•2iiO 



XKW-VORK FARMER AXD 



jurposes, far superior to what arc to be found in a 

 late of nature or in any other country. Notwith- 

 standing this, however, much certainty remains to be 

 known regarding the nutriment afforded by different 



kinds of herbage and roots ; the quantity of food con- 

 sumed b) different breeds, in proportion as well to 

 their weight at the time, as to the ratio of their in- 

 crease, and the propriety of employing large or small 

 animals in any given circumstances. Even with re- 

 gard to the degrees of improvement made by fatting 

 cattle generally, from the consumption of a given 

 weight of roots or herbage, no great accuracy is com- 

 monly attempted ; machines for weighing the c.ttle 

 themselves and their food, from time to time, not be- 

 ing yet in general use in any part of Britain. We 

 shall consider th<>. bull family as to his variety, crite- 

 ria, bleeding, rearing, feeding, working, fattening, 

 and milking. 



Of the varieties and breeds of Ike Bull. 

 The varieties of the wild ox are (he Bonasus and 

 the Bison ; the firsf with a long mane, and 

 the last with a gibbous back. They inhabit the 

 woods in Madagascar and many other countries of 

 the ca.-t ; and the bison is even said to be found in 

 Poland. 



The varieties of the cultivated ox are the Europe- 

 an, Indian, Zebu, Surat, Abyssinian, Madagascar, 

 Tinian, and African. From the European variety- 

 have been formed the different breeds cultivated in 

 Britain. They are very numerous, but we shall only 

 notice such as are in most esteem. These different 

 breeds are generally distinguished by the length or 

 flexure of their horns, by the absence of horns, by the 

 districts where they ar« supposed to have originated, 

 abound, or exist in the greatest purity, or by the name 

 of the breeder. 



(fia. 1.) The long-horned 



or Lancashire breed 

 •of cattle (fig. 1.) is 

 distinguished from 

 others by the length 

 of their horns, the 

 thickness and firm 

 ' texture of theirhide, 

 the length and closeness of their hair, the large size 

 of their hoofs, and coarse, leathery, thick neck- ; 

 they are likewise deeper in their fore quarters, and 

 lighter in their hind quarters than most other breeds ; 

 narrower in their shape, less in point of weight than 

 the short horns, though better weighers in proportion 

 to their size ; and though they give considerably less 

 milk, it is said to afford more cream in proportion to 

 its quantity. They are more varied in their color 

 than any of the othar breeds ; but, whatever the co- 

 Jor be, they have in general a white streak along their 



back, which the breeders term finched, and mostly a 

 white spot on tho inside of the hough. In a general 

 view, this race, notwithstanding the singular efforts 

 that have been made towards its improvement, rex- 

 mains with little alteration; for, excepting in Leices- 

 tershire, none of the subvarities (which differ a little 

 in almost every one of those counties where the long 

 horns prevail) have undergone any radical change 01 

 any obvious improvement. 



(Fig. 2.) 



The improved breed of Leicestershire (fig. 2.) is 

 said to have been formed by Webster, of Cauley near 

 Coventry, in Warwickshire, by means of six cows 

 brought from the banks of the Trent, about the be- 

 ginning of the present century, which were crossed 

 with bulls from Westmoreland and Lancashire. — 

 Bakewell, of Dishley in Leicestershire, afterwards 

 got the lead as a breeder, by selecting from the Cau- 

 ley stock ; and the stocks of several other eminent 

 breeders have been traced to the same source. 



Criteria of Cattle for various ohjects andpurposcs. 



The criteria of a well-made bull, to whatever breed 

 he belongs, are according to Culley as follows : the 

 head should be rather long, and the muzzle fine ; his 

 eyes lively and prominent, his ears long and thin, his 

 horns wide, his neck rising with a gentle curve from 

 the shoulders, and small and fine where it joins the 

 head ; the shoulders moderately broad at the top, 

 joining full to his chine or crops and chest back- 

 wards, and to the neck-vein forwards ; his bosom 

 open, breast broad, and projecting well before his 

 legs ; his arms or fore-thighs muscular, and tapering 

 to his knee ; his legs strait, clean, and very fine bo- 

 ned ; his chine and chest so full as to leave no hol- 

 lows behind the shoulders ; the plates strong, to keep 

 his belly from sinking below the level of his breast : 

 his back or lois broad, straight, and flat ; his ribs ri- 

 sing one above another in such a manner that the 

 last rib shall be rather the highest, leaving only a 

 small space to the hips or hooks, the whole forming 

 a round or barrel-like carcase ; his hips should be 

 wide placed, round, or globular, and a little higher 

 than the back ; the quarters from the hip to (he rump, 

 long, and instead of being square, as recommended 

 by some, they should taper gradually from the hips 

 backward, and the turls or pott-bones not in the least 



