48 
THE OX. 
THE LONG-HORNED BREED. 
the rearing of bulls for hiring and sale became a distinct branch of the profession, by which means the influence of the new breed 
was extended in a surprising degree. The midland counties became the great centre from which it extended beyond the limits 
which the older Long-horns had occupied in the country. The effects were beneficial in a high degree. The Dishley Breed it¬ 
self, indeed, has now lost the favour which it once possessed; but the traces of its influence remain in the parts of the country in 
which the Long-horned breed is still cultivated. 
The Dishley Breed is of good size, but generally inferior in weight to the old Lancashire Long-horns, the Short-horns, 
and Herefords. The horns for the most part bend downwards by the side of the head, having more the appearance of bent hoops 
than arms of defence. The shoulder is well formed, the neck remarkably thin, the head fine, and the limbs are moderately short 
and small boned, in which respect the artificial differs from the natural breed. The skin, though thick, is soft, and the hair usually 
reddish brown, with more or less of white on different parts. The ribs are remarkably well arched, forming a fine cylindrical 
trunk ; the loin is moderately broad, and the hind quarters are long. The animals are docile, easily maintained on ordinary food, 
and readily fattened. The flesh has never entirely lost that darkness of colour distinctive of the unimproved race, and the fat is 
less mixed with the muscular parts than in any other kind of British cattle. The tendency of the fat to accumulate on the rump is so 
great, as to produce a kind of deformity in the fattened animal; yet this character might not of itself be regarded as an imperfec¬ 
tion, were it not indicative of the general tendency of the fatty tissue to remain separate from the muscular. The fat, too, retains 
the tinge distinctive of the older race; so that it became a familiar remark of the opponents of Bakewell, that breed as 
he might, he would not get rid of the black flesh and yellow fat of the Long-horns. The cows are eminently deficient in their 
power of yielding milk. They are in this respect greatly inferior to the older Long-horns, and are scarcely ever used for the 
purposes of the regular dairy. The character of the beef, and the deficiency in the females of the power of yielding milk, 
are the most manifest defects of this breed; and notwithstanding all the care bestowed on the formation of it, few individuals 
of the race are now reared in England for the purpose of grazing. The breeders of the pure Dishleys confine themselves 
chiefly to the rearing of bulls and cows for the purpose of breeding ; and the really beneficial influence of the stock has been 
the crossing of the older and coarser kinds yet reared in different parts of the country. In this latter respect the Dishley 
stock has been of great economical importance ; but the breed itself, in its state of purity, is deficient in the really useful properties 
of a grazing stock. It has been questioned whether Bakewell acted with judgment in taking the Lancashire Long-horns as the 
basis of his new breed. There is little ground, however, for impugning, on this account, the judgment of Bakewell. The Long¬ 
horned Breed was then regarded as the most valuable in the kingdom; and it was a natural course for an original improver to 
endeavour to form a superior one on its basis. The modern Herefords were not then called into existence, and the Short-horns 
were a coarse race of no estimation beyond the limits of a few districts. Bakewell therefore adopted what must have seemed 
at the time a fitting course; and no one will deny, that in what he attempted, he succeeded, to the utmost extent which the natural 
characters of the pristine race allowed. 
This description of the once celebrated Dishley Breed will account for the singular fact, that its reputation has passed away, 
even more quickly than it was acquired. It has given place to other breeds, possessing characters as grazing stock, in which it is 
deficient. A few eminent breeders still employ themselves in the rearing of bulls, chiefly for exportation to Ireland; but the 
numbers of the breed reared in England are continually diminishing, and the time will probably arrive when all that remains of the 
breed of Dishley will be the record of a bold, curious, and interesting experiment. On the very farm on which Mr Bakewell’s 
original experiments were instituted and completed, and within many miles around, there does not exist a single bull, cow, or steer 
of the breed which he had cultivated with so much labour. Its history forms a singular contrast with that of another race of 
animals which he had formed by similar means, namely, his breed of Sheep, which has extended over all the kingdom, and which 
remains established as one of the most important additions to the domestic animals of these Islands. 
The history of the breed of Bakewell has shown, beyond anything before attempted, the power of cultivation over the form 
and properties of animals, and has shown us, too, the limits within which the efforts of art must often be confined. Bakewell 
looked to the property of acquiring fat as the essential one to be aimed at in breeding. He acquired for his beautiful stock this 
property in an eminent degree, but he acquired it in excess. The fat mingled less with the lean than even in the older race, 
spreading itself in a thick layer under the skin, and even accumulating in a cushion upon one part of the body. “ Having pain¬ 
fully, and at much cost,” observes an amusing writer, “ raised a variety of cattle, the chief merit of which is to make fat, he has 
apparently laid his disciples and successors under the necessity of substituting another which will make lean.” Looking to this 
property of making fat as the sole end to be aimed at, this eminent breeder disregarded other properties which, though they may 
be said to be secondary, are yet a necessary element in the economical value of a breed of cattle. 
