The above drawing represents the form and attitude of the ox Columbus. The plain horizontal line, describes his length from the root of the horn to the tip of the rump. The plain perpendicular line, his height on the shoulders. The dotted lines, point out the manner of cutting up beef, as practiced by victuallers; and the figures, in their centres, refer to the proper technical name of each piece. For this diagram we are indebted to the American Farmer. It is given in this place as a pattern, which may be useful as a guide to housekeepers, in many parts of our land.

VI. The LONG HORNED CATTLE are descended from a breed which had long been established in the Craven district, in Yorkshire, (Eng. ;) some cows of which race, and a Lancashire long horned bull, of the kind delineated above, were brought, early in the last century, by a Mr. Webster, to Canley, in Warwickshire, where they produced a stock that soon became remarkable for its beauty.

Of this Canley stock, the late Mr. Robert Bakewell, of Dishley, in Leicestershire, procured some cows, which he crossed with a Northum berland bull, and thus reared that celebrated race now so well known as the Dishley breed. They were long and fine in the horn, had small heads, clean throats, straight broad backs, wide quarters, and were light in their bellies and offal; and, probably from the effect of domestication and gentle treatment, remarkably docile; they grew fat upon a smaller proportion of food than the parent stock; but gave less milk than some

NEAT CATTLE.

other breeds; and the chief improvements effected seem to have been, in their aptitude to fatten early on the most valuable points, and in the superior quality of the flesh.

The modern improvements made in the long horned, cattle, since the first attempts of Bakewell, are considered to consist chiefly in the coarser parts having been reduced, and the more valuable enlarged. The present breed is finer boned and finer in the neck, throat, and breast; the back is straight, wide, and well covered with flesh; the rump is also wide, and particularly fleshy on the points, and about the root of the tail. Even when only in store order, the flank feels thick and fleshy, and in every part the animal handles loose and mellow.

These, indeed, were always the distinguishing points of these cattle; but they were not thought attainable except they were fed on the richest pasture. This, however, has proved to be an error; for not only are they now found on land of no extraordinary quality, but it even appears to be generally admitted, that well bred cattle will do better on ordinary food than those of an inferior kind; it was indeed asserted by Bakewell, that this breed kept themselves in good condition on less food than any other of equal weight; an opinion that seems to have been fully justified by the large prices that have been repeatedly given for the stock.*

*At a sale of Mr. Fowler's stock (of this breed) at Little Rollright, in Oxfordshire, in 1791, fifteen head of oxen, five bulls and ten cows, were sold for various sums, amounting to £2464, or upon an average, at £163 each. The finest bull, named Sultan, only two years old, produced two hundred and ten guineas; and Washington, another of the same age, was sold for two hundred and five guineas; while Brindled Beauty, a cow, brought the sum of two hundred and sixty guineas; but at a subsequent sale of stock belonging to Mr. Paget, in 1793, Shakspeare, a bull bred by Mr. Fowler from a grandson of Mr. Bakewell's famous bull, Twopenny, and a cow of the Canley blood, was disposed of for four hundred guineas.

At a still later period, Mr. Princep, of Croxhall, in Derbyshire, is said to have refused £2000 for twenty long horned dairy cows, and 1500 guineas for the use of his best bull to thirty cows.

Large as these prices were, they have, however, been exceeded by those actually obtained for short horned cattle. At the sale already alluded to, of Mr. Charles Colling's stock, at Ketton, in the county of Durham, in 1810, seventeen cows and eleven bulls produced £4918; being an average of £175 10s. each. Of these, two cows, Countess and Lilly, both got by Comet, were sold, the one for four hundred, and the other for four hundred and ten guineas. Petrarch, a bull, by Favorite, the sire of Comet, brought three hundred aud sixty-five guineas, and Comet himself one thousand.

Still more recently, however, in February, 1827, at a great sale of stock, the property of Mr. Rennie, of Phantassie, in East Lothian, (which amounted to the large sum of £13,582), the highest price obtained for a bull of this breed was £115 10s., and for a cow £63; but, as not more than half the stock on the farm was supposed to have been sold, it is probable that some of the best cattle were reserved. Many other instances might however be adduced to prove-not that the rela tive value of the short-horned cattle has declined-but that extravagant prices are not now so generally given for superior stock as formerly.

VII. The GALLOWAY BREED derives its appellation from the county of the same name, where, and also in some parts of the Lowlands of Scotland, these cattle are chiefly reared, and whence vast numbers are annually sent to Norfolk, and other English counties, to be fattened for the markets. In general, they are black, or dark brindled; are without horns, except occasionally, a small excrescence resembling them, and are rather under the medium size, being smaller than the Devons, though in some other respects resembling them, yet considerably larger than the north, or even the west Highlanders.

A true Galloway bullock is straight and broad in the back, and nearly level from the head to the rump; closely compacted between the shoulder and ribs, and also betwixt the ribs and the loins; broad at the loins, but not with hooked or projecting knobs. He is long in the quarters, but not broad in the twist; deep in the chest, short in the leg, and moderately fine in the bone; clean in the chop, and in the neck. His head is of a moderate size, with large rough ears, and full but not prominent eyes, and he is clothed in a loose and mellow, though rather thick skin, covered with long, soft, and glossy hair.

In roundness of barrel, and fulness of ribs, the Galloway cattle may perhaps vie with even the most improved breeds. Their breadth over the hook-bones is not, indeed, to be compared to that of some of either the short or long horned, but their loins bear a greater proportion in width to the hook bones, and they are shorter between the hooks and the ribs, which is in itself a valuable point, when accompanied with length of body. They are, however, rather coarse in the head and neck, and though short in the leg, are generally fine in the bone.

Of this breed there is a variety termed SUFFOLK DUNS; they are also polled, but possess little of the beauty of the original stock, and are chiefly remarkable for the abundance of milk given by the cows,

9

VIII. The HIGHLAND BREED of Horned Cattle are chiefly reared in the western parts of Scotland. Their horns are usually of a middle size, bending upwards, and their color is generally black, though sometimes brindled, or dun. Their hides are thick, and covered with long hair of a close pile, which nature seems to have intended as a protection against the severity of the climate under which they are bred, for they lose much of this distinction when reared in this country. In other respects they are not unlike the Galloway breed, many of whose best qualities they possess, and more particularly their hardiness of constitution, it being repeatedly proved that they will thrive with such food and treatment as no tender cattle could endure; but, from being mostly bred in more exposed and mountainous situations, they rarely attain equal size.

Of this breed there are several distinct varieties, of which the principal are the Kyloes-a short-horned breed, so named from the district of Kyle, in Ayrshire,-which are chiefly esteemed for the superior quality of the milk given by the cow; the Argyleshire, Dunlops, Western Kyloes or Ise of Sky, Norlands, &c.

IX. The WELSH BREED are chiefly black, slightly marked with white, and have thick horns, of a medium length, curving upwards. They are small, and short in the leg, but well proportioned, and clean, though not small boned, with deep barrelled bodies, and thin, short haired hides. They are very quick feeders, and make excellent beef; and the cows are generally good milkers. The best kinds of this race of cattle, are principally bred in the counties of Cardigan and Glamorgan, and in the southern and midland English counties, where they are in considerable demand for stocking inferior pastures. There is, however, a larger breed of a brown color intermixed with white, and also having white horns; but they are long in the leg, thin in the thigh, and narrow in the chine. They are neither so compact as the black cattle, nor do they fatten so kindly, or make such good beef; but, though not in esteem with the grazier, they are active, and well adapted for the yoke.

X. The ALDERNEY BREED are so named from the island, on the coast of Normandy, whence they were first imported, although they are also bred in the neighbouring islands of Guernsey and Jersey. They are small sized; color light red or dun, mottled with white; horns short, and

NEAT CATTLE.

bone fine. As fatting cattle, they have but few good points; being thin and hollow in the neck, hollow and narrow behind the shoulders, sharp and narrow on the hucks, light in the brisket, and lean on the chine, with short rumps and small thighs; but their flesh is fine grained, high colored, and of excellent flavor. They are also very large in the belly; but this, as well as some of the points already mentioned, is rather an advantage to milch cows, to which purpose this stock is usually applied in England; and their udder is well formed.

The Alderney cows are very rich milkers; and both on that account, and because of a certain neatness in their appearance, notwithstanding the defects in their shape, they command high prices. They are, therefore, mostly in the possession of gentlemen; who, rarely keeping a regular breeding stock, the cows are consequently crossed by any neighboring bull, and thus the pure breed is preserved in the hands of but very few persons.

Such are the chief breeds of neat cattle in Great Britain; and the description, being taken from the best authorities, may be considered as accurate as possible, in a general view.

We shall next proceed to speak of several varieties found in the United States.

Neat cattle were originally imported by our ancestors from England. They consisted of the Devonshire breed. In this opinion the late Timothy Pickering, of Massachusetts, and John Hare Powell, two gentlemen who, within a few years, have written largely, on the best mode of improving our stock, both unite. It was also the remark of the late Mr. Jay, soon after his return from Great Britain, in 1795, that the cattle, which he had generally seen in New England, appeared to be of the Devonshire breed, that he had seen in Great Britain.

Towards the conclusion of the last century, several cattle were imported, by Charles Vaughan, and a Mr. Stuart; but on the New England stock at large, it is not probable that any effect was produced, by these importations. Some traces of their progeny, it is thought, might be noticed in the neighbourhood of Boston; perhaps in Vermont, whither some of the above stock were sent, and in Maine, where according to the testimony of Mr. Powell, some of Mr. Vaughan's stock were driven.

Although the original breed introduced into this country by our ancestors was that of the Devon, it is probable that some other breeds were also introduced by them; particularly the Herefordshire breed. On this point, Mr. Pickering observes, "Although I suppose the Devon race of cattle to be predominant in New England, I doubt not that some of other breeds were early introduced by our ancestors; some Herefords unquestionably, whose descendants are yet distinguished by their white faces." A white face, or as Mr. Marshall terms it, "a bald face," is esteemed characteristic of the true Hereford breed.

The importation of cattle from England ceased at an early period, after the settlement of the country. The Editors of the Massachusetts Agricultural Journal, assume it as probable that few cattle, if any, were imported after 1650.

From that period until towards the close of the last century, few, if any importations were made, and for the reason, probably, that the