that they be well bred, and excellent of their kind. To the dairy farmer, the most important points are, the quantity of milk yielded, its quality, its value for the production of butter, or of cheese, a freedom in the cows from vicious habits and ill temper, their character as good and healthy breeders, the ease with which, when useless as milkers, they become fattened for the market, and the nature and quantity of food requisite for this purpose. To the grazier, the quickness of becoming fat, and at as little expense as possible, the fineness of the grain of the meat, or of the muscular fibers, the mode of laying on the fat, the smallness of bone, soundness of constitution, and congeniality with the soil and the climate, are the chief points which he takes into consideration. If he is wise, he will never stint keep, nor transfer his stock from a good to an indifferent soil; and this is true also with respect to the dairy-farmer. Contour, or beauty of form, is desirable; indeed, it is more or less connected with what may be termed utility of form, that is, a preponderance of those parts in the beast which are most delicate for the table, and bear the highest price, over the parts of inferior quality, or offal. This is connected with smallness of bone, but not a preternatural smallness, and with a tendency to depositions of fat, which, however, should not be carried to an extreme, otherwise the quantity of flesh is disproportionate, and its fiber is dry and insipid; nor is the weight of the beast proportionate to its admeasurement. Previously to the time of Mr. Bakewell, the cattle in general were large, long-bodied, big-boned, flat-sided, slow to fatten, great consumers of food, and often black, or foul-fleshed, or, as it is called in Yorkshire, "lyery." This truly patriotic breeder, acting upon true principles, energetically set to work upon the improvement of cattle, and in defiance of opposition and a thousand difficulties, lived to see the success of his long-continued efforts. Experience and a close and acute observation had taught him that "like produces like;" in other words, that the qualities of the parents, such as beauty, or utility of form, disposition to fatness, goodness of flesh, abundance of milk, and even temper, were inherited by their offspring; and that by careful selections on the side both of the sire and dam, a breed might be ultimately established to which the title blood could be distinctly applied. This, of course supposes a primary selection, then a selection of such of the offspring as exhibited the properties which constituted their perfection, in the highest degree; and again of the offspring of these, and so on progressively. At first Mr. Bakewell was necessitated. to breed in and in, but as his stock increased, he was enabled to interpose more or less remote removes between the members of the same family; and ultimately he established the Dishley, or New Leicester long-horns, a breed remarkable for smallness of bone, roundness of form, aptitude to fatten upon a moderate allowance, and fineness of flesh. * *Born at Dishley, in Leicestershire, 1725. His father and grandfather resided on the estate before him. M. Bates' rule was, "Breed in and in froma paa stock, and you commit ruin and devastation; but if a good stock be selected, you may breed in and in as much as you please;" and he followed this practice for fifty years, and yet had one of the £nest herds ever known. But while he accomplished this, rendering the animals admirably suited for the grazier, it was found that their qualities as milkers were much deteriorated; the dairy-farmers consequently retained their old breed, noted for the richness, though perhaps not the great abundance of the milk. We are not here speaking about the differences or the distinguished excellences of the various breeds of cattle, but of the principles upon which excellences, it matters not of what sort, may be obtained. "Like produces like," and both parents must present the same excellencies, the same characteristics. It was by following out these rules that Mr. Bakewell arrived at perfection in his breed; indeed by some he is thought to have pushed his principles too far, and the following remarks have perhaps some justice in them :-"It was his grand maxim, that the bones of an animal intended for food could not be too small; and that the fat, being the most valuable part of the carcass, could not, consequently be too abundant. In pursuance of this leading theory, by inducing a preternatural smallness of bone and rotundity of carcass, he sought to cover the bones of all his animals externally with masses of fat. Thus the entirely new Leicester breed, from their excessive tendency to fatten, produce too small a quantity of eatable meat, and that, too, necessarily of inferior flavor and quality. They are, in general, found defective in weight, proportionally to their bulk; and if not thoroughly fattened, their flesh is crude and without flavor; while, if they be so, their carcasses produce little else but fat, a very considerable part of which must be sold at an inferior price, to make candles instead of food; not to forget the very great waste that must ever attend the consumption of over-fattened meat. "This great and sagacious improver (Mr. Bakewell), very justly disgusted at the sight of those huge, gaunt, leggy, and misshapen animals with which his vicinity abounded, and which scarcely any length of time, or quantity of food, would thoroughly fatten, patriotically determined upon raising a more sightly and profitable breed; yet, rather unfortunately, his zeal impelled him to the opposite extreme. Having painfully, and at much cost, raised a variety of cattle, the chief merit of which is to make fat, he has apparently laid his disciples and successors. under the necessity of substituting another that will make lean.”. Illustrations of Natural History, p. 5. Granting the truth of these strictures, which we scarcely can to the full extent, what is the inference as it respects the system of breeding? Namely, this that by pursuing the proper mode, by proper selections, and by joining like excellencies and properties in the sire and dam, and not by rashly crossing distinct breeds, but by making one breed the great foundation, and working upon it, remembering that "like produces like," not only will the point aimed at be attained, but it may even be overshot, thus demonstrating the power which the judicious breeder possesses. Since Mr. Bakewell's time the New Leicester breed has become degenerated; by some the stock has been bred in and in too closely, and by others very injudiciously crossed. In the mean time the short-horned breeds of cattle have been gaining an ascendancy, so that few really excellent long-horns are now to be seen. This, however, has nothing to do with the great principles we have endeavored to illustrate; they apply alike to all breeds of cattle. Every breeder, then, should well consider the properties of the stock from which he breeds, investigate their good qualities and their bad qualities, and while he endeavors to keep up or improve the former, he should study to remove the latter. His selection must be strict; the heifer or cow should have as few of the bad points as possible, every excellence in perfection, and be in good health; the bull should be of the same kind, and if related, only in a remote degree; nor should he have been brought up on a pasturage differing from that of the cow, or under the influences of a different local climate; he should not only possess the good points desired, in all their perfection, but he should also have the points which the farmer considers to be the excellences of his own stock, as admirably developed. Thus acting with judgment he may expect improvement; and if he fail, there is some concealed fault which has been overlooked, either on the one side or the other, or some defect in their parents, and which (in accordance with the tendency there is in families to exhibit, from time to time, certain peculiarities, latent perhaps for a generation) has again made itself manifest; consequently, on both sides there ought to be what is termed "good blood." But this is to suppose a stock already improved to a great extent; and here we may repeat the injunctions laid down by the Rev. H. Berry, which more particularly apply to the farmer commencing de novo: "A person selecting a stock from which to breed, notwithstanding he has set up for himself a standard of perfection, will obtain them with qualifications of different descriptions, and in different degrees. In breeding from such he will exercise his judgment, and decide what are indispensable or desirable qualities, and will cross with animals with a view to establish them. His proceeding will be of the 'give and take kind. He will submit to the introduction of a trifling defect, in order that he may profit by a great excellence; and between excellences perhaps somewhat incompatible, he will decide on which is the greatest, and give it the preference.* "To a person commencing improvement, the best advice is to get as good a bull as he can, and if he be a good one of his kind, to use him indiscriminately with all his cows; and when by this proceeding, which ought to be persisted in, his stock has, with an occasional change of bull, become sufficiently stamped with desirable excellences, his selection of males should then be made to eradicate defects which he thinks desirable to be got rid of. "He will not fail to keep in view the necessity of good blood in the bulls resorted to, for that will give the only assurance that they will * "A person would often be puzzled; he would find different individuals possessing different perfections in different degrees:-one, good flesh and a tendency to fatten, with a bad form: another, with fine form, but bad flesh, and little disposition to acquire fat. What rule should he lay down, by the observance of which good might be generally produced, and as little evil as possible effected? UTILITY. The truly good form is that which secures constitution, health, and vigor: a disposition to lay on flesh with the greatest possible reduction of offal. Having obtained this, other things are of minor, though perhaps sometimes of considerable importance." --Prize Essay, by the Rev. H. Berry. transmit their own valuable properties to their offspring; but he must not trust to this alone, or he will soon run the risk of degeneracy. In animals evincing an extraordinary degree of perfection, where the constitution is decidedly good, and there is no prominent defect, a little close breeding may be allowed; but this must not be injudiciously adopted, or carried too far; for, although it may increase and confirm valuable properties, it will also increase and confirm defects; and no breeder need be long in discovering that, in an improved state, animals have a greater tendency to defect than to perfection. Close breeding from affinities impairs the constitution and affects the procreative powers, and therefore a strong cross is occasionally necessary.' The dairy-farmer, however, is less concerned in this high breeding than the grazier; yet he is not by any means indifferent in the matter; for his aim ought to be, to obtain a breed no less valuable as milkers than for their disposition to fatten when the milk is dried. These two qualifications are not to be attained very easily; yet they may be, and, indeed, have been attained, and especially among the improved shorthorn breeds, as those of Durham and Yorkshire, or the cross-breeds between the old Shropshire, and the Holderness. The breeds most valued in the great dairies around the metropolis are mixed between the Yorkshire, Holderness, and Durham. For quality and quantity of milk they are eminent; they yield, on the average, each cow, two gallons of milk at a time, and often nine quarts; and when dry, they are in general readily fattened for the butcher. With respect to the points of symmetry in cattle, of which the various breeds exhibit several degrees of modification, there are certain rules which are generally acknowledged as applicable to good cattle of all kinds. The Bull. The forehead of the bull should be broad and short, the lower part, that is, the nasal part and jaws, tapering; and the muzzle fine; the ears moderate; the neck gently arched from the head to the shoulders, small and fine where it joins the head, but boldly thickening, as it sweeps down to the chest, which should be deep, almost to a level with the knees, with the briskets well developed. The shoulders should be well set, the shoulder-blades oblique, with the humeral joint advancing forward to the neck. The barrel of the chest should be round, without hollowness between it and the shoulders. The sides should be ribbed home, with little space between them and the hips; the whole body being barrel-shaped, and not flat-sided. The belly should not hang down, being well supported by the oblique abdominal muscles, and the flanks should be round and deep. The hips should be wide and round, the loins broad, and the back straight and flat. The tail should be broad and well-haired, and set on high, and fall abruptly. The breast should be broad; the fore arms short and muscular, tapering to the knee; the legs straight, clean, and fine-boned. The thighs should be full and long, and close together when viewed from behind. The hide should be moderately thin, with a mellow feel, and movable, but not lax; and it should be well covered with fine soft hair. The nostrils should be large and open; the eyes animated and prominent; the horns clean and white. |