76 THE BEAUTY OF CATTLE 



movements proclaimed their race as clearly as their 

 robbery of their neighbours' hay showed their hereditary 

 capacity for taking care of themselves in good times or 

 in bad. These small Kerry cows are perhaps the best 

 cattle which can be kept in the grounds of a moderate 

 country house. They are too small to damage fences, 

 are capital milkers, and most affectionate and intelli- 

 gent pets. They are naturally friendly creatures, and, 

 like cows in general, have, perhaps, longer memories 

 for people than any other animal. For the farm, the 

 choice will naturally fall among the larger breeds. The 

 difficulty must be, not to choose well where all are so 

 good, but to make a choice at all. In addition to the 

 specific breeds we have mentioned, there are towering 

 black Welsh cattle, curly and horned ; and the deep-red 

 steers of Sussex, small and compact, with crescent horns; 

 black, polled Galloways, with coats shining like astrachan 

 wool ; and lovely Devons, redder than their native marl, 

 and matched in colour to a hair. These are the herds 

 that have stocked the ranches of the Argentine and the 

 runs of New South Wales, the hills of New Zealand, 

 and the plains of Uruguay. It is for their protection 

 that the breeder demands a check on the importation 

 of cattle diseases from abroad ; and the Cattle Show is 

 the most convincing argument which his cause has yet 

 produced. 



The naturalist who is not too proud to know the 



