Book V. CHOICE OF LIVE STOCK. 783 



period ; and each of them gives nearly as large a carcase for the food of man as if his 

 days had been unprofitably prolonged in executing labour, from which he has been gra- 

 dually exempted in Britain, in France, and in other countries, very nearly in proportion 

 to the progress of correct systems of husbandry. " 



4883. The desaiption of horse which a farmer ought to choose will depend chiefly on 

 the soil of the farm, and partly also on the quantity of road- work. Stiff lands require 

 obviously a heavier and more powerful breed than such as are light and hilly. In the 

 latter case, two of the best breeds are the Clevelands and Clydesdale, or some local cross 

 with these breeds. In general, it is not advisable to procure horses from a climate ma- 

 terially different from that where they are to remain ; and therefore, for various reasons, 

 a prudent farmer will look out for the best in his neighbourhood. Often, however, he is 

 obliged to take the stock of his predecessor ; and this he can only get rid of or improve 

 to his mind by degrees. The farm-horses in most parts of England are much too cum- 

 brous and heavy, and are more fitted for drawing heavy drays or waggons in towns than 

 for the quick step required in the operations of agriculture. 



4834. The objections of Davis of Longleat to the using of large heavy-heeled horses, in preference to the 

 smart, tlie active, and the really useful breeds, merit particular attention. In some situations, the steep- 

 ness of the hills and the heaviness of the soil require more than ordinary strength ; but, in such cases, he 

 maintains that it would be better to add to the number of horses than to increase their size. Great horses 

 not only cost proportionably more at first than small ones, but require much more food, and of a better 

 quality, to keep up their flesh. The Wiltshire carter also takes a pride in keeping them as fat as possible ; 

 and their food (which is generally barley) is given without stint. In many instances, indeed, the expense 

 of keeping a fine team of horses amounts nearly to the rent of the farm on which they are worked. They 

 are purchased young when two years' old colts, and sold at five or six years of age for the London drays 

 and waggons. The expense of their maintenance is very seldom counterbalanced by the difference of 

 price, more especially as such horses are gently worked when young, that they may attain their full size 

 and beauty. In ploughing light soils, the strength of a dray-horse is not wanted ; and in heavy soils, the 

 weight of the animal does injury to the land. 



SuBSECT. 2. Choice of Live Stock for the Purposes of breeding or feedings 



4835. The most desirable properties of live stock destined for food are considered in The 

 Code of Agriculture, in respect to size, form, a tendency to grow, early maturity, hardi- 

 ness of constitution, prolific properties, quality of flesh, a disposition to fatten, and light- 

 ness of offal. 



4836. The bulk of an animal was the sole criterion of its value before the improvements introduced by 

 Bakewell; and if a great size could be obtained, more regard was paid to the price the animal ultimately 

 fetched than to the cost of its food. Of late, since breeders began to calculate with more precision, small 

 or moderate-sized animals have been generally preferred, for the following reasons : 



4837. Small-sized animals are more easily kept, they thrive on shorter herbage, they collect food where 

 a large animal could hardly exist, and thence are more profitable. Their meat is finer grained, produces 

 richer gravy, has often a superior flavour, and is commonly more nicely marbled, or veined with fat, 

 especially when they have been fed for two years. Large animals are not so well calculated for general 

 consumption as the moderate-sized, particularly in hot weather ; large animals poach pastures more than 

 small ones ; they are not so active, require more rest, collect their food with more labour, and will only 

 consume the nicer and more delicate sorts of plants. Small cows of the true dairy breeds give propor- 

 tionably more milk than large ones. Small cattle may be fattened solely on grass of even moderate 

 quality ; whereas the large require the richest pastures, or to be stall-fed, the expense of which exhausts 

 the profit of the farmer. It is much easier to procure well-shaped and kindly-feeding stock of a small 

 size than of a large one. Small-sized cattle may be kept by many persons who cannot afford either to 

 purchase or to maintain large ones, and their loss, if any accident should happen to them, can be more 

 easily borne. The small-sized sell better ; for a butcher, from a conviction that, in proportion to their 

 respective dimensions, there is a greater superficies of valuable parts in a small than a large animal, will 

 give more money for two oxen of twelve stone each per quarter than for one of twenty-four stone. 



4838. In favour of the large-sized it is, on the other hand, contended, that without debating whether from 

 their birth till they are slaughtered the large or the small one eats most for its size, yet on the whole the 

 large one will pay the grazier or the farmer who fattens him as well for his food ; that though some large 

 oxen are coarse-grained, yet where attention is paid to the breed (as is the case with the Herefordshire), 

 the large ox is as delicate food as the small one ; that if the small-sized are better calculated for the con- 

 sumption of private families, of villages, or of small towns, yet that large cattle are fitter for the markets 

 of great towns, and in particular of the metropolis ; that were the flesh of the small-sized ox better when 

 fresh, yet the meat of the large-sized is unquestionably more calculated for salting, a most essential object 

 in a maritime and commercial country, for the thicker the beef, the better it will retain its juices when 

 salted, and the fitter it is for long voyages ; that the hide of the large ox is of very great consequence in 

 various manufactures ; that large stock are in general distinguished by a greater quietness of disposition ; 

 that where the pastures are good, cattle and sheep will increase in size, without any particular attention 

 on the part of the breeder ; large animals are therefore naturally the proper stock for such pastures ; that 

 the art of fattening cattle, and even sheep, with oil cake, being much improved and extended, the advan- 

 tage of that practice would be of less consequence, unless large oxen were bred, as small oxen can be 

 fattened with grass and turnips as well as oil-cake ; and, lastly, that large oxen are better calculated for 

 working than small ones, two large oxen being equal to four small ones in the plough or the cart 



4839. Such are the arguments generally mace use of on both sides of the question; from which it appears 

 that much must depend upon pastures, taste, mode of consumption, markets, &c. and that both sides have 

 their advantages. The intelligent breeder, however, (unless his pastures are of a nature peculiarly forc- 

 ing,) will naturally prefer a moderate size in the stock he rears. Davis of Longleat, one of the aolest 

 agriculturists England has produced, has given some useful observations on the subject of size. He 

 laments that the attempts which have been made to improve the breeds of cows, horses, and sheep, have 

 proceeded too much upon the principle of enlarging the size of the animal ; whereas, in general, the only 

 real improvement has been made in the pig, and that was by reducing its size, and introducing a kind that 

 will live hardier, and come to greater perfection at an earlier age. 



4840. Though it is extremely desirable to bring the shape of cattle to as much perfection as possible, yet 

 profit and utility ought not to be sacrificed for mere beauty which may please the eye, but will not fill the 

 pocket ; and which, depending much upon caprice, must be often changing. In regard to form, the most 

 experienced breeders seem to concur in the following particulars : That the form or shape should be 

 compact, so that no part of the animal should be disproportioned to the other parts, and the whole should 



