Sussex Cattle. 
115 
The Sussex bull must be strong and vigorous, and thrifty 
enough to get through the year without the aid of artificial 
food. His head should be strong and masculine, with good, 
though not coarse, horns which should on no account have an 
upward tendency but grow straight from the head. The nose 
must be 'perfectly white. He should have good length, especially 
from hip to tail, and have strong, clean bone, and he should be 
of the darker shade of colour. 
The cows must be large and roomy, with well-developed 
hips and good length from hip to tail. The shoulders should 
be strong but not coarse, flat on the top where they meet the 
backbone and not coming to a point as in the milking breeds. 
The nose should be white, though even in the best strains an 
occasional dusky one may be found. As in all long-horned 
breeds there is a certain latitude allowed the shape of the 
horns, but the cock horn or Devon type must be avoided. 
As with the bulls, so the cows must have good bone. This, 
a chief characteristic of the breed, must be insisted upon. 
The history of the breed is not extensive, but in Marshall, 
Boys, and other writers of the eighteenth, and in Youatt in 
the nineteenth century we find references to the breed with 
allusions to their size, length, and great constitutional vigour, 
but with scant praise for them as beef makers ; one writer 
calling them “ quaint and ungainly creatures.” This was before 
the improvement in the breed, and when these cattle had for 
generations been bred chiefly for the production of steers for 
draught purposes. 
As far back as 1751 an old chronicler writing about the 
Sussex roads, says that they have a most unenviable reputation, 
and asks, “ why comes it that the oxen, the swine, and the 
women and all other animals are so long-legged in Sussex. 
Can it be from the difficulty of pulling the feet out of so much 
mud by the strength of the ankle, so that the muscles become 
stretched as it were, and the bones lengthened thereby.” 
Earlier in the eighteenth century the Wealds of Kent and 
Sussex were the centre of the great iron industry, and the 
extensive forest of Anderida was denuded of its oaks to feed 
the large furnaces at Mayfield, Lamberhurst, and other places 
in the district. The strong-boned Sussex steers were par- 
ticularly well adapted for the haulage of this timber through 
the soft, undrained tracks of the partially cleared forest, and 
their being employed on such work would account for the 
popular verdict against them as beef producers. It is interest- 
ing to know that, until recently, there existed a herd directly 
descended from the old working oxen. This was the Lyne 
herd, dispersed in 1903, and in the preface to the catalogue, we 
read that : “ This is probably the oldest Sussex herd in existence, 
