I 4 . YORKSHIRE. 183 



This was a fufficfent inducement for a- 

 dopting the SHORT-HORNED or " Holdernefs 

 breed :" probably of Dutcb extraction. This 

 change took place fome forty or fifty years 

 ago : and the ihort-horned breed flill pre- 

 vails; though it has undergone feveral al- 

 terations fince its firft introduftion. 



The firft variety of this fpecies of cattle 

 which I can recoiled:, was a thick, large- 

 boned, coarfe, clumfy animal : remarkably 

 large behind, with thick gummy thighs. 

 Always flefhy, but never fat; thefle/b being 

 of a bad quality. This, however, was not 

 the worft : the monftrous fize of the buttocks 

 of the calf was frequently fatal to the cow. 

 Numbers of cows were annually loft in calv- 

 ing. Thefe monfters were ftigmatized with 

 the epithet Dutch -but locked. This was pro- 

 bably the worft breed the Vale ever knew. 



The unprofitablcnefs of the " Dutch 

 breed" being evident, men of difcernment 

 began to fet about improving it. In the 

 courfe of the laft twenty years the bone has 

 been lowered, the hind-quarters reduced, and 

 the flefh and fatting quality Very much im- 

 proved ; not by foreign admixtures and un- 

 N 4 natural 



