48 SHORTHORN CATTLE. 



cattle resulted in a general type known as the Shorthorn 

 or Teeswater stock. It is generally understood, however, 

 that Shorthorn types of cattle existed in Yorkshire as early 

 as 1580. 



The landlords and wealthy men of north-east England 

 did much to encourage the breeding of the best cattle among^ 

 their tenants, and through their encouragement the Teeswa- 

 ter stock was brought up to some degree of uniformity and 

 became the basis of the typical Shorthorn. 



Regarding the characteristics of the Teeswater stock at 

 this time (1780) we cannot do better than to give the de- 

 scription given by Carr. He says: "The best specimens 

 of the breed at that time were generally wide-backed, well- 

 framed cows, deep in their forequarters, soft and mellow in 

 their hair and 'handling,' and possessing, with average milk- 

 ing qualities, a remarkable disposition to fatten. Their horns 

 were rather longer than those of their descendants of the 

 present day and inclining upward. The defects were those 

 of an undue prominence of the hip and shoulder point, a 

 want of length in the hindquarters, of width in the floor of 

 the chest, of fullness generally before and behind the shoul- 

 ders, as well as of flesh upon the shoulder itself. They had 

 a somewhat disproportionate abdomen, were too long in the 

 legs, and showed a want of substance, indicative of delicacy, 

 in the hide. They failed also in the essential requisite of 

 taking on their flesh evenly and firmly over the whole frame, 

 which frequently gave them an unlevel appearance. There 

 was, moreover, a general want of compactness in their con- 

 formation." Such was the general type of the Teeswater 

 stock of 1780. 



The work of Bakewell, described in Lecture I., inspired 

 others to do likewise. While there were, between 1730 and 

 1780, many breeders who did much towards the improvement 

 of cattle, yet none had proceeded in so systematic a manner 

 as Bakewell, until in 1783 Charles and Robert Colling took 

 up the work. 



The Colling Brothers were reared on the farm, their 

 father was a stock breeder, and they began breeding about 

 1780, at the close of the American Revolution. The values of 

 cattle were much depressed at this time, and agricultural 

 conditions in general were none too prosperous. 



