1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
295 
crease of the flock, under ordinary circumstances, 
more than makes good its own losses and balances 
these items, thus leaving the sole article of food to 
be paid for from the wool. The summering then 
being fifty cents and the wintering eighty-four, un¬ 
less the sale of the wool amounts to one dollar and 
thirty-four cents to each sheep, the grower is part¬ 
ing with it for a less sum than it costs him to pro¬ 
duce it. 
Our farmers have been aware, that the prices of 
wool of late years, have not paid the cost of its pro¬ 
duction, and that if devoted to dairying or the rais¬ 
ing of grain, their lands would yield a much greater 
income, than to be stocked with sheep. But being 
already skilled in sheep-husbandry, with portions 
of their farms better adapted for this than any other 
use, with flocks already on their hands, and all the 
facilities provided for their management, rather than 
incur the expense of a change, they have clung to 
their sheep year after year, with the expectation 
that a turn in the market would certainly take place, 
which would render the business more lucrative. 
A slight revival in the price of wool at this present 
time, is hailed as the harbinger of better times, and 
excites strong hopes that a brighter day for their 
interests is about dawning. 
Short-horned Cattle. 
The tribe of cattle called short-horns, has been 
known in some of the eastern districts of England 
for many years, but by most British authorities is 
not regarded as indigenous to the island. It was 
probably introduced from the continent of Europe. 
Thus Sir William Jardine, in the Naturalist’s Li¬ 
brary, says—“ The short-horned breed were origi¬ 
nally from a Dutch stock. 77 Culley says—“ It is 
pretty evident that our forefathers have imported 
these [the short-horns] from the continent: first, 
because they are still in many places called the 
Dutch breeds second, because we find these cattle 
nowhere in this island except along the east coast, 
facing those parts of the continent where the same 
kind of cattle are still bred. 77 (“ Observations on 
Live Stock,” written in 1785, p 18.) Youatt, in 
relation to the original stock of British cattle, ob¬ 
serves that “ the battle has been stoutly fought be¬ 
tween the advocates of the middle-horns and the 
long-horns, 77 but that the short-horns can have no 
claim to be considered aboriginal, being “evidently 
of foreign extraction. 77 ( Treatise on Cattle, p. 9.) 
Martin says—“ with respect to the short-horned 
breed, or the Durham and Holderness stock, often 
called the Duteh or Holstein, we have already ex¬ 
pressed our opinion that it is not of ancient British 
origin, but that it is from a race spread over the 
northwestern portion of the continent, and preva¬ 
lent in Guilderland, Utrecht, Holland, &c. (“ The 
Ox,” p. 56. 
These remarks refer to what are now called the 
“ old” short-horns, in contradistinction to the im¬ 
proved variety of that breed—a variety which with¬ 
in the last forty years has been extensively dissemi¬ 
nated, and is now well known in this country. The 
origin of this improved variety, has formerly been 
the subject of much controversy in England, though 
for several years it has been but little agitated 
there. On this side of the water, however, some 
late attempts have been made to enlighten the pub¬ 
lic mind on this subject. 
In the Transactions of the N. Y. Slate Ag. 
Society for 1849, Mr. Ambrose Stevens gives 
what he calls a “history 77 of certain short-horn 
cattle. This history is given as his own, no refer¬ 
ence being made to any authority, except in a brief 
note, in which we are told where the histories of 
the Aislabie and other families, (not the history of 
the cattle,) may be found. Mr. Stevens begins 
t bus: 
“ The ancient family of the Aislabies which came 
into England from Normandy with William the 
Conqueror, established themselves, prior to 1300, 
at Aislabie, on the river Tees, in the county of 
Durham, and the manor, their estate, was called 
after the family. As early as 1600 the family was 
known to possess a most extraordinary tribe of 
cattle. 77 
He then labors to show that from the cattle pos¬ 
sessed by this Aislabie family, are descended some 
of the short-horns now belonging to several indi¬ 
viduals,* though he does not distinctly assert that 
any animals now living are wholly of this ancient 
blood. 
Admitting the main points of the above quotation, 
the first inquiry which arises is, where did the cat¬ 
tle alluded to come from, and of what breed were 
they? The Aislabie family, it is said, came from 
Normandy with William the Conqueror, (in the 
year 1066,) and “ as early as 1600, 77 or five hun¬ 
dred and thirty-four years after they came into 
England , they possessed an “extraordinary tribe of 
cattle. 77 Did they take this stock of cattle with 
them from Normandy, or when and where did they 
obtain it? Were they long-horns, middle-horns, 
short-horns, or no-horns? On these points Mr. 
Stevens is silent. The most natural inference from 
the tenor of the language would be, that they were 
Norman cattle brought into England by the Ais¬ 
labies. 
But as we follow Mr. Stevens’ “ history,” we 
find that “ the Pennimansof Ormsby, in Yorkshire,” 
are said to have become possessed of the same 
stock. Here, then, we have a key by which we 
may ascertain what this Aislabie stock was. In 
mentioning “ the Pennimans,” allusion is probably 
made to Sir James Penniman, who, according to 
various authorities, was many years ago in posses¬ 
sion of a valuable stock of cattle. In the pedigrees 
of some of the first short-horns recorded in the Herd 
Book, the stock of Sir James Penniman is fre¬ 
quently spoken of, and it is stated that it was de¬ 
rived from Sir William St. Quintin, of Scampston. 
Rev. Henry Berry mentions the same facts, and 
states that St. Quintin was one of the early im¬ 
provers of the short-horns. This Penniman stock, 
therefore, (which by Mr. Stevens’ “ history,” was 
the same as the Aislabie stock,) was derived from 
St Quintin, and to show what was St. Quintin’s 
stock, we will refer to authorities. 
The late Major Rudd, of Marton-Lodgei near 
Stockton-on-Tees, writing to the Farmers’ Journal, 
under date of June 28th, 1821, says: “ The sire of 
Hubback was descended from the stock of Sir James 
Penniman, who obtained the breed from Sir Wil¬ 
liam St. Quintin. I was intimately acquainted 
with Sir James Penniman’s steward, who has re¬ 
peatedly assured me that Sir James told him this 
breed was a cross between the old short-horns and 
the Alderney [or Normandy.] Sometime ago, I 
happened to read the New Farmers’ Calendar , 
fourth edition, published in 1802, in which at page 
393, is the following passage:* 
1 Yorkshire is famous for the Holderness or short¬ 
horn cows. This large breed came originally from 
Holstein and the low countries, and was, until o„ 
* The game passage occurs in the fifth edition, page 493 .—Pm 
