10 
THE OX. 
THE ZETLAND BREED. 
bably be still more effectually attained by resorting to Norway, where excellent bulls of the parent stock can be obtained with 
facility. 
It is remarkable that the little cattle of these islands form admirable first crosses with superior breeds, as the Short-horns; 
but this system of crossing, though it may be more profitable to individual breeders, can do nothing for the general improvement 
of the stock of the country itself. The animals reared must be of a kind suited to the conditions in which they are placed. They 
must be small, hardy, and adapted to the state of agriculture which circumstances allow to be pursued. 
The same general remarks will apply to the cattle of the Orkney Islands. These likewise present the traces of their Scan¬ 
dinavian descent, but they are greatly more mixed with the races of the Main. In particular, many bulls of coarse form have 
been introduced from Caithness, itself possessing a mixed breed, and thus herds without definite characters are every where 
produced. 
In every considerable tract of country, it may be observed, many advantages result from possessing a well defined breed. In 
this case, the breeder has merely to select for propagation the best animals of the race. He has the assurance that the progeny 
will possess the general characters which he wishes to communicate. But when there is no distinct breed in the ordinary sense of 
the term, his expectations will be continually subject to disappointment, by the progeny presenting characters different from those 
of the parents. An effect of the same kind is seen every day in the case of Dogs. If we breed solely from Greyhounds, Terriers, 
or Sheep-dogs, we calculate securely on obtaining those varieties respectively with more or less of the virtues of the parents; but 
if we produce a mixed race, we can predicate nothing certainly regarding the form and qualities of the mongrel progeny. 
