AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 403 



I never knew one of them to die of catarrh, consumption or gout. 

 The per centage of mortality is less among the New-England 

 cattle than among any other race. 



The Leicestershire cattle were brought into Massachus 'tts in 

 1629, by Francis Higginson, Esq., who brought one hundred and 

 fifteen head of neat cattle The Leicestershire cattle give a very 

 rich milk, both for butter and cheese. The Stilton cheese is made 

 from this milk, from cows fed on the hills in Melton Mowbray. 

 In 1G26, a bull and seven cows were sent from England. These 

 were supposed to come from Wiltshire to Cape Ann. In 1625, the 

 Dutch West India Company imported from Holland into New-York 

 one hundred and three animals, with horses and swine, for breeding. 

 The Gloucestershire Cattle. 



Gloucestershire is in the southern part of England, situated on 

 the River Severn, up from the Bristol Channel, north of Wiltshire, 

 and south-east of Herefordshire. This was formerly one of the 

 best dairy counties in England. A great quantity of clieese was 

 formerly made in this county; it is of two sorts — the single and 

 double. The first was made of skim milk, or from a mixture of 

 skimmed and pure milk. The double from pure unskimmed 

 milk. The best cows have been known to produce twenty-four 

 quarts of milk a day for seven months after calving. It is said 

 that the original race of cattle in this county was small, of an 

 indifterent figure, but were well adapted to active work in a hilly 

 country. The color a reddish brown. 



A cross on the old Long-horns of Wiltshire produced a larger 

 race, with a tendency to fatten. Crosses were made at an early 

 day upon the Durhams and Yorkshire, and the old Short-hurns, 

 which produced animals of good milking qualities, remarkable for 

 milk, large in quantity and rich in quality; it is said that the 

 Herefords and Devons were much sought after for crossing. A 

 great many of this race of cattle were brought into New England, 

 especially into the old Massachusetts colony in the county of Mid- 

 dlesex, and into the Plymouth colony. 



Somersetshire Cattle. 



Somersetshire lies east of the Bristol Channel, and north-east of 

 Devonshire, joining the two, and producing the largest cattle in 

 England; a cross on the Short-horns, Herefords and Long-horns. 



