TORKsiuuE cow.] CATTLE, AND TIIEIK VAlilETIES. [alukunev diiked. 



and prominent, but that and the shoulders thin ; 

 the neck somewhat narrow, but full below the 

 shoulders, and without any loose skin; the 

 barrel soniewliat round; the belly capacious ; 

 milk-vein larj^e ; back perfectly straight ; rump 

 wide, and llat as a table ; tail small, and m'^ 

 on so that there is almost a straight lino from 

 the tail to the head. The prevallinrj colour is 

 roan, or red and white; and sometimes white, 

 with the tips of the ears red. The thighs are 

 thin; but the legs are straight and rather 

 short. The udder is very large and muscular, 

 projecting forwards, well fdlcd-up behind, and 

 so broad as to give the cow the appearance of 

 a waddle in her walking." Indeed, her qualities 

 are not inappropriately described in some 

 doggerel lines often quoted ; and two of the 

 verses we shall venture to give, as most aptly 

 descriptive of the Yorkshire cow : — 



" She's broad in her ribs, and long in her rump, 

 A straight and flat back without ever a hump 

 She's wide in her hips, and calm in her eyes ; 

 She's fine in her shoulders, and thin in her thighs. 



" She's light in her neck, and small in her tail; 

 She's wide in her breast, and good at the pail ; 

 She's fine in her bone, and silky of skin ; 

 She's a grazier's without, and a b\itcher's within." 



Tiie quantity of milk given by these cows by 

 far exceeds that of any others, though less, 

 perhaps, than that of some others i?i j^i'oportion 

 to size. Mr. Milburn says that he has had 

 instances where as much as thirty quarts per 

 day, in summer, have been given. The dis- 

 tended udder has so swollen before calving — 

 "wedged" is the local and technical term — 

 that one was obliged to be milked several days 

 before she calved; and, after calving, had to be 

 milked three times a day, for fear of the conse- 

 quences of an over-distended udder. Moreover, 

 she gave a large quantity of butter as well as 

 milk ; and soon after calving she has given 

 fifteen pounds per week. When the Yorkshire 

 cow is purchased for the London dairies, it is 

 generally after she has had her third calf, wlien 

 the milk changes its character, and becomes 

 less infused with butyraceous qualities. This 

 arises from her no longer having tlie run of her 

 rich native pastures to graze upon. The object 

 of the London dairyman, and those of other 

 large towns, is not to improve the quality, but 

 to increase the quantity, of the milk ; and 

 hence the animals are fed with brewers' grains, 



boiled linseed, &c., &c. ; and the out-door exer- 

 cise is restricted, so that their powers of secre* 

 tion all converge to the production of milk 

 alone. Considering all these thin;:;w, and taking 

 into account the carcass value? of tlie cow after 

 slie has yielded her copious supplies of milk, it 

 is not too much to aOlrm that there is no breed 

 of the vaccine race so nrofitable as the York- 

 shire cow. 



THE ALDERNEY BREED. 



Among the short-horned race must be enu- 

 merated that singular breed of catllo called 

 Alderneys, which has gained, and deserves, a 

 degree of celebrity from the peculiar richness 

 of the milk afforded by the cows. These cattle 

 were originally from Normandy and the islands 

 on the French coast, from one of which 

 (Alderney) they take their name. They are 

 small in size, awkwardly shaped, with a peculiar 

 bend in the back, and, in every point, more or 

 less defective. The milk yielded is not great 

 in quantity, but abounds with butter ; and it is 

 from its richness that these animals are fa- 

 vourites. Improbable as it might seem, from 

 the appearance of the Alderney, its aptitude to 

 fatten is remarkable. Even the cows, when 

 dried, soon gain flesh, and will attain to con- 

 siderable weight. It is chiefly in pleasure- 

 grounds, and the paddocks attached to the 

 houses of persons not engaged in forming for 

 profit, that cows of this breed are to be scqu. 

 In Hampshire alone the Alderney breed is 

 general, constituting the stock of the farmer. 

 It would appear that it is more suited to tho 

 pasturage of that county than other vaccina 

 animals which require richer grazing grounds, 

 consume a large quantity of food, and return a 

 disproportionate supply of milk. 



The qualities of the Alderney breed being 

 exclusively milk-producing, it cannot be ex- 

 pected that they will be remarkable for any 

 great beauty of form. Indeed, until within 

 the last thirty years, a more ill-formed animal 

 could hardly bo conceived. Its characters 

 were large cheeks, thin, hollow neck, flat sides, 

 hollow back, thin hams, long between hip and 

 ribs, drooping rump, high shoulders, crooked 

 legs, and tapering chest. Such were its 

 characters ; but, as amongst mankind, there is 

 many a good head under an old hat, and many 

 a white skin under a poor garb ; so in the 



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