1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



543* 



of the winter, thereby Hirnisliitig him with a sup- 

 ply ol the beet kiiul early in the sprinir. In the lull 

 of the year, just betbre the jrrounii closes up he 

 gathers all the cabbaijes which have not hcaJed, 

 together. He then tligs a trench eiirhteen inches 

 or more, deep, and of sufficient width to admit the 

 cabbages. He then closes the leaves together by 

 hand, winding a wisp of straw or something else 

 around them to keep them together ; and then 

 puts them into this trench, with heads down and 

 roots up. He then packs straw or leaves, and 

 earth snug about them, and rounds up the earth 

 over them. The trench should be dug in a place 

 where the water of the rains and the snows runs 

 off', and will not stand about them. A board, or a 

 couple of boards, nailed together in the form of"a 

 roof and put over the mound, may be useful. 



In the spring of the year open your trench, and 

 you will find that your cabbages are all headed 

 firmly together, and if the water has not got in, 

 will be solid and hard, JMr. Vance, has had the 

 goodness to send us a few heads which he has 

 formed in this way, which were very nice. By 

 following this plan, we not only preserve the cab- 

 bages well during the winter, but save much of 

 the crop which is not considered worth much. 



SAVING GREEN PEAS. 



From tlie same. 



Mr. Vance informs us that he preserves green 

 peas for wiiiter use, simply by shelling them and 

 putting them into botiles, and corking tliem very 

 tiizhtly. They should be used as soon as the bot- 

 tle is open. In this way you may have green peas 

 all winter, if you like. 



IMPROVED DURHAM SHORT-HORNS. 



From tlie Whip. 



For every portion of the text in this excellent 

 account of the short-horns, we are indebted to the 

 Rev. Henry Berry, than whom there are k\v more 

 zealous breeders of cattle, while there is no better 

 judffe of them. 



Whatsoever differences of opinion may prevail 

 respecting the comparative merits of our several 

 breeds of cattle, it must be admitted that the short- 

 horns present themselves to notice under circum- 

 stances of peculiar interest. Possessing in an em- 

 inent degree a combination of qualities which have 

 generally been considered imcompatible, and ren- 

 dered irresistibly attractive to the eye by their 

 splendid frames, and beautilijily varied colors, it is 

 not surprising that they have become objects of 

 public curiosity ; that they have realized fer their 

 breeders enormous sums of money ; and that, 

 throughout our own island, and in every Ibreign 

 country where agriculture is attended to, tliey are 

 in increasing request. 



It might lend to throw much light on the science 

 of feeding, could these animals be traced, in the 

 progress of their improvement, to an earlier period 

 than has hitherto been luund possible. Of the 

 extent ofihat improvement we may, however, form 

 an estimate, by placing together one of the im- 

 proved, and one of the unitnproved race. We 

 should, in such a case, discover resemblance just 



sufficient to support the belief in a very remote 

 alliance, but there all similaiiiy would cease. 



From the earliest periods as to which we have 

 any accounts of our breeds o( cattle, the counties of 

 Durhatn and York have been celebrated lijr their 

 short-horns, but princijially, in the first instance, on 

 account of their reputation as extraordinary milkers. 

 Before this, a large and valuable description of 

 cattle had existed on the western coast ol the con- 

 tinent of Europe, and extending from Denmark to 

 the confines of France. They were celebrated 

 [or the great quantities of milk which they yielded, 

 and some of them exhibited an extraordinary 

 aptitude to fatten. At what particular titire they 

 found their way to England, or by whom they 

 were imported, is unknown ; but there is a tra- 

 dition that, towards the close of the seventeenth 

 century, a bull and some cows were introduced 

 into Holderness. 



In external form, there appeared to be very 

 little to recommend them, for thej^ had large 

 shoulders and coarse necks ; the sides were ffat, 

 and the head was thick ; all the coarse parts were 

 bulky, and the prime ones were reduced in size, 

 and they were almost the reverse of what the ag- 

 riculturist would select : they were, however, bul- 

 kier than the native breeds, and they were better 

 milkers than the generality of the cattle of that 

 day. They would, by dint of feeding, grow to an 

 enormous size ; but they had not the aptitude to 

 fatten, nor the early maturity, to v.'hich they have 

 been since indebted for their triumph over every 

 other breed. To recire their recorded feats at the 

 pail would he to invite incredulity; but it may be as- 

 serted, on the best evidence, that, taken as a breed, 

 they have never in that particular been equalled. 

 The cattle so distinguished were always, as now, 

 very different from the improved race. They 

 were generally ol' large size, thin-skinned, sleek- 

 haired, bad handlers, rat her delicate in constitution, 

 coarse in the offal, and strikingly defective in the 

 substance of girth in the fore-quarters. As milk- 

 ers, they were most excellent ; but when put to 

 fatten, as the foregoing description will indicate, 

 were found slow feeders, producing an inferior 

 quality ofnieat, not marbled or mixed as to fat and 

 lean, and, in some cases, thelatter was found of a 

 particularly dark hue. Such, also, are the unim- 

 proved-short-horns of the present day, and the 

 distinction cannot be too frequently asserted, 

 because they are, in many cases, considered as 

 specimens of the imf)roved breed, and have actu- 

 ally been resorted to in trials as to the comparative 

 aptiiude of animals to fallen — trials wiiich it is 

 evident they could not successfully sustain. 



A period of more than eighty years has now 

 elapsed, since the short -horns, on tlie banks of llie 

 river Tees, hence called the Teeswaler breed, had 

 assumed a very different character to that con- 

 tained in the foregoing description. In color, they 

 resembled ihe improved short-horns, being occa- 

 sionally red, red and white, and roan, though the 

 last named color was not then so prevalent as 

 now. They possessed a fine mellow skin and 

 flesh, good hair, and liirht ofl^al, particularly Avide 

 carcasses, and fore-quariers of extraordinary debth 

 and capacity. Perhaps no closer modern resem- 

 blance can be found to the above description of the 

 Teeswater breed than iMr. Berry's bull presents. 

 His dam was purchased by Mr. B. on account of 

 the very fijw crosses that intervened between her 



