11 



CHAPTER I. 



NATURAL HISTORY AND GENERAL AOCOONT OF THE OX. 



Of all those sources of wealth open to the agriculturist, and 

 more particularly to the British farmer, perhaps the most 

 important and the most reliable is the breeding and fattening 

 of cattle for the meat-market. It is undeniable that these 

 animals are very closely connected with the comforts — nay, 

 even almost with the very continuance, of human life. In- 

 deed, it is a fact which cannot well be too strongly insisted 

 upon, that the animals of the farm must now-a-days be looked 

 upon as the chief means whereby the pursuit of agriculture 

 may be rendered a profitable and remunerative avocation in 

 these islands. As years roll on, it becomes more and still more 

 obvious that Great Britain and Ireland must be converted, so 

 far as may be possible, into pastoral countries. Wherever it 

 may be found practicable to transform arable soil into grazing 

 land, no time should be lost in eiFecting the change. So long 

 as freights are as low as they are at the present time, when it 

 is even the case that large quantities of grain are actually 

 brought over as ballast, it seems well-nigh impossible that 

 the growing of grain can be a profitable course of action for 

 the British farmer. Indeed, we may suspect that corn will tend 

 to remain as cheap as at present, or that it may even become 

 cheaper ; for in many parts of the world new corn-lands are 

 being cultivated. By way of example we may point out that 

 India has developed this industry in a large degree within recent 

 years, and that it is now rapidly becoming a great corn-growing 

 country. From the foregoing considerations it will be concluded 

 that it is a point of great importance that British farmers 

 should clearly recognize the fact that the breeding and rearing 

 of horses, and the breeding and fattening of cattle and sheep, 



