88 RURAL ECONOMY OF ENGLAND. 



these principles to the race of Tees valley about the year 

 1775, and they obtained almost from the first important 

 results. The herd of Charles Collins had acquired 

 such a reputation in the space of thirty years, that 

 when sold by auction in 1810, the forty-seven animals 

 of which it was composed, and of which twelve were 

 under a year old, were purchased for 178,000 francs 

 (7100). The race of improved short-horns has spread 

 since that period throughout the United Kingdom, and 

 was some time ago introduced into France. The animals 

 bred from it may be fattened as early as two years 

 old, and attain at that age a weight which no other breed 

 can arrive at so soon. Their head, legs, and bones, have 

 been reduced to such small proportions, and the more 

 fleshy parts of the body so largely developed, that nearly 

 three-fourths of their weight is meat. 



After the Durham short-horn, which among cattle is 

 what the Dishley breed is among sheep, come the Here- 

 ford and Devon breeds, which in their turn may be 

 compared to the Southdowns and Cheviots. The Here- 

 ford breed follows closely upon the Durham, and is 

 even more generally sought after, as offering almost 

 an equal precocity, the same aptitude for fattening, but 

 with greater hardiness. The county of Hereford, from 

 whence it comes, lies at the foot of the Welsh moun- 

 tains; and although renowned for its woods, its pastures, 

 and its landscape, possesses a soil of but indifferent fer- 

 tility. The cattle it produces are rarely fattened in the 

 country, but are purchased at an early age by graziers, 

 who bring them into more fertile districts, where they 

 undergo their full development : a mode of treatment 

 not easily accomplished with the Durhams, which require 

 an abundant supply of food from their birth. Here- 

 fordshire is thus to a great portion of England what 



