THE LONG-HORNED BREED. 377 



get rid of the black flesh and yellow fat of the Long-horns. 

 The cows are eminently deficient in their power of yielding 

 milk. They are in this respect greatly inferior to the older 

 Long-horns, and are scarcely ever used for the purposes of 

 the regular dairy. The character of the beef, and the defi- 

 ciency in the females of the power of yielding milk, are the 

 most manifest defects of this breed ; and, notwithstanding all 

 the care bestowed on the formation of it, few individuals of 

 the race are now reared in England for the purpose of graz- 

 ing. The breeders of the pure Dishleys confine themselves 

 chiefly to the rearing of bulls and cows for the purpose of 

 breeding ; and the really beneficial influence of the stock 

 has been the crossing of the older and coarser kinds yet 

 reared in different parts of the country. In this latter respect 

 the Dishley stock has been of great economical importance ; 

 but the breed itself, in its state of purity, is deficient in the 

 really useful properties of a grazing ' stock. It has been 

 questioned whether Bakewell acted with judgment in taking 

 the Lancashire Long-horns as the basis of his new breed. 

 There is little ground, however, for impugning, on this ac- 

 count, the judgment of Bakewell. The Long-horned Breed 

 was then regarded as the most valuable in the kingdom ; 

 and it was a natural course for an original improver to en- 

 deavour to form a superior one on its basis. The modern 

 Herefords were not then called into existence ; and the Short- 

 horns were a coarse race, of no estimation beyond the limits 

 of a few districts. Bakewell, therefore, adopted what must 

 have seemed at the time a fitting course ; and no one will 

 deny, that in what he attempted, he succeeded to the utmost 

 extent which the natural characters of the pristine race 

 allowed. 



This description of the once celebrated Dishley Breed will 

 account for the singular fact, that its reputation has passed 

 away, even more quickly than it was acquired. It has given 

 place to other breeds, possessing characters as grazing stock, 

 in which it is deficient. A few eminent breeders still employ 



