DIPFEBBNT BREEDS OF OXEN. 115 



for its rich cream, for which reason Alderney cows are often kept 

 for private dairies. If the railk of an Alderney cow be mixed 

 with that of a dozen other cows, the butter will be of better 

 quality. As a set-off against their excellent milk-giving pro- 

 perties, the Alderneys are useless for grazing purposes. With 

 the exception of the county of Hampshire, they are kept scarcely 

 anywhere but in the parks of the rich, by whom they are prized 

 on account of the exceptionally-fine quality of their milk and the 

 large amount of butter which it yields, occasionally, perhaps, 

 also on account of the smallness of these animals. According to 

 John Lawrence they are light-red, yellow, dun, or fawn-coloured, 

 short, wild-horned, deer-necked, thin, and small-boned, and 

 irregularly, and often very awkwardly, shaped. The Alderney 

 has a voracious appetite, but yields very little milk, although 

 that little is, as we have said, of exceptionally excellent quality, 

 and is capable of producing a greater quantity of butter than can 

 be obtained from the milk of any other kind of cow. On the 

 coast of Hampshire, where these Alderneys can be very readily 

 procured, they are much sought after. A good point about the 

 cows is that when they have been dried they fatten with great 

 rapidity. This is scarcely what might be expected if we con- 

 sider their gaunt appearance. Some persons have been disposed 

 to beheve that the Norman cattle have had something to do with 

 the improvement of the shorthorn breed. 



Of East Indian cattle several varieties have been imported, 

 and attempts have been made to naturalise them. 



Of the Nagore cattle, a bull and cow, the property of Henry 

 Perkins, Esq., were exhibited in the year 1832 at the Christmas 

 cattle show, at which they attracted much attention. They are 

 not buffaloes, but belong to the highest breed of Indian cattle. 

 In India they are employed by the higher classes for the purpose 

 of drawing their state carriages, and, being greatly valued for 

 their size, speed, and endurance, they fetch very high prices. 

 Colonel Skinner, who bred these animals, possessed a great num- 

 ber, and six or seven of them were always kept ready saddled in 

 order to carry the military despatches. They can carry a soldier 

 on their backs for fifteen or sixteen hours in the day, travelling 

 at the rate of six miles an hour. Their action is said to be very 

 fine, and they bring down their hind legs under them in as 

 straight a direction as the horse does. They are, moreover, very 



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