PEMBROKESHIRE OR CASTLEMARTIN CATTLE. 203 



of animal might be produced by judicious crossing; but the 

 path is one beset with difficulties when we have to deal with a 

 breed so distinct and of such a unique character as the Pem- 

 brokes. Holding this view, I, in 1867, proposed the formation 

 of a herd book as the only safeguard and guide to improved 

 breeding. The opportunity given was but lightly esteemed, for 

 no more than three or four breeders put forward any claim 

 to making an entry in the book. I also proposed the formation, 

 on joint-stock and co-operative principles, of a herd of no less 

 than twenty of the best cows that could be obtained (with, of 

 course, the requisite number of bulls) to found a herd farm, 

 where scientific principles in breeding were to be adopted, and 

 where an annual sale of the surplus stock was to be made. The 

 estimation in which joint-stock companies were held at that 

 time was fatal to the project ; but I still think it to be the 

 most important and feasible ever made to develop the Pembroke- 

 shire cattle. It must be understood that no single breeder was 

 to be found who would attempt the tactics of a Bakewell or a 

 Colling. I therefore proposed a combination of effort, which, 

 had it met with proper support, would in one decade have raised 

 the Pembrokeshire breed to a position they are not likely to 

 reach for some time to come. 



The entries I received for the " Black Cattle Herd Book " and 

 subscriptions thereto, I placed in the hands of Mr. Harvey when 

 I left the county in 1870. Soon after, he, in conjunction with 

 Mr. J. B. Bowen, of Llwyngwair, revived the project, and in. 

 1874 the first volume was published. The third and last issue 

 is dated 1883, and it is proposed to publish a fourth this 

 year (1887). Up to the present time there are 324 cows and 

 heifers, and 127 bulls registered as pedigree animals in the 

 " Welsh Black Cattle Herd Book," which bears the unfortunate 

 sub-title of " Pedigrees of Animals of the Castlemartin, Dews- 

 land, and Anglesea breeds." 



A few errors current in popular descriptions of the Pembroke- 

 shire cattle have to be corrected. For instance, Youatt says 

 that a "few have white faces, or a little white about the tail or 

 udders," and that the " Pembrokeshire cow is usually black, 

 with occasionally a dark brown, or less frequently a white face, 

 or a white line along the back." Mr. W. C. L. Martin, in his 



