ON THE BREEDING, REARING, FATTENING, 

 AND GENERAL BIANAGEMENT OF NEAT CAT- 

 TLE. 



Extracts from the last edition (1833) of the ''Complete Grazier." 



Introductory view of the different breeds of neat 

 cattle in Great Britain. 



Of" the various sources ■which compof=e the 

 wealth of nations, there are few, perhaps, ol' 

 greater moment, or which have a superior claim 

 to attention, than that branch of rural economy 

 which is the subject of the following pages. In 

 fact, when it is considered, that not only the ser- 

 vants of a farmer, but also his cattle, are produc- 

 tive laborers; when we recollect the siimuhis to in- 

 dustry, as well as the rapid circulation of capital 

 which the farmer occasions, by furnishing constant 

 employment to the numerous artificers who are 

 occupied in manufacturing implements which are 

 indispensabl}^ necessary to him; when we call to 

 mind the immense mass of materials Avhich his 

 productive labor supplies for the purposes of com- 

 mercial intercourse, and especially the influence 

 produced by that labor on the comfort and appear- 

 ance of towns, whose inhabitants must otherwise 

 be destitute of the necessaries of life; when all 

 these diversified circumstances are ta!<en into con- 

 sideration, every reflecting inquirer must acknowl- 

 edge, that of ail the ways in which a capital can 

 be employed, this is by far the most advantageous 

 to society. 



Justly, therefore, has it been remarked, "that 

 the capital employed in agriculture not only puts 



Into motion a greater quantity of productive labor 

 Mian any equal capital employed in manufactures, 

 but, also in proportion to the quantity of productive 

 labor whirh it emplo3-s, it adds a" much greater 

 value to lh3 annual produce of the land and labor 

 of the country, while it increases the real wealth 

 and revenue of its inhabitants."* 



Ptlany circumstances have long occurred to ren- 

 der live stock an object of the utmost importance 

 to the tiirmer; and notwithstanding the great ad- 

 vances made in other branches of husbandry, none 

 has undergone a greater change of system, or has 

 received more manifest improvement, than the 

 breeding, rearing, and management of cattle. In- 

 dependently of the stinmlus aflbrded, during the 

 late war, to the exertions of the mere grazier bv 

 the rapid increase in the price of all the necessaries 

 of life, the influence of many societies established 

 of late years for the encouragement of agriculture 

 has powerfully tended to promote inquiiy, and to 

 disseminate infbrmalion on this interesting subject; 

 while the patronage and example of several public 

 spirited noblemen, and gentlemen of high rank, 

 have difiused a taste for the pursuits of rural econo- 

 my, that has had a most beneficial effect on the 

 general prosperity of the country. Among these, 

 none have attracted more attention than those 

 which are discussed in the following pages; and, 

 although the main object is to convey instruction 

 on the points more immediately applicable to the 

 business of the grazier, it is yet presumed that a 

 concise outline of the principal breeds, and varie- 

 ties of breeds of cattle found in this highly culti- 

 vated island, cannot but prove acceptable to every 

 class of farmer. 





r. The Wild Calile-Of a bull of which race, 

 the above is a portrait, — were the original stock of 

 the kingdom, before enclosures were Icnown. They 

 are said to be still found at Chartley Park, in Der- 

 byshire, and, perhaps, in one or two more; but it is 

 believed, that tlie only pure breed is that preserved, 

 in a wild state, at Chillinghara Castle, in Northum- 

 berland, the seat of the Earl of Tankerville, 



Vol. II.— 17. 



whose steward, Mr. Bailey, thus describes thcm:t 



"Their color is invariably white; muzzle black; 



the whole of the inside of the ear, and about one- 



Vol. II. p. 53, Fourth 



♦Smith's Wealth of Nations, 

 edition. 



t Agricultural Survey of Northumberland, 

 edition p. 141. 



Third 



