A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



From these figures it will be seen that the county produces heavier crops 

 of barley, turnips and swedes, and rotation hay, but smaller crops of oats, 

 beans, peas, and mangels than the average of England. 



Shorthorns are the cattle 1 of the county. In about 1750, a Sedgefield 

 breeder brought a bull from Holland, which is said to have greatly increased 

 the size of the local cattle, and in the beginning of the nineteenth century the 

 brothers Colling, by selection for quality, bred remarkably fine specimens of 

 Durham cattle, as they were then called, from which all pedigree shorthorns 

 are descended. Later the best breeders were located in North Yorkshire. 

 This rapidly became the best-known breed of cattle in all parts of the world, 

 and still maintains this position. 



Mr. George Harrison, of Gainford Hall, Darlington, now the principal 

 breeder of these, has bred some of the best-known shorthorns of the day. 

 During the eleven years 1893-1903 the herd, now numbering nearly one 

 hundred, won about 7,000 in prize-money. Among other leading breeders 

 of these cattle arc Lord Barnard, Lord Londonderry, and Messrs. Procter 

 (Durham), Heugh (High Coniscliffe), Wilkinson (Stockton), and Reid 

 (Weardale), while excellent non-pedigree dairy shorthorns are bred in 

 Teesdale and Weardale. The total number of cattle has increased 50 per cent, 

 since 1867. 



Farm horses are chiefly of the Clydesdale breed, but shires are also kept. 

 Among the leading breeders are the Seaham Harbour Stud Company and 

 the Earl of Durham. As a general rule the farmers breed one or two foals 

 every year. The increase of farm horses by about 20 per cent, in the last 

 thirty years indicates that many more are now bred than was formerly 

 the case. 



Half-bred (Leicester-Cheviot) sheep are kept principally in the east, and 

 blackfaced on the higher lands of the west, but other breeds form part of the 

 flocks. The total number of sheep tended to increase till about 1900, since 

 when it has rather decreased. 



The pigs are mostly of the Middle White Yorkshire breed, and they are 

 sometimes crossed with the Berkshire. Breeders find a ready sale for young 

 pigs in the colliery districts, and though their total number decreased largely 

 about 1880, they have again nearly reached the average of the past thirty 

 years. With regard to animal diseases the county is now in a fortunate 

 position. There were in 1905 only ten outbreaks of swine-fever, thirteen of 

 sheep-scab, and no cases of other important contagious diseases. 



There were seventy-five owners of 1,000 acres and upwards of land in 

 the county in 1875, among whom the following owned over 10,000 acres : 

 The Duke of Cleveland (now represented by Lord Barnard), the Marquis of 

 Londonderry, the Earl of Durham, Viscount Boyne, and the Ecclesiastical 

 Commissioners. The University of Durham owns nearly 3,000 acres. 

 Perhaps the largest agricultural estate in the county at the present time is that 

 which has been for nearly 300 years in the hands of the same family, and to 

 which the present Lord Barnard of Raby Castle succeeded on the death of 

 the last Duke of Cleveland in 1891. The Raby estate comprises some 

 56,000 acres, which lie mostly in the Valley of the Tees, and include a con- 

 siderable extent of moorland. The average rental in 1875 varied from 



1 See Table, supra. 

 366 



