88 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



most profitless and unsatisfactory beasts to be found in the land ; 

 the lieifcrs being often sterile, the cows always poor milkers, the 

 oxen unthrifty, dull, mulish beasts, yielding flesh of very dark 

 color, ill flavor and destitute of fat. They are known by various 

 names in different localities, in Maine as the " Whitten" and " Peter 

 Waldo" breed, in Massachusetts as "Yorkshire" and "Westmin- 

 ster," in New York as the "Pumpkin buttocks," in England as 

 " lyery" or " lyery Dutch," &c., &c. 



Those in northern New England are believed to be descended 

 chiefly from a bull brought from Watervliet, in the vicinity of 

 Albany, New York, more than forty years ago, (in 1818,) by the 

 Shakers at Alfred, in York county, and afterwards transferred to 

 their brethren in Cumberland county. No one who has proved 

 the worthlessness of these cattle can readily believe that any bull 

 of this sort would have been knowingly kept for service since the 

 first one brought into the State, and yet it is by no means a rare 

 occurrence to find calves dropped at the present time bearing 

 unmistakable evidence of that origin. 



It seems likely that this disagreeable peculiarity was first brought 

 into the country by means of some of the early importations of 

 Dutch or of the old Durham breed. 



Culley, in speaking of the Short-horns, inclines to the opinion 

 that they were originally from Holland, and himself recollected 

 men who in the early part of their lives imported Dutch cattle into 

 the county of Durham, and of one Mr. Dobinson he says, he was 

 noted for having the best breed of Short-horns of any and sold at 

 high prices. " But afterwards some other persons of less knowl- 

 edge, going over, brought home some bulls that introduced the 

 disagreeable kind of cattle called lyery or double lyered, that is, 

 black-fleshed. These will feed to great weight, but though fed 

 ever so long will not have a pound of fat about them, neither 

 within or without, and the flesh (for it does not deserve to be 

 called beef) is as black and coarse grained as horse flesh. No 

 man will buy one of this kind if he knows any thing of the matter, 

 and if he siiould Ix' once taken in he will remember it well for the 

 future; people conversant with cattle very readily find them out 

 by their round form, particularly their buttocks, which are turned 

 like a black coach horse, and the sniallness of the tail ; but they 

 arc best known to the graziers and dealers in cattle by \hc feel or 

 lo\ich of the fingers ; indeed it is this nice touch or feel of the hand 

 that in a great measure constitutes the judge of cattle." 



