6 
THE OX. 
THE PEMBROKE BREED. 
Another and important breed of Wales is the Glamorgan; but the improved Glamorgans are to be ranked with the larger 
oxen of the plains, rather than with those of the mountains. They will be treated of in the sequel, along with the Herefords and 
other breeds of the lower country. 
The parent stock of the Mountain Breeds of Wales, it has been seen, is distinguished by a tapering upright horn. As the 
mountainous country passes by gradations into the lower, the cattle deviate from the native type, and assume insensibly the cha¬ 
racter of what are termed Long-horns. This character is indicated by the direction as well as by the length of the horn. It 
may be considered as a character connected with that thickness of skin which the Ox, under certain circumstances of feeding and 
treatment, tends to assume; for the corneous system, as could be shown, is intimately connected with the cuticular. It is the 
character which a very large proportion of the oxen of these Islands had acquired; and, accordingly, of the breeds of this country, 
the Long-horned, as will be afterwards seen, were the most numerous. They formerly extended over all the midland counties of 
England, and the plains of Ireland. It is this tendency of the oxen in the central parts of Wales to assume the long-horned cha¬ 
racter, as well as actual intermixture with the breeds of the plains, that produces that mixture of races which is to be seen 
in the country. These mixed races are generally of coarse, defective form, and greatly inferior as fattening animals, to those which 
approach the nearest to the parent stock. 
Although Wales is generally a country of mountains, in which the animals reared must mainly depend on the natural pas¬ 
tures, yet it is intersected by many fertile vales, and often the mountains pass by degrees into the richer plains of the lower coun¬ 
try. In such cases it is not required that breeders should confine themselves to the smaller cattle of the mountains. They may 
adopt the breeds which their respective localities enable them to maintain, as the Durham, the Herefords, and the superior class of 
Glamorgans. In this case their own judgment must guide them in the selection of the kinds of animals best suited to the nature 
of their respective farms. But, in general, the breeders of Wales would do well to avoid that system of indiscriminate crossing 
and changing, which prevails in so many parts of the country. A true breed, it is to be observed, is never formed by casual 
crossing, but by a long perseverance in breeding from similar animals, until a uniform class of characters is acquired and rendered 
permanent. For this reason, it is generally better to adopt a good breed already formed than to attempt to produce a new one 
by a mixture of the blood of dissimilar animals. 
The Pembroke Breed is well adapted to all the mountainous parts of Wales, and it is important that it should be cultivated 
with care. It is not necessary that the breeders resort to other races for its improvement. They have merely to apply those pi in 
ciples of selection, which in all other cases have been successful, to render the breed good with relation to the circumstances in 
which it is reared. 
The district of Castle-Martin is that from which the finest of the Pembrokes are at present derived. The breeders in this 
district strictly adhere to the black colour, which has become at length regarded as indicative of the purity of the breed. This 
colour has indeed no necessary connexion with the really useful properties of the animals; but having become a test of the purity 
of the breed, both on the part of the producers and consumers, it is to be believed that the character will on this account be pre 
served, just as in the case of the North Devons the red colour is retained as an index of the purity of descent. The breeders of the 
Castle-Martins, however, have fortunately not confined their attention to the secondary character of colour. They have devoted 
assiduous care to the really useful characters of. the breed. Preserving its essential characteristics, they have removed the too 
great lightness of the hinder quarters, and given that general symmetry of form, which experience shows to have an intimate con¬ 
nexion with the economical properties of all animals cultivated for human food. 
