Book VII. HORNED CATTLE. 953 



trot ; but they are apt to gallop rough ; though these do it much less than the short-made ones. 

 The general complaint made against them is, that they kick and are stubborn ; but this is owing to 

 neglect in breeding them, for they are as gentle as horses in countries where they are bred with proper 

 care. 



6102. In the breeding of jnules, mares that are of a very large breed and well made should be employed. 

 They should be young, full of life, large barrelled, but small limbed, with a moderate sized head, and a 

 good forehand. It is found of advantage to have the foals from the time of their being dropped often han- 

 dled, to make them gentle : it prevents their hurting themselves by skittish ness and sudden frights ; and 

 they are much easier broken at the proper age, and become docile and harmless, having nothing of that 

 viciousness which is so commonly complained of in these animals. They may be broken at three years 

 old, but should never be permitted to do much hard work till four, as they are thus secured from 

 being hurt by hard labor, till they have acquired strength enough to bear it without injury. An expert 

 breeder of these animals found, that feeding them too well while young, though it made them very 

 fat, was far from being any advantage to them ; as it was not only incurring a much larger expense than 

 was any way necessary, but also made them wonderfully nice and delicate in their appetites ever after, and 

 also by increasing their weight of flesh, rendered them more subject to strains and hurts in their morning 

 gambols. He therefore contented himself with giving them food enough to prevent their losing flesh, and 

 to keep up their growth without palling their appetites with delicacies, or making them over-fat : he also took 

 care to defend them from the injuries of the weather by allowing them stable room, and good litter to sleep 

 on, besides causing them every day to be well rubbed down with a hard wisp of straw by an active groom. 

 This was scarcely ever omitted, particularly in cold, raw, wet weather, when they were least inclined to 

 exercise themselves. When three years old, mules are proper for use. 



6103. The shoe Jor the mule is for the fore fpot very similar to that which farriers call 

 the bar shoe. It is very vi^ide and large, especially at the toe, where it sometimes pro- 

 jects four inches and upwards beyond the hoof. This excess is given it with a view to 

 enlarge the basis of the foot, which is in general exceedingly narrow in this animal. The 

 shoe for the hind feet is open at the heels, like the horse's slioe : but it is lengthened at the 

 toe, like the preceding one. Mules are however by no means invariably shod in this 

 manner : it is not unusual to shoe them either like horses or asses, as they approach the one 

 or the other in size or work required. 



Chap. IV. 



Of Neat or Homed Cottle. JBos, L. Mammalia Pecoruy L. Ruminaleee, Cuv. Betes 

 a corner Fr. ; Vleh, Ger. ; Ganado, Span., and Bestiame, Ital. 



6104. The neat or horned cattle used in agriculture are included under two species of 

 Bos ; the B. taurus or Ox, and the B. bubulus or Buffalo ; the latter less used in 

 Britain than on the continent and in other countries. These animals are more univer- 

 sally used as beasts of draught and burthen than the horse, and have the additional advan- 

 tage of furnishing excellent food and other valuable products. There is scarcely a coun- 

 try in which the ox or the buffallo is not either indigenous, or naturalized and cultivated ; 

 while in many parts of the world, the horse is either wanting, or reserved for the purposes 

 of war or the saddle. 



Sect. I. Of the Ox. Bos Taurus, L. OchSy Ger. , Bceufy Fr. ; Buey, ISpan.j and 



Bue, Ital. 



6105. The male ox is the Bull, Taureau, Fr. ; Stier, Ger.; Toro, Span, and Ital.; and 

 the female the Cow, Vache Fr. ; Kuh, Ger.; and Vaca, Span, and Ital. The bull and 

 cow inhabit various parts of the world, and, as already observed, are domesticated every 

 where. In most countries, however, they are the mere creatures of soil and climate, the 

 same attention in breeding and rearing that is bestowed on the horse being withheld ; the 

 natural habits little restrained or the form improved for the purposes of milking, fattening, 

 or for labor. It is almost exclusively in Britain that this race of animals have been im- 

 proved so as to present breeds for each of these purposes, far superior to what are to be 

 found in a state of nature or in any other country. Notwithstanding this, however, much 

 certainly remains to be known regarding the nutriment afforded by different kinds of her- 

 bage and roots ; the quantity of food consumed by different breeds, in proportion as well 

 to their weight at the time, as to the ratio of their increase, and the propriety of employ- 

 ing large or small animals in any given circumstances. Even with regard to the degrees- 

 of improvement made by fatting cattle generally, from the consumption of a given weight 

 of roots or herbage, no great accuracy is commonly attempted ; machines for weighing the 

 cattle themselves and their food, from time to time, not being yet in general use in any 

 part of Britain. We shall consider the bull family as to his variety, criteria, breeding,, 

 rearing, feeding, working, fattening, and milking : the manufacture of milk will be 

 treated of in a succeeding chapter. 



SuBSECT, 1 . Of the Varieties and Breeds of the Bull. 



6106. The varieties of the wild ox are the Bonasus and the Bison (Jig. 130.; ; the 



