Book VIL CRITERIA OF THE BULL FAMILY. 959 



and the cows from twenty-five to thirty-five stone the four quarters (fourteen pounds to 

 the stone). The beef is finely marbled, and of excellent flavor. From the nature of 

 their pasture, and the frequent agitation they are put into by the curiosity of strangers, 

 it is scarcely to be expected they should get very fat ; yet the six years old oxen are 

 generally very good beef, from whence it may be fairly supposed that, in proper situa- 

 tions, they would feed well. 



6131. The habits of these animals are entirely rude ; at the first appearance of any person they set off 

 in full gallop, and, at the distance of about two hundred yards, make a wheel round and come boldly up 

 again, tossing their heads in a menacing manner ; on a sudden they make a full stop, at the distance of 

 forty or fifty yards, looking wildly at the object of their surprise, but, upon the least motion being made, 

 they all again turn round, and fly off with equal speed, but not to the same distance, forming a shorter 

 circle, and again returning with a bolder and more threatening aspect than before; they approach much 

 nearer, probably within thirty yards, when they again make another stand, and again fly off: this they 

 do several times, shortening their distance, and advancing nearer and nearer till they come within such a 

 short distance, that most people think it prudent to leave them, not choosing to provoke them farther. 



6132. When the cows calve, they hide their calves for a week or ten days in some sequestered situation, 

 and go and suckle them two or three times a day. If any person come near the calves, they clap their 

 heads close to the ground, and lie like a hare in form, to hide themselves. This is a proof of their native 

 wildness, and is corroborated by the following circumstance that happened to the writer of this narrative 

 (Bailey, of Chillingham,) who found a hidden calf, two days old, very lean and very weak. On stroking 

 its head it got up, pawed two or three times like an old bull, bellowed very loud, stepped back a few steps, 

 and bolted at his legs with all its force ; it then began t04)aw again, bellowed, stepped back, and bolted as 

 before ; but knowing its intention, and stepping aside, it missed him, fell, and was so very weak that it 

 could not rise, though it made several efforts ; but it had done enough : the whole herd were alarmed, 

 and, coming to its rescue, obliged him to retire; for the dams will allow no person to touch their calves 

 without attacking them with impetuous ferocity. 



6133. Wlien a calf is intended to be castrated, the park-keeper marks the place where it is hid, and 

 when the herd are at a distance, takes an assistant with him on horseback ; they tie a handkerchief round 

 the calf's mouth to prevent its bellowing, and then perform the operation in the usual way, with as 

 much expedition as possible. When any one happens to be wounded, or is grown weak and feeble 

 through age or sickness, the rest of the herd set upon it and gore it to death. {Culley, p. 73.) 



6134. The 7node of killing them was, perhaps, the only modern remains of the grandeur of ancient 

 hunting. On notice being'given that a wild bull would be killed on a certain day, the inhabitants of 

 the neighborhood came mounted and armed with guns, &c., sometimes to the amount of an hundred 

 horse, and four or five hundred foot, who stood upon walls or got into trees, while the horsemen rode 

 off the bull from the rest of the herd, until he stood at bay, when a marksman dismounted and shot. 

 At some of these huntings, twenty or thirty shots have been fired before he was subdued. On such 

 occasions, the bleeding victim grew desperately furious from the smarting of his wounds, and the shouts 

 of savage joy that were echoing from every side. But, from the number of accidents that happened, 

 this dangerous mode has been little practised of late years, the park-keeper alone generally snooting 

 them with a rifled gun at one shot, 



SuBSECT. 2. Criteria of Cattle for various objects and purjwses. 



6135. The criteria of a well-made bull, to whatever breed he belongs, are according to 

 Culley as follows : the head should be rather long, and the muzzle fine ; his eyes lively 

 and prominent, his ears long and thin, his horns wide, his neck rising with a gentle 

 curve from the shoulders, and small and fine where it joins the head ; the shoulders 

 moderately broad at the top, joining full to his chine or crops and chest backwards, and 

 to the neck-vein forwards ; his bosom open, breast broad, and projecting well before his 

 legs ; his arms or fore-thighs muscular, and tapering to his knee ; his legs strait, clean, 

 and very fine-boned ; his chine and chest so full as to leave no hollows behind the 

 shoulders ; the plates strong, to keep his belly from sinking below the level of his breast ; 

 his back or loin broad, straight, and flat ; his ribs rising one above another in such a 

 manner that the last rib shall be rather the highest, leaving only a small space to the hips 

 or hooks, the whole forming a round or barrel-like carcase ; his hips should be wide 

 placed, round, or globular, and a little higher than the back; the quarters from the hip 

 to the rump long, and instead of being square, as recommended by some, they should 

 taper gradually fVom the hips backward, and the turls or pott-bones not in the least pro- 

 tuberant ; rumps close to the tail, the tail broad, well haired, and set on so high as to be 

 in the same horizontal line with his back. Bulls should be constantly well fed, and kept 

 in proper enclosures, never being suffered to ride before they are three years old, as when 

 the contrary is the practice, they never attain so perfect a growth. It is observed by 

 Lawrence, that the above description delineates that barrel-shape, which Bakewell 

 supposed most advantageous for all kinds of animals intended to be fed for slaughter, or 

 even used for labor. 



6136. The criteria of excellence in neat cattle in general are thus given by John 

 Wilkinson of Linton, near Nottingham, an eminent breeder. [Remarks on Cattle, ^c. 

 1820.) " The head ought to be rather long, and muzzle fine; the countenance calm 

 and placid, which indicates a disposition to get fat ; the horns fine ; the neck light, particu- 

 larly where it joins the head ; the breast wide and projecting well before the legs ; the 

 shoulders moderately broad at the top, and the joints well in, and when the animal is in 

 good condition, the chine so full as to leave no hollow behind them ; the fore flank well 

 filled up, and the girth behind the shoulders deep ; the back straight, wide and flat ; the 

 ribs broad, and the space between them and the hips small ; the flank full and heavy ; 

 the belly well kept in, and not sinking low in the middle, or so formed that a cross sec- 

 tion of it would resemble an oval, whose two ends are of the same width, and whose 



