, and
often nine quarts ; and when dry, they are in general readily
fattened for the butcher.

observance of which good might be generally produced, and as little evil as
possible effected ? UTILITY. The truly good form is that which secures
constitution, health, and vigour ; a disposition to lay on flesh with the greatest
possible reduction of offal. Having obtained this, other things are of minor,
though perhaps of considerable importance." — Prize Essay, by the Rev. H. Berry.

D

34 THE OX AND THE DAIKT.

With respect to the points of symmetry in cattle, of which
the various breeds exhibits several degrees of modification,
there are certain rules which are generally acknowledged as
applicable to good cattle of all kinds.

THE BULL. — The forehead of the bull should be broad and
short, the lower part, that is, the nasal part and jaws, taper-
ing ; and the muzzle fine ; the ears moderate ; the neck
gently arched from the head to the shoulders, small and fine
where it joins the head, but boldly thickening as it sweeps
down to the chest, which should be deep, almost to a level
with the knees, with the briskets well developed. The
shoulders should be well set, the shoulder-blades oblique, with
the humeral joint advancing forwards to the neck. The barrel
of the chest should be round, without hollowness, between
it and the shoulders. The sides should be ribbed home, with
little space between them and the hips ; the whole body being
barrel-shaped, and not flat-sided. The belly should not hang
down, being well supported by the oblique abdominal muscles,
and the flanks should be round and deep. The hips should
be wide and round, the loins broad, and the back straight and
flat. The tail should be broad and well haired, and set on
high and fall abruptly. The breast should be broad ; the
forearms short and muscular, tapering to the knee ; the legs
straight, clean, and fine-boned. The thighs should be full
and long, and close together when viewed from behind. The
hide should be moderately thin, with a mellow feel, and move-
able, but not lax ; and it should be well covered with fine soft
hair. The nostrils should be large and open ; the eyes ani-
mated and prominent ; the horns clean and white.

THE Ox. — In the ox, the masculine characters, so promi-
nent in the bull, are softened ; the neck is carried nearly
straight from the top of the shoulders, without an arch ; and
the general frame is lighter, but the points of excellence are
the same.

THE Cow. — Cows of a coarse, angular, gaunt figure may
give good milk, and that in abundance, as, indeed, was the
case with some of the old unimproved breeds ; but it is de-
sirable, and moreover it is possible, to unite qualities as a
milker with such an aptitude to fatten, as will render her
valuable when dry, and profitable to the butcher. In a cow
thus constituted, the head must be long, rather small and
fine ; the neck thin and delicate at its junction with the head,
but thickening as it approaches the shoulder and descends to

THE OX AND THE DAIEY. 35

the chest ; the breast should be at least moderately broad and
prominent, with a small dewlap ; the chine should be full and
fleshy ; the ribs well arched, and the chest barrelled ; the
back straight, the shoulders fine, the loins wide, the hips well
formed and rounded, the rump long ; the udder should be
moderate, with a fine skin, and of equal size both before and
behind ; the teats should not be too large or lax, and they
should be equi-distant from each other If the vascular
system be well developed, the milk-vein, as it is termed, is
generally large ; and though this vein is not connected with
the udder, but carries the blood from the foreparts to the
inguinal vein, still it has been taken, and with some justice,
as the criterion of a good milker. The eyes should be clear,
calm, and tranquil, indicative of a gentle temper ; the skin
thin, but mellow ; and the hair soft. Cows thus admirably
formed will often yield from twenty to twenty-four quarts of
milk daily, and some, in the spring time, in good pasturage,
even thirty, or more. The milk may, perhaps, yield less
butter in proportion than that of some other breeds of cattle ;
but it would appear that, as the cow advances in age to her
sixth and seventh year, the milk becomes richer ; and it is well
known that the extensive dairymen of London prefer a cow
which has had a third or fourth calf, and is five or six years
old, to a younger animal.

We are perfectly aware that Mr. Culley (Observations on
Live Stock) considers it as an impossibility to unite good
milkers with good feeders ; for, he says, whenever we attempt
both, we are sure to get neither in perfection : — " In propor-
tion as we gain the one, in the same proportion we lose the
other : the more milk, the less beef ; and the more we pursue
beef, the less milk we get. In truth, they seem to be two dif-
ferent varieties of the same kind, for very different uses ; and
if so, they ought most certainly to be differently pursued by
those who employ them. If the dairyman wants milk, let
him pursue the milking tribe ; let him have both bull and
cows of the best and greatest milking family he can find ; on
the contrary, he that wants feeding or grazing cattle, let him
procure a bull and cows of that sort which feed the quickest,
wherever they are to be found. By pursuing too many objects
at once, we are apt to lose sight of the principal ; and by aim-
ing at too much, we often lose all. Let us only keep to dis-
tinct sorts, and we shall obtain the prize in due time. I
apprehend it has been much owing to the mixing of breeds

36 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

and improper crossings that has kept us so long from distin-
guishing the most valuable kinds." Mr. Culley wrote in 1807,
and since his day many improvements have taken place in
the breeds of cattle ; and experience has proved that the im-
proved Yorkshire cow, in which the characters of the Durham
and Holderness are mingled, unites the two qualities in high
perfection.

Formerly, the labouring ox, or steer, was greatly employed
for the purposes of draught, in the cart or at the plough ; and
on some large farms teams of oxen are still maintained. In
North and South Devon, the greater part of the agricultural
labour is performed by oxen • and ox teams are common
in Sussex and Herefordshire. Four good steers will do
as much work, either at the plough or in the cart, as three
moderate horses. They are worked in yokes, and require to
be shod, in order that the hoof may be defended, otherwise
inflammation would soon ensue, and the beast would be ulti-
mately crippled. The hoof being bifid, the shoes are accord-
ingly adapted; and they should be thin and light. In
Devonshire, oxen are generally put to farm labour when they
are about two years old, and they are kept to work for three
or four years ; they are then grazed or fed on hay for eight or
ten months, and in that time are ready for the market. On
the continent the ox is most extensively used for the cart and
the plough, as it was in ancient times ; but in England the
great demand of the ox for food (and that of the best quality,
rendering attention to breeding and feeding of paramount
importance), the slowness of the ox, and its inferiority as a
beast of draught, compared with the horse — the improvement
in our working class of horses — and the greater ease with
which the latter are trained and managed, all appear to com-
bine in rendering the services of the ox far less necessary
than they would otherwise be, and have been, and still are,
on the continent. A farmer who can sell four or five oxen
for a good profit, at two years old, will not keep them for the
plough, especially when two horses will do the work of three
or four oxen, and that for many years ; yet, in large farms, it
may be advantageous to keep a few oxen, at least for the
lighter work, so as to save the time of the horses, which
might be devoted to more important labour; and this the
rather, as the keep of the working ox is less expensive than
that of the working cart-horse.

CHAPTEK II.

WE may now proceed to investigate the various breeds into
which the ox has ramified by the care and agency of those
interested in the improvement of our domestic cattle. But,
by way of a preliminary step, let us glance at the principal
races of Continental Europe, from some of which certain of
our breeds have, it is said, but recently descended ; we allude
to our (now improved) short horned cattle, originally, it is
believed, from Holland, or some adjacent parts of the conti-
nent, and according to a vague tradition imported into York-
shire (or that division of the East Eiding called Holderness),
in the seventeenth century. We may also mention the
Alderney and Jersey breeds, originally from Normandy, and
still often directly received from that province. In France
the breeders and cattle-dealers divide their oxen into two
principal sections : " Bceufs de haut cru," and " Bceufs de
nature." The " bceufs de haut cru" are of small or middle
size, with a wild aspect, a thick skin, rough hair, and ample
dewlap : the horns are more or less black or greenish ; the
suet is particularly abundant. These cattle are more peculiar
to the hilly and mountain districts than to the plains. To
this section belong the breeds of Limosin, Saintonge, Angou-
mois, La Marche, Gascogne, Auvergne, Bourbon, Charolais,
Burgogne, Morvan.

The " boeufs de nature" are of moderate or large stature ;
the body and head are small; the nose and ears fine, the
horns white, the skin fine and supple, the hair soft, the aspect
tranquil. These cattle readily fatten ; and are chiefly con-
fined to districts of little elevation, and to lands abounding
in pasturage. To this section belong the breeds of Cholet,
Nantes, Angers, Le Marais, Bretagne, (Brittany), Maine, Pays
d'Auge, Cotentin, Franche-Comte, Camargue, &c.

38 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

Beginning with the breeds of the first section, we may
observe, that the cattle of Limosin are of moderate stature,
somewhat elongated in form, and robustly made : the head is
large ; the horns are massive, long, and pointed, sometimes
sweeping upwards, sometimes downwards. The shoulders
are thick, the withers low, the region of the loins somewhat
hollow, the dewlap lax, the general colour white or straw-
yellow. Weight, from 600 to 850 Ibs.

The breeds of Angoumois and Saintonge present very
similar characters, but are of inferior size.

These cattle are used for work in their respective provinces,
and also in Perigord and Haut-Poitou ; afterwards they are
fattened, some in Normandy, and others in Limosin ; and
numbers are sent to the slaughterhouses around Paris.

The cattle of La Marche, and Berri, and Touraine, closely
approximate to those of Limosin ; but are lower in stature,
with long, heavy horns, turned up at the tips, and of a
greenish colour. Numbers are fed in the pasture-grounds of
Normandy.

The Gascon breed are of considerable size, from 700 to
800 Ibs. in weight : they are long, low beasts, with a huge head
and horns ; the skin is very thick ; the colour generally of a
dull white, sometimes with a tinge of sooty-brown, which
appears mostly on the head. Oxen of this breed are con-
sumed at Bordeaux, and are slaughtered for the provision of
shipping ; some few are fattened in Limosin, and sent to
Paris.

The Auvergne cattle are of small size, weighing from 750 to
850 Ibs. ; they are short in stature, but broad and thick, with
large bones, and a heavy contour ; the head is short and
broad, the muzzle thick, the horns short, turned up, and
somewhat twisted and crumpled ; the belly hangs low ; the
usual colour is red, with marks of white, more or less large,
on the sides and back.

The cattle of this breed are reared in the mountains of
Auvergne, whence they are brought down, at the age of three
years, to work in the plains of Haut-Poitou ; they are after-
wards sent to fatten in the pastures of Normandy. Some,
however, are retained at Poitou, and are fattened on hay, in
the neighbourhood of Hera'ie-Saint-Maixent, and of La Motte-
Sainte-Heraie, and turn out good beasts : they are known by
the name of " Mottois."

There is a breed of small cattle in Bourbon, with a slender

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 39

head and neck, and long pointed horns ; their colour is red,
mottled with white. These small native Bourbon cattle are
in little esteem ; and a breed, brought from some other pro-
vince, is far more valued, and is fattened in Bourbon on
hay.

The Charolais cattle are of moderate stature, weighing from
600 to 850 Ibs. ; their contour is short, robust, and massive;
the head is well proportioned and plump ; the horns are short
and fine, with a slightly green tinge ; the back and loins are
almost straight ; the belly is voluminous : the colour is milk-
white, sometimes with red spots.

The oxen of this excellent breed, which is doubtless capable
of great improvement, are fattened, after having worked for
three years, in the pastures of Charolais, and supply the
markets both of Paris and Lyons.

A smaller breed of very similar cattle is spread throughout
the province of Nivernois : these cattle are very gentle, the
skin is thin, and the contour less massive than that of the
preceding breed. The oxen are used for farm-labour, and
afterwards fatted. The best are sent to Morvan for the
markets.

The Burgogne, or Burgundy, breed of cattle are small, and
much like the breed of Berri or La Marche : their colour is
white. This breed is in little estimation, and is altogether un-
cultivated; its hide is inferior in quality; it yields but little
suet, and the quality of the flesh is indifferent.

We now come to the breeds of the second section, " les
boeufs de nature."

An excellent breed of cattle is found in the district around
Cholet (Anjou), the oxen often attaining to the weight of
900 Ibs. The proportions are very tolerable : the head is broad
and short ; the horns are long and white, with black tips ;
the shoulders, loins, and rump are on the same level ; the
breast is deep ; the dewlap small ; the most common colours
are grey, black, or brown. The Cholet cattle are not bred in
that district, but in Bas-Poitou, and are afterwards sent to
Cholet, where they are fattened on hay, cabbages, &c., and
killed at the age of six or seven years. These cattle find good
markets in the various provinces ; and numbers are sent to
Paris, more particularly between the months of April and July.
It is in Bas-Poitou also that a breed called Nantes cattle are
reared, and which are afterwards distributed in the environs
of the latter place. The oxen are used for farm labour in the

4:0 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

Pays de Eetz, and over a great part of Bretagne and Anjou,
and especially along the borders of the Loire, from Angers to
Normandy. There is, about Nantes, a smaller breed also,
with a finer head ; the oxen are much employed in the neigh-
bourhood of Eennes and Fougeres, and are ultimately sent to
the pastures of Normandy.

In the marais, or low district, along the coast between
Machecoul and Eochefort, several breeds of cattle appear to
be reared and fed, the oxen being used for labour. Of these
the largest breed often weighs 900 or 1000 Ibs. ; the contour
is not first-rate : the head is long, the horns large, the skin
thick, the tallow abundant and oily. This is the ox of the
marais, to the north of Lucon.

The ox of Fontenay is smaller and more common ; it is
reared in the large marais between Lu9on and Eochefort.

At Aunis, Poitou, and in the marais of La Charente, a
Flanders breed of ox prevails, originally from the Netherlands,
or Holland. It is of tall stature, long in the body, and high
in the limbs, with the volume of the trunk diminished : the
head is long, the horns very large, the skin dense. The cows
are always meagre, but give a great quantity of milk.

Besides these, there is a mixed breed, resulting from cross-
ing the Flanders stock with the others.

In Basse-Bretagne there is a very diminutive breed of cattle,
with a fine head and slender limbs ; the horns are very long,
and black at the tip. The colour is red and white, or block
and white. It is fed in Basse-Bretagne, chiefly for ship pro-
visions, though a few, fattened in the pastures of Normandy,
find their way to the Paris markets.

An excellent breed of middle-sized cattle prevails in Maine.

The oxen weigh about seven hundred pounds. The head
and neck are fine, the horns short and white, the dewlap is
almost wanting, the haunch is flat, the tail high set, the colour
white and red. This breed is noted for gentleness of disposi-
tion, and is both widely spread and much esteemed. The ox
is worked to the age of six or seven years, and then sent to
the pastures of Normandy. This breed has been crossed by
one from Holland ; and the mixed stock, of superior size, were
first bred by M. Boreau de la Besnardiere, of Angers, who
introduced some bulls from that country.

In the Pays d'Auge, a breed of cattle, originally from Hol-
land, prevails. The oxen of this breed are of large size,
usually weighing one thousand or twelve hundred pounds

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 41

Their contour is very good : the head is short and broad, the
horns white, thick, short, and round, the tail high-set, the
hair thick ; the skin is thick, the colour is black or brown,
mixed with white, the head being often entirely of the latter
colour. These oxen readily accumulate an abundance of fat,
which is, in general, of a slight yellow tinge.

Coming from a good stock, and more care being taken in
the breeding of this race than is usual in France, the ox of
the Pays d'Auge is superior to most others. The breed was
originally introduced about fifty years since, by M. de la
Eoque, a stock feeder, who obtained it in Holland ; and from
the selections made in the choice of individuals destined for
breeding, it maintains all its original excellencies, which are
in full perfection at the seventh or eighth year. Many oxen,
however, are sold for slaughter at the age of three or four
years ; but some are kept for three or four years to labour,
and are then fattened.

In the district of Cotentin, in Normandy, there is a breed
of considerable size, with a long head and long slender horns,
and having the back ridged, the thighs lank, the limbs
slender, the body voluminous, and the skin thin. The colour
is blackish brown.

Between this old, coarse breed, and the Holland of the Pays
d'Auge, has resulted a mixed race, which often attains to a very
large size, with the limbs stouter, and in better proportion,
and with a general increase in bone as well as flesh. This breed
is usually mottled, red and white, and it is almost the only one
bred in Normandy pastures, and there also fed. The original
cattle of Franche Comte are very small, and of little value ;
the horns are often crumpled, and the general colour is blond
or brown. There is, however, an improved breed in Franche
Comte, which supplies the cattle feeders in the arrondissement
of Avesnes.

In the Pays de Carmague, at the embouchure of the Bhone,
a wild savage breed exists, less remarkable for stature than for
strength and solidity of contour. The body is stout and
robust, the belly extremely voluminous ; the horns short, and
so arched as to form a perfect crescent ; the skin is thick, and
covered with black hair.

These cattle, which inhabit the islands of Carmague, in the
mouth of the Rhone, a little below Aries, are in a semi-
domesticated condition, and are noted for their strength and
ferocity. They are said to have been brought originally from

THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

Auvergne. Their heavy contour, their black colour, their
savage habits, and their great strength, give them a certain
degree of similarity to the massive buffalo. It is this fierce
breed winch furnishes the bulls for the combats of the amphi-
theatre, which still, from time to time, are exhibited at Nimes
and at Tarascon.

Such are the principal breeds of France, as detailed by M.
Desmarest ; but, as he observes, there are innumerable shades
of variation ; and, we may add, that changes and improve-
ments are perpetually taking place, insomuch that old breeds
are gradually giving place to new, or, by admixture, are losing
their original characters. In Normandy, celebrated for its
pasture lands, we have seen excellent cattle, not at all resem-
bling the Alderney breed, but large, straight -backed, deep, and
broad -breasted, well barrelled, short-horned, and mottled red
and white. In other parts of France, we have seen small and
meagre cattle, without the slightest pretensions to blood, but
at the same time, tolerable milkers. A writer in the Penny
Magazine says, " The Norman breed gives the character to
all the cattle usually met with in the North of France, except
near the Rhine. They are mostly of a light red colour,
spotted with white ; their horns are short, and stand well out
from the forehead, turning up with a black tip ; the legs fine
and slender, the hips high, and the thighs thin. The cows
are good milkers, and the milk is rich. They are in general
extremely lean, which is owing, in a great measure, to the
scanty food they gather by the sides of the roads and along the
grass balks which divide the fields. In Normandy itself they
have good pastures, and the cattle are larger and look better.

The Alderney and Jersey breeds, which, from the extreme
richness of their milk, are much prized in gentlemen's dairies
in England, are smaller varieties of the Norman, with shorter
horns, more turned in, and a more deer-like form.

In Switzerland there are two or three breeds of active,
handsome cattle, well adapted for ranging the mountain pas-
tures ; of these the most celebrated is the Freyburg stock,
much cultivated in the rich grounds between the mountains
in the neighbourhood of Gruyeres, or Greyerz, so celebrated
for its cheese ; the cows are of good size, wide in the flanks,
strong in the horn, and short in tha bone ; the set-on of the
tail is prominent, and detracts from their appearance ; as
milkers they are excellent, either when ranging in their pas-
tures, or when stalled and fed with clover, hay, and lucern.

THE OX AND THE DA [BY. 43

The oxen are slow and heavy, but at the same time powerful,
and work well; they also fatten readily; but in Switzerland,
as throughout the continent generally, the stall-fed fatted
steer is in far less estimation than in the British islands. It
is of little consequence whether the meat be lean or fat, coarse
or fine grained, when the mode of cookery is such as to break
down the texture of the flesh, or to disguise it in such a
manner that it would be difficult to say of what animal it is a
part. In the Jura mountains, a breed of cattle similar to the
Swiss, but of small stature, greatly prevails. The cattle are
hardy and active, and clamber about the mountains, or among
the rocks and woods, with the activity of goats ; the cows are
good milkers, and are of great importance to the mountain
peasants ; the oxen are very strong for their size, and are used
for labour : they invariably draw by the horns. The cattle of
this breed are mostly red ; they thrive on scanty fare, and are
well fitted for the locality they occupy.

In Switzerland, Savoy, and the adjacent mountain-districts,
considerable attention is paid to the cows, which have gener-
ally bells round their necks, and are attended by cowherds,
who use the Alp-horn to collect them at stated times. These
bells are not intended merely as ornaments, or to give
pleasure to the ear, they are of great utility ; for when a cow
happens to stray on the mountains, the vacher or his dog has
always a guide in the bell, the slightest tinkle of which is
heard at a great distance in those lofty and still regions.

With respect to the pastoral economy of these mountain
districts, it is in keeping with the character of the country.
The richer proprietors or breeders in the Alps, possess tracts
of pasturage, and sometimes houses at different heights.
During the winter they live at the foot of the mountains in
some sheltered valley, and house their cattle; but on the
return of spring they quit their winter abode, and ascend
gradually as the heat brings out vegetation on the higher
lands, on which, during the summer, the cattle feed at large.
In autumn, they descend by the same gradations to the valley.

The farmers, or proprietors, who are less wealthy, have a
resource in certain common pastures, to which they send
their cows, the number possessed by each person being deter-
mined by his means of keeping them during the winter. Eight
days after the cows have been driven up to these common
pastures, all their owners assemble, and the quantity of milk
each cow produces is accurately weighed. This operation

44 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

of weighing is repeated one day in the middle of summer,
and again at the end of the season. The milk of all the cows
has, in the mean time, been put together, and made into
butter and cheese ; and this common product is divided into
shares, according to the quantity of milk each owner's cow
yielded on the days of trial.

The chalets or public dairies on these common pastures
have always some persons residing in them during the
summer months, when the churn and the cheese-press are
never idle : some of them are in such lofty situations, that to
go to them and return to the valley below, take up the time
of a whole day. The cheese is made in copper caldrons of
an enormous size, and is itself formed into masses incon-
veniently heavy ; a cheese weighing two hundred pounds is
by no means a rarity in the mountains of Savoy and Switzer-
land ; and in some of the chalets such a cheese is put into
the press every day during the summer season. The cows
are milked morning and evening. At the approach of sunset
they may be seen slowly traversing the mountain pastures,
from every quarter (either going of their own accord, or in
obedience to the sound of the Alp-horn), to the chalet, in
order to be mi-Iked. These cattle are said to know so well
the proper season for shifting their quarters and seeking the
milder climate of the valleys, that they would set off them-
selves and return direct, each to its winter station, even if not
conducted.

In the Jura (on the frontiers of France towards Switzerland)
excellent butter is made, arid great quantities of cheese.

In the north of Italy, where the celebrated Parmesan
cheese is made, the cattle resemble those of Switzerland.
Parmesan cheese is made from skimmed milk, and saffron is
added to give it flavour and colour; Gruyeres cheese is made
entirely from new milk.

In other parts of Italy is found an improved breed of cattle,
remarkable for the great size of the horns ; but in the
Campagna of Borne a very fine race, to which we have pre-
viously alluded, exists in a semi-wild state, under the care of
keepers, or vaccari. Some of the bulls are extremely noble
animals, often white, others are grey, more or less tinged
with brown ; the horns are large, well turned, and pointed.
Many of these animals have a name and genealogy, and are
bred on the celebrated tenuta, or cattle farm, of some noble-
man or great landed proprietor; and these particulars are

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 45

specified in the printed bills distributed at the door of the
amphitheatre when a great bull-fight is about to take place.

Of the cattle of Hungary, Wallachia, &c., we have already
spoken ; they are white, or whitish, with long horns ; and a
similar breed prevails in Kussia. From this latter country,
tallow and hides are imported into England ; and cattle are
reared in vast numbers, but principally in the more southern
provinces. In the district adjacent to St. Petersburgh, and
even Moscow, few cattle are reared, and the markets are
supplied by cattle driven from distant parts. The herdsmen
live in a state of barbaric simplicity, and are, in fact, nomadic
in their habits. They travel with their herds to St. Peters-
burgh, Moscow, and other large towns which depend more on
them for a due supply than on the farmers of the adjacent
districts.

In Norway cattle are abundant, but of small size ; and the
same observation applies to Iceland, which originally derived
its cattle from the former country. The Iceland cattle have
much resemblance to those of the Orkney Islands, but are,
perhaps, larger. To the natives of Iceland their cattle are of
the utmost importance ; and though the management of the
stock is conducted on no principles, the breed is not destitute
of pretensions to a tolerable form and contour, and might, by
judicious management, be greatly improved. Mackenzie, in
his Account of Iceland, observes, that " the cattle in point
of size and appearance are very like the largest of our High-
land sorts, except in one respect, — those of Iceland are
seldom seen with horns. As in other countries, we meet
with finer cattle on some farms than on others ; but," he
adds, "from every observation I could make, and information
I could obtain, the Iceland farmers know nothing of the art
of breeding stock. The bulls are in general ugly, and no use
is made of them till after they are five years old. In rearing
a bull-calf no more attention is paid to him than others.
Taking all circumstances of management together, I had
some reason to be surprised to find the cattle, upon the whole,
to be so handsome. The cows, in general, yield a consider-
able quantity of milk ; many of them ten or twelve quarts a
day, and some a good deal more."

In Sweden the cattle are small, and the pasture-grounds
generally indifferent; and, from the nature of the climate, all
domestic animals must be kept in stables, or under cover,
from four to seven months in the year, and fed on dried

46 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

fodder. In the north of Sweden the reindeer takes the place
both of the horse and the ox.

In Denmark, a superior race of cattle exists ; to the rearing
of these, as well as of horses, sheep, and swine, great atten-
tion is paid. The horned cattle, are, indeed, reared on an
extensive scale, chiefly with a view to the produce of butter
and cheese, and for salted meat. The stock of horned cattle,
of all ages, has been estimated at 1,607,000, and the number
exported averages yearly about 20,800 oxen, 6800 cows, and
5760 calves. Of butter alone upwards of eleven millions of
pounds weight is the annual average export ; and of cheese
about 9200 cwt. Lard, salt meat, and hides are also exported
in great quantities. Desmarest says, that some of the cows
from Denmark, which are fed in the rich pastures of Holland,
give from eighteen to twenty pints (French measure) of milk
daily

In the Austrian states, the Hungarian breed of cattle is
common, great numbers being driven from the vast plains
on which they are bred, and sold to the farmers and graziers.

In Lower Saxony, Westphalia, and other districts in
Germany, a fine breed of cattle, with short horns, prevails.
This breed is nearly allied to the Friesland stock and our
own Holderness short-horned cattle. They are of various
colours ; but mouse-colour, or fawn intermingled with white,
are the most common. Bed cows of this breed are less
frequently to be met with. " They are good milkers in
moderate pastures, and the oxen fatten readily when grazed
or stall-fed at a proper age. They are fine in the horn and
bone, and wide in the loins ; but they are not considered so
hardy and strong for labour as the Hungarian oxen. If
prejudice did not make the breeders select the calves with
large bone and coarse features, to rear as bulls, in preference
to those which resemble the cows, this breed would in every
respect equal our best short-horns. The cows are frequently
fattened while still in milk, and are fit for the butcher by the
time they are dry. The same system is followed by some of
the great milkmen in the neighbourhood of London, with
their large Holderness cows. This breed is much esteemed
in all the northern parts of Europe." It extends into
Denmark, and is reared on the plains of Jutland ; it is also
spread in Prussia and Hanover.

In Groningen, Friesland, Guelderland, Utrecht, and
Holland, a fine short-horned race of cattle, differing little
from the preceding race, has long existed; indeed, Bewick calls

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 47

this the Holstein or Dutch breed ; and Mr. Culley attributes
to this race the origin of our Holderness or Yorkshire short-
horns. This ancient short-horned race may, in fact, be
traced from Jutland and Holstein, along the western portions
of Europe, through the Netherlands, to the borders of France.
At all times the cows have been noted for the quantity of
milk yielded, and also for an aptitude to fatten, thus exhibit-
ing qualities upon which the breeder, aiming at improvement,
might work with a certainty of success.

With respect to Spain and Portugal, vast herds of cattle, in
a semi-wild state, feed in the extensive forests and mountain
regions. They are found in the great forests of Alemtejo
(Portugal), and in the mountain region of the Sierra Nevada
(extending over the southern part of Spain south of the Gua-
dalquiver), including the Sierra de Aguaderas, the Sierra de
Estancias, the Montes de Granada, &c., covering nearly
12,000 square miles. Besides these fierce, wild, or rather
feral, cattle, there are tame breeds of large size, and numerous
in the higher mountain districts ; but in the plains and table-
lands they are of small stature. We cannot learn that much
attention is paid to the improvement of horned cattle either
in Spain or Portugal. Oxen are used for labour in the cart
or wagon, and also for carrying luggage, but the flesh is not
in esteem ; there are, indeed, graziers and cowherds in the
hills, but more attention is paid to the goat, of which both
the flesh and the milk are used extensively. In no part of
Europe are goats so numerous as in Spain.

It is from the herds of cattle which wander uncontrolled by
man, that the bulls destined for the amphitheatre are taken.

From this glimpse of the various races of cattle, or rather
the principal races of cattle on the continent, as far as any-
thing very definite is known respecting them (and this, we
confess, is very little), let us turn our attention to the races
which prevail witliin the British Islands.

In no part of the world has so much capital and so much
skill been expended in the improvement of horned cattle, as
in Great Britain. We speak of recent times ; for formerly it
was not so : our agriculture was bad, our farming operations
conducted on no principles, and our management of cattle
was in accordance with the rest. Setting aside the now com-
mon culinary herbs of the garden, we knew nothing of the
various plants, lucern, sainfoin, clover, and others, termed
artificial grasses. Nor was the cultivation of turnips, or
mangel-wurzel, and similar vegetables, in extensive operation.

48 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

In fact, we had not wherewith to feed cattle in winter, and
the art of stalling was not imagined. " The roast beef of old
England," partial as we have ever been, as a nation, to this
sort of animal diet, was a very different thing to the roast
beef of the present day ; and then, it was not the diet of the
middle or lower classes, — the wealthy alone could procure it ;
and that only during the summer, while the cattle fed in the
pastures, and throve on the natural herbage ; but, in October
and November, cattle were slaughtered for winter consump-
tion ; the carcass was cut up, and put into brine, and during
that season nothing but salt meat could be obtained ; we mean
by those who could afford to purchase it. Salt fish was the
ordinary or staple animal food of the lower classes ; and from
this, and the want of fruits, roots, greens, legumes, &c.,
dreadful diseases were engendered, and (as cleanliness was
out of the question) became perpetuated ; now smoulder-
ing, and now, the season of the year concurring, break-
ing out, and depopulating towns, villages, and hamlets.
We are not speaking of remote times, but of comparatively
recent periods. " Three or four centuries ago," says Gilbert
White, " before there were any inclosures, sown grasses, field
turnips, or hay, all the cattle that had grown fat in summer,
and were not killed for winter use, were turned out soon after
Michaelmas, to shift as they could through the dead months,
so that no fresh meat could be had in winter or spring.
Hence the marvellous account of the stores of salted flesh
found in the larder of the eldest Spencer, in the days of
Edward the Second, even so late in the spring as the third of
May (viz. six hundred boars, eighty carcases of beef, and six
hundred of sheep). It was from magazines like these that
the turbulent barons supported in idleness their riotous
swarm of retainers, ready for any disorder or mischief. But
agriculture is now arrived at such a pitch of perfection that
our best and fattest meats are killed in winter ; and no man
needs eat salted flesh, unless he prefer it, that has money to
buy fresh." But there were thousands, the serfs of the soil,
who had no money to buy either salted or fresh meat, and a
little reflection will serve to show what their condition must
have been in the olden time of merry England, had not the
religious establishments, the abbeys and priories, on which it
is now the fashion to pour obloquy, expended their revenues
for the good of the district — for the benefit of the poor and
the starving.

Agriculture, at this period, was in a rude state ; whole

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 49

tracts, now under the plough, were then undrained bogs or
morasses, or rough woodlands, concealing a thin and bar-
barous population. Take, as an example, the Weald of Kent,
formerly a wild, uncultivated forest; roads were few, and none
good, and pack-horses were the ordinary means of carrying
on internal commerce. The implements of husbandry were
rude; no provision, or but little, was made for cattle during
the winter months ; nor were systematic attempts at elevating
the breeds undertaken by the farmer. We are not, however,
to suppose that no good breeds of cattle existed ; England is
essentially a corn-growing and a grazing country; and her
green pasture lands, her verdant meadows, and fertile vales,
watered by streams or rivers, have ever nourished herds of
kine; our humid climate and cloudy skies are favourable to
the production of grasses, clothing the fields with verdure.
As the woods disappeared, and the marshes were drained,
the extent of pasturage increased ; the operations of farming
began to be conducted on a better plan; the cattle began
also to improve; from differences of situation and pasture,
or from accidental or intentional intermixture, the old stocks
soon assumed new characteristics, and ramified into breeds
varying in minor details, though still preserving their out-
standing characters. Of these some were of great value from
the abundance of milk, others for their tendency to fatten
and keep in condition, even on inferior pasture grounds ; and
others from their strength and hardiness as working steers.
Mixtures of these breeds produced others, and thus varieties
were ever springing up, and coalescing, or running into each
other by imperceptible gradations, till at length, somewhat
after the middle of the last century, science and experience
were called in to the breeder's aid; and persevering patience
and great pecuniary outlay were ultimately productive of the
most beneficial results.

From the earliest times, as far as we can learn, two or
three distinct stocks of cattle appear to have existed in Great
Britain. Of these one prevailed in Lancashire, and the
adjacent counties, and particularly in the district of Craven,
in Yorkshire. It was also spread over a great part of Ireland,
as Tipperary, Limerick, Munster, &c. This breed, now greatly
modified, was remarkable for the enormous length and bulk of
the horns, for thickness of hide, and deep, curling hair. The
general form was rather coarse, and the limbs big-boned; but
the cows yielded milk remarkable for its richness.

50 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

Another stock, which we may term original, is represented
by the cattle of Devonshire, Herefordshire, Wales, and the
Scottish Highlands. In this stock, varying in stature accord-
ing to climate and pasturage, the horns are of moderate size,
fine, well-turned and sharp-pointed; the limbs are clean, the
figure compact, and the expression animated ; the oxen fatten
readily, and the cows yield rich milk. To this stock the wild
cattle of Chillingham evidently belong, and perhaps represent
it in its pristine purity.

Of the antiquity of these two very distinct races there is no
doubt, and it is not improbable that the latter was from the
earliest times more exclusively confined to the hilly and
mountain districts, while the long-horned breed occupied the
low flat lands, and the midland counties. Besides these two
races we have an ancient stock of polled cattle (if indeed it is
distinct from the middle-horned stock) represented by the
Galloway and Angus ox, generally black, of which vast num-
bers are depastured in Norfolk and Suffolk, where a polled
breed, more or less directly sprung from the Galloway, now
prevails. To this stock the semi-wild cattle of Chatelherault
Park, Lanarkshire, belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, ap-
pear to approximate. These feral cattle are larger and more
robust than the Chillingham ; the body is dun white, the
inside of the ears, the muzzle and hoofs, black instead of red,
and the forepart of the leg, from the knee downwards, is
mottled more or less with black ; the roof of the mouth and
the tongue are black, or largely spotted with black. The
cows, and also the bulls, are generally polled or hornless.
As we have observed, the polled cattle of Galloway are black,
and in these dun cattle of Chatelherault Park, the black
shows itself, as if to proclaim what was the original colour :
the inside of the ears of the Chillingham wild cattle are red.
With respect to the short-horned breed, or the Durham and
Holderness stock, often called the Dutch or Holstein, we have
already expressed an opinion that it is not of ancient British
origin, but that it is from a race spread over the north-western
portion of the continent, and prevalent in Guelderland,
Utrecht, Holland, &c. There is, in fact, a tradition that the
short-horned breed was introduced into Holderness about the
middle or close of the seventeenth century.

The Alderney race of cattle is confessedly of French origin,
and numbers are still imported from Normandy. Though
often kept in parks and pleasure grounds, few professed
farmers, except in Hampshire, esteem these cattle ; for though

THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 51

the milk is extremely rich, the cow yields but little, and con-
sequently does not repay its keep.

The cattle of Great Britian, as the breeds are at present
established, may be divided, according to the foregoing re-
marks, into the following primary sections: — First, Long
Horns ; secondly, Middle Horns ; thirdly, Polled Cattle ;
and fourthly, Short Horns, exclusive of the Alderney. Of
these the three first are of untraceable antiquity in our
islands, so that we may call them original, without entering
into the question relative to their primaeval source ; as we
call the Red Men of America, or the natives of the South Sea
Islands, aborigines, though it is evident that at some remote
period their invading ancestors colonized the lands, and per-
haps extirpated prior possessors.

The above sections do not, we are ready to admit, derive
their nomenclature from points of zoological importance ;
indeed the horns alone, taken as a standard, would be inad-
missible ; but it so happens, that in conjunction with certain
forms of horn other characters are associated, and various
important qualities, of no ordinary interest to the farmer or
breeder ; consequently, in the terms " long horn," or " short
horn," other points are included, these appellations being
used for convenience, the farmer knowing well the whole that
they imply.

Each of these sections is subdivided into various families
or breeds, distinguished by minor but not unimportant pecu-
liarities ; and these breeds are not only numerous, but are
continually interblending, improving or deteriorating, accord-
ing to the skill of the breeder, and the object at which he
aims. Some breeds, by no means destitute of value, especially
in dairy counties, are of such mingled origin, that, like
mongrels among dogs, it is difficult to assign them veiy defi-
nitely to any section : but these are undergoing perpetual
modification.

Looking at the cattle of Great Britain as a whole, we may
justly regard them as unequalled by any country in the world,
whether we take into consideration quantity or quality of milk,
quality of flesh, its fineness of grain, a tendency to the acquisi-
tion of fat, or points of symmetry, all, in fact, that the dairy
farmer, be his produce butter or cheese, all that the grazier for
the market, can wish for ; the cattle of our islands are pre-emi-
nent. Nor is this to be wondered at — climate, production,
enterprise, skill, and money combine their agencies. There
is, besides, a spirit of emulation, and agricultural societies,

52 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

under the patronage of the nobles, themselves competitors for
the prize, tend to the advancement of the great object — the
improvement of domestic cattle. Nor must we here overlook
the annual exhibition of prize-cattle in London, by the Smith-
field Cattle Club, an exhibition interesting not only to those
immediately engaged in agricultural pursuits, but to those
who appreciate the national importance of improvements in
every branch of the res rustica. Here are to be seen the
result of exertions, carried on principally during the last
eighty or ninety years, with a view to unite and bring to per-
fection the most desirable points in the various breeds of our
domestic cattle. Nor are agricultural implements and ma-
chinery of the latest and most improved construction over-
looked. Specimens of artificial manures, soils of various
districts differing from each other in geological formation,
and the results of analytic chemistry both as respects
soil and artificial manures, are there to be examined. Bare,
or new roots, plants, or seeds, adapted for our climate,
and promising to benefit by their introduction, together with
vegetables grown to peculiar perfection by some new mode of
culture, are also exhibited. The utility of such an exhibition,
independent of the emulation it produces, is very evident.
" In spite of the advances which agriculture has made during
the present century, how slowly do improvements extend
beyond the intelligent circle in which they were first adopted !
And it is one of the great advantages of institutions, such as
the Smithfield Club, to spread them more rapidly and widely,
by drawing the agriculturist from the secluded scenes in
which he carries on his occupations, and bringing them be-
fore him in the manner best calculated to demonstrate their
practical value."

With respect to the prize oxen and sheep, it must be ac-
knowledged that they are fattened often to a distressing
degree ; and many have asserted that the stimulus of prizes for
bringing an animal into a state of unnecessary fatness is a
work of supererogation ; and if this were all, so it would be ;
but breed, contour, age, the nature of the diet, its quantity,
and the time of fattening, arc all points to be taken into con-
sideration; hence this over-accumulation of fat is regarded
simply in the light of a test by which the properties of such
and such breeds are tried. A piece of artillery is tried by a
charge of powder far greater than is ever required for actual
service ; in like manner an ox is fattened for exhibition be-
yond a useful marketable condition, simply by way of showing

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 63

the capacity of the breed for acquiring, at the least expense of
food, and at the earliest age, such a condition as the public
demand really renders necessary.

Having so far sketched a rapid outline of the ox of our
islands in former times, when agriculture was practised
rudely, and little winter fodder, or none, stored up, — of the
old stocks, time-immemorial occupants of their peculiar dis-
tricts, and of the recent improvements which have tended to
raise our horned cattle generally to so high a degree of ex-
cellence, it will be necessary, before entering more circum-
stantially into the characters of our principal breeds, and
their points of distinction, to give a list of the technical names
applied by the farmer to neat cattle of different ages, and of
different sex.

The general name of the male of neat cattle* is Bull :
during the time he sucks he is called a bull-calf, until turned
of a year old ; he is then called a stirk or yearling bull ; and
and then, in order, a two, three, or four year old bull, until
six: he is then said to be aged. When emasculated he is
called an ox- calf, or stot-calf until one year old, when he
takes the name of stirk, stot, or yearling ; on the completion
of his second year he is called a two years old steer, and in
some counties a twinter, then a three years old steer, and at
four, an ox, or a bullock, which latter names are continued.
We may here remark that the term ox is often used as a ge-
neral or common appellation for neat cattle, in a specific
sense ; as the British ox, the Indian ox, and that irrespective
of sex. The female is termed Cow ; but while sucking the
mother, a cow-calf; at the age of a year she is called a year-
ling quey, in another year a heifer or twinter, then a three
years old quey or heifer, and at four years old a cow. These
appear to be the terms in general use, but others, to be
regarded perhaps as provincialisms, may prevail in some
districts.

Let us now proceed with the breeds of British cattle. The
subject demands a separate chapter

* " Neat," from neac, Saxon, (not French " net " clean, neat,) all kind of
beeves, as ox, cow, heifer, &c. Neathypb, neatherd, a keeper of beeves.

CHAPTEK III.

WE have said that one of the stocks of British cattle, to
which we may apply the term original, was a long-horned
variety, the stronghold of which was Craven, in the West
Biding of Yorkshire and Lancashire, whence it diverged over
the midland counties. This breed prevailed also in various
parts of Ireland ; while a light, active, middle-horned breed, also
claiming to be called original, but now much crossed with the
Devonshire and Hereford breeds, occupied the more hilly and
mountain districts. Long-horned cattle are not so often to
be seen pure as formerly. Within our own remembrance,
however, they were the ordinary cattle of the midland counties ;
the huge horns generally swept in a curve downwards, and
often met before the muzzle in such a manner, that the points
were obliged to be sawed off, in order that the animal might
be at liberty to feed. In other instances the horns took a
lateral direction, first sweeping horizontally outwards, and
then curving gently forwards ; occasionally the horns seemed
somewhat distorted, and the tournure of each did not pre-
cis elycorrespond,

These long-horned Craven, or Lancashire, cattle were large,
long-bodied, and coarse in the bone ; but they had good points :
the hide was thick and mellow ; and though the milk was not
abundant it was extremely rich.

The great improver of this breed was Mr. Bakewell, who
founded what was termed the new Leicester breed of long-
horns; but, before his time, other spirited individuals had
made successful attempts, and among them maybe mentioned
Sir Thomas Gresley, whose seat, Drakelow House, was on the
borders of the Trent, near Burton. Sir Thomas Gresley's
stock was celebrated in its day; and, in or about the year 1 720,
a small farmer at Linton, in Derbyshire, but close to the borders
of Leicestershire, commencing upon this stock, pushed its im-

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

1

W

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 57

provement still further, till, unfortunately, some disease broke
out, which, baffling all remedies, carried off the greater part
of his cattle, and put a stop to his enterprise.

The Gresley stock was the origin also of the Canley breed
of Mr. Webster, who crossed it with a pure Lancashire strain ;
and a bull termed Bloxedge, of this intermixture, was of
noted celebrity.

The Canley breed spread, and maintained its reputation,
and became incorporated with the stocks possessed by other
breeders, who saw the importance of improvement in those
points which concern the grazier, viz., — utility of form, and a
propensity to fattening at an early age, and in a reasonably
short space of time. It was on the Canley stock, viz., two
heifers and a long-horn bull, of superior qualities, that Mr.
Bake well, of Dishley, began his important experiments ; and
from them arose the new Leicester, or Dishley long-horns.
His aim was not so much improvement for the dairy, or the
small farmer, to whom milk was the primary object, as for
the grazier; consequently, smallness of bone, rotundity of
contour, and a disposition to the laying on of fat, where its
accumulation was most advantageous, were his great aim;
and he fully succeeded. It is remarkable that one of the
results of this high breeding manifested itself in the contour
and size of the horns, which, first sweeping outwards and
downwards, shot forward at the points. In the bulls, their
length seldom exceeded two feet; but in oxen and cows, they
measured from two and a half to three and a half feet in
length.

With respect to the general principles of breeding pursued
by Mr. Bakewell, and applicable to every description of cattle,
we shall not here repeat what we have already stated. Certain
it is that the practice of his theory is found to be ever suc-
cessful when judiciously carried out ; for, "like produces like."
A bull, the produce of the Canley heifer, Comely, and the
Westmoreland bull, was called Twopenny, and was in high
repute ; but a bull termed D, still more valuable, was the
grandson of Twopenny, and born of an immediate relative.
And here, if we may venture to judge, Mr. Bakewell was in
fault ; he bred too much in and in, and thereby prepared the
first steps of a future degeneracy, which, we have every reason
to believe, soon manifested itself. For, although much may
be attributed to the subsequent triumph of the improved
short-horns, and its intermixture with offsets from the Dishley

58 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

stock ; yet certain it is that the Leicester, or improved Dishley
breed, have left little more than a name behind them.

We must not suppose, however, that Mr. Bakewell was the
only man of his day (about 1750-60) who bent his mind to the
improvement of the long-horns. There were other labourers
in the field ; but all appear to have taken the Canley breed as
the foundation upon which to work: for example, the bull
Shakspere, the property of Mr. Fowler, of Kollwright, Oxford-
shire, was the son of D, by a daughter of Twopenny, and was
perhaps the most valuable bull, of the breed, that ever existed.
He approached perfection as nearly as possible ; and from
him, and heifers of the same stock, Mr. Fowler raised a breed
of long-horns of extraordinary value. For example, in 1791,
at a sale, which it was his custom to hold at certain intervals,
five bulls and six cows returned the sum of £2204. One bull,
Garrick, sold for £250, aged five years; another, Sultan, two
years old, £230; another, Washington, £215; and not a bull
for less than £152. Of cows, the first, Brindled Beauty, by
Shakspere, sold for £273; and the lowest for £120. In 1789,
Mr. Fowler refused five hundred guineas for ten bull calves.

Direct from the Canley stock, and Mr. Fowler's bull Shak-
spere, was raised a splendid breed of long-horns, by Mr
Princep, of Croxall, in Derbyshire, which was highly esteemed,
as were those of Mr. Paget, of Ibstock, in Leicestershire, Mr.
Mundy, of Derby, and several other successful breeders, whose
labours we need not here follow out.

While the successful cultivation of the long-horns was thus
carried on in England, we must not suppose that the cognate
breed of Ireland was neglected. But there was, referable to
this breed, a singular variety, prevailing more especially in
the north of Ireland, of rude figure, with large bones and
heavy dewlap, which, either from some inherent idiosyncracy,
or, more probably, from the obstinate prejudices or indolence
of the small farmers, never received improvement ; while, on
the contrary, in other districts, first by the introduction of
the old Lancashire stock, and subsequently by the accession
of bulls of the new Leicester breed, and others of the im-
proved Canley strain, the long-horned cattle began to rise in
quality, and lost their heavy slouching aspect, and their dis-
proportion of bone to flesh. Yet it was found that, in pro-
portion as these long-horns improved for the purposes of the
grazier, and acquired, with better contour, a tendency to
fetten even on ordinary diet, the quantity of milk yielded by
the cows became diminished, to the detriment of the cottier

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

59

THE OX AND THE DAIEY. 61

or small farmer, who could not pretend to rear beasts for the
slaughter market, and who depended upon his milk and its
products. It is true that, in the grazing grounds, or parks, of
the gentry and nobles, who aimed at a valuable stock, in the
sense of the feeder, the improvement of the breed was worth
every effort ; nor were efforts spared. We need not enume-
rate the spirited and enterprising individuals who were fore-
most in this work, nor detail the success which crowned their
exertions. As a proof, however, of this success, we may state
that, in 1802, ten bullocks, aged six years, were sold, at the
fair of Ballymahoe, for four hundred guineas, and ten four years
old heifers or cows for three hundred guineas. These cattle
were bred by Lord Oxmantown (afterwards Earl of Eosse), and
were, in all respects, models of their kind. The effects of
these improvements seem to linger still in Ireland, whence
the English grazing-grounds and markets derive most of
the long-horned cattle which are now to be seen ; but all
do not carry the marks of this improvement, many being
coarse, bony beasts, which will do little credit to the best
pasturage.

Within the last twenty years, the short-horns have been
introduced into Ireland, and a half-bred stock has been the
result ; this stock is hardy, though less so than the old breed
of long-horns, which, especially among the small farmers, still
maintains its ground.

Besides the long-horned, and half-long-horned breeds, there
is, in Ireland, a very distinct race of middle-horned cattle,
which, though very generally spread, seems to be more preva-
lent in the mountain districts. This breed, which is active,
wild, and very hardy, and when removed from the hills to
good pasture-land rapidly fattens, is evidently allied to the
Welsh or Highland cattle, and will claim further notice when
we come to the middle-horned races of our islands.

It was in the course of a few years, comparatively speaking,
that the long-horned breed attained to its perfection, and in
as short a time it experienced a decline. The Dishley long-
horns have run through their allotted date; perhaps they
were bred too much in and in, a circumstance always tending
to ultimate deterioration ; perhaps, after the days of those
who brought the long-horns to perfection, others came into
the field with less skill, and, in attempting to improve, re-
versed the good that had been done : but more probable it is
that the breed gave way before the rising dynasty of the im-

62 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

proved short-horns, which now began to acquire the ascend-
ancy. Be this as it may, certain it is that the Dishley breed
is extinct. Karely, indeed, in Lancashire, Leicestershire, or
Westmoreland, are pure long-horned cattle to be seen ; and
it is the same in other counties where they once prevailed.
Not that the traces of the improved long-horns are altogether
effaced ; in their palmy days they elevated the races of the
midland counties, and though these, generally speaking, are
now so mixed as to be of no definite breed, yet they were origin-
ally long-horns, and more or less influenced by the Dishley ;
they lost, to a greater or less degree, their original coarseness,
and became permanently ameliorated.

In the midland counties, at the present time, either the
short-horned breed prevails, or a crossed breed between this
and the long-horns, the degrees of affinity to either side vary-
ing almost infinitely. We say nothing here of the cattle in-
troduced from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, &c., for the express
purpose of fattening in parks and grazing grounds, for the
markets ; we allude to the native cattle of the district, the
cattle of the farmer or dairyman.

In Lancashire and Westmoreland, as we have said, few
pure long-horned cattle are to be met with ; in some parts
half-long-horned beasts may be seen, but mostly short-horns.
In the former county, indeed, many Irish cattle are fed, and
among these a fair proportion of long-horns occur; and some
farmers, both in the northern and southern portion, still
prefer the long-horns for the dairy; but crosses are the most
prevalent.

The cattle of Derbyshire were originally long-horns, of a
coarse breed, indifferent for the feeder, but excellent for the
dairy-farmer. Within the last few years this breed has be-
come greatly modified, and few of the old unimproved stock
remain. During a recent visit to this county we occasionally
saw cattle retaining a proportion of the original characters, —
viz., a thick, heavy head, with spreading and irregularly-turned
horns, an angular figure, and a thick hide covered with long
hair; but these were by no means general; a crossed breed,
in which the strain of the short- horns was decided, was what
we mostly observed ; and not unfrequently pure cattle of this
race, identical with those of Yorkshire.

For a long series of years Cheshire has been renowned as
a dairy county, cheese being its noted product, and the cattle
have been celebrated as milkers. They were originally long-

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 63

horns of various crosses, and of little beauty, being angular
and ill-formed, with thin thighs, a wide loin, and a light fore-
quarter; but the udder was large, and its veins very apparent,
the belly deep, with prominent milk-veins. Some of these
lean angular cows have been known to yield twenty-four
quarts of milk per day, but only for a short time ; the average
is eight or ten quarts, of which four quarts return a pound of
cheese, while it takes twelve or fourteen quarts for the pro-
duction of a pound of butter. It is estimated that there are
100,000 cows in Cheshire, each of which gives two-and-a-half
hundred weight of cheese in the course of the year, making
an annual total of 1250 tons.

Kecently improvements on this breed have been attempted,
and many short-horns introduced ; but, after all, a pure race
is not much sought after, quantity and quality of milk being
the great desideratum. Indeed it is not clear that a total
alteration of the old breed, inured, as it is, to the climate and
pasturage, and modified, by a combination of circumstances,
in such a manner as to meet the views of the dairy-farmer,
would lead to any benefit ; nor that the quantity and quality
of the cheese, yielded by the short-horned breed, would equal
that obtained from the old stock. Nay, there are complaints,
as it is, that the cheese of Cheshire is not quite what it used
to be. Artificial grasses, cabbages, and Swedish turnips, are
greatly cultivated in Cheshire, as winter-fodder, for the cattle,
which, during the colder months, are housed in sheds, or kept
in sheltered yards, and supplied with straw and hay as their
ordinary food. If, however, the weather is not very severe,
they are generally turned out daily into the adjacent fields ;
from which, having picked up but little, they gladly return
to their stall, and feed heartily. Previously to calving, in
February or March, the cows are dried, and fed with straw
arid hay, and after calving, with crushed oats, brewers' grains
(where accessible), and green fodder. When the grass is
ready, they are turned out into the meadows; and, if the
winter management has been judicious, and not too much
dry food, as straw, given, they soon yield milk in abundance.
The calves are generally suffered to subsist exclusively on the
mother's milk for three weeks ; then they are weaned, and fed
upon warm whey, buttermilk, skimmed milk, oatmeal gruel,
and gradually introduced to vegetable aliment. During the
first winter they are fed largely on hay.

While speaking of the cattle of Cheshire, we must not for-

64 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

get to observe, that a small herd of wild white cattle, like
those at Chillingham, is preserved in the Park at Lyme Hall.
These cattle are very shy, frequenting the higher grounds in
summer, and the woods in winter : during the latter season
they are supplied by the keepers with hay.

The original cattle of Staffordshire were of the long-horned
stock, afterwards greatly improved by the Dishley breed ; but
these have given place to the Yorkshire short-horns, and are
seldom to be seen, except perhaps towards the borders of
Derbyshire, and even there they are considerably modified.
The prevailing breed is the result of crossings of the short-
horned stock and the old long-horns. Middle-homed Devon
cattle have been introduced upon the farms of some agricul-
turists of note, and polled Galloways have also attracted
attention. In many large parks and grazing grounds, as those
of Trentham, numbers of black Scotch cattle are fattened ;
and the markets of the principal towns are well supplied with
beef of first-rate quality. Tri those parts of Staffordshire ad-
jacent to Derbyshire and to Cheshire, excellent cheese is pre-
pared; but little, we believe, comes to the London market.
It is the practice, in these districts, to kill the calves (those
excepted which are intended to be reared) at a very early age ;
consequently the veal is usually small and inferior. This
observation applies also to Cheshire and Derbyshire ; on the
other hand, the veal in the London markets is often too old.
The difference between the veal in London, and that in the
towns of Staffordshire, and the counties immediately adjacent,
is very striking. The London markets are chiefly supplied
from Essex, where the calves bought by the farmers, at ten
or fourteen days old, are fed for twelve or fourteen weeks
before being sent to the London butchers.

The same changes, with respect to the cattle, have taken
place in Shropshire as in Staffordshire. The old long-horn,
which formerly prevailed there, was a coarse but hardy beast,
generally streaked with a broad line of white along the back ;
and, though not disposed to fatten, was well fitted for the
dairy. Few of these old cattle are now to be seen : the
Holderness and the Hereford breeds have not only modified
the stock, but, to a certain extent, usurped its place ; while
various breeds from Wales, small but good and hardy cattle,
are cultivated by the smaller farmers.

Our remarks respecting the decline, or admixture of the
long-horned stock, and the ascendancy of the Durham or

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 65

Holderness breed, are applicable to Nottinghamshire, North-
amptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, &c. In the latter
county Holderness cattle, and other short-horns, prevail ; but
not to the exclusion of Devons and Herefords, with Highland
cattle, for fattening. In Buckinghamshire the short-horns
have superseded the long-horns ; and the same may be said
of Berkshire and Wiltshire. In Hampshire the long-horns
have disappeared ; and, in some favourable tracts, short-horns
are to be seen ; but, in its southern portion, the Alderney and
Suffolk breeds prevail ; while, more inland, a mixed breed,
between the Alderney and Suffolk, Hereford or Devon, is
cultivated. In the Isle of Wight, a small mixed breed, good
for the pail, but worthless for the feeder, is mostly to be found.

In Oxfordshire the improved long-horns have ceased to
retain their ground ; a few of a mixed race still remain, but
the introduction of the short-horns, by Sir C. Willoughby arid
other spirited improvers of neat stock, has ended in the pre-
valence of the latter. Against their introduction objections
were raised at the time by breeders, who feared the pasturage
not adapted to their constitution : their fears, however, proved
utterly groundless.

It would appear, then, from this survey, that in a short time
(if such is not the case at present) the long-horned stock of
cattle, formerly the characteristic breed of our midland coun-
ties, and brought during the last century to perfection by Mr.
Webster, Mr. Bakewell, and other zealous cultivators of the
ox, will disappear ; it will merge into other breeds ; it will
become, so to speak, absorbed and lost, and the old Craven,
or Lancashire ox, as well as the improved Leicesters of Mr.
Bakewell's cultivation, will be known only by description.
They have succumbed before the superiority of the short-
horns, cattle of larger bulk, of earlier maturity, and even
superior aptitude to fatten, compared with the best improved
long-horns, and also hardier than the latter.

The fact is, that the great improvers of the long-horns,
while they aimed at, and succeeded in producing a grazier's
stock, rendered the cattle, as a dairy stock, inferior to the old
coarse breed, and entailed upon it a delicacy of constitution
which disqualified it for the ordinary farm Mr. Culley says,
speaking of the comparative merits of the long-horns and
short-horns, in his day (1807): " When I say the long-horns
excel the short-horns in the quality of the beef, I mean that
preference is only due to the particular variety of long-horns

F

66 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

selected, improved, and recommended by that attentive
breeder, Mr. Bakewell ; for as to the long-horned breed in
common, I am inclined to think their beef rather inferior than
superior to that of the generality of short-horns ; and there is
little doubt but a breed of short-horned cattle might be
selected, equal, if not superior, to even that very kindly -fleshed
sort of Mr. Bakewell 's, provided any able breeder, or body of
breeders, would pay as much attention to these as Mr. Bake-
well and his neighbours have done to the long-horns. But it
has hitherto been the misfortune of the short-horned breeders
to pursue the largest and biggest-boned ones for the best,
without considering that those are the best that pay the most
money for a given quantity of food." It would almost appear
as if Mr. Culley had ventured to prophecy. His anticipations
have been more than realized ; and whether we regard milk
or flesh, the short-horns have risen pre-eminent. Breeders
have stepped forward, and the result of their efforts is
notorious.

But before we investigate the pretensions of the short-horns,
an old, an aboriginal breed, has a claim upon our notice ; we
mean that which is usually denominated the middle-horned,
that of which the Chillingham wild ox may be taken as a type

THE MIDDLE-HORNED STOCK. — This stock, once, perhaps,
more extensively spread in our island than at present, still
prevails in many districts, ramified into varieties according to
the nature of the locality, and the improvements of the
breeder. We find this race in Sussex, in Herefordshire, in
Cornwall, Devonshire, Wales, and Scotland.*

These cattle are distinguished by an air of vivacity, almost
of wildness ; the head is small, with a broad forehead, and
graceful horns ; the eye is large and animated, the body well
built, the limbs vigorous, the setting of the tail high, the skin
mellow and elastic, and the hair curly ; the colour is red, or
black, often unbroken by white. With respect to milk, the
cows yield rather a moderate quantity on an average, but it is
of superior quality. There is a remarkable tendency to the
acquirement of fat, which marbles the grain of the flesh, ren-
dering it of first-rate excellence. Every breed of this stock,
however, is not of the same value, and different breeds have

* It would seem as it those cattle had heen driven westwardly and north-
wardly from the other parts of our island, and found a permanent asylum in
the mountainous districts, though, as we have already said, we suspect them to
have been aborigines of these districts, an old long-horned race occupying the
more level and marshy parts.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

67

THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

different points of superiority. In Cornwall, for example, a
small black race of cattle formerly prevailed, and may still be
found in the western moorlands. This breed is similar to
some of those found in the Scottish Highlands ; and from its
hardiness is well fitted for the locality it occupies : its hair is
deep, close, and curly, and the skin thick — two points of ad-
vantage in a climate of alternate storms and calms, cold and
heat. During the summer the commons and wild moorlands
supply a sufficiency of food ; and when in their winter sheds,
chopped straw, furze, heath, and other coarse herbage, are
sufficient. Hence these cattle are maintained at very little
cost ; and as they yield a fair quantity of milk, and when put
upon moderately good fare, rapidly fatten, they will suit the
small farmer, perhaps half-farmer, half-fisherman, in a bleak
mountain-district, over which the ocean tempest is driven so
frequently.

In more favourable districts the North Devon breed, one of
high excellence, or a cross between the Devon and the old
Cornish, is cultivated, and sometimes a cross between the
latter and the Alderney. The pure North Devon cattle, how-
ever, are decidedly preferred ; and though the short-horned
Durham breed has been introduced, and crosses between it
and the Devon occurred in the fertile parts, yet the pure
Devons are better adapted for the county generally, and are
also more easily obtained. Excellent butter and clouted
cream are made in Cornwall, but no cheese, or but little, and
that very inferior.

There is, perhaps, no county in which oxen are (or till very
lately were) more useful for the plough, and the wain or cart,
than in Cornwall. The plough is very simple, with a straight
mould-board, and is drawn by four or six oxen ; there is a
peculiar wain of light construction, well adapted for the rough
roads of this county, and usually drawn by oxen ; these are
generally put into harness at three years old, and worked
until the age of seven or eight ; the strong roads render their
shoeing necessary ; but with their feet thus defended, they
exhibit considerable activity, and get through more work daily
than might be expected. It must be acknowledged, that for
lightness of step, spirit, and energy at the plough, the North
Devon cattle are unequalled : and these are the most valued
in Cornwall. No heavy breed is suited for a rugged, hilly
country, nor indeed is any, unaccustomed to such a district,
and, as it were, not duly acclimated. We are informed that

70 THE OX AND THE DAIRY

far fewer oxen are now employed for labour in Cornwall than
within even the last ten or fifteen years. This may be owing
to the increased demand for oxen in the grazing counties
where they are fattened, viz., Somersetshire, &c., or to an im-
proved system of husbandry, and better roads.

Many of the finest Devonshire oxen are fattened for the
market in Somersetshire and Dorsetshire. The cattle of
Devonshire are admirable : of these the purest are to be
found in the northern portion of that county bordering the
Bristol Channel ; such at least is the opinion of some, who
regard the larger variety found in the south, as mixed with
other breeds of inferior strain ; but there is, perhaps, some-
thing of ultra-refinement in this view of the matter.

The Devonshire bull has the head small ; the muzzle fine ;
the nostrils ample ; the horns tapering, and of a waxy yellow ;
the eye large and clear ; the neck thick and arched above,
with little dewlap ; the chest is broad and deep ; the breast
prominent ; the limbs fine-boned ; the fore-arm muscular ;
the hips are high, and the hind-quarters well filled up ; the
thighs are voluminous ; the tail long, slender, set on high,
and tufted at the extremity. The ox is taller, and more
lightly made, with fine withers, and a slanting shoulder ; the
breast is prominent ; the limbs are fine-boned, muscular, and
straight, but rather long; the neck, too, is thin, and rather
long, the head small, the muzzle fine ; the horns longer than
in the bull, slender, and tapering. The whole form, indeed,
indicates activity and freedom of action. The skin is mo-
derate, and covered with mossy or curling hair ; but occasion-
ally it is smooth and glossy. The colour is universally red,
chestnut, or bay, seldom varied with white; a paler space
surrounds the eye, and the muzzle is yellow.

The cow is far inferior to the bull in bulk and stature ; and
the latter is inferior to the ox. The cow is active, with a full
eye, and animated expression ; the muzzle is very fine, and
the general contour light ; the ribs, however, are well arched,
giving greater internal room than might at first be supposed,
— a point essential to a good breeder With respect to the
qualities of the Devonshire cattle, they are by many esteemed
of the highest order, while others underrate them. The oxen,
as workers at the plough, on a light soil, are, from their
docility and easy action, of first-rate order; but, on heavy
soils, although they are willing to exert their strength, at
a dead pull, to the utmost, their want of weight and muscular

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

71

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 73

power is a disadvantage. In light farm work their alertness
is conspicuous ; and two oxen will perform the labour of one
horse. Oxen, however, are not used for labour universally
throughout Devonshire, nor, where the practice still continues,
is it so much in vogue as formerly ; for the breeders obtain a
remunerating price from the graziers for their oxen, at an
earlier age than that at which it is usual to break them in.

It is the general plan to take oxen into work at two years
old : they are put to light labour for the first year or two,
and then to harder work, till the age of five or six, when they
are grazed or fed on hay, corn, oil-cake, or turnips, for the
market ; for which they are ready in about twelve months, or
even earlier. Few oxen equal the Devons in the promptitude
with which they fatten; they do not, indeed, attain to the
weight of the larger breeds, but they lay on flesh rapidly, and
with a small proportionate consumption of food ; and the meat is
of first-rate quality, being fine-grained and beautifully marbled.
As it regards the dairy, the North Devonshire cow holds a
moderate rank : some cows yield much more than others ;
and the milk is extremely rich, producing a more than ordi-
dinary proportion of cheese or butter. A good cow will give
about three gallons of milk per day, for the first twenty weeks
after calving ; after this the milk decreases, and stops at the
end of about nine months ; so that the total annual amount
will not be more than about a gallon and a half per day ; but
then, the proportionate quantity of butter is considerable
A cow of mixed breed, between a North Devon and a York-
shire bull, has been found to give twenty-four quarts of milk
per day, for five months after calving ; but the milk was less
rich than that of the pure Devon breed, twelve quarts pro-
ducing only one pound of butter ; while eight quarts of the
milk of the pure Devon cow returned the same quantity.
This, and other mixed breeds, prevail about Exeter, and
along the whole vale of the Exe. Many are excellent, being
fine in the coat, horn, and bone, and short in the legs.

Pure North Devon cows are kept chiefly for breeding, and
are superior as nurses, the calves thriving rapidly on their
rich milk : a good cow will often fatten two calves a year. When
dried, at the proper age, the Devon cows rapidly acquire flesh,
and make fair grass-fed beef, in three or four months. The
cows weigh from 30 to 40 st. ; the oxen, from 50 to 60 St.,
and upwards. Numbers of the latter are sent, from the
northern parts of the country, to the London market, and the
markets of the principal towns in the west of England.

74 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

Devonshire is celebrated for a delicacy prepared from the
milk, well known as clouted cream. In order to obtain this,
the milk is suffered to stand in a vessel for twenty-four hours ;
it is then placed over a stove or slow fire, and very gradually
heated to an almost simmering state, below the boiling point.
When this is accomplished (the first bubble having appeared),
the milk is removed from the fire, and allowed to stand for
twenty-four hours more. At the end of this time the cream
will have arisen to the surface, in a thick or clouted state, and
is removed : in this state it is eaten as a luxury ; but is often
converted into butter, which is done by stirring it briskly
with the hand, or a stick. The butter thus made, though
more in quantity, is not equal in quality to that procured from
the cream which has risen slowly and spontaneously ; and, in
the largest and best dairies in the vale of Honiton, the cream
is never clouted — except when intended for the table in that
state.

With respect to the South Devon breed, it appears to be
superior, for the dairy, to the pure North Devon ; some cows
being almost equal to the best short-horns in the quantity of
milk : these cattle are profitable also to the grazier and the
butcher ; but their flesh is not equal, in fineness of grain or
delicacy, to that of the North Devon breed. They closely
resemble the Herefords, and, indeed, often have white faces.

To the east of Devonshire lie the counties of Dorsetshire
and Somersetshire, noted for their agricultural produce
Dorsetshire sends vast quantities of butter to London ; and
cheese is made from the skimmed milk. This cheese is most
esteemed when streaked with blue mould ; but it is consumed
almost exclusively in the county itself. The vale of Black-
moor is very rich, and affords pasturage to numbers of cattle :
these are mostly of a mixed breed, in which the strain of the
Devonshire prevails ; but there are also numbers of South
Devons. Crosses with the Durham race, and also with the
Hereford, are not uncommon in Dorsetshire ; the object being
to obtain good dairy cows, irrespective of other qualities. In
the more hilly districts, where the pasturage is scanty, a hardy
race of half long-horned cattle prevails ; these are generally
brindled on the sides, with a white stripe down the back, and
white on the under parts. This race, originally long-horned,
is now crossed with the Devon, and is much improved : the
cattle are hardy ; they fatten quickly, and the cows are good
milkers.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 75

Except in some parts, oxen are not much used in husbandry;
and where they are so, the pure North Devons are preferred.
After working for three or four years, the oxen are fatted for
the markets ; and many find their way to London.

Somersetshire is celebrated both for corn and the products
of the dairy. In that part which borders upon Devonshire,
and along the coast, the cattle are of the North Devon breed ;
and, having good pasturage, are usually superior in size to
the original stock. Those of the vale of Taunton are very
fine, and well suited both for the grazier and the dairy-farmer.
Less light than those of North Devon, the oxen have nearly
as much activity, are equally docile, and considerably stronger :
hence they are efficient workers. In other parts of the county,
while this breed is preferred for husbandry labour, and for
aptitude to fatten, another is reared for the purposes of the
dairy, principally of the Durham or short-horned stock, or a
cross between this and others. The dairy-farmers seldom
graze, except a few dried cows for the adjacent market; but
in the centre of the county, from the Mendip Hills to Bridge-
water on the west, and Chard on the south, grazing for the
market is extensively carried on. The cattle are either of the
Devon or Hereford strain ; they are mostly bought in Febru-
ary, and kept on hay till spring, when they are turned out to
graze, — an acre or an acre and a half, according to the pas-
turage, being allowed to each ox. They are in condition by
Michaelmas : many are kept till Christmas, hay being gradu-
ally given, in proportion as the grass fails, till it is required
entirely. Great numbers of these cattle are sent to London.
In the south-east portion dairy-farms prevail, and the business
of cheese-making begins soon after Lady-day. Of the cheeses
of Somersetshire, the Bridgewater and the Cheddar are particu-
larly celebrated. Of the latter, little is made at the village so
named; it is chiefly in the grazing lands round Glaston-
bury, and at other places, as Huntspill, South Brent, East
Brent, &c.

The dairy-farmers in Somersetshire usually sell off their
cows for fattening at the age of about twelve years, as the
milk then begins to deteriorate in quality, and it would be
unprofitable to continue them for the pail. Vast numbers of
calves are bred, and of these a great proportion are fattened
by hand from the pail, the calves being separated from their
dams at the age of three or four days ; those that are intended
for rearing are fed principally on whey, and turned to grass

76 THE OX AND THE DATKY.

in spring; but to the others, milk, whey, and occasionally
linseed-meal, are given.

Herefordshire possesses a peculiar breed of middle-horned
cattle, allied to the Devons, but heavier and coarser, of a red
colour, with white faces,* and with white along the back and
under parts. The true Herefords are shorter in the leg,
heavier in the chine, and wider and rounder in the hips than
the Devons ; the head is also larger in proportion, and less
fine, and the hide thicker, but mellow and supple. As milkers
they are inferior to the Devons, but acquire an earlier ma
turity, and fatten both more rapidly and to a greater weight ;
consequently, the oxen are commonly sold off at the age of
two or three years, in a state fit for the feeder. The graziers
of Buckinghamshire, and other counties, purchase, for fatten-
ing, great numbers of these oxen at the various fairs, espe-
cially the Michaelmas fair at Hereford ; they are brought to
the London markets, when ready, and meet an excellent sale
Few oxen are, in fact, fattened in Herefordshire ; but only
heifers and cows for home consumption. Herefordshire is
essentially a breeding county (not a dairy nor yet a feeding
county); and the great object is to supply the graziers with a
valuable stock. The cows preferred are worthless as milkers;
but such as experience has taught the breeder will produce
the best offspring : they are rather small and light, but roomy ;
insomuch that they often bear bull-calves, which soon attain
to thrice their own weight. These cows, however, when dried,
fatten rapidly, and become full-fleshed and rounded.

Formerly it was the custom to work the oxen for two or
three years before sending them to market ; but it is now
found far more profitable to take advantage of their early ma-
turity, and sell them without unnecessary delay, thereby sav
ing fodder, and also obviating the slow return of capital which
the long keeping of oxen necessarily entails.

As dairy-farming is not practised (at least as a general rule)
in Herefordshire, the milk of the breeding cows is given
almost all to the calves ; nor is this plan to be condemned :
the breeder's great aim is to ripen his beasts for the grazier,
or at least for early fattening. A mingled system of breeding
and dairy-farming would defeat its object and lead to loss, for
neither department would be properly conducted.

Gloucestershire, closely as it approximates to Hereford-
shire, is a dairy county, celebrated for its butter and cheese,
but especially the latter, of which large quantities are sent to
the London market.

THE OX AND THE DAI11Y.

77

THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 79

The old Gloucester breed of cattle was rather small, of a
reddish brown colour, with a streak of white running up the
back from the base of the tail ; indifferent in figure, but well
adapted for the dairy. This old middle-horned race is now
seldom to be met with, at least pure ; it has been crossed by
the long- horns of Wiltshire ; and this mixed breed, while it
exhibited superiority of size, and a tendency to fatten, was
little, if at all, deteriorated as to milking qualities. In the
hilly or Cotswold districts, a mixed breed, of variable good-
ness, prevails. The Cotswold hills extend across the county
from Chipping Campden to Bath, and are divided into an
upper and a lower range : the soil of the upper range is chiefly
a calcareous sand, a few inches deep, resting on oolite, or, as
it is commonly called, stonebrash. Cattle, but principally
sheep, are kept on these hills, and even the poorest tracts are
admirably adapted as pasturage for the latter: where these
have well manured the land, it bears tolerable crops of oats
and barley In the lower hills, and in the valleys between
them, the soil is deeper, and affords fair pasturage to cattle,
of which numbers are kept for the purpose of the dairy, and
good cheeses are made. Winter and spring vetches are sown
in considerable quantity, and supply both the cattle and sheep
when green fodder is scarce In general, however, the cattle
are badly fed during the winter.

It is in the more fertile and lower portions of this county,
such as the vale of Berkeley and the banks of the Severn and
Ledden, that the richest land for the cultivation of crops and
the pasturage of cattle is found. Here the old pastures are
left untouched for the cows, that the cheese may retain its
celebrity; and here, consequently, dairy-farming is most
advantageously and extensively carried on. In the vale of
Gloucestershire there are many valuable crosses of cattle ;
some between the old breed and the long-horns, others
between this cross breed and Durham and Yorkshire short-
horns. Milk, remarkable both for richness and the quantity
yielded, is the dairyman's object; and for this he sacrifices
all other properties of the cattle. Hereford and Devon cattle
are also kept, but only for work and for fattening : of these
many are fed in the neighbourhood of Gloucester.

In the management of the milch cattle of this fertile dis-
trict, old rich pastures are greatly preferred for them ; for it
has been ascertained by experience that lands, however luxu-
riant, which have been much or recently manured, produce

80 THE OX AND THE DAIEY.

an alteration in the quality of the milk, so as to render the
cheese made from it very inferior. It is also found to be an
excellent plan to remove the cattle frequently from one pas •
ture to another ; and, when the hay is off, to turn them upon
the new after-grass of the meadows, the succulent young
herbage being conducive to abundance of good milk.

The produce of a good cow should average from three and
a half to four and a half hundred weight of cheese per annum,
or from .twelve to eighteen quarts of milk per day. Some
first-rate cows, on rich pasturage, have been known to yield
twenty-four quarts every day, at two milkings, for the space of
seven months after calving; but this is an uncommon circum-
stance. After the seventh month the quantity of milk rapidly
diminishes, till within six weeks previously to calving again,
when the cow is no longer milked. Mr. Rudge, in his Agri
cultural View of Gloucestershire, considers that the profit
on a dairy of twenty good cows, costing £20 each (in all £400),
fed upon forty acres of land, will amount to about. £136 per
annum. He calculates the cost of the dairy utensils as under

Two sorts of cheese are made, single and double Glou-
cester; the former is prepared from skimmed milk, and a
superior sort from a mixture of skimmed and pure milk ; the
double Gloucester from pure unskimmed milk only. Great
quantities are made in the vale of Berkeley

During winter the milch cows are kept in dry and sheltered
situations, and supplied with hay, as are also the young store
beasts ; in the hilly districts, however, less attention is paid
to them at this season, and they often suffer greatly. This is
bad management and false economy: the cows ought to be
kept in fair condition, so as to benefit immediately by the
spring pasturage. Sufficient shelter is often too much ne
glected : good sheds are essential as a protection against
severe cold; nor are they less serviceable in the extreme
heats of summer. Deficiency of food, moreover, deteriorates
and stunts the growth of the young stock, foiling the best
endeavours for the improvement of the breed. This mis-
management is, however, chiefly confined to the hilly district,
where the soil is unproductive, rendering winter fodder scarce;
or where, from old custom, no efficient attempts are made to
meet the exigency. More liberality would be far more profit-
able

The prevalent breed of cattle in Sussex closely resembles

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

81

THE OX AND THE DAIKY 83

that of North Devon; there are, however, certain points of
difference ; and, on the whole, the Sussex ox is a heavier and
coarser animal than the Devon, but equally valuable for
farm-labour, and for the fineness of the grain and the mar
bling of the flesh.

Sussex is not a great dairy county; but it contains rich
mar§h-lands, well adapted for the pasturage of sheep and oxen,
and down-lands, where a thin soil overlays the chalk, and pro-
duces grasses admirably fitted for the peculiar breed of sheep,
" the South Downs," which are so celebrated for the excel-
lence of their flesh. In some parts of the downs, along the
slopes of the hills and in the hollows, there is excellent arable
land, on which oxen as well as horses are worked, the former
being preferred by many.

The centre of the county constitutes the wealden district,
composed of various clays and sands, with subordinate beds
of limestone, grit, and shale. Here the land is poor ; but, in
some parts, tolerable crops of wheat, oats, and clover are ob-
tained : there are extensive woods of fir and birch, and moor-
lands overgrown with heath and the bilberry plant.

The centre of this county, as is evident from its present
state, was once almost impenetrable from its dense forests,
heaths, and morasses. Here, from remote times, the peculiar
breed of ox still prevalent has existed. Its colour is of a uni-
form blood bay, or chestnut red ; the horns are well-set and
tapering ; the head is small, the eye large, the throat clean,
the neck thin ; but the shoulders are thick and heavy, and the
forelimbs rather coarse, — that is, less fine in the bone than in
the Devon. The barrel is well formed and capacious ; the
back straight; the hips wide and well covered; the tail is
thin, and tufted at the extremity, and is set on nearly as high
as in the Devon ; the hide is mellow and fine ; the coat is
mostly sleek, but sometimes wavy.

The Sussex cow is kept principally for the sake of breed
ing: her milk, though excellent in quality, being small in
quantity; hence her place in the dairy is supplied by various
crossed breeds, which are found to answer best for the pail.

The cow is lighter in the shoulders than the ox, and her
neck is thin ; but altogether her contour is not so good :
there is, moreover, a wildness in her aspect, and a restless-
ness in her temper, which render her not very manageable ;
yet, when dried, she fattens with extraordinary rapidity, and
becomes well covered with flesh.

84 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

It is usual to rear all, or almost all, the calves in this
county; the males for labouring oxen, the females for breeding,
or for fattening at an early age. They are seldom kept with
the mother for more than ten or twelve weeks, when they are
weaned, and fed on grass and hay. After losing her own* calf,
a good cow will suckle another, and sometimes even two, for
the butcher.

Besides this pure Sussex breed, a larger and heavier breed
is also to be seen, the result probably of a cross with the
Hereford, though no white face betrays the admixture. The
oxen of this larger variety are slow, and less adapted for work
than those of the lighter but still vigorous and pow*erful
variety, which almost equal the horse as good and obedient
workers. These oxen are generally broken in at three years
old, kept at labour until six, and then fattened for the butcher
by seven. Some, however, work them longer; and oxen have
been brought into excellent condition in their eleventh or
twelfth year, and sold to great advantage. This plan saves
the necessity of so frequently breaking in young oxen ; but it
is doubtful whether, as a general rule, aged beasts will fatten
so kindly, or produce meat of a quality so good, as others in
their prime.

Not only oxen but heifers are used for the cart and the
plough; these are not in a condition to breed, and are treated
like oxen, being, after three or four years' labour, fattened for
the market.

The Sussex oxen find a ready sale in the London markets ;
their average weight is one hundred and twenty stone, but
some have been known to exceed two hundred stone. In
this county, winter stall-feeding is greatly practised, and is
attended with many advantages. Some farmers, however,
prefer feeding the oxen loose in the yard, as they find the
animals fatten more quickly — no doubt the gentle exercise
increasing their appetite and digestive powers ; but then,
besides what they consume, they waste and trample down
much provender, which, were the oxen tied in their stalls,
would be saved : they are then more easily fed, and more
manure can be preserved. Previously to the stall (or yard)
feeding, the oxen intended for fattening are sent, after their
spring labour at the plough is over, to feed during the sum-
mer in the marsh-lands, and on the after-grass of the hay-
meadows. On the approach of winter they are stalled every
night ; and when winter sets in, having been accustomed to
it. are kept constantly tied up

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 87

The Sussex cattle prevail in the adjacent parts of Surrey ;
but short-horns, Devons, and various crosses are also to be
met with. In the weald of Kent, also, Sussex cattle are used
for the cart and plough, and grazed in the Komney marshes,
where, however, sheep are more profitable. In the eastern
parts of Kent few cattle, except for the produce of butter for
home consumption, are kept, and these are of various and
mingled breeds. Scotch and Welsh cattle are fed by some
farmers in the straw-yard during the winter, and fattened by
grazing in the marshes during the spring and summer. In
some parts stall-feeding is also practised ; but Kent cannot
be called a cattle or a dairy county.

Following the middle-horned cattle from England to Wales,
we may observe that several breeds of this aboriginal race
have existed from the earliest times, and still maintain their
ground in the mountain-land of Cambria.

In form they much resemble the Devons, Herefords, and
Sussex breed; but from the nature of their pasturage they
are smaller, wilder, more hardy, and thrive on poorer fare :
they are usually fine in the head and limbs, active, and
vigorous. The colour is black, dark brown, or red, some-
times contrasted with white. In the vales the cattle are
larger, and often crossed with other breeds, as those of Here-
fordshire and Gloucestershire. In Monmouthshire, Durhams,
Irish, and Scotch cattle have been introduced, especially the
Ayrshire breed, which is excellent for the dairy; but the old
breed, closely allied to that of Glamorganshire, maintains its
ground, especially in the more northern parts and on the
hills.

In Carmarthenshire, Brecknockshire, Cardiganshire, and
Pembrokeshire, an old and useful breed of black cattle still
prevails. The Pembroke ox is short in the limb, with mo-
derately small bone ; deep and round in the carcass, with
rough short hair; and a hide of moderate thickness, and
pleasant to the touch. The head is moderately small, the
aspect animated, and the horns are white. Some individuals
have white about the face and under parts, and some are of
a dark brown. These cattle are small but hardy, and the
oxen fatten well on indifferent land. The character of the
meat is first-rate ; the grain is fine, and beautifully marbled,
and its flavour excellent. The cows are fair milkers, and,
from their hardiness, are very profitable to the small farmer or
cottager. The oxen are as profitable to the grazier ; they are

88 THE OX AND THE DAIKY

good workers, strong and active, and are ready at the age of
four or five years for the market, arriving early at maturity.
Great numbers of these cattle are sent to the London market,
A similar but superior breed of cattle occupied Glamorgan-
shire, generally of a red or a brown-red colour, often with
white faces, and otherwise varied with white. The head was
small, the aspect lively, the neck inclined to be arched, the
carcass round and well turned, the back rising to the root of
the tail, which was peculiarly elevated. The aptitude to
fatten, the early maturity and docility of the oxen, and the
fineness of the beef, rendered the Glamorgan breed highly
valuable ; and no beasts sold at a higher proportionate rate
in the London market. Fifty years ago they were purchased
by the great feeders in Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Wilt-
shire, and other counties ; and George the Third had a va-
luable and well-selected stock on his farm at Windsor, which
was often recruited by fresh accessions from the native dis-
trict. Glamorganshire was then a noted cattle district ; but,
during the war, the farmers neglected their cattle for the
plough : they commenced raising corn, alternating the crops
with turnips, and increasing the stock of the sheep. The
result was that the cattle speedily degenerated, and were no
longer sought after. Nor is it until recently that serious ex-
ertions have been made to restore the breed . to its pristine
excellence by intelligent and spirited individuals. Crosses
with the Hereford were tried, and, at first, with some show of
success ; but soon, after one or two generations, the defects
of the Glamorganshire strain reappeared. Crosses still more
unlikely to succeed were tried ; till at length one with the
Ayrshire bull was attempted, and the result has been suc-
cessful. This mixed breed is equal in hardiness to the old ;
the oxen are good workers, arid fatten readily ; the beef is
admirable ; and the cows yield more milk than did those of
the old stock. This improved breed is becoming extended,
though it meets a rival in the pure H'erefords, which are, by
some breeders, preferred, and by some still used to cross the
Glamorgan. In the more hilly districts the old Glamorgan
breed suffered less deterioration than in the vales ; but it is
there subject to poor and scanty food. In summer the pas
turage is bare and meagre, and in winter the only resource is
wretched hay from the peat lands ; consequently the cattle
are small and stunted ; yet they produce excellent beef, and,

THE OX AND THK PAIUY.

89

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 91

on better land, become quickly fattened. Numbers are sent
to the London market.

In Monmouthshire, now an English county, the Glamor-
gan cattle prevailed, and still occupy the hills ; in the vales,
Herefords are prevalent, and cows from the rich tracts of
Gloucester, these being esteemed for their milk. In some
parts Durham short-horns have been introduced, and also the
Ayrshire breed : but, of late years, many Irish cattle, and
those not excellent, have been imported ; their low price
tempting purchasers, to the injury of the native breeders.

Many cattle are bred in Kadnorshire : the principal breed
is a cross between the Pembroke and Hereford. The colour
is red or brindled, with a white face. The characteristics of
this cross are, a good figure, a moderate size, and a readiness
to fatten when removed from the coarse mountain-pastures
to the feeding districts of England. Droves of these cattle
are sent to the pasture-lands of the counties of Oxford, Lei-
cester, Northampton, &c., whence they find their way to the
London market. For the dairy the old unimproved breed is
preferred, the strain of the Herefords tending to the diminu-
tion of the quantity of the milk, while it improves size and
aptitude to fatten.

In Montgomeryshire there are two varieties of cattle : those
in the mountains are small, short-legged, of a red colour, with
dusky faces, indifferent in figure, but hardy, and tolerable
milkers — yet not without an aptitude to fatten. Those in the
rich vale of the Severn and its tributaries are not unlike the
Devons : of a brown colour, excepting a white line down the
abdomen, with slender well-turned horns. The cows are
tolerable milkers, and the oxen fatten readily. In this part
of the county excellent cheese is made. Many Herefords are
grazed in the pasture-lands.

In Denbighshire and Flintshire the dairy is much at-
tended to, and both butter and excellent cheese are produced.
In the former county black cattle occupy the hills ; but in
the vales a mixed breed, in which the strain of the long-horn
is evident, chiefly prevails. In Flintshire, indeed, the cattle,
though generally excellent both for the dairy-farmer and
the grazier, are of no definite breed : they are the results of
various crossings, many resembling the ordinary cattle of
Cheshire.

In Merionethshire, Carnarvonshire, and the Isle of Angle-

9*2 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

sey, a race of black cattle, with rather longer horns than are
usually seen in the true middle-horned races, is prevalent.
This breed is decidedly in the highest perfection in Angle-
sey, and is doubtless of great antiquity. It is of small size,
but astonishingly hardy and vigorous : the chest is deep and
ample, with a large dewlap ; the barrel is round, the haunches
elevated and well-spread, the shoulders rather heavy, the
hide mellow, the hair black and curling ; the forehead is flat,
and the horns sweep boldly upwards. Vast numbers of these
black cattle are bred in the island, and droves are sent into
the pasture-lands of England for fattening. Formerly it was
the custom to swim the droves across the Straits of Menai,
not without danger from the rapidity and force of the cur-
rent ; but now the celebrated chain-bridge prevents the
necessity of this practice. The number of black cattle an-
nually exported from this island has been estimated at ten
thousand ; but, of course, this is liable to fluctuation, nor
is it easy to obtain an acurate estimate.

Anglesey is a breeding district exclusively ; it is adapted
neither for the dairy nor for feeding. Speaking of the Isle of
Anglesey, we are naturally led to the Isle of Man ; for to
both these islands the ancients applied the title of Mona —
a word of uncertain origin, but supposed to be derived from
the ancient British word Mon, which means isolated. The
cattle of the Isle of Man are generally small, and of Welsh
or Scotch breeds, viz. Angleseys, Kyloes, and Galloways,
especially in the rude and hilly parts ; but larger breeds
of mixed strains have been introduced upon better pasture -
lands.

A native middle-horned race of cattle exists everywhere
in Ireland, and particularly in the hilly and mountain districts,
where, from its hardiness, it thrives on indifferent pasturage,
and contrives unshielded, during the winter months, to find
support. There are several varieties of this stock, varying in
minor details of size and contour ; but all are of small size,
active, and vigorous. Some are of a black colour, like the
Anglesey cattle, or those of Argyleshire, with rough curly
hair ; others are brindled ; others are mottled red and white ;
some, again, are black or brown, with white faces. All fatten
rapidly when removed from a moorland pasturage to good
feeding lands ; and the cows often prove excellent milkers.
Among these the Kerry breed is much esteemed ; it is
mottled, but in many points is not unlike the North Devons :

I

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

93

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 97

the neck, however, is thicker, and the shoulder heavier ; the
stature also is inferior, and the limbs shorter. The Kerry
cow is a serviceable beast ; it yields, in proportion to its size,
a fair quantity of excellent milk ; and, when dried, it quickly
fattens, even upon inferior fare. In Connaught a larger and
improved breed is found, still, however, presenting the same
characters.

It must here be observed, that in many places, and espe-
cially where agricultural improvements have been carried
on, the cattle have been crossed with various breeds from
England and Scotland, insomuch that the original characters
are either altogether lost, or considerably modified. This
observation applies equally to the middle-horned races and to
the old heavy long-horns. Durham short-horns, Herefords,
North Devons, and Ayrshire cattle have been introduced by
zealous cultivators, giving rise to valuable mixed breeds.
These improvements are, of course, undertaken exclusively
by landed proprietors, or large farmers : the small farmer,
who keeps a few cows only, or the peasant, who keeps one,
are content with the old breeds. Yet however slowly, and
however checked by circumstances, the march of improve-
ment, once begun, will, it is to be trusted, continue to ad-
vance, and spread its benefits universally.

Little cheese is made in Ireland ; but vast quantities of
butter are exported, not only to England but to other parts
of Europe. In the dairy counties, — viz. Carlow, Cork, Kerry,
Leitrim, Sligo, Waterford, and others, the principal object is
the acquisition of good milch cattle ; and, as milkers, some
of the old breeds are excellent. Irrespective of butter,
however, Ireland has a most important trade in cattle ;
besides supplying an immense quantity of beef to the navy
and merchants' vessels, vast numbers, both of live cattle and
slaughtered carcasses, are imported into England. We have
no means now of correctly ascertaining the extent of this
traffic ; but formerly, while the law placed the traffic on the
footing of a coasting trade, the official data were astonishing.
In 1812, 79,285 head of oxen and cows, of the estimated
value -of £439,128 were imported into England, constituting
the eighth part of the beef consumed. In 1824 the number
of cattle amounted only to 62,393, and, in 1825, to 63,524.

Within the last twenty years the facilities of transporting
both cattle, carcasses, and salted meat, by means of steam-
vessels, have been rapidly increased ; consequently, cceteris

H

98 THE OX AND THE DAIRY

paribus, a proportionate increase of traffic, it may be con-
cluded, has taken place ; but we have no returns upon which
to form a correct estimate. Certain it is that cattle may be
shipped at an Irish seaport one day, and landed in England
on the next ; whereas, formerly, they were often detained, by
stress of weather, for days at sea, the vessel being driven far
out of her course, and the cattle all the time suffering for
want of food and water.

Turning to Scotland, it may be observed, that from the
most remote times, this land of heath and mountain has been
the nursery of an original breed or race of black cattle, of
wild aspect, of beautiful symmetry, and though small, yet
vigorous and hardy ; patient of hunger and cold, and rapidly
fattening on tolerable land. These cattle are middle-horned ;
the head is short, broad, and flat across the forehead, and
adorned with elegantly-turned horns ; the muzzle is fine, the
eye bright and large, the body compact, and the limbs short,
clean, and muscular. Several varieties may be noticed ; and
of these the western race, occupying the Hebrides, or Western
Islands, and the adjacent parts of the mainland, is the most
pure. Change the colour from black to white, and there is
little difference between a beautiful kyloe from Arran, Islay,
or the Isle of Skye, and one of the wild cattle of Chillingham.
If we may venture an opinion, they display more nearly than
any other breed the characters of the mountain cattle of our
island when invaded by Caesar. "We say the mountain cattle,
oecause we suspect that a larger and heavier long-horned race
even then tenanted the swampy plains and low grounds of
many portions of the country.

The kyloes, or black cattle of the western isles and High-
lands of Scotland, constitute the chief wealth of that portion
of Caledonia. The Hebrides alone, including Long Island
(composed of Lewis, Uist, and others), are calculated to con-
tain a hundred and fifty or sixty thousand head of these cattle,
of which perhaps thirty thousand annually cross the ferries for
the mainland, whence great numbers find their way into the
parks and pasture-lands of England, even to the southern coast.

It must not be supposed that the droves speedily reach
their southern destination; on the contrary, their journey is
very protracted, and broken by long intervals. During the
first winter, they are allowed to graze in the pastures of the
north ; and then, as the spring advances, are driven farther
south. As they proceed in this manner from stage to stage,

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

99

THE OX AND THE DAIBY. 101

their numbers diminish by sales, or by the respective lots
reaching the parties to whom they were consigned ; but those
destined directly for the midland or southern counties, where
the pasture-lands of some large landed proprietor await their
reception, are months upon the road, unless indeed, as is often
the case, they are sent by sea to some convenient port, and
there landed.

In a well-bred kyloe, the following characters are con-
spicuous : — The head is small and short, with a fine and
somewhat up-turned muzzle ; the forehead is broad ; the
horns wide apart at their base, tapering, and of a waxen
yellow ; the neck is fine at its junction with the head, arched
above, and abruptly descending to the breast, which is broad,
full, and very prominent ; the shoulders are deep and broad,
and the chine is well filled, so as to leave no depression behind
them ; the limbs are short and muscular, with moderate bone ;
the back is straight and broad ; the ribs boldly arched, and
brought well up to the hips ; the chest deep and voluminous ;
the tail high set, arid largely tufted at the tip ; the coat of hair
thick and black : such is the bull. The ox differs in propor-
tion. The cow is far more slightly built, and her general con-
tour is more elongated. Although, as we have said, black is
the ordinary or standard colour of the kyloe, many are of a
dark reddish brown, and some of a pale or whitish dun.

Some little difference in size, as might be expected, exists
among the kyloes of different localities. Those of the Isle of
Skye, and of Lewis and Uist, are rather smaller than those of
Islay, Jura, Argyleshire, Lochaber, or Inverness.

Multitudinous as are the cattle bred and reared in the
Hebrides, few are fattened there, nor is much attention paid
to the dairy : few farmers keeping more milch cows than will
serve the wants of the family in milk, butter, and cheese.

The kyloe cow does not yield much milk, but that is of
extraordinary richness. In North Uist and Tiree, however,
where the herbage is generally good, both cheese and butter
are made for the markets, each cow being estimated to yield
twenty-two or twenty-four pounds of the latter, or from eighty
to ninety pounds of the former, during the summer.

Great attention is paid to the rearing of calves ; and, far
more than under the old regime, to the treatment of the
cattle, which formerly had little or no provision made for
them during the winter, and were ill-fed even during the
summer; the consequence of which was, that a large per

102 THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

centage died of starvation, and diseases attendant upon innu-
tritious fare. The cows, it is true, were housed during the
winter ; often, indeed, they shared the rude shealing of the
peasant; but this bettered their condition very little, for
suffering and privation were the lot of the family.

In well-managed establishments at the present time, the
cattle are treated upon principle. The calves, all of which are
reared, are generally produced in February, March, and April.
Three times a day they are allowed to draw milk from the
udders of their dams, which are afterwards emptied by the
dairy-maid. When at the age of three or four months, the
calves are sent only twice a day to their dams in the meadows,
and are weaned in September, or early in October. During
the winter they are housed, and fed on hay and turnips, as are
also the breeding cows ; the rest are kept in the pastures, and
when these become bare, are supplied with coarse hay, and
sometimes with turnips or potatoes.

In Argyleshire the kyloes are larger than in the Hebrides,
and many of them are models of beauty — pictures of a noble
semi-wild race ; descendants of the old mountain breed, which
once roamed the wilds of Caledonia, and came " crushing
the forest" to meet the fierce hunter.

Besides these kyloes, there are other breeds in Argyleshire ;
the Ayrshire cow is principally used for the dairy.

In the eastern counties of the Highlands, as Aberdeenshire,
Forfarshire, Banffshire, Kincardineshire, &c., various breeds of
kyloes, more or less improved, prevail. Aberdeenshire is a
great grazing land, and in this and the adjacent counties
there are many spirited and successful breeders. Great num-
bers of cattle from this part of Scotland are purchased by the
English graziers for the London market. In. the Shetland
Islands, the Orkneys, and the northern counties of Scotland,
a small, shaggy breed of cattle, evidently of the same stock as
the kyloes of the western isles, is commonly to be seen.
Stunted in growth by hard fare on the bleak moorlands, still
these dwarfish cattle have much to recommend them. They
are fitted for their high northern locality ; their deep, rough
curly coat defends them against the severities of the winter ;
they live where most other cattle would starve ; in some
favoured spots they even fatten ; and if transported to some
tolerable pasturage, become ripe for the butcher with incre-
dible rapidity. But they do not thrive if taken too far south ;
they become enervated ; they pine in the midst of plenty,

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

103

THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 105

and disappoint the hopes of the grazier. Within late years
this breed of stots has been improved, by crossings with the
kyloes of the western isles and the Argyleshire strain ; and
excellent cattle are sent to the south, to be fattened in
congenial pastures.

In Ayrshire, and the adjacent portion of the Lowlands,
there is an admirable breed of milch cattle, independently
of those that are grazed there for the butcher, which,
from whatever source they originated, owe much to the
care and selection of judicious breeders. At some period
or other there has evidently been a cross of the Durham or
Holderness, and perhaps also of the Alderney. This breed,
which became established from the middle to the close of the
eighteenth century, has found its way not only into England,
but also into Ireland and Wales ; recommended by the excel-
lency of the cows as milkers, although they are under the
middle size. It has been estimated that a good Ayrshire
cow will yield, for two or three months after calving, five
gallons of milk daily; for the next three months, three gallons
daily ; and a gallon and a half for the following three months.
This milk is calculated to return about two hundred and fifty
pounds of butter annually, or five hundred pounds of cheese.
The foregoing estimate is, however, somewhat exaggerated ;
and, perhaps, during the best of the season, four or four and
a half gallons of milk is the average product daily of a good
cow, kept in fair condition. Every thirty-two gallons of un-
skimmed milk will yield about twenty-four pounds of cheese,
and ninety gallons, twenty-four pounds of butter. We are
supposing a good farm, and a first-rate stock of Ayrshire cows;
and, considering the size of the cattle, this return from each
cow is very considerable. The mode in which the cows are
treated by an enterprising and successful farmer of Kirkum,
is thus detailed : — He " keeps his cows constantly in the
byre (or shed), till the grass has risen, so as to afford them a
full bite. Many put them out every good day through the
winter and spring, but they poach the ground with their feet,
and nip up the young grass as it begins to spring ; which, as
they have not a full meal, injures the cattle. Whenever the
weather becomes dry and hot, he feeds his cows on cut grass
in the byre, from six o'clock in the morning to six at night,
and turns them out to pasture the other twelve hours. When
rain comes, the house feeding is discontinued. Whenever the
pasture grass begins to fail in harvest, the cows receive a sup-

I 06 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

ply of the second growth of clover, and afterwards of turnips
strewed over the pasture-ground. When the weather becomes
stormy, in the months of October and November, the cows are
kept in the byre during the night, and in a short time after-
wards during both night and day ; they are then fed on oat-
straw and turnips, and continue to yield a considerable quan-
tity of milk for some time. Part of the turnip crop is eaten
at the end of harvest and beginning of winter, to protract the
milk, and part is stored up for green food during the winter.
After this store is exhausted, the Swedish turnip and potatoes
are used along with dry fodder, till the grass can support the
cows. Chaff, oats, and potatoes are boiled for the cows after
calving, and they are generally fed on rye-grass during the
latter part of the spring."

In this part of Scotland, a peculiarly rich cheese, termed
Dunlop cheese (from the district of that name, in Cunning-
ham, where it was first made), is prepared. It is the product
of the unskimmed milk ; but common or inferior cheese is
also made from the milk after it is skimmed.

With regard to the Ayrshire breed of cattle, as fitted for
the grazier, it is less so than for the dairy-farmer ; neverthe-
less, in rich lands, the oxen fatten with considerable facility,
and even the cows accumulate flesh ; but, then, they cease to
yield much milk, and, as there are decidedly better breeds for
the purpose of the grazier, few are purchased by the great cattle-
dealers for depasturing on the luxuriant feeding-grounds of
England. Undoubtedly their great value is as milkers, and
that principally in their own territory, to the feed and climate
of which they seem to be constitutionally adapted.

The improved Ayrshire cow, of the present day, has the
head small, but rather long, and narrow at the muzzle,
though the space between the roots of the horns is consider-
able ; the horns are small and crooked, the eye is clear and
lively, the neck long and slender, and almost destitute of a
dewlap ; the shoulders are thin, and the fore-quarters gene-
rally light ; the back is straight, and broad behind, especially
across the hips, which are roomy ; the tail is long and thin.
The carcass is deep, the udder capacious and square, the
milk-vein large and prominent ; the limbs are small and
short, but well knit ; the thighs are thin ; the skin is rather
thin, but loose and soft, and covered with soft hair. The
general figur-e, though small, is well proportioned. The
colour is varied with mingled white and sandy-red.

THE OX AND THE DAIliY.

107

THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 109

The bulls mostly preferred by the dairy farmers are com-
paratively light in the head and neck, broad in the hips, and
full in the flanks ; the neck is arched above, the horns are
short and wide apart, and the limbs short, but muscular.

It has been calculated that there are in Ayrshire upwards
of 60,000 head of cattle, of which more than half are dairy-
cows.

In Lanarkshire, celebrated for the rearing of calves, the
Ayrshire cattle, which are chiefly in request, acquire more
weight and size, and are heavier in the fore-quarters than
those reared in the latter county ; they are superior in graz-
ing qualities, and not much deteriorated as milkers. Much
butter and cheese are manufactured along the banks of the
Clyde, chiefly for the supply of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and
other large towns, which receive, also, great quantities of the
delicate veal which is reared and fed in the district of Strath-
aven, along the borders of Ayrshire. The fattening of
calves for the market is an important business in Lanark-
shire, or Clydesdale ; and numbers of newly-dropped calves
are regularly bought up from the farmers of the adjacent
districts, in order to be prepared for the butcher. The mode
of feeding them is very simple : milk is the chief article of
their diet; and of this the calves require a sufficient supply
from first to last ; added to this, they must be kept in a well-
aired place, neither too hot nor too cold, and freely supplied
with dry litter. It is usual to exclude the light, at all events
to a great degree, and to put a lump of chalk within their
reach, which they are fond of licking. Thus fed, calves, in
the course of eight or nine weeks, often attain to a very large
size, — viz., eighteen to twenty-six stones, exclusive of the
offal ; far heavier weights have occurred, and that without
any deterioration in the delicacy and richness of the flesh.
This mode of feeding upon milk alone, at first appears to be
expensive ; but it is not so, when all things are taken into
consideration ; for, at the age of nine or ten weeks, a calf,
originally purchased for eight shillings, will realize seven or
eight pounds. For four, or even six weeks, the milk of one
cow is sufficient, — indeed, half the quantity for the first fort-
night ; but afterwards it will consume the greater portion of
the milk of two moderate cows ; but then, it requires neither
oilcake nor linseed, nor any other food. Usually, however,
the calves are not kept beyond the age of six weeks, and will
then sell for five or six pounds each : the milk of the cow is

110 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

then ready for a successor. In this manner, a relay of calves
may be prepared for the markets from early spring to the
end of summer, — a plan more advantageous than that of
over feeding one to a useless degree of corpulence.

In Lanarkshire, many black cattle are fed in the upland
grazing tracts of the eastern portion ; they are usually turned
into the pastures in the autumn, after the coarse grass is
made into hay, which is to supply them during the depth of
winter. In the spring they are sold off, and taken by the
drovers into the pastures of England, &c., a fresh relay being
purchased for the next autumn and winter grazing.

In the Lothians, and south-eastern parts of Scotland, many
cattle are kept, both for the purposes of the dairy-farmer and
the grazier. The breeds are various ; for the dairy, the Ayr-
shire and the Eoxburgh cow are in great request, the latter
being a cross between the Durham or Holderness short-horned
bull and a kyloe cow. In some parts the pasturage will sup-
port the large and heavy short-horns in their purity. In the
neighbourhood of Jedburgh, Kelso, &c., a great quantity of
veal is fattened for the market. Black cattle, short-horned
bullocks, in fact, cattle of several breeds and mixtures, are fed
in the pasture-lands, or stalled, during the winter, on hay,
straw, and turnips.

The influence of the pastoral or agricultural societies
generally tends to the extension of the improved short-horns,
from Durham, £c., the value of which is fully appreciated, and
by means of which decided modifications of the older races
are in progress.

This portion of Scotland contains much fine land, devoted
both to tillage arid pasture ; and every branch of agriculture
is carried on with intelligence and activity. In the neigh-
bourhood of Edinburgh, large dairies are kept for the
supply of the city with milk : many of these establish-
ments are excellently managed. The cows are fed upon fresh
grains from an ale-brewery, half a bushel being given to each
cow twice a-day, and also two feeds of grass or turnips ; or,
when they can be procured, tares, and similar articles of
green fodder. A little salt is supplied with each meal, as it
promotes digestion and preserves the animal's health. A
warm infusion of the sproutings of malt, in which a due
quantity of salt is dissolved, is by many given twice a day.
One bushel of malt will make sufficient of this infusion (boil
ing water being used) for forty cows at one time. Some give

THE OX AND THE DA1KY. Ill

an alternate meal of steamed potatoes and fresh turnips ; but
others prefer giving the potatoes raw, as they tend to the
production of milk. Potatoes boiled till they dissolve in the
water, and given with salt, are found to enrich the milk. At
the commencement of the turnip season, it is the plan of
some to give less of the infusion of malt-sproutings as drink,
and to substitute distillers' grouts, or "draff," in order to
insure the quality of the milk.

Some dairymen change their stock, or the greater part of
it, every year, fattening off or selling the cows as soon as
they become dry ; and purchasing others which have recently
calved, to take their place, thereby insuring an uninterrupted
supply of milk throughout the year. It is not from these
establishments that the buttermilk used in Edinburgh (as it
is throughout Scotland generally) is sent out, but from the
dairy-farms of the country around.

We may now turn to the polled or hornless races of cattle,
of which Galloway furnishes us with a breed remarkable for
many excellencies.

We have already said that we do not regard the polled
cattle as distinct from the horned breeds, with which in
general form, contour, and qualities, they closely agree. We
see little essential difference between the polled cattle of
Galloway and those of Argyleshire, or Arran — in every
respect they are black cattle, or kyloes, only destitute of
horns. If, then, we arrange the polled breeds under a
separate head, it is more for the sake of convenience than of
absolute propriety.

THE POLLED STOCK OF CATTLE. — The semi-wild cattle of
Chatelherault Park, in Lanarkshire, the descendants of an
ancient race, are mostly, if not always polled, — and probably
the present polled black cattle of Galloway may be derived
from the same ancestry.

Formerly, few polled cattle were to be seen in this district
of Scotland; but within the last century the breed has
greatly prevailed, and it is highly valued. Occasionally,
cattle make their appearance with very minute or rudimen-
tary horns, attached, however, to the skin merely, and not
sheathing a bony core, indications of a tendency to the acqui
sition of these natural weapons ; and were the point to be
followed up by the breeder, these might be soon restored.
The breeder, however, is interested in keeping his polled
Galloways pure ; they are in great request by the grazier,

112 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

they are of considerable size, fatten readily, accumulating
flesh on the best parts ; they are less wild than the horned
black cattle, and less quarrelsome, and, under certain circum-
stances, as on ship-board, may be packed somewhat closer
than the others.

A well-bred Galloway ox is of admirable form : all is
close and compact ; the barrel is rounded and ribbed home
to the hip-bones ; the chest is deep, the shoulders thick and
broad ; the neck short and thick ; the head clean ; the back
straight and broad ; the limbs short, but extremely muscular;
the skin moderate, but mellow, and well covered with long
soft hair — that on the ears, which are large, is peculiarly
rough and long.

In the bull, the head is heavy, the neck thick, and boldly
erected above ; the frontal crest or ridge is elevated and
covered with long hair ; and the general form is robust, with
great depth of chest and roundness of barrel.

.The cow is much lighter, but yet presents those points
which attract the regard of the grazier. As a milker, she is
inferior ; for though her milk is rich, it is deficient in quan-
tity, and on the average, will not amount to more than six or
eight quarts per day, during the summer months, after which
it rapidly diminishes. This inferiority, as it respects milk, is
of little importance to the Galloway farmer, his chief pursuit
being the rearing of grazing stock ; consequently, as a rule,
he never kills his calves, but looks to profit from them at a
future day. These are generally dropped at the latter part of
winter, or very early in spring, and are permitted access to
the mother, at certain times daily, as long as she continues
in milk. For the first five months the dairy-maid and the
calf, morning and evening, divide the contents of the udder
pretty equally between them ; after this period, when the calf
begins to graze, its allowance is diminished, till, the cow dry-
ing, this supply is of course stopped altogether. During the
winter, the young animal is housed at night, and fed upon
hay, turnips, and potatoes, with a liberal hand.

Of the calves bred, a few of the most promising females
only are reserved as breeders, — other females are rendered
sterile ; heifers in this condition fatten with great rapidity,
arrive very early at maturity, and as their meat is deemed
peculiarly delicate, sell for good prices. Some of these
heifers have attained to singular weights for their stature, —
one of great beauty, called the Queen of the Scots, fed in

THE OX AND THR DAIRY.

113

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 115

Norfolk, and exhibited at the Smithfield Cattle Show, a few
years since, weighed one hundred and ninety stones, of eight
pounds to the stone. She stood five feet two inches at the
shoulder, and was a model.

Many thousands of polled cattle are sent from Galloway
every year to the south, and rapidly fatten in pastures but
little more luxuriant than those on which they were reared,
although, it must be confessed, that there are in Galloway
fine tracts both of grass and white clover. It is chiefly in
Norfolk and Suffolk that the polled Galloways are fed for the
London markets ; they are purchased by the drovers, or
jobbers, at the various cattle fairs in the district, often in large
numbers, and are then sent onwards in droves of two or three
hundred, preceded by a man called the topsman, who makes
arrangements for their rest at different stations, and takes
care that sufficient grass, hay, or turnips, are provided for
them. In about three weeks they arrive in Norfolk, the tra
veiling expenses amounting to about 24s. a head in summer,
and 34s. or 35s. in winter. The average cost of a stirk in his
second year, is from £3 to £4 ; in the third year, £6 or £1 ;
and of oxen in the fourth year, £10, £1.1, or £12, taken by the
lot. Hence it is apparent that a jobber who purchases six or
eight hundred head of cattle, (whether he pay in bills or
cash) involves himself in a serious undertaking ; if he clears
from 3s. to 5s. a head, he is amply remunerated, but should
the markets in Norfolk or Suffolk be low, he must sell at a
loss, and may thus be ruined; moreover, he must expect
some casualties on the road, and these must be taken into
the account.

Besides these large speculators, there are others who travel
from fair to fair, and purchase cattle, varying according to the
extent of their means, from 20 to 100 head ; these they resell,
or drive over the borders to Carlisle, in hopes of disposing of
them to advantage at the cattle fairs. If successful, they
return home to make fresh purchases, and soon set off again
for the English borders. Thus the stock of the Galloway
breeders is continually changing hands, 25,000 or perhaps
30,000 head of cattle being thus annually transferred to the
English pasture lands.

In Dumfries, the largest cattle market in the south of Scot-
land is held,*and here vast numbers of polled black cattle are
bought and sold.

A very fine polled breed of cattle has long existed in Angus

116 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

(Forfarshire) and the adjacent parts of Kincardineshire. This
breed is closely allied to, or perhaps is really identical with
that of Galloway, and is equally celebrated for its quietness
of disposition, its tendency to fatten, and its fitness for stall-
feeding. These cattle are, however, more apt to be somewhat
marked with white than the Galloway: they generally run
larger, are longer in the leg, thinner on the shoulder, and
flatter in the side ; on the whole, perhaps, they are not equal
to the Galloways in the fineness of the meat ; nevertheless,
some beasts of extraordinary quality have been exhibited arid
gained prizes, both at the shows of the Highland Society of
Perth, and those of Smithfield.

There is considerable difference both in the climate and in
the treatment to which the Galloway and Angus doddies are
respectively subject. In Galloway, the climate is generally
moist, and after the first winter the cattle are kept in the pas-
tures, and supplied with hay only during the severities of the
season. In Forfarshire, on the contrary, which is a great
turnip county, the cattle are wintered in straw- yards, and
supplied with turnips as well as dry fodder, and grazed on
dry pastures during the summer. Hence, perhaps, the supe-
riority of size in the Angus cattle to the Galloways, their
sleeker coat, and their generally better condition, when sold
off to the drover ; nevertheless, when driven to the south,
they do not quite so well answer the expectations of the
grazier or the butcher; probably they thrive best in their
own district, to the soil and climate of which they are pecu-
liarly adapted, and to which they owe their characteristics
Still, however, they remunerate the grazier, and at the fairs
of Brechin and Forfar great numbers are purchased by the
English dealers.

In this district many calves are fattened for the butcher, and
great care is taken in rearing them ; a cow often gives suck to
two calves — her own and a stranger ; and in this case they are
allowed to drain her udder (one on each side) three times a
day : when these are weaned, two other calves supply their
place. The first set are weaned and ready for grass early in
May, the second set early in August. After this, a single calf,
destined for the butcher, is put to the cow ; and thus, five
calves are suckled ; the first four being usually intended for
stock. Such, at least, is the plan followed by some of the
large breeders, who have extensive cow-houses, and every con-
venience for attending to cattle, and who carry on the business

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

117

THE OX AND THE DAIEY. 119

with spirit. Among these, Mr. Youatt particularises Mr.
Watson, of Keillor, as a gentleman whose judicious efforts in
the rearing and improvement of this breed were crowned with
marked success. We are informed that this gentleman ob-
tained more than one hundred prizes, besides several valuable
pieces of plate ; and that he raised the Keillor breed to the
highest possible grade of excellence. At the same time Mr.
Youatt acknowledges, that " the Angus polled cattle generally
are not of that superior quality and value which an account of
the Keillor breed would seem to indicate, or, what is the case
with many other breeds, they are exceedingly valuable in their
own climate, and on their own soil, but they do not answer the
somewhat unreasonable expectations of their purchasers when
driven to the south."

Leaving Scotland for England, we shall find that the counties
of Norfolk and Suffolk present us with polled breeds of cattle,
not originals of the two counties respectively, but the result of
the introduction of the polled cattle of Scotland.

Formerly, it appears that the Norfolk cattle were of the
middle-horned breed, somewhat resembling the Devons ; but
this breed gradually gave way before the Galloways, of which
Norfolk was one of the chief feeding districts for the London
markets. It was rational that the farmers, seeing the superior
value of the latter, should endeavour to naturalize them ; and
this they not only accomplished, but, in process of time, their
old stock became almost entirely superseded. Yet the Norfolk
polled cattle have departed from the pure Galloway type; and
this is what might have been anticipated. Change of soil and
climate, perhaps, with other causes, have produced their effects;
and though the characteristics of the Galloway breed are not
lost, they are greatly modified. The cows are, perhaps, some-
what improved as milkers, but the cattle generally stand higher
on the limbs than do the Galloways, and are flatter in the ribs
and thinner in the chine : they are taller, but not so heavy for
their stature ; they do not feed so rapidly, nor is the meat so
fine in grain. Some are black, but most are of a red tint, often
more or less varied with white. It must be confessed, how-
ever, that with regard to the excellence of these cattle there is
great difference ; perhaps the regular accession of pure Gallo-
ways militates generally against any very extensive efforts by
way of their improvement : yet it is certain that where their
cultivation has been properly attended to, great success has
been the result. Another point which tells against them, is

120 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

the introduction and spread of the Durham and Yorkshire
short-horns ; nor must we overlook the Devon breed, which
by many landed proprietors in Norfolk is highly esteemed.
It is by Devon oxen that the farm-labour in Norfolk is per-
formed, as far, at least, as these animals are employed ; and
Devon cows are much used for the purpose of the dairy.

In Suffolk a breed of polled cattle, known by the name of
Suffolk duns, has been long celebrated ; though the dun colour
is now by no means a common character; indeed it is not
preferred ; for with late improvements other colours, as red,
red and white, brindled, and yellowish or creamy white, have
almost abolished the dun. There can be little doubt but that
the polled Suffolk cattle owe their origin to the Galloways;
not that they are of the pure strain of the Galloways : on the
contrary, they are the result of interbreedings with them ; and
their chief qualifications are as milkers, rather than feeders ;
although, in this latter respect, even the lean cows when dried
show no little of the properties of their Galloway progenitors.
A good Suffolk milking cow is lean and spare, with a light
thin head, a clean neck, and little dewlap ; slender, but short
limbs ; a heavy and well-ribbed carcass, a large udder, and
swollen milk-veins. Generally the hip-bones are high and
prominent, the loins narrow, and the chine hollow. There is
in all this nothing of the true Galloway contour, and where
the points characteristic of this breed prevail, though but in
an inferior degree, the animal is fitter for the feeder than the
dairyman.

Few cattle excel the Suffolk as milkers ; a good cow, in the
plenitude of her milk, will often yield six gallons a day ; some
have even yielded eight : nor is the milk destitute of richness,
especially when the animals have good pasturage. Mr. Culley,
who says that the best butter and worst cheese are made in
Suffolk, gives the following summary as the yearly produce of
one of these cows, which, " like all other deep milkers, are
very lean, very plain, and very big-bellied." He quotes
Mr. Young as his authority: —

£ s. d.

Three firkins of butter (one firkin ^ cwt.) 416 0

Three quarters of a wey of cheese . 140

A hog 100

A calf 0 10 0—7 10 if

He adds, that the weight of this breed of cattle is, on an
average, about fifty stones.

THE OX AND THE DAIUY.

121

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 123

Mr. Parkinson has a different calculation : he considers the
quantity of butter as amounting to one hundred and eighty-
four Ibs. ; which, at one shilling per lb., will return £9 4s. ;
a hog, £2 ; the calf, 15s. ; and the skim-milk cheese from
£2 5s. to £2 15s. Total, about £15 18s.

Perhaps the medium between these two statements approxi-
mates to the truth. Mr. Youatt says that fifty thousand firkins
of butter are sent to London each year from Suffolk ; but we
do not know on what grounds he made his estimate.

When dried, the Suffolk polled cow acquires a good con-
dition with considerable rapidity, and fattens to forty or forty-
five stones ; the meat is of good quality — that, indeed, of the
ox very superior.

Besides the polled cattle we have here noticed, varieties
destitute of horns occur, which confessedly belong to a horned
race, and must not be considered as distinct. For instance,
there are polled Devonshire cattle, or nats, as they are termed,
which, in all points, the horns excepted, exhibit the characters
of that breed. There are polled cattle of the short-horned or
Yorkshire breed : the fact is, as we have before intimated,
there are polled cattle of most breeds ; the absence of horns
is a mere accidental defect, rendered hereditary by the inter-
breeding of the cattle thus deficient ; but these cattle, never
theless, often exhibit a tendency to the development of their
natural horns, and, indeed, show more than rudiments of them ;
so that it would be easy to extract a horned from a polled
stock. Hence, then, we regard the distinction between polled
cattle and others as arbitrary, or to be made only for con
venience, unless there are other grounds of separation.

Vast numbers of pure Galloways, and many Welsh and Irish
cattle, are fed in Suffolk : short-horns have been also intro-
duced, and some Devons are also to be seen. Norfolk and
Suffolk are both great turnip counties.

We may now turn to the breed of cattle known under the
title of short-horns, a breed which, irrespective of the form or
length of the horns, has good claims to be regarded as consti-
tuting a distinct variety, and which, by the judicious exertions
of various cultivators, has been elevated to a state of high
perfection.

THE SHORT-HORNED BREED. — This breed, called by many
the Dutch breed, and believed to be originally from Holland,
has been long known in the counties of Durham and York

124 THE OX AND THE DAIEY.

where the cows are held in high reputation as milkers ; but
the oxen were indifferent feeders, their skin red, coarse in the
offal, ill-formed, and produced meat of an inferior quality.
How great is the change which the breeder's pains and care
have effected ! In no strain of cattle is this more palpable ;
for now, while their milking properties are preserved, the
tendency to fatten is brought to a very high ratio ; and these
qualities are combined with size, a magnificent figure, the
production of beef most beautifully grained, and of the highest
excellence. Qualities, indeed, hitherto considered as incom-
patible with each other, meet together in the improved short-
horns of Holderness or Tees water celebrity. In Mr. Culley's
time (Obs. on Live Stock, 4th edit., 1807) we find, from his
own statement, the great improvement which had taken place
in this breed. He observes, that these cattle differ from
others " in the shortness of their horns, and being wider and
thicker in their form and mould, feeding, consequently, to the
most weight ; in affording by much the greatest quantity of
tallow when fattened ; in having very thin hides, with much
less hair upon them than any other breeds, Alderneys ex-
cepted. But the most essential difference consists in the
quantity of milk which they give beyond any other breed.
The great quantity of milk, thinness of their hides, and little
hair, is probably the reason why they are tenderer than the
other kinds, Alderneys excepted. It is said of this kind, and,
I suppose, very justly, that they eat more food than any of
the other breeds ; nor shall we wonder at this when we con-
sider that they excel in these three valuable particulars, — viz.,
in affording the greatest quantity of beef, tallow, and milk.
Their colours are much varied ; but the generality are red
and white mixed, or what the breeders call flecked : when
properly mixed the colour is very pleasing and agreeable."
Much in Mr. Culley's time remained to be done ; but he says,
" In a journey through Lincolnshire, I was happy to find that
many sensible breeders had improved their breed of short-
horned cattle (since my visiting that fine country ten years
before) by good bulls and heifers, brought from the counties
of Durham and York, on both sides of the Tees, where the
best are confessedly bred. In another excursion, in ] 789, I

met with a Mr. Tindale, of , near Sleaford, who had the

best breed of cattle which I ever saw in that county, and per-
haps inferior to few in any part of the kingdom. I was shown

THE OX AM) THE DAIRY.

125

IP

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. ] 27

an ox, near Lincoln, of this breed, that for true form and
nice handling exceeded any bullock I ever remember to have
seen."

With respect to* the milking properties of these cattle, the
same writer states that there are instances of cows giving
thirty-six quarts of milk per day, and of forty-eight firkins of
butter being made from a dairy of twelve cows during the
season ; but the general quantity is twenty-four quarts of milk
per day, and three firkins of butter, from a cow.

The improvement in the short-horns, which commenced on
the banks of the Tees, under the superintendence of spirited
individuals, not only continued progressive, but extended its
influence around. By what crosses the Teeswater strain
became established it is scarcely possible to say ; there is, we
believe, some reason for thinking that one was with the semi-
wild white breed, and another with choice cattle imported
directly from Holland. Be this as it may, the Teeswater stock
became celebrated, though still not perfect, the oxen being
often extravagantly large, and sometimes not true in their
proportions. We hear of an ox bred by Mr. Milbank, which,
when slaughtered, at five years old, weighed (the four quarters)
150 stones, of fourteen pounds to the stone, producing six-
teen stones of tallow ; and of a cow, killed at the age of twelve
years, which weighed upwards of 110 stones. It was reserved
for Mr. C. Collings to accomplish the perfection of the Tees-
water breed, already so excellent. It was by accident that
this experienced breeder became possessed of a young bull
(a calf when Mr. Collings purchased him), in which he dis-
covered qualities adapted, as he thought, and as it proved, to
elevate the strain. This bull he named Hubback ; he was
smaller than the generality of the Teeswater cattle, of excel-
lent contour, and with an extraordinary propensity to fatten,
insomuch that his utility as a bull was limited to a short
period. From this bull descended a renowned stock ; he was
the sire of the dam of the celebrated bull Foljambe, and Fol-
jambe was the sire both of the sire and dam of Favourite, the
sire of the " Durham Ox," which, in February 1801, was sold
for public exhibition. In improving his breed, Mr. C. Col-
lings had recourse to a single cross with the polled Galloway ;
he then bred back to the short-horns, and the result was a
stock called the Alloy, at first in contempt, but afterwards by
way of distinction. His cross wTas between a short-horned
bull, called Bolingbroke, and a beautiful red Galloway cow,

128 THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

which produced a bull-calf; this, in due time, was the sire
of a bull-calf by a pure short-horned cow called Johanna ; this
latter bull-calf again became the sire of the cow Lady, by a
pure short-horn cow, which was the dam 'also of the noted
bull Favourite. Many animals of this breed have fetched
extraordinarily high prices. Some of the cows have fetched
as much as four hundred pounds, and one bull, Comet, at
six years old, was sold for no less* a sum than a thousand
guineas.

There is in the present improved short-horns a union of
many qualities, once deemed incompatible : early maturity,
quick feeding, and that to a great weight ; an abundance of
inside fat, and meat of a fine grain, while the cows are plenti-
ful and steady milkers, and fatten rapidly when dried : these
are the characteristics of the breed. Many improvers, it is
true, look rather to the grazing properties of these cattle, and
forget their value for the dairy ; they esteem them in propor-
tion to their early arriving at maturity, and their aptitude to
fatten; and selecting their breeding stock with such views,
the milking properties of the cows become in reality dimin-
ished. But this is to develop one excellency at the expense
of another, and that without necessity ; for in this breed, as
has been abundantly proved, both qualities can exist, not of
course at the same time, for the milking cow does not fatten
until dried, but in subjection one to the other. If indeed the
milk yielded by the improved short-horns be somewhat less
in quantity than that given by the old unimproved strain, it is
of far richer quality, and returns more butter in proportion.
Nearly four gallons of milk have been yielded, morning and
evening, even by the highest bred short-horns, and some have
even given more ; and these very cattle have proved, after
having been dried and fattened, admirable in the carcass.
To the dairy-farmer, therefore, the short-horns are as valuable
as to the grazier ; and indeed it is with cows of an improved
short-horn breed, from Yorkshire or Durham, that the great
dairies for the supply of London with milk are stocked. The
Yorkshire cow indeed has always been a -favourite with the
London dairymen ; but, formerly, when dry, she fattened
slowly, consumed much food, and therefore sold to a disad-
vantage : but the improved breed fattens with surprising
rapidity, and whether the dairyman keep his cows one year or
three, and then sells them, or feeds them for the butcher,
they return a profit.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

129

THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 131

The short-horns of Holderness, and, indeed, of Yorkshire
generally, owe their modern improvement to judicious cross-
ings, and especially to the influence of the Teeswater and
Alloy strains. It must not, however, be supposed that the
old breed is universally improved ; on the contrary, many of
the dairy-farmers give the rough breed the preference, partly
from prejudice, and partly because the milking properties of
the improved breed have been more or less sacrificed to the
development of a constitutional tendency to the accumulation
of fat. Mr. Youatt, referring to this subject, well observes,
" Experience has gradually established the fact, that it is pru-
dent to sacrifice a small portion of the milk to assist in feed-
ing, when the cow is too old to continue in the dairy, or when,
as in the neighbourhood of large towns, her services as a
dairy cow are dispensed with at an early age. This cross
being judiciously managed, the diminution of milk is so small,
and the tendency to fatten so great, that the opinion of Mr.
Sale is -correct : — * I have always found in my stock, that the
best milkers when dried for feeding, make the most fat in the
least time.' This is a doctrine which will be better under-
stood and universally acknowledged by and by, for many of
the improvers of the short-horns have but half done justice to
their excellent stock. He would deserve well of his country
who, with skill and means sufficient, would devote himself to
the illustration of this point."

It is a remarkable fact, that the short-horned cow improves
both in the quantity and quality of her milk as she grows
older; that is, a cow of six years of age is superior, as a
milker, to one of two or three years of age ; and her milk will
yield more butter in proportion. The milk of a single cow,
on which the experiment was made, returned 373 Ibs. of
butter, in the space of thirty-two weeks ; the lowest weekly
amount being seven pounds, the highest, sixteen. Her milk,
during the time, averaged nearly twenty quarts per day; her
food was grass and cut clover until the turnip season ; but the
pasture was not of first-rate quality. With abundant proofs
of the value of the short-horns as milkers, it is the breeder's
interest not to neglect this point, which is compatible with
every property he can desire.

The weight to which some of the improved short-horns
have been fed is astonishing. The " Durham Ox," when
slaughtered, was 165 imp. st. 12 Ibs. the four quarters,
besides yielding 11 st. 2 Ibs. of tallow; the hide weighed

132 THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

10 st. 2 Ibs. His age was eleven years. Many high-fed oxen,
at three or four years of age, weigh from 100 to ISO stone the
four quarters, and some much more.

One of the most extraordinary oxen of the pure short-horn
breed, was an animal fed in Lincolnshire by Lord Yar-
borough, and exhibited under the erroneous appellation
of the " Lincolnshire Ox ;" he measured 5 feet 6 inches
in height at the shoulders, 11 feet 10 inches to the root
of the tail, 11 feet 1 inch in girth, and 3 feet 3 inches across
the hips, shoulders, and middle of the back. His breast was
only 14 inches from the ground. The depth of the fore
quarters, and the comparative shortness of the limbs, are
characteristics of this high-bred strain.

The short horns are in the present day everywhere spread-
ing, and their value is generally appreciated ; it may reason-
ably be expected that in a few years they will either super-
sede or greatly modify the old breeds of most of the English
grazing and breeding districts. Crosses between the Durham
bull and Devonshire cow have proved in all respects admir-
able ; their quality of flesh, aptitude to fatten, and milking
properties being first-rate, while, at the same time, they
exceed the pure Devons in size.

There is in Lincolnshire a breed of short-horns, well
known in the London markets as " Dutch cattle," or " Lin-
coins," which present us with none, or but few, of the cha-
racteristics of the high-bred Durham or Holderness breeds ;
they are large -boned, coarse, and heavy in the head ; with
the limbs high, and the loins and hips wide : the meat is
coarse-grained, and the fat not well laid on. The cows, as
milkers, are moderate : they are mostly white and red ; but
a dun variety is also to be seen, which was introduced by Sir
C. Buck, of Hanby Grange, about the middle of the last
century. This dun stock appears to be of mixed origin.

We must not suppose that no improvements have been
effected in the coarse Lincolnshire breed ; on the contrary,
several successful attempts have been made, and particularly
by crosses with the Durham, by means of which the size of
the bone, and the ungainly form, were materially altered for
the better; while a disposition to fatten more rapidly also
resulted. These crossed Lincolns are, therefore, far more
valuable than those of the old strain, but still are deficient in
the fineness of the grain of the meat.

Besides these, there is an improved breed called the

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

THE OX AND THE DAIRY 135

" Turnills," from the name of its founder, Captain Turnill,
of Reesby-on-the-Wold. Whether he effected his object by
crossing with some other breed, or simply by a judicious
selection of the native stock, is not well known ; but, cer-
tainly, he was very successful, and produced an animal
lighter in the head, finer in the form, far less bony, less high
on the limbs, fuller in the breast, and round in the barrel
Their general contour is good, and they evince a propensity
to fatten rapidly. Some of the Lincolnshire farmers still
prize and cultivate this breed, which has excellent grazing
qualities, the oxen soon becoming ripe for the market, espe
cially when put up for stall-feeding, — a plan which seems to
suit them admirably. They are generally bought at the age
of three years, in a lean state, by the jobbers or the graziers,
and are ready for the butcher in the course of the ensuing
summer or autumn.

Lincolnshire, besides its own breed, presents us with
various others : many Irish cattle are fed there, as well as
cattle from the north, and also from Yorkshire and Durham ;
destined mostly for London. The farmers, who look to dairy
qualities, have mixed breeds of almost every description ;
which answer their purpose very well, being, in general,
good milkers.

Under the head of short-horns, will range the Normandy,
Guernsey, or Alderney cattle, which, though originally from
the French continent, are now naturalized in our island.
These cattle prevail in Hampshire, especially near the coast ;
but, inland, are crossed with other breeds, and, perhaps, most
successfully with the Devons, both as respects milking and
feeding qualities.

The Alderney cattle are angular, and awkwardly shaped, —
of small size, thin-necked, small boned, with high shoulders,
hollow behind, short in the rump, with pendent bellies, and
a voracious appetite. The cows yield only a small portion of
milk, but it is of the most extraordinary richness ; and, on
this account, they are often kept in the parks and pleasure-
grounds of the opulent, where, we must confess, they are
both useful and even ornamental. Their gentleness, their
diminutive size, and even their singular contour, together
with the excellence of their milk, render them favourites,
where no remunerating return for their keep is expected or
desired. We own that we admire them ; but, perhaps, some
old associations influence our feelings. In proportion to the

136 THE OX AND THE DAIKY.

quantity of milk, the butter it yields is astonishing ; a single
cow has been known to give nineteen pounds of butter
weekly for several successive weeks. This, of course, is a
very rare and remarkable occurrence; the average is from
six to eight or nine pounds weekly, during the season, sup-
posing the cow to be first-rate of her kind.

Meagre as the Alderney cow is when in milk, and unlikely
as she may appear in the eyes of the grazier, it is never-
theless a fact, that, when dried, she fattens with great rapidity.
This property in the ox is very valuable ; and though fat
Alderney cattle are not often seen in the London market,
some have been occasionally exhibited at the Smithfield
Cattle Show. One exhibited in 1802 by the Duke of Bedford
weighed (the four quarters) 95 st. 3 Ibs., exclusive of inside
fat, which was 17 st. 3 Ibs., Smithfield weight (8 Ibs to the
stone).

The Alderney cattle are generally of a mingled white and
sandy-red, or fawn colour; the latter being mostly disposed
in large, abrupt patches

THE OX AND THE DAIRY.

137

BOOKS FOR THE COUNTR

"'

Small 8vu, Fancy Stiff* Covers, with Illustrations.
ONE SHILLING BACH.

STEAM-BOATS, and OTHER RAPJD
ANCES, which have added so largely to urban populations, H- '« «
at the sain ft time afforfled the means to a numerous orxlv, vK ;e
r industry i$ carried forward in town, of seeking for lit
Amusement in rural pursuits. Such now work in
citi-)3, and live in quiet Country-houses. The once Lu
population of eonvenieflj& Villages is thus, doubled and qi-.-
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Man mnv inhabit the ^anre hamlet, once inaccessible, wherf tl't
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BOOKS FOE THE CuUNTEY.

The following are now ready:

THE VOCLTliY YA-i:i>; conijjrising the General Treatment
Management of all. IJ->ds bf Poultry, including the CocniN-Ci
FOWL.

THE SHEEP: our Dome-tic Breeds, and their Trea*

W, 0. L. MATITIN;
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MARVIN,
CATTLE: thei- History and Various B"t-

TUB DAIRY, By We C, L
CATTLE ; their Ma^gcttent, Treatmet>^

* . MARTIN,

THE HORSE : its History. Managemei/c,
WM. YOUATT, Y.S.

Also, Just Heady.

DICTIONARY OF THE FARM. By the Pov._W. L
Revised and adapted to the present time by a Member
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Biil.-S : their Habits, Management, and Treatm* •

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