Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/137

 CATTLE 129 moderate pastures. The oxen fatten well when grazed or stall-fed at the proper age, being fine in horn and bone, wide in loin, but not as hardy and strong for labor as the Hun- garian breed. Nearer the Alps the cattle are stronger and more active. The largest are among the Swiss. The Fribourg race have very rich pastures in the vicinity of Gruyeres. The cows most prized are large and wide in the flank, strong in the horn, short and strong in bone; they show a prominence about the root of the tail which would be considered a blemish by short-horn breeders. Their milk is rich in pasture, or when stall-fed on clover or lucern ; the oxen are good workers, but heavy and slow, and fatten well. In the Jura there is a small, active mountain breed, that keep well on little food ; they are of a light red color; oxen active and strong for their size, drawing by the horns. They are not profitable for stall-feeding, but good for moun- tain cottagers, as they climb like goats, feeding on the patches of pasture. The Norman breed give character to all the cattle in the north of France, except near the eastern frontier ; they are light red, sometimes spotted with white; horns short, set well out, and turned up with a black tip ; legs fine and slender ; hips high ; thighs thin ; good milkers, with rich milk. They are usually fed on thin pastures, along roads and the balks which divide fields. In Normandy the pastures are better, and the Alderney Bull. cattle larger. The Alderneys or Jerseys, in France, are supposed to be a smaller variety of the Norman, with shorter horns and more deer-like forms. This breed is very docile, having been for generations accustomed to be tethered in fields, along the roads, or in yards. They are found in gentlemen's parks and plea- sure grounds in England. A large number have been brought to the United States, but they are not considered so profitable as some other breeds. The Italian breed is most re- markable for immense length of horn. No pains is expended on ' this breed except in northern Italy, where the Parmesan cheese is made. The Italian cattle resemble the Swiss. In England the breeding of cattle has been carried to the greatest perfection. Ca?sar states that the British in his time had great numbers of cattle, though of no great bulk or beauty. The island being divided into many petty sovereignties, cattle were the safest kind of property, as they could be driv- en away from danger. When more peace- ful times returned, cattle were neglected for other productions, their size and number di- minished, and not until within the last 150 years was any considerable effort made to im- prove them. The breeds in England are as various as the districts they inhabit, or the fan- cies of the breeders. A curious classification by the horns has obtained, having been found useful. The long-horns, originally from Lan- cashire, were much improved by Mr. Bakewell of Leicestershire, and are now found in the midland counties. The short-horns first ap- peared in Lincolnshire and the northern coun- ties, but are now found in most parts of the island. The middle-horns, a valuable and beautiful breed, came from the north of Devon, the east of Sussex, Herefordshire, and Glou- cestershire. The crumpled horn is found in Alderney, on the south coast, and in almost every park in small numbers. The hornless or polled cattle were first derived from Galloway, and now prevail in Suffolk and Norfolk. Which is the original breed of all has been disputed. It is held by some that the long-horns are of Irish extraction ; that the short-horns were produced by the efforts of breeders ; while the polled, though found in certain places from time immemorial, are supposed to be accidental ; and that to the middle-horns must therefore be as- cribed the honor of being the original breed. As the natives of Britain retired before inva- ders, they drove their cattle to the fastnesses of north Devon and Cornwall, the mountain re- gions of Wales, the wealds of Sussex ; and there the cattle have been the same from that time until now, while on the eastern coast the cat- tle became a mongrel breed, conforming them- selves to pasture and climate. Observation proves that the cattle* in Devonshire, Sussex, Wales, and Scotland are essentially the same middle-horned, not great milkers, active workers, easy to fatten ; all showing traces of likeness to one breed, however changed by soil, climate, and time. The earliest importa- tion of cattle to America was made by Colum- bus in 1493 ; he brought a bull and several cows. Others were brought by succeeding Spanish settlers, of the Estremadura breed, and the vast pampas or plains of nearly the whole of Spanish America are now covered with immense herds of cattle descended from these. They are of large size, long-legged, as various in color as other breeds, and their distinguishing charac- teristic is their long and widely extended horns. Herds numbering many thousands roam at will in a wild state, under the care of a race of herds- men called gauchos. (See GAUCHOS.) Every year the calves are caught, branded with the marks of the respective owners of the herds, and turned loose again. The mode of captur-