COWS. 3 



animal, in which respect the palm belongs perhaps 

 to the five years old Scot. 



Of the cattle in vogue a hundred and fifty years 

 ago, I find in Mortimer's excellent old work, that 

 " the best breed is reckoned that of Yorkshire, Derby- 

 shire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, &c. ; and a good 

 hardy sort for fatting on barren or middling sort of 

 land, are your Angleseys and Welsh. The hardiest 

 are the Scotch; but the best sort of cows for the 

 pail, only they are tender and need very good keep- 

 ing, are the long-legged short-horned cow of the 

 Dutch breed, which is to be had in some places of 

 Lincolnshire, but most used in Kent. Many of these 

 cows will give two gallons of milk at a meal.' , 



In this account we may recognise, by the light 

 which Mr. Youatt affords in his able work, at least 

 the chrysalis of the later Craven cow ; the Dishley, 

 or Bakewell long-horn ; and the improved Durham, 

 of world-wide fame to-day. The black Welsh and 

 Scotch were probably much the same in his time as 

 now. It may be interesting briefly to trace back and 

 inquire into the earlier history of an animal, to which 

 all nations of the world, excepting here and there a 

 few islanders, have been so much indebted. What 

 the original type of all was, it is impossible to state. 

 Some such type we must, I suppose, believe with 

 Pliny to have existed for every domesticated animal. 

 By the study of infallible characteristics, the patient 

 naturalist has come to the conclusion that from the 

 same source, allowing for climate and human cultiva- 

 tion, have sprung families now widely diverse in 

 habit and appearance. This division will rank, of 



B 2 



