DIFFERENT BREEDS OF OXEN. 95 



<5oarse ; but the skin is mellow. It is an easy matter to rear 

 ihem, and they can be readily fattened when they are taken 

 to good pasture. Frequently they are fed on very scanty diet. 

 It is the general opinion that the breed of Anglesey cattle, like 

 that of Glamorgan, has somewhat deteriorated. The Anglesey 

 cattle have not improved by being crossed, and certainly not 

 by being crossed with the Irish oxen, which have been bought 

 in numbers by the farmers on account of their cheapness. The 

 breed is improving, and, when growing, the oxen are allowed a 

 sufficient amount of food. Many Anglesey oxen are prepared 

 for the London market in the midland counties and near London. 

 Like the Scotch cattle, they thrive fairly well where an English 

 beast would starve. Many yearlings come from Anglesey, and 

 very few oxen remain there after they are three years old. The 

 three-year-olds are the most valuable for the English grazier. 

 They are eventually brought to the market when weighing from 

 -60 to even 100 stones, and their flesh is more valuable than is 

 that of larger cattle. 



In Anglesey and throughout the greater part of North Wales, 

 the black cattle were formerly extensively used for the plough, 

 ■and even on the road. They were at once docile and hardy. 

 They are now scarcely at all employed in this manner. 



They have a very noble appearance. Formerly they were not 

 cut until they were a year old, and hence they gained a fierce 

 bull-like form about the head and dewlap, a projection of the 

 breast, a lofty bearing of the head, a haughty look and a stateli- 

 ness of gait. Early castration, however, is now practised, and 

 the oxen are consequently becoming lighter about the head and 

 dewlap. Formerly the oxen were a great deal smaller than they 

 are now, and also far less numerous. No more cows are kept 

 for the dairy in Monmouthshire than are required for home 

 consumption. 



On the English side of the straits of Menai are the cattle of 

 Carnarvonshire, Merionethshire, and Montgomeryshire. 



Denbighshire and Flintshire. — The Flintshire cattle are at 

 once excellent milkers and quick feeders. A considerable 

 amount of good butter is made in this district ; but the attention 

 of the dairyman is devoted to the making of cheese which, we 

 may say, is equal to that of Cheshire. Every cow should pro- 

 duce nearly three hundredweight of cheese annually. 



