CATTLE-BBEEDING.] CxiTTLE, AND THEIK YAEIETIES. [cattle-breeding. 



dead, that their quality was unsurpassed, and 

 that the heifers were frequently bulled by their 

 own grandfather, or the cow by her grandson ; 

 and this was no more irregular than the wild 

 habits of the whole herd at Chillingham, where 

 the daughter, if not the grand- daughter, must 

 breed with the grandsire or the sire." Mr. 

 Colling, already alluded to, bred his animals in 

 very close affinity. Mr. Mason, of Chilton, 

 second only to Mr. Colling, was an in-and-in 

 breeder ; and every agriculturist is now aware 

 of the success which crowned the persevering 

 efforts of these gentlemen. The system of 

 crossing is that which is quite opposite to con- 

 sanguineous breeding ; and when two animals 

 entu-ely distinct, breed with each other, an 

 independent variety is the result, and this is 

 called either a mule or a hybrid, "Where the 

 zoological distinction between animals takes 

 place beyond a given range, Nature steps in, 

 and suffers no farther admixture of the species. 

 The mule is almost invariably non-producing ; 

 and although the union of a mule and female, 

 of different qualities, will occasionally produce 

 an excellent combination of the qualities of 

 both, with, perhaps, a fair proportion of uni- 

 formity, still the union of these again amongst 

 themselves will not be so happy. Indeed, they 

 are likely to throw only mongrels, differing 

 even widely from each other, and no more like 

 their parents, than an ordinary piece of frail 

 humanity might be considered to be to Her- 

 cules. Eor example, a cross was tried between 

 the hard-working Devon and the fat-accumu- 

 lating Hereford; but it was a failure. The 

 strength and activity of the former were no- 

 ivJiere; whilst the fattening qualities of the 

 latter were not obtained. A similar cross with 

 the Albany was also a failure ; as was another 

 cross between the Hereford and the Kyloe. A 

 cross between the short-horn bull and the 

 Ayrshire cow, only takes the latter from the 

 dairy, and gives her to the butcher. 



The most successful cross ever made, was 

 between the Galloway cattle and the improved 

 short-horn, efi'eetcd by Mr. Colling. He put 

 one of his short-horn bulls to a well-selected 

 Galloway cow; and the produce was a bull. 

 He proceeded no further with this cross, but 

 carried the blood to his short-horn herd. To 

 Ih'is bull he put a short-horn heifer, with a 

 large accession of Hubback blood. The pro- 

 656 



duce of this union was another bull, the sire 

 of his cow Lady, which, at his sale, sold for 

 206 guineas. Erom this cross, the probability 

 is, that the straight back, the round form, and 

 the wide hips were, in some degree, due to this 

 Galloway cross, as well as that shortness of 

 leg, which is the most striking defect of the 

 Teeswater cattle, and which the CoUings were 

 so anxious to improve. . This cross, notwith- 

 standing its encroachments upon the purity of 

 the blood, is certainly a most successful and 

 most judicious instance; for where a large and 

 strong-framed animal is covex'ed with a short- 

 horn bull, not only quality, but readiness to 

 fatten is imparted. To proceed further is, 

 perhaps, not wise. Attempting a system of 

 crossing with milk-produciug cows, is con- 

 sidered both unnatural and absurd ; but thei-e 

 is no sort of large-framed animal intended for 

 the grazier, which might not be improved by a 

 cross, for one generation, with the short-horn. 

 "With the smaller West Highland cattle, even 

 for grazing, reasonable doubts may be enter- 

 tained. They live in a bleak and comparatively 

 sterile district, to which a dash of short-horn 

 blood, however small, could hardly ever accom- 

 modate itself; but, to the larger Scotch breeds, 

 the same sentiment does not apply, as a single 

 crossing would be invaluable. This is instanced 

 in the case of a cross between a short-horn 

 bull and a large Aberdeenshire cow, to which 

 was awarded a prize by the Highland and 

 Agricultural Society of Scotland. The live 

 weight of this cow was 224 stone, of 14> lbs. 

 to the stone ; and she weighed when killed, 

 173 stone 3 lbs. 



In considering this subject of crossing, some 

 very singular facts have been discovered. 

 These have been arranged and classified ; they 

 exhibit a kind of phenomenon so extraordinary, 

 that they cannot fail forcibly to strike the 

 mind of every person who has given the 

 slightest attention to this matter. It would 

 seem that, when a pure-bred animal has been 

 once impregnated by one of another breed, 

 the one impregnated is thereby, for ever after- 

 wards, a cross, and may be expected, for the 

 future, to produce cross-bred, and no more 

 pure-bred young. But the idea is capable of 

 still further extension ; for a female animal will 

 always produce young that will have a strong 

 resemblance, in character, to tlie animal by 



