CHAPTER VII. 

 WHITE CATTLE. 



The Basis of the Durham and Modern Shorthorn Breeds. 



The stockbreeder has something more to do than merely to watch 

 the effect of coupling one animal with another. To rightly .fulfil the 

 functions of his calling he must so mate animal with animal as to 

 produce the best possible results, generation by generation, in an ever- 

 ascending proportion. To him are entrusted living organisms from 

 which he is to produce the best possible results according to the 

 natural laws of propagation from other similar organisms, and of such 

 a character as shall conserve every good quality, and as far as possible 

 replace every bad quality with a better one until perfection is reached. 



The organisms are probably plastic but the secret of their plasticity 

 is not known to everyone, and to those to whom it is known it is 

 still a mystery, or at least a half-solved riddle, and in proportion of 

 just the ratio of the insight that this or that breeder has into the 

 secrets of Nature will his success as a breeder depend. This insight 

 is, in fine, knowledge, and, like all other knowledge, is power ; and he 

 who would possess it must seek for it as for hidden treasures. 



There appears to have been a time when men were not ignorant of 

 the value of this branch of knowledge. The earliest written record 

 of our own race show us that certain breeds of cattle were esteemed 

 for certain well-defined peculiarities. It is, therefore, only reasonable 

 to suypose that such cattle were bred with a view to the special pro- 

 duction of certain highly-esteemed marks. In proof of this, we read 

 that the Druids used to sacrifice white bulls on their altars; and white 

 bulls were also sacrificed by the Egyptians to Apis. In Italy there 

 was a noble breed of white cattle, the bulls being models of beauty. 

 Herds of this breed were kept to breed and graze in the wild solitudes 

 of the Campagna of Rome, tended by herdsmen. In Hungary there 

 is a breed of white cattle of large size, with long horns ; a similar 

 breed prevails in both Russia and Poland, which were much prized. 



But why, it may be asked, should white cattle have been possessed 

 and valued since the dawn of the Christian era ? On this point both 

 scientists and agricultural writers are very silent, possibly because 

 they have had no information to work on. It is nevertheless true 

 that white, cream, and grey have always been the colors found in 

 scores of instances prevailing among the semi-aboriginal herds of 

 Europe. We have seen that the Celts were in possession of cattle 

 prior to the Roman invasion of Britain. We have also seen that the 

 early Celts used ^hite bulls on their altars for sacrificial purposes. Fur- 

 ther, we have seen that large and valuable herds of white cattle were 

 preserved in the countries mentioned for certain purposes. 



Walkins, in his gleanings from the natural history o-f the ancients, 

 says : " Much as Great Britain owes to Rome for her gifts of literature 

 and law, civilisation was even more largely aided by her in the or- 

 dinary conveniences of life, as also in the improvements in agriculture 

 and animals and plants." It becomes, therefore, an interesting ques- 

 tion, in considering the evidence which yet remain of the material 

 conveniences of life which Rome contributed to Britain what plants 

 and animals she brought into that island. 



Cattle, numerous in Britain previous to the Roman invasion, fur- 

 nished the people of the island with food in their flesh, and partial 

 clothing in their skins. They were exported to countries abroad, with 

 various other articles of commerce, under the dominion of the 



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