AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
235 
GALLOWAY COW* GALLOWAY OX IN GOOD CONDITION. 
American Cattle—VI- 
[Continued from page 205.] 
THE GALLOWAY. 
This breed of cattle is so entirely distinct from 
any other with which we have been familiar, and 
has been so recently introduced into America, 
that it is perhaps too early to speak of them; 
yet, as a considerable number of them have, with¬ 
in two or three years past, been imported into 
Canada, in the immediate neighborhood of our 
own State, and are likely to be bred to a con¬ 
siderable extent, they may properly be enumer¬ 
ated among those foreign breeds with which we 
may shortly become identified in the stocking of 
our farms. 
They are claimed to be an aboriginal breed in 
Scotland, and for centuries have been an impor¬ 
tant portion of the wealth of the hardy 
peasantry who inhabited the mountains, 
glens, and moors of that interesting 
country. Wild and uncultivated as were their 
native ranges, and the people who bred and owned 
them, they existed in their own natural condition, 
living through the vicissitudes of prosperity and 
adversity, as the state of the seasons or the cir¬ 
cumstances of their owners might determine. 
But with the advancing husbandry of Scotland, 
the condition and appearance of its cattle have 
improved, and the Galloways, once wild, semi-sav¬ 
age, and comparatively worthless, have become a 
valuable, docile, and highly esteemed race of neat 
stock. For centuries past they were bred among 
the hills, and at the age of three or four years, 
driven into England, in great numbers, where 
they were bought up by the farmers, and grazed 
and fed off for market. 
About the year 1786, according to Youatt, 
Lord Daer, son to the Earl of Selkirk, energeti¬ 
cally undertook to improve the breed of Galloway 
i cattle by a course of nice breeding, and good care. 
Dying soon after, his example was followed by his 
younger brother—afterwards succeeding to the 
Earldom—who, in the course of a few genera¬ 
tions raised his cattle to a high standard of quali¬ 
ty and excellence. This spirited example was 
readily imitated by many influential landholders 
who possessed them, and from a mean and com¬ 
mon brute, the Galloway assumed a position of 
importance as a grazing beast which had never 
been before acknowledged. And so this breed still 
remains in Scotland. Several small herds are now 
in Upper Canada, where they are much liked by 
their partial owners, and breeders. They are rap¬ 
idly multiplying, and even in the absence of im¬ 
portations into our own ports, they may soon make 
their way over the Canadian line and find, con¬ 
genial homes among the choice stock of farmers 
in the States. 
DESCRIPTION. 
We shall not go much into this. They are 
mostly black in color—occasionally red, brindled, 
or dun. In size they are medium. Formerly they 
were small, but have been grown larger by care 
and cultivation. They ar e polled, or hornless; 
compact in figure, full and round in the carcase ; 
short on the leg, with fine bone—elastic in 
touch, and covered with a thick coat of soft, long, 
wavy hair. We have seen perhaps fifty of them— 
mostly imported animals, and their produce—all 
of the best quality ; and to our eye they appear 
a valuable race of cattle, for grazing purposes— 
and that is all which is claimed for them. The 
cuts which we insert will convey a good idea of 
their appearance. 
AS A MILKING COW. 
The Scotchman who breeds her will tell you 
that she is a milker. So she is, so far as rearing 
her calf goes ; but as that virtue is not given to 
her as a dairy cow, in Scotland, we need not 
claim it here. The heifer calf is usually spayed, 
at home, and turned out with the steers to graze, 
and fatten. The portrait of the cow shows lit¬ 
tle indication of proneness to flow off her secre¬ 
tions in milk. 
AS A BEEP PRODUCING OX 
The Galloway holds a high rank in Britain. He 
is reared on the scanty pastures of Scotland, and 
fed off in the rich meadows, and turnip folds of 
England. His beef brings the highest price in 
market, next to the Highland Scot, and holds 
rank with tiie Devon. He ripens early—at four 
years old. We give his portrait—look at him. 
THE galloway’s PLACE IN AMERICA. 
The high hills, and mountain ranges of our 
northern, middle, and southern States—we be¬ 
lieve—will ultimately be divided between the 
Galloway and the Devon, or cattle inheriting 
largely their blood. In the grand subdivisions of 
agricultural labor which have ultimately got to be 
adopted here, as in populous countries abroad, we 
must adapt uses to means. When that time ar¬ 
rives, we shall find the policy of supplying every 
variety of our soils with the best possible stock to 
yield profitable returns on each ; and the sooner 
we set about it, the more it will be to our advan 
tage. In our hopeful anticipations, we believe 
the Galloway cattle will yet become a valu 
able, and permanently established race among 
us. 
GALLOWAY BULL. 
