THE PEMBROKE BREED. 305 



breeders is black, and, in breeding, they adhere strictly to 

 this colour. They regard a mixture of white as a mark of 

 impurity, though it is manifest that it is not so. but a ten- 

 dency to the original character of the race. The size of the 

 Pembroke Cattle is that of the larger class of the breed of 

 the West Highlands of Scotland. They have naturally a 

 light hind- quarter, which is a character common to other 

 mountain breeds ; but this is a defect which a due attention 

 to breeding corrects. Their flesh is excellent, the fat being 

 well mixed with the muscular parts. They produce a large 

 quantity of tallow, a.nd, on this account, are esteemed by the 

 butchers ; and great numbers of them are fattened in the 

 rich valley of the Severn, and elsewhere, for the supply of 

 the market of London. They are hardy, and subsist well on 

 scanty food : they are tolerably good feeders, to use the 

 technical term ; and soon assume an appearance of maturity 

 and age. The females have fair milking qualities, and the 

 cows are accordingly esteemed in all parts of Wales for the 

 domestic dairy. The dark orange colour of the skin, ap- 

 proaching to black, is deemed an important indication of the 

 milking properties of the cow. 



The Pembroke has been sometimes crossed by the Devon 

 and the Hereford breeds ; but a just estimation of the cha- 

 racters of the former, will shew the error of this species of 

 intermixture. The Pembroke is truly a Mountain Breed, 

 and well adapted to the situations in which it is acclimated ; 

 and a mixture of foreign blood takes from its hardiness, and 

 fitness for a country of mountains and scanty herbage. 



The other races of the Welsh mountains have more or less 

 of an affinity with the Pembroke, and exhibit the traces of a 

 common origin*; but they are most of them smaller in size, 

 lighter in the hind-quarters, and otherwise of inferior form. 

 Such are those of Caernarvon and Merioneth, which are 

 uncultivated in a high degree. The best method of improv- 

 ing these neglected breeds would be crossing with the ge- 

 nuine Pembroke. 



