16 
THE OX. 
THE GALLOWAY BREED. 
In Galloway proper, the management of the cattle when young is rude, hut suited to the character of the district. The 
calves are generally permitted to suck the dams, are fed on the coarse herbage of the country, left a great part of the winter in 
the fields, or kept on straw or coarse hay. The production of corn in the district is limited, and is regarded as subordinate to the 
purpose of producing straw for the stock. The habit of trading in cattle was very general amongst the fanners of Galloway, and 
,rav e rise to a spirifof specnlation which was somewhat unfavourable to the pursuit of regular agriculture. The fanners are still 
in the practice of attending markets, and making purchases and sales of cattle, with the view of a profit on the transfers. The 
at trade, however, is in the hands of the Norfolk and Suffolk drovers, who used to settle with the owners by bills, which was 
attended with hazard to the sellers, and was sometimes productive of great losses to the district. The practice of spaying the 
heifers prevails to a greater extent in Galloway than in any part of the kingdom. The operation used to be performed at the 
a<re of twelve months, but is now very generally done at two months. The greater part of those that are not retained for 
breedino are thus treated. Those heifers do not quite attain the size of oxen, but they are regarded as better suited for fattening, 
and thetr beef is reckoned more delicate, and brings accordingly a somewhat higher price. The practice, however, though it may 
be justified on these grounds, is unfavourable to the improvement of the breed, by limiting the selection of females. 
Extensive as has been the trade in this staple production of the country, it was long before any thing like attention to the 
principles of breeding was given by the farmers. Notwithstanding the spirited efforts of individuals, the stock of the country was 
treated with much neglect with relation to the preserving and improving of the breed. The bulls were almost always defective in 
essential points, and an injurious mixture had progressively taken place with cattle from Ireland, 10,000 and more of which are 
supposed to pass every year through the country by way of Donaghadee and Port-Patrick. Efforts have, from time to time, been 
made to cross the breed by the Dishley Long-horns, the Ayrshire and modern Short-horns. These attempts, it is believed, have 
been all failures, in so far as they were designed to improve the general breed of the country; and modern breeders, with better 
knowledge, have turned their attention to the improvement of the existing race. In this field there is a wide scope foi the exei 
tion of individuals, and, if steadily pursued, the system cannot but be attended with beneficial results. The breed of Galloway is 
peculiarly confirmed in its characters, and thoroughly adapted to the condition of the country, and all that is wanted to promote 
its progressive amelioration, is a careful selection of suitable males and females for breeding, with that due attention to early and 
liberal feeding of the young stock which in every case tends to the production of superior animals. If, on any particular farm, 
another race of cattle can be reared, as the Short-horns, let this stock be substituted) but it would be a retrogradation in im¬ 
provement, to attempt a mixture of blood with the race so long acclimated, and so excellent in itself as that of Galloway. 
The great advantage of having a breed possessing a uniformity of characters is manifest in Galloway, as in every country where 
a fixed race with determined characters exists. The breeder has always, in such a case, as was before observed, the assurance 
of being able to reproduce in the offspring the character of the parents; whereas, in countries where no uniform breed has been 
established, he never can be so assured of the result of coupling animals together. The cattle of Galloway, though they have all 
the characters of resemblance which constitute a breed, yet vary greatly in size and form, according to the fertility, natural or ac¬ 
quired, of the farms on which they are reared, showing the importance of providing an increase of food for the animals when 
growing in bone and muscle. One of the great defects at the present time over a large part of Galloway, is the not supplying the 
growing stock with sufficient food. 
The beautiful Heifer represented in the Plate exhibits the pure Galloway deprived, by care in breeding, of that coarseness of 
neck which is generally characteristic of the race. The district around Kirkcudbright is agreed to be that from which the finest 
of this breed have been derived; and amongst the most eminent improvers of it is to be mentioned the late Mr William Mure. 
