140 



Farming of South Wales. 



The Glamorgans are generally a ruddy brown, with white 

 along the back and belly ; they will not graze when young, and 

 have too often flat blacks and high rumps : they are very su- 

 perior cattle to work, and the cows are kind milkers, averaging 

 perhaps from 16 to 18 quarts per day. 



The other black runts are extremely hardy, but small and light 

 fleshed, with thick hard hides, and show little disposition to fatten. 

 There were formerly some good red, brindled, and smoky-faced 

 cattle in the hilly parts of Radnor, but they have lost much of 

 their distinctive character by crossing with the Shropshire and 

 Hereford cattle. 



In the internal management of the dairy the Welsh are clean, 

 economical, and successful: they make a large quantity of capital 

 butter, but the cheese is hard and poor. There is not much 

 prospect of the cattle in the interior of the Principality improving, 

 as too little attention is generally paid to the selection of the male 

 animal. Cows also are valued only for their milk ; indeed, if one 

 should present any fattening qualities, the first time beef is dear 

 and she is dry, she is sure to be sold ; while the good milkers are 

 frequently kept till they are much too old. The calves are dropped 

 in the field, and run with the dam for three days or a week ; 

 they are then weaned, and generally fed on skimmed milk, and 

 by degrees are taught to eat hay ; during this time they are 

 huddled together in dark close cribs. As soon as there is grass, 

 they are turned out, and it is no unfrequent occurrence to see 

 stock of all ages, from the cow to the yearling, grazing in the 

 same field. In the following winter they are exposed to the 

 violent gales and sudden changes of the atmosphere, being sup- 

 plied with a scanty allowance of hay under the hedge-rows ; the 

 older cattle wander over the grass-land, and have some of the 

 coarser hay or barley-straw. At three years old they are gene- 

 rally brought to the fairs and sold to the drovers, who dispose of 

 them for grazing on the rich pastures of the Midland counties of 

 England. The district is at present fortunately free from the 

 ravages of the sinall-pox in sheep, and also from the pleuro- 

 pneumonia and epizootic epidemic which has caused such fright- 

 ful havoc among the cattle of England. 



The native or mountain sheep of Wales are very small, with 

 white faces, short coarse wool, and numbers of them are horned. 

 They are extremely hardy, and very active. This class is found 

 in the open elevated lands and high mountains of the interior of the 

 country. They are under no particular system of management, 

 but follow the dictates of their sagacious instinct. They are not so 

 much kept as formerly, being a great hindrance to improved 

 tillage. Hardly any fence will stop them, and they constantly 

 commit nocturnal depredations on the corn-fields, and are suffi- 



