THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 49 



tracts, now under the plough, were then undrained bogs or 

 morasses, or rough woodlands, concealing a thin and bar- 

 barous population. Take, as an example, the Weald of Kent, 

 formerly a wild, uncultivated forest; roads were few, and none 

 good, and pack-horses were the ordinary means of carrying 

 on internal commerce. The implements of husbandry were 

 rude; no provision, or but little, was made for cattle during 

 the winter months ; nor were systematic attempts at elevating 

 the breeds undertaken by the farmer. We are not, however, 

 to suppose that no good breeds of cattle existed ; England is 

 essentially a corn-growing and a grazing country; and her 

 green pasture lands, her verdant meadows, and fertile vales, 

 watered by streams or rivers, have ever nourished herds of 

 kine; our humid climate and cloudy skies are favourable to 

 the production of grasses, clothing the fields with verdure. 

 As the woods disappeared, and the marshes were drained, 

 the extent of pasturage increased ; the operations of farming 

 began to be conducted on a better plan; the cattle began 

 also to improve; from differences of situation and pasture, 

 or from accidental or intentional intermixture, the old stocks 

 soon assumed new characteristics, and ramified into breeds 

 varying in minor details, though still preserving their out- 

 standing characters. Of these some were of great value from 

 the abundance of milk, others for their tendency to fatten 

 and keep in condition, even on inferior pasture grounds ; and 

 others from their strength and hardiness as working steers. 

 Mixtures of these breeds produced others, and thus varieties 

 were ever springing up, and coalescing, or running into each 

 other by imperceptible gradations, till at length, somewhat 

 after the middle of the last century, science and experience 

 were called in to the breeder's aid; and persevering patience 

 and great pecuniary outlay were ultimately productive of the 

 most beneficial results. 



From the earliest times, as far as we can learn, two or 

 three distinct stocks of cattle appear to have existed in Great 

 Britain. Of these one prevailed in Lancashire, and the 

 adjacent counties, and particularly in the district of Craven, 

 in Yorkshire. It was also spread over a great part of Ireland, 

 as Tipperary, Limerick, Munster, &c. This breed, now greatly 

 modified, was remarkable for the enormous length and bulk of 

 the horns, for thickness of hide, and deep, curling hair. The 

 general form was rather coarse, and the limbs big-boned; but 

 the cows yielded milk remarkable for its richness. 



