1016 



PRACTICE OP AGRICULTURE. 



III. 



x--- 



by retaining its juices, is the best adapted for such long voyages. Our royal navy should also be victualled 

 ir<»m these ; but, from the jo)i» made by contractors, and from other abuses, it is feared our honest tars 

 are often fed with beef •<: an inferior quality ; however, the coal ships from Newcastle, Shields, Sunder. 

 land, Sec, are wholly supplied with the beef Ol these valuable animals. These oxen commonly weigh from 

 60 to llHi stone (14 lbs. to the stone ; and they have several times been fed to 120, 130, and some particular 

 ones to upwards of ISO stone, the fore-quarters only. t <'«//»•//, p. 48.) 



6781. In comparing the breed* of long «»<i short horned cattle, Culley observes that the long-horns 

 excel in the thickness and firm texture of the hide, in the length and closeness of the hair, in their beef 

 being finer.grained, and more mixed and marbled than that of the short-horns, in weighing more in pro- 

 portion to their size, and in giving richer milk ; but they are inferior to the short-horns, in giving a less 

 quantity of milk, In weighing leas upon the whole, in affording less tallow when killed, in being generally 

 slower feeders, and in being coarser made and more leathery or bullish in the under side of the neck. In 

 few words, says he, the long-horns excel in the hide, hair, and quality of the beef; the short-horns in the 

 quantity of beef, tallow, and milk. Each breed has long had, anil probably may have, its particular 

 advocates ; but if he may hazard a conjecture, is it not probable that both kinds may have their particular 

 advantages in different situations? Why not the thick firm hides, and long close-set hair, of the one kin.! 

 be a protection and security against those impetuous winds and heavy rains to which the west coast of 

 this island is so subject ; while the more regular seasons and mild climate upon the east coast are more 

 suitable to the constitutions of the short-horns. 



'~yj. The middle-horned breeds comprehend, in like manner, several local varieties, of which the most 

 noted are the Devons, the Sussezes, and the Hereford! ; the last two, according to Culley, being varieties 

 of the first, though of a greater size, the Herefords being the largest These cattle are trie most esteemed 

 of all our breeds for the draught, on account of their activity and hardiness ; they do not milk so well as 

 the short-horns, but are not deficient in the valuable property of feeding at an early age, when not 

 employed in labour. 

 oT^J. The Devonshire cattle (Jig. 8570 are of a high red colour (if any white spots they reckon the breed 

 g^7 / i impure, particularly if those spots run one into another , 



with a light-dun ring round the eye, and the muzzle of 

 the same colour, fine in the bone, clean in the neck, 

 horns of a medium length, bent upwards, thin-faced, 

 and fine in the chops, wide in the hips, a tolerable 

 barrel, but rather flat on the sides, tail small, and set on 

 very high; they are thin-skinned, and silky in handling, 

 feed at an early age, or arrive at maturity sooner than 

 most other breeds. (Culley, p. 51.) Another author 

 observes, that they are a model for all persons whj 

 breed oxen for the yoke (Parkinson on Line Slue/., 

 vol. i. p. 112.) The weight of the cows is usuallv from 

 SO to 40 stone, and of the oxen from 40 to 60; the'Xoith 

 Devon variety, in particular, from the fineness in the 

 grain of the meat, is held in high estimation in Smith- 

 field. (Dickson's Practical Agriculture, voL ii. p. 1°.0.) 

 67S4. I.awtence says that the race of red cattle of North Devon and Somerset is doubtless one of our 

 original breeds, and one of those which have preserved most of their primitive form : the excellence of 

 this form for labour is best proved by the fact, that the fashionable substitution of horses has made no 

 progress in the district of these cattle, by their high repute as feeders, and for the superior excellence of 

 their beef, which has been acknowledged for ages. They are, he says, the speediest working-oxen in 

 England, and will trot well in harness ; in point of strength, they stand in the fourth or fifth class. They 

 have a greater resemblance to deer than any other breed of neat cattle. They are rather wide than middle- 

 horned, as they are sometimes called ; some, however, have regular middle-horns, that is, neither short 

 nor long, turned upward and backward at the points. As milkers, they are so far inferior to both the long 

 and short horns, both in quantity and quality of milk, that they are certainly no objects for the regular 

 dairy, however pleasing and convenient they may be in the private family way. 

 6785. The Sussex and Herefordshire cattle (fig. 858.) are of a deep red colour, with fine hair and very thin 



hides ; neck and head cltan, the fact 

 8d8 usually white ; horns neither long nor 



short, rather turning up at the points ; in 

 general, they are well made in the hind 

 quarters, wide across the hips, rump, and 

 sirloin, but narrow in the chine ; tolerably 

 straight along the back, ribs too flat, thin 

 in the thigh, and bone not large. An ox, 

 six years old, will weigh, when fat, from 

 60 to 100 stone, the fore-quarters gene- 

 rally the heaviest : the oxen are mostly 

 worked from three to six years old, some- 

 times till seven, when they are turned off 

 for feeding. The Hereford cattle are 

 next in size to the Yorkshire short-horns: 

 both this and the Gloucester variety are 

 highly eligible as dairy stock, and the 

 females of the Herefords have been found to fatten better at three years old than any other kind of cattle 

 except the spayed heifers of Norfolk. (Marshal's Economy of Gloucestershire.) 

 6780. The polled or hornless breeds. The most numerous and esteemed variety is the Galloway breed 

 859 (fig- 859.), so called from the province of that name, in the 



south-west of Scotland, where they most abound. The 

 true Galloway bullock " is straight and broad on the back, 

 and nearly level from the head to the rump, broad at the 

 loins, not, however, with hooked bones, or projecting 

 knobs, so that when viewed from above, the whole body 

 appears beautifully rounded ; he is long in the quarters, 

 but not broad in the tw ist ; he is deep in the chest, short 

 in the leg, and moderately fine in the bone, clean in the 

 chop and in the neck ; his head is of a moderate size, with 

 large rough ears, and full but not prominent eyes, or heavy 

 eyebrows, so that he has a calm though determined look ; 

 his well proportioned form is clothed with a loose and mel- 

 low skin, adorned with long soft glossy hair." (Gal/oivay 

 Kiport, p. 'J.J6.) The prevailing colour is black or dark 

 brindled, and, though they are occasionally found of every 

 colour, the dark colours are uniformlv preferred, from a belief that they are connected with superior hardi- 

 ne.-s of constitution. The Galloways a're rather undersized, not very different from the size of the Devons, 

 but as much cess than the long-horns, as the long-horns are less than the short-horns. On the best farms, 



