958 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



the introduction of turnips. {Aberdeenshire Report, p. 468.) The color is commonly- 

 black, but there are many of a red and brindled color. They are thinner in the buttock, 

 in proportion to their weight ; and deeper in the belly, in proportion to their circum- 

 ference, than the west Highlanders, and they yield a much larger quantity of milk. 

 Many of them are brought to the south of Scotland, and kept during winter in the 

 straw yards, for which they suit better than smaller cattle, as they are not so impatient of 

 confinement. The ordinary weight of middle-sized oxen, at from three to five years 

 old, is from forty to fifty stone; but after being worked for some time, and thoroughly 

 fattened, they have been known to reach double this weight. 



6127. Of the Welsh cattle, {Jig. 646.) ".there g^g 

 seem to be two distinct kinds. The large 

 sort are of a brown color, with some white 

 on the rump and shoulders, denoting a cross 

 from the long-horns, though in shape not the 

 least resembling them. They are long in the 

 legs, stand high according to their weight, 

 are thin in the thigh, and rather narrow in the 

 chine ; their horns are white and turned up- 

 wards; they are light in flesh, and next to the 

 Devons, well formed for the yoke ; have very 

 good hoofs, and walk light and nimble. The 

 other sort are much more valuable ; color black, with very little white ; of a good useful 

 form, short in the leg, with round deep bodies ; the hide is rather thin, with short hair ; 

 they have a likely look and a good eye ; and the bones, though not very small, are 

 neither large nor clumsy; and the cows are considered good milkers. " {Parkinson on 

 Live Stock, vol. i. p. 135.) 



6128. The Aldemey cattle are to be met with only about the seats of a few great 

 landholders, where they are kept chiefly for the sake of their milk, which is very rich, 

 though small in quantity. This race is considered, by very competent judges, as too 

 delicate and tender, to be propagated to any extent in Britain, at least in its northern 

 parts. Their color is mostly yellow or light red, with white or mottled faces; they have 

 short crumpled horns, are small in size, and very ill shaped ; yet they are fine boned in 

 general ; and their beef, though high colored, is very well flavored. I have seen, says 

 Culley, some very useful cattle bred from a cross between an Aldemey cow and a short 

 horned bull. 



6129. The Irish cattle, Culley thinks, are a mixed breed between the long-horns and 

 the Welsh or Scotch, but more inclined to the long-horns, though of less weight than 

 those in England. 



6130. The last variety of cattle we shall mention is one entirely of luxury, it is the 

 wild breed, {Jig. 647.) which is found only in the parks of a few great proprietors, who 



647 



preserve the animals as curious and ornamental, or for the sake of their high-flavored 

 beef. Those kept at Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, a seat belonging to the 

 Earl of Tankerville, have been very accurately described in the Northumberland Report, 

 and in CuUey's book on live stock, so often quoted. Their color is invariably of 

 a creamy white ; muzzle black ; the whole of the inside of the ear, and about one-third 

 of the outside, from the tips downward, red ; horns white, with black tips, very fine, 

 and bent upwards ; some of the bulls have a thin upright mane, about an inch and a 

 half, or two inches long. The weight of the oxen is from thirty five to forty-five stone. 



