106 CATTLE LONGHORNS 



They had thick, dark skins, and abundant hair. Their horns 

 were long, and bent downwards ; a peculiarity, however, which 

 seemed to give place to the influence of external agents, 

 since, at the eastern and southern limits of the breed in 

 England, their horns frequently turned upwards, in the 

 manner of other cattle inhabiting these districts (differing 

 from the Lancashire type, Plate XXVI I. A). Their bodies were 

 long [a present-day characteristic], their sides flat, and their 

 shoulders heavy as compared with their hind quarters. They 

 were hardy, capable of subsisting without shelter and on 

 indifferent food, but they were slow in arriving at maturity. 

 Their flesh was of a dark colour, and the fat of a yellow tinge. 

 They were of docile temper, and steady in the yoke, though 

 sluggish in their motions. They were with difficulty amalga- 

 mated with other varieties, retaining, with greater obstinacy 

 than any other race, their distinctive characters. The females 

 were suited to the domestic dairy, yielding good milk, 

 though not in large quantities." 



Low also indicated the more conspicuous of the improve- 

 ments that were effected by Bakewell and his disciples. 



" The Dishley breed (Bakewell's) is of good size, but gener- 

 ally inferior in weight to the old Lancashire Longhorns, the 

 Shorthorns, and Herefords. . . . The shoulder is well formed, 

 the neck remarkably thin, head fine, and the limbs are 

 moderately short and small boned, in which respect the 

 artificial differs from the natural breed. The skin, though 

 thick, is soft, and the hair is usually reddish-brown, with 

 more or less of white on different parts. The ribs are remark- 

 ably well arched, forming a fine cylindrical trunk ; the loin 

 is moderately broad, and the hind quarters are long. The 

 animals are docile, easily maintained on ordinary food, and 

 readily fattened. The flesh has never entirely lost that 

 darkness of colour distinctive of the unimproved race, and 

 the fat is less mixed with the muscular parts than in any 

 other kind of British cattle. The tendency of the fat to 

 accumulate on the rump is so great as to produce a kind 

 of deformity in the fattened animal. . . . The fat, too, retains 

 the tinge distinctive of the older race. . . . The cows are 

 eminently deficient in the power of yielding milk. They are 



