50 
THE OX. 
THE SHORT-HORNED BREED. 
Improvers of the Teeswater Short-horns % existed early in the last century, both in Durham and the neighbouring 
parts of Yorkshire. One of these, Mr Millbank of Barningham, was early noted for the excellence of his stock, some 
records of which have come down to us, showing the great weight at which individual animals from time to time arrived. 
Mr Dobinson, before referred to, became likewise a very successful breeder, and various other gentlemen are noted as im¬ 
provers of the Teeswater Breed, chiefly after the successful experiments of Bakewell had excited a spirit of emulation in this 
species of improvement. Up to the period of the American war, however, the Teeswater Breed had not gained greatly in public 
estimation, beyond the district to which it had early extended. Great size seems to have been chiefly aimed at by the breeders, 
and the animals, though valued on this account, were of forms comparatively coarse, great consumers of food, and deficient in 
many of those points which are now regarded as essential in a well-formed ox. In the qualities of form and disposition to fatten 
readily, the Short-horned Breed fell short of that which Bakewell had already perfected in the midland counties, although 
excelling the latter in the quality of the flesh, in the production of internal fat or tallow, and in the adaptation of the females to 
the uses of the dairy. 
The improvement of the Teeswater Short-horns, however, had been continually advancing in the hands of the breeders who 
cultivated it, when Charles and Robert Colling of Darlington became its ultimate improvers, removing, with admirable skill, 
the defects which it inherited, and communicating to it properties which it did not before possess in the same degree. These in¬ 
dividuals had become considerable farmers soon after the year 1770. Mr Charles Colling, the younger brother, is justly 
regarded as the founder of the new breed, although his elder brother followed him in his course of enterprise and im¬ 
provement, step by step. Charles Colling cannot, indeed, be compared with Bakewell for boldness and originality of de¬ 
sign, but he was greatly more fortunate than his precursor in the selection of a basis for his breed. Colling, like Bake¬ 
well, seems to have regarded size in his animals as a quality secondary and subordinate to those which he wished to commu¬ 
nicate, and to have directed almost exclusive attention to beauty and utility of form, and development of the properties of early 
maturity and facility of fattening. Having, by selection and the skilful conjunction of the best individuals for breeding, become pos¬ 
sessed of animals with the properties sought for, he continued to breed from his own stock, disregarding affinities of blood; by 
which means he gave to it the necessary permanence of characters, and that delicacy of form, which this system of breeding tends to 
communicate. He adopted the practice of hiring out his bulls, by which means he realized a competent fortune, and extended 
the influence of his stock to the districts around him. 
The information possessed by us regarding the early practice of Colling, in his course of improvement, is meagre and obscure, 
since he himself manifested a great dislike to throw any light on his views and practice. It is generally believed, that the first 
radical improvement which he effected on his stock, was through the medium of a young bull, which he acquired by a kind of 
chance. This animal is said to have been a calf belonging to a poor man who grazed his cow on the sides of the highway. The 
calf was purchased from its owner by Mr Waistel and Mr Robert Colling, and soon afterwards transferred to Charles, 
whose sagacity led him to perceive the value of the young animal. He seems, likewise, to have acquired the cow, which, however, 
on being removed to superior pastures, became so fat that she did not again breed. The calf inherited the same property, and as 
he grew up became so fat as to be useful as a bull only for a short time. This bull was termed Hubback. He was below the ordi¬ 
nary size of the Teeswater cattle, but his points and touch were admirable, and he is generally regarded as the father of the 
improved Short-horns. However this may be, Colling, from this period, continued to produce many fine bulls, as Petrarch, 
Bolingbroke, Favourite, Comet, and others whose names are quoted in the pedigrees of the Short-horned Breed, in the same 
manner as those of the Darley Arabian, and Godolphin Barb, in the case of Horses of the Turf. The properties of his stock thus 
became more and more appreciated throughout the district of the Short-horns, and, about the year 1800, had begun to extend to 
distant parts of the country, where hitherto the Short-horned Breed had not been cultivated. A circumstance, apparently trivial, 
contributed in a considerable degree to this result. A fine animal, termed the Durham Ox, the son of Favourite by a common 
cow, was sold for public exhibition, and carried in a caravan to all parts of the country. He was exhibited in this manner for 
nearly six years, and excited much interest amongst the country people. He arrived at great weight, but was chiefly remarkable 
for the fineness of many of his points. When killed, after two months’ illness, during which he had lost considerably in flesh, he 
weighed 165 stones 12 lb., besides tallow and offal. 
Colling, by continually breeding from his own stock, seems to have pushed refinement in breeding to its limits, and probably 
began to experience that impairment of constitution in his animals which never fails to accompany a continued and forced intermix¬ 
ture of blood, in a limited number of individuals. Whether from this cause, or from a mere desire to try experiments, it is understood 
that he attempted various crosses with the cows of other breeds, and chiefly, it is said, with the Scotch Highland and the Galloway. 
The experiment with the former did not succeed, but that with the latter led to a remarkable result. Colling procured a fine 
