CATTLE. 



The Wrlrh. The cattle of Wales are princi- 

 pally of the middle-horns, and stunted id their 

 growth from the poverty of their pastures. Of 

 these there are several varieties. The Pem- 

 brokeshire are chiefly black, with white horns; 

 ; -i ter legged than most other Welch cat- 



tle; are lar--r than those of Montgomery, and 



1 1 n< I and deep carcasses; have a lively 

 ' i-yi-s ; thou-h short and rough, 



,<; have not large bones, and possess, 

 ; much as possible, the opposite 



: >eing very fair milkers, with a pro- 

 pensity to fatten. The meat is equal to the 

 Scotch. They will thrive, says Mr. Youatt, 

 where others starve, and they rapidly outstrip 



thers when they have plenty of good 



. The Pembroke cow has been called the 



,-o\v. The Pembroke ox is a speedy 



ami an honest worker, and when taken from. 



hard work fattens speedily. Many are brought 



ii, 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 spile of the exertions of Mr. David 



r, been entirely restored. The counties 



narlhen, 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 

 . 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, 

 ahnnvt invariably turning upwards; the hair 

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

 and well disposed 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 

 a 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 amo 

 rocks of Carnarvon, and the hills of Merioneth, 

 Montgomery, and Denbigh, have little distin- 

 guishing features from other Welch cattle. 

 They are small, hardy, and rapidly fatten, when 



288 



CATTLE. 



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 

 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 cattle. 



2. The North Highlanders are a smaller, 

 coarser, and in every way inferior race, and 

 owe the greater part of what is valuable 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 ; thp 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 

 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 ilesh equally on 



