140 CATTLE BLACK WELSH 



slaughtered, on 6th March 1835, the gross weight was 200 st. 

 6 Ibs. George Stephenson, of Newbiggen Farm, Ewesbey, 

 Morpeth, possesses an oil painting of the ox, which indicates 

 the colour to have been roan. 



West Highland cows cross admirably with bulls of most 

 British breeds. Full advantage can thus be had of the good 

 qualities of the breed without necessitating the sacrifice of the 

 native hardiness of constitution, invaluable in a mountainous 

 country, in the endeavour to induce early maturity. Unless 

 the constitution is maintained, advantage cannot be taken in 

 an upland country of the supply of natural food, which costs 

 little and cannot be utilised except for such hardy animals. 

 The outlay to produce a four-year-old Highland bullock 

 reared on his natural food is very much less than that for a 

 two-year-old stall-fed beast of the same weight, because the 

 food of the latter is costly to grow and costly to buy. To 

 substitute the early maturity animal, either by importation or 

 by modifying the existing breed by in-and-in breeding, for 

 the real West Highland ox in his home quarters, would lead 

 to a loss of profit to the farmer, and the loss to the com- 

 munity of the natural cattle-food of the district. 



In the restriction of entries the Herd Book Committee 

 wisely reserve (in the Preface to Volume IX.) power to admit, 

 for double the ordinary fee, meritorious animals that are 

 known to be of pure blood, although their parents or grand- 

 parents have not been entered. In this way a mistake made 

 by several other Breed Societies, i.e., that of closing the breed 

 record too soon and shutting out really first-class animals, 

 will be avoided. 



An effort has been made to get a share of the Argentine 

 export business in breeding-stock, as it is highly probable 

 that the hardy Highlanders would withstand better than any 

 other European cattle the piercing cold of the south-west 

 winds of the Pampas. 



Welsh Black Cattle. 1 The registration of the one 

 remaining important breed of Welsh cattle is now made 

 under the Welsh Black Cattle Society, which united 

 the North and South Wales Herd Registers in 1904^ 



' See Appendix, " Welsh Cattle and their Relatives," Wall. 



' 2 (a) The Welsh Black Cattle Herd Book, containing the pedigrees of 



