180 CATTLE GALLOWAYS 



to 30,000 head started annually on the journey of about three 

 weeks, avoiding turnpikes and following the green lanes or 

 drove-roads which traversed the country from north to 

 south. 



We have it on the authority of the late Gilbert Murray, in 

 Colemaris Cattle of Great Britain, that, down till about the 

 fourth decade of the nineteenth century, large numbers of 

 horned cattle, having in hair, colour, and general appearance a 

 strong resemblance to Galloways, were bred in Ireland, and 

 shipped when one to two years old to Portpatrick in Wigtown- 

 shire as many as 10,000 in a season. Irish breeders and 

 cattle-dealers removed the horns and scurs with a fine saw to 

 make them look more like Galloways, and then they were 

 bought by graziers who came from long distances to attend 

 the markets at Stranraer, "the great mart for Irish cattle in 

 Scotland." It has been asserted that Galloway cattle became 

 deteriorated by crossing with this inferior Irish breed, but 

 the facts of the case clearly indicate otherwise. Galloway 

 breeders disliked them because of their inferiority and the 

 competition with their own cattle, and it was the practice, 

 also commonly applied to Galloway heifers, to spay the 

 heifers to be fed, either in Ireland or shortly after landing 

 " the distinguishing mark of a spayed heifer being a triangular 

 piece cut from the top of the right ear " so that they settled 

 better, and fed faster, and could be grazed along with any 

 other class of cattle. Moreover, there is no indication, in the 

 breeding of Galloway cattle of the present day, of the recent 

 introductioh of alien blood. 



From a Brief Account of the breed by the Very Rev. Dr 

 Gillespie, issued about the opening of this century, we 

 learn that in the early carcase competitions at the London 

 Fat Stock Show the Galloway " carried off the lion's share 

 of the prizes against all other breeds " ; and that fat Galloways 

 dress to 60 per cent, of their live-weight. A heifer thirty-three 

 months old, weighing 1690 Ibs., yielded 1120 Ibs., or 66 per 

 cent, of beef. A fair estimate of the live and dead weights of 

 well-fed cattle is : 



Age. Live-Weight. Dead-Weight. 



15 months 900 Ibs. 540 Ibs. 



27 1400 840 



39 J 750 1070 



