180 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



THE ElfQLISH LOKG-HORNS. 



So much is said now-a-days of the Short- 

 horns, and their portraits are so frequently 

 seen in agricultural papers, that we have 

 thought that a brief description and an excel- 

 lent picture of a race of cattle very different 

 in many respects from the Durham, will be 

 acceptable to our readers on the principle that 

 variety is the spice of life. 



It appears from Mr. Allen's remarks upon 

 the history of this race in his American Cattle, 

 that its origin is a disputed point, but he says 

 that they have been known from time immemo- 

 rial in the north-west counties of England and 

 in Ireland. They have long been distin- 

 guished from the home-breeds of other coun- 

 ties by a dij^proportionate and frequently un- 

 becoming length of horn. In the old breed 

 this horn frequently projected nearly horizon- 

 tal on either side, but as the cattle were im- 

 proved, the horn assumed other directions; it 

 hung down so that the animal could scarcely 

 graze, or it curved so as to threaten to meet 

 before the muzzle, and so also as to prevent the 

 beast from grazing ; or immediately under the 

 jaw, and so to lock the lower jaw; or the 

 points presented themselves against the bones 

 of the nose and face, threatening to perforate 

 them. In proportion as the breed became 

 improved, the horns lengthened, and they are 

 characteristically distinguished by the name of 

 "The Long-horns." 



Considerable attention was given to the im- 

 provement of this race by Mr. Bakewell and 

 others, and in 1791 bulls were sold from $760 

 to $1250, and cows from $446 to $1365 each. 

 But at the present time other breeds seem to 

 be more popular in England than the old 

 Long horns. 



Mr. Allen thinks that he saw in his boyhood 

 distinctive marks of this race among the "na- 

 tive" cattle of New England, and t-ays that some 

 were imported into Kentucky about 1817, but 

 they were not received with much favor and 

 the Short-horns soon overshadowed them. He 

 thinks he also saw a few in Ohio in 1821, but 

 of which he can now find no other trace than 

 the recollection of the old people of the neigh- 

 borhood that one of the rich old settlers there 

 once had some "imported" cattle. 



Our cut, copied by permission from the 

 American Cattle, represents a fat Long-horn 

 ox. They feed well, and kindly. They 

 prove well, and the quality of the flesh is fair, 

 but not superior to that of other breeds, though 

 they have many advocates in England. 



As a dairy cow the Long-horn ranks high 

 and is extensively used in some of the dairy 

 counties of England. 



On account of the long horns and somewhat 

 depressed back this race is not a favorite as a 

 working ox. 



