THE KERRY BREED. 311 



from the knee and hock to the hoofs. This has probably 

 given rise to a saying sometimes heard, of " Tipperary beef 

 down to the heels." However the Dexter Breed has been 

 formed, it still retains its name, and the roundness and depth 

 of carcass which distinguished it. When any individual of 

 a Kerry drove appears remarkably round and short-legged, 

 it is common for the country people to call it a Dexter. 

 Amongst the successful cultivators of the dairy breed of Ire- 

 land ought to be mentioned the late Bishop of Killaloe. He 

 sedulously endeavoured to preserve and improve a breed 

 which he conceived to be so useful to the peasantry of Ire- 

 land ; but his example has scarcely spread amongst other 

 breeders of the country. 



The Kerry Cows afford admirable first crosses with the 

 Short-horns, Herefords, and other larger breeds. Of these 

 crosses, that with the Short-horns is the most general, and 

 appears to be the best. The crosses, are found to be well 

 adapted to fattening, as well as to the dairy ; and the profit 

 from this system is so immediate, that it is to be believed 

 that it will be more largely resorted to than a progressive 

 improvement of the parent stock. Nevertheless, the cultiva- 

 tion of the pure dairy breed of the Kerry mountains ought 

 not to be neglected by individuals or public associations. 

 The breed is yet the best that is. reared over a large extent 

 of country, from its adaptation to the existing state of agri- 

 culture, and to the humid mountains and bogs in which it is 

 naturalized. Were it to be reared with care in a good dis- 

 trict, the form would be gradually more developed, and the 

 Kerry breed might then bear the same relation to the moun- 

 tain breeds of Ireland which the Castle-Martin does to those 

 of Wales, or the West Highland to those of the north of 

 Scotland. 



