FARMERS' REGISTER— SHORT-HORNED CATTLE. 



197 



cross with some large bulls that were imj^orted, 

 near a century ago, trom Holland into Yorkshii'e, 

 in the east and north ridings of which county the 

 two latter had been long established. It has, how- 

 ever, been doubted whether any advantage was 

 derived from this intermixture; lor the increase thus 

 obtained in size was thought to have been coun- 

 terbalanced by a more than proportionate increase 

 of otlal. But, tbrtunatel)^, the error was not univer- 

 sal; ibr some intelligent breeders aware, even at 

 that day, of the superiority of symmetiy to bulk, 

 preserved the breed of which they were already 

 in possession, in its native purity; and it is from 

 some of that stock, so maintained, or, at least, 

 from a cross between that stock and some of the 

 progeny of the Dutch and Tees-water cross, that 

 the present improved short-horned cattle, now 

 generally distinguished as the Darhar.i, or York- 

 shire breed, are descended. 



This breed was introduced about forty years ago, 

 by the Messieurs Collings, ot Darlington, and has 

 rapidly risen in the public estimation. The cattle 

 are very large, and are beautifully mottled with red 

 or black upon a white ground; their backs level; 

 throat clean; neck fine; carcass full and round; 

 quarters long; hips and rumps even and wide: they 

 stand rather high on their legs; handle very kindl}-; 

 are light in their bone, in proportion to their size; 

 and have a very fine coat, a.nd thin hide. They 

 ditTcr from the other breeds, not only in the short- 

 ness of their horns, but as being wider and thicker 

 in their form, and consequently feeding to greater 

 weight; in aflbrding the greatest quantity of tallow 

 when fatted; and in having very thin hides, with 

 much less hair upon them than any other kind ex- 

 cept the Alderneys. They also possess the valua- 

 ble properties of lattening kindly at an earlj^ age, 

 and of yielding large riuantities of milk; but the 

 quality of the latter is not so rich as that of some 

 other species;* they are, besides, rather tender con- 

 stitutioned, and, consequently, ditficult and expen- 

 sive to winter. 



Of this breed, Mr. Charles Colling, of Ketton, 

 sold a bull — Comet — by public auction, in the year 

 1810, tor the extraordinary sum of one thousand 

 guineas; and the history of the celebrated Durham 

 ox, the property of the same gentleman^ is too re- 

 markable not to merit attention. 



He Avas bred in the year 1796, and at five years 

 old was not only covered thick with (iit upon all 

 the principal points, but his whole carcase appear- 

 ed to be loaded with it, and he was then thought so 

 wonderful an animal, that he was purchased in 



* See the Agricultural Surveys of the West Riding 

 of Yorkshire, p. 248; and of Northumberland, p. 139. 



February, 1801, for £140, to be exhibited as a 

 show: his live weight being then 226 stone, of 14 

 pounds. In the following May he was again sold 

 lbri:2.30, to Mr. John Day, who, two months after- 

 wards, refused ibr him two thousand guineas! He 

 was exhibited in the principal parts of the kingdom 

 until April, 1807, when he was killed, in conse- 

 quence of having accidentally, dislocated his hip 

 in the previous Februaiy, and although he must 

 haA'e lost considerably in weight during his illness, 

 besides the disadvantage of six years' travelling 

 in a caravan, yet his carcass weighed 187 stone 12 

 pounds;* and Mr. Day stated his hve weight at 

 ten years old, to have been 270 stone. 



Uncommon a.s this animal then was, he has, 

 however, been since exceeded in size by a York- 

 shire ox, bred by Mr. Dunhill, of Newton, near 

 Doncaster, the carcass of which weighed, when 

 killed, 264 stone 12 pounds; and he was supposed 

 to have lost near forty stone while being exhibited 

 in London. 



Still more recently, another beast of uncommon 

 size, led by Lord Yarborough, has been exhibited 

 under the title of '■'the Lincolnshire oa';" but, 

 though bred in that county, from a favorite cow 

 belonging to Mr. Goulton, he was got by a de- 

 scendant of Comet, out of Countess, also of the 

 Durb.am breed.f This extraordinary animal mea- 

 sured five feet six inches in height at the shoulders, 

 eleven feet ten inches from the nose to the setting 

 of the tail, eleven feet one inch in girth, and three 

 feet three inches across the hips, shoulders, and 

 middle of the back; the lowest point of his breast 

 was only fourteen inches from the ground, and he 

 stood one foot ten inches between the fore legs; 

 the girth of the fore leg was nine inches. 



The variety of this breed known as the York- 

 shire Polled cattle, only difi'ers from those already 

 described, in being without horns; it is in consider- 

 able estimation among the London cow-keepers, 

 as the cows are considered capital milkers, and at 

 the same time maintain their flesh in a state nearly 

 fit for the shambles. 



St. lbs. 



* Viz. Four Quarters 165 12^ See Agricultural Sur- 



Tallow - 11 12 I vey ol' Durham, p. 



Hide - - 10 2 )-230; and Mr. Day's 



Descriptive Pamph- 



187 12 J let. 

 t The native Lincolns are described by Mr. Stone, 

 in his Survey of the countj^ as "generally large in the 

 head, horns, bones, and bellies; thick, short, and fleshy 

 in their necks and quarters; narrow in their hips, plates, 

 chines, and bosoms; high in their rumps, and their 

 shoulders not well covered; their eyes small and sunk 

 in their heads." p. 57. 



