1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



501 



when first imported there, we have no knowl- 

 edge, but presume them to be of the same 

 race as those long kept by the ]\Ioors on the 

 plains of Andalusia, and by their successors, 

 the Castilians, for many centuries — of no great 

 excellence in Spain, and not at all improved 

 in Mexico. 



In a recent letter from Mr. A. B. Allen, of 

 New York, (received in July, 1867,) then 

 travelling in Spain, between Gibraltar and 

 Granada, he thus describes the Spanish cattle 

 of the present day, as he saw them there : "I 

 have seen numerous Spanish herds. They are 

 about the size of our old-fashioned common 

 cattle. They have large, coarse, long and 

 wide-spread horns, mostly with a half, or full 

 twist to them, and set back, rather than for- 

 ward, with the points outward. Iheir colors 

 are black, dark brown, reddish-brown, light 

 yellowish-red, with some white on the throat 

 and belly, and occasionally a black and white 

 roan, or dark grey. The cows are nearly as 

 large as the oxen, with the same style of horn. 

 They do not appear to be good milkers. The 

 heads are long, and rather fine. The herds- 

 men attend them in droves with dogs, like the 

 short-haired Scotch Colleys." 



In this brief description, may easily be de- 

 tected the origin of the modern Texan cattle, 

 run wild for many generations, while the 

 Spanish are thoroughly domestic in their hab- 

 its, and treated with care, as the density of 

 population, and close husbandry of the Span- 

 ish people at home, compel them to be. Un- 

 doubtedly the originals are much better ani- 

 mals under the treatment they receive, than 

 their half-savage cousins, at such a far distant 

 removal. 



The Texans are, in fact, a semi-wild race 

 in America, the mild climate of the tropics, 

 with its abundant perennial herbage, affording 

 them all of food which their natures require. 

 There they range, propagate and grow, with 

 little care, congregating in large herds, and 

 known by their owners only by the marks, or 

 brands, they put upon them. They are annu- 

 ally gathered for identification, when the 

 young calves are castrated, and those fit to 

 sell, selected and driven to market. The cat- 

 tle pay little attention to the widely scat- 

 tered ranches of their owners, and rove for 

 miles away, attracted by better pasturage, 

 the scattered salt-licks, or in the indulgence 

 of their own vagarious habits. We illustrate 

 a group of the bullocks, drawn by our artist as 

 they stood in a cattle yard, on their arrival at 

 market. 



These portraits are truthful, as we saw them 

 in a herd of about forty in number, and know 

 them to be correct. Their live weights, at 

 the time — the animals ranging from five to 

 seven years — averaged 1,008 pounds. A short 

 description will suffice. 



They are tall, lank, and bony, coarse head- 

 ed, with enormous horns ; (only exceeded 

 in length by a pair in our own possession. 



brought from the Island of Sicily, in the INIedi- 

 terranean. The shells of these Sicilian horns, 

 are three feet four inches in length, spiral, 

 and gracefully turned, thin, and almost tians- 

 parent.) Their legs are long 'and coarse; 

 they have much dewlap, and little brisket ; 

 are flat-sided, swayed in the back, high in the 

 flank, with narrow hips and quarters, great 

 offal in proportion to their consumable flesh, 

 and coarse all over. Their meat must be 

 stringy, tough and of coarse quality. Wild 

 and savage in appearance, they looked scarcely 

 more civilized than a herd of Dacotah Buffa- 

 loes. 



In contrast to the specimens above described, 

 it is but fair to say that we have since seen 

 better animals, so far as flesh and condition 

 was concerned, of the Texan cattle. They 

 were a small herd of some thirty in number, 

 which had been brought by the cars to the 

 Buffalo Cattle Yards for sale. They had 

 been well fed on corn and grass for several 

 months, and looked sleek, and in good flesh, 

 so far as such raw boned and loosely made 

 up cattle could be. They were six to seven 

 years old, and made an average weight of over 

 1200 pounds each. Good four year old grade 

 shorthorn Western steers were selling at the 

 yards, the day we saw them, at 7h to 8 cents 

 per pound, live weight. The Texans were 

 sold the same day for 6 cents. 



Now, adding the two or three years addi- 

 tional forage which the latter had consumed, 

 the interest on their value after four years 

 old, and then deduct the one-fifth to one-fourth 

 less price they sold for, together with the con- 

 tingencies of disease or loss by death mean- 

 time, and the comparative economy in breed- 

 ing and grazing such cattle by the side of 

 those of good flesh-producing breeds, or their 

 crosses, is easily solved. 



Great numbers of these caUle are driven 

 from northern Texas and New Mexico, up 

 through the Indian Territory into Kansas and 

 Missouri, thence into Kentucky. Illinois, and 

 so on eastward. They stop little to graze on 

 their journeys, as they gain but a small in- 

 crease of flesh in a land of civilization, and 

 the sooner they arrive at the shambles the 

 better. They are worth little to the butcher 

 or consumer, and, but that they cost little to 

 their breeders, would, as a commercial article, 

 be comparatively worthless. 



Their colors are red, dun, yellow, black, 

 brindle, and blue roan, all mixed more or less 

 with patches and strips of white. 



As an economical animal to a farmer of the 

 Northern, Middle, or Western States, they 

 can be of little value, as the cows give no 

 more milk than will raise a calf till it is old 

 enough to graze. The bullocks are too light 

 for heavy work, although suffiriently active ;' 

 and for beef, where a choice article is in de- 

 mand, their value must be low. Some of i he 

 improved breeds may be crossed upon them 

 to advantage, no doubt, but it would take sev- 



