66 THE OX AND THE DAIRY. 



selected, improved, and recommended by that attentive 

 breeder, Mr. Bakewell ; for as to the long-horned breed in 

 common, I am inclined to think their beef rather inferior than 

 superior to that of the generality of short-horns ; and there is 

 little doubt but a breed of short-horned cattle might be 

 selected, equal, if not superior, to even that very kindly -fleshed 

 sort of Mr. Bakewell 's, provided any able breeder, or body of 

 breeders, would pay as much attention to these as Mr. Bake- 

 well and his neighbours have done to the long-horns. But it 

 has hitherto been the misfortune of the short-horned breeders 

 to pursue the largest and biggest-boned ones for the best, 

 without considering that those are the best that pay the most 

 money for a given quantity of food." It would almost appear 

 as if Mr. Culley had ventured to prophecy. His anticipations 

 have been more than realized ; and whether we regard milk 

 or flesh, the short-horns have risen pre-eminent. Breeders 

 have stepped forward, and the result of their efforts is 

 notorious. 



But before we investigate the pretensions of the short-horns, 

 an old, an aboriginal breed, has a claim upon our notice ; we 

 mean that which is usually denominated the middle-horned, 

 that of which the Chillingham wild ox may be taken as a type 



THE MIDDLE-HORNED STOCK. This stock, once, perhaps, 

 more extensively spread in our island than at present, still 

 prevails in many districts, ramified into varieties according to 

 the nature of the locality, and the improvements of the 

 breeder. We find this race in Sussex, in Herefordshire, in 

 Cornwall, Devonshire, Wales, and Scotland.* 



These cattle are distinguished by an air of vivacity, almost 

 of wildness ; the head is small, with a broad forehead, and 

 graceful horns ; the eye is large and animated, the body well 

 built, the limbs vigorous, the setting of the tail high, the skin 

 mellow and elastic, and the hair curly ; the colour is red, or 

 black, often unbroken by white. With respect to milk, the 

 cows yield rather a moderate quantity on an average, but it is 

 of superior quality. There is a remarkable tendency to the 

 acquirement of fat, which marbles the grain of the flesh, ren- 

 dering it of first-rate excellence. Every breed of this stock, 

 however, is not of the same value, and different breeds have 



* It would seem as it those cattle had heen driven westwardly and north- 

 wardly from the other parts of our island, and found a permanent asylum in 

 the mountainous districts, though, as we have already said, we suspect them to 

 have been aborigines of these districts, an old long-horned race occupying the 

 more level and marshy parts. 



