742 



FARMERS' REGISTER— BREEDING CATTLE. 



improve the different breeds; but they were com- 

 paratively feeble and iU-jiidged, until his penetra- 

 tion discovered the defects of the fornicr system. 

 He observed, that the moderate sized, compact, 

 small-boned animals were o'enerally in the best 

 condition ; lie, therefore, endeavored to improve 

 these desirable points, and to remove what he 

 deemed blemishes; until, by slow decjrees, but 

 with ^reat judjiiiient and perseverance, he j)rodu- 

 ced tliose varieties, of both cattle and sheep, which 

 have since been distinctively termed, from his 

 place of residence, the " Dishlcy breeds.' Such 

 was his success, that, in one season, he received 

 twelve hundred (j;uineas for the hire of three rams, 

 and two thousand ibr the use of seven ; and, during 

 several successive years, he never obtained less 

 than three thousand tor his entire letting'. The 

 spirit of emulation thus excited, and since so v. idely 

 spread, gave rise to a singular division of labor 

 among the sheep- lireeder.s, who, until then, had 

 usually been contented with the rams bred in their 

 own flocks, but, from that period, it became a 

 speculation to breed rams for the purpose of hiring 

 them out. Some of these have been let so high as 

 five hundred pounds for the season ; one, the pro- 

 perty of Mr. Buckley, was hired, in 1811, at a 

 thousand ; and, as the system has been extended 

 from the Leicester to all the other favorite stocks, 

 many of the " Tup -masters," as they are called, 

 have profited largely by the innovation.* Equally 

 extraordinary prices have been given for cattle of 

 superior quality; and it will be remembered, that 

 a Durham bull — Comet — belonging to Mr. Charles 

 Colling, of Ketlon, was actually sold, by public 

 auction, for a thousand guinea's.! 



Of Bakewell's immediate disciples, the Messrs. 

 Culley, of Northumberland, were the most dis- 

 tinguished. They were among the foremost pro- 

 moters of all agricultural experiments; and their 

 superior intelligence, unremitting industry, and 

 judicious application of the ca})ital they gradually 

 acquired, enabled them — from small original 

 means — to leave their respective families each in 

 the enjoyment of landed property to the amount of 

 nearly four thousand pounds per annum, besides 

 having largely contributed to the Aveliare of the 

 surrounding country. J 



Improvements in Tillage, &fc. 



To these examples must be added, that of one, 

 less known perhaps, but not less worthy of imita- 

 tion. The late Mr. Dawson, of Frogden, in Rox- 

 burgshire, was the son of a farmer in moderate 

 circumstances. He was born in 1734 ; and after 

 having assisted his father during some years, 

 and having also obtained an insight into the En- 

 glish mode of farming, in Yorkshire and Essex, 

 he took the lands of Frogden, and there commen- 

 ced the plan of growing alternate crops of grain 

 and grasses, or roots, and particularly of turnips, 

 which he cultivated according to TuU's method. 



* Gen. View of the Agric. of the County of Leices- 

 ter, pp. 248, 260. 



f At this sale, which took place at Ketton, near Dar- 

 lington, in October IS 10, forty-seven head of cattle of 

 the same breed, many of them calves, fetched the gross 

 sum of 7 163/. 7s. and at a subsequent sale at Brampton, 

 ill the same county, sixty-one head of similar stock, the 

 property of Mr. Robert ColUng, brought 7S5SZ. 4s. 



J Farmer's Magazine, vol. xlv. p. 274. 



He Avas also the first to introduce the Norfolk mode 

 of ploughing, with two horses abreast, into that 

 part of the country ; and, by perseverance in the 

 prosecution of these improvements, he lived, not 

 only materially to advance the husbandry of the 

 neighboring district, but also to purchase a consi- 

 derable estate, and to leave a numerous family in 

 very great aflluence. He is described l)y his bio- 

 grapher, as having been "exceedingly regular in 

 his habits, and most correct and systematic in all 

 his agricultural operations. His plans were the re- 

 sult of an enlightened and sober calculation, and 

 were persisted in, spile of every difficulty and dis- 

 couragement, till they were reduced to practice. 

 Every one who knows the obstacles that are thrown 

 in the way of all innovations in agriculture, by the 

 sneers and prejudice of obstinacy and ignorance, 

 and not unfrequenlly by the evil offices of jealousy 

 and malevolence, must he aware, that none but men 

 of verj' strong minds, and of unceasing activity, 

 are able to surmount them : but such S man was 

 Mr. Dawson."* Yet this, however praiseworthy, 

 is only the character by which every man of busi- 

 ness should be distinguished: it displays none of 

 that high talent which is the gift of nature, and 

 may deter, if not defy imitation; nor any of those 

 great acquirements which are only to be attained 

 by deep study and laborious research. Mr. Daw- 

 son's success was the simple result of the discern- 

 ment with Avhich he had adopted theinqjrovements 

 of others, combineii with the application of good 

 sense, observation, and persevering assiduity, to an 

 ol)ject which requires no extraordinary ability; 

 and it surely is in the power of every man of plain 

 understanding, and equal determination in the same 

 pursuit, to follow in his footsteps, if not to attain 

 equal eminence. He must, ho\vever, divest him- 

 self of prejudice; nor reject improvements merely 

 because they are innovations on the practice of his 

 grandfather. Not that a farmer should try every 

 new experiment that is proposed, far less adopt any 

 novel plan without due consideration. But if, after 

 having weighed its advantages and disadvantage.*?, 

 w ith its applicability to the soil and means at his 

 command, the former should appear to predomi- 

 nate — then let him afford it a fair trial; and let 

 him recollect, that if a short cut to fortune some- 

 times lead a man astray, yet no one ever arrived 

 at distinction by slavishly following the beaten 

 track. 



It is, indeed, deeply to be lamented, that such 

 distinguished examples have not been more gene- 

 rally followed. Notwithstanding the acknowledged 

 stride which agriculture has made in this country 

 within the last half century, yet no science has 

 been slower in its progress towards perfection ; 

 and even admitting numberless existing instances 

 of intelligence and spirited management among 

 farmers of th.e higher class, it is still an undeniable 

 fact, that the great mass are men of a very oppo- 

 site description. Brought up without sufficient 

 education to enable them to comprehend the first 

 principles of their art, acquiring it mechanically, 

 as a mere trade, and either too dull or too indolent 

 to seek information from books, they reject every 

 proposed improvement as the visionary schemes of 

 mere theorists, and even neglect them after their 

 value has been proved by experience. Thus they 

 invariably pursue the same routine they have 



+ Farmer's Magazine, vol. xvi, p. 168, 



