THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



289 



THE DIFFERENT BREEDS OF STOCK. 



In the infiuity of agricultural topics we are now 

 continually discussing, it is curious to notice how rarely 

 we touch on our different breeds of stock. We of 

 course learn the individual excellence of animals from 

 their positions in the show-yai-d, and occasionally test 

 the merits of a herd by the prices it will bring at the 

 hammer. There is many a man, too, ready and anx- 

 ious enough to cry up the sort he himself is interested 

 in ; but what we want is, that these opinions should be 

 brought into rather more direct comparison. At this 

 very moment there are two or three beasts tliat make 

 " the best butcher's meat" — the Scot, the Welsh runt, 

 and the Devon. Then the Short-horn is good to feed, 

 but bad to milk; or, on the other hand, he is as useful 

 for one purpose as the other. The very essence of dis- 

 cussion is difference of opinion, and here we should be 

 sure of it. Still we scarcely remember a single occasion 

 on which the object of a meeting has been to consider 

 which are the best kinds of stock. The Highland 

 Society certainly gave an evening some two years ago 

 to the assumed advantages of crossing; and the London 

 Club has two subjects on its card this season on the 

 management of stock. We repeat, however, that the 

 great question itself is seldom or ever put : — Which is 

 the best beast — a Hereford, a Short-horn, or a Devon ? 

 Which is the best sheep — a Southdown, a Leicester, 

 or a Cotswold ? And which the best horse — a Suffolk, 

 a Clydesdale, or a Lincoln ? We do not say it would 

 be possible to pass any vei'y definite resolution in 

 answer to such queries ; but nevertheless a great deal 

 of interesting information might be obtained by such a 

 means. At present we would almost seem to agree 

 with Mr. Mechi in regarding our flocks and our beeves 

 merely as necessary nuisances, and so saying little or 

 nothing about tliem. 



A comparatively young association in the North of 

 Scotland lias within these few weeks taken the bull by 

 tlie horns. Sir. Home, the Chairman of the Stirling 

 Farmers' Club, has opened a discussion " On the various 

 Breeds of Cattle." In doing so, he naturally dwelt 

 chiefly on such kinds as he himself and his brothei- 

 members were best acquainted with : — " I speak of our 

 well-known black cattle, which, although reared in 

 many parts of our country, are yet shown to greatest 

 advantage and perfection in the county I have named, 

 Argyle. It cannot fail to be observed that good spe- 

 cimens of our black cattle possess almost every point 

 that the breeders of cattle of England and elsewhere 

 are endeavouring to produce. We all know their fine- 

 ness of hide, straighlness of legs, length and breadth 

 of hind-quarters, fine development of breast and chest ; 

 and we know that that breed which is most highly 

 e.'itecmed, so far as we can compare a large beast with 

 a small one, is almost exactly the same. The quality 

 of their flesh is considered wholly unsurpassed, there 

 being a fine degree of marble mixture oi^ fatty matter 

 which cannot be surpassed. It is well known that the 

 nobility and gentry of England get up our Scotch 

 kyloes as their finest beef. They arc in a half-wild 

 state, and must be fed fat upon grass, for the Highland 

 ox takes as long to get accustomed with a byre as 

 another to be fed fully fat in it. As milkers they do 

 not excel in quantity ; but the quality is shown by the 

 manner in which they suckle their calves." 



This is more than commonly well put, and certainly 

 so far our Northern friends have no fault to find witli 

 their champion. Ho proceeds to what he terms '■ a 



peculiar breed"; but a better known one amongst us, 

 that reared in Galloway, Aberdeen, Kincardine, and 

 Angus. " How that breed has come to be what it is, 

 forms a difficult question — whether they be a species of 

 the West Highlander somewhat changed, and having 

 lost their horns, I don't know ; but there is a pecu- 

 liarity regarding tliem. Those in (ialloway are larger 

 and thinner from the hook to the tail, though not so 

 broad as others ; while those in Aberdeen are broader 

 over the back. It may be mentioned tliat the latter 

 county has at this time the honour and glory of supply- 

 ing what in the London market is called pure Scots, 

 and they carry the highest price for beef in the Lon- 

 don market. In regard to their milking properties, I 

 have the authority of Mr. M'Combie, of Tillyfour, that 

 they are excellent milkers ; and he scouted the idea of 

 an Ayrshire being compared witli them in Aberdeen- 

 shire. I may mention that his place is by no means a 

 garden of Eden, being without shelter, on the top of 

 a hill ; and yet there are to be seen some of the 

 most magnificent animals you can conceive. Long 

 may the Aberdeen folks have the credit of producing 

 the best Scots for the London market." 



So that even in Scotland there are two or three varie- 

 ties which make " the best London beef." We have, 

 then, the Fife breed, " few in number," and according 

 to another speaker, " coarse in quality, and not to be 

 recommended." The discussion from this point as- 

 sumed a more general tone, as it touched upon the 

 merits of two sorts of which we have all more or less 

 some experience. These were the Ayrshires and the 

 Shorthorns — animals that would appear to be not only 

 bred, but reared, and cultivated for diametrically oppo- 

 site uses. The over-feeding of the Shorthorn, so that he 

 shall do nothing but make flesh, is an old story. Mr. 

 Home dwelt upon it at some length : — " I am far from 

 thinking that if you keep them according to the present 

 English rules you will be greatly benefited by them. 

 Some of the means at present adopted go to deprive the 

 animal of its milking powers, and render it unnatural in 

 its inclination to take on fat ; but if they are made to 

 keep in a good, fair, growing, breeding state — in fact, 

 in that state of exuberant health which makes them 

 suitable for breeding— the country would greatly benefit 

 by their introduction. Unfortunately, the great run 

 has been upon shape only, to the neglect of milking 

 and breeding qualities. I may mention, in confirma- 

 tion of my remarks about the fattening of the Short- 

 horn, that I was at the Newcastle show of the English 

 Society some years ago, and was going round the yard 

 with Mr. Booth of Killerby. He was reckoned the 

 first breeder of fat stock in Yorkshire, and was only 

 equalled by Mr. Bates, whom he never liked to meet, 

 so close was the competition. Mr. Booth's cattle were 

 very high fed; and one cow he had at that show 

 (Ne^cklace, I think, was her name) was as magnificent 

 an animal as one could wish to behold. But then she 

 had, as it were, pillows of fat sewed on to her hind 

 quarters and along her back. I remarked that the 

 calves of such an animal must be very valuable. He 

 answered, ' I am sorry to say I have been rather unfor- 

 tunate in thdt respect— the calf died.' After expressing 

 my regret, I said, ' Do you not think she is rather 

 fat?" ''lie said that perhaps she was a little." 



The Ayrshires are to be condemned for the very 

 reverse of all this. " It is a breed generally allowed 

 to be superior to all others for quantity of milk. The 



