JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 503 
in the Shorthorns of the present day, and this with some degree 
of truth must be admitted, if taken in comparison with the Ketton 
herd ; but at the same time we must admit the wonderful im¬ 
provement of the general stock of Shorthorns in the kingdom, 
and their wide and far-reaching extension in almost every soil 
and climate therein. This brings us to the point of difference in 
the shape, growth, and quality of the stock of Messrs. Colling and 
Mason, as illustrated and shown by the pictures in the “Agricul¬ 
tural Gazette,” taken from an old folio by Garrard which we 
have now before us, of two fat oxen which were bred respectively 
by Mr. C. Colling and Mr. C. Mason in the year 1795—the Ketton 
roan ox bred by the former gentleman, afterwards known by its 
exhibition and travels throughout England ; the white Chilton 
ox bred by the latter gentleman, which, although far less widely 
exhibited, but which old north-country breeders have been heard 
to prefer. For the style, shape, and general conformation of 
these superior animals we look in vain in the present race of 
Shorthorns. These oxen, although somewhat different in style, 
yet were certainly very closely resembling each other in those 
points so much esteemed by the butcher, and also well calculated 
to yield to the grazier weight of meat for food consumed. We 
allude more particularly to the Ketton ox as being of great size 
and substance, with fine long hind quarters. The space from hip 
to the rib was long, but the evils which exist in most herds of the 
present day in consequence of an extreme length in this part 
were counteracted by a broad back and high round ribs, the 
carcase being fully completed by the filling-in of the shortened 
neck and the heavy forequarters. We have observed in late years 
many attempts to lengthen the hind quarters of the animals in 
certain fashionable herds ; but it has invariably resulted in dis¬ 
appointment, for what was gained in length of hind quarter was 
lost in the substance behind the shoulder, and the result also of a 
weak sirloin ; and as these are the most valuable points in the 
carcase to the butcher, so they are likewise of the utmost import¬ 
ance to the grazier in returning heavy weight for age and the 
food consumed. To the breeder of show animals these points are 
invaluable, as no well-bred animal can be perfect without them. 
This brings us to the points included in the animals perfected 
for exhibition which we see now. We may perhaps call them, as 
included in compact and square-like frame, the old style of the 
Ketton stock, the elongated square being absent, and perhaps 
never to appear again until some one or more breeders arise 
gifted with the same skill in all the requirements which was 
pre-eminently possessed by Mr. Charles Colling, and, to some 
extent, by his near compeer Mr. Charles Mason. The sale in 1810 
of the cattle reared by Mr. C. Colling may be said to have in¬ 
augurated a new era in Shorthorn breeding, for it was noticed 
that few persons bought both male and female animals on that 
occasion, so as to enable them to continue the same precise blood ; 
consequently the purchaser of one animal only had to mate him 
or her with such stock as he previously possessed, thereby im¬ 
proving the progeny of his own but deteriorating that of the 
purchase : so that the produce was sure to be inferior to the 
original Ketton beast, and might in most cases require several 
judicious crosses with good animals, if the right stamp could be 
found, to raise them to the original standard. In fact, it was a 
rare occurrence to find a really valuable herd of pure and close 
descent from the Ketton breed—at any rate, until the Ketton 
stock sold at Mr. C. Colling’s sale in 1810 had been for some 
years located upon other soil and climate than that of the Ketton 
district, for we are obliged to say that Mr. C. Colling’s style and 
pedigree of stock was maintained almost entirely upon the prin¬ 
ciple of breeding in-and-in, as it is called ; therefore, when the 
animals were sold into different districts it ought really to have 
been not only the commencement of a new era, but also a main 
taiaing of the original style and type by an infusion of invigorated 
blood, by the influence of soil and climate upon the offspring of 
the animals dispersed at the sale. We have, however, no evidence 
to support the fact that these animals or their progeny were 
mated together in after years without alloy, which will clearly 
account for the actual style and type of the Ketton herd, and 
represented by Mr. C. Colling’s fat ox which was exhibited, as 
before alluded to, being eventually lost by the dispersion and sale 
of his cattle in 1810. In this matter we find Mr. John Wright, in 
his valuable and practical essay on Shorthorn cattle published'in 
the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1840, 
confirms the opinions we have expressed when he says : “Assuming, 
then, that the Shorthorns have never equalled the perfection in 
which they were presented to us by Mr. C. Colling, it behoves us 
to ascertain the means he used to accomplish so desirable an 
object.” But we can only say that from that time to the present 
it has not been done. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK OX THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—This work is now divided between preparation for 
root crops and drilling the seed and grass-cutting for hay with the 
mowing machine. It is, however, rather late for drilling Swede seed 
except for sheep on the limestone and chalk hill farms, for the pur¬ 
pose of feeding late in the spring of next year. When the weather is 
cold and the spring backward late-sown Swedes of the hardy purple 
top variety will keep well in the land when crowned down—that is, 
by cutting of the greens in the month of March with a fagging hook 
just below the rim on the crown of the root formed by the fall of the 
first leaf. By pulling enough roots to make a road in the required 
direction for a horse and cart to remove the greens as fast as cut for the 
sheep or other cattle, it affords, without injuring the feeding value of 
the roots, enough green food to pay for the labour, and the roots may 
then be left in the land until required for use until the end of June 
or the first week in July in sound and valuable condition. They may 
be followed by another root crop, such as Rape or Thousand-headed 
Kale, or Turnips to be fed off for a Wheat crop. 
Hay-making will now employ both hand labour and horse labour, 
and the home farmer may now feel himself safe from serious damage 
if he will adopt the plan of what is called “ self-making of hay,” <fcc., 
for if his ricks are built about 18 or 20 feet square, and the requisites 
for exhausting undue heat properly provided and adjusted as recom¬ 
mended by Mr. Neilson and Mr. Knowles, he will get rid of all the 
harassing disappointment and extra expenses peculiar to haying 
and harvesting in adverse weather. These gentlemen state that 
during ten years’ experience they have had no trouble at all on their 
farms with any hay, even the newest and ■wettest which have been 
stacked where this system has been practised. As Messrs. Suttons of 
Reading have offered a prize of one hundred guineas to the exhibitor 
of the best set of tackle for the above purpose at the Royal Agricul¬ 
tural Society’s meeting at Reading next month, we advise every farmer 
who possibly can do so to see the system in full work on the occasion, 
for the system is established ■ it is now only required to improve the 
tackle as much as possible and to construct the ricks as necessary in 
shape and size. 
Live Stool .—Abundance of grass and green fodder everywhere pre¬ 
vails, and we can recollect no season since that of 18G8 at all equal to 
the present promise for all crops of the farm taken together. The 
cattle for beef will answer well no doubt this year, also dairy cows 
grazing for milk, butter, or cheese-making must with care and economy 
be successful this season, the only drawback being that those who 
have purchased their cattle have been obliged to pay high prices for 
them. This fact, however, only shows the advantage to the home 
farmer of raising every animal of the live stock which he requires 
upon the home farm under his own management, as we have often 
advised, it being the best and only way to obtain the full profits of 
stock farming. The Down ewes for breeding early lambs should now 
be mated with well-bred South Down rams and liberally fed until all 
are assured to be pregnant, as the plan of buying ewes first out of the 
wool and breeding from them is better than buying the ewes in lamb 
during the autumn. 
PIGEON LOFTS IN SUMMER. 
It is some weeks since we gave some elementary instruction on 
the management of Pigeon lofts in spring. Summer has come in 
date if not in temperature, and we will pursue our subject through 
the present season. Pigeons if well housed and shaded from the 
midday sun rejoice in heat, and our own have always reared a more 
numerous progeny in hot than in cold and damp summers. Indeed, 
we remember that in the deplorable season of 1879 we almost en¬ 
tirely failed to rear any. In spite, however, of this fact there are 
precautions to be taken in summer. Plenty of fresh air is abso¬ 
lutely necessary to keep Pigeons in health. Those who keep them 
