GALLOWAYS.] 



CATTLE, AA^D THEIR VAEIETIES. 



[ayrshiees. 



animal' — viz., cut clover, mangel-wurzel, hay, 

 bean-meal, turnips, and a little oil-cake, for 

 vphicli he had no relish whatever. Mr. Quarl 

 says of this animal, that his " fat was distributed 

 in an uncommonly equable manner, of a colour 

 resembling the finest grass butter, and as firm 

 as wax; the Iyer (muscle) was in ample pro- 

 portion, bright in colour, of fine texture, and 

 beautifully marbled by admixture of his excel- 

 lent fat." 



THE ABERDEENSHIRE BREED. 



The Aberdeenshire" Doddies," as this breed 

 are called, are a polled, or hornless I'ace ; and 

 being bad, or, at least, very indifferent milkers, 

 they are usually passed over to the grazier, and 

 highly fattened in their native county. They 

 are also purchased by the Norfolk and Lei- 

 cestershire grazier for the purpose of high 

 feeding, and attain the weight of eighty, and 

 even one hundred stones, when five or six 

 years old. Like all the hardy Scotch cattle, 

 they form their flesh on the back. Their 

 colour is generally black, bat sometimes red 

 the head is fine ; the eye full and clear ; the 

 breast deep ; and the back not quite straight, 

 being somewhat depressed at the loin, and 

 inclining to be narrow. 



THE GALLOWAY BREED. 



In the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, together 

 with part of Ayrshire and Dumfries, forming 

 tlie old province of Gralloway, a beautiful polled 

 or hornless breed of cattle exists, highly 

 esteemed for many excellences. In figure they 

 are admirable, excepting that the neck of the 

 bull is almost too thick ; but the chest is deep, 

 tlie limbs clean and short, the back straight, 

 and the body round. Black is the prevailing 

 colour. These cattle exceed the Argyle breed 

 in size. Tiiey fatten well and quickly, and 

 their flesh is excellent. "Eevv cattle sell so 

 high in the London market ; and it is no 

 uncommon thing to see one of these little 

 bullocks outsell a coarse Lincolnshire bullock, 

 although the latter is heavier by several 

 stones." The Galloway cattle are remarkable 

 for gentleness; and robust and milscular as 

 the bulls are, one of mischievous habits and 

 bad temper is seldom met with. la the Cij- 

 clopcEcUa of Ac/riculture, edited by IMr. Morton, 

 we fiud it stated that the Galloway is some- 

 648 



times called a Kyloe without horns, from the 

 great resemblance which these animals bear 

 to each other. The Galloways, however, have 

 already had to yield to the short-horns in 

 those parts of their native district where 

 the turnip husbandry can bo prosecuted to 

 advantage; while the Ayrshires have justly 

 supplanted them for the dairy ; but, in those 

 parts where the rearing of grazing-cattle is 

 found the more suitable practice, they still 

 reign unrivalled, and should be carefully pre- 

 served as a distinct breed. 



THE AYRSHIRE BREED. 



This valuable breed of middle-horned cattle 

 exceeds, perhaps, any breed of dairy-fed cows 

 in the kingdom ; but they are small in size, 

 and unsymmetrical in their forms. Their 

 milk is extremely rich, though somewhat oily 

 in its nature. They fatten more rapidly than 

 many other races of cattle ; for, when the buty- 

 raceous deposit is stopped by drying, the system 

 soon accustoms itself to secrete fat, which they 

 acquire on a pasture inferior to that required 

 by more tender animals. They are, however, 

 in small estimation with the grazier, although, 

 when the cow is coupled with a short-horn 

 bull, a valuable grazing animal is produced. 

 Many farmers in the west of Scotland practise 

 this successfully on a large scale. 



There is no description of the race equal 

 to that given by Mr. Alton, whose work on 

 Dairy Husbandry so far exceeds any other, 

 that it is generally quoted, even at the present 

 day : — " Head small, but rather long and narrow 

 at the muzzle ; the eye small, but smart and 

 lively ; the horns small, clear, crooked, and, at 

 their roots, placed at a considerable distance 

 from each other ; neck long and slender, taper- 

 ing towards the head, with no loose skin below ; 

 shoulders thin ; fore quarters light ; hind quar- 

 ters large; back straight, broad behind; the 

 joints rather loose and open; carcass deep, 

 and pelvis capacious, and wide over the hips, 

 with round fleshy buttocks; tail long and 

 small ; legs small and short, with firm joints ; 

 udder capacious, broad, and square, stretching 

 forward, and neither fleshy, low hung, nor 

 loose; the milk-veins large and prominent; 

 teats short, all pointing outwards, and at a 

 considerable distance from each other; skin 

 thin and soft; hair soft and woolly. Tlie 



