390 THE OX. 



under the necessity of breeding solely from a few individuals; 

 and in the future cultivation of the breed, hardiness, sound- 

 ness of constitution, and the milching properties of the females, 

 may all receive their clue share of attention. The external 

 form has been already brought to all the perfection which 

 art seems capable of communicating ; and now those other 

 properties remain to be attended to, without which no fur- 

 ther refinement of breeding will avail for the purposes of 

 profit to individuals, and benefit to the country. 



The Breeds of British cattle which have been described 

 are, 



1. The Wild or White Forest Breed, derived from a race 

 which formerly inhabited, in a state of liberty, the woods of 

 the country. Remains of this remarkable race have been 

 preserved for ages in the parks of opulent individuals, where 

 the animals, herding and breeding exclusively with one an- 

 other, retain the habits of their wild condition. In other 

 cases, they have been reared in a state of domestication, 

 when they assume the habits and essential characters of 

 the common varieties. 



2. The Zetland Breed, of Scandinavian origin, inhabiting 

 the remote islands of that name, and spreading over the 

 Orkneys. These cattle are of diminutive size, but fatten 

 readily, and are valued by the consumers. The females ex- 

 cel the cattle of the Highlands in the faculty of yielding 

 milk. 



3. The Breeds of the Highlands of Scotland, spreading 

 over the primary mountainous tracts of North Britain . These 

 cattle are of small size, covered thickly with hair, hardy, and 

 suited to a country of heaths and mountains. The finest, 

 usually termed the West Highland Breed, are produced in 

 the countries on the western coasts, and certain islands of 

 the Hebrides, the smallest in the central Highlands, and the 



