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the bone fine. They are chiefly valued for the dairy ; not on account of 

 the quantity of the milk which they yield, but for the richness of the 

 milk, and the proportionate quantity of butter that can be obtained 

 froiQ it. The best cows are observed to have a yellowish circle round 

 the eye, with the skin at the extremity of the tail of a deep yellow color 

 — a remark it may be noticed, that has been made on good milkers of 

 ■other breeds. As fatting cattle, they have few good points ; yet so 

 anxious are the inhabitants to preserve them in their native purity, that 

 there is an act of their legislature which prohibits the importation of all 

 foreign cattle, under severe penalties of fine and confiscation, including 

 the destruction of the animal, which is slaughtered and given to the poor. 



Such are the chief breeds of the Kingdom. It must, however be ad- 

 mitted, that there are great deviations in many animals of the same, and 

 of the most approved stocks; and there are besides, many crosses, dis- 

 tinguished by the name of the district, or of the breeder. 



From these views of the various species of neat cattle, the reader will 

 probably be enabled to form some estimate of the value of the respec- 

 tive breeds therein described. I shall reduce them to three kinds : the longf- 

 horned, the short-horned, and the middle-horned. Concerning their merits 

 and demerits, there has long been a difference of opinion among the most 

 experienced breeders. The long horns excel in the firm texture and 

 thickness of their hides, in the closeness and length of the hair, in their 

 beef being finer grained, and more marbled and mixed than that of the 

 short-horns, in weighing more in proportion to their size, and in giving 

 richer milk; but they are inferior to the short-horns, in giving less milk, 

 in weighing less upon the whole, in affording less tallow when killed, in 

 being slower feeders, and of a coarser make, and more leathery in the 

 under side of the neck. To sum up, the long-horns excel in the hide, 

 the hair, and the quality of the beef; the short-horns in the quantity of 

 the beef, tallow and milk. Each breed has long had its zealous advo- 

 cates, and I am inclined to think that both kinds may have their particu- 

 lar advantages, in different situations. The western coast of England is 

 often visited with impetuous winds and heavy rains. The thick hides 

 and close-set hair of the long-horns would be a protection, while in the 

 east part, the climate is milder, with more regular seasons, which would 

 be more suitable to the constitution of the short-horn. 



However excellent the long-horns became under the judicious breeding 

 of the eminent Mr. Bakewell, the short-horns have now become equal, 



