62 THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 



proved short-horns, which now began to acquire the ascend- 

 ancy. Be this as it may, certain it is that the Dishley breed 

 is extinct. Karely, indeed, in Lancashire, Leicestershire, or 

 Westmoreland, are pure long-horned cattle to be seen ; and 

 it is the same in other counties where they once prevailed. 

 Not that the traces of the improved long-horns are altogether 

 effaced ; in their palmy days they elevated the races of the 

 midland counties, and though these, generally speaking, are 

 now so mixed as to be of no definite breed, yet they were origin- 

 ally long-horns, and more or less influenced by the Dishley ; 

 they lost, to a greater or less degree, their original coarseness, 

 and became permanently ameliorated. 



In the midland counties, at the present time, either the 

 short-horned breed prevails, or a crossed breed between this 

 and the long-horns, the degrees of affinity to either side vary- 

 ing almost infinitely. We say nothing here of the cattle in- 

 troduced from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, &c., for the express 

 purpose of fattening in parks and grazing grounds, for the 

 markets ; we allude to the native cattle of the district, the 

 cattle of the farmer or dairyman. 



In Lancashire and Westmoreland, as we have said, few 

 pure long-horned cattle are to be met with ; in some parts 

 half-long-horned beasts may be seen, but mostly short-horns. 

 In the former county, indeed, many Irish cattle are fed, and 

 among these a fair proportion of long-horns occur; and some 

 farmers, both in the northern and southern portion, still 

 prefer the long-horns for the dairy; but crosses are the most 

 prevalent. 



The cattle of Derbyshire were originally long-horns, of a 

 coarse breed, indifferent for the feeder, but excellent for the 

 dairy-farmer. Within the last few years this breed has be- 

 come greatly modified, and few of the old unimproved stock 

 remain. During a recent visit to this county we occasionally 

 saw cattle retaining a proportion of the original characters, 

 viz., a thick, heavy head, with spreading and irregularly-turned 

 horns, an angular figure, and a thick hide covered with long 

 hair; but these were by no means general; a crossed breed, 

 in which the strain of the short- horns was decided, was what 

 we mostly observed ; and not unfrequently pure cattle of this 

 race, identical with those of Yorkshire. 



For a long series of years Cheshire has been renowned as 

 a dairy county, cheese being its noted product, and the cattle 

 have been celebrated as milkers. They were originally long- 



