742 CATTLE AND DAIRY FAEMING. 



pure white and: light lemon fawn, and the latter is no darker on the head and neck than 

 on the body. Her skin, as seen in the ear, the udder, and, in fact, on any part, is not 

 nominally, but actually, that of gold, and it is not necessary to approach her or open the 

 hair to see the glow. 



I. TFEIiSn BX.ACK CAXXIiX:. 



The Dlack cattle are natives of the counties of Pembroke, Carmarthen, and Cardigan, 

 and are more generally known as Pembrokeshire Blacks, subdivided iifto Castlemartin 

 and Dewsland breeds. From Cardiganshire they also extend along the North Wales 

 coast up to Anglesea. Professor Wrightson, of the College of Agriculture at Dowaton, 

 near Salisbury, considers that the Hungarian and Podolian cattle are of the same breed 

 as the Black Cattle of Wales. 



Mr. Eichard H. Harvey, in his preface to the Welsh Black Cattle Herd Book, says the 

 cattle are generally of black color. Occasionally there are some cows striped — red and 

 black — also some quite white, with black ears, muzzle, and. feet; but these are becom- 

 ing very rare. The late Lord Dynevor had some very fine specimens of the white breed 

 near Llandilo, and the five-year-old oxen were fine animals. The horns should be of a 

 rich yellow; they are generally tipped with black, and do not come out yellow to the 

 very end, like the Herefords. There is a different pitch of horn for bulls and cows. A 

 bull's horn should be low, and well spread; the cow's narrower, and the pitch more up- 

 right. 



The steers and oxen take more after the bull. This description applies in a great 

 measure to the Anglesea cattle. They are, however, broader on the back, and shorter in 

 the legs, with more hair. The heads are heavier and horns not so yellow. 



To this description, however, Mr. Morgan Evans, who was a breeder of these cattle, 

 took exception. He never saw a black cow with a dark-brown face. 



They should have the hair long and wavy, neither short and crisp nor very curly. A 

 brown-black wavy coat is to be preferred to any other. A white udder and a gray or 

 white tuft of hair at the end of the tail is the only deviation from the self-color — black 

 or brown-black — admissible. 



The natural characteristics of the breed may be described as narrow on the shoulder 

 and chine, slack on the loins, an inclination to be high on the rump, and flat-sided. 



No cattle withstand cold and wot with greater hardihood than the Blacks. Their home 

 is in a stormy clime, and the robust Blacks roam in the fields, their only shelter being 

 the earth-banks of the inclosures. Cows and heifers irequently calve in the tempest or 

 knee-deep in snow with apparent comfort, and without injury to their offspring. 



Docililij. — The docility of the breed is remarkable. A stranger may go safely into a 

 herd of cows, but it is not safe to do so where there is a, bull, unless accompanied by 

 some person acquainted with its habits. Bulls, after they are one year old, should al- 

 ways be kept in the house, not only avoiding accidents, but enabling the farmer to regu- 

 late the times of calving. The cows stand very quietly to be milked in the yard or in 

 the house, and with their large full eyes and quiet expression look the very picture of 

 docility. They are most useful dairy stock, as the have a good flow of milk, of more than 

 average quality. 



Fattening. — It is admitted that the Black breed will fatten at an early age, and, when 

 reared like the improved breeds, will make good weights. Looking at the soil, the cli- 

 mate, and the accommodation for them during the winter, they are the only breed that 

 will pay the farmer's rent. 



Mr. G. F. Bowdeu, of Somersal, near Derby, never ties up any of his cattle, only those 

 he milks and finishes off for the butcher. The calves reared on their dam's milk at one 

 year old are as big, better hair and coats, than those reared by hand at two years old. 

 Other calves Mr. Bo wden rears on skim milk, Simpson's calf meal, and a little dissolved 

 oil-cake. For feeding purposes it is considered best to buy barren heifers and bullocks 

 turned three years old. 



Note, hy Consul-General Merritt. — Another breed, the large Black or Eunts, is of great 

 size with immense horns. At the last Smithfield show, 1883, the heaviest beast was a 

 Black Welsh. 



