WELSH CATTLE AND THEIR RELATIVES 727 



APPENDIX H 



(Refer to page 140.) 



WELSH CATTLE AND THEIR RELATIVES 



By W. B. WALE, Pembroke, 1905. 



There are three well-known breeds of cattle which are 

 credited with descent from the ancient British animal known 

 as Bos primigenius. They are classed as Devons, Sussex, 

 and Welsh. The first two are red in colour, and the Welsh 

 breed is black. Careful selection over a prolonged period 

 has rendered the Devons the most perfect as a distinct 

 variety, and having had more patrons, they are the most 

 numerous and best known of the three. The ancestors of 

 these breeds are thought to be represented by the Wild 

 Park Cattle, which are white with black or brown muzzles, 

 etc. Many points are noticeable which tend to confirm this 

 view and to link up these varieties as one family descended 

 from a common ancestor. The general similarity in build, 

 temperament, habits, qualities, and the colour of the 

 sports among their offspring are obvious to observers who 

 interest themselves in the subject. It is known that the 

 cows of the so-called wild herds throw occasional black or 

 red calves ; so, also, the Devon and Sussex cows throw 

 black calves ; Welsh cows throw red calves, and sometime 

 calves which are more or less white with dark muzzles. In 

 the course of time the different breeds, as at present known, 

 have been established the Devon and Sussex by the 

 selection of red, and the Welsh by the selection of black 

 calves. It seems probable that the original white cows 

 brought forth black more often than red calves, and as a 

 con sequence it required more careful and prolonged selection 

 to establish the red breeds ; from which would seem to 

 have resulted the more definite separation of the red breeds 

 from the parent stock than appears to be the case with 

 the black breed. This conjecture is somewhat confirmed 

 by the readiness of the black breed to revert to the parent 

 type, as shown by the production of white calves with 

 dark points. At different times patrons of the Welsh breed 

 have selected their white calves for rearing, and formed 

 herds of white cattle. About forty years ago Mr Tebbitt, 

 a gentleman farmer living at Castle Cenlas, in North Pern- 



