Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/416

Rh 388 AGRICULTURE [LIVE STOCK Utica, when 108 animals realised $380,000. Of these 10 were bought by British breeders, 6 of which, of the Duchess family, averaged $24,517, and one of them, &quot; Eighth Duchess of Geneva,&quot; was bought for Mr Pavin Davies of Gloucestershire at the unprecedented price of 8120. Choice specimens of these cattle are now also being sent in large numbers to our Australian colonies and to various parts of the continent of Europe. Indeed, it may be said of them, that, like our people, they are rapidly spreading over the world. As already hinted, the Hereford is the breed which in England contests most closely with the short-horns for the palm of excellence. They are admirable grazier s cattle, and when of mature age and fully fattened, pre sent exceedingly level, compact, and massive carcases of excellent beef. But the cows are poor milkers, and the oxen require to be at least two years old before being put up to fatten defects which, in our view, are fatal to the claims which are put forward on their behalf. To the grazier who purchases them when their growth is somewhat matured they usually yield a good profit, and will generally excel short-horns of the same age. But the distinguishing characteristic of the latter is that, when properly treated, they get sufficiently fat and attain to remunerative weights at, or even under, two years old. If they are kept lean until they have reached that age their peculiar excellence is lost. From the largeness of their frame they then cost more money, consume more food, and yet do not fatten more rapidly than bullocks of slower growing and more compactly formed breeds. It is thus that the grazier fre quently gives his verdict in favour of Herefords as compared with short-horns. Even under this mode of management short-horns will usually yield at least as good a return as their rivals to the breeder and grazier conjointly. But if fully fed from their birth so as to bring into play their peculiar property of growing and fattening simultaneously, we feel warranted in saying that they will yield a quicker and better return for the food consumed by them than cattle of any other breed. Unless, therefore, similar qualities are developed in the Herefords, we may expect to see them more and more giving place to the short-horns. These remarks apply equally to another breed closely allied to the Herefords, viz., the North Devons, so much admired for their pleasing colour, elegant form, sprightly gait, and gentle temper, qualities which fit them beyond all other cattle for the labour of the fiell, in which they are still partially employed in various parts of England. If it could be proved that ox-power is really more economical than horse-power for any stated part of the work of the farm, then the Devons, which form such admirable draught oxen, would be deserving of general cultivation. It is found, however, that when agriculture reaches a certain stage of progress, ox-labour is inadequate to the more rapid and varied operations that are called for, and has to be superseded by that of horses. Scotland possesses several indigenous breeds of heavy cattle, which for the most part are black and hornless, such as those of Aberdeen, Angus, and Galloway. These are all valuable breeds, being characterised by good milking and grazing qualities, and by a hardiness which peculiarly adapts them for a bleak climate. Cattle of these breeds, when they have attained to three years old, fatten very rapidly, attain to great size and weight of carcase, and yield beef which is not surpassed in quality by that of any cattle in the kingdom. The cows of these breeds, when coupled with a short horn bull, produce an admirable cross-breed, which com bines largely the good qualities of both parents. The great saving of time and food which is effected by the sarlier maturity of the cross-breed has induced a very extensive adoption of this practice in all the north-eastern counties of Scotland. Such a system is necessarily inimical to the improvement of the pure native breeds; but when cows of the cross-breed are continuously coupled with pure short-horn bulls, the progeny in a few generations become assimilated to the male parent, and are characterised by a peculiar vigour of constitution and excellent milking power in the cows. With such native breeds to work upon, and this aptitude to blend thoroughly with the short-horn breed, it is much more profitable to introduce the latter in this gradual way of continuous crossing than at once to substitute the one pure breed for the other. The cost of the former plan is much less, as there needs but the pur chase from time to time of a good bull ; and the risk is incomparably less, as the stock is acclimatised from the first, and there is no danger from a wrong selection. The greatest risk of miscarriage in this mode of changing the breed is from the temptation to which, from mistaken economy, the breeder is exposed of rearing a cross-bred bull himself, or purchasing a merely nominal short-horn bull from others. From this hurried review of our heavy breeds of cattle it will be seen that we regard the short-horn as incom parably the best of them all, and that we anticipate its ultimate recognition as the breed which most fully meets the requirements of all those parts of the country where grain and green crops are successfully cultivated. 2d. Dairy Breeds. The dairy breeds of cattle next claim our attention, for although cattle of all breeds are used for this purpose, there are several which are cultivated chiefly, if not exclusively, because of their fitness for it. Dairy husbandry is pro secuted under two very different and well-defined classes of circumstances. In or near towns, and in populous mining and manufacturing districts, it is carried on for the purpose of supplying families with new milk. In the western half of Great Britain, and in many upland districts, where the soil and climate are more favourable to the production of grass and other green crops than of corn, butter and cheese constitute the staple products of the husbandman. The town dairyman looks to quantity rather than quality of milk, and seeks for cows which are large milkers, which are long in going dry, and which can be readily fattened when their daily yield of milk falls below the remunerative measure. Large cows, such as short-horns and their crosses, are accordingly his favourites. In the rural dairy, again, the merits of a cow are estimated by the weight and quality of the cheese or butter which she yields, rather than by the mere quantity of her milk. The breeds that are cultivated expressly for this purpose are accordingly characterised by a less fleshy and robust build than is requisite in grazier s cattle. Of these we select for special notice the Ayrshire, the Suffolk dun, and the Jersey breeds. The Ayrshires, by common consent, now occupy the very first rank as profitable dairy cattle. From the pains which liuve been taken to develop their milk-yielding power it is now of the highest order. Persons who have been conversant only with grazing cattle cannot but be surprised at the strange contrast between an Ayrshire cow in full milk and the forms of cattle which they have been used to regard as most perfect. Her wide pelvis, deep flank, and enor mous udder, with its small wide-set teats, seem out of all proportion to her fine bone and slender forequarters. As might be expected, the breed possesses little merit for grazing purposes. Very useful animals are, however, obtained by crossing these cows with a short horn bull, and this practice is now rather extensively pursued in the west of Scotland by farmers who combine dairy husbandly with the fattening of cattle. The function of the Ayrshire cattle is, however, the dairy. For this they are unsurpassed, either as respects the amount of produce yielded by them in proportion to the food which they consume, or the faculty which they possess of converting the herbage of poor exposed soils, such as abound in their native district, into butter and cheese of the best quality.