kingdom]
AGRICULTURE
Mr Duthie, of Collynie, Aberdeenshire, bought some of the older cows, whilst Mr Deane Willis, of Bapton Manor, Wilts, bought the yearling heifers. Mr Duthie thereupon resumed the sales that the Cruickshanks had relinquished, his averages being £30 in 1892, about £50 in 1893-94, and £80 in 1895. These prices advanced through English breeders requiring a little change of blood, and also through the increasing tendency to exhibit animals of great substance, or rather to feed animals for show. The success of this movement has strengthened the demand, whilst an inquiry for this line of blood has arisen in the United States and Canada. A faithful contemporary history of the Shorthorn breed is to be found in Thornton's Circular, which is published quarterly and dates back to 1868. The Hereford breed is maintained chiefly in Herefordshire and the adjoining counties. Whilst a full red is the general colour of the body, the Herefords are distinguished by their white faces, white chest and abdomen, and white mane. The legs up to the knee or hock are also often white. The horns are moderately long, springing straight from the head in the bull, and turning somewhat forward and upward in the cow. Herefords, though they rear their own calves, have acquired but little fame as dairy cattle. They are, however, very hardy, and produce beef of excellent quality. As, moreover, they are docile they fatten easily and readily, and as graziers’ beasts they are in high favour. The Devon cattle—the “ Rubies of the West,” as they are termed, in allusion to their colour—are reared chiefly in Devon and Somerset. The colour is a whole red, its depth or richness varying with the individual, and in summer becoming mottled with darker spots. The Devons stand somewhat low; they are neat, compact, and plump, and possess admirable symmetry. Whilst they do not attain the size of the Shorthorn or the Hereford, yet, taking their height into consideration, they perhaps weigh better than either. In the male animal the thick-set horns project straight out at right angles to the rest of the body; in the female they are more slender, and often curve neatly upwards. Being fine-limbed, active animals, they are well adapted for grazing the poor pastures of their native hills, and they turn their food to the best account, yielding excellent beef. They have not yet attained much celebrity as milch kine, for, though their milk is of first-class quality, its quantity is usually small. Latterly, however, the milking qualities have received more attention from breeders, whose object is to qualify the Devon as a dual-purpose breed. The South Devon or South Hams cattle are almost restricted to that southern part of the county of Devon known as the Hams, whence they are also called “Hammers.” With a somewhat ungainly head, lemon-yellow hair, yellow skin, and large but hardly handsome udder, the South Devon breed bears far more resemblance to the Guernseys than to the trim-built cattle of the hills of North Devon. The cows are heavy milkers, and furnish excellent butter. They are rarely seen outside their locality, and seldom appear in the showyards. The Sussex breed, named after its native county, resembles the Devon in many respects. The Sussex cattle, however, are bigger, less refined in appearance, less graceful in outline, and of a deeper brown-chestnut colour than the Devons,—the “dainty Devons,” as the latter may well be called in comparison with the massive animals of the Sussex breed. As a hardy race, capable of thriving on poor rough pastures, the Sussex are highly valued in their native districts, where they have been rapidly improved in recent years. They are essentially a beef-producing breed, the cows having little reputation as milkers. By stallfeeding they can be ripened off for the butcher at an
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early age. The Sussex cattle are said to “ die well,” that is, to yield a large proportion of meat in the best parts of the carcase. In the Welsh breed of cattle black is the prevailing colour, and the horns are long. They do not mature very rapidly, but some of them grow eventually into big ponderous beasts, and their beef is of prime quality. In Wales several varieties are recognized—the Anglesey, Pembroke, Glamorgan — and the cows often acquire considerable reputation as milkers. As graziers’ beasts Welsh cattle are well known in the midland counties of England, where, under the name of Welsh runts, large herds of bullocks are fattened upon the pastures, or “topped up” in the yards in winter. In the Longhorn breed of cattle the interest is largely historical. It was with the Longhorns that the famous Robert Bakewell, of Dishley, Leicestershire (1726-95), gave evidence of his remarkable skill as an improver of cattle in the middle of the 18th century.1 At one period the Longhorns were widely spread in England and Ireland, but, as the Shorthorns extended their domain, the longhorned cattle made way for them. Longhorns are to be seen in the midland, counties of England, chiefly in Warwickshire. They are big, rather clumsy animals, with long drooping horns, which are very objectionable in these days of cattle transport by rail and sea, and which sometimes grow in such a fashion as to prevent the animals from grazing. The bullocks feed up to high weights, and the cows are fair milkers. No lover of cattle can view these quaint creatures without a feeling of satisfaction that efforts are being made to resuscitate a breed which has many useful qualities to commend it. The Bed Polled is the only hornless breed of English cattle, and, though an old breed, it is within quite recent years that it has come into prominence. These cattle were formerly known as the East Anglian Polls, and later as the Norfolk and Suffolk Polled cattle, being confined chiefly to the two- counties named. They are symmetricallybuilt animals, of medium size, and of uniformly red colour. They have a tuft of hair on the poll, or upper part of the forehead. Of the native breeds of England, the Red Polled have acquired the highest distinction as dairy cattle, and are noted for the length of the period during which they continue in milk. Not less are they valued as beef-producers, find, as they are hardy and docile, they fatten readily and mature fairly early. Hence, like the Shorthorn, they may claim to be a dual-purpose breed. As beef cattle they are always seen to advantage at the Norwich Christmas cattle show, held annually in November. The Aberdeen-Angus breed belongs to Aberdeenshire and adjacent parts of Scotland, but many herds are maintained in England and some in Ireland. They possess glossy black coats (occasionally red), have no horns, and are often termed “ Doddies.” They attain great size and weight, make first-class beasts for the butcher, and yield beef of excellent quality. The cross between the Shorthorn and the Aberdeen-Angus, known as the “ Blue Grey,” is a favourite in the meat markets. The Galloways are named from the district in the southwest of Scotland to which they are native. Like the Aberdeen-Angus cattle, the Galloways are hornless, and normally of a black colour. But the Galloway, with its thicker hide and shaggy hair, suited to a wet climate, has a coarser appearance than the Aberdeen-Angus, the product of a less humid region, though it approaches the latter in size. The Galloways yield superior beef, but they mature less rapidly than the Aberdeen-Angus. The i Housman, “Robert Bakevveil,” Jour. Roy. Agric. Soc. 1894.
