Читать книгу Cattle and Their Diseases - Robert Jennings - Страница 6

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In the earliest and most reliable accounts which we possess of the British Isles—the Commentaries of Cæsar—we learn that the ancient Britons possessed great numbers of cattle. No satisfactory description of these cattle occurs in any ancient author; but, with occasional exceptions, we know that they possessed no great bulk or beauty. Cæsar tells us that the Britons neglected tillage and lived on milk and flesh; and this account of the early inhabitants of the British Isle is corroborated by other authors. It was such an occupation and mode of life as suited their state of society. The island was divided into many little sovereignties; no fixed property was secure; and that alone was valuable which could be hurried away at the threatened approach of the invader. Many centuries after this, when—although one sovereign seemed to reign paramount over the whole of the kingdom—there continued to be endless contests among the feudal barons, and therefore that property alone continued to be valuable which could be secured within the walls of the castle, or driven beyond the assailant's reach—an immense stock of provisions was always stored up in the various fortresses, both for the vassals and the cattle; or it was contrived that the latter should be driven to the domains of some friendly baron, or concealed in some inland recess.

When the government became more powerful and settled, and property of every kind was assured a proportionate degree of protection, as well as more equally divided, the plough came into use; agricultural productions were oftener cultivated, the reaping of which was sure after the labor of sowing. Cattle were then comparatively neglected and for some centuries injuriously so. Their numbers diminished, and their size also seems to have diminished; and it is only within the last century and a half that any serious and successful efforts have been made materially to improve them.

In the comparatively roving and uncertain life which the earlier inhabitants led, their cattle would sometimes stray and be lost. The country was at that time overgrown with forests, and the beasts betook themselves to the recesses of these woods, and became wild and sometimes ferocious. They, by degrees, grew so numerous as to be dangerous to the inhabitants of the neighboring districts. One of the chronicles asserts that many of them harbored in the forests in the neighborhood of London. Strange stories are told of some of them, and, doubtless, when irritated, they were fierce and dangerous enough. As, however, civilization advanced, and the forests became thinned and contracted, these animals were seen more rarely, and at length almost disappeared. A few of them, however, are still to be found in the parks of some of the leading English noblemen, who keep them for ornament and as curiosities.

The color of this wild breed is invariably white, the muzzle being black; the whole of the inside of the ear, and about one-third of the outside, from the tips downward, red; horns white, with black tips, very fine, and bent upward; some of the bulls have a thin, upright mane, about an inch and a half or two inches long. The beef is finely marbled and of excellent flavor.

At the first appearance of any person they set off in full gallop, and at the distance of about two hundred yards, make a wheel around and come boldly up again in a menacing manner; on a sudden they make a full stop at the distance of forty or fifty yards, looking wildly at the object of their surprise; but upon the least motion they all again turn round and fly off with equal speed, but not to the same distance, forming a shorter circle; and, again returning with a more threatening aspect than before, they approach probably within thirty yards, when they again make another stand, and then fly off; this they do several times, shortening their distance and advancing nearer and nearer, till they come within such short distance that most persons think it prudent to leave them.

When the cows calve, they hide their calves for a week or ten days in some retired situation, and go and suckle them two or three times a day. If any persons come near the calves they clap their heads close to the ground to hide themselves—a proof of their native wildness. The dams allow no one to touch their young without attacking with impetuous ferocity. When one of the herd happens to be wounded, or has grown weak and feeble through age or sickness, the rest set on it and gore it to death.

The breeds of cattle which are now found in Great Britain, are almost as various as the soil of the different districts or the fancies of the breeders. They have, however, been very conveniently classed according to the comparative size of the horns; the long-horns, originally from Lancashire, and established through most of the midland counties; the short-horns, generally cultivated in the northern counties and in Lincolnshire, and many of them found in every part of the kingdom where the farmer pays much attention to his dairy, or where a large supply of milk is desired; and the middle-horns, a distinct and valuable breed, inhabiting, principally, the north of Devon, the east of Sussex, Herefordshire, and Gloucestershire; and of diminished bulk and with somewhat different character, the cattle of the Scottish and Welsh mountains. The Alderney, with its crumpled horn, is found on the southern coast; while the polled, or hornless, cattle prevail in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Galloway, whence they were first derived.

These leading breeds, however, have been intermingled in every possible way. They are found pure only in their native districts, or on the estate of some wealthy and spirited individuals. Each county has its own mongrel breed, often difficult to be described, and not always to be traced—neglected enough, yet suited to the soil and the climate; and among small farmers, maintaining their station, in spite of attempts at improvements by the intermixture or the substitution of foreign varieties.

Much dispute has arisen as to the original breed of British cattle. The battle has been sharply fought between the advocates of the middle and of the long-horns. The short-horns and the polls are out of the lists; the latter, although it has existed in certain districts from time immemorial, being probably an accidental variety. The weight of argument appears at present to rest with the middle horns; the long-horns being evidently of Irish extraction.