On Argyleshire Cattle. 



349 



and heifers of Mr. John Bates, of Hedden, near Newcastle^ a 

 gentleman who had bred them, with great care and judgment^ for 

 as much as 25 years, deriving his blood from the most eminent 

 breeders in Argyleshire and the Isle of Skye. They bore a 

 somewhat different character to those Mr. Poole had previously 

 obtained^ chiefly in the length and gay appearance of the horns. 

 These had been bred and kept exclusively upon moor land of 

 very inferior quality. The colours of those previously procured 

 consisted of light and dark dun^ cream colour^ red, and black. 

 A portion of this new blood from Mr. Bates was infused into the 

 former stock of Mr. Poole ; and with that intermixture alone the 

 present stock has been raised. The herd is not a large one, per- 

 haps consisting of 12 or 14 cows; and one of the most important 

 benefits accruing from them has been, that, from his practice of 

 thick and hard stocking, he has been enabled to increase his 

 number considerably on the same quantity of land : and it may 

 be observed, that they graze the pastures as equally, and almost 

 as close, as sheep. 



This gentleman accustoms all the best milkers to the pail, and 

 finds, with gentle usage, they are mostly tractable, and give a fair 

 quantity of milk, of a quality little inferior to the Alderney. Their 

 form has been generally improving, from care in the selection of 

 the bulls ; but as it often happens that many of the best-shaped 

 heifers have turned out inferior milkers, and as the milking 

 quality has been held to be indispensable, the general adoption of 

 the truest form has been much retarded. They have in general 

 been exceedingly healthy, and have been subject to few diseases 

 or accidents. There has been no great increase of size, and but 

 little variation in the coat. Some individuals, at their first intro- 

 duction, varied from others considerably in their quality, and so 

 they continue to do ; and those which possessed a profusion of 

 mossy or curly hair are relatively, as to their family, the same at 

 the present time. I think an increase of size is more observable 

 in the bullocks that are bred from them. I have known a pair of 

 these fetch in Hereford fair the same price that was obtained for 

 a pair of moderately good Herefords ; having been reared and 

 kept alike. The quality of their flesh generally leaves nothing 

 to be desired ; and their aptitude to feed is surpassed by none. 

 Having been constantly under habits of domestication, they retain 

 little of the wild and suspicious looks usual with them at their 

 first introduction on the sudden approach of strangers. I confess 

 I felt anxious to see some crosses made with the Herefords — not 

 mthout the anticipation of its being beneficial — but it did not 

 even in the first cross (which is generally the best), succeed s 

 well as I have observed it in other breeds; and, although the 

 Hereford is in general of a dark red, the produce from the cross 



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