2P,6 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[March 31 



NEW ENGLAND FARM^:R. 



FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1826. 



BREEDS OF CATTLE. 



(Conlinucd from page 271.) 

 In O'lr In't oli^ervalions on this subject we 

 cited some British autlioritles intrnded to slioiv 

 llie estimation in whicli l!>e Improved Durham 

 Shorthorn nice of cattle is held by the best 

 judges in Grent Britain. We sliail inniie I'nrlh- 

 er oxiracts from English writers, and then pro- 

 ceed to American testimonials relative to this 

 variety ol' the most tispfnl of domestic animals. 

 "■ The Short-horned cattle, which arc remark- 

 able for their large size and abundant sujiply nl 

 milk, prevail universally throiighnul the East 

 Hiding [of \ ork«hire]. This breed appears to 

 be similar to that o{ the United I'rovince«, and 

 the north-western parts of Germany, and has 

 probably been introduced thence at some dis- 

 tant period into Holderness, whence it has ex- 

 tenilcd itself to distant parts of the kingdom. 



" About seventy or eightv vears hjo. one of 

 the St. Qiiinlin family mtroduced a bull and 

 some cows from Holslein, which were similar 

 in appearance to those already in Holderness, 

 but possessed some qualities superior to them : 

 ol' these the descendants could be traced for 

 many years afterwards in the neighbourhood oi 

 Lovvthorpe where they were kept. 



" The cows of the unimproved, or original 

 rioliterncss breed are of a very large size and 

 strong bone, have wide hips, a thick hide and 

 flat sides, with but little disposition to become 

 tat, but give a great quantity of milk, the gen- 

 erality affording from two to three gallons twice 

 n day. Many indeed may be found, which give 

 <>igbt gallons per day, and there are instances 

 of a s'lll greater quantity. 



" The late Sir George Strickland, Bart, was 

 the (irst im|>rover of the breed of Sbnrt-horneu 

 cattle in the East Ridmg, having been arduously 

 engaged m ibis pursuit lor the last forty years 

 of his lite; and the [)rices which the breeding 

 stO';k on his farm sold for. subsequently to his 

 death, in 1800, (the highest which had ever 

 been given for cattle otlhis breed nt that peri- 

 od,) evinced that his endeavours liad been at- 

 tendnd with success. 



'^ Of later years several others have adopted 

 the same pursuit, and it is now become very 

 fashionalile, and likely to elTcct a great and per- 

 manent improvement in the cattle of the Riding. 

 One very excellent stock of Short-horns was in- 

 troduced into the Riding a few years since by 

 r.]i- George Coales ol' Driffield, who exhibited 

 to the public a beautiful heifer as a specimen 

 of it, and who has since sold a bull of the same 

 breed for 500 guineas. 



" 1\1 any bulls have latterly been purchased 

 and hired into the East Riding at high prices 

 from the nei2;libonrhood of Darlington in the 

 Couniy of Durham, where a much superior 

 hreed of Short bnrns are fouiiil, possessing all 

 the pert'nrtions and qualities which are wanting 

 in the II ilderness breed. They are sball in 

 size, lighter in the bone and hide, and have a 

 much greater propensity to become fat." 



The above extracts are from " C'ullcy on 

 Live Stock," a work of high reputation in Eng- 

 land, tbnn^-li we have never seen, nor been able 

 to procure it. We quote them from an article 

 in " jMemoirs of the Pennsylvania Agricultural 



Society," headed " Culley on Live Stock," page 

 74. 



The Supplement to the Encyclopedia Brit- 

 anica says "The Short-horned, called the Dutch, 

 is known by a variety of names from the districts 

 where they form the principal stock, or where 

 much attention has been paid to their improve- 

 ment. Different families of this race are thus 

 distinguished by the names of the Holderness, 

 the Teeswater, the Yorkshire, the Durham, 

 Northumberland and other breeds. The Tees- 

 water breed, a variety ot the ShorlHorns, es- 

 tablished on the banks of the Tees at the head 

 of the vale of York, is at present in the highest 

 estimation, and is alleged to be the true York- 

 shire Sborl-Horned breed. P.ulls and cows from 

 this stock, purchased at the most extraordinary 

 prices, are spread over the north of England 

 and the border counties of Scotland. The bone, 

 head, and necks of these cattle are fine — the 

 hide is very thin — the chine full — the loin broad, 

 and the carcass throughout large and well fash- 

 ioned, and the flesh and fattening quality equal 

 or perhaps superior to any other large breed 



with the New England cattle of the present pe" 

 riod; nor how much food the improved con- 

 sumed, when compared with the unimproved, 

 (for one breed might feed faster than the other 

 in the s,;me pasture) nor which was the best 

 quality, Mr Walton's two years' old, or his three 

 years' old beef. But every farmer will allow 

 that the saving of one year's g-roi'f/i in kif^ beef 

 cattle is worth thinking of and looking to. .And 

 if in all cases, we were to refuse to choose or 

 to act, till we were certain of the result of our 

 choice or actions, we should make very slow 

 progress in the path of improvement. 



It should seem that Mr Walton's improved, 

 (and unimproved breeds, lor lie kept them 

 alike) were not very highly fed. This will ap- 

 pear from the following extracts from '-Bailey's 

 Survey." 



" Mr Walton has, for the last six years, sold 

 his oxen about midsummer, 2^ years old. for 20 

 to £21 each. [jj588,88 to $93.5.3] their'weight 

 from 50 to 54 stone [700 to 756 lbs.] 



'•Their keeping is as follows; the cows sel- 

 I dom calve sooner than April, the calves get new 



The Short Horns give a greater quantity of i milk for the lirst three weeks, after that a mod- 

 niilk than any other cattle — a cow usually -- '- •'■•■ -'" -- "-J -<■ i ... • , 



yielding 24 quarts per day and 3 iirkins [168 



lbs.] of butter in a season. Their beef is used 

 lor the East India ships, being thicker, it retains 

 its juices belter in long voyages." 



In Bailey's Survey of Durham, this breed is 

 spoken of in terms of high approbation. W'e 

 have heretofore published extracts from that 

 ivork [see New England Farmer vol. ii. p. 211] 

 in which are given the dimensions and weights 

 of the famous Durham Ox, and some other cat- 

 tle of that race. We shall here give farther 

 extracts from the same work. 



"Mr. Walton has great merit in improving 

 the stock of this district, which was uncommonly 

 bad before ho began to hire bulls of Mr Mason, 

 and to purchase cows of the improved breed. 



'' He sometimes buys in calves of the unim- 

 ()rovcd, or old breed of the country, and tinils 

 that his own, at two years old get fatter and lit- 

 ter for the butcher than the others do at three, 

 though kept and fed exactly alike. 



" it is a common practice among the breed- 

 ers of the improveil short horns, and which 1 

 first otiserved at Mr WeiherilPs at Field House, 

 near Darlington, to put the year old heifers to 

 the bull the beginning of .Tuly, so as to calve 

 not later than the middle of May; the calves 

 run with and suck their dams until August ; the 

 cows are then put upon fog [atleigrass] fed 

 through the winter with turnips, and sold to the 

 butchers in May and June following for £25. 

 [;>111,1I] on an average, which with the value 

 of the call", cannot be reckoned at less than 30/. 

 [$133,33] lor a three years old heiler." 



It has been suggested that the cause of the 

 quick growth and facility of fattening of the im- 

 proved short horns may be found in the superi- 

 or keeping with which they have usually been 

 indulged. But Mr Walton's method above re- 

 cited, of buying in calves of the unimproved 

 breed, and keeping them exactly like (he improv- 

 ed short horned calves of his own stork would 

 seem to bring the question to something like a 

 decision, as regards the superiority of the latter 

 for beef. But, it maybe said that we do not 

 know what sort of calves Mr Walton was in the 

 habit of " buying in ;" nor how the unimprov 



erate quantity of scalded skimmed milk, mixed 

 with oil cake boiled in water, about two quarts 

 of each along with good hay, for about -six 

 weeks; after which they do very well in the 

 pastures without any kind of hand feeding until 

 the latter end of November, when they are tied 

 up and fed with straw and turnips until the be- 

 ginning of x\pril, from which time they get hay 

 till the pastures are ready. The mode of pro- 

 ceeding is exactly the same through the next 

 year, to the time of selling ; they never got oil 

 cake or corn." 



We will now advert to the qualities of the 

 short horns as milkers. The Supplement to 

 the Encyclopedia Brittannica states that a cow 

 of this breed, usually, yields 24 quarts of milk 

 per day, and 168 pounds of butter a season. — 

 Marshall, [as quoted by Col. Pickering, N. E. 

 Farmer, vol. iii. p. 297] in his Rural Economy 

 of Yorkshire, says that a good cow »vas calculat- 

 ed to yield 3 Iirkins of butter [168 lbs.] and 50 

 pounds of skim milk cheese; but he adds, thai 

 taking a whole dairy of cows, in which heifers 

 were intermixed 2J (irkins [140 lbs ] per cow 

 were estimated a good produce, taking the dai- 

 ry round. Y'orkshire is the district of short 

 horns, but it is a matter of doubt whether the 

 improved breed liad been introduced at the time 

 Marshall wrote. .According to Lawrence " this 

 improvement commenceil sometime in the eight- 

 eenth century with the precise date of which 

 we are unacquainted." Bailey's Survey says, 

 " It has been already stated that the short horn- 

 ed cattle were great milkers; iliis cannot be said 

 of the variety zchich has anch an npliiude to fatten, 

 tor though they give a great quantity for some 

 time alter calving, they decline considerably af- 

 terwards ; but the variety of great milkers is 

 yel to be found, wherever the dairy is the chief 

 object, and this variety is as caretuily preserv- 

 ed and pursued, as the graziers do that ol' the 

 fatting tribe. It is very common for cows of 

 this breed to give in the beginnings of summer, 

 thirty quarts a day, and there are particular in- 

 stances of more. Where the object is selling . 

 milk, they are probably superior to any breed 

 in the kingdom; but in respect to butter and 

 cheese there are some doubts whether they are 



ed cuttle of Yorkshire ia 18O0 would compare ' entitled to claim a superiority or not, as the 



