58 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
fleece. Say 70 head at 2| lbs. per head, 70-{-2|=175 
lbs.—50 head at 3|lbs. 50-}-3£=175—making weight 
of fleeces equal. Loss by winter-killing on account 
of poverty, from the 70 poor sheep, say 10 head; 50 in 
good condition, no loss. The account now stands 50 to 
60. The increase from 50 good sheep would doubt¬ 
less be greater than from 60 poor ones; besides the 
wool account would now foot up 25 lbs. in favor of the 
good conditioned sheep. So that well fed, as well 
as well bred, should be the wool growers’ motto. 
Sheep are large feeders, and require, especially in 
winter, much care. Large flocks should, particularly 
at that season, be divided into smaller ones, not to ex¬ 
ceed fifty or sixty in each; the weak, and the strong, 
and the small and the large, being kept in separate 
parcels. 
They can then receive care and feed severally, ac 
cording to their respective conditions. A sheep in good 
condition, has a better appetite and will consume coar¬ 
ser food than one which is poor; but if suffered to run 
together promiscuously, they will crowd away the weak¬ 
er ones, and appropriate to their own use the choicest 
of the food. Wool grows much faster in winter than 
in summer, therefore, as wool is formed Dr made of 
feed, and not of air, as some seem to suppose, it is ne¬ 
cessary that keep and care be increased accordingly. 
Otherwise there will be an inevitable “ falling away,” 
—the fat and muscle previously acquired, will waste 
away to supply the growth of wool. 
During the next twenty years, the western part of 
Virginia, the state of Ohio, the hilly portions of Ken¬ 
tucky and Tennessee, with perhaps Indiana and Michi¬ 
gan, are destined to be the great wool regions. The 
east cannot compete with us in this article; but will find 
more profit in the products of the dairy, beef, mutton, 
and the coarser grains. Chas. R. Smith. Solon , O. 
ffixtttxmt Species of tlje ©*. 
The Gayal, Zebu, and Italian Ox. 
In addition to the different species of the ox mention¬ 
ed m our last, there are several others which it is pro¬ 
per to notice before we proceed to speak of the domes¬ 
tic races of Europe and America. 
The arnee is a species of wild buffalo found in Ben¬ 
gal, and other parts of India. Its most striking cha¬ 
racteristic is its enormous upright horns, which often 
measure from four to six feet in length. 
Another wild species called the goar, inhabits the 
mountain districts of Central India. It is described as 
being nearly six feet high at the withers, with very 
clean-made and vigorous limbs, resembling in this res¬ 
pect, the deer rather than the bovine tribe. The color is 
brownish black, almost approaching bluish black. The 
hair is short, having the oily appearance of fresh seal skin. 
The yak or grunting ox —Bos grunniens -—exists in 
Tartary, both in a tame and wild state. It is, compa¬ 
ratively, of small size, covered with a profuse quantity 
of long hair, of a chocolate brown color. It does not 
low like the common ox, but only utters, when uneasy, 
a low grunting sound. It inhabits the coldest moun¬ 
tains and bleakest plains of Thibet. Its skin affords a 
comfortable covering for the inhabitants of those re¬ 
gions, and its flesh is used as food. The milk of the 
female, in a domestic state, affords butter, which is 
sai^ to be of superior excellence. It is the custom of 
the people to preserve the butter in skins or bladders, 
in which state, being excluded from the air, it will keep 
in that cold climate for a year or more. 
The common buffalo —Bos bubalus —is believed to 
be distinct from any species before mentioned. It is 
found in a semi-domcsticated state in various parts of 
Asia, in northern and eastern Africa, and in southern 
Fm 
Europe. In Sumatra, and in the forests of Abyssinia, 
it is found wild. It is used for labor in many countries, 
and the milk and flesh of the cow are used for food. 
The gayal—Bos frontalis of Linneus—(fig. 26,) is 
found in southern Asia, both in a wild and domestic state. 
In general characters, this race more nearly approaches 
the domestic ox than any before noticed. The male 
is said to resemble our common bull in shape and ap¬ 
pearance. It is of a blackish brown color; the horns 
short, thick and strong. He is naturally very bold, and 
will defend himself against any beast of prey—even 
against the tiger. In a domestic state it is used by the 
natives for tilling the ground, and is said to be more 
tractable than the buffalo. Travelers state that the 
cow is very quiet and is used for all purposes of the 
dairy, and the milk is said to possess a peculiar rich¬ 
26— wild GAYAL, OR JUNGLY GAU. 
ness, which is supposed to be owing to the animals 
feeding on the young shoots and branches of trees, in 
preference to grass. Though generally considered spe¬ 
cifically distinct from the zebu and from our common 
cattle, it is so nearly allied as to breed with both, and 
the offspring, in both cases, are fertile. 
The zebu or humped race of India, (fig. 27,) is cha¬ 
racterised by u narrow, high withers, surmounted by a 
large fatty hump; an arched back, rising at the croup, 
and then descending suddenly to the tail; slender limbs; 
a large pendulous dewlap, falling in folds; long, pen¬ 
dant ears, and a peculiar mild expression of the eye.” 
The race is described as varying in size from that of our 
largest cattle, to a dwarf and often hornless breed, not 
exceeding a young calf in stature.” The race is not 
confined to India, but is found in China, the Indian isl¬ 
ands, on the eastern coast of Africa, and in the island 
o Madagascar. In ancient times it existed in Egypt. 
Naturalists are not entirely agreed as to the ques¬ 
tion whether the zebu is a distinct species from the com¬ 
mon ox. Cuvier regarded the races as identical. Mar¬ 
tin, on the contrary, is inclined to believe them distinct. 
In support of the idea that the zebu has sprung from an 
original type, he cites the extreme antiquity of the race, 
and observes that from the earliest ages it has been an 
object of veneration in India-—that it is found carved 
on the oldest temples—that its figure is found on the 
tombs of Thebes, and on the sculptured remains of 
Egyptian antiquity, which are traceable two thousand 
years before the Christian era, the characters presented 
being the same precisely, as those possessed by the ani¬ 
mal at the present day. 
An additional evidence of the distinctness of the ze¬ 
bu, from our common cattle, is its voice, which approach¬ 
es more to a grunt than the lowing of our kine. The 
races also differ in style of coloring. 
It is admitted, however, that the zebu will interbreed 
with our common cattle, and that they produce a fertile 
progeny; but a similar result not unfrequently occurs 
with distinct, though nearly allied species. 
The zebu has been in several instances introduced 
