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CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late L...
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See also:CATTLE (See also:Norman Fr. catel, from See also:Late See also:Lat. capitale, See also:wealth or See also:property, a word applied in the feudal See also:system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " See also:chattel " or " chattle ")
, a See also:general See also:term for the cows and oxen of agricultural use
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For the zoological See also:account, see See also:BOVIDAE, and the subordinate articles there referred to; for details concerning See also:dairy-farming, see DAIRY
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Oxen appear to have been among the earliest of domesticated animals, as they undoubtedly were among the most important agents in the growth of See also:early See also:civilization
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They are mentioned in the See also:oldest written records of the See also:Hebrew and See also:Hindu peoples, and are figured on See also:Egyptian monuments raised over 3000 years B.c.; while remains of domesticated specimens have been found in Swiss See also:lake-dwellings along with the See also:
The Shorthorn, Lincolnshire Red Shorthorn, Hereford, Devon, South Devon, Sussex, Longhorn and Red Polled breeds are native to .See also:England; the Aberdeen-Angus, Galloway, Highland
' Rev
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J
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Storer, The See also:Wild White Cattle of See also:Great Britain (1879)
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' See See also:Wallace's See also:Farm Live Stock of Great Britain (19o7), See also:Low's Breeds of the Domestic Animals of the British Isles (1842, illustrated, and 1845), and E
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V
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Wilcox's Farm Animals (19o7), an See also:American See also:work.and Ayrshire breeds to See also:Scotland; and the Kerry and Dexter breeds to See also:Ireland
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The Jersey and Guernsey breeds—often spoken of as Channel Islands cattle—belong to the respective islands whose names they See also:bear, and great care is taken to keep them isolated from each other
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The term See also:Alderney is obsolete, the cattle of Alderney being mainly a type of the Guernsey breed
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Among breeds well known in the See also:United States 2 and not mentioned above, the more important are the Holsteins, large black and white cattle highly valued for their abundant See also:milk See also:production, and the Dutch Belted breed, black with a broad white See also:band See also:round the See also:body, also See also:good milkers
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The Shorthorn 3 is the most widely distributed of all the breeds of cattle both at See also:home and abroad
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No See also:census of breeds has ever been taken in the United See also:Kingdom, but such an enumeration would show the Shorthorn far to exceed in See also:numbers any other breed, whilst the great See also:majority of See also:cross-bred cattle contain Shorthorn blood
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During the last See also:quarter of the 18th See also:century the See also:brothers See also:
If the Shorthorn did not originate thus, it is indisputable that the efforts of the Collings 4 had a profound See also:influence upon the fortunes of the breed
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It is still termed the Durham breed in most parts of the See also:world except the See also:land of its See also:birth, and the See also:geographical name is far preferable, for the term " shorthorn " is applicable to a number of other breeds
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Other skilled breeders turned their See also:attention to the Shorthorns and established famous strains, the descendants of which can still be traced
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By See also: Shorthorn breeders came to see that See also:change of blood was necessary . Meanwhile, for many years breeders in See also:Aberdeenshire had been holding See also:annual sales of See also:young bulls and heifers from their herds . The See also:late See also:Amos Cruickshank began his annual sales in the 'forties, and the late W . T . See also:Talbot-Crosbie had annual sales from his Shorthorn herd in the south-west of Ireland for a number of years . Many Aberdeen farmers emigrated to See also:Canada, and bought Shorthorn calves in their native county to take with them . The Cruickshanks held their bull sales at that time, and many of their animals were bought by the small breeders in Canada . This continued until 1875, when the Cruickshanks had so much private demand that they discontinued their public sales . Subsequently, when Cruickshank sold his herd privately 5 Shorthorn Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1822) . Sec . E . J .
See also:Powell, 12 See also:Hanover Square, See also:London, W
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' C
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J
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Bates, " The Brothers Colling," Jour
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See also:Roy
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Agric
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See also:Soc
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(1899)
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5 C
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J
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Bates, Thomas Bates and the Kiiklevington Shorthorns: a Contribution to the See also:History of Pure Durham Cattle (See also:Newcastle-upon-See also:Tyne, 1897)
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to See also: Duthie, of Collynie; Aberdeenshire, bought some of the older cows, whilst J . See also:Deane See also:Willis, of Baptdn Monar, Wilts, bought the yearling heifers . Duthie thereupon resumed the sales that the Cruickshanks had relinquished, his averages being L30 in 1892, about £50 in 1893-1894, and £8o in 1895 . These prices advanced through English breeders requiring a little change of blood, and also through the increasing tendency to exhibit animals of great substance, or rather to feed animals for show . The success of this See also:movement strengthened the demand, whilst an inquiry for his line of blood arose in the United States and Canada . A faithful contemporary history of the Shorthorn breed is to be found in See also:Thornton's Circular, published quarterly since 1868; see also J . See also:Sinclair, History of Shorthorn Cattle (1907); R . See also:Bruce, Fifty Years among Shorthorns (1907) ; A . H . See also:Sanders, Shorthorn Cattle (See also:Chicago, 1901) . The Lincolnshire Red Shorthorns are the best dual-purpose cattle—for milk and See also:meat-that possess a pedigree See also:record, in the United Kingdom, and their See also:uniform See also:cherry red colour has brought them into high favour in tropical countries for See also:crossing with the native breeds . The Hereford breed is maintained chiefly in See also:Herefordshire and the adjoining counties . Whilst a full red is the general colour of the body, the Herefords are distinguished by their white See also:face, white See also:chest and See also:abdomen, and white mane . The legs up to the See also:knee or hock are also often white . As a See also:protection against the See also:sun in a hot climate dark spots on the eyelids or round the orbits are valuable . The horns are moderately long . Herefords, though they See also:rear their own calves, have acquired but little fame as dairy cattle . They are very See also:hardy, and produce beef of excellent quality . Being docile, they fatten easily and readily, and as graziers' beasts they are in high favour . When the Bates' Shorthorn bubble burst in See also:America about 1877, the Hereford gradually replaced the Shorthorn of the western ranches, and it is now the most numerous See also:ranch animal in the United States and Canada . The bulls See also:beat the bulls of all other breeds in " rustling " capacity . In America the ranch-bred Herefords have got too small in the See also:bone in See also:recent years, and Shorthorns, chiefly of the Scottish type, are being introduced to increase their size by crossing . In the " feed See also:lot " a well-bred Hereford See also:steer feeds more quickly than either a Shorthorn or an Aberdeen-Angus . In See also:Queensland, Hereford cattle bred from the " Lord See also:Wilton " See also:strain by Robert See also:Christison of Lammermoor have for years been triumphant as beef-producers in competition with the Shorthorn . When these are quartered in the See also:ordinary butchers' fashion, the See also:hind-quarters outweigh the fore-quarters, which is a reversal of the prevailing See also:rule . North Devons.—The" Rubies of the West," as they are termed from their See also:hue, are reared chiefly in Devon and See also:Somerset . The colour is a whole red, its See also:depth or richness varying with the individual, and in summer becoming mottled with darker spots . The Devons stand somewhat low; they are neat and compact, and possess admirable symmetry . Although a smaller breed than the Shorthorn or the Hereford, they weigh better than either . The horns of the See also:female are somewhat slender, and often See also:curve neatly upwards . Being See also:fine-limbed, active animals, they are well adapted for grazing the poor pastures of their native hills, and they turn their See also:food to the best account, yielding excellent beef . They have not yet attained much celebrity as milch kine, for, though their milk is of first-class quality, with a few notable exceptions, its quantity is small . Latterly, however, the milking qualities have received more attention from breeders, whose See also:object is to qualify the Devon as a dual-purpose breed . The South Devon or South Hams cattle are almost restricted to that See also:southern part of the county of Devon known as the Hams, whence they are also called " Hammers." With a somewhat ungainly See also:head, See also:lemon-yellow See also:hair, yellow skin, and large but hardly handsome udder, the South Devon breed more resembles the Guernsey, with which it is supposed to be connected, than the See also:trim-built cattle of the hills of North Devon . The cows are large, heavy milkers, and produce excellent See also:butter . Theyare rarely seen outside their locality except when they appear in the showyards .
The Sussex breed resembles the North Devon in many respects, but it is bigger, less refined in See also:appearance, less graceful in outline, and of a deeper See also: They are big, rather clumsy animals, with long drooping horns, which are very objectionable in these days of cattle transport by See also:rail and See also:sea . They are slow in coming to maturity, but are very hardy . The bullocks feed up to heavy weights, and the cows are See also:fair milkers . No See also:lover of cattle can view these See also:quaint creatures without a feeling of See also:satisfaction that the efforts made to resuscitate a breed which has many useful qualities to commend it have been successful, and that the extinction which threatened it in. the 'eighties of last century is no longer imminent . In 1907 there were twenty-two Longhorn herds containing about four See also:hundred registered cattle located mainly in the English midlands and Man . The Red See also:Poll breed, though old, has only come into prominence within recent years . They were known as the See also:East Anglian Polls, and later as the See also:Norfolk and Suffolk Polled cattle, being confined chiefly to these two counties . They are symmetrically built, of medium size, and of uniformly red colour . They have a tuft of hair on the poll . As dairy cattle, they are noted for the length of the period during which they continue in milk . Not less are they valued as beef-producers, and, as they are hardy and docile, they fatten readily and mature fairly early . Hence, like the Lincolnshire Red Shorthorn, they may claim to be a dual-purpose breed . As beef cattle they are always seen to See also:advantage at the See also:Norwich See also:Christmas cattle show, held annually in See also:November . The Aberdeen-Angus, a polled, black breed, the cows of which are often termed " Doddies," belongs to Aberdeenshire and adjacent parts of Scotland, but many herds are maintained in England and some in Ireland . The steers and heifers fed for the butcher attain great See also:weight, make first-class show beasts, and yield beef of excellent quality . The cross between the See also:Short. See also:horn and the Aberdeen-Angus is a favourite in the meat markets and at See also:fat-stock competitions . The Galloways are named from the district, See also:Kirkcudbright and Wigtonshire, in the south-west of Scotland,_ to which they are native . Like the Aberdeen-Angus cattle, they are hornless, and normally of a black colour . But, with a thicker hide and shaggy hair, suited to a wet climate, they have a coarser appearance than the Aberdeen-Angus, the product of a less humid region, though 1 See also:Housman, Robert Bakewell," Jour . Roy . Agric . Soc . (1894) . it approaches the latter in size . 
Galloways yield superior beef, but mature less rapidly than the Aberdeen-Angus . They make admirable beasts for the grazier, and the cross between the Gallo-way and the white Shorthorn bull, known as a " See also:Blue See also:Grey," is much sought after by the grazier and the butcher . The West Highland or Kyloe breed are perhaps the most hardy and picturesque of British cattle . Their home is amidst the wild romantic scenery of the See also:Highlands and the Western Isles of Scotland, though Highland bullocks with long, spreading curved horns may be seen in English parks . They have not made much progress towards early maturity, but their slowly ripened beef is of the choicest quality . The colour of their thick shaggy hair varies from white and See also:light dun to tawny yellow of many shades, and black . The A yrshires are the dairy breed of Scotland, where they have considerably overstepped the limits of the humid western county whence they take their name . They are usually of a white and brown colour, the patches being well defined . The neat, shapely, upstanding horns are characteristic . The Ayrshires are under medium size and move gracefully, and the See also:females display the See also:wedge-shape typical of dairy cows . They are a hardy breed, and, even from poor pastures, give good yields of milk, especially useful for See also:cheese-making purposes . The milking powers of the breed are being improved under a See also:system of milk-testing and records supported by the Highland and Agricultural Society . The Jerseys are graceful, See also:deer-like cattle, whose home is in the See also:island of Jersey, where, by means of stringent regulations against the importation of cattle, the breed has been kept pure for many generations . As its milk is especially rich in fat (so rich that it requires to be diluted with a little See also:water before it can be safely fed to calves), the Jersey has attained a wide reputation as a butter-producing breed . It is a great favourite in England, where many pure-bred herds exist . The See also:colours most preferred are " whole " fawns of many shades . The light See also:silver-grey, which was in high repute in England in the early 'seventies of the 19th century, is out of favour . Browns and brindles are rarely seen . The grey See also:zone surrounding the black muzzle gives the appearance designated " mealy-mouthed." The horns are short, and generally artificially curved inwards; the bones are fine . The best milch cows have a yellowish circle round the See also:eye, and the skin at the extremity of the tail is of a deep yellow, almost See also:orange colour . The cows are See also:gentle and docile when reared in close contact with human beings, but the bulls, despite their small size, are often fierce . Guernsey cattle are native to the islands of Guernsey, Alderney, See also:Sark and Herm . They are kept pure by importation restrictions . Herds of pure-bred Guernseys also exist in the Isle of See also:Wight and in various counties of England and Scotland . They have not the refined and elegant appearance of the Jerseys, which, however, they exceed in size . They are usually of a rich yellowish-brown colour, patched with white, in some cases their colour almost meriting the appellation of " orange and lemon." The yellow colour inside the ears is a point always looked for by See also:judges . The cows, large-bellied and narrow in front, are truly wedge-shaped, the greatly See also:developed udder adding to the expanse of the hinder part of the body . They yield an abundance of milk, rich in fat, and are excellent butter-producers . The horns are yellow at the See also:base, curved, and not coarse . The See also:nose is flesh-coloured and See also:free from black markings . The See also:Canadian breed, black with a narrow brown stripe down the back and a light See also:ring round the muzzle, are descended from old See also:Brittany cattle imported into Canada by See also:French settlers three hundred years ago, and are in consequence related to the Channel Islands cattle . They are remarkably hardy and good milkers, and it is claimed they produce butter fat at 2 c. a lb less cost than any other breed . The Kerry is a breed of small black cattle belonging to the south-west of Ireland, whence they have spread into many parts, not only of their native land, but of England as well . Although they are able to subsist on the roughest and scantiest of fare, and are exceedingly hardy, the cows are, nevertheless, excellent milkers, and have acquired celebrity as a dairy breed . The541 colour is black, but the cows sometimes have a little white on the udder . The horns are white, with black tips, and are turned upwards . The Kerry is active and graceful, long and lithe in body, and light-limbed . On the rich pastures of England it has increased considerably in size . The Dexter breed is reputed to take its name from one Dexter, See also:agent of See also:Maude, Lord See also:Hawarden, who is credited with having established it by selection and breeding from the best See also:mountain types of the Kerry . Until recently it was called the Dexter-Kerry . It is smaller and more compact than the Kerry, shorter in the See also:leg, and intoed before and behind . Whilst valuable as a beef-making animal, it is equally noted for its milk-producing capacity . Black is the usual colour, but red is also recognized, with, in either case, a little white . When of a red colour, the appearance of the animal has been aptly compared to that of a See also:grand Shorthorn viewed through the wrong end of a See also:telescope . The Kerry and the Dexter are readily distinguishable . The Kerry has a See also:gay, light, deer-like head and horn, light limbs and thin skin . The Dexter has coarser limbs, a square body, See also:flat back, thick See also:shoulder, short See also:neck, and head and horn set on low . A herd of Dexter-Shorthorns was founded by See also:Major See also: |