The HolloW'horned Ruminants 



209 



Formerly there were 

 several other hei'ds of ancient 

 white cattle. One was at 

 Gisburne, in Yorkshire; 

 another at Chatelherault Park, 

 in Lanarkshire ; and records 

 of herds at Bishop Auckland 

 in Durham, Barnard Castle, 

 Blair Athol, Burton Constable, 

 Naworth Castle, and other 

 ancient parks are preserved. 

 Probably all were of a breed 

 highly prized in ancient days, 

 which was allowed the run of 

 the forests adjacent to the 

 homes of their owners ; then, 

 as the forests w'cre cleared, 

 they were gradually taken up 

 and enclosed in parks. Another 

 theory is, that they were the 

 white cattle of North-western 

 Italy, imported by the first settlements of Italian monks after the conversion of the Saxons. 



The property of Lord Brayljrooke 



JERSEY' COW. 



Though small in sizo, the Jersey' cows produce more butter than 

 any English breed. 



SOME DOMESTICATED CATTLE. 



The various species of European domestic cattle have in most cases been brought to a 

 degree of excellence even higher than that which inight be expected from the long period of 

 time in which their improvement has been an object of solicitude to man. Of the foreign 

 races, the dark red cattle of the Spanish Peninsula — animals which have been exported to the 

 Canary Islands and Madeira with great success— are justly famous. The white oxen of North- 

 east Italy have been famous since the days of the Romans. The tall long-horned cattle of 

 Hungary are excellent alike as beasts of draught and for beef. The black-and-white Dutch cows 

 are, and have been, the mainstay of the dairy industry of Holland, and later of Denmark; 

 while the small Brittany cows are perhaps the best butter-producers on the continent of 

 Europe. But England and the Channel Islands may justly claim to rear the finest cattle of the 

 temperate parts of the w'orld. The diminutive 

 Jersey cows, now reared in all parts of the 

 kingdom, surjiass all the animals of Europe 

 or America in the richness of their milk, 

 while stock from the pedigree herds of 

 various English breeds is eagerly sought by 

 foreign and continental buyers on both sides 

 of the Atlantic, and in New Zealand and 

 Australia. These foreign strains need constant 

 replenishing from the English herds, and the 

 result is a golden harvest to the breeders in 

 these islands. 



The Shorthorn was the first breed to be 

 brought to perfection. Two main stocks — 

 one for producing beef, the other for the 



^ ^. . .. ., , 11 r„.u ,1.1. Pa...., [Ririaifs Parle. 



dairy— are recogmsed ; they are the ' all- Spanish cattle. 



round breed" most in favour, and it is said xhese belong to the long-homed race of southern and Eastern Euroie. In 



that the improvement in this race alone has the bulls the homs are shorter, and often turn downwards. 



