Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/415

Rh CATTLE,] of bruising the whole of the oats given to horses, and also of chopping their hay, is now very prevalent. By giving a few pounds of chopped hay with each feed of bruised oats, and oat-straw in the racks, during the whole of the winter half-year, horses are kept in better condition and at no more expense than by giving them straw alone for half the period, and hay alone the other half. We are persuaded, also, that unless horses are stripped of their shoes and turned adrift altogether for a summer s run, soiling in boxes or sheds, with an open yard, is preferable to grazing. Hay and oats ought undoubtedly to constitute the staple fare of farm-horses. Without a liberal allowance of suitable and nourishing food, it is impossible that they can perform the full amount of work of which they are capable, or be sustained for any length of time in robust health. When alleged very cheap plans of feeding horses are inquired into, it is usually found that the amount and quality of the work performed by them is in fitting pro portion. In this, as in so many other things, cheapness and economy are not convertible terms. The true way to economise the horse-labour of a farm is to have only good and well-fed animals, and to get the greatest possible amount of work out of them. CHAPTER XVI. LIVE STOCK CATTLE. Section 1. Breeds 1st, Heavy Breeds. As our limits do not admit of even a brief notice of all those breeds of cattle for which Great Britain is so famous, we shall restrict our remarks to some of the most important of them. Without entering upon curious speculations as to the origin of these breeds, we proceed to notice them in the order suggested by their relative importance in practical agriculture. The large lowland cattle thus claim our first attention, and amongst them we cannot hesitate in assign ing the first place to the Short-horns. It appears that from an early date the valley of the Tees possessed a breed of cattle which, in appearance and general qualities, were probably not unlike those quasi short-horns which abound in various parts of the country at the present day. By the time that the Messrs Colling came upon the field it is evident that there were many herds around them in which considerable improvement had already been effected, and that they com menced their memorable efforts in cattle-breeding with exceedingly hopeful materials to work upon. But in their masterly hands these materials seemed at once to acquire an unwonted plasticity; for in an incredibly short time their cattle exhibited, in a degree that has not yet been excelled, that combination of rapid and large growth with aptness to fatten, of which their symmetry, good temper, mellow handling, and gay colours are such pleasing indices and accompaniments, and for which they have now acquired a world- wide celebrity. It was by judicious selection in the first instance, and then by coupling animals of near affinity in blood, that they so developed and stereotyped these qualities in their cattle as to entitle them at once to take rank as the progenitors of a new and well-marked breed. These Durham, Teeswater, or Short-horn cattle, as they were variously called, were soon eagerly sought after, and spread over the whole country with amazing rapidity. For a time their merits were disputed by the eager ad vocates of other and older breeds, some of which (such as the long-horns, once the most numerous breed in the kingdom) they have utterly supplanted, while others, such as the Herefords, Devons, and Scotch polled cattle, have each their zealous admirers, who still maintain their supe riority to the younger race. But this controversy is mean while getting practically decided in favour of the short- 387 horns, which constantly encroach upon their rivals even in their headquarters, and seldom lose ground which they once gain. Paradoxical as the statement appears, it is yet true that the very excellence of the short-horns has in many cases led to their discredit. For many persons desiring to possess these valuable cattle, and yet grudging the cost of pure-bred bulls, or being ignorant of the principles of breed ing, have used worthless cross-bred males, and so have filled the country with an inferior race of cattle, bearing indeed a general resemblance in colour, and partaking in some measure of the good qualities of short-horns, but utterly wanting in their peculiar excellences. By ignorant or pre judiced persons the genuine race is nevertheless held answerable for the defects of the mongrels which usurp their name, and for the damaging comparisons which are made betwixt them and choice specimens of other breeds. That the short-horn breed should spread as it does, in spite of this hinderance, is no small proof of its inherent ex cellence, and warrants the inference that whenever justice is done to it, it will take its place as the one appropriate breed of the fertile and sheltered parts of Great Britain. This desirable consummation has hitherto been retarded by the scarcity and high price of pure-bred bulls. We are quite aware that bull-breeding, as hitherto conducted, is a hazardous and unremunerative business, notwithstanding the great prices sometimes obtained for first-class animals. We are of opinion, however, that it might be conducted in such a way as to be safer and more profitable to the breeder, and more beneficial to the country at large, than it has hitherto been. There is at present a large and growin^ demand for good yearling short-horn bulls, at prices ranging from 25 to 50. With a better supply both as to quality and numbers, this demand would steadily increase, for we have long observed that there is no want of customers for really good animals at such prices as we have named. When higher prices than these are demanded, farmers who breed only for the production of beef feel that they are beyond their reach, and are fain to content themselves with lower-priced and inferior animals. We are glad, therefore, that it is a steadily increasing practice for breeders of short horns to dispose of their young bulls by an annual auction sale on their own premises ; or for a number of breeders to concur in offering their lots for sale on the same day at some central auction mart. The good effects of this in creasing supply of well-bred bulls are becoming apparent in the improved quality of the cattle now brought to our markets. A great stimulus has been given to the breeding of high- class short-horns by the extraordinary prices which of late have been obtained for animals of certain favourite and fashionable strains. To illustrate this we give the follow ing particulars of the four principal sales of the year 1872 : The late Mr Pawlet s. herd of CO animals averaged 195 18 7 Ir, G - Bowly s 30 153 i 9 Earl of Dunmore s. . ,, 54 }i 242 18 9 Messrs Harward & Downay s ,, 61 253 8 2 It is said that the operations of one enterprising Canadian breeder Mr Cochran of Hillhurst have had a powerful effect in determining these extraordinary market rates for short-horns of the choicest type. One cargo, including forty short-horn bulls and heifers, and choice specimens of Cotswold sheep and Berkshire pigs, taken out by this gentleman in 1870, is said to have cost him 15,000. American breeders of short-horn cattle have now established a herd-book of their own, and have been so successful in their efforts that already they have made numerous sales to English breeders at long prices. While we write, accounts have come of the sale by auction, on 10th September 1873, of the herd of Mr Campbell of New York Mills, near