CATTLE. 



CATTLE. 



The Welch. The cattle of Wales are princi- 

 pally of the middle-horns, aniWminted in their 

 growth from the poverty of their pastures. Of 

 these there are several varieties. The Pem- 

 brokeshire are chiefly black, with white horns; 

 are shorter legged than most other Welch cat- 

 tle; are larger than those of Montgomery, and 

 have round and deep carcasses ; ha.ve a lively 

 look and good eyes ; though short and rough, 

 not thick; have not large bones, aricj[ possess, 

 perhaps, as much as possible, the opposite 

 qualities of being very fair milkers, with a p r o- 

 pensity to fatten. The meat is equal to the 

 Scotch. They will thrive, says Mr. Youatt, 

 where others starve, and they rapidly outstrip 

 most others when they have plenty of good 

 pasture. The Pembroke cow has been called the 

 poor man's cow. The Pembroke ox is a speedy 

 and an honest worker, and when taken from 

 hard work fattens speedily. Many are brought 

 to London, and rarely disappoint the butcher. 



The Glamorganshire breed were patronised 

 by George III., and were held in great estima- 

 tion. They were, however, allowed to degene- 

 rate during the period of the late war, and have 

 not since, in spite of the exertions of Mr. David 

 of Radyr, been entirely restored. The counties 

 of Carmarthen, Cardigan, Brecon, and espe- 

 cially Radnor, also produce many excellent 

 black cattle, which have been materially im- 

 proved of late by the introduction of other 

 breeds, especially by crossing with the Here- 

 fords. Of North Wales, the cattle are rather 

 more approaching to the long-horns than those 

 of the south. In the counties of Anglesea, Car- 

 narvon, and Merioneth, the chief attention of 

 the farmer is directed to the rearing of stock. 

 In Denbigh, Flint, and Montgomery, the dairy 

 is chiefly regarded. The cattle of Anglesea, 

 says Mr. Youatt, are small and black, with 

 moderate bone, deep chest, rather heavy 

 shoulders, enormous dewlap, round barrel, high 

 and spreading haunches, flat face, horns long, 

 almost invariably turning upwards; the hair 

 coarse; the hide mellow; hardy, easy to rear, 

 and well dispbsed to fatten when transplanted 

 to better pastures than those of their native 

 island. Attempts have been made, with little 

 success, to improve the breed by crossing them 

 with others ; but it is difficult to find any other 

 sufficiently hardy to withstand the climate and 

 the privations of Mona. Many yearlings are 

 brought from the island, and very few are kept 

 in the island after they are three years old. 

 They were formerly not castrated till they were 

 a year old ; this gave them a peculiar bull-like 

 appearance. This operation, however, is now 

 practised earlier. There is still with them, 

 however, adds Mr. Youatt, a striking contrast 

 with the mild intelligence of the Devon and 

 the quiet submission of the Hereford. The 

 Anglesea cows are not kept for the dairy to a 

 greater extent than for home consumption. 

 The cheese is negligently made, and, in con- 

 sequence, poor and worthless. The cattle of 

 the other Welch counties, bred amongst the 

 rocks of Carnarvon, arid the hills of Merioneth, 

 Montgomery, and Denbigh, have little distin- 

 guishing features from other Welch cattle. 

 *hey are small, hardy, and rapidly fatten, when 

 288 



transferred to richer pastures. The beef they 



produce is excellent. (Ibid. p. 58.) 



The Scotch. Of this valuable and improving 



race of cattle there are several varieties, all of 

 | which are thus classed by Mr. Youatt, and are 

 ! to be considered as belonging to the middle- 



horns. Of these the chief varieties are, 



1. The West Highlanders, which, whether 

 I we regard those found in the Hebrides or in 



the county of Argyle, seem to retain most of the 

 aboriginal character. They have remained 

 unchanged, or improved only by selection, for 

 many generations, or, indeed, from the earliest 

 accounts that we possess of Scottish r.attle. 



2. The North Highlanders are a smaller, 

 coarser, and in every way inferior race, and 

 owe the greater part of what is valualle about 

 them to crosses from the western breed. 



3. The northeastern cattle were derived 

 from, and bear a strong resemblance, to the 

 West Highlander, but are of considerably 

 larger size. 



4. The Fife breed are almost as valuable for 

 the dairy as for the grazier, and yield to few in 

 activity and docility. 



5. The Ayrshire breed are second to none as 

 milkers ; many of the varied mingled breeds 

 of the Lowlands are valuable. 



6. The Galloways, which, scarcely a century 

 ago were middle-horned, and with difficulty 

 distinguished from the West Highlanders, are 

 now a polled breed, increased in size, with 

 more striking resemblance to their kindred the 

 Devons ; with all their aptitude to fatten, and 

 with a hardness of constitution which those 

 of Devon never possessed. 



The West Highlanders, or kyloes, as they 

 are called (supposed to be from a corruption 

 of a Gaelic word pronounced kael, signifying 

 Highlands), are bred in great abundance in, 

 and exported from, the Hebrides. The true 

 bull of this breed is described by Mr. M'Neil 

 of Islay as black ; the head not large, the ears 

 thin, the muzzle fine, and rather turned up ; 

 broad in the face; eyes prominent; counte- 

 nance calm and placid ; the horns should taper 

 to a point, neither drooping too much nor 

 rising too high, of a waxy colour, widely set at 

 the root; the neck fine, particularly where it 

 joins the head, and rising with a gentle curve 

 from the shoulder ; the breast wide, and pro- 

 jecting well before the legs; the shoulders 

 broad at the top, and the chine so full as to 

 leave but little hollow behind them ; ihf girth 

 behind the shoulder deep ; the back straight, 

 wide, and flat ; the ribs broad, the space be- 

 tween them and the ribs small; the belly not 

 sinking low in the middle, yet, in the whole, 

 not forming the round and barrel-like carcass 

 which some have described ; the thigh tapering 

 to the hock-joint; the bones larger in propor- 

 tion to the size than in the breeds of the south- 

 ern districts ; the tail set on a level with the 

 back ; the legs short and straight ; the whole 

 carcass covered with a long thick coat of hair, 

 and plenty of hair also about the face and 

 I horns, and that hair not curly. They are 

 hardy, easily fed ; the proportion of their offal 

 is not greater than in the most approved larger 

 breeds ; they lay their fat and flesh equally on 



