THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



501 



they are now found. From tlie earliest periods, 

 the counties of Durham and York had l)een fa- 

 mous for a breed of cattle similar to the shorthorns 

 — doubtless the shorthorn breed. A spirit of im- 

 provement had manifested itself about a century 

 ago amon^ the breeders of this variety, occupying 

 the rich grazing lands on the banks of the river 

 Tees, which soon raised their cattle in quality and 

 form above the common shorthorns. We are, 

 however, mainly indebted to one man for the pedi- 

 greed race of highly improved shorthorns, so much 

 esteemed at the present time. The breeder to 

 whom I refer, was Mr. Charles Colling, and his 

 great success was mainly owing to the surpassing 

 excellence of one animal he chanced to get 

 possession of; but, still, it was his great judg- 

 ment that enabled him to avail himself of such 

 a circumstance. This animal was the bull 

 Hubback. From him, may I not say, all the high- 

 bred shorthorns claim their descent ; Hubback 

 being the great-grand-sire of the bull Favourite. 

 It was about the year 1/77, that Charles Colling 

 met with Hubback, and set about the work of im- 

 proving the shorthorns with all the energy of an 

 enthusiast. Such was his success, that at his sale, 

 in the year 1810, his stock of 48 shorthorns realized 

 £7115; his bull Comet fetching 1,000 guineas. It 

 is well known that Mr, Colling experimented by 

 trying crosses with several other breeds, and that 

 they were failures. It is stated that a cross he tried 

 with a Galloway heifer was successful — that having 

 taken this one cross he bred back again to the 

 shorthorn until all trace of the peculiarities of the 

 Galloway were bred out; but that the deep round 

 barrel, short line legs, and soft curly hair of the 

 Galloway were retained, though occasionally a 

 dark muzzle, or a little dark hair approaching 

 black, will break out in some individuals and be- 

 tray the original cross. That there is a strain 

 that sometimes produces individuals with these dark 

 colours and called the alloy, there is no question; 

 but as to the above being the cause, I think it 

 would be easy to show the absurdity, if there were 

 time. If any advantage is to be derived from a 

 cross at all, no doubt the mode stated must be the 

 way to effect it — the taking one cross and then 

 going back to the pure breed. But how, I would 

 ask, are some points to be retained, while others 

 must be got rid of by breeding them out ? How 

 is it that our noted breeders of the present day, 

 who have greater facilities than Colling, do not 

 practise the same thing ? It is a pity that Colling 

 should have been so reserved, as he appears to have 

 been, as to his plans and practice ; but I believe 

 there is every reason to conclude, he derived no- 

 thing but trouble and disappointment from his 

 crossing experiments. It appears, I think, that 

 Mr. Colhng must have bred, what is termed, in-and- 

 in, and that very closely at the commencement, 

 and so, too, must the succeeding grgat breeders ; 

 otherwise, what is termed their blood would not 

 be esteemed, and realize such prices as it does at 

 the present day. I noticed a few weeks ago, in the 

 Mark Lane Express, that Mr. Douglas's heifer, 

 Queen of Athelstane, had been purchased for 500 

 guineas, by Lady Pigott, and his Almack Belle 

 for 200, by the same lady. Many, I am persuaded, 



have injured their stocks, from a notion that a con- 

 tinual change of blood was advantageous, and so 

 have admitted what was inferior to their own. 

 There are some strong opponents to breeding-in 

 and-in, that is closely in the same families, and a 

 lecture in the ilin/Vc Lane Express lately, even calls 

 it incestuous ; but surely this must be a mistake, 

 for it does not follow that because the Great Ruler 

 of all has ])rohibited marriage within certain de- 

 grees of relationship to a moral agent like man, 

 and has attached to it probably the penalty of phy- 

 sical and mental debility, that it should be the same 

 with the brute creation. We know, in fact, that it 

 is not so, but that it is the natural economy of 

 some species to pair in their own families. The 

 dove tribe for instance, wild and domestic, invari- 

 bly produce a nest of two young ones at a time, 

 which are usually male and female, and which in 

 due time pair again ; and that so strictly, that 

 twenty pair may be kept in an aviary, and there 

 shall be no mixture, but each variety will continue 

 true. This tends to make pigeon-fancying and 

 keeping, easy. Again a covey of partridges con- 

 tinue together through the winter, until pairing 

 time in spring. Are we to suppose that then the 

 male birds of one covey, go to seek partners in 

 another covey, and vice versa F Is it not much 

 more likely that they pair among themselves ? 

 Those birds or animals that are gregarious, and 

 assemble periodically in large flocks, may, and pro- 

 bably do, pair into other families than their own. 

 It is argued that a want of stamina and constitu- 

 tional barrenness is the result of close breeding for 

 a lengthened period, and no doubt there is some- 

 thing in it ; therefore those at the greatest distance 

 as to relationshij) should be selected, but consis- 

 tently with the particular points to be cultivated. 

 The difficulty is — where the whole herd has to be 

 improved by the introduction of one superior ani- 

 mal, as in Colling's case, and it is by no means an 

 uncommon one. I would not, however, admit 

 anything inferior to my own stock, either in appear- 

 ance or pedigree, for the sake of change, and care 

 should be taken not to attribute defects, &c., to the 

 cause of too close breeding with which it may not 

 be chargeable. Another important consideration to 

 be taken into account by the breeder of improved 

 stock is the respective influence of the sire and 

 dam in the production of the particular points or 

 quahties desired in their issue. It is only experi- 

 ence derived from long observation that can form 

 the basis of anything like accurate judgment as to 

 this particular ; still there are some general rules 

 that will be some guide. I may perhaps venture 

 to say that the influence of the male parent will 

 predominate in the production of colour, size, and 

 form, and that of the female in constitution and 

 temper, and perhaps in quality ; but all this will be 

 greatly qualified by other circumstances. About 

 thirteen years ago, I kept a large dairy herd of 

 about 30 cows, some of them superior Ayrshires, 

 but the larger part were our native blacks. The 

 bull I kept with them was a remarkably fine short- 

 horn, a pure-bred pedigree animal. The calves 

 from both the blacks and Ayrshires took chiefly 

 after their sire in colour, size, and form, as far as 

 I could judge; the size was such that they fetched 







