OUR SADDLE-HORSES. 67 



facts is found in the judicious practice of keep- 

 ing down the stature of the parents — that is of 

 the bulls and cows, as is shown in the follow- 

 ing extract from a letter of the late Mr. Knight, 

 of Herefordshire, to the Board of Agriculture, 

 in which that able physiologist alludes to the 

 great difference between the size of the coivs 

 and oxen of that county. He appears in 

 this publication to take just pride in the 

 oxen, but he seems ashamed of the cows. 

 He thus writes : — " The Herefordshire breeders 

 seem unanimously agreed that a very large 

 cow, however well-formed and perfect in every 

 other respect, rarely produces a good ox ; and 

 they, therefore, justly disregard the weight and 

 intrinsic value of their cows, reckoning those 

 the best which experience has taught them are 

 best calculated to produce good oxen." Thus, 

 it follows, that the Herefordshire ox is a very 

 superior animal to the cow, often attaining 

 double the weight. I do not, however, admit 

 but that this county can show as beautiful 

 cows as any in the island, but it is the ox on 

 which it prides itself, and stands, I am con- 

 fident, without a rival. 



If so able a man as Mr. Knight could over- 



F 2 



