No. 1. 



Leicester or Dishley Bull. 



49 



THE NEW LEICESTER OR DISHLEY BULL. 

 From Garrand's beautiful Illustrations of British Cattle. 



This noble animal was the property of Mr. Honeyburn, the nephew and successor of 

 Bakevvell, and may be considered a perfect representation of that peculiar breed of Lonof- 

 horns, famous for their fine proportions, and a superior stock for the butcher. In Bakewell's 

 opinion, everything depended upon breed, — the beauty and utility of the form, the quality of 

 the flesh, the propensity to fatness — these four points demanded all his attention, and he 

 wisely concluded, that the object might be better accomplished by uniting the superior 

 branches of the same breed, than by any mixture of foreign ones, and on this new and judi- 

 cious principle he started. Many years did not pass, before his stock was unrivalled for the 

 roundness of its form, the smallness of its bone, and its aptitude to acquire external fat, while 

 they were small consumers of food in proportion to their size; at the same time their quali- 

 ties as milkers were very considerably lessened, and while the graziers could not but highly 

 value the Dishley or New Leicester long-horn, the dairyman and small farmer held to the 

 old breed — the Lancashires — as most useful to their purpose. But while this great improver 

 was justly displeased with those gaunt, leggy and misshapen animals with which his vicinity 

 abounded, which scarcely any length of time or quantity of food would thoroughly fatten, and 

 patriotically determined upon raising a more sightly and profitable breed, he unfortunately 

 became impelled by his zeal towards the opposite extreme; and having painfully and at 

 much cost raised a variety of cattle, the great merit of which was to make fat, laid his dis- 

 ciples and successors under the necessity of substituting another breed that would make lean. 



Mr. Younff speaks of the gentleness with which Bitkewell managed his cattle, remarking : "All his bulls stand 

 to be examined in the field, a boy, walking bj' their side with a small stick three feet long, guiding them from 

 one end of the farm to the other, and separating one bull from others, or from the cows, with the greatest ease." 

 A curious description is given of Mr. Bakewell's hall, where the separate joints and peculiar points of each of 

 the more celebrated individuals of his cattle were preserved in pickle, or hung up side by side, showing the thick- 

 ness of the flesh and external fat on each, and the smallness of the offal ; there were also skeletons of the differ- 

 ent breeds, that they might be compared with each other, and the comparative difference marked. Some joints 

 of beef, the relics of his favourite cow. Old Comely, the mother of the stock, and who was slaughtered when her 

 existence had become burdensome to her, were very remarkable, the fat on the sirloin on the outside measuring 

 four inches in thickness. But what is now become of the New Leicester long horns! It was a bold and success- 

 ful experiment, and answered for a while the most sanguine expectations, establishing a breed of cattle equalled 

 by few, and excelled by none, save the Herefords ; it enabled the long-horns to contend with the heaviest and best 

 of the middle-horns, and improved the whole herd of long-horns, putting on flesh and fat on their most profitable 

 points, and acquiring an earlier maturity: and, the jirocess of improvement not being carried too far, the very 

 dairy-cattle obtained a disposition to convert their aliment into milk, while milk was wanting, and after that, 

 to use the same material for the accumulation of flesh and fat. The midland counties of England will always 

 associate a feeling of respect and gratitude with the name of Bakewell, while the Iri.-h breeders owe every thing 

 to the New Leicester long-horns; and yet— although it will scarcely he credited— in ia'53 there was not a single 

 Leicester on the farm of ftishley, or a dozen of the pure breeds within the circuit of a dozen miles of it! it would 

 seem as if a convulsion of nature had swept away the whole of this valuable breed I The fact is, they had been 

 bred to that degree of refinement, that even the propagation of the breed was not always certain, and in addition 

 to this, a powerful rival had appeared in the field— the improved short-lw.-ns began to occupy the banks of the 

 Toes— presenting an equal aptitude to fatten, greater hulk, and earlier maturity : they are now. therefore, super- 

 seding them, and are fast driving all long-horns from the field. 



