UEHEFOuo BRF.F.D.] CATTLE, AND TIlEIll VAUIETIES. [qloucesteii ukeed. 



this breed is more otipeoially valimble, for they 

 will fatten, as wo havo said, and supply an 

 excellent quality of flesh. Some fanners havo 

 found the North Devons to yield even a lar^o 

 produce of inillc, so that, in this particular, 

 much may depend on choice of pastura>^e. 

 In Somcrsetshiro the Devon breed prevails; 

 or at least the original breed has been greatly 

 crossed by the Devon, of which it presents 

 most of the excellences. The Somersetshire 

 cattle are alike valuable for "the pail, the 

 plough, and grazing." The tract of country 

 between Bridgewater and Cross, produces 

 cheese of well-known excellence ; the best 

 Cheddar cheese is made either in that tract 

 or the marshes round Glastonbury. 



THE HEREFORD BREED. 



Tlie Hereford improved breed, with white 

 faces, is valuable as fattening rapidly, and that 

 on ini'erior food. The flesh is fine-grained, 

 and highly prized iu the market; but the 

 cows yield a very scanty portion of milk. In 

 Gloucestershire the Herefords are preferred 

 for the teams, and by graziers for fattening ; 

 but the old Gloucester breed for milk. This 

 old breed is of mixed origin, consisting of a 

 race of Welsh descent, supposed to have been 

 crossed by various other breeds ; and among 

 them the Alderney. The rich Vale of Berkeley 

 produces the finest Gloucester cheese. The 

 present breed is a middle-horned race, to the 

 improvement of which much attention has 

 been devoted. The success of short-horned 

 breeders bas caused a healthy emulation; and 

 the difterence between the Hereford cattle 

 now exhibited, and those shown several years 

 back, not only indicates judgment and skill in 

 the breeds, but leads to the conclusion that 

 the breed, in itself, has considerable fattening 

 capabilities. The old Hereford was a deep- 

 brown animal, sometimes with a yellow cast, 

 free from white. An improved breed, how- 

 ever, now occupies the county, iu which the 

 prevailing colour is a dark red, with a white 

 face, white belly, and not unfrequently a white 

 back. The skin is less mellow and thicker 

 than that of the short-horn ; whilst the hair 

 has neither the mossy softness, nor the grace- 

 ful curl of the latter. The eye is full and 

 lively ; the chest deep and broad ; the loins 

 also broad ; and the hips well expanded ; a 



4 2f 



level, broad rump, a round barrel, and full 

 crop; full and deep flank, well ribbed home; 

 small bones, with clean and perpendicular 

 thighs. Tho belly is almont parallel with tao 

 back, and tho head is small. Colour and 

 symmetry are perhaps the predominant qualui- 

 catior.s which secure tho high favour of tho 

 breeder of this race. 



Whilst possessing all these excellences, how- 

 ever, tho Hereford breed is destitute of thoso 

 qualities which tend to produce early maturity 

 and speedy fattening. It takes on flesh of a 

 soft and mottled description on the best parts; 

 gets full in tho sirloin, rump, and crop; but 

 it shows its beef all outside; and requires 

 much more time to develop its proportions thr.u 

 the short-horned race. In milking qualities 

 the cow is even behind the short-horn ; and 

 she must, in general, be threc-and-a-hulf to 

 four years old before she can be fattened wiili 

 anything like decided success. Tho breed re- 

 quires a rich pastui'e ; and its average weight, 

 when fiit, does not exceed fifty-five to sixty- 

 five stones. Herefordshire being more abroed- 

 ing than a feeding county, the cattle are reared 

 there, and sold off at three years old, and 

 transported to the fatter lauds of Leicoster- 

 shire for the purpose of being grazed. I\Iany 

 of them are also sent into xsorthamptonshire, 

 and other rich grass districts. But, with all 

 their good qualities, it must be admitted that 

 they require from ten to twelve months more 

 to feed than the more favoured short-horn. 



Much controversy has been carried on as xo 

 the merits of tlie two breeds — the short-horu 

 and the Hereford. It must be admitted, how- 

 ever, that, while the short-horn has penetrated 

 into the heart of Scotland and the south of 

 England, and into the counties of Gloucester 

 and Norfolk, the Hereford keeps its ground. 

 A valuable breed of middle-horned cattle ex- 

 tends through South Wales ; and of this the 

 Glamorganshire variety is highly celebrated. 

 The oxen are readily fattened, and the cows 

 yield a fair quantity of milk. 



THE GLOUCESTERSHIRE BREED. 

 This is more a mixture of the long-horn and 

 middle-horn than any distinctive race — the old 

 Gloucester cow being nearly extinct. The 

 various crosses to which dairy cattle have been 

 subjected, have obliterated all traces of the 



Gil 



