12 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK i. 



Chartley. In July, 1889, the herd numbered thirty-four head nine 

 bulls, five bullocks, and twenty cows and heifers. The existence of 

 this herd seems traceable at least as far back as that of the Chilling- 

 ham to 1248-49, according to Sir Oswald Mosley. The colour was 

 uniform white, with black nose, ears and feet, sometimes ticked. 

 Occasionally black calves were born, but they were not kept. The 

 number of calves reared annually averaged about half the number of 

 breeding cows. There is no evidence or knowledge of fresh blood 

 having at any time been introduced. Lay cows were formerly admitted 

 to the park, and crosses with the wild bulls obtained, but this was 

 stopped more than twenty years ago ; the result of these crosses was 

 very good beef, but the cross-breds were very difficult to milk or 

 handle. The animals in this herd were heavier in front and lighter 

 behind than in any of the other herds ; in general shape and character 

 both of bodies and horns, they closely resembled the old domestic breed 

 of Staffordshire Longhorns. The udders of the cows were remarkably 

 small, and inclined forwards at an angle very unlike the huge gland of 

 a domestic cow. In winter the cattle were fed on hay in sheds. The 

 park occupies nearly one thousand acres, and is in its natural, original 

 condition. It has never been manured, or broken up, or sown with 

 seeds. 



Vaynol. In August, 1887, the herd consisted of fifty-three animals, 

 namely, one old bull, two young bulls, about twenty cows, and about 

 thirty heifers and calves of both sexes. They are short-legged, 

 straight-backed animals, and are all white with black muzzles, black 

 tips to the ears, and more or less black about the hoofs ; this varies, 

 however, with the individuals, some being only faintly marked in this 

 way. They all have horns, not very long, but sharp, and turned up at 

 the ends, though not quite uniform. In winter they are fed with hay, 

 but they are never housed, and the cows are never milked. The beef 

 is excellent. 



The original importation of the Vaynol herd from Kilmory took 

 place in 1872, and consisted of twenty-two head one bull, nine cows, 

 six heifers rising two years, six yearling steers. In August, 1886, the 

 remainder of the Kilmory herd followed ; it comprised two yearling bulls, 

 fourteen cows and heifers, eight two-year-old heifers, and eight }'earling 

 heifers thirty-two in all. At some time within six or eight years of the 

 first instalment of cattle coming to Vaynol, a black bull-calf was born. 

 Deaths are rare, and do not extend beyond a calf or two dying of " scour- 

 ing." The cattle, although never handled, or housed in winter, are not 

 fierce, and will allow a near approach (except when they have calves) 

 without showing any signs of impatience or alarm. Since the arrival of the > 

 two instalments of the herd at Vaynol, no fresh blood has been intro- 

 duced, nor have any exchanges been effected ; nevertheless, Mr. Assheton 

 Smith is of opinion that the cattle have improved both in size and 

 weight. About two hundred acres of park, consisting of old artificial 

 pasture, bordering a lake, are allotted to the cattle. This run is shared 

 by red and fallow deer, and there are a few roe deer in the plantations 

 around the park, descended from Scotch and German stock. 



