8 THE CATTLE OP GREAT BRITAIN. 



and breadth of the land, and penetrated to the far distant 

 shores of America and Australia, speaks volumes for the merits 

 of this breed. Ireland, once remarkable for its mongrel stock, 

 owes the vast improvement of its herds to Shorthorn influence. 

 In parts of Scotland the Shorthorn is to be found, and, if he 

 does not displace the aborigines, he blends with them, and pro- 

 duces magnificent cross-breeds. The Shorthorn, however, 

 requires good and abundant food, and is not suited to exposure 

 in a severe or very moist climate. The young animals must be 

 well cared for, as after-growth greatly depends upon a supply of 

 nutritious food during early Hfe. Another remarkable illustra- 

 tion of the spread of these cosmopolitan cattle is to be found in 

 Cumberland and Westmoreland. Half a century since they 

 were scarcely known, and we were told by a farmer still living 

 that, forty years since, he had to go to Darlington market to 

 buy calving heifers ; now and for a long period Penrith has been 

 one of the best marts in the kingdom for well-bred stock. The 

 influence of good bulls in our dairy districts has been very 

 marked. We have heard it said by a successful breeder in 

 Gloucestershire that thirty-five years since, when he commenced 

 breeding, there was not a Shorthorn within many miles ; now it 

 would be an exception to find a herd that is not three-parts pure, 

 and many of the farmers possess pedigree stock. The animals 

 that have been displaced were great at filling the cheese- tub, but 

 so coarse and slow-feeding that, although the produce may have 

 been to some extent sacrificed, the total return is better and 

 quicker. The draft cows, which formerly were sold poor at low 

 rates, are now finished off with a little cake and roots, and com: 

 mand good prices. The young stock also sell well, calving- 

 down heifers making 251. to 28Z. at three years, and steers 

 coming out fat at the same figure when between two and three 

 years old. Shorthorns are more subject to sterility than less- 

 cultivated breeds. This arises from the unnatural condition 

 in which high-bred animals are too frequently reared, and may 

 be guarded against by giving our young stock plenty of exercise 

 and keeping them from fat-producing food. The researches of 

 physiologists have demonstrated that excessive fatness of the 

 carcase is accompanied with deposition of fat in the tissues, and 

 when this is the case the breeding tendencies in both sexes are 



